Aki Koponen

Nutrition economics: towards comprehensive understanding of the benefits of nutrition

There has been an increase in the knowledge and interest on nutrition, and functional foods have gained popularity over the last few decades, and the trend is increasing. Probiotics and prebiotics are among the most studied functional foods. Nutrition economics has been defined as the discipline dedicated to researching and characterising health and economic outcomes in nutrition for the benefit of society. The concept and its application to probiotics and prebiotics will be discussed in terms of health and economic benefits and their evaluation. Health economics and concrete applications showing how to maximise long-term nutritional benefits will contribute to motivate consumers in making food choices based on a rational understanding of their own interest. We present a model that shows that nutrition economics can be used as an analytical tool for product and service network development.

Digital Gaming for Improving the Functioning of People With Traumatic Brain Injury: Protocol of a Feasibility Study.

Background Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical public health problem. The recovery process for people with TBI is typically slow and dependent on complex and intensive assisted rehabilitation programs. Objective To evaluate the effects and feasibility of digital games for cognitive functioning and general well-being among people with traumatic brain injury. Methods This is a single-site feasibility study conducted in Finland, which uses a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial with three arms, and will recruit patients from the Turku University Hospital, Division of Clinical Neurosciences in Finland. Participants must meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) a Finnish speaking adult, aged 18-65 years; (2) diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (diagnostic criteria ICD-10, S06.X, T90.5) in the University Hospital; (3) access to a TV, a computer, and the Internet at home; (4) not an active digital gamer (5 hours or less a week); (5) willing to participate in the study. Participants must have been discharged from the neurologic treatment period for traumatic brain injury for over 12 months before the commencement of the trial, and they may not have actively participated in cognitive rehabilitation during the 3 months prior to the trial. Written informed consent will be mandatory for acceptance into the trial. Exclusion criteria are as follows: (1) sensory, cognitive, or physical impairment (eg, severe cognitive impairment); (2) a deficiency restricting the use of computers or computer game control system unaided (eg, impairment in vision, severe astigmatism, hemiplegia, disorder in visuospatial perception, dysfunction of the central vestibular system); (3) apathy identified in previous neuropsychological evaluations; (4) diagnosed severe mental disorders (eg, schizophrenia or severe depressive disorders to be identified in medical records as the secondary diagnosis). Results The preparatory phase for the study is fulfilled. Recruitment started in June 2015 and finished November 2015. Results will be reported in 2016. Conclusions The specific outcomes such as primary outcome measures were selected because they are widely used psychological tests and thought to be sensitive to changes in the cognitive functions related to TBI. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02425527; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02425527 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6esKI1uDH)

Three Apps for Shooting Sports: The Design, Development, and Deployment

Video games rarely simulate shooting sports accurately. In this paper, we introduce three mobile applications that try to convey the essence of target shooting and biathlon to the players. We look at the applications from the perspectives of game design, implementation, and marketing. Our analysis provides a basis for developing games that take a real-world sport and help the player to appreciate the nuances of the sport, and maybe even to try it out in reality.