Jumping on the omega-3 bandwagon : distinguishing the role of long-chain and short-chain omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) are almost unanimously recognized for their health benefits, while only limited evidence of any health benefit is currently available specifically for the main precursor of these fatty acids, namely α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3). However, both the n-3 LC-PUFA and the short-chain C18 PUFA (i.e., ALA) are commonly referred to as “omega-3” fatty acids, and it is difficult for consumers to recognize this difference. A current gap of many food labelling legislations worldwide allow products containing only ALA and without n-3 LC-PUFA to be marketed as “omega-3 source” and this misleading information can negatively impact the ability of consumers to choose more healthy diets. Within the context of the documented nutritional and health promoting roles of omega-3 fatty acids, we briefly review the different metabolic fates of dietary ALA and n-3 LC-PUFA. We also review food sources rich in n-3 LC-PUFA, some characteristics of LC-PUFA and current industry and regulatory trends. A further objective is to present a case for regulatory bodies to clearly distinguish food products containing only ALA from foods containing n-3 LC-PUFA. Such information, when available, would then avoid misleading information and empower consumers to make a more informed choice in their food purchasing behavior.

Regulatory theory insights into the past, present and future of general purpose water accounting standard setting

Purpose – Accounting and water industry experts are developing general-purpose water accounting (GPWA) to report information about water and rights to water. The system has the potential to affect water policies, pricing and management, and investment and other decisions that are affected by GPWA report users' understanding of water risks faced by an entity. It may also affect financial returns to accounting and auditing firms and firms in water industries. In this paper the authors aim to examine the roles of the accounting profession, water industries and other stakeholders in governing GPWA. Recognising that the fate of GPWA depends partly upon regulatory power and economics, they seek to apply regulatory theories that explain financial accounting standards development to speculate about the national and international future of GPWA.

Design/methodology/approach – Official documents, internal Water Accounting Standards Board documents and unstructured interviews underpin the authors' analysis.

Findings – The authors speculate about the benefits that might accrue to various stakeholder groups from capturing the GPWA standard-setting process. They also suggest that internationally, water industries may dominate early GPWA standards development in the public interest and that regulatory capture by accounting or water industry professionals will not necessarily conflict with public interest benefits.

Practical implications – Accounting for water can affect allocations of environmental, economic, social and other resources; also, accounting and water industry professional standing and revenues. In this paper the authors identify factors influencing GPWA standards and standard-setting institutional arrangements, and thereby these resource allocations. The paper generates an awareness of GPWA's emergence and practical implications.

Originality/value – This is an early study to investigate water accounting standard-setting regulatory influences and their impact.

Readiness for interprofessional learning : a cross-faculty comparison between architecture and occupational therapy students

Health and wellbeing includes a need for built environments to accommodate and be inclusive of the broadest range of people and a corresponding need to ensure graduates are ready to engage in this field of interprofessional and inter-industry practise. All too often, interprofessional education in higher education is neglected with a tendency towards educational silos, particularly at a cross-faculty level. This paper reports on an initiative that embedded universal design practice education into the curricula of first year architecture and third year occupational therapy students and evaluated the impact on students’ readiness for interprofessional learning. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was given to students at the beginning and end of the semester during which students participated in a variety of online and face-to-face curriculum initiatives. Results showed that at the beginning of semester, occupational therapy students were significantly more positive about interprofessional learning than their architecture counterparts. Post-results showed that this trend continued but that occupational therapy students became less positive on some items after the interprofessional learning experience. This study provides insights into the interprofessional learning experiences of a group of students who have not previously been studied within the available literature.

Any one of these boat people could be a terrorist for all we know! Media representations and public perceptions of ‘boat people’ arrivals in Australia

In April 2009 a boat (named the ‘SIEV 36’ by the Australian Navy) carrying 49 asylum seekers exploded off the north coast of Australia. Media and public debate about Australia’s responsibility to individuals seeking asylum by boat was instantaneous. This paper investigates the media representation of the ‘SIEV 36’ incident and the public responses to media reports through online news fora. 

Thermosets : structure, properties and applications

Structure-property relationships of thermosets are important in the manufacture and application of materials. Understanding the desired properties of a material in a certain application is related to the material's structure and vice versa. The way in which the material is processed is also a determinant of the structure and resulting properties. Many books have been written about the chemistry of thermosets but with only brief consideration of structure-property relationships. This book focuses on how the structure and properties of a range of thermosets affect the final material and applications. It is composed of two parts: I Structure and properties of thermosets and II Applications of thermosets. Part I starts with a comprehensive overview of thermosets covering structure, properties and processing for advanced applications, followed by four chapters addressing mechanical properties, thermal properties, rheology, and nanostructures and toughening. The applications presented in Part II range from the use of thermosets in the building and construction industry to aerospace applications, electrical applications, thermoset adhesives and insulation materials in appliances and other applications. We hope that this book will not only be a useful textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, but also a concise reference for researchers in academia and engineers in related industries. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the staff of Woodhead Publishing Limited, especially Kathryn Picking who invited me to edit this book and helped develop the initial content, also Adam Hooper, Helen Bradley, Emily Cole, Francis Dodds and Rachel Cox for their assistance in many ways during the preparation of the manuscript. Finally, I wish to express my appreciation and respects to all the contributors for their commitment, patience and pleasant cooperation.

