Dietary patterns in urbanised blacks

A survey of dietary patterns was made in Guguletu, an urban Black township near Cape Town. The subjects comprised Black children and adults eating adult-type food. They were divided into 5 groups-3 groups of families according to income (well-to-do, medium and poor), one group of bachelors and one group recently removed from the coastal district of Simonstown. Dietary patterns were studied quantitatively and qualitatively. A computerised food table was compiled for obtaining data on the intake of 28 nutrients by families and individuals, per week and per day. Qualitative data were provided by respondents interviewed in their homes and bachelor quarters. Interviews included questions on taboos, cooking methods and meal patterns, as well as daily food intake and weekly purchasing.Transition from rural to urban living brings about a taste for sophisticated 'town foods' but the basic anthropological predilection for c'arbohydrate remains unchanged, and meat was found to be the most valued food. Fat consumption increases in an urban community. Total food consumption was inversely related to family size, the highest calorie intake being noted among the bachelors. Riboflavin intake fell short of the National Research Council's recommended daily allowances as did niacin, tryptophan and calcium. The dietary pattern developing in an urban Black township clearly needs modification to ensure adequate nutrient intake and to prevent destruction of nutrients by faulty cooking methods.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 485 (1974)

Dietary Patterns in Urbanised Blacks: A study in Guguletu, Cape Town, 1971

A survey of dietary patterns was made in Guguletu, an urban Black township near Cape Town. The subjects comprised Black children and adults eating adult-type food. They were divided into 5 groups-3 groups of families according to income (well-to-do, medium and poor), one group of bachelors and one group recently removed from the coastal district of Simonstown. Dietary patterns were studied quantitatively and qualitatively. A computerised food table was compiled for obtaining data on the intake of 28 nutrients by families and individuals, per week and per day. Qualitative data were provided by respondents interviewed in their homes and bachelor quarters. Interviews included questions on taboos, cooking methods and meal patterns, as well as daily food intake and weekly purchasing. Transition from rural to urban living brings about a taste for sophisticated 'town foods' but the basic anthropological predilection for c'arbohydrate remains unchanged, and meat was found to be the most valued food. Fat consumption increases in an urban community. Total food consumption was inversely related to family size, the highest calorie intake being noted among the bachelors. Riboflavin intake fell short of the National Research Council's recommended daily allowances as did niacin, tryptophan and calcium. The dietary pattern developing in an urban Black township clearly needs modification to ensure adequate nutrient intake and to prevent destruction of nutrients by faulty cooking methods.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 485 (1974

Antarctic climate, Southern Ocean circulation patterns, and deep water formation during the Eocene

We assess early-to-middle Eocene seawater neodymium (Nd) isotope records from seven Southern Ocean deep-sea drill sites to evaluate the role of Southern Ocean circulation in long-term Cenozoic climate change. Our study sites are strategically located on either side of the Tasman Gateway and are positioned at a range of shallow (Nd(t) = −9.3 ± 1.5). IODP Site U1356 off the coast of Adélie Land, a locus of modern-day Antarctic Bottom Water production, is identified as a site of persistent deep water formation from the early Eocene to the Oligocene. East of the Tasman Gateway an additional local source of intermediate/deep water formation is inferred at ODP Site 277 in the SW Pacific Ocean (εNd(t) = −8.7 ± 1.5). Antarctic-proximal shelf sites (ODP Site 1171 and Site U1356) reveal a pronounced erosional event between 49 and 48 Ma, manifested by ~2 εNd unit negative excursions in seawater chemistry toward the composition of bulk sediments at these sites. This erosional event coincides with the termination of peak global warmth following the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum and is associated with documented cooling across the study region and increased export of Antarctic deep waters, highlighting the complexity and importance of Southern Ocean circulation in the greenhouse climate of the Eocene

Timing and Nature of the Deepening of the Tasmanian Gateway

Tectonic changes that produced a deep Tasmanian Gateway between Australia and Antarctica are widely invoked as the major mechanism for Antarctic cryosphere growth and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) development during the Eocene/Oligocene (E/O) transition (∼34–33 Ma). Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189 recovered near-continuous marine sedimentary records across the E/O transition interval at four sites around Tasmania. These records are largely barren of calcareous microfossils but contain a rich record of siliceous- and organic-walled marine microfossils. In this study we integrate micropaleontological, sedimentological, geochemical, and paleomagnetic data from Site 1172 (East Tasman Plateau) to identify four distinct phases (A–D) in the E/O Tasmanian Gateway deepening that are correlative among ODP Leg 189 sites. Phase A, prior to ∼35.5 Ma: minor initial deepening characterized by a shallow marine prodeltaic setting with initial condensation episodes. Phase B, ∼35.5–33.5 Ma: increased deepening marked by the onset of major glauconitic deposition and inception of energetic bottom-water currents. Phase C, ∼33.5–30.2 Ma: further deepening to bathyal depths, with episodic erosion by increasingly energetic bottom-water currents. Phase D, \u3c30.2 Ma: establishment of stable, open-ocean, warm-temperate, oligotrophic settings characterized by siliceous-carbonate ooze deposition. Our combined evidence indicates that this early Oligocene Tasmanian Gateway deepening initially produced an eastward flow of relatively warm surface waters from the Australo-Antarctic Gulf into the southwestern Pacific Ocean. This “proto-Leeuwin” current fundamentally differs from previous regional reconstructions of eastward flowing cool water (e.g., a “proto-ACC”) during the early Oligocene and thereby represents an important new constraint for reconstructing regional- to global-scale dynamics for this major global change event

