Practitioners' opinions on Food and Nutrition Care Indicators in assisted living facilities for older adults.

This study assessed the utility of the 57-indicator Food and Nutrition Care Indicators Checklist for assessing food and nutrition services in assisted-living facilities for older adults among registered dietitians (RDs). They were members of two American Dietetic Association practice groups focusing on aging and long-term care and were also employed in assisted-living facilities. The 1,281 respondents rated the importance of each checklist item and provided their views on the role of assisted-living facilities and their level of agreement with statements regarding the importance of residents' autonomy for making food choices and their ability to make wise dietary choices.

The use of blood concentrations of vitamins and their respective functional indicators to define folate and vitamin B12 status.

In recent years there has been growing interest in the vitamins folic acid and vitamin B12 because of the realization that the status of these vitamins in populations is less than adequate, and that such inadequacy may be linked to adverse public health outcomes. This concern has prompted the United States, Canada, and other countries to fortify grain products with folic acid, while additional countries are considering doing so in the near future. This presentation provides a new approach which relies on the combination of the concentrations in blood of vitamins and their respective functional indicators to establish cutoff points for assessing folate and vitamin B12 status in populations.

Effect of vitamin K supplementation on insulin resistance in older men and women.

Objective: Vitamin K has a potentially beneficial role in insulin resistance, but evidence is limited in humans. We tested the hypothesis that vitamin K supplementation for 36 months will improve insulin resistance in older men and women.

Research Design And Methods: This was an ancillary study of a 36-month, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial designed to assess the impact of supplementation with 500 microg/day phylloquinone on bone loss.

Strategic analyses in nursing schools: attracting, educating, and graduating more nursing students: part I--strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis.

The shortage of nurses in the United States remains a persistent problem. Faced with this reality, nursing programs in colleges and universities continue to struggle to expand enrollment levels to meet the spiraling demand. This research uses familiar tools in strategic management: the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis and stakeholder analysis as initial steps to draw more students to the profession of nursing.

Temperature dependence of mycosubtilin homologue production in Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633.

Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633 produces mycosubtilin, a non-ribosomally synthesized lipopeptide of the iturin family which presents antagonistic activities toward various phytopathogens. Different homologues with fatty acid moiety varying from C15 to C17 are usually co-produced, with their biological activities increasing with the number of carbons in the fatty acid chain. In the present report, we highlight that growth temperature modulates both the extent of mycosubtilin production and the relative abundance of the different homologues.

Phylloquinone intake, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic status in men and women.

Background: Limited evidence suggests that vitamin K may have a beneficial role in glucose homeostasis. No observational data exist on the associations between vitamin K intake and insulin sensitivity.

Objective: We aimed to examine associations between vitamin K intake and measures of insulin sensitivity and glycemic status in men and women aged 26-81 y.

Dietary magnesium intake is related to metabolic syndrome in older Americans.

Background: Magnesium (Mg) is an essential cofactor for enzymes involved in glucose and insulin metabolism. Low intakes of dietary magnesium may be linked to greater risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) in older adults.

Aim Of The Study: The objective of this study was to examine the cross-sectional relationship between dietary Mg intake, metabolic risk factors and MS in elderly adults.

Association of plasma total homocysteine levels with subclinical brain injury: cerebral volumes, white matter hyperintensity, and silent brain infarcts at volumetric magnetic resonance imaging in the Framingham Offspring Study.

Background: Elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) levels have been associated with increased risk of dementia and stroke, but it is uncertain whether the mediating mechanisms are predominantly cellular, vascular, or both.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between tHcy levels and findings at brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a community-based sample.

Design: Our sample comprised 1965 participants in the Framingham Offspring Study (1050 women; mean [SD] age, 62 [9] years) who were free of clinical stroke, dementia, or other neurologic disease affecting brain MRI and for whom at least 1 measurement of plasma tHcy level (1991-2001) and a brain MRI (1999-2002) were available.

Plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in the US population: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2004.

Background: No large-scale, population-based study has considered the descriptive epidemiology of vitamin B-6 status with use of plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), the indicator of vitamin B-6 adequacy used to set the current Recommended Dietary Allowance, which is < or = 2 mg/d for all subgroups.

Objectives: We sought to examine the epidemiology of vitamin B-6 status in the US population.

Methods: In > 6000 participants aged > or = 1 y in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2004), we considered relations between plasma PLP and various subject characteristics and examined trends in plasma PLP and homocysteine with vitamin B-6 intake, both overall and in selected subgroups.

Spondyloarthropathies: progress and challenges.

The spondyloarthropathies are a group of human rheumatic disorders that are often associated with extra-articular features. Although a substantial number of studies is undertaken each year, many issues concerning the pathogenesis remain unanswered. There are several unresolved questions with regard to pathogenesis and treatment in spondyloarthropathies.

Plasma B vitamins, homocysteine, and their relation with bone loss and hip fracture in elderly men and women.

Context: Elevated homocysteine is a strong risk factor for osteoporotic fractures among elders, yet it may be a marker for low B-vitamin status.

Objective: Our objective was to examine the associations of plasma concentrations of folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and homocysteine with bone loss and hip fracture risk in elderly men and women.

Design: This was a longitudinal follow-up study of the Framingham Osteoporosis Study.

Bacillus lipopeptides: versatile weapons for plant disease biocontrol.

