The premise of this case study research is that nutritional requirements increase when women fall pregnant and that obtaining adequate nutrition is of particular importance for the maternal environment and fetal growth on both short-term and long-term outcomes, impacting everything from individual well-being to Gross Domestic Product of a nation. Nutrition is a complex and multi-faceted area of study. An important part of this study is the nature of intra-household allocation. This study explores the allocation of food and resources within a sample of rural households to identify whether the onset of pregnancy changes a woman’s ability to claim (receive) additional food and resources to meet her increased nutritional needs. Using case study methodology, I collected a combination of quantitative and qualitative data on individual and household level information of 32 pregnant women in the area of Inchanga, South Africa. Almost all pregnant women in this sample report that their absolute needs are met. I also find that a majority of respondents report a relative increase in food, money and/or resources during pregnancy. This indicates that for the greater part of households in this sample, women’s access to nutrition does change because they are pregnant. Where a pregnant woman’s nutritional needs were not met, important individual and household correlates include the pregnant woman’s relationship to the head of household, to other household members as well as to the father of the child, in addition to the woman’s individual access to and control over income. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The purpose of this study was to describe current tube feeding knowledge and practices to target appropriate quality improvement interventions. This study was important because literature has demonstrated gaps in nurses' knowledge and practice in this area. The Synergy model of patient care was used as a conceptual basis for this study. Two data collection methods were used. A quantitative descriptive survey of nurses, using a questionnaire to collect information about knowledge and practice was undertaken concurrently with a retrospective review of case files between June and July, 2010. Ethical approval was sought from the relevant authorities. The whole population of nurses available was used, and a sample of 51 nurses that met the inclusion criteria responded to the questionnaire (100% response rate). A total of 78 eligible case files were reviewed using a checklist. SPSS Version 15 was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that most nurses (98%) had received tube feeding training while at college. However, nearly the same number of nurses (96%) reported having received no in-service training on tube feeding. The findings showed variability in the levels of knowledge. Furthermore, the use of outdated method, to confirm proper tube placement was reported. The majority of respondents reported that they document the care given, but this was not evident in the review of the case files. Environmental aspects such as tube/feed shortage, lack of guidelines and patients/ guardian refusal of tube feeding were reported as common problems affecting nurses' practice. The standards for tube feeding suggested from literature are not attained. The characteristics of a nurse and the environment of care have an implication in tube feeding practices and can ultimately help to eliminate the gap in practice. The nurses' current knowledge and practice is a cause for concern. Recommendations include education, evidence based protocols and other efforts to improve tube feeding practice. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

The interrelation among maternal dietary intake, pregravid weight, amount and pattern of gestational weight gain and cigarette smoking in influencing the balance between fetal growth and maternal postpartum weight retention was in investigated in 1,330 healthy participants in the PEI Nutritional Counselling Program. Among nonsmokers, gestational weight gain was the main predictor of postpartum weight retention and explained 65.3% of its variability, while explaining only 4.7% of infant birth weight variability. Women with higher postpartum weight retention gained more weight during pregnancy and most of the difference between higher and lower weight retention groups occurred in the first 20 weeks. When comparing infant size between smoking and nonsmoking mothers, birth weight increased linearly with maternal weight gain in all weight status groups except in overweight nonsmokers where birth weight reached a plateau at weight gains $>$17 kg. Among smokers, infant length increased at a higher rate with weight gain than nonsmokers. Although higher weight gains seemed to partially mitigate the effect of smoking on the risk of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, such risk remained $>$10% at elevated weight gains among underweight smokers. The effects of smoking in reducing maternal and infant weights were not mediated by lower energy intake, as smokers consumed more energy than nonsmokers after controlling for physical activity and pregravid weight. The independent relative risks of SGA infants due to maternal smoking, pregravid underweight and low weight gain, were 3.23, 1.80 and 1.72 respectively, implying that smoking has the greatest effect on SGA. Based on current smoking prevalence in Canada, the population etiologic fraction of SGA due to the direct effect of smoking is 30.8%; approximately twice that for maternal underweight or low weight gain. Efforts to increase infant birth weight through higher maternal weight gain would require impractically high ene

