Research question:As a result of the expansion of opportunities for leisure-time sport participation (LTSP), the question arises if differing organisational settings relate to differences in participation behaviour. This paper compares participation frequency and time spent on sport between club-organised and non-club-organised sport participants. Research methods:Data originate from the 2009 Household Study on Sport Participation in Flanders (Belgium). The sample consists of 4020 sports participants that are parents of school-aged children. The frequency of LTSP, time per training session and total time spent on sport per week are constructed as dependent variables for log-linear regression analyses. The organisational setting for LTSP is the main independent variable. Analyses are conducted at a total sample level and a sport-specific level. Results and findings:Participation frequency and time spent on sport increase when participants engage with club-organised sport. The association between the organisational setting for LTSP and the dependent variable varies as a function of different variables related to participation in a specific sport. Implications:As a contribution to ongoing debates on the promotion of LTSP in different organisational settings, results of this study allow for discussing the popularity of non-club-organised sport in relation to advantages of club-organised sport. For managers in sport organisations, it is important to gain insight in participation behaviour of (potential) participants to develop targeted strategies. Results are also relevant to policy-makers in order to adequately allocate resources aimed at increasing participation rates and time spent on sport among a broader range of the population.
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Cyanobacterial blooms can be toxic to humans swimming in affected waters. According to the European Bathing Water Directive bathing waters should be closed during cyanobacterial blooms. In the Netherlands, cyanobacteria monitoring in all official bathing water locations is usually performed every two weeks during the bathing season. In face of the large temporal and spatialvariability of cyanobacterial bloom dynamics this monitoring frequency however is too low for adequate early warnings to the public.High frequency monitoring and forecasting models can provide information on cyanobacterial blooms in between the regular monitoring dates and for a few days into the future. In the H2020 project EOMORES, we have combined observational data from a spectral camera (Ecowatch) near a Dutch bathing site with fluorescence data from an underwater drone to analyse the variability ofcyanobacterial blooms at short temporal and spatial scales. The results are used in a short term forecasting model of cyanobacterial blooms (AlgaeRadar) and a 3D scum forecasting model (EWACS). The AlgaeRadar is cross-validated with biweekly data from other bathing water sites and shows improved model performance compared to an earlier version that was built with only biweekly data.For the site with high-frequency chlorophyll observations the near-real time data are assimilated in the model to further enhance the model performance. Model performance of EWACS is verified using high frequency pictures from the Ecowatch station, showing scum layers on the water. This allowed us to validate and calibrate the EWACS model. Model validation abilities were in the pastalso limited by to the patchy nature and high temporal variability of the scum layers, which was not covered by sparse scum observations. With the resulting models, early warnings for cyanobacterial blooms are more reliable than those from the current practice that are merely based on biweekly monitoring data. For the protection of public health this provides better opportunities as well.
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The purpose of the study was to assess the accuracy of estimates of step frequency from trunk acceleration data analyzed with commonly used algorithms and time window lengths, at a wide range of gait speeds. Twenty healthy young subjects performed an incremental treadmill protocol from 1 km/h up to 6 km/h, with steps of 1 km/h. Each speed condition was maintained for two minutes. A waist worn accelerometer recorded trunk accelerations, while video analysis provided the correct number of steps taken during each gait speed condition. Accuracy of two commonly used signal analysis methods was examined with several different time windows.
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BACKGROUND:Many patients visiting physiotherapists for musculoskeletal disorders face psychosocial challenges which may form a large barrier to recover. There are only a limited number of evidence based psychosocial therapies, but they are mainly based on breathing exercises. OBJECTIVE: to study which respiration frequency would lead to the highest relaxation, reflected in vagal tone derived from the heart rate variability (HRV) in healthy subjects. METHODS: A randomized controlled cross sectional study was performed. Respiration cycles of four, five, six, seven and eight breaths per minute (BPM) were delivered in randomized order for two minutes each. HRV metrics were measured during the sessions with electrocardiogram (ECG). Repeated Measures ANOVA’s were performed to analyze differences between breathing frequencies. RESULTS: 100 healthy volunteers were included (40 male). Standard Deviation of inter beat intervals (SDNN) values were significantly highest at 5 BPM, whereas the Root Mean Square of Successive Differences (RMSSD) values appeared highest at 7 breaths per minute (p< 0.01). High Frequency (HF) power was lowest at 4 BPM, whereas Low Frequency (LF) power was not significantly influenced by respiration frequency. CONCLUSIONS: Breathing at a frequency of 5 to 7 breaths per minute leads to highest HRV values, but there is no single respiration ratio that maximizes all metrics. Physiotherapists may use five to seven BPM as guidance to determine ideal breathing frequencies
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We demonstrate a monolithic frequency converter incorporating up to four tuning degrees of freedom, three temperature and one strain, allowing resonance of pump and generated wavelengths simultaneous with optimal phase-matching. With a Rb-doped periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) implementation, we demonstrate efficient continuous-wave second harmonic generation from 795 to 397, with low-power efficiency of 72% and high-power slope efficiency of 4.5%. The measured performance shows good agreement with theoretical modeling of the device. We measure optical bistability effects, and show how they can be used to improve the stability of the output against pump frequency and amplitude variations.
