On the relationality of centers, peripheries and interactional regimes: Translanguaging in a community interpreting event

In this paper we discuss a multilingual interactional event that involves both interpreting and literacy work, part of a large scale study on translanguaging in superdiverse urban settings.¹ In the first part of the interaction, the center/periphery dynamic is played out in what might be called “contested translanguaging” between Standard Czech and a Slovak influenced dialect of Czech, in the second part in contested translanguaging between Standard Czech and English. The center/periphery dynamic, we argue can be understood in terms of attraction/repulsion. The translanguaging involves a struggle over both meaning and form in which some participants lose out. The second part of the interaction is a dramatic reverse in what is treated as central and dominant in the first part, suggesting a hierarchical ordering of interactional regimes. We will argue for the necessity of taking into account these hierarchically ordered interactional regimes and the linguistic ideologies associated with them in the shaping of translanguaging practices

British industrial relations pluralism in the era of neoliberalism

This article provides a broad overview of the pluralist tradition in UK industrial relations scholarship, identifying its defining characteristics and mapping its evolution in recent decades. It deals in turn with the following: the appreciation of the relative interests of workers and employers that lies at the heart of the pluralist frame of reference, the research agenda that flows from this understanding, pluralist conceptions of context and agency within industrial relations, the standards that pluralists habitually use when assessing the employment relationship, the targets and modes of critique that pluralists direct against intellectual opponents, and the prescriptions that pluralists offer for industrial relations reform. Throughout the article there is a focus on change within the pluralist tradition and the manner in which it has adapted to the hegemony of neoliberalism in the realms of both ideas and policy

Trees and shrubs as sources of fodder in Australia

Experience with browse plants in Australia is briefly reviewed in terms of their forage value to animals, their economic value to the landholder and their ecological contribution to landscape stability. Of the cultivated species only two have achieved any degree of commercial acceptance (Leucaena leucocephala and Chamaecytisus palmensis). Both of these are of sufficiently high forage value to be used as the sole source of feed during seasonal periods of nutritional shortage. Both are also leguminous shrubs that establish readily from seed. It is suggested that a limitation in their present use is the reliance on stands of single species which leaves these grazing systems vulnerable to disease and insects. Grazing systems so far developed for high production and persistence of cultivated species involve short periods of intense grazing followed by long periods of recovery. Similar management may be necessary in the arid and semi-arid rangelands where palatable browse species are in decline

Vegan diets : practical advice for athletes and exercisers.

With the growth of social media as a platform to share information, veganism is becoming more visible, and could be becoming more accepted in sports and in the health and fitness industry. However, to date, there appears to be a lack of literature that discusses how to manage vegan diets for athletic purposes. This article attempted to review literature in order to provide recommendations for how to construct a vegan diet for athletes and exercisers. While little data could be found in the sports nutrition literature specifically, it was revealed elsewhere that veganism creates challenges that need to be accounted for when designing a nutritious diet. This included the sufficiency of energy and protein; the adequacy of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine and vitamin D; and the lack of the long-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA in most plant-based sources. However, via the strategic management of food and appropriate supplementation, it is the contention of this article that a nutritive vegan diet can be designed to achieve the dietary needs of most athletes satisfactorily. Further, it was suggested here that creatine and β-alanine supplementation might be of particular use to vegan athletes, owing to vegetarian diets promoting lower muscle creatine and lower muscle carnosine levels in consumers. Empirical research is needed to examine the effects of vegan diets in athletic populations however, especially if this movement grows in popularity, to ensure that the health and performance of athletic vegans is optimised in accordance with developments in sports nutrition knowledge

Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D in immobilisation: Part A - Modulation of appendicular mass content, composition and structure

