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Managing uncertainty about food risks – Consumer use of food labelling
Get PDF© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/General consumer knowledge of and engagement with the production of food has declined resulting in increasing consumer uncertainty about, and sensitivity to, food risks. Emphasis is therefore placed on providing information for consumers to reduce information asymmetry regarding food risks, particularly through food labelling. This study examines the role of food labelling in influencing consumer perceptions of food risks. In-depth, 1-h interviews were conducted with 24 Australian consumers. Participants were recruited based on an a priori defined food safety risk scale, and to achieve a diversity of demographic characteristics. The methodological approach used, adaptive theory, was chosen to enable a constant interweaving of theoretical understandings and empirical data throughout the study. Participants discussed perceiving both traditional (food spoilage/microbial contamination) and modern (social issues, pesticide and ‘chemical’ contamination) risks as present in the food system. Food labelling was a symbol of the food system having managed traditional risks, and a tool for consumers to personally manage perceived modern risks. However, labelling also raised awareness of modern risks not previously considered. The consumer framing of risk presented demonstrates the need for more meaningful consumer engagement in policy decision making to ensure risk communication and management meet public expectations. This research innovatively identifies food labelling as both a symbol of, and a tool for, the management of perceived risks for consumers. Therefore it is imperative that food system actors ensure the authenticity and trustworthiness of all aspects of food labelling, not only those related to food safety
Editor's note and contents page for Volume 9, no. 1, November 2016
No full textEditor's note and contents page for Volume 9, no. 1, November 2016 of Transnational Literatur
Rehabilitation following hip fracture
Get PDF© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017After a hip fracture operation an older person’s recovery is enhanced if they are provided with an optimistic, well-coordinated rehabilitation programme. A rehabilitation approach involves a team of various disciplines (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, social work, psychology, medicine) who meet regularly, set goals, provide appropriate treatments, review progress towards these goals with the patient and assess outcomes. Where teams are not available elements of this approach can be included in a care pathway developed with patients and families. Cohort studies suggest that following hip fracture only 40–60 % of people who survive are likely to recover their pre-fracture level of mobility or ability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs). The time for recovery of different functional abilities varies widely; from within 4 months for upper limb ADLs to much longer for balance and gait and walking ability. Structured exercise programmes that include progressive resistance training or continue for at least 12 weeks can make moderate to large improvements in overall mobility following hip fracture. This chapter outlines evidence-based recommendations for the key elements of rehabilitation programmes extending beyond the hospital setting, with particular emphasis on structured exercise programmes aiming to maximise functional recovery
ac.care, Antenatal Dads and First Year Families, Communities for Children Murraylands: Final Report
Get PDFIntroduction: The evaluation of the programs provided by the Communities for Children initiative (CfC) is presented here. This report is divided into five sections. The first section presents the background information on the CfC initiative including an outline of the demographic and epidemiological outcomes for children in the area of focus for this evaluation. Additionally, the introduction outlines some of the theoretical basis for the models of care and the therapeutic models of care that are common in all the programs provided. Subsequent sections provide the therapeutic models of care specific to the particular program provided by the organisation or service. The report also provides a conclusion for each program and a final conclusion for the evaluation research project as a whole
Cross‐modal symbolic processing can elicit either an N2 or a protracted N2/N400 response
Get PDF"This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Griffiths, O., Le Pelley, M. E., Jack, B. N., Luque, D., & Whitford, T. J. (2016). Cross-modal symbolic processing can elicit either an N2 or a protracted N2/N400 response. Psychophysiology, 53(7), 1044–1053. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12649 , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12649. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions."A cross‐modal symbolic paradigm was used to elicit EEG activity related to semantic incongruence. Twenty‐five undergraduate students viewed pairings of visual lexical cues (e.g., DOG) with congruent (50% of trials) or incongruent (50%) auditory nonlexical stimuli (animal vocalizations; e.g., sound of a dog woofing or a cat meowing). In one condition, many different pairs of congruent/incongruent stimuli were shown, whereas in a second condition only two pairs of stimuli were repeatedly shown. A typical N400‐like pattern of incongruence‐related activity (including activity in the N2 time window) was evident in the condition using many stimuli, whereas the incongruence‐related activity in the two‐stimuli condition was confined to differential N2‐like activity. A supplementary analysis excluded stimulus characteristics as the source of this differential activity between conditions. We found that a single individual performing a fixed task can demonstrate either a protracted N400‐like pattern of activity or a more temporally focused N2‐like pattern of activity in response to the same stimulus, which suggests that the N2 may be a precursor to the protracted N400 response
Climate change and the adaptive economy: discussion paper
Get PDF© [2016] Flinders University / Australian Industrial Transformation InstituteThis Adaptive Economy discussion paper is designed to increase awareness of the wide range of economic and employment opportunities that arise from action to respond to climate change. While much attention has been paid to the science of climate change, our understanding of the industry and employment opportunities associated with mitigating and adapting to climate change is relatively limited in Australia. This paper makes a contribution to filling this gap, suggesting that the scale of the challenge requires us to think about transformative change, creating what might be described as an ‘Adaptive Economy’.
