"The Heart Game": using gamification as part of a telerehabilitation programme for heart patients

Objective: The aim of this article is to describe the development and testing of a prototype application (“The Heart Game”) using gamification principles to assist heart patients in their telerehabilitation process in the Teledialog project. Materials and Methods: A prototype game was developed via user-driven innovation and tested on 10 patients 48–89 years of age and their relatives for a period of 2 weeks. The application consisted of a series of daily challenges given to the patients and relatives and was based on several gamification principles. A triangulation of data collection techniques (interviews, participant observations, focus group interviews, and workshop) was used. Interviews with three healthcare professionals and 10 patients were carried out over a period of 2 weeks in order to evaluate the use of the prototype. Results: The heart patients reported the application to be a useful tool as a part of their telerehabilitation process in everyday life. Gamification and gameful design principles such as leaderboards, relationships, and achievements engaged the patients and relatives. The inclusion of a close relative in the game motivated the patients to perform rehabilitation activities. Conclusions: “The Heart Game” concept presents a new way to motivate heart patients by using technology as a social and active approach to telerehabilitation. The findings show the potential of using gamification for heart patients as part of a telerehabilitation program. The evaluation indicated that the inclusion of the patient's spouse in the rehabilitation activities could be an effective strategy. A major challenge in using gamification for heart patients is avoiding a sense of defeat while still adjusting the level of difficulty to the individual patient

Fucoidan Does Not Exert Anti-Tumorigenic Effects on Uveal Melanoma Cell Lines

Background. The polysaccharide fucoidan is widely investigated as an anti-cancer agent. Here, we tested the effect of fucoidan on uveal melanoma cell lines. Methods. The effect of 100 µM fucoidan was investigated on five cell lines (92.1, Mel270 OMM1, OMM2.3, OMM2.5) and of 1 µg/mL–1 mg/mL fucoidan in two cell lines (OMM1, OMM2.3). Cell proliferation and viability were investigated with a WST-1 assay, migration in a wound healing (scratch) assay. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) was measured in ELISA. Angiogenesis was evaluated in co-cultures with endothelial cells. Cell toxicity was induced by hydrogen-peroxide. Protein expression (Akt, ERK1/2, Bcl-2, Bax) was investigated in Western blot. Results. Fucoidan increased proliferation in two and reduced it in one cell line. Migration was reduced in three cell lines. The effect of fucoidan on VEGF was cell type and concentration dependent. In endothelial co-culture with 92.1, fucoidan significantly increased tubular structures. Moreover, fucoidan significantly protected all tested uveal melanoma cell lines from hydrogen-peroxide induced cell death. Under oxidative stress, fucoidan did not alter the expression of Bcl-2, Bax or ERK1/2, while inducing Akt expression in 92.1 cells but not in any other cell line. Conclusion. Fucoidan did not show anti-tumorigenic effects but displayed protective and pro-angiogenic properties, rendering fucoidan unsuitable as a potential new drug for the treatment of uveal melanoma

Hallo, er der noget til stede? Med Rimini Protokoll på globaliseringens backstage

Da den tyske gruppe Rimini Protokoll præsenterede deres telefonteater Call Cutta in a Boxi København sidste år i september, var den umiddelbare reaktion i medier og teateroffentlighed: Tænk at en telefonsamtale nu også kan være teater! På helt enkel vis sørger Rimini Protokoll for med et så forførende banalt greb som entelefonsamtale, og i kraft af en konsekvent reduktionsteknik der kondenserer det store i detsmå, at man får meget mere end et andet menneske i røret. Dermed følger den internationalearbejdsdeling, ny kommunikations- og samværsformer i det virtuelle rum, teatertricks oginterkontinental hjertetransplantation. En mikro-aktion med global spændvidd

The Impact of Macroeconomic Policies and Trade on Food and Nutrition Security and Child Health : Cross-Country Analyses

This study assesses the impact of trade policy on child malnutrition. Globally, interest in nutrition has increased significantly and investing in nutrition is seen as a key development priority to benefit global welfare. The empirical analysis is based on the widely accepted UNICEF (1990) conceptual framework for the causes of child malnutrition. The results reveal that trade openness works to reduce both child stunting and underweight significantly. Taking a closer look at household food security, one of the most important underlying determinants of child’s nutritional status, we find that, besides national food availability, food access as well as dietary diversity and diet-quality related aspects of food security play a role for child’s nutritional status. In the second part we identify the key determinants of food security, including the agricultural and economic development, as well as the impact of trade. The results reveal, inter alia, that trade openness and economic growth exert positive and significant impacts on dietary energy consumption. Additional results indicate that besides calorie consumption trade openness also improves dietary diversity and diet quality-related aspects of food security. The last part focuses on child health, which is an important determinant of child’s nutritional status. While much is known about the positive effects of specific behaviors such as care taking and breastfeeding and direct interventions such as vaccination campaigns, much less is known about the indirect effects of specific national-level policies on child health and empirical evidence on the issue is scarce. This study assesses the impact of trade on child health, based on heterogeneous panel cointegration and finds that trade works to reduce the under-five mortality rate significantly in the long-run. Additional analyses suggest that the trade-child health relationship tends to be stronger in countries with a favorable policy and institutional environment