Tufts University

About: Tufts University is a education organization based out in Medford, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 32800 authors who have published 66881 publications receiving 3451152 citations. The organization is also known as: Tufts College & Universitatis Tuftensis.

Serum Antioxidant Capacity Is Increased by Consumption of Strawberries, Spinach, Red Wine or Vitamin C in Elderly Women

Abstract: It is often assumed that antioxidant nutrients contribute to the protection afforded by fruits, vegetables, and red wine against diseases of aging. However, the effect of fruit, vegetable and red wine consumption on the overall antioxidant status in human is unclear. In this study we investigated the responses in serum total antioxidant capacity following comsumption of strawberries (240 g), spinach (294 g), red wine (300 ml) or vitamin C (1250 mg) in eight elderly women. Total antioxidant capacity was determined using different methods: oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay and ferric reducing ability (FRAP) assay. The results showed that the total antioxidant capacity of serum determined as ORAC, TEAC and FRAP, using the area under the curve, increased significantly by 7-25% during the 4-h period following consumption of red wine, strawberries, vitamin C or spinach. The total antioxidant capacity of urine determined as ORAC increased (P < 0.05) by 9.6, 27.5, and 44.9% for strawberries, spinach, and vitamin C, respectively, during the 24-h period following these treatments. The plasma vitamin C level after the strawberry drink, and the serum urate level after the strawberry and spinach treatments, also increased significantly. However, the increased vitamin C and urate levels could not fully account for the increased total antioxidant capacity in serum following the consumption of strawberries, spinach or red wine. We conclude that the consumption of strawberries, spinach or red wine, which are rich in antioxidant phenolic compounds, can increase the serum antioxidant capacity in humans. J. Nutr. 2383-2390, 1998

Endocrine and metabolic effects of experimental obesity in man.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the endocrine and metabolic effects of the experimental obesity in humans. All the changes witnessed in spontaneous obesity except for the increase in adipocyte number have been reproduced in experimental obesity. It has been found that endocrine and metabolic changes are associated with gain in weight. Normal subjects fattened by eating a mixed diet require more calories in relation to their body surface area for maintenance of the obese state than they require when at their natural weight and also more than the spontaneously obese generally require. There are marked differences in the ability of normal individuals to gain weight by taking calories in excess of those required for maintenance. When weight is gained by normal increase in the intake of fat alone, there is a higher proportion of weight gained to calories ingested, and the weight gained may be maintained by an intake that is no greater than that required to maintain the initial weight. The chapter also describes the hormonal and circulating factors that affect the resistance to insulin in experimental obesity. It also presents evidence for cellular factors in resistance to insulin in experimental obesity and their response to gain in weight and to dietary carbohydrate.

The Dual Imperative in Refugee Research: Some Methodological and Ethical Considerations in Social Science Research on Forced Migration

Abstract: Social scientists doing fieldwork in humanitarian situations often face a dual imperative: research should be both academically sound and policy relevant. We argue that much of the current research on forced migration is based on unsound methodology, and that the data and subsequent policy conclusions are often flawed or ethically suspect. This paper identifies some key methodological and ethical problems confronting social scientists studying forced migrants or their hosts. These problems include non-representativeness and bias, issues arising from working in unfamiliar contexts including translation and the use of local researchers, and ethical dilemmas including security and confidentiality issues and whether researchers are doing enough to 'do no harm'. The second part of the paper reviews the authors' own efforts to conduct research on urban refugees in Johannesburg. It concludes that while there is no single 'best practice' for refugee research, refugee studies would advance its academic and policy relevance by more seriously considering methodological and ethical concerns.

Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster

Abstract: Contents: Preface Prologue 1. The Idea of Economic Growth 2. Why Manage Without Growth? 3. Systems, Information and Prices 4. Limits to Growth - Sources 5. Limits to Growth - Sinks and Services 6. Limits to Growth - Synthesis 7. Scale, Composition and Technology 8. Economic Growth and Happiness 9. The Disappointments of Economic Growth 10. Managing Without Growth in Canada: Exploring the Possibilities 11. Policies for Managing Without Growth References Index