'As American as Mom, Apple Pie and Dutch Soccer?': The Team Identification of Foreign Ajax FC Supporters

Globalization and advances in communications technology, notably satellite television and broadband internet, have greatly expanded the potential marketplace for professional sport teams. As a result, many team brands profit from millions of satellite supporters worldwide. This study is the second in a series that explores why, and how, the foreign consumer supports their chosen team, in this instance, AFC Ajax of Amsterdam. Respondents highlighted the importance of team reputation and/or tradition; the presence of a particular player(s); team success; and media coverage in their decision to support Ajax FC. Furthermore, satellite supporters expressed intense loyalty for, and appeared to derive psychological benefit from their support of, the foreign-based team. As such, satellite supporters present an opportunity for sport marketers to tap into a potentially lucrative fan base and enhance their own team brands

Acceptability of chicken powder in home prepared complementary foods for children in Ghana

The persistent problem of childhood malnutrition and growth faltering in sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana despite food aid intervention programs, suggests rethinking of the content and mode of delivery of such food programs. While several food programs and formulations exist for the treatment and management of childhood malnutrition, most are neither culturally appropriate nor easily accessible to families at the household level. There is, therefore, a need for a food product that can be tailored to a particular culture and local food produce which provides the necessary macronutrients and micronutrients in adequate amount and is easy to use at the household level to prevent malnutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of incorporating chicken powder into the  Ghanaian child’s everyday meal. Participants in the study included mothers and their pre-school age children. The chicken powder was incorporated into a breakfast meal (“Tom Brown”) and lunch/supper meal (rice and gravy) on weight basis according to predetermined proportions of the raw  ingredients. Each meal consisted of a control sample (not containing chicken powder) and 3 test samples containing different amounts of chicken powder (15%, 20% and 25% by weight). Overall, both mothers and children rated both control samples highest compared to their respective test sample for preference. Interestingly, mothers were able to tell the differences in the test samples, but the children could not tell the  difference between the test samples by the content of the chicken powder according to the results of the test for homogeneity. The results from the acceptability test as well as individual observation by the research team suggest that chicken powder can be used as animal source protein in the treatment and management of malnutrition by incorporating it into  common staple foods. According to findings of this study, parents are more likely to incorporate the chicken powder (an animal source quality protein) in their children’s diet, if not for the entire family. The incorporation of chicken powder into complementary foods will improve the nutritional value, especially the protein and micronutrient content.Key words: Chicken, Acceptability, Ghana, Malnutrition, Feedin

The development of a stochastic mathematical model of Alzheimer's disease to help improve the design of clinical trials of potential treatments

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerativ e disorder characterised by a slow progres- sive deterioration of cognitive capacity. Drugs are urgently needed for the treatment of AD and unfortunately almost all clinical trials of AD drug candidates have failed or been discon- tinued to date. Mathematical, computational and statistical tools can be employed in the construction of clinical trial simulators to assist in the improvement of trial design and enhance the chances of success of potential new therapies. Based on the analysis of a set of clinical data provided by the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) we developed a simple stochastic mathematical model to simulate the development and pro- gression of Alzheimer’s in a longitudinal cohort study. We show how this modelling frame- work could be used to assess the effect and the chances of success of hypothetical treatments that are administered at different stages and delay disease development. We demonstrate that the detection of the true efficacy of an AD treatment can be very challeng- ing, even if the treatment is highly effective. An important reason behind the inability to detect signals of efficacy in a clinical trial in this therapy area could be the high between- and within-individual variability in the measuremen t of diagnostic markers and endpoints, which consequently results in the misdiagno sis of an individual’s disease state

Nutritional status of alcoholics in Peri-urban areas of the greater Accra region of Ghana

