The Penman-Monteith equation is useful for computing evaporation rates of uniform surfaces, such as dense vegetation or bare soil. This equation becomes less useful for evaluation of evaporation rates at the regional scale, where surfaces are generally characterized by a patchy combination of vegetation and soil. This is particularly true in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The appr...

Background: Accurate data on dietary habits are crucial for understanding impacts on disease and informing policy priorities. Nationspecific food balance sheets from the United Nations FAO provided the only available global dietary estimates but with uncertain validity. Objectives: We investigated how FAO estimates compared with nationally representative, individual-based dietary surveys from t...

Obese individuals typically exhibit a reduced capacity for metabolic flexibility by failing to increase fatty acid oxidation (FAO) upon the imposition of a high-fat diet (HFD). Exercise training increases FAO in the skeletal muscle of obese individuals, but whether this intervention can restore metabolic flexibility is unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare FAO in the skeletal muscle...

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) promote tumor growth by inhibiting T-cell immunity and promoting malignant cell proliferation and migration. The therapeutic potential of blocking MDSC in tumors has been limited by their heterogeneity, plasticity, and resistance to various chemotherapy agents. Recent studies have highlighted the role of energy metabolic pathways in the differentiation an...

Capacity and institution building is a core function of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO has recently started the “Capacity and Institution Building Portal” to provide structured access to information on FAO’s capacity and institution building services and learning resources. To ensure that the Portal can be searched by users and to enable interoperability...

Hippocampal neurogenesis is important for certain forms of cognition, and failing neurogenesis has been implicated in neuropsychiatric diseases. The neurogenic capacity of hippocampal neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) depends on a balance between quiescent and proliferative states. Here, we show that the rate of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) regulates the activity of NSPCs. Quiescent NSPCs show...

Obesity is associated with a decrement in the ability of skeletal muscle to oxidize lipid. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether clinical interventions (weight loss, exercise training) could reverse the impairment in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) evident in extremely obese individuals. FAO was assessed by incubating skeletal muscle homogenates with [1-(14)C]palmitate and measu...