From Collaborative Habituation to Everyday Togetherness: A Long-Term Study of Use of the Messaging Kettle

We present a long-term study of use of the Messaging Kettle, an Internet of Things (IOT) research prototype that augments an everyday kettle with both sensing and messaging capability and a beautiful light display in order to investigate connecting geographically distant loved ones to their family through the routine of boiling the kettle. Connection at a distance has been of sustained interest to the CHI community, and the social connection of older people is of increasing importance in recognition of ageing populations globally. However, very few novel designs in this domain have been investigated in situ or over the long term to examine whether their use sustains, and if so, how they impact communication in a relationship. The Messaging Kettle was trialled with four pairs of dispersed older mothers and adult daughters over timeframes that lasted between two months to more than two years. We observed the phenomenon of collaborative habituation wherein each party creatively made the technology work for them both through a combination of the gradual transformation of their everyday practices, arrangements, and living. Through developing these joint practices over time, participants expressed feelings of everyday togetherness that nurture their relationship at a distance. Three of the four couples continued to use the prototype for years, beyond the initial trial. We reflect on the artful integration of features of the Messaging Kettle and the way in which these features supported collaborative habituation . We also reflect on lessons and implications for the design of such relational technologies.

A Scoping Review of the Maternal Role at Older Age; Perceptions and Occupations

Motherhood is a meaningful life role among adult women. Occupations within the maternal role of younger mothers have been well documented, but less is known regarding the maternal-role at older age. This review aimed to describe the occupations, activities, and perceptions that older women ascribe to their maternal role. In the future, this information may promote health and wellbeing of older women. A systematic search of peer reviewed articles, that included healthy, community-dwelling mothers, 60 years of age or older, was conducted. Maternal-role occupations and perceptions of older mothers were identified and classified according to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF). Fourteen articles, representing 3102 older mothers, were included. The identified occupations and activities within the maternal role were from two categories: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) (such as assistance with daily chores) and social participation (such as sharing holiday rituals). Three themes reflecting maternal-role perceptions were identified: providing support; relationship with children; and motherhood as a never-ending role. Maternal occupations were identified in only a few articles and from only two categories, IADL and social participation. These findings together with the perception that motherhood is a ‘never-ending’ role suggests that further research is needed to better characterize the maternal role of older women from an occupational perspective.

ADULT CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND OLDER MOTHERS’ HEALTH: ARE OFFSPRING’S PROBLEMS MEDIATORS OR MODERATORS?

Despite the growing body of literature documenting positive effects of adult children’s education on older mothers’ health outcomes there is limited research exploring the mechanisms that underlie and influence this relationship. This lack of knowledge limits our understanding of how or under what conditions older mothers benefit from their offspring’s resources. In this paper, we draw from theories of the life course, cumulative inequality, and the social foreground to explore how adult children’s problems (physical and emotional, personal and financial, and deviant behaviors) mediate and moderate the effect of adult children’s education on older mothers’ self-rated health and depressive symptoms. To address this question we use data collected from 420 mothers aged 75-85 reporting on their 1,514 adult children, as part of the Within Family Differences Study. Theoretically, this project adds to existing scholarship on intergenerational support in later-life families by identifying the conditions under which adult children’s resources improve parents’ well-being. Preliminary findings reveal that less educated adult children experience more problems, which in turn, negatively impact mothers’ health. Additionally, when adult children experience problems in their own lives, mothers receive less care and financial support from their offspring, even from those who are well-educated and would otherwise have been expected to have shared resources. The findings will have implications for practice by increasing health care providers’ awareness that older parents may be at risk for unmet needs for care even when adult children have resources that would have been expected to serve as a safety net.

Adult Sibling Tension and Older Mothers’ Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Caregiving

The life course perspective concept of “linked lives” suggests that the lives of adult children and older parents are interconnected and consequential for the well-being of members of both generations. In this work, we consider the association between tension among adult siblings and older mothers’ psychological well-being. We focus specifically on tension in the adult sibling relationship because research has shown that negative relationship quality is especially consequential for well-being. We consider this association in the context of caregiving because this is a time when offspring are often required to coordinate with each other to provide assistance. We utilized data from 304 older mothers (average age = 78) and 736 of their adult children (average age = 49) from the Within-Family Difference Study (WFDS) II. First, we examined the direct association between adult sibling tension and mothers’ reports of depressive symptoms. Second, we examined whether the association between sibling tension and mothers’ depressive symptoms was moderated by mothers’ need for care. Preliminary results indicated no direct effect of sibling tension on mothers’ depressive symptoms. However, moderation analysis revealed that sibling tension was associated with an increase in mothers’ depressive symptoms among mothers who reported needing assistance. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the interconnected nature of adult family relationships especially in the context of later-life family caregiving. In particular, the findings reveal that older mothers in need of care are especially vulnerable to tension in the relationships among their adult children.

