A Conversation with James Ntambi.

An interview with James M. Ntambi, professor of biochemistry and the Katherine Berns Van Donk Steenbock Professor in Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, took place via Zoom in April 2022. He was interviewed by Patrick J. Stover, director of the Institute for Advancing Health through Agriculture and professor of nutrition and biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University. Dr. James Ntambi is a true pioneer in the field of nutritional biochemistry. He was among the very first to discover and elucidate the role that diet and nutrients play in regulating metabolism through changes in the expression of metabolic genes, focusing on the de novo lipogenesis pathways. As an African immigrant from Uganda, his love of science and his life experiences in African communities suffering from severe malnutrition molded his scientific interests at the interface of biochemistry and nutrition. Throughout his career, he has been an academic role model, a groundbreaking nutrition scientist, and an educator. His commitment to experiential learning through the many study-abroad classes he has hosted in Uganda has provided invaluable context for American students in nutrition. Dr. Ntambi's passion for education and scientific discovery is his legacy, and the field of nutrition has benefited enormously from his unique perspectives and contributions to science that are defined by his scientific curiosity, his generosity to his students and colleagues, and his life experiences. The following is an edited transcript.

Tributo ao Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro da UFRJ - 75 anos de história / Tribute to the Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro at UFRJ - 75 years of history

O presente editorial anuncia, neste número da revista, três manuscritos com o relato das realizações e conquistas do Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro (INJC), da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, no ensino de graduação, pós-graduação e extensão, ao longo de seus 75 anos de criação (1946-2021), como unidade formadora e produtora de conhecimento.

In this issue of the journal, the present editorial announces three manuscripts describingthe achievements and accomplishments of the Tribute to the Instituto de NutriçãoJosué de Castro (Josué de Castro Nutrition Institute) at UFRJ 75 years of history (INJC) at the Universidade FederaldoRio de Janeiro (UFRJ)(Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) in the undergraduate, graduate and extension courses over its 75 years since creation(1946-2021), as an educational and knowledge-producing unit.

[From the circumnavigation of the Vital de Oliveira to the new ration tables: nutrition and health on Brazilian Imperial Navy vessels, 1879-1886]. / Da circum-navegação da Vital de Oliveira às novas tabelas de rações: alimentação e saúde a bordo dos navios da Marinha Imperial Brasileira, 1879-1886.

The corvette Vital de Oliveira was the first Brazilian Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world, from 1879 to 1881. One of the items that concerned its captain, Júlio de Noronha, in his trip report was the food supply, which was further reinforced in the medical report for the expedition written by the head surgeon, Galdino Magalhães. This concern was notable due to the high numbers of sailors who sickened and died during the trip, which according to both reports may have been caused by shortages of certain foods. This article discusses the relationship between food and health in the crew, as well as the relationship between this journey and the implementation of a new ration table that took effect in 1886.

Entre 1879 e 1881 a corveta Vital de Oliveira realizou a primeira viagem de circum-navegação da Marinha Brasileira. Um dos itens que ocuparam as preocupações do comandante do navio, Júlio de Noronha, em seu relatório da viagem foi a alimentação; preocupação reforçada no relatório médico da expedição redigido pelo primeiro-cirurgião Galdino Magalhães. Essa preocupação ganhou destaque devido ao elevado saldo de enfermos e mortos durante a viagem, para o que teria contribuído a carência de determinados gêneros alimentícios, de acordo com ambos os relatórios. O artigo discute a relação entre a alimentação e a saúde das tripulações. Além disso, trata da relação entre a viagem da Vital e a implementação de uma nova tabela de rações efetivada em 1886.

Da circum-navegação da Vital de Oliveira às novas tabelas de rações: alimentação e saúde a bordo dos navios da Marinha Imperial Brasileira, 1879-1886 / From the circumnavigation of the Vital de Oliveira to the new ration tables: nutrition and health on Brazilian Imperial Navy vessels, 1879-1886

Resumo Entre 1879 e 1881 a corveta Vital de Oliveira realizou a primeira viagem de circum-navegação da Marinha Brasileira. Um dos itens que ocuparam as preocupações do comandante do navio, Júlio de Noronha, em seu relatório da viagem foi a alimentação; preocupação reforçada no relatório médico da expedição redigido pelo primeiro-cirurgião Galdino Magalhães. Essa preocupação ganhou destaque devido ao elevado saldo de enfermos e mortos durante a viagem, para o que teria contribuído a carência de determinados gêneros alimentícios, de acordo com ambos os relatórios. O artigo discute a relação entre a alimentação e a saúde das tripulações. Além disso, trata da relação entre a viagem da Vital e a implementação de uma nova tabela de rações efetivada em 1886.