Alcoholism is a common problem in developing countries. Epidemiological studies on the relationship among excessive alcohol consumption,  malnutrition and anaemia are inconclusive. The present study examined the association between alcohol intake and nutritional status of alcoholics in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The study was cross-sectional involving 107 participants (men and women) aged between 20 and 76 years. Participants were identified as alcoholics after screening with a combined, but modified CAGE and AUDIT questionnaires. Anthropometric data including weight, biceps skinfold thickness, triceps skinfold thickness, hip circumference and waist circumference were collected. Body mass index (BMI) and Waist-to-hip ratio were computed using appropriate measures. Haemoglobin levels of participants were also assessed. Dietary intakes of respondents were estimated by 24-hour recall which was further converted into nutrients and energy using ESHA food processor. A pretested  questionnaire was also used to obtain data on socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics of participants. Differences between participants based on level of alcohol intake and correlations among variables were tested for statistical significance using ANOVA and correlation analyses, respectively. Logistic regression was performed to examine the relationship between levels of total ethanol intake and overweight and obesity factors while controlling for age, smoking status, physical activity and total energy intake. There was an inverse correlation between triceps skinfold and level of alcohol consumption irrespective of predominant type of alcoholic  beverage consumed (r= -0.213, P= 0.028). Further, there was a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and hip circumference among predominant beer consumers (r= 0.585, P= 0.046). A strong positive correlation was observed between alcohol intake and haemoglobin concentration for women (r= 0.729, P= 0.040) but not among men (r= -0.053, P= 0.722). Predominant beer consumers tend to have higher weight and BMI. Moderate level of total ethanol intake was associated with greater odds of being overweight/obese, whereas high levels of intake was associated with lower odds of being overweight/obesity although these were not statistically significant. The mechanisms for the observation of higher weight, BMI and hip circumference among predominant beer consumers in this population need further exploration.Key words: Alcoholics, alcoholic beverages, nutritional statu

X-ray Insights into the Nature of Quasars with Redshifted Broad Absorption Lines

We present $Chandra$ observations of seven broad absorption line (BAL) quasars at $z=0.863$-2.516 with redshifted BAL troughs (RSBALs). Five of our seven targets were detected by $Chandra$ in 4-13 ks exposures with ACIS-S. The $\alpha_{\rm ox}$ values, $\Delta\alpha_{\rm ox}$ values, and spectral energy distributions of our targets demonstrate they are all X-ray weak relative to expectations for non-BAL quasars, and the degree of X-ray weakness is consistent with that of appropriately-matched BAL quasars generally. Furthermore, our five detected targets show evidence for hard X-ray spectral shapes with a stacked effective power-law photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}=0.5^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$. These findings support the presence of heavy X-ray absorption ($N_{\rm H}\approx 2 \times 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) in RSBAL quasars, likely by the shielding gas found to be common in BAL quasars more generally. We use these X-ray measurements to assess models for the nature of RSBAL quasars, finding that a rotationally-dominated outflow model is favored while an infall model also remains plausible with some stipulations. The X-ray data disfavor a binary quasar model for RSBAL quasars in general.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, and 3 table

The Effect of Ethnic Self-Identity on the Kadazandusun Sense of Community

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the ethnic self-identity of the Kadazandusun people on their sense of community and its four constituent elements. This study involved 242 Kadazandusun participants. A set of questionnaires consisting of three sections was used to measure research variables. Section A measured the demographic profile (age, gender, ethnicity, location, and education level); Section B made use of the Ethnic Self-Identity Scale, consisting of 14 items that measure the two components of ethnic self-identity (i.e., ethnic affirmation, & ethnic denial); and Section C measured the sense of community (i.e., reinforcement of needs, membership, influence & shared emotional connection). The study revealed that ethnic affirmation contributed to a sense of community and its four elements. Ethnic confirmation showed a significant contribution of 23% to the sense of community (β=.48, t(212)=7.93, p =.00). Ethnic confirmation contributed 18% to the reinforcement of needs (β=.43, t(212)=7.19,p=.00); it contributed 19% to variance in membership (β=.44, t(212)=7.50, p=.00), 18% to variance in influence (β=.43, t(212)=7.15, p=.00); and 19% to variance in shared emotions (β=.43, t(212)=7.30, p=.00). Ethnic denial did not show a significant influence on the sense of community. The findings showed that Kadazandusuns who are high in ethnic affirmation (that is, they identify themselves with their group) engage in community activities, are proud of their cultural heritage, and have good interactions with in-group members, characteristics which help to form a strong sense of community

X-ray and multi-epoch optical/UV investigations of BAL to non-BAL quasar transformations