Daphnia magna egg piRNA cluster expression profiles change as mothers age.

PiRNAs prevent transposable elements wreaking havoc on the germline genome. Changes in piRNA expression over the lifetime of an individual may impact on ageing through continued suppression, or release, of transposable element expression. We identified piRNA producing clusters in the genome of Daphnia magna by a combination of bioinformatic methods, and then contrasted their expression between parthenogenetically produced eggs representing maternally-deposited germline piRNAs of young (having their 1st clutch) and old (having their 5th clutch) mothers. Results from eggs were compared to cluster expression in three generations of adults. As for other arthropods, D. magna encodes long uni-directionally transcribed non-coding RNAs which consist of transposable element fragments which account for most piRNAs expressed. Egg tissues showed extensive differences between clutches from young mothers and those from old mothers, with 578 and 686 piRNA clusters upregulated, respectively, although most log fold-change differences for significant clusters were modest. When considering only highly expressed clusters, there was a bias towards 1st clutch eggs at 41 upregulated versus eight clusters in the eggs from older mothers. F0 generation differences between young and old mothers were fewer than eggs, as 179 clusters were up-regulated in young versus 170 old mothers. This dropped to 31 versus 22 piRNA clusters when comparing adults in the F1 generation, and no differences were detected in the F3 generation. These patterns were similar to that observed for D. magna micro-RNA expression. Little overlap in differentially expressed clusters was found between adults containing mixed somatic and germline (ovary) tissues and germ-line representing eggs. A cluster encompassing a Tudor domain containing gene important in the piRNA pathway was upregulated in the eggs from old mothers. We hypothesise that regulation of this gene this could form part of a feedback loop that reduces piRNA pathway activity explaining the reduced number of highly-expressed clusters in eggs from old mothers.

Regulation of defective mitochondrial DNA accumulation and transmission in C. elegans by the programmed cell death and aging pathways

The heteroplasmic state of eukaryotic cells allows for cryptic accumulation of defective mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA). Purifying selection mechanisms operate to remove such dysfunctional mtDNAs. We found that pro-apoptotic regulators, including the CED-3 and CSP-1 caspases, the BH3-only protein CED-13, and PCD corpse engulfment factors, are required in C. elegans to attenuate germline abundance of a 3.1 kb mtDNA deletion mutation, uaDf5, which is normally stably maintained in heteroplasmy with wildtype mtDNA. In contrast, removal of CED-4/Apaf1 or a mutation in the CED-4-interacting prodomain of CED-3, do not increase accumulation of the defective mtDNA, suggesting induction of a non-canonical germline PCD mechanism or non-apoptotic action of the CED-13/caspase axis. We also found that the abundance of germline mtDNAuaDf5 reproducibly increases with age of the mothers. This effect is transmitted to the offspring of older mothers, with only partial intergenerational removal of the defective mtDNA. In mutants with elevated mtDNAuaDf5 levels, this removal is enhanced in older mothers, suggesting an age-dependent mechanism of mtDNA quality control. Indeed, we found that both steady-state and age-related accumulation rates of uaDf5 are markedly decreased in long-lived, and increased in short-lived, mutants. These findings reveal that regulators of both PCD and aging are required for germline mtDNA quality control and its intergenerational transmission.

A prospective cohort study providing insights for markers of adverse pregnancy outcome in older mothers

Background Advanced maternal age (≥35 years) is associated with increased rates of adverse pregnancy outcome. Better understanding of underlying pathophysiological processes may improve identification of older mothers who are at greatest risk. This study aimed to investigate changes in oxidative stress and inflammation in older women and identify clinical and biochemical predictors of adverse pregnancy outcome in older women. Methods The Manchester Advanced Maternal Age Study (MAMAS) was a multicentre, observational, prospective cohort study of 528 mothers. Participants were divided into three age groups for comparison 20–30 years (n = 154), 35–39 years (n = 222) and ≥ 40 years (n = 152). Demographic and medical data were collected along with maternal blood samples at 28 and 36 weeks’ gestation. Multivariable analysis was conducted to identify variables associated with adverse outcome, defined as one or more of: small for gestational age (< 10th centile), FGR (<5th centile), stillbirth, NICU admission, preterm birth < 37 weeks’ gestation or Apgar score < 7 at 5 min. Biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress and placental dysfunction were quantified in maternal serum. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify associations with adverse fetal outcome. Results Maternal smoking was associated with adverse outcome irrespective of maternal age (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 4.22, 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI) 1.83, 9.75), whereas multiparity reduced the odds (AOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.33, 0.89). In uncomplicated pregnancies in older women, lower circulating anti-inflammatory IL-10, IL-RA and increased antioxidant capacity (TAC) were seen. In older mothers with adverse outcome, TAC and oxidative stress markers were increased and levels of maternal circulating placental hormones (hPL, PlGF and sFlt-1) were reduced (p < 0.05). However, these biomarkers only had modest predictive accuracy, with the largest area under the receiver operator characteristic (AUROC) of 0.74 for placental growth factor followed by TAC (AUROC = 0.69). Conclusions This study identified alterations in circulating inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in older women with adverse outcome providing preliminary evidence of mechanistic links. Further, larger studies are required to determine if these markers can be developed into a predictive model of an individual older woman’s risk of adverse pregnancy outcome, enabling a reduction in stillbirth rates whilst minimising unnecessary intervention.

