Health risk behaviours among adolescents in the English-speaking Caribbean: a review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this paper was to review and summarize research on prevalence of health risk behaviours, their outcomes as well as risk and protective factors among adolescents in the English-speaking Caribbean.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Searching of online databases and the World Wide Web as well as hand searching of the <it>West Indian Medical Journal </it>were conducted. Papers on research done on adolescents aged 10 – 19 years old and published during the period 1980 – 2005 were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ninety-five relevant papers were located. Five papers were published in the 1980s, 47 in the 1990s, and from 2000–2005, 43 papers. Health risk behaviours and outcomes were divided into seven themes. Prevalence data obtained for these, included lifetime prevalence of <b>substance use</b>: cigarettes-24% and marijuana-17%; <b>high risk sexual behaviour</b>: initiation of sexual activity ≤ 10 years old-19% and those having more than six partners-19%; <b>teenage pregnancy</b>: teens account for 15–20% of all pregnancies and one-fifth of these teens were in their second pregnancy; <b>Sexually-Transmitted Infections (STIs)</b>: population prevalence of gonorrhoea and/or chlamydia in 18–21 year-olds was 26%; <b>mental health</b>: severe depression in the adolescent age group was 9%, and attempted suicide-12%; <b>violence and juvenile delinquency</b>: carrying a weapon to school in the last 30 days-10% and almost always wanting to kill or injure someone-5%; <b>eating disorders and obesity</b>: overweight-11%, and obesity-7%. Many of the risk behaviours in adolescents were shown to be related to the adolescent's family of origin, home environment and parent-child relationships. Also, the protective effects of family and school connectedness as well as increased religiosity noted in studies from the United States were also applicable in the Caribbean.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a substantial body of literature on Caribbean adolescents documenting prevalence and correlates of health risk behaviours. Future research should emphasize the designing and testing of interventions to alleviate this burden.</p

Evaluation of spent coffee obtained from the most common coffeemakers as a source of hydrophilic bioactive compounds

The main hydrophilic antioxidant compounds (3-, 4-, and 5-monocaffeoylquinic and 3,4-, 3,5-, and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids, caffeine, and browned compounds, including melanoidins) and the antioxidant capacity (Folin-Ciocalteu, ABTS, DPPH, Fremy's salt, and TEMPO) were evaluated in Arabica and Robusta spent coffee obtained from the preparation of coffee brews with the most common coffeemakers (filter, espresso, plunger, and mocha). All spent coffee grounds, with the exception of those from the mocha coffeemaker, had relevant amounts of total caffeoylquinic acids (6.22-13.24 mg/g of spent coffee), mainly dicaffeoylquinic acids (3.31-5.79 mg/g of spent coffee), which were 4-7-fold higher than in their respective coffee brews. Caffeine ranged from 3.59 to 8.09 mg/g of spent coffee. The antioxidant capacities of the aqueous spent coffee extracts were 46.0-102.3% (filter), 59.2-85.6% (espresso), and <42% (plunger) in comparison to their respective coffee brews. This study obtained spent coffee extracts with antioxidant properties that can be used as a good source of hydrophilic bioactive compounds

Valorisation of Biowastes for the Production of Green Materials Using Chemical Methods

With crude oil reserves dwindling, the hunt for a sustainable alternative feedstock for fuels and materials for our society continues to expand. The biorefinery concept has enjoyed both a surge in popularity and also vocal opposition to the idea of diverting food-grade land and crops for this purpose. The idea of using the inevitable wastes arising from biomass processing, particularly farming and food production, is, therefore, gaining more attention as the feedstock for the biorefinery. For the three main components of biomass—carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins—there are long-established processes for using some of these by-products. However, the recent advances in chemical technologies are expanding both the feedstocks available for processing and the products that be obtained. Herein, this review presents some of the more recent developments in processing these molecules for green materials, as well as case studies that bring these technologies and materials together into final products for applied usage

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Not AvailableAbstract Carbon balancing within the plant species is an important feature for climatic adaptability. Photosynthesis and respiration traits are directly linked with carbon balance. These features were studied in 20 wild rice accessions Oryza spp., and cultivars. Wide variation was observed within the wild rice accessions for photosynthetic oxygen evolution or photosynthetic rate (A), dark (R d), and light induced respiration (LIR) rates, as well as stomatal density and number. The mean rate of A varied from 10.49 µmol O2 m-2 s-1 in cultivated species and 13.09 µmol O2 m-2 s-1 in wild spp., The mean R d is 2.09 µmol O2 m-2 s-1 and 2.31 µmol O2 m-2 s-1 in cultivated and wild spp., respectively. Light induced Respiration (LIR) was found to be almost twice in wild rice spp., (16.75 µmol O2 m-2 s-1 ) compared to cultivated Oryza spp., Among the various parameters, this study reveals LIR and A as the key factors for positive carbon balance. Stomatal contribution towards carbon balance appears to be more dependent on abaxial surface where several number of stomata are situated. Correlation analysis indicates that R d and LIR increase with the increase in A. In this study, O. nivara (CR100100, CR 100097), O. rufipogon (IR 103404) and O. glumaepatula (IR104387) were identified as potential donors which could be used in rice breeding program. Coordination between gas exchange and patchiness in stomatal behaviour appears to be important for carbon balance and environmental adaptation of wild rice accessions, therefore, survival under harsh environment.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilizer on growth, development and yield of Upland, IRHTN, DRR and other released rice groups. Six varieties from each group, a total of 18 genotypes were planted in randomized complete block design during dry (2011) and wet (2012) seasons with three replications at Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad. Group responses to the N-stress (N0; native nitrogen) and recommended nitrogen (N100; 100 kg N ha) for physiological, morphological and yield attributes were recorded. The average leaf rolling time was found 75.4% increased with N-100 in IRHTN group over N-0 in the same group and also found higher among the groups. Leaf temperature, SPAD was noticed higher in DRR and other released group with N-100. The highest plant height was observed in Upland group only, while number of tillers, effective booting tillers (EBT), filled grain weight and total dry matter (TDM), harvest index (HI), total nitrogen content (straw + grain) were found increased with N-100 in DRR and other released group.Not Availabl