Impact of glass design on consumption of alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks

Much of the global burden of disease is attributable to behaviour, including consumption of alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages. Developing ways to reduce intake of these drinks could thus improve population health. Glassware has the potential to moderate drinking, including how much is consumed. This thesis explores the impact of glass design on drinking behaviours in four pre- registered experiments. Study 1 investigated the effect of glass shape on total drinking time. Drinking was 21.4% faster from outward-sloped tumblers than straight-sided ones (95%CI[0.2%,38.0%]). Drinking time did not differ between inward-sloped and straight-sided tumblers. Though drink midpoints were underestimated more from outward-sloped than straight-sided glasses (mean difference=-12.9ml, 95%CI[-6.6ml,- 19.2ml], midpoint-bias was not associated with drinking time (r(162)=0.01, p=.87). Study 2 extended Study 1, comparing straight-sided vs outward-sloped tumblers, and exploring drinking trajectories. Total drinking times did not differ between glasses (0.3% difference, 95%CI[- 21.4,18.1], p=.98). Drinking trajectories were more decelerated from outward-sloped glasses. Midpoints were underestimated more from outward-sloped glasses (mean difference =-14.1ml, 95%CI[-9.5ml,-18.7ml], p<.0001), though midpoint-bias was not associated with drinking time (r(198)=-.09, p=.20). Study 3 investigated the effect of glass shape on volume consumed in a bogus taste test. Participants consumed 72ml less from straight-sided flutes than outward-sloped coupes, 95%CI[-11.7ml,- 132.6ml], p =.022. Number of sips did not differ between glass shapes, but was positively associated with amount consumed, r(71)=.48, p<.0001. Midpoint-bias did not differ (mean difference -1.4ml, 95%CI[-5.8,3.0], p=.53), and was not associated with amount consumed, r(72)=-.03, p=.83. Study 4 used electromyography (EMG) to measure ‘embouchures’ – the positioning of the lips – during sipping. When sipping from straight-sided flutes, participants used 8.9% more upper lip muscle activity (95%CI[3.3,14.8], p=.0017), and 20.0% more lower lip muscle (95%CI[14.7,25.6] p<.0001), than when sipping from outward-sloped martini coupes, suggesting more pursed lips during sipping from straight-sided glasses. Using a combination of methods including objective measures of volume drunk and physiological measures, this thesis describes findings which have the potential to contribute to the development of novel, effective interventions which target glassware design to reduce consumption of health-harming drinks

Haloacetic acids in public drinking water and risk of adverse birth outcomes in the Born in Bradford cohort

Disinfection of drinking water is vital to protect the public against disease. However disinfectants such as chlorine react with organic matter in drinking water to produce a wide range of chemical disinfection by-products (DBPs) of potential health concern including haloacetic acids (HAAs). This thesis is an epidemiologic analysis investigating the relationship between prenatal exposure to HAAs in drinking water and adverse birth outcomes in “Born in Bradford”, a large multi-ethnic prospective birth cohort study based in Bradford, England. It focuses on the understudied and as yet unregulated HAAs which are the second most prevalent class of chlorination DBPs in UK drinking waters. To assess exposure, area-level concentrations to three select HAAs (measured in drinking water samples newly collected for this study, modelled in time and space, and weighted to each cohort woman’s specific trimester of pregnancy by postcode of residence) were combined with individual water consumption information collected via questionnaire at recruitment to the cohort. Despite the benefits of state-of-the-art exposure metrics and a large sample size, this study does not find any significant patterns of association between prenatal exposure to HAAs and either birth weight, being born term low birth weight or small-for-gestational age. Water consumption over the course of late pregnancy was further studied in a subset of cohort women. A small but significant increase in water consumption was reported, bearing in mind that both behaviour change over the third trimester of pregnancy and measurement error likely contributed to this effect. This research addresses some of the limitations of previous DBP studies in terms of exposure assessment and birth outcome definitions, and uniquely evaluates the variability of individual water consumption over time. It also identifies areas for future research and examines the importance of HAAs and birth weight-based outcomes in the larger research context.Open Acces