Objectives: Muscle size decreases in response to short-term limb immobilisation. This study set out to determine whether two potential protein-sparing modulators (eicosapentaenoic acid and vitamin D) would attenuate immobilisation-induced changes in muscle characteristics. Design: The study used a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Setting: The study took part in a laboratory setting. Participants: Twenty-four male and female healthy participants, aged 23.0±5.8 years. Intervention: The non-dominant arm was immobilised in a sling for a period of nine waking hours a day over two continuous weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: placebo (n=8, Lecithin, 2400 mg daily), omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids (n=8, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); 1770 mg, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); 390 mg, daily) or vitamin D (n=8, 1,000 IU daily). Measurements: Muscle and sub-cutaneous adipose thickness (B-mode ultrasonography), body composition (DXA) and arm girth (anthropometry) were measured before immobilisation, immediately on removal of the sling and two weeks after re-mobilisation. Results: Muscle thickness (-5.4±4.3%), upper and lower arm girth (-1.3±0.4 and -0.8±0.8%, respectively), lean mass (-3.6±3.7%) and bone mineral content (BMC) (-2.3±1.5%) decreased significantly with limb immobilisation in the placebo group (P0.05) towards attenuating the decreases in muscle thickness, upper/lower arm girths and BMC observed in the placebo group. The ω-3 supplementation group demonstrated a non-significant attenuation of the decrease in DXA quantified lean mass observed in the placebo group. Sub-cutaneous adipose thickness increased in the placebo group (P<0.05). ω-3 and vitamin D both blunted this response, with ω-3 having a greater effect (P<0.05). All parameters had returned to baseline values at the re-mobilisation phase of the study. Conclusion: Overall, at the current doses, ω-3 and vitamin D supplementation only attenuated one of the changes associated with non-injurious limb immobilisation. These findings would necessitate further research into either a) supplementation linked to injury-induced immobilisation, or b) larger doses of these supplements to confirm/refute the physiological reserve potential of the two supplements

Low wintertime vitamin D levels in a sample of healthy young adults of diverse ancestry living in the Toronto area: associations with vitamin D intake and skin pigmentation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vitamin D plays a critical role in bone metabolism and many cellular and immunological processes. Recent research indicates that concentrations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], the main indicator of vitamin D status, should be in excess of 75 nmol/L. Low levels of 25(OH)D have been associated with several chronic and infectious diseases. Previous studies have reported that many otherwise healthy adults of European ancestry living in Canada have low vitamin D concentrations during the wintertime. However, those of non-European ancestry are at a higher risk of having low vitamin D levels. The main goal of this study was to examine the vitamin D status and vitamin D intake of young Canadian adults of diverse ancestry during the winter months.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and seven (107) healthy young adults self-reporting their ancestry were recruited for this study. Each participant was tested for serum 25(OH)D concentrations and related biochemistry, skin pigmentation indices and basic anthropometric measures. A seven-day food diary was used to assess their vitamin D intake. An ANOVA was used to test for significant differences in the variables among groups of different ancestry. Linear regression was employed to assess the impact of relevant variables on serum 25(OH)D concentrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>More than 93% of the total sample had concentrations below 75 nmol/L. Almost three-quarters of the subjects had concentrations below 50 nmol/L. There were significant differences in serum 25(OH)D levels (p < 0.001) and vitamin D intake (p = 0.034) between population groups. Only the European group had a mean vitamin D intake exceeding the current Recommended Adequate Intake (RAI = 200 IU/day). Total vitamin D intake (from diet and supplements) was significantly associated with 25(OH)D levels (p < 0.001). Skin pigmentation, assessed by measuring skin melanin content, showed an inverse relationship with serum 25(OH)D (p = 0.033).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We observe that low vitamin D levels are more prevalent in our sample of young healthy adults than previously reported, particularly amongst those of non-European ancestry. Major factors influencing 25(OH)D levels were vitamin D intake and skin pigmentation. These data suggest a need to increase vitamin D intake either through improved fortification and/or supplementation.</p

An Asian viewpoint on the use of vitamin D and calcium in osteoporosis treatment: Physician and patient attitudes and beliefs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoporosis treatment guidelines recommend calcium and vitamin D supplementation for both prevention as well as treatment, however, compliance with these guidelines is often unsatisfactory. This study investigated the opinion of Asian physicians and Asian patients regarding vitamin D and calcium and patients' use of both.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Physicians selected from Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and Singapore were asked to grade the significance of vitamin D and calcium in the treatment of osteoporosis and their patients' use of these supplements. In addition, physicians recruited seven eligible osteoporotic women to answer a questionnaire to determine their use of vitamin D and calcium, and their attitudes and beliefs regarding these supplements.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 237 physicians and 1463 osteoporosis patients completed the questionnaire. The results revealed that 22% of physicians in Malaysia, 12% in Taiwan, 72% in the Philippines, 50% in Korea and 24% in Singapore rated the importance of vitamin D supplementation as being extremely important. For calcium, 27% of physicians in Malaysia, 30% in Taiwan, 80% in the Philippines, 50% in Korea and 38% in Singapore rated the importance as being extremely important. Forty-three percent of patients in Malaysia, 38% in Taiwan, 73% in the Philippines, 35% in Korea and 39% in Singapore rated the importance of vitamin D as being extremely important. For calcium, 69% of patients in Malaysia, 58% in Taiwan, 90% in the Philippines, 70% in Korea and 55% in Singapore rated the importance as being extremely important. In addition, results of the patient questionnaire revealed that only a very small number regularly took both supplements. In addition, the results indicated that, with the exception of patients from the Philippines, the majority of patients had no or infrequent discussion with their physician about vitamin D and calcium.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is generally suboptimal appreciation by both physicians and patients of the importance of vitamin D and calcium for maintenance of bone health as reflected in the low number of patients who reported regularly taking these supplements. Recognition of this problem should translate to appropriate action to improve education for both physicians and patients, with a goal to increase use of these supplements among Asian patients with osteoporosis.</p

Human resources for health policies: a critical component in health policies

In the last few years, increasing attention has been paid to the development of health policies. But side by side with the presumed benefits of policy, many analysts share the opinion that a major drawback of health policies is their failure to make room for issues of human resources. Current approaches in human resources suggest a number of weaknesses: a reactive, ad hoc attitude towards problems of human resources; dispersal of accountability within human resources management (HRM); a limited notion of personnel administration that fails to encompass all aspects of HRM; and finally the short-term perspective of HRM. There are three broad arguments for modernizing the ways in which human resources for health are managed: • the central role of the workforce in the health sector; • the various challenges thrown up by health system reforms; • the need to anticipate the effect on the health workforce (and consequently on service provision) arising from various macroscopic social trends impinging on health systems. The absence of appropriate human resources policies is responsible, in many countries, for a chronic imbalance with multifaceted effects on the health workforce: quantitative mismatch, qualitative disparity, unequal distribution and a lack of coordination between HRM actions and health policy needs. Four proposals have been put forward to modernize how the policy process is conducted in the development of human resources for health (HRH): • to move beyond the traditional approach of personnel administration to a more global concept of HRM; • to give more weight to the integrated, interdependent and systemic nature of the different components of HRM when preparing and implementing policy; • to foster a more proactive attitude among human resources (HR) policy-makers and managers; • to promote the full commitment of all professionals and sectors in all phases of the process. The development of explicit human resources policies is a crucial link in health policies and is needed both to address the imbalances of the health workforce and to foster implementation of the health services reforms

Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D in immobilisation: Part B- modulation of muscle functional, vascular and activation profiles

Abstract Objectives: This study set out to determine whether two potential protein-sparing modulators (eicosapentaenoic acid and vitamin D) would modulate the anticipated muscle functional and related blood vessels function deleterious effects of immobilisation. Design: The study used a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Setting: The study took part in a laboratory setting. Participants: Twenty-four male and female healthy participants, aged 23.0±5.8 years. Intervention: The non-dominant arm was immobilised in a sling for a period of nine waking hours a day over two continuous weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: placebo (n=8, Lecithin, 2400 mg daily), omega-3 (-3) fatty acids (n=8, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); 1770 mg, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); 390 mg DHA, daily) or vitamin D (n=8, 1,000 IU daily). Measurements: Isometric and isokinetic torque, antagonist muscle co-contraction (activation profile), muscle fatigability indices, and arterial resting blood flow were measured before, at the end of the immobilisation period, and two weeks after re-mobilisation. Results: Muscle elbow flexion and extension isometric and isokinetic torque decreased significantly with limb immobilisation in the placebo group (P0.05) towards attenuating the decreases observed in the placebo group. There was no significant change in muscle fatigue parameters or co-contraction values with immobilisation and no effect of supplementation group (P>0.05). Similarly, this immobilisation model had no impact on the assessed blood flow kinetics. All parameters had returned to baseline values at the re-mobilisation phase of the study. Conclusion: Overall, at the current doses, neither -3 nor vitamin D supplementation significantly attenuated declines in torque associated with immobilisation. It would appear that muscle function (described here in Part B) might not be as useful a marker of the effectiveness of a supplement against the impact of immobilisation compared to tissue composition changes (described in Part A)