By Stacey Mac Donald
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska - Curie Actions Individual Fellowships Call – Expression of Interest
http://www.iua.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SE_MSCA_IF_World-Vision-Ireland-Expression-of-Interest.pdf
Recognize the female athletes in your community
https://www.womenchampions.ca/
How the Champions Fund works
The 2016 Champions Fund will award $5,000 grants to 20 deserving female athletes, teams, or organizations, providing the financial support needed to pursue their athletic goals.
Anyone from Canada’s female athletic community aged 13 and older can apply, or apply on behalf of their team, tournament, camp or program.
To apply for the Champions Fund, simply create a profile, and answer a few questions about your passion for Canadian female athletics. From there, you can share your profile on social media.
Our Champions Fund selection committee will review the applications and decide on the 20 most-deserving grant recipients.
The deadline for submissions is September 29th, 2016. This year’s 20 grant recipients will be announced in November 2016. Good luck!
Anyone from Canada’s female athletic community aged 13 and older can apply, or apply on behalf of their team, tournament, camp or program.
To apply for the Champions Fund, simply create a profile, and answer a few questions about your passion for Canadian female athletics. From there, you can share your profile on social media.
Our Champions Fund selection committee will review the applications and decide on the 20 most-deserving grant recipients.
The deadline for submissions is September 29th, 2016. This year’s 20 grant recipients will be announced in November 2016. Good luck!
How the Champ
Recognize the female athletes in your community
The Champions Fund was created by Canada’s dairy farmers to empower the female athletic community, to provide a resource that can help change the game for Canada’s young girls and women athletes.
When beauty matters: the politics of how we look
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/when-beauty-matters-the-politics-of-how-we-look
Questions
of beauty and its politics will be discussed at a summer school and
conference next week (30 August to 3 September 2016). Participants will
examine the ways in which perceptions and experiences of race,
ethnicity, sexuality and colonialism converge to exert powerful
influences on our lives.
Questions
of beauty and its politics will be discussed at a summer school and
conference next week (30 August to 3 September 2016). Participants will
examine the ways in which perceptions and experiences of race,
ethnicity, sexuality and colonialism converge to exert powerful
influences on our lives.
Deeply embedded in Mexican society are notions of beauty that have their origins in deliberate moves to ‘improve’ indigenous races. Improving meant encouraging marriages that would result in children with lighter skins and ‘fine’ features. Hand-in-hand with notions of improvement come ideas about degeneration.Monica Moreno Figueroa
We
live in a world brimming with images. But the pictures that perhaps
most powerfully evoke our individual life stories are seldom seen.
Stored in personal albums or pushed to the back of drawers, these are
not the images that we necessarily choose to share on social media.
Taken on occasions that are both special and ordinary (the first day at
school, that family trip to the beach), these photographs are imbued
with feelings, many of them complex and complicated. Looked back on from
a distance of time passed, they reveal our vulnerability: how we were
and how we are, how we and others saw us and see us.
When sociologist Dr Mónica Moreno Figueroa interviewed a group of Mexican women about their lives, she invited them to share their photo albums and reflect on their feelings about their bodies and the multiplicity of connections developing around them over time. Her objective was to explore women’s lived experiences and reveal the powerful role that ideas about beauty and race play in shaping individual lives. Moreno Figueroa sought a complex account from her interviewees, but the route those narratives took and the depth of their emotions surprised her. So much so, that she decided, on publishing her work, not to reproduce any of the women’s photographs.
Much has been written about women and beauty. Far less has been written about the ways in which notions of beauty, femininity, age and race intersect to create strongly perceived ‘differences’ which have profound and enduring effects. To be deemed beautiful confers immediate advantages – yet beauty is fleeting and fragile. A state of being beautiful is either displaced to the past or deferred to the future. As Moreno Figueroa has written, in a paper with her colleague Rebecca Coleman, “beauty is not a ‘thing’ which can be experienced in the present, but is that which is felt in different temporalities”.
Next week (30 August to 3 September 2016) Moreno Figueroa and colleagues (Dr Dominique Grisard from the University of Basel & the Swiss Center for Social Research and Dr Margrit Vogt from the University of Flensburg) will stage a ground-breaking summer school and conference titled ‘The Politics of Beauty’. Participants will include academics and artists who will share professional and personal experiences to encourage wide-ranging debate on topics related to beauty.
As a sociologist concerned with understanding the ‘quality’ of inequality, the depth and feeling of racism and sexism, Moreno Figueroa argues that beauty should be understood as an “embodied affective process” – not so much a state of being as a feeling about being. “We’re inviting our participants to engage with the politics of beauty and its ramifications. How does beauty travel? What kinds of beauty discourses are created and transmitted in such journeys? How are the politics of beauty reconfigured both through its travels and its locatedness? When do they matter and to what effect and extent? These are important questions because they go to the heart of many human experiences,” Grisard, Vogt and Moreno Figueroa write in their invitation to this event.
Moreno Figueroa has written extensively on beauty and race – especially in the context of Latin America – and has helped to raise awareness of the ways in which they contribute to the reproduction of pervasive forms of racism and sexism and the reinforcement of structures of inequality. The Mexican women who shared their photographs were educated lower and middle-class professionals. They were also, like the majority of Mexico’s population, mestiza (racially mixed). The interviews revealed the strong concern with appearance, skin colour, physical features which are in turn deeply intertwined with notions of acceptable femininity and national belonging – and the words that cropped up again and again was morena (dark-skinned) and fea (ugly). One woman reported that, as a child, she used to ask her uncles, when they teased her about her looks, “Why am I so morena?”
“This question sounds naïve but it’s not, as it comes from a context where racial mixture has given a sense that different physical features are possible. Some get ‘lucky’, some don’t,” says Moreno Figueroa. “Mexico is a highly racialised society in which issues of racism, and particularly prejudices about skin colour, are neither acknowledged nor addressed – but have remained hugely influential both in the intimate environment of the family and in the wider world outside it. Deeply embedded in Mexican society are notions of beauty that have their origins in deliberate moves to ‘improve’ indigenous races. Improving meant encouraging marriages that would result in children with lighter skins and ‘fine’ features. Hand-in-hand with notions of improvement come ideas about degeneration.”
In interviewing contemporary mestiza women about their life stories, Moreno Figueroa was asking them to describe the form of racism that exists within the majority population and not the more familiar type of racism directed by a majority to a minority.
“In the context of everyday experience framed by the racial logics of mestizaje, there are no fixed racial positions and people are not engaged in processes of identity politics as found in other parts of the world. This is what is so striking about mestizaje: people are not white or black, but rather, they are whiter than or darker than others,” she says. “The category of mestizo which epitomises Mexican national identity is relative. As the historian Alan Knight has pointed out, mestizo represents an achieved and ascribed status underpinned by whitening practices and promises of whiteness as privilege.”
It is within this framework that the racialisation of understandings of beauty comes to the fore. The infamous Mexican Caste Paintings (Pinturas de Castas) give a sense of how during colonial times artists recreated highly composed scenes that represented the routes for racial and class improvement underlined by aspirations of beauty, refinement and leisure. A union between a Spanish man and an Indigenous woman would produce a mestiza child; one between a Spanish man and a mestiza woman, a castizo child; and between a Spanish man and a castizo woman a Spanish child. In this rationale, in three generations, with careful planning and no mixing with Indigenous or Black blood, people could whiten themselves by ascription and make sure their descendants would fare better in life.
While Moreno Figueroa is cautious to not claim a direct line between the Colonial period (1521-1810) and contemporary Mexico, with the above precedent it is no wonder one of her participants shared the stories of caution when young whiter women were courted by darker men, or of exasperation when a relative decided to marry a woman as dark as him. The reported dialogues are telling: “How come he married her? Can’t he see what she looks like? And even nowadays he’s like 70 years old and his kids are in their 30s they still ask him ‘If you can see you’re so dark, why did you marry such a dark woman?’. They even ask him why he didn’t think about ‘improving the race’.”
While the Mexican racial project is specific to its context, it shares some similar experiences of colonisation with other Latin American countries as well as strong responses to 19th-century scientific racism, such as the trend to develop official ideologies of racial mixture (for example, Mexican Mestizaje or Brazil’s racial democracy) as part of nation-building strategies. As Moreno Figueroa explains: “These racial projects, and the many others around the world, are tightly entangled with ideas about femininity where notions of beauty, its oppressiveness and fascination, play a central role in filtering privilege and crystalising paths of purity and belonging.”
Beauty might not be tangible, not a ‘thing’, but the promise of it underpins a global business worth many millions of dollars, generated by an industry that trades on vulnerability as well as pleasure. “It would be easy perhaps to dismiss the cosmetics and beauty treatment industries as somehow superficial and exploitative,” says Moreno Figueroa. “But beauty lies in a difficult terrain – it is also a question of hope and pleasure, pain and shame. These are profoundly felt human emotions for both women and men. They deserve our full attention.”
Participants in the summer school and conference include: Christine Checinska (University of Johannesburg VIAD, South Africa); Diane Negra (University College Dublin, Ireland); Francis Ray White (University of Westminster, UK); Jackie Sanchez Taylor (University of Leicester, UK); Joy Gregory (Slade School of Fine Art, UK); Marcia Ochoa (UC Santa Cruz, USA); Meeta Rani Jha, (University of Winchester, UK); Meredith Jones (Brunel University, UK); Mimi Thi Nguyen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); Ng’endo Mukii (independent film maker, Nairobi, Kenya); Paula Villa (LMU Munich, Germany); Rosalind Gill (City University, London, UK); Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory University, USA); Sarah Banet-Weiser (USC Annenberg, USA); and Shirley Tate, (University of Leeds, UK).
