ActiLife enables ActiGraph customers to communicate with all devices available in the ActiGraph store. Customers can download devices and process their actigraph data in a myriad of ways. This basic training session covers all aspects of the ActiLife data analytic platform, from device initialization to sleep scoring and NHANES data comparison. A general overview of the features of each section in ActiLife is discussed along with Questions and Answers presented during the training. Training was hosted on December 6, 2011.

Q: How to change the unit from inch to cm and lbs to kg?
A: Edit->Options->Units of Measurement
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Q: Does all the hubs work fine? do they need to be self chargerd or can be only connected to PC
A: We require our users to use our approved 7 port powered hub: http://www.theactigraph.com/store/accessories/7-port-usb-hub.html. Or equivalent.
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Q: How can I calculate energy expenditure from data, obtained by wearing the device on the non-dominant wrist?
A: If we don't answer your question through the training, let me know later. I think we'll cover it.
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Q: Is sleep time still being counted as sedentary time or was this issue addressed?
A: Sleep time is not included or excluded from cut point analysis yet - but thank you for noting that as an interest.
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Q: Hi. Are any of the energy expenditure equations suitable for use with children?
A: At this time the energy expenditure equations come from those developed by Patty Freedson; They are primarily for adults. You may be interested in the Children's MET levels
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Q: What does the VM mean?
A: VM means Vector Magnitude. It is the combination of all three axes using the vector magnitude formula sqrt(x^2+y^2+z^2)
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Q: I am working with an older version of the software (v. 5.5.5) and the METs tab is still labeled Children's METs. Can I not use this then in my adult subjects? Or is the adult algorithm included here as well?
A: Both children and adult versions are included in the latest version. The software determines which formula to use based on the age that you type into the "Age" column.
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Q: For the moment I think that we are not able to set different filter for each subject, right? for instance looking for days of PE lessons in specific?
A: Corrrect. At this time, the filter applies to all subjects in the grid. Interested to hear more about this request.
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Q: My ActoGram View is not active ... what may be the reason?
A: Actogram, AutoScoring, Periodic Leg Movement, and Custom Sleep Algorithms are available only for ActiSleep monitors. These features can be enabled in the software for a small fee. Contact support@theactigraph.com for details.
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Q: Can you explain how we can use the same device for PA data during the day and sleep data at night?
A: Devices must be worn on the wrist at night for accurate sleep analysis. For accurate kcal and cut point analysis, devices should be worn on the waist during the day.
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Q: I know that the software allows AGD files to be converted to DAT or CSV, and then imported into Excel. Is there any way to
A: Yes, this option is available at File->Import/Export. Choose option CSV->AGD.
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Q: How did you get that sleep report again? I have the gt3x
A: The clinical sleep report is not yet available. It will be available in the 5.10.0 release that comes out December 20, 2011.
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Q: how to get to custom algorithm in sleep scoring tab. I can only see Sadeh and C&K.
A: It will be available in the 5.10.0 release that comes out December 20, 2011.
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Q: Is there anything on the website or a ref that gives a basic explanation of how "activity counts" are arrived at from raw acceleration signals in 3 axes? (e.g., is there a threshold for vector magnitude values to reach to be counted as activity counts?

A: Activity counts are derived from three steps: 1) Sampling of raw, continuous-time acceleration data at a fixed sample rate, 2) filtering that continuous-time waveform and 3) accumulating that data into epoch "buckets", the smallest of which we offer is 1 second. Our new GT3X+ series of devices stores the data from collected in step 1. Users have the option to change that sample rate (anything from 30Hz up to 100Hz in 10 Hz increments) then later, they have the option to choose what epoch rate they want. The win here is that by collecting data once, users can create ANY epoch level count output they desire. Our GT3X series (not "plus" devices) stores the data in step 3 - that's why you have to select the desired epoch length during device initialization. We're obsoleting that product this year.

The details of step 1 are simple. We have an accelerometer with a dynamic range of +/- 6Gs (specs are here). We sample and store the data in our microcontroller. The details of step 2 are proprietary to a certain extent. The filter that we use was derived during the development of our first product - the research paper is available publicly, but the actual filter formula and detailed filter parameters are kept secret. The result of step 2 are what have been termed "counts" by the industry. You can read about them here. Step 3 above is quite simple. Once we capture the data from step 2, we accumulate (addition) into bigger buckets called epochs. Epochs are what researchers are accustomed to; they make much better comparative analytics than, say 30Hz samples.

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Q: how do you differentiate sitting and standing if the device is being worn on the waist
A: We use an internally developed algorithm for the waist-worn inclinometer that estimates the difference between those two. However, wearing the device on the thigh will result in the most accurate interpretation between sitting/lying and standing/stepping.

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Q: How can it detects the inclination by degree in the background (1%, 5%, etc) or just a change in position (0, 1, 2, etc)
A: I'm not sure I fully understand the question. That said, the inclinometer tool uses both relative device angle (based on the three-axis accelerometer's downward gravity projection) and time-in-position to make a determination regarding the wearer's position. When worn on the waist, the algorithm looks at the angle and makes a best-guess determination of the position. If the device remains perfectly still for 120 seconds, the inclinometer assumes the device has been removed or is "off". When worn on the thigh, the time variable is ignored (we don't try to guess when the device is off or removed).
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Q: For the inclinometer readings, is there a recommendation where the accel should be worn on the waist? (posterior over lumbar spine, at the side over axillary line, anterior line of thigh)?
A: At this time, since the waist inclinometer algorithm is not validated, there is no recommendation for wear-location.

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Q: I have the gt3x+ devices and was wondering if the autoscore option will work for sleep with the software or do I need separate software?
A: Actogram, AutoScoring, Periodic Leg Movement, and Custom Sleep Algorithms are available only for ActiSleep monitors. These features can be enabled in the software for a small fee. Contact support@theactigraph.com for details.

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Q: what is the difference between csv and dat files?
A: CSV files are simply comma separated values exported from the ActiLife tool. DAT files are an old file format utilized with the ActiLife 4 software platform and was obsoleted in 2010. Details on the differences between these two can be found in the ActiLife Users Manual

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Q: Initially, you showed 7 devices that were connected to the PC - how do you connect 7 devices unless you have 7 USB ports?
A: We have 7 devices connected via a USB hub. We require users to use our approved Hub shown here: http://www.theactigraph.com/store/accessories/7-port-usb-hub.html

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Q: In the clinical report that you will be offering shortly, do you need to manually input all of the sleep periods before this can be generated?
A: You have two options here. If you do not enter in any sleep times manually, ActiLife will use the Autoscoring tool to estimate time in bed and time out of bed times. If the file is first loaded into the sleep scoring tool and times are manually entered then the clinical report tool is run on that file, those manually entered times will be used.

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Q: How do all of the computers used to downloade data connect into the data vault?
A: The Data Vault tool, when activated for a user group, is shared among all members in that group. When one member of that group uploads data to the vault through ActiLife, that data becomes visible for all other members of the group.

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Q: Has the gt3x+ device been validated to measure METs if worn on the wrist?
A: No, there has been no validation for calculating energy expenditure through wrist-worn accelerometers to our knowledge.

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Q: Will the software run bouts of 5 or more minutes in length?
A: Yes, you can detect any bout length and define any bout type using the Bouts tool in the Data Scoring tab.

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Q: Are there instances during nonwear when you would get activity of other than 0 counts?
A: Yes. For instance, if you did not consider movements in a vehicle, mailing the device from or to a patient, or basic low level noise to be true activity, you would use a non-zero activity count to determine non-wear

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Q: I'm not sure that this has been answered - is there a way to convert an Excel file (created from a CSV or DAT), into an AGD format?
A: Yes, from the Import/Export menu, select "CSV->AGD"

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Q: Sorry if I've mised this, but is it possible to save the date/time filter for individual subjects instead of re-doing them each time I open the AGD?
A: At this time, the date/time filter cannot be exported and we do not yet have options to apply different filters to different subjects loaded into the Data Scoring grid. We will add this to our internal feature tracking tool as a customer feature request and will notify you of our progress. Several customers have asked for such a feature.

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Q: Is biometric information used in analysis?
A: Hi Tania, Yes, weight and gender is used to calculate energy expenditure. Age helps ActiLife determine which algorims to use when there are options for adult vs. children data scoring.

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Q: Can you merge sex, height, weight etc after the data has been collected in bulk and still use the tabs for analysis?
A: The best way to do this currently is to copy and paste your biometric data from a spreadsheet into the biometric area of the ActiLife initialization or download biometric variables screen. ActiLife doesn't care whether you do this before or after initialization, so yes, you can do this after the data has been collected.

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Q: What effect does using different Hertz rates have? I.e. why choose 30 over 90 for example?
A: Increasing the sample rate will increase the resolution of your data collection but will also reduce the amount of data the device can score. That information is shown in the initialization panel.

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Q: With GT3X+, when downloading you select an epoch length. After doing that, can you go back to the raw data file and choose a different epoch length to download?
A: Yes. Use the Import/Export tool to export your raw file (*.gt3x) to a post-accumulated *.agd format with any epoch size.

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Q: Is there a way to perform wear time validation within a specific time range?
A: At this time, there is no way to run the wear time validation tool on a specific time range. This has been added as a feature request - we will notify you when it is available.
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Q: Can I download in the csv table on which days the device was not used by the participant?
A: Yes, you can export that from the details view in Wear Time Validation

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Q: For kcals, what are references for the five methods?
A: The references for the five algorithms can be found here: http://support.theactigraph.com/faq/difference-energy-expenditure-algorithms

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Q: Again, can I export the time in moderate, time in vigorous intensity seperated for weekdays (Monday, Tuesday etc)
A: Yes. The best way to do this is to process your Cut Points using a Date/Time filter. Click on "Add Filter" and select "Weekends" then run the Cut Point calculations. The results will be data that the devices recorded only on Saturdays and Sundays.

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Q: Can GT3X+ be worn on the wrist?
A: Yes, in fact the GT3X+ is being worn on the wrist for the NHANES 2010 study. Using our algorithms in ActiLife, energy expenditure is less accurate than when the device is worn on the waist. There is no validated EE formula for wrist-worn devices at this time (none exist). Our “Worn on Wrist” option in the Data Scoring tab will scale activity counts as shown in this FAQ: http://support.theactigraph.com/faq/worn-wrist-option-data-scoring-tab

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Q: Wow (see previous question). What about using the cutpoints with it on the wrist?
A: Sure, but none of the cut points in our tool are validated for wrist-worn acitvity. At this time, we are not aware of any cut points that are validated for wrist-worn devices. ActiLife gives users the option to enter in their own cut points, so feel free to customize.

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Q: When calculating sedentary bouts, can you exclude non-wear time '0's from the bout
A: Yes, they are excluded automatically (that time period is not even scored) after you run the file through the Wear Time Validation tool

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Q: On the cut point tab we can get the total time spent in moderate activity. On a separate tab we get number of 10 minute bouts. Is there a way to get only the minutes of moderate intensity PA in a given day that was in 10+ minute bouts?
A: Yes. You can define the bout level range to be the same as the moderate level (1954 - 5724) in the Bout Detection tool - then run the detection with a requirement that bouts must be 10 minutes long.

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Q: How does the light sensor work. Is it affected by clothing particularly if worn on the waist?
A: The light sensor does require that no clothing be worn over the top of the device. Otherwise, the Lux data will be skewed.

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Q: Can you only do this (Sleep Scoring) one by one or can you do a graph for a sample of children?
A: Currently, you can only analyze one user in the Sleep Scoring tool - however, we are adding the ability to compare sleep results for multiple patients simultaneously in the Data Scoring tab (no graphs though - just the parameters). Update: This should be available in version 6.1 (due out sometime in February)

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Q: Will the data vault be used for international data sharing in the future?
A: The data vault can be used to share data among colleagues regardless of their location.

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Q: Regarding the Data Vault, I guess only people that you invite in can see your data? It would be useful to be able to see if someone is collecting similar data and then possibly request access or sharing.
A: You can request that ActiGraph add anyone else using ActiLife to your Data Vault group at any time assuming they have your permission.

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Q: Can this software produce minutes per day of physical activity at each cut point for a given file?
A: Yes, Using the cut points tool, you can identify data at the minute level.

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Q: Can you explain the low frequency option when initializing the device. Can we use the low frequency for sleeping studies or it is only for physical activity
A: I assume you're referring to the "low frequency extension" option when initializing a GT3XE device. This option essentially adjusts the base band frequency response of our proprietary activity filter built into the GT3XE device to be more sensitive to slow movements. This is particularly useful when detecting motion in elderly populations where movements like walking or sitting/standing are slower than in normal adult populations.

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Q: Have you any plans to enable users to upload data in real time to monitor movement patterns?
A: Yes. Stay tuned in 2012.