8251 research outputs found
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Nutritional profiling and glycemic index assessment of a soup powder formulation from squash, green banana, black beans, and coconut
No full textFormulating foods that are rich in essential nutrients (minerals, vitamins, and functional ingredients) while being low in simple sugars, fats, and salt is imperative in the fight against noncommunicable diseases. This study contributes to this effort by formulating a soup powder made from natural ingredients, specifically squash, green banana, black beans, and coconut (SBBC), which are well known for their positive effects on the prevention and management of these health conditions. The produced soup powder was analyzed for its nutritional composition, glycemic index, and sensory characteristics. A mixing plan constrained to the extreme peak followed by optimization was used for formulation using Statgraphics Centurion Version XIX software. The results indicated that the proportions of raw materials in the optimized formulation were 25.20%, 15%, 34%, 25.80%: SBBC. One hundred grams of soup powder based on SBBC thus formulated contains 10.87 g proteins, 58.80 g total carbohydrates, 13.13 g lipids, 10.78 g crude fiber, 2842.19 g potassium, 473.85 g magnesium, 600 g calcium, 7.73 zinc, 147.44 g phosphorus, 0.99 g iron, and 124 μg of total carotenoids. The energy value was 396.8 kcal with a glycemic index of 57.98%. More than half of the panelists found the soup to be pleasant. These findings suggest that the SBBC-based soup powder can effectively provide essential nutrients in a palatable form, supporting individuals in meeting their nutritional needs.Published versio
Mapping 50 years of sport psychology-performance meta-analyses: a PRISMA-ScR scoping review
Get PDF© 2025 The Authors, published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/sports13120420Sport psychology has generated an expansive body of literature on how psychological factors influence athletic performance, yet no review has systematically mapped this body of research. Guided by the PRISMA-ScR framework, this study charted published meta-analyses that investigated links between psychological constructs and sport performance. After conducting comprehensive searches, we identified 137 relevant papers, of which 73 met our inclusion criteria for athlete samples and performance outcomes. The included meta-analyses, published between 1988 and 2025, represented authors from at least 30 countries and covered more than 40 different constructs. Mental practice, confidence, achievement goals, anxiety, cohesion, mindfulness, and neurofeedback were the most frequently studied topics. Publication activity has accelerated rapidly since 2020, reflecting the maturation and diversification of evidence synthesis in sport psychology. Rather than aggregating effect sizes, this review maps methodological trends, recurring themes, and areas of limited coverage. The resulting catalog highlights where the evidence base is strongest, identifies emerging opportunities, and provides a foundation for future quantitative reviews to progress consensus development.Published versio
CALM: cultivating awareness, learning, and mastery to reduce anger and violence through combat sports
Get PDF© 2025 The Authors, published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5020045Youth violence is a pressing social issue. Many well-informed interventions to reduce youth violence fail due to low uptake. Combat sports—such as boxing, judo, and mixed martial arts—appear to encourage aggression, making them appealing to individuals prone to violent behavior. However, rather than reinforcing violence, these sports instill discipline, goal-directed behavior, and self-control. This paper argues that combat sports align with the values of at-risk youth, increasing their participation, while simultaneously teaching them emotional regulation and resilience. I propose that structured combat training provides a sustainable intervention by fostering self-awareness, cognitive control, and respect within a rule-governed environment. Furthermore, training combat instructors in emotion regulation strategies could enhance these benefits. By providing motivation, capability, and opportunity, combat sports present a viable pathway to reducing violent behavior among youth.Published versio
Evaluating the role of offsite construction in achieving net zero building in Nigeria’s construction industry
