Search results

Effects of aquajogging in obese adults: a pilot study

Aim and method: To examine in obese people the potential effectiveness of a six-week, two times weekly aquajogging program on body composition, fitness, health-related quality of life and exercise beliefs. Fifteen otherwise healthy obese persons participated in a pilot study. Results: Total fat mass and waist circumference decreased 1.4 kg (p = .03) and 3.1 cm (p = .005) respectively. The distance in the Six-Minute Walk Test increased 41 meters (p = .001). Three scales of the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite questionnaire improved: physical function (p = .008), self-esteem (p = .004), and public distress (p = .04). Increased perceived exercise benefits (p = .02) and decreased embarrassment (p = .03) were observed. Conclusions: Aquajogging was associated with reduced body fat and waist circumference, and improved aerobic fitness and quality of life. These findings suggest the usefulness of conducting a randomized controlled trial with long-term outcome assessments.

Pervasive Labour Union #15

Welcome to the fourth special issue of the Pervasive Labour Union zine, Urgent Publishing Debris. In May 2019, the Making Public: Urgent Publishing Conference took place. Among others, it asked the following questions:-"How to realize sustainable, high-quality alternatives within this domain of post-digital publishing?"-"How can designers, developers, artists, writers and publishers intervene in the public debate and counter misinformation in a meaningful and relevant way?"-"What are new publishing strategies for our current media landscape?"-"How to design for urgency without succumbing to an accelerated hype cycle?"The presentations, debates and conversations have all been officially documented in blogposts on the Institute of Network Cultures website, videos and pictures. But what about the notes, the pictures, the recordings and the tweets of the conference's visitors? What do they have to tell us about how each person experienced the conference? This special issue aims to provide new readings of the event by creating remixes of the official archival sources with the 'unofficial' debris circulating around it.In order to facilitate the navigation between articles, making connections visible where they might have only been implicit, the editors have decided to define eleven overarching topics (Social/Community, Activism, Post-truth, New forms, Authorship/Makers, Speed, Positioning, Locality, Relationality, Authoritarianism, Parasite). Each of the topics was attributed a colour and the source material is highlighted accordingly.Furthermore, each remix has a dispersed editors' note, wherein each editor reflects in more detail on the program, how it connects to the conference's topic and how it might answer any of the aforementioned questions.

Investigations on the restoration and seismic enhancement options for the jaisedewal temple after the Gorkha eartquake in Nepal

Critical review on an experimental design to measure and model milk fouling in heating equipment

Fouling plays a major role in the Dairy industry. Five criteria: defined flow, no circulation, real factory product, defined product temperature and defined wall temperature, are used to review articles on this topic published between 2003 and 2020. To show the effect of those criteria in experiments, a simulation model is developed. For a good experimental design to measure fouling, the use of a dairy product in a tubular heater with a known developed flow is advised. The temperature-time history of the product and the wall temperature of the heater should be recorded. Circulation of a product will increase the fouling and decrease the flow. Although none of the reviewed articles complied to all criteria, 71% of the reviewed articles met at least two criteria. If not all criteria are met, the results are of less use for the application for process lines on industrial scale. A simulated computer model can be helpful.

Exploring narrative novelties in VR.

Initial expectations about the interactive affordances of VR were often inspired by science fiction and technological fantasies rather than based on actual technical possibilities. In these futuristic accounts of VR, interactors would have the opportunity to fully engage with the characters that inhabit the story world, in ways that would feel so natural that it would be indistinguishable from reality. In ‘real’ reality however, the actual production of VR has turned out to be considerably more complicated. To provide a realistic impression of the actual possibilities of VR, this study presents four widely acclaimed contemporary VR experiences (Wolves in the Walls, The Line, Down the Rabbit Hole and A Fisherman’s Tale) and reviews them from a media theory and communication science perspective. We discuss whether and how the concepts identification, parasocial interaction, ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and spatial and narrative presence can still be applied to these VR case studies, eventually aiming to contribute some rudimentary insights into the range of possible media conventions that narrative VR may contain.

The astronaut and the empathy wall

the role of higher education in fostering young professionals’ global competence