Low-level seaweed supplementation improves iodine status in iodine-insufficient women

Iodine insufficiency is now a prominent issue in the UK and other European countries due to low intakes of dairy products and seafood (especially where iodine fortification is not in place). In the present study, we tested a commercially available encapsulated edible seaweed (Napiers Hebridean Seagreens® Ascophyllum nodosumspecies) for its acceptability to consumers and iodine bioavailability and investigated the impact of a 2-week daily seaweed supplementation on iodine concentrations and thyroid function. Healthy non-pregnant women of childbearing age, self-reporting low dairy product and seafood consumption, with no history of thyroid or gastrointestinal disease were recruited. Seaweed iodine (712 μg, in 1 g seaweed) was modestly bioavailable at 33 (interquartile range (IQR) 28–46) % of the ingested iodine dose compared with 59 (IQR 46–74) % of iodine from the KI supplement (n 22). After supplement ingestion (2 weeks, 0•5 g seaweed daily, <i>n</i> 42), urinary iodine excretion increased from 78 (IQR 39–114) to 140 (IQR 103–195) μg/l (<i>P</i>< 0•001). The concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone increased from 1•5 (IQR 1•2–2•2) to 2•1 (IQR 1•3–2•9) mIU/l (<i>P</i>< 0•001), with two participants having concentrations exceeding the normal range after supplement ingestion (but normal free thyroxine concentrations). There was no change in the concentrations of other thyroid hormones after supplement ingestion. The seaweed was palatable and acceptable to consumers as a whole food or as a food ingredient and effective as a source of iodine in an iodine-insufficient population. In conclusion, seaweed inclusion in staple foods would serve as an alternative to fortification of salt or other foods with KI

A Photometric Technique to Search for Be Stars in Open Clusters

We describe a technique to identify Be stars in open clusters using Stromgren b, y, and narrow-band Halpha photometry. We first identify the B-type stars of the cluster using a theoretical isochrone fit to the (b-y, y) color-magnitude diagram. The strongest Be stars are easily identified in a (b-y, y-Halpha) color-color diagram, but those with weaker Halpha emission (classified as possible Be star detections) may be confused with evolved or foreground stars. Here we present such photometry plus Halpha spectroscopy of members of the cluster NGC 3766 to demonstrate the accuracy of our technique. Statistical results on the relative numbers of Be and B-type stars in additional clusters will be presented in a future paper.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted by Ap

A Taxonomy of Arts Interventions for People With Dementia

Background and Objectives The current evidence base for the arts and dementia has several limitations relating to the description, explanation, communication, and simplification of arts interventions. Research addressing these challenges must be multidisciplinary, taking account of humanities and science perspectives. Consequently, this research aimed to produce a taxonomy, or classification, of arts interventions for people with dementia as a contribution to this growing field. Research Design and Methods This research was underpinned by taxonomy and realist methodology. Taxonomy, the science of classification, produces a common language to name, define, and describe the world around us. Realist theory explains how interventions “work” and produce their effects. The main findings in this paper were generated from a case study and a Delphi study. Results An arts and dementia taxonomy of 12 dimensions was developed: Art Form, Artistic elements, Artistic focus, Artistic materials, Arts activity, Arts approaches, Arts facilitators, Arts location, Competencies, Complementary arts, Intervention context, Principles. Discussion and Implications Arts interventions can be classified according to their contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes. A range of stakeholders could benefit from the taxonomy, including people with dementia, artists, practitioners, carers, care staff, funders, commissioners, researchers, and academics. Language relating to the arts and dementia can be adapted depending on the audience. This is a foundational model requiring further development within the arts and dementia community

New optical and near-infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuations models. A primary distance indicator ranging from Globular Clusters to distant galaxies?

