PDA Based Human Motion Recognition System

10.1142/S021819400500218XInternational Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering152199-204ISEK

Cost of Rolling on Rough and Smooth Ground for Assistants Pushing the Motivation Rough Terrain and Whirlwind RoughRider Wheelchairs

In less-resourced settings, powered wheelchairs are rarely available for users who cannot self-propel[1]. These users must rely on somebody, usually family members or friends, for assistance to push them across variable terrain[2],[3]. In situations where people with disabilities are grouped together, assistants may themselves be disabled. Provision of mobility for the wheelchair user may be a great physiological cost for the assistant. Objective outcomes measures can provide valuable feedback to manufacturers which can constructively influence wheelchair design modification3,4. We hypothesized that measuring the energy cost for an assistant pushing two types of wheelchairs on rough and smooth ground would allow us to differentiate between the chairs and provide useful feedback to manufacturers. This study compared the Motivation Rough Terrain and Whirlwind RoughRider, wheelchairs designed for less-resourced settings. Able-bodied volunteer college-aged students (n=29: 16M, 13F, age 19±1.3) completed six-minute timed walk tests (TWT) with both wheelchair types on smooth and rough ground courses, the smooth course on a paved parking lot and the rough course on a gravel parking lot. Exercise and non-exercise heart rate was collected for each subject using Polar Pro monitors. Exercise heart rate consisted of the last four minutes of heart rate collected during the TWT. The physiological cost index (PCI) was then calculated4. Subjects completed a visual analog scale (VAS) question for each TWT. Two-way within-subject ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests were used to compare data. Results showed the Motivation Rough Terrain outperformed the Whirlwind RoughRider in most categories. ANOVA showed significant results with the Whirlwind chair having a higher PCI. Post-hoc paired t-tests showed a significantly higher PCI for the Whirlwind chair on both smooth and rough ground. There was no significance found between the two chairs for the TWT. VAS results indicated subjects perceived significantly greater difficulty with the Whirlwind chair than the Motivation chair on both smooth and rough ground. Comments revealed that subjects favored the single front castor of the Motivation chair. Based on the results of this study, it seems as though the design of the Motivation chair utilizes important features that could be of potential benefit to assistants pushing wheelchair users in less-resourced settings. These features may also have a positive impact on the production of efficient rough terrain wheelchairs

Severity and management of psoriasis within primary care

Background: Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines stress the importance of assessing patients with psoriasis for psoriatic arthritis, comorbidities associated with severe disease and quality of life (QoL). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the primary care management of psoriasis in relation to disease severity and QoL from apatient's perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adults (≥18 years) with psoriasis managed in primary care was conducted in Scotland over 1-year (2012-2013). Patients with psoriasis were identified and invited to participate in the online/telephone survey. The questionnaires included; Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Self-Administered Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (SAPASI), Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST). The primary outcome measure was DLQI. Secondary outcomes included; demographics; comorbidities; involvement of different body sites; SAPASI and PEST scores. Relationships between measures were analysed using univariate analysis. Results: The mean age of patients (n = 905) was 54.5 years (SD = 16.1), 436 (48.2 %) were men, and median DLQI and SAPASI scores were 4.0 and 6.0, respectively. Current psoriasis treatments were topical only (587, 64.9 %), oral medications or phototherapy (122, 13.5%), biologics (26, 3 %) and none (156, 17.2 %). Despite SIGN recommendations,256 of 391 patients (65.5 %) with a DLQI >5 (at least a moderate effect on QoL) had not seen a specialist during the past year. According to PEST scores, 259 patients (28.6 %) had symptoms suggestive of psoriatic arthritis requiring rheumatology referral. Conclusion: National recommendations are not being fully implemented in primary care in patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis

Density functional theory study of (OCS)2^-

The structural and electronic properties of the carbonyl sulfide dimer anion are calculated using density functional theory within a pseudopotential method. Three geometries are optimized and investigated: C2v and C2 symmetric, as well as one asymmetric structure. A distribution of an excess charge in three isomers are studied by the Hirshfeld method. In an asymmetric (OCS)2^- isomer the charge is not equally divided between the two moieties, but it is distributed as OCS^{-0.6} OCS^{-0.4}. Low-lying excitation levels of three isomers are compared using the time-dependent density functional theory in the Casida approach.Comment: pdf (included all figures): http://www.phy.hr/~goranka/Research/ocs.pd

Low-temperature redetermination of 1,3-bis­(penta­fluoro­phen­yl)triazene

The crystal structure of the title compound, (C6F5)2N3H, is stabilized by N—H⋯N hydrogen bonding, forming centrosymmetric dimers organized in a herringbone motif. Important geometrical parameters are N—N = 1.272 (2) and 1.330 (2) Å and N—N—N = 112.56 (15)°. The dihedral angle between C6F5 groups is 21.22 (9)°. The room temperature structure was reported by Leman et al. (1993). Inorg. Chem. 32, 4324–4336]. In the current determination, the data were collected to a higher θ angle, resulting in higher precision for the C—C bond lengths(0.001–0.005 versus 0.003 Å)

A severe case of erythrodermic psoriasis associated with advanced nail and joint manifestations: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Erythrodermic psoriasis is a rare generalized clinical presentation of psoriasis in children and adults. Its systemic involvement and a diverse range of clinical findings in the joint and nails are commonly described. A high index of suspicion and an exhaustive differential diagnosis involving other causes of erythroderma should be initially considered.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 9-year-old native Hispanic girl with severe erythrodermic psoriasis associated with uncommon advanced nail and joint manifestations. Our patient showed an excellent response to methotrexate medication.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case shows clinical features not commonly described or reported in severe cases of erythrodermic psoriasis, including severe and rare nail and arthritic findings in a pediatric scenario.</p

Statistical analysis of human boy movement and group interactions in response to music

Quantification of time series that relate to physiological data is challenging for empirical music research. Up to now, most studies have focused on time-dependent responses of individual subjects in controlled environments. However, little is known about time-dependent responses of between-subject interactions in an ecological context. This paper provides new findings on the statistical analysis of group synchronicity in response to musical stimuli. Different statistical techniques were applied to time-dependent data obtained from an experiment on embodied listening in individual and group settings. Analysis of inter group synchronicity are described. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Cross Correlation Function (CCF) were found to be valid methods to estimate group coherence of the resulting movements. It was found that synchronicity of movements between individuals (human human interactions) increases significantly in the social context. Moreover, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that the type of music is the predominant factor in both the individual and the social context

Experimental inoculation of plants and animals with Ebola virus.

Thirty-three varieties of 24 species of plants and 19 species of vertebrates and invertebrates were experimentally inoculated with Ebola Zaire virus. Fruit and insectivorous bats supported replication and circulation of high titers of virus without necessarily becoming ill; deaths occurred only among bats that had not adapted to the diet fed in the laboratory

Microtiming patterns and interactions with musical properties in Samba music

In this study, we focus on the interaction between microtiming patterns and several musical properties: intensity, meter and spectral characteristics. The data-set of 106 musical audio excerpts is processed by means of an auditory model and then divided into several spectral regions and metric levels. The resulting segments are described in terms of their musical properties, over which patterns of peak positions and their intensities are sought. A clustering algorithm is used to systematize the process of pattern detection. The results confirm previously reported anticipations of the third and fourth semiquavers in a beat. We also argue that these patterns of microtiming deviations interact with different profiles of intensities that change according to the metrical structure and spectral characteristics. In particular, we suggest two new findings: (i) a small delay of microtiming positions at the lower end of the spectrum on the first semiquaver of each beat and (ii) systematic forms of accelerando and ritardando at a microtiming level covering two-beat and four-beat phrases. The results demonstrate the importance of multidimensional interactions with timing aspects of music. However, more research is needed in order to find proper representations for rhythm and microtiming aspects in such contexts