Nutrition-Related Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment of Functionality and Quality (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The global burden of disease attributes 20% of deaths to poor nutrition. Although hundreds of nutrition-related mobile applications have been created to help improve this situation and these have been downloaded by millions of users, the effectiveness of integrating these technologies on the adoption of healthy eating remains mixed. Similarly, no significant evaluation of nutrition applications in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has yet been identified in the literature. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to review which nutrition mobile apps are currently available on the French market, and to carry out an exhaustive assessment of their quality using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tool. METHODS A screening of apps related to nutritional health was conducted from March 10 to 17, 2021, on the Google Play Store and the French App Store. A shortlist of 15 apps was identified and assessed using the French version of MARS. Eight dietitian nutritionists assigned to assess seven apps. Remaining apps were randomly allocated to ensure four ratings per app. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate inter-rater agreement. Mean ± SD scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated. RESULTS The top scores for quality were obtained by Yazio (mean 3.84 ± standard deviation 0.32), FeelEat (3.71 ± 0.47) and BonneApp (3.65 ± 0.09). The engagement scores (Section A) ranged from 1.95 ± 0.5 for iEatBetter to 3.85 ± 0.44 for Feeleat. The functionality scores (Section B) ranged from 2.25 ± 0.54 for Naor to 4.25 ± 0.46 for Yazio. The Aesthetics scores (Section C) ranged from 2.17 ± 0.34 for Naor to 3.88 ± 0.47 for Yazio. The information scores (Section D) ranged from 2.38 ± 0.60 for iEatBetter:Journal alimentaire to 3.73 ± 0.29 for Yazio. The MARS subjective quality (Section E) varied from 1.13 ± 0.26 for Naor and 1.13 ± 0.25 iEatBetter:Journal alimentaire to 2.28 ± 0.88 for Compteur de calories Fatsecret. The specificity of apps varied from 1.38 ± 0.64 for iEatBetter:Journal alimentaire to 3.50 ± 0.91 for Feeleat. The app-specific score was always lower than the subjective quality score that was always lower than the quality score and that was lower than the rating score from the iOS or Android app stores. CONCLUSIONS Although the prevention and information messages regarding nutritional habits are not scientifically verified before marketing, dieteticians-nutritionists evaluated that the apps quality was quite relevant. The subjective quality and mobile app specificities were associated with lower ratings. Further investigations are needed to assess their alignment with recommendations and their long-term impact on users.

Comparison of mental health and subjective quality of life in sexual minority versus heterosexual autistic adults

Background: Although disparities in mental health and subjective quality of life have been reported for autistic adults, reasons for these disparities are poorly understood. A potential factor in these disparities is exposure to social stressors related to minority status (i.e., minority stress), including stigma and discrimination. Autistic individuals are more likely than non-autistic individuals to possess other minority identities, including sexual minority identities. However, to date, few studies have examined whether sexual minority autistic adults experience diminished mental health relative to heterosexual autistic adults, and no research has examined subjective quality of life for sexual minority compared to heterosexual autistic adults.Methods: Participants were 679 autistic adults aged 18.5 to 83.3 years recruited through Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge Research Match. Participants completed surveys online, including measures of anxious and depressive symptomatology, perceived stress, and subjective quality of life. Participants reported their sexual orientation and other socio-demographic variables. Results: A large proportion of autistic adults reported a sexual minority identity (43.4%). Sexual minority autistic adults showed poorer mental health and lower subjective quality of life relative to heterosexual autistic adults. Diminished quality of life in the sexual minority group appears to be driven by the strength of the effects for gay and pansexual compared to heterosexual autistic adults. Conclusion: Understanding factors that may be related to poorer mental health and decreased subjective quality of life in autistic adults is critical and has been identified as a research priority among autistic stakeholders. The findings reported here underscore the need to examine mental health and subjective quality of life disparities among autistic individuals within a societal context, taking into consideration the potential of intersecting minority identities and increased social stressors, as these hold the potential to increase risks for poorer outcome.

Time-dependent emotional memory transformation: divergent pathways of item memory and contextual dependency

Emotional memory can persist strikingly long, but it is believed that not all its elements are protected against the fading effects of time. So far, studies of emotional episodic memory have mostly investigated retention up to 24h post-encoding, and revealed that central emotional features (items) are usually strengthened, while contextual binding of the event is reduced. However, even though it is known for neutral memories that central versus contextual elements evolve differently with longer passage of time, the time-dependent evolution of emotional memories remains unclear. Hypothetically, compared to neutral memories, emotional item memory becomes increasingly stronger, accompanied by accelerated decay of – already fragile – links with their original encoding contexts, resulting in progressive reductions in contextual dependency. Here, we tested these predictions in a large-scale study. Participants encoded emotional and neutral episodes, and were assessed 30 minutes (N = 40), one day (N = 40), one week (N = 39), or two weeks (N = 39) later on item memory, contextual dependency, and subjective quality of memory. The results show that, with the passage of time, emotional memories were indeed characterized by increasingly stronger item memory and weaker contextual dependency. Interestingly, analyses of the subjective quality of memories revealed that stronger memory for emotional items with time was expressed in familiarity, whereas increasingly smaller contextual dependency for emotional episodes was reflected in recollection. Together, these findings uncover the time-dependent transformation of emotional episodic memories, thereby shedding light on the ways healthy and maladaptive human memories may develop.

