Characterisation of food fibres and their effect on starch digestion in an in-vitro system at physiological shear rates : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anatomy and Physiology at Massey University, New Zealand

Material removed from thesis for copyright reasons: Appendix 5 - Hardacre, A.K., Yap, S-Y., Lentle, R.G., Janssen, P.W.M., & Monro, J.A. (2014). The partitioning of water in aggregates of undigested and digested dietary particles, Food Chemistry, 142, 446-454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.07.063 Appendix 6 - Hardacre, A.K., Yap, S-Y., Lentle, R.G., & Monro, J.A. (2015). The effect of fibre and gelatinised starch type on amylolysis and apparent viscosity during in vitro digestion at a physiological shear rate, Carbohydrate Polymers, 123, 80-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.01.013 Appendix 7 - Hardacre, A.K., Lentle, R.G., Yap, S-Y., & Monro, J.A. (2016). Does viscosity or structure govern the rate at which starch granules are digested? Carbohydrate Polymers, 136, 667-675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.08.060The fast pace of life promotes the excessive consumption of processed starchy food containing high levels of sugar, salt and oil; which can increase the prevalence of type II diabetes, colon and cardiovascular diseases. The addition of dietary fibres in the diet increases the viscosity of digesta, delays mixing in the gut, and promotes laxation. However, few studies attempt to quantify the possible physical and chemical effects of either soluble (food gums) and insoluble (largely cellulose) fibre in the diet. These effects may encompass the retention of water inside the fibre particles, between particles in the fibre mass and direct effects of the chemical nature of the fibre on the digestion process. In this study, the fractions of water held in the various partitions of insoluble particulate dietary fibres are quantified. The relationship between the volume fraction of soluble and insoluble dietary fibres in simulated digesta at physiological concentrations and the rheological properties of the suspension at physiological shear rates is determined. Furthermore, the impact of fibre and shear rates on the digestion of starch in-vitro at physiological shear rates was measured. This work provides the first quantitative assessment of the effects of the physical attributes of dietary fibre on the digestion of starch in-vitro, at physiological shear rates. In this work, four insoluble fibre types were used to construct aqueous suspensions containing solid volume fractions similar to those of pig digesta from the small intestine; these suspensions also were shown to have similar rheological properties to those of pig digesta at physiological shear rates. In addition, a soluble fibre (Guar gum) was used to construct solutions with viscosities comparable to those of the particulate suspensions. Gelatinised and partially gelatinised starch was added to these suspensions and its rate of digestion at 37°C under simulated small intestinal conditions was measured at shear rates covering the reported physiological range. Important results from this work include: - The proportion of water retained by a given volume of hydrated mass of large fibre particles (AllBran®) was double that of smaller particles (wheat fibre). For all of the solid particles used, the proportion of water sequestered by the intra-particulate voids was less than 4% of the volume of the particles, similar proportions were determined for indigestible particles recovered from the colon of pigs and from human faeces. - Food fibre systems containing less than 20% by volume (solid volume fraction, φ = 0.20) of insoluble dietary fibres showed Newtonian rheological properties and the viscosity of these suspensions could be predicted from φ by the Maron-Pierce model. Starch/fibre suspensions prepared with φ below 20% (φ = 0.68-0.98) had a similar viscosity to that of starch/guar suspension comprising 10% (w/v) starch and 0.4% (w/v) guar. During in-vitro digestion, the viscosity of the starch/fibre suspensions decreased logarithmically over the first 20 minutes during which about 30% of the starch was hydrolysed, this was followed by a prolonged period of slow digestion as the slowly digested starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) were hydrolysed. The rate of starch digestion was independent of the type of insoluble fibre and was not affected by suspension viscosities used providing shear rates could be maintained within physiological levels. For guar, rates of digestion were slowed probably due to non-competitive inhibition of the amylase by the guar. - When shear rates were below the physiological range (0.1 s-1) or gelatinisation was incomplete, the rate of digestion became linear over the first 20 minutes of digestion suggesting that the rate of digestion was limited by transport processes at low shear in viscous suspensions. - This study provides useful information regarding the limiting concentration of particles and hence viscosity of digesta in the gut if rates of digestion are to be maximised. Additionally, it is suggested that guar, even at low concentration may reduce glycemia by reducing rates of amylolysis

Clarett v. National Football League: Defining the Non-Statutory Labor Exception to Antitrust Law as it pertains to Restraints primarily focused in Labor Markets and Restraints primarily focused in Business Markets

