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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent and multifaceted metabolic and endocrine disorder that affects a significant number of women in their reproductive years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the lifeline diet score (LLDS) and PCOS.

In this study, the authors enrolled 105 women who had recently been diagnosed with PCOS. 105 women without PCOS, matched for age and body mass index (BMI), were selected as the control group. The mean age of the participants was 34.80 ± 5.37 years old. Standardized procedures were used to measure anthropometric indicators and assess the body composition of each participant. To determine the dietary patterns, a validated and reliable 147-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was administered. Based on the responses to the FFQ, the LLDS was calculated using 12 specific components. Multiple and univariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the associations between LLDS and PCOS, considering various factors.

In the control group, the mean LLDS was 45.61 ± 9.67; while in the case group, the mean LLDS was 25.10 ± 7.49, respectively (P = 0.001). After adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), age, protein, fat, physical activity and BMI, the probability of developing PCOS is 69% lower in the third tertiles of LLDS than in the first tertiles (OR = 0.31, CI 95% = 0.15–0.62), (P < 0.001).

The study finds that a higher LLDS correlates with reduced PCOS risk, echoing dietary advice to boost fruits, dairy, vegetables, legumes, poultry and grains while limiting pasta, rice, bread, eggs, red meat, sweets, sugar and hydrogenated fats.

School kiosk offerings play a crucial role in the dietary behavior of students. The importance of healthy meals in schools is emphasized again and again, but there is a lack of practical implementation and literature data on kiosk offers and acceptance. This study aimed to analyze the reasons and improve the situation.

Individual nutrition knowledge and behavior as well as purchasing behavior at a typical kiosk scenario at schools were collected. Based on the outcome, a concept for improving the school kiosk offerings according to the quality standard of the German Nutrition Society was developed. Many obstacles and challenges had to be overcome in the transition to healthier offerings and their implementation. In the course of these changes, the creation of a new feel-good cafeteria lounge was deemed necessary and finally realized.

A large percentage of the school kiosk offerings did not meet the desires of the school community. Opportunities to improve the school kiosk service were identified. The skillful planning of structural changes towards healthy food offers and warm meals on two weekdays made it possible to implement the official nutrition standards for healthier meals at school kiosks, despite long-term challenges for food providers.

After a critical analysis of the reasons for the lack of politically desired standards for healthier meals at school kiosks, a new implementation culture is presented and was successfully applied to overcome barriers and challenges through an incremental-dynamic concept strategy with iterative cooperation between the actors of food service providers, school administration, school management, teachers and students.

Cataract, or lens opacification, is a major public health burden accounting for more than half of all blindness worldwide. Plant-based dietary indices provide a unique approach to investigating a modifiable risk for age-related cataracts (ARC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between plant-based diet indices and risk of ARC.

This case-control study was conducted on 97 patients with newly diagnosed ARC and 198 healthy people (as a control group) in Iran. Convenience sampling and a food frequency questionnaire were used. Three plant-based dietary indices were used based on the health promoting qualities of food items, the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (H-PDI) and unhealthful plant-based diet index (U-PDI) which comprised refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods. The plant-based dietary indices were used to investigate relationships with risk of ARC.

After adjusting for potential covariates, no significant association between a higher adherence to O-PDI and risk of ARC. As well, a higher adherence to H-PDI was inversely associated with the risk of ARC (OR = 0.35,95%CI:0.16–0.78). In contrast, there was a significant positive association between a higher adherence to U-PDI and the risk of ARC (OR = 3.67,95%CI:1.66 – 8.15).

The findings of this study have underscored the potential impact of the quality of plant-based food selections on the likelihood of developing ARC. Therefore, adopting a plant-based diet that is rich in nutrient-dense plant-based foods while being low in unhealthy options may have the potential to reduce the risk of ARC.

This report and reflective note provides details and analyzes the tax scholarship published in Advances in Taxation over the ten-year period from 2014 to 2023 including authorship, themes, research methods adopted, and impact of the underlying scholarship. I conclude with some thoughts on future directions for the journal.

This chapter differentiates stress from generalized anxiety, discussing the nature and prevalence of each among college students. The chapter then delves into generalized anxiety in detail, covering instruments that measure generalized anxiety, cultural considerations associated with generalized anxiety and the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of generalized anxiety among college students. The next section of the chapter focuses on social anxiety among college students, similarly addressing its defining characteristics, prevalence, cultural considerations, causes, consequences, prevention and treatment. The final section of the chapter follows a similar structure in discussing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among college students. Throughout the chapter, attention is devoted to neurotransmitters and brain structures that are involved in anxiety and its treatment through antianxiety medications. Case examples are used to help bring theoretical concepts and research findings to life.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the chemical composition of juices obtained from fruits of autochthonous wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) grown in Montenegro and their cytotoxic effects on cancer cells.

To explore the potential value of wild pomegranate fruits, in vitro biological assays were carried out with juices whose composition was analyzed in detail for sugars, organic acids, vitamin C and phenolic compounds. The effect of juices on survival was determined in human lung A549, cervical HeLa and breast MCF-7 carcinoma cells by MTT assay. As a control, the cytotoxicity against normal fetal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5) was monitored.

