scholarly journals A Thorough Examination of Morning Activity Patterns in Adults with Arthritis and Healthy Controls Using Actigraphy Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 78-88
Author(s):  
Alison Keogh ◽  
Niladri Sett ◽  
Seamas Donnelly ◽  
Ronan Mullan ◽  
Diana Gheta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Health ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Wearable Sensors ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Relative Activity ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Clinical Biomarkers ◽  
Time Period ◽  
High Level

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Wearable sensors allow researchers to remotely capture digital health data, including physical activity, which may identify digital biomarkers to differentiate healthy and clinical cohorts. To date, research has focused on high-level data (e.g., overall step counts) which may limit our insights to <i>whether</i> people move differently, rather than <i>how</i> they move differently. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> This study therefore aimed to use actigraphy data to thoroughly examine activity patterns during the first hours following waking in arthritis patients (<i>n</i> = 45) and healthy controls (<i>n</i> = 30). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Participants wore an Actigraph GT9X Link for 28 days. Activity counts were analysed and compared over varying epochs, ranging from 15 min to 4 h, starting with waking in the morning. The sum, and a measure of rate of change of cumulative activity in the period immediately after waking (area under the curve [AUC]) for each time period, was calculated for each participant, each day, and individual and group means were calculated. Two-tailed independent <i>t</i> tests determined differences between the groups. <b><i>Results:</i></b> No differences were seen for summed activity counts across any time period studied. However, differences were noted in the AUC analysis for the discrete measures of relative activity. Specifically, within the first 15, 30, 45, and 60 min following waking, the AUC for activity counts was significantly higher in arthritis patients compared to controls, particularly at the 30 min period (<i>t</i> = –4.24, <i>p</i> = 0.0002). Thus, while both cohorts moved the same amount, the way in which they moved was different. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> This study is the first to show that a detailed analysis of actigraphy variables could identify activity pattern changes associated with arthritis, where the high-level daily summaries did not. Results suggest discrete variables derived from raw data may be useful to help identify clinical cohorts and should be explored further to determine if they may be effective clinical biomarkers.

Altered Tryptophan and Neopterin Metabolism In Cancer Patients

Pteridines ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Hiromi Iwagaki ◽  
Akio Hizuta ◽  
Yasuki Nitta ◽  
Noriaki Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Nicotinic Acid ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Immune Activation ◽  
Cancer Cachexia ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Ifn Γ ◽  
Acid Pathway ◽  
High Level

Summary Plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), tryptophan and neopterin levels were measured in patients with depressive cancer cachexia and in healthy controls during the same time period. Patients with advanced cancers had significantly raised neopterin, a marker of endogenous gamma-interferon (IFN-γ) production, but decreased serotonin and tryptophan levels. IFN-γ induces a high level of indoleamine dioxvgenase (IDO), a tryptophan degrading enzyme, which in turn increases metabolism along the tryptophan- nicotinic acid pathway, resulting in decreased synthesis of serotonin. These results suggest that persistent immune activation occur in patients with cancer cachexia, resulting in disorders involving tryptophan metabolism.

Circadian flight activity of Simulium spp. (Diptera: Simuliidae) sampled with a vehicle-mounted net in central Nigeria

1985 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Roberts ◽  
R. J. Irving-Bell
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Relative Activity ◽  
Flight Activity ◽  
Main Peak ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Level Of Activity ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Gravid Females ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level 2

AbstractA vehicle-mounted net was used to study the circadian flight activity of several species of Simulium in a northern Guinea savanna area in Nigeria during the dry season. The sampling method yielded large numbers of both sexes of Simulium squamosum (Endertein) of the, S. damnosum Theobald complex, S. hargreavesi Gibbins, S. vorax Pomeroy, S. adersi Pomeroy, S. hirsutum Pomeroy and other species. The main peak of activity of all species recorded occurred just after sunset and there was a smaller peak just before sunrise. Flies continued to be caught at a low level 2·5 h after sunset when sampling ceased. Differences in the activity patterns of S. squamosum males and females and of the other species were analysed. Of the S. squamosum females caught, 12% were blood-fed; these and gravid females were mainly active in the evening, while the blood-thirsty flies had a high level of activity throughout the day. Differences between species in the relative activity of blood-thirsty and gravid flies, and nulliparous and parous flies are noted.

scholarly journals Assessment of Physical Activity Patterns in Adolescent Patients with Anorexia Nervosa and Their Effect on Weight Gain

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Kemmer ◽  
Christoph U. Correll ◽  
Tobias Hofmann ◽  
Andreas Stengel ◽  
Julia Grosser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Inpatient Treatment ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Metabolic Equivalent ◽  
High Level ◽  
Over Time

(1) Background: Altered physical activity (PA) affects weight recovery in anorexia nervosa (AN) patients. The study aimed to objectively characterize PA patterns and their effect on weight trajectory in adolescent AN patients. (2) Methods: PA was assessed in 47 patients on admission to inpatient treatment, in n = 25 of these patients again 4 weeks after discharge (follow-up, FU), as well as in 20 adolescent healthy controls using the Sense Wear™ armband. The following PA categories were defined by metabolic equivalent (MET) ranges: sedentary behavior (SB), light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), and high-level PA (HLPA= MPA + VPA). (3) Results: LPA on admission was significantly higher in AN patients than in controls (103 vs. 55 min/d, p < 0.001), and LPA in AN decreased over time to 90 min/d (p = 0.006). Patients with higher admission LPA (n = 12) still had elevated LPA at FU (p = 0.003). High admission LPA was associated with a higher inpatient BMI percentage gain (ΔBMI%; 18.2% ± 10.0% vs. 12.0% ± 9.7%, p = 0.037) but with a loss of ΔBMI% at FU (−2.3% ± 3.6% vs. 0.8% ± 3.6%, p = 0.045). HLPA at baseline was associated with a lower inpatient ΔBMI% (p = 0.045). (4) Conclusion: Elevated LPA in AN patients decreased after inpatient treatment, and PA patterns had an impact on weight trajectory.

Neural Correlates of High-Level Adaptation-Related Aftereffects

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 1410-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csaba Cziraki ◽  
Mark W. Greenlee ◽  
Gyula Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Relative Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Perceptual Bias ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Extrastriate Body Area ◽  
High Level

Prolonged exposure to complex stimuli, such as faces, biases perceptual decisions toward nonadapted, dissimilar stimuli, leading to contrastive aftereffects. Here we tested the neural correlates of this perceptual bias using a functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation (fMRIa) paradigm. Adaptation to a face or hand stimulus led to aftereffects by biasing the categorization of subsequent ambiguous face/hand composite stimuli away from the adaptor category. The simultaneously observed fMRIa in the face-sensitive fusiform face area (FFA) and in the body-part–sensitive extrastriate body area (EBA) depended on the behavioral response of the subjects: adaptation to the preferred stimulus of the given area led to larger signal reduction during trials when it biased perception than during trials when it was less effective. Activity in two frontal areas correlated positively with the activity patterns in FFA and EBA. Based on our novel adaptation paradigm, the results suggest that the adaptation-induced aftereffects are mediated by the relative activity of category-sensitive areas of the human brain as demonstrated by fMRI.

scholarly journals Optimal Utility of H-Reflex RDD as a Biomarker of Spinal Disinhibition in Painful and Painless Diabetic Neuropathy

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1247
Author(s):  
Anne Worthington ◽  
Alise Kalteniece ◽  
Maryam Ferdousi ◽  
Luca Donofrio ◽  
Shaishav Dhage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetic Neuropathy ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Painful Diabetic Neuropathy ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Rate Dependent ◽  
Potential Biomarker ◽  
Spinal Inhibition

Impaired rate-dependent depression of the Hoffman reflex (HRDD) is a potential biomarker of impaired spinal inhibition in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy. However, the optimum stimulus-response parameters that identify patients with spinal disinhibition are currently unknown. We systematically compared HRDD, performed using trains of 10 stimuli at five stimulation frequencies (0.3, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 Hz), in 42 subjects with painful and 62 subjects with painless diabetic neuropathy with comparable neuropathy severity, and 34 healthy controls. HRDD was calculated using individual and mean responses compared to the initial response. At stimulation frequencies of 1, 2 and 3 Hz, HRDD was significantly impaired in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy compared to patients with painless diabetic neuropathy for all parameters and for most parameters when compared to healthy controls. HRDD was significantly enhanced in patients with painless diabetic neuropathy compared to controls for responses towards the end of the 1 Hz stimulation train. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in patients with and without pain showed that the area under the curve was greatest for response averages of stimuli 2–4 and 2–5 at 1 Hz, AUC = 0.84 (95%CI 0.76–0.92). Trains of 5 stimuli delivered at 1 Hz can segregate patients with painful diabetic neuropathy and spinal disinhibition, whereas longer stimulus trains are required to segregate patients with painless diabetic neuropathy and enhanced spinal inhibition.

scholarly journals A MYC-Driven Plasma Polyamine Signature for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 913
Author(s):  
Johannes Fahrmann ◽  
Ehsan Irajizad ◽  
Makoto Kobayashi ◽  
Jody Vykoukal ◽  
Jennifer Dennison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Polyamine Metabolism ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Test Set ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Oncogenic Driver ◽  
Characteristic Area ◽  
Validation Set

MYC is an oncogenic driver in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. We previously demonstrated that MYC regulates polyamine metabolism in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and that a plasma polyamine signature is associated with TNBC development and progression. We hypothesized that a similar plasma polyamine signature may associate with ovarian cancer (OvCa) development. Using mass spectrometry, four polyamines were quantified in plasma from 116 OvCa cases and 143 controls (71 healthy controls + 72 subjects with benign pelvic masses) (Test Set). Findings were validated in an independent plasma set from 61 early-stage OvCa cases and 71 healthy controls (Validation Set). Complementarity of polyamines with CA125 was also evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (AUC) of individual polyamines for distinguishing cases from healthy controls ranged from 0.74–0.88. A polyamine signature consisting of diacetylspermine + N-(3-acetamidopropyl)pyrrolidin-2-one in combination with CA125 developed in the Test Set yielded improvement in sensitivity at >99% specificity relative to CA125 alone (73.7% vs 62.2%; McNemar exact test 2-sided P: 0.019) in the validation set and captured 30.4% of cases that were missed with CA125 alone. Our findings reveal a MYC-driven plasma polyamine signature associated with OvCa that complemented CA125 in detecting early-stage ovarian cancer.

scholarly journals Independent and sensitive gait parameters for objective evaluation in knee and hip osteoarthritis using wearable sensors

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon J. Boekesteijn ◽  
José M. H. Smolders ◽  
Vincent J. J. F. Busch ◽  
Alexander C. H. Geurts ◽  
Katrijn Smulders
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Wearable Sensors ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Gait Parameters ◽  
Dual Task Cost ◽  
Dual Task Performance ◽  
Spatiotemporal Parameters

Abstract Background Although it is well-established that osteoarthritis (OA) impairs daily-life gait, objective gait assessments are not part of routine clinical evaluation. Wearable inertial sensors provide an easily accessible and fast way to routinely evaluate gait quality in clinical settings. However, during these assessments, more complex and meaningful aspects of daily-life gait, including turning, dual-task performance, and upper body motion, are often overlooked. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate turning, dual-task performance, and upper body motion in individuals with knee or hip OA in addition to more commonly assessed spatiotemporal gait parameters using wearable sensors. Methods Gait was compared between individuals with unilateral knee (n = 25) or hip OA (n = 26) scheduled for joint replacement, and healthy controls (n = 27). For 2 min, participants walked back and forth along a 6-m trajectory making 180° turns, with and without a secondary cognitive task. Gait parameters were collected using 4 inertial measurement units on the feet and trunk. To test if dual-task gait, turning, and upper body motion had added value above spatiotemporal parameters, a factor analysis was conducted. Effect sizes were computed as standardized mean difference between OA groups and healthy controls to identify parameters from these gait domains that were sensitive to knee or hip OA. Results Four independent domains of gait were obtained: speed-spatial, speed-temporal, dual-task cost, and upper body motion. Turning parameters constituted a gait domain together with cadence. From the domains that were obtained, stride length (speed-spatial) and cadence (speed-temporal) had the strongest effect sizes for both knee and hip OA. Upper body motion (lumbar sagittal range of motion), showed a strong effect size when comparing hip OA with healthy controls. Parameters reflecting dual-task cost were not sensitive to knee or hip OA. Conclusions Besides more commonly reported spatiotemporal parameters, only upper body motion provided non-redundant and sensitive parameters representing gait adaptations in individuals with hip OA. Turning parameters were sensitive to knee and hip OA, but were not independent from speed-related gait parameters. Dual-task parameters had limited additional value for evaluating gait in knee and hip OA, although dual-task cost constituted a separate gait domain. Future steps should include testing responsiveness of these gait domains to interventions aiming to improve mobility.

scholarly journals Statistical Estimation of Accelerated Biological Brain Aging After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 890-890
Author(s):  
Andrei Irimia ◽  
Jun Kim ◽  
Shania Wang ◽  
Hyung Jun Lee ◽  
Van Ngo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Neurological Conditions ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Brain Age

Abstract Estimating biological brain age (BA) has the potential of identifying individuals at relatively high risk for accelerated neurodegeneration. This study compares the brain’s chronological age (CA) to its BA and reveals the BA rate of change after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in an aging cohort. Using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumes and cortical thickness, volume, surface area, and Gaussian curvature obtained using FreeSurfer software; we formulated a multivariate linear regression to determine the rate of BA increase associated with mTBI. 95 TBI patients (age in years (y): μ = 41 y, σ = 17 y; range = 18 to 83) were compared to 462 healthy controls (HCs) (age: μ = 69 y, σ = 18 y; range = 25 to 95) over a 6-month time period following mTBI. Across the initial ~6 months following injury, patients’ BAs increased by ~3.0 ± 1.2 years due to their mTBIs alone, i.e., above and beyond typical brain aging. The superior temporal and parahippocampal gyri, two structures involved in memory formation and retrieval, exhibited the fastest rates of TBI-related BA. In both hemispheres, the volume of the hippocampus decreased (left: μ=0.28%, σ=4.40%; right: μ=0.12%, σ=4.84%). These findings illustrate BA estimation techniques’ potential to identify TBI patients with accelerated neurodegeneration, whose rate is strongly associated with the risk for dementia and other aging-related neurological conditions.

scholarly journals A Roadmap to Inform Development, Validation and Approval of Digital Mobility Outcomes: The Mobilise-D Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Rochester ◽  
Claudia Mazzà ◽  
Arne Mueller ◽  
Brian Caulfield ◽  
Marie McCarthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Disease Status ◽  
Proximal Femoral Fracture ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Physical Mobility ◽  
High Level

Health care has had to adapt rapidly to COVID-19, and this in turn has highlighted a pressing need for tools to facilitate remote visits and monitoring. Digital health technology, including body-worn devices, offers a solution using digital outcomes to measure and monitor disease status and provide outcomes meaningful to both patients and health care professionals. Remote monitoring of physical mobility is a prime example, because mobility is among the most advanced modalities that can be assessed digitally and remotely. Loss of mobility is also an important feature of many health conditions, providing a read-out of health as well as a target for intervention. Real-world, continuous digital measures of mobility (digital mobility outcomes or DMOs) provide an opportunity for novel insights into health care conditions complementing existing mobility measures. Accepted and approved DMOs are not yet widely available. The need for large collaborative efforts to tackle the critical steps to adoption is widely recognised. Mobilise-D is an example. It is a multidisciplinary consortium of 34 institutions from academia and industry funded through the European Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking. Members of Mobilise-D are collaborating to address the critical steps for DMOs to be adopted in clinical trials and ultimately health care. To achieve this, the consortium has developed a roadmap to inform the development, validation and approval of DMOs in Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and recovery from proximal femoral fracture. Here we aim to describe the proposed approach and provide a high-level view of the ongoing and planned work of the Mobilise-D consortium. Ultimately, Mobilise-D aims to stimulate widespread adoption of DMOs through the provision of device agnostic software, standards and robust validation in order to bring digital outcomes from concept to use in clinical trials and health care.

scholarly journals Adrenomedullin Is a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker for Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 324-334
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Julián-Villaverde ◽  
Laura Ochoa-Callejero ◽  
Eva Siles ◽  
Esther Martínez-Lara ◽  
Alfredo Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Hemorrhagic Stroke ◽  
Prognostic Biomarker ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Nitroso Compounds ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage ◽  
Changes Over Time

Hemorrhagic stroke remains an important health challenge. Adrenomedullin (AM) is a vasoactive peptide with an important role in cardiovascular diseases, including stroke. Serum AM and nitrate–nitrite and S-nitroso compounds (NOx) levels were measured and compared between healthy volunteers (n = 50) and acute hemorrhagic stroke patients (n = 64). Blood samples were taken at admission (d0), 24 h later (d1), and after 7 days or at the time of hospital discharge (d7). Neurological severity (NIHSS) and functional prognosis (mRankin) were measured as clinical outcomes. AM levels were higher in stroke patients at all times when compared with healthy controls (p < 0.0001). A receiving operating characteristic curve analysis identified that AM levels at admission > 69.0 pg/mL had a great value as a diagnostic biomarker (area under the curve = 0.89, sensitivity = 80.0%, specificity = 100%). Furthermore, patients with a favorable outcome (NIHSS ≤ 3; mRankin ≤ 2) experienced an increase in AM levels from d0 to d1, and a decrease from d1 to d7, whereas patients with unfavorable outcome had no significant changes over time. NOx levels were lower in patients at d0 (p = 0.04) and d1 (p < 0.001) than in healthy controls. In conclusion, AM levels may constitute a new diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for this disease, and identify AM as a positive mediator for hemorrhagic stroke resolution.

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