Development of strategies for effective communication of food risks and benefits across Europe: Design and conceptual framework of the FoodRisC project

The FoodRisC project is funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (CORDIS FP7) of the European Commission; Grant agreement no.: 245124. Copyright @ 2011 Barnett et al.BACKGROUND: European consumers are faced with a myriad of food related risk and benefit information and it is regularly left up to the consumer to interpret these, often conflicting, pieces of information as a coherent message. This conflict is especially apparent in times of food crises and can have major public health implications. Scientific results and risk assessments cannot always be easily communicated into simple guidelines and advice that non-scientists like the public or the media can easily understand especially when there is conflicting, uncertain or complex information about a particular food or aspects thereof. The need for improved strategies and tools for communication about food risks and benefits is therefore paramount. The FoodRisC project ("Food Risk Communication - Perceptions and communication of food risks/benefits across Europe: development of effective communication strategies") aims to address this issue. The FoodRisC project will examine consumer perceptions and investigate how people acquire and use information in food domains in order to develop targeted strategies for food communication across Europe.METHODS/DESIGN: This project consists of 6 research work packages which, using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, are focused on development of a framework for investigating food risk/benefit issues across Europe, exploration of the role of new and traditional media in food communication and testing of the framework in order to develop evidence based communication strategies and tools. The main outcome of the FoodRisC project will be a toolkit to enable coherent communication of food risk/benefit messages in Europe. The toolkit will integrate theoretical models and new measurement paradigms as well as building on social marketing approaches around consumer segmentation. Use of the toolkit and guides will assist policy makers, food authorities and other end users in developing common approaches to communicating coherent messages to consumers in Europe.DISCUSSION: The FoodRisC project offers a unique approach to the investigation of food risk/benefit communication. The effective spread of food risk/benefit information will assist initiatives aimed at reducing the burden of food-related illness and disease, reducing the economic impact of food crises and ensuring that confidence in safe and nutritious food is fostered and maintained in Europe.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Guilty by association: Using word embeddings to measure ethnic stereotypes in news coverage

The current study provides a new level of empirical evidence for the nature of ethnic stereotypes in news content by drawing on a sample of more than 3 million Dutch news items. The study’s findings demonstrate that universally accepted dimensions of stereotype content (i.e., low-status and high-threat attributes) can be replicated in news media content across a diverse set of ingroup and outgroup categories. Representations of minorities in newspapers have become progressively remote from factual integration outcomes, and are therefore rather an artifact of news production processes than a true reflection of what is actually happening in society

The hijacking of a receptor kinase-driven pathway by a wheat fungal pathogen leads to disease

Citation: Shi, G. J., Zhang, Z. C., Friesen, T. L., Raats, D., Fahima, T., Brueggeman, R. S., . . . Faris, J. D. (2016). The hijacking of a receptor kinase-driven pathway by a wheat fungal pathogen leads to disease. Science Advances, 2(10), 9. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600822Necrotrophic pathogens live and feed on dying tissue, but their interactions with plants are not well understood compared to biotrophic pathogens. The wheat Snn1 gene confers susceptibility to strains of the necrotrophic pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum that produce the SnTox1 protein. We report the positional cloning of Snn1, a member of the wall-associated kinase class of receptors, which are known to drive pathways for biotrophic pathogen resistance. Recognition of SnTox1 by Snn1 activates programmed cell death, which allows this necrotroph to gain nutrients and sporulate. These results demonstrate that necrotrophic pathogens such as P. nodorum hijack host molecular pathways that are typically involved in resistance to biotrophic pathogens, revealing the complex nature of susceptibility and resistance in necrotrophic and biotrophic pathogen interactions with plants

Interface and mixing zone between soil waters arising from upward and downward seepage - Part II:Heterogeneous total density

