24 research outputs found
Exploring the Use of an Image-Based Approach to Assessing Nutrition Behaviors
Formative evaluation was conducted for the Personal Health Behaviors Overview (PHBO) survey to evaluate nutrition behaviors with image-based questions in low-income populations. Forty-nine low-income adults from nutrition education classes were invited to participate with n = 42 included in the analysis. Participants completed the PHBO survey while an interviewer recorded observations. Upon completion, participants were asked questions regarding each PHBO survey item. Most participants completed the survey in an average of 4 minutes. The majority said the photographs of food made it easier to answer questions. Less than half indicated that the visuals depicting frequency made questions easier. While participant responses were aligned with the aims of the PHBO question being asked, some suggestions were offered for improvements of photographs. While this formative evaluation research indicates additional validation is necessary before use of these PHBO questions, the image-based simple question technique is a possible solution for efficient and effective nutrition assessments in low-income, limited literacy populations
Targeted Food Marketing to Youth: Engaging Professionals in an Online Environment
The use of technology provides unique ways to create an engaged online community of learning for professionals that can be integrated into existing and future Extension programming. The Targeted Food Marketing to Youth online professional development course uses strategies and tools to create and support an engaged online community
LEDGF/p75 Proteins with Alternative Chromatin Tethers Are Functional HIV-1 Cofactors
LEDGF/p75 can tether over-expressed lentiviral integrase proteins to chromatin but how this underlies its integration cofactor role for these retroviruses is unclear. While a single integrase binding domain (IBD) binds integrase, a complex N-terminal domain ensemble (NDE) interacts with unknown chromatin ligands. Whether integration requires chromatin tethering per se, specific NDE-chromatin ligand interactions or other emergent properties of LEDGF/p75 has been elusive. Here we replaced the NDE with strongly divergent chromatin-binding modules. The chimeras rescued integrase tethering and HIV-1 integration in LEDGF/p75-deficient cells. Furthermore, chromatin ligands could reside inside or outside the nucleosome core, and could be protein or DNA. Remarkably, a short Kaposi's sarcoma virus peptide that binds the histone 2A/B dimer converted GFP-IBD from an integration blocker to an integration cofactor that rescues over two logs of infectivity. NDE mutants were corroborative. Chromatin tethering per se is a basic HIV-1 requirement and this rather than engagement of particular chromatin ligands is important for the LEDGF/p75 cofactor mechanism
Reading tea leaves worldwide: decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition massâloss rate and stabilization
The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent largeâscale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial massâloss rates and stabilization factors of plantâderived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easyâtoâdegrade components accumulate during earlyâstage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial massâloss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved massâloss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during earlyâstage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models