Ethics And Retail Management Professionals: An Examination Of Age, Education, And Experience Variables

Ethical maturity and behavior are of great concern to all educators, firms, and investors, and even more so in a recession. This research surveyed managers and employees in the retail environment to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) to see if age, education, and management experience makes a difference in making more ethical decisions. The PBES measures personal commitment to integrity, honesty, and observance of the laws regulating current business activities. This research takes into consideration the respondents age, management experience, and education. This study contributes to the theory of moral development as it is tested with retail managers and employees. The results of this research suggest that while age and management experience are significant factors, higher education may also play a role in the moral development of associates and managers. Kohlbergs moral development theory is supported by this research since older workers, more highly educated workers, and those with more years of management experience have a higher level of moral maturity

Breast-feeding and Postpartum Maternal Weight Trajectories

We examined whether breast-feeding, and in particular exclusive breast-feeding, was associated with maternal weight and body composition changes at 4 months postpartum independently of other maternal variables

Maternal Nutrient Intakes From Food and Drinks Consumed in Early Pregnancy in Ireland

Background: The aim of this observational study was to measure food, macronutrient and micronutrient intakes of women presenting for antenatal care and assess compliance with current nutritional recommendations

Relationship between fasting plasma glucose levels and maternal food group and macronutrient intakes in pregnancy

Aim Increased maternal body mass index (BMI) has been consistently associated with elevated blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Studies to date investigating the relationship between maternal blood glucose levels and dietary intake have shown mixed results. We investigated the association between maternal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and food group and macronutrient intakes in the first trimester of pregnancy, after adjustment for maternal bodyweight. Methods Women were recruited after sonographic confirmation of an ongoing singleton pregnancy in the first trimester. Dietary information was collected using the validated Willett Food Frequency Questionnaire. Maternal height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. Body composition was measured using advanced bioelectrical impedance analysis. FPG levels were obtained for women who were selectively screened with a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Results No associations were observed between maternal FPG levels and food group or macronutrient intakes but higher energy and starch intakes were found in obese subjects (P = 0.009 and P = 0.03 respectively). On univariate analysis, higher FPG levels were associated positively with higher maternal bodyweight, BMI, body fat, fat free mass and visceral fat (all P \u3c 0.001). However, on multivariate regression analysis, higher FPG levels remained associated only with maternal BMI \u3e 29.9 kg/m2 (OR 7.4, P = 0.01). Conclusions Our findings indicate that maternal BMI is the key determinant of maternal glycaemia. Interventions which focus on overall energy restriction and especially the limitation of dietary starch to optimise prepregnancy maternal bodyweight are likely to be useful in improving glycaemic control in higher risk pregnancies

The Role of Demographic and Clinical Characteristics on Risk of COVID-19 Related Infection and Mortality

Since the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) which causes Covid-19, global health systems have struggled to cope with the rising number of related infections, acute admissions and mortalities. Poorer clinical outcomes have been observed amongst older patients with Covid-19 and males, and in those who are obese or who have darker skin(1) . Additionally, poorer outcomes including increased mortality have been associated with low vitamin D status(2,3) . The current observational study aimed to elucidate the association between patient demographic, anthropometric, clinical and biometric characteristics and Covid-19 disease severity and mortality

Ion Collisions in Very Strong Electric Fields

A Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) simulation has been made of processes of charge exchange and ionization between an hydrogen atom and fully stripped ions embedded in very strong static electric fields ($O(10^{10}$ V/m$)$), which are thought to exist in cosmic and laser--produced plasmas. Calculations show that the presence of the field affects absolute values of the cross sections, enhancing ionization and reducing charge exchange. Moreover, the overall effect depends upon the relative orientation between the field and the nuclear motion. Other features of a null-field situation, such as scaling laws, are revisited.Comment: Latex, 13 pages, 11 figures (available upon request), to be published in Journal of Physics

Prebiotic fructans have greater impact on luminal microbiology and CD3+ T cells in healthy siblings than patients with Crohn’s disease : a pilot study investigating the potential for primary prevention of inflammatory bowel disease

Funding This work was supported by a clinical research fellowship granted by the charity Core (Guts UK) (CRH). FMF and PL received financial support from the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services. Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge BENEO-Orafti, Teinen, Belgium who provided the oligofructose-enriched inulin. The authors would like to thank the patients and the siblings who generously participated in this study.Peer reviewedPostprin

Characterising precipitate evolution in multi-component cast aluminium alloys using small-angle X-ray scattering

Aluminium alloys can be strengthened significantly by nano-scale precipitates that restrict dislocation movement. In this study, the evolution of inhomogenously distributed trialuminide precipitates in two multi component alloys was characterised by synchrotron small angle Xray scattering (SAXS). The appropriate selection of reference sample and data treatment required to successfully characterise a low volume fraction of precipitates in multi-component alloys via SAXS was investigated. The resulting SAXS study allowed the analysis of statistically significant numbers of precipitates (billions) as compared to electron microscopy (hundreds). Two cast aluminium alloys with different volume fractions of Al3ZrxV1-x precipitates were studied. Data analysis was conducted using direct evaluation methods on SAXS spectra and the results compared with those from transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Precipitates were found to attain a spherical structure with homogeneous chemical composition. Precipitate evolution was quantified, including size, size distribution, volume fraction and number density. The results provide evidence that these multi-component alloys have a short nucleation stage, with coarsening dominating precipitate size. The coarsening rate constant was calculated and compared to similar precipitate behaviour

Vitamin D and subsequent all-age and premature mortality: a systematic review

<br>Background: All-cause mortality in the population < 65 years is 30% higher in Glasgow than in equally deprived Liverpool and Manchester. We investigated a hypothesis that low vitamin D in this population may be associated with premature mortality via a systematic review and meta-analysis.</br> <br>Methods: Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and grey literature sources were searched until February 2012 for relevant studies. Summary statistics were combined in an age-stratified meta-analysis.</br> <br>Results: Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis, representing 24,297 participants, 5,324 of whom died during follow-up. The pooled hazard ratio for low compared to high vitamin D demonstrated a significant inverse association (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.12-1.27) between vitamin D levels and all-cause mortality after adjustment for available confounders. In an age-stratified meta-analysis, the hazard ratio for older participants was 1.25 (95% CI 1.14-1.36) and for younger participants 1.12 (95% CI 1.01-1.24).</br> <br>Conclusions: Low vitamin D status is inversely associated with all-cause mortality but the risk is higher amongst older individuals and the relationship is prone to residual confounding. Further studies investigating the association between vitamin D deficiency and all-cause mortality in younger adults with adjustment for all important confounders (or using randomised trials of supplementation) are required to clarify this relationship.</br&gt