2,955 research outputs found
Robotic mental well-being coaches for the workplace: An in-the-wild study on form
No full textThe World Health Organization recommends that employers take action to protect and promote mental well-being at work. However, the extent to which these recommended practices can be implemented in the workplace is limited by the lack of resources and personnel availability. Robots have been shown to have great potential for promoting mental well-being, and the gradual adoption of such assistive technology may allow employers to overcome the aforementioned resource barriers. This paper presents the frst study that investigates the deployment and use of two diferent forms of robotic well-being coaches in the workplace in collaboration with a tech company whose employees (26 coachees) interacted with either a QTrobot (QT) or a Misty robot (M). We endowed the robots with a coaching personality to deliver positive psychology exercises over four weeks (one exercise per week). Our results show that the robot form signifcantly impacts coachees' perceptions of the robotic coach in the workplace. Coachees perceived the robotic coach in M more positively than in QT (both in terms of behaviour appropriateness and perceived personality), and they felt more connection with the robotic coach in M. Our study provides valuable insights for robotic well-being coach design and deployment, and contributes to the vision of taking robotic coaches into the real world
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No full textN.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article. This is the authors ’ version of the following article: Stina Axelsson, Maria Hjorth, Johnny Ludvigsson and Rosaura Casas, Decreased GAD(65)-specific Th1/Tc1 phenotype in children with Type 1 diabetes treated with GAD-alum., 2012, Diabetic Medicine, (29), 10, 1272-1278. which has been published in final form at
Adaptive Robotic MentalWell-being Coaches
No full textMental well-being issues such as anxiety and depression are increasing, and as provisions by healthcare systems are insufficient to meet people's needs, new technology is being used to improve mental well-being. In this doctoral thesis, we examine the iterative and user-centred design, implementation and evaluation of a robotic mental well-being coach-i.e., a robot that could help people maintain and focus on their well-being. In this article, we discuss the studies we have already conducted. These have examined coach and user preferences, the design of a robotic well-being coach, how to computationally implement such a coach, and how such a robot is experienced in the short (laboratory setting) and long term (workplace setting). We then discuss future work, which includes data analysis of a longitudinal study where a robotic coach interacted with a group, the implementation and testing of an longitudinal adaptation model for the robotic coach, and a survey of the state of the art in affective robotics for well-being
Robotic Coaches Delivering Group Mindfulness Practice at a Public Cafe
No full textGroup meditation is known to keep people motivated and committed over longer periods of time, as compared to individual practice. Robotic coaching is a promising avenue for engaging people in group meditation and mindfulness exercises. However, the deployment of robotic coaches to deliver group mindfulness sessions in real-world settings is very scarce. We present the first steps in deploying a robotic mindfulness coach at a public cafe, where participants could join robot-led meditation sessions in a group setting. We conducted two studies with two robotic coaches: the toy-like Misty II robot for 4 weeks ( = 4), and the child-like QTrobot for 3 weeks ( = 3). This paper presents an exploratory qualitative analysis of the data collected via group discussions after the sessions, and researcher observations during the sessions. Additionally, we discuss the lessons learned and future work related to deploying a robotic coach in a real-world group setting
An algebraic multilevel iteration method for finite element matrices
No full textAbstractTo solve a sparse linear system of equations resulting from the finite element approximation of elliptic self-adjoint second-order boundary-value problems an algebraic multilevel iteration method is presented. The new method can be considered as an extension of methods, which have been defined by Axelsson and Eijkhout (1991) for nine-point matrices and later generalized by Axelsson and Neytcheva (1994) for the Stieltjes matrices, on a more wider class of sparse symmetric positive-definite matrices. The rate of convergence and the computational complexity of the method are analyzed. Experimental results on some standard test problems are presented and discussed
"Sprache ist der Boden, auf dem wir tanzen"- Mehr-Sprachlichkeit im Theaterstück ROSE ROSE ROSE von Malin Axelsson und Karin Serres
No full textTrotz einer inzwischen langen Tradition von Mehrsprachigkeit im Theater scheinen deren Ausdruckspotentiale und möglichen Funktionen bei weitem noch nicht ausgeschöpft zu sein. Das Theaterstück ROSE ROSE ROSE von Malin Axelsson und Karin Serres (2015), in dem auf den ersten Blick die Verwendung von schwedischen, französischen und englischen Redeabschnitten auffällt, scheint kein Novum darzustellen, zumal es sich auch hinsichtlich anderer Aspekte in die Tradition einer avantgardistischen Theaterpraxis einreiht, die insbesondere das schwedische Jugendtheater stark geprägt hat. Doch bei einer genaueren Analyse des Textes und seiner spezifischen sprachlichen Beschaffenheit zeigt sich schnell, auf welch vielfältige Weise sich hier Mehrsprachigkeit bzw. Mehr-Sprachlichkeit manifestiert und dass diese – auf verschiedenen Ebenen – eine zentrale Rolle im Stück übernimmt. Sie bildet die einmalige ›Gestalt‹ des Stückes heraus, konstituiert seinen Experimentierraum und erweist sich zugleich als ›Akteurin‹ im gesamten Handlungskomplex. Dies versuchen wir in unserem Beitrag darzulegen, indem wir verschiedene Verfahren der Mehr-Sprachlichkeit im Text herausstellen und exemplarisch eine detailliertere Analyse eines ausgewählten Kapitels durchführen
Sleep problems and language development in toddlers with Williams syndrome
No full textSleep and related maternal beliefs were assessed in a narrow age range of 18 children with Williams syndrome (WS) and 18 typically developing (TD) children. WS is a rare genetic disorder characterised by a complex physical, cognitive and behavioural phenotype. High prevalence of sleep difficulties in older children and adults with WS have been reported. Parents completed 6 questionnaires: the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, Infant Sleep Vignettes Interpretation Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index of Parents, Child Behaviour Checklist, MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for Infants - Words and Gestures, and the Major (ICD-10) Depression Inventory. Compared to TD children, those with WS had shorter night sleep, more night wakings and wakefulness according to parental report. Regression analyses revealed that a proportion of the variance in language development scores in WS children could be explained by night sleep duration. Compared to control parents, the mothers of the WS group were more likely to describe their child's sleep as problematic and had higher rates of involvement with child sleep, yet they had a lesser tendency to interpret sleep problems as signs of distress and a greater tendency to emphasise limit setting. Approximately half of both groups of mothers experienced poor sleep quality. This was also related to maternal mood, and night wakefulness in the children with WS. This is the first study to quantify sleep difficulties in young children with WS in a narrow age range using maternal report. The possible negative effects on maternal sleep and mood, and the link between night sleep and language development in young children with WS, requires further detailed investigation
Health Anxiety in a Disease-Avoidance Framework: Effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Disease Perception in Responses to Sickness Cues
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate treatment effects for severe health anxiety within an evolutionary disease-avoidance framework. The dataset contains data from three occasions: screening, pre-treatment, and post-treatment. Data comes from 132 patients with health anxiety, 99 underwent a cognitive behavioral therapy and 33 were put on a waiting list and received no treatment. Cross-sectional screening data pertaining to disease avoidance and the perception of sickness cues has been previously analysed and published (Hedman et al. 2016a) but longitudinal analyses of these outcomes have not been conducted.
Reference:
Hedman, E., Lekander, M., Karshikoff, B., Ljótsson, B., Axelsson, E., & Axelsson, J. (2016a). Health anxiety in a disease-avoidance framework: Investigation of anxiety, disgust and disease perception in response to sickness cues. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(7), 868
Naps, cognition and performance
No full textDaytime napping is a frequent habit of many individuals, whether healthy or not, and may occur in a wide variety of contexts. There are several reasons for napping in the human adult, including prophylactic strategies or recuperative need, respectively before or after sleep loss, or even pure appetitive drive. Thus, it is of great theoretical and clinical interest to assess the impact of naps on individuals’ performance, especially on cognitive functioning. As the outgrowth of a symposium held by the authors at the 5th Congress of the World Federation of Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies in Cairns, Australia, September 2007, this review will specifically explore: a) the newly developed experimental daytime split-sleep schedules and their effects on recovery, compared with those deriving from a single consolidated sleep episode of equal duration; b) whether naps may be beneficial to wakefulness performance in the working context, through accurate review of ‘‘on field’’ studies; c) the impact of naps on cognition, in light of the very recent advances in the study of naps and memory processes; d) the main features of napping behavior in older individuals and its impact on their health and general functioning, since it is widely recognized that napping may change as a result of the aging process
Fat mass, adipokines and clinical complications of chronic kidney disease
No full textPatients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), irrespective of initial etiology, have a risk of cardiovascular morbidity (CVD) and mortality that is many-fold higher than that of a similar person without CKD. While traditional risk factors, such as hyperlipidemia, certainly contribute, these factors cannot by themselves explain the burden of CVD. Recent data suggest that endocrine signaling of fat mass may lead to the complex of CVD risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome. In the following work, we test the hypothesis that an uremic metabolic syndrome caused by aberrant adipose tissue signaling may contribute to inflammation and metabolic disturbances in CKD.Study I. In a cross-sectional study of 187 incident patients starting dialysis therapy we measured several inflammatory cytokines and adipokines and related these to total and truncal fat mass as estimated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). We found that truncal, but not non-truncal, fat mass was associated with circulating levels of both interl eukin(IL)-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP).Study II. In a study of 197 incident CKD patients evaluated shortly before the start of dialysis, we showed that patients with elevated fat mass, although having elevated inflammatory markers, are less likely to need recombinant erythropoietin (epoetin), and that epoetin dose is associated with circulating levels of leptin.Study III. This is a post hoc, cross-sectional study comparing 239 CKD patients with varying degrees of renal function impairment with an age- and gender-matched randomly selected control group of 24 individuals. We explored the role of decreased renal function on the adipokine resistin, apparently able to inhibit hepatic insulin action in mice We also investigate possible links with inflammation (CRP, IL-6) and the insulin resistance (QUICKI, HbA1c%) present in patients with CKD. While resistin is strongly related to renal function and inflammation, we could find no links to surrogate markers of insulin resistance.Study IV. In a longitudinal study of 158 CKD, patients with varying degrees of renal failure, we explored the relationship between changes in body fat (DEXA) and tissue resident macrophages (assessed by measuring sCD163), as well as links to systemic inflammation (IL-6, CRP). We concluded that an increase in fat mass is associated with increased sCD163, a surrogate marker of macrophages, and more inflammation in CKD patients.Study V. Again using a cross-sectional design of 189 prevalent CKD patients, we investigated putative links between the adipokine visfatin and insulin resistance in CKD. We conclude that while a reduced renal function and inflammation both independently predict visfatin levels, visfatin is not associated with QUICKI or HbA1c%. However, increased circulating visfatin was associated with endothelial adhesion molecules (sVCAM-1) and a higher mortality rate.Study VI. Using a Mendelian randomization approach in a cohort of 198 incident CKD patients starting dialysis, we show significant differences in serum lipids between functional genotypes of alpha2Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein (AHSG) as well as a significant association between AHSG and fat mass (DEXA).Conclusions. In patients with chronic renal disease, total and, especially, truncal fat mass is associated with increased circulating levels of several cytokines and adipokines that have may influence cardiovascular health and outcome. Thus, further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of fat mass and adipokines on outcome in this patient group.List of scientific papersI. Axelsson J, Rashid Qureshi A, Suliman ME, Honda H, Pecoits-Filho R, Heimburger O, Lindholm B, Cederholm T, Stenvinkel P (2004). Truncal fat mass as a contributor to inflammation in end-stage renal disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 80(5): 1222-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15531669II. Axelsson J, Qureshi AR, Heimburger O, Lindholm B, Stenvinkel P, Barany P (2005). Body fat mass and serum leptin levels influence epoetin sensitivity in patients with ESRD. Am J Kidney Dis. 46(4): 628-34. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16183417III. Axelsson J, Bergsten A, Qureshi AR, Heimburger O, Barany P, Lonnqvist F, Lindholm B, Nordfors L, Alvestrand A, Stenvinkel P (2006). Elevated resistin levels in chronic kidney disease are associated with decreased glomerular filtration rate and inflammation, but not with insulin resistance. Kidney Int. 69(3): 596-604. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16395259IV. Axelsson J, Moller H, Qureshi AR, Witasp A, Heimburger O, Barany P, Alvestrand A, Lindholm B, Moestrup S, Stenvinkel P (2006). Changes in fat mass are associated with changes in CD163, a marker of activated macrophages, in patients with chronic kidney disease. [Manuscript]V. Axelsson J, Witasp A, Carrero JJ, Qureshi AR, Suliman M, Heimburger O, Barany P, Lindholm B, Alvestrand A, Shalling M, Nordfors L, Stenvinkel P (2006). Circulating levels of visafatin/pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor are influenced by genotype and are associated with markers of endothelial dysfunction and survival in patients with chronic kidney disease. [Manuscript]VI. Axelsson J, Wang X, Ketteler M, Qureshi AR, Carrero JJ, Heimburger O, Barany P, Lindholm B, Nordfors L, Stenvinkel P (2006). Circulating levels of alpha2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein/fetuin-A are associated with multiple aspects of the metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic disease (CKD). A Mendelian randomized approach. [Manuscript]</p
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