FindMyApps eHealth intervention improves quality, not quantity, of home tablet use by people with dementia

Introduction

FindMyApps is a tablet-based eHealth intervention, designed to improve social health in people with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

Methods

FindMyApps has been subject to a randomized controlled trial (RCT), Netherlands Trial Register NL8157. Following UK Medical Research Council guidance, a mixed methods process evaluation was conducted. The goal was to investigate the quantity and quality of tablet use during the RCT, and which context, implementation, and mechanisms of impact (usability, learnability and adoption) factors might have influenced this. For the RCT, 150 community dwelling people with dementia and their caregivers were recruited in the Netherlands. For the process evaluation, tablet-use data were collected by proxy-report instrument from all participants' caregivers, FindMyApps app-use data were registered using analytics software among all experimental arm participants, and semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were conducted with a purposively selected sample of participant-caregiver dyads. Quantitative data were summarized and between group differences were analyzed, and qualitative data underwent thematic analysis.

Results

There was a trend for experimental arm participants to download more apps, but there were no statistically significant differences between experimental and control arm participants regarding quantity of tablet use. Qualitative data revealed that experimental arm participants experienced the intervention as easier to use and learn, and more useful and fun than control arm participants. Adoption of tablet app use was lower than anticipated in both arms.

Conclusions

A number of context, implementation and mechanism of impact factors were identified, which might explain these results and may inform interpretation of the pending RCT main effect results. FindMyApps seems to have had more impact on the quality than quantity of home tablet use.

A Sound Prediction: EEG-Based Neural Synchrony Predicts Online Music Streams

Neuroforecasting predicts population-wide choices based on neural data of individuals and can be used, for example, in neuromarketing to estimate campaign successes. To deliver true value, the brain activity metrics should deliver predictive value above and beyond traditional stated preferences. Evidence from movie trailer research has proposed neural synchrony, which compares the similarity of brain responses across participants and has shown to be a promising tool in neuroforecasting for movie popularity. The music industry might also benefit from these increasingly accurate success predictors, but only one study has been forecasting music popularity, using functional magnetic resonance imaging measures. Current research validates the strength of neural synchrony as a predictive measure for popularity of music, making use of electroencephalogram to capture moment-to-moment neural similarity between respondents while they listen to music. Neural synchrony is demonstrated to be a significant predictor for public appreciation on Spotify 3 weeks and 10 months after the release of the albums, especially when combined with the release of a single. On an individual level, other brain measures were shown to relate to individual subjective likeability ratings, including Frontal Alpha Asymmetry and engagement when combined with the factors artist and single release. Our results show the predictive value of brain activity measures outperforms stated preferences. Especially, neural synchrony carries high predictive value for the popularity on Spotify, providing the music industry with an essential asset for efficient decision making and investments, in addition to other practical implications that include neuromarketing and advertising industries.

Soft-Dielectron Excess in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

A measurement of dielectron production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is presented in this Letter. The data set was recorded with a reduced magnetic solenoid field. This enables the investigation of a kinematic domain at low dielectron (ee) invariant mass m_{ee} and pair transverse momentum p_{T,ee} that was previously inaccessible at the LHC. The cross section for dielectron production is studied as a function of m_{ee}, p_{T,ee}, and event multiplicity dN_{ch}/dη. The expected dielectron rate from hadron decays, called hadronic cocktail, utilizes a parametrization of the measured η/π^{0} ratio in pp and proton-nucleus collisions, assuming that this ratio shows no strong dependence on collision energy at low transverse momentum. Comparison of the measured dielectron yield to the hadronic cocktail at 0.15<m_{ee}<0.6  GeV/c^{2} and for p_{T,ee}<0.4  GeV/c indicates an enhancement of soft dielectrons, reminiscent of the "anomalous" soft-photon and soft-dilepton excess in hadron-hadron collisions reported by several experiments under different experimental conditions. The enhancement factor over the hadronic cocktail amounts to 1.61±0.13(stat)±0.17(syst,data)±0.34(syst,cocktail) in the ALICE acceptance. Acceptance-corrected excess spectra in m_{ee} and p_{T,ee} are extracted and compared with calculations of dielectron production from hadronic bremsstrahlung and thermal radiation within a hadronic many-body approach.

Elliptic Flow of Electrons from Beauty-Hadron Decays in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

The elliptic flow of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity (|y|<0.8) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The azimuthal distribution of the particles produced in the collisions can be parametrized with a Fourier expansion, in which the second harmonic coefficient represents the elliptic flow, v_{2}. The v_{2} coefficient of electrons from beauty hadron decays is measured for the first time in the transverse momentum (p_{T}) range 1.3-6  GeV/c in the centrality class 30%-50%. The measurement of electrons from beauty-hadron decays exploits their larger mean proper decay length cτ≈500  μm compared to that of charm hadrons and most of the other background sources. The v_{2} of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity is found to be positive with a significance of 3.75  σ. The results provide insights into the degree of thermalization of beauty quarks in the medium. A model assuming full thermalization of beauty quarks is strongly disfavored by the measurement at high p_{T}, but is in agreement with the results at low p_{T}. Transport models including substantial interactions of beauty quarks with an expanding strongly interacting medium describe the measurement within uncertainties.

Measurement of the Low-Energy Antideuteron Inelastic Cross Section

In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions at low particle momenta, covering a range of 0.3≤p<4  GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC and utilizing the detector material as an absorber for antideuterons and antiprotons. The extracted raw primary antiparticle-to-particle ratios are compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the geant4 toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through the detector material. The analysis of the raw primary (anti)proton spectra serves as a benchmark for this study, since their hadronic interaction cross sections are well constrained experimentally. The first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions averaged over the ALICE detector material with atomic mass numbers ⟨A⟩=17.4 and 31.8 is obtained. The measured inelastic cross section points to a possible excess with respect to the Glauber model parametrization used in geant4 in the lowest momentum interval of 0.3≤p<0.47  GeV/c up to a factor 2.1. This result is relevant for the understanding of antimatter propagation and the contributions to antinuclei production from cosmic ray interactions within the interstellar medium. In addition, the momentum range covered by this measurement is of particular importance to evaluate signal predictions for indirect dark-matter searches.

Probing the Effects of Strong Electromagnetic Fields with Charge-Dependent Directed Flow in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

The first measurement at the LHC of charge-dependent directed flow (v_{1}) relative to the spectator plane is presented for Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. Results are reported for charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons for the transverse momentum intervals p_{T}>0.2  GeV/c and 3<p_{T}<6  GeV/c in the 5%-40% and 10%-40% centrality classes, respectively. The difference between the positively and negatively charged hadron v_{1} has a positive slope as a function of pseudorapidity η, dΔv_{1}/dη=[1.68±0.49(stat)±0.41(syst)]×10^{-4}. The same measurement for D^{0} and D[over ¯]^{0} mesons yields a positive value dΔv_{1}/dη=[4.9±1.7(stat)±0.6(syst)]×10^{-1}, which is about 3 orders of magnitude larger than the one of the charged hadrons. These measurements can provide new insights into the effects of the strong electromagnetic field and the initial tilt of matter created in noncentral heavy ion collisions on the dynamics of light (u, d, and s) and heavy (c) quarks. The large difference between the observed Δv_{1} of charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons may reflect different sensitivity of the charm and light quarks to the early time dynamics of a heavy ion collision. These observations challenge some recent theoretical calculations, which predicted a negative and an order of magnitude smaller value of dΔv_{1}/dη for both light flavor and charmed hadrons.

Evidence of Spin-Orbital Angular Momentum Interactions in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

The first evidence of spin alignment of vector mesons (K^{*0} and ϕ) in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. The spin density matrix element ρ_{00} is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy (sqrt[s_{NN}]) of 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector. ρ_{00} values are found to be less than 1/3 (1/3 implies no spin alignment) at low transverse momentum (p_{T}<2  GeV/c) for K^{*0} and ϕ at a level of 3σ and 2σ, respectively. No significant spin alignment is observed for the K_{S}^{0} meson (spin=0) in Pb-Pb collisions and for the vector mesons in pp collisions. The measured spin alignment is unexpectedly large but qualitatively consistent with the expectation from models which attribute it to a polarization of quarks in the presence of angular momentum in heavy-ion collisions and a subsequent hadronization by the process of recombination.

Measurement of ϒ(1S) Elliptic Flow at Forward Rapidity in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV

The first measurement of the ϒ(1S) elliptic flow coefficient (v_{2}) is performed at forward rapidity (2.5<y<4) in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are obtained with the scalar product method and are reported as a function of transverse momentum (p_{T}) up to 15  GeV/c in the 5%-60% centrality interval. The measured ϒ(1S)v_{2} is consistent with 0 and with the small positive values predicted by transport models within uncertainties. The v_{2} coefficient in 2<p_{T}<15  GeV/c is lower than that of inclusive J/ψ mesons in the same p_{T} interval by 2.6 standard deviations. These results, combined with earlier suppression measurements, are in agreement with a scenario in which the ϒ(1S) production in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies is dominated by dissociation limited to the early stage of the collision, whereas in the J/ψ case there is substantial experimental evidence of an additional regeneration component.

Different neurologic outcomes in two patients with neonatal hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia

The authors report the cases of two patients with neonatal onset of hypoketotic hypoglycemia with hyperinsulinism and a poor response to diazoxide. Pancreatic venous sampling showed a diffuse pancreatic hyperplasia in one patient and a focal lesion in the other. The second patient, diagnosed after a significant delay, suffered severe long-term neurological sequelae, despite having more limited hyperplasia; the brain MRI also showed severe pathological changes in cortex and white matter, predominantly in the parieto-occipital region. Early and accurate diagnosis is critical in these patients in whom hypoglycemia is compounded by a lack of the ketone bodies which represent a vital alternative source of energy for the central nervous system.

A problem associated with the use of a calomel reference electrode in an ISE analytical system

It was discovered during the testing of a new diluted ISE analytical system that a dark deposit formed in the vicinity of the reference electrode junction and on the junction membrane over a 1-3 month period of use. The effect of the black deposit was to shorten the life of the restricted flow reference membrane and increase the time required to maintain the system in its optimum state. Elemental analysis of the deposit revealed the presence of both mercury and sulfur. The rate of deposit build-up was found to depend on the concentrations of both the buffer and the microbicide in the system's reagents. The cause was traced in part to the generation of sulfide ions as a breakdown product of the microbicide. The disproportionation of calomel, Hg2Cl2, in saturated KCl to give Hg2+chloro-complexes and their reaction with sulfide ions at the reference junction resulted in HgS being deposited. Design changes over previous systems contributed to the effect by increasing residence time of calibrant solution at the reference junction and decreasing the frequency of reference electrolyte and membrane changes. Adding complexing agents to the reference fill solution lessened but did not eliminate the problem. The problem was solved without reformulating the reagents by using a reducing agent proximate to the calomel mercury amalgam to reduce mercuric ions to metallic mercury. This also prevents discharge of environmentally undesirable mercuric ions into the waste solution.

DHPR activity decrease in dried blood spots stored at 4 degrees C

Dihydropteridine reductase (DHPR) activity has been measured in dried blood spots by the Arai method in 286 subjects divided into 4 groups: 45 newborns aged between 4 and 7 days; 40 subjects with hyperphenylalainaemia; 199 apparently normal subjects, and 2 patients with DHPR deficiency. Furthermore, a study of the persistence of enzymatic activity on the spots stored at 4 degrees C revealed that after 1 year it decreased to one third of the original value, corresponding to the mean value of controls minus 2 SD.