An objective examination of consumer perception of nutrition information based on healthiness ratings

Objective. Previous research on nutrition labelling has mainly used subjective measures. This study examines the effectiveness of two types of nutrition label using two objective measures: eye movements and healthiness ratings. Design. Eye movements were recorded while participants made healthiness ratings for two types of nutrition label: standard and standard plus the Food Standards Agency’s ‘traffic light’ concept. Setting. University of Derby, UK. Subjects. 92 participants (mean age 31.5 years) were paid for their participation. None of the participants worked in the areas of food or nutrition. Results. For the standard nutrition label, participant eye movements lacked focus and their healthiness ratings lacked accuracy. The traffic light system helped to guide the attention of the consumer to the important nutrients and improved the accuracy of the healthiness ratings of nutrition labels. Conclusions. Consumer’s have a lack of knowledge regarding how to interpret nutrition information for standard labels. The traffic light concept helps to ameliorate this problem by indicating important nutrients to pay attention to

Pollution prevention in wastewater networks: development of a biological early warning device

A biological early warning system (EWS) was developed to screen wastewater containing nitrification inhibitors and identify nitrifying bacteria activity reduction without relying on absolute values of sensor signals. To do so, numerous sensors were evaluated using a tiered approach to aid the analysis and made it easier to convey the current state of the technology. The research then produced a framework for the development of an EWS and the applicability of sensors to the wastewater matrix. The research identified a need for the development of a strategy and guidance that can help in the prevention and detection of nitrification inhibitors. Initial tests focussed on sewer biofilm N2O emissions, however, despite average nitrification rates of 19.5 g-NH4 + - N.m- 2 .d- 1 the response was unreliable due to inadequate control. To address this, a circulating floating bed biofilm reactor (CFBBR) was designed as a sidestream. The CFBBR biofilm’s toxicity response was compared to the sewer biofilm, a 2850 mg.L- 1 MLSS culture and a 10.5 mg.L- 1 MLSS culture (with equivalent biomass concentration to the CFBBR biofilm). The cultures responded differently with an inhibitory effect scale of Cu2+ > ATU > Ni2+ > Cr6+ for CFBBR biofilm, ATU > Cu2+ > Ni2+ > Cr6+ for 2850 mg L- 1 MLSS, ATU > Ni2+ > Cr6+ > Cu2+ for 10.5 mg.L- 1 MLSS and ATU > Cu2+ > Cr6+ > Ni2+ for sewer biofilm. This was firstly attributed to suspended growth nitrification stimulation by Cu2+ doses up to ~45 mg.L- 1 resulting in a lower inhibitory effect. Secondly, very high Cr6+ and Ni2+ doses were required for biofilm nitrification inhibition, due to diffusion limitations and slow transport through cell membranes. The CFBBR biofilm response to heavy metals was characterised through N2O and CO2 spikes and a post shock emissions recovery period was observed with the trend Ni2+ > Cr6+ > Cu2+ . A 10 minute hydraulic retention time allowed quick detection and steady state nitrification rates of 0.4 g-NH4 + -N.m- 2 .d- 1 despite high organic loading rates. Additionally, a suspended growth based monitor (Nitritox) was assessed as an inlet works toxicity detector. Incorporation of a Nitritox with a CFBBR based sewer monitor offered increased robustness over a CFBBR only system and was shown to be viable system in catchments >200,000 population equivalent. This information is useful to water utilities so that they can plan for and experiment with upset early warning protocols. It is also useful to manufacturers as they can determine product performance needs

Returning to Protoevangelical Faith: The Theology and Praxis of Dr. Dallas Willard

This thesis describes the theology and praxis of philosopher/theologian Dr. Dallas Willard and its effect on contemporary forms of evangelicalism in America. Willard’s works have become increasingly attractive to emerging generations of Christians protesting the perceived excesses and hegemony of mainstream evangelical culture. Willard presents a positive alternative to contemporary versions of evangelicalism seen by many as increasingly devoted to soteriological escapism, modern consumerism, individualism and sectarianism. Alternatively, Willard proposes a return to the original (proto) message of good news (evangel) articulated by Jesus in the New Testament. For increasing numbers of disaffected evangelicals with postmodern sensibilities, this protoevangelical vision offers a more robust doctrine of God, a return to the primacy of discipleship to Christ, and the experience of a holistic and integrated life in the Kingdom of God. Ethnographies of four evangelical organizations applying Willardian theology provide insight into the current evolution within American evangelical theology and praxis

A high-throughput screening method for determining the substrate scope of nitrilases

Nitrile compounds are intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals such as atorvastatin. We have developed a chromogenic reagent to screen for nitrilase activity as an alternative to Nessler's reagent. It produces a semi-quantifiable blue colour and hydrolysis of 38 nitrile substrates by 23 nitrilases as cell-free extracts has been shown

Cloning, purification and characterization of the 6-phospho-3-hexulose isomerase YckF from Bacillus subtilis

The enzyme 6-phospho-3-hexulose isomerase (YckF) from Bacillus subtilis has been prepared and crystallized in a form suitable for X-ray crystallographic analysis. Crystals were grown by the hanging-drop method at 291 K using polyethylene glycol 2000 monomethylether as precipitant. They diffract beyond 1.7 A using an in-house Cu Kalpha source and belong to either space group P6(5)22 or P6(1)22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 72.4, c = 241.2 A, and have two molecules of YckF in the asymmetric unit

Theoretical and experimental study of the thermal stability of soils

Issued as Final report, Project no. E-25-60

Can Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) from Population Surveys Provide Accurate Estimates of Pre-Admission Health Status of Emergency Hospital Admissions?

INTRODUCTION: The use of PROs for assessing the outcomes of emergency hospital admissions requires a means of estimating patients' pre-admission health status. A possible alternative to asking patients to recall how their health was before the incident causing admission is to use estimates derived from matched samples from population surveys. Our aims were to explore the impact of different methods of matching and to compare the results with estimates based on retrospective reporting. METHODS: First, elective hip arthroplasty patients were matched to respondents to the General Practice Patient Survey using age, sex, socio-economic status and number of comorbidities. The impact of restricting matching for locality and specific co-morbidities was explored. Second, the best matching method was applied to emergency admissions for laparotomy and for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after acute myocardial infarction. Data were stratified by patient characteristics. Differences in mean EQ-5D scores between the patients and matched population respondents were tested using t tests. RESULTS: Modifying the most basic form of matching by also taking locality and the specific comorbid conditions into account made no significant difference to the mean EQ-5D score for hip arthroplasty patients. Even using the most detailed matching possible, patients' mean EQ-5D score was significantly different to that of the general population for all three cohorts. The difference was greatest for elective hip arthroplasty (0.22 v 0.64), less so for emergency laparotomy (0.56 v 0.72) and least for PCI (0.79 v 0.71). This reflects hip arthroplasty patients having a long-standing condition characterised by pain and limited mobility, whereas the other two cohorts may have enjoyed reasonable health until an unexpected acute episode led to their emergency admission. CONCLUSION: Routine PRO data acquired from population surveys cannot be used as an accurate alternative to retrospectively reported PROMs by patients during their emergency admission episode

Proteomics and bioinformatics analyses identify novel cellular roles outside mitochondrial function for human miro GTPases

The human Miro GTPases (hMiros) have recently emerged as important mediators of mitochondrial transport and may significantly contribute to the development of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. The hMiros represent two highly atypical members of the Ras superfamily, and exhibit several unique features: the presence of a GTPase domain at both the N-terminus and C-terminus, the presence of two calcium-binding EF-hand domains and localisation to the mitochondrial outer membrane. Here, elucidation of Miro GTPase signalling pathway components was achieved through the use of molecular biology, cell culture techniques and proteomics. An investigation of this kind has not been performed previously; we hoped, through these techniques, to enable the profiling and identification of pathways regulated by the human Miro GTPases. The results indicate several novel putative interaction partners for hMiro1 and hMiro2, including numerous proteins previously implicated in neurodegenerative pathways and the development of schizophrenia. Furthermore, we show that the N-terminal GTPase domain appears to fine-tune hMiro signalling, with GTP-bound versions of this domain associated with a diverse range of interaction partners in comparison to corresponding GDP-bound versions. Recent evidences suggest that human Miros participate in host–pathogen interactions with Vibrio Cholerae type III secretion proteins. We have undertaken a bioinformatics investigation to identify novel pathogenic effectors that might interact with Miros