The present analysis aimed to investigate the changes in the reported portion sizes (PS) of foods and beverages commonly consumed by Irish adults (18–64 years) from the North South Ireland Food Consumption Survey (NSIFCS) (1997–2001) and the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS) (2008–10). Food PS, which are defined as the weight of food (g) consumed per eating occasion, were calculated for comparable foods and beverages in two nationally representative cross-sectional Irish food consumption surveys and were published in NSIFCS and NANS. Repeated measure mixed model analysis compared reported food PS at the total population level as well as subdivided by sex, age, BMI and social class. A total of thirteen commonly consumed foods were examined. The analysis demonstrated that PS significantly increased for five foods (‘white sliced bread’, ‘brown/wholemeal breads’, ‘all meat, cooked’, ‘poultry, roasted’ and ‘milk’), significantly decreased for three (‘potatoes’, ‘chips/wedges’ and ‘ham, sliced’) and did not significantly change for five foods (‘processed potato products’, ‘bacon/ham’, ‘cheese’, ‘yogurt’ and ‘butter/spreads’) between the NSIFCS and the NANS. The present study demonstrates that there was considerable variation in the trends in reported food PS over this period.

Single phase erbium borides ErB2, ErB4, and ErB12 show Seebeck coefficients and power factors with absolute values that are significantly lower than those of a stable Er-B multi phase composite obtained through high temperature solid-solid reaction from the elements (molar ratio Er:B = 1:6). According to quantitative Rietveld analysis the composite consists of erbium diboride (1 %), tetraboride (83 %), and dodecaboride (16 %), and the measurement of the electrical conductivities, Seebeck coefficients, and thermal conductivities leads to ZT values as high as 0.53 at 830 K. Such refractory materials can be used for energy conversion in a range of high temperatures that are otherwise difficult to address.