F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, September 2009

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

Effect of water and citrate solubility on agronomic effectiveness of acidulated phosphates in three consecutive corn crops

In the process of phosphate rock acidulation, several impure P compounds may be formed along with the desirable Ca and NH4 phosphates. Such compounds normally reduce the content of water-soluble P and thus the agronomic effectiveness of commercial fertilizers. In order to study this problem, a greenhouse experiment consisting of three consecutive corn crops was conducted in samples of a Red-Yellow Latosol (Typical Hapludox) in a completely randomized design (6 x 2 x 2), with four replicates. Six commercial fertilizers were added to 2 kg of soil at a rate of 70 mg kg-1 P, based on the content of soluble P in neutral ammonium citrate plus water (NAC + H2O) of the fertilizers. Fertilizer application occurred either in the original form or leached to remove the water-soluble fraction, either by mixing the fertilizer with the whole soil in the pots or with only 1 % of its volume. The corn plants were harvested 40 days after emergence to determine the shoot dry matter and accumulated P. For the first crop and localized application, the elimination of water-soluble P from the original fertilizers resulted in less bioavailable P for the plants. For the second and third crops, the effects of P source, leaching and application methods were not as evident as for the first, suggesting that the tested P sources may have similar efficiencies when considering successive cropping. The conclusion was drawn that the water-insoluble but NAC-soluble fractions of commercial P fertilizers are not necessarily inert because they can provide P in the long run.

The Visual Dysphagia Questionnaire: Evaluating the first Tool for Assessing Food Consistency-Dependent Dysphagia in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Background and Aims: The international EEsAI study group iscurrently developing the first a ctivity index specific forEosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE). None of the existing dysphagiaquestionnaires take into account the consistency of theingested food t hat considerably impacts the symptompresentation. Goal: To d evelop and evaluate an E oE-specificquestionnaire assessing dysphagia caused by foods of differentconsistencies.Methods: B ased on patient interviews and chart reviews, a nexpert panel ( EEsAI study g roup) identified internationallystandardizedfood prototypes t ypically a ssociated with EoErelateddysphagia. Food consistencies were c orrelated withEoE-related d ysphagia, t aking into account p otential f oodavoidance and f ood processing. This V isual D ysphagiaQuestionnaire (VDQ) was piloted in 20 patients and is currentlyevaluated in a cohort of 150 adult EoE patients.Results: T he following 8 food c onsistency prototypes w ereidentified: soft foods (pudding, jelly), grits, toast bread, Frenchfries, dry rice, ground meat, raw fibrous f oods (eg. apple,carrot), s olid m eat. Dysphagia was r anked o n a 4-point Likertscale (0=no difficulties; 3= severe difficulties, food will not pass).First analysis demonstrated that severity of dysphagia is relatedto the eosinophil load and presence of esophageal strictures.Conclusions: T he VDQ i s the first EoE-specific tool f orassessing dysphagia caused by i nternationally-standardizedfoods of different consistencies. This instrument also addressesfood avoidance behaviour and food processing habits. This toolperformed well in a p ilot study a nd is currently evaluated in acohort of 150 adult EoE patients.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, October 2009

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

Evidence for a compulsive-like behavior in rats exposed to alternate access to highly preferred palatable food.

Converging evidence suggests that recurrent excessive calorie restriction causes binge eating by promoting behavioral disinhibition and overeating. This interpretation suggests that cognitive adaptations may surpass physiological regulations of metabolic needs after recurrent cycles of dieting and binging. Intermittent access to palatable food has long been studied in rats, but the consequences of such diet cycling procedures on the cognitive control of food seeking remain unclear. Female Wistar rats were divided in two groups matched for food intake and body weight. One group received standard chow pellets 7 days/week, whereas the second group was given chow pellets for 5 days and palatable food for 2 days over seven consecutive weeks. Rats were also trained for operant conditioning. Intermittent access to palatable food elicited binging behavior and reduced intake of normal food. Rats with intermittent access to palatable food failed to exhibit anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze, but displayed reduced locomotor activity in the open field and developed a blunted corticosterone response following an acute stress across the diet procedure. Trained under a progressive ratio schedule, both groups exhibited the same motivation for sweetened food pellets. However, in contrast to controls, rats with a history of dieting and binging exhibited a persistent compulsive-like behavior when access to preferred pellets was paired with mild electrical foot shock punishments. These results highlight the intricate development of anxiety-like disorders and cognitive deficits leading to a loss of control over preferred food intake after repetitive cycles of intermittent access to palatable food.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, November 2009

