Food insecurity: its relationship to dietary intake and body weight among Somali refugee women in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between food insecurity, dietary intake, and body mass index among Somali refugee women living in the United States. METHODS: Cross-sectional study utilizing the snowball sampling method. RESULTS: Most (67%) participants experienced some level of food insecurity, which was common among recent arrivals and those who spoke only Somali at home (P < .05). Intake of meat and eggs was higher, whereas intake of fruits and vegetables was lower, among food insecure than secure participants. Food insecurity was positively related to overweight and obesity (odds ratio: 2.66; confidence interval: 1.25-5.69; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Somali refugees experienced high levels of food insecurity upon resettlement. Poor dietary habits and the high overweight/obesity rate among insecure families call for future research in understanding what role family structure, cultural norms, and food preference play in predicting food security and dietary habits among Somali and overall African refugees in the United States.

Impulsive choice, as measured in a delay discounting paradigm, remains stable after chronic heroin administration.

Heroin addicts display poorer impulse control than non-addicts, however it is not known if high impulsivity is a function of chronic heroin intake or a pre-disposing vulnerability for heroin addiction. Using animal models, relatively few studies have examined changes in impulsive choice as a function of chronic drug. The objective of this study was to measure alterations in impulsive choice through a delay discounting paradigm, as a function of chronic heroin administration. Animals were trained on a series of delay discounting sessions. Each session contained 5 blocks of trials. Blocks started with 2 forced, followed by 6 free choice trials. Pressing one lever resulted in the delivery of a small immediate (1 food pellet) reward and another lever in a large delayed (5 pellets) reward. Sessions consisted of the 3 ascending delay sequences in seconds. On the terminal sequence (0, 10, 20, 40, and 60s) animals exhibited a reversal of reward choice pattern of responding that allowed for the calculation of an indifference point (IP). After animals showed stable IPs they were treated with either heroin or saline for 12 days. Three days after the last injection animals were again placed in operant chambers and experienced the terminal delay discounting sequence at which time IPs were reassessed. Heroin-treated animals exhibited significant progressive increases in locomotor activity. Groups did not differ in IPs or performance across delay conditions during either before or after chronic treatment periods. These results indicate that chronic heroin intake does not impact later impulsive responding for natural (food) reward.

[Objective analysis of postural tonus using Fukuda's test. An attempt at correlation with vocal cord lesions]. / Objectivation du tonus postural par le test de Fukuda. Essai de corrélations avec les lésions vocales.

The authors summarise a study carried out in the University Hospital of Liège which attempts to correlate vocal cord pathology, posture, and the concept of muscular chains. They have hoped to develop the concept that a postural disorder may be the origin of demonstrable asymmetrical vocal cord disorders. Could there be a bilateral causal relationship between postural disorder and a predominately vocal pathology? How could more precise and long-lasting treatment be instituted?