Dairy Ingredients for Chocolate and Confectionery Products.

End of Project ReportHigh free-fat, spray-dried powders were successfully produced at a lower fat content (40% rather than 56%) using ultrafiltration. Chocolates made from these powders had improved flow properties and superior quality. The stability, viscosity and firmness of toffees were improved by optimising the casein, whey protein and lactose levels of skim milk powders used in their manufacture.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Practical wireless sensor networks power consumption metrics for building energy management applications

The power consumption of wireless sensor networks (WSN) module is an important practical concern in building energy management (BEM) system deployments. A set of metrics are created to assess the power profiles of WSN in real world condition. The aim of this work is to understand and eventually eliminate the uncertainties in WSN power consumption during long term deployments and the compatibility with existing and emerging energy harvesting technologies. This paper investigates the key metrics in data processing, wireless data transmission, data sensing and duty cycle parameter to understand the system power profile from a practical deployment prospective. Based on the proposed analysis, the impacts of individual metric on power consumption in a typical BEM application are presented and the subsequent low power solutions are investigated

European fitness landscape for children and adolescents: updated reference values, fitness maps and country rankings based on nearly 8 million test results from 34 countries gathered by the FitBack network

Objectives (1) To develop reference values for health-related fitness in European children and adolescents aged 6–18 years that are the foundation for the web-based, open-access and multilanguage fitness platform (FitBack); (2) to provide comparisons across European countries. Methods This study builds on a previous large fitness reference study in European youth by (1) widening the age demographic, (2) identifying the most recent and representative country-level data and (3) including national data from existing fitness surveillance and monitoring systems. We used the Assessing Levels of Physical Activity and fitness at population level (ALPHA) test battery as it comprises tests with the highest test–retest reliability, criterion/construct validity and health-related predictive validity: the 20 m shuttle run (cardiorespiratory fitness); handgrip strength and standing long jump (muscular strength); and body height, body mass, body mass index and waist circumference (anthropometry). Percentile values were obtained using the generalised additive models for location, scale and shape method. Results A total of 7 966 693 test results from 34 countries (106 datasets) were used to develop sex-specific and age-specific percentile values. In addition, country-level rankings based on mean percentiles are provided for each fitness test, as well as an overall fitness ranking. Finally, an interactive fitness platform, including individual and group reporting and European fitness maps, is provided and freely available online (www.fitbackeurope.eu)

The development and evaluation of a fitness test battery and web-based platform for monitoring key indicators of adolescent health in school settings

Despite World Health Organisation recommendations, and unlike several countries internationally, the Republic of Ireland lacks a clearly specified strategy for monitoring health-related physical fitness (HRPF) levels in adolescents. The primary aim of this thesis was to develop a pedagogically sound and scientifically rigorous HRPF test battery, and web based platform, to facilitate monitoring key markers of adolescent health in school settings. This project involved four distinct periods of data collection, including: a national audit of current physical fitness monitoring practices in secondary school-based physical education programmes (O’Keeffe et al. 2020c); an examination of the test-retest reliability of a peer facilitated approach to administering fitness tests in schools (O’Keeffe et al. 2020b); the delivery of a HRPF test battery (entitled Youth-fit) to 1215 adolescents (age 13.4±.41) from a randomised and stratified sample of 20 schools, and the design of a web-based platform to facilitate large-scale collection and transfer of HRPF results to a centrally hosted database; and finally, a systematic evaluation of both students and teachers experiences of the Youth-fit test battery and software platform. Positive feasibility benchmarks including, recruitment capability, data collection procedures, resources, and participant responses, indicate that the Youth-fit test battery and software platform represents a feasible, pedagogically sound and scientifically rigorous approach to monitoring HRPF among adolescent populations in the Republic of Ireland

‘Out of the mouths of babes and innocents’..... children’s attitudes towards travellers

This chapter looks at children’s attitudes towards Travellers. It focuses on children in fourth class in primary school (i.e. aged 9-11 years) since it is at this stage that they are likely to be aware of socially and culturally constructed differences, and most likely to reflect parental and community attitudes towards such groups. Racist attitudes are increasingly topical since, although Ireland remains one of the more racially and ethnically homogeneous societies in Europe, this situation is changing rapidly. The arrival of refugees, asylum seekers, guest-workers and others in the mid-1990s has added in a new way to the ethnic diversity of a country where, in 1996, just under 7% of the population were born outside Ireland (CSO, 1998). However, despite newspaper headlines referring to an ‘influx’ of asylum seekers, according to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland received just 25,000 refugees and asylum seekers in 1999: among the smallest numerically and per capita in the EU. The anecdotal evidence of many of these recent arrivals suggests that racist attitudes and behaviour are prevalent here. At an individual level many have experienced verbal and sometimes physical attacks; organised opposition to them has been mounted by some communities; while their treatment by the State has been severely criticised by senior legal figures

Health-related fitness monitoring practices in secondary school-based physical education programmes

