Hospitalized older adults' experiences of virtual reality-based group exercise therapy with cycle ergometers:An early feasibility study

Sedentary behavior among hospitalized older adults is a well-described challenge that can increase the risk of loss of function and mortality. Therefore, it is important to encourage physical activity (PA) during hospitalization. Exertion Games (exergames) have repeatedly been suggested as a tool to encourage and sustain motivation in rehabilitation programs. This article presents early findings from a convergent parallel mixed methods study that explored whether social presence and PA could be combined through the novel use of immersive virtual reality technology in a feasible group exercise constellation. Inpatients (n=10, 50% female, 80.3±8.2 years) were invited to participate in a bi-weekly VR group session. Most participants (62%) responded that it was a good experience to a large/great extent, which they would like to use repeatedly (76%). The technology was easy for untrained healthcare professionals and had minimal adverse events for the participants. However, a major finding illustrates that the enclosing immersiveness of the headset hindered conversation during exercise sessions. The exclusion of sight likely had a negative effect on forming relations between the participants, which conversely caused the participants to experience a lack of cohesion and relatedness with the other participants. VR-mediated group therapy may be a promising solution to existing physiotherapy practices since it may incorporate basic psychological needs. However, to optimize for social interaction, future systems will need to afford a higher degree of social presence, e.g., through avatar embodiment in a shared virtual environment, to support older adults' autonomous motivation for PA through social interaction and novel technologies

Dietary combination of vitamin E, C and K affects growth, antioxidant activity, and the incidence of systemic granulomatosis in meagre (Argyrosomus regius)

Systemic granulomatosis is a growing disease with a high morbidity, which affects to the majority of farmed meagre (Argyrosomus regius). The impossibility of isolating any infectious agents has hypothesized a nutritional origin of the disease. In order to try to elucidate the nutritional origin of granulomas, juvenile meagre were fed for 15 weeks with six diets containing different levels of vitamin E and C and with or without addition of vitamin K: Diet 0 (basal premix, no K, 150 mg kg‐−1 E, 20 mg kg‐−1 C), K (added 23 mg kg‐−1 K), EC (300 mg kg‐−1 E, 70 mg kg‐−1 C), KEC (23 mg kg‐−1 K, 300 mg kg‐−1 E, 70 mg kg‐−1 C), EECC (450 mg kg‐−1 E, 230 mg kg‐−1 C) and KEECC (23 mg kg‐−1 K, 450 mg kg‐−1 E, 230 mg kg‐−1 C). The diet EC significantly increased meagre growth in terms of final weight and length. Fish fed the highest levels of vitamin E and C presented lower percentage of granulomas in liver and heart than fish fed diet 0. The scored severity of granulomatosis in liver and kidney (main affected organs) tended to be lower with dietary increase of vitamin E, C and addition of vitamin K (from 1.83 diet 0 to 1.3 diet KEECC and from 0.91 diet 0 to 0.39 diet KEECC). In liver, the diet KEECC significantly increased catalase expression compared with diet 0. In kidney tnfα expression was significantly up-regulated in fish fed diet EECC and KEECC. In heart, low vitamin E and C levels (300 and 70 mg kg‐−1, respectively) significantly increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase expression and high addition increased the expression of tnfα and cox-2 (0 or 23 mg kg‐−1 K, 450 mg kg‐−1 E and 230 mg kg‐−1 C, diet EECC and KEECC). The results show that combination of high dietary content of vitamin K and antioxidant vitamins E and C (23, 450 and 230 mg kg‐−1, respectively) influenced in the incidence of the granulomatosis, which suggests that this pathology could be mediated by nutritional factors

Transition probabilities for general birth-death processes with applications in ecology, genetics, and evolution

A birth-death process is a continuous-time Markov chain that counts the number of particles in a system over time. In the general process with $n$ current particles, a new particle is born with instantaneous rate $\lambda_n$ and a particle dies with instantaneous rate $\mu_n$. Currently no robust and efficient method exists to evaluate the finite-time transition probabilities in a general birth-death process with arbitrary birth and death rates. In this paper, we first revisit the theory of continued fractions to obtain expressions for the Laplace transforms of these transition probabilities and make explicit an important derivation connecting transition probabilities and continued fractions. We then develop an efficient algorithm for computing these probabilities that analyzes the error associated with approximations in the method. We demonstrate that this error-controlled method agrees with known solutions and outperforms previous approaches to computing these probabilities. Finally, we apply our novel method to several important problems in ecology, evolution, and genetics

Anbefaling på valg av standarder/rammeverk for velferdsteknologi

Velferdsteknologi kan gi mange, uansett alder, mulighet for å bo hjemme under trygge forhold dersom man blir syk, behøver omsorg eller bare ønsker mulighet til å bo hjemme i en sen fase i livet