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Reducing the use of pesticides by early visual detection of diseases in precision agriculture is important. Because of the color similarity between potato-plant diseases, narrow band hyper-spectral imaging is required. Payload constraints on unmanned aerial vehicles require reduc- tion of spectral bands. Therefore, we present a methodology for per-patch classification combined with hyper-spectral band selection. In controlled experiments performed on a set of individual leaves, we measure the performance of five classifiers and three dimensionality-reduction methods with three patch sizes. With the best-performing classifier an error rate of 1.5% is achieved for distinguishing two important potato-plant diseases.
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The aim of this study was to assess the association between prescription changes frequency (PCF) and hospital admissions and to compare the PCF to the Chronic Disease Score (CDS). The CDS measures comorbidity on the basis of the 1-year pharmacy dispensing data. In contrast, the PCF is based on prescriptionchanges over a 3-month period. A retrospective matched case–control design was conducted. 10.000 patients were selected randomly from the Dutch PHARMO database, who had been hospitalized (index date) between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 2000. The primary study outcome was the number of prescription changes during several three-month time periods starting 18, 12, 9, 6, and 3 months before the index date. For each hospitalized patient, one nonhospitalized patient was matched for age, sex, and geographic area, and was assigned the same index date as the corresponding hospitalized patient.We classified four mutually exclusive types of prescription changes: change in dosage, switch, stop and start.
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The European Union (EU) Horizon Europe project NextGEM provides a framework for generating health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new exposure scenarios to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMFs) and developing and validating tools for evidence-based risk assessment. Practical guidelines for different societal stakeholders for RF-EMF exposure awareness and preventive actions will be created. This abstract outlines the goals of these guidelines, the definitions used to keep the guidelines specific and practical and the procedure that will ultimately generate the guidelines.
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BackgroundTranscutaneous vagal nerve stimulation has analgesic potential and might be elicited by abdominally administered low-frequency vibrations. The objective was to study the safety and effect of a combination of music and abdominally administered low-frequency vibrations on pain intensity in elderly patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.MethodsThis trial was an international multicenter, randomized controlled pilot study. Patients at age ≥ 65 years with musculoskeletal pain for ≥ 3 months and a daily pain score ≥ 4 out of 10 were recruited at three centers. They were randomized to receive either a combination of music and low-frequency (20–100 Hz) vibrations administered to the abdomen, or a combination with the same music but with higher frequency (200–300 Hz) vibrations administered to the abdomen. Low-frequency vibrations were expected to result in pain reduction measured with a numeric pain rating scale (NRS). Patients in both groups received eight treatments of the music combined with the vibrations in three weeks. Primary outcomes were safety (Serious Adverse Events) and pain intensity measured at baseline, after the last treatment and at six weeks follow-up. Multilevel linear model analyses were performed to study group and time effects.ResultsA total of 45 patients were analyzed according to intention-to-treat principle. After 344 treatments, 1 Adverse Event was found related to the intervention, while 13 Adverse Events were possibly related. A multilevel linear model showed that the interaction effect of group by time did not predict pain intensity (F[1, 45.93] = 0.002, p = 0.97) when comparing pain intensity at baseline, after the last treatment and at follow-up.ConclusionsThe combination of music and abdominally administered vibrations was found to be safe and well tolerated by the elderly patients. However, over time, neither the low-frequency treatment group nor the high-frequency treatment group provided clinically meaningful pain relief. There is no evidence that the low-frequency treatment elicited vagal nerve stimulation.
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QUESTION: In adults who experience nocturnal leg cramps, does stretching of the calf and hamstring muscles each day just before sleep reduce the frequency and severity of the cramps?DESIGN: A randomised trial with concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis.PARTICIPANTS: Eighty adults aged over 55 years with nocturnal leg cramps who were not being treated with quinine.INTERVENTION: The experimental group performed stretches of the calf and hamstring muscles nightly, immediately before going to sleep, for six weeks. The control group performed no specific stretching exercises. Both groups continued other usual activities.OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants recorded the frequency of nocturnal leg cramps in a daily diary. Participants also recorded the severity of the pain associated with nocturnal leg cramps on a 10-cm visual analogue scale. Adverse events were also recorded.RESULTS: All participants completed the study. At six weeks, the frequency of nocturnal leg cramps decreased significantly more in the experimental group, mean difference 1.2 cramps per night (95% CI 0.6 to 1.8). The severity of the nocturnal leg cramps had also decreased significantly more in the experimental group than in the control group, mean difference 1.3 cm (95% CI 0.9 to 1.7) on the 10-cm visual analogue scale.CONCLUSION: Nightly stretching before going to sleep reduces the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older adults.
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