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Mixed tree nuts, cognition and gut microbiota: a 4-week, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover trial in healthy non-elderly adults
Get PDFBackground:
Beneficial effects of nut supplementation on cognitive function have previously been demonstrated in young and older adults. Alterations to gut microbiota have also been shown following tree nut consumption. However, no data exists on the effects of nuts on cognition and intestinal microbial communities assessed within the same study.
Objectives:
The study aimed to examine the effects of daily consumption of tree nuts for four weeks on cognitive function (primary outcome), mood, metabolomics, and gut microbial species (secondary outcomes) in healthy, non-elderly adults.
Methods:
This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, counterbalanced crossover study assessed the effects of four weeks' supplementation with 30 g/d mixed tree nuts versus placebo on cognition and mood in 79 healthy 18-49 year old adults. Metabolic responses, gut bacterial community structure and the potential for these to impact cognition were explored using a multi-omic approach. Bacterial community analysis was conducted in QIIME2.
Results:
Mixed model analysis indicated that nut consumption led to significant improvements to accuracy (placebo M = 92.2% vs. NUTS M = 94.5%; p = 0.019) and speed of response (placebo M = 788 ms vs. NUTS M = 757 ms; p = 0.004) on a picture recognition task. No significant changes to bacterial community alpha or beta diversity were observed when comparing nut consumption to the placebo arm. However, an unclassified Lachnospiraceae amplicon sequence variant (ASV) was significantly enriched in participants when supplemented with nuts (p = 0.015). No correlations were observed between the changes to picture recognition and the changes to the unclassified Lachnospiraceae ASV. There were no significant changes to the urinary metabolome.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate a positive effect of nut on cognition following only 4-weeks' consumption in a healthy non-elderly sample, as well as upregulation of a microbial taxa associated with gut health. The effects appear to be independent of one another, but further exploration is required in those experiencing cognitive decline and/or gut dysbiosis. The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT03500601)
An exploration of adult third culture kids’ experience of transitioning to the UK between the ages of 10 and 17: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Get PDFBackground:
Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are individuals who spent a significant part of their developmental years outside of their country of origin. They differ from traditional migrants due to the relocation being driven by parents’ choice, with a temporary mobility pattern. Research on TCK’s suggests that their migratory experience(s) can be linked to challenges with identity development, a lack of belonging and others. There is a lack of consensus on the impact of age at which TCK’s experience the relocations and little focus on cultural aspects of home and host countries. This study addresses this gap by looking at the experiences of adult TCK’s who came to the UK between the ages of 10 and 17 years old from EU countries.
Design and method:
Verbatim accounts of six semi-structured interviews from adult TCK’s were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
Findings:
Three superordinate themes emerged: a. The creation of me and my home (referring to the impact on personal identity formation and a lack of belonging); b. Meaningful connections (referring to the impact the move(s) had on significant relationships); c. The turmoil of adolescence and choice (referring to the interaction of adolescence with the impact of the move and the lack of choice in moving).
Conclusion:
The study’s findings echo the findings of published literature on TCK’s – there appear to be difficulties with establishing who the individual is, where they belong and relationships with significant others. The study also highlights unique findings that experiencing specific losses (of important people, and personal characteristics such as confidence); as well as identifying that the lack of choice in the move process differentiated these TCK’s from their non-TCK counterparts, as well as their parents. Implications of the findings are discussed
Total productive maintenance and industry 4.0 in a sustainability context: exploring the mediating effect of circular economy
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of this research is to establish a conceptual model to understand the impact of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on the transition of a Circular Economy (CE). Also, the paper explores the combined impact of TPM, I4.0, and CE on the sustainability performance (SP) of manufacturing firms.
Methodology: The conceptual model is proposed using the dynamic capability view (DCV) and empirically validated by partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using 304 responses from Indian manufacturing firms.
Findings: The results suggest that I4.0 positively impacts TPM, CE, and SP, also showing TPM's positive impact on CE and SP. In addition, CE has a positive influence on the SP of manufacturing firms. Furthermore, CE partially mediates the relationship between I4.0 and SP with TPM and SP. The study also identifies TPM, I4.0, and CE as a new bundle of dynamic capabilities to deliver SP in manufacturing firms.
