Objective understanding of front-of-package nutrition labels: An international comparative experimental study across 12 countries

Front-of-Package labels (FoPLs) are efficient tools for increasing consumers’ awareness of foods’ nutritional quality and encouraging healthier choices. A label’s design is likely to influence its effectiveness; however, few studies have compared the ability of different FoPLs to facilitate a consumer understanding of foods’ nutritional quality, especially across sociocultural contexts. This study aimed to assess consumers’ ability to understand five FoPLs [Health Star Rating system (HSR), Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL), Nutri-Score, Reference Intakes (RIs), and Warning symbol] in 12 different countries. In 2018, approximately 1000 participants per country were recruited and asked to rank three sets of label-free products (one set of three pizzas, one set of three cakes, and one set of three breakfast cereals) according to their nutritional quality, via an online survey. Participants were subsequently randomised to one of five FoPL conditions and were again asked to rank the same sets of products, this time with a FoPL displayed on pack. Changes in a participants’ ability to correctly rank products across the two tasks were assessed by FoPL using ordinal logistic regression. In all 12 countries and for all three food categories, the Nutri-Score performed best, followed by the MTL, HSR, Warning symbol, and RIs

Results on entire solutions for a degenerate critical elliptic equation with anisotropic coefficients

In this paper, we study the following degenerate critical elliptic equations with anisotropic coefficients $$-div(|x_{N}|^{2\alpha}\nabla u)=K(x)|x_{N}|^{\alpha\cdot 2^{*}(s)-s}|u|^{2^{*}(s)-2}u {in} \mathbb{R}^{N}$$ where $x=(x_{1},...,x_{N})\in\mathbb{R}^{N},$ $N\geq 3,$ $\alpha>1/2,$ $0\leq s\leq 2$ and $2^{*}(s)=2(N-s)/(N-2).$ Some basic properties of the degenerate elliptic operator $-div(|x_{N}|^{2\alpha}\nabla u)$ are investigated and some regularity, symmetry and uniqueness results for entire solutions of this equation are obtained. We also get some variational identities for solutions of this equation. As a consequence, we obtain some nonexistence results for solutions of this equation.Comment: 29 page

Estrogen inhibits GH signaling by suppressing GH-induced JAK2 phosphorylation, an effect mediated by SOCS-2

Oral estrogen administration attenuates the metabolic action of growth hormone (GH) in humans. To investigate the mechanism involved, we studied the effects of estrogen on GH signaling through Janus kinase (JAK)2 and the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) in HEK293 cells stably expressing the GH receptor (293GHR), HuH7 (hepatoma) and T-47D (breast cancer) cells. 293GHR cells were transiently transfected with an estrogen receptor-α expression plasmid and luciferase reporters with binding elements for STAT3 and STAT5 or the β-casein promoter. GH stimulated the reporter activities by four- to sixfold. Cotreatment with 17β-estradiol (E2) resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in the response of all three reporters to GH to a maximum of 49-66% of control at 100 nM (P < 0.05). No reduction was seen when E2 was added 1-2 h after GH treatment. Similar inhibitory effects were observed in HuH7 and T-47D cells. E2 suppressed GH-induced JAK2 phosphorylation, an effect attenuated by actinomycin D, suggesting a requirement for gene expression. Next, we investigated the role of the suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) in E2 inhibition. E2 increased the mRNA abundance of SOCS-2 but not SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 in HEK293 cells. The inhibitory effect of E2 was absent in cells lacking SOCS-2 but not in those lacking SOCS-1 and SOCS-3. In conclusion, estrogen inhibits GH signaling, an action mediated by SOCS-2. This paper provides evidence for regulatory interaction between a sex steroid and the GH/JAK/STAT pathway, in which SOCS-2 plays a central mechanistic role

Altered Metabolism of Growth Hormone Receptor Mutant Mice: A Combined NMR Metabonomics and Microarray Study

Growth hormone is an important regulator of post-natal growth and metabolism. We have investigated the metabolic consequences of altered growth hormone signaling in mutant mice that have truncations at position 569 and 391 of the intracellular domain of the growth hormone receptor, and thus exhibit either low (around 30% maximum) or no growth hormone-dependent STATS signaling respectively. These mutants result in altered liver metabolism, obesity and insulin resistance

