Changes over time in mental well-being, fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity in a community-based lifestyle intervention: a before and after study

Objectives: There is a theoretical basis for believing that healthy lifestyle interventions can improve mental well-being and evidence to show that mental well-being is protective of future health. This study contributes to the evidence base by examining changes in mental well-being associated with the One Body One Life (OBOL) healthy lifestyle programme in a community setting in the West Midlands. Study design: Quantitative, before and after the evaluation. Methods: We conducted a before and after study of the lifestyle intervention ‘OBOL’, a multi component intervention that includes exercise and healthy eating education. Mental wellbeing was measured with the Warwick- Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption were self-reported. Measures were collected before and after the 12-week intervention and three months post completion. Nonparametric tests were used to assess differences between groups, and linear mixed models were used to assess change over time. Results: Four hundred and eighty-one (81% of attendees) adult participants completed a valid Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale before starting OBOL; of whom, 63.8%completed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale immediately post intervention and 25.2% at three months. Mental well-being levels increased significantly (P < 0.001)over the course of the intervention and were sustained at the three-month follow-up(baseline median Warwick- Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale score ¼ 48 [interquartile range 41e55], completion ¼ 53 [interquartile range 46e57], 3-month follow-up ¼ 52[interquartile range 46e56]). Change in mental well-being was clinically significant after accounting for age and gender. Changes in both fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity appeared to explain some but not all of the variation in mental well-being. Conclusion: We found significant improvements in mental well-being among participants directly after the intervention which were sustained at the three-month follow-up. These findings contribute to a growing body of knowledge on the contribution of lifestyle interventions to promoting and sustaining mental well-being

Controllability analysis of multi objective control systems

The performance requirements stated in project specifications often comprise conflicting objectives. These objectives may further be a complex mix of steady state and dynamic performance. Control devices such as solenoid actuators are often chosen purely on steady state force characteristics, due to the difficulty of appraising the conflicting and generally non-linear nature of the performance objectives. This can have ramifications in terms not only of the actuator performance, but also in the overall controllability of the system when closed-loop control is implemented. An example automotive application examining the multi objective controllability of electronically actuated valves is presented. Multi objective evolutionary techniques are utilised to derive the optimal force-displacement characteristics and also dynamic characteristics of the desired actuator under the constraint of design performance criteria. The selected actuator is then assessed for its controllability and dynamic performance

Steady non-ideal detonations in cylindrical sticks of expolsives

Numerical simulations of detonations in cylindrical rate-sticks of highly non-ideal explosives are performed, using a simple model with a weakly pressure dependent rate law and a pseudo-polytropic equation of state. Some numerical issues with such simulations are investigated, and it is shown that very high resolution (hundreds of points in the reaction zone) are required for highly accurate (converged) solutions. High resolution simulations are then used to investigate the qualitative dependences of the detonation driving zone structure on the diameter and degree of confinement of the explosive charge. The simulation results are used to show that, given the radius of curvature of the shock at the charge axis, the steady detonation speed and the axial solution are accurately predicted by a quasi-one-dimensional theory, even for cases where the detonation propagates at speeds significantly below the Chapman-Jouguet speed. Given reaction rate and equation of state models, this quasi-one-dimensional theory offers a significant improvement to Wood-Kirkwood theories currently used in industry

An experimental study of the dual-fuel performance of a small compression ignition diesel engine operating with three gaseous fuels

A dual-fuel engine is a compression ignition (CI) engine where the primary gaseous fuel source is premixed with air as it enters the combustion chamber. This homogenous mixture is ignited by a small quantity of diesel, the ‘pilot’, that is injected towards the end of the compression stroke. In the present study, a direct-injection CI engine, was fuelled with three different gaseous fuels: methane, propane, and butane. The engine performance at various gaseous concentrations was recorded at 1500 r/min and quarter, half, and three-quarters relative to full a load of 18.7 kW. In order to investigate the combustion performance, a novel three-zone heat release rate analysis was applied to the data. The resulting heat release rate data are used to aid understanding of the performance characteristics of the engine in dual-fuel mode. Data are presented for the heat release rates, effects of engine load and speed, brake specific energy consumption of the engine, and combustion phasing of the three different primary gaseous fuels. Methane permitted the maximum energy substitution, relative to diesel, and yielded the most significant reductions in CO2. However, propane also had significant reductions in CO2 but had an increased diffusional combustion stage which may lend itself to the modern high-speed direct-injection engine

Tailoring force-displacement characteristics in medium-stroke linear variable reluctance actuators

The paper is concerned with the design of medium-stroke variable reluctance actuators that exploit the tangential component of force. A method of compensating for the roll-off in force as the stator and armature come into full alignment is presented, and the scope which this offers to tailor the force-displacement characteristic to meet the demands of a particular application is illustrated by means of a case study. The case study includes finite element analysis and experimental measurements on an actuator having a stroke of 8 mm and a rated force capability of 60 N

The social anatomy of 'collusion'

