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The importance of vitamin B12 for individuals choosing plant-based diets’, European Journal of Nutrition
Get PDFVitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that is not made by plants; consequently, unfortified plant-based foods are not a reliable supply. Recent estimates suggest high rates of vitamin B12 deficiency among the vegetarian and vegan populations, particularly in pregnant women or women of child-bearing age who, for ethical and health reasons, are shifting towards higher consumption of plant-based foods in ever-increasing numbers. Vitamin B12 plays crucial metabolic roles across the life-course and in particular during pregnancy and in early development (first 1000 days of life). Evidence now implicates vitamin B12 deficiency with increased risk to a range of neuro, vascular, immune, and inflammatory disorders. However, the current UK recommended nutrient intake for vitamin B12 does not adequately consider the vitamin B12 deficit for those choosing a plant-based diet, including vegetarianism and in particular veganism, representing a hidden hunger. We provide a cautionary note on the importance of preventing vitamin B12 deficits for those individuals choosing a plant-based diet and the health professionals advising them
Foreign portfolio investment and monetary policy: A disaggregated analysis In Nigeria
Get PDFThe study used Toda-Yamamoto causality framework, an augmented vector autoregressive model, to examine the response of foreign portfolio investment to monetary policy decisions in Nigeria. The results indicated no causality running from any of the monetary policy tools to aggregate foreign portfolio investment. However, a unidirectional causality was found running from the total foreign portfolio investment to the policy rate and cash reserve ratio. This suggests that monetary policy is reactive, as developments in the foreign portfolio markets influence it. The results also showed that each key component response to specific monetary policy instruments with varying levels of magnitudes
Discovering Discourse Analysis: Uncovering the ‘Hidden’ in youth work research, Methodological approaches to research in youth work: Changing the paradigm
Get PDFPurpose: Discourse can be regarded as established ways of talking that people adopt at certain points of time that help to inform their understanding of the world and how they should behave in it. Foucault (1998) explains discourse as both an instrument and an effect of power, transmitting and producing power, but also undermining and exposing it. Tilsen (2018) argues that prevailing discourses can marginalise young people through imposing specifications on what constitutes normal behaviour, as well as framing problems within totalising accounts. Often these are hidden and unacknowledged discourses that young people and youth work practitioners are not aware of; especially in terms of their role in contributing to their creation and maintenance. This paper explores the concept of discourse and subsequently discourse analysis as a methodology.
Approach: The paper examines how discourse analysis fits with youth work values and principles; providing a unique perspective to research with young people. There is also critical discussion on ethical concerns in discourse analysis; especially around ensuring young people’s authentic voice is heard above the researcher’s own analysis.
Practical Implications: The paper presents examples of how discourse analysis has been, and could be used in research with young people.
Originality: There is limited research that currently explores discourse analysis methodology in youth work research. The article concludes that discourse analysis is not an easy approach to research, but one that can give voice to young people to create counter discourse
Measuring outcomes in youth work: The efficacy of positive psychology, Methodological approaches to research in youth work: Changing the paradigm
No full textProviders of youth work provision in Ireland are increasingly finding themselves in a position of having to demonstrate the impact that they have among the young people with whom they work. This paper suggests that a positive psychology framework operationalised through the PERMA questionnaire is one way in which impact can be assessed among young people. The PERMA model assessing the five dimensions of: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. First this paper sets out the background to current youth work in Ireland; second, it presents an overview of positive psychology with a focus on the PERMA model. Third, this paper presents an overview of one study that has been conducted in Ireland employing the positive psychology framework. Finally, this paper suggests the implications of using this methodological framework for assessing the impact of youth work in different contexts
Octenyl-succinylated inulins for the delivery of hydrophobic drug
No full textThe efficacy of hydrophobic anticancer drugs is limited by their poor solubility in water, inefficient target delivery, and toxic side effects. In this work, doxorubicin (DOX) was solubilized using OSA-inulins which created micellar aggregates in aqueous solution above a critical concentration. In vitro delivery of OSA-inulin-DOX micelles resulted in strong inhibition of the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells as compared to free DOX. They also displayed a faster cellular uptake rate, indicating that the micelles were promptly internalized into the cells through CD44 receptor-mediated endocytosis. During in vivo tumor suppression experiments in tumor-bearing mice, the OSA-inulin-DOX micelles strongly hindered tumor growth and showed substantially lower systemic toxicity compared with free DOX. Our achievements demonstrate that OSA-inulin has great potential for the encapsulating, dissolving, and targeted delivery of hydrophobic drugs, especially antitumor drugs, for nutraceutical, medical, and pharmaceutical applications
You-the Voice: Using Auto-Ethnographic and Collaborative Auto-ethnographic Methodologies in Youth and Community Work Methodological Approaches to Research in Youth Work: Changing the Paradigm
