Commercial farmers’ strategies to control water resources in South Africa: an empirical view of reform

This article shows how large-scale commercial farmers, individually and collectively, are responding to land and water reform processes in the Thukela River basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. With a high degree of innovative agency, commercial farmers have effectively executed four strategies, enabling them to adapt and use their access to resources to neutralize multiple water reform efforts that once promised to be catalysts for inclusive change in the post-apartheid era. It is likely that policy alone will not facilitate the envisioned transformation, if local practices are not sufficiently understood and anticipated by the governmental officials charged with the implementation of water reform processes.     

Survival of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 on inoculated almond kernels in hot water treatments

Almonds are blanched by exposure to hot water or steam-injected water to remove the pellicle (skin) from the kernel. This study evaluated the survival of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30, Salmonella Senftenberg 775W and Enterococcus faecalis on whole raw almond kernels exposed to hot water. Whole, inoculated (7 to 9 log CFU/g) Nonpareil almonds (40 g) were submerged in 25 L of water maintained at 60, 70, 80 and 88 °C. Almonds were heated for up to 12 min, drained for 2 s, and transferred to 80 mL of cold (4 °C) tryptic soy broth. Almonds in broth were stomached at high speed for 2 min, serially diluted, plated onto tryptic soy and bismuth sulfite agars (Salmonella) or bile esculin agar (Enterococcus) and incubated at 37 °C for 24 and 48 h, respectively. D values of 2.6, 1.2, 0.75 and 0.39 min were calculated for exposure of S. Enteritidis PT 30 to water at 60, 70, 80 and 88 °C, respectively; the calculated z value was 35 C°. D values determined for Salmonella Senftenberg 775W and E. faecalis at 88 °C were 0.37 and 0.36 min, respectively. Neither Salmonella serovar could be recovered by enrichment of 1-g samples after almonds inoculated at 5 log CFU/g were heated at 88 °C for 2 min. These data will be useful to validate almond industry blanching processes.     

Comparing GC–MS,HPLC and H NMR analysis of beef longissimus dorsi tissue extracts to determine the effect of suspension technique and ageing

Beef longissimus dorsi muscle samples matured over a 21 day period were analysed using three different analytical techniques; ¹H NMR, GC–MS and HPLC. The data from the three experimental techniques were correlated with each other to determine if the results were statistically similar to each other. From our analysis we determined that the metabolites measured using ¹H NMR were statistically similar to the compounds quantified using the chromatography techniques (p < 0.001). In addition, using PCA, we were able to show that different metabolites, measured using the various analytical techniques produced very similar scores and loadings plots for all the analysis and extraction techniques undertaken across the 21 day time domain. Using a combination of these three different techniques provides a unique and holistic insight into the biochemistry behind the conversion of muscle to meat which would not be possible using any single technique alone.     

Use of polymers for taste-masking pediatric drug products

Many drugs are bitter and overcoming this bitter taste is a major barrier in developing a successful product, especially for pediatric patients. Approaches to mask taste include changing taste perception, creating a physical barrier to separate the drug from interacting with taste buds, and changing drug solubility. This review is focused on polymers and the different ways these materials are used to achieve taste masking. Attention is given to systems that are easily swallowed, as swallowability is another concern in developing palatable products for pediatrics. Variables that should be considered when selecting a taste-masking approach are also presented.     

Calotype portraits of Elizabeth Rigby by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson

Abstract

Elizabeth Rigby, Lady Eastlake, is described in the Dictionary of National Biography as a ‘typical English “grande dame”, serene and easy in manner, intellectual and courageous, impervious to bores, highly esteemed, and looked up to in the best society in London’¹. Wife of Sir Charles Eastlake, artist, connoisseur, and Director of the National Gallery in London, she is remembered by posterity primarily as her husband's companion and confidante. Elizabeth's own accomplishments were considerable, however, and she had established a reputation as a formidable blue-stocking before she married Eastlake at the age of 39.     

Utilizing identity-by-descent probabilities for genetic fine-mapping in population based samples, via spatial smoothing of haplotype effects

Genetic fine mapping can be performed by exploiting the notion that haplotypes that are structurally similar in the neighbourhood of a disease predisposing locus are more likely to harbour the same susceptibility allele. Within the framework of Generalized Linear Mixed Models this can be formalized using spatial smoothing models, i.e. inducing a covariance structure for the haplotype risk parameters, such that risks associated with structurally similar haplotypes are dependent. In a Bayesian procedure a local similarity measure is calculated for each update of the presumed disease locus. Thus, the disease locus is searched as the place where the similarity structure produces risk parameters that can best discriminate between cases and controls.From a population genetic perspective the use of an identity-by-descent based similarity metric is theoretically motivated. This approach is then compared to other more intuitively motivated models and other similarity measures based on identity-by-state, suggested in the literature.     

