Taste responsiveness and beer behaviour

Orosensory perception strongly influences food and beverage liking and consumption. Variation in the perception of these oral sensations presents an opportunity to conceptualise and commercialise products based on consumers’ taste responsiveness. This thesis investigates the role of orosensory responsiveness in alcoholic beverage behaviour. Specifically, examining the role of thermal tasting in beer and cider liking and consumption. 60 participants (31 thermal tasters (TTs) and 29 thermal non-tasters (TnTs) rated the intensity of aqueous solutions of beer- and cider- relevant tastants: iso-α-acid (bitterness), ethanol (irritation, bitterness, sweetness), dextrose (sweetness) and citric acid (sourness) at concentrations typically found in commercial beers on generalised labelled magnitude scales (gLMS). Taste intensities (gLMS) and liking (9-point hedonic scale) of eight beer and cider samples differing in iso-α-acid and ethanol content were also rated. Participants self-reported on their beer and cider consumption. They also rated the importance of select factors when purchasing beer. TTs experienced the bitterness of ethanol more intensely than did TnTs (p(t)<0.05), they also rated the bitterness, sourness, astringency, and overall taste intensity of sampled beers and ciders higher than TnTs (p(F)<0.05). Agglomerative hierarchical and k-means clustering of liking scores revealed 3 clusters of consumers, characterized as ‘bitter dislikers’, ‘beer likers’, and ‘alcohol lovers’. ‘Taste’ was the most important factor consumers used when purchasing beer. It can be concluded that thermal taster status is an important determinant in the perception of beer and cider flavour. These results should assist product developers in designing beers and ciders targeted for specific segments of the population

Warts and All: HPV Vaccine Uptake.

Using an ecological model of HPV vaccine uptake as the conceptual framework for this dissertation, influences on HPV vaccine uptake at different levels are examined, from national and state public policies to influences at the health care organization level. Subsequently, a strategy for utilizing those influences to increase HPV vaccine uptake at an organization level is tested. First, a history of HPV vaccine policy is reviewed demonstrating that federal and state public policies were restricted in asserting responsibility for vaccinating the population, leaving health care organizations to fill the vacuum. The federal government limited its HPV vaccine policy involvement to approving the HPV vaccines through the FDA, recommending evidence-based universal vaccination for all females through the ACIP, and providing some vaccine funding to states for specific subgroups of the population through the Vaccines for Children program. State policy requirements focused on vaccine inclusion in school entry requirements, historically one of the most effective means of increasing vaccination rates at the population level, but only Virginia and Washington, DC have passed this legislation, as states argued in favor of parental rights over public health. Second, the literature review evaluates which factors, modifiable at the patient encounter in health care organizations, influence HPV vaccine uptake. The findings include the stronger influences of cost and insurance coverage and provider recommendation, as well as other influences including vaccination opportunity, HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge, vaccine safety concerns and HPV risk. Third, three possible strategies, aimed at eliminating cost to increase HPV vaccine uptake at the organization level, are tested. The strategies include vaccinating everyone, vaccinating no one, or targeting HPV vaccination to those at highest risk. Using decision tree analysis, very little difference in cost was calculated among the three strategies, although the least expensive strategy was to vaccinate no one, and the strategy with the best clinical outcomes was for the organization to vaccinate everyone. Finally, a synthesis of the dissertation findings is provided, applying the research to practice, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the research, and exploring directions for future research.Ph.D.NursingUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89781/1/stesmall_1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89781/2/stesmall_3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89781/3/stesmall_2.pd

Exercise-based multimodal programming : A treatment gap for older adults with advanced cancer [Commentary]

[Extract] Approximately 60% of new cancer diagnoses occur in patients aged 65 years and older.1 Normal aging is associated with a decline in health and physical function.2 A cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment can accelerate this age-related physical decline, increasing the risk of adverse health events and mortality.1 Aerobic and resistance exercise is an effective therapy to improve physical fitness and quality of life and to reduce cancer-related fatigue in individuals diagnosed with cancer, including advanced cancer.3 The American College of Sports Medicine guidelines recommend maintenance of physical activity during active cancer treatment,3 but guidelines specific to advanced cancer or elderly populations are lacking. Older patients with cancer are vastly underrepresented in clinical trials, including exercise-based trials,4 due in part to the challenges introduced by the observed heterogeneity among older adults with respect to comorbid conditions, functional status, motivation, and safety-related concerns of the treating health care professionals.4 Older adults are more likely to fear physical activity due to potential injury and to lack of guidance regarding how to start exercising.5,

