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Formulation and Characterization of sodium caseinate/phloretin complexes as antioxidant stabilizers in oil-in-water
No full textEmulsifiers with antioxidant properties, such as protein/polyphenol complexes, adsorb at the oil-water interface and improve the physical and oxidative stability of emulsions. Here, 2% (w/w) sodium caseinate and varying concentrations of phloretin (0–10 mM) were used to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. Control emulsions with protein alone showed poor stability with increased droplet sizes from 0.33 µm to 5.18 µm after 30 days, while no significant change was observed in emulsions containing phloretin (remaining below 400 nm). The in vitro antioxidant activities increased with increasing phloretin concentrations (0 to 10 mM). In the ABTS assay, the antioxidant activity improved from 14.02 ± 8.33% to 95.09 ± 1.31%, and in the DPPH assay, it increased from 32.59 ± 2.73% to 99.03 ± 0.14%. Similarly, the oxidative stability of the emulsions improved with increasing phloretin concentrations (0 to 10 mM). After 30 days of storage, PV decreased from 38.22 ± 2.58 µM to 11.81 ± 2.55 µM, and MDA content reduced from 48.43 ± 0.31 µM to 7.24 ± 0.21 µM. Measuring the apparent viscosity demonstrated a reduction in viscosity with the addition of phloretin. These findings demonstrate that incorporating phloretin into sodium caseinate-stabilized emulsions as a novel antioxidant emulsifier can be an effective strategy to extend the shelf life of emulsified food products prone to oxidative deterioration</p
Comparison of salicin and fibre contents in the barks and woody cores of willow (Salix spp.) clones as potential feedstocks for an integrated biorefinery
No full textValorisation of willow could be achieved by bioactive extraction (salicin) from the bark and using the remaining woody core to produce biobased materials and chemicals. It is therefore important to understand whether optimal concentrations of both the salicin in the bark and cellulose content in the woody core can be obtained within the same clone. This study evaluated the salicin levels in the bark of five clones grown for one-year in Northern Ireland by extraction in aqueous ethanol (80 %), where the contents were found to range from 0.33 % to 1.02 % DM (dry matter). The composition (hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin) was determined by sequential detergent and acid extraction of fibre (0.5 g), which indicated that there were significant differences only in the cellulose content across the samples. Cellulose in the woody cores ranged from 48.1 % to 54.5 % DM and in the bark from 15 % to 27 % DM. Subsequent statistical analysis indicated a correlation coefficient between salicin and cellulose contents of 0.77 (P = 0.01) in the woody core and between salicin and non-fibre contents of 0.73 (P < 0.05) in the bark. Significant correlation coefficients were determined within the woody cores between hemicellulose and cellulose of 0.69 (P < 0.05), and within bark between hemicellulose and both cellulose of 0.67 (P < 0.05) and lignin of 0.86 (P < 0.01) contents. Potentially, willow clones could be selected as biorefinery feedstocks which have high salicin concentrations in the bark for medical applications and high cellulose content in the woody core for use as biomaterials.</p
Quality of Nursing Care: addressing sexuality as part of prostate cancer management, an Umbrella review
No full textBackground: Sexuality is a fundamental aspect of health and wellbeing. The management of prostate cancer can result in erectile dysfunction and body feminisation, resulting in loss of masculinity and alterations of body image. Prostate cancer patients identify sexuality as an unmet need and report little or no communication with their healthcare providers on the topic. Aim: This umbrella review aims to determine the barriers that may preclude nurses from discussing sexuality with prostate cancer patients. Design: An umbrella review of systematic review studies was undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines. Method: Five databases were comprehensively searched, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane and Prospero, from October 1, 2013 to December 1, 2023, using the defined criteria. A total of 11 systematic reviews were included in this review consisting of 10 with quantitative and 1 with quantitative/mixed methods approach. Results: This study identified common themes, which were categorised into four groups: (a) lack of training and education, (b) age and years of clinical experience of nurses, (c) personal values and attitudes and (d) organisational factors. These factors contribute to why nurses feel unprepared and admit to not having adequate knowledge or expertise to have this discussion. Conclusion: The findings of this study illustrate that nurses require specialised communication skills to manage sensitive discussion with patients. Education is crucial to facilitate and empower nurses to discuss sexuality with their patients. Developing a pathway to specialist referrals will encourage nurses to address this with their patients. No Patient or Public Contribution: For the preparation of this paper, no direct involvement of patients or public has been deemed applicable to this work. This is an umbrella review paper.</p
Official Festival Poster - The House of Bernardó Alba
No full textPoster - The House of Bernardó Alba</p
A Note on enhancing aeration via a vortex-based cavitation device
No full textThere is growing interest in generating micro- or nanobubbles for enhancing aeration. Small bubbles not only enhance the interfacial area for gas−liquid mass transfer but also may enhance the equilibrium solubility if the size of the bubbles is small enough. In this note, we demonstrate the use of a vortex-based hydrodynamic cavitation device (VD) for generating small bubbles and enhancing aeration. Experimental results for conventional aeration and aeration with VD operated under three different conditions are presented. A reference case of potential degassing because of the low pressure generated in the cavitation device was also investigated. Experiments were carried out in a bubble column using DI water as the liquid phase. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration was measured using a precalibrated dissolved oxygen probe. Measurements of transient profiles of dissolved gas concentrations were carried out under different operating conditions. A generalized framework to analyze mass transfer in the presence of degassing, absorption, and desorption (via top surface or large bubbles) is developed and used for interpreting the experimental data. The per-pass degassing factor of VD was found to increase with the power dissipation [∝ (P−Pc)0.4, where P is power dissipation and Pc is the critical power beyond which degassing starts]. The aeration generated by VD was found to realize 30% higher DO concentration beyond the equilibrium solubility at atmospheric conditions. The bubble sizes estimated from the steady-state DO concentration were in the range from 80 to 200 μm for the operating parameters considered in this work. The presented results demonstrate the effectiveness of VD for enhancing aeration and will be useful for intensifying gas−liquid processes.</p
Hydrodynamic cavitation mediated Spirulina valorisation with insights into phycocyanin extraction and biogas production
No full textCommercial phycocyanin extraction is energy-intensive and lacks scalability. Alternatively, this study reports the systematic investigation of hydrodynamic cavitation for intensified phycocyanin extraction from Spirulina. Additionally, biomethane potential of the residual biomass, obtained after phycocyanin extraction was also investigated. The biomethane generation rate decreased with an increasing number of passes while the biomethane potential remained unaffected. To reliably compare phycocyanin extraction across systems, dimensionless normalised yields were defined. A normalised phycocyanin yield of 4.3 (52 mg phycocyanin g−1 ) at an inlet pressure of 150 kPa and 90 passes was identified (optimum cavitation). Lowest specific energy input (0.06kWh kg−1 ) was calculated for processing 100 g L−1 Spirulina, which is one to two orders of magnitude lower than current state-of-the-art. Furthermore, a net energy gain of 600-2497kWh kg−1 obtained from biomethane generation showcased a viable Spirulina biorefinery, intensified via hydrodynamic cavitation. This work provides a route for phycocyanin extraction with significantly reduced energy input and potential for wider bioproduct extraction and biorefining from a range of biomasses via hydrodynamic cavitation</p
Screening for depression, anxiety, and psychological distress associated with low back pain by musculoskeletal and spinal clinicians. A scoping review
No full textPurpose A biopsychosocial assessment of a person with low back pain (LBP) should include the detection of psychological risk factors. Pragmatically, clinicians often use their clinical impression rather than questionnaires to screen for psychological risk factors. This scoping review explores how accurately depression, anxiety, and psychological distress can be identified by musculoskeletal (MSK) or spinal clinicians using clinical impression alone. Methods The study protocol was pre-registered on Open Science Framework (OSF) https://osf.io/pt3a6/. A comprehensive search strategy using five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles) was conducted by two independent reviewers, with additional searching of references. Studies must have included adults with LBP, who were assessed by MSK or spinal clinician for depression, anxiety or psychological distress using their clinical impression as well as a reference standard questionnaire. Data were synthesised descriptively and thematically for each psychological factor separately. Results Eight studies involving MSK clinicians (n=4) and spinal clinicians (n=4) were eligible. Four different reference standard questionnaires were used. Overall MSK and spinal clinicians were not accurate at identifying depression, anxiety or psychological distress in adults with LBP using only clinical impression. Mean sensitivity for accurate identification of high reference standard questionnaire scores for depression, anxiety, and psychological distress ranged between 12.0% and 40.0%. Mean sensitivity was marginally higher when the threshold was reduced to analyse clinician ability to accurately capture any abnormal psychological state (34.0% to 54.1%). Mean specificity values across higher thresholds ranged from 88.7% to 93.6%. Conclusion Overall, clinician impression alone is insufficient for MSK and spinal clinicians to accurately identify depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adults with LBP. The general tendency of the clinicians was to underestimate their presence. Without formal assessment of the psychological status of patients with LBP, clinicians will have an incomplete understanding of concordant psychological factors, and may fail to notice the requirement to refer on for appropriate psychological management.</p
Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
No full textThis study presents the ballistic impact performance of composite panels with novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) (Elium®) thermoplastic resin. The panels, which include Kevlar® (Kevlar) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and hybrids with their combination (Kevlar/UHMWPE and UHMWPE/Kevlar), were manufactured with different numbers of layers (16 and 24) using vacuum-assisted resin transfer. These panels were tested against 0.38 lead round nose (300 ± 15 m/s) and 0.357 semi-jacketed soft point flat (550 ± 15 m/s) projectiles. The study assesses the ballistic impact performance of single fibre reinforced and the influence of hybridisation through various parameters such as, damage patterns, back face deformation, energy absorption, and residual velocity. The results reveal that 16 and 24 layer panels effectively defeated 0.38 projectile with relatively lower back face deformation while showing perforations for 0.357 projectile with varying residual velocities for different panel configurations. The hybrid combination of Kevlar/UHMWPE with Kevlar on the front demonstrated higher energy absorption with low residual velocity, leveraging the superior energy absorption capability of Kevlar and better stretching from UHMWPE. This study not only underscores the potential of Elium® resin-based composite panels for ballistic protection but also emphasises the crucial role of reinforcement hybridisation in enhancing the ballistic performance.</p
Modelling task durations towards automated, big data, process mining
No full textBusiness processes are generally time-sensitive, impacting factors such as customer expectations, cost efficiencies, compliance requirements, supply chain constraints, and timely decision-making. Time analysis is therefore crucial for customer understanding and process congestion minimisation. Existing process mining methods mainly employ basic statistics, process discovery and data mining techniques. These approaches often lack a structured model or profile to characterise the data related to the duration of individual process tasks. Consequently, it can be difficult to comprehensively understand critical observations such as trends, peaks, and valleys of task durations. This paper proposes a parsimonious generic representation of task duration data that addresses these limitations. A mixture model comprising gamma, uniform and exponential distributions is proposed that allows for peaked components corresponding to durations terminating near a particular value (the peak) with, in addition, flatter components for durations terminating more randomly between the peaks. The modelling is validated using examples from patient billing and the telecom industry. In each scenario, the corresponding fitted models offer a good representation of the underlying process tasks. The model can therefore be used to improve knowledge of these tasks in terms of the mixture components and what they might represent, such as the root causes of task termination. The paper also considers information criteria more appropriate for large data sets where very small effects can appear “significant” using techniques developed for smaller data set</p
Factorial validity and reliability of the 16-item individualism and collectivism scale for measuring cultural orientation
No full textThis study aimed to investigate the factor structure of the 16-item individualism and collectivism scale and assess its validity and reliability. The sample consisted of 299 secondary school students aged 14–16 from Turkey (N = 176), Ireland (N = 70), and England (N = 53). The total sample was divided into halves, Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the first half (N = 150) and the confirmatory factor analysis on the remaining sample (N = 149). Cognitive interviews were conducted with seven adolescents from Turkey and England to provide further evidence of validity. The mean age was 15.21 years (range 14–16 years). EFA generated a four-factor model in which all items except one loaded on the expected factors whereas the one item (labeled as VC4) that was expected to load on the factor representing ‘vertical collectivism’ loaded higher on the factor representing ‘horizontal collectivism’. Cognitive interview results supported the EFA results. After omitting the problematic item, fit indices showed a better fit to the data and the scale had good and acceptable reliability. A previously identified model, in which VC4 was assigned to the HC factor and HC3 and HI4 were excluded from the analysis, demonstrated a slightly better fit for the majority of fit indices. For valid and reliable results, the 16-item individualism and collectivism scale needs to be further developed by clarifying vague or ambiguous terms. Future research should also replicate this study with a larger sample and in different settings.</p