For details of the Politics of Beauty summer school and conference go to http://www.sociology.cam.ac.uk/about/events/beauty-summer-school
When sociologist Dr Mónica Moreno Figueroa interviewed a group of Mexican women about their lives, she invited them to share their photo albums and reflect on their feelings about their bodies and the multiplicity of connections developing around them over time. Her objective was to explore women’s lived experiences and reveal the powerful role that ideas about beauty and race play in shaping individual lives. Moreno Figueroa sought a complex account from her interviewees, but the route those narratives took and the depth of their emotions surprised her. So much so, that she decided, on publishing her work, not to reproduce any of the women’s photographs.
Much has been written about women and beauty. Far less has been written about the ways in which notions of beauty, femininity, age and race intersect to create strongly perceived ‘differences’ which have profound and enduring effects. To be deemed beautiful confers immediate advantages – yet beauty is fleeting and fragile. A state of being beautiful is either displaced to the past or deferred to the future. As Moreno Figueroa has written, in a paper with her colleague Rebecca Coleman, “beauty is not a ‘thing’ which can be experienced in the present, but is that which is felt in different temporalities”.
Next week (30 August to 3 September 2016) Moreno Figueroa and colleagues (Dr Dominique Grisard from the University of Basel & the Swiss Center for Social Research and Dr Margrit Vogt from the University of Flensburg) will stage a ground-breaking summer school and conference titled ‘The Politics of Beauty’. Participants will include academics and artists who will share professional and personal experiences to encourage wide-ranging debate on topics related to beauty.
As a sociologist concerned with understanding the ‘quality’ of inequality, the depth and feeling of racism and sexism, Moreno Figueroa argues that beauty should be understood as an “embodied affective process” – not so much a state of being as a feeling about being. “We’re inviting our participants to engage with the politics of beauty and its ramifications. How does beauty travel? What kinds of beauty discourses are created and transmitted in such journeys? How are the politics of beauty reconfigured both through its travels and its locatedness? When do they matter and to what effect and extent? These are important questions because they go to the heart of many human experiences,” Grisard, Vogt and Moreno Figueroa write in their invitation to this event.
Moreno Figueroa has written extensively on beauty and race – especially in the context of Latin America – and has helped to raise awareness of the ways in which they contribute to the reproduction of pervasive forms of racism and sexism and the reinforcement of structures of inequality. The Mexican women who shared their photographs were educated lower and middle-class professionals. They were also, like the majority of Mexico’s population, mestiza (racially mixed). The interviews revealed the strong concern with appearance, skin colour, physical features which are in turn deeply intertwined with notions of acceptable femininity and national belonging – and the words that cropped up again and again was morena (dark-skinned) and fea (ugly). One woman reported that, as a child, she used to ask her uncles, when they teased her about her looks, “Why am I so morena?”
“This question sounds naïve but it’s not, as it comes from a context where racial mixture has given a sense that different physical features are possible. Some get ‘lucky’, some don’t,” says Moreno Figueroa. “Mexico is a highly racialised society in which issues of racism, and particularly prejudices about skin colour, are neither acknowledged nor addressed – but have remained hugely influential both in the intimate environment of the family and in the wider world outside it. Deeply embedded in Mexican society are notions of beauty that have their origins in deliberate moves to ‘improve’ indigenous races. Improving meant encouraging marriages that would result in children with lighter skins and ‘fine’ features. Hand-in-hand with notions of improvement come ideas about degeneration.”
In interviewing contemporary mestiza women about their life stories, Moreno Figueroa was asking them to describe the form of racism that exists within the majority population and not the more familiar type of racism directed by a majority to a minority.
“In the context of everyday experience framed by the racial logics of mestizaje, there are no fixed racial positions and people are not engaged in processes of identity politics as found in other parts of the world. This is what is so striking about mestizaje: people are not white or black, but rather, they are whiter than or darker than others,” she says. “The category of mestizo which epitomises Mexican national identity is relative. As the historian Alan Knight has pointed out, mestizo represents an achieved and ascribed status underpinned by whitening practices and promises of whiteness as privilege.”
It is within this framework that the racialisation of understandings of beauty comes to the fore. The infamous Mexican Caste Paintings (Pinturas de Castas) give a sense of how during colonial times artists recreated highly composed scenes that represented the routes for racial and class improvement underlined by aspirations of beauty, refinement and leisure. A union between a Spanish man and an Indigenous woman would produce a mestiza child; one between a Spanish man and a mestiza woman, a castizo child; and between a Spanish man and a castizo woman a Spanish child. In this rationale, in three generations, with careful planning and no mixing with Indigenous or Black blood, people could whiten themselves by ascription and make sure their descendants would fare better in life.
While Moreno Figueroa is cautious to not claim a direct line between the Colonial period (1521-1810) and contemporary Mexico, with the above precedent it is no wonder one of her participants shared the stories of caution when young whiter women were courted by darker men, or of exasperation when a relative decided to marry a woman as dark as him. The reported dialogues are telling: “How come he married her? Can’t he see what she looks like? And even nowadays he’s like 70 years old and his kids are in their 30s they still ask him ‘If you can see you’re so dark, why did you marry such a dark woman?’. They even ask him why he didn’t think about ‘improving the race’.”
While the Mexican racial project is specific to its context, it shares some similar experiences of colonisation with other Latin American countries as well as strong responses to 19th-century scientific racism, such as the trend to develop official ideologies of racial mixture (for example, Mexican Mestizaje or Brazil’s racial democracy) as part of nation-building strategies. As Moreno Figueroa explains: “These racial projects, and the many others around the world, are tightly entangled with ideas about femininity where notions of beauty, its oppressiveness and fascination, play a central role in filtering privilege and crystalising paths of purity and belonging.”
Beauty might not be tangible, not a ‘thing’, but the promise of it underpins a global business worth many millions of dollars, generated by an industry that trades on vulnerability as well as pleasure. “It would be easy perhaps to dismiss the cosmetics and beauty treatment industries as somehow superficial and exploitative,” says Moreno Figueroa. “But beauty lies in a difficult terrain – it is also a question of hope and pleasure, pain and shame. These are profoundly felt human emotions for both women and men. They deserve our full attention.”
Participants in the summer school and conference include: Christine Checinska (University of Johannesburg VIAD, South Africa); Diane Negra (University College Dublin, Ireland); Francis Ray White (University of Westminster, UK); Jackie Sanchez Taylor (University of Leicester, UK); Joy Gregory (Slade School of Fine Art, UK); Marcia Ochoa (UC Santa Cruz, USA); Meeta Rani Jha, (University of Winchester, UK); Meredith Jones (Brunel University, UK); Mimi Thi Nguyen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); Ng’endo Mukii (independent film maker, Nairobi, Kenya); Paula Villa (LMU Munich, Germany); Rosalind Gill (City University, London, UK); Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory University, USA); Sarah Banet-Weiser (USC Annenberg, USA); and Shirley Tate, (University of Leeds, UK).
For details of the Politics of Beauty summer school and conference go to http://www.sociology.cam.ac.uk/about/events/beauty-summer-school
13th Annual Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Conference
16 November 2016 - 9:00am to 17 November 2016 - 5:00pm
Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique)
This year’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Conference zooming in one of our three targeted areas of inquiry: Pluralism, Diversity, and the Future of Citizenship.We have assembled an advisory committee of engaged local actors and Foundation community members to help us develop the event, which promises to be absolutely transformational and fundamentally different from previous annual conference.
Stay tuned!
From Traditional Resource to Global Commodities:—A Comparison of Rhodiola Species Using NMR Spectroscopy—Metabolomics and HPTLC
Abstract
The
fast developing international trade of products based on traditional
knowledge and their value chains has become an important aspect of the
ethnopharmacological debate. The structure and diversity of value chains
and their impact on the phytochemical composition of herbal medicinal
products, as well as the underlying government policies and regulations,
have been overlooked in the debate about quality problems in
transnational trade. Rhodiola species, including Rhodiola rosea L. and
Rhodiola crenulata (Hook. f. & Thomson) H. Ohba, are used as
traditional herbal medicines. Faced with resource depletion and
environment destruction, R. rosea and R. crenulata are becoming
endangered, making them more economically valuable to collectors and
middlemen, and also increasing the risk of adulteration and low quality.
Rhodiola products have been subject to adulteration and we recently
assessed 39 commercial products for their composition and quality.
However, the range of Rhodiola species potentially implicated has not
been assessed. Also, the ability of selected analytical techniques in
differentiating these species is not known yet. Using a strategy
previously developed by our group, we compare the phytochemical
differences among Rhodiola raw materials available on the market to
provide a practical method for the identification of different Rhodiola
species from Europe and Asia and the detection of potential adulterants.
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy coupled with multivariate
analysis software and high performance thin layer chromatography
techniques were used to analyse the samples. Rosavin and rosarin were
mainly present in R. rosea but also in Rosea sachalinensis Borris. 30%
of the Rhodiola samples purchased from the Chinese market were
adulterated by other Rhodiola spp. The utilization of a combined
platform based on 1H-NMR and HPTLC methods resulted in an integrated
analysis of different Rhodiola species. We identified adulteration at
the earliest stage of the value chains, i.e., during collection as a key
problem involving several species. This project also highlights the
need to further study the links between producers and consumers in
national and trans-national trade
Could Medical Cannabis Break the Painkiller Epidemic?
A
body of research suggests yes, but scientists are having to fight red
tape to study whether medical marijuana could substitute for opioid
drugs
Six
days before Prince died, the iconic pop star was hospitalized after
possibly overdosing on Percocet. His death on April 21 involved
overdosing on another painkiller, fentanyl. Both are among the
prescription opioids that alleviate the pain of millions of Americans
every year—often at the price of their needing ever greater amounts and
the risk of overdose. The U.S. “is in the midst of an unprecedented
opioid epidemic,” according to the Department of Health and Human
Services. Prescription opioid overdoses killed more than 165,000
Americans between 1999 and 2014, and the health and social costs of
abusing such drugs are estimated to be as much as $55 billion a year.
The problem has led experts to scramble for a less dangerous alternative
for pain relief—and some research points to medical marijuana.
