1,216 research outputs found

    Does taking vitamin, mineral and fatty acid supplements prevent cognitive decline? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

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    Background Observational studies have shown associations between nutritional status and cognition in later life but evidence from intervention studies is unclear. The present study systematically reviewed the evidence on the effect of nutrient supplementation on cognitive function in people aged ≥65 years. Methods Databases including MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched up to 1 September 2006. Randomized controlled trials using at least one kind of vitamin, mineral or omega-3 fatty acid, evaluating standardized neuropsychological test(s), were included. There were no restrictions on participants' baseline nutritional status or cognitive function. Quality assessment and data abstraction were conducted by one author and checked by another. Results Of 4229 articles retrieved, 22 trials (3442 participants) were identified. Many were small, short duration and of poor methodology. Only 16 out of 122 cognitive tests were significantly different between groups. A meta-analysis showed no significant effect of taking B vitamins or antioxidant vitamins on global cognitive function. There was insufficient evidence to evaluate the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on any cognitive domains. Conclusion There was little evidence of a beneficial effect from taking B vitamins or antioxidant supplements on global cognitive function in later life. Larger-scale randomized controlled trials of longer duration in selected age groups are needed.Institute of Applied Health Science, University of Aberdeen; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates; Chief Scientist of the Scottish Government Health Directorate

    Using video modeling and role playing activities to teach social skills to middle school students with intellectual disabilities

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    This study investigated how two interventions, using video modeling alone versus video modeling combined with role-playing activities, may improve specific social skills for middle school students with significant Intellectual Disabilities (ID) utilizing a single-subject design. Specifically, the percentage of appropriate interactions was measured across three specific skill sets: sharing objects, reaction to inappropriate peer contact, and taking turns. During the first intervention phase, subjects viewed a video model and learned to discriminate appropriate from inappropriate behavior. During the second intervention phase, subjects viewed videos depicting appropriate behavior and took part in short role-playing activities where the participants imitated the video models. All four participants experienced growth in appropriate skill initiation during the first intervention and were able to retain some skills over the second baseline. Participants experienced increased growth in appropriate initiations during the second intervention. Participants’ abilities to initiate appropriate skills decreased over time once the intervention was removed. The study provides preliminary evidence that a combined intervention using video modeling and role-playing activities can improve social skills for middle school students with intellectual disabilities

    Japan and the global revival of the 'civil society' idea: contemporaneity and the retreat of criticality

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    This article examines the pioneering role of Japanese intellectuals in the contemporary (post-1945) global revival of civil society. Although often overlooked or discounted in recent scholarship, Japanese intellectuals were among the first contemporary theorists worldwide to re-conceptualize civil society as a remedy for two of the central problematics of the post-World War II era: the theoretical and practical crisis in Marxism, on the one hand, and the anomie of advanced capitalist development, on the other hand. The article argues that any comprehensive global history of contemporary civil society must consider the insights of these Japanese thinkers alongside those of their Continental and North American counterparts. More critically, the article also suggests that Japanese civil society thought merits attention because it vividly exposes the dearth of criticality and excess of celebration in the idea's recent resurgence. The result in Japan (and elsewhere) has been an ironic and troubling retreat of criticality coupled with a naïve faith in the therapeutic capacity of civil society

    Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement

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    What motivates people to become involved in issues and struggles beyond their own borders? How are activists changed and movements transformed when they reach out to others a world away? This adept study addresses these questions by tying together local, national, regional, and global historical narratives surrounding the contemporary Japanese environmental movement. Spanning the era of Japanese industrial pollution in the 1960s and the more recent rise of movements addressing global environmental problems, it shows how Japanese activists influenced approaches to environmentalism and industrial pollution in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, and Europe, as well as landmark United Nations conferences in 1972 and 1992. Japan’s experiences with diseases caused by industrial pollution produced a potent “environmental injustice paradigm” that fueled domestic protest and became the motivation for Japanese groups’ activism abroad. From the late 1960s onward Japanese activists organized transnational movements addressing mercury contamination in Europe and North America, industrial pollution throughout East Asia, radioactive waste disposal in the Pacific, and global climate change. In all cases, they advocated strongly for the rights of pollution victims and people living in marginalized communities and nations—a position that often put them at odds with those advocating for the global environment over local or national rights. Transnational involvement profoundly challenged Japanese groups’ understanding of and approach to activism. Numerous case studies demonstrate how border-crossing efforts undermined deeply engrained notions of victimhood in the domestic movement and nurtured a more self-reflexive and multidimensional approach to environmental problems and social activism. Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement will appeal to scholars and students interested in the development of civil society, social movements, and environmentalism in contemporary Japan; grassroots inter-Asian connections in the postwar period; and the ways Asian countries and their citizens have shaped and been influenced by global issues like environmentalism.Knowledge Unlatche

    Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement

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    What motivates people to become involved in issues and struggles beyond their own borders? How are activists changed and movements transformed when they reach out to others a world away? This adept study addresses these questions by tying together local, national, regional, and global historical narratives surrounding the contemporary Japanese environmental movement. Spanning the era of Japanese industrial pollution in the 1960s and the more recent rise of movements addressing global environmental problems, it shows how Japanese activists influenced approaches to environmentalism and industrial pollution in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, and Europe, as well as landmark United Nations conferences in 1972 and 1992. Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement will appeal to scholars and students interested in the development of civil society, social movements, and environmentalism in contemporary Japan; grassroots inter-Asian connections in the postwar period

    Cardiovascular effects of calcium supplementation

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