Purpose: To examine the prevalence of and approaches to monitoring health-related physical fitness (HRPF) in secondary school-based physical education programs. Methods: Physical education teachers (N = 327; 56.6% females) from 235 secondary schools (33.1% of national total) in the Republic of Ireland completed a survey designed specifically for the purposes of this study. Results: HRPF tests were used by 95.3% of teachers. A significant decline in the testing frequency was observed from the junior grades (age 13–15 years) to the senior grades (age 16–18 years) (p < .001). Just over half (51.7%) of the teachers discarded the test results after a single use. Less than one third of the teachers indicated that they shared the test results with the students’ parents. The vast majority (87.0%) of the teachers agreed that the development of a digital platform would facilitate monitoring test results over time. Conclusions: HRPF testing is highly prevalent in secondary schools. More actions are needed to ensure that teachers use pedagogically sound student-centered approaches toward monitoring HRPF, with a focus on learning that may lead to more positive testing experiences for students. Consideration should be given to the development of digital platforms to facilitate monitoring and reporting HRPF

Generation and control of ultrafast pulse trains for quasi-phase-matching high-harmonic generation

Two techniques are demonstrated to produce ultrashort pulse trains capable of quasi-phase-matching high-harmonic generation. The first technique makes use of an array of birefringent crystals and is shown to generate high-contrast pulse trains with constant pulse spacing. The second technique employs a grating-pair stretcher, a multiple-order wave plate, and a linear polarizer. Trains of up to 100 pulses are demonstrated with this technique, with almost constant inter-pulse separation. It is shown that arbitrary pulse separation can be achieved by introducing the appropriate dispersion. This principle is demonstrated by using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter to introduce third-and fourth-order dispersions leading to a linear and quadratic variation of the separation of pulses through the train. Chirped-pulse trains of this type may be used to quasi-phase-match high-harmonic generation in situations where the coherence length varies through the medium. (C) 2010 Optical Society of Americ

The feasibility of a fitness test battery and web-based platform for monitoring key indicators of adolescent health in school settings

Aim: To examine the feasibility of a fitness test battery and web-based platform for monitoring key indicators of adolescent health in school settings. Methods: A process evaluation framework for feasibility studies, developed by Orsmond and Cohn (2015), was used to conduct a systematic evaluation of a student centred approach to measure and monitor health-related fitness in schools. Adolescents (N = 1215, female = 609) aged 13.4 years (SD.41) from a randomised sample of 20 schools in the Republic of Ireland, stratified for sex, location and educational (dis)advantage, completed a series of field-based fitness tests. Five feasibility benchmarks were examined, including; recruitment capability, data collection, acceptability of study procedures, resources, and an evaluation of teacher participant experiences. Various sources were used to operationalise the feasibility framework including, student (n = 795) and teacher (n = 20) evaluation surveys, test-retest reliability indices, and health-related fitness data from the 20 school expansion phase. Results: Overall, 95% of teachers (n = 19) and 79% of students (n = 618) surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the Youth-Fit project was a worthwhile experience on a 5-point Likert scale. All feasibility benchmarks including recruitment capability, data collection procedures, resources and participant responses, were reached or exceeded. Further refinements including reducing the number of test items, increasing the time allocated for administering the test battery, and enhancing the efficiency of data input and quality of report output on the software platform are required. Conclusions: Positive feasibility benchmarks indicated that the Youth-Fit test battery and software platform represented a feasible, pedagogically sound and scientifically rigorous approach for monitoring health-related fitness in secondary school settings

Students’ attitudes towards and experiences of the youth-fit health related fitness test battery

The aim of this study was to examine secondary school students’ attitudes towards and experiences of a student-centred health-related fitness test battery. A total of 795 adolescents (403 boys, 50.7%; 392 girls, 49.3%) aged 13.2 years (±0.39) from 20 secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland participated in the study. Schools were stratified for gender, location and educational (dis)advantage. Students completed the test battery in small groups (n = ≤6) and each test item was administered by a trained senior student facilitator. Testing took place during physical education lessons. Test items included: body mass index; 20 m shuttle run; back-saver sit and reach; hand-grip strength; standing long jump; isometric plank-hold; 90° push-up; 4×10 m shuttle run; and blood pressure. Following participation in the test battery, students completed an instrument with valid scores for measuring attitudes towards fitness tests. Students’ experiences of each test item were also analysed. Overall, students had a positive attitude towards fitness testing (M = 3.9, ±0.59) on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Although both positive, the mean attitude score for boys (M = 4.05, ±0.59) was significantly higher than girls (M = 3.79, ±0.59; p < 0.01, t-test). Most students (n = 690, 86.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that the senior student facilitator made it easier for them to perform the tests. In conclusion, students had positive attitudes towards and experiences of the Youth-fit test battery. Physical education teachers should consider implementing a small-group and senior student-facilitated approach when administering fitness tests