‘It Brings it all Back, all those Good Times; it Makes Me Go Close to Tears’. Creating Digital Personalised Stories with People who have Dementia

The purpose of these three case studies was to analyse and theoretically explain the contribution of digital multimedia personalisation to stimulate and share long-term memories of people who live with mild to moderate dementia. We investigated how the use of a freely available iPad app can, in a supporting context, facilitate the creation of personalised multimedia stories, including the participants’ audio recordings, texts and photos of items, places or people important to them. Three people who were recruited from a club for people living with dementia created personalised multimedia stories using their own photographs and/or pictures downloaded from the internet, with written captions and audio-recorded voiceovers. Our analysis focuses on the themes and symbols across the three final stories of the participants and the process of creating stories with the Our Story iPad app. The discussion concerns the theoretical value of multimedia and the practical value of story-making apps for people with dementia. We conclude that the multimedia features available with the Our Story app offer a unique opportunity for people living with dementia to store, access and generate memories, capture them in writing and audio; and the ability to continue adding to the original stories

Serendipitous isolation of a disappearing conformational polymorph of succinic acid challenges computational polymorph prediction

A conformational polymorph (γ) of succinic acid was discovered in an attempt to purify a leucine dipeptide by cocrystallization from a methanol solution in the presence of various impurities, such as trifluoroacetic acid. The new γ form was found to have crystallized concomitantly with the most stable β form. In light of this situation, a crystal structure prediction study was undertaken to examine the polymorph landscape. These studies reveal that the γ polymorph is thermodynamically competitive with the other observed polymorphs; having a more stable folded conformation than the planar crystalline conformation in the β form, but being stabilized less by the intermolecular interactions. Simulations and experiment show that the folded conformation is dominant in solution, but that trapping long-lived crystals of the new metastable polymorph may be challenging. Thus the γ polymorph provides a stringent test of theories for predicting which thermodynamically plausible structures may be practically important polymorphs

Assistive technologies at home for people with a memory disorder

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess in practice whether assistive technologies support and facilitate the work of a family caregiver or care staff, and whether these technologies support the independence of a person with a memory disorder. A comprehensive set of supportive devices and alarm systems were experimentally tested in the care of five test subjects in an assisted living facility by eight nurses, and in the care of four test subjects in a home environment by three family caregivers and one care team. Questionnaires, diaries and logged data were used to evaluate the benefits of the devices. Simple aids and alarm systems that did not need much adjusting were considered most useful by caregivers and nurses, though multiple false alarms occurred during the test period. Technical connection problems, complex user interface, and inadequate sound quality were the primary factors reducing the utility of the tested devices. Further experimental research is needed to evaluate the utility of assistive technologies in different stages of a memory disorder

Chronotypes and objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time at midlife

Abstract Morning, day, or evening chronotypes differ by the circadian timing of alertness and the preferred timing of sleep. It has been suggested that evening chronotype is associated with low physical activity (PA) and high sedentary time (SED). Our aim was to investigate whether such an association is confirmed by objectively measured PA and SED. In 46‐year follow‐up of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study, total PA (MET min/day) and SED (min/day) among 5156 participants were determined using wrist‐worn accelerometers for 14 days. We used the shortened Morningness‐Eveningness Questionnaire to define participants’ chronotypes. As covariates, we used self‐reported physical strenuousness of work, health, and demographics, and clinical measures. We used adjusted general linear models (B coefficients with 95% confidence intervals, CI) to analyze how chronotype was related to total PA or SED. As compared to evening chronotype, men with day and morning chronotypes had higher total PA volumes (adjusted B 75.2, 95% CI [8.1, 142.4], P = .028, and 98.6, [30.2, 167.1], P = .005). Men with day and morning chronotypes had less SED (−35.8, [−53.8, −17.8], P < .0001, and − 38.6, [−56.9, −20.2], P < .0001). Among women, morning chronotype was associated with higher total PA (57.8, [10.5, 105.0], P = .017), whereas no association between chronotype and SED emerged. Evening chronotype was associated with low objectively measured PA in both sexes and with high SED in men, even after adjustments for established potential confounders. Chronotype should be considered in PA promotion.Correction In the abstract, a typo (missing − -sign) was corrected in the sentence : Men with day and morning chronotypes had less SED (−35.8, [−53.8, −17.8], p < 0.0001, and −38.6, [−56.9, −20.2], p < 0.0001)

Comparison and agreement between device-estimated and self-reported sleep periods in adults

Abstract Objectives: Discriminating sleep period from accelerometer data remains a challenge despite many studies have adapted 24-h measurement protocols. We aimed to compare and examine the agreement among device-estimated and self-reported bedtime, wake-up time, and sleep periods in a sample of adults. Materials and methods: Participants (108 adults, 61 females) with an average age of 33.1 (SD 0.4) were asked to wear two wearable devices (Polar Active and Ōura ring) simultaneously and record their bedtime and wake up time using a sleep diary. Sleep periods from Polar Active were detected using an in-lab algorithm, which is openly available. Sleep periods from Ōura ring were generated by commercial Ōura system. Scatter plots, Bland–Altman plots, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to evaluate the agreement between the methods. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient values were above 0.81 for bedtimes and wake-up times between the three methods. In the estimation of sleep period, ICCs ranged from 0.67 (Polar Active vs. sleep diary) to 0.76 (Polar Active vs. Ōura ring). Average difference between Polar Active and Ōura ring was −1.8 min for bedtimes and −2.6 min for wake-up times. Corresponding values between Polar Active and sleep diary were −5.4 and −18.9 min, and between Ōura ring and sleep diary −3.6 min and −16.2 min, respectively. Conclusion: Results showed a high agreement between Polar Active activity monitor and Ōura ring for sleep period estimation. There was a moderate agreement between self-report and the two devices in estimating bedtime and wake-up time. These findings suggest that potentially wearable devices can be interchangeably used to detect sleep period, but their accuracy remains limited

Replacing sedentary time with physical activity and sleep:associations with cardiometabolic health markers in adults

Abstract This study aimed to examine the associations of sedentary time, and substituting sedentary time with physical activity and sleep, with cardiometabolic health markers while accounting for a full 24 h of movement and non-movement behaviors, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and other potential confounders. The participants were 4585 members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, who wore a hip-worn accelerometer at the age of 46 years for 14 consecutive days. Time spent in sedentary behaviors, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) were determined from the accelerometer and combined with self-reported sleep duration to obtain the 24-h time use. CRF was estimated from the peak heart rate in a submaximal step test. An isotemporal substitution paradigm was used to examine how sedentary time and substituting sedentary time with an equal amount of LPA, MVPA, or sleep were associated with adiposity markers, blood lipid levels, and fasting glucose and insulin. Sedentary time was independently and adversely associated with the markers of cardiometabolic health, even after adjustment for CRF, but not in partition models including LPA, MVPA, sleep, and CRF. Substituting 60, 45, 30, and 15 min/day of sedentary time with LPA or MVPA was associated with 0.2%–13.7% favorable differences in the cardiometabolic health markers after accounting for LPA, MVPA, sleep, CRF, and other confounders. After adjustment for movement and non-movement behaviors within the 24-h cycle, reallocating additional time to both LPA and MVPA was beneficially associated with markers of cardiometabolic health in middle-aged adults regardless of their CRF level

Cross-sectional associations of sedentary behavior and sitting with serum lipid biomarkers in midlife

Abstract Introduction : Physical inactivity, excessive total time spent in sedentary behavior (SB) and prolonged sedentary bouts have been proposed to be risk factors for chronic disease morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, which patterns and postures of SB have the most negative impacts on health outcomes is still unclear. This population-based study aimed to investigate the independent associations of the patterns of accelerometer-based overall SB and sitting with serum lipid biomarkers at different moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) levels. Methods: Physical activity and SB were measured in a birth cohort sample (N = 3272) at 46 yr using a triaxial hip-worn accelerometer in free-living conditions for 14 d. Raw acceleration data were classified into SB and PA using a machine learning–based model, and the bouts of overall SB and sitting were identified from the classified data. The participants also answered health-related questionnaires and participated in clinical examinations. Associations of overall SB (lying and sitting) and sitting patterns with serum lipid biomarkers were investigated using linear regression. Results: The overall SB patterns were more consistently associated with serum lipid biomarkers than the sitting patterns after adjustments. Among the participants with the least and the most MVPA, high total time spent in SB and SB bouts of 15–29.99 and ≥30 min were associated with impaired lipid metabolism. Among those with moderate amount of MVPA, higher time spent in SB and SB bouts of 15–29.99 min was unfavorably associated with serum lipid biomarkers. Conclusions: The associations between SB patterns and serum lipid biomarkers were dependent on MVPA level, which should be considered when planning evidence-based interventions to decrease SB in midlife