Déploiement et expérimentation d'un système socio-technique pour la surveillance des activités comportementales de personnes en perte d'autonomie dans un habitat intelligent

National audienceHome maintenance is a response to the care of people with loss of autonomy. The technology is now mature enough to support these people in their aging home. SUIPAD project attempts to assess the contribution and impact of some technologies for the automatic collection of data for environmental and physiological knowledge of events, activities and attitudes that characterize the actual behavior of frail people in their ordinary living environment.Le maintien à domicile est un élément de réponse à la prise en charge des personnes en perte d’autonomie. La technologie est aujourd’hui suffisamment mûre pour accompagner ces personnes dans leur vieillissement chez elles. Le projet SUIPAD tente d’évaluer l’apport et l’impact de certaines technologies pour le recueil automatique de données ambiantes et physiologiques permettant une bonne connaissance des évènements, des activités et attitudes qui caractérisent le comportement réel de personnes fragiles dans leur environnement de vie ordinaire

Procedura doboru wartości parametrów pracy metody ball-cratering do oceny odporności na zużycie ścierne

In the example of the CrN coating deposited by the cathodic arc evaporation (CAE) method on two differently prepared substrates, the procedure for selecting the values of the work condition parameters of the ballcratering method was presented. The procedure was developed thanks to applying an individual experiment design from Taguchi's approach and has not been used to determine the values of the parameters of the operating conditions of the test friction node for tribological tests. The procedure, according to Taguchi, allowed us to determine the values of the parameters for assessing the abrasion resistance of anti-wear coatings, with the use of a much smaller number of tests, compared to the methods used so far and a repetitive wear mechanism. The starting point of the presented procedure was selecting the area of the permissible values of the operating parameters, in the ball-cratering method, in which optimal values were searched for to minimise the relative error in determining the diameters of wear marks craters. After determining the area of limit values, an experiment plan was generated in which the variables were: load, rotational speed, minimum friction path, and maximum friction path. The results of abrasive wear tests performed with the ball-cratering method, in accordance with the developed test procedure for the CrN coating – were deposited on the substrate after heat treatment and the substrate after the nitriding process had been successfully verified.Na przykładzie powłoki CrN, osadzonej metodą katodowego odparowania łukiem (CAE) na dwóch różnie przygotowanych podłożach, przedstawiono procedurę doboru wartości parametrów pracy metody ball-cratering. Procedurę opracowano dzięki zastosowaniu indywidualnego planu eksperymentu wynikającego z podejścia Taguchiego dotychczas niestosowanego do wyznaczania wartości parametrów warunków pracy testowego węzła tarcia do badań tribologicznych. Sposób postępowania według Taguchiego pozwolił na wyznaczanie wartości parametrów oceny odporności na zużycie ścierne powłok przeciwzużyciowych, przy zastosowaniu zdecydowanie mniejszej liczby prób w stosunku do dotychczas stosowanych metod oraz powtarzalnym mechanizmie zużywania. Punktem wyjścia zaprezentowanej procedury był wybór obszaru dopuszczalnych wartości parametrów pracy, w metodzie ball-cratering, w której poszukiwano wartości optymalnych ze względu na minimalizację błędu względnego wyznaczania średnic kraterów śladów zużycia. Po ustaleniu obszaru wartości wielkości dopuszczalnych wygenerowano plan eksperymentu, w którym zmiennymi były: obciążenie, prędkość obrotowa, minimalna droga tarcia i maksymalna droga tarcia. Wyniki badań zużycia ściernego wykonanych metodą ball-cratering, zgodnie z opracowaną procedurą badawczą dla powłoki CrN – osadzonej na podłożu po obróbce cieplnej oraz na podłożu po procesie azotowania, zostały pomyślnie zweryfikowane

Risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in paramedics

Introduction : Cardiovascular diseases are the most life-threatening in Poland and constitute the most frequent cause of death. Aim of the research : The evaluation of the frequency of the occurrence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among paramedics of the ŚCRMiTS (Świętokrzyskie Centre of Emergency Medical Services) in Kielce. Material and methods : The subject study group involved 140 paramedics of the ŚCRMiTS in Kielce, excluding the doctors. The evaluation of their condition of health included the following measurements: blood pressure, biochemical analyses: fasting lipidogram, fasting glycaemia, anthropometric measurements, and a questionnaire interview. Results : The average body mass index of the group was above the norm and equalled 28.2 ±4.1 kg/m 2 . The average blood pressure equalled: systolic – 133.8 ±14.9 mm Hg, diastolic – 83.1 ±9.2 mm Hg. The average fasting glucose concentration was 95 ±33.8 mg/dl in the subject population. The average total cholesterol concentration of the group was 198.6 ±36.6 mg/dl, high-density lipoprotein fraction concentration – 48.4 ±10.5 mg/dl, low-density lipoprotein fraction – 121 ±33.8 mg/dl, triglycerides concentration – 168.9 ±120.7 mg/dl. Fifteen risk factors were analysed altogether. Conclusions : Cardiovascular disease risk factors are a significant risk for the subject group of paramedics and they generate a disadvantageous picture of a health profile. A vast majority of the subjects had an abnormal body mass, exceeded values of blood pressure, and had bad lipidogram parameters. The spread of risk factors and the degree of exceeding reference norms increases with age. It would be justified to prepare preventive measures aimed mainly at the reduction of body weight and the decrease of other modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

The Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages and the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases in Men and Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Associations between alcohol consumption and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases have been the subject of several studies for a long time; however, the presence and nature of any associations still remain unclear. The aim of the study was to analyze the associations between the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in men and women. The data of 12,285 individuals aged 37–66 were used in the analysis. Multiple logistic regression models were utilized to estimate odds ratios and confidence intervals. The multivariable models included several potential confounders including age, education, marital status, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, smoking, coffee consumption, and statin use. The analyses were performed separately for men and women. In the model adjusted for confounders, the consumption from 0.1 to 10.0 g of alcohol/day was related to a lower risk of coronary disease and stroke (p < 0.05), and the consumption from 0.1 to 15.0 g/day was related to a lower risk of hypertension in women (p < 0.05). In men, in the adjusted model, there were no associations between alcohol consumption and the occurrence of hypertension or stroke. The risk of circulatory failure was significantly lower in the group in which participants drank more than 20.0 g of alcohol/day (p < 0.05) compared to nondrinkers. The risk of coronary disease was lower in drinkers at every level of alcohol consumption (p < 0.05) compared to nondrinkers. Alcohol consumption was related to a lower prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), both in men and women

The Usefulness of Anthropometric Indices to Identify the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

Despite several papers having been published on the association between adiposity and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), it is still difficult to determine unambiguously which of the indices of nutritional status is the best to identify MetS. The aim of this study was to analyze the ability of six anthropometric indices to identify MetS in the Polish population. The highest odds ratios for the occurrence of MetS, according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), were noted for the following indices: waist-to-height ratio (WHtR, OR = 24.87) and Clínica Universidad de Navarra-body adiposity estimator (CUN-BAE, OR = 17.47) in men and WHtR (OR = 25.61) and body roundness index (BRI, OR = 16.44) in women. The highest odds ratios for the modified definition of MetS (without waist circumference) were found for the following indices: WHtR (OR = 7.32), BRI (OR = 6.57), and CUN-BAE (OR = 6.12) in women and CUN-BAE (OR = 5.83), WHtR (OR = 5.70), and body mass index (BMI, OR = 5.65) in men (p < 0.001 for all). According to the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses conducted for the identification of MetS, defined in accordance with IDF, the largest areas under the curve (AUCs) in men were observed for WHtR and CUN-BAE indices, whereas in women, they were observed for WHtR and BRI. In the analysis carried out for the identification of MetS (according to modified definition, without waist circumference), the AUCs were larger for WHtR and BRI in women, while in men, they were larger for CUN-BAE, BMI, and WHtR. BMI was also characterized by a relatively strong discriminatory power in identifying individuals with MetS. An optimal cut-off point for MetS, in accordance with the conventional definition, for both sexes was the value of BMI = 27.2 kg/m2. The weakest predictor of the syndrome was the ABSI (a body shape index) indicator. The most useful anthropometric indicator for the identification of MetS, both in men and in women in the Polish population, was WHtR. The optimal cut-off points for WHtR equaled 0.56 in men and 0.54 in women

Anthropometric indices and cut-off points in the diagnosis of metabolic disorders.

ObjectiveIdentifying metabolic disorders at the earliest phase of their development allows for an early intervention and the prevention of serious consequences of diseases. However, it is difficult to determine which of the anthropometric indices of obesity is the best tool for diagnosing metabolic disorders. The aims of this study were to evaluate the usefulness of selected anthropometric indices and to determine optimal cut-off points for the identification of single metabolic disorders that are components of metabolic syndrome (MetS).DesignCross-sectional study.ParticipantsWe analyzed the data of 12,328 participants aged 55.7±5.4 years. All participants were of European descent.Primary outcome measureFour MetS components were included: high glucose concentration, high blood triglyceride concentration, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration, and elevated blood pressure. The following obesity indices were considered: waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), body fat percentage (%BF), Clínica Universidad de Navarra-body adiposity estimator (CUN-BAE), body roundness index (BRI), and a body shape index (ABSI).ResultsThe following indices had the highest discriminatory power for the identification of at least one MetS component: CUN-BAE, BMI, and WC in men (AUC = 0.734, 0.728, and 0.728, respectively) and WHtR, CUN-BAE, and WC in women (AUC = 0.715, 0.714, and 0.712, respectively) (pConclusionsFor the BMI, the optimal cut-off point for the identification of metabolic abnormalities was 27.2 kg/m2 for both sexes. For the WC, the optimal cut-off point was of 94 cm for men and 87 cm for women. Prospective studies are needed to identify those indices in which changes in value predict the occurrence of metabolic disorders best