5 research outputs found
Suvien: Impact, Usability and Effectiveness
Suvien is a new tablet-based app that can display personalized multi-media content to facilitate conversation with an individual who has dementia. The Sheridan Centre for Elder Research, in partnership with the Ontario Brain Institute and the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, conducted a small 6-week pilot study to evaluate the impact, usability and effectiveness of the app on the caregiving process. Participants agreed to use the app over the course of their regular caregiving duties for at least a 2-3 times per week. A total of seven family caregivers (5 female, 2 male) and a program worker who used the app with three older adults attending a day program participated in the pilot. Participants completed pre and post measures about their caregiver experience, their use of technology, frequency and quality of interactions and emotional affect. They were provided with a journal to record their observations. At the end of the 6 weeks participants attended a debriefing interview about their experience with the app. Results showed that the app provided an easy-to-use, accessible and enjoyable conversational tool with potential as a mood changer, a distractor, and a prompt for storytelling. Interface issues identified in the trial were conveyed to the Suvien team for consideration before a public launch
Adept : a unified assessment method for small software companies
Adept combines two process assessment methods, one plan-based and one agile-based, without dictating which one to use. This makes the lightweight approach attractive for small software
companies
Metabolic Basis of Visual Cycle Inhibition by Retinoid and Nonretinoid Compounds in the Vertebrate Retina*
In vertebrate retinal photoreceptors, the absorption of light by rhodopsin
leads to photoisomerization of 11-cis-retinal to its
all-trans isomer. To sustain vision, a metabolic system evolved that
recycles all-trans-retinal back to 11-cis-retinal. The
importance of this visual (retinoid) cycle is underscored by the fact that
mutations in genes encoding visual cycle components induce a wide spectrum of
diseases characterized by abnormal levels of specific retinoid cycle
intermediates. In addition, intense illumination can produce retinoid cycle
by-products that are toxic to the retina. Thus, inhibition of the retinoid
cycle has therapeutic potential in physiological and pathological states. Four
classes of inhibitors that include retinoid and nonretinoid compounds have
been identified. We investigated the modes of action of these inhibitors by
using purified visual cycle components and in vivo systems. We report
that retinylamine was the most potent and specific inhibitor of the retinoid
cycle among the tested compounds and that it targets the retinoid isomerase,
RPE65. Hydrophobic primary amines like farnesylamine also showed inhibitory
potency but a short duration of action, probably due to rapid metabolism.
These compounds also are reactive nucleophiles with potentially high cellular
toxicity. We also evaluated the role of a specific protein-mediated mechanism
on retinoid cycle inhibitor uptake by the eye. Our results show that
retinylamine is transported to and taken up by the eye by retinol-binding
protein-independent and retinoic acid-responsive gene product 6-independent
mechanisms. Finally, we provide evidence for a crucial role of lecithin:
retinol acyltransferase activity in mediating tissue specific absorption and
long lasting therapeutic effects of retinoid-based visual cycle
inhibitors