WorldWideScience

Sample records for ambulatory human motion

  1. Wearable sensor system for human localization and motion capture

    OpenAIRE

    Zihajehzadeh, Shaghayegh

    2017-01-01

    Recent advances in MEMS wearable inertial/magnetic sensors and mobile computing have fostered a dramatic growth of interest for ambulatory human motion capture (MoCap). Compared to traditional optical MoCap systems such as the optical systems, inertial (i.e. accelerometer and gyroscope) and magnetic sensors do not require external fixtures such as cameras. Hence, they do not have in-the-lab measurement limitations and thus are ideal for ambulatory applications. However, due to the manufacturi...

  2. Ambulatory measurement of knee motion and physical activity: preliminary evaluation of a smart activity monitor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malchau Henrik

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is currently a paucity of devices available for continuous, long-term monitoring of human joint motion. Non-invasive, inexpensive devices capable of recording human activity and joint motion have many applications for medical research. Such a device could be used to quantify range of motion outside the gait laboratory. The purpose of this study was to test the accuracy of the modified Intelligent Device for Energy Expenditure and Activity (IDEEA in measuring knee flexion angles, to detect different physical activities, and to quantify how often healthy subjects use deep knee flexion in the ambulatory setting. Methods We compared Biomotion Laboratory (BML "gold standard" data to simultaneous IDEEA measures of knee motion and gait, step up/down, and stair descent in 5 healthy subjects. In addition, we used a series of choreographed physical activities outside the BML to confirm the IDEEA's ability to accurately measure 7 commonly-performed physical activities. Subjects then continued data collection during ordinary activities outside the gait laboratory. Results Pooled correlations between the BML and IDEEA knee flexion angles were .97 +/- .03 for step up/down, .98 +/- .02 for stair descent, and .98 +/- .01 for gait. In the BML protocol, the IDEEA accurately identified gait, but was less accurate in identifying step up/down and stair descent. During sampling outside the BML, the IDEEA accurately detected walking, running, stair ascent, stair descent, standing, lying, and sitting. On average, subjects flexed their knees >120° for 0.17% of their data collection periods outside the BML. Conclusion The modified IDEEA system is a useful clinical tool for evaluating knee motion and multiple physical activities in the ambulatory setting. These five healthy subjects rarely flexed their knees >120°.

  3. Ambulatory Antibiotic Stewardship through a Human Factors Engineering Approach: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Sara C; Tamma, Pranita D; Cosgrove, Sara E; Miller, Melissa A; Sateia, Heather; Szymczak, Julie; Gurses, Ayse P; Linder, Jeffrey A

    2018-01-01

    In the United States, most antibiotics are prescribed in ambulatory settings. Human factors engineering, which explores interactions between people and the place where they work, has successfully improved quality of care. However, human factors engineering models have not been explored to frame what is known about ambulatory antibiotic stewardship (AS) interventions and barriers and facilitators to their implementation. We conducted a systematic review and searched OVID MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL to identify controlled interventions and qualitative studies of ambulatory AS and determine whether and how they incorporated principles from a human factors engineering model, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety 2.0 model. This model describes how a work system (ambulatory clinic) contributes to a process (antibiotic prescribing) that leads to outcomes. The work system consists of 5 components, tools and technology, organization, person, tasks, and environment, within an external environment. Of 1,288 abstracts initially identified, 42 quantitative studies and 17 qualitative studies met inclusion criteria. Effective interventions focused on tools and technology (eg, clinical decision support and point-of-care testing), the person (eg, clinician education), organization (eg, audit and feedback and academic detailing), tasks (eg, delayed antibiotic prescribing), the environment (eg, commitment posters), and the external environment (media campaigns). Studies have not focused on clinic-wide approaches to AS. A human factors engineering approach suggests that investigating the role of the clinic's processes or physical layout or external pressures' role in antibiotic prescribing may be a promising way to improve ambulatory AS. © Copyright 2018 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

  4. Technical and clinical view on ambulatory assessment in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobert, M A; Maetzler, W; Aminian, K; Chiari, L

    2014-09-01

    With the progress of technologies of recent years, methods have become available that use wearable sensors and ambulatory systems to measure aspects of--particular axial--motor function. As Parkinson's disease (PD) can be considered a model disorder for motor impairment, a significant number of studies have already been performed with these patients using such techniques. In general, motion sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes are used, in combination with lightweight electronics that do not interfere with normal human motion. A fundamental advantage in comparison with usual clinical assessment is that these sensors allow a more quantitative, objective, and reliable evaluation of symptoms; they have also significant advantages compared to in-lab technologies (e.g., optoelectronic motion capture) as they allow long-term monitoring under real-life conditions. In addition, based on recent findings particularly from studies using functional imaging, we learned that non-motor symptoms, specifically cognitive aspects, may be at least indirectly assessable. It is hypothesized that ambulatory quantitative assessment strategies will allow users, clinicians, and scientists in the future to gain more quantitative, unobtrusive, and everyday relevant data out of their clinical evaluation and can also be designed as pervasive (everywhere) and intensive (anytime) tools for ambulatory assessment and even rehabilitation of motor and (partly) non-motor symptoms in PD. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Example-based human motion denoising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lou, Hui; Chai, Jinxiang

    2010-01-01

    With the proliferation of motion capture data, interest in removing noise and outliers from motion capture data has increased. In this paper, we introduce an efficient human motion denoising technique for the simultaneous removal of noise and outliers from input human motion data. The key idea of our approach is to learn a series of filter bases from precaptured motion data and use them along with robust statistics techniques to filter noisy motion data. Mathematically, we formulate the motion denoising process in a nonlinear optimization framework. The objective function measures the distance between the noisy input and the filtered motion in addition to how well the filtered motion preserves spatial-temporal patterns embedded in captured human motion data. Optimizing the objective function produces an optimal filtered motion that keeps spatial-temporal patterns in captured motion data. We also extend the algorithm to fill in the missing values in input motion data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system by experimenting with both real and simulated motion data. We also show the superior performance of our algorithm by comparing it with three baseline algorithms and to those in state-of-art motion capture data processing software such as Vicon Blade.

  6. Human motion simulation predictive dynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Abdel-Malek, Karim

    2013-01-01

    Simulate realistic human motion in a virtual world with an optimization-based approach to motion prediction. With this approach, motion is governed by human performance measures, such as speed and energy, which act as objective functions to be optimized. Constraints on joint torques and angles are imposed quite easily. Predicting motion in this way allows one to use avatars to study how and why humans move the way they do, given specific scenarios. It also enables avatars to react to infinitely many scenarios with substantial autonomy. With this approach it is possible to predict dynamic motion without having to integrate equations of motion -- rather than solving equations of motion, this approach solves for a continuous time-dependent curve characterizing joint variables (also called joint profiles) for every degree of freedom. Introduces rigorous mathematical methods for digital human modelling and simulation Focuses on understanding and representing spatial relationships (3D) of biomechanics Develops an i...

  7. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) is designed to collect data on the utilization and provision of ambulatory care services in hospital...

  8. Marker-Free Human Motion Capture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grest, Daniel

    Human Motion Capture is a widely used technique to obtain motion data for animation of virtual characters. Commercial optical motion capture systems are marker-based. This book is about marker-free motion capture and its possibilities to acquire motion from a single viewing direction. The focus...

  9. Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey for ambulatory surgical centers - Facility

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A list of ambulatory surgical center ratings for the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey....

  10. The eigenmode analysis of human motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Juyong; Lee, Deok-Sun; González, Marta C

    2010-01-01

    Rapid advances in modern communication technology are enabling the accumulation of large-scale, high-resolution observational data of the spatiotemporal movements of humans. Classification and prediction of human mobility based on the analysis of such data has great potential in applications such as urban planning in addition to being a subject of theoretical interest. A robust theoretical framework is therefore required to study and properly understand human motion. Here we perform the eigenmode analysis of human motion data gathered from mobile communication records, which allows us to explore the scaling properties and characteristics of human motion

  11. Automatic Video-based Analysis of Human Motion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fihl, Preben

    The human motion contains valuable information in many situations and people frequently perform an unconscious analysis of the motion of other people to understand their actions, intentions, and state of mind. An automatic analysis of human motion will facilitate many applications and thus has...... received great interest from both industry and research communities. The focus of this thesis is on video-based analysis of human motion and the thesis presents work within three overall topics, namely foreground segmentation, action recognition, and human pose estimation. Foreground segmentation is often...... the first important step in the analysis of human motion. By separating foreground from background the subsequent analysis can be focused and efficient. This thesis presents a robust background subtraction method that can be initialized with foreground objects in the scene and is capable of handling...

  12. MotionExplorer: exploratory search in human motion capture data based on hierarchical aggregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernard, Jürgen; Wilhelm, Nils; Krüger, Björn; May, Thorsten; Schreck, Tobias; Kohlhammer, Jörn

    2013-12-01

    We present MotionExplorer, an exploratory search and analysis system for sequences of human motion in large motion capture data collections. This special type of multivariate time series data is relevant in many research fields including medicine, sports and animation. Key tasks in working with motion data include analysis of motion states and transitions, and synthesis of motion vectors by interpolation and combination. In the practice of research and application of human motion data, challenges exist in providing visual summaries and drill-down functionality for handling large motion data collections. We find that this domain can benefit from appropriate visual retrieval and analysis support to handle these tasks in presence of large motion data. To address this need, we developed MotionExplorer together with domain experts as an exploratory search system based on interactive aggregation and visualization of motion states as a basis for data navigation, exploration, and search. Based on an overview-first type visualization, users are able to search for interesting sub-sequences of motion based on a query-by-example metaphor, and explore search results by details on demand. We developed MotionExplorer in close collaboration with the targeted users who are researchers working on human motion synthesis and analysis, including a summative field study. Additionally, we conducted a laboratory design study to substantially improve MotionExplorer towards an intuitive, usable and robust design. MotionExplorer enables the search in human motion capture data with only a few mouse clicks. The researchers unanimously confirm that the system can efficiently support their work.

  13. Articulated Human Motion Tracking Using Sequential Immune Genetic Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We formulate human motion tracking as a high-dimensional constrained optimization problem. A novel generative method is proposed for human motion tracking in the framework of evolutionary computation. The main contribution is that we introduce immune genetic algorithm (IGA for pose optimization in latent space of human motion. Firstly, we perform human motion analysis in the learnt latent space of human motion. As the latent space is low dimensional and contents the prior knowledge of human motion, it makes pose analysis more efficient and accurate. Then, in the search strategy, we apply IGA for pose optimization. Compared with genetic algorithm and other evolutionary methods, its main advantage is the ability to use the prior knowledge of human motion. We design an IGA-based method to estimate human pose from static images for initialization of motion tracking. And we propose a sequential IGA (S-IGA algorithm for motion tracking by incorporating the temporal continuity information into the traditional IGA. Experimental results on different videos of different motion types show that our IGA-based pose estimation method can be used for initialization of motion tracking. The S-IGA-based motion tracking method can achieve accurate and stable tracking of 3D human motion.

  14. HCUP State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) - Restricted Access Files

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) contain the universe of hospital-based ambulatory surgery encounters in participating States. Some States include...

  15. Ambulatory Surgical Measures - Facility

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program seeks to make care safer and more efficient through quality reporting. ASCs eligible for this...

  16. Measurement and Quantification of Gross Human Shoulder Motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeremy T. Newkirk

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The shoulder girdle plays an important role in the large pointing workspace that humans enjoy. The goal of this work was to characterize the human shoulder girdle motion in relation to the arm. The overall motion of the human shoulder girdle was characterized based on motion studies completed on test subjects during voluntary (natural/unforced motion. The collected data from the experiments were used to develop surface fit equations that represent the position and orientation of the glenohumeral joint for a given humeral pointing direction. These equations completely quantify gross human shoulder girdle motion relative to the humerus. The equations are presented along with goodness-of-fit results that indicate the equations well approximate the motion of the human glenohumeral joint. This is the first time the motion has been quantified for the entire workspace, and the equations provide a reference against which to compare future work.

  17. Human Perception of Ambiguous Inertial Motion Cues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Guan-Lu

    2010-01-01

    Human daily activities on Earth involve motions that elicit both tilt and translation components of the head (i.e. gazing and locomotion). With otolith cues alone, tilt and translation can be ambiguous since both motions can potentially displace the otolithic membrane by the same magnitude and direction. Transitions between gravity environments (i.e. Earth, microgravity and lunar) have demonstrated to alter the functions of the vestibular system and exacerbate the ambiguity between tilt and translational motion cues. Symptoms of motion sickness and spatial disorientation can impair human performances during critical mission phases. Specifically, Space Shuttle landing records show that particular cases of tilt-translation illusions have impaired the performance of seasoned commanders. This sensorimotor condition is one of many operational risks that may have dire implications on future human space exploration missions. The neural strategy with which the human central nervous system distinguishes ambiguous inertial motion cues remains the subject of intense research. A prevailing theory in the neuroscience field proposes that the human brain is able to formulate a neural internal model of ambiguous motion cues such that tilt and translation components can be perceptually decomposed in order to elicit the appropriate bodily response. The present work uses this theory, known as the GIF resolution hypothesis, as the framework for experimental hypothesis. Specifically, two novel motion paradigms are employed to validate the neural capacity of ambiguous inertial motion decomposition in ground-based human subjects. The experimental setup involves the Tilt-Translation Sled at Neuroscience Laboratory of NASA JSC. This two degree-of-freedom motion system is able to tilt subjects in the pitch plane and translate the subject along the fore-aft axis. Perception data will be gathered through subject verbal reports. Preliminary analysis of perceptual data does not indicate that

  18. Ambulatory Phlebectomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... for Every Season How to Choose the Best Skin Care Products In This Section Dermatologic Surgery What is dermatologic ... for Every Season How to Choose the Best Skin Care Products Ambulatory Phlebectomy What is ambulatory phlebectomy? Ambulatory phlebectomy ...

  19. Human motion sensing and recognition a fuzzy qualitative approach

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, Honghai; Ji, Xiaofei; Chan, Chee Seng; Khoury, Mehdi

    2017-01-01

    This book introduces readers to the latest exciting advances in human motion sensing and recognition, from the theoretical development of fuzzy approaches to their applications. The topics covered include human motion recognition in 2D and 3D, hand motion analysis with contact sensors, and vision-based view-invariant motion recognition, especially from the perspective of Fuzzy Qualitative techniques. With the rapid development of technologies in microelectronics, computers, networks, and robotics over the last decade, increasing attention has been focused on human motion sensing and recognition in many emerging and active disciplines where human motions need to be automatically tracked, analyzed or understood, such as smart surveillance, intelligent human-computer interaction, robot motion learning, and interactive gaming. Current challenges mainly stem from the dynamic environment, data multi-modality, uncertain sensory information, and real-time issues. These techniques are shown to effectively address the ...

  20. Robotics-based synthesis of human motion

    KAUST Repository

    Khatib, O.; Demircan, E.; De Sapio, V.; Sentis, L.; Besier, T.; Delp, S.

    2009-01-01

    The synthesis of human motion is a complex procedure that involves accurate reconstruction of movement sequences, modeling of musculoskeletal kinematics, dynamics and actuation, and characterization of reliable performance criteria. Many of these processes have much in common with the problems found in robotics research. Task-based methods used in robotics may be leveraged to provide novel musculoskeletal modeling methods and physiologically accurate performance predictions. In this paper, we present (i) a new method for the real-time reconstruction of human motion trajectories using direct marker tracking, (ii) a task-driven muscular effort minimization criterion and (iii) new human performance metrics for dynamic characterization of athletic skills. Dynamic motion reconstruction is achieved through the control of a simulated human model to follow the captured marker trajectories in real-time. The operational space control and real-time simulation provide human dynamics at any configuration of the performance. A new criteria of muscular effort minimization has been introduced to analyze human static postures. Extensive motion capture experiments were conducted to validate the new minimization criterion. Finally, new human performance metrics were introduced to study in details an athletic skill. These metrics include the effort expenditure and the feasible set of operational space accelerations during the performance of the skill. The dynamic characterization takes into account skeletal kinematics as well as muscle routing kinematics and force generating capacities. The developments draw upon an advanced musculoskeletal modeling platform and a task-oriented framework for the effective integration of biomechanics and robotics methods.

  1. Robotics-based synthesis of human motion

    KAUST Repository

    Khatib, O.

    2009-05-01

    The synthesis of human motion is a complex procedure that involves accurate reconstruction of movement sequences, modeling of musculoskeletal kinematics, dynamics and actuation, and characterization of reliable performance criteria. Many of these processes have much in common with the problems found in robotics research. Task-based methods used in robotics may be leveraged to provide novel musculoskeletal modeling methods and physiologically accurate performance predictions. In this paper, we present (i) a new method for the real-time reconstruction of human motion trajectories using direct marker tracking, (ii) a task-driven muscular effort minimization criterion and (iii) new human performance metrics for dynamic characterization of athletic skills. Dynamic motion reconstruction is achieved through the control of a simulated human model to follow the captured marker trajectories in real-time. The operational space control and real-time simulation provide human dynamics at any configuration of the performance. A new criteria of muscular effort minimization has been introduced to analyze human static postures. Extensive motion capture experiments were conducted to validate the new minimization criterion. Finally, new human performance metrics were introduced to study in details an athletic skill. These metrics include the effort expenditure and the feasible set of operational space accelerations during the performance of the skill. The dynamic characterization takes into account skeletal kinematics as well as muscle routing kinematics and force generating capacities. The developments draw upon an advanced musculoskeletal modeling platform and a task-oriented framework for the effective integration of biomechanics and robotics methods.

  2. Improving pulse oximetry accuracy by removing motion artifacts from photoplethysmograms using relative sensor motion: a preliminary study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijshoff, R.W.C.G.R.; Mischi, M.; Woerlee, P.H.; Aarts, R.M.; Van Huffel, S.; Naelaers, G.; Caicedo, A.; Bruley, D.F.; Harrison, D.K.

    2013-01-01

    To expand applicability of pulse oximetry in low-acuity ambulatory settings, the impact of motion on extracted parameters as saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate (PR) needs to be reduced. We hypothesized that sensor motion relative to the skin can be used as an artifact reference in a correlation

  3. Real-time stylistic prediction for whole-body human motions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsubara, Takamitsu; Hyon, Sang-Ho; Morimoto, Jun

    2012-01-01

    The ability to predict human motion is crucial in several contexts such as human tracking by computer vision and the synthesis of human-like computer graphics. Previous work has focused on off-line processes with well-segmented data; however, many applications such as robotics require real-time control with efficient computation. In this paper, we propose a novel approach called real-time stylistic prediction for whole-body human motions to satisfy these requirements. This approach uses a novel generative model to represent a whole-body human motion including rhythmic motion (e.g., walking) and discrete motion (e.g., jumping). The generative model is composed of a low-dimensional state (phase) dynamics and a two-factor observation model, allowing it to capture the diversity of motion styles in humans. A real-time adaptation algorithm was derived to estimate both state variables and style parameter of the model from non-stationary unlabeled sequential observations. Moreover, with a simple modification, the algorithm allows real-time adaptation even from incomplete (partial) observations. Based on the estimated state and style, a future motion sequence can be accurately predicted. In our implementation, it takes less than 15 ms for both adaptation and prediction at each observation. Our real-time stylistic prediction was evaluated for human walking, running, and jumping behaviors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Analyzing the effects of human-aware motion planning on close-proximity human-robot collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lasota, Przemyslaw A; Shah, Julie A

    2015-02-01

    The objective of this work was to examine human response to motion-level robot adaptation to determine its effect on team fluency, human satisfaction, and perceived safety and comfort. The evaluation of human response to adaptive robotic assistants has been limited, particularly in the realm of motion-level adaptation. The lack of true human-in-the-loop evaluation has made it impossible to determine whether such adaptation would lead to efficient and satisfying human-robot interaction. We conducted an experiment in which participants worked with a robot to perform a collaborative task. Participants worked with an adaptive robot incorporating human-aware motion planning and with a baseline robot using shortest-path motions. Team fluency was evaluated through a set of quantitative metrics, and human satisfaction and perceived safety and comfort were evaluated through questionnaires. When working with the adaptive robot, participants completed the task 5.57% faster, with 19.9% more concurrent motion, 2.96% less human idle time, 17.3% less robot idle time, and a 15.1% greater separation distance. Questionnaire responses indicated that participants felt safer and more comfortable when working with an adaptive robot and were more satisfied with it as a teammate than with the standard robot. People respond well to motion-level robot adaptation, and significant benefits can be achieved from its use in terms of both human-robot team fluency and human worker satisfaction. Our conclusion supports the development of technologies that could be used to implement human-aware motion planning in collaborative robots and the use of this technique for close-proximity human-robot collaboration.

  5. Interactive inverse kinematics for human motion estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engell-Nørregård, Morten Pol; Hauberg, Søren; Lapuyade, Jerome

    2009-01-01

    We present an application of a fast interactive inverse kinematics method as a dimensionality reduction for monocular human motion estimation. The inverse kinematics solver deals efficiently and robustly with box constraints and does not suffer from shaking artifacts. The presented motion...... to significantly speed up the particle filtering. It should be stressed that the observation part of the system has not been our focus, and as such is described only from a sense of completeness. With our approach it is possible to construct a robust and computationally efficient system for human motion estimation....

  6. Center of mass movement estimation using an ambulatory measurement sytem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schepers, H. Martin; Veltink, Petrus H.

    2007-01-01

    Center of Mass (CoM) displacement, an important variable to characterize human walking, was estimated in this study using an ambulatory measurement system. The ambulatory system was compared to an optical reference system. Root-mean-square differences between the magnitudes of the CoM appeared to be

  7. Optimizing the design of preprinted orders for ambulatory chemotherapy: combining oncology, human factors, and graphic design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Jennifer; White, Rachel E; Hunt, Richard G; Cassano-Piché, Andrea L; Easty, Anthony C

    2012-03-01

    To establish a set of guidelines for developing ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders. Multiple methods were used to develop the preprinted order guidelines. These included (A) a comprehensive literature review and an environmental scan; (B) analyses of field study observations and incident reports; (C) critical review of evidence from the literature and the field study observation analyses; (D) review of the draft guidelines by a clinical advisory group; and (E) collaboration with graphic designers to develop sample preprinted orders, refine the design guidelines, and format the resulting content. The Guidelines for Developing Ambulatory Chemotherapy Preprinted Orders, which consist of guidance on the design process, content, and graphic design elements of ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders, have been established. Health care is a safety critical, dynamic, and complex sociotechnical system. Identifying safety risks in such a system and effectively addressing them often require the expertise of multiple disciplines. This study illustrates how human factors professionals, clinicians, and designers can leverage each other's expertise to uncover commonly overlooked patient safety hazards and to provide health care professionals with innovative, practical, and user-centered tools to minimize those hazards.

  8. MotionFlow: Visual Abstraction and Aggregation of Sequential Patterns in Human Motion Tracking Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Sujin; Elmqvist, Niklas; Ramani, Karthik

    2016-01-01

    Pattern analysis of human motions, which is useful in many research areas, requires understanding and comparison of different styles of motion patterns. However, working with human motion tracking data to support such analysis poses great challenges. In this paper, we propose MotionFlow, a visual analytics system that provides an effective overview of various motion patterns based on an interactive flow visualization. This visualization formulates a motion sequence as transitions between static poses, and aggregates these sequences into a tree diagram to construct a set of motion patterns. The system also allows the users to directly reflect the context of data and their perception of pose similarities in generating representative pose states. We provide local and global controls over the partition-based clustering process. To support the users in organizing unstructured motion data into pattern groups, we designed a set of interactions that enables searching for similar motion sequences from the data, detailed exploration of data subsets, and creating and modifying the group of motion patterns. To evaluate the usability of MotionFlow, we conducted a user study with six researchers with expertise in gesture-based interaction design. They used MotionFlow to explore and organize unstructured motion tracking data. Results show that the researchers were able to easily learn how to use MotionFlow, and the system effectively supported their pattern analysis activities, including leveraging their perception and domain knowledge.

  9. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) is a national survey designed to meet the need for objective, reliable information about the provision and use of...

  10. Energy Optimal Trajectories in Human Arm Motion Aiming for Assistive Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lelai Zhou

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The energy expenditure in human arm has been of great interests for seeking optimal human arm trajectories. This paper presents a new way for calculating metabolic energy consumption of human arm motions. The purpose is to reveal the relationship between the energy consumption and the trajectory of arm motion, and further, the acceleration and arm orientation contributions. Human arm motion in horizontal plane is investigated by virtue of Qualisys motion capture system. The motion data is post-processed by a biomechanical model to obtain the metabolic expenditure. Results on the arm motion kinematics, dynamics and metabolic energy consumption, are included.

  11. Centralized Networks to Generate Human Body Motions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vakulenko, Sergei; Radulescu, Ovidiu; Morozov, Ivan; Weber, Andres

    2017-12-14

    We consider continuous-time recurrent neural networks as dynamical models for the simulation of human body motions. These networks consist of a few centers and many satellites connected to them. The centers evolve in time as periodical oscillators with different frequencies. The center states define the satellite neurons' states by a radial basis function (RBF) network. To simulate different motions, we adjust the parameters of the RBF networks. Our network includes a switching module that allows for turning from one motion to another. Simulations show that this model allows us to simulate complicated motions consisting of many different dynamical primitives. We also use the model for learning human body motion from markers' trajectories. We find that center frequencies can be learned from a small number of markers and can be transferred to other markers, such that our technique seems to be capable of correcting for missing information resulting from sparse control marker settings.

  12. Discriminative Vision-Based Recovery and Recognition of Human Motion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poppe, Ronald Walter

    2009-01-01

    The automatic analysis of human motion from images opens up the way for applications in the domains of security and surveillance, human-computer interaction, animation, retrieval and sports motion analysis. In this dissertation, the focus is on robust and fast human pose recovery and action

  13. A Self-Powered Insole for Human Motion Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yingzhou Han

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Biomechanical energy harvesting is a feasible solution for powering wearable sensors by directly driving electronics or acting as wearable self-powered sensors. A wearable insole that not only can harvest energy from foot pressure during walking but also can serve as a self-powered human motion recognition sensor is reported. The insole is designed as a sandwich structure consisting of two wavy silica gel film separated by a flexible piezoelectric foil stave, which has higher performance compared with conventional piezoelectric harvesters with cantilever structure. The energy harvesting insole is capable of driving some common electronics by scavenging energy from human walking. Moreover, it can be used to recognize human motion as the waveforms it generates change when people are in different locomotion modes. It is demonstrated that different types of human motion such as walking and running are clearly classified by the insole without any external power source. This work not only expands the applications of piezoelectric energy harvesters for wearable power supplies and self-powered sensors, but also provides possible approaches for wearable self-powered human motion monitoring that is of great importance in many fields such as rehabilitation and sports science.

  14. The 3D Human Motion Control Through Refined Video Gesture Annotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yohan; Suk, Myunghoon; Prabhakaran, B.

    In the beginning of computer and video game industry, simple game controllers consisting of buttons and joysticks were employed, but recently game consoles are replacing joystick buttons with novel interfaces such as the remote controllers with motion sensing technology on the Nintendo Wii [1] Especially video-based human computer interaction (HCI) technique has been applied to games, and the representative game is 'Eyetoy' on the Sony PlayStation 2. Video-based HCI technique has great benefit to release players from the intractable game controller. Moreover, in order to communicate between humans and computers, video-based HCI is very crucial since it is intuitive, easy to get, and inexpensive. On the one hand, extracting semantic low-level features from video human motion data is still a major challenge. The level of accuracy is really dependent on each subject's characteristic and environmental noises. Of late, people have been using 3D motion-capture data for visualizing real human motions in 3D space (e.g, 'Tiger Woods' in EA Sports, 'Angelina Jolie' in Bear-Wolf movie) and analyzing motions for specific performance (e.g, 'golf swing' and 'walking'). 3D motion-capture system ('VICON') generates a matrix for each motion clip. Here, a column is corresponding to a human's sub-body part and row represents time frames of data capture. Thus, we can extract sub-body part's motion only by selecting specific columns. Different from low-level feature values of video human motion, 3D human motion-capture data matrix are not pixel values, but is closer to human level of semantics.

  15. Stretch sensors for human body motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, Ben; Gisby, Todd; Anderson, Iain A.

    2014-03-01

    Sensing motion of the human body is a difficult task. From an engineers' perspective people are soft highly mobile objects that move in and out of complex environments. As well as the technical challenge of sensing, concepts such as comfort, social intrusion, usability, and aesthetics are paramount in determining whether someone will adopt a sensing solution or not. At the same time the demands for human body motion sensing are growing fast. Athletes want feedback on posture and technique, consumers need new ways to interact with augmented reality devices, and healthcare providers wish to track recovery of a patient. Dielectric elastomer stretch sensors are ideal for bridging this gap. They are soft, flexible, and precise. They are low power, lightweight, and can be easily mounted on the body or embedded into clothing. From a commercialisation point of view stretch sensing is easier than actuation or generation - such sensors can be low voltage and integrated with conventional microelectronics. This paper takes a birds-eye view of the use of these sensors to measure human body motion. A holistic description of sensor operation and guidelines for sensor design will be presented to help technologists and developers in the space.

  16. Sensing human hand motions for controlling dexterous robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcus, Beth A.; Churchill, Philip J.; Little, Arthur D.

    1988-01-01

    The Dexterous Hand Master (DHM) system is designed to control dexterous robot hands such as the UTAH/MIT and Stanford/JPL hands. It is the first commercially available device which makes it possible to accurately and confortably track the complex motion of the human finger joints. The DHM is adaptable to a wide variety of human hand sizes and shapes, throughout their full range of motion.

  17. WiFi-Based Real-Time Calibration-Free Passive Human Motion Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liangyi Gong

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available With the rapid development of WLAN technology, wireless device-free passive human detection becomes a newly-developing technique and holds more potential to worldwide and ubiquitous smart applications. Recently, indoor fine-grained device-free passive human motion detection based on the PHY layer information is rapidly developed. Previous wireless device-free passive human detection systems either rely on deploying specialized systems with dense transmitter-receiver links or elaborate off-line training process, which blocks rapid deployment and weakens system robustness. In the paper, we explore to research a novel fine-grained real-time calibration-free device-free passive human motion via physical layer information, which is independent of indoor scenarios and needs no prior-calibration and normal profile. We investigate sensitivities of amplitude and phase to human motion, and discover that phase feature is more sensitive to human motion, especially to slow human motion. Aiming at lightweight and robust device-free passive human motion detection, we develop two novel and practical schemes: short-term averaged variance ratio (SVR and long-term averaged variance ratio (LVR. We realize system design with commercial WiFi devices and evaluate it in typical multipath-rich indoor scenarios. As demonstrated in the experiments, our approach can achieve a high detection rate and low false positive rate.

  18. WiFi-Based Real-Time Calibration-Free Passive Human Motion Detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Liangyi; Yang, Wu; Man, Dapeng; Dong, Guozhong; Yu, Miao; Lv, Jiguang

    2015-12-21

    With the rapid development of WLAN technology, wireless device-free passive human detection becomes a newly-developing technique and holds more potential to worldwide and ubiquitous smart applications. Recently, indoor fine-grained device-free passive human motion detection based on the PHY layer information is rapidly developed. Previous wireless device-free passive human detection systems either rely on deploying specialized systems with dense transmitter-receiver links or elaborate off-line training process, which blocks rapid deployment and weakens system robustness. In the paper, we explore to research a novel fine-grained real-time calibration-free device-free passive human motion via physical layer information, which is independent of indoor scenarios and needs no prior-calibration and normal profile. We investigate sensitivities of amplitude and phase to human motion, and discover that phase feature is more sensitive to human motion, especially to slow human motion. Aiming at lightweight and robust device-free passive human motion detection, we develop two novel and practical schemes: short-term averaged variance ratio (SVR) and long-term averaged variance ratio (LVR). We realize system design with commercial WiFi devices and evaluate it in typical multipath-rich indoor scenarios. As demonstrated in the experiments, our approach can achieve a high detection rate and low false positive rate.

  19. [Face-lift surgery in ambulatory].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soulhiard, F

    2017-10-01

    The proposal is to demonstrate that facelift surgery is particularly suitable for the care in ambulatory. Between 2010 and 2016, 246 patients were operated for a facelift in ambulatory. No major complication arose in this series (241). Among the patients, 98% expressed their satisfaction and would accept again this intervention in ambulatory. The facelift can be realized in ambulatory with complete safety. The rate of satisfaction shows a very strong support of the patients for the ambulatory care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  20. An adaptive approach to human motion tracking from video

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Lifang; Chen, Chang Wen

    2010-07-01

    Vision based human motion tracking has drawn considerable interests recently because of its extensive applications. In this paper, we propose an approach to tracking the body motion of human balancing on each foot. The ability to balance properly is an important indication of neurological condition. Comparing with many other human motion tracking, there is much less occlusion in human balancing tracking. This less constrained problem allows us to combine a 2D model of human body with image analysis techniques to develop an efficient motion tracking algorithm. First we define a hierarchical 2D model consisting of six components including head, body and four limbs. Each of the four limbs involves primary component (upper arms and legs) and secondary component (lower arms and legs) respectively. In this model, we assume each of the components can be represented by quadrangles and every component is connected to one of others by a joint. By making use of inherent correlation between different components, we design a top-down updating framework and an adaptive algorithm with constraints of foreground regions for robust and efficient tracking. The approach has been tested using the balancing movement in HumanEva-I/II dataset. The average tracking time is under one second, which is much shorter than most of current schemes.

  1. Electrical Properties of PPy-Coated Conductive Fabrics for Human Joint Motion Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiyong Hu

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Body motion signals indicate several pathological features of the human body, and a wearable human motion monitoring system can respond to human joint motion signal in real time, thereby enabling the prevention and treatment of some diseases. Because conductive fabrics can be well integrated with the garment, they are ideal as a sensing element of wearable human motion monitoring systems. This study prepared polypyrrole conductive fabric by in situ polymerization, and the anisotropic property of the conductive fabric resistance, resistance–strain relationship, and the relationship between resistance and the human knee and elbow movements are discussed preliminarily.

  2. Hierarchical Aligned Cluster Analysis for Temporal Clustering of Human Motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Feng; De la Torre, Fernando; Hodgins, Jessica K

    2013-03-01

    Temporal segmentation of human motion into plausible motion primitives is central to understanding and building computational models of human motion. Several issues contribute to the challenge of discovering motion primitives: the exponential nature of all possible movement combinations, the variability in the temporal scale of human actions, and the complexity of representing articulated motion. We pose the problem of learning motion primitives as one of temporal clustering, and derive an unsupervised hierarchical bottom-up framework called hierarchical aligned cluster analysis (HACA). HACA finds a partition of a given multidimensional time series into m disjoint segments such that each segment belongs to one of k clusters. HACA combines kernel k-means with the generalized dynamic time alignment kernel to cluster time series data. Moreover, it provides a natural framework to find a low-dimensional embedding for time series. HACA is efficiently optimized with a coordinate descent strategy and dynamic programming. Experimental results on motion capture and video data demonstrate the effectiveness of HACA for segmenting complex motions and as a visualization tool. We also compare the performance of HACA to state-of-the-art algorithms for temporal clustering on data of a honey bee dance. The HACA code is available online.

  3. Circadian phase assessment by ambulatory monitoring in humans: correlation with dim light melatonin onset.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonmati-Carrion, M A; Middleton, B; Revell, V; Skene, D J; Rol, M A; Madrid, J A

    2014-02-01

    The increased prevalence of circadian disruptions due to abnormal coupling between internal and external time makes the detection of circadian phase in humans by ambulatory recordings a compelling need. Here, we propose an accurate practical procedure to estimate circadian phase with the least possible burden for the subject, that is, without the restraints of a constant routine protocol or laboratory techniques such as melatonin quantification, both of which are standard procedures. In this validation study, subjects (N = 13) wore ambulatory monitoring devices, kept daily sleep diaries and went about their daily routine for 10 days. The devices measured skin temperature at wrist level (WT), motor activity and body position on the arm, and light exposure by means of a sensor placed on the chest. Dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) was used to compare and evaluate the accuracy of the ambulatory variables in assessing circadian phase. An evening increase in WT: WTOnset (WTOn) and "WT increase onset" (WTiO) was found to anticipate the evening increase in melatonin, while decreases in motor activity (Activity Offset or AcOff), body position (Position Offset (POff)), integrative TAP (a combination of WT, activity and body position) (TAPOffset or TAPOff) and an increase in declared sleep propensity were phase delayed with respect to DLMO. The phase markers obtained from subjective sleep (R = 0.811), WT (R = 0.756) and the composite variable TAP (R = 0.720) were highly and significantly correlated with DLMO. The findings strongly support a new method to calculate circadian phase based on WT (WTiO) that accurately predicts and shows a temporal association with DLMO. WTiO is especially recommended due to its simplicity and applicability to clinical use under conditions where knowing endogenous circadian phase is important, such as in cancer chronotherapy and light therapy.

  4. Ambulatory assessment of ankle and foot dynamics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schepers, H. Martin; Koopman, Hubertus F.J.M.; Veltink, Petrus H.

    Ground reaction force (GRF) measurement is important in the analysis of human body movements. The main drawback of the existing measurement systems is the restriction to a laboratory environment. This paper proposes an ambulatory system for assessing the dynamics of ankle and foot, which integrates

  5. Vision-based human motion analysis: An overview

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poppe, Ronald Walter

    2007-01-01

    Markerless vision-based human motion analysis has the potential to provide an inexpensive, non-obtrusive solution for the estimation of body poses. The significant research effort in this domain has been motivated by the fact that many application areas, including surveillance, Human-Computer

  6. Motion Segments Decomposition of RGB-D Sequences for Human Behavior Understanding

    OpenAIRE

    Devanne , Maxime; Berretti , Stefano; Pala , Pietro; Wannous , Hazem; Daoudi , Mohamed; Bimbo , Alberto ,

    2017-01-01

    International audience; In this paper, we propose a framework for analyzing and understanding human behavior from depth videos. The proposed solution first employs shape analysis of the human pose across time to decompose the full motion into short temporal segments representing elementary motions. Then, each segment is characterized by human motion and depth appearance around hand joints to describe the change in pose of the body and the interaction with objects. Finally , the sequence of te...

  7. WiFi-Based Real-Time Calibration-Free Passive Human Motion Detection †

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Liangyi; Yang, Wu; Man, Dapeng; Dong, Guozhong; Yu, Miao; Lv, Jiguang

    2015-01-01

    With the rapid development of WLAN technology, wireless device-free passive human detection becomes a newly-developing technique and holds more potential to worldwide and ubiquitous smart applications. Recently, indoor fine-grained device-free passive human motion detection based on the PHY layer information is rapidly developed. Previous wireless device-free passive human detection systems either rely on deploying specialized systems with dense transmitter-receiver links or elaborate off-line training process, which blocks rapid deployment and weakens system robustness. In the paper, we explore to research a novel fine-grained real-time calibration-free device-free passive human motion via physical layer information, which is independent of indoor scenarios and needs no prior-calibration and normal profile. We investigate sensitivities of amplitude and phase to human motion, and discover that phase feature is more sensitive to human motion, especially to slow human motion. Aiming at lightweight and robust device-free passive human motion detection, we develop two novel and practical schemes: short-term averaged variance ratio (SVR) and long-term averaged variance ratio (LVR). We realize system design with commercial WiFi devices and evaluate it in typical multipath-rich indoor scenarios. As demonstrated in the experiments, our approach can achieve a high detection rate and low false positive rate. PMID:26703612

  8. 75 FR 73088 - Medicare Program; Application by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS-2332-PN] Medicare Program; Application by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery... Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) for recognition as a national...

  9. Multi-level human motion analysis for surveillance applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lao, W.; Han, Jungong; With, de P.H.N.; Rabbani, M.; Stevenson, R.L.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we study a flexible framework for semantic analysis of human motion from a monocular surveillance video. Successful trajectory estimation and human-body modeling facilitate the semantic analysis of human activities in video sequences. As a first contribution, we propose a flexible

  10. Human sensitivity to vertical self-motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesti, Alessandro; Barnett-Cowan, Michael; Macneilage, Paul R; Bülthoff, Heinrich H

    2014-01-01

    Perceiving vertical self-motion is crucial for maintaining balance as well as for controlling an aircraft. Whereas heave absolute thresholds have been exhaustively studied, little work has been done in investigating how vertical sensitivity depends on motion intensity (i.e., differential thresholds). Here we measure human sensitivity for 1-Hz sinusoidal accelerations for 10 participants in darkness. Absolute and differential thresholds are measured for upward and downward translations independently at 5 different peak amplitudes ranging from 0 to 2 m/s(2). Overall vertical differential thresholds are higher than horizontal differential thresholds found in the literature. Psychometric functions are fit in linear and logarithmic space, with goodness of fit being similar in both cases. Differential thresholds are higher for upward as compared to downward motion and increase with stimulus intensity following a trend best described by two power laws. The power laws' exponents of 0.60 and 0.42 for upward and downward motion, respectively, deviate from Weber's Law in that thresholds increase less than expected at high stimulus intensity. We speculate that increased sensitivity at high accelerations and greater sensitivity to downward than upward self-motion may reflect adaptations to avoid falling.

  11. Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... SAMBA Link Digital Newsletter Educational Bibliography Research IARS/Anesthesia & Analgesia SCOR About SCOR Sponsor SAMBA Meetings Affinity Sponsor Program We Represent Ambulatory and Office-Based Anesthesia The Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia provides educational opportunities, ...

  12. Human-like motion planning model for driving in signalized intersections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanlei Gu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Highly automated and fully autonomous vehicles are much more likely to be accepted if they react in the same way as human drivers do, especially in a hybrid traffic situation, which allows autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles to share the same road. This paper proposes a human-like motion planning model to represent how human drivers assess environments and operate vehicles in signalized intersections. The developed model consists of a pedestrian intention detection model, gap detection model, and vehicle control model. These three submodels are individually responsible for situation assessment, decision making, and action, and also depend on each other in the process of motion planning. In addition, these submodels are constructed and learned on the basis of human drivers' data collected from real traffic environments. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed motion planning model, we compared the proposed model with actual human driver and pedestrian data. The experimental results showed that our proposed model and actual human driver behaviors are highly similar with respect to gap acceptance in intersections.

  13. Generating Concise Rules for Human Motion Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukai, Tomohiko; Wakisaka, Ken-Ichi; Kuriyama, Shigeru

    This paper proposes a method for retrieving human motion data with concise retrieval rules based on the spatio-temporal features of motion appearance. Our method first converts motion clip into a form of clausal language that represents geometrical relations between body parts and their temporal relationship. A retrieval rule is then learned from the set of manually classified examples using inductive logic programming (ILP). ILP automatically discovers the essential rule in the same clausal form with a user-defined hypothesis-testing procedure. All motions are indexed using this clausal language, and the desired clips are retrieved by subsequence matching using the rule. Such rule-based retrieval offers reasonable performance and the rule can be intuitively edited in the same language form. Consequently, our method enables efficient and flexible search from a large dataset with simple query language.

  14. Ambulatory Estimation of Relative Foot Positions using Ultrasound

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weenk, D.; van der Coelen, Michiel; Geessink, Arno A.G.; van der Hoek, Frank J.; Verstoep, Bart; Kortier, H.G.; van Meulen, Fokke; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Veltink, Petrus H.

    2013-01-01

    The recording of human movement is used for biomedical applications like physical therapy and sports training. Over the last few years inertial sensors have been proven to be a useful ambulatory alternative to traditional optical systems. An example of a successful application is the instrumented

  15. Interactions between motion and form processing in the human visual system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mather, George; Pavan, Andrea; Bellacosa Marotti, Rosilari; Campana, Gianluca; Casco, Clara

    2013-01-01

    The predominant view of motion and form processing in the human visual system assumes that these two attributes are handled by separate and independent modules. Motion processing involves filtering by direction-selective sensors, followed by integration to solve the aperture problem. Form processing involves filtering by orientation-selective and size-selective receptive fields, followed by integration to encode object shape. It has long been known that motion signals can influence form processing in the well-known Gestalt principle of common fate; texture elements which share a common motion property are grouped into a single contour or texture region. However, recent research in psychophysics and neuroscience indicates that the influence of form signals on motion processing is more extensive than previously thought. First, the salience and apparent direction of moving lines depends on how the local orientation and direction of motion combine to match the receptive field properties of motion-selective neurons. Second, orientation signals generated by "motion-streaks" influence motion processing; motion sensitivity, apparent direction and adaptation are affected by simultaneously present orientation signals. Third, form signals generated by human body shape influence biological motion processing, as revealed by studies using point-light motion stimuli. Thus, form-motion integration seems to occur at several different levels of cortical processing, from V1 to STS.

  16. Human motion behavior while interacting with an industrial robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortot, Dino; Ding, Hao; Antonopolous, Alexandros; Bengler, Klaus

    2012-01-01

    Human workers and industrial robots both have specific strengths within industrial production. Advantageously they complement each other perfectly, which leads to the development of human-robot interaction (HRI) applications. Bringing humans and robots together in the same workspace may lead to potential collisions. The avoidance of such is a central safety requirement. It can be realized with sundry sensor systems, all of them decelerating the robot when the distance to the human decreases alarmingly and applying the emergency stop, when the distance becomes too small. As a consequence, the efficiency of the overall systems suffers, because the robot has high idle times. Optimized path planning algorithms have to be developed to avoid that. The following study investigates human motion behavior in the proximity of an industrial robot. Three different kinds of encounters between the two entities under three robot speed levels are prompted. A motion tracking system is used to capture the motions. Results show, that humans keep an average distance of about 0,5m to the robot, when the encounter occurs. Approximation of the workbenches is influenced by the robot in ten of 15 cases. Furthermore, an increase of participants' walking velocity with higher robot velocities is observed.

  17. Coupled motions in human and porcine thoracic and lumbar spines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kingma, Idsart; Busscher, Iris; van der Veen, Albert J.; Verkerke, Gijsbertus J.; Veldhuizen, Albert G.; Homminga, Jasper; van Dieën, Jaap H.

    2018-01-01

    Coupled motions, i.e., motions along axes other than the loaded axis, have been reported to occur in the human spine, and are likely to be influenced by inclined local axes due to the sagittal plane spine curvature. Furthermore, the role of facet joints in such motions is as yet unclear. Therefore,

  18. Coupled motions in human and porcine thoracic and lumbar spines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kingma, Idsart; Busscher, Iris; van der Veen, Albert J.; Verkerke, Gijsbertus J.; Veldhuizen, Albert G.; Homminga, Jasper; van Dieën, Jaap H.

    2017-01-01

    Coupled motions, i.e., motions along axes other than the loaded axis, have been reported to occur in the human spine, and are likely to be influenced by inclined local axes due to the sagittal plane spine curvature. Furthermore, the role of facet joints in such motions is as yet unclear. Therefore,

  19. Side effects after ambulatory lumbar iohexol myelography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sand, T.; Myhr, G.; Stovner, L.J.; Dale, L.G.; Tangerud, A.

    1989-01-01

    Side effect incidences after ambulatory (22G needle and two h bed rest) and after non-ambulatory (22 and 20G needles and 20 h bed rest) lumbar iohexol myelography have been estimated and compared. Headache incidence was significantly greater in ambulatory (50%, n=107) as compared to nonambulatory myelography (26%, n=58). Headaches in the ambulatory group tended to be of shorter duration and the difference between severe headaches in ambulatory and non-ambulatory groups was not significant. Serious adverse reactions did not occur and none of the ambulatory patients required readmission because of side effects. The headache was predominantly postural and occurred significantly earlier in the ambulatory group. Headache incidence was significantly greater after 20G needle myelography (44%, n=97) as compared to 22G needle iohexol myelography (26%, n=58). The results support the hypothesis that CSF leakage is a major cause of headache after lumbar iohexol myelography. (orig.)

  20. Sybar, a human motion analysis system for rehabilition medicine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hautus, E.H.

    1997-01-01

    The Sybar project is a designer's Ph.D project that deals with the development of a motion-analysis system for rehabilitation medicine, at the VU Hospital in Amsterdam. Human motion can be analyzed by biomechanical measurement systems. There are a number of different methods to generate several

  1. Interactions between motion and form processing in the human visual system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George eMather

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The predominant view of motion and form processing in the human visual system assumes that these two attributes are handled by separate and independent modules. Motion processing involves filtering by direction-selective sensors, followed by integration to solve the aperture problem. Form processing involves filtering by orientation-selective and size-selective receptive fields, followed by integration to encode object shape. It has long been known that motion signals can influence form processing in the well-known Gestalt principle of common fate; texture elements which share a common motion property are grouped into a single contour or texture region. However recent research in psychophysics and neuroscience indicates that the influence of form signals on motion processing is more extensive than previously thought. First, the salience and apparent direction of moving lines depends on how the local orientation and direction of motion combine to match the receptive field properties of motion-selective neurons. Second, orientation signals generated by ‘motion-streaks’ influence motion processing; motion sensitivity, apparent direction and adaptation are affected by simultaneously present orientation signals. Third, form signals generated by human body shape influence biological motion processing, as revealed by studies using point-light motion stimuli. Thus form-motion integration seems to occur at several different levels of cortical processing, from V1 to STS.

  2. Anaesthesia for Ambulatory Paediatric Surgery: Common ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    BACKGROUND: Ambulatory surgical care accounts for over 70% of elective procedures in Northern America. Ambulatory paediatric surgical practice is not widespread in Nigeria. This report examined clinical indicators for quality care in paediatric ambulatory surgery using common outcomes after day case procedures as ...

  3. Ambulatory heart rate is underestimated when measured by an Ambulatory Blood Pressure device

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vrijkotte, T.G.M.; de Geus, E.J.C.

    1999-01-01

    Objective: To test the validity of ambulatory heart rate (HR) assessment with a cuff ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitor. Design: Cross-instrument comparison of HR measured intermittently by a cuff ABP monitor (SpaceLabs, Redmond, Washington, USA), with HR derived from continuous

  4. Ambulatory heart rate is underestimated when measured by an ambulatory blood pressure device

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vrijkotte, T. G.; de Geus, E. J.

    2001-01-01

    To test the validity of ambulatory heart rate (HR) assessment with a cuff ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitor. Cross-instrument comparison of HR measured intermittently by a cuff ABP monitor (SpaceLabs, Redmond, Washington, USA), with HR derived from continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings

  5. Ambulatory heart rate is underestimated when measured by an ambulatory blood pressure device

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vrijkotte, T.G.M.; de Geus, E.J.C.

    2001-01-01

    Objective: To test the validity of ambulatory heart rate (HR) assessment with a cuff ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitor. Design: Cross-instrument comparison of HR measured intermittently by a cuff ABP monitor (SpaceLabs, Redmond, Washington, USA), with HR derived from continuous

  6. Music recommendation according to human motion based on kernel CCA-based relationship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohkushi, Hiroyuki; Ogawa, Takahiro; Haseyama, Miki

    2011-12-01

    In this article, a method for recommendation of music pieces according to human motions based on their kernel canonical correlation analysis (CCA)-based relationship is proposed. In order to perform the recommendation between different types of multimedia data, i.e., recommendation of music pieces from human motions, the proposed method tries to estimate their relationship. Specifically, the correlation based on kernel CCA is calculated as the relationship in our method. Since human motions and music pieces have various time lengths, it is necessary to calculate the correlation between time series having different lengths. Therefore, new kernel functions for human motions and music pieces, which can provide similarities between data that have different time lengths, are introduced into the calculation of the kernel CCA-based correlation. This approach effectively provides a solution to the conventional problem of not being able to calculate the correlation from multimedia data that have various time lengths. Therefore, the proposed method can perform accurate recommendation of best matched music pieces according to a target human motion from the obtained correlation. Experimental results are shown to verify the performance of the proposed method.

  7. Providing value in ambulatory anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fosnot, Caroline D; Fleisher, Lee A; Keogh, John

    2015-12-01

    The purpose of this review is to discuss current practices and changes in the field of ambulatory anesthesia, in both hospital and ambulatory surgery center settings. New trends in ambulatory settings are discussed and a review of the most current and comprehensive guidelines for the care of ambulatory patients with comorbid conditions such as postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), obstructive sleep apnea and diabetes mellitus are reviewed. Future direction and challenges to the field are highlighted. Ambulatory anesthesia continues to be in high demand for many reasons; patients and surgeons want their surgical procedures to be swift, involve minimal postoperative pain, have a transient recovery time, and avoid an admission to the hospital. Factors that have made this possible for patients are improved surgical equipment, volatile anesthetic improvement, ultrasound-guided regional techniques, non-narcotic adjuncts for pain control, and the minimization of PONV. The decrease in time spent in a hospital also decreases the risk of wound infection, minimizes missed days from work, and is a socioeconomically favorable model, when possible. Recently proposed strategies which will allow surgeons and anesthesiologists to continue to meet the growing demand for a majority of surgical cases being same-day include pharmacotherapies with less undesirable side-effects, integration of ultrasound-guided regional techniques, and preoperative evaluations in appropriate candidates via a telephone call the night prior to surgery. Multidisciplinary communication amongst caregivers continues to make ambulatory settings efficient, safe, and socioeconomically favorable.It is also important to note the future impact that healthcare reform will have specifically on ambulatory anesthesia. The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 will allow 32 million more people to gain access to preventive services that will require anesthesia such as screening

  8. Implied motion because of instability in Hokusai Manga activates the human motion-sensitive extrastriate visual cortex: an fMRI study of the impact of visual art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osaka, Naoyuki; Matsuyoshi, Daisuke; Ikeda, Takashi; Osaka, Mariko

    2010-03-10

    The recent development of cognitive neuroscience has invited inference about the neurosensory events underlying the experience of visual arts involving implied motion. We report functional magnetic resonance imaging study demonstrating activation of the human extrastriate motion-sensitive cortex by static images showing implied motion because of instability. We used static line-drawing cartoons of humans by Hokusai Katsushika (called 'Hokusai Manga'), an outstanding Japanese cartoonist as well as famous Ukiyoe artist. We found 'Hokusai Manga' with implied motion by depicting human bodies that are engaged in challenging tonic posture significantly activated the motion-sensitive visual cortex including MT+ in the human extrastriate cortex, while an illustration that does not imply motion, for either humans or objects, did not activate these areas under the same tasks. We conclude that motion-sensitive extrastriate cortex would be a critical region for perception of implied motion in instability.

  9. Mathematical Modeling and Evaluation of Human Motions in Physical Therapy Using Mixture Density Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vakanski, A; Ferguson, J M; Lee, S

    2016-12-01

    The objective of the proposed research is to develop a methodology for modeling and evaluation of human motions, which will potentially benefit patients undertaking a physical rehabilitation therapy (e.g., following a stroke or due to other medical conditions). The ultimate aim is to allow patients to perform home-based rehabilitation exercises using a sensory system for capturing the motions, where an algorithm will retrieve the trajectories of a patient's exercises, will perform data analysis by comparing the performed motions to a reference model of prescribed motions, and will send the analysis results to the patient's physician with recommendations for improvement. The modeling approach employs an artificial neural network, consisting of layers of recurrent neuron units and layers of neuron units for estimating a mixture density function over the spatio-temporal dependencies within the human motion sequences. Input data are sequences of motions related to a prescribed exercise by a physiotherapist to a patient, and recorded with a motion capture system. An autoencoder subnet is employed for reducing the dimensionality of captured sequences of human motions, complemented with a mixture density subnet for probabilistic modeling of the motion data using a mixture of Gaussian distributions. The proposed neural network architecture produced a model for sets of human motions represented with a mixture of Gaussian density functions. The mean log-likelihood of observed sequences was employed as a performance metric in evaluating the consistency of a subject's performance relative to the reference dataset of motions. A publically available dataset of human motions captured with Microsoft Kinect was used for validation of the proposed method. The article presents a novel approach for modeling and evaluation of human motions with a potential application in home-based physical therapy and rehabilitation. The described approach employs the recent progress in the field of

  10. Analyzing the Effects of Human-Aware Motion Planning on Close-Proximity Human–Robot Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Julie A.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The objective of this work was to examine human response to motion-level robot adaptation to determine its effect on team fluency, human satisfaction, and perceived safety and comfort. Background: The evaluation of human response to adaptive robotic assistants has been limited, particularly in the realm of motion-level adaptation. The lack of true human-in-the-loop evaluation has made it impossible to determine whether such adaptation would lead to efficient and satisfying human–robot interaction. Method: We conducted an experiment in which participants worked with a robot to perform a collaborative task. Participants worked with an adaptive robot incorporating human-aware motion planning and with a baseline robot using shortest-path motions. Team fluency was evaluated through a set of quantitative metrics, and human satisfaction and perceived safety and comfort were evaluated through questionnaires. Results: When working with the adaptive robot, participants completed the task 5.57% faster, with 19.9% more concurrent motion, 2.96% less human idle time, 17.3% less robot idle time, and a 15.1% greater separation distance. Questionnaire responses indicated that participants felt safer and more comfortable when working with an adaptive robot and were more satisfied with it as a teammate than with the standard robot. Conclusion: People respond well to motion-level robot adaptation, and significant benefits can be achieved from its use in terms of both human–robot team fluency and human worker satisfaction. Application: Our conclusion supports the development of technologies that could be used to implement human-aware motion planning in collaborative robots and the use of this technique for close-proximity human–robot collaboration. PMID:25790568

  11. A Survey of Advances in Vision-Based Human Motion Capture and Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moeslund, Thomas B.; Hilton, Adrian; Krüger, Volker

    2006-01-01

    This survey reviews advances in human motion capture and analysis from 2000 to 2006, following a previous survey of papers up to 2000 Human motion capture continues to be an increasingly active research area in computer vision with over 350 publications over this period. A number of significant...... actions and behavior. This survey reviews recent trends in video based human capture and analysis, as well as discussing open problems for future research to achieve automatic visual analysis of human movement....

  12. Three dimensional monocular human motion analysis in end-effector space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauberg, Søren; Lapuyade, Jerome; Engell-Nørregård, Morten Pol

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel approach to three dimensional human motion estimation from monocular video data. We employ a particle filter to perform the motion estimation. The novelty of the method lies in the choice of state space for the particle filter. Using a non-linear inverse kinemati...

  13. Magnetic distortion in motion labs, implications for validating inertial magnetic sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Vries, W.H.; Veeger, H.E.J.; Baten, C.T.M.; Helm, F.C.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Ambulatory 3D orientation estimation with Inertial Magnetic Sensor Units (IMU's) use the earth magnetic field. The magnitude of distortion in orientation in a standard equipped motion lab and its effect on the accuracy of the orientation estimation with IMU's is addressed. Methods:

  14. Magnetic distortion in motion labs, implications for validating inertial magnetic sensors.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vries, W.H. de; Veeger, H.E.; Baten, C.T.; Helm, F.C.T. van der

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Ambulatory 3D orientation estimation with Inertial Magnetic Sensor Units (IMU's) use the earth magnetic field. The magnitude of distortion in orientation in a standard equipped motion lab and its effect on the accuracy of the orientation estimation with IMU's is addressed. METHODS:

  15. Data Fusion Research of Triaxial Human Body Motion Gesture based on Decision Tree

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feihong Zhou

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The development status of human body motion gesture data fusion domestic and overseas has been analyzed. A triaxial accelerometer is adopted to develop a wearable human body motion gesture monitoring system aimed at old people healthcare. On the basis of a brief introduction of decision tree algorithm, the WEKA workbench is adopted to generate a human body motion gesture decision tree. At last, the classification quality of the decision tree has been validated through experiments. The experimental results show that the decision tree algorithm could reach an average predicting accuracy of 97.5 % with lower time cost.

  16. A Subject-Specific Kinematic Model to Predict Human Motion in Exoskeleton-Assisted Gait

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torricelli, Diego; Cortés, Camilo; Lete, Nerea; Bertelsen, Álvaro; Gonzalez-Vargas, Jose E.; del-Ama, Antonio J.; Dimbwadyo, Iris; Moreno, Juan C.; Florez, Julian; Pons, Jose L.

    2018-01-01

    The relative motion between human and exoskeleton is a crucial factor that has remarkable consequences on the efficiency, reliability and safety of human-robot interaction. Unfortunately, its quantitative assessment has been largely overlooked in the literature. Here, we present a methodology that allows predicting the motion of the human joints from the knowledge of the angular motion of the exoskeleton frame. Our method combines a subject-specific skeletal model with a kinematic model of a lower limb exoskeleton (H2, Technaid), imposing specific kinematic constraints between them. To calibrate the model and validate its ability to predict the relative motion in a subject-specific way, we performed experiments on seven healthy subjects during treadmill walking tasks. We demonstrate a prediction accuracy lower than 3.5° globally, and around 1.5° at the hip level, which represent an improvement up to 66% compared to the traditional approach assuming no relative motion between the user and the exoskeleton. PMID:29755336

  17. A Subject-Specific Kinematic Model to Predict Human Motion in Exoskeleton-Assisted Gait.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torricelli, Diego; Cortés, Camilo; Lete, Nerea; Bertelsen, Álvaro; Gonzalez-Vargas, Jose E; Del-Ama, Antonio J; Dimbwadyo, Iris; Moreno, Juan C; Florez, Julian; Pons, Jose L

    2018-01-01

    The relative motion between human and exoskeleton is a crucial factor that has remarkable consequences on the efficiency, reliability and safety of human-robot interaction. Unfortunately, its quantitative assessment has been largely overlooked in the literature. Here, we present a methodology that allows predicting the motion of the human joints from the knowledge of the angular motion of the exoskeleton frame. Our method combines a subject-specific skeletal model with a kinematic model of a lower limb exoskeleton (H2, Technaid), imposing specific kinematic constraints between them. To calibrate the model and validate its ability to predict the relative motion in a subject-specific way, we performed experiments on seven healthy subjects during treadmill walking tasks. We demonstrate a prediction accuracy lower than 3.5° globally, and around 1.5° at the hip level, which represent an improvement up to 66% compared to the traditional approach assuming no relative motion between the user and the exoskeleton.

  18. Scavenging energy from the motion of human lower limbs via a piezoelectric energy harvester

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Kangqi; Yu, Bo; Zhu, Yingmin; Liu, Zhaohui; Wang, Liansong

    2017-03-01

    Scavenging energy from human motion through piezoelectric transduction has been considered as a feasible alternative to batteries for powering portable devices and realizing self-sustained devices. To date, most piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) developed can only collect energy from the uni-directional mechanical vibration. This deficiency severely limits their applicability to human motion energy harvesting because the human motion involves diverse mechanical motions. In this paper, a novel PEH is proposed to harvest energy from the motion of human lower limbs. This PEH is composed of two piezoelectric cantilever beams, a sleeve and a ferromagnetic ball. The two beams are designed to sense the vibration along the tibial axis and conduct piezoelectric conversion. The ball senses the leg swing and actuates the two beams to vibrate via magnetic coupling. Theoretical and experimental studies indicate that the proposed PEH can scavenge energy from both the vibration and the swing. During each stride, the PEH can produce multiple peaks in voltage output, which is attributed to the superposition of different excitations. Moreover, the root-mean-square (RMS) voltage output of the PEH increases when the walking speed ranges from 2 to 8 km/h. In addition, the ultra-low frequencies of human motion are also up-converted by the proposed design.

  19. Ambulatory thyroidectomy: A multistate study of revisits and complications

    OpenAIRE

    Orosco, RK; Lin, HW; Bhattacharyya, N

    2015-01-01

    © 2015 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. Objective. Determine rates and reasons for revisits after ambulatory adult thyroidectomy. Study Design. Cross-sectional analysis of multistate ambulatory surgery and hospital databases. Setting. Ambulatory surgery data from the State Ambulatory Surgery Databases of California, Florida, Iowa, and New York for calendar years 2010 and 2011. Subjects and Methods. Ambulatory thyroidectomy cases were linked to state ambul...

  20. Sensitive and Flexible Polymeric Strain Sensor for Accurate Human Motion Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Hassan; Razmjou, Amir; Ebrahimi Warkiani, Majid; Kottapalli, Ajay; Asadnia, Mohsen

    2018-02-01

    Flexible electronic devices offer the capability to integrate and adapt with human body. These devices are mountable on surfaces with various shapes, which allow us to attach them to clothes or directly onto the body. This paper suggests a facile fabrication strategy via electrospinning to develop a stretchable, and sensitive poly (vinylidene fluoride) nanofibrous strain sensor for human motion monitoring. A complete characterization on the single PVDF nano fiber has been performed. The charge generated by PVDF electrospun strain sensor changes was employed as a parameter to control the finger motion of the robotic arm. As a proof of concept, we developed a smart glove with five sensors integrated into it to detect the fingers motion and transfer it to a robotic hand. Our results shows that the proposed strain sensors are able to detect tiny motion of fingers and successfully run the robotic hand.

  1. Sensitive and Flexible Polymeric Strain Sensor for Accurate Human Motion Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hassan Khan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Flexible electronic devices offer the capability to integrate and adapt with human body. These devices are mountable on surfaces with various shapes, which allow us to attach them to clothes or directly onto the body. This paper suggests a facile fabrication strategy via electrospinning to develop a stretchable, and sensitive poly (vinylidene fluoride nanofibrous strain sensor for human motion monitoring. A complete characterization on the single PVDF nano fiber has been performed. The charge generated by PVDF electrospun strain sensor changes was employed as a parameter to control the finger motion of the robotic arm. As a proof of concept, we developed a smart glove with five sensors integrated into it to detect the fingers motion and transfer it to a robotic hand. Our results shows that the proposed strain sensors are able to detect tiny motion of fingers and successfully run the robotic hand.

  2. Dielectric polymer: scavenging energy from human motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jean-Mistral, Claire; Basrour, Skandar; Chaillout, Jean-Jacques

    2008-03-01

    More and more sensors are embedded in human body for medical applications, for sport. The short lifetime of the batteries, available on the market, reveals a real problem of autonomy of these systems. A promising alternative is to scavenge the ambient energy such as the mechanical one. Up to now, few scavenging structures have operating frequencies compatible with ambient one. And, most of the developed structures are rigid and use vibration as mechanical source. For these reasons, we developed a scavenger that operates in a large frequency spectrum from quasi-static to dynamic range. This generator is fully flexible, light and does not hamper the human motion. Thus, we report in this paper an analytical model for dielectric generator with news electrical and mechanical characterization, and the development of an innovating application: scavenging energy from human motion. The generator is located on the knee and design to scavenge 0.1mJ per scavenging cycle at a frequency of 1Hz, enough to supply a low consumption system and with a poling voltage as low as possible to facilitate the power management. Our first prototype is a membrane with an area of 5*3cm and 31µm in thickness which scavenge 0.1mJ under 170V at constant charge Q.

  3. An Exoskeleton Robot for Human Forearm and Wrist Motion Assist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranathunga Arachchilage Ruwan Chandra Gopura; Kiguchi, Kazuo

    The exoskeleton robot is worn by the human operator as an orthotic device. Its joints and links correspond to those of the human body. The same system operated in different modes can be used for different fundamental applications; a human-amplifier, haptic interface, rehabilitation device and assistive device sharing a portion of the external load with the operator. We have been developing exoskeleton robots for assisting the motion of physically weak individuals such as elderly or slightly disabled in daily life. In this paper, we propose a three degree of freedom (3DOF) exoskeleton robot (W-EXOS) for the forearm pronation/ supination motion, wrist flexion/extension motion and ulnar/radial deviation. The paper describes the wrist anatomy toward the development of the exoskeleton robot, the hardware design of the exoskeleton robot and EMG-based control method. The skin surface electromyographic (EMG) signals of muscles in forearm of the exoskeletons' user and the hand force/forearm torque are used as input information for the controller. By applying the skin surface EMG signals as main input signals to the controller, automatic control of the robot can be realized without manipulating any other equipment. Fuzzy control method has been applied to realize the natural and flexible motion assist. Experiments have been performed to evaluate the proposed exoskeleton robot and its control method.

  4. Human error identification for laparoscopic surgery: Development of a motion economy perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Hakim, Latif; Sevdalis, Nick; Maiping, Tanaphon; Watanachote, Damrongpan; Sengupta, Shomik; Dissaranan, Charuspong

    2015-09-01

    This study postulates that traditional human error identification techniques fail to consider motion economy principles and, accordingly, their applicability in operating theatres may be limited. This study addresses this gap in the literature with a dual aim. First, it identifies the principles of motion economy that suit the operative environment and second, it develops a new error mode taxonomy for human error identification techniques which recognises motion economy deficiencies affecting the performance of surgeons and predisposing them to errors. A total of 30 principles of motion economy were developed and categorised into five areas. A hierarchical task analysis was used to break down main tasks of a urological laparoscopic surgery (hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy) to their elements and the new taxonomy was used to identify errors and their root causes resulting from violation of motion economy principles. The approach was prospectively tested in 12 observed laparoscopic surgeries performed by 5 experienced surgeons. A total of 86 errors were identified and linked to the motion economy deficiencies. Results indicate the developed methodology is promising. Our methodology allows error prevention in surgery and the developed set of motion economy principles could be useful for training surgeons on motion economy principles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  5. Computer simulation of human motion in sports biomechanics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughan, C L

    1984-01-01

    This chapter has covered some important aspects of the computer simulation of human motion in sports biomechanics. First the definition and the advantages and limitations of computer simulation were discussed; second, research on various sporting activities were reviewed. These activities included basic movements, aquatic sports, track and field athletics, winter sports, gymnastics, and striking sports. This list was not exhaustive and certain material has, of necessity, been omitted. However, it was felt that a sufficiently broad and interesting range of activities was chosen to illustrate both the advantages and the pitfalls of simulation. It is almost a decade since Miller [53] wrote a review chapter similar to this one. One might be tempted to say that things have changed radically since then--that computer simulation is now a widely accepted and readily applied research tool in sports biomechanics. This is simply not true, however. Biomechanics researchers still tend to emphasize the descriptive type of study, often unfortunately, when a little theoretical explanation would have been more helpful [29]. What will the next decade bring? Of one thing we can be certain: The power of computers, particularly the readily accessible and portable microcomputer, will expand beyond all recognition. The memory and storage capacities will increase dramatically on the hardware side, and on the software side the trend will be toward "user-friendliness." It is likely that a number of software simulation packages designed specifically for studying human motion [31, 96] will be extensively tested and could gain wide acceptance in the biomechanics research community. Nevertheless, a familiarity with Newtonian and Lagrangian mechanics, optimization theory, and computers in general, as well as practical biomechanical insight, will still be a prerequisite for successful simulation models of human motion. Above all, the biomechanics researcher will still have to bear in mind that

  6. Interactions between motion and form processing in the human visual system

    OpenAIRE

    Mather, G.; Pavan, A.; Bellacosa Marotti, R.; Campana, G.; Casco, C.

    2013-01-01

    The predominant view of motion and form processing in the human visual system assumes that these two attributes are handled by separate and independent modules. Motion processing involves filtering by direction-selective sensors, followed by integration to solve the aperture problem. Form processing involves filtering by orientation-selective and size-selective receptive fields, followed by integration to encode object shape. It has long been known that motion signals can influence form proce...

  7. New human-centered linear and nonlinear motion cueing algorithms for control of simulator motion systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telban, Robert J.

    While the performance of flight simulator motion system hardware has advanced substantially, the development of the motion cueing algorithm, the software that transforms simulated aircraft dynamics into realizable motion commands, has not kept pace. To address this, new human-centered motion cueing algorithms were developed. A revised "optimal algorithm" uses time-invariant filters developed by optimal control, incorporating human vestibular system models. The "nonlinear algorithm" is a novel approach that is also formulated by optimal control, but can also be updated in real time. It incorporates a new integrated visual-vestibular perception model that includes both visual and vestibular sensation and the interaction between the stimuli. A time-varying control law requires the matrix Riccati equation to be solved in real time by a neurocomputing approach. Preliminary pilot testing resulted in the optimal algorithm incorporating a new otolith model, producing improved motion cues. The nonlinear algorithm vertical mode produced a motion cue with a time-varying washout, sustaining small cues for longer durations and washing out large cues more quickly compared to the optimal algorithm. The inclusion of the integrated perception model improved the responses to longitudinal and lateral cues. False cues observed with the NASA adaptive algorithm were absent. As a result of unsatisfactory sensation, an augmented turbulence cue was added to the vertical mode for both the optimal and nonlinear algorithms. The relative effectiveness of the algorithms, in simulating aircraft maneuvers, was assessed with an eleven-subject piloted performance test conducted on the NASA Langley Visual Motion Simulator (VMS). Two methods, the quasi-objective NASA Task Load Index (TLX), and power spectral density analysis of pilot control, were used to assess pilot workload. TLX analysis reveals, in most cases, less workload and variation among pilots with the nonlinear algorithm. Control input

  8. Decoding conjunctions of direction-of-motion and binocular disparity from human visual cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Kiley J; Clifford, Colin W G

    2012-05-01

    Motion and binocular disparity are two features in our environment that share a common correspondence problem. Decades of psychophysical research dedicated to understanding stereopsis suggest that these features interact early in human visual processing to disambiguate depth. Single-unit recordings in the monkey also provide evidence for the joint encoding of motion and disparity across much of the dorsal visual stream. Here, we used functional MRI and multivariate pattern analysis to examine where in the human brain conjunctions of motion and disparity are encoded. Subjects sequentially viewed two stimuli that could be distinguished only by their conjunctions of motion and disparity. Specifically, each stimulus contained the same feature information (leftward and rightward motion and crossed and uncrossed disparity) but differed exclusively in the way these features were paired. Our results revealed that a linear classifier could accurately decode which stimulus a subject was viewing based on voxel activation patterns throughout the dorsal visual areas and as early as V2. This decoding success was conditional on some voxels being individually sensitive to the unique conjunctions comprising each stimulus, thus a classifier could not rely on independent information about motion and binocular disparity to distinguish these conjunctions. This study expands on evidence that disparity and motion interact at many levels of human visual processing, particularly within the dorsal stream. It also lends support to the idea that stereopsis is subserved by early mechanisms also tuned to direction of motion.

  9. Nonlinear Synchronization for Automatic Learning of 3D Pose Variability in Human Motion Sequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mozerov M

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A dense matching algorithm that solves the problem of synchronizing prerecorded human motion sequences, which show different speeds and accelerations, is proposed. The approach is based on minimization of MRF energy and solves the problem by using Dynamic Programming. Additionally, an optimal sequence is automatically selected from the input dataset to be a time-scale pattern for all other sequences. The paper utilizes an action specific model which automatically learns the variability of 3D human postures observed in a set of training sequences. The model is trained using the public CMU motion capture dataset for the walking action, and a mean walking performance is automatically learnt. Additionally, statistics about the observed variability of the postures and motion direction are also computed at each time step. The synchronized motion sequences are used to learn a model of human motion for action recognition and full-body tracking purposes.

  10. Ambulatory anesthesia: optimal perioperative management of the diabetic patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Polderman JAW

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Jorinde AW Polderman, Robert van Wilpe, Jan H Eshuis, Benedikt Preckel, Jeroen Hermanides Department of Anaesthesiology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Abstract: Given the growing number of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM and the growing number of surgical procedures performed in an ambulatory setting, DM is one of the most encountered comorbidities in patients undergoing ambulatory surgery. Perioperative management of ambulatory patients with DM requires a different approach than patients undergoing major surgery, as procedures are shorter and the stress response caused by surgery is minimal. However, DM is a risk factor for postoperative complications in ambulatory surgery, so should be managed carefully. Given the limited time ambulatory patients spend in the hospital, improvement in management has to be gained from the preanesthetic assessment. The purpose of this review is to summarize current literature regarding the anesthesiologic management of patients with DM in the ambulatory setting. We will discuss the risks of perioperative hyperglycemia together with the pre-, intra-, and postoperative considerations for these patients when encountered in an ambulatory setting. Furthermore, we provide recommendations for the optimal perioperative management of the diabetic patient undergoing ambulatory surgery. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, perioperative period, ambulatory surgery, insulin, complications, GLP-1 agonist, DPP-4 inhibitor

  11. Visual gravitational motion and the vestibular system in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco eLacquaniti

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The visual system is poorly sensitive to arbitrary accelerations, but accurately detects the effects of gravity on a target motion. Here we review behavioral and neuroimaging data about the neural mechanisms for dealing with object motion and egomotion under gravity. The results from several experiments show that the visual estimates of a target motion under gravity depend on the combination of a prior of gravity effects with on-line visual signals on target position and velocity. These estimates are affected by vestibular inputs, and are encoded in a visual-vestibular network whose core regions lie within or around the Sylvian fissure, and are represented by the posterior insula/retroinsula/temporo-parietal junction. This network responds both to target motions coherent with gravity and to vestibular caloric stimulation in human fMRI studies. Transient inactivation of the temporo-parietal junction selectively disrupts the interception of targets accelerated by gravity.

  12. Visual gravitational motion and the vestibular system in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacquaniti, Francesco; Bosco, Gianfranco; Indovina, Iole; La Scaleia, Barbara; Maffei, Vincenzo; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Zago, Myrka

    2013-12-26

    The visual system is poorly sensitive to arbitrary accelerations, but accurately detects the effects of gravity on a target motion. Here we review behavioral and neuroimaging data about the neural mechanisms for dealing with object motion and egomotion under gravity. The results from several experiments show that the visual estimates of a target motion under gravity depend on the combination of a prior of gravity effects with on-line visual signals on target position and velocity. These estimates are affected by vestibular inputs, and are encoded in a visual-vestibular network whose core regions lie within or around the Sylvian fissure, and are represented by the posterior insula/retroinsula/temporo-parietal junction. This network responds both to target motions coherent with gravity and to vestibular caloric stimulation in human fMRI studies. Transient inactivation of the temporo-parietal junction selectively disrupts the interception of targets accelerated by gravity.

  13. Coupled motions direct electrons along human microsomal P450 Chains.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher R Pudney

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Protein domain motion is often implicated in biological electron transfer, but the general significance of motion is not clear. Motion has been implicated in the transfer of electrons from human cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR to all microsomal cytochrome P450s (CYPs. Our hypothesis is that tight coupling of motion with enzyme chemistry can signal "ready and waiting" states for electron transfer from CPR to downstream CYPs and support vectorial electron transfer across complex redox chains. We developed a novel approach to study the time-dependence of dynamical change during catalysis that reports on the changing conformational states of CPR. FRET was linked to stopped-flow studies of electron transfer in CPR that contains donor-acceptor fluorophores on the enzyme surface. Open and closed states of CPR were correlated with key steps in the catalytic cycle which demonstrated how redox chemistry and NADPH binding drive successive opening and closing of the enzyme. Specifically, we provide evidence that reduction of the flavin moieties in CPR induces CPR opening, whereas ligand binding induces CPR closing. A dynamic reaction cycle was created in which CPR optimizes internal electron transfer between flavin cofactors by adopting closed states and signals "ready and waiting" conformations to partner CYP enzymes by adopting more open states. This complex, temporal control of enzyme motion is used to catalyze directional electron transfer from NADPH→FAD→FMN→heme, thereby facilitating all microsomal P450-catalysed reactions. Motions critical to the broader biological functions of CPR are tightly coupled to enzyme chemistry in the human NADPH-CPR-CYP redox chain. That redox chemistry alone is sufficient to drive functionally necessary, large-scale conformational change is remarkable. Rather than relying on stochastic conformational sampling, our study highlights a need for tight coupling of motion to enzyme chemistry to give vectorial electron

  14. Anesthesia for ambulatory anorectal surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudaityte, Jūrate; Marchertiene, Irena; Pavalkis, Dainius

    2004-01-01

    The prevalence of minor anorectal diseases is 4-5% of adult Western population. Operations are performed on ambulatory or 24-hour stay basis. Requirements for ambulatory anesthesia are: rapid onset and recovery, ability to provide quick adjustments during maintenance, lack of intraoperative and postoperative side effects, and cost-effectiveness. Anorectal surgery requires deep levels of anesthesia. The aim is achieved with 1) regional blocks alone or in combination with monitored anesthesia care or 2) deep general anesthesia, usually with muscle relaxants and tracheal intubation. Modern general anesthetics provide smooth, quickly adjustable anesthesia and are a good choice for ambulatory surgery. Popular regional methods are: spinal anesthesia, caudal blockade, posterior perineal blockade and local anesthesia. The trend in regional anesthesia is lowering the dose of local anesthetic, providing selective segmental block. Adjuvants potentiating analgesia are recommended. Postoperative period may be complicated by: 1) severe pain, 2) urinary retention due to common nerve supply, and 3) surgical bleeding. Complications may lead to hospital admission. In conclusion, novel general anesthetics are recommended for ambulatory anorectal surgery. Further studies to determine an optimal dose and method are needed in the group of regional anesthesia.

  15. Human motion estimation with multiple frequency modulated continuous wave radars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Dorp, P.; Groen, F.C.A.

    2010-01-01

    Human motion estimation is an important issue in automotive, security or home automation applications. Radar systems are well suited for this because they are robust, are independent of day or night conditions and have accurate range and speed domain. The human response in a radar range-speed-time

  16. Ambulatory percutaneous nephrolithotomy: initial series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahrour, Walid; Andonian, Sero

    2010-12-01

    To assess the safety and feasibility of ambulatory percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). PCNL is the gold standard for the management of large renal stones. Although tubeless PCNL has been previously described, no case series have been published of ambulatory PCNL. The criteria for ambulatory PCNL were: single tract, stone-free status documented by flexible nephroscopy, adequate pain control, and satisfactory postoperative hematocrit level and chest radiographic findings. Patient information, including operating room and fluoroscopy times, stone size and Hounsfield units, and number of needle punctures, were collected prospectively. The time spent in the recovery room, in addition to the amount of narcotics used in the recovery room and at home, was documented. Of 10 patients, 8 had nephrostomy tracts established intraoperatively by the urologist and 2 had preoperative nephrostomy tubes placed. The median operating and fluoroscopy time was 83.5 and 4.45 minutes, respectively. The median stone diameter was 20 mm (800 Hounsfield units) in addition to a patient with a staghorn calculus. The patients spent a median of 240 minutes in the recovery room and had received a median of 19.25 mg of morphine equivalents. Only 3 patients (30%) used narcotics at home. No intraoperative complications occurred, and none of the patients required transfusions. Two postoperative complications developed: a deep vein thrombosis requiring outpatient anticoagulation and multiresistant Escherichia coli infection requiring intravenous antibiotics. In highly selected patients, ambulatory PCNL is safe and feasible. More patients are needed to verify the criteria for patients undergoing the ambulatory approach. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Spatio-Temporal Constrained Human Trajectory Generation from the PIR Motion Detector Sensor Network Data: A Geometric Algebra Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhaoyuan Yu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Passive infrared (PIR motion detectors, which can support long-term continuous observation, are widely used for human motion analysis. Extracting all possible trajectories from the PIR sensor networks is important. Because the PIR sensor does not log location and individual information, none of the existing methods can generate all possible human motion trajectories that satisfy various spatio-temporal constraints from the sensor activation log data. In this paper, a geometric algebra (GA-based approach is developed to generate all possible human trajectories from the PIR sensor network data. Firstly, the representation of the geographical network, sensor activation response sequences and the human motion are represented as algebraic elements using GA. The human motion status of each sensor activation are labeled using the GA-based trajectory tracking. Then, a matrix multiplication approach is developed to dynamically generate the human trajectories according to the sensor activation log and the spatio-temporal constraints. The method is tested with the MERL motion database. Experiments show that our method can flexibly extract the major statistical pattern of the human motion. Compared with direct statistical analysis and tracklet graph method, our method can effectively extract all possible trajectories of the human motion, which makes it more accurate. Our method is also likely to provides a new way to filter other passive sensor log data in sensor networks.

  18. Spatio-Temporal Constrained Human Trajectory Generation from the PIR Motion Detector Sensor Network Data: A Geometric Algebra Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Zhaoyuan; Yuan, Linwang; Luo, Wen; Feng, Linyao; Lv, Guonian

    2015-12-30

    Passive infrared (PIR) motion detectors, which can support long-term continuous observation, are widely used for human motion analysis. Extracting all possible trajectories from the PIR sensor networks is important. Because the PIR sensor does not log location and individual information, none of the existing methods can generate all possible human motion trajectories that satisfy various spatio-temporal constraints from the sensor activation log data. In this paper, a geometric algebra (GA)-based approach is developed to generate all possible human trajectories from the PIR sensor network data. Firstly, the representation of the geographical network, sensor activation response sequences and the human motion are represented as algebraic elements using GA. The human motion status of each sensor activation are labeled using the GA-based trajectory tracking. Then, a matrix multiplication approach is developed to dynamically generate the human trajectories according to the sensor activation log and the spatio-temporal constraints. The method is tested with the MERL motion database. Experiments show that our method can flexibly extract the major statistical pattern of the human motion. Compared with direct statistical analysis and tracklet graph method, our method can effectively extract all possible trajectories of the human motion, which makes it more accurate. Our method is also likely to provides a new way to filter other passive sensor log data in sensor networks.

  19. Redesigning ambulatory care business processes supporting clinical care delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, C; Sinkewich, M; Short, J; Callas, E

    1997-04-01

    The first step in redesigning the health care delivery process for ambulatory care begins with the patient and the business processes that support the patient. Patient-related business processes include patient access, service documentation, billing, follow-up, collection, and payment. Access is the portal to the clinical delivery and care management process. Service documentation, charge capture, and payment and collection are supporting processes to care delivery. Realigned provider networks now demand realigned patient business services to provide their members/customers/patients with improved service delivery at less cost. Purchaser mandates for cost containment, health maintenance, and enhanced quality of care have created an environment where every aspect of the delivery system, especially ambulatory care, is being judged. Business processes supporting the outpatient are therefore being reexamined for better efficiency and customer satisfaction. Many health care systems have made major investments in their ambulatory care environment, but have pursued traditional supporting business practices--such as multiple access points, lack of integrated patient appointment scheduling and registration, and multiple patient bills. These are areas that are appropriate for redesign efforts--all with the customer's needs and convenience in mind. Similarly, setting unrealistic expectations, underestimating the effort required, and ignoring the human elements of a patient-focused business service redesign effort can sabotage the very sound reasons for executing such an endeavor. Pitfalls can be avoided if a structured methodology, coupled with a change management process, are employed. Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group has been involved in several major efforts, all with ambulatory care settings to assist with the redesign of their business practices to consider the patient as the driver, instead of the institution providing the care.

  20. Postoperative pain management following ambulatory anesthesia: challenges and solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schug SA

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Stephan A Schug,1,2 Chandani Chandrasena2 1School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; 2Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia Abstract: Worldwide, there is an increasing trend toward performing more and more complex surgery in an ambulatory setting, partially driven by economic considerations. Provision of appropriate pain relief is still often inadequate in this setting; poor pain control and adverse effects of opioids provided for pain control are common reasons for readmission, with human and economic consequences. Therefore, improved analgesia after ambulatory surgery is an important goal; appropriate strategies include identification of at-risk patients, provision of multimodal analgesia, and early use of rescue strategies. Multimodal analgesia is based on the combined use of multiple medications or techniques for pain control, which have different mechanisms of action or act on different sites at the pain pathways. Thereby, such an approach improves analgesia, reduces opioid requirements, and reduces adverse effects of opioids. Important components of multimodal analgesia are nonopioids (acetaminophen and anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and alpha-2-delta modulators (gabapentin, pregabalin, but most importantly the use of local and regional anesthesia techniques. Here, the use of adjuvants is one way to increase the duration of pain relief, but, increasingly, continuous peripheral nerve blocks via catheters are used in ambulatory patients, too. Finally, the planning of discharge medications needs a balancing act between the requirements for provision of good analgesia and the risk of opioids going out into the community. Keywords: ambulatory surgery, short-stay surgery, multimodal analgesia, nonopioids, local anesthetics, regional anesthesia

  1. Ambulatory cleft lip surgery: A value analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arneja, Jugpal S; Mitton, Craig

    2013-01-01

    Socialized health systems face fiscal constraints due to a limited supply of resources and few reliable ways to control patient demand. Some form of prioritization must occur as to what services to offer and which programs to fund. A data-driven approach to decision making that incorporates outcomes, including safety and quality, in the setting of fiscal prudence is required. A value model championed by Michael Porter encompasses these parameters, in which value is defined as outcomes divided by cost. To assess ambulatory cleft lip surgery from a quality and safety perspective, and to assess the costs associated with ambulatory cleft lip surgery in North America. Conclusions will be drawn as to how the overall value of cleft lip surgery may be enhanced. A value analysis of published articles related to ambulatory cleft lip repair over the past 30 years was performed to determine what percentage of patients would be candidates for ambulatory cleft lip repair from a quality and safety perspective. An economic model was constructed based on costs associated with the inpatient stay related to cleft lip repair. On analysis of the published reports in the literature, a minority (28%) of patients are currently discharged in an ambulatory fashion following cleft lip repair. Further analysis suggests that 88.9% of patients would be safe candidates for same-day discharge. From an economic perspective, the mean cost per patient for the overnight admission component of ambulatory cleft surgery to the health care system in the United States was USD$2,390 and $1,800 in Canada. The present analysis reviewed germane publications over a 30-year period, ultimately suggesting that ambulatory cleft lip surgery results in preservation of quality and safety metrics for most patients. The financial model illustrates a potential cost saving through the adoption of such a practice change. For appropriately selected patients, ambulatory cleft surgery enhances overall health care value.

  2. A triboelectric motion sensor in wearable body sensor network for human activity recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hui Huang; Xian Li; Ye Sun

    2016-08-01

    The goal of this study is to design a novel triboelectric motion sensor in wearable body sensor network for human activity recognition. Physical activity recognition is widely used in well-being management, medical diagnosis and rehabilitation. Other than traditional accelerometers, we design a novel wearable sensor system based on triboelectrification. The triboelectric motion sensor can be easily attached to human body and collect motion signals caused by physical activities. The experiments are conducted to collect five common activity data: sitting and standing, walking, climbing upstairs, downstairs, and running. The k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) clustering algorithm is adopted to recognize these activities and validate the feasibility of this new approach. The results show that our system can perform physical activity recognition with a successful rate over 80% for walking, sitting and standing. The triboelectric structure can also be used as an energy harvester for motion harvesting due to its high output voltage in random low-frequency motion.

  3. Efficient Human Action and Gait Analysis Using Multiresolution Motion Energy Histogram

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuo-Chin Fan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Average Motion Energy (AME image is a good way to describe human motions. However, it has to face the computation efficiency problem with the increasing number of database templates. In this paper, we propose a histogram-based approach to improve the computation efficiency. We convert the human action/gait recognition problem to a histogram matching problem. In order to speed up the recognition process, we adopt a multiresolution structure on the Motion Energy Histogram (MEH. To utilize the multiresolution structure more efficiently, we propose an automated uneven partitioning method which is achieved by utilizing the quadtree decomposition results of MEH. In that case, the computation time is only relevant to the number of partitioned histogram bins, which is much less than the AME method. Two applications, action recognition and gait classification, are conducted in the experiments to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed approach.

  4. Energy Harvesting from Upper-Limb Pulling Motions for Miniaturized Human-Powered Generators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Jeongjin; Ryu, Mun-ho; Yang, Yoonseok

    2015-07-03

    The human-powered self-generator provides the best solution for individuals who need an instantaneous power supply for travel, outdoor, and emergency use, since it is less dependent on weather conditions and occupies less space than other renewable power supplies. However, many commercial portable self-generators that employ hand-cranking are not used as much as expected in daily lives although they have enough output capacity due to their intensive workload. This study proposes a portable human-powered generator which is designed to obtain mechanical energy from an upper limb pulling motion for improved human motion economy as well as efficient human-mechanical power transfer. A coreless axial-flux permanent magnet machine (APMM) and a flywheel magnet rotor were used in conjunction with a one-way clutched power transmission system in order to obtain effective power from the pulling motion. The developed prototype showed an average energy conversion efficiency of 30.98% and an average output power of 0.32 W with a maximum of 1.89 W. Its small form factor (50 mm × 32 mm × 43.5 mm, 0.05 kg) and the substantial electricity produced verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in the utilization of human power. It is expected that the developed generator could provide a mobile power supply.

  5. Representation of visual gravitational motion in the human vestibular cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indovina, Iole; Maffei, Vincenzo; Bosco, Gianfranco; Zago, Myrka; Macaluso, Emiliano; Lacquaniti, Francesco

    2005-04-15

    How do we perceive the visual motion of objects that are accelerated by gravity? We propose that, because vision is poorly sensitive to accelerations, an internal model that calculates the effects of gravity is derived from graviceptive information, is stored in the vestibular cortex, and is activated by visual motion that appears to be coherent with natural gravity. The acceleration of visual targets was manipulated while brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In agreement with the internal model hypothesis, we found that the vestibular network was selectively engaged when acceleration was consistent with natural gravity. These findings demonstrate that predictive mechanisms of physical laws of motion are represented in the human brain.

  6. Ambulatory phlebectomy at radiologic outpatient clinic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Chang Jin; Kang, Sung Gwon; Choi, Sang Il; Lee, Whal; Chung, Jin Wook; Park, Jae Hyung

    2007-01-01

    To evaluate safety, efficacy, and patient's satisfaction of an ambulatory phlebectomy, performed at a radiology outpatient clinic. Between 2003 and 2006, an ambulatory phlebectomy was performed in 12 patients. Endovenous radiofrequency ablation was performed through a venotomy. The venotomy was ligated after RF ablation, and the ambulatory phlebectomy was performed. The patients visited the radiology outpatient clinic one day, one week, and 2 months after the procedure. The improvement in the clinical symptoms, cosmetic change in varicosity, and the procedure related complications were evaluated. The patient's satisfaction was evaluated using a 5-grade scale. RF ablation through a venotomy was performed successfully in all 12 patients. On average, 4.5 incisions were made, and 12.5 cm of varicosity had been removed. The mean procedure time was one hour and forty minutes. The complications of the ambulatory phlebectomy were bruising in one patient, and skin pigmentation in another. The complications associated with RF ablation were a hard palpable vein in 7 patients, numbness in 7 patients, and skin pigmentation along the vein in 2 patients. Follow-up duplex sonography was performed at 2 months after the procedure, showed complete occlusion in all 12 patients. The clinical symptoms had improved in 11 patients, and the varicosity disappeared cosmetically in 11 patients. An ambulatory phlebectomy, combined with RF ablation of the greater saphenous vein, can be performed safely and effectively at a radiology outpatient clinic

  7. Ambulatory phlebectomy at radiologic outpatient clinic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, Chang Jin; Kang, Sung Gwon; Choi, Sang Il [Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Whal; Chung, Jin Wook; Park, Jae Hyung [Seoul National University, Medical College, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-03-15

    To evaluate safety, efficacy, and patient's satisfaction of an ambulatory phlebectomy, performed at a radiology outpatient clinic. Between 2003 and 2006, an ambulatory phlebectomy was performed in 12 patients. Endovenous radiofrequency ablation was performed through a venotomy. The venotomy was ligated after RF ablation, and the ambulatory phlebectomy was performed. The patients visited the radiology outpatient clinic one day, one week, and 2 months after the procedure. The improvement in the clinical symptoms, cosmetic change in varicosity, and the procedure related complications were evaluated. The patient's satisfaction was evaluated using a 5-grade scale. RF ablation through a venotomy was performed successfully in all 12 patients. On average, 4.5 incisions were made, and 12.5 cm of varicosity had been removed. The mean procedure time was one hour and forty minutes. The complications of the ambulatory phlebectomy were bruising in one patient, and skin pigmentation in another. The complications associated with RF ablation were a hard palpable vein in 7 patients, numbness in 7 patients, and skin pigmentation along the vein in 2 patients. Follow-up duplex sonography was performed at 2 months after the procedure, showed complete occlusion in all 12 patients. The clinical symptoms had improved in 11 patients, and the varicosity disappeared cosmetically in 11 patients. An ambulatory phlebectomy, combined with RF ablation of the greater saphenous vein, can be performed safely and effectively at a radiology outpatient clinic.

  8. Control of a virtual ambulation influences body movement and motion sickness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hagstrom Jens

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Drivers typically are less susceptible to motion sickness than passengers. The influence of vehicle control has theoretical implications for the etiology of motion sickness, and has practical implications for the design of virtual environments. In the present study, participants either controlled or did not control a nonvehicular virtual avatar (i.e., an ambulatory character in a console video game. We examined the incidence of motion sickness and patterns of movement of the head and torso as participants either played or watched the game. Motion sickness incidence was lower when controlling the virutal avatar than when watching an avatar that was controlled by someone else. Patterns of head and torso movement differed between particpants who did and did not control the avatar. Indepenently, patterns of movement differed between participants who reported motion sickness and those who did not. The results suggest that motion sickness is influenced by control of stimulus motion, whether that motion arises from a vehicle or from any other source. We consider implications for the design of humancomputer interfaces.

  9. Using Human Motion Intensity as Input for Urban Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Esben Skouboe; Andersen, Hans Jørgen; Gade, Rikke

    2012-01-01

    of a town square, human occupancy and motion intensities are used to generate situated or topologies presenting new adaptive methods for urban design. These methods incorporate local or as design drivers for canopy, pavement and furniture layout. The urban design solution may be congured due to various...

  10. Ambulatory anaesthesia and cognitive dysfunction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Lars S; Steinmetz, Jacob

    2015-01-01

    serious adverse outcomes, hence difficult to obtain sound scientific evidence for avoiding complications. RECENT FINDINGS: Few studies have assessed recovery of cognitive function after ambulatory surgery, but it seems that both propofol and modern volatile anaesthetics are rational choices for general...... anaesthesia in the outpatient setting. Cognitive complications such as delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction are less frequent in ambulatory surgery than with hospitalization. SUMMARY: The elderly are especially susceptible to adverse effects of the hospital environment such as immobilisation...

  11. Ambulatory ST segment monitoring after myocardial infarction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mickley, H

    1994-01-01

    as important reasons for the inconsistent findings. The precise role of ambulatory ST segment monitoring in clinical practice has yet to be established. Direct comparisons with exercise stress testing may not be appropriate for two reasons. Firstly, the main advantage of ambulatory monitoring may...

  12. Optimizing anesthesia techniques in the ambulatory setting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    E. Galvin (Eilish)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractAmbulatory surgery refers to the process of admitting patients, administering anesthesia and surgical care, and discharging patients home following an appropriate level of recovery on the same day. The word ambulatory is derived from the latin word ambulare, which means ''to walk''. This

  13. Motion Cueing Algorithm Development: Human-Centered Linear and Nonlinear Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houck, Jacob A. (Technical Monitor); Telban, Robert J.; Cardullo, Frank M.

    2005-01-01

    While the performance of flight simulator motion system hardware has advanced substantially, the development of the motion cueing algorithm, the software that transforms simulated aircraft dynamics into realizable motion commands, has not kept pace. Prior research identified viable features from two algorithms: the nonlinear "adaptive algorithm", and the "optimal algorithm" that incorporates human vestibular models. A novel approach to motion cueing, the "nonlinear algorithm" is introduced that combines features from both approaches. This algorithm is formulated by optimal control, and incorporates a new integrated perception model that includes both visual and vestibular sensation and the interaction between the stimuli. Using a time-varying control law, the matrix Riccati equation is updated in real time by a neurocomputing approach. Preliminary pilot testing resulted in the optimal algorithm incorporating a new otolith model, producing improved motion cues. The nonlinear algorithm vertical mode produced a motion cue with a time-varying washout, sustaining small cues for longer durations and washing out large cues more quickly compared to the optimal algorithm. The inclusion of the integrated perception model improved the responses to longitudinal and lateral cues. False cues observed with the NASA adaptive algorithm were absent. The neurocomputing approach was crucial in that the number of presentations of an input vector could be reduced to meet the real time requirement without degrading the quality of the motion cues.

  14. Biomedical Wireless Ambulatory Crew Monitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chmiel, Alan; Humphreys, Brad

    2009-01-01

    A compact, ambulatory biometric data acquisition system has been developed for space and commercial terrestrial use. BioWATCH (Bio medical Wireless and Ambulatory Telemetry for Crew Health) acquires signals from biomedical sensors using acquisition modules attached to a common data and power bus. Several slots allow the user to configure the unit by inserting sensor-specific modules. The data are then sent real-time from the unit over any commercially implemented wireless network including 802.11b/g, WCDMA, 3G. This system has a distributed computing hierarchy and has a common data controller on each sensor module. This allows for the modularity of the device along with the tailored ability to control the cards using a relatively small master processor. The distributed nature of this system affords the modularity, size, and power consumption that betters the current state of the art in medical ambulatory data acquisition. A new company was created to market this technology.

  15. Combination of Accumulated Motion and Color Segmentation for Human Activity Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Briassouli Alexia

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The automated analysis of activity in digital multimedia, and especially video, is gaining more and more importance due to the evolution of higher-level video processing systems and the development of relevant applications such as surveillance and sports. This paper presents a novel algorithm for the recognition and classification of human activities, which employs motion and color characteristics in a complementary manner, so as to extract the most information from both sources, and overcome their individual limitations. The proposed method accumulates the flow estimates in a video, and extracts "regions of activity" by processing their higher-order statistics. The shape of these activity areas can be used for the classification of the human activities and events taking place in a video and the subsequent extraction of higher-level semantics. Color segmentation of the active and static areas of each video frame is performed to complement this information. The color layers in the activity and background areas are compared using the earth mover's distance, in order to achieve accurate object segmentation. Thus, unlike much existing work on human activity analysis, the proposed approach is based on general color and motion processing methods, and not on specific models of the human body and its kinematics. The combined use of color and motion information increases the method robustness to illumination variations and measurement noise. Consequently, the proposed approach can lead to higher-level information about human activities, but its applicability is not limited to specific human actions. We present experiments with various real video sequences, from sports and surveillance domains, to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

  16. Combination of Accumulated Motion and Color Segmentation for Human Activity Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioannis Kompatsiaris

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available The automated analysis of activity in digital multimedia, and especially video, is gaining more and more importance due to the evolution of higher-level video processing systems and the development of relevant applications such as surveillance and sports. This paper presents a novel algorithm for the recognition and classification of human activities, which employs motion and color characteristics in a complementary manner, so as to extract the most information from both sources, and overcome their individual limitations. The proposed method accumulates the flow estimates in a video, and extracts “regions of activity” by processing their higher-order statistics. The shape of these activity areas can be used for the classification of the human activities and events taking place in a video and the subsequent extraction of higher-level semantics. Color segmentation of the active and static areas of each video frame is performed to complement this information. The color layers in the activity and background areas are compared using the earth mover's distance, in order to achieve accurate object segmentation. Thus, unlike much existing work on human activity analysis, the proposed approach is based on general color and motion processing methods, and not on specific models of the human body and its kinematics. The combined use of color and motion information increases the method robustness to illumination variations and measurement noise. Consequently, the proposed approach can lead to higher-level information about human activities, but its applicability is not limited to specific human actions. We present experiments with various real video sequences, from sports and surveillance domains, to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

  17. Energy Harvesting from Upper-Limb Pulling Motions for Miniaturized Human-Powered Generators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeongjin Yeo

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The human-powered self-generator provides the best solution for individuals who need an instantaneous power supply for travel, outdoor, and emergency use, since it is less dependent on weather conditions and occupies less space than other renewable power supplies. However, many commercial portable self-generators that employ hand-cranking are not used as much as expected in daily lives although they have enough output capacity due to their intensive workload. This study proposes a portable human-powered generator which is designed to obtain mechanical energy from an upper limb pulling motion for improved human motion economy as well as efficient human-mechanical power transfer. A coreless axial-flux permanent magnet machine (APMM and a flywheel magnet rotor were used in conjunction with a one-way clutched power transmission system in order to obtain effective power from the pulling motion. The developed prototype showed an average energy conversion efficiency of 30.98% and an average output power of 0.32 W with a maximum of 1.89 W. Its small form factor (50 mm × 32 mm × 43.5 mm, 0.05 kg and the substantial electricity produced verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in the utilization of human power. It is expected that the developed generator could provide a mobile power supply.

  18. Time-frequency analysis of human motion during rhythmic exercises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omkar, S N; Vyas, Khushi; Vikranth, H N

    2011-01-01

    Biomechanical signals due to human movements during exercise are represented in time-frequency domain using Wigner Distribution Function (WDF). Analysis based on WDF reveals instantaneous spectral and power changes during a rhythmic exercise. Investigations were carried out on 11 healthy subjects who performed 5 cycles of sun salutation, with a body-mounted Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) as a motion sensor. Variance of Instantaneous Frequency (I.F) and Instantaneous Power (I.P) for performance analysis of the subject is estimated using one-way ANOVA model. Results reveal that joint Time-Frequency analysis of biomechanical signals during motion facilitates a better understanding of grace and consistency during rhythmic exercise.

  19. 78 FR 56711 - Health Insurance Exchanges; Application by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-13

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS-9953-PN] Health Insurance Exchanges; Application by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care To Be... Federal Register announcing the result of our determination. (Health Insurance Exchanges; Application by...

  20. Ambulatory Feedback System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finger, Herbert; Weeks, Bill

    1985-01-01

    This presentation discusses instrumentation that will be used for a specific event, which we hope will carry on to future events within the Space Shuttle program. The experiment is the Autogenic Feedback Training Experiment (AFTE) scheduled for Spacelab 3, currently scheduled to be launched in November, 1984. The objectives of the AFTE are to determine the effectiveness of autogenic feedback in preventing or reducing space adaptation syndrome (SAS), to monitor and record in-flight data from the crew, to determine if prediction criteria for SAS can be established, and, finally, to develop an ambulatory instrument package to mount the crew throughout the mission. The purpose of the Ambulatory Feedback System (AFS) is to record the responses of the subject during a provocative event in space and provide a real-time feedback display to reinforce the training.

  1. Reduced mandibular range of motion in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: predictive factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Bruggen, H W; Van Den Engel-Hoek, L; Steenks, M H; Bronkhorst, E M; Creugers, N H J; de Groot, I J M; Kalaykova, S I

    2015-06-01

    Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) experience negative effects upon feeding and oral health. We aimed to determine whether the mandibular range of motion in DMD is impaired and to explore predictive factors for the active maximum mouth opening (aMMO). 23 patients with DMD (mean age 16.7 ± 7.7 years) and 23 controls were assessed using a questionnaire about mandibular function and impairments. All participants underwent a clinical examination of the masticatory system, including measurement of mandibular range of motion and variables related to mandibular movements. In all patients, quantitative ultrasound of the digastric muscle and the geniohyoid muscle and the motor function measure (MFM) scale were performed. The patients were divided into early and late ambulatory stage (AS), early non-ambulatory stage (ENAS) and late non-ambulatory stage (LNAS). All mandibular movements were reduced in the patient group (P < 0.001) compared to the controls. Reduction in the aMMO (<40 mm) was found in 26% of the total patient group. LNAS patients had significantly smaller mandibular movements compared to AS and ENAS (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis for aMMO revealed a positive correlation with the body height and disease progression, with MFM total score as the strongest independent risk factor (R(2) = 0.71). Mandibular movements in DMD are significantly reduced and become more hampered with loss of motor function, including the sitting position, arm function, and neck and head control. We suggest that measurement of the aMMO becomes a part of routine care of patients with DMD. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Analysis of Human's Motions Based on Local Mean Decomposition in Through-wall Radar Detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Qi; Liu, Cai; Zeng, Zhaofa; Li, Jing; Zhang, Xuebing

    2016-04-01

    Observation of human motions through a wall is an important issue in security applications and search-and rescue. Radar has advantages in looking through walls where other sensors give low performance or cannot be used at all. Ultrawideband (UWB) radar has high spatial resolution as a result of employment of ultranarrow pulses. It has abilities to distinguish the closely positioned targets and provide time-lapse information of targets. Moreover, the UWB radar shows good performance in wall penetration when the inherently short pulses spread their energy over a broad frequency range. Human's motions show periodic features including respiration, swing arms and legs, fluctuations of the torso. Detection of human targets is based on the fact that there is always periodic motion due to breathing or other body movements like walking. The radar can gain the reflections from each human body parts and add the reflections at each time sample. The periodic movements will cause micro-Doppler modulation in the reflected radar signals. Time-frequency analysis methods are consider as the effective tools to analysis and extract micro-Doppler effects caused by the periodic movements in the reflected radar signal, such as short-time Fourier transform (STFT), wavelet transform (WT), and Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT).The local mean decomposition (LMD), initially developed by Smith (2005), is to decomposed amplitude and frequency modulated signals into a small set of product functions (PFs), each of which is the product of an envelope signal and a frequency modulated signal from which a time-vary instantaneous phase and instantaneous frequency can be derived. As bypassing the Hilbert transform, the LMD has no demodulation error coming from window effect and involves no negative frequency without physical sense. Also, the instantaneous attributes obtained by LMD are more stable and precise than those obtained by the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) because LMD uses smoothed local

  3. Machine Learning Methods for Classifying Human Physical Activity from On-Body Accelerometers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mannini, Andrea; Sabatini, Angelo Maria

    2010-01-01

    The use of on-body wearable sensors is widespread in several academic and industrial domains. Of great interest are their applications in ambulatory monitoring and pervasive computing systems; here, some quantitative analysis of human motion and its automatic classification are the main computational tasks to be pursued. In this paper, we discuss how human physical activity can be classified using on-body accelerometers, with a major emphasis devoted to the computational algorithms employed for this purpose. In particular, we motivate our current interest for classifiers based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). An example is illustrated and discussed by analysing a dataset of accelerometer time series. PMID:22205862

  4. An overview of anesthetic procedures, tools, and techniques in ambulatory care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Messieha Z

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Zakaria Messieha Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract: Ambulatory surgical and anesthesia care (ASAC, also known as Same Day Surgery or Day Care in some countries, is the fastest growing segment of ambulatory surgical and anesthesia care. Over 50 million ambulatory surgical procedures are conducted annually comprising over 60% of all anesthesia care with an impressive track record of safety and efficiency. Advances in ambulatory anesthesia care have been due to newer generation of inhalation and intravenous anesthetics as well as airway management technology and techniques. Successful ambulatory anesthesia care relies on patient selection, adequate facilities, highly trained personnel and quality improvement policies and procedures. Favoring one anesthetic technique over the other should be patient and procedure-specific. Effective management of post-operative pain as well as nausea and vomiting are the final pieces in assuring success in ambulatory anesthesia care. Keywords: ambulatory anesthesia, out-patient anesthesia, Day-Care anesthesia

  5. Ambulatory laparoscopic minor hepatic surgery: Retrospective observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaillard, M; Tranchart, H; Lainas, P; Tzanis, D; Franco, D; Dagher, I

    2015-11-01

    Over the last decade, laparoscopic hepatic surgery (LHS) has been increasingly performed throughout the world. Meanwhile, ambulatory surgery has been developed and implemented with the aims of improving patient satisfaction and reducing health care costs. The objective of this study was to report our preliminary experience with ambulatory minimally invasive LHS. Between 1999 and 2014, 172 patients underwent LHS at our institution, including 151 liver resections and 21 fenestrations of hepatic cysts. The consecutive series of highly selected patients who underwent ambulatory LHS were included in this study. Twenty patients underwent ambulatory LHS. Indications were liver cysts in 10 cases, liver angioma in 3 cases, focal nodular hyperplasia in 3 cases, and colorectal hepatic metastasis in 4 cases. The median operative time was 92 minutes (range: 50-240 minutes). The median blood loss was 35 mL (range: 20-150 mL). There were no postoperative complications or re-hospitalizations. All patients were hospitalized after surgery in our ambulatory surgery unit, and were discharged 5-7 hours after surgery. The median postoperative pain score at the time of discharge was 3 (visual analogue scale: 0-10; range: 0-4). The median quality-of-life score at the first postoperative visit was 8 (range: 6-10) and the median cosmetic satisfaction score was 8 (range: 7-10). This series shows that, in selected patients, ambulatory LHS is feasible and safe for minor hepatic procedures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  6. Achieving the AAAs of Ambulatory Care: Aptitude, Appeal, and Appreciation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rybolt, Ann H.; Staton, Lisa J.; Panda, Mukta; Jones, Roger C.

    2009-01-01

    Background In the current health care environment more patient care has moved from in-hospital care to the ambulatory primary care settings; however, fewer internal medicine residents are pursuing primary care careers. Barriers to residents developing a sense of competency and enjoyment in ambulatory medicine include the complexity of practice-based systems, patients with multiple chronic diseases, and the limited time that residents spend in the outpatient setting. Objective In an effort to accelerate residents' ambulatory care competence and enhance their satisfaction with ambulatory practice, we sought to change the learning environment. Interns were provided a series of intensive, focused, ambulatory training sessions prior to beginning their own continuity clinic sessions. The sessions were designed to enable them to work confidently and effectively in their continuity clinic from the beginning of the internship year, and it was hoped this would have a positive impact on their perception of the desirability of ambulatory practice. Methods Improvement needs assessment after a performance, so we developed a structured, competency-based, multidisciplinary curriculum for initiation into ambulatory practice. The curriculum focused on systems-based practice, patient safety, quality improvement, and collaborative work while emphasizing the importance of continuity of care and long-term doctor-patient relationships. Direct observation of patient encounters was done by an attending physician to evaluate communication and physical examination skills. Systems of care commonly used in the clinic were demonstrated. Resources for practice-based learning were used. Conclusion The immersion of interns in an intensive, hands-on experience using a structured ambulatory care orientation curriculum early in training may prepare the intern to be a successful provider and learner in the primary care ambulatory setting. PMID:21975724

  7. Dynamics Of Human Motion The Case Study of an Examination Hall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogunjo, Samuel; Ajayi, Oluwaseyi; Fuwape, Ibiyinka; Dansu, Emmanuel

    Human behaviour is difficult to characterize and generalize due to ITS complex nature. Advances in mathematical models have enabled human systems such as love interaction, alcohol abuse, admission problem to be described using models. This study investigates one of such problems, the dynamics of human motion in an examination hall with limited computer systems such that students write their examination in batches. The examination is characterized by time (t) allocated to each students and difficulty level (dl) associated with the examination. A stochastic model based on the difficulty level of the examination was developed for the prediction of student's motion around the examination hall. A good agreement was obtained between theoretical predictions and numerical simulation. The result obtained will help in better planning of examination session to maximize available resources. Furthermore, results obtained in the research can be extended to other areas such as banking hall, customer service points where available resources will be shared amongst many users.

  8. Predicting recovery at home after Ambulatory Surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayala Guillermo

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The correct implementation of Ambulatory Surgery must be accompanied by an accurate monitoring of the patient post-discharge state. We fit different statistical models to predict the first hours postoperative status of a discharged patient. We will also be able to predict, for any discharged patient, the probability of needing a closer follow-up, or of having a normal progress at home. Background The status of a discharged patient is predicted during the first 48 hours after discharge by using variables routinely used in Ambulatory Surgery. The models fitted will provide the physician with an insight into the post-discharge progress. These models will provide valuable information to assist in educating the patient and their carers about what to expect after discharge as well as to improve their overall level of satisfaction. Methods A total of 922 patients from the Ambulatory Surgery Unit of the Dr. Peset University Hospital (Valencia, Spain were selected for this study. Their post-discharge status was evaluated through a phone questionnaire. We pretend to predict four variables which were self-reported via phone interviews with the discharged patient: sleep, pain, oral tolerance of fluid/food and bleeding status. A fifth variable called phone score will be built as the sum of these four ordinal variables. The number of phone interviews varies between patients, depending on the evolution. The proportional odds model was used. The predictors were age, sex, ASA status, surgical time, discharge time, type of anaesthesia, surgical specialty and ambulatory surgical incapacity (ASI. This last variable reflects, before the operation, the state of incapacity and severity of symptoms in the discharged patient. Results Age, ambulatory surgical incapacity and the surgical specialty are significant to explain the level of pain at the first call. For the first two phone calls, ambulatory surgical incapacity is significant as a predictor for all

  9. Ambulatory care registered nurse performance measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swan, Beth Ann; Haas, Sheila A; Chow, Marilyn

    2010-01-01

    On March 1-2, 2010, a state-of-the-science invitational conference titled "Ambulatory Care Registered Nurse Performance Measurement" was held to focus on measuring quality at the RN provider level in ambulatory care. The conference was devoted to ambulatory care RN performance measurement and quality of health care. The specific emphasis was on formulating a research agenda and developing a strategy to study the testable components of the RN role related to care coordination and care transitions, improving patient outcomes, decreasing health care costs, and promoting sustainable system change. The objectives were achieved through presentations and discussion among expert inter-professional participants from nursing, public health, managed care, research, practice, and policy. Conference speakers identified priority areas for a unified practice, policy, and research agenda. Crucial elements of the strategic dialogue focused on issues and implications for nursing and inter-professional practice, quality, and pay-for-performance.

  10. Digital anthropomorphic phantoms of non-rigid human respiratory and voluntary body motion for investigating motion correction in emission imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Könik, Arda; Johnson, Karen L; Dasari, Paul; Pretorius, P H; Dey, Joyoni; King, Michael A; Connolly, Caitlin M; Segars, Paul W; Lindsay, Clifford

    2014-01-01

    The development of methods for correcting patient motion in emission tomography has been receiving increased attention. Often the performance of these methods is evaluated through simulations using digital anthropomorphic phantoms, such as the commonly used extended cardiac torso (XCAT) phantom, which models both respiratory and cardiac motion based on human studies. However, non-rigid body motion, which is frequently seen in clinical studies, is not present in the standard XCAT phantom. In addition, respiratory motion in the standard phantom is limited to a single generic trend. In this work, to obtain a more realistic representation of motion, we developed a series of individual-specific XCAT phantoms, modeling non-rigid respiratory and non-rigid body motions derived from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisitions of volunteers. Acquisitions were performed in the sagittal orientation using the Navigator methodology. Baseline (no motion) acquisitions at end-expiration were obtained at the beginning of each imaging session for each volunteer. For the body motion studies, MRI was again acquired only at end-expiration for five body motion poses (shoulder stretch, shoulder twist, lateral bend, side roll, and axial slide). For the respiratory motion studies, an MRI was acquired during free/regular breathing. The magnetic resonance slices were then retrospectively sorted into 14 amplitude-binned respiratory states, end-expiration, end-inspiration, six intermediary states during inspiration, and six during expiration using the recorded Navigator signal. XCAT phantoms were then generated based on these MRI data by interactive alignment of the organ contours of the XCAT with the MRI slices using a graphical user interface. Thus far we have created five body motion and five respiratory motion XCAT phantoms from the MRI acquisitions of six healthy volunteers (three males and three females). Non-rigid motion exhibited by the volunteers was reflected in both respiratory

  11. Digital anthropomorphic phantoms of non-rigid human respiratory and voluntary body motion for investigating motion correction in emission imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Könik, Arda; Connolly, Caitlin M.; Johnson, Karen L.; Dasari, Paul; Segars, Paul W.; Pretorius, P. H.; Lindsay, Clifford; Dey, Joyoni; King, Michael A.

    2014-07-01

    The development of methods for correcting patient motion in emission tomography has been receiving increased attention. Often the performance of these methods is evaluated through simulations using digital anthropomorphic phantoms, such as the commonly used extended cardiac torso (XCAT) phantom, which models both respiratory and cardiac motion based on human studies. However, non-rigid body motion, which is frequently seen in clinical studies, is not present in the standard XCAT phantom. In addition, respiratory motion in the standard phantom is limited to a single generic trend. In this work, to obtain a more realistic representation of motion, we developed a series of individual-specific XCAT phantoms, modeling non-rigid respiratory and non-rigid body motions derived from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisitions of volunteers. Acquisitions were performed in the sagittal orientation using the Navigator methodology. Baseline (no motion) acquisitions at end-expiration were obtained at the beginning of each imaging session for each volunteer. For the body motion studies, MRI was again acquired only at end-expiration for five body motion poses (shoulder stretch, shoulder twist, lateral bend, side roll, and axial slide). For the respiratory motion studies, an MRI was acquired during free/regular breathing. The magnetic resonance slices were then retrospectively sorted into 14 amplitude-binned respiratory states, end-expiration, end-inspiration, six intermediary states during inspiration, and six during expiration using the recorded Navigator signal. XCAT phantoms were then generated based on these MRI data by interactive alignment of the organ contours of the XCAT with the MRI slices using a graphical user interface. Thus far we have created five body motion and five respiratory motion XCAT phantoms from the MRI acquisitions of six healthy volunteers (three males and three females). Non-rigid motion exhibited by the volunteers was reflected in both respiratory

  12. Human upper limb manipulator mass center motion and mass moments of inertia variation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikolova Gergana

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Motion control is complicated for people having traumas or neurological diseases. An underlying assumption in our work is that the motion of healthy people is optimal with respect to positioning accuracy, movement response, and energy expenditure. In this paper, a new approach for determination of the human upper limb mass-inertial characteristics is presented by using the 3D geometrical mathematical modeling analysis approach. Two examples will be given to illustrate the main features and advantages of the proposed design concepts. The objective of the work presented in this paper is a determination of the mass properties of a two joints human upper limb manipulator. Results are aimed to have application in an exoskeleton design, the design of manipulation system and external manipulation system, serving people with some motion difficulties, as well as in sport and rehabilitation.

  13. 78 FR 54842 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-06

    ... millions) (2) change (3) Total $3,625 1% Eye and ocular adnexa 1,496 -3 Digestive system 743 8 Nervous... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Parts 405...: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality...

  14. Human detection and motion analysis at security points

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozer, I. Burak; Lv, Tiehan; Wolf, Wayne H.

    2003-08-01

    This paper presents a real-time video surveillance system for the recognition of specific human activities. Specifically, the proposed automatic motion analysis is used as an on-line alarm system to detect abnormal situations in a campus environment. A smart multi-camera system developed at Princeton University is extended for use in smart environments in which the camera detects the presence of multiple persons as well as their gestures and their interaction in real-time.

  15. Application of inertial sensors and flux-gate magnetometer to real-time human body motion capture

    OpenAIRE

    Frey, William.

    1996-01-01

    Human body tracking for synthetic environment interface has become a significant human- computer interface challenge. There are several different types of motion capture systems currently available. Inherent problems, most resulting from the use of artificially-generated source signals, plague these systems. A proposed motion capture system is being developed at the Naval Postgraduate School which utilizes a combination of inertial sensors to overcome these difficulties. However, the current ...

  16. Development of Quality Metrics in Ambulatory Pediatric Cardiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, Devyani; Gurvitz, Michelle; Marelli, Ariane; Anderson, Jeffrey; Baker-Smith, Carissa; Diab, Karim A; Edwards, Thomas C; Hougen, Tom; Jedeikin, Roy; Johnson, Jonathan N; Karpawich, Peter; Lai, Wyman; Lu, Jimmy C; Mitchell, Stephanie; Newburger, Jane W; Penny, Daniel J; Portman, Michael A; Satou, Gary; Teitel, David; Villafane, Juan; Williams, Roberta; Jenkins, Kathy

    2017-02-07

    The American College of Cardiology Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology (ACPC) Section had attempted to create quality metrics (QM) for ambulatory pediatric practice, but limited evidence made the process difficult. The ACPC sought to develop QMs for ambulatory pediatric cardiology practice. Five areas of interest were identified, and QMs were developed in a 2-step review process. In the first step, an expert panel, using the modified RAND-UCLA methodology, rated each QM for feasibility and validity. The second step sought input from ACPC Section members; final approval was by a vote of the ACPC Council. Work groups proposed a total of 44 QMs. Thirty-one metrics passed the RAND process and, after the open comment period, the ACPC council approved 18 metrics. The project resulted in successful development of QMs in ambulatory pediatric cardiology for a range of ambulatory domains. Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Ambulatory Care Skills: Do Residents Feel Prepared?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Bonds

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To determine resident comfort and skill in performing ambulatory care skills. Methods: Descriptive survey of common ambulatory care skills administered to internal medicine faculty and residents at one academic medical center. Respondents were asked to rate their ability to perform 12 physical exam skills and 6 procedures, and their comfort in performing 7 types of counseling, and obtaining 6 types of patient history (4 point Likert scale for each. Self-rated ability or comfort was compared by gender, status (year of residency, faculty, and future predicted frequency of use of the skill. Results: Residents reported high ability levels for physical exam skills common to both the ambulatory and hospital setting. Fewer felt able to perform musculoskeletal, neurologic or eye exams easily alone. Procedures generally received low ability ratings. Similarly, residents’ comfort in performing common outpatient counseling was also low. More residents reported feeling very comfortable in obtaining history from patients. We found little variation by gender, year of training, or predicted frequency of use. Conclusion: Self-reported ability and comfort for many common ambulatory care skills is low. Further evaluation of this finding in other training programs is warranted.

  18. Computerized adaptive testing--ready for ambulatory monitoring?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rose, Matthias; Bjørner, Jakob; Fischer, Felix

    2012-01-01

    Computerized adaptive tests (CATs) have abundant theoretical advantages over established static instruments, which could improve ambulatory monitoring of patient-reported outcomes (PROs). However, an empirical demonstration of their practical benefits is warranted.......Computerized adaptive tests (CATs) have abundant theoretical advantages over established static instruments, which could improve ambulatory monitoring of patient-reported outcomes (PROs). However, an empirical demonstration of their practical benefits is warranted....

  19. Assessment of Human Ambulatory Speed by Measuring Near-Body Air Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Salati

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Accurate measurements of physical activity are important for the diagnosis of the exacerbation of chronic diseases. Accelerometers have been widely employed in clinical research for measuring activity intensity and investigating the association between physical activity and adverse health conditions. However, the ability of accelerometers in assessing physical activity intensity such as walking speed has been constrained by the inter-individual variability in sensor output and by the necessity of developing unobtrusive low-power monitoring systems. This paper will present a study aimed at investigating the accuracy of a wearable measuring system of near-body air flow to determine ambulatory speed in the field.

  20. Peritonitis Due to Roseomonas fauriae in a Patient Undergoing Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bibashi, Evangelia; Sofianou, Danai; Kontopoulou, Konstantina; Mitsopoulos, Efstathios; Kokolina, Elisabeth

    2000-01-01

    Roseomonas is a newly described genus of pink-pigmented, nonfermentative, gram-negative bacteria that have been recognized as a cause of human infections. Roseomonas fauriae is a species rarely isolated from clinical specimens. We report the first known case of peritonitis caused by R. fauriae in a patient receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. PMID:10618142

  1. Accuracy of human motion capture systems for sport applications; state-of-the-art review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Kruk, Eline; Reijne, Marco M

    2018-05-09

    Sport research often requires human motion capture of an athlete. It can, however, be labour-intensive and difficult to select the right system, while manufacturers report on specifications which are determined in set-ups that largely differ from sport research in terms of volume, environment and motion. The aim of this review is to assist researchers in the selection of a suitable motion capture system for their experimental set-up for sport applications. An open online platform is initiated, to support (sport)researchers in the selection of a system and to enable them to contribute and update the overview. systematic review; Method: Electronic searches in Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were performed, and the reference lists of the screened articles were scrutinised to determine human motion capture systems used in academically published studies on sport analysis. An overview of 17 human motion capture systems is provided, reporting the general specifications given by the manufacturer (weight and size of the sensors, maximum capture volume, environmental feasibilities), and calibration specifications as determined in peer-reviewed studies. The accuracy of each system is plotted against the measurement range. The overview and chart can assist researchers in the selection of a suitable measurement system. To increase the robustness of the database and to keep up with technological developments, we encourage researchers to perform an accuracy test prior to their experiment and to add to the chart and the system overview (online, open access).

  2. Prevalence, Treatment, and Control Rates of Conventional and Ambulatory Hypertension Across 10 Populations in 3 Continents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melgarejo, Jesus D; Maestre, Gladys E; Thijs, Lutgarde; Asayama, Kei; Boggia, José; Casiglia, Edoardo; Hansen, Tine W; Imai, Yutaka; Jacobs, Lotte; Jeppesen, Jørgen; Kawecka-Jaszcz, Kalina; Kuznetsova, Tatiana; Li, Yan; Malyutina, Sofia; Nikitin, Yuri; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Stolarz-Skrzypek, Katarzyna; Wang, Ji-Guang; Staessen, Jan A

    2017-07-01

    Hypertension is a major global health problem, but prevalence rates vary widely among regions. To determine prevalence, treatment, and control rates of hypertension, we measured conventional blood pressure (BP) and 24-hour ambulatory BP in 6546 subjects, aged 40 to 79 years, recruited from 10 community-dwelling cohorts on 3 continents. We determined how between-cohort differences in risk factors and socioeconomic factors influence hypertension rates. The overall prevalence was 49.3% (range between cohorts, 40.0%-86.8%) for conventional hypertension (conventional BP ≥140/90 mm Hg) and 48.7% (35.2%-66.5%) for ambulatory hypertension (ambulatory BP ≥130/80 mm Hg). Treatment and control rates for conventional hypertension were 48.0% (33.5%-74.1%) and 38.6% (10.1%-55.3%) respectively. The corresponding rates for ambulatory hypertension were 48.6% (30.5%-71.9%) and 45.6% (18.6%-64.2%). Among 1677 untreated subjects with conventional hypertension, 35.7% had white coat hypertension (23.5%-56.2%). Masked hypertension (conventional BP hypertension rates. Higher social and economic development, measured by the Human Development Index, was associated with lower rates of conventional and ambulatory hypertension. In conclusion, high rates of hypertension in all cohorts examined demonstrate the need for improvements in prevention, treatment, and control. Strategies for the management of hypertension should continue to not only focus on preventable and modifiable risk factors but also consider societal issues. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  3. Channel Selection and Feature Projection for Cognitive Load Estimation Using Ambulatory EEG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tian Lan

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We present an ambulatory cognitive state classification system to assess the subject's mental load based on EEG measurements. The ambulatory cognitive state estimator is utilized in the context of a real-time augmented cognition (AugCog system that aims to enhance the cognitive performance of a human user through computer-mediated assistance based on assessments of cognitive states using physiological signals including, but not limited to, EEG. This paper focuses particularly on the offline channel selection and feature projection phases of the design and aims to present mutual-information-based techniques that use a simple sample estimator for this quantity. Analyses conducted on data collected from 3 subjects performing 2 tasks (n-back/Larson at 2 difficulty levels (low/high demonstrate that the proposed mutual-information-based dimensionality reduction scheme can achieve up to 94% cognitive load estimation accuracy.

  4. Reproducibility of blood pressure variation in older ambulatory and bedridden subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuchihashi, Takuya; Kawakami, Yasunobu; Imamura, Tsuyoshi; Abe, Isao

    2002-06-01

    We investigated the influence of ambulation on the reproducibility of circadian blood pressure variation in older nursing home residents. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed twice in 37 older nursing home residents. Nursing home in Japan. Subjects included 18 ambulatory nursing home residents who had no limitation on physical activity and 19 bedridden residents who did not participate in physical activity. Twenty-four-hour, daytime, and nighttime blood pressure levels and their variability. The 24-hour and daytime variability of systolic blood pressure (SBP) was significantly greater in ambulatory than in bedridden subjects, whereas nighttime variability was similar. Significant correlations in SBP averaged for the whole day, daytime, and nighttime were observed between the two examinations in ambulatory (r =.80-.83) and bedridden (r =.83-.91) subjects, but the variabilities of SBP for the whole day and during the daytime of the first measurement were correlated with those of the second measurement in bedridden (r =.67 and r =.47, respectively) but not in ambulatory (r =.39 and r =.28, respectively) subjects. Significant correlations were found between the nocturnal SBP changes at two occasions in both ambulatory (r =.50) and bedridden (r =.51) subjects, but the dipper versus nondipper profiles, defined as reduction in SBP of greater than 10% versus not, showed low reproducibility in ambulatory subjects; five ambulatory (28%) and one bedridden (5%) subjects showed divergent profiles between the two examinations. The reproducibility of blood pressure variation in nursing home residents is influenced by ambulation.

  5. Measuring Accurate Body Parameters of Dressed Humans with Large-Scale Motion Using a Kinect Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sidan Du

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Non-contact human body measurement plays an important role in surveillance, physical healthcare, on-line business and virtual fitting. Current methods for measuring the human body without physical contact usually cannot handle humans wearing clothes, which limits their applicability in public environments. In this paper, we propose an effective solution that can measure accurate parameters of the human body with large-scale motion from a Kinect sensor, assuming that the people are wearing clothes. Because motion can drive clothes attached to the human body loosely or tightly, we adopt a space-time analysis to mine the information across the posture variations. Using this information, we recover the human body, regardless of the effect of clothes, and measure the human body parameters accurately. Experimental results show that our system can perform more accurate parameter estimation on the human body than state-of-the-art methods.

  6. Neural Integration of Information Specifying Human Structure from Form, Motion, and Depth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Stuart; Blake, Randolph

    2010-01-01

    Recent computational models of biological motion perception operate on ambiguous two-dimensional representations of the body (e.g., snapshots, posture templates) and contain no explicit means for disambiguating the three-dimensional orientation of a perceived human figure. Are there neural mechanisms in the visual system that represent a moving human figure’s orientation in three dimensions? To isolate and characterize the neural mechanisms mediating perception of biological motion, we used an adaptation paradigm together with bistable point-light (PL) animations whose perceived direction of heading fluctuates over time. After exposure to a PL walker with a particular stereoscopically defined heading direction, observers experienced a consistent aftereffect: a bistable PL walker, which could be perceived in the adapted orientation or reversed in depth, was perceived predominantly reversed in depth. A phase-scrambled adaptor produced no aftereffect, yet when adapting and test walkers differed in size or appeared on opposite sides of fixation aftereffects did occur. Thus, this heading direction aftereffect cannot be explained by local, disparity-specific motion adaptation, and the properties of scale and position invariance imply higher-level origins of neural adaptation. Nor is disparity essential for producing adaptation: when suspended on top of a stereoscopically defined, rotating globe, a context-disambiguated “globetrotter” was sufficient to bias the bistable walker’s direction, as were full-body adaptors. In sum, these results imply that the neural signals supporting biomotion perception integrate information on the form, motion, and three-dimensional depth orientation of the moving human figure. Models of biomotion perception should incorporate mechanisms to disambiguate depth ambiguities in two-dimensional body representations. PMID:20089892

  7. S3-3: Misbinding of Color and Motion in Human V2 Revealed by Color-Contingent Motion Adaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang Fang

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Wu, Kanai, & Shimojo (2004 Nature 429 262 described a compelling illusion demonstrating a steady-state misbinding of color and motion. Here, we took advantage of the illusion and performed psychophysical and fMRI adaptation experiments to explore the neural mechanism of color-motion misbinding. The stimulus subtended 20 deg by 14 deg of visual angle and contained two sheets of random dots, one sheet moving up and the other moving down. On the upward-moving sheet, dots in the right-end area (4 deg by 14 deg were red, and the rest of the dots were green. On the downward-moving sheet, dots in the right-end area were green, and the rest of the dots were red. When subjects fixated at the center of the stimulus, they bound the color and motion of the dots in the right-end area erroneously–the red dots appeared to move downwards and the green dots appeared to move upwards. In the psychophysical experiment, we measured the color-contingent motion aftereffect in the right-end area after adaptation to the illusory stimulus. A significant aftereffect was observed as if subjects had adapted to the perceived binding of color and motion, rather than the physical binding. For example, after adaptation, stationary red dots appeared to move upwards, and stationary green dots appeared to move downwards. In the fMRI experiment, we measured direction-selective motion adaptation effects in V1, V2, V3, V4, V3A/B, and V5. Relative to other cortical areas, V2 showed a much stronger adaptation effect to the perceived motion direction (rather than the physical direction for both the red and green dots. Significantly, the fMRI adaptation effect in V2 correlated with the color-contingent motion aftereffect across twelve subjects. This study provides the first human evidence that color and motion could be misbound at a very early stage of visual processing.

  8. Regional anesthesia techniques for ambulatory orthopedic surgery.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    O'Donnell, Brian D

    2012-02-03

    PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to present advances in the use of regional anesthetic techniques in ambulatory orthopedic surgery. New findings regarding the use of both neuraxial anesthesia and peripheral nerve block are discussed. RECENT FINDINGS: Neuraxial anesthesia: The use of short-acting local anesthetic agents such as mepivacaine, 2-chloroprocaine, and articaine permits rapid onset intrathecal anesthesia with early recovery profiles. Advantages and limitations of these agents are discussed.Peripheral nerve block: Peripheral nerve blocks in limb surgery have the potential to transform this patient cohort into a truly ambulatory, self-caring group. Recent trends and evidence regarding the benefits of regional anesthesia techniques are presented.Continuous perineural catheters permit extension of improved perioperative analgesia into the ambulatory home setting. The role and reported safety of continuous catheters are discussed. SUMMARY: In summary, shorter acting, neuraxial, local anesthetic agents, specific to the expected duration of surgery, may provide superior recovery profiles in the ambulatory setting. A trend towards more peripheral and selective nerve blocks exists. The infrapatellar block is a promising technique to provide analgesia following knee arthroscopy. Improved analgesia seen in the perioperative period can be safely and effectively extended to the postoperative period with the use of perineural catheters.

  9. Acupuncture in ambulatory anesthesia: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norheim AJ

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Arne Johan Norheim,1 Ingrid Liodden,1 Terje Alræk1,2 1National Research Center in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NAFKAM, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, 2The Norwegian School of Health Sciences, Institute of Acupuncture, Kristiania University College, Oslo, NorwayBackground: Post-anesthetic morbidities remain challenging in our daily practice of anesthesia. Meta-analyses and reviews of acupuncture and related techniques for postoperative nausea and vomiting (POVN and postoperative vomiting (POV show promising results while many clinicians remain skeptical of the value of acupuncture. Given the interest in finding safe non-pharmacological approaches toward postoperative care, this body of knowledge needs to be considered. This review critically appraises and summarizes the research on acupuncture and acupressure in ambulatory anesthesia during the last 15 years.Methods: Articles were identified through searches of Medline, PubMed, and Embase using the search terms “acupuncture” or “acupuncture therapy” in combination with “ambulatory anesthesia” or “ambulatory surgery” or “day surgery” or “postoperative”. A corresponding search was done using “acupressure” and “wristbands”. The searches generated a total of 104, 118, and 122 references, respectively.Results: Sixteen studies were included; eight studies reported on acupuncture and eight on acupressure. Nine studies found acupuncture or acupressure effective on primary endpoints including postoperative nausea and vomiting, postoperative pain, sore throat, and emergence agitation. Four studies found acupuncture had a similar effect to antiemetic medication.Conclusion: Overall, the studies were of fairly good quality. A large proportion of the reviewed papers highlights an effect of acupuncture or acupressure on postoperative morbidities in an ambulatory setting

  10. [Comparative analysis of efficiency indicators in ambulatory surgery].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez Ortega, María; Porrero Carro, José Luis; Aranaz Andrés, Jesús María; Castillo Fe, María José; Alonso García, María Teresa; Sánchez-Cabezudo Díaz-Guerra, Carlos

    2017-05-25

    To find comparative elements for quality control in major ambulatory surgery (MAS) units. Descriptive and comparative study of the Ambulatory Care Index (AI) and Substitution Index (SI) in the Santa Cristina Hospital Surgery Service (Madrid, Spain) compared to Key Indicators (KI) of the National Health Service (NHS). 7,817 MAS procedures (between 2006 and 2014) were analysed. The average annual AI was 54%, higher (p <0.0001) than «ambulatory surgery» KI. The hernia outpatient procedures (average 72%) were also superior to the national KI (p <0.0001), but ambulatory haemorrhoidectomy (average 33.6%) was clearly lower (p <0.0001). KI of the NHS are useful and allow to establish a proper development in the global AI and hernia outpatient surgery with opportunities for improvement in haemorrhoidectomy. Their collection should be careful, not including minor surgeries. Also, their usefulness could be increased if data was broken down by speciality and by complexity. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  11. An analysis of risk factors and adverse events in ambulatory surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kent C

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Christopher Kent, Julia Metzner, Laurent BollagDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USAAbstract: Care for patients undergoing ambulatory procedures is a broad and expanding area of anesthetic and surgical practice. There were over 35 million ambulatory surgical procedures performed in the US in 2006. Ambulatory procedures are diverse in both type and setting, as they span the range from biopsies performed under local anesthesia to intra-abdominal laparoscopic procedures, and are performed in offices, freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, and ambulatory units of hospitals. The information on adverse events from these varied settings comes largely from retrospective reviews of sources, such as quality-assurance databases and closed malpractice claims. Very few if any ambulatory procedures are emergent, and in comparison to the inpatient population, ambulatory surgical patients are generally healthier. They are still however subject to most of the same types of adverse events as patients undergoing inpatient surgery, albeit at a lower frequency. The only adverse events that could be considered to be unique to ambulatory surgery are those that arise out of the circumstance of discharging a postoperative patient to an environment lacking skilled nursing care. There is limited information on these types of discharge-related adverse events, but the data that are available are reviewed in an attempt to assist the practitioner in patient selection and discharge decision making. Among ambulatory surgical patients, particularly those undergoing screening or cosmetic procedures, expectations from all parties involved are high, and a definition of adverse events can be expanded to include any occurrence that interrupts the rapid throughput of patients or interferes with early discharge and optimal patient satisfaction. This review covers all types of adverse events, but focuses on the more

  12. Human motion retrieval from hand-drawn sketch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Min-Wen; Lin, Chao-Hung; Assa, Jackie; Lee, Tong-Yee

    2012-05-01

    The rapid growth of motion capture data increases the importance of motion retrieval. The majority of the existing motion retrieval approaches are based on a labor-intensive step in which the user browses and selects a desired query motion clip from the large motion clip database. In this work, a novel sketching interface for defining the query is presented. This simple approach allows users to define the required motion by sketching several motion strokes over a drawn character, which requires less effort and extends the users’ expressiveness. To support the real-time interface, a specialized encoding of the motions and the hand-drawn query is required. Here, we introduce a novel hierarchical encoding scheme based on a set of orthonormal spherical harmonic (SH) basis functions, which provides a compact representation, and avoids the CPU/processing intensive stage of temporal alignment used by previous solutions. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can well retrieve the motions, and is capable of retrieve logically and numerically similar motions, which is superior to previous approaches. The user study shows that the proposed system can be a useful tool to input motion query if the users are familiar with it. Finally, an application of generating a 3D animation from a hand-drawn comics strip is demonstrated.

  13. Human Kinematics of Cochlear Implant Surgery: An Investigation of Insertion Micro-Motions and Speed Limitations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesler, Kyle; Dillon, Neal P; Fichera, Loris; Labadie, Robert F

    2017-09-01

    Objectives Document human motions associated with cochlear implant electrode insertion at different speeds and determine the lower limit of continuous insertion speed by a human. Study Design Observational. Setting Academic medical center. Subjects and Methods Cochlear implant forceps were coupled to a frame containing reflective fiducials, which enabled optical tracking of the forceps' tip position in real time. Otolaryngologists (n = 14) performed mock electrode insertions at different speeds based on recommendations from the literature: "fast" (96 mm/min), "stable" (as slow as possible without stopping), and "slow" (15 mm/min). For each insertion, the following metrics were calculated from the tracked position data: percentage of time at prescribed speed, percentage of time the surgeon stopped moving forward, and number of direction reversals (ie, going from forward to backward motion). Results Fast insertion trials resulted in better adherence to the prescribed speed (45.4% of the overall time), no motion interruptions, and no reversals, as compared with slow insertions (18.6% of time at prescribed speed, 15.7% stopped time, and an average of 18.6 reversals per trial). These differences were statistically significant for all metrics ( P implant electrode at 15 mm/min is not feasible for human operators. The lower limit of continuous forward insertion is 52 mm/min on average. Guidelines on manual insertion kinematics should consider this practical limit of human motion.

  14. Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) survey for hospital outpatient departments - Facility

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A list of hospital outpatient department ratings for the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS)...

  15. Compression of Human Motion Animation Using the Reduction of Interjoint Correlation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shiyu Li

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose two compression methods for the human motion in 3D space, based on the forward and inverse kinematics. In a motion chain, a movement of each joint is represented by a series of vector signals in 3D space. In general, specific types of joints such as end effectors often require higher precision than other general types of joints in, for example, CG animation and robot manipulation. The first method, which combines wavelet transform and forward kinematics, enables users to reconstruct the end effectors more precisely. Moreover, progressive decoding can be realized. The distortion of parent joint coming from quantization affects its child joint in turn and is accumulated to the end effector. To address this problem and to control the movement of the whole body, we propose a prediction method further based on the inverse kinematics. This method achieves efficient compression with a higher compression ratio and higher quality of the motion data. By comparing with some conventional methods, we demonstrate the advantage of ours with typical motions.

  16. Compression of Human Motion Animation Using the Reduction of Interjoint Correlation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Shiyu

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract We propose two compression methods for the human motion in 3D space, based on the forward and inverse kinematics. In a motion chain, a movement of each joint is represented by a series of vector signals in 3D space. In general, specific types of joints such as end effectors often require higher precision than other general types of joints in, for example, CG animation and robot manipulation. The first method, which combines wavelet transform and forward kinematics, enables users to reconstruct the end effectors more precisely. Moreover, progressive decoding can be realized. The distortion of parent joint coming from quantization affects its child joint in turn and is accumulated to the end effector. To address this problem and to control the movement of the whole body, we propose a prediction method further based on the inverse kinematics. This method achieves efficient compression with a higher compression ratio and higher quality of the motion data. By comparing with some conventional methods, we demonstrate the advantage of ours with typical motions.

  17. Adding Image Constraints to Inverse Kinematics for Human Motion Capture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaume-i-Capó, Antoni; Varona, Javier; González-Hidalgo, Manuel; Perales, Francisco J.

    2009-12-01

    In order to study human motion in biomechanical applications, a critical component is to accurately obtain the 3D joint positions of the user's body. Computer vision and inverse kinematics are used to achieve this objective without markers or special devices attached to the body. The problem of these systems is that the inverse kinematics is "blinded" with respect to the projection of body segments into the images used by the computer vision algorithms. In this paper, we present how to add image constraints to inverse kinematics in order to estimate human motion. Specifically, we explain how to define a criterion to use images in order to guide the posture reconstruction of the articulated chain. Tests with synthetic images show how the scheme performs well in an ideal situation. In order to test its potential in real situations, more experiments with task specific image sequences are also presented. By means of a quantitative study of different sequences, the results obtained show how this approach improves the performance of inverse kinematics in this application.

  18. Redesigning the regulatory framework for ambulatory care services in New York.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chokshi, Dave A; Rugge, John; Shah, Nirav R

    2014-12-01

    Policy Points: The landscape of ambulatory care services in the United States is rapidly changing on account of payment reform, primary care transformation, and the rise of convenient care options such as retail clinics. New York State has undertaken a redesign of regulatory policy for ambulatory care rooted in the Triple Aim (better health, higher-quality care, lower costs)-with a particular emphasis on continuity of care for patients. Key tenets of the regulatory approach include defining and tracking the taxonomy of ambulatory care services as well as ensuring that convenient care options do not erode continuity of care for patients. While hospitals remain important centers of gravity in the health system, services are increasingly being delivered through ambulatory care. This shift to ambulatory care is giving rise to new delivery structures, such as retail clinics and urgent care centers, as well as reinventing existing ambulatory care capacity, as seen with the patient-centered medical home model and the movement toward team-based care. To protect the public's interests, oversight of ambulatory care services must keep pace with these rapid changes. With this purpose, in January 2013 the New York Public Health and Health Planning Council undertook a redesign of the regulatory framework for the state's ambulatory care services. This article describes the principles undergirding the framework as well as the regulatory recommendations themselves. We explored and analyzed the regulation of ambulatory care services in New York in accordance with the available gray and peer-reviewed literature and legislative documents. The deliberations of the Public Health and Health Planning Council informed our review. The vision of high-performing ambulatory care should be rooted in the Triple Aim (better health, higher-quality care, lower costs), with a particular emphasis on continuity of care for patients. There is a pressing need to better define the taxonomy of ambulatory

  19. Camera systems in human motion analysis for biomedical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Lim Chee; Basah, Shafriza Nisha; Yaacob, Sazali; Juan, Yeap Ewe; Kadir, Aida Khairunnisaa Ab.

    2015-05-01

    Human Motion Analysis (HMA) system has been one of the major interests among researchers in the field of computer vision, artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering and sciences. This is due to its wide and promising biomedical applications, namely, bio-instrumentation for human computer interfacing and surveillance system for monitoring human behaviour as well as analysis of biomedical signal and image processing for diagnosis and rehabilitation applications. This paper provides an extensive review of the camera system of HMA, its taxonomy, including camera types, camera calibration and camera configuration. The review focused on evaluating the camera system consideration of the HMA system specifically for biomedical applications. This review is important as it provides guidelines and recommendation for researchers and practitioners in selecting a camera system of the HMA system for biomedical applications.

  20. Performance measurement for ambulatory care: moving towards a new agenda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roski, J; Gregory, R

    2001-12-01

    Despite a shift in care delivery from inpatient to ambulatory care, performance measurement efforts for the different levels in ambulatory care settings such as individual physicians, individual clinics and physician organizations have not been widely instituted in the United States (U.S.). The Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS), the most widely used performance measurement set in the U.S., includes a number of measures that evaluate preventive and chronic care provided in ambulatory care facilities. While HEDIS has made important contributions to the tracking of ambulatory care quality, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the measurement set could be improved by providing quality of care information at the levels of greatest interest to consumers and purchasers of care, namely for individual physicians, clinics and physician organizations. This article focuses on the improvement opportunities for quality performance measurement systems in ambulatory care. Specific challenges to creating a sustainable performance measurement system at the level of physician organizations, such as defining the purpose of the system, the accountability logic, information and reporting needs and mechanisms for sustainable implementation, are discussed.

  1. Cuff inflation during ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and heart rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mia Skov-Madsen

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Mia Skov-Madsen, My Svensson, Jeppe Hagstrup ChristensenDepartment of Nephrology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, DenmarkIntroduction: Twenty four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a clinically validated procedure in evaluation of blood pressure (BP. We hypothesised that the discomfort during cuff inflation would increase the heart rate (HR measured with 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring compared to a following HR measurement with a 24-h Holter monitor.Methods: The study population (n = 56 were recruited from the outpatient’s clinic at the Department of Nephrology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital at Aalborg, Denmark. All the patients had chronic kidney disease (CKD. We compared HR measured with a 24-h Holter monitor with a following HR measured by a 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring.Results: We found a highly significant correlation between the HR measured with the Holter monitor and HR measured with 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (r = 0.77, p < 0.001. Using the Bland-Altman plot, the mean difference in HR was only 0.5 beat/min during 24 hours with acceptable limits of agreement for both high and low HR levels. Dividing the patients into groups according to betablocker treatment, body mass index, age, sex, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor treatment, statins treatment, diuretic treatment, or calcium channel blocker treatment revealed similar results as described above.Conclusion: The results indicate that the discomfort induced by cuff inflation during 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring does not increase HR. Thus, 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring may be a reliable measurement of the BP among people with CKD.Keywords: ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, Holter monitoring, heart rate, chronic kidney disease, hypertension

  2. Complex Human Activity Recognition Using Smartphone and Wrist-Worn Motion Sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shoaib, M.; Bosch, S.; Durmaz, O.; Scholten, Johan; Havinga, Paul J.M.

    2016-01-01

    The position of on-body motion sensors plays an important role in human activity recognition. Most often, mobile phone sensors at the trouser pocket or an equivalent position are used for this purpose. However, this position is not suitable for recognizing activities that involve hand gestures, such

  3. Clinical value of ambulatory blood pressure: evidence and limits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancia, Giuseppe; Verdecchia, Paolo

    2015-03-13

    This article reviews the clinical value of ambulatory blood pressure (BP) vis-à-vis the traditional BP measurements taken in the physician's office or in the hospital. Mention is initially made that longitudinal studies conducted in the general population or in hypertensive cohorts have shown that ambulatory BP provides a more accurate prediction of outcome than office BP. Namely, that (1) the risk of cardiovascular events increases in a less steep fashion with office than with 24-hour mean BP, (2) the 24-hour BP-dependent prediction is maintained after adjustment for office BP values, and (3) among individuals with normal office BP, those with increased ambulatory BP (masked hypertension) have an increased prevalence of organ damage, a more frequent unfavorable metabolic profile and a higher risk of new onset sustained hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular events than those with normal ambulatory BP. It is further mentioned, however, that more recently similar observations have been made for individuals with high office but normal ambulatory BP (white coat hypertension) suggesting a complementary role of out-of-office and office BP values in the determination of patients' prognosis. The evidence in favor of an independent prognostic value also of some within 24-hour BP phenomena (night BP reduction or absolute values, short-term BP variations, and morning BP surge) is then critically appraised for its elements of strength and weakness. Finally, whether the clinical advantages of ambulatory BP make this approach necessary for all patients with hypertension is discussed. The conclusion is that this is at present still premature because crucial evidence pro or against routine use of this approach in untreated and treated hypertensives is not yet available. It will be crucial for future studies to determine whether, compared with a treatment guided by office BP, a treatment tailored on ambulatory BP allows to improve prevention or regression of organ

  4. Human torso phantom for imaging of heart with realistic modes of cardiac and respiratory motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boutchko, Rostyslav; Balakrishnan, Karthikayan; Gullberg, Grant T; O& #x27; Neil, James P

    2013-09-17

    A human torso phantom and its construction, wherein the phantom mimics respiratory and cardiac cycles in a human allowing acquisition of medical imaging data under conditions simulating patient cardiac and respiratory motion.

  5. Simultaneous estimation of human and exoskeleton motion: A simplified protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvarez, M T; Torricelli, D; Del-Ama, A J; Pinto, D; Gonzalez-Vargas, J; Moreno, J C; Gil-Agudo, A; Pons, J L

    2017-07-01

    Adequate benchmarking procedures in the area of wearable robots is gaining importance in order to compare different devices on a quantitative basis, improve them and support the standardization and regulation procedures. Performance assessment usually focuses on the execution of locomotion tasks, and is mostly based on kinematic-related measures. Typical drawbacks of marker-based motion capture systems, gold standard for measure of human limb motion, become challenging when measuring limb kinematics, due to the concomitant presence of the robot. This work answers the question of how to reliably assess the subject's body motion by placing markers over the exoskeleton. Focusing on the ankle joint, the proposed methodology showed that it is possible to reconstruct the trajectory of the subject's joint by placing markers on the exoskeleton, although foot flexibility during walking can impact the reconstruction accuracy. More experiments are needed to confirm this hypothesis, and more subjects and walking conditions are needed to better characterize the errors of the proposed methodology, although our results are promising, indicating small errors.

  6. A novel algorithm to separate motion artifacts from photoplethysmographic signals obtained with a reflectance pulse oximeter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Jianchu; Warren, Steve

    2004-01-01

    Pulse oximeters are mainstays for acquiring blood oxygen saturation in static environments such as hospital rooms. However, motion artifacts prevent their broad in wearable, ambulatory environments. To this end, we present a novel algorithm to separate the motion artifacts from plethysmographic data gathered by pulse oximeters. This algorithm, based on the Beer-Lambert law, requires photoplethysmographic data acquired at three excitation wavelengths. The algorithm can calculate venous blood oxygen saturation (SvO2) as well as arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2). Preliminary results indicate that the extraction of the venous signal, which is assumed to be most affected by motions, is successful with data acquired from a reflectance-mode sensor.

  7. Beyond the clinic: redefining hospital ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogut, L

    1997-07-01

    Responding to changes in health care financing, government policy, technology, and clinical judgment, and the rise of managed care, hospitals are shifting services from inpatient to outpatient settings and moving them into the community. Institutions are evolving into integrated delivery systems, developing the capacity to provide a continuum of coordinated services in an array of settings and to share financial risk with physicians and managed care organizations. Over the past several years, hospitals in New York City have shifted considerable resources into ambulatory care. In their drive to expand and enhance services, however, they face serious challenges, including a well-established focus on hospitals as inpatient centers of tertiary care and medical education, a heavy reliance upon residents as providers of medical care, limited access to capital, and often inadequate physical plants. In 1995, the United Hospital Fund awarded $600,000 through its Ambulatory Care Services Initiative to support hospitals' efforts to meet the challenges of reorganizing services, compete in a managed care environment, and provide high-quality ambulatory care in more efficient ways. Through the initiative, 12 New York City hospitals started projects to reorganize service delivery and build an infrastructure of systems, technology, and personnel. Among the projects undertaken by the hospitals were:--broad-based reorganization efforts employing primary care models to improve and expand existing ambulatory care services, integrate services, and better coordinate care;--projects to improve information management, planning and testing new systems for scheduling appointments, registering patients, and tracking ambulatory care and its outcomes;--training programs to increase the supply of primary care providers (both nurse practitioners and primary care physicians), train clinical and support staff in the skills needed to deliver more efficient and better ambulatory care, prepare staff

  8. Magnetic navigation system for the precise helical and translational motions of a microrobot in human blood vessels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, S. M.; Jang, G. H.; Choi, H. C.; Park, S. H.; Park, J. O.

    2012-04-01

    Different magnetic navigation systems (MNSs) have been investigated for the wireless manipulation of microrobots in human blood vessels. Here we propose a MNS and methodology for generation of both the precise helical and translational motions of a microrobot to improve its maneuverability in complex human blood vessel. We then present experiments demonstrating the helical and translational motions of a spiral-type microrobot to verify the proposed MNS.

  9. Transitioning the RN to Ambulatory Care: An Investment in Orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Juliet Walshe

    2016-01-01

    Registered nurses (RNs) struggle when transitioning from the inpatient setting to the outpatient clinical environment because it results in a diverse skill-set shift. The RN, considered an outpatient revenue source, experiences a decrease in peer-to-peer relationships, changes in leadership responsibilities, and changes in workgroup dynamics (supervision of unlicensed clinical personnel who function under the direction of the physician, not the RN). Ambulatory organizations find themselves implementing clinical orientation programs that may not delineate the attributes of the RN. This diminishes their value while emphasizing the unlicensed technical skill set. Creating a core RN orientation program template is paramount for the transition of the RN to the ambulatory setting. The literature reveals several areas where improving the value of the RN will ultimately enhance recruitment and retention, patient care outcomes, and leverage the RN role within any organization. Eleven 30-minute in-depth telephone interviews were conducted in addition to 4 nurse observations to explore the lived experience of the RN in ambulatory care. The findings disclosed an overarching theme of nurse isolation and offered insightful underpinnings for the nurse leader as ambulatory growth continues and nurse leaders further endorse the RN presence in the ambulatory setting.

  10. Advances in the use of intravenous techniques in ambulatory anesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eng MR

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Matthew R Eng,1 Paul F White1,2 1Department of Anesthesiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2White Mountain Institute, The Sea Ranch, CA, USA Summary statement: Advances in the use of intravenous techniques in ambulatory anesthesia has become important for the anesthesiologist as the key perioperative physician in outpatient surgery. Key techniques and choices of anesthetics are important in accomplishing fast track goals of ambulatory surgery. Purpose of review: The anesthesiologist in the outpatient environment must focus on improving perioperative efficiency and reducing recovery times while accounting for patients' well-being and safety. This review article focuses on recent intravenous anesthetic techniques to accomplish these goals. Recent findings: This review is an overview of techniques in intravenous anesthesia for ambulatory anesthesia. Intravenous techniques may be tailored to accomplish outpatient surgery goals for the type of surgical procedure and individual patient needs. Careful anesthetic planning and the application of the plans are critical to an anesthesiologist's success with fast-track ambulatory surgery. Conclusion: Careful planning and application of intravenous techniques are critical to an anesthesiologist's success with fast-track ambulatory surgery. Keywords: intravenous anesthesia, outpatient anesthesia, fast-track surgery

  11. Using Fuzzy Gaussian Inference and Genetic Programming to Classify 3D Human Motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khoury, Mehdi; Liu, Honghai

    This research introduces and builds on the concept of Fuzzy Gaussian Inference (FGI) (Khoury and Liu in Proceedings of UKCI, 2008 and IEEE Workshop on Robotic Intelligence in Informationally Structured Space (RiiSS 2009), 2009) as a novel way to build Fuzzy Membership Functions that map to hidden Probability Distributions underlying human motions. This method is now combined with a Genetic Programming Fuzzy rule-based system in order to classify boxing moves from natural human Motion Capture data. In this experiment, FGI alone is able to recognise seven different boxing stances simultaneously with an accuracy superior to a GMM-based classifier. Results seem to indicate that adding an evolutionary Fuzzy Inference Engine on top of FGI improves the accuracy of the classifier in a consistent way.

  12. Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Clinical Practice: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viera, Anthony J.; Shimbo, Daichi

    2016-01-01

    Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring offers the ability to collect blood pressure readings several times an hour across a 24-hour period. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring facilitates the identification of white-coat hypertension, the phenomenon whereby certain individuals who are not on antihypertensive medication show elevated blood pressure in a clinical setting but show non-elevated blood pressure averages when assessed by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Additionally, readings can be segmented into time windows of particular interest, e.g., mean daytime and nighttime values. During sleep, blood pressure typically decreases, or dips, such that mean sleep blood pressure is lower than mean awake blood pressure. A non-dipping pattern and nocturnal hypertension are strongly associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Approximately 70% of individuals dip ≥10% at night, while 30% have non-dipping patterns, when blood pressure remains similar to daytime average, or occasionally rises above daytime average. The various blood pressure categorizations afforded by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring are valuable for clinical management of high blood pressure since they increase accuracy for diagnosis and the prediction of cardiovascular risk. PMID:25107387

  13. Management of comorbidities in ambulatory anesthesia: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dabu-Bondoc S

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Susan Dabu-Bondoc, Kirk Shelley Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USAAbstract: Advances in medical science now allow people with significant medical issues to live at home. As the outpatient population ages and surgical techniques advance, the ambulatory anesthesiologist has to be prepared to handle these “walking wounded”. The days of restricting ambulatory surgery procedures to American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1 and 2 patients are rapidly fading into the past. To remain competitive and economically viable, the modern ambulatory surgery center needs to expand its practice to include patients with medical comorbidities. In an environment where production and economic pressures exist, maintaining safety and good outcomes in high-risk patients for ambulatory surgery can be arduous. Adding to the complexity of this challenge is the rapid evolution of the therapeutic approaches to a variety of medical issues. For example, there has been a significant increase in the number and types of insulin a diabetic patient might be prescribed in recent years. In the case of the patient with coronary artery disease, the variety of both drug and nondrug eluding stents or new antithrombotic agents has also increased the complexity of perioperative management. Complex patients need careful, timely, and team-based preoperative evaluation by an anesthesia provider who is knowledgeable of outpatient care. Optimizing comorbidities preoperatively is a crucial initial step in minimizing risk. This paper will examine a number of common medical issues and explore their impact on managing outpatient surgical procedures.Keywords: ambulatory surgery, medical comorbidities, diabetes, coronary artery disease, respiratory disease, obesity

  14. Flexible and multi-directional piezoelectric energy harvester for self-powered human motion sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Min-Ook; Pyo, Soonjae; Oh, Yongkeun; Kang, Yunsung; Cho, Kyung-Ho; Choi, Jungwook; Kim, Jongbaeg

    2018-03-01

    A flexible piezoelectric strain energy harvester that is responsive to multi-directional input forces produced by various human motions is proposed. The structure of the harvester, which includes a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bump, facilitates the effective conversion of strain energy, produced by input forces applied in random directions, into electrical energy. The structural design of the PDMS bump and frame as well as the slits in the piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film provide mechanical flexibility and enhance the strain induced in the PVDF film under input forces applied at various angles. The amount and direction of the strain induced in PVDF can be changed by the direction of the applied force; thus, the generated output power can be varied. The measured maximum output peak voltage is 1.75, 1.29, and 0.98 V when an input force of 4 N (2 Hz) is applied at angles of 0°, 45°, and 90°, and the corresponding maximum output power is 0.064, 0.026, and 0.02 μW, respectively. Moreover, the harvester stably generates output voltage over 1.4 × 104 cycles. Thus, the proposed harvester successfully identifies and converts strain energy produced by multi-directional input forces by various human motions into electrical energy. We demonstrate the potential utility of the proposed flexible energy harvester as a self-powered human motion sensor for wireless healthcare systems.

  15. The Use of Wearable Inertial Motion Sensors in Human Lower Limb Biomechanics Studies: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yue-Yan Chan

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Wearable motion sensors consisting of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetic sensors are readily available nowadays. The small size and low production costs of motion sensors make them a very good tool for human motions analysis. However, data processing and accuracy of the collected data are important issues for research purposes. In this paper, we aim to review the literature related to usage of inertial sensors in human lower limb biomechanics studies. A systematic search was done in the following search engines: ISI Web of Knowledge, Medline, SportDiscus and IEEE Xplore. Thirty nine full papers and conference abstracts with related topics were included in this review. The type of sensor involved, data collection methods, study design, validation methods and its applications were reviewed.

  16. The use of wearable inertial motion sensors in human lower limb biomechanics studies: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fong, Daniel Tik-Pui; Chan, Yue-Yan

    2010-01-01

    Wearable motion sensors consisting of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetic sensors are readily available nowadays. The small size and low production costs of motion sensors make them a very good tool for human motions analysis. However, data processing and accuracy of the collected data are important issues for research purposes. In this paper, we aim to review the literature related to usage of inertial sensors in human lower limb biomechanics studies. A systematic search was done in the following search engines: ISI Web of Knowledge, Medline, SportDiscus and IEEE Xplore. Thirty nine full papers and conference abstracts with related topics were included in this review. The type of sensor involved, data collection methods, study design, validation methods and its applications were reviewed.

  17. Human Classification Based on Gestural Motions by Using Components of PCA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aziz, Azri A; Wan, Khairunizam; Za'aba, S K; Shahriman A B; Asyekin H; Zuradzman M R; Adnan, Nazrul H

    2013-01-01

    Lately, a study of human capabilities with the aim to be integrated into machine is the famous topic to be discussed. Moreover, human are bless with special abilities that they can hear, see, sense, speak, think and understand each other. Giving such abilities to machine for improvement of human life is researcher's aim for better quality of life in the future. This research was concentrating on human gesture, specifically arm motions for differencing the individuality which lead to the development of the hand gesture database. We try to differentiate the human physical characteristic based on hand gesture represented by arm trajectories. Subjects are selected from different type of the body sizes, and then acquired data undergo resampling process. The results discuss the classification of human based on arm trajectories by using Principle Component Analysis (PCA)

  18. Relationship Between 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Cognitive Function in Community-Living Older Adults: The UCSD Ambulatory Blood Pressure Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conway, Kyle S; Forbang, Nketi; Beben, Tomasz; Criqui, Michael H; Ix, Joachim H; Rifkin, Dena E

    2015-12-01

    Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) patterns have been associated with diminished cognitive function in hypertensive and very elderly populations. The relationship between ambulatory BP patterns and cognitive function in community-living older adults is unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional study in which 24-hour ambulatory BP, in-clinic BP, and cognitive function measures were obtained from 319 community-living older adults. The mean age was 72 years, 66% were female, and 13% were African-American. We performed linear regression with performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as the primary outcome and 24-hour BP patterns as the independent variable, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and comorbidities. Greater nighttime systolic dipping (P = 0.046) and higher 24-hour diastolic BP (DBP; P = 0.015) were both significantly associated with better cognitive function, whereas 24-hour systolic BP (SBP), average real variability, and ambulatory arterial stiffness were not. Higher 24-hour DBP and greater nighttime systolic dipping were significantly associated with improved cognitive function. Future studies should examine whether low 24-hour DBP and lack of nighttime systolic dipping predict future cognitive impairment. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2015. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Preliminary study of percutaneous nephrolithotomy on an ambulatory basis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Tabey, Magdy Ahmed; Abd-Allah, Osama Abdel-Wahab; Ahmed, Ahmed Sebaey; El-Barky, Ehab Mohammed; Noureldin, Yasser Abdel-Sattar

    2013-02-01

    Preliminary study to assess the feasibility and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) as an ambulatory procedure. Between February 2011 and September 2012, 84 patients with renal calculi fulfilling the inclusion criteria were admitted to the Urology Department of Benha University Hospitals for PCNL. All patients were subjected to a full medical history, clinical, laboratory and radiological examinations. Tubeless PCNLs were done in the supine position, and an antegrade double-J stent was inserted. Operative time and intraoperative complications were recorded. Postoperatively, the hematocrit value, postoperative pain and analgesics, need of blood transfusion, stone-free rate, and length of hospital stay were recorded. Stable patients that could be safely discharged within 24 hours after surgery were considered ambulatory. All cases of tubeless PCNL were successfully done and no cases converted to open surgery. The overall stone-free rate was 91.7%, the mean postoperative pain score measured by the visual analog scale was 4.4 ± 1.2, the mean overall hematocrit deficit was 4.8 ± 2.2% and the mean hospital stay was 33.4 ± 17.5 hours. Ambulatory PCNL was accomplished in 60 out of 84 patients (71.4%) and double-J stents were removed 7-10 days postoperatively. In the non-ambulatory cases, double-J stents were removed after auxillary procedures were done according to each case. PCNL can be safely done on an ambulatory basis under strict criteria, but further studies are needed to confirm and expand these findings.

  20. Patient satisfaction and positive patient outcomes in ambulatory anesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shah U

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Ushma Shah, David T Wong, Jean Wong Department of Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Abstract: Most surgeries in North America are performed on an ambulatory basis, reducing health care costs and increasing patient comfort. Patient satisfaction is an important outcome indicator of the quality of health care services incorporated by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA. Patient satisfaction is a complex concept that is influenced by multiple factors. A patient's viewpoint and knowledge plays an influential role in patient satisfaction with ambulatory surgery. Medical optimization and psychological preparation of the patient plays a pivotal role in the success of ambulatory surgery. Postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting are the most important symptoms for the patient and can be addressed by multimodal drug regimens. Shared decision making, patient–provider relationship, communication, and continuity of care form the main pillars of patient satisfaction. Various psychometrically developed instruments are available to measure patient satisfaction, such as the Iowa Satisfaction with Anesthesia Scale and Evaluation du Vecu de I'Anesthesie Generale, but none have been developed specifically for ambulatory surgery. The ASA has made recommendations for data collection for patient satisfaction surveys and emphasized the importance of reporting the data to the Anesthesia Quality Institute. Future research is warranted to develop a validated tool to measure patient satisfaction in ambulatory surgery. Keywords: patient, satisfaction, anesthesia, outcomes, questionnaire, perspectives

  1. Testing human sperm chemotaxis: how to detect biased motion in population assays.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leah Armon

    Full Text Available Biased motion of motile cells in a concentration gradient of a chemoattractant is frequently studied on the population level. This approach has been particularly employed in human sperm chemotactic assays, where the fraction of responsive cells is low and detection of biased motion depends on subtle differences. In these assays, statistical measures such as population odds ratios of swimming directions can be employed to infer chemotactic performance. Here, we report on an improved method to assess statistical significance of experimentally determined odds ratios and discuss the strong impact of data correlations that arise from the directional persistence of sperm swimming.

  2. Frequency of gamma oscillations in humans is modulated by velocity of visual motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butorina, Anna V.; Sysoeva, Olga V.; Prokofyev, Andrey O.; Nikolaeva, Anastasia Yu.; Stroganova, Tatiana A.

    2015-01-01

    Gamma oscillations are generated in networks of inhibitory fast-spiking (FS) parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons and pyramidal cells. In animals, gamma frequency is modulated by the velocity of visual motion; the effect of velocity has not been evaluated in humans. In this work, we have studied velocity-related modulations of gamma frequency in children using MEG/EEG. We also investigated whether such modulations predict the prominence of the “spatial suppression” effect (Tadin D, Lappin JS, Gilroy LA, Blake R. Nature 424: 312-315, 2003) that is thought to depend on cortical center-surround inhibitory mechanisms. MEG/EEG was recorded in 27 normal boys aged 8–15 yr while they watched high-contrast black-and-white annular gratings drifting with velocities of 1.2, 3.6, and 6.0°/s and performed a simple detection task. The spatial suppression effect was assessed in a separate psychophysical experiment. MEG gamma oscillation frequency increased while power decreased with increasing velocity of visual motion. In EEG, the effects were less reliable. The frequencies of the velocity-specific gamma peaks were 64.9, 74.8, and 87.1 Hz for the slow, medium, and fast motions, respectively. The frequency of the gamma response elicited during slow and medium velocity of visual motion decreased with subject age, whereas the range of gamma frequency modulation by velocity increased with age. The frequency modulation range predicted spatial suppression even after controlling for the effect of age. We suggest that the modulation of the MEG gamma frequency by velocity of visual motion reflects excitability of cortical inhibitory circuits and can be used to investigate their normal and pathological development in the human brain. PMID:25925324

  3. Predicting articulated human motion from spatial processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauberg, Søren; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup

    2011-01-01

    recent work where prior models are derived in terms of joint angles. This approach has several advantages. First of all, it allows us to construct motion models in low dimensional spaces, which makes motion estimation more robust. Secondly, as many types of motion are easily expressed in spatial...

  4. Application Of Three-Dimensional Videography To Human Motion Studies: Constraints, Assumptions, And Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rab, George T.

    1988-02-01

    Three-dimensional human motion analysis has been used for complex kinematic description of abnormal gait in children with neuromuscular disease. Multiple skin markers estimate skeletal segment position, and a sorting and smoothing routine provides marker trajectories. The position and orientation of the moving skeleton in space are derived mathematically from the marker positions, and joint motions are calculated from the Eulerian transformation matrix between linked proximal and distal skeletal segments. Reproduceability has been excellent, and the technique has proven to be a useful adjunct to surgical planning.

  5. Motion Learning Based on Bayesian Program Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Meng-Zhen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The concept of virtual human has been highly anticipated since the 1980s. By using computer technology, Human motion simulation could generate authentic visual effect, which could cheat human eyes visually. Bayesian Program Learning train one or few motion data, generate new motion data by decomposing and combining. And the generated motion will be more realistic and natural than the traditional one.In this paper, Motion learning based on Bayesian program learning allows us to quickly generate new motion data, reduce workload, improve work efficiency, reduce the cost of motion capture, and improve the reusability of data.

  6. Adopting Ambulatory Breast Cancer Surgery as the Standard of Care in an Asian Population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yvonne Ying Ru Ng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Ambulatory surgery is not commonly practiced in Asia. A 23-hour ambulatory (AS23 service was implemented at our institute in March 2004 to allow more surgeries to be performed as ambulatory procedures. In this study, we reviewed the impact of the AS23 service on breast cancer surgeries and reviewed surgical outcomes, including postoperative complications, length of stay, and 30-day readmission. Methods. Retrospective review was performed of 1742 patients who underwent definitive breast cancer surgery from 1 March 2004 to 31 December 2010. Results. By 2010, more than 70% of surgeries were being performed as ambulatory procedures. Younger women (P<0.01, those undergoing wide local excision (P<0.01 and those with ductal carcinoma-in situ or early stage breast cancer (P<0.01, were more likely to undergo ambulatory surgery. Six percent of patients initially scheduled for ambulatory surgery were eventually managed as inpatients; a third of these were because of perioperative complications. Wound complications, 30-day readmission and reoperation rates were not more frequent with ambulatory surgery. Conclusion. Ambulatory breast cancer surgery is now the standard of care at our institute. An integrated workflow facilitating proper patient selection and structured postoperativee outpatient care have ensured minimal complications and high patient acceptance.

  7. One-degree-of-freedom spherical model for the passive motion of the human ankle joint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sancisi, Nicola; Baldisserri, Benedetta; Parenti-Castelli, Vincenzo; Belvedere, Claudio; Leardini, Alberto

    2014-04-01

    Mathematical modelling of mobility at the human ankle joint is essential for prosthetics and orthotic design. The scope of this study is to show that the ankle joint passive motion can be represented by a one-degree-of-freedom spherical motion. Moreover, this motion is modelled by a one-degree-of-freedom spherical parallel mechanism model, and the optimal pivot-point position is determined. Passive motion and anatomical data were taken from in vitro experiments in nine lower limb specimens. For each of these, a spherical mechanism, including the tibiofibular and talocalcaneal segments connected by a spherical pair and by the calcaneofibular and tibiocalcaneal ligament links, was defined from the corresponding experimental kinematics and geometry. An iterative procedure was used to optimize the geometry of the model, able to predict original experimental motion. The results of the simulations showed a good replication of the original natural motion, despite the numerous model assumptions and simplifications, with mean differences between experiments and predictions smaller than 1.3 mm (average 0.33 mm) for the three joint position components and smaller than 0.7° (average 0.32°) for the two out-of-sagittal plane rotations, once plotted versus the full flexion arc. The relevant pivot-point position after model optimization was found within the tibial mortise, but not exactly in a central location. The present combined experimental and modelling analysis of passive motion at the human ankle joint shows that a one degree-of-freedom spherical mechanism predicts well what is observed in real joints, although its computational complexity is comparable to the standard hinge joint model.

