Determinants of social participation of visually impaired older adults

PURPOSE: To assess determinants of social participation among visually impaired older adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included visually impaired persons (>/=55 years; n = 173) who were referred to a low-vision rehabilitation center. Determinants (i.e., sociodemographic, physical, social and psychological factors, and personal values) of participation were identified in four domains of participation: (1) domestic life; (2) interpersonal interactions and relationships; (3) major life areas; and (4) community, social, and civic life. Study participants completed telephone interviews. RESULTS: Age, physical fitness, and helplessness were determinants of participation in domestic life. Social network size was associated with participation in major life areas. The personal value attached to participation (i.e., perceived importance) was a determinant of participation in interpersonal interactions and relationships, major life areas, and community, social and civic life. Vision-related characteristics (i.e., self-perceived vision and degree of visual impairment) were not associated with participation. CONCLUSIONS: Across the participation domains, perceived importance is a major determinant of social participation among visually impaired older adults. Physical health along with social and psychological status, also affect participation. Knowing how participation is determined can be used to develop rehabilitation interventions to enhance participation of visually impaired older adults

Behavioural Risk Factors in Mid-Life Associated with Successful Ageing, Disability, Dementia and Frailty in Later Life: A Rapid Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet and low levels of physical activity significantly contribute to the burden of illness in developed countries. Whilst the links between specific and multiple risk behaviours and individual chronic conditions are well documented, the impact of these behaviours in mid-life across a range of later life outcomes has yet to be comprehensively assessed. This review aimed to provide an overview of behavioural risk factors in mid-life that are associated with successful ageing and the primary prevention or delay of disability, dementia, frailty and non-communicable chronic conditions. METHODS: A literature search was conducted to identify cohort studies published in English since 2000 up to Dec 2014. Multivariate analyses and a minimum follow-up of five years were required for inclusion. Two reviewers screened titles, abstracts and papers independently. Studies were assessed for quality. Evidence was synthesised by mid-life behavioural risk for a range of late life outcomes. FINDINGS: This search located 10,338 individual references, of which 164 are included in this review. Follow-up data ranged from five years to 36 years. Outcomes include dementia, frailty, disability and cardiovascular disease. There is consistent evidence of beneficial associations between mid-life physical activity, healthy ageing and disease outcomes. Across all populations studied there is consistent evidence that mid-life smoking has a detrimental effect on health. Evidence specific to alcohol consumption was mixed. Limited, but supportive, evidence was available relating specifically to mid-life diet, leisure and social activities or health inequalities. CONCLUSIONS: There is consistent evidence of associations between mid-life behaviours and a range of late life outcomes. The promotion of physical activity, healthy diet and smoking cessation in all mid-life populations should be encouraged for successful ageing and the prevention of disability and chronic disease.This work was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), invitation to tender reference DDER 42013, and supported by the National Institute for Health Research School for Public Health Research. The scope of the work was defined by NICE and the protocol was agreed with NICE prior to the start of work. The funders had no role in data analysis, preparation of the manuscript or decision to publish.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.014440

Tensile-strained AlGaAs/GaAsP single quantum-well lasers

Experimental and theoretical results on OMVPE grown Al0.34Ga0.66As/GaAs1-yPy separate-confinement single quantum-well laser diodes are reported. CW output power as high as 620 mW/facet and pulsed threshold current densities (Jth) as low as 170 A/cm2 have been obtained from 90 × 1000 μm devices

Evaluation of image processing technique in identifying rice blast disease in field conditions based on KNN algorithm improvement by K‐means

Nowadays, rice farming is affected by various diseases that are economically significant and worthy of attention. One of these diseases is blast. Rice blast is one of the most important limiting factors in rice yield. The purpose of this study is the timely and rapid diagnosis of rice blast based on the image processing technique in field conditions. To do so, color images were prepared using image processing technique and improved KNN algorithm by K-means was used to classify the images in Lab color space to detect disease spots on rice leaves. Squared classification was based on Euclidean distance, and the Otsu method was used to perform an automatic threshold histogram of images based on shape or to reduce the gray level in binary images. Finally, to determine the efficiency of the designed algorithm, sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy were examined. The classification results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the designed algorithm were 92% and 91.7%, respectively, in the determination of the number of disease spots, and 96% and 95.65% in determining the quality of disease spots. The overall accuracy of the designed algorithm was 94%. Generally, the results obtained showed that the above method has a great potential for timely diagnosis of rice blast