Freshwater lenses in otherwise saline environments contain an important source of fresh water for natural vegetation and agricultural crops. Such lenses are regularly found in areas where both upward seeping saline groundwater and downward infiltrating fresh recharge water occur simultaneously during part of the year, resulting in shallow freshwater lenses which are highly susceptible to changes in recharge or seepage. In a series of two papers, we consider the water – and solute transport in a 2D cross-section between two parallel outflow faces. In this second part of the series, we build upon expressions presented in the first part to consider a situation where the density of seepage water exceeds that of recharge water, as typical for many deltaic areas around the world. Analytical expressions and approximations are given to obtain the steady state position of the interface between the two types of water using a sharp interface approximation, with a focus on the position midway between two outflow faces. Results show that the effect of a heterogeneous density distribution is limited when the seepage flux exceeds the density difference induced flux, but increases rapidly for ratios of the seepage flux over the density flux falling below 1. The heterogeneous density distribution then results in a decrease in freshwater lens thickness and, correspondingly, a decrease in fresh water availability. We also consider time-variant, oscillatory boundary conditions, and show that for heterogeneous density distributions the interface approaches its equilibrium position faster than for a corresponding situation with a homogeneous density distribution, indicating a higher vulnerability for changing boundary conditions. We also demonstrate that heterogeneous density distributions have limited effect on the amplitude of the interface oscillations. Analytical results obtained with the simplified model are validated using the numerical code SUTRA, which solves the full model for a numerical grid.</p

Why do women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care? A qualitative investigation with women attending maternity services

Background Despite the importance attributed to good pre-pregnancy care and its potential to improve pregnancy and child health outcomes, relatively little is known about why women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care. We sought to gain insight into why women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care. Methods We carried out 20 qualitative in-depth interviews with pregnant or recently pregnant women who were drawn from a survey of antenatal clinic attendees in London, UK. Interviewees were purposively sampled to include high and low investors in pre-pregnancy health and care, with variation in age, partnership status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. Data analysis was conducted using the Framework method. Results We identified three groups in relation to pre-pregnancy health and care: 1) The “prepared” group, who had high levels of pregnancy planning and mostly positive attitudes to micronutrient supplementation outside of pregnancy, carried out pre-pregnancy activities such as taking folic acid and making changes to diet and lifestyle. 2) The “poor knowledge” group, who also had high levels of pregnancy planning, did not carry out pre-pregnancy activities and described themselves as having poor knowledge. Elsewhere in their interviews they expressed a strong dislike of micronutrient supplementation. 3) The “absent pre-pregnancy period” group, had the lowest levels of pregnancy planning and also expressed anti-supplement views. Even discussing the pre-pregnancy period with this group was difficult as responses to questions quickly shifted to focus on pregnancy itself. Knowledge of folic acid was poor in all groups. Conclusion Different pre-pregnancy care approaches are likely to be needed for each of the groups. Among the “prepared” group, who were proactive and receptive to health messages, greater availability of information and better response from health professionals could improve the range of pre-pregnancy activities carried out. Among the “poor knowledge” group, better response from health professionals might yield greater uptake of pre-pregnancy information. A different, general health strategy might be more appropriate for the “absent pre-pregnancy period” group. The fact that general attitudes to micronutrient supplementation were closely related to whether or not women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care was an unanticipated finding and warrants further investigation.This report is independent research commissioned and funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme Pre-Pregnancy Health and Care in England: Exploring Implementation and Public Health Impact, 006/0068

Interface and mixing zone between soil waters arising from upward and downward seepage - Part I:Homogeneous total density

