A remotely-delivered pilot and feasibility program to promote physical and food literacy in adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Youth with intellectual disabilities experience disparities in physical activity and diet quality. Physical and food literacy are hypothesised to support adoption of healthy lifestyles; however, few such interventions have been developed for this population. METHOD: Participants with intellectual disabilities ages 12-16 years were recruited for a 12-week online sports skills and nutrition education intervention. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy were assessed by attendance, satisfaction, and pre-post measures of motor skills, perceived competence and motivation for physical activity, classifying foods, making healthy choices, and food consumption. RESULTS: Six teens participated in the program and attended 87.5% of the sessions. Satisfaction data suggested that the program was well-received by both teens and parents. Trends toward improvements on physical activity and nutrition outcome measures were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data from this pilot study suggest that physical and food literacy in youth with intellectual disabilities can be improved, which in turn may contribute to the adoption of healthy lifestyles.

Role of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in cancer diagnosis and treatment: 31P, 23Na, and 1H MRS studies of three models of pancreatic cancer.

The role of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in pancreatic cancer diagnosis and its treatment were assessed in three models of pancreatic neoplasms. Perfused MIA PaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells, s.c. implanted pancreatic tumors in hamsters, and pancreatic tumors induced in situ in rats by direct application of the carcinogen 7,12-dimethyl benzanthracene, were studied by phosphorous ((31)P), sodium ((23)Na), and proton ((1)H) MRS. (31)P spectra of pancreatic cancer were qualitatively similar to those of intact organs. There were, however, variations in peak intensities and ratios. Phosphomonoester signals were prominent in both normal pancreases and tumors, but their levels depended on the proliferation rate and on environmental conditions. Thus, the phosphomonoester:beta-nucleoside triphosphate ratio was 1.15 +/- 0.32 in 90% confluency and 1.31 +/- 0.43 in 70% confluency, and this ratio increased upon lowering the perfusion rate. Total (intra- and extracellular) sodium concentrations, measured in the solid tumors, were 39-40 micromol/g wet weight in normal pancreases. Contrary to a previous hypothesis that malignant transformation is associated with increased sodium content, our (23)Na MRS data showed that there were no significant differences between pancreatic tumors and intact organs. Proton spectra of perchloric acid extracts revealed several differences between tumors and control pancreases. The principal findings were elevated levels of the amino acid taurine, from 1.17 +/- 0.39 micromol/g wet weight in healthy pancreases, to 2.79 +/- 0.71 micromol/g wet weight in pancreatic carcinoma in rats, and lactate levels that increased from 0.92 +/- 0.2 to 6.19 +/- 1.93 micromol/g wet weight, respectively. On the other hand, creatine and glutamate were higher in the normal pancreases. Pancreatic cancer is usually resistant to chemotherapy, and we evaluated the effects of the metabolic inhibitors 2-deoxyglucose and lonidamine on the human pancreatic cancer cells by MRS and cytotoxicity studies. The IC50 of Adriamycin and 2-deoxyglucose were 1.49 +/- 0.18 x 10(6) and 136 +/- 17 microg/ml, respectively. These results were similar to data obtained previously in multidrug-resistant human breast cancer cells, which were highly resistant (33-fold) to Adriamycin but were more susceptible (9-fold) to 2-deoxyglucose than their parental cells.