Tailored, iterative, printed dietary feedback is as effective as group education in improving dietary behaviours: results from a randomised control trial in middle-aged adults with cardiovascular risk factors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tailored nutrition interventions have been shown to be more effective than non-tailored materials in changing dietary behaviours, particularly fat intake and fruit and vegetable intake. But further research examining efficacy of tailored nutrition education in comparison to other nutrition education methods and across a wider range of dietary behaviours is needed. The Stages to Healthy Eating Patterns Study (STEPs) was an intervention study, in middle-aged adults with cardiovascular risk factors, to examine the effectiveness of printed, tailored, iterative dietary feedback delivered by mail in improving short-term dietary behaviour in the areas of saturated fat, fruit, vegetable and grain and cereal intake.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>STEPs was a 3-month randomised controlled trial with a pre and post-test design. There were three experimental conditions: 1) tailored, iterative, printed dietary feedback (TF) with three instalments mail-delivered over a 3-month period that were re-tailored to most recent assessment of dietary intake, intention to change and assessment of self-adequacy of dietary intake. Tailoring for dietary intake was performed on data from a validated 63-item combination FFQ designed for the purpose 2) small group nutrition education sessions (GE): consisting of two 90-minute dietitian-led small group nutrition education sessions and 3) and a wait-listed control (C) group who completed the dietary measures and socio-demographic questionnaires at baseline and 3-months later. Dietary outcome measures in the areas of saturated fat intake (g), and the intake of fruit (serves), vegetables (serves), grain and cereals as total and wholegrain (serves) were collected using 7-day estimated dietary records. Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests and general linear models adjusted for baseline dietary intake, age and gender were used to examine the effectiveness of different nutrition interventions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The TF group reported a significantly greater increase in fruit intake (0.3 serves/d P = 0.031) in comparison to GE and the C group. All three intervention groups showed a reduction in total saturated fat intake. GE also had a within-group increase in mean vegetable intake after 3 months, but this increase was not different from changes in the other groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, printed, tailored, iterative dietary feedback was more effective than small group nutrition education in improving the short-term fruit intake behaviour, and as effective in improving saturated fat intake of middle-aged adults with cardiovascular risk factors. This showed that a low-level dietary intervention could achieve modest dietary behaviour changes that are of public health significance.</p

Brazil, Ethiopia, and New Zealand lead the way on climate-smart agriculture.

As countries around the world face urgent agricultural challenges, the concept of ?climate-smart? agriculture (CSA) has been put forward to achieve climate change adaptation, mitigation, and food security synergistically. A new report explores how three countries are using integrated policy approaches to CSA and offers insights for how other countries can build CSA into their policy mix. Brazil has invested in research to support sustainable intensification while creating legal and enforcement mechanisms to protect forest areas as a response to unrestrained agricultural expansion driven by market demand. Ethiopia initiated innovative participatory watershed development programs, in partnership with numerous international institutions, which helped smallholder farmers to rehabilitate marginal land and break out of a poverty cycle. New Zealand has removed agricultural subsidies while partnering on research and development with the private sector as a way to ensure efficiency and resilience in an agricultural sector influenced by climate change and international trade dynamics. To assemble an integrated set of national policies that fosters CSA, governments will need context-specific assessments, strong multi-stakeholder institutions, coordination frameworks, and multi-scale information systems. Governments can select from an array of policy instruments ranging from regulatory mechanisms and economic incentives to public investments and educational campaigns. Many existing national policy goals and public programs designed to increase agricultural production, improve livelihoods, and reduce environmental risks can become important pillars of a national CSA strategy. Countries have obvious interests in fostering an agriculture sector that is climate-resilient, provides national needs for food, fiber, and fuel, and supports farm livelihoods. However, the incentives for national-level action toward reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) levels are less clear in the absence of serious and shared international commitment. Integrated national CSA policies will be encouraged by clear, consistent signals from multilateral agencies, global donors, and international conventions and trade agreements that promote agriculture as a pathway for poverty reduction and food security

Biomass production of Eucalyptus boundary plantations and their effect on crop productivity on Ethiopian highland Vertisols

