Research on irradiated food status and consumer acceptance: A Chinese perspective

China is currently the world's largest producer of food irradiation. Despite the long-standing (about 100 years) evidence supporting the safety of food irradiation, consumers' acceptance of irradiated foods remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the development of food irradiation in China and identify the barriers that keep consumers away from irradiated foods. This was accomplished by exploring the relevant policies of food irradiation, the size and distribution of irradiation facilities in China, and analyzing their relationships between consumer characteristics and the acceptance of irradiated food. To achieve these objectives, we conducted an online survey of participants from Hubei, China (N = 264). The results reveal that irradiation facilities are mainly distributed in large coastal cities such as the Bohai Bay, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Greater Bay Area. Furthermore, the study identified that consumer' acceptance of irradiated food is directly related to their level of understanding. Approximately 22% of the sampled consumers reported that they would not accept that they have consumed irradiated food and most of them (41%) stated that they would not purchase irradiated food if they were aware of buying irradiated food. Specifically, consumers expressed discomfort with consuming irradiated food under unknown circumstances. This trend is more prevalent among female, low-educated, and older consumers, with 40% of the sampled population indicating that they would not buy irradiated food. Given the strong correlation between knowledge and acceptance of irradiated foods, the study suggests that policy reform should prioritize enhancing the understanding of irradiated food, particularly among female, low-educated, and older consumers.

Haematological Changes among HIV-Positive Persons on Antiretroviral Therapy at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Haematological abnormalities such as anaemia, leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia are common complications of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Few researchers have studied the changes in HIV positive patients before and during antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Ghana. This study is aimed at determining the haematological profile of people living with HIV (PLHIV) at baseline and whilst on ART in a tertiary facility in Cape Coast, Ghana.

METHODS

This was an analytical cross-sectional study with a retrospective component among PLHIV assessing ART services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Full blood count (FBC) test was performed on blood samples and the results were analyzed and categorized based on WHO definitions.

RESULTS

A total of 440 participants were included. The mean haemoglobin level (g/dL) for females at baseline, 6 months after ART and during this study were 9.6 (±1.8), 10.9 (±1.4) and 11.6 (±1.4); and 10.2 (±2.1), 11.6 (±1.7) and 11.8 (±1.6) for males. At baseline, the commonest type of anaemia for both females and males was microcytic hypochromic anaemia. The mean platelet count was 382 x 109/l at baseline but reduced to 298 x 109/L after 6 months on ART. Among male participants in this study, the main factor associated with being anaemic after 6 months on ART was the ART regimen with non-Zidovudine based regimen, having reduced odds of anaemia of OR 0.3 (95%CI 0.1 - 0.9), p-value of 0.04. Among females, having plasma viral load >1000 copies per ml was found to have increased odds of being anaemic (OR 1.4, 95%CI 0.7 - 2.6), though not statistically significant (P-value of 0.32).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of anaemia, though improved on ART, was high among PLHIV. It is essential to ensure that full blood count of PLHIV in Ghana are done regularly, at all levels of service provision, with appropriate referral systems in place. The change to the current TDF based preferred first line ART regimen must also be enforced to reduce the potential risks associated with AZT use. This will improve outcome for PLHIV.

Determination of aluminium, silicon and magnesium in geological matrices by delayed neutron activation analysis based on k0 instrumental neutron activation analysis

In this work, concentrations of silicon, aluminium and magnesium in geological matrices were determined by Neutron Activation Analysis based on k0-IAEA software. The optimum activation and delay times were found to be 5 min and 15-20 min respectively for the determination of Si via (29)Si (n,p) (29)Al reaction. The adopted irradiation scheme did not work for the determination of magnesium. Each sample was irradiated under a thermal neutron flux density of 5.0 × 10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1). Cadmium covered activation indicated that a permanent epithermal irradiation site for research reactors would be very useful for routine determination of silicon in environmental samples.

Characterization of low power research reactor neutrons for the validation of k(0)-INAA standardization based on k(0)-IAEA software

Channel Bsite2 of Ghana research reactor-1 has been characterized for k0-INAA application. Cadmium ratio and bare multi-monitor were used to determine flux parameters using 0.1%Au-Al, Fe, and Zr wire as flux monitors. The parameters determined were 18.36±1.91, 0.0479±0.012, 5.12×10(11)±0.42×10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1), 2.74×10(10)±0.14×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1), 7.73×10(10)±0.16×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1) and 16.75±1.58, -0.034±0.0028, 4.28×10(11)±1.71×10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1), 2.55×10(10)±0.15×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1) respectively for thermal-to-epithermal flux ratio, alpha, thermal neutron, epithermal neutron and fast neutron flux using cadmium ratio and multi-monitor method accordingly. The k0-INAA performance assessment based on z-score distributions showed most results within |z|<2.