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Gendered access to land and household food insecurity: Evidence from Nigeria
Get PDFIn this article, we examine the joint influence of land access and gender of household head on household food insecurity by employing a logit model and using data from the 2015/2016 Nigerian General Household Survey. Our results show that female-headed households (FHHs) are more food insecure than male-headed households. However, with a 1-acre increase in their access to land, FHHs are 16 percent less likely to be food insecure. This finding provides policy insights into how improving access to arable land for land-poor FHHs can enhance food security in Nigeria
Characterization and genetic diversity in Paspalum notatum Flügge accessions: Morphological and geographical distance
Get PDFThe objective of this work was to describe morphology and grouping of Paspalum notatum accessions, based on multicategorical data which discards the redundant variables for quantification of genetic diversity. We also tested the hypothesis that geographical distance was correlated with morphological divergence. In our study, multivariate analyzes successfully demonstrated the geographic and morphological variability of the P. notatum accessions characterized. Many of these evaluated accessions can be included in future genetic improvement programs. Based on two methodologies for discarding variables, it was possible to identify the potentially important morphological characteristics from genetic diversity studies and characterize new accessions aimed at improving forage and seed production. The methodologies used to discard variables are biometric tools that can be used successfully in future plant breeding programs, especially when a large number of traits and accessions are being evaluated. Although significant, geographic distance had a low association with morphological traits. This indicated the need to use other characteristics, such as forage and seed yield, in addition to molecular analysis. Our analyzes showed genetic variability in P. notatum for all the characteristics studied
Copper and nanostructured anatase rutile and carbon coatings induce adaptive antibiotic resistance
Get PDFContaminated surfaces are vehicles for the spread of infectious disease-causing microorganisms. A strategy to prevent their spread is applying antimicrobial coatings to surfaces. Both nanostructured anatase rutile and carbon (NsARC), a TiO₂ formulation, and copper are examples of antimicrobial agents that are used in making or coating door handles and similar surfaces, to reduce microbial loads. Antimicrobial surfaces have been extensively tested for antimicrobial activity but not sublethal effects, such as exposure-associated multiple antibiotic resistance phenotypes usually caused by induction of efflux pump genes. The possibility of NsARC and copper inducing indicative efflux pump pathways was investigated by monitoring the expression of mScarlet fluorescent protein (FP) in two reporter strains of Escherichia coli. There was an increase in the expression of FP in the reporter strains exposed to NsARC and copper relative to the inert control composed of stainless steel. Furthermore we tested E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus following 8 h of exposure to NsARC for changes in resistance to selected antibiotics. E. coli that were exposed to NsARC became more susceptible to kanamycin but there was no significant change in susceptibility of S. aureus to any tested antibiotics. These findings suggests that even though NsARC and copper are antimicrobial, they also have some potential to cause unintended phenotypes
How does the tea L-theanine buffer stress and anxiety
Get PDFTea (Camellia sinensis) is widely considered to promote feelings of calming and soothing. This effect is attributed to L-theanine (L-γ-glutamylethylamide) in tea, a non-protein amino acid mainly derived from tea leaves. As a naturally occurring structural analogue of glutamate, L-theanine competes for the receptors with glutamate and is able to pass the blood-brain barrier to exert its relaxation effect. This review focuses on the relaxation effect of L-theanine, including animal models and the latest human trials as well as the potential molecular mechanisms regarding neuron stem cells. The biological efficacy of dietary L-theanine in the food matrix has been further discussed in this review in relation to the physiological changes in the gastrointestinal tract and bindings of L-theanine with other food components
A review on the effects of part-time grazing herbaceous pastures on feeding behaviour and intake of cattle, sheep and horses
Get PDFPart-time grazing (PTG) is the grazing technique based on the time-restricted access to pasture of farmed herbivores, usually supplemented indoors. This review evaluates the effects of the duration of access to pasture on the functional responses of grazing time and herbage intake rate in cattle, sheep and horses and the implications of these responses on diet selection, diet digestibility, energy expenditure, animal welfare, the performance of ruminants and the quality of their products (milk and meat).
Ruminants with restricted access time to pasture display compensatory behaviour through increased intake rate, achieving similar levels of intake and performance compared with 24 h-grazing ruminants, particularly if access time is in the range 6-8 h/d. This can depend on the reduction of locomotion energy expenditure, and, sometimes, on the selection of a better quality diet than that on offer. Nevertheless, due to lower ingestive fibre trituration, fibre digestibility could be reduced, particularly with access time <4 h/d. Moreover, milk content of FA regarded as beneficial for consumers' health, such as n-3 PUFA and rumenic acid, is usually higher in PTG than stall-fed ruminants, with a minimum access to grass pasture of 6 h/d in cows supplemented with total mixed rations or 4 h/d in sheep supplemented with concentrate and hay. Timing the grazing session of ruminants in the afternoon and evening hours is a good strategy to match pasture quality and animal attitude to forage intensively and efficiently, favouring intake, performance and produce quality.
Horses show on average lower intake rates scaled to metabolic weight than ruminants, probably due to their lower energy requirements but also for the need to spend part of the time outdoor performing physical activity and social behavior. Therefore, they probably need longer access time than ruminants. However, access should be time restricted or avoided during periods of the year and day hours (from midday to evening) when herbage content of non structural carbohydrates (sum of starch and water soluble carbohydrates) is high (> 15 % DM) since it can be conducive to equine metabolic syndrome and laminitis.
