Coffee-Stability of Agglomerated Whole Milk Powder and other Dairy Creamer Emulsions

End of Project ReportThe objectives of this project were: (a) to investigate the circumstances that cause milk powders and creamers to fail when added to coffee based beverages; (b) to evaluate the role of processing variables in relation to their thermostabilising effects on milk during drying of coffee whiteners; and (c) to determine the role of emulsion formation on the stability of imitation creamers.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

The relationship between leisure activities and psychological resources that support a sustainable career: The role of leisure seriousness and work-leisure similarity

While leisure plays an increasingly important role in individuals' lives, little is known about its potential to influence career sustainability. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we investigate whether investing extra time into leisure will have a positive or negative impact on career sustainability by either generating or depleting resources. Specifically, we examine the effects of time spent on leisure on the career-related resources of resilience and self-efficacy using data on within-person changes over the course of 7 monthly surveys. We propose that the effects of leisure on resources depend on the interplay between a) the approach individuals take to their leisure activity, in particular the level of “seriousness” of a leisure activity (i.e., the extent to which individuals identify with, and persevere in, their activity), and b) the similarity between work and leisure (i.e., the extent to which work and leisure involve similar demands and skills). We found that time spent on leisure over and above an individual's average was positively related to work-related self-efficacy, but only when the individual's leisure activities were high in seriousness and low in work-leisure similarity, or when they were low in seriousness and high in similarity. Investing time in leisure was negatively associated with self-efficacy when leisure activities were high in seriousness and similar to an individual's work. Our findings paint a complex picture of the potential influence of leisure on career sustainability and highlight the need to take a nuanced approach when studying the effects of leisure

How to Undertake a Clinically Relevant Systematic Review in a Rapidly Evolving Field: Magnetic Resonance Angiography

Objectives: The aim was to determine which generations of the evolving technology of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) are currently of clinical relevance in two clinical applications. Our purpose was to plan a systematic review that would be valuable both to purchasers driven by cost-effectiveness and to practicing clinicians. Methods: Information was gathered from a search of major bibliographic databases, from a short questionnaire sent to 500 U.K. vascular radiologists and vascular surgeons, and from local clinical The authors thank A. Jackson and all those who completed a questionnaire. This work was carried out with the financial support of the Secretary of State for Health under the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme, project 97/13/04. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Secretary of State for Health. In part, this work was undertaken by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which received funding from the NHS Executive. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS Executive.experts. We asked which of the MRA techniques were currently used and, assuming availability, what would be their technique of choice. Results: There were 206 published articles that satisfied preliminary inclusion criteria: 69 discussed 2D time of flight (TOF); 47, 3D TOF; and 38, contrast-enhanced techniques. There were 162 questionnaires returned (60 radiologists, 102 surgeons). Of the total respondents, 77/162 (48%) used MRA in the assessment of carotid artery stenosis; 47/77 (61%) used 2D TOF; 32/77 (42%), 3D TOF; and 26/77 (34%), contrast-enhanced techniques. Thirty-five of 162 (22%) respondents used MRA in the assessment of peripheral vascular disease (PVD); 15/35 (43%) used 2D TOF, 4/35 (11%) used 3D TOF, and 22/35 (63%) used contrast-enhanced techniques. For those wishing to use MRA, contrast-enhanced techniques were the method of choice. Conclusions: The TOF methods that represent earlier generations of the technology remain clinically relevant, and will therefore be included in our systematic review. To ensure complete and relevant coverage in reviews of other evolving technologies, it would be advisable to obtain data for guidance in a similar way

Use of magnetic resonance angiography to select candidates with recently symptomatic carotid stenosis for surgery: systematic review

Objective To determine if sufficient evidence exists to support the use of magnetic resonance angiography as a means of selecting patients with recently symptomatic high grade carotid stenosis for surgery. Design Systematic review of published research on the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance angiography, 1990-9. Main outcome measures Performance characteristics of diagnostic test. Results 126 potentially relevant articles were identified, but many articles failed to examine die performance of magnetic resonance angiography as a diagnostic test at the surgical decision thresholds used in major clinical trials on endarterectomy. 26 articles were included in a meta-analysis that showed a maximal joint sensitivity and specificity of 99% (95% confidence interval 98% to 100%) for identifying 70-99% stenosis and 90% (81% to 99%) for identifying 50-99% stenosis. Only four articles evaluated contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography. Conclusions Magnetic resonance angiography is accurate for selecting patients for carotid endarterectomy at the surgical decision thresholds established in the major endarterectomy trials, but the evidence is not very robust because of the heterogeneity of the studies included. Research is to determine the diagnostic performance of the most recent developments in magnetic resonance angiography, including contrast enhanced techniques, as well as to assess the impact of magnetic resonance angiography on surgical decision making and outcomes

Patient experience of Guided self-help CBT intervention for VoicEs (GiVE) delivered within a pilot randomized controlled trial

Background: Access to cognitive behaviour therapy for those with psychosis (CBTp) remains poor. The most frequently endorsed barrier to implementation is a lack of resources. To improve access to CBTp, we developed a brief form of CBTp that specifically targets voice-related distress. The results of our pilot trial of guided self-help CBT for voices (GiVE) suggest the therapy is both acceptable and beneficial. Aims: The present study aims to explore the subjective patient experience of accessing GiVE in the context of a trial. Method: We interviewed 9 trial participants using the Change Interview and a mixed methods approach. Results: Most participants reported at least one positive change that they attributed to GiVE. We extracted five themes: (1) changes that I have noticed; (2) I am not alone; (3) positive therapy experiences; (4) I want more therapy; and (5) helping myself. The themes indicate that participating in the GiVE trial was generally a positive experience. The main areas in which participants experienced changes were improved self-esteem, and the ability to cope with voices. Positive changes were facilitated by embracing and enacting ‘self-help’ and having support both in and out of the therapy sessions. Conclusions: The findings support the use of self-help materials with those distressed by hearing voices, but that support both within and outside the clinical setting can aid engagement and outcomes. Overall, the findings support the continued investigation of GiVE

