sUAS and their application in observing geomorphological processes

Methodologies and procedures in processing gained data vary based on possibilities and needs of scientific projects. This paper should help to get a general overview in the choice of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS – commonly known as drones) for scientific purposes, namely remote sensing of geomorphologic processes such as soil degradation in high mountainous areas that are hard to access and have unfavourable weather conditions. All high mountain areas in European countries are legislatively protected, and so various permissions and observation of strict procedures are needed in order to not have a negative influence on the environment. Nowadays, several types of UAS exist that could effectively help us in such protection, as well as in full-fledged utilization when answering scientific questions about the alpine lake genesis. We demonstrate it here with selected examples of our photo documentation

A day in the life: a qualitative study of clinical decision-making and uptake of neurorehabilitation technology.

BackgroundNeurorehabilitation engineering faces numerous challenges to translating new technologies, but it is unclear which of these challenges are most limiting. Our aim is to improve understanding of rehabilitation therapists' real-time decision-making processes on the use of rehabilitation technology (RT) in clinical treatment.MethodsWe used a phenomenological qualitative approach, in which three OTs and two PTs employed at a major, technology-encouraging rehabilitation hospital wrote vignettes from a written prompt describing their RT use decisions during treatment sessions with nine patients (4 with stroke, 2 traumatic brain injury, 1 spinal cord injury, 1 with multiple sclerosis). We then coded the vignettes using deductive qualitative analysis from 17 constructs derived from the RT literature and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Data were synthesized using summative content analysis.ResultsOf the constructs recorded, the five most prominent are from CFIR determinants of: (i) relative advantage, (ii) personal attributes of the patients, (iii) clinician knowledge and beliefs of the device/intervention, (iv) complexity of the devices including time and setup, and (v) organizational readiness to implement. Therapists characterized candidate RT as having a relative disadvantage compared to conventional treatment due to lack of relevance to functional training. RT design also often failed to consider the multi-faceted personal attributes of the patients, including diagnoses, goals, and physical and cognitive limitations. Clinicians' comfort with RT was increased by their previous training but was decreased by the perceived complexity of RT. Finally, therapists have limited time to gather, setup, and use RT.ConclusionsDespite decades of design work aimed at creating clinically useful RT, many lack compatibility with clinical translation needs in inpatient neurologic rehabilitation. New RT continue to impede the immediacy, versatility, and functionality of hands-on therapy mediated treatment with simple everyday objects

Performance and survival of transvenous defibrillation leads: need for a european data registry

Although the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy has increased over the last decades, the reporting of ICD lead performance is inadequate. So far, there is neither a European nor worldwide registry on ICD leads. The published long-term results from national or multicentre registries encompass relatively small patient cohorts. Nevertheless, the failure of ICD leads may have substantial clinical consequences, including failure to sense, failure to pace, failure to defibrillate, inappropriate shocks, and even death of the patient. The reported ICD lead survival varies significantly between studies: 91–99% at 2 years, 85–95% at 5 years, and 60–72% at 8 years. Thus, the true incidence of lead malfunction cannot be defined as outlined in the present review. One current initiative of the European Heart Rhythm Association is to initiate and develop a Europe-wide registry to monitor, over a prolonged follow-up period, the performance of ICDs and ICD leads