A systematic review of intervention studies aimed at improving nutrition literacy

Nutrition literacy is a relatively nascent field and is a subset of health literacy, often being interchangeably referred to as nutrition literacy, nutritional health literacy or food literacy. Current interventions in nutrition literacy vary from one-another in terms of their scope, theories used, intervention methods and measurement tools used in conducting the study, hence, it is challenging to compare results in order to further the knowledge boundary of the field. The main objective of this review, thus, is to understand in qualitative detail how past interventions were structured in achieving their aim of improving the nutrition literacy of the participants through nutrition education. This review will contribute to the growing field of nutrition education and literacy by highlighting effective theoretical underpinnings and techniques that can be employed in future interventions aimed at raising the nutrition literacy of the participants. A structured way of approaching future nutrition interventions is suggested drawing from the integration of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) developed by Bandura (1998) and the strategic areas of persuasive communication proposed by Gillespie (1999). Operationalization of the knowledge variable through defining the participant competencies in terms of functional, interactive and critical nutrition literacy is explored and applications of this exploration to future interventions is proposed.​Master of Mass Communicatio

A rare case of plantar epithelioma cuniculatum arising from a wart

A 68-year-old man, a known case of hypertension, coronary artery disease and old cardiovascular accident with right-sided hemiplegia, came with the chief complaints of a large cauliflower like growth with pus discharge on the left heel since 15 years. The patient had sustained a penetrating injury by a thorn on the left heel region few days before the lesion appeared. Dermatological examination revealed a single verrucous lesion measuring 7 × 7 cm on the left heel region associated with discharge of foul smelling cheesy material. There was also a enlarged right inguinal lymph node which was non-tender, firm, measuring 2 cm in diameter with normal overlying skin. X-ray left ankle was done which showed some soft tissue swelling. A skin biopsy showed hyperkeratosis, acanthosis and parakeratosis. Elongated rete ridges with keratinocyte hyperplasia, forming a large mass pressing on the underlying dermis were seen. There was formation of multiple large keratin filled invaginations and crypts. No atypical cells were seen. Based on history, clinical examination and investigations, a diagnosis of epithelium cuniculatum type of verrucous squamous cell carcinoma was made. A wide excision with a flap cover was performed in consultation with the oncosurgeon and the excision sample was sent for histopathological re-examination, which confirmed the diagnosis of epithelioma cuniculatum

Mycobacterial protein tyrosine kinase, PtkA phosphorylates PtpA at tyrosine residues and the mechanism is stalled by the novel series of inhibitors

<p>Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation are the key mechanisms for mycobacterial physiology and play critical roles in mycobacterial survival and in its pathogenesis. Mycobacteria evade host immune mechanism by inhibiting phagosome – lysosome fusion in which mycobacterial protein tyrosine phosphatase A (PtpA;TP) plays an indispensable role. Tyrosine kinase (PtkA;TK) activated by autophosphorylation; phosphorylates TP, which subsequently leads to increase in its phosphatase activity. The phosphorylated TP is secreted in phagosome of macrophage. In the present study, we have shown that the phosphorylation at two sites of TP; Y¹²⁸ and Y¹²⁹ are critical for TK-mediated phosphatase activity. The disruption of this interaction between TK and TP inhibits activation of later which further leads to the decrease in intracellular survival of mycobacteria. Furthermore, the proof of concept has been established using benzylbenzofurans and benzofuranamides, which inhibit the growth and intracellular survival of mycobacteria, associate with the functional sites of TP and contend with the TK. This binding was further restated by looking at the anchorage of protein–protein and the protein–inhibitor complexes in the homology-based structure models and by surface plasmon resonance analysis.</p