The role of mitophagy during oocyte aging in human, mouse and Drosophila; implications for oocyte quality and mitochondrial disease

There is a worldwide trend for women to have their first pregnancy later in life. However, as oocyte quality declines with maternal aging, this trend leads to an increase in subfertility. The cellular mechanisms underlying this decline in oocyte competence are poorly understood. Oocyte mitochondria are the subcellular organelles that supply the energy that drives early embryogenesis, and thus their quality is critical for successful conception. Mitochondria contain their own DNA (mtDNA) and mutations in mtDNA cause mitochondrial diseases with severe symptoms, such as neurodegeneration and heart disease. Since mitochondrial function declines in tissues as humans age accompanied by an accumulation of mtDNA mutations, mtDNA is implicated as a cause of declining oocyte quality in older mothers. While this mutation load could be caused by declining accuracy of the mitochondrial replisome, age-related decline in mitochondrial quality control likely contributes however knowledge is lacking. Mitophagy, a cellular process which specifically targets and recycles damaged mitochondria, may be involved, but studies are scarce. And although assisted reproductive technologies (ART) can help older mothers, how these techniques affect the mechanisms that regulate mitochondrial and oocyte quality have not been studied. With the long-term goal of understanding the molecular mechanisms that control mitochondrial quality in the oocyte, model systems including Drosophila and mouse as well as human oocytes have been used. In this review we explore the contribution of mitophagy to oocyte quality and the need for further systematic investigation in oocytes during maternal aging using different systems.

Patterns and Processes of Intergenerational Estrangement: A Qualitative Study of Mother–Adult Child Relationships Across Time

Drawing from the life course perspective, we explored patterns of estrangement between mothers and their adult children across time, and the processes through which these ties remained estranged, or moved in or out of estrangement. We used a prospective design in which data were collected in face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 61 older mothers about their relationships with their 274 adult children at two time points 7 years apart. We began by examining the patterns of stability and change in intergenerational estrangement and identified movement in and out of estrangement across time. Qualitative analyses of the processes underlying estrangement revealed that movement in and out of estrangement reflected nuanced changes in contact and closeness over time rather than abrupt changes resulting from recent transitions in either mothers’ or children’s lives. Taken together, these findings illustrate the complexity of patterns and processes of intergenerational estrangement in later-life families.

Persistence of anaemia among Samoan preschool age children: a longitudinal study

Objective: To characterise the prevalence and persistence of anaemia among Samoan children over a 2–3-year period. Design: Data were from two consecutive waves (2015 and 2017–2018) of the Ola Tuputupua’e ‘Growing up’ study. Anaemia (Hb < 11·0 or 11·5 g/dl for 2–4 and ≥ 5 years old, respectively) was considered ‘transient’ when it occurred at only one wave or ‘persistent’ if it was present at two consecutive waves. Child, maternal and household correlates of anaemia were examined using log-binomial and modified Poisson regressions. Setting: Eleven Samoan villages. Participants: Mother–child pairs (n 257) recruited in 2015 and reassessed in 2017–2018. Results: Anaemia prevalence was 33·9 % in 2015 and 28·0 % in 2017–2018; 35·6 % of cases identified in 2015 were persistent. Risk of anaemia at only one wave was lower among children who were older in 2015 (age 4 v. 2 years, adjusted relative risk (aRR) = 0·54, (95 % CI 0·35, 0·84), P = 0·007), had older mothers (≥ 40 v. 18–29 years, aRR = 0·61, (95 % CI 0·39, 0·95), P = 0·029) and had higher daily sodium intake (for every 100 mg/d, aRR = 0·97, (95 % CI 0·95, 0·99), P = 0·003) than children with no anaemia. Children whose anaemia persisted were more likely to have had a mother with anaemia (aRR = 2·13, (95 % CI 1·17, 3·89), P = 0·013) and had higher daily dietary iron intake (for every 10 mg/d, aRR = 4·69, (95 % CI 1·33, 16·49), P = 0·016) than those with no anaemia. Conclusions: Alongside broadly targeted prevention efforts, which are warranted given the moderate-high anaemia prevalence observed, specific attention should be paid to children with risk factors for persistent anaemia. Routine screening of children whose mothers have anaemia should be encouraged.