Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

We are pleased to present the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This document is intended to be a primary source of dietary health information for policymakers, nutrition educators, and health providers. Based on the latest scientific evidence, the 2005 Dietary Guidelinesprovides information and advice for choosing a nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, achieving adequate exercise, and “keeping foods safe” to avoid foodborne illness. This document is based on the recommendations put forward by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The Committee was composed of scientific experts who were responsible for reviewing and analyzing the most current dietary and nutritional information and incorporating this into a scientific evidence-based report. We want to thank them and the other public and private professionals who assisted in developing this document for their hard work and dedication

Levels of ATP in different organic wastes under composting conditions

Background: the concentration of ATP in selected samples from the composting process of several organic wastes (municipal solid wastes, wastewater sludge, animal by-products and cow manure) has been determined in order to characterize the aerobic biological activity of such wastes. Results: the values obtained ranged from 0 (in old stable compost from cow manure) to 0.07 μ mol ATP/g dry matter in thermophilic samples of municipal solid wastes composting. In general, it was found that ATP levels were in agreement with the stage of the composting process (initial stage, thermophilic period and maturation). On the other hand, ATP concentration correlated well (p<0.05) with the overall respiration activity during a whole composting process of municipal solid waste at full scale. Conclusion: ATP concentration can be used to determine the biological activity of organic solid wastes in different stages of their biological treatment and to predict compost stability prior to soil application

Agreement on Agriculture in the Uruguay Round of GATT: From Punta Del Este to Marrakesh

This paper provides an overview of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, along with a discussion of the key elements of the final Agreement on Agriculture (market access, domestic support, and export competition), the nature of the exemptions available to developing countries, and exemption from the general rules. World price impacts of implementing the agreement are also considered

Effect of inoculation dosing on the composting of source-selected organic fraction of municipal solid wastes

The effects of a commercial inoculum (MicroGest 10X, Brookside Agra L.C.) on the field-scale composting of the source-selected organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) have been studied by following routine parameters of the composting process (temperature, oxygen content and moisture) and biologically-related tests such as the respirometric index and the maturity grade. The inoculum was added to composting piles of OFMSW at different levels: control (no added inoculum), treatment A (10⁵ CFU g⁻¹ of OFMSW), treatment B (10⁶ CFU g⁻¹ of OFMSW) and treatment C (10⁷ CFU g⁻¹ of OFMSW). The inoculum selected produced a significant acceleration of the composting process with high levels of biological activity in the thermophilic phase. In terms of the acceleration of composting and economy the optimal treatment was B, which produced a reduction of approximately half of the total composting time. Treatment C did not improve significantly the results obtained with treatment B, whereas treatment A has little effect on the composting of OFMSW when compared with the control experiment. Respirometric index (determined at 55 °C) and maturity grade appeared to be the most reliable tests to follow the biological activity of the composting of OFMSW. On the other hand, routine parameters such as temperature, oxygen content and moisture showed no significant differences among the different inoculation levels tested in the composting process

Can adherence to dietary guidelines address excess caloric intake? An empirical assessment for the UK

The facilitation of healthier dietary choices by consumers is a key element of government strategies to combat the rising incidence of obesity in developed and developing countries. Public health campaigns to promote healthier eating often target compliance with recommended dietary guidelines for consumption of individual nutrients such as fats and added sugars. This paper examines the association between improved compliance with dietary guidelines for individual nutrients and excess calorie intake, the most proximate determinant of obesity risk. We apply quantile regressions and counterfactual decompositions to cross-sectional data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2000-01) to assess how excess calorie consumption patterns in the UK are likely to change with improved compliance with dietary guidelines. We find that the effects of compliance vary significantly across different quantiles of calorie consumption. Our results show that compliance with dietary guidelines for individual nutrients, even if successfully achieved, is likely to be associated with only modest shifts in excess calorie consumption patterns. Consequently, public health campaigns that target compliance with dietary guidelines for specific nutrients in isolation are unlikely to have a significant effect on the obesity risk faced by the population

Performance of an industrial biofilter from a composting plant in the removal of ammonia and VOCs after material replacement

BACKGROUND: Biofiltration is a suitable odor reduction technique for the treatment of gaseous emissions from composting processes, but little is known about the start-up of full-scale biofilters after material replacement and their performance after several years of operation. - RESULTS: Biofilter material (wood chips used previously as bulking agent in a composting process) can effectively remove ammonia and most of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) content, achieving removal efficiencies greater than 70% for VOCs and near 90% for ammonia immediately after material replacement. These removal efficiencies were maintained for several months after material replacement. In the studied full-scale biofilter no lag phase was observed in the removal of ammonia whereas in the case of VOCs different patterns were detected during biofilter start-up. For the old biofilter material, after 4 years of operation, a statistically significant decrease of removal efficiency for ammonia in comparison with the new material was detected. No statistically significant differences were found in the case of VOCs. - CONCLUSIONS: Data on the emissions of several pollutants from biofilters treating composting exhaust gases have been systematically obtained. The tested filtering media presented adequate properties for biofiltration of gases emitted during the composting process

Objective, Subjective, and Self-Assessment of Preadolescent Orthodontic Treatment Need – A Function of Age, Gender, and Ethnic/Racial Background?

Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged and/or underrepresented minority backgrounds in the United States have limited or no access to orthodontic treatment. Objectives: To determine whether preadolescents' (a) objectively assessed orthodontic treatment need; (b) subjectively assessed orthodontic treatment need; and (c) self-perceptions of the psychologic aspects of their oral health-related quality of life and desire to have braces vary as a function of age, gender, ethnicity/race, and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: Data were collected from 1,566 preadolescents (age range: 8 to 11 years; 47.3 percent male/52.7 percent female; 55.7 percent African-American/39.7 percent White/2.9 percent Hispanic) in oral exams and in face to face interviews. Malocclusion was determined with the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. Results: Children (17.2 percent) had definite treatment need, 33.7 percent were borderline, and 49.1 percent had little or no need. Objectively and subjectively assessed treatment need was not affected by the children's age or gender. However, girls were more critical of their smiles and wanted braces more than boys. The older the children were, the more critical they were and the more they wanted braces. African-American children and children in schools with higher percentages of children on free school lunches had less treatment need than White children and children in schools with lower percentages of students with free school lunches. While the provider-assessed treatment need was higher for White children than for Black children, Black children were less happy with their smiles than White children, and wanted braces more than White children. SES did not affect the children's self-perceptions. Conclusions: Findings showed that substantial percentages of the preadolescents have an orthodontic treatment need. Orthodontic need and child self-perceptions varied as a function of the children's age, gender, ethnicity/race, and SES.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65150/1/j.1752-7325.2008.00089.x.pd

Intakes of vegetables and related nutrients such as vitamin B complex, potassium, and calcium, are negatively correlated with risk of stroke in Korea

Consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, but it is unclear whether their protective effects are due to antioxidant vitamins or folate and metabolically related B vitamins. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that intake of fruits and vegetables, which are major sources of antioxidant and vitamin B complex vitamins, reduces the risk of stroke. Cases consisted of patients diagnosed with first event of stroke (n = 69). Controls (n = 69) were age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched to cases. Multivariable-adjusted regression analysis showed that subjects who ate four to six servings of vegetable per day had a 32% reduction in the risk of stroke, and those with more than six servings per day had a reduction of 69% after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and family history of stroke. Intakes of total fat, plant fat, calcium, potassium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, niacin, and folate were significantly and negatively associated with the risk of stroke. Although the trend was not significant, stroke risk was reduced in the second quartile (1.21-2.66 servings per week) of fish intake. However, intake of fruits (average daily intake of 1.0 serving) and antioxidant vitamins such as carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E was not associated with the risk of stroke. In conclusion, our observational study suggests that intake of fat and vegetables, rich sources of vitamin B complex, calcium, and potassium may protect against stroke

Dietary iron intakes based on food composition data may underestimate the contribution of potentially exchangeable contaminant iron from soil

Iron intakes calculated from one-day weighed records were compared with those from same day analyzed duplicate diet composites collected from 120 Malawian women living in two rural districts with contrasting soil mineralogy and where threshing may contaminate cereals with soil iron. Soils and diet composites from the two districts were then subjected to a simulated gastrointestinal digestion and iron availability in the digests measured using a Caco-2 cell model. Median analyzed iron intakes (mg/d) were higher (p < 0.001) than calculated intakes in both Zombwe (16.6 vs. 10.1 mg/d) and Mikalango (29.6 vs. 19.1 mg/d), attributed to some soil contaminant iron based on high Al and Ti concentrations in diet composites. A small portion of iron in acidic soil from Zombwe, but not Mikalango calcareous soil, was bioavailable, as it induced ferritin expression in the cells, and may have contributed to higher plasma ferritin and total body iron for the Zombwe women reported earlier, despite lower iron intakes. In conclusion, iron intakes calculated from food composition data were underestimated, highlighting the importance of analyzing duplicate diet composites where extraneous contaminant iron from soil is likely. Acidic contaminant soil may make a small but useful contribution to iron nutrition