Evaluation of Be Wise about Your Portion Size: A Nutrition Education Program for Floridians

In the U.S., obesity is recognized as a growing epidemic whose increased prevalence among adults, children and adolescents present major health concerns. It is the second leading cause of preventable death, surpassed only by tobacco use. Research indicates that controlling the portion sizes of food is an effective way to lose and maintain weight loss. The nutrition education program, “Be Wise about Your Portion Size (BWPS),” was developed in 2005 by the Florida Interagency Food and Nutrition Committee (FIFNC) to support the efforts of community-based nutrition educators. The resource manual provides background information about obesity, consumer handouts, and lesson plans and activities for preschool, elementary, teen, adult, and elder adult audiences. In 2009, FIFNC members engaged in a statewide evaluation to determine program use, demographics of users, strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations for future nutrition campaigns. The LOGIC Model of program evaluation guided the evaluation process. A 14-item online survey was completed by 256 community based educators, a 30% return rate. FIFNC members found that on-line surveys were efficient and effective tools for program evaluation. Survey results showed that 79% of participants used BWPS and found materials to be useful and effective. Respondents indicated that they reached more than 22,000 Floridians with the BWPS message and suggested that the real audience reached included tens of thousands statewide

Hitchhikers’ guide to the legal context of protected area management plans in South Africa

Background: Although formal protected areas in South Africa date back to the turn of the 19th century, requirements for protected area management plans only became mandatory a century later. Prior to the promulgation of the World Heritage Convention Act 49 in 1999, and subsequently the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 in 2003, requirements for management plans were voluntary, and guidance to the plan’s content was fragmented across an array of international, national and provincial policy instruments. Objectives: As there has been little academic debate on the relevance and content of protected area management plans, an improved understanding of these plans, and the role they play in biodiversity conservation, is required. Method: This article explores the evolution of the management plan, revisiting its historical and current legal context at international and national scales. Results: Despite being the principal legislative framework for management plans, the World Heritage Convention Act and the National Environmental Management Protected Area Act did not consolidate the plethora of management plan requirements, and hence did not bring clarity when these conflicted or were ambiguous. Conclusion: Legal provisions for management plans are highly fragmented. This risks plans not being complete, falling short of the requirement to ensure that protected areas fulfil the purpose for which they were established. A consolidation of relevant provisions, as well as emerging best practices is recommended. This may require the revision of South Africa’s environmental law, to provide greater clarity on the contemporary understanding of the contribution of protected areas to conservation and the well-being of people (viz. the ‘purpose’)

Broad Feshbach resonance in the 6Li-40K mixture

We study the widths of interspecies Feshbach resonances in a mixture of the fermionic quantum gases 6Li and 40K. We develop a model to calculate the width and position of all available Feshbach resonances for a system. Using the model we select the optimal resonance to study the 6Li/40K mixture. Experimentally, we obtain the asymmetric Fano lineshape of the interspecies elastic cross section by measuring the distillation rate of 6Li atoms from a potassium-rich 6Li/40K mixture as a function of magnetic field. This provides us with the first experimental determination of the width of a resonance in this mixture, Delta B=1.5(5) G. Our results offer good perspectives for the observation of universal crossover physics using this mass-imbalanced fermionic mixture.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Feshbach spectroscopy and scattering properties of ultracold Li+Na mixtures

We have observed 26 interspecies Feshbach resonances at fields up to 2050 G in ultracold $^6$Li+$^{23}$Na mixtures for different spin-state combinations. Applying the asymptotic bound-state model to assign the resonances, we have found that most resonances have d-wave character. This analysis serves as guidance for a coupled-channel calculation, which uses modified interaction potentials to describe the positions of the Feshbach resonances well within the experimental uncertainty and to calculate their widths. The scattering length derived from the improved interaction potentials is experimentally confirmed and deviates from previously reported values in sign and magnitude. We give prospects for $^7$Li+$^{23}$Na and predict broad Feshbach resonances suitable for tuning.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, version as published in PR

MKBA Peilverandering Polder Zegveld

Het Westelijk Veenweidegebied is al eeuwenlang onderhevig aan bodemdaling en oxidatie van het veen. Een mogelijkheid om dit tegen te gaan is het veranderen c.q. verhogen van het peil van het oppervlaktewater. Peilverandering zal naar verwachting tal van effecten hebben voor de regio. Naast effecten voor de reguliere landbouw en het waterbeheer kan peilverandering ook invloed hebben op de natuurwaarden in het gebied, het woongenot en de inkomsten van recreatie-afhankelijke sectoren. In dit rapport wordt met behulp van het instrument Maatschappelijke Kosten Baten Analyse (MKBA) bezien welke kosten en baten peilverandering in de polder Zegveld met zich meebrengt

Physicochemical Characterization and Solubility Analysis of Thalidomide and Its N-Alkyl Analogs

Purpose . The present study was primarily aimed at exploring the feasibility of improving percutaneous delivery via chemical manipulation of the thalidomide molecule to form analogs with improved physicochemical properties. N -Alkyl analogs were synthesized with the belief that these would be suitably hydrophobic and far less crystalline than the reference compound. This article presents their physicochemical properties.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41489/1/11095_2004_Article_364706.pd

Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta)

CITATION: Clarke, C., et al. 2017. Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta). BMC Veterinary Research, 13:2, doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0927-x.The original publication is available at http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.comBackground: Sensitive diagnostic tools are necessary for the detection of Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in order to more clearly understand the epidemiology of tuberculosis and the ecological consequences of the disease in this species. We therefore aimed to develop a cytokine release assay to measure antigen-specific cell-mediated immune responses of meerkats. Results: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were evaluated for the detection of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IFN-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in meerkat plasma. An IP-10 ELISA was selected to measure the release of this cytokine in whole blood in response to Bovigam® PC-HP Stimulating Antigen, a commercial peptide pool of M. bovis antigens. Using this protocol, captive meerkats with no known M. suricattae exposure (n = 10) were tested and results were used to define a diagnostic cut off value (mean plus 2 standard deviations). This IP-10 release assay (IPRA) was then evaluated in free-living meerkats with known M. suricattae exposure, categorized as having either a low, moderate or high risk of infection with this pathogen. In each category, respectively, 24.7%, 27.3% and 82.4% of animals tested IPRA-positive. The odds of an animal testing positive was 14.0 times greater for animals with a high risk of M. suricattae infection compared to animals with a low risk. Conclusion: These results support the use of this assay as a measure of M. suricattae exposure in meerkat populations. Ongoing longitudinal studies aim to evaluate the value of the IPRA as a diagnostic test of M. suricattae infection in individual animals.http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-016-0927-xPublisher's versio

Percutaneous Delivery of Thalidomide and Its N-Alkyl Analogs

Purpose . The purpose of this study was to determine the permeation parameters of thalidomide and three of its N -alkyl analogs and to establish a correlation between the physicochemical properties of these compounds and their percutaneous rates of absorption.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41491/1/11095_2004_Article_370433.pd