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Mobile Health Applications for Caring of Older People: Review and Comparison

Anthony Berauk VL, Murugiah MK, Soh YC, Chuan Sheng Y, Wong TW, Ming LC

Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2018 05;52(3):374-382.
PMID: 29714532 DOI: 10.1177/2168479017725556

BACKGROUND: Mobile devices and applications (apps) that act as access tools for health care management aid in the improvement of clinical decision making and patient outcomes. However, the tremendous amount of mobile health (mHealth) apps available in commercial app stores makes it hard for the lay users as well as health care professionals to choose the right one for their individual needs. The contents and features of these apps have not been systematically reviewed and compared. This study aims to assess the contents and features of mHealth apps for caring of older people.
METHODS: A review and comparison of mHealth apps for caring of older people available in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. Systematic review of previous relevant literature were conducted. The assessment criteria used for comparison were requirement for Internet connection, information of disease, size of app, diagnostics and assessment tools, medical calculator, dosage recommendations and indications, clinical updates, drugs interaction checker, and information on disease management.
RESULTS: Twenty-five mHealth apps were assessed. Medscape and Skyscape Medical Library are the most comprehensive mHealth apps for general drug information, medical references, clinical score, and medical calculator. Alzheimer's Disease Pocketcard and Confusion: Delirium & Dementia: A Bedside Guide apps are recommended for clinical assessment, diagnosis, drug information, and management of geriatric patients with Alzheimer disease, delirium, and dementia.
CONCLUSIONS: More studies about mHealth apps for caring of older people are warranted to ensure the quality and reliability of the mHealth apps.
Enzymatic conversion of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: A review on influence of structural changes of lignin

Sheng Y, Lam SS, Wu Y, Ge S, Wu J, Cai L, et al.

Bioresour Technol, 2021 Mar;324:124631.
PMID: 33454445 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124631

The demands of energy sustainability drive efforts to bio-chemical conversion of biomass into biofuels through pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and microbial fermentation. Pretreatment leads to significant structural changes of the complex lignin polymer that affect yield and productivity of the enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Structural changes of lignin after pretreatment include functional groups, inter unit linkages and compositions. These changes influence non-productive adsorption of enzyme on lignin through hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic interaction as well as hydrogen bonding. This paper reviews the relationships between structural changes of lignin and enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. The formation of pseudo-lignin during dilute acid pretreatment is revealed, and their negative effect on enzymatic hydrolysis is discussed.
Production of medium-chain fatty acid caproate from Chinese liquor distillers' grain using pit mud as the fermentation microbes

Gao M, Lin Y, Wang P, Jin Y, Wang Q, Ma H, et al.

J Hazard Mater, 2021 Sep 05;417:126037.
PMID: 33992013 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126037

Chinese liquor distillers' grain (CLDG) is an abundant industrial organic waste showing high potential as feedstock for biofuel conversion. In this study, CLDG was used as substrate by microbial community in pit mud to produce medium-chain fatty acids (especially caproate). Simulated and real fermentation were used to evaluate the effect of ethanol and lactic acid being the electronic donors (EDs) during the anaerobic chain elongation (CE). The caproate concentration was achieved at 449 mg COD/g VS, with the corresponding high carbon selectivity at 37.1%. Microbial analysis revealed that the domestication of pit mud increased the abundance of Caproiciproducens (converting lactic acid into caproate) and Lactobacillus (producing lactic acid), leading to enhanced caproate production. The lactic acid conversion facilitated in full utilization of ethanol through CE consumption. The coexistence of EDs benefited the CE system and that this green energy production can be a promising high-performance biofuel donor for sustainable industrial production development.
Transforming municipal cotton waste into a multilayer fibre biocomposite with high strength

Shi Y, Jiang J, Ye H, Sheng Y, Zhou Y, Foong SY, et al.

Environ Res, 2023 Feb 01;218:114967.
PMID: 36455630 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114967

We analyzed the problematic textile fiber waste as potential precursor material to produce multilayer cotton fiber biocomposite. The properties of the products were better than the current dry bearing type particleboards and ordinary dry medium-density fiberboard in terms of the static bending strength (67.86 MPa), internal bonding strength (1.52 MPa) and water expansion rate (9.57%). The three-layer, four-layer and five-layer waste cotton fiber composite (WCFC) were tried in the experiment, the mechanical properties of the three-layer WCFC are insufficient, the five-layer WCFC is too thick and the four-layer WCFC had the best comprehensive performance. The cross-section morphology of the four-layer WCFC shows a dense structure with a high number of adhesives attached to the fiber. The hardness and stiffness of the four-layer cotton fiber composite enhanced by the high crystallinity of cellulose content, and several chemical bondings were presence in the composites. Minimum mass loss (30%) and thermal weight loss rate (0.70%/°C) was found for the four-layer WCFC. Overall, our findings suggested that the use of waste cotton fiber (WCF) to prepare biocomposite with desirable physical and chemical properties is feasible, and which can potentially be used as building material, furniture and automotive applications.
Fulltext Impact of social isolation on mortality and morbidity in 20 high-income, middle-income and low-income countries in five continents

Naito R, Leong DP, Bangdiwala SI, McKee M, Subramanian SV, Rangarajan S, et al.

BMJ Glob Health, 2021 03;6(3).
PMID: 33753400 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004124

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between social isolation and mortality and incident diseases in middle-aged adults in urban and rural communities from high-income, middle-income and low-income countries.
DESIGN: Population-based prospective observational study.
SETTING: Urban and rural communities in 20 high income, middle income and low income.
PARTICIPANTS: 119 894 community-dwelling middle-aged adults.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Associations of social isolation with mortality, cardiovascular death, non-cardiovascular death and incident diseases.
RESULTS: Social isolation was more common in middle-income and high-income countries compared with low-income countries, in urban areas than rural areas, in older individuals and among women, those with less education and the unemployed. It was more frequent among smokers and those with a poorer diet. Social isolation was associated with greater risk of mortality (HR of 1.26, 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.36), incident stroke (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.40), cardiovascular disease (HR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.25) and pneumonia (HR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.37), but not cancer. The associations between social isolation and mortality were observed in populations in high-income, middle-income and low-income countries (HR (95% CI): 1.69 (1.32 to 2.17), 1.27 (1.15 to 1.40) and 1.47 (1.25 to 1.73), respectively, interaction p=0.02). The HR associated with social isolation was greater in men than women and in younger than older individuals. Mediation analyses for the association between social isolation and mortality showed that unhealthy behaviours and comorbidities may account for about one-fifth of the association.
CONCLUSION: Social isolation is associated with increased risk of mortality in countries at different economic levels. The increasing share of older people in populations in many countries argues for targeted strategies to mitigate its adverse effects.