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It pays to be free: No-cost products garner strong word-of-mouth recommendations
Consumers who get a web-based product or mobile app for free are more likely to give it a word-of-mouth boost than a product they buy, suggesting they feel “one good turn deserves another.”
That’s according to new research from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin by Wen Wen, an assistant professor of information, risk and operations management. She collaborated with the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Samuel Bond and West Virginia University’s Stephen He on the study, which was recently published in the Journal of Marketing Research.
Offering apps and games for free has become a staple of online service providers. Consumers are given the opportunity to download a free product or platform, often as a potential hook into an eventual upgrade to a higher-tier paid version.
The researchers analyzed more than 5,000 mobile apps, in addition to surveying consumers and conducting experiments using a hypothetical product and a real one. They concluded that consumers are motivated to thank the producers of the free products by sharing positive reviews (both online and face-to-face).
“Consumers of free products, but not paid products, will be motivated to ‘return the favor’ they have received from producers, and they will share their experience with others as a means of doing so,” Wen said.
The researchers also found that consumers feel less risk when trying a free product and are less likely to feel disappointed if the product does not meet their expectations than when they make an investment in a paid product.
Consumers of paid products who share reviews of their purchases have different motivations for doing so, the study said. For them, informing others, especially when little has been said about the product and the reviews are mixed, is the primary reason to weigh in about their experiences with the product.
For marketers, the research offers several key insights. “Our findings reveal important differences in consumer motivation between free- and paid-product settings, driven by differences in perceived obligations to producers and to other consumers,” Wen said.
With that in mind, marketers of free products might want to consider embedding “reciprocity cues,” such as alerts that tell customers to “spread the word” or “tell your friends,” she said.
By the same token, marketers can encourage word-of-mouth for paid products by hinting that it could help other shoppers looking to buy the product. Those marketers, Wen said, could use phrases such as “save them time,” “help them choose” and “save them money.”
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Recreating embryonic conditions at break sites can help bones heal faster
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania have developed a unique technique that uses stem cells and flexible implantable bone-stabilizing plates to help speed the healing of large breaks or defects.
The technique allows the stem cells applied to break sites to experience some mechanical stress, as they do in developing embryos. These forces may help encourage stem cells to differentiate into cartilage and bone, as well as encourage other cells in the bone to regenerate.
Their findings are reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Stem cells need environmental cues to differentiate into cells that make up unique tissues. Stem cells that give rise to bone and cartilage are subject to mechanical forces during development and healing, explained Eben Alsberg, the Richard and Loan Hill Professor of Bioengineering and Orthopaedics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a senior author on the paper.
When a bone heals, stem cells in the marrow near the break site first become cartilage cells and later bone cells — ultimately knitting together the break. When there are large gaps between broken or deformed bones, applying additional stem cells to break sites can help bones heal faster by either actively participating in the regenerative process or stimulating bone formation by neighboring cells.
But to use stem cells for bone regeneration, they need to be delivered to the defect site and differentiate appropriately to stimulate repair.
Alsberg and colleagues developed a unique preparation of the cells that can be handled and manipulated easily for implantation and that supports the cellular differentiation events that occur in embryonic bone development.
In Alsberg’s preparation, stem cells are cultured so that they link to each other to form either sheets or plugs. The preparation also contains gelatin microparticles loaded with growth factors that help the stem cells differentiate. These sheets or plugs can be manipulated and implanted and reduce the tendency for cells to drift away. Alsberg calls these materials “condensates.”
In previous studies, Alsberg and colleagues used condensates in a rodent model to help heal bone defects in the skull. They saw that the condensates stayed in place and were able to improve the rate and extent of bone regeneration.
More recently, Alsberg teamed up with Joel Boerckel, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and bioengineering at Penn Medicine and a senior author on the paper, to take the idea one step further.
Boerckel has developed a unique, flexible “fixator.” Fixators, as they are known to orthopedic surgeons, usually are stiff metal plates or bars that are used to stabilize bones at break sites. These kinds of fixators minimize the amount of mechanical stress breaks experience as they are healing.
Boerckel’s flexible fixator would allow the cells in Alsberg’s condensates to experience the compressive forces that are critical for stimulating enhanced cartilage and bone formation.
The researchers used a rat model to determine how the mechanical forces present within bone defects affected the ability of condensates to contribute to bone regeneration. When the researchers used condensate sheets together with a flexible fixator in rats with a defect in their femur, they saw that there was enhanced healing and the bones had better mechanical function compared with control rats that received condensates and stiff, traditional fixators.
“Devices and techniques we develop out of this research could also influence the way we implement physical therapy after injury,” Boerckel said. “Our findings support the emerging paradigm of ‘regenerative rehabilitation,’ a concept that marries principles from physical therapy and regenerative medicine. Our goals are to understand how mechanical stimuli influence cell behavior to better impact patient outcomes without additional drugs or devices.”
Anna McDermott, Devon Mason and Joseph Collins of the University of Pennsylvania; Samuel Herberg and Rui Tang of Case Western Reserve University; Hope Pearson and James Dawahare of the University of Notre Dame; Amit Patwa and Mark Grinstaff of Boston University, and Daniel Kelly of Trinity College Dublin are co-authors on the paper.
This research was supported by the Naughton Foundation; the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute grant 16SDG31230034; the National Science Foundation grant 1435467; National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases grants R01 AR066193, R01 AR063194, and R01 AR069564; National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering grant R01 EB023907; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grant 5F32DE024712; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute award T3HL134622, and Ohio Biomedical Research Commercialization Program award TECG20150782.
Visible public health leadership needed to boost vaccine coverage
Public health expert Professor John Ashton is calling for local directors of public health to provide visible leadership to address the recent systematic deterioration of vaccine coverage levels. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, he describes recent falls in the uptake of other preventative programmes, including bowel, breast and cervical cancer and aortic aneurysm. This, he writes, indicates the fragmentation and weakening of the arrangements for public health, and especially the links with the NHS, since the 2013 reorganisation when directors of public health moved to local government.
With over 900 cases of measles over the last 12 months in Britain, Prof Ashton writes that the current weaknesses in the public health delivery system should be resolved before resorting to legislation. The Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, has recently suggested the possibility of fines for parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated, together with a ban on anti-vaccination posts on social media.
“Part of the problem is making the seeming invisibility of prevention, visible; this requires imagination and creativity, together with leadership and the effective delivery of services.” The alternative, Prof Ashton says, is to wait for a public health disaster to shake up the inertia and the forces of darkness.
“That it does not have to be like this is shown by the recovery in the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in the north-west of England, with one of the strongest public health systems and visible public health leadership, to herd immunity levels, following the initial dip after the publication of the claims of discredited former doctor Andrew Wakefield.”
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Trump state visit: President rows back on NHS trade remarks
The president faced a backlash after he said “everything was on the table” for a future trade deal.
What Causes Dehydration? Here’s What You Need to Know
Staying hydrated is about more than just drinking eight glasses of water a day. These 14 factors are unexpected dehydration causes.
Health24.com | 8 ways to build stronger thighs
Forget the thigh gap — I’ll take strong legs over skinny any day! The power of strong legs lies in the ability to simply move better. Think about how much you walk around, trek up and down stairs, and go from sitting to standing all day. Every single one of those movements will become easier the more you work out your legs, particularly your thighs or what would include your quads (the muscles on the front of the upper leg), abductors (outer thighs), adductors (inner thighs), and even your hamstrings (back of the upper leg).
“If you want to live for a long time, you have to be strength training. There is no substitute for strength,” says Danielle Barry, a certified personal trainer, a CrossFit coach at Solace New York. Plus, the more you move and the smarter you train, the better your movement patterns, making everything from running, walking, and jumping smoother too. To get you to peak performance in and out of the gym, check out the best types of exercises that build up strength in your thighs.
1 Combine strength and cardio
“People get fearful of putting on too much muscle and having big legs, so they turn to cardio for the solution to that issue,” says Barry. “But I like to make it known that if you’re looking to change the composition of your legs—more muscle and less fat—you have to do a combo of both strength and endurance training.”
In other words, while you can run around town as much as you want, or hit the elliptical too, you still have to pick up some weights if you want to strengthen your thighs.
READ MORE: These Explosive Leg-Day Moves Will Reshape Your Calves And Thighs!
2 Squat, squat, and squat again
Focusing on functional movement patterns — think squat, lunge, push, pull — is the smartest way to train your legs. And squats are a top-notch way to specifically target your thighs, working 360-degrees of your upper leg. Even better, squats mimic that stand-up and sit-down pattern you move through during the day. Plus, you can easily scale them to your fitness level, says Barry.
Begin with bodyweight squats: Start standing with feet hip-width apart. Send the hips down and back and bend the knees, keeping weight in your heels. When you’ve mastered that, move up to a goblet squat, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell held at your chest.
Next up, graduate to squatting with a barbell or dumbbells held in a racked position (weights at the shoulders). The key is to keep your torso vertical and spine neutral—the more upright you are, the more quad dominant the exercise.
3 Learn to love lunges
Lunges copy the movement pattern you take when you go for a walk, shifting weight from one foot to the other. And they seriously tone your thighs, while strengthening most muscles of your leg. Start this exercise out bodyweight style, just like a squat, until you’ve built up the confidence and form to take it up a notch.
Begin standing with feet together and then step one foot back about two feet (depending on how tall you are), and lower down so both knees bend 90 degrees. Then press back up to the top. Aim for 10 reps on each leg for three rounds, Barry suggests.
To up the ante on your lunge, add weight, holding a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest, or one on each side, with arms straight down by your sides. You can also place the back foot on a box or bench behind you to turn your lunge into a Bulgarian split squat, which ups the stability challenge. (See above for example.)
4 Do more single-side moves
Speaking of lunges — along with moves like pistol squats, staggered deadlifts, or split squats — these types of single-side exercises help you pay better attention to the differences in strength between your left and right sides.
“I tell people: Our limbs are sisters; they are not twins,” says Barry. “You have a dominant and non-dominant side, so when you’re running or biking or lifting or doing Pilates, you’re going to find one side works harder than the other… Your goal should be to try your best to get your non-dominant side as strong as your dominant side, or as close as possible.”
Next time you do any of single-side exercise, really focus to how each side feels and spend a little more time on that weaker side to help fix the imbalance. This will make you less injury-prone, and can increase overall health and body composition, Barry says.
READ MORE: “This 5-Move Pilates Leg Series Set My Inner Thighs On Fire”
5 Step on a machine
Almost any cardio machine — the treadmill, elliptical, stair climber, and rower — will help you build stronger thighs. Your legs do a lot of the work after all. (Yes, even on the rower — push off that board!)
Barry recommends opting for intervals on any of this equipment, working at an all-out effort for 30 seconds, then resting for another 30. Try to hit 10 rounds.
“If you’re constantly working then resting, your body will burn fat to keep up with the work put into each interval,” she says. To really make your legs feel like Jell-O, she suggests opting for the bike or Stairmaster.
6 HIIT it big
Of course, you don’t have to do interval training only on a machine. You can take your HIIT workout anywhere. If you’re running outside, simply add sprints into your typical jogging pace. “Running is a fantastic way to develop those thigh muscles,” Barry says.
Or if you’re in your living room, add plyometrics to your routine. Squat jumps and jumping lunges, along with burpees or skaters, require powerful legs to propel you to the top.
READ MORE: The 15 Inner Thigh Exercises Your Workout Needs
7 Grab a booty band
Follow almost any trainer on IG and you’ll probably see a band wrapped around her thighs at some point, especially if she’s a runner. And that’s because that band strengthens the abductors of the hip, or your glutes and tensor fasciae latae (TFL) — a muscle of the thigh that helps to move the leg away from your midline (aka abduction).
With the band placed around your thighs, you can easily turn moves like squats and leg lifts into a serious leg-burning sequence.
Barry’s favourite move to do with the band to target the thighs and glutes is a lateral step: Holding a shallow squat position and keeping your legs hip-width apart and feet parallel, take 10 to 15 steps to one side and then back in the other direction. Embrace the burn on your backside.
8 Squeeze something soft
Don’t forget about those inner thighs! Your adductor muscles pull your legs in toward each other and to strengthen all of them, you should grab a squishy ball or a foam yoga block, Barry says.
Take the block between your legs and squeeze, holding for a second, then release. Do 10 to 15 reps.
You can do this standing, while holding a wall sit, as you maintain a plank position, or in a glute bridge exercise (seen above). The harder you squeeze, the more you burn out those inner thighs.
This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za
Image credit: iStock
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Health24.com | 6 of the funniest and craziest workout trends ever
Looking for an alternative to your stale workout routine? Look no further.
Exercise mask
The exercise mask requires practically no effort, but is considered a legitimate exercise nonetheless. It gained popularity in 1955 and its purpose was essentially to exercise and tone the facial muscles.
A more updated version was later released onto the market in 1999. A doctor explained that the mask does for the face what exercise does for the body, adding that it was “equivalent to doing eight sit-ups per second for your stomach”.
This all happens when the system delivers a mild impulse generated by a 9-volt battery from the control unit to the facial cushion zones in the mask, causing the skin to tighten and tone its muscles. Pretty efficient, but we can’t say we’d enjoy a session reminiscent of something straight out of a horror movie.
Prancercise
Defined by its Floridian creator Joanna Rohrback as a springy, rhythmic movement forward – similar to a horse’s gait – it was a break-up with her fiancé in 1989 that inspired her to get in shape and led to the creation of a rhythmic forward exercise, she said on the Steve Harvey show.
The prancercise queen blew up YouTube, and to date, it has had over 14 million views. The exercise incorporates weights that alternate between your ankles and wrists, and according to Dr Charles Platkin, a distinguished lecturer at CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City who specialises in exercises and calorie-expenditure research, prancercise burns more calories than other exercises like yoga.
Skateboard Pilates
This has become a growing favourite among many Pilates-enthusiasts, thanks to French celebrity trainer Raphael Doub who’s had many others hop on the bandwagon. His workout incorporates a skateboard to mimic the gliding platform of the reformer, and makes it more challenging through the additional strength-training aspect. Doub described the fitness technique to Brit + Co as “a mix between figure skating, rowing, and cross-country skiing”. If you want the full benefit of Pilates but don’t have the money to invest in a reformer, this is your answer. But if you’re intimidated by how challenging it looks, it’s probably best to give it a miss.
Breathing exercises
The Body Flex 18-minute “workout” is essentially a weight-loss programme made up of deep breathing and stretching, followed by additional exercises with a Body Flex Gym Bar. The breathing specifically focuses on toning facial muscles. The well-known exhale, as explained by Greer Childers in the company’s infomercial, is a diaphragmatic exhalation, which, if done correctly, can strengthen your diaphragm. On the flip side, it could cause you to wreck a lung.The ad had many people buy into it. However, the company was later charged with false advertising by the Federal Trade Commission since their claims of the workout being the “secret to burning fat” were found to be deceptive and unsubstantiated.
Backwards running
We’re not kidding. Backwards (or reverse) running started as a rehabilitation exercise in the US in the 1970s, according to The Conversation and gained popularity outside the rehab walls around 2013. The world’s fastest backwards runner Aaron Yoder told Men’s Health that after running forward for two decades, he suffered a severe knee injury and was advised by his doctor to stop running. Turns out reverse running worked out perfectly for him, as it ended up having little impact on his knee.
Quite an appealing notion, but on the negative side there’s an increased risk of falling, which, let’s face it, could result in more than just a knee injury.
Goat yoga
Yes, goat yoga is a thing. Yoga has clearly developed varied techniques over the years (laughter yoga is widely popular), but “goga” takes the cake. Celebs like Khloe Kardashian, Kevin Hart and Sophie Turner have taken a liking to this craze, with Turner remarking in a Vogue interview, “I’ve never felt that excited about anything in my life, ever…”
Lainey Morse was originally responsible for bringing the idea to life back in 2016, and eventually had people pay $35 (around R500) to attend her sessions in a barn with goats. The idea was to fuse relaxation techniques with the mind and body practice. This is achieved when the goats’ hooves provide a bit of a massage as they move along your body, trying to maintain their balance. Bahhh-maste (sorry, we had to).
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Health24.com | Thyroid problems? This is what you should be eating
Do you find yourself eating healthy, exercising regularly only to not see the slightest shift on the scale? It could most likely be due to a little troublemaker known as your thyroid.
Where does it all start?
The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system. It is a small bow-shaped gland, located in the front of the neck, below the voice box or larynx (Adam’s apple). It is important as it plays a vital role in supporting numerous body functions such as controlling body temperature, metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burn calories from the food we eat) and energy levels.
