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Characteristics and functional properties of green banana flour: An opportunity for functional bread production
No full textThe demand for functional food products has led to an increased interest in nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, bioactive compounds, fibre and prebiotics to be present in food formulations. Amongst the prebiotics, Resistant starch (RS) has gained more attention in recent years, due to its acknowledged health benefits such as prevention and control of colon cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Banana, the world’s most favourite fruit, is one of the richest sources of RS at early stages of ripeness, when it is green (unripe). According to some estimates, more than 100 billion bananas are consumed globally each year, with an annual per capita consumption of 20 kg. Green banana pulp is a rich source of essential phytonutrients, phenolic compounds, vitamin B group, ascorbic acid and tocopherols, while the green banana peel is a rich source of minerals, bioactive compounds and dietary fibre (DF) such as pectin, cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Considering the nutritional value of both pulp and peel of green bananas, the production of green banana flour (GBF), which can be obtained by proper drying techniques, provides a way to preserve the nutritional benefits and increase the shelf-life of banana nutrients. White bread is the most popular bread type in the world, however, there is a growing research on fortifying bread with an array of different DF and functional compounds to take advantage of bread as a carrier of health benefiting compounds. Very few studies available that considered the effect of the GBF on technological properties, nutritional aspects and volatile fingerprint. The physicochemical and thermal properties of GBF obtained from air oven drying (ODF) at three temperatures (50, 80 and 110 °C) and freeze-drying (FDF) were compared to white wheat flour (WF). Lightness and yellowness were negatively affected by the oven temperature increment. The FDF samples exhibited higher a* and L* values and had the closest browning index to WF (P-value 0.05). While the ODF110 presented the highest pasting temperature (81.23 °C) and breakdown viscosity (7118.67 cp) amongst the GBF samples, ODF50 were the only heat-treated samples that showed similar hold, final and setback viscosity values to those found in the FDF. In terms of mineral contents, all GBF samples had higher concentrations of K, Mg, Ca and Zn compared to the WF which makes GBF as a better source of these nutrients (P-value 20% fortification level was observed. The ODF-fortified samples had higher browning index compared to control and FDF ones. The addition of both GBF types improved macro minerals (Mg, Ca, Na, K and P) without a significant change in micro minerals (Fe, Zn, and Mn). The use of FDF in bread resulted in a marked increase in both resistant and slow digestible starch content in F30 compared to ODF fortified samples at their comparable fortification levels. GC-MS-based chemical fingerprinting successfully detected more than 100 volatile compounds in the GBF fortified bread samples. Chemometrics methods used to compare the effect of GBF type in bread (FDF and ODF-fortified-bread), fortification level (10%, 20% and 30%) and bread part (crumb and crust) on the formation of volatile compounds. Furan (furfural, 2-furanmethanol), Strecker aldehydes (2- methyl butanal and 3-methylbutanal) and ketone (2-undecanone) were the most abundant volatiles in crust while alcohol (1-hexanol and 1-heptanol) and ester (ester butanoic acid ethyl) abundant in the breadcrumb. The level of fortification had a significant impact on the formation of 3-methyl-butanal (P-value < 0.05). Furthermore, bread made with freeze-dried GBF had more distinguished ‘banana-like’ flavour due to the presence of ethyl ester butanoic acid and 2-undecanone, while bread made with ODF represented more Maillard-related compounds which could signify a wood malty aroma impression. It can be concluded that fortification of bread with the GBF achieved from freeze drying had a more desirable results from technological and nutritional points of view. Although between 10% and 20% fortification level there was no clear difference, the 30% bread samples showed a high value nutritious bread with distinctive volatile flavour. Overall, the type of the drying method of GBF preparation had an impact on developing discriminant volatiles compared to bread part and fortification level
Food and vulnerability in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A review and theoretical reframing of food insecurity, income and neoliberalism
