A Kinect-Based Interactive System for Home-Assisted Active Aging

Virtually every country in the world is facing an unprecedented challenge: society is aging.Assistive technologies are expected to play a key role in promoting healthy lifestyles in the elderly.This paper presents a Kinect-based interactive system for home-assisted healthy aging, which guides,supervises, and corrects older users when they perform scheduled physical exercises. Interactionstake place in gamified environments with augmented reality. Many graphical user interface elementsand workflows have been designed considering the sensory, physical and technological shortcomingsof the elderly, adapting accordingly the interaction methods, graphics, exercises, tolerance margins,physical goals, and scoring criteria. Experiments involved 57 participants aged between 65 and 80who performed the same physical routine six times during 15 days. After each session, participantscompleted a usability survey. Results provided significant evidence that support (1) the effectivenessof the system in assisting older users of different age ranges, (2) the accuracy of the system inmeasuring progress in physical achievement of the elderly, and (3) a progressive acceptance ofthe system as it was used. As a main conclusion, the experiments verified that despite their poortechnological skills, older people can adapt positively to the use of an interactive assistance tool foractive aging if they experience clear benefits

A RGBD-Based interactive system for gaming-driven rehabilitation of upper limbs

Current physiotherapy services may not be effective or suitable for certain patients due to lack of motivation, poor adherence to exercises, insufficient supervision and feedback or, in the worst case, refusal to continue with the rehabilitation plan. This paper introduces a novel approach for rehabilitation of upper limbs through KineActiv, a platform based on Microsoft Kinect v2 and developed in Unity Engine. KineActiv proposes exergames to encourage patients to perform rehabilitation exercises prescribed by a specialist, controls the patient's performance, and corrects execution errors on the fly. KineActiv comprises a web platform where the physiotherapist can review session results, monitor patient health, and adjust rehabilitation routines. We recruited 10 patients for assessing the system usability as well as the system performance. Results show that KineActiv is a usable, enjoyable and reliable system, that does not cause any negative feelings

Efecto de las fuentes de energía sustentables en la calidad de energía para redes eléctricas de distribución

En esta investigación se analiza el problema de Calidad de la Energía asociado principalmente al uso de Fuentes de Energía Sustentables (FES), en este caso con el uso de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos (SFV) conectados a la Red Eléctrica de distribución. El objetivo principal de la investigación es analizar la diferencia que existe en cuanto a Calidad de la Energía si hay variación entre un SFV y la Red eléctrica convencional. La investigación se basó en recabar información bibliográfica en diferentes fuentes de información sobre el tema la cual llevó al problema principal que es la Distorsión armónica trayendo con ella una disminución de la potencia. La Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río en Querétaro México realizó una medición de Distorsión Armónica en aparatos electrodomésticos y los resultados que se obtuvieron dejan como conclusión que existe una mala calidad de la energía cuando se opera con un sistema fotovoltaico, habiendo un aumento en el porcentaje de THD (distorsión armónica total) y una disminución en la potencia, comparado con la red eléctrica convencional donde el THD disminuye y la potencia aument

Impacto do Mestrado em Informática Médica Aplicada na informatização da saúde pública cubana

