1,993 publications from this institution
No abstract is provided for this article.
Colitis associated cancer (CAC) is the most serious complication of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and its pathogenesis is driven by inflammation. Cytokines are molecular mediators of inflammation. Cytokines like IL-6, IL-17 and IL-23 are upregulated not only in CAC tumors, but also in spontaneous colorectal cancer (CRC), where they regulate tumor-elicited inflammation. We use mouse models of CAC (azoxymethane+ DSS) and monoallelic inactivation of APC tumor suppressor gene in the colon only as a model of CRC. We found that due to the disruption of barriers during colitis or during CRC initiation commensal microflora activates expression of IL-23, which as a master regulator of tumor elicited inflammation controls the expression of other pro-tumorigenic cytokines such as IL-6, IL-11, IL-17 and IL-22. Inactivation of IL-23 or some of its downstream cytokines reduced tumor-elicited inflammation and decreased CAC and CRC development IL-23 is important for CAC and CRC tumorigenesis and regulates tumor -elicited inflammation
Hospitals are the primary worksite of over 5 million adults in the United States, and millions of meals are procured and consumed in this setting. Because many worksite nutrition initiatives use an ecological framework to improve the dietary habits of employees, the nutrition values of foods served in hospitals is receiving attention.This study used the Hospital Nutrition Environment Scan for Cafeterias, Vending Machines, and Gift Shops to quantitatively describe the consumer nutrition environments of 39 hospitals in Southern California. Data were collected by visiting each facility once from February 2012 through May 2012.On average, hospitals achieved only 29%, 33%, and less than 1% of the total possible points for their cafeteria, vending machines, and gift shops sections, respectively; overall, hospitals scored 25% of the total possible points. Large facility size and contracted food service operations were associated with some healthy practices in hospital cafeterias, but we found no association between these variables and the sectional or overall nutrition composite scores.The average consumer nutrition environment of hospitals in this sample was minimally conducive to healthful eating. Nutrition-related interventions are warranted in hospital settings.
Active Living Research (ALR) was supported as a National Program by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2001–2016 to build an evidence base to inform solutions to the epidemic of inactive lifestyles. ALR was designed to help develop a new interdisciplinary...
No abstract is provided for this article.
This special issue highlights some of the papers presented at the second annual Active Living Research (ALR) Conference in February 2005. Each represents an important building block in developing a comprehensive knowledge base concerning environmental and policy influences on physical activity. In the summer of 2000 when the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Board of Trustees approved the concept paper for what would become Active Living Research, none of us could have imagined how quickly this evidence base would emerge. The program staff of RWJF was charged with developing grantmaking strategies that would lead to better approaches to increase population physical activity levels. The 1996 Surgeon General’s report on physical activity had clearly demonstrated the health benefits of exercise, yet health educators, exercise physiologists, and others had shown limited impact in significantly increasing the number of people engaging in even moderate levels of physical activity. 1 RWJF was eager to stimulate substantial improvements in a behavior that had such potential for improving the health of all Americans, as they had with smoking. Physical activity was determined to be an appropriate and worthy target. Much has been written about using ecological models to promote health behavior change, and the benefits of targeting environmental and policy solutions to change population level behavior are generally accepted. 2-7 However, few foundations have invested in developing and evaluating these types of interventions. RWJF has been unique in its understanding of environmental action strategies and its willingness to support policy research to inform those approaches. (See RWJF initiatives such as A Matter of Degree, Reducing Underage Drinking Through Coalitions, Smokeless States and the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, for example.) As the first step in creating a social change strategy designed to increase population physical activity levels, Active Living Research was funded to investigate which environments and what policies would have the greatest potential to impact physical activity. Initial studies focused on developing and validating measures of the built environment for use in establishing a systematic evidence base. Measurement studies were followed by correlational studies to help determine the relationships between the environment and physical activity levels. Some of the papers in this special issue report on these initial measurement and correlation studies.
No abstract is provided for this article.
The purpose of this study was to examine the tracking of multiple healthrelated fitness components in children from fourth to sixth grade. The FITNESSGRAM (1987) testing protocol was used to measure 414 children (213 boys, 201 girls, mean=9.48 yrs, ±0.41, 76% White, 16% Asian & Pacific Islander, 5% Latino, 2% African-American, and 1% Other) from three elementary schools in Southern California. Children were assessed during the fall and spring of each grade by trained evaluation staff. Spearman rank correlations were used to analyze tracking. Baseline scores were correlated with each subsequent time point. For boys, three-year correlations of body mass index (BMI) (.89), sum of tricep and calf skinfold thickness (.80), sit-and-reach test (.67), and the pull-up test (.66) indicated high levels of tracking. Mile run (.56), sit-up test (.46) and waist-to-hip ratio (.30) tracked moderately. Similar results were found for girls; BMI (.83), sum of skinfolds (.75), sit-and-reach test (.72), and the pull-up test (.63) tracked highly, while mile run (.42), sit-up test (.47), and waist-to-hip ratio (.42) tracked moderately. Results suggest that relative rankings of BMI, skinfold thickness, and sit-and-reach test performance may be more likely to track into adolescence and possibly adulthood. Measures of cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance and fat distribution may be less likely to track into adolescence, possibly because they are more influenced by changes in physical activity, or because tracking may be reduced by measurement error.
This study examined determinants of vigorous physical activity in a community sample of adults over a 24-month period. Social learning theory predicts that causal relationships between determinants and behavior are bidirectional, and both the behavior and its influences are subjects to change over time. Thus, dynamic variables were expected to account for more variance in exercise change than static baseline variables. Over 86% of respondents to the baseline mail survey completed follow-up surveys 24 months later, yielding a final sample of 1739. Two physical activity change indices were constructed that were adjusted for baseline exercise and demographic variables, sp that the effects of social learning variables could be isolated. In a two-step hierarchical regression analysis, physical activity measures were regressed onto 21 static and six dynamic independent variables. Baseline self-efficacy was a significant predictor of exercise change for both dependent variables. Four dynamic social learning variables were significantly associated with both exercise change measures: self-efficacy, preceived barriers, family support, and friend support. Social learning variables accounted for 12.3–15.5% of the variance in exercise change over 24 months. The results provide strong support for bidirectional causation between behavior and determinants and suggest hypotheses to be tested in experimental studies.