In the context of biocontrol of plant diseases, the three families of Bacillus lipopeptides - surfactins, iturins and fengycins were at first mostly studied for their antagonistic activity for a wide range of potential phytopathogens, including bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. Recent investigations have shed light on the fact that these lipopeptides can also influence the ecological fitness of the producing strain in terms of root colonization (and thereby persistence in the rhizosphere) and also have a key role in the beneficial interaction of Bacillus species with plants by stimulating host defence mechanisms. The different structural traits and physico-chemical properties of these effective surface- and membrane-active amphiphilic biomolecules explain their involvement in most of the mechanisms developed by bacteria for the biocontrol of different plant pathogens.

Respiration activity monitoring system (RAMOS), an efficient tool to study the influence of the oxygen transfer rate on the synthesis of lipopeptide by Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633.

The effect of oxygen transfer rate (OTR) on the synthesis of mycosubtilin, a non ribosomal lipopeptide antifungal biosurfactant, was investigated in the respiration activity monitoring system (RAMOS) for two Bacillus subtilis strains. These cultures were performed under definite oxygen-limited conditions without the adding of any anti-foam in the culture medium. By using four different filling volumes (FV) in the shaken bioreactors, different levels (20, 14, 9 and 7 mmol O(2)l(-1)h(-1)) of oxygen-limited growth could be obtained.

Mesenchymal cell targeting by TNF as a common pathogenic principle in chronic inflammatory joint and intestinal diseases.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is key to the pathogenesis of various arthritic diseases and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Anti-TNF therapies have proved successful in the clinical treatment of these diseases, but a mechanistic understanding of TNF function is still lacking. We have investigated early cellular mechanisms of TNF function in these diseases using an established TNF transgenic model, which develops a spondyloarthritis-like disease characterized by peripheral joint arthritis, sacroiliitis, enthesitis, and Crohn's-like IBD.

Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease.

Background: Vitamin D receptors have a broad tissue distribution that includes vascular smooth muscle, endothelium, and cardiomyocytes. A growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency may adversely affect the cardiovascular system, but data from longitudinal studies are lacking.

Methods And Results: We studied 1739 Framingham Offspring Study participants (mean age 59 years; 55% women; all white) without prior cardiovascular disease.

Canadian therapists' experiences while implementing the model of human occupation remotivation process.

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study conducted in Quebec, Canada, with occupational therapists working in mental health. Data were gathered through self-reported narratives of four occupational therapists over the 2 years it took to implement the Remotivation Process ( de las Heras, Llerena, & Kielhofner, 2003 ) and develop a research protocol. Through the descriptive analysis of their narratives, the positive changes this intervention approach had on clients and on occupational therapy practice are highlighted.

Once daily versus conventional dosing of pH-dependent mesalamine long-term to maintain quiescent ulcerative colitis: Preliminary results from a randomized trial.

Background And Aims: Multiple studies have demonstrated the efficacy of aminosalicylates in maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis (UC). A newer formulation of mesalamine can be administered once daily. We aimed to examine the efficacy and tolerability of pH-dependent mesalamine for long-term maintenance, and compare the rates of medication consumption between groups over a prolonged period.

Cytokine response to vitamin E supplementation is dependent on pre-supplementation cytokine levels.

Vitamin E supplementation has been suggested to improve immune response in the aged in part by altering cytokine production. However, there is not a consensus regarding the effect of supplemental vitamin E on cytokine production in humans. There is evidence that baseline immune health can affect immune response to supplemental vitamin E in the elderly.

In vitamin B12 deficiency, higher serum folate is associated with increased total homocysteine and methylmalonic acid concentrations.

In a recent study of older participants (age >/=60 years) in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we showed that a combination of high serum folate and low vitamin B(12) status was associated with higher prevalence of cognitive impairment and anemia than other combinations of vitamin B(12) and folate status. In the present study, we sought to determine the joint influence of serum folate and vitamin B(12) concentrations on two functional indicators of vitamin B(12) status, total homocysteine (tHcy) and methylmalonic acid (MMA), among adult participants in phase 2 of the NHANES III (1991-1994) and the NHANES 1999-2002. Exclusion of subjects who were <20 years old, were pregnant, had evidence of kidney or liver dysfunction, or reported a history of alcohol abuse or recent anemia therapy left 4,940 NHANES III participants and 5,473 NHANES 1999-2002 participants for the study.

Genetic and non-genetic correlates of vitamins K and D.

Objective: To assess the genetic and nongenetic correlates of circulating measures of vitamins K and D status in a community-based sample of men and women.

Subjects/methods: A cross-sectional study of 1762 participants of the Framingham Offspring Study (919 women; mean age 59 years). Vitamin K status was measured as plasma phylloquinone and serum percent undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), and vitamin D was measured using plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D).

Vitamin K and vitamin D status: associations with inflammatory markers in the Framingham Offspring Study.

In vitro data suggest protective roles for vitamins K and D in inflammation. To examine associations between vitamins K and D and inflammation in vivo, the authors used multiple linear regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, triglyceride concentrations, use of aspirin, use of lipid-lowering medication, season, menopausal status, and hormone replacement therapy. Participants were from the Framingham Offspring Study (1997-2001; n = 1,381; mean age = 59 years; 52% women).

Stereoselective renal tubular secretion of levocetirizine and dextrocetirizine, the two enantiomers of the H1-antihistamine cetirizine.

Competition for uptake and/or efflux transporters can be responsible for drug interactions. Cetirizine is mainly eliminated unchanged in urine through both glomerular filtration and tubular secretion. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the eutomer, levocetirizine, and the distomer, dextrocetirizine, have a similar tubular secretion.