scholarly journals Communicating actionable nutrition messages: challenges and opportunities

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne P. Goldberg ◽  
Sarah A. Sliwa
Keyword(s):  
Media Literacy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Environmental Interventions ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Nutrition Messages ◽  
The Many ◽  
Many Sources

As long as health communications have existed in the USA, Americans have faced the task of sorting the agenda of the source from the advice it provides. That task has become more complicated as advances in the science of nutrition and the technology used to present it have heightened the complexity of nutrition communications. Getting consumers to adopt a healthier diet has been a protracted undertaking with limited successes along the way. The obesity epidemic has added urgency to this discourse: not only do we need to eat better, but most of us also need to eat less. This paper reviews the dynamics that have made the communication of accurate and actionable health behaviour information an ongoing challenge, and outlines strategies for moving ahead. It considers the interplay of four sets of factors: the evolutionary nature of the science on which recommendations are based; the many sources of communication about that science; the agendas or motivations of each source; and finally the multifaceted nature of consumers, the recipients of these communications. Communication alone has not been, and will not be, sufficient for consumers to adopt the behavioural changes endorsed by experts. Broad environmental interventions coupled with individual skills development will need to be part of the process. Ultimately, it is the consumer who decides what is for dinner. Media literacy will play a critical role in building consumer efficacy in sorting fact from fiction in order to select food for a healthful diet.

The “Green Revolution”, Ethics and Engineering in the USA

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. Garber ◽  
D. R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Green Revolution ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Economic Methods ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Scientific Technical ◽  
The Many ◽  
Technical Organizations

Ethical behavior applied to any activity within our society is, in the final analysis, the responsibility of each of the individuals involved in that activity. The “Green Revolution”, which erupted in the U.S.A. resulted in conditions which presented difficult ethical decisions to individuals and organizations working on ecological/environmental questions. The problems posed are best observed in an examination of the enforcement of the U.S.A. Clean Water Act where construction workers, the media, regulators, lawyers, politicians, environmentalists, treatment facility operators, scientists, engineers, academics and scientific/technical organizations all substantially benefited. Unfortunately this legislation does not require ecological or net environmental improvement. It requires equitable distribution of the costs of compliance throughout the nation. This has encouraged nonscientific standards and criteria, and a narrow focus, which have in turn resulted in both nonresponsible environmental results, and costs such that other important ecological/societal needs cannot be funded. All societies, whether developing or industrialized, must conserve their resources by utilizing scientific/economic methods to attack clean water and similar problems if they are to really improve their ecology/environment. Since this procedure is minimally used in the U.S.A., what should or can be the ethical positions of the many individuals and groups now benefiting by the present flawed system?

Diet and Contaminants: Driving the Rise to Obesity Epidemics?

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (19) ◽  
pp. 3471-3482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Di Ciaula ◽  
Piero Portincasa
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Maternal Diet ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Food Contaminants ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Generational Transmission ◽  
Modifiable Factors ◽  
Toxic Food ◽  
Diet And Lifestyle

The obesity epidemic is spreading worldwide without reversal trend and despite specific policies oriented to dietary habits and lifestyle, which seem to have modest effects. Genetic factors only partly explain the rise, whereas environmental factors seem to play a key role, mainly by gene-environment interactions through epigenetic mechanisms. A number of animal and human studies point to maternal diet, intestinal microbiota and chemicals introduced as contaminants with food, all factors able to increase the risk of obesity. Widely diffused toxics (mainly BPA, phthalates, pesticides) are able to promote obesity in children and adults, mainly by acting on the differentiation pathway linking multipotent stromal stem cell to mature adipocyte, modulating epigenetic factors and influencing a series of mechanisms finally leading to altered dietary habits, increased adipocyte formation and fat storage. Furthermore, the adipose tissue is an important target for several chemicals (mainly POPs) which represent a threat to metabolic health. In conclusion, besides excessive individual energy intake and inadequate lifestyle, other broadly diffused and modifiable factors (mainly ingestion of toxic chemicals with food) seem to have a critical role in the rapid epidemiological growing of obesity, also considering trans-generational transmission of risk and later development of obesity due to exposure during early life. Further studies are needed, to better assess interactions between cumulative effects of toxic food contaminants and modification of diet and lifestyle, and to verify the efficacy of primary prevention strategies acting on all these factors and potentially able to reverse the continuous rising of the obesity epidemic.

scholarly journals Towards Scalable Economic Photovoltaic Potential Analysis Using Aerial Images and Deep Learning

