VehSense: Slippery Road Detection Using Smartphones

This paper investigates a new application of vehicular sensing: detecting and reporting the slippery road conditions. We describe a system and associated algorithm to monitor vehicle skidding events using smartphones and OBD-II (On board Diagnostics) adaptors. This system, which we call the VehSense, gathers data from smartphone inertial sensors and vehicle wheel speed sensors, and processes the data to monitor slippery road conditions in real-time. Specifically, two speed readings are collected: 1) ground speed, which is estimated by vehicle acceleration and rotation, and 2) wheel speed, which is retrieved from the OBD-II interface. The mismatch between these two speeds is used to infer a skidding event. Without tapping into vehicle manufactures' proprietary data (e.g., antilock braking system), VehSense is compatible with most of the passenger vehicles, and thus can be easily deployed. We evaluate our system on snow-covered roads at Buffalo, and show that it can detect vehicle skidding effectively.Comment: 2017 IEEE 85th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC2017-Spring

Intersection Management, Cybersecurity, and Local Government: ITS Applications, Critical Issues, and Regulatory Schemes

This article focuses on the cybersecurity issues of intersection management—an element of transportation management systems—for local governments. Until relatively recently, concerns about and research needs for intersection cybersecurity have been largely ignored, and local governments have focused on other types of cyber threats, relying instead on private sector vendors to provide equipment that is safe against attacks. To address the gap in the literature, this article provides a short overview of the types of components used in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and reviews the critical issues for local governments. Further, it discusses some current efforts to remediate the vulnerabilities in ITS and examines the current regulatory framework. This review of the issues is augmented by an analysis of local government perspectives using the Delphi method. The article concludes with some recommendations

Efficacy and potential determinants of exercise therapy in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background. Exercise is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis. However, the effect may vary from one patient (or study) to another.Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of exercise and its potential determinants for pain, function, performance, and quality of life (QoL) in knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA).Methods. We searched 9 electronic databases (AMED, CENTRAL, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE Ovid, PEDro, PubMed, SPORTDiscus and Google Scholar) for reports of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing exercise-only interventions with usual care. The search was performed from inception up to December 2017 with no language restriction. The effect size (ES), with its 95% confidence interval (CI), was calculated on the basis of between-group standardised mean differences. The primary endpoint was at or nearest to 8 weeks. Other outcome time points were grouped into intervals, from less than 1 month to ≥18 months, for time-dependent effects analysis. Potential determinants were explored by subgroup analyses. Level of significance was set at p≤0.10.Results. Data from 77 RCTs (6472 participants) confirmed statistically significant exercise benefits for pain (ES 0.56, 95% CI 0.44–0.68), function (0.50, 0.38–0.63), performance (0.46, 0.35–0.57), and QoL (0.21, 0.11–0.31) at or nearest to 8 weeks. Across all outcomes, the effects appeared to peak around 2 months and then gradually decreased and became no better than usual care after 9 months. Better pain relief was reported by trials investigating participants who were younger (mean age less than 60 years), had knee OA, and were not awaiting joint replacement surgery.Conclusions. Exercise significantly reduces pain and improves function, performance and QoL in people with knee and hip OA as compared with usual care at 8 weeks. The effects are maximal around 2 months and thereafter slowly diminish, being no better than usual care at 9 to 18 months. Participants with younger age, knee OA and not awaiting joint replacement may benefit more from exercise therapy. These potential determinants, identified by study-level analyses, may have implied ecological bias and need to be confirmed with individual patient data

Relative efficacy of different exercises for pain, function, performance and quality of life in knee and hip osteoarthritis: systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background: Guidelines recommend exercise as a core treatment for osteoarthritis (OA). However, it is unclear which type of exercise is most effective, leading to inconsistency between different recommendations. Objectives: To investigate the relative efficacy of different exercises (aerobic, mind-body, strengthening, flexibility/skill, or mixed) for improving pain, function, performance and quality of life (Qol) for knee and hip OA at, or nearest to, 8 weeks. Methods: We searched nine electronic databases up until December 2017 for randomised controlled trials that compared exercise with usual care or with another exercise type. Bayesian network meta–analysis was used to estimate the relative effect size (ES) and corresponding 95% credibility interval (CrI) (PROSPERO registration: CRD42016033865) Findings: We identified and analysed 103 trials (9,134 participants). Aerobic exercise was most beneficial for pain (ES 1.11; 95%CrI 0.69, 1.54) and performance (1.05; 0.63, 1.48). Mind–body exercise, which had pain benefit equivalent to that of aerobic exercise (1.11; 0.63, 1.59), was the best for function (0.81; 0.27, 1.36). Strengthening and flexibility/skill exercises improved multiple outcomes at a moderate level. Mixed exercise was the least effective for all outcomes and had significantly less pain relief than aerobic and mind–body exercises. Trend for exercise hierarchy was significant for pain (p=0.01), but not for function (p=0.07), performance (p=0.06) or QoL (p=0.65) Conclusion:The effect of exercise varies according to the type of exercise and target outcome. Aerobic or mind–body exercise may be the best for pain and function improvements

Effect of low-dose rituximab treatment on autoimmune nodopathy with anti-contactin 1 antibody

BackgroundAutoimmune nodopathy with anti-contactin-1 (CNTN1) responds well to rituximab instead of traditional therapies. Although a low-dose rituximab regimen was administered to patients with other autoimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, and satisfactory outcomes were obtained, this low-dose rituximab regimen has not been trialed in anti-CNTN1-positive patients.MethodsAnti–CNTN1 nodopathy patients were enrolled in this prospective, open-label, self-controlled pilot study. A cell-based assay was used to detect anti-CNTN1 antibodies and their subclasses in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Clinical features were evaluated at baseline, 2 days, 14 days, and 6 months after single low-dose rituximab treatment (600 mg). The titers of the subclasses of anti-CNTN1 antibody and peripheral B cells were also evaluated at baseline, 2 days, and 6 months after the rituximab regimen.ResultsTwo patients with anti–CNTN1 antibodies were enrolled. Both patients had neurological symptoms including muscle weakness, tremor, sensory ataxia, numbness and mild nephrotic symptoms. In the field of neurological symptoms, sensory ataxia markedly improved, and the titer of anti-CNTN1 antibody as well as CD19+ B cells decreased only two days following low-dose rituximab treatment. Other neurological symptoms improved within two weeks of rituximab treatment. At the 6-month follow-up, all neurological symptoms steadily improved with steroid reduction, and both the anti-CNTN1 antibody titer and CD19+ B cells steadily decreased. No adverse events were observed after this single low-dose rituximab treatment.ConclusionsWe confirmed the clinical efficacy of low-dose rituximab by B cell depletion in autoimmune nodopathy with anti-CNTN1 antibody. This rapid and long-lasting response suggests that low-dose rituximab is a promising option for anti-CNTN1 nodopathy

Characterizing Complexity Changes in Chinese Stock Markets by Permutation Entropy

Financial time series analyses have played an important role in developing some of the fundamental economic theories. However, many of the published analyses of financial time series focus on long-term average behavior of a market, and thus shed little light on the temporal evolution of a market, which from time to time may be interrupted by stock crashes and financial crises. Consequently, in terms of complexity science, it is still unknown whether the market complexity during a stock crash decreases or increases. To answer this question, we have examined the temporal variation of permutation entropy (PE) in Chinese stock markets by computing PE from high-frequency composite indies of two stock markets: the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). We have found that PE decreased significantly in two significant time windows, each encompassing a rapid market rise and then a few gigantic stock crashes. One window started in the middle of 2006, long before the 2008 global financial crisis, and continued up to early 2011. The other window was more recent, started in the middle of 2014, and ended in the middle of 2016. Since both windows were at least one year long, and proceeded stock crashes by at least half a year, the decrease in PE can be invaluable warning signs for regulators and investors alike