Instrumenting gait with an accelerometer: A system and algorithm examination

Gait is an important clinical assessment tool since changes in gait may reflect changes in general health. Measurement of gait is a complex process which has been restricted to the laboratory until relatively recently. The application of an inexpensive body worn sensor with appropriate gait algorithms (BWM) is an attractive alternative and offers the potential to assess gait in any setting. In this study we investigated the use of a low-cost BWM, compared to laboratory reference using a robust testing protocol in both younger and older adults. We observed that the BWM is a valid tool for estimating total step count and mean spatio-temporal gait characteristics however agreement for variability and asymmetry results was poor. We conducted a detailed investigation to explain the poor agreement between systems and determined it was due to inherent differences between the systems rather than inability of the sensor to measure the gait characteristics. The results highlight caution in the choice of reference system for validation studies. The BWM used in this study has the potential to gather longitudinal (real-world) spatio-temporal gait data that could be readily used in large lifestyle-based intervention studies, but further refinement of the algorithm(s) is required

Persistent Offenders in the North West of England, 1880-1940: Some Critical Research Questions

This article examines the concept of the persistent offender as a group within society, and the presumed impact of that discrete group upon society via a case study of offending in Crewe between 1880 and 1940. The findings of persistent offending in Crewe challenge the assumptions and prejudices of the period, about the links between unemployment and crime and the extent to which crime was an enduring ‘career’. There were no ‘hardened’ persistent offenders in the sample of the type envisaged by contemporary comment, though the role of drink in offending was sustained; and there was no clear ‘type’ of offender either. Examination of the life histories of a selection of offenders is shown to raise a number of interdisciplinary questions, challenging the assumptions of criminologists and legal scholars in relation to the role of legislation in the management of criminality, including the concept (of interest also to historians) that reformation of the criminal was more achievable in the past than it is in the overregulated present

Judicial impartiality and the use of criminal law against labour : the sentencing of workplace appropriators in Northern England, 1840-1880

This article explores the framework of penalties available to magistrates for the punishment of workplace embezzlers ; and the penalties actually imposed on thousands of factory woollen workers in nineteenth-century Yorkshire. That period saw a key shift in the social composition of petty sessions' courts which raised issues of judicial impartiality. For example, a first glance, the impact of magistrates who were themselves owners of woollen factories on conviction rates for embezzlement seems considerable. Approximately eight out of every ten accused workers who stood in the dock before them were convicted and sentence to a large fine, or one month's imprisonment. This article will explain how such high conviction rates were achieved, and the part that judicial biases may have played in their production.Cet article étudie le cadre juridique des peines frappant le détournement de biens sur le lieu de travail, ainsi que les peines effectivement appliquées à des milliers d'ouvriers des filatures de laine dans le Yorkshire du 19e siècle. Au cours de cette période, une modification déterminante de la composition sociale des tribunaux compétents dans ce domaine conduit à s'interroger sur leur impartialité. Par exemple, à première vue, l'influence de magistrats propriétaires de filatures sur le taux de condamnation pour ces infrations paraît considérable. Environ 80 % des ouvriers jugés par eux étaient condamnés à une forte amende ou à un mois d'emprisonnement. Cet article explique les raisons d'un tel taux de condamnation et le rôle qu'une justice partiale a pu tenir dans ces circonstances

Future Perspectives on Crime History as “Connected History”

It is difficult to image an “unconnected history”. A strange beast indeed would be a piece of historical research that did not reference other scholars, different periods of history, or congruent disciplinary perspectives: this would be so odd, in fact, that we might hardly regard such a piece of work as worth reading. This essay, then, does not focus on the validity of connected histories, so much as the levels of connectivity, the mechanisms by which we have joined together our research to ..

Effect of smoking status on lung function, patient-reported outcomes, and safety among COPD patients treated with glycopyrrolate inhalation powder: pooled analysis of GEM1 and GEM2 studies.

BackgroundSmoking is a major risk factor for COPD and may impact the efficacy of COPD treatments; however, a large proportion of COPD patients continue to smoke following diagnosis.MethodsThis post-hoc analysis of pooled data from the replicate 12-week, placebo-controlled GEM1 and GEM2 studies assessed the impact of smoking status on the efficacy and safety of glycopyrrolate 15.6 μg twice daily vs placebo in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD. Data from 867 patients enrolled in GEM1 and GEM2 were pooled for analysis and grouped by smoking status (57% current smokers, 43% ex-smokers). Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) area under the curve from 0 to 12 h, trough FEV1, forced vital capacity, St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score, COPD assessment test (CAT) score, transition dyspnea index (TDI) focal score, daily symptom scores, and rescue medication use were assessed in current smokers and ex-smokers. Incidences of adverse events (AEs) and serious AEs (SAEs) were also assessed.ResultsTreatment with glycopyrrolate resulted in significant improvements in all lung function measures, independent of smoking status. In both current and ex-smokers, changes from baseline in trough FEV1 were less marked in patients taking inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) than those not receiving ICS. Changes from baseline in SGRQ total score and rescue medication use were significantly greater with glycopyrrolate compared with placebo, regardless of smoking status. Changes in the CAT score, TDI focal score, and daily symptom scores significantly improved versus placebo, but only in current smokers. Improvements in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with glycopyrrolate relative to placebo were numerically greater in current smokers than ex-smokers. The incidences of AEs and SAEs were similar regardless of smoking status.ConclusionsIn this post-hoc analysis of GEM1 and GEM2, glycopyrrolate use led to significant improvements in lung function, independent of baseline smoking status; improvements were less marked among patients receiving background ICS, regardless of baseline smoking status. Improvements in PROs were greater with glycopyrrolate than placebo, and the magnitude of changes was numerically greater among current smokers. The safety profile of glycopyrrolate was comparable between current smokers and ex-smokers

Beach Vegetation and Oceanic Processes Study of Popham State Park Beach, Reid State Park Beach, and Small Pt. Beach

Beach Vegetation and Oceanic Processes Study of Popham State Park Beach, Reid State Park Beach, and Small Pt. Beach by Philip Trudeau, Paul J. Godfrey and Barry S. Timson Prepared Under Cooperative Agreement Between the Maine Department of Conservation and the Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, September 1977. On Cover: Time and Tide Resource Conservation and Development Project. Contents: List of Figures / List of Tables / Introduction / Plant Community Research / Oceanic Processes / Historic Analysis of Barrier Beach Movement and Erosion / Dune Dynamics / Suggestions for Long Term Management / Appendices A - E / Literature Citedhttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection/1088/thumbnail.jp

Community «Law», Policing, and the Structures of Legitimacy: The High Wycombe Chairworkers’ Lock-Out, 1913-1914

Sociologists, legal theorists and historians have noted the existence of temporary but extensive codes of behaviour that emerge during prolonged industrial disputes. This article examines one dispute in southeast England before the First World War to show the contours of collective behaviour, and how striking chair workers in High Wycombe developed and maintained alternative local sources of legitimacy in opposition to lawful authority and parliamentary legislation. It demonstrates that local or community law can generate and imitate legitimate structures of authority, in this case, an Anti-Violence Brigade modelled on the police force, and a committee of strikers modelled on a magistrates’ court.Sociologues, théoriciens du droit et historiens ont relevé l’émergence – au cours de conflits du travail prolongés – d’un code de conduite englobant quoique temporaire.Cet article analyse un tel conflit dans le Sud-Est de l’Angleterre avant la Première Guerre mondiale, décrit ces conduites collectives et montre comment les ouvriers chaisiers de High Wycombe ont su élaborer et conserver des sources locales de légitimité alternative, s’opposant à l’autorité légale et à la législation officielle. Il démontre que des normes locales ou communautaires peuvent engendrer des structures légitimes d’autorité ou limiter ces dernières: dans ce cas particulier, les grévistes ont institué une « brigade anti-violence » calquée sur la police et un comité de grève inspiré des tribunaux locaux

Movements of older adults during exergaming interventions that are associated with the Systems Framework for Postural Control: A systematic review

One in three older adults fall annually, in part due to impairments in the physiological systems that make up the postural control (PC) system. Exercise, particularly balance training, helps to prevent deterioration and even to improve outcomes in the PC system. Exergaming (exercise-gaming) is interactive computer gaming whereby an individual moves the body in response to onscreen cues in a playful format. Exergaming is an alternative method to standard practice for improving PC outcomes, which has been shown to reduce the risk of falling. Exergaming has received research attention, yet the intervention is still in its infancy. There could be benefit in exploring the movements trained with respect to a framework known for identifying underlying deficits in the PC system, the Systems Framework for Postural Control (SFPC). This may help target areas for improvement in balance training using exergames and shed light on the impact for fall prevention. A literature search was therefore conducted across six databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, ISI, SPORTdiscus and Science Direct) using a range of search terms and combinations relating to exergaming, balance, exercise, falls and elderly. Quality assessment was conducted using the PEDro Scale and a custom-made quality assessment tool. Movements were rated by two reviewers based on the 9 operational definitions of the SFPC. Eighteen publications were included in the analysis, with a mean PEDro score of 5.6 (1.5). Overall, 4.99 (1.27) of the 9 operational definitions of the SFPC are trained in exergaming interventions. Exergaming does encourage individuals to stand up (3), lean while standing (4), move upper limbs and turn heads (6) and dual-task while standing (9), to some extent move the body forwards, backwards and sideways (1), and coordinate movements (2) but hardly at all to kick, hop, jump or walk (7), or to force a postural reaction from a physical force to the individual (5) and it does not mimic actual changes in sensory context (8). This is the first review, to our knowledge, that synthesises the literature on movements trained in exergaming interventions with respect to an established theoretical framework for PC. This review could provide useful information for designing exergames with PC outcomes in mind, which could help target specific exergames for multi-factorial training to overcome balance deficits. Some elements of PC are too unsafe to be trained using exergames, such as restricting sensory inputs or applying physical perturbations to an individual to elicit postural responses

'On Licence: Understanding punishment, recidivism and desistance in penal policy, 1853-1945'

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, British legislators reacted to the perceived growth in a hard core of violent repeat offenders and struggled to fi nd solutions to the problem of recidivism. The concept of dangerousness, and the potential threat posed by those people who appeared to be less affected by civilising processes that appeared to be effective in making Britain a safer place to live, have since been a recurring topic of study for researchers of nineteenth-century society. 1 Others, such as Leon Radzinowicz and Roger Hood, have focused more on legislation such as the Penal Servitude Acts (1853–64), Habitual Offender Acts (1869–91) and the Preventive Detention Act (1908), which were designed to incapacitate offenders through the imposition of long prison sentences and extended police supervision. 2 In an attempt to make the system to work effectively, a vast bureaucracy was created which was responsible for the identifi cation and tracking of many thousands of former prisoners and convicts. This served to create a huge range and number of archived written documentary records – many of which can now be utilised by historians to examine the impact of particular forms of legislation on offenders and the length of their criminal careers. In this chapter we present some case studies in order to outline both the possibilities, and also some of the possible pitfalls, of using these bureaucratic records in modern research. We contribute to the debates initiated by Radzinowicz and Hood by examining the impact of penal practices and policies on repeat offenders in order to understand the relative effects of punishment and surveillance, and also other signifi cant events in individual offenders’ lives, on their offending over the whole course of their lives