No full textThe incidence of food insecurity in rich countries has remained stubbornly consistent in recent decades, even as rates of undernourishment in poorer countries have dived since 1990 (United Nations, 2015). This article addresses this apparent contradiction through a theoretical reframing of food insecurity in rich liberal democracies, built on a review of key literature and data. We draw a broad distinction between critical social science approaches to engaging with food insecurity and more empirical, policy-oriented approaches. These produce research that emphasises, respectively, the determinate role of economic class and neoliberalism in generating food insecurity, and the wide array of other factors associated with suffering food insecurity. We argue that both offer useful but analytically confined accounts of food insecurity and its drivers in rich liberal democracies. We proceed, seeking to broaden rather than abandon the strengths of these two accounts, with a review of data on incomes and the incidence of food insecurity in the Aotearoa/New Zealand case. Our review reveals patterns of socio-political deprivation beyond class with parallels across both data sets, significantly along lines of gender and ethnicity. This both offers texturing specifics to a 'monolithic' generic view of neoliberalism and contextualises demographic trends of food insecurity within the neoliberalised "contours of contemporary political-economic power" (Peck and Tickell, 2002, pp.381-382). We subsequently argue for the utility of vulnerability as a concept to capture socio-political dynamics and engage with food insecurity in rich liberal democracies. The framing work done by the concept of vulnerability offers the opportunity to: (1) align the strengths of research approaches emphasising theoretically derived context and empirically founded complexity; (2) account for the consistencies and complexities observed in the relationship between the political-economic landscape of rich liberal democracies following the neoliberal turn and the incidence of food insecurity; and (3) reconsider the relationship between political-economic and socio-political contexts of rich liberal democracies that consistently produce food insecurity and groups of people who live and consistently suffer food insecurity in these countries, for example as "structural violence" (Shepherd, 2012, p.206)
Network-oriented public transport planning in medium and small New Zealand cities
No full textTransport planning has traditionally used a reactive “predict and provide” model in which the main role of public transport (PT) is to move rush-hour commuters to and from the CBDs of large, dense cities. Beyond this, PT is only needed as a “lifeline” service for those unable to access private travel. Contrary to these assumptions, network-oriented planning argues that high-quality, connective PT networks can leverage network effects to serve diverse travel needs and compete with the private car.
In New Zealand, free-market thinking has made network-oriented approaches difficult to implement, but a series of reforms in the last 10–20 years have encouraged networkoriented planning. These reforms were driven by the needs of Auckland and Wellington, but the experiences of other cities under these reforms have drawn little attention. This thesis utilises qualitative methods to investigate changes to PT, often involving elements of network-oriented planning, in small and medium New Zealand cities. This centres on eight key informant interviews and the case study of Dunedin, whose bus network has been reformed along network-oriented lines.
Findings are focused on the future of PT in New Zealand, especially outside of the largest three cities. Reforms at a national level are regarded as successful despite some controversy over elements of the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM). Although some commentators have called for responsibilities for PT to be moved from regional councils to city councils, this is not supported due to the importance of achieving economies of scale, especially around efficient use of limited professional expertise. The importance of economies of scale is demonstrated by a positive trend in recent years of increased collaboration between councils around the country. This is not to say the current governance arrangements are satisfactory; there may be a place for some PT functions to be centralised, and/or more specialised regional transport bodies. For small and medium cities especially, the challenges of serving schoolchildren with PT proves to be a complex issue; it is important that a network-oriented framework is not used too dogmatically to prevent solutions that are sensitive to actual local needs, which vary heavily from place to place.
Although factors such as the size of a city, its urban form, or market forces have an impact, this thesis argues that the success or failure of PT in a city is ultimately within the control of decision-makers. Given this, network-oriented planning is a key element of the joined-up, integrated thinking needed to turn good intentions into results
Electronic Identification of Patients at High Risk for Readmission to Hospital: The EIPHRRH study
No full textHospital readmissions have a significant impact on the healthcare system and it has been estimated that the readmission rate in frail elderly can range from 20 to 40%, with at least 50% of these readmissions being preventable. There is also considerable expenditure on potentially avoidable readmissions and with these statistics, there is a significant focus on reducing readmission rates.
The overall purpose of this study was to develop a tool that could be used to identify patients at high risk for hospital readmission and then utilise this tool to undertake a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). The RCT involved a more robust Clinical Pharmacist intervention on discharge from hospital to determine if this additional pharmacist support could reduce readmission rates and increase quality of life. This study consisted of two phases.
