WEARABLE MULTI-SENSOR SYSTEM FOR TELEMEDICINE APPLICATIONS

In this paper, we describe a technical design of wearable multi-sensor systems for physiological data measurement and wide medical applications, significantly impacted in telehealth. The monitors are composed of three analog front-end (AFE) devices, which assist with interfacing digital electronics to the noise-, time-sensitive physiological sensors for measuring ECG (heart-rate monitor), RR (respiration-rate monitor), SRL (skin resistivity monitor). These three types of sensors can be used separately or together and allow to determine a number of parameters for the assessment of mental and physical condition. The system is designed based on requirements for demanding environments even outside the realm of medical applications, and in accordance with Health and Safety at Work directives (89/391/CE and Seveso-II 96/82/EC) for occupational hygiene, medical, rehabilitation, sports and fitness applications

SYSTEM FOR MEASURING KINEMATICS OF VESTIBULAR SYSTEM MOVEMENTS IN NEUROLOGICAL PRACTICE

The article deals with the design of a system for studying kinematics of movement of the vestibular system. Up to now there has not existed a system which would enable to measure the kinematic quantities of movement of the individual parts of the vestibular system within its coordinate system. The proposed system removes these deficiencies by suitable positioning of five gyro-accelerometric units on the helmet. The testing of the system took place under two conditions, during Unilateral Rotation on Barany Chair and Head Impulse Test. During the testing, the system justified its application because the results show that the kinematic quantities of the movement of the left and right labyrinths of the vestibular system differ. The introduced device is mainly intended for application in clinical neurology with the aim to enable the physician to measure all linear and angular accelerations of the vestibular system during medical examinations

METHODS EVALUATING UPPER ARM AND FOREARM MOVEMENT DURING A QUIET STANCE

The article focuses on designing methods for quantitative assessment of the postural stability in a quiet stance by measuring segments of the appendicular skeleton, namely upper and forearms by inertial measurement units (IMU). Although an array of quantitative analysis methods assessing data of postural stability in the quiet stance exist by measuring the head and trunk movement, these methods have not been used to date to assess the behaviour of appendicular skeleton segments, namely the upper limbs. The applicability of methods assessing arm movement during the quiet stance has been verified by comparing the values of healthy subjects performing various stance tasks. The tests determined the quantitative evaluation of acceleration measured on individual anatomical axes. The quantities included: the volume of a convex polyhedron (PV), the volume of confidence ellipsoid (EV) and average velocity (AV) obtained by plotting three accelerations against each other. The most important findings in this study concern significant differences of PV and AV between dominant and non-dominant upper extremities and significant differences of EV, PV and AV between the data measured with a subject's eyes closed and open. Higher values of indicators were in the non-dominant extremities when subjects were measured with closed eyes. Interestingly, statistically significant differences between dominant and non-dominant arm movements were documented in PV and AV cases. This is due to the PV calculation being more sensitive to random deviations, i.e. the range of measured data, since the polyhedron bounds all the measured data, as opposed to the method, where the ellipse bounds only 95% of the measured data. In the case of the AV method, it is due to higher sensitivity to movements corresponding with arm tremors; the AV calculation relates not only to the range of measured data but, above all, to the intensity of data changes in the segment measured in a particular space and time interval. These conclusions demonstrate that it is possible to apply the proposed methods in the assessment of arm movement during a quiet stance since the differences between individual stance tasks and the dominant and non-dominant arms in specific cases of quiet stance have been identified. These conclusions also indicate a potentially more extensive medical application of the proposed quantitative data evaluation obtained from IMU, for example, within the rehabilitation process of injured appendicular skeleton segments. The use of cheaper IMU methods in mobile phones or watches can be of significant benefit in measuring the segmental movement of the appendicular skeleton in quiet stance.  The methods outlined in this paper have remarkable potential in the field of telemedicine

CONTROL AND ANALYSIS OF SIMULATOR AND BIOLOGICAL DATA FROM CAR SIMULATORS

Due to the fact that driving vehicles can be complicated or impracticable, a computer simulator is usually used for training and professional studies. The advantage of this approach is high safety, repeatability, easier feasibility and, of course, lower price. In this work we describe the extension of the car simulator developed by the Faculty of Transport CTU in Prague with specific scenarios for evaluating the cognitive abilities of probands, software for their management and evaluation of data from simulator software and other measured physiological variables such as ECG and arm movement. From the data it is then possible to evaluate the mental and physical condition of the proband and the progress of training. Preliminary results suggest the possibility of using Poincaré analysis for the purpose of assessing cognitive load during potential collision situations. It uses distance assessment from other objects involved in traffic situations

EVALUATION AND TYPES OF ATTACKS WITH STABBING WEAPONS FOR THE DESIGN OF PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Knife attacks have become a global problem in recent years, especially in countries where access to firearms is limited. However, the current situation is that the method of selection and characteristics of protective equipment about the physical attributes of stabbing attacks is not systematically determined. Attacks with stab weapons can be divided according to the weapon's grip, the angle of the attack, and its execution into six different attacks (e.g., underarm action stab, overarm action stab, etc.). Our work presents a survey of methods for capturing and then evaluating the physical parameters of point attacks in specific motion capture and analysis programs. In this work, kinematic analysis was used to analyze motion during a stabbing attack and to obtain data on the kinetic energy of the stab. The measurements were performed with the MoCap system - Vicon Nexus 2.70. The results of the study show that the average value for the straight stab and the underarm stab is almost the same (66.5–67.1 J), while the overarm stab reaches a much higher value (92.8 J). The study aims to determine the kinetic energy of types of attacks, for standards state the level of protection based on energy levels. The results could provide new insights into the current state of protective equipment and energy values ​​in national/international standards

Dark side of the fence: ornamental plants as a source of wild-growing flora in the Czech Republic

Ornamental plants constitute an important source of alien, and potentially invasive species, but also include a substantial part of native flora and consist of taxa that occur both in the wild and in cultivation; yet garden floras are largely ignored in ecological studies.We studied ornamental plants in the Czech Republic in order to provide detailed information, based on field sampling, on the diversity of taxa grown in cultivation in private gardens. Sampling was done in accessible public areas, private gardens and private areas in villages, town- and city neighbourhoods, garden allotments, cemeteries, areas of dispersed farmhouse settlements not accessible to the public, and in new urban sprawl. The data can be used to estimate the propagule pressure of individual taxa, measured in terms of the frequency with which they are planted in the gardens. To make the data comparable across sites, we adopted a two-level approach that resulted in producing a detailed list (including all the taxa recorded) and an aggregated list (merging closely related and similar taxa, which was necessary in order to assess the frequency of planting across sites). Each species on the detailed list was assigned an origin, status, life history and cultivation requirements. Comparing the field records with national checklists of both native and alien vascular plants we quantified particular components of the ornamental flora. The floristic inventories for 174 sites yielded 1842 taxa on the detailed list, consisting of 1642 species (standard binomials), 9 cultivars assigned to genera, 147 hybrids and hybridogenous taxa, and 44 taxa identified at higher than species level. Of these taxa 1417 (76.9%) were alien and 420 (22.8%) native. The ornamental flora consisted of not-escaping aliens, escaping aliens and cultivated natives. Of the recorded taxa, 841 (45.6%) occur both in cultivation and the wild. The aggregated list comprised 1514 taxa and resulted from merging 533 taxa from the detailed list into 205 taxa. Most alien ornamentals are native to Asia and Americas. The proportion of escaped and not-escaping aliens significantly differed from wild aliens in the spontaneous flora with underrepresentation of escaped, which originated from Australia, Africa and the Mediterranean area. Taxa from Africa and anecophytes were overrepresented and those from Australia, the Mediterranean and other parts of Europe underrepresented among not escaping aliens. The assessment of planting frequency revealed that 270 taxa were found at more than 25% of the sites, while 584 (40%) occurred at only one or two sites.Winter annuals and shrubs are most represented among the commonly planted aliens; the only native species with comparably high planting frequencies among the aliens, are Vinca minor, Hedera helix and Aquilegia vulgaris. Related to the invasion potential of ornamental garden flora we analysed the recorded taxa with respect to the transient/persistent character of their occurrence. The core (persistent) part of the flora comprised 599 taxa (32% of the total number of taxa) and the transient 240 (13%) taxa. The “grey zone” between the two included 1003 taxa (55%). The results reported here provide quantitative insights into the role of horticulture as a major pathway of plant invasions

METHODS FOR KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS: A REVIEW OF CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE METHODS

Expansion of methods employed in the kinematic analysis of human movement for diagnosing of the physical and mental health of subjects can be traced back to the 1990`s when new information technologies and electronic recording systems started their development boom. Evaluation methods of body movement for the diagnostics of physical and mental health expanded significantly in clinical practice. This study presents an overview of these methods with the focus on how applicable the analysis of human movement can be in military practice, where they are currently marginally used. The aim of this study is to offer some recommendations on how particular methods could be utilized in an army context. This article also suggests the most appropriate methods of quantitative evaluation for posture and motion control in the course of standing, gait and other activities carried out in military training and active duty