Developing Digital Tools for Remote Clinical Research:How to Evaluate the Validity and Practicality of Active Assessments in Field Settings

The ability of remote research tools to collect granular, high-frequency data on symptoms and digital biomarkers is an important strength because it circumvents many limitations of traditional clinical trials and improves the ability to capture clinically relevant data. This approach allows researchers to capture more robust baselines and derive novel phenotypes for improved precision in diagnosis and accuracy in outcomes. The process for developing these tools however is complex because data need to be collected at a frequency that is meaningful but not burdensome for the participant or patient. Furthermore, traditional techniques, which rely on fixed conditions to validate assessments, may be inappropriate for validating tools that are designed to capture data under flexible conditions. This paper discusses the process for determining whether a digital assessment is suitable for remote research and offers suggestions on how to validate these novel tools

Visual perception and constructional apraxia in dementia with lewy bodies

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Carbon and nitrogen turnover during a mesocosm experiment with addition of Palmaria decipiens and Desmarestia anceps to sediments from Potter Cove

To understand the fate of the increasing amount of macroalgal detritus in Antarctic shallow subtidal sediments, a mesocosm experiment was conducted to track 13C and 15N labelled macroalgal detritus into the benthic bacterial, meio- and macrofaunal biomass and respiration of sediments from Potter Cove (King George Island). We compared the degradation pathways of two macroalgae species: one considered palatable for herbivores (the red algae Palmaria decipiens), and one considered non-palatable for herbivores (the brown algae Desmarestia anceps). 15 sediment cores were taken from station Faro at 20m water depth. 13C and 15N labelled macroalgae were added to 10 cores: 5 cores received Desmarestia anceps, 5 cores received Palmaria decipiens. 5 cores did not receive any macroalgae and acted as a control. At different points in time, the cores were closed airtight for a dark incubation of 12h, during which oxygen was measured to calculate Total Oxygen Uptake (TOU), next to 13C-DIC, total nutrients and 15N-labelled nutrients (NH4, NOx and N2). The next day, the cores were sacrificed to determine the assimilation of macroalgae detritus in bacteria, microphytobenthos, meiofauna, macrofauna. Also the remaining large (>1mm) macroalgae fragments were recovered and the bulk POC and PN of the sediment was measured. The sampling points are 1d after addition, and 7, 14 and 21 and 26 days after addition of macroalgae detritus