Low-cost accurate skeleton tracking based on fusion of kinect and wearable inertial sensors

In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor fusion method to build a human skeleton. We propose to fuse the joint po- sition information obtained from the popular Kinect sensor with more precise estimation of body segment orientations provided by a small number of wearable inertial sensors. The use of inertial sensors can help to address many of the well known limitations of the Kinect sensor. The precise calcu- lation of joint angles potentially allows the quantification of movement errors in technique training, thus facilitating the use of the low-cost Kinect sensor for accurate biomechani- cal purposes e.g. the improved human skeleton could be used in visual feedback-guided motor learning, for example. We compare our system to the gold standard Vicon optical mo- tion capture system, proving that the fused skeleton achieves a very high level of accuracy

HeartHealth: A cardiovascular disease home-based rehabilitation system

The increasing pressure on medical institutions around the world requires health care professionals to be prescribing homebased exercise rehabilitation treatments to empower patients to self-monitor their rehabilitation journey. Home-based exercise rehabilitation has shown to be highly effective in treating conditions such as Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). However, adherence to home-based exercise rehabilitation remains low. Possible causes for this are that patients are not monitored, they cannot be confident that they are performing the exercise correctly or accurately and they receive no feedback. This paper proposes HeartHealth, a novel patient-centric gamified exercise rehabilitation platform that can help address the issue of adherence to these programmes. The key functionality is the ability to record the patient movements and compare them against the exercises that have been prescribed in order to return feedback to the patient and to the health care professional, as well. In order to synthesize a compact fully operational system able to work in real life scenarios, tools and services from FI-PPP projects, FIWARE1 and FI-STAR2, were exploited and a new FI-STAR component, Motion Evaluation Specific Enabler (SE), was designed and developed. The HeartHealth system brings together real-time cloud-based motion evaluation coupled with accurate low-cost motion capture, a personalised exercise rehabilitation programme and an intuitive and fun serious game interface, designed specifically with a Cardiac Rehabilitation population in mind

HeartHealth: new adventures in serious gaming

We present a novel, low-cost, interactive, exercise-based rehabilitation system. Our research involves the investigation and development of patient-centric, sensor-based rehabilitation games and surrounding technologies. HeartHealth is designed to provide a safe, personalised and fun exercise environment that could be deployed in any exercise based rehabilitation program. HeartHealth utilises a cloud-based patient information management system built on FIWARE Generic Enablers,and motion tracking coupled with our sophisticated motion comparison algorithms. Users can record customised exercises through a doctors interface and then play the rehabilitation game where they must perform a sequence of their exercises in order to complete the game scenario. Their exercises are monitored, recorded and compared by our Motion Evaluation software and real-time feedback is than given based on the users performance

A technology platform for enabling behavioural change as a “PATHway” towards better self-management of CVD

We describe a technology platform developed as part of a novel approach to technology-enabled exercise-based Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR), termed PATHway. We explain the overall concept and explain how technology can facilitate remote participation and better adherence to communitybased long-term Phase III CR. The demo will showcase the user experience of interacting with the PATHway system, including navigation and manual data entry, whilst also demonstrating real-time sensing and analysis of exercise movements and automatic adaptation of exercise based on physiological response

Interactive games for preservation and promotion of sporting movements

In this paper we describe two interactive applications for capturing the motion signatures associated with key skills of traditional sports and games. We first present the case for sport as an important example of intangible cultural heritage. We then explain that sport requires special consideration in terms of digitization for preservation as the key aspects to be digitized are the characteristic movement signatures of such sports. We explain that, given the nature of traditional sporting agencies, this requires low-cost motion capture technology. Furthermore we argue that in order to ensure ongoing preservation, this should be provided via fun interactive gaming scenarios that promote uptake of the sports, particularly among children. We then present two such games that we have developed and illustrate their performance

Quantum algorithm and circuit design solving the Poisson equation

The Poisson equation occurs in many areas of science and engineering. Here we focus on its numerical solution for an equation in d dimensions. In particular we present a quantum algorithm and a scalable quantum circuit design which approximates the solution of the Poisson equation on a grid with error \varepsilon. We assume we are given a supersposition of function evaluations of the right hand side of the Poisson equation. The algorithm produces a quantum state encoding the solution. The number of quantum operations and the number of qubits used by the circuit is almost linear in d and polylog in \varepsilon^{-1}. We present quantum circuit modules together with performance guarantees which can be also used for other problems.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures. This is the revised version for publication in New Journal of Physic

Frequency of pathogenic germline variants in BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, CHEK2 and TP53 in ductal carcinoma in situ diagnosed in women under the age of 50 years

a: TP53 pathogenic variants in cases. b: TP53 VUS in cases. (DOCX 20 kb

Correction to: Two years later: Is the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still having an impact on emergency surgery? An international cross-sectional survey among WSES members

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is still ongoing and a major challenge for health care services worldwide. In the first WSES COVID-19 emergency surgery survey, a strong negative impact on emergency surgery (ES) had been described already early in the pandemic situation. However, the knowledge is limited about current effects of the pandemic on patient flow through emergency rooms, daily routine and decision making in ES as well as their changes over time during the last two pandemic years. This second WSES COVID-19 emergency surgery survey investigates the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on ES during the course of the pandemic. Methods: A web survey had been distributed to medical specialists in ES during a four-week period from January 2022, investigating the impact of the pandemic on patients and septic diseases both requiring ES, structural problems due to the pandemic and time-to-intervention in ES routine. Results: 367 collaborators from 59 countries responded to the survey. The majority indicated that the pandemic still significantly impacts on treatment and outcome of surgical emergency patients (83.1% and 78.5%, respectively). As reasons, the collaborators reported decreased case load in ES (44.7%), but patients presenting with more prolonged and severe diseases, especially concerning perforated appendicitis (62.1%) and diverticulitis (57.5%). Otherwise, approximately 50% of the participants still observe a delay in time-to-intervention in ES compared with the situation before the pandemic. Relevant causes leading to enlarged time-to-intervention in ES during the pandemic are persistent problems with in-hospital logistics, lacks in medical staff as well as operating room and intensive care capacities during the pandemic. This leads not only to the need for triage or transferring of ES patients to other hospitals, reported by 64.0% and 48.8% of the collaborators, respectively, but also to paradigm shifts in treatment modalities to non-operative approaches reported by 67.3% of the participants, especially in uncomplicated appendicitis, cholecystitis and multiple-recurrent diverticulitis. Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still significantly impacts on care and outcome of patients in ES. Well-known problems with in-hospital logistics are not sufficiently resolved by now; however, medical staff shortages and reduced capacities have been dramatically aggravated over last two pandemic years

Air Flow Study around Isolated Cubical Building in the City of Athens under Various Climate Conditions

This study focuses on the airflow and pollutant dispersion around an isolated cubical building located in a warm Mediterranean climate, taking into account the local microclimate conditions (of airflow, albedo of building and soil, and air humidity) using a large-eddy simulation (LES) numerical approach. To test the reliability of computations, comparisons are made against the SILSOE cube experimental data. Three different scenarios are examined: (a) Scenario A with adiabatic walls, (b) Scenario B with the same constant temperature on all the surfaces of the building, and (c) Scenario C using convective and radiative conditions imposed by the local microclimate. For the first two cases the velocity and temperature fields resulting are almost identical. In the third case, the resulting temperature on the surfaces of the building is increased by 19.5%, the center (eye) of the wake zone is raised from the ground and the maximum pollutant concentration is drastically reduced (89%)