  8. Kinematics design and human motion transfer for a humanoid service robot arm

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Dube, C

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available . Philadelphia: Saunders Col- lege Publishing, 1982. [2] Hamill, J. and Knutzen, K. M., Biomechanical Basis of Human Motion, Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1995. [3] Lenarcˇicˇ, J. and Klopcˇar, N.,“Positional kinematics of hu- manoid arms,” Robotica, vol...

  9. A short study to assess the potential of independent component analysis for motion artifact separation in wearable pulse oximeter signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Jianchu; Warren, Steve

    2005-01-01

    Motion artifact reduction and separation become critical when medical sensors are used in wearable monitoring scenarios. Previous research has demonstrated that independent component analysis (ICA) can be applied to pulse oximeter signals to separate photoplethysmographic (PPG) data from motion artifacts, ambient light, and other interference in low-motion environments. However, ICA assumes that all source signal component pairs are mutually independent. It is important to assess the statistical independence of the source components in PPG data, especially if ICA is to be applied in ambulatory monitoring environments, where motion artifacts can have a substantial effect on the quality of data received from light-based sensors. This paper addresses the statistical relationship between motion artifacts and PPG data by calculating the correlation coefficients between arterial volume variations and motion over a range of stationary to high-motion conditions. Analyses indicate that motion significantly affects arterial flow, so care must be taken when applying ICA to light-based sensor data acquired from wearable platforms.

  10. Self-Organizing Neural Integration of Pose-Motion Features for Human Action Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    German Ignacio Parisi

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The visual recognition of complex, articulated human movements is fundamental for a wide range of artificial systems oriented towards human-robot communication, action classification, and action-driven perception. These challenging tasks may generally involve the processing of a huge amount of visual information and learning-based mechanisms for generalizing a set of training actions and classifying new samples. To operate in natural environments, a crucial property is the efficient and robust recognition of actions, also under noisy conditions caused by, for instance, systematic sensor errors and temporarily occluded persons. Studies of the mammalian visual system and its outperforming ability to process biological motion information suggest separate neural pathways for the distinct processing of pose and motion features at multiple levels and the subsequent integration of these visual cues for action perception. We present a neurobiologically-motivated approach to achieve noise-tolerant action recognition in real time. Our model consists of self-organizing Growing When Required (GWR networks that obtain progressively generalized representations of sensory inputs and learn inherent spatiotemporal dependencies. During the training, the GWR networks dynamically change their topological structure to better match the input space. We first extract pose and motion features from video sequences and then cluster actions in terms of prototypical pose-motion trajectories. Multi-cue trajectories from matching action frames are subsequently combined to provide action dynamics in the joint feature space. Reported experiments show that our approach outperforms previous results on a dataset of full-body actions captured with a depth sensor, and ranks among the best 21 results for a public benchmark of domestic daily actions.

  11. US National Practice Patterns in Ambulatory Operative Management of Lateral Epicondylitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buller, Leonard T; Best, Matthew J; Nigen, David; Ialenti, Marc; Baraga, Michael G

    2015-12-01

    Lateral epicondylitis is a common cause of elbow pain, frequently responsive to nonoperative management. There are multiple operative techniques for persistently symptomatic patients who have exhausted conservative therapies. Little is known regarding US national trends in operative management of lateral epicondylitis. We conducted a study to investigate changes in use of ambulatory procedures for lateral epicondylitis. Cases of lateral epicondylitis were identified using the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery and were analyzed for trends in demographics and use of ambulatory surgery. Between 1994 and 2006, the population-adjusted rate of ambulatory surgical procedures increased from 7.29 to 10.44 per 100,000 capita. The sex-adjusted rate of surgery for lateral epicondylitis increased by 85% among females and decreased by 31% among males. Most patients were between ages 40 and 49 years, and the largest percentage increase in age-adjusted rates was found among patients older than 50 years (275%) between 1994 and 2006. Use of regional anesthesia increased from 17% in 1994 to 30% in 2006. Private insurance remained the most common payer. Awareness of the increasing use of ambulatory surgery for lateral epicondylitis may lead to changes in health care policies and positively affect patient care.

  12. Developing a business-practice model for pharmacy services in ambulatory settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Ila M; Baker, Ed; Berry, Tricia M; Halloran, Mary Ann; Lindauer, Kathleen; Ragucci, Kelly R; McGivney, Melissa Somma; Taylor, A Thomas; Haines, Stuart T

    2008-02-01

    A business-practice model is a guide, or toolkit, to assist managers and clinical pharmacy practitioners in the exploration, proposal, development and implementation of new clinical pharmacy services and/or the enhancement of existing services. This document was developed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Task Force on Ambulatory Practice to assist clinical pharmacy practitioners and administrators in the development of business-practice models for new and existing clinical pharmacy services in ambulatory settings. This document provides detailed instructions, examples, and resources on conducting a market assessment and a needs assessment, types of clinical services, operations, legal and regulatory issues, marketing and promotion, service development and exit plan, evaluation of service outcomes, and financial considerations in the development of a clinical pharmacy service in the ambulatory environment. Available literature is summarized, and an appendix provides valuable citations and resources. As ambulatory care practices continue to evolve, there will be increased knowledge of how to initiate and expand the services. This document is intended to serve as an essential resource to assist in the growth and development of clinical pharmacy services in the ambulatory environment.

  13. Perspectives on ambulatory anesthesia: the patient’s point of view

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sehmbi H

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Herman Sehmbi, Jean Wong, David T WongDepartment of Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaAbstract: Recent advances in anesthetic and surgical techniques have led to tremendous growth of ambulatory surgery. With patients with many co-morbid conditions undergoing complex procedures in an ambulatory setting, the challenges in providing ambulatory surgery and anesthesia are immense. In recent years, the paradigm has shifted from a health-care provider focus involving process compliance and clinical outcomes, to a patient-centered strategy that includes patients’ perspectives of desired outcomes. Improving preoperative patient education while reducing unnecessary testing, improving postoperative pain management, and reducing postoperative nausea and vomiting may help enhance patient satisfaction. The functional status of most patients is reduced postoperatively, and thus the pattern of recovery is an area of ongoing research. Standardized and validated psychometric questionnaires such as Quality of Recovery-40 and Postoperative Quality of Recovery Scale are potential tools to assess this. Patient satisfaction has been identified as an important outcome measure and dedicated tools to assess this in various clinical settings are needed. Identification of key aspects of ambulatory surgery deemed important from patients’ perspectives, and implementation of validated outcome questionnaires, are important in improving patient centered care and patient satisfaction.Keywords: ambulatory, patient, satisfaction, anesthesia, outcomes, questionnaire, perspectives

  14. Observation and analysis of high-speed human motion with frequent occlusion in a large area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Yuru; Liu, Jiafeng; Liu, Guojun; Tang, Xianglong; Liu, Peng

    2009-01-01

    The use of computer vision technology in collecting and analyzing statistics during sports matches or training sessions is expected to provide valuable information for tactics improvement. However, the measurements published in the literature so far are either unreliably documented to be used in training planning due to their limitations or unsuitable for studying high-speed motion in large area with frequent occlusions. A sports annotation system is introduced in this paper for tracking high-speed non-rigid human motion over a large playing area with the aid of motion camera, taking short track speed skating competitions as an example. The proposed system is composed of two sub-systems: precise camera motion compensation and accurate motion acquisition. In the video registration step, a distinctive invariant point feature detector (probability density grads detector) and a global parallax based matching points filter are used, to provide reliable and robust matching across a large range of affine distortion and illumination change. In the motion acquisition step, a two regions' relationship constrained joint color model and Markov chain Monte Carlo based joint particle filter are emphasized, by dividing the human body into two relative key regions. Several field tests are performed to assess measurement errors, including comparison to popular algorithms. With the help of the system presented, the system obtains position data on a 30 m × 60 m large rink with root-mean-square error better than 0.3975 m, velocity and acceleration data with absolute error better than 1.2579 m s −1 and 0.1494 m s −2 , respectively

  15. Observation and analysis of high-speed human motion with frequent occlusion in a large area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yuru; Liu, Jiafeng; Liu, Guojun; Tang, Xianglong; Liu, Peng

    2009-12-01

    The use of computer vision technology in collecting and analyzing statistics during sports matches or training sessions is expected to provide valuable information for tactics improvement. However, the measurements published in the literature so far are either unreliably documented to be used in training planning due to their limitations or unsuitable for studying high-speed motion in large area with frequent occlusions. A sports annotation system is introduced in this paper for tracking high-speed non-rigid human motion over a large playing area with the aid of motion camera, taking short track speed skating competitions as an example. The proposed system is composed of two sub-systems: precise camera motion compensation and accurate motion acquisition. In the video registration step, a distinctive invariant point feature detector (probability density grads detector) and a global parallax based matching points filter are used, to provide reliable and robust matching across a large range of affine distortion and illumination change. In the motion acquisition step, a two regions' relationship constrained joint color model and Markov chain Monte Carlo based joint particle filter are emphasized, by dividing the human body into two relative key regions. Several field tests are performed to assess measurement errors, including comparison to popular algorithms. With the help of the system presented, the system obtains position data on a 30 m × 60 m large rink with root-mean-square error better than 0.3975 m, velocity and acceleration data with absolute error better than 1.2579 m s-1 and 0.1494 m s-2, respectively.

  16. Integration of visual and non-visual self-motion cues during voluntary head movements in the human brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schindler, Andreas; Bartels, Andreas

    2018-05-15

    Our phenomenological experience of the stable world is maintained by continuous integration of visual self-motion with extra-retinal signals. However, due to conventional constraints of fMRI acquisition in humans, neural responses to visuo-vestibular integration have only been studied using artificial stimuli, in the absence of voluntary head-motion. We here circumvented these limitations and let participants to move their heads during scanning. The slow dynamics of the BOLD signal allowed us to acquire neural signal related to head motion after the observer's head was stabilized by inflatable aircushions. Visual stimuli were presented on head-fixed display goggles and updated in real time as a function of head-motion that was tracked using an external camera. Two conditions simulated forward translation of the participant. During physical head rotation, the congruent condition simulated a stable world, whereas the incongruent condition added arbitrary lateral motion. Importantly, both conditions were precisely matched in visual properties and head-rotation. By comparing congruent with incongruent conditions we found evidence consistent with the multi-modal integration of visual cues with head motion into a coherent "stable world" percept in the parietal operculum and in an anterior part of parieto-insular cortex (aPIC). In the visual motion network, human regions MST, a dorsal part of VIP, the cingulate sulcus visual area (CSv) and a region in precuneus (Pc) showed differential responses to the same contrast. The results demonstrate for the first time neural multimodal interactions between precisely matched congruent versus incongruent visual and non-visual cues during physical head-movement in the human brain. The methodological approach opens the path to a new class of fMRI studies with unprecedented temporal and spatial control over visuo-vestibular stimulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Office blood pressure or ambulatory blood pressure for the prediction of cardiovascular events

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Rikke Nørmark; Gerds, Thomas Alexander; Jeppesen, Jørgen Lykke

    2017-01-01

    Aims: To determine the added value of (i) 24-h ambulatory blood pressure relative to office blood pressure and (ii) night-time ambulatory blood pressure relative to daytime ambulatory blood pressure for 10-year person-specific absolute risks of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. Methods...... and results: A total of 7927 participants were included from the International Database on Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in relation to Cardiovascular Outcomes. We used cause-specific Cox regression to predict 10-year person-specific absolute risks of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events....... Discrimination of 10-year outcomes was assessed by time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). No differences in predicted risks were observed when comparing office blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure. The median difference in 10-year risks (1st; 3rd quartile) was -0...

  18. Adaptive Human aware Navigation based on Motion Pattern Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tranberg, Søren; Svenstrup, Mikael; Andersen, Hans Jørgen

    2009-01-01

    Respecting people’s social spaces is an important prerequisite for acceptable and natural robot navigation in human environments. In this paper, we describe an adaptive system for mobile robot navigation based on estimates of whether a person seeks to interact with the robot or not. The estimates...... are based on run-time motion pattern analysis compared to stored experience in a database. Using a potential field centered around the person, the robot positions itself at the most appropriate place relative to the person and the interaction status. The system is validated through qualitative tests...

  19. The Importance of Spatiotemporal Information in Biological Motion Perception: White Noise Presented with a Step-like Motion Activates the Biological Motion Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callan, Akiko; Callan, Daniel; Ando, Hiroshi

    2017-02-01

    Humans can easily recognize the motion of living creatures using only a handful of point-lights that describe the motion of the main joints (biological motion perception). This special ability to perceive the motion of animate objects signifies the importance of the spatiotemporal information in perceiving biological motion. The posterior STS (pSTS) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) region have been established by many functional neuroimaging studies as a locus for biological motion perception. Because listening to a walking human also activates the pSTS/pMTG region, the region has been proposed to be supramodal in nature. In this study, we investigated whether the spatiotemporal information from simple auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate this biological motion area. We compared spatially moving white noise, having a running-like tempo that was consistent with biological motion, with stationary white noise. The moving-minus-stationary contrast showed significant differences in activation of the pSTS/pMTG region. Our results suggest that the spatiotemporal information of the auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate the biological motion area.

  20. The evolution of ambulatory ECG monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Harold L

    2013-01-01

    Ambulatory Holter electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring has undergone continuous technological evolution since its invention and development in the 1950s era. With commercial introduction in 1963, there has been an evolution of Holter recorders from 1 channel to 12 channel recorders with increasingly smaller storage media, and there has evolved Holter analysis systems employing increasingly technologically advanced electronics providing a myriad of data displays. This evolution of smaller physical instruments with increasing technological capacity has characterized the development of electronics over the past 50 years. Currently the technology has been focused upon the conventional continuous 24 to 48 hour ambulatory ECG examination, and conventional extended ambulatory monitoring strategies for infrequent to rare arrhythmic events. However, the emergence of the Internet, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and broad-band transmission has positioned these modalities at the doorway of the digital world. This has led to an adoption of more cost-effective strategies to these conventional methods of performing the examination. As a result, the emergence of the mobile smartphone coupled with this digital capacity is leading to the recent development of Holter smartphone applications. The potential of point-of-care applications utilizing the Holter smartphone and a vast array of new non-invasive sensors is evident in the not too distant future. The Holter smartphone is anticipated to contribute significantly in the future to the field of global health. © 2013.

  1. Human Action Recognition Using Ordinal Measure of Accumulated Motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Wonjun

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a method for recognizing human actions from a single query action video. We propose an action recognition scheme based on the ordinal measure of accumulated motion, which is robust to variations of appearances. To this end, we first define the accumulated motion image (AMI using image differences. Then the AMI of the query action video is resized to a subimage by intensity averaging and a rank matrix is generated by ordering the sample values in the sub-image. By computing the distances from the rank matrix of the query action video to the rank matrices of all local windows in the target video, local windows close to the query action are detected as candidates. To find the best match among the candidates, their energy histograms, which are obtained by projecting AMI values in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively, are compared with those of the query action video. The proposed method does not require any preprocessing task such as learning and segmentation. To justify the efficiency and robustness of our approach, the experiments are conducted on various datasets.

  2. A comparative cepstral based analysis of simulated and measured S-band and X-band radar Doppler spectra of human motion

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Eeden, WD

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available targets. It is also shown that, whereas the motion of most body parts of a human target can be observed in the X-band data, only the main torso sway can be observed at S-band. This implies that X-band data is well suited to cepstrum based human motion...

  3. Human Motion Capture Data Tailored Transform Coding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junhui Hou; Lap-Pui Chau; Magnenat-Thalmann, Nadia; Ying He

    2015-07-01

    Human motion capture (mocap) is a widely used technique for digitalizing human movements. With growing usage, compressing mocap data has received increasing attention, since compact data size enables efficient storage and transmission. Our analysis shows that mocap data have some unique characteristics that distinguish themselves from images and videos. Therefore, directly borrowing image or video compression techniques, such as discrete cosine transform, does not work well. In this paper, we propose a novel mocap-tailored transform coding algorithm that takes advantage of these features. Our algorithm segments the input mocap sequences into clips, which are represented in 2D matrices. Then it computes a set of data-dependent orthogonal bases to transform the matrices to frequency domain, in which the transform coefficients have significantly less dependency. Finally, the compression is obtained by entropy coding of the quantized coefficients and the bases. Our method has low computational cost and can be easily extended to compress mocap databases. It also requires neither training nor complicated parameter setting. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of compression performance and speed.

  4. Ambulatory intravenous ceftriaxone in paediatric A&E: a useful alternative to hospital admission?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Jennifer K; Alexander, Saji; Abrahamson, Ed

    2011-10-01

    Treatment of children with intravenous ceftriaxone on an ambulatory basis is described. This allows a child to remain at home, but also be reviewed regularly when attending the Emergency Department for antibiotics. Indications for, and length of, treatment and laboratory parameters were recorded. Also, a survey of children's parents was undertaken to ascertain opinions regarding ambulatory treatment. 36 patients were treated with ambulatory ceftriaxone over 4 months. Indications included fever without focus, tonsillitis, periorbital cellulitis, urinary tract infection, petechial rash and lymphadenitis. Median duration of treatment was 2.3 days. There was no occult bacteraemia but five positive urine cultures. There was one failure of treatment with subsequent admission for alternative intravenous antibiotics. Parental opinion favours ambulatory treatment, with 94% of parents acknowledging they would choose it again in similar circumstances. Cost analysis favours ambulatory treatment based on predicted costs of a similar length of inpatient stay.

  5. Robotic Assistance of Human Motion Using Active-Backdrivability on a Geared Electromagnetic Motor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Jorge Claros

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In this research, we describe an actuation and control system designed for geared electromagnetic motors, which is characterized by its simple implementation, fast response to external input loads, reliable human-machine interaction features, no need for previous set-up or calibration from user to user and high portability due to the reduction of weight and space used. By the implementation of the proposed system, an electromagnetic motor can become a multitasking, wearable actuation system capable of: detecting the user's intentions regarding motion, tracking the limbs with minimal force interaction within a wide bandwidth and also providing controllable assistance and resistance forces to the user's movements, without the use of any biological signal. Validation of the proposed approach is shown by the construction of a powered orthosis for the knee, used to test the system's performance under real human motion conditions. The proposed system was tested on one healthy subject by measuring electromyographic levels both with and without the orthosis, under controlled flexion and extension cycles. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in detecting the user's intentions regarding motion, reducing and increasing muscular activity when configured for assistance and resistance, respectively, and also increasing the transparency of the actuation system when perfect tracking of the limbs is needed.

  6. An Approach to Sensorless Detection of Human Input Torque and Its Application to Power Assist Motion in Electric Wheelchair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaida, Yukiko; Murakami, Toshiyuki

    A wheelchair is an important apparatus of mobility for people with disability. Power-assist motion in an electric wheelchair is to expand the operator's field of activities. This paper describes force sensorless detection of human input torque. Reaction torque estimation observer calculates the total disturbance torque first. Then, the human input torque is extracted from the estimated disturbance. In power-assist motion, assist torque is synthesized according to the product of assist gain and the average torque of the right and left input torque. Finally, the proposed method is verified through the experiments of power-assist motion.

  7. Ambulatory gait analysis in stroke patients using ultrasound and inertial sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weenk, D.; van Meulen, Fokke; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Veltink, Petrus H.

    2014-01-01

    Objective ambulatory assessment of movements of patients is important for an optimal recovery. In this study an ambulatory system is used for assessing gait parameters in stroke patients. Ultrasound range estimates are fused with inertial sensors using an extended Kalman filter to estimate 3D

  8. Infection management following ambulatory surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin AB

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Anne B Chin, Elizabeth C Wick Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA Abstract: Surgical site infections (SSIs are frequent postoperative complications that are linked to measures of surgical quality and payment determinations. As surgical procedures are increasingly performed in the ambulatory setting, management of SSIs must transition with this trend. Prevention of SSIs should include optimization of patient comorbidities, aggressive infection control policies including appropriate skin decontamination, maintenance of normothermia, and appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis. Systems must also be set in place to provide adequate surveillance for identification of SSIs when they do occur as well as provide direct feedback to surgeons regarding SSI rates. This may require utilization of claims-based surveillance. Patient education and close follow-up with the clinical team are essential for early identification and management of SSIs. Therapy should remain focused on source control and appropriate antibiotic therapy. Keywords: ambulatory surgery, SSI, infection

  9. Prescribing Safety in Ambulatory Care: Physician Perspectives

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Rundall, Thomas G; Hsu, John; Lafata, Jennifer E; Fung, Vicki; Paez, Kathryn A; Simpkins, Jan; Simon, Steven R; Robinson, Scott B; Uratsu, Connie; Gunter, Margaret J; Soumerai, Stephen B; Selby, Joseph V

    2005-01-01

    .... We asked about current safety practices, perceptions of ambulatory prescribing safety. Using a content analysis approach, three investigators independently coded responses into thematic categories...

  10. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: Is 24 hours necessary?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vornovitsky, Michael; McClintic, Benjamin R; Beck, G Ronald; Bisognano, John D

    2013-01-01

    The variability of blood pressure (BP) makes any single measurement a poor indicator of a patient's true BP. Multiple studies have confirmed the superiority of ambulatory BP measurements over clinic BP measurements in predicting cardiovascular risk; however, this method presents the problem of patient acceptance as it causes frequent arm discomfort and sleep disturbance. We hypothesized that 6 h of daytime BP measurements would result in slightly higher BP readings, yet reveal similar clinical decision making when compared to 24 h of BP measurements. The source for writing this article was a retrospective analysis of 30 patients who underwent ambulatory BP monitoring. Data obtained included: age, sex, ethnicity, baseline medical problems, medications, laboratory values, reason given for ordering 24-h ambulatory BP measurements, ambulatory BP measurements, and a subsequent decision to change medication. The average BP of the 24-h measurements was 127/75 mm Hg and the average BP of the 6-h daytime measurements was 131/79 mm Hg (SD 15, p = 0.009). Twenty-six out of 30 patients were at goal or pre-hypertensive. Two out of 30 patients had stage 1 hypertension and 2 out of 30 patients had stage 2 hypertension. Thirteen out of 30 patients had nocturnal dipping. Twelve out of 30 patients had a change in medication, but those changes were not associated with the presence or absence of nocturnal dipping (p = 0.5) or other factors beyond mean BP. Although there was a statistically significant, 4 mm Hg systolic difference between 24-h and 6-h average BP readings, there was no evidence that this difference led to changes in clinical management. The presence or absence of nocturnal dipping was not associated with a change in medication. We conclude that 6-h daytime ambulatory BP measurements provide sufficient information to guide clinical decision making without the problems of patient acceptance, arm discomfort, and sleep disturbance associated with 24-h BP measurements.

  11. The value of registered nurses in ambulatory care settings: a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mastal, Margaret; Levine, June

    2012-01-01

    Ambulatory care settings employ 25% of the three million registered nurses in the United States. The American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) is committed to improving the quality of health care in ambulatory settings, enhancing patient outcomes, and realizing greater health care efficiencies. A survey of ambulatory care registered nurses indicates they are well positioned to lead and facilitate health care reform activities with organizational colleagues. They are well schooled in critical thinking, triage, advocating for patients, educating patients and families, collaborating with medical staff and other professionals, and care coordination. The evolving medical home concept and other health care delivery models reinforces the critical need for registered nurses to provide chronic disease management, care coordination, health risk appraisal, care transitions, health promotion, and disease prevention services. Recommendations are offered for organizational leaders, registered nurses, and AAACN to utilize nursing knowledge and skills in the pursuit of leading change and advancing health.

  12. 76 FR 66929 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs; The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-28

    ...] Medicare and Medicaid Programs; The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities... receipt of a deeming application from the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery... of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF's) request for deeming authority for RHCs. This notice also...

  13. Ambulatory oral surgery: 1-year experience with 11680 patients from Zagreb district, Croatia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jokić, Dražen; Macan, Darko; Perić, Berislav; Tadić, Marinka; Biočić, Josip; Đanić, Petar; Brajdić, Davor

    2013-02-01

    To examine the types and frequencies of oral surgery diagnoses and ambulatory oral surgical treatments during one year period at the Department of Oral Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava in Zagreb, Croatia. Sociodemographic and clinical data on 11680 ambulatory patients, treated between January 1 and of December 31, 2011 were retrieved from the hospital database using a specific protocol. The obtained data were subsequently analyzed in order to assess the frequency of diagnoses and differences in sex and age. The most common ambulatory procedure was tooth extraction (37.67%) and the most common procedure in ambulatory operating room was alveolectomy (57.25%). The test of proportions showed that significantly more extractions (PZagreb than in patients residing in rural areas. The data from this study may be useful for planning of ambulatory oral surgery services, budgeting, and sustaining quality improvement, enhancing oral surgical curricula, training and education of primary health care doctors and oral surgery specialists, and promoting patients' awareness of the importance of oral health.

  14. Shared sensory estimates for human motion perception and pursuit eye movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, Trishna; Battifarano, Matthew; Simoncini, Claudio; Osborne, Leslie C

    2015-06-03

    Are sensory estimates formed centrally in the brain and then shared between perceptual and motor pathways or is centrally represented sensory activity decoded independently to drive awareness and action? Questions about the brain's information flow pose a challenge because systems-level estimates of environmental signals are only accessible indirectly as behavior. Assessing whether sensory estimates are shared between perceptual and motor circuits requires comparing perceptual reports with motor behavior arising from the same sensory activity. Extrastriate visual cortex both mediates the perception of visual motion and provides the visual inputs for behaviors such as smooth pursuit eye movements. Pursuit has been a valuable testing ground for theories of sensory information processing because the neural circuits and physiological response properties of motion-responsive cortical areas are well studied, sensory estimates of visual motion signals are formed quickly, and the initiation of pursuit is closely coupled to sensory estimates of target motion. Here, we analyzed variability in visually driven smooth pursuit and perceptual reports of target direction and speed in human subjects while we manipulated the signal-to-noise level of motion estimates. Comparable levels of variability throughout viewing time and across conditions provide evidence for shared noise sources in the perception and action pathways arising from a common sensory estimate. We found that conditions that create poor, low-gain pursuit create a discrepancy between the precision of perception and that of pursuit. Differences in pursuit gain arising from differences in optic flow strength in the stimulus reconcile much of the controversy on this topic. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/358515-16$15.00/0.

  15. Multi-model approach to characterize human handwriting motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chihi, I; Abdelkrim, A; Benrejeb, M

    2016-02-01

    This paper deals with characterization and modelling of human handwriting motion from two forearm muscle activity signals, called electromyography signals (EMG). In this work, an experimental approach was used to record the coordinates of a pen tip moving on the (x, y) plane and EMG signals during the handwriting act. The main purpose is to design a new mathematical model which characterizes this biological process. Based on a multi-model approach, this system was originally developed to generate letters and geometric forms written by different writers. A Recursive Least Squares algorithm is used to estimate the parameters of each sub-model of the multi-model basis. Simulations show good agreement between predicted results and the recorded data.

  16. Gesture Recognition from Data Streams of Human Motion Sensor Using Accelerated PSO Swarm Search Feature Selection Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Fong

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Human motion sensing technology gains tremendous popularity nowadays with practical applications such as video surveillance for security, hand signing, and smart-home and gaming. These applications capture human motions in real-time from video sensors, the data patterns are nonstationary and ever changing. While the hardware technology of such motion sensing devices as well as their data collection process become relatively mature, the computational challenge lies in the real-time analysis of these live feeds. In this paper we argue that traditional data mining methods run short of accurately analyzing the human activity patterns from the sensor data stream. The shortcoming is due to the algorithmic design which is not adaptive to the dynamic changes in the dynamic gesture motions. The successor of these algorithms which is known as data stream mining is evaluated versus traditional data mining, through a case of gesture recognition over motion data by using Microsoft Kinect sensors. Three different subjects were asked to read three comic strips and to tell the stories in front of the sensor. The data stream contains coordinates of articulation points and various positions of the parts of the human body corresponding to the actions that the user performs. In particular, a novel technique of feature selection using swarm search and accelerated PSO is proposed for enabling fast preprocessing for inducing an improved classification model in real-time. Superior result is shown in the experiment that runs on this empirical data stream. The contribution of this paper is on a comparative study between using traditional and data stream mining algorithms and incorporation of the novel improved feature selection technique with a scenario where different gesture patterns are to be recognized from streaming sensor data.

  17. Challenges of pain control and the role of the ambulatory pain specialist in the outpatient surgery setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vadivelu, Nalini; Kai, Alice M; Kodumudi, Vijay; Berger, Jack M

    2016-01-01

    Ambulatory surgery is on the rise, with an unmet need for optimum pain control in ambulatory surgery centers worldwide. It is important that there is a proportionate increase in the availability of acute pain-management services to match the rapid rise of clinical patient load with pain issues in the ambulatory surgery setting. Focus on ambulatory pain control with its special challenges is vital to achieve optimum pain control and prevent morbidity and mortality. Management of perioperative pain in the ambulatory surgery setting is becoming increasingly complex, and requires the employment of a multimodal approach and interventions facilitated by ambulatory surgery pain specialists, which is a new concept. A focused ambulatory pain specialist on site at each ambulatory surgery center, in addition to providing safe anesthesia, could intervene early once problematic pain issues are recognized, thus preventing emergency room visits, as well as readmissions for uncontrolled pain. This paper reviews methods of acute-pain management in the ambulatory setting with risk stratification, the utilization of multimodal interventions, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological options, opioids, nonopioids, and various routes with the goal of preventing delayed discharge and unexpected hospital admissions after ambulatory surgery. Continued research and investigation in the area of pain management with outcome studies in acute surgically inflicted pain in patients with underlying chronic pain treated with opioids and the pattern and predictive factors for pain in the ambulatory surgical setting is needed.

