Vanesa Karamanian - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Vanesa Karamanian

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of a Goal-Setting Community Nutrition Program on Knowledge, Self-Efficacy and Behavior

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Nutrition For Life: A Goal-Setting Approach to Delivering SNAP Education (SNAP-Ed)

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Erythropoietin upregulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary circulation, 2014

The pathophysiologic alterations of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are diver... more The pathophysiologic alterations of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are diverse. We aimed to determine novel pathogenic pathways from circulating proteins in patients with PAH. Multianalyte profiling (MAP) was used to measure 90 specifically selected antigens in the plasma of 113 PAH patients and 51 control patients. Erythropoietin (EPO) functional activity was assessed via in vitro pulmonary artery endothelial cell networking and smooth muscle cell proliferation assays. Fifty-eight patients had idiopathic PAH, whereas 55 had other forms of PAH; 5 had heritable PAH, 18 had connective tissue disease (15 with scleroderma and 3 with lupus erythematosis), 13 had portopulmonary hypertension, 6 had PAH associated with drugs or toxins, and 5 had congenital heart disease. The plasma-antigen profile of PAH revealed increased levels of several novel biomarkers, including EPO. Immune quantitative and histochemical studies revealed that EPO not only was significantly elevate...

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers and facilitators of consumer use of nutrition labels at sit-down restaurant chains—Corrigendum

Public Health Nutrition, 2013

Objective: Numerous localities have mandated that chain restaurants post nutrition information at... more Objective: Numerous localities have mandated that chain restaurants post nutrition information at the point of purchase. However, some studies suggest that consumers are not highly responsive to menu labelling. The present qualitative study explored influences on full-service restaurant customers' noticing and using menu labelling. Design: Five focus groups were conducted with thirty-six consumers. A semistructured script elicited barriers and facilitators to using nutrition information by showing excerpts of real menus from full-service chain restaurants. Setting: Participants were recruited from a full-service restaurant chain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in September 2011. Subjects: Focus group participants were mostly female, African American, with incomes ,$US 60 000, mean age 36 years and education 14?5 years. At recruitment, 33 % (n 12) reported changing their order after seeing nutrition information on the menu. Results: Three themes characterized influences on label use in restaurants: nutrition knowledge, menu design and display, and normative attitudes and behaviours. Barriers to using labels were low prior knowledge of nutrition; displaying nutrition information using codes; low expectations of the nutritional quality of restaurant food; and restaurant discounts, promotions and social influences that overwhelmed interest in nutrition and reinforced disinterest in nutrition. Facilitators were higher prior knowledge of recommended daily intake; spending time reading the menu; having strong prior interest in nutrition/healthy eating; and being with people who reinforced dietary priorities. Conclusions: Menu labelling use may increase if consumers learn a few key recommended dietary reference values, understand basic energy intake/expenditure scenarios and if chain restaurants present nutrition information in a user-friendly way and promote healthier items.

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of a Goal-Setting Community Nutrition Program on Knowledge, Self-Efficacy and Behavior

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Nutrition For Life: A Goal-Setting Approach to Delivering SNAP Education (SNAP-Ed)

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Erythropoietin upregulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary circulation, 2014

The pathophysiologic alterations of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are diver... more The pathophysiologic alterations of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are diverse. We aimed to determine novel pathogenic pathways from circulating proteins in patients with PAH. Multianalyte profiling (MAP) was used to measure 90 specifically selected antigens in the plasma of 113 PAH patients and 51 control patients. Erythropoietin (EPO) functional activity was assessed via in vitro pulmonary artery endothelial cell networking and smooth muscle cell proliferation assays. Fifty-eight patients had idiopathic PAH, whereas 55 had other forms of PAH; 5 had heritable PAH, 18 had connective tissue disease (15 with scleroderma and 3 with lupus erythematosis), 13 had portopulmonary hypertension, 6 had PAH associated with drugs or toxins, and 5 had congenital heart disease. The plasma-antigen profile of PAH revealed increased levels of several novel biomarkers, including EPO. Immune quantitative and histochemical studies revealed that EPO not only was significantly elevate...

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers and facilitators of consumer use of nutrition labels at sit-down restaurant chains—Corrigendum

Public Health Nutrition, 2013

Objective: Numerous localities have mandated that chain restaurants post nutrition information at... more Objective: Numerous localities have mandated that chain restaurants post nutrition information at the point of purchase. However, some studies suggest that consumers are not highly responsive to menu labelling. The present qualitative study explored influences on full-service restaurant customers' noticing and using menu labelling. Design: Five focus groups were conducted with thirty-six consumers. A semistructured script elicited barriers and facilitators to using nutrition information by showing excerpts of real menus from full-service chain restaurants. Setting: Participants were recruited from a full-service restaurant chain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in September 2011. Subjects: Focus group participants were mostly female, African American, with incomes ,$US 60 000, mean age 36 years and education 14?5 years. At recruitment, 33 % (n 12) reported changing their order after seeing nutrition information on the menu. Results: Three themes characterized influences on label use in restaurants: nutrition knowledge, menu design and display, and normative attitudes and behaviours. Barriers to using labels were low prior knowledge of nutrition; displaying nutrition information using codes; low expectations of the nutritional quality of restaurant food; and restaurant discounts, promotions and social influences that overwhelmed interest in nutrition and reinforced disinterest in nutrition. Facilitators were higher prior knowledge of recommended daily intake; spending time reading the menu; having strong prior interest in nutrition/healthy eating; and being with people who reinforced dietary priorities. Conclusions: Menu labelling use may increase if consumers learn a few key recommended dietary reference values, understand basic energy intake/expenditure scenarios and if chain restaurants present nutrition information in a user-friendly way and promote healthier items.