In recent years, Eucalyptus globulus planted along field boundaries has come to dominate the central highland landscape of Ethiopia. Although evidence is scanty, there is a perception that this practice adversely affects crop productivity. An on-farm trial was conducted on Pellic Vertisol at Ginchi to determine the production potential of eucalypt boundaries and their effect on the productivity of adjacent crops of tef (Eragrostis tef) and wheat (Triticum sp.). The experiment comprised three stand ages, four field aspects and six distances from the tree-crop interface, using a split-split plot design with three replicates. Wood production rates ranged between 168 kg ha-1 y-1 (four years old) and 2901 kg ha-1 y-1 (twelve years). Thus eucalypt boundaries planted on a hectare of land would satisfy 50 to 75% of the annual biomass energy requirement of a rural household of five persons. Significant depression of tef and wheat yields occurred over the first 12m from the tree line: the reduction was 20 to 73% for tef and 20 to 51% for wheat, equivalent to yield losses of 4.4 to 26% and 4.5 to 10% per hectare respectively. Nevertheless, in financial terms, the tree component adequately compensated for crop yield reduction and even generated additional income. Therefore, eucalypt boundaries have great potential to satisfy the rising demand for wood, without requiring a major change in land use on the highland Vertisols. The greater availability of wood will reduce the demand for dung and crop residues for fuel, and thus may contribute to improved soil management on croplands while relieving the increasing pressure on indigenous forest and woodlands

A Diet Enriched in Docosahexanoic Acid Exacerbates Brain Parenchymal Extravasation of Apo B Lipoproteins Induced by Chronic Ingestion of Saturated Fats

Chronic ingestion of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) was previously shown to compromise blood-brain barrier integrity, leading to brain parenchymal extravasation of apolipoprotein B (apo B) lipoproteins enriched in amyloid beta. In contrast, diets enriched in mono- or polyunsaturated (PUFA) oils had no detrimental effect. Rather, n3 and n6 oils generally confer protection via suppression of inflammation. This study investigated in wild-type mice if a PUFA diet enriched in docosahexanoic acid (DHA) restored blood-brain barrier integrity and attenuated parenchymal apo B abundance induced by chronic ingestion of SFA. Cerebrovascular leakage of apo B was quantitated utilising immunofluorescent staining. The plasma concentration of brain-derived S100β was measured as a marker of cerebrovascular inflammation. In mice fed SFA for 3 months, provision thereafter of a DHA-enriched diet exacerbated parenchymal apo B retention, concomitant with a significant increase in plasma cholesterol. In contrast, provision of a low-fat diet following chronic SFA feeding had no effect on SFA-induced parenchymal apo B. The findings suggest that in a heightened state of cerebrovascular inflammation, the provision of unsaturated fatty acids may be detrimental, possibly as a consequence of a greater susceptibility for oxidation

Determinants of Milk Marketing Channel Selection by Urban and Peri-Urban Commercial Dairy Producers in Ethiopia

አህፅሮት &nbsp;ይህ ጥናት ገበያ ተኮር የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ የተሰማሩ የወተት አምራቾች የጥሬ ወተት ግብይት መንገዶችን ለማጥናት እና የአምራቾችን የመሸጫ (የግብይት) አማራጮች (ቻናል) አመራረጥን የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮችን ለመለየት የተካሄደ ነዉ፡፡ ጥናቱን ለመተግበር በዋና ዋና ከተሞች እና በከተሞች ዙሪያ በተለያየ የሥራ ስ የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ ከተሰማሩ 475 አካላት ጥሬ መረጃ ተሰብስቧል፡፡ ትንተናዉም የተለያዩ ገላጭ ዘዴዎችንና በዛ ያሉ አማራጮችን መሠረት ያደረጉ ሞዴሎች (መልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ሞዴል) በመጠቀም ተከናውኗል፡፡ የጥናቱ ዉጤት እንደሚያሳየዉ ምንም እንኳን በወተት ርባታዉ ላይ የተሰማሩት አካላት የተለያዩ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጮች ቢኖሯቸዉም የወተት ሽያጩ በዋናነት የሚካሄደዉ በኢ-መደበኛ የግብይት አማራጭ ነዉ፡፡ የመልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ትንተና ዉጤቱ እንደሚያሳየዉ የወተት አምራቾቹ የትምህርት ደረጃ እና በላሞች ርባታ ላይ ያካበቱት የሥራ ልምድ፣ የሥራዉ ስፋት፣ የወተት መሸጫ ቦታ ርቀት፣ በወተት ላሞች ርባታ የኅብረት ሥራ ማኅበር አባልነት፣ በእያንዳንዱ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጭ የሚቀርበዉ የወተት ዋጋ እና የወተት ላሞች ርባታዉ የሚከናወንባቸዉ ቦታዎች የወተት አምራቹ የሚሸጥበትን ቻናል የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮች ናቸዉ፡፡ ስለዚህ አሁን ያለዉን ኢ-መደበኛ የወተት ግብይት ወደ መደበኛዉ ለመቀየር የሚቀየስ የግብይት ሥልት ግብይቱን ማዘመን ላይ የተኮረ መሆን እንዳለበት ጥናቱ አመልክቷል፡፡ ይህን ስልት ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ከሚረዱ ተግባራት መካከል መደበኛና ኢ-መደበኛ ስልጠናዎችን ለወተት አምራቾች በመስጠት መደበኛ ግብይቱን እንዲቀላቀሉ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎችን በማጠናከር እና በሁሉም ትላልቅ ከተሞች ላይ እንዲመሠረቱ ሁኔታዎችን በማመቻቸት ለወተት አምራቾቹ ጥሩ የገበያ አማራጭ እንዲሆኑ ማድረግ፣ የወተት አምራች የኅብረት ሥራ ማህበራትን አቅም በመገንባት ከወተት አምራቾቹ ወተት የመሰብሰብ ሚናቸዉን እንዲወጡ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎች በከተማ ዳር እንደሚያደርጉት ሁሉ በትላልቅ ከተሞች ዉስጥም የወተት መሰብሰቢያ ጣቢያዎችን በማቋቋም በኢ-መደበኛ መንገድ የሚሸጠዉን ጥሬ ወተት ወደ መደበኛ ግብይት የመቀየሩን ሂደት ከማሳለጣቸዉም በላይ የማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካቸዉን ሙሉ አቅም በመጠቀም የወተት ዘርፉን ትርፋማነት መጨመር ይቻላል፡

Model and Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches for In-Season Nitrogen Management in Corn

Nitrogen management for corn (Zea mays L.) may be improved by applying a portion of N in-season. This investigation was conducted to evaluate crop modeling (Maize-N) and active crop canopy sensing approaches for recommending in-season N fertilizer rates. These approaches were evaluated during 2012–2013 on 11 field sites, in Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Nitrogen management also included a no-N treatment (check) and a non-limiting N reference (all at planting). Nitrogen management treatments were assessed for two hybrids and at low and high seeding rates, arranged in a randomized complete block design. In 9 of 11 site-years, the sensor-based approach recommended lower in-season N rates than the model (collectively 59% less N), resulting in trends of higher partial factor productivity of nitrogen (PFPN) and higher agronomic efficiency (AE) than the model. However, yield was better protected by the model-based approach. In some situations, canopy sensing excelled at optimizing the N rate for localized conditions. With abnormally warm and moist soil conditions for the 2012 Nebraska sites and presumed high levels of inorganic N from mineralization, N application was appropriately reduced, resulting in no yield decrease and N savings compared to the non-limiting N reference. Depending on the site, both recommendation approaches were successful; a combination of model and sensor information may optimize in-season decision support for N recommendation

Understanding Postprandial Inflammation and Its Relationship to Lifestyle Behaviour and Metabolic Diseases

Postprandial hyperlipidemia with accumulation of remnant lipoproteins is a common metabolic disturbance associated with atherosclerosis and vascular dysfunction, particularly during chronic disease states such as obesity, the metabolic syndrome and, diabetes. Remnant lipoproteins become attached to the vascular wall, where they can penetrate intact endothelium causing foam cell formation. Postprandial remnant lipoproteins can activate circulating leukocytes, upregulate the expression of endothelial adhesion molecules, facilitate adhesion and migration of inflammatory cells into the subendothelial space, and activate the complement system. Since humans are postprandial most of the day, the continuous generation of remnants after each meal may be one of the triggers for the development of atherosclerosis. Modulation of postprandial lipemia by lifestyle changes and pharmacological interventions could result in a further decrease of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. This paper will provide an update on current concepts concerning the relationship between postprandial lipemia, inflammation, vascular function, and therapeutic options