An Adaptive Economy is one that recognises that climate change mitigation and adaptation imperatives can be a catalyst for innovation and a generator of a wide range of high value industry and employment opportunities. The need for radical innovation and accelerated uptake of solutions to climate change is already giving rise to a wide range of new business and employment opportunities. These are likely to grow rapidly as governments face the need for bolder action on climate change. While considerable uncertainty remains about how this will unfold across the globe, there is little doubt that the momentum for action will be considerable. First movers will not only contribute to meeting the challenge but will be rewarded for doing so
Spinal afferent nerve endings in visceral organs: recent advances.
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Measuring Outcomes of Laparoscopic Anti-reflux Surgery: Quality of Life Versus Symptom Scores?
No full textAuthor manuscript made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Jan 16 2016) in accordance with publisher policy.Introduction
Outcome following fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux can be measured using objective tests, symptom scores and quality of life (QoL) measures. Which is best and how these assessments correlate is uncertain. To determine the utility of assessment measures we compared a general QoL measure (SF-36) and a disease-specific measure (GERD-hr-QoL) with symptom and satisfaction scores in individuals following fundoplication.
Methods
329 individuals underwent fundoplication between 2000 and 2015 in 2 centres in Australia and the Netherlands. Patients were assessed before and 3, 12 and 24 months after surgery using 10-point Likert scales to assess heartburn and satisfaction, the SF-36 questionnaire and the GERD-hr-QoL questionnaire. SF-36 scores were converted into component scores: Physical Component Scale (PCS) score and Mental Component Scale (MCS) score. Correlations between QoL measures and clinical outcomes were determined.
Results
Surgery relieved heartburn (7.0 vs. 0.0 median, P < 0.001) and patients were highly satisfied with the outcome (median 9.0). PCS and MCS scores improved after surgery (PCS 40.9 vs. 46.0, P < 0.001; MCS 47.6 vs. 50.3, P = 0.027). GERD-hr-QoL scores also improved after surgery (15.7 vs. 3.7, P < 0.001). Correlations between PCS and MCS scores versus heartburn and satisfaction scores were generally weak or absent. However, correlations between GERD-hr-QoL versus heartburn and satisfaction scores were moderate to strong.
Conclusion
Despite improvements in scores, the SF-36 correlated poorly with clinical outcome measures, and its use to measure outcome following fundoplication is questioned. However, the GERD-hr-QoL correlated well with the symptom scores, suggesting this disease-specific QoL measure is a better tool for assessing anti-reflux surgery outcome
Promoter polymorphism at the tumour necrosis factor/lymphotoxin-alpha locus is associated with type of diabetes but not with susceptibility to sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy
No full textAuthor version made available in accordance with publisher copyright policy.AIM:
To investigate, in a large cohort of 2494 individuals with diabetes mellitus, whether functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and lymphotoxin-alpha (LTA) genes are associated with type of diabetes or presence of diabetic retinopathy.
METHODS:
A total of 334 type 1 diabetes and 999 type 2 diabetes participants with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy, and 260 type 1 diabetes and 901 type 2 diabetes participants with no diabetic retinopathy or minimal non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, were genotyped for two single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1800629 and rs361525).
RESULTS:
The A allele of rs1800629 was associated with type 1 diabetes (p < 0.001; odds ratio = 0.62). After adjustment for age, sex, diabetes duration, HbA1c, hypertension and nephropathy, no significant association was found between rs1800629 or rs361525 and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy.
CONCLUSION:
An association between the A allele of rs1800629 and type of diabetes was found. No association was found between two promoter variants of TNF and LTA, and diabetic retinopathy in a large cohort of Caucasian patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes
