Background The COVID-19 pandemic lead to a sudden shift to online teaching and restricted campus access. Aim To assess how university students experienced the sudden shift to online teaching after closure of campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods Students in Public Health Nutrition answered questionnaires two and 12 weeks (N = 79: response rate 20.3% and 26.6%, respectively) after the lockdown in Norway on 12 March 2020 and participated in digital focus group interviews in May 2020 (mixed methods study). Findings and discussion Two weeks into the lockdown, 75% of students reported that their life had become more difficult and 50% felt that learning outcomes would be harder to achieve due to the sudden shift to online education. Twelve weeks into the lockdown, the corresponding numbers were 57% and 71%, respectively. The most pressing concerns among students were a lack of social interaction, housing situations that were unfit for home office purposes, including insufficient data bandwidth, and an overall sense of reduced motivation and effort. The students collaborated well in digital groups but wanted smaller groups with students they knew rather than being randomly assigned to groups. Most students agreed that pre-recorded and streamed lectures, frequent virtual meetings and student response systems could improve learning outcomes in future digital courses. The preference for written home exams over online versions of previous on-campus exams was likely influenced by student’s familiarity with the former. The dropout rate remained unchanged compared to previous years. Conclusion The sudden shift to digital teaching was challenging for students, but it appears that they adapted quickly to the new situation. Although the concerns described by students in this study may only be representative for the period right after campus lockdown, the study provide the student perspective on a unique period of time in higher education.

Background: There is a need for biomarkers of dietary saturated fatty acids, because several diseases have been related to intake of these fatty acids. Objective: To examine the relation between intake of dairy fat and the proportion of pentadecanoic (15:0) and heptadecanoic (17:0) acid in serum and adipose tissue. Design: Healthy men aged 21-55 y provided serum (n ¼ 110) and adipose tissue samples (n ¼ 107) and completed both 14 days weighed records (WR) and a 180-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The proportions of 15:0 and 17:0 acid in serum and adipose tissue as measured by gas liquid chromatography were evaluated as biomarkers for fat intake from dairy products using Pearsons correlation coefficient and the method of triads. Results: The strongest correlation coefficients were observed between total intake of dairy fat estimated from WR and relative content of 15:0 in adipose tissue (0.52, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.65) and total serum (0.43, 95% CI 0.26, 0.57). A consistent inverse association was observed between the intake of milk fat and relative serum content of 17:0. The validity coefficients observed for the intake of dairy fat estimated from weighed records, the 180-item FFQ and by the relative content of 15:0 in serum and adipose tissue were 0.94 (95% CI: 0.68, 1.00), 0.50 (95% CI: 0.29, 0.67), 0.49 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.67) and 0.56 (95% CI: 0.28, 0.82), respectively. Conclusion: Relative content of 15:0 in serum and adipose tissue may be a useful biomarker for the intake of total dairy fat, whereas FFQs and WRs may provide better estimates of the intake of fat from milk.

Background: There is a need for objective and universally applicable biomarkers for the intake of foods believed to affect human health. Objective: The purpose of this feeding study was to test whether plasma concentrations of carotenoids could be used to distinguish recommended consumption of mixed fruits and vegetables (five a day) from the current national intake of fruits and vegetables (two a day). Design: A strict crossover design was chosen to correct for observed interindividual variations in carotenoid response. A total of 40 healthy subjects were included in the study. After 1 week run-in period with no fruits and vegetables in the diet, one group was given two portions (300 g) of fruits and vegetables daily, while another group was given five portions (750 g) for 14 days. Following a 2 week wash-out period and 1 week run-in, the regimens were switched between the groups. Fruits and vegetables were combined to match a typical Norwegian diet. Results: Enhanced intake from two to five portions of mixed fruits and vegetables increased plasma concentrations of a-carotene (P ¼ 0.033) and lutein (P ¼ 0.051) in a crossover analysis. Analysis of data in the parallel part of the study revealed differences between the high and low intake for plasma concentrations of a-carotene (P ¼ 0.013) and b-carotene (P ¼ 0.016). A trend was also evident for plasma concentrations of lycopene (P ¼ 0.057) and lutein (P ¼ 0.076) in the parallel analysis. No effect of high vs low intake of fruits and vegetables was observed for plasma concentrations of b-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, cholesterol and triacylglycerols. Conclusion: The study indicates that plasma concentration of a-carotene, b-carotene and lutein may be used to assess changes of fruit and vegetable intake corresponding to an increase from the present national intake in Norway to the recommended amount of five portions of fruits and vegetables daily.

DNA repair is one of the important determinants of susceptibility to cancer. It is therefore useful to be able to measure DNA repair capacity in samples from population studies. Our aim was, first, to develop a simple comet-based in vitro assay for nucleotide excision repair (NER), similar to that already in use for base excision repair (BER), and then to apply these in vitro assays to lymphocyte samples collected on several occasions from healthy subjects, to gain an impression of the degree of intra- and inter-individual variability. The in vitro assay consists of an incubation of lymphocyte extract with substrate nucleoid DNA from cells pretreated with specific damaging agent; either photosensitiser plus light to induce 8-oxoguanine, for BER, or short wavelength ultraviolet light irradiation for NER. In the new NER assay, which requires magnesium but not adenosine triphosphate, there was significant accumulation of UV-dependent incisions during a 30-min incubation of extract with DNA. We found significant correlations between individual repair rates from samples taken on different occasions; i.e. individuals have a characteristic repair capacity. There was also significant variation between individuals, to the extent of about fourfold for BER and tenfold for NER. There was no correlation between BER and NER rates. The BER and NER assays are simple to perform and can provide valuable information in molecular epidemiological studies in which DNA instability is an endpoint.

Plasma folate concentration may be a useful biomarker for the intake of fruit and vegetables in populations consuming unfortified food products. The association can be attenuated by and should be corrected for individual intake of folic acid supplements.

An increased global prevalence of obesity coincides with an apparent decline in male sperm quality and a possible association between these pathologies has been suggested. In this study, we examined the effects of obesity on sperm chromatin integrity using two mouse models of obesity. In one group of mice, obesity was induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) (diet-induced obesity; DIO model), whereas in the other group, leptin deficiency was used to study the effects of obesity independently of the influence of dietary factors. Sperm chromatin integrity is recognized as an important measure of male infertility, and was analysed by the sperm chromatin structure assay. We found increased sperm DNA fragmentation in both groups of obese mice compared to lean mice, whereas the percentage of immature spermatozoa was not increased by obesity. The DIO model reflects the human condition more closely than the leptin-deficient model and was therefore selected for examination of the transcriptional response of a selection of marker genes in the testis by quantitative real-time PCR. The analysis of transcript levels of the selected testicular marker genes showed moderate, but significant, up-regulation of the Cyp2e1, Cyp19a1, Tnf and Pparg genes in DIO mice compared to lean mice. In conclusion, a clear positive correlation between body mass index and sperm DNA fragmentation was found in two mouse models of obesity. However, the variability in sperm DNA fragmentation within the two groups of obese animals was high. The observed changes in the transcript level of the marker genes suggest that there may be a local response in testicular cells to the HFD regimen with a potential impact on intratesticular signalling and spermatogenesis.

Background: A diet high in red meat is an established colorectal cancer (CRC) risk factor. Carcinogens generated during meat cooking have been implicated as causal agents and can induce oxidative DNA damage, which elicits repair by the base excision repair (BER) pathway.Methods: Using a family-based study, we investigated the role of polymorphisms in 4 BER genes (APEX1 Gln51His, Asp148Glu; OGG1 Ser236Cys; PARP Val742Ala; and XRCC1 Arg194Trp, Arg280His, Arg399Gln) as potential CRC risk factors and modifiers of the association between diets high in red meat or poultry and CRC risk. We tested for gene-environment interactions using case-only analyses (n ¼ 577) and compared statistically significant results with those obtained using case-unaffected sibling comparisons (n ¼ 307 sibships).Results: Carriers of the APEX1 codon 51 Gln/His genotype had a reduced CRC risk compared with carriers of the Gln/Gln genotype (odds ratio (OR) ¼ 0.15, 95% CI ¼ 0.03-0.69, P ¼ 0.015). The association between higher red meat intake (>3 servings per week) and CRC was modified by the PARP Val762Ala singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNP; case-only interaction P ¼ 0.026). This SNP also modified the association between higher intake of high-temperature cooked red meat (case-only interaction P ¼ 0.0009).Conclusions: We report evidence that the BER pathway PARP gene modifies the association of diets high in red meat cooked at high temperatures with risk of CRC.Impact: Our findings suggest a contribution to colorectal carcinogenesis of free radical damage as one of the possible harmful effects of a diet high in red meat. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(12); 3167-73. Ó2010 AACR.

Comparisons of microscopical neuroanatomic data from different experiments and investigators are typically hampered by the use of different section planes and dissimilar techniques for data documentation. We have developed a framework for visualization and comparison of section-based, spatial distribution data, in brain stem nuclei. This framework provides opportunities for harmonized data presentation in neuroinformatics databases. Three-dimensional computerized reconstructions of the rat brain stem and precerebellar nuclei served as a basis for establishing internal coordinate systems for the pontine nuclei and the precerebellar divisions of the sensory trigeminal nuclei. Coordinate based diagrams were used for presentation of experimental data (spatial distribution of labelled neurons and axonal plexuses) from standard angles of view. Each nuclear coordinate system was based on a cuboid bounding box with a defined orientation. The bounding box was size-adjusted to touch cyto- and myeloarchitectonically defined boundaries of the individual nuclei, or easily identifiable nearby landmarks. We exemplify the use of these internal coordinate systems with dual retrograde neural tracing data from pontocerebellar and trigeminocerebellar systems. The new experimental data were combined, in the same coordinate based diagrams, with previously published data made available via a neuroinformatics data repository (www.nesys.uio.no/Database, see also www.cerebellum.org). Three-dimensional atlasing, internal nuclear coordinate systems, and consistent formats for presentation of neuroanatomic data in web-based data repositories, offer new opportunities for efficient analysis and re-analysis of neuroanatomic data.