No full textThis is an author's accepted manuscript of a paper delivered at World Building Congress WBC2025 19-23 May 2025 Purdue University, USA, and published in the proceedings of the conference on 16 June 2025. The manuscript may differ from the version as published.This study explores the role of off-site construction in achieving net zero buildings in the Nigerian construction industry, which is a significant contributor to carbon emissions. Therefore, the research aims to evaluate Off-Site Construction's contribution to Nigeria's sustainability goals by evaluating the challenges of Off-site construction in achieving net zero. In addressing the aim of the study, a quantitative research approach was adopted; the questionnaire was distributed to Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals across Nigeria's six geo-political zones, gathering data on the challenges and contribution of OSC in achieving net zero building in Nigeria construction industry. The key challenges hindering OSC from achieving net-zero results include quality control issues, technological integration, resistance to change, and high upfront costs. The results of the obstacles were analysed using Spearman’s correlation analysis to assess the direction and strength of the connection between two ranking variables. This method is beneficial when the data does not necessarily follow a normal distribution or when dealing with ordinal variables. The highlight of the study is the positive contribution of OSC, which includes enhanced energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprint, and alignment with Nigeria's green goals. Despite these challenges, OSC is a promising approach to achieving net zero building and promoting sustainability in Nigeria's construction industry. This study addresses a critical gap in understanding how OSC can contribute to achieving net zero in Nigeria's construction industry. The findings will guide policymakers, industry stakeholders, and investors in adopting sustainable construction practices, aligning Nigeria’s growing construction sector with environmental sustainability targets
Enhancing user verification and data security scheme for fog computing using self sovereign identification
No full textThis is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier on 29/04/2025 available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adhoc.2025.103876. The accepted manuscript may differ from the final published version.Due to the advancements in technology, the number of connected devices in a data processing and computing environment of edge and Internet of Things (IoT) has increased exponentially. Thus, proliferation of electronics by billions has raised serious security concerns. Therefore, designing effective coordination mechanisms and ensuring user verification and data security pose significant challenges in edge environments. Moreover, dispersed architecture of fog computing presents challenges related to privacy, secure authentication, and fog device security. Therefore, to address these drawbacks, in this paper, we propose an novel approach to enhance user verification and data security in edge environment. Our proposed scheme leverages the intrinsic properties of the Ethereum blockchain to develop a smart contract-based solution for registering and verifying digital identities securely to mitigate security and privacy concerns associated with traditional authentication techniques. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme via experiments and simulations conducted on the Ethereum blockchain environment. The results indicate that the proposed scheme outperform than other state-of-the-art techniques in terms of transaction gas and execution cost for both identity registration and verification
Bone mineral density varies throughout the skeleton of athletes dependent on their sport: Allometric modelling identifies the “effective” forces associated with body mass
No full text©2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2025.04.006Objective
Bone mineral density (BMD) varies throughout the skeleton with the differences influenced by the type of sport, body mass and participant’s age. What is not so well understood is how body mass influences BMD across different sites.
Design
Proportional allometric modelling on cross-sectional data
Method
Male athletes (n = 106) from 8 different athletic groups and controls (n = 15) were scanned by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and analysed for total body composition and BMD of the ribs, arms, thoracic spine, lumber spine, pelvis and legs.
Results
ANOVA identified significant differences in BMD between “sites”, “sports” and site-by-sport interaction (all P < 0.001). By introducing body mass and age as covariates, the “sites” differences disappeared. The explanation is due to the systematic difference in body-mass exponents (ki), with lowest positioned sites (e.g. legs) having the steepest slopes, and the elevated sites (e.g. arms having the shallowest slopes. To illustrate, the arm-mass exponent was approximately 0.33 indicating that for a 75 kg male, arm BMD responds to forces associated with body mass = (75)0.33 = 5 kg. For the same individual, the leg-mass exponent was closer to 0.66 suggesting that leg BMD responds to forces associated with body mass = (75)0.66 = 25 kg.