As early as 15 years ago physicians began hearing that patients were using cannabis instead of prescription opioids for pain. These anecdotes inspired a research team led by Marcus Bachhuber, assistant professor of medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, to examine whether some states' legalization of medical cannabis had affected the number of opioid overdose deaths. Published in 2014, the study revealed an intriguing trend: between 1999 and 2010, states that permitted medical marijuana had an average of almost 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths each year than states where cannabis remained illegal.
Bachhuber's research could not prove that medical cannabis use directly led to fewer opioid overdoses. In addition, the overdose count included both prescription opioids and illegal heroin. But the study opened the eyes of many researchers to a possible relation between marijuana and painkiller use. “I think medical cannabis could fall into the category of alternatives for treating chronic pain so that people don't use opioids or use a lower dose of opioids than they otherwise would,” Bachhuber says.
Various wide-ranging new studies back him up. As reported in the June issue of the Journal of Pain, researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a retrospective survey of 185 patients who frequented a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those patients reported cutting their opioid use by more than half in treating their chronic pain. Meanwhile animal studies have shown that cannabinoid chemical compounds found in marijuana can work synergistically with opioids to mitigate pain.
Medical cannabis was also a hot topic at the 2016 meeting of the American Pain Society, says Simon Haroutounian, chief of clinical research at the Washington University Pain Center in St. Louis. He co-authored a study, published online in February in the Clinical Journal of Pain, that followed a group of 176 chronic pain patients in Israel over seven months and found that 44 percent of them stopped taking prescription opioids within seven months of starting medical cannabis. The research is among several recent observational studies showing an association between medical cannabis use and decreased dependence on opioids.
Each of these analyses has its limitations. Retrospective studies cannot reveal crucial details such as whether overdose deaths involved patients who were using medically prescribed opioids or people who got the drugs illegally and were using them recreationally or to self-medicate. And although Haroutounian's observational study was carried out in real time, the participants were prescreened for psychiatric conditions and the potential for drug misuse. That means they were less likely to suffer complications from medical cannabis than a general population of chronic pain patients. “We don't have good data on the long-term effects and in larger populations that are not so carefully selected,” Haroutounian explains.
As for the safety of medical marijuana as an opioid alternative, one of the most extensive reports to date was published late last year in the Journal of Pain and followed about 200 patients using cannabis for chronic pain over 12 months. Unlike most previous research, this study directly compared medical cannabis users with a control group of chronic pain patients who did not use the drug. The results showed some increased risk for nonserious adverse effects in the medical cannabis group but no difference in the risk of serious adverse events.
Studies that specifically examine whether cannabis can substitute for opioids in providing pain relief have been limited to just a few hundred patients at most. But the largest observational study yet is already underway. Tilray, a Canadian producer of cannabis products, has backed the 1,000-patient study that extends across 20 Canadian clinics and covers a total of six months. "Most research has mostly relied on patient self-reporting, which is great and useful," says Philippe Lucas, vice president of patient advocacy at Tilray. "But we really need to study the substitution effect in real time."
Experimental clinical trials would provide the most definitive proof on any cause-and-effect relation between medical cannabis and reduced opioid use, says Mark Ware, director of clinical research at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit at McGill University and lead author of the Journal of Pain safety study. But experimental research with medical cannabis remains difficult because the U.S. classifies it as a Schedule I substance that has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Most other countries have similar restrictions, which pose challenges for researchers to legally obtain cannabis or to get approval for clinical trials.
Such trials are also a necessary next step because they would help determine safety. All experts interviewed for this article see medical cannabis as a potentially viable treatment option for chronic pain, but many also worry about rushing ahead without a better understanding of the long-term effects of marijuana—which carries its own risks of substance abuse and unwanted side effects.
“We have all these states that have legalized medical cannabis,” says Kevin Boehnke, a Ph.D. candidate in environmental health sciences and public health at the University of Michigan and co-author on the Ann Arbor study. “At this point, we really need a policy on the ways that cannabis can be researched and accessed by the scientific community to catch up with that reality.”
Political attitudes toward cannabis have recently been shifting fast. On June 8, Ohio joined 24 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical cannabis. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spent much of the year mulling over two state governors' petitions to reconsider marijuana’s Schedule I status, but ultimately denied the petitions in an August 11 decision. Still, the agency announced a policy change that could encourage U.S. research by boosting the number of authorized marijuana manufacturers.
Medical cannabis is unlikely to prove a replacement for opioids in all medical situations. For example, prescribing opioids is relatively uncontroversial in end-of-life care and in treatment of acute pain from cancer, major surgery or broken bones. But for pain not caused by cancer, medical cannabis may prove a better candidate in the long run. Even the most severe critics, Bachhuber says, would accept that medical cannabis is safer than opioids when it comes to the risk of fatal overdose.
Editor’s Note (8/16/16): This article from our print edition was updated for posting online to reflect the August 11 decision by The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
As early as 15 years ago physicians began hearing that patients were using cannabis instead of prescription opioids for pain. These anecdotes inspired a research team led by Marcus Bachhuber, assistant professor of medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, to examine whether some states' legalization of medical cannabis had affected the number of opioid overdose deaths. Published in 2014, the study revealed an intriguing trend: between 1999 and 2010, states that permitted medical marijuana had an average of almost 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths each year than states where cannabis remained illegal.
Bachhuber's research could not prove that medical cannabis use directly led to fewer opioid overdoses. In addition, the overdose count included both prescription opioids and illegal heroin. But the study opened the eyes of many researchers to a possible relation between marijuana and painkiller use. “I think medical cannabis could fall into the category of alternatives for treating chronic pain so that people don't use opioids or use a lower dose of opioids than they otherwise would,” Bachhuber says.
Various wide-ranging new studies back him up. As reported in the June issue of the Journal of Pain, researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a retrospective survey of 185 patients who frequented a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those patients reported cutting their opioid use by more than half in treating their chronic pain. Meanwhile animal studies have shown that cannabinoid chemical compounds found in marijuana can work synergistically with opioids to mitigate pain.
Medical cannabis was also a hot topic at the 2016 meeting of the American Pain Society, says Simon Haroutounian, chief of clinical research at the Washington University Pain Center in St. Louis. He co-authored a study, published online in February in the Clinical Journal of Pain, that followed a group of 176 chronic pain patients in Israel over seven months and found that 44 percent of them stopped taking prescription opioids within seven months of starting medical cannabis. The research is among several recent observational studies showing an association between medical cannabis use and decreased dependence on opioids.
Each of these analyses has its limitations. Retrospective studies cannot reveal crucial details such as whether overdose deaths involved patients who were using medically prescribed opioids or people who got the drugs illegally and were using them recreationally or to self-medicate. And although Haroutounian's observational study was carried out in real time, the participants were prescreened for psychiatric conditions and the potential for drug misuse. That means they were less likely to suffer complications from medical cannabis than a general population of chronic pain patients. “We don't have good data on the long-term effects and in larger populations that are not so carefully selected,” Haroutounian explains.
As for the safety of medical marijuana as an opioid alternative, one of the most extensive reports to date was published late last year in the Journal of Pain and followed about 200 patients using cannabis for chronic pain over 12 months. Unlike most previous research, this study directly compared medical cannabis users with a control group of chronic pain patients who did not use the drug. The results showed some increased risk for nonserious adverse effects in the medical cannabis group but no difference in the risk of serious adverse events.
Studies that specifically examine whether cannabis can substitute for opioids in providing pain relief have been limited to just a few hundred patients at most. But the largest observational study yet is already underway. Tilray, a Canadian producer of cannabis products, has backed the 1,000-patient study that extends across 20 Canadian clinics and covers a total of six months. "Most research has mostly relied on patient self-reporting, which is great and useful," says Philippe Lucas, vice president of patient advocacy at Tilray. "But we really need to study the substitution effect in real time."
Experimental clinical trials would provide the most definitive proof on any cause-and-effect relation between medical cannabis and reduced opioid use, says Mark Ware, director of clinical research at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit at McGill University and lead author of the Journal of Pain safety study. But experimental research with medical cannabis remains difficult because the U.S. classifies it as a Schedule I substance that has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Most other countries have similar restrictions, which pose challenges for researchers to legally obtain cannabis or to get approval for clinical trials.
Such trials are also a necessary next step because they would help determine safety. All experts interviewed for this article see medical cannabis as a potentially viable treatment option for chronic pain, but many also worry about rushing ahead without a better understanding of the long-term effects of marijuana—which carries its own risks of substance abuse and unwanted side effects.
“We have all these states that have legalized medical cannabis,” says Kevin Boehnke, a Ph.D. candidate in environmental health sciences and public health at the University of Michigan and co-author on the Ann Arbor study. “At this point, we really need a policy on the ways that cannabis can be researched and accessed by the scientific community to catch up with that reality.”
Political attitudes toward cannabis have recently been shifting fast. On June 8, Ohio joined 24 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical cannabis. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spent much of the year mulling over two state governors' petitions to reconsider marijuana’s Schedule I status, but ultimately denied the petitions in an August 11 decision. Still, the agency announced a policy change that could encourage U.S. research by boosting the number of authorized marijuana manufacturers.
Medical cannabis is unlikely to prove a replacement for opioids in all medical situations. For example, prescribing opioids is relatively uncontroversial in end-of-life care and in treatment of acute pain from cancer, major surgery or broken bones. But for pain not caused by cancer, medical cannabis may prove a better candidate in the long run. Even the most severe critics, Bachhuber says, would accept that medical cannabis is safer than opioids when it comes to the risk of fatal overdose.
Editor’s Note (8/16/16): This article from our print edition was updated for posting online to reflect the August 11 decision by The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Tiny Spanish publisher clones world's most mysterious book
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tiny-spanish-publisher-clones-worlds-most-mysterious-book-102653981.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw via @YahooNews
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
details regarding the gender bias in science & research series to be aired on CBC Radio One during Edmonton's afternoon program, Radio Active.
Thank you for participating and/or expressing
interest in promoting this series!
