Systematic Review of Easy-to-Learn Behavioral Interventions for Dietary Changes Among Young Adults.

INTRODUCTION: Improving the diet quality of young adults may support chronic disease prevention. The approaches used and efficacy of promoting small dietary behavior changes through easy-to-learn (ETL) interventions (requiring no more than 1 hour to teach the behavior) among young adults have not yet been systematically reviewed. METHODS: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 2 independent electronic searches across 6 databases were conducted to identify any articles describing ETL interventions among young adults (aged 18-35 years) and reporting dietary intake outcomes. RESULTS: Among 9,538 articles identified, 9 studies met eligibility criteria. Five studies reported significant improvement in the selected dietary outcome. Of these, 3 studies used an implementation intentions approach, in which participants were given or asked to write out a simple dietary behavior directive and carry it on their person. Less than half of included studies were rated as positive for overall quality. DISCUSSION: The available evidence suggests that ETL interventions targeting the dietary behaviors of young adults may be effective in improving dietary intake. Limitations of included studies were lack of follow-up after the intervention period and low generalizability. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: Further dietary intervention studies targeting young adults should systematically evaluate the efficacy of ETL intervention approaches among diverse samples.

Do dietary patterns differ with video game usage in college men?

Objective: To assess differences in dietary quality among college men reporting high, moderate, and non-video game usage. Participants: College men aged 18-24. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected between 2012 and 2020. Participants (n = 1259) were categorized according to self-reported video game usage: non-users (NVG), <1 h/day (MVG), and ≥1 h/day (HVG). ANCOVA identified group differences in nutrient intake from 3-day food records. Results: College men reported 30% NVG, 39% MVG, and 31% HVG. Higher saturated fat (30.2 ± 0.4 g and 30.1 ± 0.3 g, vs. 28.5 ± 0.4 g, p < .01, p < .01) and lower fruit/vegetable intake (3.00 ± 0.1 cups and 2.91 ± 0.1 cups, vs. 3.45 ± 0.1 cups, p < .00, p < .00) was observed in HVG and MVG vs. NVG. Higher discretionary calories (750 ± 13 kcals, vs. 686 ± 13 kcals, p < .00) in HVG and sodium (3922 ± 44 mg, vs. 3860 ± 50 mg, p < .02) in MVG were reported vs. NVG. Conclusion: Video game usage was associated with higher saturated fat, sodium, discretionary calories, and lower F/V intake in college men.

Association between inflammation, lipopolysaccharide binding protein, and gut microbiota composition in a New Hampshire Bhutanese refugee population with a high burden of type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: South Asian refugees experience a high risk of obesity and diabetes yet are often underrepresented in studies on chronic diseases and their risk factors. The gut microbiota and gut permeability, as assessed through circulating lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), may underlie the link between chronic inflammation and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The composition of the gut microbiota varies according to multiple factors including demographics, migration, and dietary patterns, particularly fiber intake. However, there is no evidence on the composition of the gut microbiota and its relationship with metabolic health in refugee populations, including those migrating to the United States from Bhutan. The objective of this study was to examine glycemic status in relation to LBP, systemic inflammation fiber intake, and gut microbiota composition in Bhutanese refugee adults residing in New Hampshire (n = 50). Methods: This cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of Bhutanese refugee adults (N = 50) in NH. Established bioinformatics pipelines for metagenomic analysis were used to determine relative genus abundance, species richness, and alpha diversity measures from shallow shotgun sequences. The relationships between inflammatory markers, gut microbiota composition, dietary fiber, and glycemic status were analyzed. Results: We identified a substantial chronic disease burden in this study population, and observed a correlation between glycemic status, LBP, and inflammation, and a correlation between glycemic status and gut microbiome alpha diversity. Further, we identified a significant correlation between proinflammatory taxa and inflammatory cytokines. SCFA-producing taxa were found to be inversely correlated with age. Conclusion: To date, this is the most comprehensive examination of metabolic health and the gut microbiome in a Bhutanese refugee population in NH. The findings highlight areas for future investigations of inflammation and glycemic impairment, in addition to informing potential interventions targeting this vulnerable population.

Dynamic control of hydrogel crosslinking via sortase-mediated reversible transpeptidation.

