A Qualitative Phenomenological Exploration of Teachers’ Experience with Nutrition Education

Background: Nutrition education delivered by classroom teachers has become a popular intervention designed to combat childhood obesity. However, few qualitative studies have explored nutrition education with teachers. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how elementary teachers describe their experience with nutrition education. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis were conducted with 10 teachers who delivered nutrition education in their classrooms. Inductive coding was used to determine invariant constituents, reduce constituents to categories, and cluster categories into themes. Reliability and validity were accomplished through intercoder agreement, audio recording, triangulation, bracketing, and member checking. Results: Results identified 5 core themes related to roles teachers play in nutrition education, the importance placed upon nutrition, motivation for supplementary activities, barriers, and a triadic relationship between students, teachers, and curriculum. Discussion: Findings reveal interactions within the nutrition education experience in which teachers balance barriers with their value of nutrition education and motivation to help students make healthy choices. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators should work with classroom teachers at the program design, implementation, and evaluation stages of curriculum development to better address needs and facilitate the delivery of high-quality nutrition education for students

A Qualitative Phenomenological Exploration of Teachers’ Experience with Nutrition Education

Background: Nutrition education delivered by classroom teachers has become a popular intervention designed to combat childhood obesity. However, few qualitative studies have explored nutrition education with teachers. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how elementary teachers describe their experience with nutrition education. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis were conducted with 10 teachers who delivered nutrition education in their classrooms. Inductive coding was used to determine invariant constituents, reduce constituents to categories, and cluster categories into themes. Reliability and validity were accomplished through intercoder agreement, audio recording, triangulation, bracketing, and member checking. Results: Results identified 5 core themes related to roles teachers play in nutrition education, the importance placed upon nutrition, motivation for supplementary activities, barriers, and a triadic relationship between students, teachers, and curriculum. Discussion: Findings reveal interactions within the nutrition education experience in which teachers balance barriers with their value of nutrition education and motivation to help students make healthy choices. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators should work with classroom teachers at the program design, implementation, and evaluation stages of curriculum development to better address needs and facilitate the delivery of high-quality nutrition education for students

Relationships between Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Behavior for Fifth Grade Students Attending Title I and Non-Title I Schools

The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) is a widely used theory for nutrition education programming. Better understanding the relationships between knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavior among children of various income levels can help to form and improve nutrition programs, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavior among fifth grade students attending Title I (≥ 40% of students receiving free or reduced school meals) and non-Title I schools (\u3c 40% of students receiving free or reduced school meals). A validated survey was completed by 55 fifth grade students from Title I and 122 from non-Title I schools. Differences in knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavior scores between groups were assessed using t test and adjusted for variations between participating schools. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationships between knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavior. In adjusted models, the Title I group had significantly lower scores on several knowledge items and summary knowledge (P = 0.04). The Title I group had significantly lower scores on several behavior variables including intakes of fruits (P = 0.02), vegetables (P = 0.0005), whole grains (P = 0.0003), and lean protein (P = 0.047), physical activity (P = 0.002) and summary behavior (P = 0.001). However the Title I group scored higher on self-efficacy for meal planning (P = 0.04) and choosing healthy snacks (P = 0.036). Both self-efficacy (β = 0.70, P \u3c 0.0001) and knowledge (β = 0.35, P = 0.002) strongly predicted behavior; however, only self-efficacy remained significant in the Title I group (self-efficacy, β = 0.82, P = 0.0003; knowledge, β = 0.11, P = 0.59). Results demonstrate disparities in nutrition knowledge and behavior outcomes between students surveyed from Title I and non-Title I schools, suggesting more resources may be necessary for lower income populations. Findings suggest that future nutrition interventions should focus on facilitating the improvement of children\u27s self-efficac

Changes in structural network topology correlate with severity of hallucinatory behavior in Parkinson's disease

Inefficient integration between bottom-up visual input and higher order visual processing regions is implicated in visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we investigated white matter contributions to this perceptual imbalance hypothesis. Twenty-nine PD patients were assessed for hallucinatory behavior. Hallucination severity was correlated to connectivity strength of the network using the network-based statistic approach. The results showed that hallucination severity was associated with reduced connectivity within a subnetwork that included the majority of the diverse club. This network showed overall greater between-module scores compared with nodes not associated with hallucination severity. Reduced between-module connectivity in the lateral occipital cortex, insula, and pars orbitalis and decreased within-module connectivity in the prefrontal, somatosensory, and primary visual cortices were associated with hallucination severity. Conversely, hallucination severity was associated with increased between- and within-module connectivity in the orbitofrontal and temporal cortex, as well as regions comprising the dorsal attentional and default mode network. These results suggest that hallucination severity is associated with marked alterations in structural network topology with changes in participation along the perceptual hierarchy. This may result in the inefficient transfer of information that gives rise to hallucinations in PD. Author SummaryInefficient integration of information between external stimuli and internal perceptual predictions may lead to misperceptions or visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we show that hallucinatory behavior in PD patients is associated with marked alterations in structural network topology. Severity of hallucinatory behavior was associated with decreased connectivity in a large subnetwork that included the majority of the diverse club, nodes with a high number of between-module connections. Furthermore, changes in between-module connectivity were found across brain regions involved in visual processing, top-down prediction centers, and endogenous attention, including the occipital, orbitofrontal, and posterior cingulate cortex. Together, these findings suggest that impaired integration across different sides across different perceptual processing regions may result in inefficient transfer of information

Growing Healthy Kids: A School Enrichment Nutrition Education Program to Promote Healthy Behaviors for Children

