A Communitywide Collaboration to Increase Enrollment, Retention, and Success in Evidence-Based Lifestyle-Change Programs in Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic diseases (eg, diabetes, hypertension) are the leading causes of death in the US and disproportionally affect racial and ethnic minority populations. This disparity is partially due to the unequal burden of unmet social needs that stem from several factors, including racism. INTERVENTION APPROACH: The Alliance is a collaboration among health care, public health, and community organizations formed to improve referral, enrollment, and successful completion of evidence-based lifestyle-change programs, particularly among Black people. The Alliance built 1) a system to assess and address social barriers through the screening and referral process and 2) a training center for frontline staff (eg, community health workers). EVALUATION METHODS: From January 2020 through September 2022, we conducted an evaluation that included both quantitative and qualitative methods. We developed an electronic database to make referrals and track key barriers to participation. Additionally, we conducted a focus group among frontline staff (N = 15) to understand the challenges in making referrals and discussing, documenting, and addressing barriers to participation. We used surveys that collected quantitative and open-ended qualitative responses to evaluate the training center and to understand perceptions of training modules as well as the skills gained. RESULTS: Frontline staff engaged with 6,036 people, of whom 847 (14%) were referred to a lifestyle-change program from January 2020 through September 2022. Of those referred, 257 (30%) were eligible and enrolled in a program. Food access and unreliable internet were the most common barriers to participation. Thirteen of 15 frontline staff participated in trainings, and, on average, trainees completed 4.2 trainings and gained several skills (eg, ability to monitor personal bias, de-escalate a crisis, educate on mental health, understand community and environmental factors). IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: The Alliance is an example of how health care, public health, and community partners can work together to increase enrollment in lifestyle-change programs of residents disproportionately affected by chronic diseases. Lessons learned from implementation and evaluation can inform other complex partnerships to improve public health.

Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconversion-Based Oxygen Sensors to Overcome the Limitation of Autofluorescence.

Autofluorescence is one of the many challenges in bioimaging as it can mask the emission from fluorescent probes or markers, a limitation that can be overcome via upconversion. Herein, we have developed a nanosensor that uses triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion to optically report changes in the dissolved oxygen concentration. Using a sensitizer-annihilator dye pairing of platinum(II) octaethylporphyrin and 9,10-diphenylanthracene, we monitored the oxygen consumption (as a proxy for metabolic activity) over time in a biological system─Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewing yeast). The nanosensor demonstrated good reversibility over multiple cycles and showed good signal and colloidal stability when tested over the course of 7 days, and it was sensitive to dissolved oxygen from 0.00 to 3.17 mg/L O2. Additionally, there was no signal overlap between the nanosensor emission and S. cerevisiae autofluorescence, thus underscoring the utility of upconversion as a facile and economical means of overcoming autofluorescence.

Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo model for food bioactives: A review.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is being widely explored as an in vivo model to study the effects of food bioactives. These nematodes are largely advantageous over other in vivo models as they are relatively inexpensive, have a short generation time, and have a completely sequenced genome, among other advantages. C. elegans is a commonly used model to study diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease; however, researchers are finding they can also give insight into the health promoting effect of food-derived bioactive compounds. As consumers become more aware of the health benefits of the foods that they consume, the study of bioactive properties of foods and food constituents is becoming an important source of information. This review focuses on the advantages of using C. elegans as a model such as their short lifespans, high level of gene conservation relative to humans, and large number of progenies per reproductive cycle. They are also easily manipulated in order to perform controlled experiments on synchronous populations. Through review of recent literature, it is clear that C. elegans can be used to study a range of food derived compounds such as bioactive peptides, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates, and lipids. This review also provides information on potential challenges associated with working with this nematode. These challenges include the need for a sterile environment, potential inaccuracy when determining if the nematodes are dead, and the simplicity of the organism making it not suitable for all studies.