The gland is controlled by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland at the base of the brain. The pituitary produce thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) that travels through the blood to stimulate the production of the thyroid hormones called thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). The thyroid gland uses iodine from our diet to produce these hormones.
The most common thyroid disorder is hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid function. Hypothyroidism is usually caused by an autoimmune response known as Hashimoto’s disease or autoimmune thyroiditis.
As with all autoimmune diseases, the body mistakenly identifies its own tissues as an invader and attacks them until the organ is destroyed. This chronic attack eventually prevents the thyroid from producing adequate levels of T3 and T4, which are necessary to keep the body functioning properly.
The lack of these hormones can slow down the metabolism and cause weight gain, fatigue, dry skin and hair. Hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid function is another common thyroid condition. The most prevalent form is Graves’ disease in which the body’s autoimmune response causes the thyroid gland to produce too much T3 and T4. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism can include weight loss, high blood pressure, diarrhoea and rapid heartbeat.
How can nutrition help regulate your thyroid?
Many nutrients play a role in optimising thyroid function. However, both nutrient deficiencies and excesses can trigger or exacerbate symptoms.
Working in collaboration with an endocrinologist is vital to determine thyroid function and obtain the best treatment possible. A dietitian is the person to guide you towards selecting the correct type of foods for optimal thyroid health.
Note: If you have hypothyroidism, you will need to take thyroid hormone replacement medication – usually on an empty stomach as certain foods and supplements may interact with the medication.
Selenium
Selenium is a necessary component of the enzymes responsible for converting T4 into T3, and without adequate levels of selenium there would be no activation of thyroid hormone. Some researchers suggest that selenium supplementation will improve conversion of T4 to T3, and in some trials a dosage of 200 mcg per day has been found to reduce thyroid antibodies.
Some other studies have shown that selenium caused a reduction of the antibodies by 50% over the course of three months. Selenium also plays a role in protecting the thyroid gland itself. The cells of the thyroid generate hydrogen peroxide to produce thyroid hormones, and selenium protects the thyroid gland from the oxidative damage caused by these reactions.
Selenium balances iodine, as too high iodine levels lead to destruction of the thyroid cells. It is important to include selenium-rich foods daily into your diet such as brazil nuts, canned tuna, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, pilchards, sardines etc.
Should I avoid soya?
Soya does not have to be avoided as according to research one can safely consume soy foods, especially if daily iodine intake is adequate. Studies have indicated that phytoestrogens in soybeans and soy-rich foods may inhibit the activity of an enzyme that makes thyroid hormones. It is therefore important that soy should always be consumed after taking thyroxin medication to prevent any possible interactions.
Goitrogens? Say what?
Many websites claim that people with thyroid disorders should avoid cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. This is because they contain natural chemicals called goitrogens (producing goitres) that could interfere with thyroid hormone production. The risk however is low if you are consuming these types of vegetables in moderation. It is also recommended that you cook or steam the vegetables as it deactivates the goitrogens.
Vitamin D
Adequate vitamin D levels have been associated with a lower likelihood of developing Hashimoto’s. Vitamin D levels should be checked at regular intervals. Research shows that blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] should be between 60-80ng/l for optimal thyroid receptor and immune system function. Sources of Vitamin D include cod liver oil, fatty fish, fortified dairy, eggs and sunlight. Despite dietary interventions and sunlight, many people may still require an oral vitamin D3 supplement to reach their target levels.
What about a gluten free diet?
To date, no studies have evaluated the effects of a gluten free diet in people who have autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD). This remains an area of controversy, as the results are inconsistent. A gluten free diet is advisable only for patients with co-existing coeliac disease or gluten intolerance. It is suggested that if you are interested in trying a gluten free diet, you should be tested for coeliac disease before going gluten free, even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Once a gluten free diet is adopted, the autoimmune markers for the disease disappear, so it is critical that the testing precedes dietary changes to insure accuracy. If, however, the test is negative, a trial gluten free diet emphasising naturally gluten free foods (for example, fruits and vegetables, pulses, quinoa, corn, rice, nuts, seeds, fish, chicken, red meat) followed for several months will allow you to observe potential benefits.
If you’re interested in checking your thyroid, you can get the whole picture by asking your endocrinologist to look at all of these levels: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, and Thyroid Antibodies & Vitamin D.
Image credit: iStock
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