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, December 2009

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, January 2010

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

The transfer of 137Cs through the soil-plant-sheep food chain in different pasture ecosystems

Selostus: Radiocesiumin kulkeutuminen eri laidunekosysteemien maa-ruoho-lammas -ravintoketjussa

Factors promoting the exposure to bioaerosols among crop workers

Introduction. Agricultural workers are among the professional groups most at risk of developing acute or chronic respiratory problems. Despite this fact, the etiology of these occupational diseases is poorly known, even in important sectors of agriculture such as the crops sector. Cereals can be colonized by a large number of fungal species throughout the plants' growth, but also during grain storage. Some of these fungi deliver toxins that can have a serious impact on human health when they are ingested via wheat products. Although International and European legislation on contaminants in food, including mycotoxins, include measures to ensure protection of public health by setting down the maximum levels for certain contaminants, the risks associated with the inhalation of such molecules during grain handling remains poorly documented. Goal of study. This project's objective was to characterize worker exposure to pathogenic, irritative or allergenic microorganisms and to identify the abiotic or biotic factors that reduce the growth of these microorganisms in crops. Indeed, the proliferation of microorganisms on wheat is dependent on temperature, rainfall and human disturbance (e.g. usage of tillage, addition of fungicides). A change in the concentration of these microorganisms in the substrate will directly result in a change in the concentration of aerosolized particles of the same microorganisms. Therefore, the exposure of worker to bioaérosols will also change. The Vaud region of Switzerland is a perfect region for conduct such a project as weather conditions vary and agricultural land management programs are divers at a small geographic scale. Methods. Bioaerosols and wheat dust have been sampled during wheat harvesting of summer 2010 at 100 sites uniformly distributed in the Vaud region that are representative of the different agriculture practices. Personal exposure has been evaluated for different wheat related activities: harvesting, grain unload, baling straw, the cleaning of harvesters and silos. Aerosols have been sampled at a rate of 2L/min between 15 min to 4 hours (t) on a 5m PVC filter for estimating the total dust inhaled, on gelatine filter for the identification and quantification of molds, and on a 0.45um polycarbonate filter for endotoxin quantification. Altitude, temperature and annual average rainfall were considered for each site. The physical and chemical characteristics of soils were determined using the methods in effect at Sol Council (Nyon). Total dust has been quantified following NIOSH 0500 method. Reactive endotoxine activity has been determined with Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Assay. All molds have been identified by the pyrosequencing of ITS2 amplicons generated from bioaerosol or wheat dust genomic DNA. Results & Conclusions. Our results confirm the previous quantitative data on the worker exposure to wheat dust. In addition, they show that crop workers are systematically exposed to complex mixtures of allergens, irritants or cytotoxic components. The novelty of our study is the systematic detection of molds such as Fusarium - that is a mycotoxins producer - in the bioaerosols. The results are interpreted by taking in account the agriculture practice, the Phosphorus : Carbon : Nitrogen ratio of the soil, the altitude and the average of rainy days per year.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, February 2010

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, March 2010

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.

F-1 Food Assistance Program State Summary, April 2010

The Food Assistance Monthly Participation Report is a monthly summary of Food Assistance program participation, Statewide and for each Iowa county. Breakouts are reported for participants also in the FIP program, those only receiving Food Assistance, and those that are receiving economic assistance under other programs (primarily Medicaid). This report may also be known as the F-1 Report.