Phase one was the development of an electronic tool that would identify patients at high risk of readmission to hospital by using data already held within electronic patient health record. This development occurred in multiple stages and was constructed in conjunction with Senior Medical Officers from several areas of the hospital including from the Internal Medicine, Care of the Elderly and the Emergency Departments. The development included identifying, prioritising and weighting the various risk factors for readmission.
The tool was then tested and validated to ensure that it was drawing the appropriate information and identifying appropriate patients. The validation process showed the tool to have a high predictive rate for identifying patients at high risk for readmission and allowed for the identification of patients to recruit into phase two of the project (the RCT).
Phase two, the RCT, was initiated in May 2017 using the above tool. The trial ran for 12 months with the overall aim to investigate whether a more robust Clinical Pharmacist intervention on discharge had any impact on readmission rates, Emergency Department (ED) presentation rates and the patient’s overall Quality of Life. The intent of the RCT was to measure any improvement on the effectiveness of the transition of care from hospital care to primary care and determine if there was a positive impact on outcomes.
The efficiency of the tool in identifying patients at high risk for readmission had the unexpected effect of identifying a considerable number of individuals who were unable to participate due to a level of cognitive impairment (which was one of the exclusion criteria of the RCT). This resulted in 43% of potential participants being ineligible to participate. A total population of identified patients was 392, and of this, 90 patients were recruited and randomised into the study.
The average age of the identified participants was 80.6 years, indicating that many of the high risk and high use patients in this ward are elderly with an increased rate of co-morbidities and medication use.
Comparing readmission rates between the control and the intervention arm of the study indicated that the intervention group were readmitted to the hospital slightly more often than the control group. However, numbers in each arm were too small to have any statistical significance and no statistical evaluation was undertaken on the data.
Comparing ED presentation rates between the control and the intervention arm of the study indicated that the intervention group may have had higher ED presentation rates at 28 days than the control group. However, numbers in each are were too small to have any statistical significant and no statistical evaluation was undertaken on the data.
Comparing quality of life scores between the control and intervention group, demonstrated similar quality of life scores on admission and post discharge, however, again, numbers in each arm were too small to have any statistical significance and no statistical evaluation was undertaken on the data.
While the study was not able to demonstrate a statistical significance in reduction of readmission rates, many lessons and areas for opportunity to improve transition of care and the discharge service were identified
Complication profiling and Evolution of pelvic exenteration surgery performed in high volume tertiary referral centres over thirty years
No full textObjective: To examine the changes in exenterative surgery over three decades analysing oncological outcomes and whether changes in surgical approach have led to improved patient outcomes
Background: Advances in surgical technology, perioperative care and pattern of disease recurrence have coincided with an evolutionary change in exenterative surgery.
Methods: A review of prospectively maintained databases of pelvic exenteration surgery from 1988 – 2018 at two high volume specialised institutions. The total cohort was divided into three major time points (1988- 2004, 2005-2010 and 2011 to 2018) to allow comparative analysis. Primary endpoints were overall survival in primary and recurrent disease at each time point. Secondary endpoints included anastomotic leak, blood transfusion, ileus, wound infection rates and evolution of case complexity. Data were analysed using R with a p<0.05 considered significant.
Results: Six hundred and seventy patients underwent exenterative surgery. In 2011–2018 there was an increase in resection of recurrent malignancy with a continuous increase in gastro-intestinal malignancies resected over each time period(p<0.001,<0.01) and a reduction in gynaecological malignancy(p<0.001). A significant increase in sacrectomy, pelvic sidewall resection and ileal conduit reconstruction was observed (p<0.01,<0.001). In 2005–2010 patients had increased rates of ileus and anastomotic leak(p<0.05). Patients undergoing resection for primary disease had improved overall survival at time points 1998-2004 and 2011–2018 compared to those with recurrent disease(p=0.007,<0.001). Overall survival was significantly improved in patients with primary versus recurrent disease(p=0.022).
Conclusion: There has been a significant improvement in survival in patients undergoing pelvic exenteration surgery from primary disease. Case complexity has increased without significant morbidity.
BACKGROUND: The oncological role of pelvic exenteration for locally advanced and recurrent pelvic malignancies arising from the anorectum, gynaecological or urological systems is now well established. Despite this, the surgical community has been slow to accept pelvic exenteration, undoubtedly owing to concerns about high morbidity and mortality rates based on historical data. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess the general major complications and predictors of morbidity following exenterative surgery for locally advanced and recurrent pelvic malignancies.
METHODS: Data were collected from prospective databases at two high-volume institutions specialising in beyond TME surgery for locally advanced and recurrent pelvic malignancies between 1990 and 2015. The primary outcome measures were major complications (Clavien-Dindo 3 or above) and predictors for morbidity.
RESULTS: A total of 646 consecutive patients requiring exenterative surgery for local advanced pelvic malignancies were identified. The median age was 63 years (range 19-89 years), and the majority were female patients (371; 57.4%). Five hundred and forty patients did not suffer a major complication (83.6%) following pelvic exenterative surgery. One or more major complications were observed in the remaining 106 patients (16.4%). The most common major complications were intra-abdominal collection (43.7%; n=59/135) and wound infection (14.1%; n=19/135). The overall inpatient mortality rate was 0.46% (n=3/646). Independent predictors for major morbidity following exenterative surgery for locally advanced or recurrent pelvic malignancies were squamous cell carcinoma of anus, sacrectomy, past history of peripheral vascular disease and requirement for blood transfusion.
CONCLUSION: Our series adds to the increasing evidence that good outcomes can be achieved for pelvic exenterative surgery in locally advanced and recurrent pelvic malignancies. A coordinated approach in specialist centres for beyond TME surgery demonstrates this is a safe and feasible procedure, offering low major complication rates
Sustainable Domestic Food Waste Practices in Dunedin’s Tertiary Precinct
No full textFood waste is a ‘wicked’ problem that has environmental, economic, ethical, socio-cultural and resource management implications. It is becoming increasingly important within environmental policy planning around the world.
In New Zealand, young adults and large households have been identified as significant contributors to domestic food waste levels. Limited research has been done on the types of barriers to sustainable domestic food waste practices that these demographic groups experience. Dunedin’s tertiary precinct was selected as an ideal area for exploring such barriers due to its demographic trends.
The methods for data collection included an online survey open to residents of the tertiary precinct, complemented by interviews with key informants from a diverse range of positions within local institutions, local government, and student bodies. The research provided valuable insight into how several aspects of the local socio-cultural conditions, infrastructure, and the built environment hinder residents from minimizing domestic food waste and make it difficult for them to divert food waste from the landfill. Most of the barriers and issues that surfaced during this research are layered and inter-related to a high degree.
The timing of the research may be significant as several initiatives are in motion at both local government and tertiary institution level that have the potential to positively influence domestic food waste practices in the precinct. Recommendations were presented for how collaborative planning between actors can help address barriers to sustainable domestic food waste practices in the tertiary precinct and beyond
Violence in the Theatre of Martin McDonagh
No full textThis thesis investigates two violent plays by the London-born playwright Martin McDonagh,
The Lieutenant of Inishmore and A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter. Considering these texts from
a post-colonial and phenomenological perspective, this thesis investigates how violence
operates within each text. Chapter One opens by establishing the playwright’s attitude towards
theatre. The thesis then defines working parameters for post-colonial theatre, presence,
phenomenology and violence. A literature review is then undertaken to outline the current field
on the playwright.
Drawing on the breadth of scholarly research already established, Chapter Two examines
violence in McDonagh’s 2001 play The Lieutenant of Inishmore. This chapter reveals the
farcical structure which contains the play’s violence. Using this, the thesis considers how this
alters the representation of the characters committing the violence. Chapter Two considers the
justification of violence within the colonial context of the play and the phenomenological
aspects which illuminate different aspects of violence within the text.
Chapter Three approaches McDonagh’s 2018 play A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter from a
similar angle and investigates the justification of violence, its colonial context and nineteenth
century Dickensian sentimentality. Because of the sparse academic research on this play, this
thesis compares and extends ideas using the conclusions reached in Chapter Two.
Lastly, the fourth chapter draws conclusions about McDonagh’s significant use of
dismemberment, the presence of violence within language and unique aspects of theatre to
determine how violence is operating in the respective texts. The thesis then proposes an answer
to why McDonagh may be choosing to return to a medium he has expressed distaste fo
ECG Classification with Patient-Dependent Normalization and Multi-step Classifier.
