Autonomous motivation, goal-facilitating behaviours, and dietary goal progress in individuals transitioning to a veg*n diet: A longitudinal study.

Previous studies have consistently shown that autonomous motivation - pursuing goals because one wants to, rather than has to - is associated with greater behaviour maintenance in the context of healthy eating, exercise, and diet maintenance. The present study used a 7-wave longitudinal design to examine how autonomous motivation is related to dietary goal progress in individuals (N = 222) transitioning to a veg*n (i.e., vegetarian or vegan) diet. We hypothesized that when people reported more autonomous motivation (compared to their own average) they would be more successful in reaching their dietary goals. We also explored the role of goal-facilitating behaviours in this process. We found no directional effects of relative autonomous motivation on goal progress or goal-facilitating behaviours, although the concurrent relations were significant. There were also no within-person effects of behaviours on progress. These findings shed light onto the relationship between autonomous motivation, behaviours, and goal progress both at the same time and over time, and highlight the importance of examining within-person fluctuations over time.

The prevalence of diabetes and related services in Missouri and Missouri's progress towards meeting the Healthy People 2010 goals.

Since 1988, diabetes in Missouri increased by almost 50%. We examined diabetes' prevalence and associations with sociodemographic, risk factor, and comorbidity variables in Missouri. Additionally, we examined Missouri's progress towards Healthy People 2010 diabetes-related goals and prevalence of risk factor counseling. Analysis indicates diabetes is an increasing public health problem in Missouri. To stem increases in the prevalence of diabetes and its costs, delivery of, and access to, preventative care and counseling should be improved.

Glucose-responsive expression of the human insulin promoter in HepG2 human hepatoma cells.

The concept of insulin production afforded by hepatic gene therapy retains promise as a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes, but the approach has been limited by the need for strict transgene regulation in response to fluctuating levels of both glucose and insulin. Furthermore, while hepatocytes contain various glucose-responsive elements, they lack the appropriate regulated secretory system necessary for insulin release, thereby necessitating the requirement for transcriptional regulation of hepatic insulin production under the direction of a glucose-responsive promoter. To address this, we have evaluated several glucose-responsive promoters that may be used successfully for hepatic insulin production via recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) therapy. Our results suggest that the human insulin promoter represents a strong candidate as a robust, glucose-responsive promoter for regulated hepatic insulin production.