Association between nutritional profiles of foods underlying Nutri-Score front-of-pack labels and mortality: EPIC cohort study in 10 European countries.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSAm-NPS), which grades the nutritional quality of food products and is used to derive the Nutri-Score front-of-packet label to guide consumers towards healthier food choices, is associated with mortality. DESIGN: Population based cohort study. SETTING: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort from 23 centres in 10 European countries. PARTICIPANTS: 521 324 adults; at recruitment, country specific and validated dietary questionnaires were used to assess their usual dietary intakes. A FSAm-NPS score was calculated for each food item per 100 g content of energy, sugars, saturated fatty acids, sodium, fibre, and protein, and of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. The FSAm-NPS dietary index was calculated for each participant as an energy weighted mean of the FSAm-NPS score of all foods consumed. The higher the score the lower the overall nutritional quality of the diet. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Associations between the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and mortality, assessed using multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: After exclusions, 501 594 adults (median follow-up 17.2 years, 8 162 730 person years) were included in the analyses. Those with a higher FSAm-NPS dietary index score (highest versus lowest fifth) showed an increased risk of all cause mortality (n=53 112 events from non-external causes; hazard ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.10, P<0.001 for trend) and mortality from cancer (1.08, 1.03 to 1.13, P<0.001 for trend) and diseases of the circulatory (1.04, 0.98 to 1.11, P=0.06 for trend), respiratory (1.39, 1.22 to 1.59, P<0.001), and digestive (1.22, 1.02 to 1.45, P=0.03 for trend) systems. The age standardised absolute rates for all cause mortality per 10 000 persons over 10 years were 760 (men=1237; women=563) for those in the highest fifth of the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and 661 (men=1008; women=518) for those in the lowest fifth. CONCLUSIONS: In this large multinational European cohort, consuming foods with a higher FSAm-NPS score (lower nutritional quality) was associated with a higher mortality for all causes and for cancer and diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems, supporting the relevance of FSAm-NPS to characterise healthier food choices in the context of public health policies (eg, the Nutri-Score) for European populations. This is important considering ongoing discussions about the potential implementation of a unique nutrition labelling system at the European Union level

Антикризисное управление

Учебно-методический комплекс (УМК) по учебной дисциплине «Ан-тикризисное управление» создан в соответствии с требованиями Положения об учебно-методическом комплексе на уровне высшего образования, утвер-жденного постановлением Министерства образования Республики Беларусь от 26.07.2011 № 167, предназначен для реализации содержания образова-тельной программы для обучающихся первой ступени высшего образования для студентов специальности 1-26 02-02 «Менеджмент». Содержание разделов УМК соответствует образовательному стандарту высшего образования данной специальности. Главная цель УМК – оказание методической помощи магистрантам в освоении и систематизации учебного материала в процессе обучения и под-готовки к аттестации по дисциплине «Антикризисное управление». УМК включает: 1. Теоретический раздел (конспект лекций, аннотированный перечень основных учебных и научно-практических изданий). 2. Практический раздел (тематика практических занятий по дисци-плине в соответствии с учебным планом и учебной программой). 3. Контроль работы обучающихся (материалы для текущей аттестации, позволяющие определить соответствие учебной деятельности обучающихся требованиям образовательного стандарта высшего образования и учебно-программной документации, в т.ч. вопросы для подготовки к зачету). 4. Вспомогательный раздел (содержание учебного материала учебной дисциплины; методические рекомендации по организации самостоятельной работы магистрантов; информационно-аналитические материалы: список ре-комендуемой литературы, перечень электронных ресурсов и их адреса; при-мерный перечень тем для написания рефератов). Работа с УМК должна включать на первом этапе ознакомление с со-держанием учебного материала учебной дисциплины, посредством которого можно получить информацию о тематике лекций и практических занятий, перечнях рассматриваемых вопросов и рекомендуемой для их изучения ли-тературы. Для подготовки к практическим занятиям необходимо использо-вать материалы, представленные в Теоретическом и Практическом разделах. В основу структуры программы легла учебная программа «Антикри-зисное управление» Белорусского государственного университета для выс-ших учебных заведений по специальности Э.01.03.00 «Экономика и управле-ния на предприятии» (регистрационный № ТД-182/баз.)

Suppressor of cytokine signaling-2: A growth hormone-inducible inhibitor of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation

AbstractBackground & Aims: Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) increase intestinal growth. GH is thought to act indirectly via IGF-I. In several models, including rats given total parenteral nutrition (TPN), IGF-I more potently stimulates mucosal growth than GH, even when GH induces similar circulating IGF-I levels. These studies test the hypothesis that GH induces a suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS), which inhibits intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation. Methods: Rats on TPN received vehicle, GH, or IGF-I. Jejunal SOCS (SOCS-1, -2, -3, and cytokine-inducible SH2-domain-containing protein [CIS]) and IGF-I messenger RNA (mRNA) were quantified. Caco-2, IEC-6 cells, and SOCS-2 null and wild-type (WT) mice were used to examine the expression and functional role of SOCS-2. Results: As reported previously, IGF-I, but not GH, prevented mucosal atrophy during TPN, although GH elevated plasma IGF-I and increased body weight. GH, but not IGF-I, induced jejunal SOCS-2 mRNA. SOCS-2 mRNA levels in GH and IGF-I-treated rats inversely correlated with mucosal weight. SOCS-2 is expressed in Caco-2 cells, and elevated SOCS-2 expression in postconfluent cells is associated with reduced proliferative rates. SOCS-2 overexpression in Caco-2 cells inhibited cell proliferation and promoted differentiation. In IEC-6 cells, GH induced SOCS-2 and reduced basal or IGF-I-induced proliferation. GH also reduced proliferative activity in isolated crypts from WT but not SOCS-2 null mice, and SOCS-2 null crypts showed enhanced proliferative responses to GH and IGF-I. SOCS-2 null mice have increased intestinal weight and length. Conclusions: SOCS-2 is a GH-inducible, novel inhibitor of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and intestinal growth