Long-term exposure to air pollution and hospital admissions for ischemic stroke. A register-based case-control study using modelled NOx as exposure proxy

Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution is a hypothesized risk factor for ischemic stroke. In a large case-control study with a complete study base, we investigated whether hospital admissions for ischemic stroke were associated with residential concentrations of outdoor NOx, as a proxy for exposure to air pollution, in the region of Scania, Southern Sweden. Methods: We used a two-phase case-control study design, including as first-phase controls all individuals born between 1923 and 1965 and residing in Scania in 2002 (N=556 912). We defined first-phase cases as first-time ischemic stroke patients residing in Scania and registered in the Swedish stroke register between 2001 and 2005 (N=4 904) and second-phase cases as cases for whom we had information on smoking status, diabetes, and medication for hypertension (N=4 375). For the controls, information on these covariables was collected from a public health survey, resulting in 4 716 second-phase controls. With a geographical information system and an emission database, individual residential outdoor annual mean NOx concentration was modelled. The data were analyzed with logistic regression. Results: We found no evident association between NOx and ischemic stroke. For example, the odds ratio for ischemic stroke associated with the NOx category 20-30 mu g/m(3) compared to the reference category of <10 mu g/m(3) was 0.95 (95% CI 0.86-1.06). Conclusion: In this study area, with generally low levels of air pollution, using a complete study base, high-quality ascertainment of cases, and individually modelled exposure, we did not observe any clear association between NOx and ischemic stroke hospital admissions

Scientometric Analysis and Combined Density-Equalizing Mapping of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Research

Background: Passive exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is estimated to exert a major burden of disease. Currently, numerous countries have taken legal actions to protect the population against ETS. Numerous studies have been conducted in this field. Therefore, scientometric methods should be used to analyze the accumulated data since there is no such approach available so far. Methods and Results: A combination of scientometric methods and novel visualizing procedures were used, including density-equalizing mapping and radar charting techniques. 6,580 ETS-related studies published between 1900 and 2008 were identified in the ISI database. Using different scientometric approaches, a continuous increase of both quantitative and qualitative parameters was found. The combination with density-equalizing calculations demonstrated a leading position of the United States (2,959 items published) in terms of quantitative research activities. Charting techniques demonstrated that there are numerous bi- and multilateral networks between different countries and institutions in this field. Again, a leading position of American institutions was found. Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive scientometric analysis of data on global scientific activities in the field o

Long term effects of micro-surgical testicular sperm extraction on androgen status in patients with non obstructive azoospermia

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to review the results of microsurgically performed testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and to evaluate its possible long term effects on serum testosterone (T). METHODS: We operated on 48 men (35 +/- 8 years) with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). If no spermatozoa were found following a micro epididymal sperm extraction (Silber et al., 1994) and testicular biopsy, testicular microdissection was performed or multiple microsurgical testicular biopsies were taken. The mean follow-up of the serum T was 2.4 +/- 1.1 years. RESULTS: Sperm was retrieved in 17/48 (35%) of the men. The per couple take home baby rate if sperm was retrieved was 4/17 (24%). Serum T decreased significantly at follow-up (p < 0.05) and 5/31 (16%) de novo androgen deficiencies developed CONCLUSION: In patients with non-obstructive azoospermia in whom no spermatozoa were found following a micro epididymal sperm aspiration and a simple testicular biopsy, we were able to retrieve spermatozoa in 35% of the men. The take home baby rate was 24% among couples with spermatozoa present upon TESE. De novo androgen deficiency occurred in 16% of the male patients following TESE indicating that, in men with NOA, long term hormonal follow up is recommended after TESE

Long-Term Exposure to Primary Traffic Pollutants and Lung Function in Children: Cross-Sectional Study and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: There is widespread concern about the possible health effects of traffic-related air pollution. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a convenient marker of primary pollution. We investigated the associations between lung function and current residential exposure to a range of air pollutants (particularly NO2, NO, NOx and particulate matter) in London children. Moreover, we placed the results for NO2 in context with a meta-analysis of published estimates of the association. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Associations between primary traffic pollutants and lung function were investigated in 4884 children aged 9-10 years who participated in the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE). A systematic literature search identified 13 studies eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. We combined results from the meta-analysis with the distribution of the values of FEV1 in CHASE to estimate the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function (FEV1<80% of predicted value) expected under different scenarios of NO2 exposure. In CHASE, there were non-significant inverse associations between all pollutants except ozone and both FEV1 and FVC. In the meta-analysis, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 was associated with an 8 ml lower FEV1 (95% CI: -14 to -1 ml; p: 0.016). The observed effect was not modified by a reported asthma diagnosis. On the basis of these results, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 level would translate into a 7% (95% CI: 4% to 12%) increase of the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to traffic pollution may cause a small overall reduction in lung function and increase the prevalence of children with clinically relevant declines in lung function