The study demonstrated great promise in creating a health-conducive environment that positively impacts weight and gross motor skill development in children at risk for obesity. Program efficacy should be tested in a randomized trial.

The effect of a linear monomer on thermomechanical properties and shape recovery behavior of an epoxy shape-memory polymer is studied. These shape-memory polymers are prepared from epoxy base resin, hardener and linear epoxy monomer. As the content of the linear monomer increases, the glass transition temperature (Tg) determined using differential scanning calorimetry ranges from 37 to 96 °C. A decrease in rubber modulus is seen from dynamic mechanical analysis for the polymers, which reveals decreasing crosslink density with increasing linear monomer content. Tensile test results show that the elongation at break and strength depends on the content of linear monomer at Tg or Tg−20 °C, while the linear monomer content has minor influence on elongation at break and strength at Tg+20 °C. Finally, investigation on shape recovery behavior reveals that full recovery can be observed for each polymer when the temperature is equal to or above Tg. Also, increasing the linear monomer content results in a decrease in both shape recovery ratio (below Tg) and shape recovery speed (at Tg). These results are interpreted in terms of various crosslink densities attributed to the increasing linear monomer content.

In addition to the fabrication of thermoset styrene-based shape memory polymer (SMP) and its nanocomposite filled with nanocarbon particles, this study presents the effect of nanocarbon particles on infrared light-active shape recovery behaviors of this type of SMP material. The experimental results reveal that both pure SMP and SMP filled with nanocarbon particles can be actuated by infrared light in vacuum, while shape memory effect shown by the composite is stronger than that of in pure SMP. Shape memory effect is evaluated by shape recovery ability and shape recovery speed in detail. Moreover, factors which would influence the infrared light-active shape memory effect in SMP with/without nanocarbon particles are explored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and infrared absorption characteristic tests. The better shape memory effect of the nanocomposite attributes to its higher storage modulus and higher infrared absorption capability.

Abstract:This review paper summarizes the recent research progress in the underlying mechanisms behind the shape memory effect (SME) and some newly discovered shape memory phenomena in polymeric materials. It is revealed that most polymeric materials, if not all, intrinsically have the thermo/chemo-responsive SME. It is demonstrated that a good understanding of the fundamentals behind various types of shape memory phenomena in polymeric materials is not only useful in design/synthesis of new polymeric shape memory materials (SMMs) with tailored performance, but also helpful in optimization of the existing ones, and thus remarkably widens the application field of polymeric SMMs.

Background: Early childhood is a formative period for many weight-related behaviors (diet and activity), but little obesity prevention research targeting this age group has been conducted. Early care and education settings are a useful avenue for interventions targeting young children, but the limited research provides insufficient evidence upon which to base policy decisions, practice guidelines, or mobilized efforts to improve healthy eating and physical activity, and ultimately healthy weight development in these settings.Methods: In September of 2011, prominent researchers, young investigators, and leaders in early care and education came together to examine past research and to explore challenges and priorities for future research on healthy weight development in children aged 2-5 years. During this meeting, experts presented and attendees discussed key issues around measurement of diet and physical activity, policy and environment measurement, intervention approaches, policy research, and capacity development. Following the meeting, attendees were invited to participate in an online voting exercise to select top research priorities.Results: A total of 64 research issues were identified, and voting narrowed this list to 24 issues. Highest-rated issues included: Assessment of the quality of children's meals and snacks, use of financial incentives, interventions that include healthcare providers, the role of screen time, and need for multilevel interventions.Conclusions: The presentations within this meeting highlighted the importance of research to address the unique challenges for those working in early care and education settings. Expert and stakeholder consensus of priorities identified significant and innovative areas where future obesity prevention research efforts should be focused.