Children's Fruit and Vegetable Preferences Are Associated with Their Mothers' and Fathers' Preferences

Children's preference for fruit and vegetables must emerge during childhood. At children's homes, mothers and fathers influence children's developing food preferences with their own preferences and actions. The purpose of the study was to reveal the association parents have with their children's fruit and vegetable preferences. The study was conducted in a sample of Finnish mothers and fathers of 3-5-year-old children. The participants were recruited, and questionnaires distributed through early childhood education and care centers in 2014 and 2015. The results showed considerable variance in the children's preferences, and were more similar with their father's, than their mother's preference. There was an association between mother's and children's preference for "strong-tasting vegetables and berries" (p = 0.005), "sweet-tasting fruit" (p < 0.001) and "common vegetables" (p = 0.037). Fathers preferences associated with children's preferences for "strong-tasting vegetables and berries" (p = 0.003). Food neophobia decreased children's "strong-tasting vegetables and berries" (p < 0.001) and "sweet-tasting fruit" (p < 0.001) preferences. The father's more relaxed attitude towards eating decreased children's preferences for "strong-tasting vegetables and berries" (p = 0.031) and "sweet-tasting fruit" (p = 0.003). These findings indicate a need for more targeted strategies for increasing children's preferences for fruit and vegetables and highlight the importance of taking both parents equally into account

The Problem of the Insurance Risk Derived from Motor Insurance

W artykule przedstawiono problem ryzyka zakładu ubezpieczeń wygenerowanego przez grupę ubezpieczeń komunikacyjnych (OC i AC) i próby zmniejszania go stosowane w praktyce. Najpierw scharakteryzowano ryzyko zakładu ubezpieczeń, wyróżniając cztery kategorie: ryzyko ubezpieczeniowe, ryzyko kredytowe, ryzyko rynkowe oraz ryzyko operacyjne. Następnie omówiono, jak można zarządzać trzema kategoriami: ryzykiem ubezpieczeniowym, ryzykiem kredytowym i ryzykiem operacyjnym występującym w związku z prowadzeniem ubezpieczeń komunikacyjnych.The article presents the problem of the insurance risk generated by a group of motor insurance (MTPL and Autocasco) and try to reduce it in practice. First was characterized the risk of insurance company by distinguishing four categories: insurance risk, credit risk, market risk and operational risk. It then discusses how can be managed three categories of risks: insurance risk, credit risk and operational risk arising in connection with the offering and conducting motor insurance

Pluronics-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Flavonoids Anticancer Treatment

This research concerns the investigation of the preparation of polymeric nanocarriers containing a flavonoid&mdash;naringenin, xanthohumol or isoxanthohumol&mdash;based on Pluronics by the thin-film formation method. The size of the formed micelles and their stability upon dilution were evaluated using Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis; the high values of the drug loading and the encapsulation efficiency confirmed that the proposed systems of flavonoids delivery consisting of Pluronic P123 and F127 nanomicelles could effectively distribute the drug into tumour tissues, which makes these nanocarriers ideal candidates for passive targeting of cancer cells by the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect. The in vitro cytotoxicity of proposed flavonoids in the Pluronic formulations was investigated by the SRB assay with human colon cancer cells. We designed mixed polymeric micelles, which was a successful drug delivery system for the case of naringenin not being able to enhance the bioavailability and cytotoxic activity of xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol. Furthermore, it was observed that the higher amount of polymer in the formulation achieved better cytotoxic activity

Pluronics-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Flavonoids Anticancer Treatment

This research concerns the investigation of the preparation of polymeric nanocarriers containing a flavonoid—naringenin, xanthohumol or isoxanthohumol—based on Pluronics by the thin-film formation method. The size of the formed micelles and their stability upon dilution were evaluated using Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis; the high values of the drug loading and the encapsulation efficiency confirmed that the proposed systems of flavonoids delivery consisting of Pluronic P123 and F127 nanomicelles could effectively distribute the drug into tumour tissues, which makes these nanocarriers ideal candidates for passive targeting of cancer cells by the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect. The in vitro cytotoxicity of proposed flavonoids in the Pluronic formulations was investigated by the SRB assay with human colon cancer cells. We designed mixed polymeric micelles, which was a successful drug delivery system for the case of naringenin not being able to enhance the bioavailability and cytotoxic activity of xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol. Furthermore, it was observed that the higher amount of polymer in the formulation achieved better cytotoxic activity