Analysis of gait kinematics to determine the effect of manipulating the appearance of stairs to improve safety: a linked series of laboratory-based, repeated measures studies

Background: Falls on stairs are a common and dangerous problem for older people. This series of studies evaluated whether or not selected changes to the appearance of stairs could make them safer for older people to negotiate. Objectives: To determine the effect of (1) a step edge highlighter and its position and (2) an optimised horizontal–vertical (H–V) visual illusion placed on a step riser on gait safety during stair descent and ascent. Design: A series of studies using a repeated measures, laboratory-based design, investigating gait control and safety in independently mobile older people. Setting: The University of Bradford Vision and Mobility Laboratory. Participants: Fit and healthy older people aged 60 years of age or more, independently mobile, reasonably active and with normal healthy eyes and corrected vision. Interventions: A step edge highlighter in a variety of offsets from the stair edge and an optimised H–V visual illusion placed on the stair riser. The H–V illusion was provided on a staircase by horizontal step edge highlighters on the tread edges and vertical stripes on the step risers. Main outcome measures: Gait parameters that are important for safe stepping in ascent and descent, measured using three-dimensional lower limb segmental kinematic data

What you see is what you step: the horizontal-vertical illusion increases toe clearance in older adults during stair ascent

PURPOSE Falls on stairs are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly people. A simple safety strategy to avoid tripping on stairs is increasing foot clearance. We determined whether a horizontal–vertical illusion superimposed onto stairs to create an illusory perceived increase in stair-riser height would increase stair ascent foot clearance in older participants

A commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum increases root colonization across wheat cultivars but does not increase assimilation of mycorrhiza‐acquired nutrients

Production and heavy application of chemical‐based fertilizers to maintain crop yields is unsustainable due to pollution from run‐off, high CO2 emissions, and diminishing yield returns. Access to fertilizers will be limited in the future due to rising energy costs and dwindling rock phosphate resources. A growing number of companies produce and sell arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculants, intended to help reduce fertilizer usage by facilitating crop nutrient uptake through arbuscular mycorrhizas. However, their success has been variable. Here, we present information about the efficacy of a commercially available AMF inoculant in increasing AMF root colonization and fungal contribution to plant nutrient uptake, which are critical considerations within the growing AMF inoculant industry. Summary Arable agriculture needs sustainable solutions to reduce reliance on large inputs of nutrient fertilizers while continuing to improve crop yields. By harnessing arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, there is potential to improve crop nutrient assimilation and growth without additional inputs, although the efficacy of commercially available mycorrhizal inocula in agricultural systems remains controversial. Using stable and radioisotope tracing, carbon‐for‐nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and three modern cultivars of wheat was quantified in a non‐sterile, agricultural soil, with or without the addition of a commercial mycorrhizal inoculant. While there was no effect of inoculum addition on above‐ground plant biomass, there was increased root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and changes in community structure. Inoculation increased phosphorus uptake across all wheat cultivars by up to 30%, although this increase was not directly attributable to mycorrhizal fungi. Carbon‐for‐nutrient exchange between symbionts varied substantially between the wheat cultivars. Plant tissue phosphorus increased in inoculated plants potentially because of changes induced by inoculation in microbial community composition and/or nutrient cycling within the rhizosphere. Our data contribute to the growing consensus that mycorrhizal inoculants could play a role in sustainable food production systems of the future

Intermediate addition multifocals provide safe stair ambulation with adequate ‘short-term’ reading

Purpose: A recent randomised controlled trial indicated that providing long-term multifocal wearers with a pair of distance single-vision spectacles for use outside the home reduced falls risk in active older people. However, it also found that participants disliked continually switching between using two pairs of glasses and adherence to the intervention was poor. In this study we determined whether intermediate addition multifocals (which could be worn most of the time inside and outside the home and thus avoid continual switching) could provide similar gait safety on stairs to distance single vision spectacles whilst also providing adequate 'short-term' reading and near vision. Methods: Fourteen healthy long-term multifocal wearers completed stair ascent and descent trials over a 3-step staircase wearing intermediate and full addition bifocals and progression-addition lenses (PALs) and single-vision distance spectacles. Gait safety/caution was assessed using foot clearance measurements (toe on ascent, heel on descent) over the step edges and ascent and descent duration. Binocular near visual acuity, critical print size and reading speed were measured using Bailey-Lovie near charts and MNRead charts at 40 cm. Results: Gait safety/caution measures were worse with full addition bifocals and PALs compared to intermediate bifocals and PALs. The intermediate PALs provided similar gait ascent/descent measures to those with distance single-vision spectacles. The intermediate addition PALs also provided good reading ability: Near word acuity and MNRead critical print size were better with the intermediate addition PALs than with the single-vision lenses (p < 0.0001), with a mean near visual acuity of 0.24 ± 0.13 logMAR (~N5.5) which is satisfactory for most near vision tasks when performed for a short period of time. Conclusions: The better ability to 'spot read' with the intermediate addition PALs compared to single-vision spectacles suggests that elderly individuals might better comply with the use of intermediate addition PALs outside the home. A lack of difference in gait parameters for the intermediate addition PALs compared to distance single-vision spectacles suggests they could be usefully used to help prevent falls in older well-adapted full addition PAL wearers. A randomised controlled trial to investigate the usefulness of intermediate multifocals in preventing falls seems warranted