The present study was performed to determine if pigs varying in their susceptibility to stress, adapted to a casein-based diet, experience an improvement in biochemical parameters related to stress and behaviour compared to pigs adapted to the traditional western canadian cereal-based swine diet. Experiment 1 involved separating fifty-eight, 8-week old pigs according to genotype with respect to the halothane gene. Within each genotype pigs were divided into 2 groups and assigned to either a control diet or to a diet where most of the protein source was substituted for casein. All animals were adapted to diet for 6 weeks and experienced a weekly blood sampling stressor. Day 1, 14 and 35 of the plasma samples were analyzed for glucose, cortisol, ACTH, insulin, pyridoxal 5$ sp prime$-phosphate (PLP), amino acid concentrations and dopamine-$ beta$-hydroxylase (DBH) activity; metabolic indices known to be responsive to stress. Experiment 2 involved separating fifty-seven, 14-week old pigs in the same manner, then adapting the pigs to their respective diets for a period of 4 weeks. Afterwards, pigs were transferred from their pen to a novel pen-maze situation where they had their behaviour monitored for a period of one hour. Results of these experiments have revealed that (1) the stress susceptible and carrier pigs experienced reduced day 35 plasma glucose, PLP concentrations and DBH activity compared to normal pigs; (2) dietary adaptation to the casein diet resulted in greater day 14 and 35 PLP levels and day 35 essential amino acid lysine, threonine, methionine, tryptophan and arginine concentrations compared to control-adapted pigs; (3) the carrier pigs investigated their surroundings more frequently than the stress susceptible pigs, and the normal pigs engaged in the through-maze behaviour more often than the stress susceptible pigs; and (4) adaptation to the casein diet, compared to the control diet, resulted in fewer displacement-type behaviours such as drinking

The emphasis of the study was to determine the degree of correlation between the Conicity Index and known risk factors for heart disease. Conicity Index was shown in one study to be a useful screening tool in assessing the relationship between body composition and risk for heart disease. This study was designed to provide nutrition education and teach lifestyle modification to fourteen Veteran's Affairs patients. Change in specific risk factors including Waist-to-Hip Ratio, Body Mass Index, serum lipid levels and dietary intakes were correlated with change in Conicity Index over the six month study. Results from the present study did not suggest that the Conicity Index would serve as an effective screening tool for the present population. Mean body weight, body mass index, hip circumference, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, total caloric and fat intake all decreased significantly as a result of the program. Through nutrition education, behavior modification and group support, the risk for heart disease was successfully modified in this population. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The specific objective of this study was to determine if Fgf-3 gene expression is mediated by dietary fatty acids and to confirm mouse mammary tumor virus infection. It is well known that dietary linoleic acid enhances growth and dietary stearic acid inhibits growth of mammary tumors. Tumor RNA was extracted from female strain A/St mice fed one of four diets. A radioactively labeled anti-sense RNA probe was generated, invitro, from isolated and purified pFgf-3c (int-2c clone contained in the vector pSP65). The Fgf-3c probe was hybridized to extracted tumor RNA using the ribonuclease protection assay.Electron microscopy confirmed MMTV infection by visualization of type A and B particles in tumor tissue. Expression of Fgf-3c, qualified by RNase protection assay, ranged from 0.02 to 5.89 (relative band density) in all of the diet groups. A positive association between Fgf-3c expression and weight was observed among the tumors of the SA-1 diet (R = 0.947). The SF, SF-1, and PA experimental diets, individually, did not appear to show strong correlation with respect to tumor size. Fgf-3 expression was less in small tumors (<275 mg) and enhanced in large tumors (>275 mg) (p<0.05). / Department of Biology