Introduction: the Ministry of Public Health in Cuba is making numerous efforts to embed an informatics infrastructure in all its process where professionals with a high level of knowledge on the subject it´s essential. The National School of Public Health implements the Master's Degree in Health Informatics, aimed at the sector's managers who are involving in the informatics process. However, the current program does not focus on developing the technical skills of computer specialists. Objective: to design the academic program of the Master's Degree in Applied Medical Informatics and to evaluate its impact on the informatics process of Cuban public health. Method: a mixed approach, descriptive, retrospective and non-experimental design, and cross-sectional study, was carried out. A documentary analysis was conducted to support the design of the program and a questionnaire was applied to evaluate its impact on the informatics process of Cuban public health, with a sample randomly selected (n=63). Results: the academic program for the Master's Degree in Applied Medical Informatics was designed with a structure of 78 credits. Created in mutual collaboration between the Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas (UCI) and the National School of Public Health. In addition, its impact on the informatics process of Cuban Public Health was evaluated on the basis of statistical analysis of data obtained. Conclusions: the program implemented is advisable and its successfully impact on the informatics process of Cuban public health, was reflected in the statistics of the first ongoing edition of the master's program.Introducción: el Ministerio de Salud Pública de Cuba realiza numerosos esfuerzos por garantizar la informatización de sus procesos, donde la superación profesional representa un eslabón fundamental. La Escuela Nacional de Salud Pública implementa la Maestría en Informática en Salud, dirigida a los directivos del sector que participan en el proceso de informatización. Sin embargo, el programa actual no se enfoca hacia el desarrollo de habilidades técnicas de los especialistas informáticos. Objetivo: diseñar el programa académico de la Maestría en Informática Médica Aplicada y evaluar su impacto en el proceso de informatización de la salud pública cubana. Método: estudio con enfoque mixto, alcance descriptivo, de tipo retrospectivo y diseño no experimental, de corte transversal. Se realizó un análisis documental para fundamentar el diseño del programa académico de la maestría y se aplicó un cuestionario para evaluar su impacto en el proceso de informatización de la salud pública cubana, con una muestra aleatoria (n=63). Resultados: se diseñó el programa académico de la Maestría en Informática Médica Aplicada, con una estructura de 78 créditos. Es coordinado por la Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas en colaboración con la Escuela Nacional de Salud Pública. Además, se evaluó su impacto en el proceso de informatización de la Salud Pública Cubana a partir de análisis estadísticos con los datos obtenidos.Conclusiones: el programa implementado es pertinente e impacta en el proceso de informatización de la salud pública cubana, muestra de ello lo constituye las estadísticas de la primera edición en curso de la maestría.Introdução: o Ministério de Saúde Pública de Cuba realiza numerosos esforços para garantir a informatização de seus processos, onde o aperfeiçoamento profissional representa um elo fundamental. A Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública implementa o Mestrado em Informática em Saúde, destinado a gestores do setor que participam no processo de informatização. No entanto, o programa atual não se concentra no desenvolvimento de habilidades técnicas de especialistas em informática. Objetivo: desenhar o programa acadêmico do Mestrado em Informática Médica Aplicada e avaliar seu impacto no processo de informatização da saúde pública cubana. Método: estudo com abordagem mista, âmbito descritivo, tipo retrospectivo e desenho não experimental, transversal. Foi realizada uma análise documental para subsidiar o desenho do programa acadêmico do mestrado e aplicado um questionário para avaliar seu impacto no processo de informatização da saúde pública cubana, com amostra aleatória (n=63). Resultados: foi elaborado o programa acadêmico do Mestrado em Informática Médica Aplicada, com uma estrutura de 78 créditos. Foi coordenado pela Universidade de Ciências Informáticas em colaboração com a Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública. Além disso, avaliou-se seu impacto no processo de informatização da saúde pública cubana com base em análises estatísticas com os dados obtidos. Conclusões: o programa implantado é relevante e impacta o processo de informatização da saúde pública cubana, exemplo disso são as estatísticas da primeira edição em andamento do mestrado

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Robust Neural Network Consensus for Multiagent UASs Based on Weights’ Estimation Error

We propose a neural network consensus strategy to solve the leader–follower problem for multiple-rotorcraft unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), where the goal of this work was to improve the learning based on a set of auxiliary variables and first-order filters to obtain the estimation error of the neural weights and to introduce this error information in the update laws. The stability proof was conducted based on Lyapunov’s theory, where we concluded that the formation errors and neural weights’ estimation error were uniformly ultimately bounded. A set of simulation results were conducted in the Gazebo environment to show the efficacy of the novel update laws for the altitude and translational dynamics of a group of UASs. The results showed the benefits and insights into the coordinated control for multiagent systems that considered the weights’ error information compared with the consensus strategy based on classical σ-modification. A comparative study with the performance index ITAE and ITSE showed that the tracking error was reduced by around 45%

Robust Neural Network Consensus for Multiagent UASs Based on Weights&rsquo; Estimation Error

We propose a neural network consensus strategy to solve the leader&ndash;follower problem for multiple-rotorcraft unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), where the goal of this work was to improve the learning based on a set of auxiliary variables and first-order filters to obtain the estimation error of the neural weights and to introduce this error information in the update laws. The stability proof was conducted based on Lyapunov&rsquo;s theory, where we concluded that the formation errors and neural weights&rsquo; estimation error were uniformly ultimately bounded. A set of simulation results were conducted in the Gazebo environment to show the efficacy of the novel update laws for the altitude and translational dynamics of a group of UASs. The results showed the benefits and insights into the coordinated control for multiagent systems that considered the weights&rsquo; error information compared with the consensus strategy based on classical &sigma;-modification. A comparative study with the performance index ITAE and ITSE showed that the tracking error was reduced by around 45%

Second Order Sliding Mode Controllers for Altitude Control of a Quadrotor UAS: Real-Time Implementation in Outdoor Environments

International audienc

Robust Trajectory Tracking for Unmanned Aircraft Systems using a Nonsingular Terminal Modified Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Controller

International audienc