Knowledge, perceptions, and consumption of whole grains among university students.

PURPOSE: Differences in knowledge, perceptions, and consumption of whole grains were compared between students who had taken an introductory university nutrition course and those who had not. METHODS: The sample consisted of two groups: 109 students who had completed a nutrition course and 61 who had not. The two samples were drawn from second-year nursing students and students in second-year psychology courses, respectively. All students completed a 25-item questionnaire. Chi-square tests were used to identify associations between completion of a nutrition course and responses. RESULTS: Nutrition education students had more knowledge of whole grain recommendations, of whole grains available in stores, and of whole grains as a factor in disease risk reduction (p<0.05). In contrast, non-nutrition education students had more knowledge of whole grain health claims, reported a greater preference for the taste of whole grains, and had a greater than mean intake of whole grain cereals (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This prelimary study indicates that completion of an introductory nutrition course has a greater influence on positive perceptions of whole grains than on students' consumption frequency or knowledge of whole grains. Further study may provide more information on nutrition education and whole grains.

Safety and efficacy of first-line bevacizumab with FOLFOX, XELOX, FOLFIRI and fluoropyrimidines in metastatic colorectal cancer: the BEAT study.

BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab significantly improves survival when added to chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The Bevacizumab Expanded Access Trial (BEAT) evaluated the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab plus first-line chemotherapy in a general cohort of patients with mCRC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with unresectable mCRC received chemotherapy (physician's choice) plus bevacizumab [5 mg/kg every 2 weeks (5-fluorouracil regimens) or 7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks (capecitabine regimens)]. The primary end point was safety, including prospective data collection in patients receiving unanticipated surgery during the study. Secondary objectives were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The final analysis comprised 1914 assessable patients (male 58%; median age 59 years). Chemotherapy included 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) + oxaliplatin (29%), irinotecan plus 5-FU/LV (26%), capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (18%) and monotherapy (16%). Serious/grade 3-5 adverse events of interest for bevacizumab included bleeding (3%), gastrointestinal perforation (2%), arterial thromboembolism (1%), hypertension (5.3%), proteinuria (1%) and wound-healing complications (1%). Sixty-day mortality was 3%. Median PFS was 10.8 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 10.4-11.3 months] and median OS reached 22.7 months (95% CI 21.7-23.8 months). CONCLUSIONS: The BEAT study shows that the efficacy and safety profile of bevacizumab in routine clinical practice is consistent with results observed in prospective randomised clinical trials and another large observational study in the United States (BRiTE study).

Impact of nutrition education on university students' fat consumption.

PURPOSE: University science students who have taken a nutrition course possess greater knowledge of fats than do those who have not; whether students apply this knowledge to their diet is unknown. We measured and compared science students' total and saturated fat intake in the first and fourth years, and evaluated whether taking a nutrition course influenced fat consumption. METHODS: A sample of 269 first- and fourth-year science students at a small undergraduate university completed a survey with both demographic questions and a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire about fats in the diet. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and independent-sample t-tests. RESULTS: Fourth-year science students consumed fewer grams of total and saturated fat than did first-year science students (p<0.001). Science students who had taken a nutrition course consumed fewer grams of total and saturated fat than did those who had not (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Taking a nutrition course may decrease first-year students' fat consumption, which may improve diet quality and decrease the risk of chronic disease related to fat consumption.

University science students' knowledge of fats.

PURPOSE: Students entering university often lack knowledge about fats; whether students gain such information during four years at university is unclear. Students' knowledge of fat in the first and fourth years was measured and compared. The effect of a nutrition course on knowledge was also examined. METHODS: A total of 215 science students at a small undergraduate university completed a 15-item, closed-ended questionnaire concerning knowledge of fats in the diet. RESULTS: Fourth-year science students have greater nutrition knowledge of fats than do first-year science students (p<0.005). Given that the majority of first-year students reside on campus and the majority of fourth-year students reside off campus, the purchasing of food and preparation of meals may explain the senior students' greater knowledge of fat. Students who have taken a nutrition course know more about fats than do those who have not (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Taking even one course in nutrition greatly increases nutrition knowledge. Universities could encourage undergraduate students to take a basic nutrition course, which should emphasize the identification and understanding of different types of dietary fats.

A transgenic mutant of Lactuca sativa (lettuce) with a T-DNA tightly linked to loss of downy mildew resistance.

One hundred and ninety-two independent primary transformants of lettuce cv. Diana were obtained by co-cultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying constructs containing maize Ac transposase and Ds. R2 families were screened for mutations at four genes (Dm) for resistance to downy mildew. One family, designated dm3t524, had lost resistance to an isolate of Bremia lactucae expressing the avirulence gene Avr3. Loss of resistance segregated as a single recessive allele of Dm3. The mutation was not due to a large deletion as all molecular markers flanking Dm3 were present. Loss of Dm3 activity co-segregated with a T-DNA from which Ds had excised. Genomic DNA flanking the right border of this T-DNA was isolated by inverse polymerase chain reaction. This genomic sequence was present in four to five copies in wild-type cv. Diana. One copy was missing in all eight deletion mutants of Dm3 and altered in dm3t524, indicating tight physical linkage to Dm3. Three open reading frames (ORFs) occurred in a 6.6-kb region flanking the insertion site; however, expression of these ORFs was not detected. No similarities were detected between these ORFs and resistance genes cloned from other species. Transgenic complementation with 11-to 27-kb genomic fragments of Diana spanning the insertion site failed to restore Dm3 function to two ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-induced mutants of Dm3 or to cv. Cobham Green, which naturally lacks Dm3 activity. Therefore, either the T-DNA inserted extremely close to, but not within, Dm3 and the mutation may have been caused by secondary movement of Ds, or Dm3 activity is encoded by a gene extending beyond the fragments used for complementation.