The Growing Healthy Kids Program is a school-based nutrition education program that teaches students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade about healthy eating, physical activity, and how their body uses food. Pre- and post-knowledge data is collected from the students to measure changes in nutrition knowledge. In the first 2 years of the program, significant improvements in nutrition knowledge were found in all three grades. Teachers reported that students were more aware of the importance of nutrition and were making healthier meal and/or snack choices at the end of the program

Requirements for Vav Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors and Rho GTPases in FcγR- and Complement-Mediated Phagocytosis

SummaryVav guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) have been implicated in cell adhesion by integrin and immune response receptors through the regulation of Rho GTPases. Here, we examine the role of Vav and Rho GTPases in phagocytosis by using primary murine macrophages. The genetic deletion of Rac1 and Rac2 prevents phagocytosis mediated by integrin and Fcγ receptors (FcγR), whereas the genetic deletion of Vav1 and Vav3 only prevents integrin-mediated phagocytosis through the complement receptor αMβ2. In addition, a Rac1/2 or Vav1/3 deficiency blocks Arp2/3 recruitment and actin polymerization at the complement-induced phagosome, indicating that these proteins regulate early steps in phagocytosis. Moreover, constitutively active Rac is able to rescue actin polymerization and complement-mediated phagocytosis in Vav-deficient macrophages. These studies indicate that Rac is critical for complement- and FcγR-mediated phagocytosis. In contrast, Vav is specifically required for complement-mediated phagocytosis, suggesting that Rac is regulated by GEFs other than Vav downstream of the FcγR

Understanding the training and education needs of homecare workers supporting people with dementia and cancer: a systematic review of reviews

Many people with dementia, supported by family carers, prefer to live at home and may rely on homecare support services. People with dementia are also often living with multimorbidities, including cancer. The main risk factor for both cancer and dementia is age and the number of people living with dementia and cancer likely to rise. Upskilling the social care workforce to facilitate more complex care is central to national workforce strategies and challenges. Training and education development must also respond to the key requirements of a homecare workforce experiencing financial, recruitment and retention difficulties. This systematic review of reviews provides an overview of dementia and cancer training and education accessible to the homecare workforce. Findings reveal there is a diverse range of training and education available, with mixed evidence of effectiveness. Key barriers and facilitators to effective training and education are identified in order to inform future training, education and learning development for the homecare workforce supporting people with dementia and cancer

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor regulates cell cycle progression in human breast cancer cells via a functional interaction with cyclin-dependent kinase 4

ABSTRACT The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor with constitutive activities and those induced by xenobiotic ligands, such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). One unexplained cellular role for the AHR is its ability to promote cell cycle progression in the absence of exogenous ligands, whereas treatment with exogenous ligands induces cell cycle arrest. Within the cell cycle, progression from G 1 to S phase is controlled by sequential phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (RB1) by cyclin D-cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 complexes. In this study, the functional interactions between the AHR, CDK4, and cyclin D1 (CCND1) were investigated as a potential mechanism for the cell cycle regulation by the AHR. Time course cell cycle and molecular experiments were performed in human breast cancer cells. The results demonstrated that the AHR and CDK4 interact within the cell cycle, and the interaction was disrupted upon TCDD treatment. The disruption was temporally correlated with G 1 cell cycle arrest and decreased phosphorylation of RB1. Biochemical reconstitution assays using in vitro-translated protein recapitulated the AHR and CDK4 interaction and showed that CCND1 was also part of the complex. In vitro assays for CDK4 kinase activity demonstrated that RB1 phosphorylation by the AHR/CDK4/CCND1 complex was reduced in the presence of TCDD. The results suggest that the AHR interacts in a complex with CDK4 and CCND1 in the absence of exogenous ligands to facilitate cell cycle progression. This interaction is disrupted by exogenous ligands, such as TCDD, to induce G 1 cell cycle arrest. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and a member of the basic helix-loophelix, period/aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT)/single-minded (PAS) superfamily. In the canonical model for AHR signaling, the unliganded form of the receptor exists in the cytoplasm in a stable complex with HSP90

Necessary Skills and Knowledge for Staff Providing Telehealth Services

Background Although motor abnormalities have been flagged as potentially the most sensitive and specific clinical features for predicting the future progression to Parkinson's disease, little work has been done to characterize gait and balance impairments in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). Objective The objective of this study was to quantitatively determine any static balance as well as gait impairments across the 5 independent domains of gait in polysomnography-confirmed iRBD patients using normal, fast-paced, and dual-task walking conditions. Methods A total of 38 participants (24 iRBD, 14 healthy controls) completed the following 5 different walking trials across a pressure sensor carpet: (1) normal pace, (2) fast pace, (3) while counting backward from 100 by 1s, (4) while naming as many animals as possible, (5) while subtracting 7s from 100. Results Although no gait differences were found between the groups during normal walking, there were significant differences between groups under the fast-paced and dual-task gait conditions. Specifically, in response to the dual tasking, healthy controls widened their step width without changing step width variability, whereas iRBD patients did not widen their step width but, rather, significantly increased their step width variability. Similarly, changes between the groups were observed during fast-paced walking wherein the iRBD patients demonstrated greater step length asymmetry when compared with controls. Conclusions This study demonstrates that iRBD patients have subtle gait impairments, which likely reflect early progressive degeneration in brainstem regions that regulate both REM sleep and gait coordination. Such gait assessments may be useful as a diagnostic preclinical screening tool for future fulminant gait abnormalities for trials of disease-preventive agents. (c) 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Societ