Constructing the eastern european other: The horsemeat scandal and the migrant other

The Horsemeat scandal in the UK in 2013 ignited a furore about consumer deception and the bodily transgression of consuming something so alien to the British psyche. The imagination of the horse as a noble and mythic figure in British history and sociological imagination was invoked to construct the consumption of horsemeat as a social taboo and an immoral proposition in the British media debates. This paper traces the horsemeat scandal and its media framing in the UK. Much of the aversion to horsemeat was intertextually bound with discourses of immigration, the expansion of the EU and the threat in tandem to the UK. Food as a social and cultural artefact laden with symbolic meaning and national pride became a platform to construct the ‘Other’ – in this case the Eastern European Other. The media debates on the horsemeat scandal interwove the opening up of the EU and particularly UK to the influx of Eastern European migration. The horsemeat controversy in implicating the Eastern Europeans for the contamination of the supply chain became a means to not just construct the ‘Other’ but also to entwine contemporary policy debates about immigration. This temporal framing of contemporary debates enables a nation to renew and contemporise its notions of ‘otherness’ while sustaining an historic social imaginary of itself

A new process for the separation and purification of egg yolk antibodies

A three stage process was developed for the separation of an antibody (IgY) from industrially separated chicken egg yolk. This included aqueous extraction of the water soluble fraction (WSF) from the yolk by dilution with distilled water and pH adjustment, separation of IgY from the WSF using a cation exchange column in an automated chromatography system, and finally purification of IgY using precipitation with sodium sulphate. The overall recovery of the process was approximately 50%, and the purity 95% or greater depending on the number of precipitation steps used. An automated liquid chromatography system was developed to allow efficient study of various chromatographic media for the separation of the antibody. Analysis of breakthrough curves indicates that superficial velocity is the governing parameter in the binding of IgY to the cation exchanger. Results of a pilot scale experiment involving the application of 46.5 litres of WSF containing approximately 0.8 mg/ml IgY to a 1500 nil column are presented.Applied Science, Faculty ofChemical and Biological Engineering, Department ofGraduat

Persistent CSF but not plasma HIV RNA is associated with increased risk of new-onset moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms; a prospective cohort study.

Major depressive disorder is the most common neuropsychiatric complication in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. We determined if detectable cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HIV ribonucleic acid (RNA) at threshold ≥50 copies/ml is associated with increased risk of depression. The CNS HIV Anti-Retroviral Therapy Effects Research (CHARTER) cohort is a six-center US-based prospective cohort with bi-annual follow-up of 674 participants. We fit linear mixed models (N = 233) and discrete-time survival models (N = 154; 832 observations) to evaluate trajectories of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) II scores and the incidence of new-onset moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms (BDI ≥ 17) among participants on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), who were free of depression at study entry and received a minimum of three CSF examinations over 2496 person-months follow-up. Detectable CSF HIV RNA (threshold ≥50 copies/ml) at any visit was associated with a 4.7-fold increase in new-onset depression at subsequent visits adjusted for plasma HIV RNA and treatment adherence; hazard ratio (HR) = 4.76, (95 % CI 1.58-14.3); P = 0.006. Depression (BDI) scores were 2.53 points higher (95 % CI 0.47-4.60; P = 0.02) over 6 months if CSF HIV RNA was detectable at a prior study visit in fully adjusted models including age, sex, race, education, plasma HIV RNA, duration and adherence of CART, and lifetime depression diagnosis by Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) criteria. Persistent CSF but not plasma HIV RNA is associated with an increased risk for new-onset depression. Further research evaluating the role of immune activation and inflammatory markers may improve our understanding of this association

Quantitative analysis of phenolic components and glycoalkaloids from 20 potato clones and in vitro evaluation of antioxidant, cholesterol uptake, and neuroprotective activities

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world and provides essential nutrients. With an aim to develop potato varieties for functional food or nutraceutial applications, we have conducted metabolomic profiling, total phenolics, chlorogenic acid, anthocyanins, and glycoalkaloids analyses on 20 selected potato clones within the Canadian potato breeding program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Pigmented potatoes in general contain higher levels of phenolic components, including chlorogenic acid and anthocyanins. Levels of phenolics were retained with granulation processing of pigmented potato tubers, but glycoalkaloids were significantly reduced with granulation. The pigmented potatoes also have higher antioxidant activity reaching up to 35% of that for berries, measured as their potency in scavenging DPPH radicals. Extracts of the 20 potato clones (peel, tuber, and granule) were also evaluated for in vitro effects on liver LDL cholesterol uptake and protection of cortical neurons from cell death caused by oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD). These potato extracts in general showed mild activity in enhancing LDL cholesterol uptake in liver HepG2 cells, and also protected cortical neurons against OGD induced cell death, with extracts from granules of six of the potato clones showing significant neuroprotective effects. The bioactive components are not dependent on pigmentation of potato clones. These novel bioactivities identified in potatoes warrant in-depth investigations in the future. Taken together, our results provide further evidence for the enhanced health beneficial components in potato.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

A Clash of Emotions:The Politics of Humiliation and Political Violence in the Middle East

After the attacks of 9/11 Americans asked, 'Why do they hate us so much?' The answer has been framed in terms of a range of 'clashes', none of which has addressed emotion, which is at the centre of the question. Emotion, and particularly humiliation, has begun to be addressed within the literature of IR. Numerous scholars have highlighted the pervasiveness of a discourse of humiliation in the Middle East and its relationship to the swelling ranks of recruits who are willing to act as human bombs. The purpose of this article is to examine the emotional dynamics of this relationship. The first section undertakes a conceptual analysis of humiliation and betrayal. The second section explores how these emotions have been given coherent meaning in the narrative of Islamists from the region. This is followed by an historical analysis of how this narrative has provided a framework for giving meaning to a range of national, regional and international interactions, particularly since 1967, and has contributed to the emergence of Islam as the basis for transnational identity in what had become a highly secular region. Section three examines flaws in the logic of both militant Islamists and the US-led 'War on Terrorism', arguing that both have exacerbated feelings of humiliation in the region rather than contributing to a restoration of dignity. The conclusion builds on the principle of human dignity to rethink the international approach to political violence.</p