This 4-parts series will be played over the course of 1 week (detailed
below). Please tune-in to 93.9FM in Edmonton/Northern Alberta between 3-6pm on
the days below to listen! You can also see/listen to the whole series
online (next week!) by visiting http://www.cbc.ca/
news/canada/edmonton/programs/
Please feel free to forward this information to your networks!
*Schedule:*
*September 6:* *The Problem of Gender Bias* full length interview with
Wendy Robbins, Department of English, University of New Brunswick.
*September 7:* *Health Research Funding & Gender Bias* full length
interview with Holly Witteman, Assistant Professor, Department of Family
and Emergency Medicine; Office of Education and Continuing Professional
Development, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval
*September 8:* *Life as a Female Scientist/Researcher* panel interview with
Paige Lacy, Professor & Director of the Pulmonary Research Group,
Department of Medicine, University of Alberta; Shannon Scott, Professor
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta; Lindsay LeBlanc, Assistant
Professor, Department of Physics University of Alberta.
*September 9:* *Ideas for an Equitable Future *with clips from Dame Uta
Frith, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of London; Michael
Hendricks, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill
University and the Co-Chair of the Association of Canadian Early Career
Health Researchers; Sharon Straus, Professor, Department of Medicine,
University of Toronto; Thomas Forth, Founder, imactivate; Sarah Dickinson
Hyams the Head of Equality Charters for the Equality Challenge Unit; Pamela
Valentine, the Transition CEO at Alberta Innovates.
Thanks for your support
interest in promoting this series!
This 4-parts series will be played over the course of 1 week (detailed
below). Please tune-in to 93.9FM in Edmonton/Northern Alberta between 3-6pm on
the days below to listen! You can also see/listen to the whole series
online (next week!) by visiting http://www.cbc.ca/
news/canada/edmonton/programs/
Please feel free to forward this information to your networks!
*Schedule:*
*September 6:* *The Problem of Gender Bias* full length interview with
Wendy Robbins, Department of English, University of New Brunswick.
*September 7:* *Health Research Funding & Gender Bias* full length
interview with Holly Witteman, Assistant Professor, Department of Family
and Emergency Medicine; Office of Education and Continuing Professional
Development, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval
*September 8:* *Life as a Female Scientist/Researcher* panel interview with
Paige Lacy, Professor & Director of the Pulmonary Research Group,
Department of Medicine, University of Alberta; Shannon Scott, Professor
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta; Lindsay LeBlanc, Assistant
Professor, Department of Physics University of Alberta.
*September 9:* *Ideas for an Equitable Future *with clips from Dame Uta
Frith, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of London; Michael
Hendricks, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill
University and the Co-Chair of the Association of Canadian Early Career
Health Researchers; Sharon Straus, Professor, Department of Medicine,
University of Toronto; Thomas Forth, Founder, imactivate; Sarah Dickinson
Hyams the Head of Equality Charters for the Equality Challenge Unit; Pamela
Valentine, the Transition CEO at Alberta Innovates.
Thanks for your support
Re: Cranberry Products May Be an Effective Option for Preventing Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Pediatric Patients
| |
| Date: 08-15-2016 | HC# 011642-550 |
Durham SH, Stamm PL, Eiland LS. Cranberry
products for the prophylaxis of urinary tract infections in pediatric patients.
Ann Pharmacother. December
2015;49(12):1349-1356.
Cranberry (Vaccinium spp., Ericaceae) products have been shown to be effective
in preventing recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women, 30% of whom
experience a UTI in their lifetime, compared with 1% of men.* Once thought to
acidify the urinary tract (studies show pH does not actually change), it is now
thought that cranberry compounds, specifically A-type proanthocyanidins (PACs),
inhibit P-fimbriated Escherichia coli bacteria
from binding to epithelial walls. E. coli
causes 90% of initial UTIs and 75% of recurring infections; more than 90% of
nephritogenic E. coli have P
fimbriae. Also, cranberry is thought to inhibit biofilm formation. Cranberry
products do not disrupt gastric flora or promote bacterial resistance; in
addition, they are easy to obtain and use.
UTIs are common in the pediatric population,
with 8% of girls and 2% of boys diagnosed with a UTI by age 11. Up to 35% of
patients have recurrent UTIs that may have long-term effects. UTI risk factors
include obstruction to urinary flow and urinary stasis; the latter can be
caused by vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), anatomical abnormalities, neuropathic
bladder, or indwelling catheters. Besides E.
coli, UTIs in children are often caused by Pseudomonas spp., especially in children with neurogenic bladder,
frequent instrumentation, or indwelling catheters. Prophylactic low-dose
antibiotics may be used in children with obstructive disease or VUR to lower
risks of recurrent UTIs, but international trials report conflicting results
for the practice. A 2011 Cochrane review concluded that prophylaxis reduced
risks of recurrence but found the benefit small compared to risks. Several
studies report that use of antibiotic prophylaxis leads to bacterial resistance.
With a need for new strategies for treating UTIs in children, researchers have
studied cranberry's beneficial effects. The authors searched PubMed database entries
spanning 1966 to June 2015, identifying eight relevant randomized controlled
trials (RCTs).
Three RCTs involving otherwise healthy
children used cranberry juice as their active intervention; however, they
varied by the following: sample size; whether or not the UTI was caused exclusively
by E. coli; whether or not they included
children with VUR, and, if so, what grade VUR; whether they included females
only or both sexes; and the products used. Only one study used cranberry juices
with known PAC percentages (37% in the active arm, 0% in the control arm). Despite
these and other differences in design and procedures, all three studies found
benefits for cranberry juice over placebo, no intervention, or Lactobacillus spp. drink; two reported
significant risk reductions for UTIs.
In children with anatomical abnormalities, five
RCTs had mixed results as follows:
(1) A randomized, single-blind, crossover
trial treated 40 children with neuropathic bladders, but only 21 (52.5%)
completed the study; 12 dropped out because of the taste, cost, and/or caloric
content of the cranberry juice used. On study completion, there were no
significant differences in UTI incidence between groups (P = 0.5566), or in the
subset receiving prophylactic antibiotics (P = 0.2845).
(2) In a double-blind, crossover RCT assessing
effects of cranberry prophylaxis on neurogenic bladder due to myelomeningocele
and clean intermittent catheterization, 15 children received either cranberry
concentrate or placebo for 12 weeks, then crossed over for an additional 12
weeks. They were followed for six months, with no difference found in the percentage
of urine cultures testing positive for a UTI pathogen in the groups at the end
of the study. Researchers theorized that the voiding difficulty caused by
neurogenic bladder may have overwhelmed effects of the cranberry product. They
further hypothesized that patients with urogenital abnormalities or chronic
medical conditions may have UTIs caused by
E. coli that do not express adhesins and would thus not benefit from
cranberries.
(3) Another crossover RCT in a similar
population as the second study included 20 patients. After a year, significant
reductions were seen in UTI rates in the cranberry arm (P = 0.012), in females
(P = 0.008), in patients without VUR (P = 0.029), and in patients with renal
scarring (P = 0.033). In addition, 16 patients experienced pyuria during the
placebo arm, whereas only two experienced this during the cranberry arm (P =
0.000).
(4, 5) Finally, in two trials comparing
cranberry products directly to prophylactic antibiotics, there was no
significant difference in infection rates in children with VUR given cefaclor
or children with a history of recurrent UTIs (VUR of any degree accepted) given
trimethoprim and those given cranberry, leading researchers to conclude that
cranberry juice was not inferior to either antibiotic in preventing UTIs.
In several studies, high dropout rates were
attributed to cranberry's tartness, though in one study, only one patient
(8.3%) in the cranberry group could not drink the juice because of the
tartness, a contrast from previous studies. Cranberry tablets may increase
excretion of oxalate and other lithogenic ions, a risk to those with
nephrolithiasis. Different products, doses, and dosing schedules used, and the
lack of data regarding PAC content except in one study, make specific
recommendations difficult.
Cranberry
products differ substantially. Quantifying PAC is achieved by several methods;
however, even the best method, dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMAC), cannot
distinguish amounts or types of A-type PAC oligomers and is accurate only for
juice-based products, not those made from the cranberry skins or pomace.
American cranberry (V. macrocarpon) has
more PAC content than small cranberry (V.
oxycoccos) and should be used for UTI prevention. White cranberry contains
PAC precursors which do show anti-adhesion activity in vitro. Processing and
storage can alter PAC levels, yet in cranberry powders, extracts, tablets, and
capsules, labeled doses do not reflect PAC content.** In juice cocktails and
mixes, the percentage of juice does not reflect PAC content. Levels may vary in
different lots of juice from the same producer. No dosing studies have been
conducted in children, and optimal PAC doses are undefined in all populations. Pharmacokinetic
information is lacking except for limited studies of cranberry juice. Based on
the results of the eight clinical trials, cranberry juice, dosed from 2 to 5
mL/kg/day, showed the most benefit. In the absence of more definitive studies,
a minimum PAC dose of 36 mg/d in one daily dose or two 36-mg doses for acute
cases is suggested. [Note: The article incorrectly reported a dosage of 36
g/d.] Larger studies are needed.
—Mariann
Garner-Wizard
*However, during the first year of life, males
have more UTIs than females.
**Not all powders are whole cranberry. The cheaper
products are usually made from the dried skins or pomace after the juice is
removed. These are not soluble and cannot be measured accurately with
DMAC. These have delayed urinary anti-adhesion
activity which is stunted compared to the soluble juice-based powders in which
the PACs can be measured by DMAC. The juice powders are more expensive and act
more quickly, producing a more rapid anti-adhesion effect. The labels on
powdered cranberry supplements are currently not required to list if they are
juice or pomace-based, so consumers typically buy the cheaper, less-effective
products. Separate PAC quantification methods must be used for each product
type or the levels of PAC will not be reported correctly.