Thin water lenses floating on top of the main groundwater body are important for many natural and agricultural systems, owing to their different properties in terms of chemical composition or density compared to the surrounding groundwater. In settings with upward seeping groundwater, lenses may form that have thicknesses ranging from tens of centimeters to a few meters, making them prone to changing conditions in the short (seasonal) or long term (climate change). Knowing their thickness, shape, movement and mixing zone width may help in managing these lenses. In a series of two papers, we present a mathematical description of the flow of water and transport of solute in a 2D cross-section between two parallel outflow faces and compare a simplified model to a complete model as described by the numerical code SUTRA. In this first paper of the series, we consider situations with a homogeneous density distribution. In the simplified model we employ the sharp interface approximation to obtain an expression for the stream function, the interface between the two types of water and the corresponding maximum lens thickness in steady state in the domain considered. This steady state description is used for travel time analyses and forms the basis for the transient analyses. For a typical example of oscillatory (e.g. seasonal) fluctuations in boundary conditions, we obtain expressions of the movement of the interface midway between two outflow faces by separating the problem into two timescales using the interface motion equation. This analysis provides insight into the importance of parameters on the vulnerability of water lenses under changing conditions, and may easily be extended to situations with abrupt or gradual changes in boundary conditions reflecting changes in land use or climate, respectively. Finally, we derive an analytical approximation of the mixing zone midway between the drains for steady state solutions, stepping away from the sharp interface approach. For a variety of examples, we validate the obtained expressions of the simplified mathematical model against the numerical model code SUTRA, which solves the fluid and solute mass balances explicitly.</p

An improved assembly and annotation of the allohexaploid wheat genome identifies complete families of agronomic genes and provides genomic evidence for chromosomal translocations

Advances in genome sequencing and assembly technologies are generating many high-quality genome sequences, but assemblies of large, repeat-rich polyploid genomes, such as that of bread wheat, remain fragmented and incomplete. We have generated a new wheat whole-genome shotgun sequence assembly using a combination of optimized data types and an assembly algorithm designed to deal with large and complex genomes. The new assembly represents >78% of the genome with a scaffold N50 of 88.8 kb that has a high fidelity to the input data. Our new annotation combines strand-specific Illumina RNA-seq and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) full-length cDNAs to identify 104,091 high-confidence protein-coding genes and 10,156 noncoding RNA genes. We confirmed three known and identified one novel genome rearrangements. Our approach enables the rapid and scalable assembly of wheat genomes, the identification of structural variants, and the definition of complete gene models, all powerful resources for trait analysis and breeding of this key global crop

The development and validation of measures to assess cooking skills and food skills

Background: With the increase use of convenience food and eating outside the home environment being linked to the obesity epidemic, the need to assess and monitor individuals cooking and food skills is key to help intervene where necessary to promote the usage of these skills. Therefore, this research aimed to develop and validate a measure for cooking skills and one for food skills, that are clearly described, relatable, user-friendly, suitable for different types of studies, and applicable across all sociodemographic levels. Methods: Two measures were developed in light of the literature and expert opinion and piloted for clarity and ease of use. Following this, four studies were undertaken across different cohorts (including a sample of students, both 'Food preparation novices' and 'Experienced food preparers', and a nationally representative sample) to assess temporal stability, psychometrics, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of both measures. Analysis included T-tests, Pearson's correlations, factor analysis, and Cronbach's alphas, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Both measures were found to have a significant level of temporal stability (P &lt; 0.001). Factor analysis revealed three factors with eigenvalues over 1, with two items in a third factor outside the two suggested measures. The internal consistency reliability for the cooking skills confidence measure ranged from 0.78 to 0.93 across all cohorts. The food skills confidence measure's Cronbach's alpha's ranged from 0.85 to 0.94. The two measures also showed a high discriminate validity as there were significant differences (P &lt; 0.05 for cooking skills confidence and P &lt; 0.01 for food skills confidence) between Food preparation novices' and 'Experienced food preparers.' Conclusions: The cooking skills confidence measure and the food skills confidence measure have been shown to have a very satisfactory reliability, validity and are consistent over time. Their user-friendly applicability make both measures highly suitable for large scale cross-sectional, longitudinal and intervention studies to assess or monitor cooking and food skills levels and confidence.</p

A wave-induced transport process in marine sediments

Shows how surface wave action can increase the rate of transport of solutes into a sandy seabed by orders of magnitude via a mechanism known as mechanical dispersion. It is most effective for large sediment permeability and thickness, high surface wave amplitude, and shallow water. A method for setting up the appropriate transport equation, valid when dispersion is well developed, is given. The effect of surface wave action on transport into sediments on the eastern US shelf is shown to be significant under certain conditions. The effect on thawing of subsea permafrost beneath Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seems negligible. -from Author