Recommendations limiting the intake of total fat, SFA, MUFA and PUFA have been established in several countries with the aim of reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as CVD. Studies have shown that intakes of total fat and SFA are above desired recommended intake levels across a wide range of age and sex groups. In addition, intakes of PUFA and MUFA are often reported to be less than the desired recommended intake levels. The aims of the present paper are to provide the first data on estimates of current intakes and main food sources of SFA, MUFA and PUFA in Irish children (aged 5–12 years), teenagers (aged 13–17 years) and adults (aged 18–64 years) and to analyse compliance with current dietary recommendations. Data for this analysis were based on the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey (n 1379, 18–64 years), the National Children’s Food Survey (n 594, 5–12 years) and the National Teen Food Survey (n 441, 13–17 years). Results showed that SFA intakes in Irish children, teenagers and adults are high, with only 6 % of children, 11 % of teenagers and 21 % of adults in compliance with the recommended daily intake. The main food groups that contributed to SFA intakes were whole milk; fresh meat; meat products; biscuits, cakes, buns and pastries; and sugars, confectionery and preserves.

A WHO report on diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases recommended that frequency of consumption of foods and/or drinks containing free sugars should be limited to a maximum of four times per d. In addition, they recommended a reduction in the intake of free sugars to a maximum of no more than 10 % of energy intake. These recommendations were developed with the aim of reducing the prevalence of dental caries. The aim of the present study was to establish if there is a quantitative relationship between energy from added sugars and frequency of added sugars intakes in Irish children, teenagers and adults. In addition, the intake of added and total sugars and main contributors to added sugar intakes were examined. Data for the present analysis were based on the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey (n 1379; aged 18–64 years), the National Children's Food Survey (n 594; aged 5–12 years) and the National Teen Food Survey (n 441; aged 13–17 years) which used 7 d food diaries to collect food and beverage intake data in representative samples of Irish adults, children and teenagers respectively. Results showed that in adults, frequency of intake of added sugar intake of four times per d corresponded to a mean added sugar intake of 9 %, which was similar to the WHO recommendation. In children and teenagers, a frequency of intake of four times per d corresponded to a mean added sugar intake of 14·6 and 12·4 % respectively and was therefore not in agreement with the WHO recommendation.

The low temperature (ca. 300°C) deposition of antimony films by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) on glass substrates from tribenzylantimony, Bn3Sb, is described. The facile elimination of the benzyl ligands results in preferentially oriented antimony films with low carbon content. The pyrolysis, decomposition mechanism and precursor design strategies are discussed. In addition, the deposition of bismuth from tribenzylbismuth, Bn3Bi, is presented. The potential for alloy growth using these precursors is discussed. Resulting films were characterized by XRD, SEM, and AFM.

In this paper we present a technique for designing planar parallel manipulators with platforms capable of reaching any number of desired poses. The manipulator consists of a platform connected to ground by RPR chains. The set of positions and orientations available to the end-effector of a general RPR chain is mapped into the space of planar quaternions to obtain a quadratic manifold. The coefficients of this constraint manifold are functions of the locations of the base and platform R joints and the distance between them. Evaluating the constraint manifold at each desired pose and defining the limits on the extension of the P joint yields a set of equations. Solutions of these equations determine chains that contain the desired poses as part of their workspaces. Parallel manipulators that can reach the prescribed workspace are assembled from these chains. An example shows the determination of three RPR chains that form a manipulator able to reach a prescribed workspace.

Experimental and computational results for three classes of experiments are reported. NMR measurements of phosphorus in amorphous hydrogenated silicon indicate that bonding rearrangements in bulk films are possible. Monte Carlo simulations of film growth demonstrate that surface diffusion is the dominant physical phenomenon responsible for the bulk hydrogen content of a-Si:H films. Finally, the gas phase chemistry of silane, as elucidated by our new “diesel” reactor, is considerably more complicated than many authors assume in models for thin films grown from silane.

Phosphorus segregation at grain boundaries in thin film polycrystalline silicon has been investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Amorphous silicon thin frims were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition with 1% phosphine in silane. The films were subsequently annealed at 700°C and 800°C to produce a fine grained polycrystalline material. All of the phosphorus atoms were found to be four-fold coordinated at the grain boundary. The P atoms were found to have three different environments in the grain boundary region. These results will be discussed in relationship to the carrier trapping and dopant segregation models.