The Mediterranean diet : health, science and society

Mariette Gerber and Richard Hoffman, ‘The Mediterranean Diet: health, science and society’, British Journal of Nutrition, Vol 113(S2): S4-S10, July 2015 COPYRIGHT: © The Authors 2015 The final, definitive version of this paper is available online via DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114514003912 Published by Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.The Mediterranean diet (MD) emerged as a healthy food regimen long before it could be recognised which nutrients or foods were responsible for its observed benefits, and it was only in the middle of the last century that the first scientific approach ‘The Seven Countries Study’ appeared. Epidemiological and anthropological studies of the MD converged, first by investigating at single nutrients or foods, then by adopting the more holistic approach of dietary patterns (DP), and now with a molecular approach. These studies resulted in convincing evidence that a MD decreases the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality and incidence. A risk reduction of developing type 2 diabetes is probable. Evidence is less stringent for other metabolic diseases and all cancers but from possible to probable for some cancer sites. Although DP showed that the MD has to be considered in its totality, olive oil could have a specific role. Lifestyle factors such as physical activity for energy balance, outdoor life for vitamin D synthesis and conviviality are also probably partly responsible for the health benefits. The MD is a lifestyle well suited for coping not only with personal health but also with wider societal concerns in relation to environment, public health and economyPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

Going Straight: The Politics of Time and Space in David Eldridge’s Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness

Amelia Howe Kritzer states that a contemporary British play is commonly thought of as political if it presents "a political issue or comments on what is already perceived as a political issue" (10). Since 1989, however, the economic and political system in the UK has become increasingly monologic. In such a monologic political system, Shavian dialogic forms of political theatre, which present a dialectical discussion of a political issue, lose their efficacy. As a result, some British playwrights have moved toward more interventionist strategies of political engagement, which involve our lived experience of social structures through their dramaturgy. These plays re-order normative representations of social structures, of offering a symbolic re-ordering of social structures within their form. As such, their form represents what Adorno terms, "and analogy of that other condition which should be" (194). David Harvey argues that in late capitalist society, our experience of time and space has become increasingly compressed. Consequently, our temporary axis of succession, which constitutes the fundamental organisation of Shavian drama, no longer reflects our lived experience of time in the world outside the theatre. Therefore, plays that re-order structures of time and space have political efficacy in that they expose a gap between representations of time and space as linear and concrete and our lived experience of time and space as compressed. This essay argues that David Eldridge's 'Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness' articulates a complete breakdown in the temporal axis of succession in its structure. Its dramaturgy reflects the experience of space-time compression. Thus, it is a highly political play, not on the basis of its content, but in terms of the way in which its structure mediates and negotiates our lived experience of social structures under the pressures of late capitalism

Complex Dynamics of a Fluorinated Vinylidene Cyanide Copolymer Highlighted by Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy

The complex dynamics of a nearly alternating copolymer of vinylidene cyanide (1,1-dicyanoethylene, VCN) with 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA), including two alpha-relaxations with diverging time scale in the glass transition temperature range, was thoroughly characterized by dielectric spectroscopy over wide temperature and frequency ranges and analyzed in the frame of the Ngai’s coupling model. The dielectric relaxation strength as well as the glass transition temperature, the temperature dependence of the α-relaxation time, and the corresponding distribution of relaxation times were all larger than those of a reference TFEMA homopolymer, as expected from the introduction of the stiffening VCN units all along the macromolecular chain. The effect of casting solvent and applied poling electric field on the copolymer dielectric strength suggests the onset of local orientational order involving the strong dipoles in the VCN units, a requirement for piezo- and pyroelectricity in amorphous polymer

Nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 micro- and nanoplastics: a first example of their accurate quantification, along with polyester (PET), in wastewater treatment plant sludges

A novel procedure for nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 polyamide (PAs) microplastics (MPs) quantification is described for the first time. The overall procedure, including quantification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), was tested on wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) sludges. The three polymers account for the largest global share of synthetic textile microfibers, being possibly the most common MPs released upon laundering in urban wastewaters. Therefore, measuring their content in WWTP sludges may provide an accurate picture of the potential risks associated with both the inflow of these MPs in natural water bodies and the practice of using WWTP sludges as agricultural soil amendment. The novel procedure involves PAs depolymerization by acid hydrolysis followed by derivatization of the monomers 6-aminohexanoic acid (AHA) and hexamethylene diamine (HMDA) with a fluorophore. Reversed-phase HPLC analysis with fluorescence detection results in high sensitivities for both AHA (LOD = 8.85·10–4 mg/L, LOQ = 3.73·10–3 mg/L) and HMDA (LOD = 2.12·10–4, LOQ = 7.04·10–4 mg/L). PET quantification involves depolymerization, in this case by alkaline hydrolysis, followed by HPLC analysis of its comonomer terephthalic acid. Eight sludge samples from four WWTPs in Italy showed contamination in the 29.3–215.3 ppm and 10.6–134.6 ppm range for nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, respectively, and in the 520–1470 ppm range for PET

