Educating and Training a Workforce for Nutrition in a Post-2015 World

Nearly all countries in the world today are burdened with malnutrition, manifesting as undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and/or overweight and obesity. Despite some progress, efforts to alleviate malnutrition are hampered by a shortage in number, skills, and geographic coverage, of a workforce for nutrition. Here, we report the findings of the Castel Gandolfo workshop, a convening of experts from diverse fields in March 2014 to consider how to develop the capacity of a global cadre of nutrition professionals for the post-2015 development era. Workshop participants identified several requirements for developing a workforce for nutrition, including an ability to work as part of a multisectoral team; communication, advocacy, and leadership skills to engage decision makers; and a set of technical skills to address future challenges for nutrition. Other opportunities were highlighted that could immediately contribute to capacity development, including the creation of a consortium to link global North and South universities, online training modules for middle managers, and practical, hands-on experiences for frontline nutrition workers. Institutional and organizational support is needed to enable workshop recommendations on education and training to be effectively implemented and sustained. The findings from the Castel Gandolfo workshop can contribute to the delivery of successful nutrition-relevant actions in the face of mounting external pressures and informing and attaining the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals.     

Progesterone for the prevention of preterm birth in women with multiple pregnancies: the AMPHIA trial

Background

Adequate vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy are necessary to neonatal calcium homeostasis, bone maturation and mineralization. The aim of study is to evaluate serum vitamin D concentrations in mothers and their newborns and effect of vitamin D deficiency on pregnancy outcomes.

Methods

552 pregnant women were recruited from Tehran University educating hospitals in the winter of 2002. Maternal and cord blood samples were taken at delivery. The serum was assayed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, calcium, phosphorus and parathyroid hormone.

Results

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in maternal and cord blood samples were 66.8% and 93.3%, respectively (<35 nmol/l). There was significant correlation between maternal and cord blood serum concentrations of vitamin D. In mothers with vitamin D deficiency, cord blood vitamin D concentrations was lower than those from normal mothers (P = .001). Also, a significant direct correlation was seen between maternal vitamin D intake and weight gain during pregnancy.

Conclusion

Consideration to adequate calcium and vitamin D intake during pregnancy is essential. Furthermore, we think it is necessary to reconsider the recommendation for vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy.     

Imaging findings in primary carcinoid tumour of the liver with gastrin production.

We present a 57-year-old man with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome who had undergone total gastrectomy 12 years previously. At that time, a cystic mass in the left lobe of the liver was palpated but was not removed. The patient currently had high serum gastrin levels. Abdominal ultrasound, CT and MR images showed a well defined liver mass with solid and cystic components. The lesion was resected and a primary hepatic carcinoid tumour was diagnosed. Post-operatively, serum gastrin levels were normal. A primary liver carcinoid may appear as multicystic liver mass with solid components. Careful exclusion of a primary tumour elsewhere is required to establish the diagnosis of this rare entity.     

Computed tomography in the evaluation of spinal aneurysmal bone cyst

Computed tomographic findings in three cases of aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) are reported. Although conventional radiography is usually adequate in the demonstration of an expansile osteolytic cavity, CT may provide additional information about tumour characteristics, localization and extent, show the lesion's relation to the spinal cord and thus be of great help in preoperative planning.     

Masses of myeloadipose tissue: radiological and clinical considerations

The records of 30 patients presenting radiological evidence of masses of extramedullary myeloadipose (hemopoietic) tissue, 25 patients suffering from thalassemia, one from sickle-cell anemia, and one from myelofibrosis were studied. Three patients presented with primary myelolipomas. Most of the patients with thalassemia presented with masses of hemopoiesis in the costovertebral angle and five patients presented with spinal cord compression. Magnetic resonance imaging is the best method for visualization and assessment of the extent of the masses in the thorax and spinal canal. Radiotherapy is the treatment of choice for spinal cord compression. One patient with thalassemia and one patient with myelofibrosis presented with masses of extramedullary hemopoiesis in the adrenals. All five patients with masses of myeloadipose tissue in the adrenals were treated surgically.     

Post-traumatic hemobilia.

Four patients with post-traumatic hemobilia were evaluated with arteriography over a 2 year period. In two patients hemobilia was of iatrogenic origin; in particular, one case appeared after a cholecystectomy, and the other was due to placement of a biliary stent with an endoscope. In the other two patients hemobilia was the result of a gun injury. Arteriography of the hepatic arterial system demonstrated two false aneurysms, extravasation of contrast medium through the biliary system in one patient and arterioportal fistula in another patient. It is concluded that arteriography of the hepatic arterial system is the method of choice for the evaluation and the possible treatment of patients with hemobilia.