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Is urban growing of fruit and vegetables associated with better diet quality and what mediates this relationship? Evidence from a cross-sectional survey
No full textUrban agriculture (UA), the growing of fruits and vegetables in urban and peri-urban areas, may improve food security and access, public health and dietary quality on both a broad and personal scale. However, there is little research on the relationship between UA and diet, and potential mediating factors are also unclear. This study aimed to investigate if proximity to and engagement with UA is associated with better diet quality, and what accounts for this relationship. UK-based adults (N = 583, 69% Female) completed measures of proximity to and engagement with UA, perceived access to fruits and vegetables, health and ethical food choice motivations, connection with nature, psychological distress and dietary quality in an online survey. Participants were recruited from UA-related groups and the general public. Proposed relationships were analysed using a structural equation model. Greater proximity to and engagement with UA was associated with greater perceived access to fruits and vegetables, more health-related food choice motivations, more ethical-related food choice, feeling more connected with nature, and, surprisingly greater psychological distress. Furthermore, proximity to and engagement with UA was indirectly associated with better diet quality via health-, and ethical-related, food choice motivations. While the direct pathway between proximity to and engagement with UA and diet quality was not significant, UA is associated with better diet quality, partly via healthier and ethical food choice motivations. Upscaling UA may have benefits for dietary quality via these factors, and more research is needed to test causal relationships and understand these complex interactions.Natural Environment Research Counci
ACE gene I/D polymorphism and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients: a metanalysis
No full textBackground Hypertension and type 2 diabetes increase the risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. On the other hand, homozygous ACE deletion polymorphism (DD) has been associated with these two diseases and risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Aim To conduct a metanalysis of the association between ACE gene I/D polymorphism (DD, II and DI) and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar for studies published between January 2020 and April 2021. We included case-control studies evaluating the association between ACE I/D and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients, were there was sufficient genotype or allele frequency data to calculate IRR (incidence rate ratio) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results 5 studies were included (mean age 58.5 years and 61% men), combining to a total of 786 patients. Three studies were conducted in Caucasians. Overall, patients who had homozygous co-dominance genotype DD were at 47% higher risk of severe COVID-19 compared with II or ID (IRR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.15-1.89; p=0.002). Conclusions The ACE DD genotype may confer a greater risk of severe COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. Further studies including more diverse ethnic groups are necessary to fully establish this association
Benchmarking farm P and N management to improve agricultural sustainability
No full textThe 2019 International Phosphorous Workshop 9 (IPW9), Zurich, Switzerland, 8-12 July 2019Agriculture faces the challenge of achieving sustainable, profitable production while maintaining environmental quality. Conventional agricultural production is highly dependent on nutrient inputs of P and N in fertilizer and feed and poor use efficiency of these resources is associated with losses to the environment and impacts on water quality, GHG emissions, air quality, acidification and biodiversity. The AgriBenchmark project explored the possibilities for benchmarking of nutrient management performance on Irish farms.Environmental Protection AgencyWas published in a book of abstracts but this was not a formal publication just an online collection so did not include in record - A
Kant\u27s Theoretical Philosophy: The \u27Analytic\u27 Tradition
No full textIn a previous article (O’Shea 2006) I provided a concise overview of the reception of Kant’s philosophy among analytic philosophers during the periods from the ‘early analytic’ reactions to Kant in Frege, Russell, Carnap and others, to the systematic Kant-inspired works in epistemology and metaphysics of C. I. Lewis and P. F. Strawson, in particular. In this chapter I use the recently reinvigorated work of Wilfrid Sellars (1912-1989) in the second half of the twentieth century as the basis for presenting some of the most familiar ‘analytic Kantian’ themes that continue to animate current debates. I also argue that the complex relationships between Sellars’ philosophy and Kant’s thought are often misunderstood. Overall the chapter examines Sellars’ analytic appropriations of Kant in three topic-areas of significant current philosophical debate: (1) conceptual analysis and the structure of human knowledge; (2) laws of nature, the causal modalities, and the pragmatic or relative a priori; and (3) the disputes concerning Kant and nonconceptual content.18 month embargo once published - ACCheck for published version during checkdate report - AC 20201-08-20 JG: https://www.routledge.com/The-Kantian-Mind/author/p/book/9781138827486 -- seems to exist but doesn\u27t resolve yet, also https://www.routledge.com/978113882748
Kantian Reflections on the Givenness of Zahavi’s Minimal Experiential Self
No full textAt the core of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason was a decisive break with certain fundamental Cartesian assumptions or claims about consciousness and self-consciousness, claims that have nonetheless remained perennially tempting, from a phenomenological perspective, independently of any further questions concerning the metaphysics of mind and its place in nature. The core of this philosophical problem has recently been helpfully exposed and insightfully probed in Dan Zahavi’s book, Self and Other: Exploring Subjectivity, Empathy, and Shame (OUP, 2014). In these remarks I suggest that Zahavi’s view of what he calls "The Experiential Self" defends precisely the sorts of claims to which a Kantian account of consciousness is fundamentally opposed, and while assessing the overall merits of the two contrasting outlooks is no easy matter, I side with the Kantian view
