Smart and Pervasive Healthcare

Smart and pervasive healthcare aims at facilitating better healthcare access, provision, and delivery by overcoming spatial and temporal barriers. It represents a shift toward understanding what patients and clinicians really need when placed within a specific context, where traditional face-to-face encounters may not be possible or sufficient. As such, technological innovation is a necessary facilitating conduit. This book is a collection of chapters written by prominent researchers and academics worldwide that provide insights into the design and adoption of new platforms in smart and pervasive healthcare. With the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating changes to the traditional model of healthcare access and its delivery around the world, this book is a timely contribution

Enhanced Living Environments

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1303 “Algorithms, Architectures and Platforms for Enhanced Living Environments (AAPELE)”. The concept of Enhanced Living Environments (ELE) refers to the area of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) that is more related with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Effective ELE solutions require appropriate ICT algorithms, architectures, platforms, and systems, having in view the advance of science and technology in this area and the development of new and innovative solutions that can provide improvements in the quality of life for people in their homes and can reduce the financial burden on the budgets of the healthcare providers. The aim of this book is to become a state-of-the-art reference, discussing progress made, as well as prompting future directions on theories, practices, standards, and strategies related to the ELE area. The book contains 12 chapters and can serve as a valuable reference for undergraduate students, post-graduate students, educators, faculty members, researchers, engineers, medical doctors, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, and research strategists working in this area

Internet of Things (IoT) for Automated and Smart Applications

Internet of Things (IoT) is a recent technology paradigm that creates a global network of machines and devices that are capable of communicating with each other. Security cameras, sensors, vehicles, buildings, and software are examples of devices that can exchange data between each other. IoT is recognized as one of the most important areas of future technologies and is gaining vast recognition in a wide range of applications and fields related to smart homes and cities, military, education, hospitals, homeland security systems, transportation and autonomous connected cars, agriculture, intelligent shopping systems, and other modern technologies. This book explores the most important IoT automated and smart applications to help the reader understand the principle of using IoT in such applications

Athlete Monitoring in Rugby League: a focus on the conceptualisation, implementation and utilisation of a wellness questionnaire.

Wellness questionnaires are often used to monitor athletes to gain an understanding of the responses to training and gameplay. This thesis presents original information concerning the conceptualisation, implementation and use of wellness questionnaires with a focus on the sport of rugby league. The overall aim of the thesis was to investigate the use and implementation of a wellness questionnaire with the goal of developing a framework for successful implementation. Whilst wellness questionnaires appear to be a popular method for evaluating the response to training and readiness to perform, there are limited details on the type of questionnaires used by practitioners. Study 1 investigated the use and implementation of current wellness questionnaires across a range of high- performance sports. The study examined if there is commonality amongst the use of wellness questionnaires with regard to customised designs, scales, items and the levels of implementation achieved. Based on a review of the literature and practical experience of the research team, an online survey was constructed consisting of 23 questions. 122 participants recruited through the network of the research team completed the survey. Analysis of the responses indicated that customised wellness questionnaires were prevalent and used by the majority of respondents (74%) each training day. These questionnaires differed in the types of scale, items and analysis techniques used. With regard to implementation, the majority reported completion rates above 75%. However, issues associated with the questionnaire, team resources, issuing reminders and generating buy-in were evident. In a follow up to the main survey, practitioners identified five key themes needed for successful implementation which were labelled the Implementation Outcomes. These outcomes can be used to evaluate the success of the implementation and use of wellness questionnaires. Following on from study 1 it was necessary to give an in-depth focus on the implementation and use of wellness questionnaires within a rugby league context. Previous research has identified factors associated with the measure and the social environment that influence questionnaire use in a range of different sports (Saw, Main, & Gastin, 2015b). Therefore, study 2 interviewed players and staff (n = 20) within a European Super League team to examine the factors that were relevant within their context. Reported Implementation Factors were identified across the organisation (e.g. team resources), the measure (e.g. mode and accessibility of the wellness questionnaire), inter-personal (e.g. reminders), and individual level (e.g. player buy-in). The factors were consistent with previous research into implementation and several novel higher order factors were identified residing within the organisation (context, process, personalisation and coaching staff). Twenty-three original lower order themes specific to a rugby league environment were identified. Implementation factors manifested across data collection, analysis and decision-making. The findings lend support to the use of a social ecological model to identify factors influencing wellness questionnaire use in rugby league. The customised wellness questionnaires which have been used within rugby league research give limited insight into the questionnaire development and validation. No wellness questionnaire exists that has been thoroughly validated and tested within a rugby league environment. Study 3 subsequently sought to develop and validate a new wellness questionnaire for use in rugby league. This study involved four phases of development to examine face, content and concurrent validity in addition to the reliability of the questionnaire. The construction of the new questionnaire also concerned the appraisal as to the ecological fit of using wellness questionnaires within the host setting. Taking into account the findings of studies 1 and 2, consideration was given to implementation in the construction of the questionnaire. Aligned with current guidelines, assessments were made to determine the purpose of using the wellness questionnaire, if there was buy-in from the stakeholders and if it was feasible to implement. The newly developed 9-item wellness questionnaire was deemed valid, reliable and acceptable to use within rugby league environments. The study comprehensively demonstrates the process of developing and validating a wellness questionnaire above and beyond other previously used and published questionnaires. Study 4 used the newly developed questionnaire to assess player wellness in conjunction with external and internal load in a European Super League team. There is a lack of normative wellness data, including details on how to monitor, analyse and interpret this data at team and individual levels. Players completed a wellness questionnaire across 68 consecutive days of the rugby league season (Super 8s to Grand Final). Global positioning system data and session rating of perceived exertion was recorded for training and games. Results indicate the new wellness questionnaire is sensitive to detect change and identifies a high variation in wellness data the day after game-play. This questionnaire is recommended to collect data at matchdays +1, +3, +4, and +6. Results support the findings of previous studies which suggest that it takes at least 4 days post-game to recover to pre-game levels of wellness. Wellness questionnaires should be used in conjunction with training load data and results found that post-game wellness strongly correlated with the number of tackles in rugby league games, r(6) = 0.80 p= 0.17. Furthermore, when tackles were combined with high speed running metres wellness was significantly predicted post-game, F(2, 5) = 17.760, p = .005, adj. R2 = .83. Wellness scores showed high inter and intra individual variability. The study provides case study examples analysing team and individual player wellness, suggesting the use of z- scores and visualisations using statistical process control charts and radar plots. The findings of this thesis lend support to the use of wellness questionnaires in rugby league and high- performance sport, providing they are appropriately developed, validated and implemented. The final written chapter presents a conceptual model named the Successful Implementation Framework which aims to guide practitioner implementation of wellness questionnaires. The framework brings together aspects established in this thesis including the Implementation Considerations (study 3), Implementation Areas (study 2), Implementation Factors (study 2), Implementation Outcomes (study 1) and recommendations for use (study 4)

Improving Access and Mental Health for Youth Through Virtual Models of Care

The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth between the ages of 14–25 years, with symptoms of anxiety/depression. This project includes 115 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers are using eHealth technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile questionnaires to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the plan of care. The technology also allows secure virtual treatment visits that youth can participate in through mobile devices. This longitudinal study uses participatory action research with mixed methods. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (66.9%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the sample (71.9% and 67.5% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary established that both staff and youth found the software and platform beneficial

The Impact of Digital Technologies on Public Health in Developed and Developing Countries

This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on String Processing and Information Retrieval, ICOST 2020, held in Hammamet, Tunisia, in June 2020.* The 17 full papers and 23 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They cover topics such as: IoT and AI solutions for e-health; biomedical and health informatics; behavior and activity monitoring; behavior and activity monitoring; and wellbeing technology. *This conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The Impact of Digital Technologies on Public Health in Developed and Developing Countries

This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on String Processing and Information Retrieval, ICOST 2020, held in Hammamet, Tunisia, in June 2020.* The 17 full papers and 23 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They cover topics such as: IoT and AI solutions for e-health; biomedical and health informatics; behavior and activity monitoring; behavior and activity monitoring; and wellbeing technology. *This conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Investigating the use of wearable technology to support safety in the workplace

Many workplaces in New Zealand can be described as hazardous. That is, the nature of the work and/or workplace, or the combination of the two, can lead to situations where workers may be at risk of workplace accidents. One contributor to such accidents is worker fatigue, which is the result of the nature and intensity level of the work they are undertaking. This can be exacerbated by factors such as the length of the working day, shift work and roles that require high levels of concentration. Most existing risk minimization processes rely on self-reporting methodologies and health and safety procedures; neither of these are necessarily the most effective methods for dealing with workers in hazardous jobs and work environments. Wearable technology which collects physiological data, such as step and heart rates, as an individual performs workplace tasks has been proposed as a possible solution. While wearable devices are minimally intrusive to the individual and so can be used throughout the working day it is unclear how suitable they are for in-situ measurements in real-world work scenarios. In this work, we describe a series of studies conducted with New Zealand forestry workers and present an analysis of the data gathered to consider the suitability of the collection methods as well as the suitability of the data itself as a method to identify fatigue and reduce risk in the workplace

Emerging Technologies

This monograph investigates a multitude of emerging technologies including 3D printing, 5G, blockchain, and many more to assess their potential for use to further humanity’s shared goal of sustainable development. Through case studies detailing how these technologies are already being used at companies worldwide, author Sinan Küfeoğlu explores how emerging technologies can be used to enhance progress toward each of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to guarantee economic growth even in the face of challenges such as climate change. To assemble this book, the author explored the business models of 650 companies in order to demonstrate how innovations can be converted into value to support sustainable development. To ensure practical application, only technologies currently on the market and in use actual companies were investigated. This volume will be of great use to academics, policymakers, innovators at the forefront of green business, and anyone else who is interested in novel and innovative business models and how they could help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is an open access book