Re: The Herbal Mixture Kan Jang® Reduces Cough Severity in Patients with Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections
- Malabar Nut (Justicia adhatoda, Acanthaceae)
- Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea, Asteraceae)
- Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus, Araliaceae)
- Upper Respiratory Tract Infections
| Date: 08-15-2016 | HC# 011623-550 |
Barth
A, Hovhannisyan A, Jamalyan K, Narimanyan M. Antitussive effect of a fixed combination of Justicia adhatoda, Echinacea purpurea and Eleutherococcus
senticosus extracts in patients with
acute upper respiratory tract infection: a comparative, randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Phytomedicine. December 2015;22(13):1195-1200.
Upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) are
characterized by nasal congestion, a sore throat, and coughing. URIs are
generally caused by viral infections and are self-limiting. Most treatments for
URIs are intended to treat the symptoms associated with the infection and
include antitussives, pain reducers, and expectorants. In preclinical studies,
extracts of Malabar nut (Justicia
adhatoda, Acanthaceae) have been shown to have antitussive, expectorant,
mucolytic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory qualities. Vasicine, a quinazoline
alkaloid compound found in alcohol extracts of Malabar nut, acts as a
bronchodilator, inhibits bronchospasms, and increases cilia movement. In
addition, both echinacea (Echinacea
purpurea, Asteraceae) and eleuthero (Eleutherococcus
senticosus, Araliaceae) have been shown to have immunomodulatory effects.
Kan Jang® (Swedish Herbal Institute; Vallberga, Sweden) contains
extracts of Malabar nut, echinacea, and eleuthero, and is used in Scandinavia
to treat URIs. The goal of this placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind,
phase II clinical trial was to measure the efficacy and tolerability of Kan
Jang in patients with acute URIs.
The study was conducted at the Yerevan State
Medical Centre of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia, between November 2012 and August
2014. Patients were included if they had acute, uncomplicated URIs. Patients
were excluded if they had allergies to cut flowers; had fever; had symptoms for
> 36 hours; were taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatants, or antihistamines;
or were pregnant or lactating. Patients were divided randomly among 3 groups
which consumed either Kan Jang, the active control bromhexine hydrochloride, or
a placebo. The following ingredients made up the base solution for all of the
treatments: sorbitol, ginger (Zingiber
officinale, Zingiberaceae), peppermint (Mentha
× piperita, Lamiaceae), dark
syrup, benzoate, and water. The Kan Jang extract contained 9 mg/ml of
ethanol-extracted dried echinacea root, 14 mg/ml aqueous-extracted dried
Malabar nut leaves, and 2 mg/ml of ethanol-extracted dried eleuthero root. It
was standardized for vasicine (0.2 mg/ml), chichoric acid (0.8 mg/ml), and
eleutherosides B and E (0.03 mg/ml). The bromhexine hydrochloride (1.6 mg/ml;
Boehringer Ingelheim; Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany) was diluted to 0.8 mg/ml in
the standard solution. The placebo contained only the standard solution of
ingredients.
Patients were instructed to take 30 ml of the
treatment solution 30 minutes after breakfast for 5 days. At baseline, the
number of coughing bouts in 30 minutes was measured in each patient. Patients
were instructed to count the number of coughing bouts for 30 minutes once the
first bout had started each morning of the study. The coughing frequency was
calculated from these data on a scale from 0 to 9, with 9 being the most
extreme number of coughing bouts. Blood samples were taken at baseline and day
5. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance, paired t-tests, post
hoc Dunn's multiple comparison tests, and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests.
A total of 177 patients were divided equally
among the 3 groups. All groups experienced a significant improvement in
coughing frequency over the course of the study (P < 0.0001 for all). On days
3 and 4 of the study, the decrease in coughing frequency was greater in the Kan
Jang group than in the placebo group (P < 0.05 for day 3 and P < 0.01 for
day 4) or in the bromhexine group (P < 0.05 for day 3 and P < 0.01 for
day 4). On day 5, the reduction in coughing in the Kan Jang group and in the
bromhexine group was similar. Kan Jang resulted in a more rapid decrease in the
frequency of coughing than did bromhexine. Adverse effects were minor and
included pruritus, skin rash, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. There were no
differences in the frequency of adverse effects among the groups.
Kan Jang reduced the severity of coughing
more rapidly than did bromhexine in patients with acute URIs. Bromhexine is a
synthetic derivative of vasicine, which is thought to be one of the more potent
compounds found in Malabar nut for treating URIs. Kan Jang may provide faster
relief from coughing than bromhexine alone because of other constituents within
Malabar nut, echinacea, or eleuthero. Each of these species has been found to
improve symptoms associated with URIs, and the combination of species may have
a synergistic effect on improving cough severity. This study was partially
supported by Swedish Herbal Institute.
—Cheryl
McCutchan, PhD
Food as Medicine: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, Solanaceae)
HerbalEGram: Volume 13, Issue 7, July 2016
Editor’s Note: Each month, HerbalEGram highlights a conventional food and briefly explores its history, traditional uses, nutritional profile, and modern medicinal research. We also feature a nutritious recipe for an easy-to-prepare dish with each article to encourage readers to experience the extensive benefits of these whole foods. With this series, we hope our readers will gain a new appreciation for the foods they see at the supermarket and frequently include in their diets.
The basic materials for this series were compiled
by dietetic interns from Texas State University in San Marcos and the
University of Texas at Austin through the American Botanical Council’s (ABC’s)
Dietetic Internship Program, led by ABC Education Coordinator Jenny Perez. We thank Genesis Valdes and Candace Charles (UT, 2015)
for their research and work on tomato.
History and
Traditional Use
Range and Habitat
Tomato
(Solanum lycopersicum, Solanaceae) is,
botanically, a fruit. Nevertheless, in the 1893 Nix v. Hedden decision, the
United States Supreme Court classified tomatoes as a vegetable, which created
an economic advantage for US producers, because taxes were levied on vegetables,
but not fruits, imported into the US.1 The Supreme Court decided that “in the common
language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these
are vegetables … are usually served at dinner … and not, like fruits generally,
as dessert.”2 The tomato is a common ingredient in cuisines around
the world, and is cultivated as an annual food crop, although technically it is
classified as a short-lived perennial.3
A member of the nightshade family, the tomato is related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena), bell pepper (Capsicum annuum), and chili pepper (C. frutescens). Tomatoes are colorful, with various tomato cultivars producing fruit that is generally red, orange, and yellow in different sizes and shapes. Tomato plants grow 3-10 feet in height and have a sprawling growth habit, with hairy stems, bright green compound leaves, and small yellow flowers.4,5 The tomato plant produces a fleshy fruit with seeds embedded in a watery matrix that requires delicate care during transport.6
Tomatoes grew wild as a weed in South and Central America, and the size of the original tomato was more comparable to the cherry tomato than the larger varieties.6,7 Aztecs and Incas were among the first to cultivate the tomato due to its resemblance to the green tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica and P. ixocarpa, Solanaceae), one of their cuisine staples.4,6 After arriving in Mexico, Spanish conquistadors were intrigued by the tomato and took seeds to Europe. The tomato spread throughout Europe and made its way into Mediterranean cuisine during the 16th century. Today, the tomato and potato dominate the US vegetable market in dietary intake and economic value.1
Phytochemicals and Constituents
Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, potassium, carotenoids, and flavonoids.5 The tomato skin contains 98% of the tomato’s total flavonol content, which includes quercetin and kaempferol. Studies have shown that potassium and vitamin C in the diet lowers blood pressure, which is good because high blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD).8 Tomatoes also contain minerals including phosphorus, magnesium, molybdenum, and calcium.5 Tomato-based products, including tomato paste, contain these same nutrients in varying concentrations depending on how the tomatoes were processed.9
The fruit is dense in lycopene and several other carotenoids, including phytoene, phytofluene, zeta-carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene, and neurosporene.5 Carotenoids give tomatoes their varying colors.10 Tomatoes and tomato products are the richest sources of lycopene in the American diet, representing more than 85% of all dietary sources of lycopene.
Because of its chemical structure, lycopene is one of the most potent antioxidants.11 Lycopene provides many health benefits, including reducing the risk of cellular oxidative damage, inflammation, and modulation of cellular signaling pathways. There is a strong correlation between lycopene/tomato product intake and the reduction of CVD and cancer incidence.5,8 In vitro studies demonstrate that lycopene reduces cellular proliferation induced by insulin-like growth factors in various cancer cell lines, and protects important cellular biomolecules, including lipids, proteins, and DNA.11 Additionally, lycopene can suppress carcinogen-induced phosphorylation of regulatory proteins and stop cell division in cancer cell lines, providing a mechanism to explain putative cancer preventive effects.
Historical and Commercial Uses
The tomato was not a popular food when introduced to Europe and was originally grown as an ornamental plant. The Solanaceae family famously contains some plants that are poisonous, such as deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), which made many people suspicious of the bright red fruit.4,6 Europeans overcame their fear of the tomato by the late 18th century, but conflicting information persists in modern times regarding tomato leaves.6,12 The leaves were believed to be as poisonous as the fruit — once thought to be toxic as well — but scientific literature remains undecided on the leaves’ actual toxicity to humans and animals.12 Some chefs and home cooks have reported no adverse effects while cooking with and consuming tomato leaves, but evidence remains largely anecdotal on both sides.
Though little research exists on tomato’s efficacy for skin conditions, such as acne or sunburn, folk remedies recommend preparations of tomato mixed with other ingredients, such as avocado (Persea americana, Lauraceae), honey, yogurt, or lime (Citrus x latifolia, Rutaceae) juice, applied to the face or other afflicted areas.13
As tomato consumption spread throughout Europe, it gained more acceptance as a versatile food, which inspired Italians to begin mass-producing and canning tomatoes (known as pomodoro, or “golden apple” in Italian) by the early 19th century. The US soon followed, and by the 1830s, ketchup (catsup) became the “national condiment.”4 Currently, the tomato has a wide variety of uses and is one of the most popular vegetables worldwide. In the US, the tomato is the most commonly consumed vegetable.1 The average American consumes nearly 18 pounds of fresh tomatoes and almost 69 pounds of processed tomato products every year.10 The Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture estimates that of total raw tomato processing, 35% is processed into sauces, 18% into tomato paste, 17% into canned tomatoes, 15% into juices, and 15% into ketchup. The tomato was the first genetically-engineered food, modified to maintain the firmness of the fruit for longer periods of time during transport.7
Modern Research
The tomato and tomato products have gained greater attention because of the increasing research surrounding their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.9
Tomatoes have a variety of nutrients and compounds that may contribute to the prevention of CVD and certain cancers by decreasing inflammation. Recent studies have identified lycopene as a beneficial compound that reduces inflammation and oxidation. Oxidative stress at the cellular level leads to the damage of cell membranes and eventually causes inflammation. The chemical transfer of electrons of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) prevents damage to fat cells, therefore indirectly preventing inflammation.
Lycopene and Inflammation
Vitamin C and vitamin E may work in combination with lycopene to increase beneficial effects. Researchers observed a greater production of anti-inflammatory cytokines with the combination of the three compounds (lycopene, ascorbic acid, and alpha-tocopherol) compared to the individual compounds or a combination of two.14 (Cytokines are chemical messengers produced by immune cells to communicate with damaged cells and initiate immune response.) This indicates that consuming tomato provides greater health benefits versus isolated single compounds.
Tomato products may also benefit overweight or obese individuals.15 After 20 days of consuming 330 mL of tomato juice daily while otherwise maintaining their normal diet, overweight and obese women had a decrease in the concentration of certain inflammatory factors compared to baseline and compared to the control group, possibly decreasing the risk of inflammatory conditions such as CVD, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
Cancer
A member of the nightshade family, the tomato is related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena), bell pepper (Capsicum annuum), and chili pepper (C. frutescens). Tomatoes are colorful, with various tomato cultivars producing fruit that is generally red, orange, and yellow in different sizes and shapes. Tomato plants grow 3-10 feet in height and have a sprawling growth habit, with hairy stems, bright green compound leaves, and small yellow flowers.4,5 The tomato plant produces a fleshy fruit with seeds embedded in a watery matrix that requires delicate care during transport.6
Tomatoes grew wild as a weed in South and Central America, and the size of the original tomato was more comparable to the cherry tomato than the larger varieties.6,7 Aztecs and Incas were among the first to cultivate the tomato due to its resemblance to the green tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica and P. ixocarpa, Solanaceae), one of their cuisine staples.4,6 After arriving in Mexico, Spanish conquistadors were intrigued by the tomato and took seeds to Europe. The tomato spread throughout Europe and made its way into Mediterranean cuisine during the 16th century. Today, the tomato and potato dominate the US vegetable market in dietary intake and economic value.1
Phytochemicals and Constituents
Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, potassium, carotenoids, and flavonoids.5 The tomato skin contains 98% of the tomato’s total flavonol content, which includes quercetin and kaempferol. Studies have shown that potassium and vitamin C in the diet lowers blood pressure, which is good because high blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD).8 Tomatoes also contain minerals including phosphorus, magnesium, molybdenum, and calcium.5 Tomato-based products, including tomato paste, contain these same nutrients in varying concentrations depending on how the tomatoes were processed.9
The fruit is dense in lycopene and several other carotenoids, including phytoene, phytofluene, zeta-carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene, and neurosporene.5 Carotenoids give tomatoes their varying colors.10 Tomatoes and tomato products are the richest sources of lycopene in the American diet, representing more than 85% of all dietary sources of lycopene.
Because of its chemical structure, lycopene is one of the most potent antioxidants.11 Lycopene provides many health benefits, including reducing the risk of cellular oxidative damage, inflammation, and modulation of cellular signaling pathways. There is a strong correlation between lycopene/tomato product intake and the reduction of CVD and cancer incidence.5,8 In vitro studies demonstrate that lycopene reduces cellular proliferation induced by insulin-like growth factors in various cancer cell lines, and protects important cellular biomolecules, including lipids, proteins, and DNA.11 Additionally, lycopene can suppress carcinogen-induced phosphorylation of regulatory proteins and stop cell division in cancer cell lines, providing a mechanism to explain putative cancer preventive effects.
Historical and Commercial Uses
The tomato was not a popular food when introduced to Europe and was originally grown as an ornamental plant. The Solanaceae family famously contains some plants that are poisonous, such as deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), which made many people suspicious of the bright red fruit.4,6 Europeans overcame their fear of the tomato by the late 18th century, but conflicting information persists in modern times regarding tomato leaves.6,12 The leaves were believed to be as poisonous as the fruit — once thought to be toxic as well — but scientific literature remains undecided on the leaves’ actual toxicity to humans and animals.12 Some chefs and home cooks have reported no adverse effects while cooking with and consuming tomato leaves, but evidence remains largely anecdotal on both sides.
Though little research exists on tomato’s efficacy for skin conditions, such as acne or sunburn, folk remedies recommend preparations of tomato mixed with other ingredients, such as avocado (Persea americana, Lauraceae), honey, yogurt, or lime (Citrus x latifolia, Rutaceae) juice, applied to the face or other afflicted areas.13
As tomato consumption spread throughout Europe, it gained more acceptance as a versatile food, which inspired Italians to begin mass-producing and canning tomatoes (known as pomodoro, or “golden apple” in Italian) by the early 19th century. The US soon followed, and by the 1830s, ketchup (catsup) became the “national condiment.”4 Currently, the tomato has a wide variety of uses and is one of the most popular vegetables worldwide. In the US, the tomato is the most commonly consumed vegetable.1 The average American consumes nearly 18 pounds of fresh tomatoes and almost 69 pounds of processed tomato products every year.10 The Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture estimates that of total raw tomato processing, 35% is processed into sauces, 18% into tomato paste, 17% into canned tomatoes, 15% into juices, and 15% into ketchup. The tomato was the first genetically-engineered food, modified to maintain the firmness of the fruit for longer periods of time during transport.7
Modern Research
The tomato and tomato products have gained greater attention because of the increasing research surrounding their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.9
Tomatoes have a variety of nutrients and compounds that may contribute to the prevention of CVD and certain cancers by decreasing inflammation. Recent studies have identified lycopene as a beneficial compound that reduces inflammation and oxidation. Oxidative stress at the cellular level leads to the damage of cell membranes and eventually causes inflammation. The chemical transfer of electrons of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) prevents damage to fat cells, therefore indirectly preventing inflammation.
Lycopene and Inflammation
Vitamin C and vitamin E may work in combination with lycopene to increase beneficial effects. Researchers observed a greater production of anti-inflammatory cytokines with the combination of the three compounds (lycopene, ascorbic acid, and alpha-tocopherol) compared to the individual compounds or a combination of two.14 (Cytokines are chemical messengers produced by immune cells to communicate with damaged cells and initiate immune response.) This indicates that consuming tomato provides greater health benefits versus isolated single compounds.
Tomato products may also benefit overweight or obese individuals.15 After 20 days of consuming 330 mL of tomato juice daily while otherwise maintaining their normal diet, overweight and obese women had a decrease in the concentration of certain inflammatory factors compared to baseline and compared to the control group, possibly decreasing the risk of inflammatory conditions such as CVD, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
Cancer
Chronic
inflammation is associated with an increased risk of degenerative diseases like
cancer. In healthy human subjects, dietary supplementation with lycopene for
just one week increased serum lycopene levels and reduced oxidation of lipids,
proteins, lipoproteins, and DNA, whereas subjects with diets free of lycopene supplementation
or tomato products showed low blood levels of lycopene and increased lipid
oxidation.11 Blood and tissue levels of lycopene were inversely
associated with risks of breast cancer and prostate cancer. Several
epidemiological studies have found that high intake of tomatoes/tomato products
was linked to lower incidences of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer and a 50%
reduction in cancer death rates in an elderly US population.16 In a
review of 72 epidemiological studies, 57 (79%) confirmed an inverse association
between tomato intake and risk of several different types of cancer, measured
by serum lycopene levels and predisposition to cancer.
Increased lycopene intake from various tomato products has been shown to correlate with a reduced risk of developing prostate cancer.11 Lycopene’s prostate cancer-prevention benefits are thought to stem from mechanisms of inhibiting proliferation, anti-androgen and antigrowth factor effects, and decreasing levels of oxidative damage to DNA and T-cells.9 In fact, consumption of 10 or more servings per week showed a 35% reduction in risk of even the most aggressive types of prostate cancer. Epidemiological evidence confirms the relationship between tomato/lycopene consumption and prostate cancer risks. A survey of 51,529 male health professionals between 40 and 75 years old found that consuming more than two servings a week of tomato products resulted in a dose-dependent risk reduction in incidence of prostate cancer. Greater risk reduction is associated with tomato sauce consumption than with lycopene supplementation alone.9
Cardiovascular Health
More than 70 million Americans have some form of CVD, which accounts for 38% of all deaths in the US.9 Higher concentrations of lycopene in fat tissue were noted to be protective against CVD. When tomatoes/tomato products are removed from the diet, the antioxidant capacity of plasma decreases, and then increases when they are added back. Consuming tomato products daily for two-four weeks increases antioxidant enzyme defenses and has been shown to reduce plasma lipid peroxides and the susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to oxidation.17 In 2004, researchers reported an inverse association for women consuming more than seven servings per week of tomato-based products and CVD. This association was not observed with lycopene supplementation alone.
Different tomato products contain various concentrations of lycopene and other nutrients. Tomato paste is one of the most lycopene-rich tomato products. A 2012 study examined the effect of tomato paste in the endothelial function of 19 young, healthy individuals.9 After consuming 70 g of tomato paste daily for 15 days, researchers reported that subjects experienced a significant increase in flow-mediated dilation and a significant decrease in total oxidative stress (TOS) compared to baseline. This may indicate that the decrease of TOS increases endothelial function, therefore decreasing the risk of future CVD.
