Anticipating Daily Intention using On-Wrist Motion Triggered Sensing

Anticipating human intention by observing one's actions has many applications. For instance, picking up a cellphone, then a charger (actions) implies that one wants to charge the cellphone (intention). By anticipating the intention, an intelligent system can guide the user to the closest power outlet. We propose an on-wrist motion triggered sensing system for anticipating daily intentions, where the on-wrist sensors help us to persistently observe one's actions. The core of the system is a novel Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and Policy Network (PN), where the RNN encodes visual and motion observation to anticipate intention, and the PN parsimoniously triggers the process of visual observation to reduce computation requirement. We jointly trained the whole network using policy gradient and cross-entropy loss. To evaluate, we collect the first daily "intention" dataset consisting of 2379 videos with 34 intentions and 164 unique action sequences. Our method achieves 92.68%, 90.85%, 97.56% accuracy on three users while processing only 29% of the visual observation on average

Dose pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway use has a survival benefit in non-shockable cardiac arrest?

Background. Whether pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway (LMA) use poses a survival benefit and should be approved as routine airway management in non-shockable cardiac arrest is of major concern. The present study examined the effectiveness of LMA, in comparison to other pre-hospital airway management on individuals who have experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest. Methods. Adult patients who experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest with activation of the emergency medical service (EMS) made up our study cohort in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The data were abstracted from EMS records and cardiac arrest registration protocols. Results. Among the 1912 enrolled patients, most received LMA insertion (72.4%), 108 (5.6%) bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation, 376 (19.7%) high-flow oxygen non-rebreather facemask, and only 44 (2.3%) received endotracheal tube intubation (ETI). With regard to survival to discharge, no significant differences in prevalence were evident among the groups: 2.8% of oxygen facial mask, 1.1% of BVM, 2.1% of LMA, and 4.5% of the ETI group survived to discharge (p = 0.314). In comparison to oxygen facial mask use, different types of airway management remained unassociated with survival to discharge after adjusting for variables by logistic regression analysis (BVM: 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.079 – 1.639 [p = 0.186]; LMA: 95% CI, 0.220–2.487 [p = 0.627]; ETI: 95% CI, 0.325–17.820 [p = 0.390]). The results of Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test of logistic regression model revealed good calibration. Conclusions. Pre-hospital LMA use was not associated with additional survival to discharge compared with facial oxygen mask, BVM, or ETI following non-shockable cardiac arrest

Socially-enhanced variants of mobile bingo game: Towards personalized cognitive and social engagement among seniors

Elderlies often feel isolated or disregarded. This may lead to depression, lack of cognitive and social engagement. This project thus aims to engage the elderlies through three variants of a mobile bingo game application designed based on Norman’s usability principles. This paper presents the design and development of three variants of the mobile bingo game to suit the needs of senior citizens. User testing outcomes on user experience, usability and cognitive load are positive

Calcium alginate hydrogel beads with high stiffness and extended dissolution behaviour

Alginate hydrogel bead has been widely explored as a vehicle for controlled delivery application due to its non-toxicity, renewability, and ease of formation. However, alginate hydrogel beads are known to have a low stiffness, i.e., Young modulus <1 MPa, and a short dissolution time of between 1 h and 2 h in gastrointestinal fluid. This study aimed to fabricate calcium alginate hydrogel beads with desired properties like high stiffness and extended dissolution behaviour. A temperature-controlled extrusion–dripping method incorporating an immiscible interphase column was used to produce the ultra-high concentration (UHC) calcium hydrogel beads directly from unmodified alginate solution. The UHC beads have an extraordinary internal structure with thick calcium-alginate matrices and large pores in between the matrices. The Young’s modulus value of UHC calcium alginate beads was 3.6 MPa, which was approximately 8 times higher than the normal calcium alginate beads. The release profile for the model drug (i.e., methylene blue) encapsulated in UHC beads was found to be extended to 4 h at 80% of drug release (t80). The kinetics of drug release fitted well with the Korsmeyer–Peppas model (r2 ⩾ 0.99) and followed the non-Fickian mechanism. These findings show that the preparation of calcium alginate beads featuring high stiffness and extended dissolution profile can be achieved without any chemical modification or additives. The UHC calcium alginate bead holds excellent promise as an encapsulation carrier of drugs or food used in controlled delivery applications

Reliability of 95% confidence interval revealed by expected quality-of-life scores: an example of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy using EORTC QLQ-C 30

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many researchers use observed questionnaire scores to evaluate score reliability and to make conclusions and inferences regarding quality-of-life outcomes. The amount of false alarms from medical diagnoses that would be avoided if observed scores were substituted with expected scores is interesting, and understanding these differences is important for the care of cancer patients. Using expected scores to estimate the reliability of 95% confidence intervals (CIs) is rarely reported in published papers. We investigated the reliability of patient responses to a quality-of-life questionnaire and made recommendations for future studies of the quality of life of patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 115 patients completed the EORTC core questionnaire QLQ-C30 (version 3) after radiotherapy. The observed response scores, assumed to be one-dimensional, were summed and transformed into expected scores using the Rasch rating scale model with WINSTEPS software. A series of simulations was performed using a unified bootstrap procedure after manipulating scenarios with different questionnaire lengths and patient numbers to estimate the reliability at 95% confidence intervals. Skewness analyses of the 95% CIs were compared to detect different effects between groups according to the two data sets of observed and expected response scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that (1) it is necessary to report CIs for reliability and skewness coefficients in papers; (2) data derived from expected response scores are preferable to making inferences; and (3) visual representations displaying the 95% CIs of skewness values applied to item-by-item analyses can provide a useful interpretation of quality-of-life outcomes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Reliability coefficients can be reported with 95% CIs by statistical software to evaluate the internal consistency of respondent scores on questionnaire items. The SPSS syntax procedures for estimating the reliability of the 95% CI, expected score generation and visual skewness analyses are demonstrated in this study. We recommend that effect sizes such as a 95% CI be reported along with <it>p </it>values reporting significant differences in quality-of-life studies.</p

Uniformly Distributed Graphene Domain Grows on Standing Copper via Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

Uniformly distributed graphene domains were synthesized on standing copper foil by a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition system. This method improved the distribution of the graphene domains at different positions on the same piece of copper foil along the forward direction of the gas flow. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the average size of the graphene domains to be about ~20 m. This results show that the sheet resistance of monolayer graphene on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate is about ~359 /□ whereas that of the four-layer graphene films is about ~178 /□, with a transmittance value of 88.86% at the 550 nm wavelength. Furthermore, the sheet resistance can be reduced with the addition of HNO3 resulting in a value of 84 /□. These values meet the absolute standard for touch sensor applications, so we believe that this method can be a candidate for some transparent conductive electrode applications

Spatiotemporal analysis of air pollution and asthma patient visits in Taipei, Taiwan

[[abstract]]Background: Buffer analyses have shown that air pollution is associated with an increased incidence of asthma, but little is known about how air pollutants affect health outside a defined buffer. The aim of this study was to better understand how air pollutants affect asthma patient visits in a metropolitan area. The study used an integrated spatial and temporal approach that included the Kriging method and the Generalized Additive Model (GAM). Results: We analyzed daily outpatient and emergency visit data from the Taiwan Bureau of National Health Insurance and air pollution data from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration during 2000-2002. In general, children (aged 0-15 years) had the highest number of total asthma visits. Seasonal changes of PM10, NO2, O3 and SO2 were evident. However, SO2 showed a positive correlation with the dew point (r = 0.17, p < 0.01) and temperature (r = 0.22, p < 0.01). Among the four pollutants studied, the elevation of NO2 concentration had the highest impact on asthma outpatient visits on the day that a 10% increase of concentration caused the asthma outpatient visit rate to increase by 0.30% (95% CI: 0.16%??.45%) in the four pollutant model. For emergency visits, the elevation of PM10 concentration, which occurred two days before the visits, had the most significant influence on this type of patient visit with an increase of 0.14% (95% CI: 0.01%??.28%) in the four pollutants model. The impact on the emergency visit rate was non-significant two days following exposure to the other three air pollutants. Conclusion: This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of an integrated spatial and temporal approach to assess the impact of air pollution on asthma patient visits. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the correlation of air pollution with asthma patient visits and demonstrate that NO2 and PM10 might have a positive impact on outpatient and emergency settings respectively. Future research is required to validate robust spatiotemporal patterns and trends

Size-selective purification of hepatitis B virus-like particle in flow-through chromatography: types of ion exchange adsorbent and grafted polymer architecture

Hepatitis B virus-like particles expressed in Escherichia coli were purified using anion exchange adsorbents grafted with polymer poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) in flow-through chromatography mode. The virus-like particles were selectively excluded, while the relatively smaller sized host cell proteins were absorbed. The exclusion of virus-like particles was governed by the accessibility of binding sites (the size of adsorbents and the charge of grafted dextran chains) as well as the architecture (branch-chain length) of the grafted polymer. The branch-chain length of grafted polymer was altered by changing the type of monomers used. The larger adsorbent (90 μm) had an approximately twofold increase in the flow-through recovery, as compared to the smaller adsorbent (30 μm). Generally, polymer-grafted adsorbents improved the exclusion of the virus-like particles. Overall, the middle branch-chain length polymer grafted on larger adsorbent showed optimal performance at 92% flow-through recovery with a purification factor of 1.53. A comparative study between the adsorbent with dextran grafts and the polymer-grafted adsorbent showed that a better exclusion of virus-like particles was achieved with the absorbent grafted with inert polymer. The grafted polymer was also shown to reduce strong interaction between binding sites and virus-like particles, which preserved the particles' structure

The Effect of Annealing on Nanothick Indium Tin Oxide Transparent Conductive Films for Touch Sensors

This study aims to discuss the sheet resistance of ultrathin indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent conductive films during the postannealing treatment. The thickness of the ultrathin ITO films is 20 nm. They are prepared on B270 glass substrates at room temperature by a direct-current pulsed magnetron sputtering system. Ultrathin ITO films with high sheet resistance are commonly used for touch panel applications. As the annealing temperature is increased, the structure of the ultrathin ITO film changes from amorphous to polycrystalline. The crystalline of ultrathin ITO films becomes stronger with an increase of annealing temperature, which further leads to the effect of enhanced Hall mobility. A postannealing treatment in an atmosphere can enhance the optical transmittance owing to the filling of oxygen vacancies, but the sheet resistance rises sharply. However, a higher annealing temperature, above 250°C, results in a decrease in the sheet resistance of ultrathin ITO films, because more Sn ions become an effective dopant. An optimum sheet resistance of 336 Ω/sqr was obtained for ultrathin ITO films at 400°C with an average optical transmittance of 86.8% for touch sensor applications