title: Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications

authors: Davani-Davari, Dorna

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Prebiotics are a group of nutrients that are degraded by gut microbiota. Their relationship with human overall health has been an area of increasing interest in recent years. They can feed the intestinal microbiota, and their degradation products are short-chain fatty acids that are released into blood circulation, consequently, affecting not only the gastrointestinal tracts but also other distant organs. Fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides are the two important groups of prebiotics with beneficial effects on human health. Since low quantities of fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides naturally exist in foods, scientists are attempting to produce prebiotics on an industrial scale. Considering the health benefits of prebiotics and their safety, as well as their production and storage advantages compared to probiotics, they seem to be fascinating candidates for promoting human health condition as a replacement or in association with probiotics. This review discusses different aspects of prebiotics, including their crucial role in human well-being.

text: Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications Prebiotics are a group of nutrients that are degraded by gut microbiota. Their relationship with human overall health has been an area of increasing interest in recent years. They can feed the intestinal microbiota, and their degradation products are short-chain fatty acids that are released into blood circulation, consequently, affecting not only the gastrointestinal tracts but also other distant organs. Fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides are the two important groups of prebiotics with beneficial effects on human health. Since low quantities of fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides naturally exist in foods, scientists are attempting to produce prebiotics on an industrial scale. Considering the health benefits of prebiotics and their safety, as well as their production and storage advantages compared to probiotics, they seem to be fascinating candidates for promoting human health condition as a replacement or in association with probiotics. This review discusses different aspects of prebiotics, including their crucial role in human well-being.

year: 2019

title: ACT and Food Craving in a Non-Clinical Population

authors: Tritt, Jacqueline

subjects: ACT

abstract: A food craving is an intense urge to consume a desired food; the craving is specific and cannot be satiated by any other food. Forman and colleagues (2007) found, that for individuals with a Power of Food Scale score of 42 or higher, an acceptance-based workshop decreased an individual’s food craving and snack food consumption. I aimed to replicate Forman et al.’s (2007) findings using a single-subject multiple-baseline experimental design and expanded the food used in the study from chocolate to a range of preferred snack foods. Eleven participants completed the Power of Food Scale questionnaire, Food Craving Questionnaire-State version, daily single-item Craving Dimension ratings, and measured daily consumption snack food weights. Findings replicated Forman et al.’s (2007) results. When individual analysis was applied, a gender difference was suggested with male data displaying more change in consumption levels and craving ratings compared to the female consumption levels and craving ratings data.

text: ACT and Food Craving in a Non-Clinical Population A food craving is an intense urge to consume a desired food; the craving is specific and cannot be satiated by any other food. Forman and colleagues (2007) found, that for individuals with a Power of Food Scale score of 42 or higher, an acceptance-based workshop decreased an individual’s food craving and snack food consumption. I aimed to replicate Forman et al.’s (2007) findings using a single-subject multiple-baseline experimental design and expanded the food used in the study from chocolate to a range of preferred snack foods. Eleven participants completed the Power of Food Scale questionnaire, Food Craving Questionnaire-State version, daily single-item Craving Dimension ratings, and measured daily consumption snack food weights. Findings replicated Forman et al.’s (2007) results. When individual analysis was applied, a gender difference was suggested with male data displaying more change in consumption levels and craving ratings compared to the female consumption levels and craving ratings data.

year: 2015

title: Wāhine Māori engagement with literacies

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

subjects: Literacy

abstract: Wāhine Māori engagement with literacies (2023) is a case study report in collaboration with Te Whakaruruhau. It has been undertaken as part of a larger project, The expression, experience and transcendence of low skills in Aotearoa New Zealand (2019–2024), the aim of which is to provide policy recommendations to improve life-course trajectories and socio-economic outcomes for adults with low literacy and numeracy skills in Aotearoa New Zealand. Broadly speaking, Wāhine Māori engagement with literacy examines the framing and application of literacy measures in contemporary New Zealand culture. More specifically, it is about the lives and learning of wāhine (women) Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) within that culture and their attitudes towards, and complex relationships with, literacy as it is defined in their own lives and in the current setting. The study aims for a holistic understanding of lived literacies in driving the development of educational policies by public institutions and private groups. Reframing literacy as literacies is posited as a means to empower marginalised groups and to challenge the dominance of the Eurocentric education paradigm. Formal learning in English-language schools cannot be the extent of national literacy standards as it disregards Māori epistemological and ontological realities and can discount wāhine, many of whom may prioritise other modes of literacy. Centring their perspectives will bring about a more culturally inclusive future, one that makes space for the development of emotional and cultural literacies—as well as other forms such as digital, media, visual, financial, and health literacies—alongside the conventional version of literacy that has a monopoly in the present system.

text: Wāhine Māori engagement with literacies Wāhine Māori engagement with literacies (2023) is a case study report in collaboration with Te Whakaruruhau. It has been undertaken as part of a larger project, The expression, experience and transcendence of low skills in Aotearoa New Zealand (2019–2024), the aim of which is to provide policy recommendations to improve life-course trajectories and socio-economic outcomes for adults with low literacy and numeracy skills in Aotearoa New Zealand. Broadly speaking, Wāhine Māori engagement with literacy examines the framing and application of literacy measures in contemporary New Zealand culture. More specifically, it is about the lives and learning of wāhine (women) Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) within that culture and their attitudes towards, and complex relationships with, literacy as it is defined in their own lives and in the current setting. The study aims for a holistic understanding of lived literacies in driving the development of educational policies by public institutions and private groups. Reframing literacy as literacies is posited as a means to empower marginalised groups and to challenge the dominance of the Eurocentric education paradigm. Formal learning in English-language schools cannot be the extent of national literacy standards as it disregards Māori epistemological and ontological realities and can discount wāhine, many of whom may prioritise other modes of literacy. Centring their perspectives will bring about a more culturally inclusive future, one that makes space for the development of emotional and cultural literacies—as well as other forms such as digital, media, visual, financial, and health literacies—alongside the conventional version of literacy that has a monopoly in the present system.

year: 2023-09-28