Critical information gaps remain in understanding impacts of industrial seismic surveys on marine vertebrates

This is the final version. Available from Inter Research via the DOI in this record. Anthropogenic noise is increasing throughout the world's oceans. One major contributor is industrial seismic surveys-a process typically undertaken to locate and estimate the quantity of oil and gas deposits beneath the seafloor-which, in recent years, has increased in magnitude and scope in some regions. Regulators permit this activity despite widespread uncertainties regarding the potential ecological impacts of seismic surveys and gaps in baseline information on some key species of conservation concern. Research to date suggests that impacts vary, from displacement to direct mortality, but these effects remain poorly understood for most species. Here, we summarize potential effects of seismic surveys, describe key knowledge gaps, and recommend broad-scale research priorities for 3 impacted taxonomic groups: fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles. We also suggest further technological advances, improved mitigation measures, and better policy and management structures to minimize the ecological impacts of seismic surveys in light of scientific uncertainty.Natural Environment Research Counci

The effects of meteorological conditions and daylight on nature-based recreational physical activity in England

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordMeteorological conditions affect people’s outdoor physical activity. However, we know of no previous research into how these conditions affect physical activity in different types of natural environments – key settings for recreational physical activity, but ones which are particularly impacted by meteorological conditions. Using responses from four waves (2009–2013) of a survey of leisure visits to natural environments in England (n = 47,613), visit dates and locations were ascribed estimates of energy expenditure (MET-minutes) and assigned meteorological data. We explored relationships between MET-minutes in natural environments (in particular, parks, woodlands, inland waters, and coasts) and the hourly maxima of air temperature and wind speed, levels of rainfall, and daylight hours using generalised additive models. Overall, we found a positive linear relationship between MET-minutes and air temperature; a negative linear relationship with wind speed; no relation with categories of rainfall; and a positive, but non-linear relationship with daylight hours. These same trends were observed for park-based energy expenditure, but differed for visits to other natural environments: only daylight hours were related to energy expenditure at woodlands; wind speed and daylight hours affected energy expenditure at inland waters; and only air temperature was related to energy expenditure at coasts. Natural environments support recreational physical activity under a range of meteorological conditions. However, distinct conditions do differentially affect the amount of energy expenditure accumulated in a range of natural environments. The findings have implications for reducing commonly-reported meteorological barriers to both recreational physical activity and visiting natural environments for leisure, and begin to indicate how recreational energy expenditure in these environments could be affected by future climate change.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)European Commissio

Development of electric scooter alerting sounds using psychoacoustical metrics

In recent years electric micromobility transportation, including electric scooters, has seen a surge in popularity due to technological advances and the move to lower emission transport. Although offering a range of societal benefits, such as reduced pollution and increased personal mobility, concerns have been raised regarding the implications for pedestrian safety, most notably within the blind and partially sighted community. The issue of pedestrian safety is well studied in the context of larger electric vehicles (EVs), and indeed regulations are now in place that specify mandatory Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) for such vehicles. However, limited research has been done on the development of acoustic alerting systems for micromobility. In this paper, the development of an electric scooter (e-scooter) AVAS is considered by taking a perception-influenced design approach to designing alert sounds that optimise detectability and annoyance. A listening experiment has been conducted using ambisonic soundscapes and simulated auralisations of e-scooter passes at 20 km/h, in which a detection-based task and annoyance rating task were conducted. Objective metrics for detectability and annoyance were subsequently evaluated in relation to the subjective responses, so as to enable a more focused approach to the development of alert sounds. Results show that without additional alert sounds, the rate of detection for e-scooters in a soundscape of 60 dBA is as low as 23%. Regression analysis showed that the objective metric of Zwicker’s psychoacoustic annoyance is a useful predictor of subjective annoyance for AVAS sounds, with a coefficient of determination of R^2 = 0.96, and explains more variance than other metrics previously reported in the literature. Partial loudness was also studied as a predictor of detectability, with strong positive association seen (R^2 = 0.9). Of the alert sounds evaluated, those comprising pure tones with frequency content in the 800 Hz - 1 kHz range, and with amplitude modulation or impulsive characteristics, offered the greatest balance between detectability and annoyance. This study offers much needed research into detectability of electric micromobility transport in a range of environmental noise conditions, and furthermore provides objective metrics for the development of micromobility AVAS sounds going forward

Attitudes towards the use and acceptance of eHealth technologies : a case study of older adults living with chronic pain and implications for rural healthcare

Acknowledgements The research described here is supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy programme to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub; award reference: EP/G066051/1. MC’s time writing the paper is funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) under Theme 8 ‘Vibrant Rural Communities’ of the Food, Land and People Programme (2011–2016). MC is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen. The input of other members of the TOPS research team, Alastair Mort, Fiona Williams, Sophie Corbett, Phil Wilson and Paul MacNamee who contributed to be wider study and discussed preliminary findings reported here with the authors of the paper is acknowledged. We acknowledge the feedback on earlier versions of this paper provided by members of the Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network, especially Stefanie Doebler and Carmen Hubbard. We also thank Deb Roberts for her comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD