BackgroundOlder adults generally have low health and computer literacies, making it challenging for them to function well in the eHealth era where technology is increasingly being used in health care. Little is known about effective interventions and strategies for improving the eHealth literacy of the older population.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the effects of a theory-driven eHealth literacy intervention for older adults.MethodsThe experimental design was a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design with learning method (collaborative; individualistic) as the between-participants variable and time of measurement (pre; post) as the within-participants variable. A total of 146 older adults aged 56–91 (mean 69.99, SD 8.12) participated in this study during February to May 2011. The intervention involved 2 weeks of learning about using the National Institutes of Health’s SeniorHealth.gov website to access reliable health information. The intervention took place at public libraries. Participants were randomly assigned to either experimental condition (collaborative: n = 72; individualistic: n = 74).ResultsOverall, participants’ knowledge, skills, and eHealth literacy efficacy all improved significantly from pre to post intervention (P < .001 in all cases; effect sizes were >0.8 with statistical power of 1.00 even at the .01 level in all cases). When controlling for baseline differences, no significant main effect of the learning method was found on computer/Web knowledge, skills, or eHealth literacy efficacy. Thus, collaborative learning did not differ from individualistic learning in affecting the learning outcomes. No significant interaction effect of learning method and time of measurement was found. Group composition based on gender, familiarity with peers, or prior computer experience had no significant main or interaction effect on the learning outcomes. Regardless of the specific learning method used, participants had overwhelmingly positive attitudes toward the intervention and reported positive changes in participation in their own health care as a result of the intervention.ConclusionsThe findings provide strong evidence that the eHealth literacy intervention tested in this study, regardless of the specific learning method used, significantly improved knowledge, skills, and eHealth literacy efficacy from pre to post intervention, was positively perceived by participants, and led to positive changes in their own health care. Collaborative learning did not differ from individualistic learning in affecting the learning outcomes, suggesting the previously widely reported advantages of collaborative over individualistic learning may not be easily applied to the older population in informal settings, though several confounding factors might have contributed to this finding (ie, the largely inexperienced computer user composition of the study sample, potential instructor effect, and ceiling effect). Further research is necessary before a more firm conclusion can be drawn. These findings contribute to th...

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Considering that dam deformation and its influencing factors present complex nonlinearities, a modified deformation monitoring model is proposed in this study. On the basis of the systematic analysis of the effects of environmental

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The rationality of powertrain parameter design has a significant influence on the traction performance and economic performance of electric tractor. At present, researches on powertrain parameter design mainly focus on electric vehicles, and electric agricultural machinery draw much less attention. Therefore, a method of powertrain parameter matching and optimization design for electric tractor was proposed in this paper, which was based on dual-motor coupling drive mode. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based on mixed penalty function was used for parameter optimization. Parameter optimization design was programmed using MATLAB. A simulation dynamic model with optimization design variables of electric tractor powertrain was established based on MATLAB/Simulink. Compared with the simulation results before optimization, the objective functions were optimized and the traction performance of electric tractor was improved, which indicated the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Parameterized model of combine harvester frame is created using the DM module of ANSYS Workbench in this paper. Analysis on the strength and stiffness of the frame is implemented to estimate its safety and economy. According to the analysis result, optimization is made to save material appropriately. Modal analysis of the frame is proceeded to study its natural frequency and compare it with external excitation frequency.