New model for natural carbonation prediction in reinforced concrete – concept and validation on chemical admixtures

Abstract: A new model for prediction of natural carbonation in reinforced concrete structures has recently been developed and presented in (Ekolu, 2018). For brevity, the model is referred to as ESS model. It employs concrete strength as the primary property depicting core carbonation behaviour of any given concrete while other factors induce secondary influence. Chemical admixtures in concrete significantly influence concrete behaviour. Using experimental data from the literature (Dan-Herrera et al., 2015), the model behaviour is verified under use of various types of chemical admixtures of concrete including internal curing, shrinkage reducing, viscosity modifying, and high range water reducing admixtures. Class F fly ash was also used in the concrete mixtures as a supplementary cementitious material. Verification results show the model predictions to be meaningful and consistent with robustness

Reference amounts utilised in front of package nutrition labelling:impact on product healthfulness evaluations

Background/Objectives: The research question addressed in this paper is how different reference amounts utilised in front of package nutrition labelling influence evaluation of product healthfulness. Subjects/Methods: A total of 13 117 participants from six European countries (Germany, UK, Spain, France, Poland and Sweden) were recruited via online panels. A mixed between/within-subject factorial design was employed with food (biscuits, sandwiches, yogurts), healthfulness and presence of Guideline Daily Amounts as within-subjects factors and reference amount (‘per 100 g’, ‘typical portion’, ‘half portion’) and country as between-subjects factors. Results: Overall, people correctly ranked foods according to their objective healthfulness as defined by risk nutrients alone, and could distinguish between more and less healthful variants of foods. General healthfulness associations with the three product categories do not appear to have had a strong influence on product ratings. This study shows that where the reference amount of ‘per 100 g’ is very different from the ‘typical’ portion size, as was the case for biscuits, products with a ‘per 100 g’ label are rated significantly less healthful than the ‘typical’ or ‘half typical’ portions. Conclusion: The results indicate that across the three food categories, consumers do factor the reference amount, that is, the quantity of food for which the nutritional information is being presented, into their judgements of healthfulness. Therefore, appropriate reference amounts are also of importance for the effective presentation of nutritional information

Choosing treatment for localised prostate cancer: A patient-conducted-interview study

Objectives: Treatment choice can be particularly difficult in localised prostate cancer because of the uncertainty involved. Indeed, some men prefer maintaining their masculine identity and quality of life to potentially securing longer-term survival through surgery or radiotherapy. UK health services are now obliged to leave the choice of treatment to the patient and the aim of this study is to improve understanding of patients’ experiences of choosing treatment. Methods: A one-day participative workshop where men of six months post-diagnosis design and conduct audio and video interviews on each other about their experiences of choosing treatment. Results: The findings show that treatment choice is a complex process combining emotional and rational elements. Information gathering and delegation to professional expertise were two key themes that emerged. Conclusions: The findings emphasise that treatment choice for localised prostate cancer is little like the traditional notions of consumerism from which it is derived. Importantly, the results illustrate, from a patient perspective, how health professionals can engage in their roles as information providers and as experts

MPP6 is an exosome-associated RNA-binding protein involved in 5.8S rRNA maturation

The exosome is a complex of 3′→5′ exoribonucleases which is involved in many RNA metabolic processes. To regulate these functions distinct proteins are believed to recruit the exosome to specific substrate RNAs. Here, we demonstrate that M-phase phosphoprotein 6 (MPP6), a protein reported previously to co-purify with the TAP-tagged human exosome, accumulates in the nucleoli of HEp-2 cells and associates with a subset of nuclear exosomes as evidenced by co-immunoprecipitation and biochemical fractionation experiments. In agreement with its nucleolar accumulation, siRNA-mediated knock-down experiments revealed that MPP6 is involved in the generation of the 3′ end of the 5.8S rRNA. The accumulation of the same processing intermediates after reducing the levels of either MPP6 or exosome components strongly suggests that MPP6 is required for the recruitment of the exosome to the pre-rRNA. Interestingly, MPP6 appeared to display RNA-binding activity in vitro with a preference for pyrimidine-rich sequences, and to bind to the ITS2 element of pre-rRNAs. Our data indicate that MPP6 is a nucleolus-specific exosome co-factor required for its role in the maturation of 5.8S rRNA

The pack size effect:influence on consumer perceptions of portion sizes

Larger portions as well as larger packs can lead to larger prospective consumption estimates, larger servings and increased consumption, described as 'portion-size effects' and 'pack size effects'. Although related, the effects of pack sizes on portion estimates have received less attention. While it is not possible to generalize consumer behaviour across cultures, external cues taken from pack size may affect us all. We thus examined whether pack sizes influence portion size estimates across cultures, leading to a general 'pack size effect'. We compared portion size estimates based on digital presentations of different product pack sizes of solid and liquid products. The study with 13,177 participants across six European countries consisted of three parts. Parts 1 and 2 asked participants to indicate the number of portions present in a combined photographic and text-based description of different pack sizes. The estimated portion size was calculated as the quotient of the content weight or volume of the food presented and the number of stated portions. In Part 3, participants stated the number of food items that make up a portion when presented with packs of food containing either a small or a large number of items. The estimated portion size was calculated as the item weight times the item number. For all three parts and across all countries, we found that participants' portion estimates were based on larger portions for larger packs compared to smaller packs (Part 1 and 2) as well as more items to make up a portion (Part 3); hence, portions were stated to be larger in all cases. Considering that the larger estimated portions are likely to be consumed, there are implications for energy intake and weight status

