Effects of Food-Based Approaches on Vitamin A Status of Women and Children: A Systematic Review.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) increases risk for morbidity and mortality. Food-based approaches offer one strategy to improve vitamin A status. This systematic review assessed evidence of the effects of food-based approaches on the vitamin A status of women and children under 5 y.

Assessment of functional mobility and gait during a timed up and go test in adults with total blindness.

Background: The loss of vision leads to behavioral and motor adaptations that do not necessarily translate to good functioning with regards to daily tasks.

Aim: To investigate differences in functional mobility in adults with total blindness, and analyze differences in spatiotemporal gait variables with and without the use of a cane, and wearing shoes or barefoot.

Methods: We used an inertial measurement unit to assess the spatiotemporal parameters of the gait and functional mobility in seven subjects with total blindness and four sighted participants during the timed up and go test (TUG) test performed under conditions: barefoot/shod; and with/without a cane (blind subjects).

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda.

Objective: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has serious public health consequences including morbidity and mortality for populations in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially for children under 5 years and pregnant women. LMICs are at greater risk of VAD, in part due to low levels of consumption of vitamin A-rich foods most of which are plant-based, such as orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), with lower bioavailability than animal sources of the vitamin A. Food-based approaches such as biofortification of OFSP, including promoting the consumption of vitamin A-rich biofortified staple crops, has been shown to be potentially effective in improving the status of vitamin A and other micronutrients.

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined with Treadmill Training on Kinematics and Spatiotemporal Gait Variables in Stroke Survivors: A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study.

The present study assessed the effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with treadmill training on spatiotemporal and kinematic variables in stroke survivors using gait speed as the primary outcome. A randomized, sham-controlled, triple-blind, study was conducted involving 28 patients with hemiparesis allocated to two groups. The experimental group was submitted to treadmill training combined with anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1) of the damaged hemisphere.

Building on Community Research Partnerships and Training Students in a Multi-Phase Community-Based Participatory Research Study With Young Women of Cambodian Heritage in Massachusetts.

Refugees bring significant economic and cultural benefits to communities and yet face elevated risk of chronic disease and barriers to good health in the U.S. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) can benefit refugee communities and provide training/mentoring opportunities for students.

Brain wave behavior in children with down syndrome following cortical neuromodulation combined with sensorimotor stimulation: observational study.

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) require more time to develop motor and/or cognitive skills. Neuromodulation is used to assist in this development. However, there is a gap in the literature on neurophysiological changes that may occur in the primary motor cortex in individuals with DS following neuromodulation.

Breastfeeding Duration Is Inversely Associated with Postpartum Allostatic Load: A Possible Mechanism for Improved Maternal Health.

Allostatic load, a multisystem composite measure of chronic stress reflecting the cumulative wear and tear on the body, has utility in explaining maternal and child health disparities and predicting future health when measured during the peripartum period. Research using cross-sectional data has demonstrated an inverse association between concurrent breastfeeding status and maternal postpartum allostatic load. However, the relationship between breastfeeding duration and postpartum allostatic load has not been determined.

Rural-urban disparities in the nutritional status of younger adolescents in Tanzania.

Research on geographic differences in health focuses largely on children less than five years; little is known about adolescents-and even less regarding younger adolescents-a vulnerable group at a critical stage of the life course. Africa's rapid population growth and urbanization rates, coupled with stagnant rates of undernutrition, further indicate the need for country-specific data on rural-urban health disparities to inform development policies. This study examined rural-urban disparities in body mass index-for-age-and-sex (BAZ) and height-for-age-and-sex z-scores (HAZ) among younger adolescents in Tanzania.

A quantitative analysis of food insecurity and other barriers associated with ART nonadherence among women in rural communities of Eswatini.

Background: Eswatini has the highest global prevalence of HIV despite decades of universal access to free antiretroviral therapy (ART). We conducted a mixed methods study to investigate barriers to ART adherence among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in rural communities of Eswatini. Qualitative findings were reported in our previous publication.

Traditional plant use during lactation and postpartum recovery: Infant development and maternal health roles.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Evidence of phytochemical roles in infant development and maternal recovery offers insights into beneficial functions of traditional plant use during lactation and the postpartum period. Ethnopharmacological research has relevance to global priorities on maternal and child health, to understanding origins and determinants of human self-medication, and for reconciling traditional postpartum practices and mainstream healthcare.

Aim Of The Study: Present emerging evidence, within evolutionary and socio-cultural contexts, on the role of maternal consumption on transfer of phytochemicals into breast milk with impacts on maternal and child health, and on infant development.

Tempeh: A semicentennial review on its health benefits, fermentation, safety, processing, sustainability, and affordability.

Tempeh is a fermented food made of mainly soybeans and is a nutritious, affordable, and sustainable functional source of protein. Globally, tempeh is a widely accepted fermented product. Although there is a growing body of literature on tempeh, most research has focused on unfermented soybeans, thus the impact of tempeh fermentation on biological properties of soybeans has been largely left scattered.

The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Combined With Proprioceptive Training for Blind Individuals: The Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

To maintain the balance, the postural system needs to integrate the three main sensorial systems: visual, vestibular, and somatosensory to keep postural control within the limits of stabilization. Damage of one of these systems, in this case, the vision, will have a great disturbance on the postural control influencing the behavior of the balance, resulting in falls. The aim of this study protocol for a randomized, controlled clinical trial is to analyze the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with proprioceptive exercises on postural control in individuals with congenital and acquired blindness.

Individual, household, and community level barriers to ART adherence among women in rural Eswatini.

Background: Despite access to free antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), noncompliance to treatment continues to be a significant challenge in Eswatini. Yet studies investigating barriers to ART adherence in Eswatini are scarce. Most notably, there is a lack of research regarding rural women in Eswatini, who are currently the country's most vulnerable to HIV infection.

The Association between Breakfast Skipping and Body Weight, Nutrient Intake, and Metabolic Measures among Participants with Metabolic Syndrome.

The effect of skipping breakfast on health, especially in adults, remains a controversial topic. A secondary data analysis was conducted to examine associations between breakfast eating patterns and weight loss, nutrient intake, and metabolic parameters among participants with metabolic syndrome (MetS) ( = 240). Three randomly selected 24-h dietary recalls were collected from each participant at baseline and at the one-year visit.

Dietary patterns and their association with hypertension among Pakistani urban adults.

Hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting more than 25% of adults worldwide. In Pakistan, 33% of the adult population suffers from hypertension. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated the critical role of dietary patterns in the causation, prevention and management of hypertension.

Dietary patterns of Pakistani adults and their associations with sociodemographic, anthropometric and life-style factors.

Dietary pattern analysis is an epidemiological method designed to consider the complexity of food preferences and diet patterns of populations. Few studies from South Asia have used this methodology to describe population food intake. Our objective was to identify dietary patterns and understand their associations with sociodemographic, anthropometric and life-style factors among low-income Pakistani urban adults.

Household food security is inversely associated with undernutrition among adolescents from Kilosa, Tanzania.

Household food insecurity contributes to poor nutritional health, with negative consequences on growth and development during childhood. Although early childhood nutrition needs have received much attention, another important nutritional phase is adolescence. In a sample of 670 adolescents from Kilosa District, Tanzania, this study used 3 approaches to better understand the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition.