“Just Look At His Vascularity:” The Dangerous Theatricality of the World Bodybuilding Federation

“Just look at his vascularity:” the dangerous theatricality of the World Bodybuilding Federatio

A systematic review of policy approaches to dairy sector Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction

The dairy sector is a significant source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The increasingly robust emission inventories allow researchers to consider mitigation. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the extent to which mitigation research has been implemented as policy. The authors undertook a systematic a review of national-level dairy policy of 23 countries broadly following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols. The aim of the study was to identify international trends in dairy sector GHG emission reduction policy. Sampled countries included the 12 countries with the highest quantity of dairy sector enteric methane emission and 11 Annex I countries with the largest number of dairy cattle per capita. A total of 34 documents were collated containing 62 policies across five themes. Themes included: nutrition, manure, health, breeding and management. Thirty-one policies were identified for both the high emission nations and Annex I nations with the largest number of dairy cattle per capita. Nutrition based interventions account for 36% (n=11) of all policies identified for high emitting nations. Manure based interventions account for 48% (n=15) of all policies identified for Annex I nations with the largest number of dairy cattle per capita. Across the sample, policymakers favoured manure management strategies (n=24), particularly anaerobic digestion which accounted for 21% (n=13) of all identified policies. Nutrition based mitigation strategies were also preferred (n=17). Policies aimed at reducing sector size were largely ignored (n=4). The results indicate that significant mitigation is unlikely as manure emissions are only a small portion of total dairy sector emissions. The study concludes that policymakers are selecting the less politically sensitive mitigation strategies at the cost of emission reduction

A Qualitative Study of Public Perspectives on Family Support Services in Ireland

t Family Support Services (FSS) were set up to help families to cope with the stress and strain of modern life. Such services have been considered to be of immense value to people living in designated disadvantaged areas. However, there is little information on the public\u27s perception of family support services in Ireland. Since the provision of efficient and effective services requires knowledge of users\u27 needs, it is essential that these issues be addressed. The purpose of this study therefore is to investigate parents\u27 views and experiences of family support services by a qualitative exploratory study conducted in the North West Sector of Cork City in the late 20th century. This area was selected as it is one of the most socially disadvantaged areas in Ireland. The study consisted of in-depth interviews with 10 mothers and a focus group with another to mothers. Such as small scale study was undertaken as there was a distinct lack of evidence on users\u27 views on Irish FSS to warrant a larger sample. Analysis of mothers\u27 accounts suggested that use of FSS was affected by the perceived stigmatising effect of using the services, disillusionment at the quality of the service provision, the invasion of domestic privacy and lack of users\u27 input into the services being provided. There was also a lack of knowledge amongst the respondents about the services and it emerged that more effective advertising about the available FSS in the area was needed. Family Support Services are targeted at families coping with normal parenting stresses but can also be effective when working with vulnerable families who are affected by domestic violence, child abuse, racism, prejudice and mental health difficu lties. As a result, FSS have much to offer the public but the absence of studies on users\u27 perspectives needs to be addressed if efficient and effective service provision is to be provided. Little has been published since the study was conducted and given the importance placed on FSS, it is crucial that some research be done in the near future

Breast cancer awareness in student nurses: Implications for health promotion

The purpose of this study was to explore student nurses‟ knowledge of breast cancer, and their ability and confidence to promote breast cancer awareness. The literature review highlighted that there has been a minimal amount of research published into this area, identifying the need for more contemporary research. Using a quantitative approach, questionnaires were distributed to all adult branch students who were currently studying on the Master of Nursing Science course in 2010. The questionnaire sought to assess the overall knowledge and confidence levels student nurses have, and identify if there is a significant development of breast cancer knowledge, and confidence levels in promoting breast awareness throughout the four year course. The results of the study showed that fourth year nursing students were relatively more confident in their knowledge of breast cancer, and showed to have more knowledge of breast cancer statistics, than any other year. However despite fourth years having a higher level of breast cancer knowledge, overall their knowledge levels still remain very poor, identifying the need for more pre-registration teaching into this area. In order to see if there were any statistically significant relationships hidden within the raw data, unpaired t-tests were carried out, which ultimately showed no statistically significant relationships between the variables. Despite the study containing a number of limitations, it did bring to light new ideas that can now be added to the limited body of research surrounding this area. It has revealed that generally student nurses have very little knowledge on breast cancer as a whole, and have little confidence in the accuracy of their knowledge and therefore their ability to promote breast cancer awareness

A deterministic evaluation of heat stress mitigation and feed cost under climate change within the smallholder dairy sector

In the global South, dairying is often promoted as a means of poverty alleviation. Yet, under conditions of climate warming, little is known regarding the ability of small-scale dairy producers to maintain production and/or the robustness of possible adaptation options in meeting the challenges presented, particularly heat stress. The authors created a simple, deterministic model to explore the influence of breed and heat stress relief options on smallholder dairy farmers in Odisha, India. Breeds included indigenous Indian (non-descript), low-grade Jersey crossbreed and high-grade Jersey crossbreed. Relief strategies included providing shade, fanning and bathing. The impact of predicted critical global climate parameters, a 2°C and 4°C temperature rise were explored. A feed price scenario was modelled to illustrate the importance of feed in impact estimation. Feed costs were increased by 10% to 30%. Across the simulations, high-grade Jersey crossbreeds maintained higher milk yields, despite being the most sensitive to the negative effects of temperature. Low-capital relief strategies were the most effective at reducing heat stress impacts on household income. However, as feed costs increased the lower-grade Jersey crossbreed became the most profitable breed. The high-grade Jersey crossbreed was only marginally (4.64%) more profitable than the indigenous breed. The results demonstrate the importance of understanding the factors and practical trade-offs that underpin adaptation. The model also highlights the need for hot-climate dairying projects and programmes to consider animal genetic resources alongside environmentally sustainable adaptation measures for greatest poverty impact

Influence of structurally related impurities on the crystal nucleation of curcumin

peer-reviewedIn this work, the influence of the structurally related impurities, Demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) on the primary nucleation of Curcumin (CUR) has been investigated in propan-2-ol. The induction time for nucleation was measured at different CUR driving forces and impurity concentrations 0.10 mmol.dm-3, 0.30 mmol.dm-3 and 0.60 mmol.dm-3 and the results are analysed by the classical nucleation theory (CNT). The nucleation rate for the impure systems was noticeably lower than the nucleation rate of the pure system, and the times of growth to visibility were much longer for the impure systems. The pre-exponential factors are clearly lower for the impure system compared to the pure CUR system, while the increase in the solid-liquid interfacial energy is small. DFT and Metadynamic molecular modelling reveal that the 1:1 bonding between CUR and an impurity molecule is stronger than to another CUR molecule, thus suggesting that the developing CUR nucleus has to overcome a certain energy barrier in order to remove the impurity molecules from their surface, which may explain why nucleation of CUR is more difficult in presence of the structurally related impurities; DMC and BDMC

TOF-SIMS analysis of curcuminoids and curcumin crystals crystallized from their pure and impure solutions

TOF-SIMS can provide quantitative information on the composition of structurally similar impurities and their locations on the surface of crystals grown in impure solutions

Antimicrobial use and practice in aquaculture production systems in Nairobi, Kenya

Introduction Inappropriate use of antibiotics contributes significantly to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Weak or lack of drug regulation and a lack of veterinarian supervision during antibiotic administration in LMICs, result in the indiscriminate use of antibiotics for therapeutic or growth promotion purposes in aquaculture, livestock and agriculture. Consequently, the deposition of antimicrobial residues in the food chain may result, posing a risk to food safety and accelerating the development of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Of particular concern is the use of critically important antibiotics for human health, as prophylaxis in animals (Brunton, L. A et al., 2019). This study assesses the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices surrounding safety and use of antimicrobials amongst aquaculture farmers within Nairobi County, Kenya. Methods A prospective list of 24 aquaculture farmers was provided by the Nairobi County Fisheries office and reduced to 21, as three farmers had withdrawn from aquaculture farming. A further three farmers were unavailable to participate, leaving 18 farmers for inclusion in this study. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered using Kobo Toolbox from ODK-collect. Farmers were surveyed on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) questions relating to prudent use of antibiotics in aquaculture. Data cleaning and processing were performed in Microsoft Excel and STATA (Stata/IC 16.1 for Mac) . Responses were scored to create composite KAP variables for univariate analysis by Chi2 test. Results Only two out of the 18 farmers were reported to be using antibiotics (Tetracyclines and colistin in combination) in their aquaculture farms. Generally, the study showed a poor understanding of the terms ‘antibiotics’ and ‘antimicrobial resistance’ amongst the farmers, and limited recognition of fish diseases or knowledge on when to apply antibiotics. While 88.89% reported having sufficient knowledge on antibiotic use, and 72.22% a favourable attitude towards prudent antibiotic use, this study found 66.67% demonstrated inadequate practice around antibiotic use. Conclusions This study suggests low reported usage of antibiotics, which does not equate to prudent use of antibiotics in aquaculture farming within Nairobi County, Kenya. There have been national awareness raising campaigns in Kenya, which may explain findings in this study showing some knowledge of AMR and favourable attitudes to prudent use of antibiotics, However, the Ministry of Livestock and Agriculture, Department of Fisheries, and the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) need to strengthen sensitization amongst farmers on fish health management, antibiotic stewardship leadership and access to appropriate antimicrobials for aquaculture. Kenya Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) needs to authorize specific antibiotics for use in aquaculture farming to reduce or prevent usage of critically important antibiotics for human medicine, such as colistin in aquaculture