Aphrodite:The Goddess at Work in Archaic Greek Poetry

<p>Greek literature frequently associates female beauty with clothing and jewellery. In addition, the concept of female beauty and allure is closely connected with the goddess Aphrodite. The fact that her beauty is repeatedly singled out as an object of comparison for mortal women suggests that beauty, to a certain extent, bridges the gap between mortal and immortal. Pandora and Helen best exemplify this connection because, like Aphrodite, they are known for their beauty and also enjoy semi-divine status. Moreover, these three women are notorious for their ability to deceive and it is mostly then that their beauty is emphasised. This has led to an association between beauty and deception which climaxes in the famous seduction scenes of Greek literature. Not only are these seduction scenes closely related to Aphrodite but they also rely heavily on nonverbal communication, in particular so-called significant objects and objects adaptors such as clothing and jewellery. Consequently, female beauty comes to be misrepresented as artificial and relying on external decorations. However, in contrast to the traditional texts of Homer and Hesiod, Sappho offers a different perspective. Combining Homeric and Hesiodic elements with her own ideas, she alters the way female beauty is viewed. For example, the Homeric war chariot - a symbol of male, military prowess - comes to symbolise the totality of Aphrodite's power uniting in itself male and female qualities. Having addressed the concept of beauty directly, Sappho then concludes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. With the help of Helen of Troy and her beloved Anaktoria, Sappho sets out to reinvent the concept of female beauty as a godlike, subjective quality that may be expressed in many ways, yet remains inspired by Aphrodite.</p>

Aphrodite:The Goddess at Work in Archaic Greek Poetry

<p>Greek literature frequently associates female beauty with clothing and jewellery. In addition, the concept of female beauty and allure is closely connected with the goddess Aphrodite. The fact that her beauty is repeatedly singled out as an object of comparison for mortal women suggests that beauty, to a certain extent, bridges the gap between mortal and immortal. Pandora and Helen best exemplify this connection because, like Aphrodite, they are known for their beauty and also enjoy semi-divine status. Moreover, these three women are notorious for their ability to deceive and it is mostly then that their beauty is emphasised. This has led to an association between beauty and deception which climaxes in the famous seduction scenes of Greek literature. Not only are these seduction scenes closely related to Aphrodite but they also rely heavily on nonverbal communication, in particular so-called significant objects and objects adaptors such as clothing and jewellery. Consequently, female beauty comes to be misrepresented as artificial and relying on external decorations. However, in contrast to the traditional texts of Homer and Hesiod, Sappho offers a different perspective. Combining Homeric and Hesiodic elements with her own ideas, she alters the way female beauty is viewed. For example, the Homeric war chariot - a symbol of male, military prowess - comes to symbolise the totality of Aphrodite's power uniting in itself male and female qualities. Having addressed the concept of beauty directly, Sappho then concludes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. With the help of Helen of Troy and her beloved Anaktoria, Sappho sets out to reinvent the concept of female beauty as a godlike, subjective quality that may be expressed in many ways, yet remains inspired by Aphrodite.</p>

96 The pediatric health app landscape: Results of an environmental scan

Primary Subject area Technology Background Providing resources that aid in detection and identification of serious childhood illness helps parents feel better equipped to assess their child’s health and significantly changes parental health-seeking behaviours. Some of these resources are limited by accessibility and scalability. Remote locations and staffing limitations create challenges for parents aiming to access health information about their child. Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer a scalable, accessible solution for improving health literacy by enabling access to health information through mobile devices. Objectives To systematically identify all Canadian and US child health apps for parents. Design/Methods We used an environmental scan approach – a review designed to summarize information for decision makers. The Android and Apple app marketplaces were used as search platforms. We built a list of search terms and used these platforms to search for apps targeted at parents, related to pediatric illnesses in US and Canada. Then once we determined that the app met the inclusion criteria, each included app was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a validated tool for assessing health apps. The MARS examines apps on five domains: engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information quality, and subjective quality. Results 650 unique apps were screened and 53 apps were included. On a scale of 1-5, the 53 apps assessed had an average Engagement score of 2.82/5 (θ = 0.86), Functionality of 3.98/5 (θ = 0.72), Aesthetics of 3.09/5 (θ = 0.87), Information quality of 2.73/5 (θ = 1.32), and Subjective quality of 2.2 (θ = 0.79). App scores ranged from 2.2/5 to 4.5/5 (µ= 3.2, θ =0.6).The top three apps were Baby and Child First Aid (4.5/5), Ada (4.5/5), and HANDi Paediatric (4.2/5). Taken together, the top three apps covered topics of emergency pediatric first aid, identification of (and appropriate response to) common childhood illnesses, a means of checking symptoms, and a means of responding to emergency situations. There was a lack of Canadian-based app content available to parents in both marketplaces. In addition, published evidence of the included apps’ impact was poor: only 5/53 apps had an evidence base showing the app had been trialed. Conclusion There is a need for evidence-based apps of Canadian origin related to childhood illnesses. The results of this scan created a picture of the health app landscape by examining trends in apps related to pediatric health that are readily available to parents, and by identifying gaps in app design that can be addressed.