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3800
Author(s):  
Sebastian Krapf ◽  
Nils Kemmerzell ◽  
Syed Khawaja Haseeb Khawaja Haseeb Uddin ◽  
Manuel Hack Hack Vázquez ◽  
Fabian Netzler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Semantic Segmentation ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Potential Analysis ◽  
3D Data ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Roof-mounted photovoltaic systems play a critical role in the global transition to renewable energy generation. An analysis of roof photovoltaic potential is an important tool for supporting decision-making and for accelerating new installations. State of the art uses 3D data to conduct potential analyses with high spatial resolution, limiting the study area to places with available 3D data. Recent advances in deep learning allow the required roof information from aerial images to be extracted. Furthermore, most publications consider the technical photovoltaic potential, and only a few publications determine the photovoltaic economic potential. Therefore, this paper extends state of the art by proposing and applying a methodology for scalable economic photovoltaic potential analysis using aerial images and deep learning. Two convolutional neural networks are trained for semantic segmentation of roof segments and superstructures and achieve an Intersection over Union values of 0.84 and 0.64, respectively. We calculated the internal rate of return of each roof segment for 71 buildings in a small study area. A comparison of this paper’s methodology with a 3D-based analysis discusses its benefits and disadvantages. The proposed methodology uses only publicly available data and is potentially scalable to the global level. However, this poses a variety of research challenges and opportunities, which are summarized with a focus on the application of deep learning, economic photovoltaic potential analysis, and energy system analysis.

scholarly journals Children’s ability to edit their memories when learning about the environment from credible and noncredible websites

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim P. Roberts ◽  
Katherine R. Wood ◽  
Breanne E. Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Multiple Choice Test ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
Website Content

AbstractOne of the many sources of information easily available to children is the internet and the millions of websites providing accurate, and sometimes inaccurate, information. In the current investigation, we examined children’s ability to use credibility information about websites when learning about environmental sustainability. In two studies, children studied two different websites and were tested on what they had learned a week later using a multiple-choice test containing both website items and new distracters. Children were given either no information about the websites or were told that one of the websites (the noncredible website) contained errors and they should not use any information from that website to answer the test. In both studies, children aged 7- to 9-years reported information from the noncredible website even when instructed not to, whereas the 10- to 12-year-olds used the credibility warning to ‘edit out’ information that they had learned from the noncredible website. In Study 2, there was an indication that the older children spontaneously assessed the credibility of the website if credibility markers were made explicit. A plausible explanation is that, although children remembered information from the websites, they needed explicit instruction to bind the website content with the relevant source (the individual websites). The results have implications for children’s learning in an open-access, digital age where information comes from many sources, credible and noncredible. Education in credibility evaluation may enable children to be critical consumers of information thereby resisting misinformation provided through public sources.

scholarly journals Radiation Necrosis of the Lateral Skull Base and Temporal Bone

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (04) ◽  
pp. 265-271
Author(s):  
Marc W. Herr ◽  
Aurora G. Vincent ◽  
Meghan A. Skotnicki ◽  
Yadranko Ducic ◽  
Spiros Manolidis
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Therapy ◽  
Temporal Bone ◽  
Radiation Necrosis ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Normal Tissues ◽  
Lateral Skull Base ◽  
The Many ◽  
Work Up

AbstractRadiation therapy plays a critical role in the treatment of malignancies involving the head and neck. Although the therapeutic effects of ionizing radiation are achieved, normal tissues are also susceptible to injury and significant long-term sequelae. Osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone (ORNTB) is among the many complications that can arise after therapy. ORNTB is a debilitating and potentially lethal condition that continues to challenge patients and treating physicians. Herein, we review the pathophysiology, presentation, work-up, and management of ORNTB.

scholarly journals A new noise detected in the ocean

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 1255-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Guerra ◽  
Xavier Martinell ◽  
Angel F. González ◽  
Michael Vecchione ◽  
Joaquin Gracia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Noise ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Defensive Strategy ◽  
Reflection And Refraction ◽  
Turbulent Pressure ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Many ◽  
Many Sources

Many observers have noted that the sea is full of loud sounds, both ongoing and episodic. Among the many sources of natural ambient noise are wave action, physical processes such as undersea earthquakes, and biological activities of shrimps, fish, dolphins and whales. Despite interest by acoustics experts, sound production by cephalopods has been reported only twice, both involving squid. The ‘faint poppings’ produced were thought to result from fluttering of the thin external lips of the squid's funnel while water is being expelled through it. Otherwise, no information is available on cephalopod sounds. Here we present a noise produced by a stressed common octopus. The event was filmed and recorded in the wild. The hypothesis we offer to explain how this sound was produced is cavitation, which has been documented in several biological systems. In our case, the water expelled through the funnel may have created a jet with a velocity so high that the turbulent pressure dropped locally below the vapour pressure of the water. Seawater contains gas microbubbles, which will grow in size when they are entrained in the region of low pressure. Subsequently, the bubbles collapse violently when pressure rises again. The sound produced by the octopus is like a gunshot, and distinct lights observed at the same time contradict the existence of a simple pressure wave and point to the possible presence of gas-bubbles, which would change the light intensity by reflection and refraction of the sunlight. This behaviour seems to be a defensive strategy to escape from vibration-sensitive predators.

scholarly journals Using chemical biology to assess and modulate mitochondria: progress and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 20160151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Logan ◽  
Michael P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Function ◽  
Chemical Biology ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
The Many ◽  
Opening Up

Our understanding of the role of mitochondria in biomedical sciences has expanded considerably over the past decade. In addition to their well-known metabolic roles, mitochondrial are also central to signalling for various processes through the generation of signals such as ROS and metabolites that affect cellular homeostasis, as well as other processes such as cell death and inflammation. Thus, mitochondrial function and dysfunction are central to the health and fate of the cell. Consequently, there is considerable interest in better understanding and assessing the many roles of mitochondria. Furthermore, there is also a growing realization that mitochondrial are a promising drug target in a wide range of pathologies. The application of interdisciplinary approaches at the interface between chemistry and biology are opening up new opportunities to understand mitochondrial function and in assessing the role of the organelle in biology. This work and the experience thus gained are leading to the development of new classes of therapies. Here, we overview the progress that has been made to date on exploring the chemical biology of the organelle and then focus on future challenges and opportunities that face this rapidly developing field.

scholarly journals Artificial intelligence decision-making in mobile health

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 20-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Menictas ◽  
Mashfiqui Rabbi ◽  
Predrag Klasnja ◽  
Susan Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Chronic Health Condition ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Prevention And Health Promotion ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sleeping Habits

It is likely that you or someone you know is affected by a chronic health condition. For example, a staggering six in 10 adults in the USA are currently suffering from a chronic disease (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2019). Unfortunately, chronic conditions are not treatable overnight, but they can often be improved by regular incorporation of preventative behaviours (e.g., taking medication, healthy sleeping habits, being physically active, healthy eating, etc.). However, due to the many contingencies that arise in our lives, regular incorporation of healthy behaviours is difficult, and often when we need help in enacting these behaviours, support from clinical professionals is not available.

scholarly journals Non-Hermitian physics for optical manipulation uncovers inherent instability of large clusters

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Li ◽  
Yineng Liu ◽  
Zhifang Lin ◽  
Jack Ng ◽  
C. T. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Optical Forces ◽  
Exceptional Points ◽  
Complex Eigenvalues ◽  
Microscopic World ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Many ◽  
Large Clusters ◽  
Conventional Systems

AbstractIntense light traps and binds small particles, offering unique control to the microscopic world. With incoming illumination and radiative losses, optical forces are inherently nonconservative, thus non-Hermitian. Contrary to conventional systems, the operator governing time evolution is real and asymmetric (i.e., non-Hermitian), which inevitably yield complex eigenvalues when driven beyond the exceptional points, where light pumps in energy that eventually “melts” the light-bound structures. Surprisingly, unstable complex eigenvalues are prevalent for clusters with ~10 or more particles, and in the many-particle limit, their presence is inevitable. As such, optical forces alone fail to bind a large cluster. Our conclusion does not contradict with the observation of large optically-bound cluster in a fluid, where the ambient damping can take away the excess energy and restore the stability. The non-Hermitian theory overturns the understanding of optical trapping and binding, and unveils the critical role played by non-Hermiticity and exceptional points, paving the way for large-scale manipulation.

scholarly journals Use of text mining techniques for unsupervised organization of digital procedural acts

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Alfredo Silveira Araújo Neto ◽  
Marcos Negreiros
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Text Mining ◽  
Text Documents ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
Large Databases ◽  
Context Data ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
The Many ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
And Storage

The rapid advances in technologies related to the capture and storage of data in digital format have allowed to organizations the accumulation of a volume of information extremely high, constituted a higher proportion of data in unstructured format, represented by texts. However, it is noted that the retrieval of useful information from these large repositories has been a very challenging activity. In this context, data mining is presented as a self-discovery process that acts on large databases and enables the knowledge extraction from raw text documents. Among the many sources of textual documents are electronic diaries of justice, which are intended to make public officially all the acts of the Judiciary. Despite the publication in digital form has provided improvements represented by the removal of imperfections related to divulgation at printed format, it is observed that the application of data mining methods could render more rapid analysis of its contents. In this sense, this article establishes a tool capable of automatically grouping and categorizing digital procedural acts, based on the evaluation of text mining techniques applied to groups determination activity. In addition, the strategy of defining the descriptors of the groups, that is usually conducted based on the most frequent words in the documents, was evaluated and remodeled in order to use, instead of words, the most regularly identified concepts in the texts.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document