Relationship between pre-slaughter stress responsiveness and beef quality in three cattle breeds

The relationship between stress responsiveness and beef quality of 40 Nguni, 30 Bonsmara and 30 Angus steers was determined. The L* values, pHu, cooking loss (CL) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) were determined. Catecholamine levels were determined from urine samples collected at slaughter. Bonsmara steers had the highest (P \u3c 0.05) levels of catecholamines with respective epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine concentrations of 10.8, 9.7 and 14.8 nmol/mmol. Nguni steers had the lowest (P \u3c 0.05) levels of catecholamines, with respective catecholamine concentrations of 5.1, 4.3 and 4.0 nmol/mmol. In the Nguni steers, there were significant (P \u3c 0.05) correlations between catecholamines and L* and between dopamine and tenderness in meat aged for two days (WBSF2). In the Bonsmara, dopamine was correlated (P \u3c 0.05) pHu, WBSF2 and CL. No significant correlations were found in the Angus. Therefore the relationship between stress responsiveness and certain beef quality traits may not be similar in different breeds

Escolha alimentar e fatores determinantes em idosos europeus

[resumo][abstract

Relationship between pre-slaughter stress responsiveness and beef quality in three cattle breeds

The relationship between stress responsiveness and beef quality of 40 Nguni, 30 Bonsmara and 30 Angus steers was determined. The L* values, pHu, cooking loss (CL) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) were determined. Catecholamine levels were determined from urine samples collected at slaughter. Bonsmara steers had the highest (P \u3c 0.05) levels of catecholamines with respective epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine concentrations of 10.8, 9.7 and 14.8 nmol/mmol. Nguni steers had the lowest (P \u3c 0.05) levels of catecholamines, with respective catecholamine concentrations of 5.1, 4.3 and 4.0 nmol/mmol. In the Nguni steers, there were significant (P \u3c 0.05) correlations between catecholamines and L* and between dopamine and tenderness in meat aged for two days (WBSF2). In the Bonsmara, dopamine was correlated (P \u3c 0.05) pHu, WBSF2 and CL. No significant correlations were found in the Angus. Therefore the relationship between stress responsiveness and certain beef quality traits may not be similar in different breeds

Assessing the nutritional status of beef cattle: current practices and future prospects

Accurate determination of nutritional and health status of animals is invaluable in modern animalagriculture. Body weights and body condition scoring are the commonly used methods of assessingnutritional status of animals. This paper discusses drawbacks these methods have and highlights thebenefits for using blood metabolites in assessing nutritional status of beef cattle. Blood metabolitelevels indicate the extent of metabolism of energy, proteins and other nutrients in animals. Glucose,cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids, protein, urea, creatinine, albumin, globulin, minerals, liverenzymes and haematology can be used objectively, reliably and routinely to assess the nutritionalstatus of cattle. In Southern Africa, the use of these metabolites is rare due to lack of equipment forblood analysis and the high cost of analyzing the blood parameters. However, use of high value Ngunicattle in Southern Africa requires the use of blood parameters to accurately assess their nutritionalstatus. Several factors, such as physiological status of an animal, breed, nutrition, season and ageaffect levels of blood metabolites. Combining body weights, body condition scores and bloodmetabolites increase accuracy of assessing the nutritional state and welfare of beef cattle

When is an image a health claim? A false-recollection method to detect implicit inferences about products' health benefits

Objective: Images on food and dietary supplement packaging might lead people to infer (appropriately or inappropriately) certain health benefits of those products. Research on this issue largely involves direct questions, which could (a) elicit inferences that would not be made unprompted, and (b) fail to capture inferences made implicitly. Using a novel memory-based method, in the present research, we explored whether packaging imagery elicits health inferences without prompting, and the extent to which these inferences are made implicitly. Method: In 3 experiments, participants saw fictional product packages accompanied by written claims. Some packages contained an image that implied a health-related function (e.g., a brain), and some contained no image. Participants studied these packages and claims, and subsequently their memory for seen and unseen claims were tested. Results: When a health image was featured on a package, participants often subsequently recognized health claims that—despite being implied by the image—were not truly presented. In Experiment 2, these recognition errors persisted despite an explicit warning against treating the images as informative. In Experiment 3, these findings were replicated in a large consumer sample from 5 European countries, and with a cued-recall test. Conclusion: These findings confirm that images can act as health claims, by leading people to infer health benefits without prompting. These inferences appear often to be implicit, and could therefore be highly pervasive. The data underscore the importance of regulating imagery on product packaging; memory-based methods represent innovative ways to measure how leading (or misleading) specific images can be. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved