A Review of Health Literacy and Its Relationship to Nutrition Education

Health literacy has emerged as a focus of increasing research in the medical literature, yet it has received little attention in the nutrition literature. Because nutrition practice is an important sector of the health care environment and reduced health literacy confers known health consequences, dietitians should be equipped with an understanding of how health literacy extends to nutritional care. Identification instruments that are available fail to provide an understanding of nutrition literacy. Nutrition literacy may include knowledge of nutrition principles and nutrition skills. Additional research into the development of appropriate nutrition literacy tools and their application is needed

High Resolution Imaging Of Early, Subclinical Cartilage Injuries: Implications For The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease. Currently, there are no treatments to restore damaged cartilage to its native state. Joint injury increases the risk of developing post-traumatic OA (PTOA). Subtle cartilage injury that may progress to PTOA cannot be detected with current clinical imaging modalities. If subtle cartilage injury is detectable, PTOA can be better understood to develop treatments targeting early disease progression. The goal of this dissertation was to evaluate methods for detecting, characterizing, and treating early cartilage injury. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) can provide high resolution details of live, intact tissue. The purpose of the first study was to validate the use of MPM to detect subtle cartilage damage. The results confirmed the ability of MPM to resolve structural changes and cell death in cartilage immediately after injury. This suggests future application of MPM in the clinic for early diagnosis or in the laboratory to perform longitudinal studies not currently possible due to the necessity of histological processing. In the second study, cartilage and its resiliency to injury were evaluated among eight major joints to determine if there are different susceptibilities to injury in different joints. The structure of articular cartilage and prevalence of OA vary among joints, but typically results from work performed within a single joint are applied to other joints. The results from the second study showed that some joints have more cellular death and/or decrease anabolic gene expression than other joints after receiving the same injury, which suggests the need for joint specific treatments. The third study examined the role of oxygen in the development of PTOA. Cartilage is avascular and has limited oxygen supply. Oxygen tension may be increased in arthritic joints, yet short exposure to high oxygen tension is beneficial to uninjured cartilage. In this final study, the effect of increased oxygen tension on cartilage viability after injury was evaluated. The immediate application of hyperoxic treatment minimized cell death after injury, suggesting that the immediate application of high oxygen following injury may be chondroprotective. These findings have implications in future treatments that could minimize the effect of cartilage injury and development of PTOA

Chronic Wasting Disease In Cervids: Prevalence, Impact And Management Strategies

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects members of the cervidae family. The infectious agent is a misfolded isoform (PrPSC) of the host prion protein (PrPC). The replication of PrPSC initiates a cascade of developmental changes that spread from cell to cell, individual to individual, and that for some TSEs, has crossed the species barrier. CWD can be transmitted horizontally and vertically, and it is the only TSE that affects free-ranging wildlife. While other TSEs are under control and even declining, infection rates of CWD continue to grow and the disease distribution continues to expand in North America and around the world. Since the first reported case in 1967, CWD has spread infecting captive and free-ranging cervids in 26 states in the US, 3 Canadian provinces, 3 European countries and has been found in captive cervids in South Korea. CWD causes considerable ecologic, economic and sociologic impact, as this is a 100% fatal highly contagious infectious disease, with no treatment or cure available. Because some TSEs have crossed the species barrier, the zoonotic potential of CWD is a concern for human health and continues to be investigated. Here we review the characteristics of the CWD prion protein, mechanisms of transmission and the role of genetics. We discuss the characteristics that contribute to prevalence and distribution. We also discuss the impact of CWD and review the management strategies that have been used to prevent and control the spread of CWD.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/faculty_staff_works/1033/thumbnail.jp

Chinese restaurant owners/ managers perceptions of healthy menu items

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Caffeine, but not other phytochemicals, in mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hilaire) attenuates high-fat-high-sucrose-diet-driven lipogenesis and body fat accumulation

Authors followed the guidelines of the National Institutes of Health guide for the care and use of Laboratory animals (NIH Publications No.8023, revised 1978)The objective was to examine the effectiveness of mate tea (MT, Ilex paraguariensis St. Hilaire) and caffeine from mate tea (MC) on in vitro lipid accumulation and in vivo diet-driven-obesity. MC and decaffeinated mate (DM) were obtained using supercritical CO2 extraction and mainly composed of caffeine and caffeoylquinic acids, respectively. MC reduced lipid accumulation (41%) via downregulation of fatty acid synthase (Fasn) (39%) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Rats fed a high-fat-high-sucrose-diet and 0.1% of caffeine from MC, MT, or DM. MC attenuated weight gain (16%) and body fat accumulation (22%). MC reduced Fasn expression in both adipose tissue (66%) and liver (37%). MC diminished pyruvate kinase (PK, 59%) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP, 50%) hepatic expression. In silico, neochlorogenic acid interacted with PK and MTP allosteric sites. FAS β‐ketoacyl reductase domain showed the highest affinity to 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. Caffeine suppressed lipid accumulation and body weight gain, through the modulation of lipogenic gene expressio

Head Start and child care providers’ motivators, barriers and facilitators to practicing family-style meal service

This paper presents a qualitative investigation of the motivators, barriers, and facilitators for practicing family-style meal service (FSMS) from the perspective of 18 child care providers serving preschool children in Head Start (HS), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) funded, and non-CACFP child-care centers. Providers were selected based on maximum variation purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted until saturation was reached. Provider responses were systematically coded using thematic analysis. HS and CACFP providers reported being motivated to practice FSMS because it created pleasant mealtimes, opportunities to role model healthy eating, and healthful child development. CACFP and non-CACFP providers reported not using FSMS because it was resource intensive, messy, and seemed to violate CACFP policy. HS and CACFP providers offered suggestions to overcome these barriers. They suggested that FSMS eventually becomes easier with practice, children can self-regulate their energy intake, and teaching children self-help skills during play time can avoid messes during mealtimes. Findings from this study have implications for programming, policy, and research