No full textElectrocardiogram (ECG) is an important tool for monitoring abnormal heartbeats. Machine learning has been used to facilitate the process of identifying the beats from the ECG data. In this research, we undertook the challenging tasks of building an ECG heartbeat classifier under the inter-patient paradigm. Based on finding significant differences of feature importance in the intra- and inter-patient scenarios, a customised framework design is proposed. The customised framework design includes two novels contributions. These are the patient-dependent normalization to deal with the disparity within the ECG records and the cascading ensemble classifier framework to further increase classification accuracy. MIT-BIH dataset was used as a benchmark for a fair comparison with other algorithms. We followed the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) for handling and experimenting with the ECG data. Results from our system were comparable to those of similar systems with jk index of 0.728, normal beat’s F1 score of 95.80%, SVEB beat’s F1 score of 58.48%, and VEB beat’s F1 score of 87.57%. Feature analysis for different beat types showed that R-peak’s attributes largely helped with the distinction of these beat types. In the future, it may be wise to experiment with other datasets to demonstrate the generalizability of our system
The Tartan Front: Daily life in Scotland during the Second World War
No full textThis thesis examines society and culture in Scotland during the Second World War, exploring the evidence for a uniquely Scottish experience of war. The cultural narrative of the British home front during the Second World War has long centered on the notion of a People’s War: a civilian front line of high morale, confidence in ultimate victory, and united within a ‘national’ community. Historical research has, largely, concentrated on London, neglecting the home front experiences of those within other nations in Britain. This thesis addresses this shortcoming by investigating life on the Scottish home front. It explores Scottish responses to wartime disruptions, and examines the motivations, cultural trends, and internal fissures that influenced behaviour during the Second World War. Moreover, it reflects upon the underlying tension between conformity and resistance to both State and war.
Through a series of thematic chapters, this document details everyday life and work in Scotland between 1939 and 1945. It focuses on the evacuation scheme, the moral crisis, industrial discontent and anti-war activity, morale, holidays, everyday life and leisure, and the rural sector. It draws upon a diverse range of intelligence reports, official documents, newspaper and magazine articles, diaries, and questionnaire responses to shed light on Scottish home front life. The findings illuminate everyday life in Scotland during a time of war, but also add to a scant historiographical body of work on ‘ordinary life’ in Scotland. In addition, this study challenges the popular cultural narrative of the British home front as a united national community during the Second World War. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the Scottish response to war was shaped by history, national identity, cultural legacy, and internal division
Dynamic Causal Inference Using a Hardware Implementation of Spiking Neurons
No full textNervous systems may have originated in the late Ediacaran period to rapidly detect “critical states” of the first predators (or prey) being within striking distance, likely by virtue of electroreception. However as motility and these critical distances increased, the acuity of early electroreceptors heightened in kind to detect weaker remote signals, giving rise to an inference problem of determining the true state of the environment using noisy sensory data. The statistically-optimal means of doing so lies in Bayesian inference; a computationally expensive form of probabilistic reasoning for which neuronal membranes and populations appear naturally-suited. As such, this thesis focuses on the goal of studying, extending and implementing existing models of neural inference in the context of electroreception. In doing so, the findings may not only contribute to understanding how and why neurons represent information probabilistically, but also serve as a biomorphic engineering solution for improving cheap, noisy sensors.
Firstly, I constructed a simple and interactive computational model of inference based on the system-level activation caused by ion flow in a Trichoplax-like Placozoan, in the context of low-motility, pre-Cambrian predator-prey interaction. With this, I demonstrated how the direction and proximity of an electric dipole can be inferred using simple biological building blocks and diffusing chemical gradients to form a “particle filter”; a generalised form of Bayesian inference wherein particles (ions) approximate the distribution at each time step and are used as priors to create the probability distributions in the subsequent time step. Then, I translated this model into a modern, high-motility, experimentally-based generative model; using the simulated output of a cheap Hall Effect sensor to infer the location of a magnetic dipole. Finally, I extended the preceding work into a physical and functional model of neural inference. In this final model, analogue Hall voltages were translated into spikes, which were used as particles in a map of neurons to infer the true state of the magnetic dipole in one dimension, in real time, and at distances and levels of accuracy beyond the typical limits of a Hall Effect sensor