[Excerpt] “Contemporary sports have seen an influx of young talent opting for a chance at playing in the big leagues earlier at the expense of obtaining higher education. Many dream of playing professional sports—dreams often prohibited by player eligibility rules. In situations where the restraints are not argued to have been protected by non-statutory labor exception, antitrust law has been seen to set its talons into eligibility rules. […] Federal antitrust law and national labor law set forth two conflicting policies that have created a periodic drama for sports fans concerned that their favorite sports will suffer a cataclysmic court room battle impairing the quality of the game. The Supreme Court interpreted federal antitrust and labor law to implicitly exclude antitrust liability for certain collective bargaining labor related activities under the non-statutory labor exception to antitrust law. This absence of explicit guidance has led to a split in the circuits where courts have formulated their own interpretations of these colliding national policies. In 1996, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Pro Football, Inc., attempted to further clarify the scope of this exemption and ultimately held that national antitrust and labor policies favored the application of the exception when the alleged restraints were in labor markets defined by collective bargaining. In 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Clarett v. National Football League4 that Brown reaffirmed the Second Circuit position that restraints resulting from the collective bargaining process and primarily impacting the labor market were subject to the non-statutory labor exception to antitrust law. […] This note will analyze the Second Circuit’s ruling and rationale in light of the relevant governing law and national policies between antitrust law and labor law. Part II will discuss the general trend of player-raised antitrust challenges to restraint cases in professional sports, setting the stage for an aspiring football player like Clarett to challenge the NFL Eligibility Rules. In Part III, this note will discuss the facts, procedural history and outcome of Clarett. Part IV will discuss the historical background under which Clarett was ruled. Part V will analyze how courts have distinguished between restraints created through the collective bargaining process which primarily impact the labor market as opposed to those that primarily impact business markets. In Part VI, this note will analyze Clarett’s interpretation of Brown in distinguishing labor and business markets, and discuss how the non-statutory labor exception should be applied to labor market restraints as compared to business market restraints. Finally, it will outline the legacy that Clarett provides for future player-raised challenges in similar situations.

Two-dimensional Phononic Crystals with Acoustic-Band Negative Refraction

A two-dimensional phononic crystal (PC) can exhibit longitudinal-mode negative energy refraction on its lowest (acoustical) frequency pass band. The effective elastodynamic properties of a typical PC are calculated and it is observed that the components of the effective density tensor can achieve negative values at certain low frequencies on the acoustical branches for the longitudinal-mode pass-band, and that negative refraction may be accompanied by either positive or negative effective density. Furthermore, such a PC has a high anisotropy ratio at certain low frequencies, offering potential for application to acoustic cloaking where effective material anisotropy is essential.Comment: in Proceedings of the ASME 2016 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Stowe, VT (2016

Performance of the LiF-TEA Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector at CLEO

We describe the particle identification capability of the CLEO RICH system. This system consists of a 1 cm thick LiF radiator coupled to a photon detector that uses wire proportional chambers filled with a mixture of CH$_4$ and TEA. We discuss the yield of photoelectrons observed per ring and the angular resolution. We show the efficiencies achieved for particle identification and the associated fake rates from data collected with both CLEO III and CLEO-c detectors. Finally we show examples of the particle separation ability which is excellent for both CLEO III and CLEO-c data.Comment: Invited talk given at the fifth International Workshop on Ring Imaging Cherenkov Counters(RICH), Playa del Carmen, Mexico, 2004. (6 pages, 7 figures). To be published in the Nucl. Inst. and Methods

Sistema de Informação Ambiental

A gestão dos recursos naturais em Cabo Verde é objecto de importante esforço de implementação de programas e projectos adequados ao terreno e a valorização do saber fazer locais. Os resultados, em termos de produtos de informações ou de dados, representam um património científico, técnico e cultural único para o desenvolvimento sustentável e a luta contra a pobreza em Cabo Verde. Porém, esse património de informação, muitas das vezes está disperso devido particularmente à fragmentação sectorial e interinstitucional, cujas consequências são factores de redundância nas acções, perda de tempo e de energia que travam Cabo Verde na sua vontade de cumprir os objectivos do milénio. A totalidade dos dados, de informações e de produtos assim acumulados não constitui sempre um capital de informação explorável por três razõesessenciais: A difusão dos resultados, da recolha e tratamento dos dados é restrita a um número limitado de utilizadores, que muitas das vezes fazem parte dos mesmos meios profissionais, científicos e técnicos; A limitação na transformação dos produtos gerados em informações directamente utilizáveis nos processos de tomada de decisão ligados à gestão de recursos naturais e do ambiente; Os dados e informações permanecem frequentemente dispersos, fragmentados e não acessíveis facilmente, aos utilizadores, por falta de mecanismos adaptados à circulação de informação. O Sistema de Informação Ambiental (SIA) constitui um instrumento fundamental ao serviço da protecção do ambiente e do desenvolvimento sustentável do país, indispensável a uma gestão racional e eficaz dos dados e informações ambientais do país. Os princípios que levaram à sua elaboração, assim como o seu funcionamento são descritos no presente documento intitulado “Protocolo de Entendimento do SIA". Eles integram-se num contexto internacional e fundamentam-se fortemente no quadro jurídico nacional. O Protocolo de entendimento é um instrumento jurídico não vinculativo que serve de termos de referência (guia), definindo os mecanismos de funcionamento do SIA e as relações entre os membros. O Protocolo de Entendimento do SIA em Cabo Verde será consolidado por uma Lei sobre o SIA