2,815 research outputs found
On Dialectics and Human Decency: Education in the Dock
Set against the backdrop of the contemporary crisis of capitalism and world-historical events, this article examines the advance of globalized imperialism from the perspective of a Marxist-humanist approach to pedagogy known as ârevolutionary critical pedagogyâ enriched by liberation theology. It is written as an epistolic manifesto to the transnational capitalist class, demanding that those who willingly serve its interests reconsider their allegiance and calling for a planetary revolution in the way that we both think about capitalism and how education and religion serves to reproduce it at the peril of both students and humanity as a whole
Protein quality as a complementary functional unit in life cycle assessment (LCA)
Goal and theoretical commentary
A number of recent life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have concluded that animal-sourced foods should be restrictedâor even avoidedâwithin the human diet due to their relatively high environmental impacts (particularly those from ruminants) compared with other protein-rich foods (mainly protein-rich plant foods). From a nutritional point of view, however, issues such as broad nutrient bioavailability, amino acid balances, digestibility and even non-protein nutrient density (e.g., micronutrients) need to be accounted for before making such recommendations to the global population. This is especially important given the contribution of animal sourced foods to nutrient adequacy in the global South and vulnerable populations of high-income countries (e.g., children, women of reproductive age and elderly). Often, however, LCAs simplify this reality by using âproteinâ as a functional unit in their models and basing their analyses on generic nutritional requirements. Even if a ânutritional functional unitâ (nFU) is utilised, it is unlikely to consider the complexities of amino acid composition and subsequent protein accretion. The discussion herein focuses on nutritional LCA (nLCA), particularly on the usefulness of nFUs such as âprotein,â and whether protein quality should be considered when adopting the nutrient as an (n)FU. Further, a novel and informative case study is provided to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of protein-quality adjustment.
Case study methods
To complement current discussions, we present an exploratory virtual experiment to determine how Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Scores (DIAAS) might play a role in nLCA development by correcting for amino acid quality and digestibility. DIAAS is a scoring mechanism which considers the limiting indispensable amino acids (IAAs) within an IAA balance of a given food (or meal) and provides a percentage contribution relative to recommended daily intakes for IAA and subsequent protein anabolism; for clarity, we focus only on single food items (4âĂâanimal-based products and 4âĂâplant-based products) in the current case exemplar. Further, we take beef as a sensitivity analysis example (which we particularly recommend when considering IAA complementarity at the meal-level) to elucidate how various cuts of the same intermediary product could affect the interpretation of nLCA results of the end-product(s).
Recommendations
First, we provide a list of suggestions which are intended to (a) assist with deciding whether protein-quality correction is necessary for a specific research question and (b) acknowledge additional uncertainties by providing mitigating opportunities to avoid misinterpretation (or worse, dis-interpretation) of protein-focused nLCA studies. We conclude that as relevant (primary) data availability from supply chain âgatekeepersâ (e.g., international agri-food distributors and processors) becomes more prevalent, detailed consideration of IAA provision of contrasting protein sources needs to be acknowledgedâideally quantitatively with DIAAS being one exampleâin nLCA studies utilising protein as a nFU. We also contend that future nLCA studies should discuss the complementarity of amino acid balances at the meal-level, as a minimum, rather than the product level when assessing protein metabolic responses of consumers. Additionally, a broader set of nutrients should ideally be included when evaluating âprotein-rich foodsâ which provide nutrients that extend beyond amino acids, which is of particular importance when exploring dietary-level nLCA
Sex and the Cinema: What American Pie Teaches the Young
This paper focuses upon the wildly successful blockbuster American Pie teenpics, especially American Pie 3 â the Wedding. I argue that these films, which are sited so securely within the visual and pedagogical machinery of Hollywood culture, are specifically designed to appeal to teenage male audiences, and to provide lessons in sex and romance. Movies like this are especially important as they are experienced by far more teenagers than, for example, instructional films or other classroom materials; indeed, as Henry Giroux has observed, "teens and youth learn how to define themselves outside of the traditional sites of instruction, such as the home and the school⊠Learning in the postmodern age is located elsewhere â in popular spheres that shape their identities, through forms of knowledge and desires that appear absent from what is taught in schools" (Giroux, 1997, p.49). In this paper I discuss whether the American Pie series is actually a "new age" effort which, via insubordinate performances of gender, contests the hegemonic field of signification which regulates the production of sex, gender and desire, or whether it is more accurately described as a retrogressive hetero-conservative opus with a veneer of sexual radicalism. In short, I intend to probe whether this filmic vector for sex education is all about the shaping of responsible, caring, vulnerable men, or is it guiding them to become just like their heterosexual, middle-class fathers? And whether, despite its riotous and raunchy advertising, American Pie really dishes up something spicy or something terribly wholesome instead
Hurst's Rescaled Range Statistical Analysis for Pseudorandom Number Generators used in Physical Simulations
The rescaled range statistical analysis (R/S) is proposed as a new method to
detect correlations in pseudorandom number generators used in Monte Carlo
simulations. In an extensive test it is demonstrated that the RS analysis
provides a very sensitive method to reveal hidden long run and short run
correlations. Several widely used and also some recently proposed pseudorandom
number generators are subjected to this test. In many generators correlations
are detected and quantified.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. Replaces previous version to correct
citation [19
Confirmation of beach accretion by grain-size trend analysis: Camposoto beach, CĂĄdiz, SW Spain
An application of the grain size trend analysis
(GSTA) is used in an exploratory approach to characterize
sediment transport on Camposoto beach (CĂĄdiz, SW Spain).
