Older Adults' Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Physical Information and Communication Technology in the Era of Ambient Assisted Living: A Systematic Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Loneliness and social isolation can have severe effects on human health and well-being. Partial solutions to combat these circumstances in demographically aging societies have been sought from the field of information and communication technology (ICT). OBJECTIVE: This systematic literature review investigates the research conducted on older adults' loneliness and social isolation, and physical ICTs, namely robots, wearables, and smart homes, in the era of ambient assisted living (AAL). The aim is to gain insight into how technology can help overcome loneliness and social isolation other than by fostering social communication with people and what the main open-ended challenges according to the reviewed studies are. METHODS: The data were collected from 7 bibliographic databases. A preliminary search resulted in 1271 entries that were screened based on predefined inclusion criteria. The characteristics of the selected studies were coded, and the results were summarized to answer our research questions. RESULTS: The final data set consisted of 23 empirical studies. We found out that ICT solutions such as smart homes can help detect and predict loneliness and social isolation, and technologies such as robotic pets and some other social robots can help alleviate loneliness to some extent. The main open-ended challenges across studies relate to the need for more robust study samples and study designs. Further, the reviewed studies report technology- and topic-specific open-ended challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Technology can help assess older adults' loneliness and social isolation, and alleviate loneliness without direct interaction with other people. The results are highly relevant in the COVID-19 era, where various social restrictions have been introduced all over the world, and the amount of research literature in this regard has increased recently.

Survey of Leafminers on American Chestnut and other Castanea spp. (Fagales: Fagaceae) on Long Island, NY.

The effect of the 20th-century functional extinction of the American Chestnut (Fagaceae: Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkh) on associated herbivorous insects is unknown. These insects include leafminers that spend at least part of their larval phase feeding between the epidermises of leaves. We surveyed leafminers on C. dentata, nonnative Castanea spp., and hybrids on Long Island, NY. We found 10 leafminer species feeding on Castanea spp. A first New York State record was documented for Stigmella castaneaefoliella (Chambers) (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). New host records are established for 6 lepidopterans, including a new host genus for Phyllonorycter basistrigella (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). We found no significant differences in the mean intensity of S. castaneaefoliella leaf mines on native and nonnative Castanea spp.; however, our sample size was small. Thus, we guardedly conclude that nonnative Castanea spp. can serve as refugia for C. dentata leafminers native to North America while acknowledging that the extent to which nonnative species are utilized requires further investigation.

Complete Genome Sequences of Cluster F1 Mycobacteriophages Akhila and MilanaBonita.

Akhila and MilanaBonita are mycobacteriophages that were isolated from soil in New York using Mycobacterium smegmatis. Both phages have genomes that are 56,251 bp long and contain 99 genes; the genomes differ by only 1 nucleotide. Based on gene content similarity to phages in the Actinobacteriophage Database, both phages are assigned to cluster F1.

Complete Genome Sequences of Actinobacteriophages Anaysia and Caviar.

Anaysia and Caviar are temperate siphoviruses isolated from soil using Gordonia terrae 3612 and Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155, respectively. Anaysia's 52,861-bp genome carries 102 genes, while Caviar's 47,074-bp genome carries 79 genes. Based on gene content similarity, Anaysia and Caviar are assigned to phage clusters A15 and A3, respectively.

Complete Genome Sequences of Mycobacteriophages HarryOW and Peeb.

HarryOW and Peeb are Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 Siphoviridae temperate phages with 52,935 and 41,876 base pairs in genome length, respectively. HarryOW belongs to the A1 subcluster and Peeb to the G1 subcluster. They were isolated and annotated by students from the SUNY Old Westbury Science and Technology Entry Program.

Complete Genome Sequence of Rahel, a C1 Cluster Mycobacteriophage.

Rahel is a lytic Myoviridae bacteriophage that infects Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155. It has 1,555,955 bp and 64.7% G+C content. Rahel has a circularly permuted genome with 270 genes, 53 of them of known function, 33 tRNAs, and 1 transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA). Only five genes are coded on the reverse strand.

Short term lead exposure induces a stress-like response in adult mice.

BACKGROUND: Developmental and perinatal lead exposure in rats affects the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Cortex (HPA) axis function resulting in elevated corticosterone blood levels thus affecting the level of stress responsivity of the offspring. The majority of the studies on lead exposure and stress have been done by exposing the animal indirectly during gestation, or lactation periods. This study presents evidence supporting that short term lead exposure affects a stress-like response in adult lead-exposed mice. MATERIAL/METHODS: DBA/2J mice were exposed to three different lead concentrations, 250, 500 and 1000 ppm, in the drinking water for a two week period. After the exposure period the animals were subjected to behavioral tests, i.e., social contact, and the plus maze using a computer-assisted videomonitoring system, Videomex-V (Columbia Instruments). The levels of ACTH and corticosterone in plasma were also measured using a Radioimmunoassay (RIA). RESULTS: Exposed animals displayed a significant decrease in the length of time the mice pairs spent within social contact distance (5.18 +/- 0.58 seconds for controls and 3.23 +/- 0.34 seconds for 1000 ppm exposure), and a significant decrease in the percent of time the mice stayed in the open arms of the plus maze (7% for controls and 1% for 1000 ppm exposure) a measure indicator of anxiety. In addition exposed mice showed increased blood levels of ACTH (573 +/- 106 microg/dL for 1000 ppm and 127 +/- 25 microg/dL for control mice) and corticosterone (195.12 +/- 52.47 controls and 87.33 +/- 10.94 for exposed). CONCLUSIONS: These results support the hypothesis that exposure to lead of the adult mice affects a behavioral and hormonal response consistent with stress.