Reference values for intake of 6 types of soluble and insoluble fibre in healthy UK inhabitants based on the UK Biobank data.

To obtain a set of reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre in a healthy UK population. This descriptive cross-sectional study used the UK Biobank data to estimate the dietary patterns of healthy individuals. Data on fibre content in different foods were used to calculate the reference values which were then calibrated using real-world data on total fibre intake. UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study of over 500,000 individuals from across the United Kingdom with the participants aged between 40 and 69 years. UK Biobank contains information on over 500,000 participants. This study was performed using the data on 19990 individuals (6941 men, 13049 women) who passed stringent quality control and filtering procedures and had reported above-zero intake of the analysed foods. A set of reference values for the intake of 6 different types of soluble and insoluble fibres (cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin and lignin), including the corresponding totals, was developed and calibrated using real-world data. To our knowledge, this is the first study to establish specific reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre. It is well-known that effects exerted by different types of fibre both directly and through modulation of microbiota are numerous. Conceivably, a deficit or excess intake of specific types of dietary fibre may detrimentally affect human health. Filling this knowledge gap opens new avenues for research in discussion in studies of nutrition and microbiota, and offers valuable tools for practitioners worldwide

Controlling Narrative Generation with Planning Trajectories: The Role of Constraints

Abstract. AI planning has featured in a number of Interactive Storytelling prototypes: since narratives can be naturally modelled as a sequence of actions it has been possible to exploit state of the art planners in the task of narrative generation. However the characteristics of a “good ” plan, such as optimality, aren’t necessarily the same as those of a “good ” narrative, where errors and convoluted sequences may offer more reader interest, so some narrative structuring is required. In our work we have looked at injecting narrative control into plan generation through the use of PDDL3.0 state trajectory constraints which enable us to express narrative control information within the planning representation. As part of this we have developed an approach to planning with such trajectory constraints. The approach decomposes the problem into a set of smaller subproblems using the temporal orderings described by the constraints and then solves these subproblems incrementally. In this paper we outline our method and present results that illustrate the potential of the approach.

A randomised controlled trial of the effects of kefir on behaviour, sleep and the microbiome in children with ADHD: study protocol

Introduction: Current interventions for children with ADHD are primarily medication, behavioural therapy and parent-training. However, research suggests dietary manipulations may provide therapeutic benefit for some. There is accumulating evidence that the gut microbiome may be atypical in ADHD and therefore manipulating gut bacteria in such individuals may help alleviate some of the symptoms of this condition. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of supplementation with kefir (a fermented dairy drink) on ADHD symptomatology, sleep, attention and the gut microbiome in children diagnosed with ADHD. Methods and analysis: A six-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 70 children aged 8-13 years diagnosed with ADHD. Participants will be recruited throughout the UK, through support groups, community groups, schools, social media and word of mouth. Children will be randomised to consume daily either dairy kefir or a placebo dairy drink for six weeks. The primary outcome, ADHD symptomatology, will be measured by The Strengths and Weakness of ADHD-symptoms and Normal-behaviour (SWAN) scale. Secondary outcomes will include gut microbiota composition (using shotgun metagenomic microbiome sequencing), gut symptomatology (The Gastrointestinal Severity Index questionnaire), sleep (using seven-day actigraphy recordings, The Child’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire and Sleep Self Report questionnaire), inattention and impulsivity (with a computerised Go/NoGo test). Assessments will be conducted prior to the intervention and at the end of the intervention. Interaction between time (pre/post-intervention) and group (probiotic/placebo) is to be analysed using a Mixed Model Analysis of Variances (ANOVA). Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval for the study was granted by St Mary’s University Ethics Committee. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, presentations to the scientific community and support groups. Trial Registration: The trial protocol has been prospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05155696. Registered on 13 December 2021

Increasing generality in machine learning through procedural content generation

Procedural Content Generation (PCG) refers to the practice, in videogames and other games, of generating content such as levels, quests, or characters algorithmically. Motivated by the need to make games replayable, as well as to reduce authoring burden, limit storage space requirements, and enable particular aesthetics, a large number of PCG methods have been devised by game developers. Additionally, researchers have explored adapting methods from machine learning, optimization, and constraint solving to PCG problems. Games have been widely used in AI research since the inception of the field, and in recent years have been used to develop and benchmark new machine learning algorithms. Through this practice, it has become more apparent that these algorithms are susceptible to overfitting. Often, an algorithm will not learn a general policy, but instead a policy that will only work for a particular version of a particular task with particular initial parameters. In response, researchers have begun exploring randomization of problem parameters to counteract such overfitting and to allow trained policies to more easily transfer from one environment to another, such as from a simulated robot to a robot in the real world. Here we review the large amount of existing work on PCG, which we believe has an important role to play in increasing the generality of machine learning methods. The main goal here is to present RL/AI with new tools from the PCG toolbox, and its secondary goal is to explain to game developers and researchers a way in which their work is relevant to AI research

Planning Technologies for Interactive Storytelling

Since AI planning was first proposed for the task of narrative generation in interactive storytelling (IS), it has emerged as the dominant approach in this field. This chapter traces the use of planning technologies in this area, considers the core issues involved in the application of planning technologies in IS, and identifies some of the remaining challenges

Could food act as personalized medicine for chronic disease?

Based on recent conflicting views on nutritional approaches, are nutrition health professionals meant to wait until key long-term human randomized controlled trials of good methodological quality are published on UK-type populations, a process that could take decades at the current rate. Instead, they could embrace the new ‘omic’ technologies as innovative tools to help personalized nutrition. Based on current findings, a single microbiome test can provide more reliable information about a person’s health than a genome screen and major disruptions are seen in allergy, obesity, colitis and irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes or even cancer. While treating every patient as a research subject, health professionals should see every meal as an opportunity, and every food as a potential drug

Blank Meaning as Design Affordance. Memory and Fictions (a dialogue between Anna Calvera and Fátima Pombo)

Consideracions entorn la càrrega de significats, valors emotius i simbòlics que els usuaris dels objectes projecten sobre ells quan se n'apropien afectivament. Revisió de la multitud de criteris pels quals aquest fenomen te lloc i com canvia la visió de les coses des de la posició e receptors i usuaris. Proposta del concepte de Blanck meaning, o significat en blanc, per fer referència a la capacitat que tenen alguns objectes ben dissenyats per satisfer les necessitats emotives i evocadores d'usuaris i receptors davant les coses de cada dia essent ells mateixos qui els carrega de sentit. Consideraciones en torno la carga de significación, valores emotivos y simbólicos que los usuarios de los objetos cotidianos proyectan sobre ellos cuando se los apropian afectivamente. Revisión de la variedad de criterios por los cuales este fenómeno tiene lugar y cómo cambia la visión de las cosas cuando se miran desde la posición del usuario o del receptor. Se propone el concepto de Blanck Meaning, o sea, significado en blanco, para poder hacer referencia a esa capacidad de algunos objetos bien diseñados para satisfacer las necesidades emotivas y evocadoras de los usuarios ante las cosas de cada día