First evidence for Wollemi Pine-type pollen (Dilwynites: Araucariaceae) in South America

We report the first fossil pollen from South America of the lineage that includes the recently discovered, extremely rare Australian Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). The grains are from the late Paleocene to early middle Eocene Ligorio Márquez Formation of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina, and are assigned to Dilwynites, the fossil pollen type that closely resembles the pollen of modern Wollemia and some species of its Australasian sister genus, Agathis. Dilwynites was formerly known only from Australia, New Zealand, and East Antarctica. The Patagonian Dilwynites occurs with several taxa of Podocarpaceae and a diverse range of cryptogams and angiosperms, but not Nothofagus. The fossils greatly extend the known geographic range of Dilwynites and provide important new evidence for the Antarctic region as an early Paleogene portal for biotic interchange between Australasia and South America.Mike Macphail, Raymond J. Carpenter, Ari Iglesias, Peter Wil

Vitamin C and infectious diseases

Non peer reviewe

Clinically Unapparent Infantile Thiamin Deficiency in Vientiane, Laos

Infantile beriberi, or clinical thiamin (vitamin B1) deficiency in infants, is a forgotten disease in Asia, where 100 years ago it was a major public health problem. Infants with this deficiency, commonly aged ∼ 2–3 months, present in cardiac failure but usually rapidly improve if given thiamin injections. It remains relatively common in Vientiane, Lao PDR (Laos), probably because of prolonged intra- and post-partum food avoidance behaviours. Clinical disease may be the tip of an iceberg with subclinical thiamin deficiency contributing to sickness in infants without overt clinical beriberi. We therefore recruited 778 sick infants admitted during one year at Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, without clinical evidence of beriberi, and performed erythrocyte transketolase (ETK) assays. 13.4 % of infants had basal ETK<0.59 micromoles/min/gHb suggesting biochemical thiamin deficiency. Mortality was 5.5% but, among infants ≥2 months old, mortality was higher in those with basal ETK<0.59 micromoles/min/gHb (3/47, 6.4%) than in those with basal ETK≥0.59 micromoles/min/gHb (1/146, 0.7%) (P = 0.045, relative risk = 9.32 (95%CI 0.99 to 87.5)). We conclude that clinically unapparent thiamin deficiency is common among sick infants (≥2 months old) admitted to hospital in Vientiane. This may contribute to mortality and a low clinical threshold for providing thiamin to sick infants may be needed

Erythrocyte Transketolase Activity, Markers of Cardiac Dysfunction and the Diagnosis of Infantile Beriberi

Infantile beriberi, or clinical thiamin (vitamin B1) deficiency in infants, is a forgotten disease in Asia, where ∼100 years ago it was a major public health problem. Children aged ∼2–3 months present in cardiac failure but usually rapidly improve if given thiamin injections. It remains relatively common in Vientiane, Lao PDR (Laos) probably because of prolonged intra- and post-partum maternal food avoidance behaviours. There has been very little recent research on the best diagnostic techniques. We conducted a case control study of 47 infants with beriberi and age-matched afebrile and febrile controls in Vientiane. The conventional measures of thiamin deficiency, basal and activated erythrocyte transketolase activities (ETK) and activation (α) coefficients, were assayed along with three markers of cardiac dysfunction - plasma brain natriuretic peptide, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and troponin T. Basal ETK was a better biochemical marker of infantile beriberi than the activation coefficient. Raised plasma troponin T may be a useful indicator of infantile beriberi in babies at risk and in the absence of other evident causes

Vegan diets : practical advice for athletes and exercisers.

With the growth of social media as a platform to share information, veganism is becoming more visible, and could be becoming more accepted in sports and in the health and fitness industry. However, to date, there appears to be a lack of literature that discusses how to manage vegan diets for athletic purposes. This article attempted to review literature in order to provide recommendations for how to construct a vegan diet for athletes and exercisers. While little data could be found in the sports nutrition literature specifically, it was revealed elsewhere that veganism creates challenges that need to be accounted for when designing a nutritious diet. This included the sufficiency of energy and protein; the adequacy of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine and vitamin D; and the lack of the long-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA in most plant-based sources. However, via the strategic management of food and appropriate supplementation, it is the contention of this article that a nutritive vegan diet can be designed to achieve the dietary needs of most athletes satisfactorily. Further, it was suggested here that creatine and β-alanine supplementation might be of particular use to vegan athletes, owing to vegetarian diets promoting lower muscle creatine and lower muscle carnosine levels in consumers. Empirical research is needed to examine the effects of vegan diets in athletic populations however, especially if this movement grows in popularity, to ensure that the health and performance of athletic vegans is optimised in accordance with developments in sports nutrition knowledge