Hypertension is a significant and preventable cardiovascular disease risk factor. Growing evidence suggests legumes have blood-pressure (BP) lowering properties. However, there is little population-based research on legume intake and hypertension risk in Western populations. The objective was to investigate the relationship between legume intake and blood pressure by using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Norfolk cohort. Further, to identify any potential legume intake that confers benefits in relation to blood pressure. We included participants who completed both 7-day food diaries to assess legume intake and undertook a first (1993–1997) and second (1998–2000) health check from the EPIC-Norfolk prospective study. Legume consumption was categorized using percentile cut off values. We used multivariate logistic regression models to calculate the odds ratio of hypertension (defined as >140 mmHg systolic and/or >90 mmHg diastolic blood pressure) at the second health check, stratified by legume intake, adjusting for antihypertensive medication use and demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle covariates. A total of 7522 participants were included with mean age (± SD) of 58.0 ± 8.9 years. The follow-up time was 3.7 years (range: 2.1–6.6 years). Mean legume consumption was 17.3 ± 16.3 g/day. Participants in the 97th percentile of legume intake had the lowest odds of subsequent hypertension (OR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.96). Legume consumption between 55–70 g/day was associated with reduced odds of hypertension (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.88); sex-specific values for men and women were 0.64 (0.38, 1.03) and 0.32 (0.12, 0.88), respectively. In this UK population, legume intake of 55–70 g/day was associated with a lower subsequent risk of hypertension. Given the low legume intake in the UK and Western countries, dietary guidance to increase intake above 55 g/day may lower the burden of hypertension and associated diseases.

A survey of the contents of various Requirements and Definition Documents both within Rolls‐Royce and in the literature revealed a large variety of structures and contents. Many requirements documents do not distinguish in their structure between functional and the various non‐functional requirements but mix these up within the content of the requirements structure. The authors have proposed a generic rationalized structure for capturing and recording requirements, and have illustrated this with gas turbine engine examples. The authors have also proposed a parallel structure for Definition Documents, where there is even more variation in content in the literature examples, and have illustrated this again with gas turbine engine examples.

The paper considers the development, design and test procedures for a range of random-pulse generators which exploit the properties of chaincodes. While the generators were developed for simulation of roadtraffic situations, they have wide applications in the simulation of the central processors of digital computers and the testing of digital control systems. The generators operate at high speed in a parallel fashion. They require only a very limited number of logical elements, and output-pulse patterns may be repeated starting at any point.

The objective of this paper is to contrast random generators built by Redshaw and Robinson with simpler generators devised by the author. The test procedures laid down in an earlier paper are followed. Both types of random generator were designed for the simulation of random arrivals of vehicles at road-traffic intersections. There is, however, a wide variety of other applications for such generators. These include message-switching simulation, and the simulation of the operation of the central processor of a multiprogram computer. The tests performed indicated that both classes of generator satisfied criteria for randomness, provided that care was exercised at the design stage.

A recent book by Anthony Hyman sets the work of Babbage into a broader context than that revealed by earlier writers and in particular emphasises the importance of his contacts with the international scientific community. This present paper reflects these new insights. It is offered as an example to young engineers.