Association between consumption of black tea and iron status in adult Africans in the North West Province: The THUSA study

The association between black tea consumption and iron status was investigated in a sample of African adults participating in the cross-sectional THUSA (Transition and Health during Urbanization of South Africans) study in the North West Province, South Africa. Data were analysed from 1605 apparently healthy adults aged 15-65 years by demographic and FFQ, anthropometric measurements and biochemical analyses. The main outcome measures were Hb and serum ferritin concentrations. No associations were seen between black tea consumption and concentrations of serum ferritin (men P=0.059; women P=0.49) or Hb (men P=0.33; women P=0.49). Logistic regression showed that tea consumption did not significantly increase risk for iron deficiency (men: OR 1.36; 95 % CI 0.99, 1.87; women: OR 0.98; 95 % CI 0.84, 1.13) nor for iron deficiency anaemia (men: OR 1.28: 95 % Cl 0.84, 1.96; women: OR 0.93; 95 % Cl 0.78, 1.11). Prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia was especially high in women: 21.6 and 14.6 %, respectively. However, the likelihood of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia was not significantly explained by tea consumption in sub-populations which were assumed to be at risk for iron deficiency. Regression of serum ferritin levels on tea consumption in women : 40 years, adults with a daily iron intak

When the Classroom Is Not in the Schoolhouse: Applying Tinker to Student Speech at Online Schools

Despite the overwhelming increase in students’ Internet use and the growing popularity of online public schools, the United States Supreme Court has never addressed how, or if, schools can discipline students for disruptive online speech without violating the students’ First Amendment rights. What the Supreme Court has addressed is how school administrators can constitutionally discipline students within traditional schools. In a landmark decision, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court announced the now famous principle that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Still, the Court continued, school administrators can discipline students when their speech “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder.” In a later case, the Court stated that free speech rights for students on campus are “not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings.” In this Comment, I suggest that in order to provide a workable standard that balances online students’ free speech rights with online schools’ obligations to maintain an appropriate learning environment for all students, the Supreme Court should apply Tinker, without its exceptions, to speech made by students at online schools

When the Classroom Is Not in the Schoolhouse: Applying Tinker to Student Speech at Online Schools

Despite the overwhelming increase in students’ Internet use and the growing popularity of online public schools, the United States Supreme Court has never addressed how, or if, schools can discipline students for disruptive online speech without violating the students’ First Amendment rights. What the Supreme Court has addressed is how school administrators can constitutionally discipline students within traditional schools. In a landmark decision, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court announced the now famous principle that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Still, the Court continued, school administrators can discipline students when their speech “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder.” In a later case, the Court stated that free speech rights for students on campus are “not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings.” In this Comment, I suggest that in order to provide a workable standard that balances online students’ free speech rights with online schools’ obligations to maintain an appropriate learning environment for all students, the Supreme Court should apply Tinker, without its exceptions, to speech made by students at online schools

Virtue and austerity

Virtue ethics is often proposed as a third way in health-care ethics, that while consequentialism and deontology focus on action guidelines, virtue focuses on character; all three aim to help agents discern morally right action although virtue seems to have least to contribute to political issues, such as austerity. I claim: (1) This is a bad way to characterize virtue ethics. The 20th century renaissance of virtue ethics was first proposed as a response to the difficulty of making sense of ‘moral rightness’ outside a religious context. For Aristotle the right action is that which is practically best; that means best for the agent in order to live a flourishing life.There are no moral considerations besides this. (2) Properly characterized, virtue ethics can contribute to discussion of austerity. A criticism of virtue ethics is that fixed characteristics seem a bad idea in ever-changing environments; perhaps we should be generous in prosperity, selfish in austerity. Furthermore, empirical evidence suggests that people indeed do change with their environment. However, I argue that virtues concern fixed values not fixed behaviour; the values underlying virtue allow for different behaviour in different circumstances: in austerity, virtues still give the agent the best chance of flourishing. Two questions arise. (a) In austere environments might not injustice help an individual flourish by, say, obtaining material goods? No, because unjust acts undermine the type of society the agent needs for flourishing. (b) What good is virtue to those lacking the other means to flourish? The notion of degrees of flourishing shows that most people would benefit somewhat from virtue. However, in extreme circumstances virtue might harm rather than benefit the agent: such circumstances are to be avoided; virtue ethics thus has a political agenda to enable flourishing. This requires justice, a fortiori when in austerity

Marxism Lost and Found: Alasdair MacIntyre and the Contemporary Debate

This paper examines the changing nature of debates that focus on the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre. Whilst outlining the history of MacIntyre’s engagement with Marxism and some of his key ideas, it argues that it is only recently that such debates have begun to rightfully recognise the continued relevance of Marxism to such discussions. I note that crucial aspects of MacIntyre’s politics and philosophy, particularly his opposition to capitalism, are now integral to the contemporary debate which helps in generating a shared vision of radical politics. Nevertheless, I point out that key disagreements still remain as to the role of Marxism within such debates, the validity of MacIntyre’s critique of Marxism, as well as the potentially problematic post-Marxist practice that MacIntyre advocates in After Virtue and beyond

The sustainability of public health interventions in schools: a systematic review

Background: The sustainability of school-based health interventions after external funds and/or other resources end has been relatively unexplored in comparison to health care. If effective interventions discontinue, new practices cannot reach wider student populations and investment in implementation is wasted. This review asked: What evidence exists about the sustainability of school-based public health interventions? Do schools sustain public health interventions once start-up funds end? What are the barriers and facilitators affecting the sustainability of public health interventions in schools in high-income countries? Methods: Seven bibliographic databases and 15 websites were searched. References and citations of included studies were searched, and experts and authors were contacted to identify relevant studies. We included reports published from 1996 onwards. References were screened on title/abstract, and those included were screened on full report. We conducted data extraction and appraisal using an existing tool. Extracted data were qualitatively synthesised for common themes, using May's General Theory of Implementation (2013) as a conceptual framework. Results: Of the 9677 unique references identified through database searching and other search strategies, 24 studies of 18 interventions were included in the review. No interventions were sustained in their entirety; all had some components that were sustained by some schools or staff, bar one that was completely discontinued. No discernible relationship was found between evidence of effectiveness and sustainability. Key facilitators included commitment/support from senior leaders, staff observing a positive impact on students' engagement and wellbeing, and staff confidence in delivering health promotion and belief in its value. Important contextual barriers emerged: the norm of prioritising educational outcomes under time and resource constraints, insufficient funding/resources, staff turnover and a lack of ongoing training. Adaptation of the intervention to existing routines and changing contexts appeared to be part of the sustainability process. Conclusions: Existing evidence suggests that sustainability depends upon schools developing and retaining senior leaders and staff that are knowledgeable, skilled and motivated to continue delivering health promotion through ever-changing circumstances. Evidence of effectiveness did not appear to be an influential factor. However, methodologically stronger primary research, informed by theory, is needed. Trial registration: The review was registered on PROSPERO: CRD42017076320, Sep. 2017

Managerial Work in a Practice-Embodying Institution - The role of calling, the virtue of constancy

What can be learned from a small scale study of managerial work in a highly marginal and under-researched working community? This paper uses the ‘goods-virtues-practices-institutions’ framework to examine the managerial work of owner-directors of traditional circuses. Inspired by MacIntyre’s arguments for the necessity of a narrative understanding of the virtues, interviews explored how British and Irish circus directors accounted for their working lives. A purposive sample was used to select subjects who had owned and managed traditional touring circuses for at least 15 years, a period in which the economic and reputational fortunes of traditional circuses have suffered badly. This sample enabled the research to examine the self-understanding of people who had, at least on the face of it, exhibited the virtue of constancy. The research contributes to our understanding of the role of the virtues in organizations by presenting evidence of an intimate relationship between the virtue of constancy and a ‘calling’ work orientation. This enhances our understanding of the virtues that are required if management is exercised as a domain-related practice

Calcium intake and knowledge among white adolescent girls in Gauteng, South Africa

Objectives. To determine the knowledge and intake of calcium among white adolescent girls in Gauteng, South Africa. Design. A quantitative study using a questionnaire interview conducted over 13 months (1 June 2000 - 31 July 2001). Settings. Sixteen randomly selected private and state schools in the Gauteng area. Subjects. Adolescent white girls aged between 15 and 17 years. Outcome measures. Calcium intake and knowledge using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 7-day weighed records (WRS). Results. Mean calcium intake according to the FFQ was 811 mg/day (adequate intake (AI) 1 300 mg/day). Fiftyone per cent of participants had not been given any information relating to calcium and its benefits. Teachers and parents are the most noted sources of information and 31% of the participants knew that adolescence was the most important period for calcium absorption and bone building. Conclusions. Adolescents have low intakes of calcium compared with what is recommended. It is important to develop intervention programmes that target children, adolescents, teachers and mothers alike. It is also imperative to develop awareness of the importance of calcium consumption during childhood and adolescence in order to minimise the possibility of osteoporosis in later life. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol.17(3) 2004: 102-10

On Recurrent Reachability for Continuous Linear Dynamical Systems

The continuous evolution of a wide variety of systems, including continuous-time Markov chains and linear hybrid automata, can be described in terms of linear differential equations. In this paper we study the decision problem of whether the solution $\boldsymbol{x}(t)$ of a system of linear differential equations $d\boldsymbol{x}/dt=A\boldsymbol{x}$ reaches a target halfspace infinitely often. This recurrent reachability problem can equivalently be formulated as the following Infinite Zeros Problem: does a real-valued function $f:\mathbb{R}_{\geq 0}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ satisfying a given linear differential equation have infinitely many zeros? Our main decidability result is that if the differential equation has order at most $7$, then the Infinite Zeros Problem is decidable. On the other hand, we show that a decision procedure for the Infinite Zeros Problem at order $9$ (and above) would entail a major breakthrough in Diophantine Approximation, specifically an algorithm for computing the Lagrange constants of arbitrary real algebraic numbers to arbitrary precision.Comment: Full version of paper at LICS'1