Spanish Content on Hospital Websites: An Analysis of U.S. Hospitals' in Concentrated Latino Communities

This study explores the nature and extent of Spanish language translation of hospital websites. A quantitative content analysis of 121 U.S. hospital websites located in Hispanic communities was conducted. Results indicate that a significant number of U.S. hospitals fail on their websites to offer equal content for Spanish language users. The study also examines several factors potentially associated with the incidence of website translation. First, organizational factors such as hospital size, ownership type and formal statements of diversity commitment are investigated. Second, demographic factors such as county population size and Hispanic population size are also considered. Hispanics' use of the Internet, the digital divide, culture's impact on Internet use, and eHealth provide a background for discussion of the findings.     

Attribute Charts for Monitoring the Mean Vector of Bivariate Processes

This article proposes two Shewhart charts, denoted np_xy and np_w charts, which use attribute inspection to control the mean vector (μ_x; μ_y)′ of bivariate processes. The units of the sample are classified as first‐class, second‐class, or third‐class units, according to discriminate limits and the values of their two quality characteristics, X and Y. When the np_xy chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is M = N₁ + N₂, where N₁ and N₂ are the number of sample units with a second‐class and third‐class classification, respectively. When the np_w chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is W = N₁ + 2N₂. We assume that the quality characteristics X and Y follow a bivariate normal distribution and that the assignable cause shifts the mean vector without changing the covariance matrix. In general, the synthetic np_xy and np_w charts require twice larger samples to outperform the T² chart. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconceptualizing Architectural Education for a More Diverse Future: Perceptions and Visions of Architectural Students

This article argues that the field of architecture must engage diversity in two senses of the word simultaneously: both in terms of its demographic composition and in terms of the substantive domain of architecture. Increasing the participation of women and minorities in the field should also mean increasing the substantive domain of the profession, and vice versa. We substantiate this argument within the realm of architectural education through a research study involving nearly 650 students at six different architecture schools. The purpose of the study was to investigate the ways in which both the content and the form of architectural education might impede or support the progress of women and minority students. In particular, we focus on three aspects of the “hidden curriculum”: studio pedagogy; social dynamics; and ideals and expectations. We find that women and members of some ethnic groups (particularly African-Americans and Latinos) do tend to experience the social dynamics and pedagogical practices of their educational milieu differently, often more negatively, than their male or majority counterparts. Our findings also reveal that many women and minorities feel that their career goals may be mismatched with the profession as it is currently defined. To the extent that our school programs ignore the dynamics of the hidden curriculum, not only might we be turning away potentially talented students, but we might be crippling a profession that must operate in a rapidly changing cultural and economic context. In that regard, we believe that all students will benefit from a collective reassessment of architecture's pedagogical conventions and of the definitional scope of the field.     

Wax Ester Rich Oil From The Marine Crustacean,Calanus finmarchicus,is a Bioavailable Source of EPA and DHA for Human Consumption

Oil from the marine copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, which contains >86 % of fatty acids present as wax esters, is a novel source of n‐3 fatty acids for human consumption. In a randomized, two‐period crossover study, 18 healthy adults consumed 8 capsules providing 4 g of Calanus^® Oil supplying a total of 260 mg EPA and 156 mg DHA primarily as wax esters, or 1 capsule of Lovaza^® providing 465 mg EPA and 375 mg DHA as ethyl esters, each with an EPA‐ and DHA‐free breakfast. Plasma EPA and DHA were measured over a 72 h period (t = 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h). The positive incremental area under the curve over the 72 h test period (iAUC_{0‐72 h}) for both EPA and DHA was significantly different from zero (p < 0.0001) in both test conditions, with similar findings for the iAUC_{0–24 h} and iAUC_{0–48 h}, indicating the fatty acids were absorbed. There was no difference in the plasma iAUC_{0–72 h} for EPA + DHA, or DHA individually, in response to Calanus Oil vs the ethyl ester condition; however, the iAUC_{0–48 h} and iAUC_{0–72 h} for plasma EPA in response to Calanus Oil were both significantly increased relative to the ethyl ester condition (iAUC_{0–48 h}: 381 ± 31 vs 259 ± 39 μg*h/mL, p = 0.026; iAUC_{0‐72 h}: 514 ± 47 vs 313 ± 49 μg*h/mL, p = 0.009). These data demonstrate a novel wax ester rich marine oil is a suitable alternative source of EPA and DHA for human consumption.