The power of social connection and support in improving health: lessons from social support interventions with childbearing women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background and objective</p> <p>Social support interventions have a somewhat chequered history. Despite evidence that social connection is associated with good health, efforts to implement interventions designed to increase social support have produced mixed results. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the relationship between social connectedness and good health, by examining social support interventions with mothers of young children and analysing how support was conceptualised, enacted and valued, in order to advance what we know about providing support to improve health.</p> <p>Context and approach</p> <p>First, we provide a brief recent history of social support interventions for mothers with young children and we critically examine what was intended by ‘social support’, who provided it and for which groups of mothers, how support was enacted and what was valued by women. Second, we examine the challenges and promise of lay social support approaches focused explicitly on companionship, and draw on experiences in two cluster randomised trials which aimed to improve the wellbeing of mothers. One trial involved a universal approach, providing befriending opportunities for all mothers in the first year after birth, and the other a targeted approach offering support from a ‘mentor mother’ to childbearing women experiencing intimate partner violence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Interventions providing social support to mothers have most often been directed to women seen as disadvantaged, or ‘at risk’. They have also most often been enacted by health professionals and have included strong elements of health education and/or information, almost always with a focus on improving parenting skills for better child health outcomes. Fewer have involved non-professional ‘supporters’, and only some have aimed explicitly to provide companionship or a listening ear, despite these aspects being what mothers receiving support have said they valued most. Our trial experiences have demonstrated that non-professional support interventions raise myriad challenges. These include achieving adequate reach in a universal approach, identification of those in need of support in any targeted approach; how much training and support to offer befrienders/mentors without ‘professionalising’ the support provided; questions about the length of time support is offered, how ‘closure’ is managed and whether interventions impact on social connectedness into the future. In our two trials what women described as helpful was not feeling so alone, being understood, not being judged, and feeling an increased sense of their own worth.</p> <p>Conclusion and implications</p> <p>Examination of how social support has been conceptualised and enacted in interventions to date can be instructive in refining our thinking about the directions to be taken in future research. Despite implementation challenges, further development and evaluation of non-professional models of providing support to improve health is warranted.</p

Manipulating Fibroblast Environment to Study Specific Gene Expression

We investigated a model system for cardiac fibrosis. Cardiac fibrosis is the thickening of the heart wall due to the inappropriate proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts and excess deposition of extracellular matrix in the cardiac muscle. To understand how the cells, respond to stress, we analyzed changes in gene expression. Our research imitated the stress conditions that the heart cells experience. We chose to analyze genes that have not previously been characterized under uniaxial, biaxial and stress-free environments to look at how gene expression varies under different conditions. We normalized all data to a validated housekeeping genes. This research will help people with various heart problems in repairing damaged tissue. We expect to increase the understanding of the cause of cardiac fibrosis and contribute to a solution. Our conclusions will compare gene expression during healthy conditions to damage repair conditions

Think Like a Scientist and Engineer: Schools, University, and Community Partnerships Using an Aquaponics Project During COVID-19

One way to expand the time spent teaching science in elementary grades and teacher access to science resources is through partnerships with local universities. This article examines one collaboration that aimed to help students “Think Like a Scientist and an Engineer” using aquaponics. This self-sustainable garden combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants in water). The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E Instructional Model was used to introduce the aquaponics project. This article first discusses the University-School partnership, highlighting the project logistics, successes, challenges, and lessons learned, and follows up with recommendations for future STEM teaching projects

Interaction between the obesity-risk gene FTO and the dopamine D2 receptor gene ANKK1/TaqIA on insulin sensitivity

