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Evaluating the nutritional status of children that follow a lacto-vegan Hare Krishna diet in a primary school
Get PDFIntroduction: This research investigated the diet and nutritional value of the pupils at Hare Krishna primary school in London that follow a plant-based (lacto-vegan) diet. A systematic literature review revealed that there is no study investigating the Hare Krishna diet in a primary school in London. Therefore the aim of the current study is to nutritionally evaluate the diets of the children and engage with the parents and school in order to improve provision. Furthermore, this research will bring valuable data about the obesity rate in Hare Krishna children (children that followed the diet since birth) based in London and will raise awareness about the importance of a planned lacto-vegan diet to the parents from the Hare Krishna community.
Methodology: After the literature review, there are 3 stages to the study, the (1)baseline where anthropometric data will be collected as well as the 3-day diet plan (one weekend day and two weekdays) reported by parents. Also, the nutritional knowledge of the parents will be evaluated through a validated general nutritional knowledge questionnaire (GNKQ) to evaluate their understanding of food, nutrition and food choices. In the (2)intervention stage, nutritional workshops will be delivered for the parents and a sensory food education programme (Flavour School) for the children in order to inform them about nutrition. (3)Post intervention, the same steps from the intervention stage will be repeated.
Conclusion: The preliminary data suggest that the students are motivated to eat healthier after the nutritional sessions and are more mindful about their choices of being a vegetarian. The overall outcome of the research is to support plant-based nutritionally balanced diets for children that could lead to reducing obesity and to engage with the stakeholders in order to improve the nutritional provision at schools following plant-based diets
Temporal Hierarchy and Context-Dependence of Quorum Sensing Signal in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
No full textThe Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause infections in a broad range of hosts including plants, invertebrates and mammals and is an important source of nosocomial infections in humans. We were interested in how differences in the bacteria’s nutritional environment impact bacterial communication and virulence factor production. We grew P. aeruginosa in 96 different conditions in BIOLOG Gen III plates and assayed quorum sensing (QS) signaling over the course of growth. We also quantified pyocyanin and biofilm production and the impact of sub-inhibitory exposure to tobramycin. We found that while 3-oxo-C12 homoserine lactone remained the dominant QS signal to be produced, timing of PQS production differed between media types. Further, whether cells grew predominantly as biofilms or planktonic cells was highly context dependent. Our data suggest that understanding the impact of the nutritional environment on the bacterium can lead to valuable insights into the link between bacterial physiology and pathology
Teaching Here and There; Episode 12, part 1 of our student panel
No full textWelcome back to Teaching Here and There, episode 12, series 3.
We open with a two-parter and our student panel discussion on hybrid teaching. We are delighted to host two students from the University of West London and three from City, University of London. Bringing together their reflections and shared but varied experiences, we introduce Forough Jonghani and Marko Halla from UWL and Keti Khukhunashvili, Urika Rikhi and Rob Kidd from City.
Stay tuned for episode 13 and part 2 due out next month
Shunning from the Jehovah’s Witness community, is it legal?
Get PDFDrawing on a qualitative study conducted with both individuals who have been shunned from the Jehovah’s Witness community, as well as those who were in a position to shun others. This article identifies areas of development within the Serious Crime Act 2015, proposing that there is scope to broadly interpret the Act to include instances of people shunned from the Jehovah’s Witness community
Performance of Millimeter Wave Dense Cellular Network Using Stretched Exponential Path Loss Model
No full textFuture wireless networks are expected to be dense and employ a higher frequency spectrum such as millimeter wave (mmwave) to support higher data rates. In a dense urban environment, the presence of obstructions causes the transmissions between the user equipment and base stations to transit from line-of-sight (LOS) to non-LOS (NLOS). This transit hence emphasizes the significance of NLOS links for reliable mmwave communication. The work presented in this paper investigates the downlink performance of a mmwave cellular system by modeling the NLOS channel using stretched exponential path loss model (SEPLM) and employing a 3GPP distance-dependent LOS probability function. This path loss model has the inherent ability to define short ranges as well as obstructions in the environment as a function of its parameter resulting in a more realistic performance analysis. The path loss model is first validated for NLOS link using a data set from an open-source mmwave channel simulator. Then, a mathematical model incorporating LOS and NLOS transmissions is developed to study the impact of path loss on signal-to-interference-plus-noise (SINR) coverage probability and area spectral efficiency (ASE). The proposed framework can provide coverage performance indication over various blockage environments. Our results demonstrate that SINR coverage probability decreases exponentially with increasing base station density. Moreover, ASE initially increases with increasing BS density and is maximized for a particular density value, after which it converges to zero for higher densities. The results are also benchmarked with the existing path loss model of mmwave cellular system with different exponents for LOS and NLOS paths. It was observed that as the base station density increases, the SINR degrades more rapidly when using SEPLM as compared to the existing mmwave path loss model
Securing Smart Home Environment Using Edge Computing
No full textSecurity of the smart home environment network could be a significant problem for People with Disabilities specially during pandemic time. There are many IoT devices brought into their houses. Number of ads and distractions with them is just growing up. IoT device created to help PwD to feel more comfortable and easier to interact with the outer world (as an example visually impaired users). What if we make them trigger some tasks just with a simple voice command? This will allow PwD to become more independent to control the whole network. With the help of Alexa Echo device, Raspberry Pi, OpenDNS, and some networking configuration we could implement a comprehensive network control solution. Previous research gave us the idea that a small device like Raspberry Pi could be a good and cheap solution for that purpose. With the Pi4 release it got even more obvious to try using this device as main DNS server for the whole network. It will run in the background of the home environment controlling the whole traffic that goes through the router. Every device connected to the network however will be having the benefits of non-distracting and quicker internet. In addition, the feature of controlling the network with the simple voice command through Alexa device will be a handy additional functionality to PwD and whole network. In the future project this whole setup could be adjusted to prevent any malicious attack with the help of AI assistance and Machine learning algorithms
Childhood stunting and subsequent educational outcomes: a marginal structural model analysis from a South African longitudinal study
Get PDFObjective:
To examine the association between childhood stunting and grade completion (as educational outcome) in South Africa.
Design:
Longitudinal study. Data was obtained using the National Income Dynamics Study over five waves (2008 to 2017). Children were tracked at wave 1 in 2008 until wave 5 in 2017 to determine their total years of schooling. We controlled for time-variant and time-varying confounding with a marginal structural model to estimate the associations between childhood stunting and subsequent grade completion.
Setting:
Nationally representative study of South African households.
Participants:
A total of 2629 children aged 2 and 3 in 2008.
Results:
We observed a substantial decrease in the prevalence of stunting between wave 1 (28.2%) and wave 4 (8.6%). Our marginal structural model results suggest that childhood stunting was significantly associated with decreased odds (22% less likely) of grade completion (OR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.86; p = 0.015), while those who were only stunted during early childhood had a 29% reduction in the odds of grade completion (OR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.82; p = 0.020).
Conclusion:
These findings underscore the fact that stunting is a significant predictor of academic achievement, whose effects might be long lasting
Body awareness, self-identity, and perception of exercise importance after stroke rehabilitation
Get PDFA stroke is a serious life-threatening medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Although stroke presentation rate is decreasing, it still continues to be one of the main cause of mortality and morbidity in Portugal, its prevalence remains high. Stroke consequences, in most of the cases, results in some degree of dependence with direct implications for the daily life of the stroke survivor who goes through a long process of adaptation and acceptance of their new reality. The purpose of this study was to understand stroke survivor´s self-perceptions regarding their body awareness, body image, self-identity, and the perception of exercise importance after the rehabilitation discharge
