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Purpose: This study contrasts views of university students with very low or high food security scores with respect to--obstacles to healthy eating, food pantry use, and managing dietary and educational needs. Method: Comments on open-ended survey questions (n = 1374) were counted, compared, and thematically analyzed to discern differences between the two student groups. Results: Cost concerns were paramount among students with very low food security scores. Students with very low food security experienced significant challenges in reconciling dietary needs and long-term educational goals; this was not problematic among students with high food security. Students from both very low and high food security groups mostly expressed an openness to the campus food pantry, though stigma associated with its use remained a deterrent. Conclusion: While all students face similar challenges to healthy eating, food security status substantially shapes dietary health and the management of dietary and educational needs.

Objective: Characterize the prevalence and dimensions of student food insecurity and the associations with academic performance. Participants: An online survey was distributed (November 2017) to 13,897 undergraduates at a midsized, New Jersey Public University; 2,055 (15%) responded. Methods: Demographic, behavioral, and food security data from University IT services, and the survey were combined in a single dataset. The USDA food security index was adapted to assess food insecurity. Results: Forty-eight percent of students were food insecure. Odds were higher for: women, African Americans, Hispanics, students with partial or no meal plan, commuters, and students receiving financial assistance. Food insecurity increased the odds of being among the lower 10% GPA and reduced the odds of being among the upper 10% GPA. Conclusions: Food insecurity among university students is high and is associated with academic performance. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this relationship is essential to design programs to address this problem.

Interferon gamma (IFNγ) is a critical cytokine known for its diverse roles in immune regulation, inflammation, and tumor surveillance. However, while IFNγ levels were elevated in sera of most newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, its complex interplay in AML remains insufficiently understood. We aim to characterize these complex interactions through comprehensive bulk and single-cell approaches in bone marrow of newly diagnosed AML patients. We identify monocytic AML as having a unique microenvironment characterized by IFNγ producing T and NK cells, high IFNγ signaling, and immunosuppressive features. IFNγ signaling score strongly correlates with venetoclax resistance in primary AML patient cells. Additionally, IFNγ treatment of primary AML patient cells increased venetoclax resistance. Lastly, a parsimonious 47-gene IFNγ score demonstrates robust prognostic value. In summary, our findings suggest that inhibiting IFNγ is a potential treatment strategy to overcoming venetoclax resistance and immune evasion in AML patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD8+ T cells, a fundamental part of the adaptive immune system, employ cytotoxic responses important for targeting pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells. During early activation, CD8+ T cells undergo many changes in metabolism and gene expression. The bridge between epigenetic and metabolic influences on gene expression and cell fate has yet to be fully understood. Here, we investigated the importance of ATP citrate lyase (Acly), an enzyme involved in both metabolism and histone acetylation, for early stages of CD8+ T cell activation. We performed polyclonal activation of murine CD8+ T cells in vitro in the presence or absence of the Acly inhibitor BMS303141. We found that inhibiting Acly during early activation results in decreased expression of early activation markers. Consistent with impaired early activation, we found that inhibition also resulted in increased uptake of fatty acids and decreased glucose uptake without changing mitochondrial ATP levels. On an epigenetic and transcriptional level, early stage Acly inhibition specifically downregulated promoter histone H3 acetylation (H3ac) and expression of the key transcription factor IRF4; however, global levels of H3ac remained similar. Most importantly, the study was able to highlight the importance of Acly in early stages of CD8+ T cell activation and histone regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the costs associated with obesity increase, it is vital to evaluate the effectiveness of chronic disease prevention among underserved groups, particularly in urban settings. This research study evaluated Philadelphia area Keystone First members and church participants enrolled in a group health education program to determine the impact of the Daniel Fast on physical health and the adoption of healthy behaviors. Methods: Participants attended six-weekly health education sessions in two participating churches, and were provided with a digital healthy eating platform. Results: There was a statistically significant decrease from baseline to post assessment for weight, waist circumference and cholesterol. Participants reported a significant improvement in their overall well-being, social and physical functioning, vitality and mental health. Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrate that dietary recommendations and comprehensive group health education delivered in churches and reinforced on a digital platform can improve physical health, knowledge and psychosocial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban ethnic minority youth are often exposed to high levels of aggression and violence. As such, many aggression intervention programs that have been designed with suburban nonethnic minority youth have been used or slightly adapted in order to try and meet the needs of high-risk urban youth. The current study contributes to the literature base by examining how well a range of social–cognitive, emotional distress and victimization, and prosocial factors are related to youth aggression in a sample of urban youth. This study utilized data gathered from 109 9- to 15-year-old youth (36.7% male; 84.4% African American) and their parents or caregivers. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were fit predicting youth aggression from social–cognitive variables, victimization and distress, and prosocial variables, controlling for youth gender and age. Each set of variables explained a significant and unique amount of the variance in youth aggressive behavior. The full model including all predictors accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression. Models suggest that youth with stronger beliefs supportive of violence, youth who experience more overt victimization, and youth who experience greater distress in overtly aggressive situations are likely to be more aggressive. In contrast, youth with higher self-esteem and youth who endorse greater leadership efficacy are likely to be less aggressive. Contrary to hypotheses, hostile attributional bias and knowledge of social information processing, experience of relational victimization, distress in relationally aggressive situations, and community engagement were not associated with aggression. Our study is one of the first to address these important questions for low-income, predominately ethnic minority urban youth, and it has clear implications for adapting aggression prevention programs to be culturally sensitive for urban African American youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has garnered increasing interest over the previous two decades as researchers have tackled increasingly complex health problems. In academia, professional presentations and articles are major ways that research is disseminated. However, dissemination of research findings to the people and communities who participated in the research is many times forgotten. In addition, little scholarly literature is focused on creative dissemination of research findings to the community using CBPR methods. We seek to fill this gap in the literature by providing an exemplar of research dissemination and partnership strategies that were used to complete this project. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the dissemination of research findings to our targeted communities through digital animation. We also provide the foundational thinking and specific steps that were taken to select this specific dissemination product development and distribution strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]