Bioavailability
The bioavailability of a compound refers to the amount that is absorbed and used by the body. Thus, increased bioavailability means increased activity and possible benefits from that compound. Tomatoes are one of the few fruits or vegetables whose nutrients are absorbed more readily when cooked. When tomatoes are processed, lycopene becomes more bioavailable, especially when heat is used, which softens cell walls in tomato tissues, and other dietary lipids are present during processing.11,17
The popular combination of tomatoes with olive oil may be as healthy as it is delicious. Researchers observed subjects who consumed tomatoes in conjunction with olive oil and those who consumed tomatoes alone.18 The results found significantly increased plasma concentrations of lycopene in the olive oil group. The dietary sources that deliver the most concentrated sources of lycopene are processed tomato products including tomato juice, ketchup, paste, sauce, and soup.19 Consuming lycopene from whole food products, including tomatoes, instead of in supplement form, confers the benefits from the interaction with and enhancement from different constituents.17
Increased lycopene intake from various tomato products has been shown to correlate with a reduced risk of developing prostate cancer.11 Lycopene’s prostate cancer-prevention benefits are thought to stem from mechanisms of inhibiting proliferation, anti-androgen and antigrowth factor effects, and decreasing levels of oxidative damage to DNA and T-cells.9 In fact, consumption of 10 or more servings per week showed a 35% reduction in risk of even the most aggressive types of prostate cancer. Epidemiological evidence confirms the relationship between tomato/lycopene consumption and prostate cancer risks. A survey of 51,529 male health professionals between 40 and 75 years old found that consuming more than two servings a week of tomato products resulted in a dose-dependent risk reduction in incidence of prostate cancer. Greater risk reduction is associated with tomato sauce consumption than with lycopene supplementation alone.9
Cardiovascular Health
More than 70 million Americans have some form of CVD, which accounts for 38% of all deaths in the US.9 Higher concentrations of lycopene in fat tissue were noted to be protective against CVD. When tomatoes/tomato products are removed from the diet, the antioxidant capacity of plasma decreases, and then increases when they are added back. Consuming tomato products daily for two-four weeks increases antioxidant enzyme defenses and has been shown to reduce plasma lipid peroxides and the susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to oxidation.17 In 2004, researchers reported an inverse association for women consuming more than seven servings per week of tomato-based products and CVD. This association was not observed with lycopene supplementation alone.
Different tomato products contain various concentrations of lycopene and other nutrients. Tomato paste is one of the most lycopene-rich tomato products. A 2012 study examined the effect of tomato paste in the endothelial function of 19 young, healthy individuals.9 After consuming 70 g of tomato paste daily for 15 days, researchers reported that subjects experienced a significant increase in flow-mediated dilation and a significant decrease in total oxidative stress (TOS) compared to baseline. This may indicate that the decrease of TOS increases endothelial function, therefore decreasing the risk of future CVD.
Bioavailability
The bioavailability of a compound refers to the amount that is absorbed and used by the body. Thus, increased bioavailability means increased activity and possible benefits from that compound. Tomatoes are one of the few fruits or vegetables whose nutrients are absorbed more readily when cooked. When tomatoes are processed, lycopene becomes more bioavailable, especially when heat is used, which softens cell walls in tomato tissues, and other dietary lipids are present during processing.11,17
The popular combination of tomatoes with olive oil may be as healthy as it is delicious. Researchers observed subjects who consumed tomatoes in conjunction with olive oil and those who consumed tomatoes alone.18 The results found significantly increased plasma concentrations of lycopene in the olive oil group. The dietary sources that deliver the most concentrated sources of lycopene are processed tomato products including tomato juice, ketchup, paste, sauce, and soup.19 Consuming lycopene from whole food products, including tomatoes, instead of in supplement form, confers the benefits from the interaction with and enhancement from different constituents.17
Nutrient Profile20
Macronutrient Profile: (Per 1 large tomato
[approx. 182 g])
33 calories
1.6 g protein
7.08 g carbohydrate
0.36 g fat
1.6 g protein
7.08 g carbohydrate
0.36 g fat
Secondary Metabolites: (Per 1 large tomato
[approx. 182 g])
Excellent source of:
Vitamin C: 24.9 mg (41.5% DV)
Vitamin A: 1,516 IU (30.3% DV)
Vitamin C: 24.9 mg (41.5% DV)
Vitamin A: 1,516 IU (30.3% DV)
Very good source of:
Vitamin K: 14.4 mcg (18.0% DV)
Potassium: 431 mg (12.3% DV)
Molybdenum: 9 mcg (12.0% DV)
Manganese: 0.21 mg (10.5% DV)
Vitamin K: 14.4 mcg (18.0% DV)
Potassium: 431 mg (12.3% DV)
Molybdenum: 9 mcg (12.0% DV)
Manganese: 0.21 mg (10.5% DV)
Good source of:
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g (8.8% DV)
Vitamin B6: 0.15 mg (7.5% DV)
Folate: 27 mcg (6.8% DV)
Niacin: 1.08 mg (5.4% DV)
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g (8.8% DV)
Vitamin B6: 0.15 mg (7.5% DV)
Folate: 27 mcg (6.8% DV)
Niacin: 1.08 mg (5.4% DV)
Also provides:
Magnesium: 20 mg (5.0% DV)
Vitamin E: 0.98 mg (4.9% DV)
Thiamin: 0.07 mg (4.7% DV)
Phosphorus: 44 mg (4.4% DV)
Iron: 0.5 mg (2.8% DV)
Riboflavin: 0.04 mg (2.4% DV)
Zinc: 0.31 mg (2.1% DV)
Calcium: 18 mg (1.8% DV)
Magnesium: 20 mg (5.0% DV)
Vitamin E: 0.98 mg (4.9% DV)
Thiamin: 0.07 mg (4.7% DV)
Phosphorus: 44 mg (4.4% DV)
Iron: 0.5 mg (2.8% DV)
Riboflavin: 0.04 mg (2.4% DV)
Zinc: 0.31 mg (2.1% DV)
Calcium: 18 mg (1.8% DV)
DV =
Daily Value as established by the US Food and Drug Administration, based on a
2,000-calorie diet.
Recipe: Gazpacho Salad
Adapted from The New Spanish Table21
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups day-old dense country bread diced into 1-inch cubes
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 2/3 pounds fresh tomatoes, cored and diced into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup cucumber, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup white onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup seedless green grapes, cut in half
- 1/2 cup slivered fresh mint or basil (or combination)
Directions:
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Arrange the bread cubes in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until they are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once. Let the bread cubes cool to room temperature.
- Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, salt, and cumin seeds into a paste. Add vinegar and olive oil and whisk to combine.
- Add toasted bread, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, grapes, and herbs in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Let the salad stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving to allow the bread to soak up the dressing and vegetable juices.
—Hannah Bauman
References
- Food Consumption and Demand: Tomatoes. USDA Economic Research Service website. February 3, 2016. Available at: www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/vegetables-pulses/tomatoes.aspx. Accessed June 23, 2016.
- Nix v. Hedden. No. 137 (United States Supreme Court 1893).
- Van Wyk B-E. Food Plants of the World. Portland, OR: Timber Press; 2006.
- The National Geographic Society. Edible: An Illustrated Guide to the World’s Food Plants. Lane Cove, Australia: Global Book Publishing; 2008.
- Perveen R, Suleria HA, Anjum FM, Butt MS, Pasha I, Ahmad S. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) carotenoids and lycopenes chemistry; metabolism, absorption, nutrition, and allied health claims: A comprehensive review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2015;55(7):919-929.
- Murray M, Pizzorno J, Pizzorno L. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. New York, NY: Atria Books; 2005.
- Green A. Field Guide to Produce. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books; 2004.
- Willcox JK, Catignani GL, Sheryl. L. Tomatoes and cardiovascular health. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010;1(43):1-18.
- Xaplanteris P, Vlachopoulos C, Pietri P, et al. Tomato paste supplementation improves endothelial dynamics and reduces plasma total oxidative status in healthy subjects. Nutr Res. 2012;32(5):390-394.
- Canene-Adams K, Campbell JK, Zaripheh S, Jeffery EH, Erdman JW. The tomato as a functional food. J Nutr. 2005;135(5):1226-1230.
- Agarwal S, Rao AV. Tomato lycopene and its role in human health and chronic diseases. CMAJ. 2000;163(6):739-744.
- McGee H. Accused, Yes, but Probably Not a Killer. The New York Times. July 28, 2009. Available at: www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/dining/29curi.html?_r=2&ref=dining. Accessed June 20, 2016.
- Khan B. Tomato for Clear Skin. The Times of India. April 21, 2013. Available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/beauty/Tomato-for-clear-skin/articleshow/7686230.cms. Accessed June 20, 2016.
- Hazewindus M, Haenen GR, Weseler A, Aalt. B. The anti-inflammatory effect of lycopene complements the antioxidant action of ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol. Food Chem. 2012;132(2):954-958.
- Ghavipour M, Saedisomeolia A, Djalali M, et al. Tomato juice consumption reduces systemic inflammation in overweight and obese females. Br J Nutr. 2013;109(11):2031-2035.
- Giovannucci E. Tomatoes, tomato-based products, lycopene, and cancer: review of the epidemiologic literature. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1999;91:317-31.
- Burton-Freeman B, Reimers K. Tomato consumption and health: emerging benefits. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2010;5(2):182-191.
- Fielding JM, Rowley KG, Cooper P, O'Dea K. Increases in plasma lycopene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2005;14(2):131-136.
- Burton-Freeman B, Sesso HD. Whole food versus supplement: comparing the clinical evidence of tomato intake and lycopene supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors. Adv Nutr. 2014;5(5):457-485.
- Basic Report: 11529, Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average. USDA Agricultural Research Service website. Available at: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3223?manu=&fgcd. Accessed June 22, 2016.
- Von Bremzen A. The New Spanish Table. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company; 2005.
