A Review of Low-end, Middle-end and High-end IoT Devices

Internet of Things (IoT) devices play a crucial role in the overall development of IoT in providing countless applications in various areas. Due to the increasing interest and rapid technological growth of sensor technology, which have certainly revolutionized the way we live today, a need to provide a detailed analysis of the embedded platforms and boards is consequential. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the recent and most-widely used commercial and research embedded systems and boards in different classification emphasizing their key attributes including processing and memory capabilities, security features, connectivity and communication interfaces, size, cost and appearance, operating system (OS) support, power specifications and battery life and listing some interesting projects for each device. Through this exploration and discussion, readers can have an overall understanding on this area and foster more subsequent studies

Psychological functioning in survivors of COVID-19: Evidence from recognition of fearful facial expressions

Evidence about the psychological functioning in individuals who survived the COVID-19 infectious is still rare in the literature. In this paper, we investigated fearful facial expressions recognition, as a behavioural means to assess psychological functioning. From May 15th, 2020 to January 30th, 2021, we enrolled sixty Italian individuals admitted in multiple Italian COVID-19 post-intensive care units. The detection and recognition of fearful facial expressions were assessed through an experimental task grounded on an attentional mechanism (i.e., the redundant target effect). According to the results, our participants showed an altered behaviour in detecting and recognizing fearful expressions. Specifically, their performance was in disagreement with the expected behavioural effect. Our study suggested altered processing of fearful expressions in individuals who survived the COVID-19 infectious. Such a difficulty might represent a crucial sign of psychological distress and it should be addressed in tailored psychological interventions in rehabilitative settings and after discharge

Prevalence of urinary incontinence in a cohort of women with obesity

INTRODUCTION:Urinary incontinence (UI) is frequently associated with obesity. The prevalence of the different UI types in women with obesity remains scarcely investigated and controversial. OBJECTIVE:The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the different types of UI (stress urinary incontinence, SUI, urge, UUI, or mixed, MUI) in a large sample of female patients with obesity by means of a specific questionnaire and non-invasive tests. METHODS:In this observational study, 248 obese female patients (BMI≥30 Kg/m2, age: 62.8 + 10.9 years) admitted to hospital from April 2019 to September 2019 for a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program were recruited for this study. The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - short form (ICIQ-sf) was used to screen the presence of symptoms of UI and to differentiate the different UI types. Patients with ICIQ-sf score≥4, were asked to undertake the Pad Test for quantifying urine leaks under stress. RESULTS:61.69% of our sample presented UI symptoms. The prevalence of UI appears to be lower in younger age groups (57% in 31–46 years of age and 52% in 47–62 years of age) and higher (69%) between 63 and 79 years of age. MUI was the most frequent form (57.5%), followed by UUI (21.5%) and SUI (20.9%). SUI was most prevalent in younger participants (31–46 years old). CONCLUSION:This study demonstrated that UI has a high prevalence in females with obesity and it is not an exclusive concern of older women. This high prevalence calls for specific rehabilitation interventions within multidisciplinary programs

Skeletal muscle mass, sarcopenia and rehabilitation outcomes in post-acute COVID-19 patients

The relationship between skeletal muscle mass at the beginning of the post-acute rehabilitation phase and rehabilitation outcomes has been scarcely investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the existence of sarcopenia upon admission to a post-acute COVID-19 patient rehabilitation unit on body composition and functional and respiratory capacity at discharge. Thirty-four post-acute COVID-19 patients were referred to our Rehabilitation Unit from different COVID Hospitals in northern Italy. Body weight loss, body composition, handgrip strength, functional parameters, oxygen saturation and related perception of dyspnea in several positions were measured before and after a 28-day multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Spirometry was performed only upon admission. The intervention included psychiatric support, cognitive behavioral therapy, nutritional therapy and physiotherapy, including aerobic and resistance training. Training volume was 45 min/session, 6 sessions/week. Upon admission, the prevalence of sarcopenia among our patients was 58%. In all of the 34 patients, we observed a trend of improvement in all of the respiratory, body composition, muscle strength and functional parameters considered. Monitoring muscle mass and strength in post-acute COVID-19 patients appears to be a key predictor of rehabilitation outcomes. Early diagnosis of sarcopenia therefore appears to be of paramount importance in the management of post-acute COVID-19 patients

MOOC on "Ultra-dense networks for 5G and its evolution": challenges and lessons learned

Proceeding of: 31st Annual Conference of the European Association for Education in Electrical and Information Engineering (EAEEIE 2022), Coimbra, Portugal, 26 June-1 July 2022Many of the new mobile communication devices will be things that power and monitor our homes, city infrastructure and transport. Controlling drones thousands of miles away, performing remote surgeries or being immersed in video with no latency will also be a huge game changer. Those are some of the few things that make the fifth generation (5G) a revolution expected to be a thrust to the economy. To that end, the design and density of deployment of new networks is also changing becoming more dense, what introduces new challenges into play. What else will it add to previous generations? The MOOC about Ultra-dense networks for 5G and its evolution has been prepared by the researchers of an European MSCA ITN, named TeamUp5G, and introduces the most important technologies that support 5G mobile communications, with an emphasis on increasing capacity and reducing power. The content spans from aspects of communication technologies to use cases, prototyping and the future ahead, not forgetting issues like interference management, energy efficiency or spectrum management. The aim of the MOOC is to fill the gap in graduation and post-graduation learning on content related to emerging 5G technologies and its applications, including the future 6G. The target audience involves engineers, researchers, practitioners and students. This paper describes the content and the learning outcomes of the MOOC, the main tasks and resources involved in its creation, the joint contributions from the academic and non-academic sector, and aspects like copyright compliance, quality assurance, testing and details on communication and enrollment, followed by the discussion of the lessons learned.This work has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ETN TeamUp5G, grant agreement No. 813391

Inovação no Desenvolvimento do Curso Online Acessível a Todos (MOOC) sobre “Redes Ultra-densas 5G e sua Evolução”

Muitos dos novos dispositivos de comunicações móveis serão aparelhos que alimentam e monitorizam as nossas casas, infraestruturas urbanas e transportes. Controlar drones a milhares de quilómetros de distância, realizar cirurgias remotas ou estar imerso em vídeo com latência reduzida transformará certamente o acesso às tecnologias de informação e comunicação digitais. Estes são alguns dos aspetos que tornarão a quinta geração das comunicações móveis (5G) uma revolução, um impulso para a economia, e o foco de todos os intervenientes atuais na área das telecomunicações. Com este intuito, o planeamento e a crescente densidade de implantação destas novas redes introduzem novos desafios de otimização. Que elementos serão adicionados em relação às gerações anteriores? Baseados num Curso Online Acessível a Todos (MOOC) anteriormente desenvolvido na UC3M (UC3M Staff, 2022), o MOOC sobre redes ultra-densas 5G e sua evolução foi elaborado pelos investigadores da Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) ITN/ETN Europeia (teamUp5G Reserachers, 2022), denominada TeamUp5G (Teamup5G, 2022; Pérez Leal et al., 2020) e apresenta as tecnologias mais importantes que suportam comunicações móveis 5G, com ênfase no aumento de capacidade e redução de energia, que facilitam o desenvolvimento de redes com pequenas células. Os conteúdos abrangem aspectos desde tecnologias de comunicação até casos de utilização, prototipagem e o futuro próximo, sem esquecer questões como a gestão de interferência, eficiência energética ou gestão de espectro. O objetivo do MOOC (TeamUp5G, 2022) é preencher a lacuna na aprendizagem ao nível dos estudos de graduação e pós-graduação, em conteúdos relacionados com tecnologias 5G emergentes e suas aplicações, incluindo a 6G futura. O público-alvo envolve engenheiros, investigadores, profissionais e estudantes. O artigo descreve o conteúdo e os resultados de aprendizagem do MOOC, as principais tarefas e recursos envolvidos na sua criação, as contribuições conjuntas do setor académico e não académico, e aspectos como a conformidade relativamente aos direitos de autor, garantia de qualidade, testes e detalhes sobre comunicação e inscrição, seguidos da discussão das lições extraídas.Este trabalho foi financiado pelo programa de investigação e inovação Horizonte 2020 da União Europeia através da Rede Europeia de Estágios (ETN) Marie Skłodowska-Curie TeamUp5G, acordo de bolsa N.º 813391, pela SNF Scientific Exchange - AISpectrum (projecto 205842) e UIDB/50008/2020. Os autores agradecem as contribuições da equipa audiovisual da UC3M responsáveis pela edição do MOOC, e da equipa responsável pelos direitos de autor e pela gravação na plataforma edX.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

What is the role of the placebo effect for pain relief in neurorehabilitation? Clinical implications from the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation

Background: It is increasingly acknowledged that the outcomes of medical treatments are influenced by the context of the clinical encounter through the mechanisms of the placebo effect. The phenomenon of placebo analgesia might be exploited to maximize the efficacy of neurorehabilitation treatments. Since its intensity varies across neurological disorders, the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation (ICCP) summarized the studies on this field to provide guidance on its use. Methods: A review of the existing reviews and meta-analyses was performed to assess the magnitude of the placebo effect in disorders that may undergo neurorehabilitation treatment. The search was performed on Pubmed using placebo, pain, and the names of neurological disorders as keywords. Methodological quality was assessed using a pre-existing checklist. Data about the magnitude of the placebo effect were extracted from the included reviews and were commented in a narrative form. Results: 11 articles were included in this review. Placebo treatments showed weak effects in central neuropathic pain (pain reduction from 0.44 to 0.66 on a 0-10 scale) and moderate effects in postherpetic neuralgia (1.16), in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (1.45), and in pain associated to HIV (1.82). Moderate effects were also found on pain due to fibromyalgia and migraine; only weak short-term effects were found in complex regional pain syndrome. Confounding variables might have influenced these results. Clinical implications: These estimates should be interpreted with caution, but underscore that the placebo effect can be exploited in neurorehabilitation programs. It is not necessary to conceal its use from the patient. Knowledge of placebo mechanisms can be used to shape the doctor-patient relationship, to reduce the use of analgesic drugs and to train the patient to become an active agent of the therapy