Utility of 3D modelling of the patient's living environment as perceived by occupational therapists.

INTRODUCTION: Visiting a patient's living environment is important for occupational therapists, albeit costly and time consuming. MapIt is a mobile app producing a 3D representation of a home with the possibility of taking measurements. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of a 3D representation of a patient's home for the clinical practice of occupational therapists. METHODS: Case study in which the unit of analysis was the utility of MapIt as defined by ISO 9241-11:2018 and as perceived by occupational therapists in four different occupational therapy clinical settings (Canada). Onsite observations with 10 occupational therapists (and their patients) were triangulated with data from interviews, diaries, and logbooks. Inductive thematic condensation led to emerging conclusions for each clinical setting, fuelling the next case data collection and analysis. Inter-case analysis was corroborated by additional occupational therapists, through crowdsourcing and expert review. RESULTS: Occupational therapists' clinical reasoning was supported by the MapIt app, enhancing and streamlining their work and inducing adjustments to treatment plans. Occupational therapists saw and measured the patient's environment remotely, to better match person-environment-occupation and promote occupational engagement. MapIt's 3D representations were judged useful to communicate between occupational therapists and stakeholders, to educate, allow continuity, optimise resources, minimise the patient's time on a waitlist for homecare, and save time for everyone. DISCUSSION: MapIt allowed occupational therapists who performed home visits to bring a little of the patients' home to their office, whereas occupational therapists without access to the home could see it and take measurements. MapIt's utility was confirmed for practice in clinical settings and for better continuity of care between settings. CONCLUSION: MapIt makes it possible for occupational therapists to 'walk around' the patient's home remotely, but the possibility of measuring environmental elements is a 3D model's true added value over currently used photos or short videos.

Towards emotionally aligned social robots for dementia: perspectives of care partners and persons with dementia.

BACKGROUND: Persons living with dementia and their care partners place a high value on aging in place and maintaining independence. Socially assistive robots - embodied characters or pets that provide companionship and aid through social interaction - are a promising tool to support these goals. There is a growing commercial market for these devices, with functions including medication reminders, conversation, pet-like behaviours, and even the collection of health data. While potential users generally report positive feelings towards social robots, persons with dementia have been under-included in design and development, leading to a disconnect between robot functions and the real-world needs and desires of end-users. Furthermore, a key element of social and emotional connectedness in human relationships is emotional alignment - a state where all partners have congruent emotional understandings of a situation. Strong emotional alignment between users and robots will be necessary for social robots to provide meaningful companionship, but a computational model of how to achieve this has been absent from the field. To this end, we propose and test Affect Control Theory (ACT) as a framework to improve emotional alignment between older adults and social robotics. METHOD: Using a Canadian online survey, we introduced respondents to three exemplar social robots with older adult-specific functionalities and evaluated their responses around features, emotions, and ethics using standardized and novel measures (n=171 older adults, n=28 care partners, and n=7 persons living with dementia). RESULT: Overall, participants responded positively to the robots. High priority uses included companionship, interaction, and safety. Reasoning around robot use was pragmatic; curiosity and entertainment were motivators to use, while a perceived lack of need and the mechanical appearance of the robots were detractors. Realistic, cute, and cuddly robots were preferred while artificial-looking, creepy, and toy-like robots were disliked. Most importantly, our evidence supported ACT as a viable model of human-robot emotional alignment. CONCLUSION: This work supports the development of emotionally sophisticated, evidence-based, and user-centered social robotics with older adult- and dementia-specific functionality.

Reversible Redox Switching of Chromophoric Phenylmethylenepyrans by Carbon-Carbon Bond Making/Breaking.

Electrochromic organic systems that can undergo substantial variation of their optical properties upon electron stimulus are of high interest for the development of functional materials. In particular, devices based on radical dimerization are appropriate because of the effectiveness and speed of carbon-carbon bond making/breaking. Phenylmethylenepyrans are organic chromophores which are well suited for such purposes since their oxidation leads to the reversible formation of bispyrylium species by radical dimerization. In this paper, we show that the redox and spectroscopic properties of phenylmethylenepyrans can be modulated by adequate variation of the substituting group on the para position of the phenyl moiety, as supported by DFT calculations. This redox switching is reversible over several cycles and is accompanied by a significant modification of the UV-vis spectrum of the chromophore, as shown by time-resolved spectroelectrochemistry in thin-layer conditions.

Convex lens-induced nanoscale templating.

We demonstrate a new platform, convex lens-induced nanoscale templating (CLINT), for dynamic manipulation and trapping of single DNA molecules. In the CLINT technique, the curved surface of a convex lens is used to deform a flexible coverslip above a substrate containing embedded nanotopography, creating a nanoscale gap that can be adjusted during an experiment to confine molecules within the embedded nanostructures. Critically, CLINT has the capability of transforming a macroscale flow cell into a nanofluidic device without the need for permanent direct bonding, thus simplifying sample loading, providing greater accessibility of the surface for functionalization, and enabling dynamic manipulation of confinement during device operation. Moreover, as DNA molecules present in the gap are driven into the embedded topography from above, CLINT eliminates the need for the high pressures or electric fields required to load DNA into direct-bonded nanofluidic devices. To demonstrate the versatility of CLINT, we confine DNA to nanogroove and nanopit structures, demonstrating DNA nanochannel-based stretching, denaturation mapping, and partitioning/trapping of single molecules in multiple embedded cavities. In particular, using ionic strengths that are in line with typical biological buffers, we have successfully extended DNA in sub-30-nm nanochannels, achieving high stretching (90%) that is in good agreement with Odijk deflection theory, and we have mapped genomic features using denaturation analysis.

2-Meth-oxy-anilinium trichlorido-stannate(II).

The title compound, (C7H10NO)[SnCl3], is a new compound with non-linear optical (NLO) properties. The structure is pseudocentrosymmetric; the absence of an inversion centre was proved by the Kurtz and Perry method showing a significant second harmonic generation (SHG) signal about ten times lower than that from potassium dihydrogenphosphate. The crystal structure exhibits alternating organic and inorganic layers parallel to the ab plane, which are stabilized by inter-molecular N-H⋯Cl inter-actions.

Ethyl-enedi-ammonium chloride thio-cyanate.

In the ethyl-enedi-ammonium dication of the title salt, C2H10N2 (2+)·Cl(-)·SCN(-), the N-C-C-N torsion angle is 72.09 (12)°. In the crystal, an extensive three-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network, formed by N-H⋯Cl and N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, holds all the ions together.

catena-Poly[N,N,N',N'-tetra-methyl-ethylendi-ammonium [[tetra-bromido-antimonate(III)]-µ-bromido] hemihydrate].

The asymmetric unit of the title compound {(C6H18N2)2[Sb2Br10]·H2O} n , consists of two tetra-methyl-ethylendi-ammonium cations that are located on centres of inversion, as well as one tetra-methyl-ethylendi-ammonium cation, one water mol-ecule, one distorted octahedral [SbBr6](3-)anion and one bisphenoidal [SbBr4](-) anion in general positions. The [SbBr6](3-) and [SbBr4](-) anions are linked together by two long Sb-Br bonds of 3.2709 (8) and 3.5447 (7) Šinto {[Sb2Br10](4-)} n chains along [001]. One of the three tetra-methyl-ethylendi-ammonium cations is disordered and was refined using a split model (occupancy ratio 0.58:0.42). The cations and the water mol-ecule are connected to the {[Sb2Br10](4-)} n polymeric anions by weak N-H ⋯Br and O(water)-H ⋯Br hydrogen bonding.

Tris(N,N-di-methyl-anilinium) tri-µ-bromido-bis[tribromido-anti-monate(III)].

In the title compound, (C8H12N)3[Sb2Br9], two of the three unique N,N-dimethyanilinium cations exhibit flip-flop disorder with an occupancy ratio of 0.58 (1):0.42 (1). N-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds link the organic cations and bioctahedral face-sharing anions into a three-dimensional network.

Bis(2-meth-oxy-anilinium) hexa-bromido-stannate(IV) dihydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, (C7H10NO)2[SnBr6]·2H2O, contains one cation, one half-dianion and one lattice water mol-ecule. The [SnBr6](2-) dianion, located on an inversion center, exhibits a highly distorted octa-hedral coordination environment, with Sn-Br bond lengths ranging from 2.2426 (9) to 3.0886 (13) Å. In the crystal, O-H⋯Br, N-H⋯Br, N-H⋯O and C-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds consolidate the packing, which can be described as consisting of alternating anionic (containing dianions and lattice water mol-ecules) and cationic layers parallel to ab plane.

[Mapping in 3D with MapIt: an added value for a professionalization path from the student perspective]. / Cartographier en 3D avec MapIt : une plus-value pour un parcours de professionnalisation selon la perspective étudiante.

During the pandemic, the MapIt app was integrated into an occupational therapy program to support remote learning of built environment adaptation. MapIt maps rooms in a home, then generates a 3D model for viewing and taking virtual measurements. The students express that the use of MapIt during their training leads to embodying the roles expected of an occupational therapist. To inspire other good pedagogical ideas, this article presents how MapIt can support learning in authentic situations, a key element of a professionalization path, approaching the realities experienced by patients, clients, or caregivers.

Bis[2-(5-methyl-sulfanyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl-κN(3))phenolato-κO(1)]copper(II).

In the title complex, [Cu(C(9)H(7)N(2)O(2)S)(2)], the Cu(II) ion, located on an inversion center, adopts an N(2)O(2) square-planar coord-ination. The 2-(5-methyl-sulfanyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)phenolate ligand is chelated to the central Cu(II) ion in an N,O-bidentate manner.

Multi-Session Visual SLAM for Illumination-Invariant Re-Localization in Indoor Environments.

For robots navigating using only a camera, illumination changes in indoor environments can cause re-localization failures during autonomous navigation. In this paper, we present a multi-session visual SLAM approach to create a map made of multiple variations of the same locations in different illumination conditions. The multi-session map can then be used at any hour of the day for improved re-localization capability. The approach presented is independent of the visual features used, and this is demonstrated by comparing re-localization performance between multi-session maps created using the RTAB-Map library with SURF, SIFT, BRIEF, BRISK, KAZE, DAISY, and SuperPoint visual features. The approach is tested on six mapping and six localization sessions recorded at 30 min intervals during sunset using a Google Tango phone in a real apartment.

The acceptability of two remote monitoring modalities for patients waiting for services in a physiotherapy outpatient clinic.

INTRODUCTION: Access to public rehabilitation services for patients with non-urgent conditions - which suffer mainly from musculoskeletal disorders - is problematic around the world. Remote rehabilitation services are recognized as effective means to increase accessibility. Patient acceptability is an important element in the successful implementation of such clinical innovations and has not yet been studied thoroughly in this context. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the acceptability of two remote consultation modalities - phone and teleconsultation - for patients waiting for public outpatient non-urgent rehabilitation services. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study nested within a randomized clinical trial in which participants received either phone or teleconsultation follow-ups with a physiotherapist after a first systematic face-to-face evaluation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants of both groups selected with purposive sampling. Sekhon's acceptability metaframework was used and interviews were transcribed and coded with thematic analysis. ETHIC APPROVAL: The research protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux - Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS de l'Estrie - CHUS) (#2019-2919). RESULTS: Twenty participants were recruited. Results show both follow-up modalities have a good level of acceptability for participants; however, teleconsultation stands out because its visual dimension offers higher quality human contact and satisfactorily meets greater needs for support. CONCLUSION: Systematic in-person assessment and advice combined with telephone or teleconsultation follow-up can contribute to diversifying the services offered in physiotherapy outpatient clinics. Offering a range of service modalities with different resource requirements may shorten wait times. Such an approach seems to be well accepted by patients, especially with teleconsultation. CLINICALTRIALS: gov ID: NCT03991858.

Artificial fast-adapting mechanoreceptor based on carbon nanotube percolating network.

Most biological sensors preferentially encode changes in a stimulus rather than the steady components. However, intrinsically phasic artificial mechanoreceptors have not yet been described. We constructed a phasic mechanoreceptor by encapsulating carbon nanotube film in a viscoelastic matrix supported by a rigid substrate. When stimulated by a spherical indenter the sensor response resembled the response of fast-adapting mammalian mechanoreceptors. We modelled these sensors from the properties of percolating conductive networks combined with nonlinear contact mechanics and discussed the implications of this finding.

ODAS: Open embeddeD Audition System.

Artificial audition aims at providing hearing capabilities to machines, computers and robots. Existing frameworks in robot audition offer interesting sound source localization, tracking and separation performance, although involve a significant amount of computations that limit their use on robots with embedded computing capabilities. This paper presents ODAS, the Open embeddeD Audition System framework, which includes strategies to reduce the computational load and perform robot audition tasks on low-cost embedded computing systems. It presents key features of ODAS, along with cases illustrating its uses in different robots and artificial audition applications.

User perspectives on emotionally aligned social robots for older adults and persons living with dementia.

Introduction: Socially assistive robots are devices designed to aid users through social interaction and companionship. Social robotics promise to support cognitive health and aging in place for older adults with and without dementia, as well as their care partners. However, while new and more advanced social robots are entering the commercial market, there are still major barriers to their adoption, including a lack of emotional alignment between users and their robots. Affect Control Theory (ACT) is a framework that allows for the computational modeling of emotional alignment between two partners. Methods: We conducted a Canadian online survey capturing attitudes, emotions, and perspectives surrounding pet-like robots among older adults (n = 171), care partners (n = 28), and persons living with dementia (n = 7). Results: We demonstrate the potential of ACT to model the emotional relationship between older adult users and three exemplar robots. We also capture a rich description of participants' robot attitudes through the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model, as well as the most important ethical concerns around social robot use. Conclusions: Findings from this work will support the development of emotionally aligned, user-centered robots for older adults, care partners, and people living with dementia.

Rehabilitation of Upper Extremity by Telerehabilitation Combined With Exergames in Survivors of Chronic Stroke: Preliminary Findings From a Feasibility Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Exergames are increasingly being used among survivors of stroke with chronic upper extremity (UE) sequelae to continue exercising at home after discharge and maintain activity levels. The use of virtual reality exergames combined with a telerehabilitation app (VirTele) may be an interesting alternative to rehabilitate the UE sequelae in survivors of chronic stroke while allowing for ongoing monitoring with a clinician. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using VirTele in survivors of chronic stroke at home and explore the impact of VirTele on UE motor function, quantity and quality of use, quality of life, and motivation in survivors of chronic stroke compared with conventional therapy. METHODS: This study was a 2-arm feasibility clinical trial. Eligible participants were randomly allocated to an experimental group (receiving VirTele for 8 weeks) or a control group (receiving conventional therapy for 8 weeks). Feasibility was measured from the exergame and intervention logs completed by the clinician. Outcome measurements included the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-UE, Motor Activity Log-30, Stroke Impact Scale-16, and Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire-15, which were administered to both groups at four time points: time point 1 (T1; before starting the intervention), time point 2 (after the intervention), time point 3 (1 month after the intervention), and time point 4 (T4; 2 months after the intervention). RESULTS: A total of 11 survivors of stroke were randomized and allocated to an experimental or a control group. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants pursued the allocated treatment for 3 months instead of 8 weeks. VirTele intervention dose was captured in terms of time spent on exergames, frequency of use of exergames, total number of successful repetitions, and frequency of videoconference sessions. Technical issues included the loss of passwords, internet issues, updates of the system, and problems with the avatar. Overall, most survivors of stroke found the technology easy to use and useful, except for 9% (1/11) of participants. For the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-UE and Motor Activity Log-30, both groups exhibited an improvement in >50% of the participants, which was maintained over time (from time point 3 to T4). Regarding Stroke Impact Scale-16 scores, the control group reported improvement in activities of daily life (3/5, 60%), hand function (5/5, 100%), and mobility (2/5, 40%), whereas the experimental group reported varied and inconclusive results (from T1 to T4). For the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire-15, 75% (3/4) of the experimental group demonstrated an increase in the autonomous motivation score (from T1 to time point 2), whereas, in the control group, this improvement was observed in only 9% (1/11) of participants. CONCLUSIONS: The VirTele intervention constitutes another therapeutic alternative, in addition to conventional therapy, to deliver an intense personalized rehabilitation program for survivors of chronic stroke with UE sequelae. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/14629.

Lessons Learned From Clinicians and Stroke Survivors About Using Telerehabilitation Combined With Exergames: Multiple Case Study.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, stroke survivors have difficulty accessing community-based rehabilitation services because of a lack of resources. VirTele, a personalized remote rehabilitation program combining virtual reality exergames and telerehabilitation, was developed to provide stroke survivors an opportunity to pursue rehabilitation of their chronic upper extremity (UE) deficits at home while receiving ongoing follow-up from a clinician. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify the behavioral and motivational techniques used by clinicians during the VirTele intervention, explore the indicators of empowerment among stroke survivors, and investigate the determinants of VirTele use among stroke survivors and clinicians. METHODS: This multiple case study involved 3 stroke survivors with chronic UE deficits and their respective clinicians (physiotherapists) who participated in the VirTele intervention, a 2-month remote rehabilitation intervention that uses nonimmersive virtual reality exergames and telerehabilitation aimed at improving UE deficits in stroke survivors. Study participants had autonomous access to Jintronix exergames and were asked to use them for 30 minutes, 5 times a week. The VirTele intervention included 1-hour videoconference sessions with a clinician 1 to 3 times a week, during which the clinician engaged in motivational interviewing, supervised the stroke survivors' use of the exergames, and monitored their use of the affected UE through activities of daily living. Semidirected interviews were conducted with the clinicians and stroke survivors 4 to 5 weeks after the end of the VirTele intervention. All interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. An abductive thematic analysis was conducted to generate new ideas through a dynamic interaction between data and theory. RESULTS: Three stroke survivors (n=2, 67%, women and n=1, 33%, man), with a mean age of 58.8 (SD 19.4) years, and 2 physiotherapists participated in the study. Five major determinants of VirTele use emerged from the qualitative analyses, namely technology performance (usefulness and perception of exergames), effort (ease of use), family support (encouragement), facilitators (considerations of the stroke survivors' safety as well as trust and understanding of instructions), and challenges (miscommunication and exergame limits). During the VirTele intervention, both clinicians used motivational and behavioral techniques to support autonomy, competence, and connectivity. All these attributes were reflected as empowerment indicators in the stroke survivors. Lessons learned from using telerehabilitation combined with exergames are provided, which will be relevant to other researchers and contexts. CONCLUSIONS: This multiple case study provides a first glimpse into the impact that motivational interviewing can have on adherence to exergames and changes in behavior in the use of the affected UE in stroke survivors. Lessons learned regarding the supportive role caregivers play and the new responsibilities clinicians have when using the VirTele intervention may inform the use of exergames via telerehabilitation. These lessons will also serve as a model to guide the implementation of similar interventions. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/14629.

OpenTera: A microservice architecture solution for rapid prototyping of robotic solutions to COVID-19 challenges in care facilities.

As telecommunications technology progresses, telehealth frameworks are becoming more widely adopted in the context of long-term care (LTC) for older adults, both in care facilities and in homes. Today, robots could assist healthcare workers when they provide care to elderly patients, who constitute a particularly vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous work on user-centered design of assistive technologies in LTC facilities for seniors has identified positive impacts. The need to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes the benefits of this approach, but also highlights some new challenges for which robots could be interesting solutions to be deployed in LTC facilities. This requires customization of telecommunication and audio/video/data processing to address specific clinical requirements and needs. This paper presents OpenTera, an open source telehealth framework, aiming to facilitate prototyping of such solutions by software and robotic designers. Designed as a microservice-oriented platform, OpenTera is an end-to-end solution that employs a series of independent modules for tasks such as data and session management, telehealth, daily assistive tasks/actions, together with smart devices and environments, all connected through the framework. After explaining the framework, we illustrate how OpenTera can be used to implement robotic solutions for different applications identified in LTC facilities and homes, and we describe how we plan to validate them through field trials.

Bis(dimethyl-ammonium) tetra-chlorido-dimethyl-stannate(IV).

Regular crystals of the title compound, (C(2)H(8)N)(2)[Sn(CH(3))(2)Cl(4)], were obtained by reacting SnMe(2)Cl(2) with (CH(3))(2)NH·HCl in ethanol in a 1:1 ratio. The Sn atom lies on a center of symmetry and is six-coordinated. It has a distorted octahedral SnC(2)Cl(4) environment with the Cl atoms in cis positions. The Cl atoms are connected to dimethyl-ammonium cations through N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming an infinite chain extending parallel to [010].