‘Quality’ in education is difficult to define. What is viewed as high quality by staff, students and employers must be identified so that universities can articulate their offer. Equally, helping students develop the graduate skills and attributes that employers value is essential. This project explored quality in higher education from the perspectives of undergraduate students, academic staff and employers. Three hundred and forty students, 32 staff and 17 employers completed their respective questionnaires. Qualitative data were collected from students in focus groups. Results showed that employers most highly valued graduate personal qualities, while the quality of teaching and learning, feedback and staff: student relationships were highly rated by staff and students. Students, while positive about the methods of teaching and learning used, expressed uncertainty about whether they were receiving a high-quality education. Higher education institutions and academic staff must articulate the value of the academic offer more clearly to their students.

Introduction: Obesity affects nearly 1 in 4 European adults increasing their risk for mortality and physical and psychological morbidity. Obesity is a chronic relapsing disease characterized by abnormal or excessive adiposity with risks to health. Medical nutrition therapy based on the latest scientific evidence should be offered to all Europeans living with obesity as part of obesity treatment interventions. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify the latest evidence published in the November 2018–March 2021 period and to synthesize them in the European guidelines for medical nutrition therapy in adult obesity. Results: Medical nutrition therapy should be administered by trained dietitians as part of a multidisciplinary team and should aim to achieve positive health outcomes, not solely weight changes. A diverse range of nutrition interventions are shown to be effective in the treatment of obesity and its comorbidities, and dietitians should consider all options and deliver personalized interventions. Although caloric restriction-based interventions are effective in promoting weight reduction, long-term adherence to behavioural changes may be better supported via alternative interventions based on eating patterns, food quality, and mindfulness. The Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diets, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, portfolio diet, Nordic, and low-carbohydrate diets have all been associated with improvement in metabolic health with or without changes in body weight. In the November 2018–March 2021 period, the latest evidence published focused around intermittent fasting and meal replacements as obesity treatment options. Although the role of meal replacements is further strengthened by the new evidence, for intermittent fasting no evidence of significant advantage over and above continuous energy restriction was found. Pulses, fruit and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and dairy foods are also important elements in the medical nutrition therapy of adult obesity. Discussion: Any nutrition intervention should be based on a detailed nutritional assessment including an assessment of personal values, preferences, and social determinants of eating habits. Dietitians are expected to design interventions that are flexible and person centred. Approaches that avoid caloric restriction or detailed eating plans (non-dieting approaches) are also recommended for improvement of quality of life and body image perceptions.

1. Tumour necrosis factor-α is produced in response to inflammatory stimuli. Fish oil can suppress the production and actions of cytokines. Little information is available on the effects of other fats on cytokine biology. We compared the effects of fats, with a wide range of fatty acid characteristics, on the effects of tumour necrosis factor-α on protein and zinc metabolism in rats. 2. Weanling rats were fed for 8 weeks on diets containing 10% fat in the form of corn, fish or coconut oils or butter before an intraperitoneal injection of recombinant human tumour necrosis factor-α was given. Measurements were made 24 h after the injection. 3. In rats fed corn oil, food intake was reduced by 62% and rates of protein synthesis were increased by 86, 32 and 39% in the liver, lung and kidney, respectively. Zinc concentrations increased by 23% in the liver but decreased by 10% in the kidney. Plasma caeruloplasmin and complement C3 levels increased by 25% and 28%, respectively, and plasma albumin level decreased by 24%. 4. Fish oil prevented the increase in hepatic protein synthesis and changed the response of protein synthesis in lung and kidney to a decrease. Changes in hepatic and renal zinc concentrations were prevented. The response of the plasma caeruloplasmin level was unaltered but those of the plasma complement C3 and albumin concentrations were prevented. 5. Coconut oil and butter, although similarly low in linoleic acid, differed in their modulatory effects. With the exception of the rise in the plasma complement C3 concentration, all responses were prevented or greatly inhibited in rats fed butter. In rats fed coconut oil the increase in liver protein synthesis was reduced but that in the lung and kidney was unaffected. Changes in hepatic zinc concentration were unaffected but those in renal zinc concentration were prevented. 6. Fish and coconut oils and butter reduced the intensity of anorexia caused by tumour necrosis factor-α. The extent to which fats rich in (n-3) polyunsaturates or poor in linoleic acid modulate the metabolic response to tumour necrosis factor-α depends upon additional fatty acid characteristics.

For seven weeks, 37 overweight adults followed a hypocaloric diet based on Orthodox Fasting (OF). A hypocaloric, time restricted eating (TRE) plan (eating between 08:00 to 16:00 h, water fasting from 16:00 to 08:00 h) was followed by 23 Body Mass Index (BMI)-matched participants. Anthropometric, glycaemic and inflammation markers and serum lipids were assessed before and after the diets. Both OF and TRE groups demonstrated reductions in BMI (28.54 ± 5.45 vs 27.20 ± 5.10 kg/m², p < 0.001 and 26.40 ± 4.11 vs 25.81 ± 3.78 kg/m² p = 0.001, respectively). Following the intervention, the OF group presented lower concentrations of total and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, compared with the pre-fasting values (178.40 ± 34.14 vs 197.17 ± 34.30 mg/dl, p < 0.001 and 105.89 ± 28.08 vs 122.37 ± 29.70 mg/dl, p < 0.001, respectively). Neither group manifested significant differences in glycaemic and inflammatory parameters. Our findings suggest that OF has superior lipid lowering effects than the TRE pattern.