Association between non-medical cannabis legalization and emergency department visits for cannabis-induced psychosis

A major public health concern of cannabis legalization is that it may result in an increase in psychotic disorders. We examined changes in emergency department (ED) visits for cannabis-induced psychosis following the legalization and subsequent commercialization (removal of restrictions on retail stores and product types) of non-medical cannabis in Ontario, Canada (population of 14.3 million). We used health administrative data containing the cause of all ED visits to examine changes over three periods; 1) pre-legalization (January 2014–September 2018); 2) legalization with restrictions (October 2018 – February 2020); and 3) commercialization (March 2020 – September 2021). We considered subgroups stratified by age and sex and examined cocaine- and methamphetamine-induced psychosis ED visits as controls. During our study, there were 6300 ED visits for cannabis-induced psychosis. The restricted legalization period was not associated with changes in rates of ED visits for cannabis-induced psychosis relative to pre-legalization. The commercialization period was associated with an immediate increase in rates of ED visits for cannabis-induced psychosis (IRR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02–1.66) and no gradual monthly change; immediate increases were seen only for youth above (IRR 1.63, 1.27–2.08, ages 19–24) but not below (IRR 0.73 95%CI 0.42–1.28 ages, 15–18) the legal age of purchase, and similar for men and women. Commercialization was not associated with changes in rates of ED visits for cocaine- or methamphetamine-induced psychosis. This suggests that legalization with store and product restrictions does not increase ED visits for cannabis-induced psychosis. In contrast, cannabis commercialization may increase cannabis-induced psychosis presentations highlighting the importance of preventive measures in regions considering legalization

Rms-flux relation in the optical fast variability data of BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714

The possibility that BL Lac S5 0716+714 exhibits a linear root mean square (rms)-flux relation in its IntraDay Variability (IDV) is analysed. The results may be used as an argument in the existing debate regarding the source of optical IDV in Active Galactic Nuclei. 63 time series in different optical bands were used. A linear rms-flux relation at a confidence level higher than 65% was recovered for less than 8% of the cases. We were able to check if the magnitude is log-normally distributed for eight timeseries and found, with a confidence > 95%, that this is not the case.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Scienc

The 4^4He(e,e′p)(e,e'p) Cross Section at Large Missing Energy

The $(e,e'p)$ reaction on $^{4}{He}$ nuclei was studied in kinematics designed to emphasize effects of nuclear short-range correlations. The measured cross sections display a peak in the kinematical regions where two-nucleon processes are expected to dominate. Theoretical models incorporating short-range correlation effects agree reasonably with the data.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, using espcrc1.sty and wrapfig.sty (included), two figures. Talk presented by J. Templon at the 15th Int. Conf. on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Groningen, The Netherlands, 22-26 July, 199

The pion's electromagnetic form factor at small momentum transfer in full lattice QCD

We compute the electromagnetic form factor of a "pion" with mass m_pi=330MeV at low values of Q^2\equiv -q^2, where q is the momentum transfer. The computations are performed in a lattice simulation using an ensemble of the RBC/UKQCD collaboration's gauge configurations with Domain Wall Fermions and the Iwasaki gauge action with an inverse lattice spacing of 1.73(3)GeV. In order to be able to reach low momentum transfers we use partially twisted boundary conditions using the techniques we have developed and tested earlier. For the pion of mass 330MeV we find a charge radius given by _{330MeV}=0.354(31)fm^2 which, using NLO SU(2) chiral perturbation theory, extrapolates to a value of =0.418(31)fm^2 for a physical pion, in agreement with the experimentally determined result. We confirm that there is a significant reduction in computational cost when using propagators computed from a single time-slice stochastic source compared to using those with a point source; for m_pi=330MeV and volume (2.74fm)^3 we find the reduction is approximately a factor of 12.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Seeking an "i-deal" balance: Schedule-flexibility i-deals as mediating mechanisms between supervisor emotional support and employee work and home performance

Requests for flexible work practices have become commonplace, with the aim of helping employees perform more effectively in both their private and work lives. One path for employees to secure flexible work is through the negotiation of individualized work arrangements, also known as “i-deals”. This study provides valuable insights into the nomological network of scheduleflexibility i-deals by drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. We propose that, via resource accumulation, schedule-flexibility i-deals are a mechanism through which the emotional support of supervisors promotes employees' family performance and reduces deviant work behaviors. Drawing further on the COR framework, we examine two boundary conditions that guide employees' resource investment: perception of family-friendly environment and prosocial motivation. We collected multi-source data from employees working in South America and tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Our results provide support for the key mediating role of schedule-flexibility i-deals. Moreover, the indirect relationship between supervisors' emotional support and family performance through schedule-flexibility i-deals is stronger in family-friendly organizational contexts, as well as when employees are prosocially motivated. Our results also show that, contrary to the expected effect, when prosocial motivation is high, employee supervisors' emotional support is positively linked to deviant behaviors. We contribute to the literature by emphasizing the roles of perceived resources at the levels of leaders (i.e., supervisors' emotional support), context (supervisors' perceptions of a family-friendly environment), and individuals (employees' prosocial motivation). We demonstrate the importance of these resources in establishing and sustaining schedule-flexibility i-deal