Abstract The corvette Vital de Oliveira was the first Brazilian Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world, from 1879 to 1881. One of the items that concerned its captain, Júlio de Noronha, in his trip report was the food supply, which was further reinforced in the medical report for the expedition written by the head surgeon, Galdino Magalhães. This concern was notable due to the high numbers of sailors who sickened and died during the trip, which according to both reports may have been caused by shortages of certain foods. This article discusses the relationship between food and health in the crew, as well as the relationship between this journey and the implementation of a new ration table that took effect in 1886.

[To the 90th anniversary of the Institute of Nutrition: a look through the years].

Half of our health depends on the food quality. Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety has been dealing with this problem for 90 years. Core issues are medical enzymology, searching new food sources (protein problem), nutritional epidemiology, nutrition for professional athletes and cosmonauts, seeking new biologically active compounds, food toxicology and safety assessment of nanotechnologies, a study of the metabolism and mechanism of action of food contaminants, creation of a regulatory framework for chemical and microbiological safety, and much more. The infant and baby nutrition and nutrition of older people in recent years has developed rapidly.

[Nutriome as the direction of the "main blow": determination of physiological needs in macro- and micronutrients, minor biologically active substances].

One of the essential parts of fundamental research in Nutrition Science is the determination of the physiological requirements of humans for energy and food substances. Research that has been carried out in this area over the past 90 years, consistently develops and improves the norms of physiological requirements for energy and nutrients for various groups of the population of the Russian Federation. In the 50 years of the last century in this research field, determining the values of daily intake for macronutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates), was in the first place. Then the Era of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements) was started, and, finally, now there is the Era of minor food biologically active substances. More and more facts are accumulating about their leading role in regulating metabolism. They can be recognized as endogenous regulators, the primary vital components involved in the formation of human health. In recent years, the new definition of Nutriome is introduced into Nutrition Science. It is considered as a set of essential nutritional factors to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between human being and the environment, aimed to ensure viability, the preservation and reproduction of the species, keeping the adaptive capacity, the system of antioxidant defence, apoptosis, metabolism, and immune system function. The Nutriome is a formula for optimal nutrition, which is continually being improved and supplemented. Knowledge of this formula is the key to forming an optimal diet for a person, and, therefore, to save their health. It is evident that at the population level, the Nutriome has its characteristics, its structure for each age period of human life. The need to develop a formula for optimal nutrition and, consequently, updating nutrient-based dietary guidelines is induced by socio-economic and demographic changes in population, changes in anthropometric characteristics of children and adults, increasing prevalence of socially significant non-communicable diseases, developing studies of the significance of particular food substances and establishing the relationship between nutrition and health.

An Accidental Nutritionist.

My career as an accidental nutritionist began with my immersion in cholera control, a cyclone disaster, a smallpox epidemic, and formal training in ophthalmology and epidemiology. Interest in blindness prevention inexplicably led me to (re)pioneer the effects, treatment, and prevention of vitamin A deficiency, while faced with intense criticism by many leading scientists in the nutrition community. The resulting efforts by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in support of programs for the global control of vitamin A deficiency still face vocal opposition by some senior scientists, despite having been estimated to have saved tens of millions of children from unnecessary death and blindness. This entire journey was largely an accident!

Impacts and Echoes: The Lasting Influence of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health.

The 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health had a significant influence on the direction of food and nutrition policy in the United States. The conference produced recommendations leading to federal legislation and programs to alleviate hunger and malnutrition, improve consumers' nutrition knowledge through education and labeling, and monitor the nutritional status of the population. Fifty years later, its legacy was revisited at a conference convened by Harvard University and Tufts University. This article reviews the literature contributing to the first author's keynote speech at the conference, its influencers, and its influences. We focus on the highlights of five domains that set the stage for the conference: the social environment, the food environment, nutrition science, public health data, and policy events. We briefly describe the conference, its proposed directions, and its lasting legacy in these five domains.

El valor de la Nutrición Clínica / No disponible

No disponible

Maintaining Balance.