An integrated approach to shape and topology optimisation of mechanical structures

In mechanical engineering, simulation and optimisation methods have become indispensable. The thesis looks into a novel way to combine shape and topology optimisation approaches. The proposed method - named IST for Integrated Shape And Topology Optimisation - proves to be beneficial for many application in the automotive and aerospace industry.

The role of sweet taste in satiation and satiety

Increased energy consumption, especially increased consumption of sweet energy-dense food, is thought to be one of the main contributors to the escalating rates in overweight individuals and obesity globally. The individual's ability to detect or sense sweetness in the oral cavity is thought to be one of many factors influencing food acceptance, and therefore, taste may play an essential role in modulating food acceptance and/or energy intake. Emerging evidence now suggests that the sweet taste signaling mechanisms identified in the oral cavity also operate in the gastrointestinal system and may influence the development of satiety. Understanding the individual differences in detecting sweetness in both the oral and gastrointestinal system towards both caloric sugar and high intensity sweetener and the functional role of the sweet taste system may be important in understanding the reasons for excess energy intake. This review will summarize evidence of possible associations between the sweet taste mechanisms within the oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract and the brain systems towards both caloric sugar and high intensity sweetener and sweet taste function, which may influence satiation, satiety and, perhaps, predisposition to being overweight and obesity.

Complex coacervation with whey protein isolate and gum arabic for the microencapsulation of omega-3 rich tuna oil.

Tuna oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids was microencapsulated in whey protein isolate (WPI)-gum arabic (GA) complex coacervates, and subsequently dried using spray and freeze drying to produce solid microcapsules. The oxidative stability, oil microencapsulation efficiency, surface oil and morphology of these solid microcapsules were determined. The complex coacervation process between WPI and GA was optimised in terms of pH, and WPI-to-GA ratio, using zeta potential, turbidity, and morphology of the microcapsules. The optimum pH and WPI-to-GA ratio for complex coacervation was found to be 3.75 and 3 : 1, respectively. The spray dried solid microcapsules had better stability against oxidation, higher oil microencapsulation efficiency and lower surface oil content compared to the freeze dried microcapsules. The surface of the spray dried microcapsules did not show microscopic pores while the surface of the freeze dried microcapsules was more porous. This study suggests that solid microcapsules of omega-3 rich oils can be produced using WPI-GA complex coacervates followed by spray drying and these microcapsules can be quite stable against oxidation. These microcapsules can have many potential applications in the functional food and nutraceuticals industry.

Nutritional quality, labelling and promotion of breakfast cereals on the New Zealand market

Breakfast cereals substantially contribute to daily energy and nutrient intakes among children. In New Zealand, new regulations are being implemented to restrict nutrition and health claims to products that meet certain 'healthy' criteria. This study investigated the difference in nutritional quality, labelling and promotion between 'healthy' and 'less healthy' breakfast cereals, and between breakfast cereals intended for children compared with other breakfast cereals on the New Zealand market. The cross-sectional data collection involved taking pictures of the nutrition information panel (NIP) and front-of pack (FoP) for all breakfast cereals (n = 247) at two major supermarkets in Auckland in 2013. A nutrient profiling tool was used to classify products into 'healthy'/'less healthy'. In total 26% of cereals did not meet the 'healthy' criteria. 'Less healthy' cereals were significantly higher in energy density, sugar and sodium content and lower in protein and fibre content compared with 'healthy' cereals. Significantly more nutrition claims (75%) and health claims (89%) featured on 'healthy' compared with 'less healthy' cereals. On the 'less healthy' cereals, nutrition claims (65%) were more predominant than health claims (17%). Of the 52 products displaying promotional characters, 48% were for 'cereals for kids', and of those, 72% featured on 'less healthy' cereals. In conclusion, most breakfast cereals met the 'healthy' criteria; however, 'cereals for kids' were 'less healthy' and displayed more promotional characters than other cereal categories. Policy recommendations include: food composition targets set or endorsed by government, strengthening and enforcing current regulations on health and nutrition claims, considering the application of nutrient profiling for nutrition claims in addition to health claims, introducing an interpretative FoP labelling system and restricting the use of promotional characters on 'less healthy' breakfast cereals.

