Monitoring gait parameters of the elderly as a support for caregivers and physiotherapists

Starzenie się społeczeństw rozwiniętych stawia nowe wyzwania w zakresie opieki nad seniorami. Monitorowanie codziennej aktywności, w tym parametrów chodu, daje istotne informacje o kondycji. Praca prezentuje pilotażowe pomiary aktywności seniorów Domu Pomocy Społecznej Św. Elżbieta w Rudzie Śląskiej. Pomiarom poddano 38 osób o zróżnicowanym poziomie sprawności i aktywności ocenianej według wiedzy ich opiekunów. Pozyskane dane pomiarowe poddano analizie celem wydzielenia czasów aktywności oraz wybranych parametrów chodu. Dzięki wyznaczanym wartościom liczbowym opiekun może zrewidować opinię o swoich podopiecznych. Otrzymane wyniki wskazują na przydatność takich rozwiązań w codziennej opiece nad seniorami oraz w planowaniu rehabilitacji.Aging of the developed societies creates new challenges for medical care of the elderly. Monitoring of daily activities provides useful information about patient's condition. This paper presents a pilot study of activity monitoring of seniors living in the residential home St. Elisabeth in Ruda Śląska. The study was performed on 38 seniors with various fitness and activity levels according to the knowledge of their caregivers. The obtained data allowed to determine the activity time and chosen gait parameters. The results enable caregivers to update opinion on their patients and show usefulness of such solutions in daily care of the elderly, as well as in rehabilitation planning

Biological activity of egg-yolk protein by-product hydrolysates obtained with the use of non-commercial plant protease

Enzymatic hydrolysis leads to improved functional and biological properties of protein by-products, which can be further used as nutraceuticals and protein ingredients for food applications.The present study evaluated ACE-inhibitory, antioxidant and immunostimulating activities in hydrolysates of egg-yolk protein by-product (YP), generated during industrial process of delipidation of yolk. The protein substrate was hydrolyzed using non-commercial protease from Asian pumpkin (Cucurbita ficifolia). The reaction was conducted in 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) at temperature of 37°C for 4 hours using different enzyme doses (100-1000 U/mg of substrate). The protein degradation was monitored by the determination of the degree of hydrolysis (DH), release of free amino groups (FAG) and by RP-HPLC. In the obtained hydrolysates we also evaluated biological activities. It was shown that the highest DH of substrate (46.6%) was obtained after 4h of reaction at the highest amount of enzyme. This hydrolysate exhibited antioxidant activity, including ferricion reducing (FRAP) (56.41 μg Fe2+/mg), ferric ion chelating (695.76 μg Fe2+/mg) and DPPH free radical scavenging (0.89 μmol troloxeq/mg) as well as ACE-inhibitory (IC50=837.75 μg/mL) activities.The research showed improved biological properties of enzymatically modified YP by-product