Has the Internet improved medical student information literacy skills? A retrospective case study: 1995-2005

Our goal in this investigation was to see if the popularity of the Internet has had an effect on searching skills and an increased awareness of where to search for appropriate medical information

Nashville: The Western Confederacy\u27s Final Gamble

Confederate army had long odds Could Hood\u27s gamble have paid off? Nashville: The Western Confederacy\u27s Final Gamble serves as the capstone of James Lee McDonough\u27s chronicles dealing with Tennessee\u27s major Civil War battles. McDonough, a Nashville native and Civil War sch...

Circadian variation in gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity

Food intake is coordinated to cellular metabolism by clock gene expression with a master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus synchronized by light exposure. Gastric vagal afferents play a role in regulating food intake, but it is unknown whether they exhibit circadian variation in their mechanosensitivity. We aimed to determine whether gastric vagal afferents express clock genes and whether their response to mechanical stimuli oscillates throughout the light/dark cycle. Nodose ganglia were collected from 8-week-old female C57BL/6 mice every 3 h starting at lights off (1800 h) to quantify Bmal1, Per1, Per2, and Nr1d1 mRNA by qRT-PCR. Additionally in vitro single-fiber recordings of gastric vagal mechanoreceptors were taken at all time points. Per1, Per2, Bmal1, and Nr1d1 mRNA is expressed in the nodose ganglia and levels oscillated over a 24 h period. In mice fed ad libitum, gastric content was 3 times higher at 0000 h and 0300 h than 1200 h. The response of tension receptors to 3 g stretch was reduced by up to 70% at 2100 h, 0000 h, and 0300 h compared with 1200 h. Gastric mucosal receptor response to stroking with a 50 mg von Frey hair was 3 times greater at 1200 h and 1500 h than the response at 0000 h. Similar findings were obtained in mice fasted for 6 h or maintained in darkness for 3 d before study. Therefore, these changes do not result from food intake or the light/dark cycle. Thus, gastric vagal mechanoreceptors display circadian rhythm, which may act to control food intake differentially at different times of the day.Stephen J. Kentish, Claudine L. Frisby, David J. Kennaway, Gary A. Wittert, and Amanda J. Pag

Monitoring food quality using sensor technology from harvest to home

A food quality sensor is a device that responds to some property associated with food quality and transforms the response into a signal (1). This signal may provide direct information about the quality factor to be measured or may have a known relationship to the quality factor. On-line food quality sensors operate directly in the process stream, giving a real-time signal that relates to the quality factor in question. Therefore, an online sensor has the advantage of giving an immediate measurement allowing processes to be adjusted if necessary (1). This thesis is based on 3 projects describing the design and development of on-line food quality sensor systems for specific food applications as`outlined below: Project 1: Development of an autonomous, wireless pH and temperature sensing system for monitoring pig meat quality. Project 2: Development of a web-based wireless temperature sensing system for the fishing industry. Project 3: Development of on-package sensors to detect shellfish. Projects 1 & 2 describe pH and temperature sensors which are coupled with wireless communications to create autonomous, wireless sensing devices capable of delivering data in real-time to a remote PC where the data can be analysed or automatically uploaded onto the internet via specifically designed web-enabled software. Project 3 focuses on the development of pH sensitive polymer membranes that change colour in response to spoilage volatiles released by shellfish packed in sealed containers. Field trials performed with the aid of Irish food industries and collaborating Irish research institutes played a major role in obtaining the results for each of the mentioned projects. These include the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork; Galtee Meats, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork; Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) coastal staff and Errigal Iasc, Carrick, Co. Donegal. The following thesis gives a detailed account of the recent challenges faced by the Irish food sector including the detection of poor quality pig meat, traceability and temperature control within the fishing industry and methods to evaluate seafood spoilage. The research activities carried out to overcome such challenges are discussed including the potential impact on the Irish food industry