Suitability of magnetic nanoparticle immobilised cellulases in enhancing enzymatic saccharification of pretreated hemp biomass

Previous research focused on pretreatment of biomass, production of fermentable sugars and their consumption to produce ethanol. The main goal of the work was to economise the production process cost of fermentable sugars. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to investigate enzyme hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose and hemp hurds (natural cellulosic substrate) using free and immobilised enzymes. Cellulase from Trichoderma reesei was immobilised on an activated magnetic support by covalent binding and its activity was compared with that of the free enzyme to hydrolyse microcrystalline cellulose and hemp hurds on the basis of thermostability and reusability.

Homogeneous isolation of nanocelluloses by controlling the shearing force and pressure in microenvironment

Nanocelluloses were prepared from sugarcane bagasse celluloses by dynamic high pressure microfluidization (DHPM), aiming at achieving a homogeneous isolation through the controlling of shearing force and pressure within a microenvironment. In the DHPM process, the homogeneous cellulose solution passed through chambers at a higher pressure in fewer cycles, compared with the high pressure homogenization (HPH) process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that entangled network structures of celluloses were well dispersed in the microenvironment, which provided proper shearing forces and pressure to fracture the hydrogen bonds. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC), CP/MAS 13C NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) measurements suggested that intra-molecular hydrogen bonds were maintained. These nanocelluloses of smaller particle size, good dispersion and lower thermal stability will have great potential to be applied in electronics devices, electrochemistry, medicine, and package and printing industry. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Fish assemblages associated with oil industry structures on the continental shelf of north-western Australia

This study provides the first assessment of fish associations with oil and gas structures located in deep water (85-175 m) on Australia's north-west continental shelf, using rare oil industry video footage obtained from remotely operated vehicles. A diverse range of taxa were observed associating with the structures, including reef-dependent species and transient pelagic species. Ten commercially fished species were observed, the most abundant of which was Lutjanus argentimaculatus, with an estimated biomass for the two deepest structures (Goodwyn and Echo) of 109 kg.

Demographic and psychographic associations of consumer intentions to purchase healthier food products

Objective: This study investigated the associations of nutrition concerns, demographics, universalism (community oriented) values, perceived control over personal health and food buying, and perceived influence over the food system with intentions to purchase low fat, sugar and salt (LFSS) food products. Methods: A national online survey of 2204 Australian consumers administered in November 2011. Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations of LFSS purchasing intentions with demographic, values, perceived control, and influence factors. Results: Nutrition concern, perceived influence over the food system, and universalism values were key predictors of LFSS purchasing intentions. Almost two thirds (64.6%) of the variance associated with LFSS purchasing was explained by the structural equation model. Conclusion: Communication programs which focus on universalism values, nutrition concern and perceived influence over the food system are likely to increase LFSS purchasing and perhaps reduce the demand for energy dense, nutrient poor foods.

Developing a collaborative model of industry feedback for work placement of business students

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a signature feature of study in many higher education institutions. In business degrees, industry feedback is recognized as an integral part of the assessment of WIL, yet the role played by industry in appraising student performance in the workplace has not been clearly defined. Based on interviews with industry supervisors and academic mentors, this paper addresses the integration of academic and industry supervisor assessment practices designed to maximize student learning outcomes and capture the depth of the learning experiences during a work placement. A model of industry feedback was developed to incorporate planned assessment practices that achieve the learning outcomes agreed to at the start of the placement by all stakeholders: the student, the academic mentor and the industry supervisor.

Sociocultural factors and perceptions associated with type 2 diabetes among sub-Saharan African migrants in Melbourne, Victoria

Aim: To explore how non-diabetic sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Melbourne, construct and interpret type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its risk factors and to provide an evidence-based theoretical framework to inform community-based prevention programs. Methods: Seven focus group discussions (two with women only, two with men only and three of mixed gender) were carried out among Ghanaian, Zimbabwean, Sudanese and Burundian migrants living in Melbourne (n = 61; age range: 18 to 61 years). Results: Three distinct themes emerged: not paying much attention to the threat of T2DM and othering; T2DM being outside the individuals' control; and entrapment within rich industrialised culture and lifestyle. Participants perceived T2DM to be a disease of the wealthy caused by intake of too much sugar and sedentary behaviour, which were particularly compounded by lifestyle-related changes upon migration to an industrialised country. However, they also perceived T2DM to be associated with bad luck. Conclusions: Culturally competent prevention and education programs are needed to increase health literacy and dispel religious and cultural myths about T2DM among sub-Saharan African migrants.