Solitary practices or social connections? : a comparative study of fathering and health experiences among white and African-Caribbean working class men

This study addresses the following research question: what are the implications of African- Caribbean and White working class men's experiences within social connections (within families, friendships, communities and workplaces), for fathering and health experiences? The purposes of this study were to undertake a primary piece of intensive qualitative research, and also to analyse, critically, the study's findings, in order to identify implications for theory, policy, practice and research. This investigation was critical, interpretative and exploratory, informed by the principles of phenomenology and ethnography. Six African-Caribbean and seven White working class men were recruited, using purposive sampling, for two semi-structured individual interviews. This enabled the exploration of the interactive effects and processes of structure and agency, in relation to social class, gender, and ethnicity. The study did not find major differences between the experiences of these two groups of men, although the assets and constraints related to African-Caribbean men's experiences of ethnicity and racism within social connections were evident. Study findings, for both groups of men, indicated that social connectedness within families, communities and workplaces was highly valued, but social connections, material and structural factors also influenced the health of the men interviewed. Furthermore, findings indicated that men's experiences of social connectedness have limitations. Specifically, men's limited insights into the links between social connectedness and health, men's perceived limitations with their communication skills, their solitary methods of dealing with perceived vulnerability, but also the uncertainty associated with their identities as men were significant findings. Indeed, men's experiences of both solitary discourses and practices and social connectedness, regarding fathering and health, were associated with discourses about masculinities. Implications for existing theory, for example Connell's (1995) work regarding masculinities, and Putnam's (1995) work regarding `social capital', are identified. In addition, implications for research, policy and practice are examined, with specific reference to the opportunities for mental health promotion with working class men who are fathers

The Thalassinidean Mud Shrimp Upogebia vasquezi: Life Cycle and Reproductive Traits on the Amazonian Coast, Brazil

The thalassinideans comprise the infraorders Axiidea and Gebiidea, two distinct groups of decapods that have converged morphologically and ecologically as burrowing forms, commonly known as mud lobsters and mud or ghost shrimps. These groups are an important component of the macroinfauna of intertidal and subtidal environments and are distributed throughout the world, with species diversity increasing from high latitudes toward the equator. These species are burrowing benthic decapods, with more than 95% of species inhabiting shallow waters in marine and estuarine environments, exerting considerable influence over the structure of benthic communities through their ability to bioturbate the sediments, with effects on the infauna and seagrasses in coastal environments. Upogebia vasquezi has an ample geographic distribution, it is typically found in rocky outcrops near mangroves. This species reproduces year round, which is subjected to strong seasonal fluctuations in salinity due to the local precipitation regime. The Amazon Macrotidal Mangrove Coast, representing 10% of the Brazilian coastline and encompassing more than 56% of the country’s mangrove forests, is a high priority area for conservation. This chapter aims to elucidate the reproductive traits of U. vasquezi with a revision about the known ecological information available for thalassinidean species all over the world

Influence of several oenological fining agents on ochratoxin A removal

In Europe, wine is estimated to be the second source, after cereals, of ochratoxin A (OTA), one of the most important mycotoxin found in food and feed products [1]. Its chemical structure consists of a chlorine-containing dihydro-isocoumarin linked through the 7-carboxyl group to L--phenylalanine. In wine, this fungal metabolite represents a severe risk for consumer health. According to the European Commission Regulation (EC) No. 123/2005 the maximum limit for OTA in wine is 2 g/Kg [2]. Therefore, it is important to prevent and control their occurrence in wines. With the purpose to remove this toxin, several chemical, microbiological and physical methods were described in the literature [1, 3, 4]. Consequently, the aim of this work is to understand the interaction of different types of fining agents on OTA removal from wine. To evaluate their effectiveness, eleven commercial fining agents, including mineral, synthetic, animal and vegetable proteins were used to get new approaches on OTA removal from wine. Trials were performed in wines added of OTA. Most effective fining agent in removing OTA was a commercial formulation that contains activated carbon, a well-known adsorbent of mycotoxins. Reductions between 10 and 30% were also obtained with potassium caseinate, yeast cell walls and pea protein. However, with bentonites, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) and chitosan no considerable reduction of OTA was verify. Also, the influence of these fining agents on the physicochemical wine characteristics, namely wine color, total phenolic compounds, flavonoids and non-flavonoids were studied. Final results could provide important information to the wine industry to select treatments based on fining agents to remove OTA, in order to reduce toxicity and consequently to improve wine safety and preserving wine quality.FEDER funds through the COMPETE and by national funds through FCT , Ref. FCOMP - 01 - 0124 - FEDER - 028029 and PTDC/AGR - TEC/3900/2012, respectively. This work was also funded by IBB/CGB - UTAD and Chemical Research Centre of Vila Real (CQ- VR). Additional thanks to SAI Lda., AEB Bioquímica Portuguesa, S. A. and Enartis companies for providing fining agents

Analytical evaluation of fining treatments for white wines contaminated by Ochratoxin A

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain molds. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the most relevant. Its chemical structure is a dihydro-isocoumarin connected at the 7-carboxy group to a molecule of L--phenylalanine via an amide bond. OTA in wine is a risk to consumer health [1]. According to the Regulation No. 123/2005 of the European Commission, the maximum limit for OTA in wine is 2 µg/kg [2]. Then, it is important to control its occurrence. So, the aim of this work was to know the effect of different fining agents on OTA removal from white wine.This work was funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE and by national funds through FCT, Ref. FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028029 and PTDC/AGR-TEC/3900/2012, respectively. Luís Abrunhosa received support through grant SFRH/BPD/43922/2008 from FC

Elimination of ochratoxin A from white and red wines: Critical characteristics of activated carbons and impact on wine quality

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin frequently found in wines, with an allowed maximum limit of 2.0 ?g/L. To optimise OTA removal from white and red wines at high levels (10.0 ?g/L) using activated carbons (ACs), different commercial deodorising ACs were tested. OTA elimination from white wines was less dependent on ACs characteristics, with 100% removal with all but one AC with the lowest total pore volume. For red wines, only one of the ACs with higher abundance of mesopores was successful in completely removing OTA. This decrease in performance was due to the competition of anthocyanins for ACs mesopores. ACs treatment impacted positively on white wine chromatic characteristics, decreasing the yellowness-brownish colour but for the red wine, it was observed a higher but limited impact (24% decrease) on wine colour. ACs pore volume distribution, with pore sizes in the range 42.6-55.9 Å and 125.6-137.4 Å were important for efficient OTA removal. These results will allow the rational design of ACs with pore volume characteristics for OTA elimination with less impact on wine colour. Therefore, it was shown for the first time that AC with appropriate pore size distribution can remove completely OTA from white and also red wines.The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) to the project PTDC/AGR-TEC/3900/2012 and to the financial support provided to the European Investment Funds FEDER/COMPETE/POCI under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007728 (CQ-VR) and Funds from the Fundaçao para a Ciência Tecnologia (Portugal) to CQ-VR (UIDB/00616/2020 and UIDP/00616/2020). This study was additionally supported by the Por tuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cantos de anúncio de espécies do grupo de Hyla albosignata (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

We describe and compare the spectral and temporal characteristics of the advertisement calls of six species of the Hyla albosignata group (H. albosignata, H. callipygia, H. cavicola, H. ibirapitanga, H. leucopygia, and H. sibilata), and relate the ecological and morphological relationships among these species based on the phenetic analysis resulted from the acoustic parameters. Advertisement calls of species of the H. albosignata species group are quite similar, each consisting of one repeated note containing harmonic structure. Duration of calls range from about 0.1s (H. sibilata) to 0.5s (H. cavicola) and are repeated at different rates, from three calls per second (H. sibilata) to one call for each three seconds (H. callipygia). The main difference among the advertisement calls is related to their spectral properties. The arrangement of the phenetic tree does not corroborate the division proposed in the literature based on morphological differences of the cloacal region, nor is related to species body size. Sympatric species with similar calls are not syntopic, and syntopic species show more differentiated calls.Descrevemos e comparamos as características espectrais e temporais dos cantos de anúncio de seis espécies do grupo de Hyla albosignata (H. albosignata, H. callipygia, H. cavicola, H. ibirapitanga, H. leucopygia e H. sibilata) e confrontamos as relações ecológicas e morfológicas entre essas espécies baseadas em análise fenética resultante dos parâmetros acústicos. Os cantos de anúncio das espécies do grupo de Hyla albosignata são bastante semelhantes, cada um consistindo de uma nota com estrutura harmônica, emitida repetidamente. A duração dos cantos variou entre 0,1s (H. sibilata) e 0,5s (H. cavicola) e são repetidos em taxas diferentes, desde três cantos por segundo (H. sibilata) até um canto a cada três segundos (H. callipygia). A principal diferença entre os cantos de anúncio é relacionada às suas propriedades espectrais. O arranjo da árvore fenética não corrobora a divisão proposta em literatura baseada em diferenças morfológicas na região cloacal, nem está relacionada ao tamanho corporal das espécies. Espécies simpátricas de cantos similares não são sintópicas, enquanto espécies sintópicas apresentam cantos mais diferenciados