We present new theoretical models for Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) both for optical and near-infrared bands in standard ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope filter systems. Simple Stellar Population simulations are adopted. Models cover the age and metallicity ranges from $t=5$ to $15~Gyr$ and from $Z=0.0001$ to 0.04 respectively. Effects due to the variation of the Initial Mass Function and the stellar color-temperature relations are explored. Particular attention is devoted to very bright stars in the color-magnitude diagram and to investigate the effects of mass loss along the Red Giant Branch (RGB) and the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). It is found that $U$ and $B$ bands SBF amplitudes are powerful diagnostics for the morphology of the Horizontal Branch and the Post-AGB stars population. We point out that a careful treatment of mass loss process along the RGB and AGB is fundamental in determining reliable SBF evaluations. The SBF measurements are used to give robust constraints on the evolution of AGB stars, suggesting that mass loss activity on AGB stars should be twice more efficient than on the RGB stars. Our models are able to reproduce the absolute SBF magnitudes of the Galactic Globular Clusters and of galaxies, and their integrated colors. New calibrations of absolute SBF magnitude in $V$, $R$, $I$, and $K$ photometric filters are provided, which appear reliable enough to directly gauge distances bypassing other distance indicators. The SBF technique is also used as stellar population tracer to derive age and metallicity of a selected sample of galaxies of known distances. Finally, {\it SBF color} versus {\it integrated color} diagrams are proposed as particularly useful in removing the well known {\it age-metallicity degeneracy} affecting our knowledge of remote stellar systems.Comment: AJ accepted, 46 pages, 21 figures, 10 tables, uses aastex.cl

Impaired exercise outcomes with significant bronchodilator responsiveness in children with prematurity-associated obstructive lung disease

Introduction Preterm-born children have their normal in-utero lung development interrupted, thus are at risk of short- and long-term lung disease. Spirometry and exercise capacity impairments have been regularly reported in preterm-born children especially those who developed chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLD) in infancy. However, specific phenotypes may be differentially associated with exercise capacity. We investigated exercise capacity associated with prematurity-associated obstructive (POLD) or prematurity-associated preserved ratio of impaired spirometry (pPRISm) when compared to preterm- and term-controls with normal lung function. Materials and Methods Preterm- and term-born children identified through home screening underwent in-depth lung function and cardiorespiratory exercise testing, including administration of post-exercise bronchodilator, as part of the Respiratory Health Outcomes in Neonates (RHiNO) study. Results From 241 invited children, aged 7 – 12 years, 202 underwent exercise testing including 18 children with POLD (percent predicted (%)FEV1 and FEV1/FVC90%). POLD children had reduced relative workload, and peak O2 uptake, CO2 production and minute ventilation compared to Tc, and used greater proportion of breathing reserve compared to both control groups. pPRISm and PTc children also had lower O2 uptake compared to Tc. POLD children had the greatest response to post-exercise bronchodilator, improving their %FEV1 by 19.4% (vs 6.3%/6%/6.3% in pPRISm/PTc/Tc respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion Preterm-born children with obstructive airway disease had the greatest impairment in exercise capacity, and significantly greater response to post-exercise bronchodilators. These classifications can be used to guide treatment in children with POLD

The Education Policy of the Dufferin Roblin Administration, 1958-1967

Politics and education are two of the most important, albeit controversial, institutions that make up the framework of Canadian society. Both national institutions underwent a series of dramatic changes during the Cold War Era of the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and the situation was no different in Manitoba. Because of the rapid economic, political and social changes of the post-war period, governments found themselves trying to grapple with education policy in the most cost-effective and results-oriented manner possible. The government administered by Progressive Conservative Premier Dufferin Roblin (1958-1967) inherited an education system that had not kept pace. The Roblin administration, which was on of the most active in Manitoba history, has undergone surprisingly little examination by academics, be they economists, historians, political scientists or educational analysts. Throughout its time in office, Roblin's administration made a number of significant changes to the education system, three of which will be examined at greater length in this thesis: school consolidation, the provision of enhanced public financing for private and parochial schools and the extension of Manitoba's university system. The purpose of this thesis will be to determine how the Roblin government addressed education, a policy area which generated considerable public debate. Various methods have been employed to analyze the Roblin government's education policies, including an extensive examination of primary documents such as legislative debates and proceedings, members of the legislative assembly's private papers and the unpublished memoirs of Dufferin Roblin. It is a major contention of this thesis that although the Roblin regime's policies were not always received favorably by the opposition parties, educators and educational administrators or the electorate, they were necessary to the modernization of the province. Further, this thesis asserts that the Roblin administration was more liberal than the so-called Liberal administration it had replaced. In fact, Roblin's administration often took a radical approach, given the provincial context, when trying to revitalize this key Manitoba institution.Duff Roblin Graduate Fellowship; the Senator Thomas Alexander Crerar Scholarship; the Donald V. Snider Memorial Fellowship.Master of Arts in Histor