Cell-laden hydrogels whose crosslinking density can be dynamically and reversibly tuned are highly sought-after for studying pathophysiological cellular fate processes, including embryogenesis, fibrosis, and tumorigenesis. Special efforts have focused on controlling network crosslinking in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based hydrogels to evaluate the impact of matrix mechanics on cell proliferation, morphogenesis, and differentiation. In this study, we sought to design dynamic PEG-peptide hydrogels that permit cyclic/reversible stiffening and softening. This was achieved by utilizing reversible enzymatic reactions that afford specificity, biorthogonality, and predictable reaction kinetics. To that end, we prepared PEG-peptide conjugates to enable sortase A (SrtA) induced tunable hydrogel crosslinking independent of macromer contents. Uniquely, these hydrogels can be completely degraded by the same enzymatic reactions and the degradation rate can be tuned from hours to days. We further synthesized SrtA-sensitive peptide linker (i.e., KCLPRTGCK) for crosslinking with 8-arm PEG-norbornene (PEG8NB) via thiol-norbornene photocrosslinking. These hydrogels afford diverse softening paradigms through control of network structures during crosslinking or by adjusting enzymatic parameters during on-demand softening. Importantly, user-controlled hydrogel softening promoted spreading of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in 3D. Finally, we designed a bis-cysteine-bearing linear peptide flanked with SrtA substrates at the peptide's N- and C-termini (i.e., NH2-GGGCKGGGKCLPRTG-CONH2) to enable cyclic/reversible hydrogel stiffening/softening. We show that matrix stiffening and softening play a crucial role in growth and chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer cells. These results represent the first dynamic hydrogel platform that affords cyclic gel stiffening/softening based on reversible enzymatic reactions. More importantly, the chemical motifs that affords such reversible crosslinking were built-in on the linear peptide crosslinker without any post-synthesis modification. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Cell-laden 'dynamic' hydrogels are typically designed to enable externally stimulated stiffening or softening of the hydrogel network. However, no enzymatic reaction has been used to reversibly control matrix crosslinking. The application of SrtA-mediated transpeptidation in crosslinking and post-gelation modification of biomimetic hydrogels is innovative because of the specificity of the reaction and reversible tunability of crosslinking kinetics. While SrtA has been previously used to crosslink and fully degrade hydrogels, matrix softening and reversible stiffening of cell-laden hydrogels has not been reported. By designing simple peptide substrates, this unique enzymatic reaction can be employed to form a primary network, to gradually soften hydrogels, or to reversibly stiffen hydrogels. As a result, this dynamic hydrogel platform can be used to answer important matrix-related biological questions that are otherwise difficult to address.

Intrawound Vancomycin Powder Reduces Bacterial Load in Contaminated Open Fracture Model.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of both vancomycin powder and antibiotic bead placement to irrigation and debridement alone in prevention of infection in a contaminated open fracture model in rats. METHODS: In a previously described model of contaminated open fractures, 45 rats had simulated open fractures created, stabilized, and contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. They were then treated 6 hours later with 3 interventions: irrigation and debridement alone (control group) or in combination with placement of polymethyl methacrylate beads containing vancomycin and tobramycin powders (antibiotic bead group) or placement of 10 mg of intrawound vancomycin powder (powder group). Rats were allowed to recover and then killed 14 days later for harvest of femurs and plates. Femurs and plates were both incubated overnight, and bacterial colonies were counted in each group for comparison. RESULTS: Quantitative counts of bacteria in bone showed significantly reduced growth in both bead and powder groups when compared with control group (P < 0.0001). Quantitative counts of bacteria in plates showed significantly reduced growth in both bead and powder groups when compared with control group (P < 0.0003; 0.029). No significant differences were seen in bacterial growth between bead and powder groups for either bones (P = 0.13) or plates (P = 0.065). CONCLUSIONS: When compared with irrigation and debridement alone, placement of intrawound vancomycin powder significantly decreased bacterial load in a contaminated open fracture model in rats similar to placing antibiotic beads. This may provide an additional adjuvant treatment that does not require a secondary surgery for bead removal.

Recovery of Hip and Back Muscle Fatigue Following a Back Extension Endurance Test.

Literature has not shown the minimum time required to recover from muscle fatigue after a prolonged trunk isometric contraction. The purpose of this study was to determine if the lumbar multifidus (LM) and gluteus maximus (GM) muscles would recover from fatigue after three different rest periods following performance of a back extension endurance test. Endurance time and electromyographic (EMG) activity of bilateral LM and GM muscles were collected from 12 healthy adults during a modified Biering-Sørensen test. On three separate visits, each participant performed two modified Biering-Sørensen tests, one before and one after a rest period (3, 6 or 9 min). For each endurance test, endurance time was measured and both mean and median EMG frequency fatigue rates were calculated. The results showed a significantly reduced endurance time and normalized mean frequency fatigue rates on the second modified Biering-Sørensen endurance test regardless of the rest periods (3, 6, and 9 min). This suggests that adequate rest should be considered for fatigue recovery when designing a back and hip endurance exercise program, and that future studies should investigate a rest time longer than 9 minutes for fatigue recovery following a modified Biering-Sørensen endurance test.

Ptychography for optical metrology with limited translation knowledge.

We introduce unknown-transverse translation diversity phase retrieval: a ptychographic algorithm for optical metrology when a subaperture is translating through a plane conjugate to the exit pupil in a very poorly known fashion. The algorithm estimates the direction of translation and the distance traveled by the subaperture from one point spread function (PSF) to the next. It also estimates unknown point target motion and rotations of the subaperture between PSF acquisitions from the PSF data.

Subaperture translation estimation accuracy in transverse translation diversity phase retrieval.

For optical metrology by transverse translation diversity phase retrieval (or ptychography), information theoretic limits on the ability to estimate subaperture translation, essential for accurate metrology, are assessed as a function of the optical aberrations of the system being measured. Special attention is given to the case that an unknown linear phase aberration, or equivalent detector or target motion, is present that varies with each point spread function in the measured data.