Variations in FTO are the strongest common genetic determinants of adiposity, and may partly act by influencing dopaminergic signalling in the brain leading to altered reward processing that promotes increased food intake. Therefore, we investigated the impact of such an interaction on body composition, and peripheral and brain insulin sensitivity. Participants from the Tubingen Family study (n = 2245) and the Malmo Diet and Cancer study (n = 2921) were genotyped for FTO SNP rs8050136 and ANKK1 SNP rs1800497. Insulin sensitivity in the caudate nucleus, an important reward area in the brain, was assessed by fMRI in 45 participants combined with intranasal insulin administration. We found evidence of an interaction between variations in FTO and an ANKK1 polymorphism that associates with dopamine (D2) receptor density. In cases of reduced D2 receptor availability, as indicated by the ANKK1 polymorphism, FTO variation was associated with increased body fat and waist circumference and reduced peripheral insulin sensitivity. Similarly, altered central insulin sensitivity was observed in the caudate nucleus in individuals with the FTO obesity-risk allele and diminished D2 receptors. The effects of variations in FTO are dependent on dopamine D2 receptor density (determined by the ANKK1 polymorphism). Carriers of both risk alleles might, therefore, be at increased risk of obesity and diabetes.Peer reviewe

Trajectories of Quality of Life after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Secondary Analysis of BMT CTN 0902 Data

Quality of life is increasingly recognized as an important secondary endpoint of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The current study examined the extent to which attrition results in biased estimates of patient quality of life. The study also examined whether patients differ in terms of trajectories of quality of life in the first six months post-transplant. A secondary data analysis was conducted of 701 participants who enrolled in the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) 0902 trial. Participants completed the SF-36, a measure of quality of life, prior to transplant and 100 and 180 days post-transplant. Results indicated that attrition resulted in slightly biased overestimates of quality of life but the amount of overestimation remained stable over time. Patients could be grouped into three distinct classes based on physical quality of life: 1) low and stable; 2) average and declining, then stable; and 3) average and stable. Four classes of patients emerged for mental quality of life: 1) low and stable; 2) average, improving, then stable; 3) higher than average (by almost 1 SD) and stable; and 4) average and stable. Taken together, these data provide a more comprehensive understanding of quality of life that can be used to educate HCT recipients and their caregivers

Do UK sheep farmers use orf vaccine correctly and could their vaccination strategy affect vaccine efficacy?

© British Veterinary Association 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Orf, a parapoxvirus, is a zoonosis causing a contagious pustular dermatitis, and has a high morbidity in sheep worldwide. Despite a vaccine being available, orf prevalence in England is estimated to be 2 per cent in ewes and 20 per cent in lambsa €a €. There is concern that farmers are not complying with the vaccination guidelines and therefore the objective of this study was to investigate if orf vaccine is used correctly on sheep farms in the UK and to identify barriers and motivators of sheep farmers to use the vaccine. The survey was completed by 570 respondents. The results show several areas of concern; only 27 per cent of respondents used the correct site (axilla), 37 per cent of respondents would use orf vaccine up to a week after opening a vial (shelf life is eight hours), 33 per cent of respondents would vaccinate their ewes too close to lambing and 73 per cent of respondents did not separate vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals (both leading to infection risk for non-vaccinated animals). When vaccinating, only 53 per cent of respondents were wearing gloves and 31 per cent washed their hands just before and immediately after vaccination. Results demonstrate that orf vaccination is not carried out correctly on all UK sheep farms, which is likely to affect vaccine efficacy. A concern around vaccine efficacy, the a € hassle' of the scratch administration, the a € risk of making it worse' and the zoonotic risk when vaccinating were the most common barriers for using orf vaccine, highlighting the importance of veterinary advice when prescribing orf vaccine

Good practice in food-related neuroimaging

The use of neuroimaging tools, especially functional magnetic resonance imaging, in nutritional research has increased substantially over the past 2 decades. Neuroimaging is a research tool with great potential impact on the field of nutrition, but to achieve that potential, appropriate use of techniques and interpretation of neuroimaging results is necessary. In this article, we present guidelines for good methodological practice in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies and flag specific limitations in the hope of helping researchers to make the most of neuroimaging tools and avoid potential pitfalls. We highlight specific considerations for food-related studies, such as how to adjust statistically for common confounders, like, for example, hunger state, menstrual phase, and BMI, as well as how to optimally match different types of food stimuli. Finally, we summarize current research needs and future directions, such as the use of prospective designs and more realistic paradigms for studying eating behavior