Omgaan met het slavernijverleden
http://www.nporadio1.nl/dit-is-de-nacht/onderwerpen/371556-omgaan-met-het-slavernijverleden via @nporadio1
5 tips to get people to fill out your survey
19 Aug Blog:
One of the most common social sciences research methods is (online) surveys. While there are many benefits to this method, there are also many pitfalls, like, not being able to get people to fill out the survey you spent so many hours developing. For my own research, I am using a survey. Here are my tips to get people to fill a survey out.
1. Make it personal
In general, people are more likely to help someone they know than a stranger. Therefore, during my fieldwork on the BES-islands, one of my main goals was to introduce as many people as possible to my research. I figured it made sense to get to know my respondents, let them get to know me, and build a relationship of trust. As the Dutch expression explains, “voor wat hoort wat”, offer to do something for them in return for their cooperation whenever possible.
2. Keep it personalIn general, people are more likely to help someone they know than a stranger. Therefore, during my fieldwork on the BES-islands, one of my main goals was to introduce as many people as possible to my research. I figured it made sense to get to know my respondents, let them get to know me, and build a relationship of trust. As the Dutch expression explains, “voor wat hoort wat”, offer to do something for them in return for their cooperation whenever possible.
Once you’ve built a network, the next step is to send personal emails. Addressing your potential respondents by name can be sufficient. Bulk emails usually end up in people’s spam inbox anyway; so take the time to send yours emails one by one. You can save time by drafting a standard email in which you can easily interchange names. Although this is a quick fix, it does require precision. You don’t want to send a ‘personal’ email to someone, but forget to change the name from the last email. Or, God forbid, send the wrong link to your survey! If it does happen, you can recall your message . . . if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, just admit your mistake, apologize, and hope they will take pity on you for being a desperate researcher.
3. The power of social media
If your target group is active on social media, use it! Social media is one of the most efficient ways to reach your target group, and the perfect way to contact (i.e spam) other relevant people with your survey request. If you are very creative with your post (see #5), chances are that others will help share your request within their network. Double whammy!
4. Show them the money
There is some debate about including an incentive for completing a survey. When using incentives, there is a risk that people will fill out the survey just for the money. However, when surveys are long and tiring, including an incentive can help to motivate your participants to fill out the entire darn thing.
5. Let’s get visual
While you may have built some sort of relationship with a decent group of individuals, it is not likely that you have met every single person that meets your survey requirements. I have a solution.
Make things visual. In general, people prefer looking at something interesting and flashy, like a flyer. What is the flashiest visual? Videos, obviously! Make a likeable video of yourself asking (begging) people to fill out your survey. In other words, make a complete idiot out of yourself. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
You can have a look at my 2 minutes of f(sh)ame here.
This ties in with my second trick: be vulnerable and put yourself out there – be likeable and let people relate with you, which is a lot easier to convey with a video than with an email.
Do these tips work? Well, I can’t say just yet. I am still in the process of begging people to fill out my survey…
(Stacey Mac Donald is a researcher at KITLV, working as part of the NWO-funded research project ‘Confronting Caribbean Challenges’. Her research project focuses on the challenges of cultural heritage and nature conservation in the Dutch Caribbean municipalities.)
“Forever Loving, Forever Resisting: Recent Research on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” as part of the NB Media Co-op’s seventh annual general meeting on Sept. 29.
Jennifer Brant / NB Media Co-op's 7th Annual General Meeting
Jennifer Brant, co-editor of “Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada,” member of the
Tyendinaga Mohawk Nation and doctoral candidate in educational studies at
Brock University, will speak about missing and murdered Indigenous women in
her lecture, “Forever Loving, Forever Resisting: Recent Research on Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women” as part of the NB Media Co-op’s seventh
annual general meeting on Sept. 29. The event is presented by the St.
Thomas University’s Women’s and Gender Studies program, UNB History and the
NB Media Co-op. The talk will occur at 7:00pm at Kinsella Auditorium,
McCain Hall, St. Thomas University in Fredericton.
The NB Media Co-op Annual General Meeting will occur just before the Brant
lecture on Sept. 29 at 6:00pm at McCain Hall, Room 102, St. Thomas
University. Join us to review our highlights and challenges. All are
welcome but you must be a member to vote. Stay tuned for more update,
including documents for the AGM here:
http://nbmediacoop.org/2016/
annual-general-meeting-with-
Jennifer Brant, co-editor of “Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada,” member of the
Tyendinaga Mohawk Nation and doctoral candidate in educational studies at
Brock University, will speak about missing and murdered Indigenous women in
her lecture, “Forever Loving, Forever Resisting: Recent Research on Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women” as part of the NB Media Co-op’s seventh
annual general meeting on Sept. 29. The event is presented by the St.
Thomas University’s Women’s and Gender Studies program, UNB History and the
NB Media Co-op. The talk will occur at 7:00pm at Kinsella Auditorium,
McCain Hall, St. Thomas University in Fredericton.
The NB Media Co-op Annual General Meeting will occur just before the Brant
lecture on Sept. 29 at 6:00pm at McCain Hall, Room 102, St. Thomas
University. Join us to review our highlights and challenges. All are
welcome but you must be a member to vote. Stay tuned for more update,
including documents for the AGM here:
http://nbmediacoop.org/2016/
annual-general-meeting-with-
CALL FOR PAPERS (Updated) ─ Mountains and Sacred Landscapes (NYC; 2017)
Mountains and Sacred LandscapesAn International Conference Sponsored by:
India China Institute, The New School
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
April 20 – 23, 2017
The New School, New York City
New Proposal Submission Deadline: Sept 19, 2016 5pm EST
Call for Proposals and Papers
The India China Institute (ICI) at The New School, the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC), American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are excited to announce an international conference on the theme of mountains and sacred landscapes. The conference will include the latest research on the intersections of religion, nature and culture and will feature special presentations from the India China Institute’s three-year Sacred Himalaya Initiative.
The conference seeks to critically explore the ways in which the idea of sacred landscapes is entangled with diverse communities, with particular attention to mountain landscapes. The conference will feature interdisciplinary dialogue about what kinds of meanings shape, and are shaped by, the effects of climate change, mass extinction, human population growth and ecological degradation of mountains, forests, rivers and other sacred landscapes.
As we enter the new geologic epoch that scientists and scholars are referring to as the ‘Anthropocene,’ diverse global mountain communities have begun to face
growing social, economic, political, and ecological challenges. Melting glaciers, shifting agricultural patterns, conflicts over mining and resource extraction, risks to livelihoods, and the consequences of increasingly erratic global climate change pose unknown future challenges to many sacred landscapes, including mountain communities and ecosystems around the world, as well as the human and non-human beings that rely on them.
We invite scholars from all disciplines, including environmental history and environmental studies, science studies, anthropology, philosophy, political science, religious studies and geography, to submit proposals related to sacred landscapes.
Proposals may address any of the following themes:
• Challenges and opportunities for sacred landscapes in the 21st century
• Theoretical and/or religious conceptualizations of place, space, and landscape
• Negotiation of community, climate change, and mountain spirituality
• Traditional/local knowledge and its effects on social and ecological justice
• Ecosystem sustainability and the future of mountain and forest people
• Ecosystem destruction and the fate of the non-human community
• Mountains as diverse ecosystems and sites of religious negotiation
• Manifestations of the sacred in diverse landscapes
• Negotiating environmental challenge through ritual practices
This year’s conference explicitly seeks to disrupt the conventional “three people reading papers” session. We seek innovative and unconventional proposals from all fields for this interdisciplinary conference. We invite proposals for
individual papers, entire sessions, round-tables, interactive workshops, conversations, and alternative formats. We are also proposing two experimental TEDx style presentations of 10 minutes with 5-7 presenters.
Submission Guidelines
– Paper proposals: Must include a brief 150 word abstract and an extended 500 word summary of the paper.
– Session proposals should include individual paper proposals (meeting the guidelines stated above) for each participant as well as an overview document which states the proposed session title, individual participant names, paper titles, respondents, in the appropriate/ desired order of presentations.
– Proposals for sessions or events that do not fit the traditional session format are encouraged and can be described as appropriate. These might include round-tables, jam sessions or workshop proposals.
Monday, September 19, 2016 by 5pm EST is the deadline for paper and panel proposals. The Proposal Submission Form will open on June 1, 2016 through the ICI website at: www.indiachinainstitute.org/2017conference/. Submission guidelines, the travel aid application process and the means for requesting Visa letters will be clarified at that time. All conference-related questions and inquiries should be directed to: sacredmountains2017@gmail.com.
Travel Aid and Visas
Scholars whose papers are accepted and who would be unable to attend without financial support will have an opportunity to apply for modest, supplementary travel grants. Most of these grants will go to students with little funding available to them or scholars from institutions and countries with fewer resources for travel to international conferences. Scholars who will need letters of invitation in order to obtain a visa for travel to the United States must indicate this in their application form. This process can often take considerable time so it should be undertaken upon the acceptance of proposals or papers.
Participation Requirements for Presenters
All presenters must be members in good standing of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture and registered for the conference by March 1 2017. All scholars interested in religion, nature and culture are encouraged to support the Society by joining or renewing at the ISSRNC membership page.
Publications
Presenters and session organizers are encouraged to submit their articles for publication, or their sessions for special issues, to the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (JSRNC).
Conference Sponsors
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture More information about the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture and the JSRNC can be found online at: http://www.religionandnature.com/society/. Interested scholars are also encouraged to follow the ISSRNC Facebook page, Twitter @ISSRNC and Academia.edu.
India China Institute
More information about the India China Institute at The New School can be found online at http://www.indiachinainstitute.org. Interested scholars are also encouraged to follow the ICI Facebook page, Twitter @india_china and our YouTube channel.
Center for Latin American and Latino Studies
More information about the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University can be found online at: www.american.edu/clals/. Interested scholars are also encouraged to follow the Center on Twitter @AU_CLALS and our Facebook page.
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
More information about the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development can be found online at: www.icimod.org. Interested scholars are also encouraged to follow the ICIMOD Facebook page, Twitter @icimod and YouTube channel.
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