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 11)

This continuing bibliography lists index for 3256 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical informations system from January 1977 through June 1977. The index section contains fix indexes: subject, inventor, source, number, and accession number

Modelling Studies for a \u2018Whole of Society (WoS)\u2019 Framework to monitor Cardio-Metabolic Risk among Children (6 to 18 years)

In the World Health Assembly (WHA) 2013, India was among the first country to adapt global framework for monitoring non-communicable diseases (NCD) - Government of India (GOI) has set targets to halt the prevalence of diabetes and obesity by 2025. To halt the prevalence of major NCDs it is necessary to protect children from becoming obese or overweight. Childhood obesity is a precursor of adulthood obesity and attendant cardio-metabolic risk. In last 15 years the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased almost four times (4 to 15%). This translates in to approximately 58 million obese and 122 million overweight children in the country. Studies have reported at least one cardiovascular risk factor among 70 per cent of these children. It is frightening to know that, unit percentage rise in its prevalence in India shall add at least another five million children into the cardiovascular risk pool. Body Mass Index (BMI) [Weight (kg)/Height (m2)] is the most widely used definition for monitoring overweight and obesity; among children BMI-for-age based growth curves (centile values) are used. There are number of BMI-for age based guidelines with varying cut offs (like IOTF, WHO, CDC etc.) \u2013 in India, the growth curves published Indian Association of Pediatrics (IAP), 2015 is considered as the standard. Despite BMI\u2019s large scale application in clinical and public health programs it has many inherent problems. Firstly, BMI cannot distinguish between fat and fat free mass. Excess body fat is an independent risk factor for cardio vascular and metabolic diseases. In an individual with BMI of 20, body fat may range from 5%-40% whereas for body fat content of 20% BMI may vary from 15-30 points. Validity studies using BMI to identify children with excess adiposity have generally documented low to moderate sensitivities (6-46%). Secondly, BMI is not independent on height of the individuals. BMI may not be a sensitive measure in children at the extremes of the height due to unusual fat distribution or highly developed muscles. BMI preferentially classifies taller children and adolescents as overweight. Finally, the definition of childhood overweight and obesity is arbitrary as it is extrapolated from adult reference data and not based on its association with health outcomes. Considering these variations, there has been a growing concern about using single standard to define overweight and obesity which may be appropriate for many sub-populations in the world. Methods: Overall aim of this study was to develop a monitoring mechanism that correlates with cardio-metabolic risk factors among Indian children aged 6-18 yrs. Primary objective of the study was to relate health outcomes, i.e. measures of cardio-metabolic risk, to body fatness and to 4 measure its distribution. Under this overarching goal specific objectives were finalized as mentioned in section 1.4 (Page no.40). Quantitative data was collected from schools in 3 regions (New Delhi, Shillong and Hyderabad) from a representative sample of 3242 children between 6 to 18 years of age. Detailed assessments were done on; a) anthropometry; b) pubertal staging; c) blood biochemistry (fasting plasma insulin, fasting plasma glucose, lipid profile and sub-fractions uric acid) using semi-automated analyzer), d) body composition by bio impedance (BIA) (InBody 720, body composition analyzer, Biospace\ua9), e) body composition using DEXA (Hologic QDR 4500A) on selected sub samples, f) socio-economic status (standard of living index), g) media and market exposures, h) food frequency and dietary recalls, and i) physical activity recalls. The results are presented as: \uf0b7 Study 1: Assessment of whole-body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) among children 6 to 18 years: Validation with Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) \uf0b7 Study 2: Reference values and Percentile curves for cardio-metabolic risk factors among Indian children (6 to 18 years) \uf0b7 Study 3: Clustering of Bio-chemical Markers of Cardio-metabolic Risk among Indian Children: An Imperative for Continuous Monitoring of Risk Factors \uf0b7 Study 4: A multi-level framework for monitoring cardio-metabolic risk: proximal & distal factors associated with clustering of bio-chemical marker