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the effectiveness of an innovative unit-wide phosphorus football contest and nutrition education intervention directed at improving the serum phosphorus levels and calcium-phosphorus products of patients undergoing routine hemodialysis. Patients at the Clarian Health Partners dialysis center located at 2140 North Capitol Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana participated in the "National Fosphorus League Phootball" contest, a theme game that allowed patients to join a team and compete against other teams in the dialysis center over a four month time period from September 2005 to December 2005. Additional nutrition education was also provided to all the hemodialysis patients during the months of the phosphorus football contest. Identical patient information from September 2004 to December 2004 was also collected for baseline comparison of serum phosphorus levels and calcium-phosphorus products when only routine education and instruction was provided.Pearson Chi-Square analyses and a series of three-way ANOVAs were performed on the data collected. Overall, it was determined that patients who participated in the phosphorus football contest and received Vitamin D therapy were potentially two times likely to have serum phosphorus levels and calcium-phosphorus products in the goal ranges. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Previous studies reported that noncompliance to diabetes treatment may result in a series of health complications. To further understand patients’ noncompliance to meal plans, a study on meal planning strategy was developed. Through a survey Certified Diabetes Educators determined which meal planning strategies were the most effective in encouraging patients’ compliance to meal plan according to age groups (18 and under, 19 to 49, 50 to 70, and 71 and above) and recency of diagnosis (newly- and non-newly diagnosed) with Type 2 diabetes. Results identified that nutrition labels had the greatest mean rating for effectiveness in age groups 18 and under, 19 to 49, and 50 to 70; and healthy food choices had the greatest mean rating for effectiveness with age group 71 and above. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

It has been suggested that plasma membranes play a role in tumor production. Changes in plasma membrane lipid composition may change membrane fluidity and disrupt cellular communication. These changes in membrane lipid composition appear to be related to the fatty acid content of the animal's diet. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effect of dietary linoleic and stearic acids and tumor size on cholesterol/phospholipid ratios and fatty acids in membranes of mammary adenocarcinomas.Plasma membranes of mammary tumors from Strain A/St mice were isolated by centrifugation and the lipids extracted. Phospholipid content was assayed by the method of Bartlett (102); cholesterol and fatty acids by gas liquid chromatography.Plasma membranes of tumors from mice fed the high linoleic diet (SAFF) were found to have the highest cholesterol/phospholipid ratios (Mean=0.396); mice fed high stearic acid diets produced tumors with the lowest ratios (0.280). Membranes of tumors from mice fed SA-4 and Stock diets had intermediate ratios (0.0.341 and 0.0.346, respectively). / Department of Biology

Research on the putative health benefits has indicated that kefir, a traditional fermented milk, might have antimutagenic and antitumor properties. The major objective of the present thesis was to isolate and identify antitumor compounds in cow's milk kefir and investigate the possible mechanisms involved. High speed centrifugation (HSC), molecular weight cut-off filtration (MWCO), size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SEC-HPLC) and reverse phase-HPLC (RP-HPLC) were utilized for fractionation of kefir and a cell culture model was developed to screen for the antiproliferative effects of the kefir fractions. The antiproliferative effects of bacteria-free extracts from different fermentation stages of kefir production, as well as bacteria-free extracts from milk and yogurt were compared. The results showed that extracts from an early stage of fermentation (i.e., kefir mother culture) and the final commercial kefir product both exerted dose-dependent inhibition effects on human mammary tumor MCF-7 cells, yogurt extracts showed less potent antiproliferative effects, while pasteurized milk extracts showed no antiproliferative effects. No antiproliferative effects of the kefir extracts were observed on human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) whereas the yogurt extracts showed antiproliferative action in HMEC cells at a high dose. A fraction of the kefir mother culture isolated by HSC, MWCO and RP-HPLC contained components that inhibited MCF-7 cell growth and had no effect on HMEC cells. Characterization of the bioactive fraction using mass spectrometry (MS) indicated that the main components in the fraction are likely fragments of kefiran and/or ceramide containing compounds such as gangliosides. The growth inhibitory effect may be mainly caused by the induction of TNF-alpha in MCF-7 cells. Whole extracts of kefir depleted glutathione (GSH) in MCF-7 cells, while the SEC-HPLC Fraction 7 and the RP-HPLC Fraction 30 induced GSH produc