Originality: The present research adds to the knowledge and literature on DCV by identifying the importance of CE in the settings of I4.0 and TPM, especially in the context of sustainability. Also, the current study offers a new set of dynamic capabilities and provides some significant future recommendations for researchers and practitioners
Gender equality or employment promotion? The politicization of parental leave policy in Finland
Get PDFIn 2022, a new parental leave system with equal leave rights for parents saw daylight in Finland. The road towards this reform was not entirely uncontroversial, and one stumble stone was different interpretations of the meaning of gender equality. This article contributes to the literature by analysing how seven political parties in Finland politicized the idea of gender equality and leave quotas during the 2010s. We argue that ideological factors delayed a reform of the leave system in a more gender-equal way, since left-wing parties did not only put more emphasis on gender equality and state-regulated leave quotas for fathers than conservatives, they also did so for somewhat other reasons connected with the Social Investment paradigm. Moreover, although the conservatives did warm up to the idea of gender equality on a general level during this period, and some of them started to support the use of leave quotas, providing some of the consensus needed for the 2021 reform, this did not alter their traditional views on the family and gender roles. Instead, the policy idea of leave quotas was reframed as an instrumental tool to achieve higher (maternal) employment, and only secondary as a tool for gender equality
Wild ways: a scoping review to understand urban-rewilding behaviour in relation to adaptations to private gardens
Get PDFUrbanisation is increasing, while global biodiversity is decreasing. Through ‘urban rewilding’ cities could help tackle this biodiversity crisis, while exploiting the benefits of urban nature for residents. Private residential gardens, which have potential to support significant biodiversity, should be a primary focus. Yet their proportion of vegetated space is decreasing through changes made by residents, negatively impacting biodiversity. Small adaptations to private gardens can turn them into wildlife habitat, but understanding residents’ behaviour is critical to developing intervention strategies for this. This paper presents a scoping review of existing literature on understanding intent-orientated, pro-environmental behaviours with a focus on rewilding in urban gardens. The literature is mapped to assess the state of knowledge; it is then coded, using the ‘COM-B’ model of behaviour, to identify the capability, opportunity and motivation factors forming barriers and facilitators to residents engaging in rewilding activity in their gardens. The results show that all COM-B factors need to be considered to understand urban rewilding behaviour, but that opportunity and motivation factors have more influence, particularly reflective motivation. They indicate that facilitators are more significant than barriers and highlight an important body of work that has implications for practice and policy aimed at influencing urban rewilding
Can green finance facilitate Industry 5.0 transition to achieve sustainability? A systematic review with future research directions
Get PDFMost of the world's rising carbon emission results from industrial activities. Previous industrial revolutions did not put much thought into safeguarding the natural world. Governments worldwide have been continuously implementing regulations and policies for the mitigation of climate change to promote sustainable development. To achieve decarbonization, the climate change discussion is merged with Industry 5.0 (I5.0) where green finance (GF) plays a crucial role. This technological metamorphosis of transition from Industry 4.0 (I4.0) to I5.0 will affect humans and their society. I5.0 forms a symbiotic relationship with different aspects of Society 5.0 (S5.0) such as social (human‒machine centricity), ecological (zero emissions), and technological (green innovations). Thus, the I5.0 transition prioritizes greening the economy in pursuit of achieving S5.0. Through a systematic review of 196 articles, this research study concisely summarizes the rapidly expanding body of information. The research domain gave six major themes: Green Innovations (GI), Green Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Circular Economy (CE), Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM), Emerging Economies, and Net Zero Economy (NZE). Finally, a framework has been provided that illustrates the supporting role of GF for the I5.0 transition eventually followed by S5.0. This study provides an overview of these themes with their propositions and future research directions. The present study addresses the knowledge gap by providing valuable contributions to the burgeoning research domain of I5.0 and GF. Moreover, it aims to garner the attention of different stakeholders to integrate these two concepts of research to attain the goal of sustainable development
Intersectionality and childhood
No full textThis article discusses the importance of the concept of intersectionality to understand childhood in the context of social inequalities and discriminatio
Questioning ‘the public’: exploring the meanings of public engagement in higher education
Get PDFThis article discusses an example of public engagement involving university staff and students, a local charity and older residents in a community oral history project. It is based on participants’ oral and written accounts of their involvement. It critically examines the meanings of public, engagement and public good created through the project in relation to neoliberalism. It discusses publics as ‘emergent’ and various public engagement activities as ‘assemblages’, formed in particular historical and ideological discursive contexts, and reflects critically on the usefulness of these conceptualisations. It also reviews the operation of a potential counterpublic and its implications
Everyday streets: inclusive approaches to understanding and designing streets
Get PDFEveryday streets are both the most used and most undervalued of cities’ public spaces. They are places of social aggregation, bringing together those belonging to different classes, genders, ages, ethnicities and nationalities. They comprise not just the familiar outdoor spaces that we use to move and interact but also urban blocks, interiors, depths and hinterlands, which are integral to their nature and contribute to their vitality. Everyday streets are physically and socially shaped by the lives of the people and things that inhabit them through a reciprocal dance with multiple overlapping temporalities.
The primary focus of this book is an inclusive approach to understanding and designing everyday streets. It offers an analysis of many aspects of everyday streets from cities around the globe. From the regular rectilinear urban blocks of Montreal to the military-regulated narrow alleyways of Naples, and from the resilient market streets of London to the crammed commercial streets of Chennai, the streets in this book were all conceived with a certain level of control.
Everyday Streets is a palimpsest of methods, perspectives and recommendations that together provide a solid understanding of everyday streets, their degree of inclusiveness, and to what extent they could be more inclusive
Social networks and migration: relocations, relationships and resources
No full textThis book aims to advance qualitative social network analysis within migration studies through specific epistemological, methodological and empirical innovations.
Developing my framework of telling network stories, I offer epistemological innovation to gain nuanced understandings of dynamic inter-personal relationships, the resources flowing between particular social ties and the relative social location of the actors within specific spatio-temporal contexts.
Empirically innovative, this book brings together, for the first time, data generated over twenty years across my varied studies with migrants from diverse backgrounds. Focusing on London, I draw on research with migrants who migrated from the 1940s through to the 2010s. Exploring rich, qualitative data, I analyse how migrants forge new ties in new places, while simultaneously negotiating long distance relationships transnationally. Particular attention is given to the field of employment and the role of networks in how migrants have accessed jobs and developed careers across various sectors of the labour market.
Moreover, using mixed methods, including visualisation, as well longitudinal methods from follow-up interviews, I employment methodological innovations to understand how networks of relationships evolve and change over time and through the life course, especially in the ageing process