‘Read for Nutrition’ programme improves preschool children’s liking and consumption of target vegetable

Objective: To determine whether the ‘Read for Nutrition’ programme would increase liking and consumption of broccoli (a target vegetable) in preschool children and test acceptability and practicality of the programme. Design: Pilot pre-post intervention study, where childcare teachers received training and coaching followed by reading the book ‘Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli’ multiple times with the children during a three-week intervention. Setting: Five classrooms of Educare, Lincoln, Nebraska in 2018. Participants: Sixty-nine (11 to 16 children per classroom) preschool-aged children and sixteen teachers (minimum, three per classroom). Results: Average total consumption of broccoli increased 35 % (0·14 ounces or 0·05th cup) after the ‘Read for Nutrition’ programme (t = 2·66; P = 0·01; 95 % CIs (0·035, 0·246)) for all children. Proportional consumption increased for children who received ≥ five exposures to the book (t46 = 2·77; P = 0·008). Exposures to the book predicted proportional consumption (β = 0·365; P = 0·002). Liking of broccoli increased (W69 = 2·2, P = 0·03) as well. Teachers rated the programme as acceptable, practical and enjoyable to children and to themselves. Conclusions: Programmes such as ‘Read for Nutrition’ have the potential to improve children’s vegetable liking and consumption in early care and education settings with only book readings and no exposure to a real vegetable

Радиационно-химический синтез перфторированной полимерной мембраны с сульфокислотными группами

В результаті радіаційно-індукованої прищепної сополімеризації з водних розчинів двох мономерів — акрилової кислоти і натрієвої солі стиролсульфонату — на полімерну плівку з фторованого пропілену-етилену синтезована протонобмінна мембрана з сульфокислотними групами. Розглянуті основні експериментальні параметри, що впливають на процес прищепної сополімеризації.Sulfonic acid proton exchange membranes based on a poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) film are synthesized through the graft copolymerization of sodium styrenesulfonate and acrylic acid monomers from binary monomer aqueous solutions. The effects of the main polymerization parameters on the degree of grafting are studied

Interpretation of multispectral and infrared thermal surveys of the Suez Canal Zone, Egypt

Remote sensing airborne surveys were conducted, as part of the plan of rehabilitation, of the Suez Canal Zone using I2S multispectral camera and Bendix LN-3 infrared passive scanner. The multispectral camera gives four separate photographs for the same scene in the blue, green, red, and near infrared bands. The scanner was operated in the microwave bands of 8 to 14 microns and the thermal surveying was carried out both at night and in the day time. The surveys, coupled with intensive ground investigations, were utilized in the construction of new geological, structural lineation and drainage maps for the Suez Canal Zone on a scale of approximately 1:20,000, which are superior to the maps made by normal aerial photography. A considerable number of anomalies belonging to various types were revealed through the interpretation of the executed multispectral and infrared thermal surveys

Reasoning on Robot Knowledge from Discrete and Asynchronous Observations

Robot knowledge of the world is created from discrete and asynchronous events received from its perception components. Proper representation and maintenance of robot knowledge is crucial to enable the use of robot knowledge for planning, user-interaction, etc. This paper identifies some of the main issues related to the representation, maintenance and querying of robot knowledge based on discrete asynchronous events such as event-history management and synchronization, and introduces a language for simplifying developers’ job at making a suitable representation of robot knowledge

Parsing interindividual drug variability: an emerging role for systems pharmacology

There is notable interindividual heterogeneity in drug response, affecting both drug efficacy and toxicity, resulting in patient harm and the inefficient utilization of limited healthcare resources. Pharmacogenomics is at the forefront of research to understand interindividual drug response variability, but although many genotype-drug response associations have been identified, translation of pharmacogenomic associations into clinical practice has been hampered by inconsistent findings and inadequate predictive values. These limitations are in part due to the complex interplay between drug-specific, human body and environmental factors influencing drug response and therefore pharmacogenomics, whilst intrinsically necessary, is by itself unlikely to adequately parse drug variability. The emergent, interdisciplinary and rapidly developing field of systems pharmacology, which incorporates but goes beyond pharmacogenomics, holds significant potential to further parse interindividual drug variability. Systems pharmacology broadly encompasses two distinct research efforts, pharmacologically-orientated systems biology and pharmacometrics. Pharmacologically-orientated systems biology utilizes high throughput omics technologies, including next-generation sequencing, transcriptomics and proteomics, to identify factors associated with differential drug response within the different levels of biological organization in the hierarchical human body. Increasingly complex pharmacometric models are being developed that quantitatively integrate factors associated with drug response. Although distinct, these research areas complement one another and continual development can be facilitated by iterating between dynamic experimental and computational findings. Ultimately, quantitative data-derived models of sufficient detail will be required to help realize the goal of precision medicine. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2015, 7:221–241. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.130

Development and Evaluation of ‘Read for Nutrition’ Program

This thesis investigated the formative, process and outcome evaluation of ‘Read for Nutrition’ program in childcare center settings. First, formative evaluation was conducted with the purpose of improving the program materials based on childcare providers’ feedback. A qualitative approach was used where 4 childcare providers from different childcare centers were interviewed after receiving the program. The interview questions were based on the Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction Motivation Model. Formative evaluations results helped refine the program materials and identify positive characteristics that are engaging and useful from childcare providers’ perspective. Second, process and outcome evaluations were conducted to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the program, and to identify preliminary effects of the program on the interaction between childcare providers and children and preschool children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable (broccoli). The participants in the process and outcome evaluations were 16 childcare providers and 70 preschool age children. The childcare providers’ feasibility and acceptability of the intervention were assessed through self-reported survey. Differences in children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable before and after the program were measured through food selection and preference tasks. Results indicated that childcare providers perceived the intervention as acceptable and easy to implement, and that the intervention was effective in increasing interaction between childcare providers and children during story time, and preschool children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable. Advisor: Dipti A. De

Development and Evaluation of ‘Read for Nutrition’ Program

This thesis investigated the formative, process and outcome evaluation of ‘Read for Nutrition’ program in childcare center settings. First, formative evaluation was conducted with the purpose of improving the program materials based on childcare providers’ feedback. A qualitative approach was used where 4 childcare providers from different childcare centers were interviewed after receiving the program. The interview questions were based on the Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction Motivation Model. Formative evaluations results helped refine the program materials and identify positive characteristics that are engaging and useful from childcare providers’ perspective. Second, process and outcome evaluations were conducted to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the program, and to identify preliminary effects of the program on the interaction between childcare providers and children and preschool children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable (broccoli). The participants in the process and outcome evaluations were 16 childcare providers and 70 preschool age children. The childcare providers’ feasibility and acceptability of the intervention were assessed through self-reported survey. Differences in children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable before and after the program were measured through food selection and preference tasks. Results indicated that childcare providers perceived the intervention as acceptable and easy to implement, and that the intervention was effective in increasing interaction between childcare providers and children during story time, and preschool children’s preference and consumption of the target vegetable. Advisor: Dipti A. De