Boccia court analysis for promoting elderly physical activity

Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality. Older adults, in particular, are more probable to suffer the consequences of physical inactivity, since it is one of the most sedentary age groups. On the other hand, engaging physical activity can have various benefits for the prevention of several diseases and functional loss prevention, therefore, it is critical to encourage its regular practice amongst the elderly. Boccia is a simple precision ball sport that is easily adaptable for individuals with physical limitations, which makes it a perfectly good game for this circumstance. The present paper proposes a ball-detection based system for monitoring the Boccia court, compute the current game score and display it on a user interface. The future goal of such system will be to motivate the elders to participate more frequently in the Boccia game and make the overall game experience more enjoyable. The proposed system was tested with twenty video recordings of different simulated game situations. Overall, the obtained results were encouraging, having only one incorrect game score being computed by the developed algorithm.This article is a result of the project Deus ex Machina: NORTE01-0145-FEDER-000026, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

SOD2 polymorphisms: unmasking the effect of polymorphism on splicing

BACKGROUND: The SOD2 gene encodes an antioxidant enzyme, mitochondrial superoxide dismutase. SOD2 polymorphisms are of interest because of their potential roles in the modulation of free radical-mediated macromolecular damage during aging. RESULTS: We identified a new splice variant of SOD2 in human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). The alternatively spliced product was originally detected by exon trapping of a minigene in order to examine the consequences of an intronic polymorphism found upstream of exon 4 (nucleotide 8136, 10T vs 9T). Examination of the transcripts derived from the endogenous loci in five LCLs with or without the intron 3 polymorphism revealed low levels of an in-frame deletion of exon 4 that were different from those detected by the exon trap assay. This suggested that exon trapping of the minigene unmasked the effect of the 10T vs 9T polymorphism on the splicing of the adjacent exon. We also determined the frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms in a sample of US African-Americans and non-African-Americans ages 65 years and older who participated in the 1999 wave of the National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS). Particularly striking differences between African-Americans and non-African-Americans were found for the frequencies of genotypes at the 10T/9T intron 3 polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Exon trapping can unmask in vitro splicing differences caused by a 10T/9T intron 3 polymorphism. Given the recent evidence that SOD2 is in a region on chromosome 6 linked to susceptibility to hypertension, it will be of interest to investigate possible associations of this polymorphism with cardiovascular disorders

Predicting ADL disability in community-dwelling elderly people using physical frailty indicators: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disability in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) is an adverse outcome of frailty that places a burden on frail elderly people, care providers and the care system. Knowing which physical frailty indicators predict ADL disability is useful in identifying elderly people who might benefit from an intervention that prevents disability or increases functioning in daily life. The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature on the predictive value of physical frailty indicators on ADL disability in community-dwelling elderly people.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic search was performed in 3 databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE) from January 1975 until April 2010. Prospective, longitudinal studies that assessed the predictive value of individual physical frailty indicators on ADL disability in community-dwelling elderly people aged 65 years and older were eligible for inclusion. Articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers who also assessed the quality of the included studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After initial screening of 3081 titles, 360 abstracts were scrutinized, leaving 64 full text articles for final review. Eventually, 28 studies were included in the review. The methodological quality of these studies was rated by both reviewers on a scale from 0 to 27. All included studies were of high quality with a mean quality score of 22.5 (SD 1.6). Findings indicated that individual physical frailty indicators, such as weight loss, gait speed, grip strength, physical activity, balance, and lower extremity function are predictors of future ADL disability in community-dwelling elderly people.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This review shows that physical frailty indicators can predict ADL disability in community-dwelling elderly people. Slow gait speed and low physical activity/exercise seem to be the most powerful predictors followed by weight loss, lower extremity function, balance, muscle strength, and other indicators. These findings should be interpreted with caution because the data of the different studies could not be pooled due to large variations in operationalization of the indicators and ADL disability across the included studies. Nevertheless, our study suggests that monitoring physical frailty indicators in community-dwelling elderly people might be useful to identify elderly people who could benefit from disability prevention programs.</p

A gender perspective on factors that influence outdoor recreational physical activity among the elderly

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical activity (PA) is part of a healthy lifestyle and prevents many chronic health problems, in addition to promoting mental health. PA performed outdoors has been found particularly good for promoting one's well-being. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which outdoor recreational PA was carried out during 1 year, and the factors influencing such activities from a gender perspective among persons ≥ 60 years of age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study included 999 individuals 60-96 years of age living in the south eastern part of Sweden. Data collection was carried out during the years of 2001-2003. We measured the amount of regular light and/or intense outdoor recreational PA performed during the last year and determined the probability of performing PA as a function of 10 variables covering individual and socioeconomic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results suggest that being independent physically and healthy enough to manage one's personal hygiene and having access to areas for country walks were the most important factors associated with the probability of engaging in outdoor recreational PA for both men and women. Despite the level of performance being almost equal for the sexes as two-thirds of both had performed outdoor recreational PA during the preceding year more factors, i.e., living alone, being unable to cover an unexpected cost, fear of being violated, and fear of falling, were associated with the possibilities of engaging in outdoor recreational PA among women. Also increasing age seems to affect activities among women negatively to a higher extent than men.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Men and women seem to have different opportunities and needs with respect to performing PA. These considerations do not seem to be sufficiently taken into account today and improvements could be made concerning e.g., health-promoting activities suggested to the elderly by healthcare personnel and spatial planning within society. Promoting outdoor recreational PA that has restorative effects on well-being needs to focus on activities which are attractive and affordable for the majority of both men and women.</p

Single-cell genetic models to evaluate orphan gene function: The case of QQS regulating carbon and nitrogen allocation

We demonstrate two synthetic single-cell systems that can be used to better understand how the acquisition of an orphan gene can affect complex phenotypes. The Arabidopsis orphan gene, Qua-Quine Starch (QQS) has been identified as a regulator of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) partitioning across multiple plant species. QQS modulates this important biotechnological trait by replacing NF-YB (Nuclear Factor Y, subunit B) in its interaction with NF-YC. In this study, we expand on these prior findings by developing Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, to refactor the functional interactions between QQS and NF-Y subunits to affect modulations in C and N allocation. Expression of QQS in C. reinhardtii modulates C (i.e., starch) and N (i.e., protein) allocation by affecting interactions between NF-YC and NF-YB subunits. Studies in S. cerevisiae revealed similar functional interactions between QQS and the NF-YC homolog (HAP5), modulating C (i.e., glycogen) and N (i.e., protein) allocation. However, in S. cerevisiae both the NF-YA (HAP2) and NF-YB (HAP3) homologs appear to have redundant functions to enable QQS and HAP5 to affect C and N allocation. The genetically tractable systems that developed herein exhibit the plasticity to modulate highly complex phenotypes

Synaptic and transcriptionally downregulated genes are associated with cortical thickness differences in autism.

Differences in cortical morphology-in particular, cortical volume, thickness and surface area-have been reported in individuals with autism. However, it is unclear what aspects of genetic and transcriptomic variation are associated with these differences. Here we investigate the genetic correlates of global cortical thickness differences (ΔCT) in children with autism. We used Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) on structural MRI data from 548 children (166 with autism, 295 neurotypical children and 87 children with ADHD) and cortical gene expression data from the Allen Institute for Brain Science to identify genetic correlates of ΔCT in autism. We identify that these genes are enriched for synaptic transmission pathways and explain significant variation in ΔCT. These genes are also significantly enriched for genes dysregulated in the autism post-mortem cortex (Odd Ratio (OR) = 1.11, Pcorrected  10-14), driven entirely by downregulated genes (OR = 1.87, Pcorrected  10-15). We validated the enrichment for downregulated genes in two independent data sets: Validation 1 (OR = 1.44, Pcorrected = 0.004) and Validation 2 (OR = 1.30; Pcorrected = 0.001). We conclude that transcriptionally downregulated genes implicated in autism are robustly associated with global changes in cortical thickness variability in children with autism

Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans

Like most complex phenotypes, exceptional longevity is thought to reflect a combined influence of environmental (e.g., lifestyle choices, where we live) and genetic factors. To explore the genetic contribution, we undertook a genome-wide association study of exceptional longevity in 801 centenarians (median age at death 104 years) and 914 genetically matched healthy controls. Using these data, we built a genetic model that includes 281 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and discriminated between cases and controls of the discovery set with 89% sensitivity and specificity, and with 58% specificity and 60% sensitivity in an independent cohort of 341 controls and 253 genetically matched nonagenarians and centenarians (median age 100 years). Consistent with the hypothesis that the genetic contribution is largest with the oldest ages, the sensitivity of the model increased in the independent cohort with older and older ages (71% to classify subjects with an age at death>102 and 85% to classify subjects with an age at death>105). For further validation, we applied the model to an additional, unmatched 60 centenarians (median age 107 years) resulting in 78% sensitivity, and 2863 unmatched controls with 61% specificity. The 281 SNPs include the SNP rs2075650 in TOMM40/APOE that reached irrefutable genome wide significance (posterior probability of association = 1) and replicated in the independent cohort. Removal of this SNP from the model reduced the accuracy by only 1%. Further in-silico analysis suggests that 90% of centenarians can be grouped into clusters characterized by different “genetic signatures” of varying predictive values for exceptional longevity. The correlation between 3 signatures and 3 different life spans was replicated in the combined replication sets. The different signatures may help dissect this complex phenotype into sub-phenotypes of exceptional longevity