Conclusion
The model for BMD identified that (body mass)ki plays a crucial role in determining the effective forces (both gravitational/ground reaction and compressional forces) operating throughout the skeleton, where ki systematically increases the lower the bone is situated, a mechanism that also explains why activities involving running benefit the leg BMD compared with weight-supported activities (e.g., rowing).Published versio
Artists’ Care: supervision and care for those working in challenging and complex settings
No full textReport produced by the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Wolverhampton in collaboration with Good Vibrations, Irene Taylor Trust, and Hear Me Out, for The Artists’ Care project.Arts Council England and the Lightbulb Trust
Assessing label stability in oligopeptide-modified polymer filament for advanced materials: ultraviolet exposure and biodegradation study
Get PDF© 2025 The Authors. Published by ACS. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c04602This study explores the integration of triglycine, an oligopeptide, as a green molecular marker in 3D-printed poly(1,4-butylene adipate-co-1,4-butylene terephthalate)/polylactide (PBAT/PLA)-based specimens with different printing temperatures to enhance the traceability of (bio)degradable polymers. This approach supports the advancement of sustainable materials by enabling the identification of the material origin and degradation processes. The research assesses the behavior of the labeled polymer under UV exposure, evaluating the stability of the oligopeptide marker to ensure that the information remains retrievable even after exposure to environmental stressors. In addition, their behavior during aerobic composting, as well as anaerobic digestion, is investigated to promote environmentally friendly practices. This study employed an extraction procedure to isolate and retrieve encoded information, which was then analyzed using a mass spectrometry method, ESI/TIMS-Q-TOF. This makes it possible to determine the sequence of the oligopeptide and compare it with the previously used MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry procedure. Cytotoxicity studies were also conducted to assess the potential hazards associated with PBAT/PLA-based specimens, considering their potential biomedical applications. The PBAT/PLA-based specimens demonstrated good oligopeptide stability, enabling effective retrieval of recorded information from the green polymer/oligopeptide system even after UV exposure. UV irradiation affected cold crystallization temperature and melting temperature and caused self-chain/cross-linking of the PBAT/PLA-based specimens. In general, the analyses show that specimens printed at a higher temperature (190 °C) have a higher degradation rate than those printed at a lower temperature (155 °C). This phenomenon was attributed to the higher porosity and increased water permeability of the specimens printed at 190 °C, compared to those printed at 155 °C, which is likely due to the greater phase separation and reduced miscibility in the former.This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 872152, project GREEN-MAP, an international project cofinanced by the program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education entitled “PMW” in the years 2020–2024; contract No. 5092/H2020/2020/2, and Joint Polish-Romanian project under the agreement on scientific cooperation between the Polish Academy of Sciences and Romanian Academy of Sciences, “Design of cyclodextrin-polyester-amides for special applications”. Ms Nina Stefaniak is acknowledged for her help with the degradation tests. The authors also gratefully acknowledge funding from USDA-NIFA, Hatch project number OHO01417, and startup funds from the Ohio State University #11232011000-11-PUSKAS.Published onlin
Blockchain with smart contract for reverse shopping of retail industry branded plastic packaging
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Retail industries use an enormous number of plastics, especially packaging. "Reverse Shopping," that is, the returning of branded plastic packaging to the point of purchase (respective retail brands) by deploying blockchain with smart contracts, is our research focus. Employing a local blockchain, implemented in a basic format to store records of collected plastic packaging matched by the smart contract when returned, which also incorporates a reward mechanism courtesy of digital 'coin offerings' (cryptocurrency). To date, both blockchain and smart contracts are operationally standalone in this regard. We are proposing an innovative design model that advocates for (a) Including reverse shopping on retail industries' branded plastic packaging (as opposed to third-party collection points, such as recycling bins). (b) Fostering a 'reverse order' between retailers and manufacturers, like that between retailers and consumers. (c) Aid ethical and transparent sustainability
Response to the Women and Equalities Committee’s Call for Evidence on Female Entrepreneurs
No full textWritten evidence presented to UK Parliament in response to the Women and Equalities Committee’s Call for Evidence on Female Entrepreneurs.This submission from the University of Wolverhampton is based on research underpinning two funded programmes: Women in Business Leadership in the Midlands and Investigating Disparities in SMEs Digitalisation. It also reflects the work of many academics at Wolverhampton Business School in the areas of gender, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and coaching