Writing this biography forced me to look back over my career as a scientist, teacher, wife, and mother. To my surprise, a lifelong theme emerged that I was unaware of, that is, the role of maintaining balance between work and family, science and teaching, mentorship and administration, and personal values and challenges. My primary mentor, Dr. Doris Calloway, demonstrated the importance of maintaining balance. My interest in nutrition started as a preschooler living on a farm where I learned firsthand the importance of balancing the expense of providing good nutrition to the livestock with potential income. In our small high school, I became acquainted with the fascinating field of chemistry, but found it critical to balance that interest with a politically correct field of study for a woman in the early 1960s. I chose dietetics for its strong roots in chemistry. As a US Army dietitian, I learned firsthand how to conduct metabolic studies and knew, immediately, that I had to balance that interest with future opportunities feasible for a dietitian. I chose the University of California, Berkeley, for my PhD because it needed to train dietitians in research to balance an emerging need to offer undergraduates a practicum in dietetics. My subsequent faculty appointment there enabled me to develop novel isotopic approaches for studying zinc and prenatal nutrition, and balance my research with teaching and administrative responsibilities. During the next 40 years, my work as a Berkeley professor led to appointments at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, while balancing my responsibilities as a wife and a mother to my two sons. Balance is defined as a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. It is extremely satisfying to look back and see evidence of successfully balancing the disparate elements of my career.

Eighty years of undergraduate education in nutrition in Brazil: An analysis of the 2009-2018 period / Oitenta anos de graduação em Nutrição: uma análise do período 2009-2018

ABSTRACT Objective To carry out an analysis of postgraduate education in Nutrition in Brazil in the period 2009-2018, including distance learning. Methods The article presents a historical-documentary analysis of the trajectory of Nutrition courses from 2009 to 2018. The bibliographic survey was carried out in the electronic databases of the Scientific Electronic Library Online, the National Library of Medicine, Google Academic databases, and through data collection in government websites and other institutions. Results In December 2018, there were 709 face-to-face and 1,094 distance learning Undergraduate Courses in Nutrition in the country. In the period, there was a 181.5% increase in the number of face-to-face courses, being 195.1% in the private sector, responsible for 89.1% of the total courses in the country. The highest concentration identified was in the Southeast Region did not change substantively in the period. Conclusion With 1,803 undergraduate courses in Nutrition in Brazil, of which the majority is composed of distance learning courses, the current scenario may be the most dramatic in the history of nutrition education in Brazil. Care must be taken to ensure that it is consistent, marked by opportunities for learning in society, in which the student can develop an investigative, critical, innovative spirit, having their professional identities clear in a multidisciplinary work team. The expansion of the offer of undergraduate courses in Nutrition did not correct regional asymmetries.

RESUMO Objective Realizar análise da trajetória da Graduação em Nutrição no Brasil no período de 2009 a 2018, incluindo a formação à distância. Métodos Análise histórico-documental do período 2009 a 2018. Realizou-se levantamento bibliográfico sistematizado nas bases Scientific Electronic Library Online, National Library of Medicine e Google Acadêmico, e coleta de dados em sitios eletrônicos de órgãos governamentais e outras instituições. Resultados Em dezembro de 2018, existiam 709 cursos presenciais e 1.094 da modalidade Educação a Distância na Graduação em Nutrição no país. No período, ocorreu um aumento de 181,5% no número de cursos presenciais, sendo de 195,1% no setor privado, responsável por 89,1% do total de cursos do país. A maior concentração na Região Sudeste não se modificou de maneira substantiva no período. Conclusão Com 1.803 Cursos de Graduação em Nutrição no Brasil, dos quais a maioria na modalidade à distância, o atual cenário talvez seja o mais dramático em toda a história da formação de nutricionistas no país. É preciso cuidar para que a formação seja consistente, com oportunidades de aprendizagem junto à sociedade, em que o graduando possa desenvolver espírito investigativo, crítico, inovador e com clareza de sua identidade profissional em uma equipe multidisciplinar de trabalho. A ampliação da oferta de cursos de graduação em Nutrição não corrigiu assimetrias regionais.

Diagnosing clinical malnutrition: Perspectives from the past and implications for the future.

This review, intended for both researchers and clinicians, provides a history of the definition of clinical malnutrition. Despite global efforts, we remain without one clear, objective, internationally accepted definition; clarity in this regard will ultimately improve our evaluation and monitoring of nutritional status to achieve optimal patient outcomes. In this review we explore the development of the term malnutrition and its diagnosis and application in the setting of acute and chronic disease. We begin in the second century A.D. with the work of the Greek physician Galen who is credited as the first to apply the term marasmus to characterize three categories of malnutrition, which are surprisingly similar to components of current international definitions. We then highlight significant developments over the next 2000 years culminating in our current application of the clinical diagnosis of malnutrition. A perspective on historical practices may inform current efforts toward a global definition and diagnosis of malnutrition.