As Light as You Aspire to Be: Changing body perception with sound to support physical activity

Supporting exercise adherence through technology remains an important HCI challenge. Recent works showed that altering walking sounds leads people perceiving themselves as thinner/lighter, happier and walking more dynamically. While this novel approach shows potential for physical activity, it raises critical questions impacting technology design. We ran two studies in the context of exertion (gym-step, stairs-climbing) to investigate how individual factors impact the effect of sound and the duration of the after-effects. The results confirm that the effects of sound in body-perception occur even in physically demanding situations and through ubiquitous wearable devices. We also show that the effect of sound interacted with participants’ body weight and masculinity/femininity aspirations, but not with gender. Additionally, changes in body-perceptions did not hold once the feedback stopped; however, body-feelings or behavioural changes appeared to persist for longer. We discuss the results in terms of malleability of body-perception and highlight opportunities for supporting exercise adherence

Glucose management for exercise using continuous glucose monitoring: should sex and prandial state be additional considerations? Reply to Yardley JE and Sigal RJ [letter]

Oral diseases are a significant global health problem across all countries and populations. With about 3.5 billion cases (2017), more people are affected than by any other disease group. The main oral diseases comprise tooth decay of permanent and deciduous teeth, severe periodontal disease, and oral and lip cancer. With a largely unchanged high global prevalence, but significantly growing population sizes, the pressure on health systems is increasing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.Nonetheless, in many countries oral health has insufficient priority as a key health topic, including the global health policy discourse of German and international stakeholders. One of the fundamental challenges is ensuring universal and equitable access to basic oral healthcare services for all and without financial hardship (Universal Health Coverage).This paper provides an introductory overview of the global trends for the main oral diseases, which are generally characterized by stark inequalities. Opportunities for improving the situation through population-wide risk reduction and preventive approaches, access to oral healthcare, and policy options are highlighted. In addition, a range of relevant global (oral) health topics with potential for tangible change are discussed. Lastly, the reform areas of the Lancet Series on Oral Health from 2019 are presented and recommendations for the German and international global health policy discourse are provided

Consensus recommendations for the use of automated insulin delivery technologies in clinical practice

The significant and growing global prevalence of diabetes continues to challenge people with diabetes (PwD), healthcare providers, and payers. While maintaining near-normal glucose levels has been shown to prevent or delay the progression of the long-term complications of diabetes, a significant proportion of PwD are not attaining their glycemic goals. During the past 6 years, we have seen tremendous advances in automated insulin delivery (AID) technologies. Numerous randomized controlled trials and real-world studies have shown that the use of AID systems is safe and effective in helping PwD achieve their long-term glycemic goals while reducing hypoglycemia risk. Thus, AID systems have recently become an integral part of diabetes management. However, recommendations for using AID systems in clinical settings have been lacking. Such guided recommendations are critical for AID success and acceptance. All clinicians working with PwD need to become familiar with the available systems in order to eliminate disparities in diabetes quality of care. This report provides much-needed guidance for clinicians who are interested in utilizing AIDs and presents a comprehensive listing of the evidence payers should consider when determining eligibility criteria for AID insurance coverage

Sheep production, plant growth and nutritive value of a saltbush-based pasture system subject to rotational grazing or set stocking

Saltbush (Atriplex spp.) pastures are utilised by farmers in the Mediterranean-climate zones of Australia as maintenance feed for livestock during the autumn feed gap. The pastures are generally managed by set stocking at relatively low grazing pressures, allowing animals to choose their diet from the saltbush and understorey species on offer. Intensifying the grazing management of saltbush-based pastures may improve the long-term nutritional status of sheep by limiting the opportunity to selectively overgraze components of the diet which can lead to an inability to select a balanced diet in the future. The primary hypothesis investigated in this experiment was that rotational grazing of saltbush-based saline pastures will (a) increase sheep productivity per hectare (both liveweight gain and wool production) over set stocking, and (b) reduce the pattern of rapid liveweight gain/liveweight loss during autumn. An additional hypothesis was that the intake of saltbush, as a proportion of the total diet, will be negatively correlated to the digestibility of the understorey sward. To test these hypotheses two adjacent, 26 ha saltbush-based pastures were grazed with seven 6-month-old Merino sheep/ha for 250 days from early March (start of autumn) until mid November (spring). One paddock was set stocked while the other was divided into 10 subplots of 2.6 ha and rotationally grazed. Liveweight change, condition score, wool growth, biomass production and nutritive value of the pastures were measured on a fortnightly basis. Diet selection was estimated using carbon isotopes in faeces and pasture. The saltbush-based pastures, consisting of wide spaced rows of saltbush with a sown legume understorey were capable of supporting 7 growing sheep/ha for over 8 months of the year on mildly saline land in the low rainfall wheat belt of Western Australia (330 mm annual rainfall). We found that the differences between the flocks managed by rotational grazing or set stocking were relatively small (3.5 kg after 250 days of grazing and wool of marginally higher value) and it is unclear if rotational grazing would be justified given the higher labour and infrastructure inputs required. The proportion of saltbush selected by sheep reflected the quality of the saltbush and understorey. In autumn, when the saltbush and understorey had similar organic matter digestibility, the sheep managed to maintain liveweight by selecting a diet of approximately half of each component. In spring, when the understorey was highly digestible and in plentiful supply, the sheep still included an average of 13% saltbush in their diets. The growth rate of old man saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) edible dry matter ranged from 0.29 to 3.43 kg/ha day (or 0.45–5.27 g/shrub day)

Flash glucose monitoring: The story so far and the journey ahead

Just a few years ago FreeStyle Libre (FSL) was a rarely encountered device, used only by a select few people with type 1 diabetes who could afford to self-fund it. This small disc has a small cannula under the skin which allows for interstitial glucose measurements and remains in situ for 14 days. Over the last 4 years the number of people with access to this life-changing technology on the National Health Service (NHS) has increased rapidly. Although there were barriers to implementing access and encouraging uptake of this technology, including systems, healthcare professionals and the users themselves, innovative interventions from NHS England and diabetes organisations ensured those who stood to gain the most benefit were not impeded in their access, with a particular emphasis on enabling FSL use in those who are often the hardest to reach. This article reviews the impact of FSL on type 1 diabetes care in England, the key events to date and the lessons learnt that can be applied in the future for newer diabetes technologies

The saltland pasture revolution – improved profits flow from mixtures

No abstract availabl