Cooking Interventions and Perceived Stress Levels Among College Students

College is full of new experiences and pressures that may prevent students from having adequate cooking skills and knowledge, which often leads to increased stress. An intervention designed to improve cooking ability may reduce students’ stress levels by increasing their understanding surrounding food, and decreasing the time and effort needed to prepare meals. For this study, participants were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups: cooking classes and meal kit, cooking classes only, meal kit only, and control. Phase 1 consisted of weekly cooking classes for six weeks, where the participants actively prepared a recipe and engaged in a sensory analysis of the food. Phase 2 consisted of a 6-week meal kit intervention, where participants were provided with a recipe and ingredients for three meals, for six weeks. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire at the start of the intervention and at the end of each phase. Neither the cooking, nor the meal kit intervention reduced perceived stress levels among the participants. Further research is needed to determine whether a cooking-based intervention has the ability to reduce stress levels in college students

Retinal oxygen supply shaped the functional evolution of the vertebrate eye

The retina has a very high energy demand but lacks an internal blood supply in most vertebrates. Here we explore the hypothesis that oxygen diffusion limited the evolution of retinal morphology by reconstructing the evolution of retinal thickness and the various mechanisms for retinal oxygen supply, including capillarization and acid-induced haemoglobin oxygen unloading. We show that a common ancestor of bony fishes likely had a thin retina without additional retinal oxygen supply mechanisms and that three different types of retinal capillaries were gained and lost independently multiple times during the radiation of vertebrates, and that these were invariably associated with parallel changes in retinal thickness. Since retinal thickness confers multiple advantages to vision, we propose that insufficient retinal oxygen supply constrained the functional evolution of the eye in early vertebrates, and that recurrent origins of additional retinal oxygen supply mechanisms facilitated the phenotypic evolution of improved functional eye morphology

Evidence for Diffuse Central Retinal Edema In Vivo in Diabetic Male Sprague Dawley Rats

Background: Investigations into the mechanism of diffuse retinal edema in diabetic subjects have been limited by a lack of animal models and techniques that co-localized retinal thickness and hydration in vivo. In this study we test the hypothesis that a previously reported supernormal central retinal thickness on MRI measured in experimental diabetic retinopathy in vivo represents a persistent and diffuse edema. Methodology/Principal Findings: In diabetic and age-matched control rats, and in rats experiencing dilutional hyponatremia (as a positive edema control), whole central retinal thickness, intraretinal water content and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC, ‘water mobility’) were measured in vivo using quantitative MRI methods. Glycated hemoglobin and retinal thickness ex vivo (histology) were also measured in control and diabetic groups. In the dilutional hyponatremia model, central retinal thickness and water content were supernormal by quantitative MRI, and intraretinal water mobility profiles changed in a manner consistent with intracellular edema. Groups of diabetic (2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 mo of diabetes), and age-matched controls were then investigated with MRI and all diabetic rats showed supernormal whole central retinal thickness. In a separate study in 4 mo diabetic rats (and controls), MRI retinal thickness and water content metrics were significantly greater than normal, and ADC was subnormal in the outer retina; the increase in retinal thickness was not detected histologically on sections of fixed and dehydrated retinas from these rats

Wound healing in glaucoma filtering surgery

Successful glaucoma filtering surgery is characterized by the passage of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber to the subconjunctival space, which results in the formation of a filtering bleb. Aqueous in the subconjunctival space may then exit by multiple pathways. Bled failure most often results from fibroblast proliferation and subconjunctival fibrosis. Factors associated with an increased risk of bleb failure include youth, aphakia, active anterior segment neovascularization, inflammation, previously failed glaucoma filtering surgery, and, possibly, race. Several surgical and pharmacologic techniques have recently been introduced to enhance success in eyes with poor surgical prognoses. To elucidate the scientific rationale of these methods, we summarize the process of wound healing after glaucoma filtering surgery and describe postoperative clinical and histopathologic features, factors which may affect success, and specific methods to improve surgical success.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26516/1/0000054.pd

Cooking Intervention and Perceived Stress Levels Among College Students

College is full of new experiences and pressures that may prevent students from having healthy eating patterns and often lead to increased stress. An intervention designed to improve cooking ability may reduce students’ stress levels by increasing their food agency and decreasing the time and effort needed to prepare meals. For this study, participants were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups: cooking classes and meal kit intervention, cooking classes only, meal kit only, and control. Phase 1 consisted of weekly cooking classes for six weeks, where the participants actively prepared a recipe and engaged in a sensory analysis of the food. Phase 2 consisted of a 6-week meal kit intervention, where participants were provided with a recipe and ingredients for three meals, for six weeks. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire at the start of the intervention and at the end of each phase. Neither the cooking, nor the meal kit intervention reduced perceived stress levels among the participants. Further research is needed to determine whether a food agency intervention has the ability to reduce stress levels in college students

News articles about St. Luke\u27s Golden Anniversary

Two articles, one in the Slovak language and the other in English, described the Golden Anniversary celebrations at St. Luke\u27s, held on May 27, 1962. A Sanford Herald article (June 6, 1962, by Virginia Bellhorn) was accompanied by a photo of some of the participants in the after-dinner program held on the church picnic grounds: Ferdinand Duda, Andrew Duda, Jr., Joseph Mikler, Sr., and Rev. L.A.Jarosi. An article in the monthly Slovak magazine, Svedok (July, 1962) also featured a photo of Founder, Joseph Mikler, Sr. and another Founder of the congregation, George Jakubcin, Sr