Among cancer cell lines, considering the IC50 related to total phenolics, the lowest value – 13 µg/mL was found for the A549. The strongest effect on lung cells was assumed due to the favorable contribution of ellagitannins to total phenolics in juice as well as the given combination of anthocyanins and their synergistic action. For HeLa cells, the lowest IC50 value was obtained at 88 µg/mL, and the cytotoxicity could be matched with the effects of anthocyanins and catechin. For MCF-7 cells, the lowest IC50 was 504 µg/mL, and the elevated levels of vitamin C and ellagic acid derivatives should have a noticeable effect on these cells.

This study provides an important contribution to the knowledge on the effect of phytochemicals from wild pomegranate juice on lung, cervical and breast cancer cells, in vitro. The present observations suggest that the juice of wild pomegranate has the potential in the fight against cancer.

Food labels are increasingly used to provide information to consumers. As a common design strategy used for food package labels globally, label frame is often used to expand the perceived breadth of a brand and create a broader brand image. We evaluated the effect of the presence or absence of a non-genetically modified organism (non-GMO) label frame on consumers' preferences for non-GMO foods.

This study collected data from 120 MBA students at a university in Sichuan, China, and 126 foreign volunteers in a shopping mall in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The study investigates the effect of the presence or absence of non-GMO label frame (i.e. label with or without an outline) on non-GMO food preferences through a field survey and two controlled experiments. To empirically analyse the psychological mechanisms by which non-GMO label frames affect consumers' preferences for non-GMO food, we set up the mediating variable of food association of safety.

For ordinary consumers, a framed non-GMO label is more likely to evoke food association of safety and further enhance consumer preference for non-GMO foods. It facilitates consumers' choice of healthier foods. This finding did not otherwise vary across demographic characteristics.

This study is the first to examine the influence of non-GMO label frames on consumers' non-GMO food preferences, which is an innovative research question. The findings of this study are instructive for food manufacturers and policymakers to better design and use non-GMO label frames to attract more consumers to choose non-GMO foods.

This study aims to examine the role of various Instagram contents on customer behavior. The studied case is associated with herbal teas sold on active Instagram pages.

A structured questionnaire is exploited to collect data from customers. The integration of two entropy weight methods and weighted sum method are used to evaluate the priority of contents. In addition, model development is illustrated through which Instagram broadcasting tools are prioritized benefiting from fuzzy cognitive map method.

The results illustrate that customer behavior is moderated by content types, which empirically enhances the profitability of the business. The results of this study reveal that educational live, show other ones experience at live as well as motivational lives are the most effective contents. This study is a pioneering one to practically assess the construct of social media engagement through the effects of content types on the Instagram platform.

The effects of various contents, including motivational content, other customers’ experiences, products, educational content and purchase bill, on customer behavior are studied.

The article aims to study the demand for sparkling wines in Europe. The main objective is to estimate the classic demand parameters aggregately for the entire European area (European Union and the United Kingdom) and separately for groups of countries characterized by wine markets with similar characteristics.

Using 15-years market data for different wine categories from the Euromonitor Passport database, the estimation of price and income elasticities is performed through a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System. In line with the objectives, the model is applied first to the whole European area and then separately to the considered groups of countries (subareas). To identify homogeneous subareas, a cluster analysis was performed on basic characteristics of the wine market.

When considering the European market as a whole, sparkling wines should be considered a luxury category with a high own-price elasticity. However, the structure of their demand is rather different in different sub-areas. The observed heterogeneity suggests that differentiated policy and marketing considerations should be made. In addition, it widens the possibilities for producers, who can choose the submarkets that respond best to their needs to export their sparkling wines. This seems particularly important in markets, like the sparkling wine ones, that are experiencing a continuous expansion over the last decades.

Despite using a methodology well-established to study wine and alcohol demand, the study fills a considerable gap in the literature. Although the demand for sparkling wine is growing worldwide, so far only a couple of studies have engaged in the analysis of its structure. In Europe, the largest market for sparkling wine, this kind of studies is completely lacking.

This study aims to investigate the use of rose petals rich in bioactive components possessing several health benefits in the form of pigmented sweetened rose petals crush (P SRP C) at varying levels in the formulation of cookies to develop consumerfavored natural flavored food products.

PSRPC was used as functional ingredient in millet cookies at varying levels of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Developed cookies were evaluated for physical parameters, bioactive components along with their associated antioxidant activity, texture (hardness, fracturability), surface morphology and molecular interactions. Most acceptable cookies were selected on the basis of sensory evaluation.

Cookies formulated from millet flour were significantly different from wheat flour cookies. Furthermore, the incorporation of PSRPC in millet cookies increased the total phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity. Texture analysis results showed that cookies with higher level of PSRPC had lower hardness and fracturability. PSRPC-incorporated cookies were darker and redder due to the pigments found in rose. Surface morphology and functional groups were altered on addition of PSRPC. Cookies incorporated with 10% PSRPC were highly acceptable on the basis of sensory score.

The current study developed newer conditions for development of cookies from PSRPC. Results foresee the potential of PSRPC as a functional ingredient in value-added food products having health benefits.