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Dietary fiber has long been known to be an essential component of a healthy diet, and recent investigations into the gut microbiome-health paradigm have identified fiber as a prime determinant in this interaction. Further, fiber is now known to impact the gut microbiome in a structure-specific manner, conferring differential bioactivities to these specific structures. However, current analytical methods for food carbohydrate analysis do not capture this important structural information. To address this need, we utilized rapid-throughput LC-MS methods to develop a novel analytical pipeline to determine the structural composition of soluble and insoluble fiber fractions from two AOAC methods (991.43 and 2017.16) at the total monosaccharide, glycosidic linkage, and free saccharide level. Two foods were chosen for this proof-of-concept study: oats and potato starch. For oats, both AOAC methods gave similar results. Insoluble fiber was found to be comprised of linkages corresponding to beta-glucan, arabinoxylan, xyloglucan, and mannan, while soluble fiber was found to be mostly beta-glucan, with small amounts of arabinogalactan. For raw potato starch, each AOAC method gave markedly different results in the soluble fiber fractions. These observed differences are attributable to the resistant starch content of potato starch and the different starch digestion conditions used in each method. Together, these tools are a means to obtain the complex structures present within dietary fiber while retaining "classical" determinations such as soluble and insoluble fiber. These efforts will provide an analytical framework to connect gravimetric fiber determinations with their constituent structures to better inform gut microbiome and clinical nutrition studies. Published version Public domain – authored by a U.S. government employee

Background: Acne is a common distressing disease that can affect quality of life (QoL). The aim of the study was to translate and adapt the original version of the Cardiff Acne Distability Index (CADI) questionnaire from English to Moroccan Arabic language. Methods: After translation and cross-cultural adaptation, the questionnaire was tested on patients with acne. The participants’ number for the test and the retest were 120 and 60 respectively. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s α coefficient, the test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was assessed by examining correlation between severity through Acne Lesion Score Scale (ECLA) and QoL through Moroccan version of CADI. Results: The questionnaire was administered to 120 patients. The mean age of patients was 24 years (SD: 4), 85 % of all participants had a middle socio-economic level and only 2.3% patients who had a psychiatric history. The average time to complete the CADI questionnaire was 3 minutes. Questionnaire reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficient, in which the values were all > 0.7. The ICC was satisfactory 0.97 (CI 95% [0.95-0.98]). There was no correlation between overall scores en ECLA and CADI (r=0, 008, p

Background: Acne is a common distressing disease that can affect quality of life (QoL). The aim of the study was to translate and adapt the original version of the Cardiff Acne Distability Index (CADI) questionnaire from English to Moroccan Arabic language. Methods: After translation and cross-cultural adaptation, the questionnaire was tested on patients with acne. The participants’ number for the test and the retest were 120 and 60 respectively. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s α coefficient, the test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was assessed by examining correlation between severity through Acne Lesion Score Scale (ECLA) and QoL through Moroccan version of CADI. Results: The questionnaire was administered to 120 patients. The mean age of patients was 24 years (SD: 4), 85 % of all participants had a middle socio-economic level and only 2.3% patients who had a psychiatric history. The average time to complete the CADI questionnaire was 3 minutes. Questionnaire reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficient, in which the values were all > 0.7. The ICC was satisfactory 0.97 (CI 95% [0.95-0.98]). There was no correlation between overall scores en ECLA and CADI (r=0, 008, p

The effectiveness of the cervical cancer screening activities depends on physicians and nurses’ level of awareness and their adherence to the program.

Background: The Moroccan perspective on quality of life (QOL) in lung cancer has not been studied adequately in a country where the disease represents the leading cause of cancer among men.Methods: Data on Health Related QoL were collected within a Moroccan multicenter prospective study in patients with lung cancer. We used the EORTC QLQ–C30 and the lung specific module (EORTC QLQ–LC13) to highlight the health-related QOL of Moroccan patients with lung cancer. We also assessed the socio-demographic and clinical variables that predict the scales of the QLQ–C30 and QLQ-LC13.Results: The mean age of the 497 participants was 61.24 ± 10.55 years. The majority of patients (91.8%) were male and 76.9% had stages III and IV disease. Patients study reported an impaired HRQoL as compared to the normal population with an exception for social functioning, where the mean score was higher (77.7 vs. 71.3)). For the QLQ-LC13, Moroccan patients seemed to have more severe symptoms compared to the normal population especially for dyspnea, coughing and chest pain. Patients with low performance status and advanced stage disease had poorer HRQOL scores.Conclusion: This was the first HRQoL study in lung cancer patients in Morocco. The combination of an advanced disease, aging and low performance status along with poor quality of life emphasizes the importance of supportive care in this group of patients.