Towards an understanding of adult judgments of synergistic health benefits

Objective: Numerous scientific studies show that certain combinations of dietary and/or lifestyle factors produce health benefits which are greater than the sum of the benefits associated with each factor alone. To address an existing knowledge gap, we assessed the extent to which individuals understand that certain combinations present these ‘synergistic health benefits’.Design: Health benefit judgments were obtained from lay adults for a range of dietary and/or lifestyle combinations that have been found to present synergistic benefits. Association between these judgments and socio-cognitive characteristics such as numeracy, education and health interest were examined.Methods: 352 Swiss adults were presented with a description of one of eight synergistically beneficial combinations. Each participant provided a categorical benefit judgment (i.e., sub-additive, additive or synergistic) for the combination and explained the cognitive reasoning underlying their judgment. Participants completed measures of numeracy and health interest. Results: The proportion of combinations judged to present a synergistic benefit was modest for ‘macro-level’ combinations (e.g., diet and exercise), but low for ‘micro-level’ combinations (e.g., two phytochemicals). Cognitive reasoning data showed that a higher proportion of judgments for micro-level (cf. macro-level) combinations were based on greater subjective epistemic uncertainty. Higher interest in health was associated with a better understanding of synergistic benefits, but numeracy and education level were not. Conclusions: There is considerable scope to improve the extent to which lay adults understand that specific combination of diet and lifestyle behaviours can synergistically benefit their health. Our results enable us to make informed recommendations for public health interventions

Language Landscape: Supporting community-led language documentation

Different groups have differing motivations for participating in language documentation projects. Linguists want to increase our knowledge of languages and linguistic theory, but constraints on their work may lead to issues with their documentation projects, including their representations of the languages they study. Native speakers participate to maintain and develop their language, and may choose to represent it in a way which showcases their culture and attitudes. In order to encourage more native speakers to take part in documentation projects, a simple integrated system is required which will enable them to record, annotate and publish recordings. Language Landscape, our web-based application, enables native speakers to publish their recordings, and Aikuma, a mobile application for documentation, enables them to record and orally translate recordings, in both cases with minimal cost and training required. Language Landscape benefits communities by allowing them to document their language as they see fit, as demonstrated by our outreach program, through which some London school children created their own projects to document their own languages and those spoken around them.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

Research of the surge voltage protection by means of Hybrid Real-Time Power System Simulator

The article considers the simulation of surge voltage protection. A functional diagram of this protection model and the means by which the researches were made are presented. The results are the oscillograms of the surge voltage protection operation for the generator

The role of varicocele sclerotherapy in men with severe oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia

The aim of this study was to verify the role of antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy for the treatment of varicoceles in infertile men with severe oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia (OAT). The 59 patients with severe OAT in this study underwent antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy for the treatment of varicoceles. The outcome was assessed in terms of improvement in semen parameters and spontaneous conception rate. Semen parameters and reproductive hormones were evaluated before antegrade sclerotherapy (AS) and 6 months after AS. After an average follow-up time of 34.83.2 months, significant improvement was noted in the mean sperm concentration, motility and morphology in 36 patients (61%). Spontaneous pregnancy occurred in nine couples (15%). Six months after treatment, inhibin B levels were significantly higher (P<0.04), whereas follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were significantly lower (P<0.001) than before treatment. Antegrade internal spermatic vein sclerotherapy can significantly improve seminal parameters and hormonal parameters in men with severe OAT and may even result in spontaneous pregnancy in couples who would otherwise be candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

Влияние насыщения на индуктивность пазового рассеяния обмотки статора ударного генератора

На основе расчета нелинейного магнитного поля в пазу статора ударного генератора методом конечных разностей получены значения коэффициентов проводимости пазового рассеяния и по коронкам зубцов при различных соотношениях ширины зубца к зубцовому делению

Movement visualisation in virtual reality rehabilitation of the lower limb: a systematic review

Background Virtual reality (VR) based applications play an increasing role in motor rehabilitation. They provide an interactive and individualized environment in addition to increased motivation during motor tasks as well as facilitating motor learning through multimodal sensory information. Several previous studies have shown positive effect of VR-based treatments for lower extremity motor rehabilitation in neurological conditions, but the characteristics of these VR applications have not been systematically investigated. The visual information on the user’s movement in the virtual environment, also called movement visualisation (MV), is a key element of VR-based rehabilitation interventions. The present review proposes categorization of Movement Visualisations of VR-based rehabilitation therapy for neurological conditions and also summarises current research in lower limb application. Methods A systematic search of literature on VR-based intervention for gait and balance rehabilitation in neurological conditions was performed in the databases namely; MEDLINE (Ovid), AMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycInfo. Studies using non-virtual environments or applications to improve cognitive function, activities of daily living, or psychotherapy were excluded. The VR interventions of the included studies were analysed on their MV. Results In total 43 publications were selected based on the inclusion criteria. Seven distinct MV groups could be differentiated: indirect MV (N = 13), abstract MV (N = 11), augmented reality MV (N = 9), avatar MV (N = 5), tracking MV (N = 4), combined MV (N = 1), and no MV (N = 2). In two included articles the visualisation conditions included different MV groups within the same study. Additionally, differences in motor performance could not be analysed because of the differences in the study design. Three studies investigated different visualisations within the same MV group and hence limited information can be extracted from one study. Conclusions The review demonstrates that individuals’ movements during VR-based motor training can be displayed in different ways. Future studies are necessary to fundamentally explore the nature of this VR information and its effect on motor outcome

Геолого-гидрогеологическая оценка перспектив нефтегазоносных структур и разведочных площадей Таджикистана

In this paper, a new, simple method for measuring the current density distribution in fuel cells with meander flow fields is described. This method has been used to investigate the reactant activity along the meander channel. The corresponding experimental hardware is very simple, cost-effective and easy to integrate into the fuel cells. A thin semi-segmented plate made of expanded graphite serves as a passive resistor network. The set-up is based on the idea that the electronic conductivity of the expanded graphite is relatively low in current direction. For typical current densities in polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), this leads to voltage drops in the range of several millivolts using usual current densities. On the other hand, the conductivity in-plane is considerable higher which is beneficial for equalizing the potential across the segment area. The new set-up can be used to measure the current density distribution in a single cell as well as in a stack at any desired position. The local potential difference across the graphite plate is caused by the local current flowing through it. By mapping these potential differences at different locations, the current distribution in the fuel cell can be derived. This experimental set-up has been used to investigate the current distribution of a 240 cm(2) PEFC single cell with different operating conditions. The real-time current density distributions measured by the present method are described in this paper. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved