Evaluation of PIQNIQ, a Novel Mobile Application for Capturing Dietary Intake.

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of dietary intake is vital for providing nutrition interventions and understanding the complex role of diet in health. Traditional dietary assessment methods are very resource intensive and burdensome to participants. Technology may help mitigate these limitations and improve dietary data capture. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of a novel mobile application (PIQNIQ) in capturing dietary intake by self-report. Our secondary objective was to assess whether food capture using PIQNIQ was comparable with an interviewer-assisted 24-h recall (24HR). METHODS: This study was a single-center randomized clinical trial enrolling 132 adults aged 18 to 65 y from the general population. Under a provided-food protocol with 3 menus designed to include a variety of foods, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 food capture methods: simultaneous entry using PIQNIQ, photo-assisted recall using PIQNIQ, and 24HR. Primary outcomes were energy and nutrient content (calories, total fat, carbohydrates, protein, added sugars, calcium, dietary fiber, folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, saturated fat, sodium, and vitamins A, C, D, and E) captured by the 3 methods. RESULTS: The majority of nutrients reported were within 30% of consumed intake in all 3 food capture methods (n = 129 completers). Reported intake was highly (>30%) overestimated for added sugars in both PIQNIQ groups and underestimated for calcium in the photo-assisted recall group only (P < 0.001 for all). However, in general, both PIQNIQ methods had similar levels of accuracy and were comparable to the 24HR except in their overestimation (>30%) of added sugars and total fat (P < 0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that intuitive, technology-based methods of dietary data capture are well suited to modern users and, with proper execution, can provide data that are comparable to data obtained with traditional methods. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03578458.

National Implementation of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Virtual Dietitian for Patients With Cancer.

PURPOSE: Nutritional status is an established driver of cancer outcomes, but there is an insufficient workforce of registered dietitians to meet patient needs for nutritional counseling. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) afford the opportunity to expand access to guideline-based nutritional support. METHODS: An AI-based nutrition assistant called Ina was developed on the basis of a learning data set of >100,000 expert-curated interventions, peer-reviewed literature, and clinical guidelines, and provides a conversational text message-based patient interface to guide dietary habits and answer questions. Ina was implemented nationally in partnership with 25 advocacy organizations. Data on demographics, patient-reported outcomes, and utilization were systematically collected. RESULTS: Between July 2019 and August 2023, 3,310 users from all 50 states registered to use Ina. Users were 73% female; median age was 57 (range, 18-91) years; most common cancer types were genitourinary (22%), breast (21%), gynecologic (19%), GI (14%), and lung (12%). Users were medically complex, with 50% reporting Stage III to IV disease, 37% with metastases, and 50% with 2+ chronic conditions. Nutritional challenges were highly prevalent: 58% had overweight/obese BMIs, 83% reported barriers to good nutrition, and 42% had food allergies/intolerances. Levels of engagement were high: 68% texted questions to Ina; 79% completed surveys; median user retention was 8.8 months; 94% were satisfied with the platform; and 98% found the guidance helpful. In an evaluation of outcomes, 84% used the advice to guide diet; 47% used recommended recipes, 82% felt the program improved quality of life (QoL), and 88% reported improved symptom management. CONCLUSION: Implementation of an evidence-based AI virtual dietitian is feasible and is reported by patients to be beneficial on diet, QoL, and symptom management. Ongoing evaluations are assessing impact on other outcomes.

Effect of DNA Scaffolding on Intramolecular Electron Transfer Quenching of a Photoexcited Ruthenium(II) Polypyridine Naphthalene Diimide.

Intramolecular emission quenching of a photoexcited ruthenium(II) polypyridine by a covalently linked naphthalene diimide (NDI) has been measured in aqueous buffer both without and with calf thymus DNA. The complex consists of a Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)(2)(2,2'-bipyridine-5-carboxamide)(2+) electron donor covalently attached by way of a -CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)- linker to a 1,4,5,8-naphthalene diimide acceptor (Ru-NDI, 1). The NDI portion of the complex intercalates in calf thymus DNA, as indicated by the hypochromism of its optical absorbance bands and observation of an induced circular dichroism spectrum in the same region. Emission quenching in Ru-NDI has been measured relative to a Ru tris-bpy model lacking the NDI moiety by both lifetime and emission quantum yield techniques. Using lifetime averages, the relative emission quenching is, respectively, 99.1% and 97.9% in aqueous buffer solutions without and with DNA. The emission quenching is ascribed to intramolecular electron transfer within the Ru-NDI complex with an estimated driving force (-DeltaG degrees ) of 0.33 eV. In buffer, the emission decays of Ru-NDI alone are fit well with a triexponential model with lifetimes of 0.34 (0.88), 1.99 (0.11), and 12.6 (0.008) ns (relative amplitude). The emission decays of the DNA-intercalated Ru-NDI complex are also fit well with a triexponential model with lifetimes of 0.31 (0.79), 2.00 (0.13), and 11.8 (0.08) ns. Thus, the fractional amplitudes of the lifetimes change upon DNA intercalation of the complex, while the lifetimes themselves remain essentially the same. The average rates of electron transfer in aqueous buffer without and with DNA are, respectively, 1.6 x 10(9) and 6.8 x 10(8) s(-)(1). The striking result of this study is that the overall character of electron transfer quenching in Ru-NDI is very similar whether or not it is bound to DNA. Intercalation of the NDI in DNA apparently has negligible consequences for electron transfer, implying either that the activation energy and electronic coupling in Ru-NDI are largely unaffected by this, at first glance, seemingly significant environmental change or that changes in these parameters on DNA binding cancel fortuitously.