In May 2009 the mesotidal beach showed a well-developed
swash bar on the upper foreshore, which was associated
with fair-weather conditions prevailing just before and during
the field survey. The results were tested by means of an
autocorrelation statistical test (index I of Moran). Two sedimentological
trends were recognized, i.e. development towards
finer, better sorted and more negatively skewed
sediment (FBâ), and towards finer, better sorted and less
negatively or more positively skewed sediment (FB+). Both
vector fields were compared with results obtained from
more classical approaches (sand tracers, microtopography
and current measurements). This revealed that both trends
can be considered as realistic, the FB+ trend being identified
for the first time in a beach environment. The data demonstrate
that, on the well-developed swash bar, sediment
transported onshore becomes both finer and better sorted
towards the coast. On the lower foreshore, which exhibits a
steeper slope produced by breaking waves, the higherenergy
processes winnow out finer particles and thereby
produce negatively skewed grain-size distributions. The upper
foreshore, which has a flatter and smoother slope, is
controlled by lower-energy swash-backwash and overwash
processes. As a result, the skewness of the grain-size distributions
evolves towards less negative or more positive
values. The skewness parameter appears to be distributed
as a function of the beach slope and, thus, reflects variations
in hydrodynamic energy. This has novel implications for
coastal management
The fate of the homoctenids (Tentaculitoidea) during the Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction (Late Devonian)
The homoctenids (Tentaculitoidea) are small, conical-shelled marine animals which are amongst the most abundant and widespread of all Late Devonian fossils. They were a principal casualty of the Frasnian-Famennian (F-F, Late Devonian) mass extinction, and thus provide an insight into the extinction dynamics. Despite their abundance during the Late Devonian, they have been largely neglected by extinction studies. A number of Frasnian-Famennian boundary sections have been studied, in Poland, Germany, France, and the United States. These sections have yielded homoctenids, which allow precise recognition of the timing of the mass extinction. It is clear that the homoctenids almost disappear from the fossil record during the latest Frasnian âUpper Kellwasser Eventâ. The coincident extinction of this pelagic group, and the widespread development of intense marine anoxia within the water column, provides a causal link between anoxia and the F-F extinction. Most notable is the sudden demise of a group, which had been present in rock-forming densities, during this anoxic event. One new species, belonging to Homoctenus is described, but is not formally named here
Herschel/HIFI deepens the circumstellar NH3 enigma
Circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of a variety of evolved stars have been found
to contain ammonia (NH3) in amounts that exceed predictions from conventional
chemical models by many orders of magnitude. The observations reported here
were performed in order to better constrain the NH3 abundance in the CSEs of
four, quite diverse, oxygen-rich stars using the NH3 ortho J_K = 1_0 - 0_0
ground-state line. We used the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared
aboard Herschel to observe the NH3 J_K = 1_0 - 0_0 transition near 572.5 GHz,
simultaneously with the ortho-H2O J_Ka,Kc = 1_1,0 -1_0,1 transition, toward VY
CMa, OH 26.5+0.6, IRC+10420, and IK Tau. We conducted non-LTE radiative
transfer modeling with the goal to derive the NH3 abundance in these objects'
CSEs. For the latter two stars, Very Large Array imaging of NH3
radio-wavelength inversion lines were used to provide further constraints,
particularly on the spatial extent of the NH3-emitting regions. Results. We
find remarkably strong NH3 emission in all of our objects with the NH3 line
intensities rivaling those obtained for the ground state H2O line. The NH3
abundances relative to H2 are very high and range from 2 x 10-7 to 3 x 10-6 for
the objects we have studied. Our observations confirm and even deepen the
circumstellar NH3 enigma. While our radiative transfer modeling does not yield
satisfactory fits to the observed line profiles, it leads to abundance
estimates that confirm the very high values found in earlier studies. New ways
to tackle this mystery will include further Herschel observations of more NH3
lines and imaging with the Expanded Very Large Array.Comment: 4+2 page
Purifying Selection in Deeply Conserved Human Enhancers Is More Consistent than in Coding Sequences
(c) 2014 De Silva et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Allele-specific miRNA-binding analysis identifies candidate target genes for breast cancer risk
Most breast cancer (BC) risk-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (raSNPs) identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are believed to cis-regulate the expression of genes. We hypothesise that cis-regulatory variants contributing to disease risk may be affecting microRNA (miRNA) genes and/or miRNA binding. To test this, we adapted two miRNA-binding prediction algorithms-TargetScan and miRanda-to perform allele-specific queries, and integrated differential allelic expression (DAE) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data, to query 150 genome-wide significant ( Pâ€5Ă10-8 ) raSNPs, plus proxies. We found that no raSNP mapped to a miRNA gene, suggesting that altered miRNA targeting is an unlikely mechanism involved in BC risk. Also, 11.5% (6 out of 52) raSNPs located in 3'-untranslated regions of putative miRNA target genes were predicted to alter miRNA::mRNA (messenger RNA) pair binding stability in five candidate target genes. Of these, we propose RNF115, at locus 1q21.1, as a strong novel target gene associated with BC risk, and reinforce the role of miRNA-mediated cis-regulation at locus 19p13.11. We believe that integrating allele-specific querying in miRNA-binding prediction, and data supporting cis-regulation of expression, improves the identification of candidate target genes in BC risk, as well as in other common cancers and complex diseases.Funding Agency
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
CRESC ALGARVE 2020
European Union (EU)
303745
Maratona da Saude Award
DL 57/2016/CP1361/CT0042
SFRH/BPD/99502/2014
CBMR-UID/BIM/04773/2013
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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