This paper offers a conceptual analysis of collusion, the often overlooked relative of plagiarism in debates on academic integrity. Considered as an inherently social phenomenon, we present the results of a systematic effort to understand the anatomy of collusion. The term’s meanings and associated governance practices are compared for contexts outside Higher Education (HE). These are considered alongside a thematic analysis of publicly available UK university academic integrity documentation that specifies for students what counts as collusion. We indicate how current guideline practice can (1) appear incomplete by concentrating on classroom peers, (2) create blurred boundaries around useful collaboration, peer review and dishonest practice and (3) may be so unrealistic as to have unwelcome, unintended consequences for students and staff. Taking an ecological perspective on the conditions of collusion emphasises how these guidelines - by seeking to constrain social interactions around assignment work - may create an uncomfortable incoherence between their prescriptions and well-established patterns of study

Surveying the Dynamic Radio Sky with the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array

This paper presents a search for radio transients at a frequency of 73.8 MHz (4 m wavelength) using the all-sky imaging capabilities of the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array (LWDA). The LWDA was a 16-dipole phased array telescope, located on the site of the Very Large Array in New Mexico. The field of view of the individual dipoles was essentially the entire sky, and the number of dipoles was sufficiently small that a simple software correlator could be used to make all-sky images. From 2006 October to 2007 February, we conducted an all-sky transient search program, acquiring a total of 106 hr of data; the time sampling varied, being 5 minutes at the start of the program and improving to 2 minutes by the end of the program. We were able to detect solar flares, and in a special-purpose mode, radio reflections from ionized meteor trails during the 2006 Leonid meteor shower. We detected no transients originating outside of the solar system above a flux density limit of 500 Jy, equivalent to a limit of no more than about 10^{-2} events/yr/deg^2, having a pulse energy density >~ 1.5 x 10^{-20} J/m^2/Hz at 73.8 MHz for pulse widths of about 300 s. This event rate is comparable to that determined from previous all-sky transient searches, but at a lower frequency than most previous all-sky searches. We believe that the LWDA illustrates how an all-sky imaging mode could be a useful operational model for low-frequency instruments such as the Low Frequency Array, the Long Wavelength Array station, the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array, and potentially the Lunar Radio Array.Comment: 20 pages; accepted for publication in A

Efficient Parallel Statistical Model Checking of Biochemical Networks

We consider the problem of verifying stochastic models of biochemical networks against behavioral properties expressed in temporal logic terms. Exact probabilistic verification approaches such as, for example, CSL/PCTL model checking, are undermined by a huge computational demand which rule them out for most real case studies. Less demanding approaches, such as statistical model checking, estimate the likelihood that a property is satisfied by sampling executions out of the stochastic model. We propose a methodology for efficiently estimating the likelihood that a LTL property P holds of a stochastic model of a biochemical network. As with other statistical verification techniques, the methodology we propose uses a stochastic simulation algorithm for generating execution samples, however there are three key aspects that improve the efficiency: first, the sample generation is driven by on-the-fly verification of P which results in optimal overall simulation time. Second, the confidence interval estimation for the probability of P to hold is based on an efficient variant of the Wilson method which ensures a faster convergence. Third, the whole methodology is designed according to a parallel fashion and a prototype software tool has been implemented that performs the sampling/verification process in parallel over an HPC architecture

Modelling the dynamics of support for a right-wing populist party: the case of UKIP

ABSTRACT: Similar to a number of other right-wing populist parties in Europe, Great Britain's United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has experienced increased public support in recent years. Using aggregate data from monthly national surveys conducted between April 2004 and April 2014, time series analyses demonstrate that the dynamics of UKIP support were influenced by a combination of spatial and valence issues. A spatial issue, Euroscepticism, was fundamental, with UKIP support moving in dynamic equilibrium with changing public attitudes towards EU membership. In addition, widespread anti-immigration sentiment and dissatisfaction with the performance of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government combined with the “oxygen of publicity” to propel UKIP's surge. The political context after the 2010 general election helped as well by enabling UKIP to benefit from valence considerations. Many voters continued to doubt the competence of the major opposition party, Labour, while the Liberal Democrats were part of the government and, hence, unavailable as a protest vehicle. Since many of the forces driving UKIP support are beyond its control, the party's prospects are highly uncertain

Opportunities for improving irrigation efficiency with quantitative models, soil water sensors and wireless technology

Increasingly serious shortages of water make it imperative to improve the efficiency of irrigation in agriculture, horticulture and in the maintenance of urban landscapes. The main aim of the current review is to identify ways of meeting this objective. After reviewing current irrigation practices, discussion is centred on the sensitivity of crops to water deficit, the finding that growth of many crops is unaffected by considerable lowering of soil water content and, on this basis, the creation of improved means of irrigation scheduling. Subsequently, attention is focused on irrigation problems associated with spatial variability in soil water and the often slow infiltration of water into soil, especially the subsoil. As monitoring of soil water is important for estimating irrigation requirements, the attributes of the two main types of soil water sensors and their most appropriate uses are described. Attention is also drawn to the contribution of wireless technology to the transmission of sensor outputs. Rapid progress is being made in transmitting sensor data, obtained from different depths down the soil profile across irrigated areas, to a PC that processes the data and on this basis automatically commands irrigation equipment to deliver amounts of water, according to need, across the field. To help interpret sensor outputs, and for many other reasons, principles of water processes in the soil–plant system are incorporated into simulation models that are calibrated and tested in field experiments. Finally, it is emphasized that the relative importance of the factors discussed in this review to any particular situation varies enormously