Impact of Current Transients on the Synchronization Stability Assessment of Grid-Feeding Converters
No full textThe synchronization instability in the presence of a fault is a main issue for the dynamic behavior and control of grid-feeding converters. In the literature, the synchronization stability assessment is carried out considering the dynamics of Phase-Locked Loops (PLL) but the transients of converter currents are neglected. The letter shows that such a simplification leads to inaccuracies and, thus, the current transients cannot be neglected. The letter proposes a model that captures the effect of such current transients on the converter synchronization. This model allows assessing the transient behavior and, hence, the stability, of power electronics converters with high accuracy, comparable, in fact, to EMT models. The fidelity of the proposed model is duly discussed in the case study.ESIPP UC
Estimating the availability of energy storage capacity from used electric vehicle batteries on a national scale
No full textMoving toward a zero-carbon transport system accelerates the diffusion of batteries in society
through electric vehicles. This so-called “clean transport”, as kind as it is to the environment during its
lifetime, could be a burden for waste management at end of life if not managed properly. A circular
waste management system, alternatively, suggests exploring the appropriate actions and policies to
create the right environment for the second use of end-of-life batteries. A temporal estimation of the
remained capacity in end-of-life electric vehicle batteries enables us to find the fitting second-use
applications. This paper will present a model which has been developed for Ireland which combines (i)
predictions for the adoption of electric vehicles by class, (ii) vehicle lifetime estimates based on a
combination of current EV & ICE vehicles, and (iii) estimation of end-of-life battery generation and
associated reuse capacity. The model computes a range of scenarios to estimate the potential
availability of EV batteries for secondary use in Ireland out to 2050. Our estimation shows that a scale
of several ten, several hundred, and a few several thousand megawatt-hour energy capacities would
be available by 2050 in small, medium, and large class vehicles
Improving repair viability in the circular economy: a multifaceted endeavor.
No full textIn the context of circular economy (CE) repair represents an important value retention
strategy, as it adds value to goods, instead of using it up. Previous studies have explored individual
level motivations and barriers to engaging in repair activities, and barriers typical to certain categories
of goods. In our study we explore repair on the level of the economy: drawing on citizens’ personal
repair experiences and insights of several key actors relevant for making repair more attractive and
viable in the CE. Thus, our study aims to understand societal structures that enable or impede repair in
the context of Finnish society. Understanding the social realities of repair calls for a theory capable of
accommodating both macro-level factors and micro-level processes. In our analysis, we apply
structuration theory to illustrate how non-repair practices are enabled by existing societal structures,
such as rules and resources, and reinforced via discursive rhetoric and practical consciousness. Based
on the analysis we propose integrative solutions to encouraging repair as a societally important activity,
involving different actors across production and consumption. First, we suggest that integrating explicit
content on repair to basic education can lead to new collaboration opportunities between schools,
municipalities, and repair entrepreneurs. Second, introducing positive rhetoric on repair requires
organizing activities that engage actors from multiple industries to stimulate dialogue and innovative
thinking. Re-establishing repair as a vital industry for a more circular society calls for processes that
help to better integrate repair to local ecosystems
How much can increase in expected product lifetime contribute to extending actual product use duration? A case study of refrigerators
No full textThe expected lifetime of a product is a consumer-oriented factor that needs to be considered when assessing product lifetime extension. While numerous studies have analysed the expected lifetime of appliances, only a study for air conditioners has assessed the effect of changes in the expected product lifetime on the actual product use duration. Consequently, the impact for another product needs to be examined in order to develop appropriate product lifetime extension policies. This study estimated the impact of the expected product lifetime on the actual product use duration of refrigerators. We employed a dynamic discrete choice model (DDCM) to examine consumers’ product replacement decisions as they are related to refrigerators. Also, we quantitatively analyzed the impact of the expected product lifetime on product use by using the parameters of the DDCM. The results showed that an increase in the expected product lifetime of refrigerators can contribute to prolonging actual product use for refrigerators. If the expected product lifetime is extended by 1, 2, and 3 years, the actual product use duration can be extended by 0.52, 1.05, and 1.59 years, respectively, which are shorter than the estimates obtained for air conditioners in a previous study. The results imply that the degree of product lifetime extension differs between products. Therefore, clarifying factors which causes the difference in the product lifetime extension effects is important to achieve product lifetime extension effectively
Liam Breatnach, ed., Córus Bésgnai: An Old Irish Law Tract on the Church and Society. (Early Irish Law Series 7.) [Dublin]: Dundalgan Press for the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2017. Pp. xii, 346. €40. ISBN: 978-1-85500-232-6
No full textThis volume contains a critical edition of the Old Irish law tract Córus Bésgnai (The Arrangement of Discipline), one of the constituent tracts of the late seventh-century compilation Senchas Már (The Great Tradition). It has taken the editor a very long time to bring this work to completion, but the result is a highly accurate and informative edition representing the highest standard of scholarship in early Irish language and law