Functionalized carbon nanotubes as a filler for dielectric elastomer composites with improved actuation performance

Among the broad class of electro-active polymers, dielectric elastomer actuators represent a rapidly growing technology for electromechanical transduction. In order to further develop this applied science, the high driving voltages currently needed must be reduced. For this purpose, one of the most widely considered approaches is based on making elastomeric composites with highly polarizable fillers in order to increase the dielectric constant while maintaining both low dielectric losses and high-mechanical compliance. In this work, multi-wall carbon nanotubes were first functionalized by grafting either acrylonitrile or diurethane monoacrylate oligomers, and then dispersed into a polyurethane matrix to make dielectric elastomer composites. The procedures for the chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes and proper characterizations of the obtained products are provided in detail. The consequences of the use of chemically modified carbon nanotubes as a filler, in comparison to using unmodified ones, were studied in terms of dielectric, mechanical and electromechanical response. In particular, an increment of the dielectric constant was observed for all composites throughout the investigated frequency spectrum, but only in the cases of modified carbon nanotubes did the loss factor remain almost unchanged with respect to the simple matrix, indicating that conductive percolation paths did not arise in such systems. An effective improvement in the actuation strain was observed for samples loaded with functionalized carbon nanotubes

Aqueous Dispersions of Nanostructured Particles Hybridized with Mono- and Multifunctional POSS Methacrylates: Heterophase Polymerization and Material Properties of the Resulting Latex Films

The synthesis of aqueous dispersions of hybrid acrylic copolymer particles containing either a monofunctional or a multifunctional oligomeric silsesquioxane as a comonomer has been performed by heterophase free radical polymerization. The miniemulsion process allowed to produce stable latexes, as opposed to the less controlled emulsion route. The thermal, mechanical and surface properties of the nanocomposite latex films have been investigated

Effect of Grafted Spiropyran on the Solubility and Film Properties of Photochromic Amylose

Four photochromic spiropyran-amylose (ASP) biobased polymers with different spiropyran (SP) grafting density, DS, ASP(10) (DS = 0.12), ASP(40) and ASP(40)PA(60) (DS = 0.40), and ASP(100) (DS = 0.97), are synthesized through azide-alkyne cycloaddition of an alkynyl-functional SP derivative onto C6-azidated-amylose (AN(3)), where the unconverted azide in ASP(40)PA(60), ASP(100), and the AN(3) precursor are quenched by clicking with propargyl alcohol (PA). All ASPs are poorly soluble in trifluoroethanol, ethanol, and water but soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and hexafluoroisopropanol irrespective of UV irradiation, switching reversibly the grafted SP into zwitterionic merocyanine (MC). Only ASP(10) and ASP(40) are slightly soluble in the low polarity tetrahydrofuran, with ASP(40) showing a marked photochromism and reduction of solubility on SP -> MC switching. The photochromism in solution is preserved in the solid state, although with significant differences between the still relatively fast SP -> MC photoisomerization and the much slower thermal retro-isomerization. The dynamics of both processes, evaluated in a thin spin-coated ASP(100) film and a thicker ASP(40) photoswitchable coating on glass and paper, is more clearly affected than in solution by the grafting density. Switching the nearly apolar SP into the zwitterionic MC does not significantly affect wettability of the slightly hydrophobic ASP(40) coating

A Systematic Study on the Degradation Products Generated from Artificially Aged Microplastics

Most of the analytical studies focused on microplastics (MPs) are based on the detection and identification of the polymers constituting the particles. On the other hand, plastic debris in the environment undergoes chemical and physical degradation processes leading not only to mechanical but also to molecular fragmentation quickly resulting in the formation of leachable, soluble and/or volatile degradation products that are released in the environment. We performed the analysis of reference MPs–polymer micropowders obtained by grinding a set of five polymer types down to final size in the 857–509 μm range, namely high‐ and low‐density polyethylene, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The reference MPs were artificially aged in a solar‐box to investigate their degradation processes by characterizing the aged (photo‐oxidized) MPs and their low molecular weight and/or highly oxidized fraction. For this purpose, the artificially aged MPs were subjected to extraction in polar organic solvents, targeting selective recovery of the low molecular weight fractions generated during the artificial aging. Analysis of the extractable fractions and of the residues was carried out by a multi‐technique approach combining evolved gas analysis–mass spectrometry (EGA–MS), pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS), and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The results provided information on the degradation products formed during accelerated aging. Up to 18 wt% of extractable, low molecular weight fraction was recovered from the photo‐aged MPs, depending on the polymer type. The photo‐degradation products of polyolefins (PE and PP) included a wide range of long chain alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and hydroxy acids, as detected in the soluble fractions of aged samples. SEC analyses also showed a marked decrease in the average molecular weight of PP polymer chains, whereas cross‐linking was observed in the case of PS. The most abundant low molecular weight photo‐degradation products of PS were benzoic acid and 1,4‐benzenedicarboxylic acid, while PET had the highest stability towards aging, as indicated by the modest generation of low molecular weight species