We report on an X-ray and optical/UV study of eight Broad Absorption Line (BAL) to non-BAL transforming quasars at $z\,\approx\,$1.7-2.2 over 0.29-4.95 rest-frame years with at least three spectroscopic epochs for each quasar from the SDSS, BOSS, $Gemini$, and ARC 3.5-m telescopes. New $Chandra$ observations obtained for these objects show their values of $\alpha_{\rm ox}$ and $\Delta{\alpha}_{\rm ox}$, as well as their spectral energy distributions, are consistent with those of non-BAL quasars. Moreover, our targets have X-ray spectral shapes that are, on average, consistent with weakened absorption with an effective power-law photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}\,=\,1.69^{+0.25}_{-0.25}$. The newer $Gemini$ and ARC 3.5-m spectra reveal that the BAL troughs have remained absent since the BOSS observations where the BAL disappearance was discovered. The X-ray and optical/UV results in tandem are consistent with at least the X-ray absorbing material moving out of the line-of-sight, leaving an X-ray unabsorbed non-BAL quasar. The UV absorber might have become more highly ionized (in a shielding-gas scenario) or also moved out of the line-of-sight (in a wind-clumping scenario).Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Inspiratory muscle training reduces blood lactate concentration during volitional hyperpnoea

Although reduced blood lactate concentrations ([lac−]B) have been observed during whole-body exercise following inspiratory muscle training (IMT), it remains unknown whether the inspiratory muscles are the source of at least part of this reduction. To investigate this, we tested the hypothesis that IMT would attenuate the increase in [lac−]B caused by mimicking, at rest, the breathing pattern observed during high-intensity exercise. Twenty-two physically active males were matched for 85% maximal exercise minute ventilation (V˙Emax) and divided equally into an IMT or a control group. Prior to and following a 6 week intervention, participants performed 10 min of volitional hyperpnoea at the breathing pattern commensurate with 85% V˙Emax

Why do Particle Clouds Generate Electric Charges?

Grains in desert sandstorms spontaneously generate strong electrical charges; likewise volcanic dust plumes produce spectacular lightning displays. Charged particle clouds also cause devastating explosions in food, drug and coal processing industries. Despite the wide-ranging importance of granular charging in both nature and industry, even the simplest aspects of its causes remain elusive, because it is difficult to understand how inert grains in contact with little more than other inert grains can generate the large charges observed. Here, we present a simple yet predictive explanation for the charging of granular materials in collisional flows. We argue from very basic considerations that charge transfer can be expected in collisions of identical dielectric grains in the presence of an electric field, and we confirm the model's predictions using discrete-element simulations and a tabletop granular experiment

THE HIGH CADENCE TRANSIENT SURVEY (HITS). I. SURVEY DESIGN AND SUPERNOVA SHOCK BREAKOUT CONSTRAINTS

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.We present the first results of the High Cadence Transient Survey (HiTS), a survey for which the objective is to detect and follow-up optical transients with characteristic timescales from hours to days, especially the earliest hours of supernova (SN) explosions. HiTS uses the Dark Energy Camera and a custom pipeline for image subtraction, candidate filtering and candidate visualization, which runs in real-time to be able to react rapidly to the new transients. We discuss the survey design, the technical challenges associated with the real-time analysis of these large volumes of data and our first results. In our 2013, 2014, and 2015 campaigns, we detected more than 120 young SN candidates, but we did not find a clear signature from the short-lived SN shock breakouts (SBOs) originating after the core collapse of red supergiant stars, which was the initial science aim of this survey. Using the empirical distribution of limiting magnitudes from our observational campaigns, we measured the expected recovery fraction of randomly injected SN light curves, which included SBO optical peaks produced with models from Tominaga et al. (2011) and Nakar & Sari (2010). From this analysis, we cannot rule out the models from Tominaga et al. (2011) under any reasonable distributions of progenitor masses, but we can marginally rule out the brighter and longer-lived SBO models from Nakar & Sari (2010) under our best-guess distribution of progenitor masses. Finally, we highlight the implications of this work for future massive data sets produced by astronomical observatories, such as LSST.http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/155/meta;jsessionid=76BDFFFE378003616F6DBA56A9225673.c4.iopscience.cld.iop.or