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Nutrition

How baby pigs are shaping science

When piglets don’t get enough milk in the first weeks of life, the chances of them thriving dramatically decline. In the U.S. pork production system, piglets with limited access to their mothers’ milk are typically “cross-fostered” with other sows. But in the E.U., a different solution is gaining ground. In certain circumstances, underfed piglets are artificially reared with milk replacer, mimicking feeding setups used in biomedical research.

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Illinois researchers spearhead efforts to establish guidelines for personalized nutrition approaches

Personalized nutrition (PN) has gained popularity in recent years as a customized approach to health outcomes. PN combines biomedical, genetic, and lifestyle data to provide individualized recommendations, and a plethora of companies offer various forms of health screenings, apps, programs, products, and diet advice.

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New study sheds light on liver maturation, specialization

Researchers from the University of Illinois have identified a key process coordinating liver maturation and polyploidization, a state in which cells carry more than two sets of chromosomes. Their findings, published in Genes and Development, provide insight into hepatocyte specialization that will aid efforts in regenerative medicine.

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U. of I. team develops weight loss app that tracks fiber, protein content in meals

Many people struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and choosing the optimal meals for weight loss can be challenging. A research team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has developed a weight management program that helps individuals plan meals with the assistance of a web application and support from a registered dietitian.

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ACES senior shines in nutrition education and service

During her summer break, Delaina Sigman was handed a protractor, a pencil, a sheet of paper, and a compass. Then she was told to navigate her way through the wilderness. This was just the beginning of Cadet Summer Training, an experience Sigman participated in as a student in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s ROTC program.

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After a frightening accident, Susannah Scaroni continues to break boundaries in wheelchair track

ONE MINUTE, wheelchair racer Susannah Scaroni, ’14 ACES, MS ’22 ACES, was pushing through a normal long training session, heading east on Windsor Road not far from campus. The next, she was moving ahead much more quickly than she expected.

It was early morning on Sept. 16, 2021. A month before, Scaroni had been in Tokyo for the Paralympics, where she won a gold medal in the 5,000 meters and a bronze medal in the 800 meters.

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Gut microbes from aged mice induce inflammation in young mice, study finds

When scientists transplanted the gut microbes of aged mice into young “germ-free” mice — raised to have no gut microbes of their own — the recipient mice experienced an increase in inflammation that parallels inflammatory processes associated with aging in humans. Young germ-free mice transplanted with microbes from other young mice had no such increase. 

The findings suggest that changes to the gut microbiome play a role in the systemwide inflammation that often occurs with aging, the researchers said. 

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