Get PDFYouth and Community Work encompasses and navigates across a spectrum of realities, voices, and experiences; from young people participating, to the Youth and Community Workers practicing, to stakeholders, and members of wider society. One of the key values of Youth and Community Work is to enable authentic youth voice and participation to take place (National Youth Agency, 2021), supported, and underpinned by social justice and anti-discriminatory practices (Chouhan, 2009). Youth and Community Work aims to enable young people to have their say around issues that directly impact them and their communities. To aide young people to explore their lived realities and offer opportunities to have their voices heard, is one way to achieve this. Auto-ethnographic and collaborative auto-ethnographic methodological processes can be hard hitting and emotive but positively challenging. Youth and Community Work has adapted, over time, to ensure that the needs of young people are met, aiming to redistribute power amongst societies at local, national, and international levels. In order to ensure that research approaches in Youth and Community Work do the same, contextual methodological frameworks used in practice must encourage these opportunities; this article demonstrate ways in which auto-ethnographic and collaborative auto-ethnographic can achieve this
Torque-speed characteristics for electrically powered rim driven fans and thrust comparison with a small conventional fan jet engine
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to provide a method of estimating torque versus speed characteristics of single and dual-stage electrically powered Rim Driven Fans which are intended for aircraft propulsion. The methodology is based on the well-known Euler equation which considers the change in angular momentum of the air as it passes through the fan rotors. A derivation of the useful and versatile Specific Work parameter (Y) is provided along with its important relationship with the fan Work Co-efficient (ψ) and an explanation of the relevance of the Fan Flow Co-efficient (∅) in determining the flow of air through the RDF device. An equation is derived which relates the fan torque to its rotational speed and a specimen calculation of a 200 mm inlet diameter RDF has been provided. Electrical performance graphs, generated with Motor-CAD LAB software, are included to illustrate an example of a suitably optimised RDF motor circuit. Finally, a thrust performance comparison is made between a theoretical dual-stage RDF and a commercially available fan-jet engine. It is demonstrated that the dual-stage RDF technology could offer a viable solution to power high-speed medium and large commercial transport aircraft, making them particularly suited to distributed thrust system architectures and blended-wing-body aircraft designs
An understanding the food safety knowledge among food science students in Iraq
Get PDFPurpose
Food-borne diseases can be prevented with the knowledge of food safety. Food-related infirmity, especially in developing economy perspective such as Iraq can be addressed effectively with adequate food safety knowledge. So, this study aims to analyse the food safety knowledge of Iraqi students studying in food science programs.
Design/methodology/approach
Four aspects of food safety, namely, the food poisoning, personal hygiene, temperature control and cross contamination and cleaning were considered to understand the food safety knowledge of Iraqi students. A survey of 105 Iraqi food technology students was conducted to know their food safety knowledge. A structured questionnaire was made involving multiple choice scales. Among the alternatives, one alternative was right and all other alternatives were wrong. Respondents were asked to pick the correct answer amongst the given alternatives. Correct answer given by the respondent was considered a measure of food safety knowledge.
Findings
Findings of the study revealed that students had insufficient knowledge about various dimensions of food safety. Students had knowledge about the food poisoning (p < 0.001) Students had partial understanding about personal hygiene wherein they had knowledge about handwashing practices (p < 0.001) and food-handling practices (p < 0.001). Respondents had knowledge about role of freezing in bacterial growth (p < 0.001). Students only had knowledge about separation of cooked and uncooked food (p < 0.001), indicating partial understanding about cross contamination and cleanliness. Both age and gender of the student did not have relationship with their food safety knowledge. The results implied that instructors and tutors should stress upon the socio-cultural facets to facilitate the food safety knowledge. Educators should also emphasize upon the application and laboratory demonstration of food safety knowledge rather than over-emphasizing the theoretical part.
Research limitations/implications
The present study suffers from multiple limitations demanding specific mention. The study undertook a quantitative methodology and made use of a close-ended questionnaire. As generally the quantitative studies include the self-reported actions or behaviours of the selected respondents, the present study also offers its results on the basis of self-reported behaviour of the students. It might be possible to observe the difference between the stated and actual behaviour of the food technology students. Other researchers might use an observational study to obtain more genuine results.
Originality/value
It is important to study food technology students regarding their food safety knowledge due to their projected future roles, as students are stipulated to perform the role of managers, food handlers, trainers, experts and caterers in the future in food industry. These students are more likely to influence the food safety orientations of society at large than the those belonging to other educational programs. Hence, this study offered a review of food safety knowledge of food technology students
Design of Truncated Microstrip Square Patch Antenna for Terahertz Communication
Get PDFThis paper presents the effect of truncation on each corner of a microstrip square patch that can be utilized for Terahertz (THz) communication. The truncated microstrip patch antenna has a bandwidth of 410 GHz (-10 dB impedance bandwidth from 3.48 THz to 3.90 THz). Moreover, the proposed antenna reveals a minimum reflection coefficient of about -29 dB, maximum gain of 5.01 dBi, directivity 6.06 dBi and a total radiation efficiency of 80.2% at 3.65 THz frequency. The proposed antenna is suitable for future Terahertz communication and imaging.applications