Dietary fat saturation, but not the feeding state, modulates rates of cholesterol esterification in normolipidemic men.

To determine whether the rates of cholesterol esterification in normal individuals are affected by diets differing in fats, nine men were randomly assigned to three groups receiving a diet rich in monounsaturated (MONO), polyunsaturated (POLY), or saturated (SAT) fat for 2 weeks using a crossover design. Subjects drank a dose of deuterium oxide, and the fractional esterification rate (FER) was calculated during fed and unfed periods. Total esterified cholesterol was calculated as the product of the FER and pool size, the latter obtained from a decay curve following injection of [4-14C]-cholesterol. The POLY diet produced the lowest serum cholesterol concentration and the SAT diet the highest (P < .001). For cholesterol ester (CE) deuterium enrichment, an interaction was noted between diet and time (P < .01). The FER was greater (P < .003) in subjects fed the POLY diet versus either of the other diets, although the amount of esterified cholesterol produced, expressed as either milligrams per day (P < .103) or milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day (P < .100), did not differ among groups. No effect of the feeding state was found for either the FER (P < .187) or total esterified cholesterol expressed as milligrams per day (P < .146) or milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day (P < .128). The results suggest that the diet fat type, but not the feeding state, may be responsible for serum esterified cholesterol concentrations.

Dietary fat quality and circulating cholesterol levels in humans: a review of actions and mechanisms.

Consumption of saturated fats contributes to elevated circulating cholesterol levels, whilst either polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats are linked to depressed levels. Since elevated serum cholesterol is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, it is of interest to understand the factors responsible for the responses elicited by dietary fat quality. Changes in faecal sterol excretion, exogenous cholesterol absorption, lipoprotein composition, and lipoprotein catabolism can coincide with changes in fat intake but may not necessary cause them. Whether or not rates of whole-body cholesterol synthesis respond to dietary fat quality is not known. To date, animal studies suggest that shifts in LDL receptor-mediated cholesterol transport are to blame for responses of circulating cholesterol levels to dietary fat.

Diet fat saturation and feeding state modulate rates of cholesterol synthesis in normolipidemic men.

To determine whether diets differing in fats affect cholesterol synthesis in normal individuals, nine men were randomly assigned to three groups that received three diets in a crossover design for 2 wk. Diets were either monounsaturated (MONO), polyunsaturated (POLY), or saturated (SAT). Subjects then drank a dose of deuterium oxide, and unesterified cholesterol fractional synthesis rates (FSR) were calculated during consecutive fed and unfed periods. Absolute synthesis was calculated as the product of FSR and pool size, the latter obtained from a decay curve following a [4-(14)C]cholesterol injection. Serum cholesterol concentrations varied with each diet consumed (P = 0.001); the SAT diet produced the highest and the POLY diet the lowest. Triglyceride concentrations were highest when subjects consumed the SAT diet and lowest with the POLY diet (P = 0.03); values obtained with the MONO diet did not differ significantly from those seen otherwise. HDL cholesterol concentrations were lowest when the SAT diet was consumed, highest when subjects were fed the MONO diet (P = 0.05), and midway but not significantly different with the POLY diet. Cholesterol FSR were greater when subjects consumed (P = 0.001) rather than not, and FSR during 12-h periods were greater (P = 0.045) when subjects ate the POLY diet rather than the SAT diet. Absolute synthesis was also greater (P = 0.04) when subjects were fed, but did not differ with fat type (P = 0.789). Results suggest that cholesterol synthesis is greater when men are fed than when they are not fed, and reduced synthesis is not responsible for the effect of different fats on cholesterol concentrations.

Model-based compartmental analyses in nutrition research.

Kinetic tracer studies have been used extensively in understanding digestion, absorption, and whole-body metabolism of nutrients. Optimal interpretation of changes in tracer levels over time and movement across body pools often requires sophisticated data analysis. The use of model-based compartmental analysis (MCA) can yield more detailed quantitative and predictive information concerning system dynamics, compared with direct stochastic approaches. With MCA, tracer and tracee data from both experimental and literature values are fit to a model that best approximates the system on the basis of experimental data at hand. The number of compartments of the model is determined by the shape of the curve fit to the tracee and tracer data and by literature information. On this basis, MCA can yield information about compartment numbers and sizes, fractional and net turnover, as well as catabolic and synthetic rates. PC-based MCA programs are now available. Whereas earlier editions required use of a programming language, the most recent versions being developed are completely menu driven. Model-based compartmental analyses thus represent important biotechnological advances permitting maximal interpretation of kinetic data in nutrition research.