16 research outputs found
Efecto de la fertilización nitrogenada en pasturas consociadas
En los sistemas de producción ganaderos argentinos la aplicación de fertilizantes está menos difundida que en los agrícolas. La aplicación de N en otoño adelanta el crecimiento de las gramíneas y, por lo tanto, el pastoreo, en un momento estratégico de oferta forrajera en general limitante. Las leguminosas tienen la capacidad de fijar grandes cantidades de N atmosférico y transferir parte del mismo a las gramíneas acompañantes o a cultivos posteriores. En Entre Ríos es escasa la información sobre el impacto de la fertilización nitrogenada en pasturas consociadas con base leguminosa. A partir de ensayos instalados en sistemas reales de producción se evaluó el impacto productivo en función de dosis y momentos de agregado de N en pasturas consociadas de distinta antigüedad y composición. La respuesta y la eficiencia de uso del N agregado fue dependiente de la composición de la pastura. La respuesta al agregado de N en pasturas con bajo porcentaje de gramínea (<70%) puede no ser viable económicamente. Las aplicaciones divididas de N no generaron una mayor producción de forraje.EEA ParanáFil: Pautasso, Juan Manuel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná. Agencia de Extensión Rural Diamante; ArgentinaFil: Pautasso, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Barbagelata, Pedro Anibal. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentina.Fil: Giordano, Matías J. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Peltzer, Y.H. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Cian, María Marcela. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Lorenzon, Marina de las Mercedes. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin
Development and validation of an art-inspired multimodal interactive technology system for a multi-component intervention for older people: a pilot study
IntroductionThe World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the presence of a significant body of research on the positive effects of the arts on health, considering a variety of factors including physical well-being, quality of life, and social and community impact. The model that underlies cultural welfare puts the performing arts, visual arts, and cultural heritage at the service of people personal and societal well-being. The potential connections between movements of the body and artistic content have been extensively studied over time, considering movement as a non-verbal language with a universal character.MethodsThis pilot study presents the results of the validation of an innovative multimodal system, the DanzArTe-Emotional Wellbeing Technology, designed to support active and participative experience of older people providing physical and cognitive activation through a full-body physical interaction with a traditional visual work of art of religious subject. DanzArTe supports a replicable treatment protocol for multidimensional frailty, administered through a low cost and scalable technological platform capable of generating real-time visual and auditory feedback (interactive sonification) from the automated analysis of individual as well as joint movement expressive qualities. The study involved 45 participants, 23 of whom participated in the DanzArTe program and 22 who were included in the control group.ResultsThe two groups were similar in terms of age (p = 0.465) and gender (p = 0.683). The results showed that the DanzArTe program had a positive impact on participants' self-perceived psychological health and well-being (Mean Psychological General Well-Being Index—Short T1 = 19.6 ± 4.3 Vs. T2 = 20.8 ± 4.9; p = 0.029). The same trend was not observed in the control group (p = 0.389).DiscussionThe findings suggest that such programs may have a significant impact particularly on the mental and social well-being of older adults and could be a valuable tool for promoting healthy aging and improving quality of life
Gerontechnology: Definitions and Classification
Technology is now part of our lives and the current perception by patients and their caregivers, healthcare professionals, managers and policy makers is that a modern view of medicine includes the technologies as essential instruments both in clinical practice, i.e. assessment, management and follow-up of patients and more in general in many healthcare processes as diagnosis, prognosis, treatments, rehabilitation and prevention both at individual and at general population level.
In this chapter we present an overview of the different definitions and classifications of technologies potentially useful for older people including: (i) Information and communication technologies, i.e. tools aimed at informing and communicating, including digital technologies, telehealth programs and the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare; (ii) assistive technologies designed to maintain older people’s independence and increasing safety including ambient and personal sensors and domotic devices; and (iii) human-computer interaction technologies to support treatment and rehabilitation of older people with mobility and cognitive impairments such as robots (humanoid, rehabilitation, service and companion-type robots) but also exergames and virtual reality activities and their clinical and social components
The PRO‐HOME Project. A multicomponent intervention for the protected discharge from the hospital of multimorbid and polytreated older individuals by using innovative technologies: A pilot study
BackgroudDischarge planning from the hospital of frail older patients is an important step to avoid inappropriate long-stay hospitalizations and to prevent the risks related to the prolonged hospitalization. In this frame, we developed an experimental trial-'PRO-HOME', a multicomponent programme of interventions for multimorbid and polytreated hospitalized older patients.AimThe main aim of the study was to develop a protected discharge facility using a mini apartment equipped with advanced architectural and technological components to reduce the length of hospital stay of older participants (aged 65+ years old) admitted to the hospital for an acute event, deemed stable and dischargeable.Materials and MethodsThis is a pilot randomized controlled study, comparing 30 hospitalized participants included in a multidimensional, transitional care programme based on information and communication technologies to 30 patients in standard usual care until hospital discharge.ResultsWe presented the study design of the PRO-HOME programme, including architectural and technological components, the enrolment procedures, the components of the intervention that is physical activity, cognitive training and life-style education and the evaluation method of the intervention based on the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to explore the changes in the individual domains that are target of the multicomponent intervention.ConclusionsThe final results will suggest whether the PRO-HOME programme represents a useful and feasible intervention to reduce the length of hospital stay of multimorbid and polytreated hospitalized older patients and improve their physical and cognitive performances and overall quality of life.Patient or Public ContributionDue to the characteristics of the population of interest of the PRO-HOME study, we involved in the study design and programme of the activities the participants enrolled in a previous smart home-based project named MoDiPro carried-out during a 3-year period. The elderly participants from the local population involved were asked, by means of focus groups, for feedback on their experience in MoDiPro, and their suggestions were integrated into the design phase of the current PRO-HOME project. The focus groups included open group interviews with a qualitative collection of the patients' feedback so that the participants could interact with each other
Gender Differences and Quality of Life in Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease has been found to significantly affect health-related quality of life. The gender differences of the health-related quality of life of subjects with Parkinson’s disease have been observed in a number of studies. These differences have been reported in terms of the age at onset, clinical manifestations, and response to therapy. In general, women with Parkinson’s disease showed more positive disease outcomes with regard to emotion processing, non-motor symptoms, and cognitive functions, although women report more Parkinson’s disease-related clinical manifestations. Female gender predicted poor physical functioning and socioemotional health-related quality of life, while male gender predicted the cognitive domain of health-related quality of life. Some studies reported gender differences in the association between health-related quality of life and non-motor symptoms. Depression and fatigue were the main causes of poorer health-related quality of life in women, even in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. The aim of this review was to collect the best available evidence on gender differences in the development of Parkinson’s disease symptoms and health-related quality of life
Multidimensional frailty and quality of life: data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Purpose Frailty has been found to be associated with poor quality of life (QoL) in older people, but data available are limited to cross-sectional studies. We therefore aimed to assess the association between multidimensional frailty, determined by Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI), with mortality and good QoL expectancy (GQoLE) in a large representative sample of older adults, over 10 years of follow-up. Methods In the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, using the data from 2004-2005 and 2014-2015, MPI was calculated using a weighted score of domains of comprehensive geriatric assessment, i.e., number of difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL, depressive symptoms, number of medical conditions, body mass index, physical activity level, and social aspects. Mortality was assessed using administrative data, GQoLE indicators were used for longitudinal changes in QoL. Results 6244 Participants (mean age 71.8 years, 44.5% males) were followed up for 10 years. After adjusting for potential confounders, compared to people in the MPI low-risk group, people in the moderate (hazard ratio, HR = 4.27; 95% confidence interval, CI 3.55-5.14) and severe-risk group (HR = 10.3; 95% CI 7.88-13.5) experienced a significantly higher mortality rate. During the follow-up period, people in the moderate and severe-risk groups reported lower GQoLE values than their counterparts, independently from age and gender. Conclusions Multidimensional frailty was associated with a higher risk of mortality and significantly lower GQoLE, suggesting that the multifactorial nature of frailty is associated not only with mortality, but also poor QoL
Multidimensional frailty and quality of life: data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Purpose Frailty has been found to be associated with poor quality of life (QoL) in older people, but data available are limited to cross-sectional studies. We therefore aimed to assess the association between multidimensional frailty, determined by Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI), with mortality and good QoL expectancy (GQoLE) in a large representative sample of older adults, over 10 years of follow-up. Methods In the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, using the data from 2004-2005 and 2014-2015, MPI was calculated using a weighted score of domains of comprehensive geriatric assessment, i.e., number of difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL, depressive symptoms, number of medical conditions, body mass index, physical activity level, and social aspects. Mortality was assessed using administrative data, GQoLE indicators were used for longitudinal changes in QoL. Results 6244 Participants (mean age 71.8 years, 44.5% males) were followed up for 10 years. After adjusting for potential confounders, compared to people in the MPI low-risk group, people in the moderate (hazard ratio, HR = 4.27; 95% confidence interval, CI 3.55-5.14) and severe-risk group (HR = 10.3; 95% CI 7.88-13.5) experienced a significantly higher mortality rate. During the follow-up period, people in the moderate and severe-risk groups reported lower GQoLE values than their counterparts, independently from age and gender. Conclusions Multidimensional frailty was associated with a higher risk of mortality and significantly lower GQoLE, suggesting that the multifactorial nature of frailty is associated not only with mortality, but also poor QoL
Development and implementation of multicomponent homecare interventions for multimorbid and frail older people based on Information and Communication Technologies: The MULTIPLAT_AGE project
The prevention and treatment of frailty condition among multimorbid older adults, in community and hospital settings, is becoming a healthcare priority. Growing evidence suggests that a multidimensional approach could help not only in the early identification of older patients' needs but also in designing personalized preventive interventions. However, in clinical practice, the effectiveness of such interventions is limited by a lack of continuity of care and poor compliance of patients. The widespread diffusion of the information and communication technology (ICT) could offer an excellent way to implement and monitor multidimensional and personalized interventions for multimorbid older adults. In this scenario, the MULTIPLAT_AGE, is a network project involving five research centers with the main objective to supply multidimensional interventions targeted to cognitive, motor, pharmacological, and functional domains including ICT-based: i) transitional care model from the hospital to a protected home area; ii) automatic home-care system to improve activities of daily living; iii) program to improve appropriate drug prescription in nursing-home residents; iv) tele-rehabilitation program to reduce the risk of falls and v) cognitive stimulation delivered by remote in older adults with neurological disorders. Each project is linked to the others by employing a shared online platform, in a perspective of technological-supplied multicomponent interventions according to the concept of "aging in place" as the best solution for the treatment and healthcare of older people. Here we describe the general framework of the MULTIPLAT_AGE, and we examine every single project, pointing out innovative aspects, and discussing the expected results
The use of eHealth and digital technologies in the Italian geriatric practice: a survey of the Italian Geriatric Society (SIGOT)
e-Health technologies may potentially improve healthcare assistance for frail elderly subjects. However, despite the interest and potential benefits of the field, research highlighted that several challenges remain, such as scarce wide spreading of information and communication technology technologies among the elderly and infrastructural difficulties. The aim of this survey was to assess to what extent digital technologies are widespread and used among Italian geriatricians. We conducted an online survey addressed to geriatricians, from the SIGOT (The Italian Geriatric Society) website, collecting the 78 completed questionnaires. We then analyzed with descriptive statistics the data. Results showed a still scarce use of digital technologies in geriatric practice in Italy. However, more than 60% of the SIGOT geriatricians who participated in the survey responded that the use of digital technology had increased significantly due to COVID-19 pandemic and for 80% of the members, the priority areas for the use of technologies for the care and treatment of the elderly are the management of chronic diseases and the prevention of hospitalization
Resilience improvement through a multicomponent physical and cognitive intervention for older people: the DanzArTe emotional well-being technology project
Background Resilience is a crucial component of successful aging. However, which interventions might increase resilience in older adults is yet unclear. Aims This study aims to assess the feasibility and the physical and psychological effects of a technology-based multicomponent dance movement intervention that includes physical, cognitive, and sensory activation in older people living in community-dwelling and nursing home. Methods DanzArTe program consists of four sessions on a weekly basis, using a technological platform that integrates visual and auditory contents in real time. 122 participants (mean age = 76.3 +/- 8.8 years, 91 females = 74.6%) from seven nursing homes and community-dwelling subjects were assessed, before and after the intervention, with the Resilience Scale-14 items (RES-14), the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI), the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI-S), and the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8). Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used for statistical analyses. Results At baseline significant differences in MPI and RES-14 between community-dwelling and nursing home residents were observed (p < 0.001 for both analyses). After the intervention, resilience significantly increased in total sample (RES-14 mean T1 = 74.6 Vs. T2 = 75.7) and in the nursing home residents (RES-14 mean T1 = 68.1 Vs. T2 = 71.8). All participants showed high overall satisfaction for DanzArTe program (CSQ-8 mean = 23.9 +/- 4.4). No differences in MPI and PGWBI-S were observed. Discussion DanzArTe was a feasible intervention and high appreciated by all older adults. Nursing home residents revealed improvements in resilience after DanzArTe program. Conclusion The DanzArTe technology-based multi-component intervention may improve resilience in older people living in nursing homes