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Abstract Resistant starch from plantain (Macho Musa paradisiaca L.) and banana (Roatan Musa sapientum L.) varieties was chemically modified by crosslinking using epichlorohydrin (EPI). These modified starches were subjected to in vitro digestibility studies using the Englyst method to determine the content of rapidly digestible starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS). The thermal stability of these crosslinked starches was evaluated by gelatinization and retrogradation analyses, and their enthalpies were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Additionally, their functional properties were evaluated. Chemical modification with EPI significantly increased the RS content in both starch varieties compared to that in native starch. The enthalpy and gelatinization temperature decreased in the EPI-modified starches of both varieties, indicating lower thermal stability during the gelatinization process compared to that of native starch. In general, both varieties of crosslinked plantain starch had lower viscosity (0.43 Pa*s) than did native starch (0.58 Pa*s). The results indicates that this starch crosslinked with EPI constitutes an alternative for use in food for people with health problems such as high cholesterol levels or postprandial insulin concentrations. Graphical Abstract

South Africa's National Senior Certificate examination system was introduced in 2008 as a single national examination system, in order to facilitate fair and standardised assessment and to provide all learners with an equal chance of access to higher education. However, limited research has been done to investigate the discrimination power of the actual examination items and the spread difficulty level for learners from different school quintile types. The purpose of the study reported on here was to investigate differential performance of learners in the items of the 2009 National Senior Certificate mathematics examination. The dataset used in this study was from the Western Cape (WC) Education Department. From the analysis, the results show that the discrimination power of the different examination questions was not identical across different school quintiles. Further investigation of the data reflects a considerable range of category difficulty levels, with higher (above average) ability levels being tested for learners in the quintile 1 to quintile 4 schools, while only learners with average abilities were being tested in the quintile 5 and independent schools.

Mercury is a toxic pollutant that poses risks for the human population, mainly by eating contaminated fish. Mercury is released into the atmosphere from a variety of anthropogenic activities, with levels of emissions and under policy controls that largely vary across the world, leading thus to different relative contributions to the environmental matrices. Establishing the exact sources of this contaminant in the environment is crucial to optimising the policies aimed at mitigating the exposure risks for specific populations or ecosystems. In this study, we modelled, for the first time, the fingerprint of mercury anthropogenic emissions, jointly released by source-sectors (11) and source-regions (13), on the deposition over (19) FAO fishery zones, and on the FAO official fishery productions worldwide over the 2012–2021 decade. Using mercury anthropogenic emissions for 2012 from EDGAR, East Asia and ”Artisanal and Small scale Gold Mining” result the source-region and the source-sector, respectively, that contribute the most to the mercury deposition over all the FAO fishery zones. The only exception applies for the FAO fishery zone 37, the Mediterranean Sea, where the ”Industrial Combustion” from the closest Europe is the pair region-sector whose joint contribution is the greatest. When normalised to the overall fishery production worldwide, representing the global fish consumption, the anthropogenic mercury fingerprint showed a similar general pattern, however with notable differences, amplifying the relative contributions of all source-sectors from East Asia and attenuating the relative contributions of the regions in the Southern Hemisphere. This fingerprint further changes when the fish consumption in countries, classified by the World Bank as having different incomes, is considered. These results demonstrate that the same anthropogenic mercury deposited on any fishery zone actually affects in a different way the different population segments worldwide. This study aims to urge the science community as well as the policy makers to use a measure that better represents the mercury hazard for human health. Further, we hope that this study, using nomenclatures that are largely used on final shelf-product, could increase the people’s awareness regarding the products they consume.

Droughts reduce habitat and fragment the continuity of running water systems producing lasting effects on sediment biota and affecting density and biomass of algae. When droughts occur, the survival of algae and cyanobacteria of the biofilm depends on different alternatives to overcome the stress. In Pampean streams, periods of low flow causing desiccation stress in the biofilm may be linked to El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon, and to water management practices (irrigation and extraction), that can reduce stream base flows for prolonged periods, reducing wetted area and dewatering the stream bed. The aim of this study was to determine the response of epipelic algae (analyzed by greater algal groups Cyanobacteria, Euglenophyta, Dinoflagellates, Green Algae, Diatoms) to desiccation as a disturbance, in streams without frequent periods of drought. First, we studied the in situ vertical distribution of epipelic algae in stream sediment during the drought period as a refuge strategy, along with the vertical distribution of sediment humidity in 10 cm sediment corers divided in 6 segments at depths 0-1 cm (uppermost layer), 1-2 cm, 2-3 cm, 3-4 cm, 4-5 cm and 5-10 cm. Secondly, we analyzed the recolonization patterns of the epipelic algal assemblage after the drought by studying the succession of autotrophic organisms, in order to better understand the role of sediments as a source of algae populations. For this, 2 cm deep corers were placed with water in microcosms and monitored during 2 weeks. Our results indicate that when the streams are affected by a severe drought, algae and cyanobacteria survive; this could be related with the moisture content of the sediment. Besides, after hydratation of the sediment, the community rapidly increased its density. Cyanobacteria were the most resistant group to desiccation and the one who had the faster reaction to hydratation.

South Africa’s National Senior Certificate examination system was introduced in 2008 as a single national examination system, in order to facilitate fair and standardised assessment and to provide all learners with an equal chance of access to higher education. However, limited research has been done to investigate the discrimination power of the actual examination items and the spread difficulty level for learners from different school quintile types. The purpose of the study reported on here was to investigate differential performance of learners in the items of the 2009 National Senior Certificate mathematics examination. The dataset used in this study was from the Western Cape (WC) Education Department. From the analysis, the results show that the discrimination power of the different examination questions was not identical across different school quintiles. Further investigation of the data reflects a considerable range of category difficulty levels, with higher (above average) ability levels being tested for learners in the quintile 1 to quintile 4 schools, while only learners with average abilities were being tested in the quintile 5 and independent schools.

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Las enfermedades mentales representan uno de los mayores problemas de salud pública. El consumo de alimentos ricos en antioxidantes como, frutas y verduras puede disminuir los factores de riesgo. Objetivo. Analizar la ingesta dietética y el riesgo de enfermedades mentales en adultos peruanos. Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio transversal en 393 adultos peruanos, provenientes de las tres regiones del país (costa, sierra y selva). Los datos sociodemográficos, antropométricos se obtuvieron por auto reporte mediante una ficha de registro y el riesgo de enfermedades mentales se determinó con el Cuestionario de Salud General-12 (GHQ-12). Se analizaron los datos mediante el software estadístico IBM SPSS, versión 26. Se utilizó la prueba Chi-cuadrado, considerando un nivel de significancia del 5 %. Resultados. Los participantes que informaron riesgo y presencia de enfermedades mentales reportaron un consumo inadecuado de frutas, verduras y grasas saludables. El consumo adecuado de cereales integrales, frutas y verduras fue significativamente mayor en las mujeres (p

The present study identified herbal supplement usage patterns in Metro Cebu and comprehensively examined consumer education and behavior regarding these supplements. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from March-July 2023 involving 316 respondents, selected through purposive sampling. The study collected data on demographic characteristics, usage patterns, sources of information, and potential hesitations related to herbal supplement use. Results indicate that the typical Metro Cebu herbal supplement user is more likely to be female, possess higher education, earn above the minimum wage, and primarily reside in Cebu City (n = 202, 63.9%). Usage of herbal supplements is driven by proactive health behaviors often influenced by social networks. Respondents generally hold a positive view of herbal supplement use, particularly those who consume them daily, attributing their preference to natural products, and their perceived cost-effectiveness and potential health benefits compared to conventional medicines. The following subgroups also tend to have more positive views about herbal supplements: [a] older age, [b] employed, [c] at a lower level of education, [d] have known illnesses, and [e] have used the product for 1-5 yr. While respondents actively verify information (n = 243, 76.9%) and inform healthcare providers (n = 180, 57%) about their supplement use, the extent to which they rely on healthcare professionals and scientific sources for guidance in shaping their behavior and product choices is limited. The study underscores the need for enhanced guidance and surveillance from healthcare providers. Furthermore, it highlights a regulatory gap in the governing framework for herbal supplement use and marketing, emphasizing the importance of revisiting or introducing regulations and guidelines to ensure safe and informed consumption practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Subjective social status (SSS, perception of social position relative to a frame of reference) has been associated with physical, mental and socio-emotional wellbeing. However, these associations may be susceptible to unmeasured confounding by life course objective socio-economic position (SEP; such as wealth, education and employment) and life satisfaction. Purpose: To estimate the association of position on ladders of perceived community respect and perceived economic status with weight, distress and wellbeing, independent of objective SEP in cohorts from three low and middle-income countries. Methods: We used data from birth cohorts in Guatemala (n = 1258), Philippines (n = 1323) and South Africa (n = 1393). We estimated the association of perceived community respect and perceived economic status with body mass index (kg/m2), the World Health Organization's Self-Reported Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) for psychological distress, and Lyubomirsky's Subjective Happiness Scale. We estimated these associations using robust linear regression models adjusting for indicators of life course objective SEP, early life characteristics, adult covariates, and life satisfaction. Results: Participants in South Africa (age 27-28y) rated themselves higher on average for both the respect (7 vs 5 in Guatemala and 6 in Philippines) and economic (5 vs 3 in Guatemala and 4 in Philippines) ladder measures. Position on neither community respect nor economic ladders were associated with BMI or psychological distress. Higher position on community respect (Guatemala: 0.03, 95%CI: 0.01, 0.04; Philippines: 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.05; South Africa: 0.07, 95%CI: 0.04, 0.09) and economic (Guatemala: 0.02, 95%CI: 0, 0.04; Philippines: 0.04, 95%CI: 0.02, 0.07; South Africa: 0.07, 95%CI: 0.04, 0.10) ladders were associated with greater happiness. Conclusions: Subjective social status showed small but consistent associations with happiness in birth cohorts independent of life-course SEP.

Capital markets are regarded as “the barometer” of economic activity at the national level, but among emerging markets, the position of this segment in the economy is far from ideal. The answers that we try to offer are concerning the contribution of capital markets to the economic welfare of nations in transition from Central and Eastern Europe, using Granger causality tests. Our findings highlight that in this geographical area, the relation between capital markets and economic growth is a bidirectional one. However, although both the establishment of stock exchanges and their liberalization represented governments’ strategy of economic development, their objective was not fully achieved. Institutional transformations are required in order to attract foreign investors.

Se investigó el efecto de un recubrimiento biodegradable, formulado con un terpeno natural de origen vegetal, como alternativa para conservar cítricos en postcosecha. Para este estudio se realizaron dos ensayos con los siguientes objetivos: evaluación del efecto protector de un recubrimiento terpénico en condiciones controladas de almacenamiento y selección del método de aplicación más adecuado para recubrir la fruta. En el primer caso, el ensayo se efectuó sobre naranjas Valencia Late, cosechas 2003 -2004, y los parámetros analizados fueron: porcentaje de deshidratación, porcentaje de deformación, índice de madurez y aceptabilidad global. En el segundo caso, se emplearon naranjas Washington Navel cosecha 2005 y los métodos de aplicación ensayados para recubrir la fruta fueron: inmersión, pulverizado manual y aplicación convencional. Se analizaron las variables: porcentaje de deshidratación, porcentaje de deformación y calidad interna. De los resultados logrados se puede señalar que el recubrimiento terpénico aplicado por pulverización manual sobre naranjas tendría un efecto beneficioso para la conservación postcosecha.

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O artigo propõe uma leitura sistêmica do trabalho e dos processos de trabalho institucionais que intervêm nos esquemas de exclusão social. Centra-se especificamente no processo de trabalho institucional dentro de um hospital de saúde mental, propondo uma analogia com os das fábricas. O trabalho de enfermaria e sua história possibilitam, como modelo paradigmático, a releitura da história do trabalhador em geral, uma vez que nessa área eles atuam sobre os companheiros que se encontram em processo de degradação social. As dimensões abordadas a partir desse eixo são: a intervenção institucional e os processos de trabalho; o macroprocesso de exclusão/extinção social; e a epistemologia da co-produção de pesquisa para a análise dos processos sociais de trabalho. Nossa abordagem gnosiológica baseia-se na pesquisa co-produzida, a qual se constitui de dispositivos de intervenção transdisciplinares, entrevistas semi-estruturadas, histórias de vida focalizadas, observações de campo, relatos de co-pesquisadores trabalhadores e intertextos.The article proposes a systematic reading of work and the institutional work processes involved in patterns of social exclusion. It specifically centres on the institutional work process in a mental health hospital, proposing an analogy with the process of factory work. As a paradigmatic model, nursing work and its history enable a re-reading of the history of workers in general, since in this area workers are dealing first-hand with comrades who find themselves in a process of social degradation. The dimensions approached from this angle include: institutional intervention and work processes; the macro-processes of social exclusion/extinction; the epistemology and co-production of research for the analysis of the social processes of work. Our gnosological approach is based on co-produced research, formed by transdisciplinary intervention devices, semi-structured interviews, focused life histories, field observations, accounts from co-researcher workers and intertexts.