Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthiness: A Nutrition Metric

Background Research over the last several decades indicates the failure of existing nutritional labels to substantially improve the healthiness of consumers' food and beverage choices. The difficulty for policy-makers is to encapsulate a wide body of scientific knowledge in a labeling scheme that is comprehensible to the average shopper. Here, we describe our method of developing a nutrition metric to fill this void. Methods We asked leading nutrition experts to rate the healthiness of 205 sample foods and beverages, and after verifying the similarity of their responses, we generated a model that calculates the expected average healthiness rating that experts would give to any other product based on its nutrient content. Results The form of the model is a linear regression that places weights on 12 nutritional components (total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron) to predict the average healthiness rating that experts would give to any food or beverage. We provide sample predictions for other items in our database. Conclusions Major benefits of the model include its basis in expert judgment, its straightforward application, the flexibility of transforming its output ratings to any linear scale, and its ease of interpretation. This metric serves the purpose of distilling expert knowledge into a form usable by consumers so that they are empowered to make healthier decisions.

Shocked Gas in IRAS F17207-0014: ISM Collisions and Outflows

We combine optical and near-infrared AO-assisted integral field observations of the merging ULIRG IRAS F17207-0014 from the Wide-Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) and Keck/OSIRIS. The optical emission line ratios [N II]/H$\alpha$, [S II]/H$\alpha$, and [O I]/H$\alpha$ reveal a mixing sequence of shocks present throughout the galaxy, with the strongest contributions coming from large radii (up to 100% at $\sim$5 kpc in some directions), suggesting galactic-scale winds. The near-infrared observations, which have approximately 30 times higher spatial resolution, show that two sorts of shocks are present in the vicinity of the merging nuclei: low-level shocks distributed throughout our field-of-view evidenced by an H$_{2}$/Br$\gamma$ line ratio of $\sim$0.6-4, and strong collimated shocks with a high H$_{2}$/Br$\gamma$ line ratio of $\sim$4-8, extending south from the two nuclear disks approximately 400 pc ($\sim$0.5 arcsec). Our data suggest that the diffuse shocks are caused by the collision of the interstellar media associated with the two progenitor galaxies and the strong shocks trace the base of a collimated outflow coming from the nucleus of one of the two disks.Comment: accepted to MNRA

Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthfulness: A Nutrition Metric

Research during the last several decades indicates the failure of existing nutritional labels to substantially improve the healthfulness of consumers\u27 food/beverage choices. The present study aims to fill this void by developing a nutrition metric that is more comprehensible to the average shopper. The healthfulness ratings of 205 sample foods/beverages by leading nutrition experts formed the basis for a linear regression that places weights on 12 nutritional components (ie, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron) to predict the average healthfulness rating that experts would give to any food/beverage. Major benefits of the model include its basis in expert judgment, its straightforward application, the flexibility of transforming its output ratings to any linear scale, and its ease of interpretation. This metric serves the purpose of distilling expert knowledge into a form usable by consumers so that they are empowered to make more healthful decisions

“Body bags ready”: Print media coverage of avian influenza in Australia

In 2006 the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus received considerable media coverage in Australia, as it did in many other countries. It is often argued that the media sensationalizes health crises, and experts cautioned about the risk of panic as a result of fear of avian influenza. The purpose of the present study was to systematically analyze Australian print media coverage of avian influenza in 2006 and to examine whether this coverage served the purpose of informing, rather than alarming, the general public. For the period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006, 20 Australian newspaper titles were monitored for coverage of avian influenza. The identified articles were analyzed using aspects of protection motivation theory for theoretical direction to determine whether there were any consistent themes or perspectives in the coverage. A total of 850 articles were identified for analysis. Concerning vulnerability, 46% of articles reported the incidence of human cases, with 24% noting that avian influenza was a potential threat to Australia. The most common severity theme was “deadly” with over 50% of mentions, followed by “pandemic” with 35%. Only 11% of articles referred to any form of self-protection. We found that a considerable proportion of the articles reporting on avian influenza were framed in a way that had the potential to incite fear and panic amongst the public; the intensity of media coverage reduced over time; and, of particular concern, that there was little media coverage that focused on protective or preventative issues. Whether an influenza pandemic eventuates or not, it is prudent for governments and health authorities to continually develop appropriate resources and strategies to prepare the health system and the general public to respond to current, and future, infectious disease risks

Shocked gas in IRAS F17207-0014: ISM collisions and outflows

We combine optical and near-infrared adaptive optics-assisted integral field observations of the merging ultraluminous infrared galaxies IRAS F17207-0014 from the Wide-Field Spectrograph and Keck/OH-Suppressing Infra-Red Imaging Spectrograph (OSIRIS). The optical emission line ratios [NII]/Hα, [SII]/Hα, and [O I]/Hα reveal a mixing sequence of shocks present throughout the galaxy, with the strongest contributions coming from large radii (up to 100 per cent at ~5 kpc in some directions), suggesting galactic-scale winds. The near-infrared observations, which have approximately 30 times higher spatial resolution, show that two sorts of shocks are present in the vicinity of the merging nuclei: low-level shocks distributed throughout our field-of-view evidenced by an H2/Brγ line ratio of ~0.6-4, and strong collimated shocks with a high H2/Brγ line ratio of ~4-8, extending south from the two nuclear discs approximately 400 pc (~0.5 arcsec). Our data suggest that the diffuse shocks are caused by the collision of the interstellar media associated with the two progenitor galaxies and the strong shocks trace the base of a collimated outflow coming from the nucleus of one of the two discs

Linear Redshift Distortions and Power in the PSCz Survey

We present a state-of-the-art linear redshift distortion analysis of the recently published IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey (PSCz). The procedure involves linear compression into 4096 Karhunen-Loeve modes culled from a potential pool of about 3 x 10^5 modes, followed by quadratic compression into three separate power spectra, the galaxy-galaxy, galaxy-velocity, and velocity-velocity power spectra. Least squares fitting to the decorrelated power spectra yields a linear redshift distortion parameter beta = Omega_m^0.6/b = 0.41(+0.13,-0.12).Comment: Minor changes to agree with accepted version. Slight changes to power spectrum, including one more point added at large scales, from binning points formerly discarded as too noisy. 5 pages, including 4 embedded PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters (pink pages). Power spectrum data available at http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/pscz

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 11

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs