Search

Background Mediterranean diets limit red meat consumption and increase intakes of high-phytate foods, a combination that could reduce iron status. Conversely, higher intakes of fish, a good source of selenium, could increase selenium status. Objectives A 1-y randomized controlled trial [New Dietary Strategies Addressing the Specific Needs of the Elderly Population for Healthy Aging in Europe (NU-AGE)] was carried out in older Europeans to investigate the effects of consuming a Mediterranean-style diet on indices of inflammation and changes in nutritional status. Methods Selenium and iron intakes and status biomarkers were measured at baseline and after 1 y in 1294 people aged 65–79 y from 5 European countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom) who had been randomly allocated either to a Mediterranean-style diet or to remain on their habitual, Western diet. Results Estimated selenium intakes increased significantly with the intervention group (P  < 0.01), but were not accompanied by changes in serum selenium concentrations. Iron intakes also increased (P  < 0.001), but there was no change in iron status. However, when stratified by study center, there were positive effects of the intervention on iron status for serum ferritin for participants in Italy (P  = 0.04) and France (P  = 0.04) and on soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) for participants in Poland (P  < 0.01). Meat intake decreased and fish intake increased to a greater degree in the intervention group, relative to the controls (P  < 0.01 for both), but the overall effects of the intervention on meat and fish intakes were mainly driven by data from Poland and France. Changes in serum selenium in the intervention group were associated with greater changes in serum ferritin (P  = 0.01) and body iron (P  = 0.01), but not sTfR (P  = 0.73); there were no study center × selenium status interactions for the iron biomarkers. Conclusions Consuming a Mediterranean-style diet for 1 y had no overall effect on iron or selenium status, although there were positive effects on biomarkers of iron status in some countries. The NU-AGE trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01754012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the Golden State Exam: Reading/Literature (GSE) in the educational system in California. He stresses that his experience convinces him to change the way he teaches and assesses his students in reading and interpretation of literature. In his view, the GSE essay scorer attempts to assess reading and literature in a manner most akin to listening to students think out loud about a passage than to reading an organized essay about that passage.

The article discusses the importance of reading comprehension in the writing process. It states that some high-school English teachers have little respect for writers, either those whom they teach and those who write literature teachers assignment. Some writings in middle and high-school are formulaic in which students are not encouraged to realize some purposes they own but instead to satisfy arbitrary and rigidly enforced rules of structure. Moreover, teaching writing is considered as a learning process for teachers as well as for students.

The article discusses topics relating to literature and writing. The author points out that the purpose of English education is to enable readers to examine critically the verbal utterances of others. It critically examines the writers' own verb utterances. The author says that students do not develop a critical awareness relative either to what they read or what they write. He stresses that pedagogy is significant to direct student's attention to texts and the choices that the writers make.