In general, PTG can improve ruminant and horse welfare as compared with stall-feeding with reference to appropriate behavior and freedom from some pathologies, although further research is needed to quantify these effects on a wider range of animal species and welfare indicators
Understanding key factors influencing consumers’ willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for mycoproteins
Get PDFMycoprotein is a fungal-based meat alternative sold in food retail in various countries around the world. The present study builds on a multi-national sample and uses partial least square structural equation modeling. The proposed conceptual model identified key factors that are driving and inhibiting consumer willingness to try, buy, and pay a price premium for mycoprotein. The results relate to the overall sample of 4088 respondents and to two subsample comparisons based on gender and meat consumption behavior. The results show that the biggest drivers of willingness to consume mycoprotein were healthiness, followed by nutritional benefits, safe to eat, and sustainability. Affordability and taste had mixed results. Willingness to consume mycoprotein was inhibited if nutritional importance was placed on meat and, to a lesser extent, if the taste, texture, and smell of meat were deemed important. Best practice recommendations address issues facing marketing managers in the food industry
The triple blow effect: Retailing in an era of disasters and pandemics—The case of Christchurch, New Zealand
Get PDFIn the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city’s infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake’s aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed
Animal board invited review: Animal source foods in healthy, sustainable, and ethical diets – An argument against drastic limitation of livestock in the food system
Get PDFAnimal source foods are evolutionarily appropriate foods for humans. It is therefore remarkable that they are now presented by some as unhealthy, unsustainable, and unethical, particularly in the urban West. The benefits of consuming them are nonetheless substantial, as they offer a wide spectrum of nutrients that are needed for cell and tissue development, function, and survival. They play a role in proper physical and cognitive development of infants, children, and adolescents, and help promote maintenance of physical function with ageing. While high-red meat consumption in the West is associated with several forms of chronic disease, these associations remain uncertain in other cultural contexts or when consumption is part of wholesome diets. Besides health concerns, there is also widespread anxiety about the environmental impacts of animal source foods. Although several production methods are detrimental (intensive cropping for feed, overgrazing, deforestation, water pollution, etc.) and require substantial mitigation, damaging impacts are not intrinsic to animal husbandry. When well-managed, livestock farming contributes to ecosystem management and soil health, while delivering high-quality foodstuffs through the upcycling of resources that are otherwise non-suitable for food production, making use of marginal land and inedible materials (forage, by-products, etc.), integrating livestock and crop farming where possible has the potential to benefit plant food production through enhanced nutrient recycling, while minimising external input needs such as fertilisers and pesticides. Moreover, the impacts on land use, water wastage, and greenhouse gas emissions are highly contextual, and their estimation is often erroneous due to a reductionist use of metrics. Similarly, whether animal husbandry is ethical or not depends on practical specificities, not on the fact that animals are involved. Such discussions also need to factor in that animal husbandry plays an important role in culture, societal well-being, food security, and the provision of livelihoods. We seize this opportunity to argue for less preconceived assumptions about alleged effects of animal source foods on the health of the planet and the humans and animals involved, for less top-down planning based on isolated metrics or (Western) technocratic perspectives, and for more holistic and circumstantial approaches to the food system
Glacier and rock glacier changes since the 1950s in the La Laguna catchment, Chile
Get PDFGlaciers and rock glaciers play an important role in the hydrology of the semi-arid northern Chile. Several studies show that glaciers have rapidly lost mass in response to climate change during the last decades. The response of rock glaciers to climate change in this region is, however, less known. In this study we use a combination of historical aerial photography, stereo satellite imagery, airborne lidar, and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM to report glacier changes for the Tapado Glacier–rock glacier complex from the 1950s to 2020 and to report mass balances for the glacier component of the complex, Tapado Glacier. Furthermore, we examine high-resolution elevation changes and surface velocities between 2012 and 2020 for 35 rock glaciers in the La Laguna catchment. Our results show how Tapado Glacier has shrunk by -25.2±4.6 % between 1956 and 2020, while the mass balance of Tapado Glacier has become steadily more negative, from being approximately in balance between 1956 and 1978 (-0.04±0.08 m w.e. a−1) to showing increased losses between 2015 and 2020 (-0.32±0.08 m w.e. a−1). Climatological (re-)analyses reveal a general increase in air temperature, decrease in humidity, and variable precipitation since the 1980s in the region. In particular, the severe droughts starting in 2010 resulted in a negative mass balance of −0.54±0.10 m w.e. a−1 between 2012 and 2015. The rock glaciers within the La Laguna catchment show heterogenous changes, with some sections of landforms exhibiting pronounced elevation changes and surface velocities exceeding that of Tapado Glacier. This could be indicative of high ice contents within the landforms and also highlights the importance of considering how landforms can transition from more glacial landforms to more periglacial features under permafrost conditions. As such, we believe high-resolution (sub-metre) elevation changes and surface velocities are a useful first step for identifying ice-rich landforms
Influence of whey protein isolate on pasting, thermal, and structural characteristics of oat starch
Get PDFWe investigated the effects of different concentrations of whey protein isolate (WPI) on oat starch characteristics in terms of pasting, thermal, and structural properties. The pasting properties of the starch showed that hot paste viscosity increased with the addition of WPI in the system, and relative breakdown decreased. Thermal analysis showed a significant effect of WPI on oat starch by increasing the peak temperature of differential scanning calorimeter endotherms. The X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies revealed that WPI increased the ordered structuration of starch paste, as evident by an increase in relative crystallinity; in addition, a decrease in infrared bands at 1,024 cm¯¹ and 1,080 cm¯¹ suggested decreased gelatinization of oat starch granules. Overall, WPI at different concentrations affected the oat starch gelatinization properties