Nonclassical crystal growth and growth rate hysteresis observed during the growth of curcumin in impure solutions

During the growth of crystals in impure solution, impurities can pin the flow of the elementary steps and decrease the growth rate or even arrest the crystal growth. In this work, for the first time, we showed that curcumin crystals can grow in impure solution that contains two structurally similar impurities, following a non-classical crystallisation pathway that deviates from the pinning mechanism. We showed that, in a highly impure solution that contains 20 wt% of impurities, a high supersaturation can initiate the crystal growth via sympathetic nucleation that involves the formation of new growth surfaces on the seed crystals. These new surfaces formed on the seed crystals at the expense of higher supersaturation act like active growth surfaces and dictate the entire crystal growth kinetics especially at lower supersaturations. We showed that, if we can artificially create new surfaces that look like giant macrosteps at the micron scale on the crystal surface, then these macrosteps can not only speed-up the crystallisation rate but also control the rate of transfer of impurities into the bulk crystals

Evaluation of the implementation and health-related impacts of the Cold Weather Plan for England 2012

There was a gradual increase in cold-related mortality and emergency admissions after temperatures had dropped below relatively moderate thresholds (from 4°C in East England to 8°C in the South West). There was a 3.8% increase in deaths for every 1°C drop in temperature. • While the adverse effects of winter weather are widespread among the population, different groups are vulnerable according to the type of winter weather conditions being experienced. While older people are the most susceptible to low temperatures, they appear to be less vulnerable during periods of heavy snowfall compared with people of working age who had the highest relative increase in A&E visits. The Cold Weather Alerts should make a distinction between these different types of weather conditions, and target advice accordingly. • Days of extreme cold temperature were only responsible for a small portion of all excess winter deaths because of the relative infrequency of very cold days. This suggests that more emphasis could be given to the lower Cold Weather Alert levels 0 and 1 in order to have a greater impact on reducing the health-related burden of cold weather. • The adverse effects of cold weather may not be immediately apparent and may be delayed by several days or weeks following initial exposure, so short-term forecasts may be less important than the level of care provided by health services over a longer period after a cold spell. • Health and social care managers were positive about the CWP and the alert service, and felt the CWP prompted providers to be more proactive in their response to cold weather and to encourage better joint working across agencies. However, there was a general view that implementation would be more effective if it was led by public health managers rather than emergency planners. • Among frontline staff, there was much greater awareness of the CWP among nurses working in community health services than among those working in primary care. It was also more difficult to engage primary care staff in recognising the health risks of cold weather and taking appropriate action. • Both managers and frontline staff recognised the difficulties of identifying potentially at-risk individuals who were not already in contact with adult social services, suggesting that other ways of identifying such people need to be developed. • Interviews with people who were vulnerable to the effects of cold weather showed that they listened to weather forecasts and developed their own strategies for keeping warm. But none of them received any help or advice specifically related to cold weather from primary or community caregivers, suggesting that many at-risk individuals are missed by the CWP. Resources should be targeted at those who live in cold homes who are socially isolated. • Mathematical modelling showed that the CWP is cost-effective under some scenarios at the high end of the willingness to pay threshold used by NICE, but this estimate is sensitive to the extent of implementation of the CWP at local level. Using sensitivity analysis it is shown that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio varies from £29,754 to £75,875 per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gaine