  18. Visual motion transforms visual space representations similarly throughout the human visual hierarchy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Ben M; Dumoulin, Serge O

    2016-02-15

    Several studies demonstrate that visual stimulus motion affects neural receptive fields and fMRI response amplitudes. Here we unite results of these two approaches and extend them by examining the effects of visual motion on neural position preferences throughout the hierarchy of human visual field maps. We measured population receptive field (pRF) properties using high-field fMRI (7T), characterizing position preferences simultaneously over large regions of the visual cortex. We measured pRFs properties using sine wave gratings in stationary apertures, moving at various speeds in either the direction of pRF measurement or the orthogonal direction. We find direction- and speed-dependent changes in pRF preferred position and size in all visual field maps examined, including V1, V3A, and the MT+ map TO1. These effects on pRF properties increase up the hierarchy of visual field maps. However, both within and between visual field maps the extent of pRF changes was approximately proportional to pRF size. This suggests that visual motion transforms the representation of visual space similarly throughout the visual hierarchy. Visual motion can also produce an illusory displacement of perceived stimulus position. We demonstrate perceptual displacements using the same stimulus configuration. In contrast to effects on pRF properties, perceptual displacements show only weak effects of motion speed, with far larger speed-independent effects. We describe a model where low-level mechanisms could underlie the observed effects on neural position preferences. We conclude that visual motion induces similar transformations of visuo-spatial representations throughout the visual hierarchy, which may arise through low-level mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Ambulatory surgery centers best practices for the 90s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoover, J A

    1994-05-01

    Outpatient surgery will be the driving force in the continued growth of ambulatory care in the 1990s. Providing efficient, high-quality ambulatory surgical services should therefore be a priority among healthcare providers. Arthur Andersen conducted a survey to discover best practices in ambulatory surgical service. General success characteristics of best performers were business-focused relationships with physicians, the use of clinical protocols, patient convenience, cost management, strong leadership, teamwork, streamlined processes and efficient design. Other important factors included scheduling to maximize OR room use; achieving surgical efficiencies through reduced case pack assembly errors and equipment availability; a focus on cost capture rather than charge capture; sound materiel management practices, such as standardization and vendor teaming; and the appropriate use of automated systems. It is important to evaluate whether the best practices are applicable to your environment and what specific changes to your current processes would be necessary to adopt them.

  20. The ten successful elements of an ambulatory care center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, G

    1997-01-01

    Experts in healthcare predict that in the future, over 80% of all care will be provided either in the home or ambulatory care centers. How radiology facilities position themselves for this shifting market is critical to their long-term success, even though it appears there are endless opportunities for providing care in this atmosphere. The ten most critical elements that healthcare providers must address to ensure their preparedness are discussed. Location is critical, particularly since patients no longer want to travel to regional medical centers. The most aggressive providers are building local care centers to serve specific populations. Ambulatory care centers should project a high tech, high touch atmosphere. Patient comfort and the appeal of the overall environment must be considered. Centers need to focus on their customers' needs in multiple areas of care. A quick and easy registration process, providing dressing gowns in patient areas, clear billing functions--these are all important areas that centers should develop. Physicians practicing in the ambulatory care center are key to its overall success and can set the tone for all staff members. Staff members must be friendly and professional in their work with patients. The hours offered by the center must meet the needs of its client base, perhaps by offering evening and weekend appointments. Keeping appointments on schedule is critical if a center wants satisfied customers. It's important to identify the target before developing your marketing plan. Where do your referrals come from? Look to such sources as referring physicians, managed care plans and patients themselves. Careful billing is critical for survival in the ambulatory care world. Costs are important and systems that can track cost per exam are useful. Know your bottom line. Service remains the central focus of all successful ambulatory care center functions.

  1. The Influence of Ambulatory Aid on Lower-Extremity Muscle Activation During Gait.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Michael; Bowden, Anton E; Baker, Spencer; Jensen, Ryan; Nichols, McKenzie; Seeley, Matthew K

    2018-05-10

    Foot and ankle injuries are common and often require a nonweight-bearing period of immobilization for the involved leg. This nonweight-bearing period usually results in muscle atrophy for the involved leg. There is a dearth of objective data describing muscle activation for different ambulatory aids that are used during the aforementioned nonweight-bearing period. To compare activation amplitudes for 4 leg muscles during (1) able-bodied gait and (2) ambulation involving 3 different ambulatory aids that can be used during the acute phase of foot and ankle injury care. Within-subject, repeated measures. University biomechanics laboratory. Sixteen able-bodied individuals (7 females and 9 males). Each participant performed able-bodied gait and ambulation using 3 different ambulatory aids (traditional axillary crutches, knee scooter, and a novel lower-leg prosthesis). Muscle activation amplitude quantified via mean surface electromyography amplitude throughout the stance phase of ambulation. Numerous statistical differences (P < .05) existed for muscle activation amplitude between the 4 observed muscles, 3 ambulatory aids, and able-bodied gait. For the involved leg, comparing the 3 ambulatory aids: (1) knee scooter ambulation resulted in the greatest vastus lateralis activation, (2) ambulation using the novel prosthesis and traditional crutches resulted in greater biceps femoris activation than knee scooter ambulation, and (3) ambulation using the novel prosthesis resulted in the greatest gastrocnemius activation (P < .05). Generally speaking, muscle activation amplitudes were most similar to able-bodied gait when subjects were ambulating using the knee scooter or novel prosthesis. Type of ambulatory aid influences muscle activation amplitude. Traditional axillary crutches appear to be less likely to mitigate muscle atrophy during the nonweighting, immobilization period that often follows foot or ankle injuries. Researchers and clinicians should consider

  2. The effects of the spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor fostamatinib on ambulatory blood pressure in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: results of the OSKIRA-ABPM (ambulatory blood pressure monitoring) randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitas, George D; Abreu, Gabriel; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Miller, Jeffrey L; Nakov, Roumen; Panfilov, Seva; Vencovsky, Jiri; Wang, Millie; Weinblatt, Michael E; White, William B

    2014-11-01

    Clinical trials of fostamatinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed blood pressure (BP) elevation using clinic measurements. The OSKIRA-ambulatory BP monitoring trial assessed the effect of fostamatinib on 24-hour ambulatory systolic BP (SBP) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred thirty-five patients were randomized to fostamatinib 100 mg twice daily (bid; n = 68) or placebo bid (n = 67) for 28 days. Ambulatory, clinic, and home BPs were measured at baseline and after 28 days of therapy. Primary end point was change from baseline in 24-hour mean SBP. Fostamatinib increased 24-hour mean SBP by 2.9 mm Hg (P = .023) and diastolic BP (DBP) by 3.5 mm Hg (P < .001) versus placebo. Clinic/home-measured BPs were similar to those observed with ambulatory BP monitoring. After treatment discontinuation (1 week), clinic BP values returned to baseline levels. Fostamatinib induced elevations in 24-hour mean ambulatory SBP and DBP. BP elevations resolved with fostamatinib discontinuation. Copyright © 2014 American Society of Hypertension. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Improving adherence to the Epic Beacon ambulatory workflow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chackunkal, Ellen; Dhanapal Vogel, Vishnuprabha; Grycki, Meredith; Kostoff, Diana

    2017-06-01

    Computerized physician order entry has been shown to significantly improve chemotherapy safety by reducing the number of prescribing errors. Epic's Beacon Oncology Information System of computerized physician order entry and electronic medication administration was implemented in Henry Ford Health System's ambulatory oncology infusion centers on 9 November 2013. Since that time, compliance to the infusion workflow had not been assessed. The objective of this study was to optimize the current workflow and improve the compliance to this workflow in the ambulatory oncology setting. This study was a retrospective, quasi-experimental study which analyzed the composite workflow compliance rate of patient encounters from 9 to 23 November 2014. Based on this analysis, an intervention was identified and implemented in February 2015 to improve workflow compliance. The primary endpoint was to compare the composite compliance rate to the Beacon workflow before and after a pharmacy-initiated intervention. The intervention, which was education of infusion center staff, was initiated by ambulatory-based, oncology pharmacists and implemented by a multi-disciplinary team of pharmacists and nurses. The composite compliance rate was then reassessed for patient encounters from 2 to 13 March 2015 in order to analyze the effects of the determined intervention on compliance. The initial analysis in November 2014 revealed a composite compliance rate of 38%, and data analysis after the intervention revealed a statistically significant increase in the composite compliance rate to 83% ( p < 0.001). This study supports a pharmacist-initiated educational intervention can improve compliance to an ambulatory, oncology infusion workflow.

  4. Sustainable business models: systematic approach toward successful ambulatory care pharmacy practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sachdev, Gloria

    2014-08-15

    This article discusses considerations for making ambulatory care pharmacist services at least cost neutral and, ideally, generate a margin that allows for service expansion. The four pillars of business sustainability are leadership, staffing, information technology, and compensation. A key facet of leadership in ambulatory care pharmacy practice is creating and expressing a clear vision for pharmacists' services. Staffing considerations include establishing training needs, maximizing efficiencies, and minimizing costs. Information technology is essential for efficiency in patient care delivery and outcomes assessment. The three domains of compensation are cost savings, pay for performance, and revenue generation. The following eight steps for designing and implementing an ambulatory care pharmacist service are discussed: (1) prepare a needs assessment, (2) analyze existing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, (3) analyze service gaps and feasibility, (4) consider financial opportunities, (5) consider stakeholders' interests, (6) develop a business plan, (7) implement the service, and (8) measure outcomes. Potential future changes in national healthcare policy (such as pharmacist provider status and expanded pay for performance) could enhance the opportunities for sustainable ambulatory care pharmacy practice. The key challenges facing ambulatory care pharmacists are developing sustainable business models, determining which services yield a positive return on investment, and demanding payment for value-added services. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Effect of ambulatory medicine tutorial on clinical performance of 5th year medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phisalprapa, Pochamana; Pandejpong, Denla

    2013-02-01

    The present study provided a group learning activity called "Ambulatory Medicine Tutorial-AMT" for 5th year medical students in order to facilitate learning experience at ambulatory setting and to improve medical students' clinical performance. This research aimed specifically to study the effect of AMT. Two groups of twenty 5th-year medical students were enrolled during their ambulatory medicine blocks. Each medical student was assigned to have 8 ambulatory sessions. AMT was assigned to one group while the other group only used conventional learning activity. At the end of the present study, total internal medicine scores, patient satisfaction surveys, and data on average time spent on each clinical encounter were collected and compared. The AMT group received a higher total internal medicine score as compared to the conventional group (76.2 +/- 3.6 vs. 72.9 +/- 2.8, p = 0.003). The AMT group could reduce average time spent on each clinical encounter within their first-6 ambulatory sessions while the conventional group could acquire the same skill later in their last 2 ambulatory sessions. There was no significant difference found on comparing patient satisfaction scores between the 2 groups. AMT helped improving medical students' outcomes as shown from higher total internal medicine score as well as quicker improvement during real-life clinical encounters, AMT could be a good alternative learning activity for medical students at ambulatory setting.

  6. Active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology in patients with arterial hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiselev, Anton R; Gridnev, Vladimir I; Shvartz, Vladimir A; Posnenkova, Olga M; Dovgalevsky, Pavel Ya

    2012-01-01

    The use of short message services and mobile phone technology for ambulatory care management is the most accessible and most inexpensive way to transition from traditional ambulatory care management to active ambulatory care management in patients with arterial hypertension (AH). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology with traditional ambulatory care management in AH patients. The study included 97 hypertensive patients under active ambulatory care management and 102 patients under traditional ambulatory care management. Blood pressure levels, body mass, and smoking history of patients were analyzed in the study. The duration of study was 1 year. In the active ambulatory care management group, 36% of patients were withdrawn from the study within a year. At the end of the year, 77% of patients from the active care management group had achieved the goal blood pressure level. That was more than 5 times higher than that in the traditional ambulatory care management group (P mobile phone improves the quality of ambulatory care of hypertensive patients. Copyright © 2012 American Society of Hypertension. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Ambulatory care visits by Taiwanese dentists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying-Hwa Su

    2013-06-01

    Conclusion: There were inequalities in risks of ambulatory care use among Taiwan's dentists. Further studies should be conducted to investigate the causes responsible for the observed geographic and institutional variations in the risk of morbidity among dentists in Taiwan.

  8. Numerical and experimental investigations of human swimming motions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takagi, Hideki; Nakashima, Motomu; Sato, Yohei; Matsuuchi, Kazuo; Sanders, Ross H

    2016-08-01

    This paper reviews unsteady flow conditions in human swimming and identifies the limitations and future potential of the current methods of analysing unsteady flow. The capability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been extended from approaches assuming steady-state conditions to consideration of unsteady/transient conditions associated with the body motion of a swimmer. However, to predict hydrodynamic forces and the swimmer's potential speeds accurately, more robust and efficient numerical methods are necessary, coupled with validation procedures, requiring detailed experimental data reflecting local flow. Experimental data obtained by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in this area are limited, because at present observations are restricted to a two-dimensional 1.0 m(2) area, though this could be improved if the output range of the associated laser sheet increased. Simulations of human swimming are expected to improve competitive swimming, and our review has identified two important advances relating to understanding the flow conditions affecting performance in front crawl swimming: one is a mechanism for generating unsteady fluid forces, and the other is a theory relating to increased speed and efficiency.

  9. The long-term effect of ambulatory oxygen in normoxaemic COPD patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ringbaek, Thomas; Martinez, Gerd; Lange, Peter

    2013-01-01

    To study the long-term benefits of ambulatory oxygen (AO) in combination with pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients experiencing exertional desaturation.......To study the long-term benefits of ambulatory oxygen (AO) in combination with pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients experiencing exertional desaturation....

  10. Gravity Cues Embedded in the Kinematics of Human Motion Are Detected in Form-from-Motion Areas of the Visual System and in Motor-Related Areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cignetti, Fabien; Chabeauti, Pierre-Yves; Menant, Jasmine; Anton, Jean-Luc J J; Schmitz, Christina; Vaugoyeau, Marianne; Assaiante, Christine

    2017-01-01

    The present study investigated the cortical areas engaged in the perception of graviceptive information embedded in biological motion (BM). To this end, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess the cortical areas active during the observation of human movements performed under normogravity and microgravity (parabolic flight). Movements were defined by motion cues alone using point-light displays. We found that gravity modulated the activation of a restricted set of regions of the network subtending BM perception, including form-from-motion areas of the visual system (kinetic occipital region, lingual gyrus, cuneus) and motor-related areas (primary motor and somatosensory cortices). These findings suggest that compliance of observed movements with normal gravity was carried out by mapping them onto the observer's motor system and by extracting their overall form from local motion of the moving light points. We propose that judgment on graviceptive information embedded in BM can be established based on motor resonance and visual familiarity mechanisms and not necessarily by accessing the internal model of gravitational motion stored in the vestibular cortex.

  11. Clinical Assessment Applications of Ambulatory Biosensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haynes, Stephen N.; Yoshioka, Dawn T.

    2007-01-01

    Ambulatory biosensor assessment includes a diverse set of rapidly developing and increasingly technologically sophisticated strategies to acquire minimally disruptive measures of physiological and motor variables of persons in their natural environments. Numerous studies have measured cardiovascular variables, physical activity, and biochemicals…

  12. Challenges of pain control and the role of the ambulatory pain specialist in the outpatient surgery setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vadivelu N

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Nalini Vadivelu,1 Alice M Kai,2 Vijay Kodumudi,3 Jack M Berger4 1Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 2Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, 3Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 4Department of Anesthesiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Abstract: Ambulatory surgery is on the rise, with an unmet need for optimum pain control in ambulatory surgery centers worldwide. It is important that there is a proportionate increase in the availability of acute pain-management services to match the rapid rise of clinical patient load with pain issues in the ambulatory surgery setting. Focus on ambulatory pain control with its special challenges is vital to achieve optimum pain control and prevent morbidity and mortality. Management of perioperative pain in the ambulatory surgery setting is becoming increasingly complex, and requires the employment of a multimodal approach and interventions facilitated by ambulatory surgery pain specialists, which is a new concept. A focused ambulatory pain specialist on site at each ambulatory surgery center, in addition to providing safe anesthesia, could intervene early once problematic pain issues are recognized, thus preventing emergency room visits, as well as readmissions for uncontrolled pain. This paper reviews methods of acute-pain management in the ambulatory setting with risk stratification, the utilization of multimodal interventions, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological options, opioids, nonopioids, and various routes with the goal of preventing delayed discharge and unexpected hospital admissions after ambulatory surgery. Continued research and investigation in the area of pain management with outcome studies in acute surgically inflicted pain in patients with underlying chronic pain treated with

  13. Self-adapted and tunable graphene strain sensors for detecting both subtle and large human motions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Lu-Qi; Wang, Dan-Yang; Tian, He; Ju, Zhen-Yi; Liu, Ying; Pang, Yu; Chen, Yuan-Quan; Yang, Yi; Ren, Tian-Ling

    2017-06-22

    Conventional strain sensors rarely have both a high gauge factor and a large strain range simultaneously, so they can only be used in specific situations where only a high sensitivity or a large strain range is required. However, for detecting human motions that include both subtle and large motions, these strain sensors can't meet the diverse demands simultaneously. Here, we come up with laser patterned graphene strain sensors with self-adapted and tunable performance for the first time. A series of strain sensors with either an ultrahigh gauge factor or a preferable strain range can be fabricated simultaneously via one-step laser patterning, and are suitable for detecting all human motions. The strain sensors have a GF of up to 457 with a strain range of 35%, or have a strain range of up to 100% with a GF of 268. Most importantly, the performance of the strain sensors can be easily tuned by adjusting the patterns of the graphene, so that the sensors can meet diverse demands in both subtle and large motion situations. The graphene strain sensors show significant potential in applications such as wearable electronics, health monitoring and intelligent robots. Furthermore, the facile, fast and low-cost fabrication method will make them possible and practical to be used for commercial applications in the future.

  14. Pros and cons of the ambulatory surgery center joint venture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giannini, Deborah

    2008-01-01

    If a physician group has determined that it has a realistic patient base to establish an ambulatory surgery center, it may be beneficial to consider a partner to share the costs and risks of this new joint venture. Joint ventures can be a benefit or liability in the establishment of an ambulatory surgery center. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a hospital physician-group joint venture.

  15. Envelope statistics of self-motion signals experienced by human subjects during everyday activities: Implications for vestibular processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carriot, Jérome; Jamali, Mohsen; Cullen, Kathleen E; Chacron, Maurice J

    2017-01-01

    There is accumulating evidence that the brain's neural coding strategies are constrained by natural stimulus statistics. Here we investigated the statistics of the time varying envelope (i.e. a second-order stimulus attribute that is related to variance) of rotational and translational self-motion signals experienced by human subjects during everyday activities. We found that envelopes can reach large values across all six motion dimensions (~450 deg/s for rotations and ~4 G for translations). Unlike results obtained in other sensory modalities, the spectral power of envelope signals decreased slowly for low (2 Hz) temporal frequencies and thus was not well-fit by a power law. We next compared the spectral properties of envelope signals resulting from active and passive self-motion, as well as those resulting from signals obtained when the subject is absent (i.e. external stimuli). Our data suggest that different mechanisms underlie deviation from scale invariance in rotational and translational self-motion envelopes. Specifically, active self-motion and filtering by the human body cause deviation from scale invariance primarily for translational and rotational envelope signals, respectively. Finally, we used well-established models in order to predict the responses of peripheral vestibular afferents to natural envelope stimuli. We found that irregular afferents responded more strongly to envelopes than their regular counterparts. Our findings have important consequences for understanding the coding strategies used by the vestibular system to process natural second-order self-motion signals.

  16. Relationship between systemic hemodynamics and ambulatory blood pressure level are sex dependent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfie, J; Waisman, G D; Galarza, C R; Magi, M I; Vasvari, F; Mayorga, L M; Cámera, M I

    1995-12-01

    Sex-related differences in systemic hemodynamics were analyzed by means of cardiac index and systemic vascular resistance according to the level of daytime ambulatory blood pressure. In addition, we assessed the relations between ambulatory blood pressure measurements and systemic hemodynamics in male and female patients. We prospectively included 52 women and 53 men referred to our unit for evaluation of arterial hypertension. Women and men were grouped according to the level of daytime mean arterial pressure: or = 110 mm Hg. Patients underwent noninvasive evaluation of resting hemodynamics (impedance cardiography) and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Compared with women men with lower daytime blood pressure had a 12% higher systemic vascular resistance index (P = NS) and a 14% lower cardiac index (P < .02), whereas men with higher daytime blood pressure had a 25% higher vascular resistance (P < .003) and a 21% lower cardiac index (P < .0004). Furthermore, in men systemic vascular resistance correlated positively with both daytime and nighttime systolic and diastolic blood pressures, whereas cardiac index correlated negatively only with daytime diastolic blood pressure. In contrast, women did not exhibit any significant correlation between hemodynamic parameters and ambulatory blood pressure measurements. In conclusion, sex-related differences in systemic hemodynamics were more pronounced in the group with higher daytime hypertension. The relations between systemic hemodynamics and ambulatory blood pressure level depended on the sex of the patient. In men a progressive circulatory impairment underlies the increasing level of ambulatory blood pressure, but this was not observed in women.

  17. Study of human body: Kinematics and kinetics of a martial arts (Silat) performers using 3D-motion capture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soh, Ahmad Afiq Sabqi Awang; Jafri, Mohd Zubir Mat; Azraai, Nur Zaidi

    2015-04-01

    The Interest in this studies of human kinematics goes back very far in human history drove by curiosity or need for the understanding the complexity of human body motion. To find new and accurate information about the human movement as the advance computing technology became available for human movement that can perform. Martial arts (silat) were chose and multiple type of movement was studied. This project has done by using cutting-edge technology which is 3D motion capture to characterize and to measure the motion done by the performers of martial arts (silat). The camera will detect the markers (infrared reflection by the marker) around the performer body (total of 24 markers) and will show as dot in the computer software. The markers detected were analyzing using kinematic kinetic approach and time as reference. A graph of velocity, acceleration and position at time,t (seconds) of each marker was plot. Then from the information obtain, more parameters were determined such as work done, momentum, center of mass of a body using mathematical approach. This data can be used for development of the effectiveness movement in martial arts which is contributed to the people in arts. More future works can be implemented from this project such as analysis of a martial arts competition.

  18. The development of human factors experimental evaluation technology - 3-dimensional measurement system for motion analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Kyung Soo; Pan, Young Hwan; Lee, Ahn Jae; Lee, Kyung Tae; Lim, Chi Hwan; Chang, Pil Sik; Lee, Seok Woo; Han, Sung Wook; Park, Chul Wook [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1996-07-01

    Measurement of human motion is important in the application of ergonomics. We developed a system which can measure body movement, especially= hand movement using advanced direct video measurement technology. This system has as dynamic accuracy with 1% error and the sampling rate to 6 - 10 Hz, and can analyse the trajectory and speed of the marker. The use of passive marker obviates the need for a marker telemetry system and minimize motion disruption. 18 refs., 4 tabs., 6 figs. (author)

  19. Exit from Synchrony in Joint Improvised Motion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Assi Dahan

    Full Text Available Motion synchrony correlates with effective and well-rated human interaction. However, people do not remain locked in synchrony; Instead, they repeatedly enter and exit synchrony. In many important interactions, such as therapy, marriage and parent-infant communication, it is the ability to exit and then re-enter synchrony that is thought to build strong relationship. The phenomenon of entry into zero-phase synchrony is well-studied experimentally and in terms of mathematical modeling. In contrast, exit-from-synchrony is under-studied. Here, we focus on human motion coordination, and examine the exit-from-synchrony phenomenon using experimental data from the mirror game paradigm, in which people perform joint improvised motion, and from human tracking of computer-generated stimuli. We present a mathematical mechanism that captures aspects of exit-from-synchrony in human motion. The mechanism adds a random motion component when the accumulated velocity error between the players is small. We introduce this mechanism to several models for human coordinated motion, including the widely studied HKB model, and the predictor-corrector model of Noy, Dekel and Alon. In all models, the new mechanism produces realistic simulated behavior when compared to experimental data from the mirror game and from tracking of computer generated stimuli, including repeated entry and exit from zero-phase synchrony that generates a complexity of motion similar to that of human players. We hope that these results can inform future research on exit-from-synchrony, to better understand the dynamics of coordinated action of people and to enhance human-computer and human-robot interaction.

  20. Complex Human Activity Recognition Using Smartphone and Wrist-Worn Motion Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoaib, Muhammad; Bosch, Stephan; Incel, Ozlem Durmaz; Scholten, Hans; Havinga, Paul J M

    2016-03-24

    The position of on-body motion sensors plays an important role in human activity recognition. Most often, mobile phone sensors at the trouser pocket or an equivalent position are used for this purpose. However, this position is not suitable for recognizing activities that involve hand gestures, such as smoking, eating, drinking coffee and giving a talk. To recognize such activities, wrist-worn motion sensors are used. However, these two positions are mainly used in isolation. To use richer context information, we evaluate three motion sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope and linear acceleration sensor) at both wrist and pocket positions. Using three classifiers, we show that the combination of these two positions outperforms the wrist position alone, mainly at smaller segmentation windows. Another problem is that less-repetitive activities, such as smoking, eating, giving a talk and drinking coffee, cannot be recognized easily at smaller segmentation windows unlike repetitive activities, like walking, jogging and biking. For this purpose, we evaluate the effect of seven window sizes (2-30 s) on thirteen activities and show how increasing window size affects these various activities in different ways. We also propose various optimizations to further improve the recognition of these activities. For reproducibility, we make our dataset publicly available.

  1. Relationship Between 24-Hour Ambulatory Central Systolic Blood Pressure and Left Ventricular Mass: A Prospective Multicenter Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Thomas; Wassertheurer, Siegfried; Schmidt-Trucksäss, Arno; Rodilla, Enrique; Ablasser, Cornelia; Jankowski, Piotr; Lorenza Muiesan, Maria; Giannattasio, Cristina; Mang, Claudia; Wilkinson, Ian; Kellermair, Jörg; Hametner, Bernhard; Pascual, Jose Maria; Zweiker, Robert; Czarnecka, Danuta; Paini, Anna; Salvetti, Massimo; Maloberti, Alessandro; McEniery, Carmel

    2017-12-01

    We investigated the relationship between left ventricular mass and brachial office as well as brachial and central ambulatory systolic blood pressure in 7 European centers. Central systolic pressure was measured with a validated oscillometric device, using a transfer function, and mean/diastolic pressure calibration. M-mode images were obtained by echocardiography, and left ventricular mass was determined by one single reader blinded to blood pressure. We studied 289 participants (137 women) free from antihypertensive drugs (mean age: 50.8 years). Mean office blood pressure was 145/88 mm Hg and mean brachial and central ambulatory systolic pressures were 127 and 128 mm Hg, respectively. Mean left ventricular mass was 93.3 kg/m 2 , and 25.6% had left ventricular hypertrophy. The correlation coefficient between left ventricular mass and brachial office, brachial ambulatory, and central ambulatory systolic pressure was 0.29, 0.41, and 0.47, respectively ( P =0.003 for comparison between brachial office and central ambulatory systolic pressure and 0.32 for comparison between brachial and central ambulatory systolic pressure). The results were consistent for men and women, and young and old participants. The areas under the curve for prediction of left ventricular hypertrophy were 0.618, 0.635, and 0.666 for brachial office, brachial, and central ambulatory systolic pressure, respectively ( P =0.03 for comparison between brachial and central ambulatory systolic pressure). In younger participants, central ambulatory systolic pressure was superior to both other measurements. Central ambulatory systolic pressure, measured with an oscillometric cuff, shows a strong trend toward a closer association with left ventricular mass and hypertrophy than brachial office/ambulatory systolic pressure. URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01278732. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  2. DYNAMIC MAGNIFICATION OF BIOMECHANICAL SYSTEM MOTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. E. Pokatilov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Methods for estimation of dynamic magnification pertaining to motion in biomechanics have been developed and approbаted in the paper. It has been ascertained that widely-used characteristics for evaluation of motion influence on mechanisms and machinery such as a dynamic coefficient and acceleration capacity factor become irrelevant while investigating human locomotion under elastic support conditions. The reason is an impossibility to compare human motion in case when there is a contact with elastic and rigid supports because while changing rigidity of the support exercise performing technique is also changing. In this case the technique still depends on a current state of a specific sportsman. Such situation is observed in sports gymnastics. Structure of kinematic and dynamic models for human motion has been investigated in the paper. It has been established that properties of an elastic support are reflected in models within two aspects: in an explicit form, when models have parameters of dynamic deformation for a gymnastic apparatus, and in an implicit form, when we have numerically changed parameters of human motion. The first part can be evaluated quantitatively while making comparison with calculations made in accordance with complete models. For this reason notions of selected and complete models have been introduced in the paper. It has been proposed to specify models for support and models of biomechanical system that represent models pertaining only to human locomotor system. It has been revealed that the selected models of support in kinematics and dynamics have structural difference. Kinematics specifies only parameters of elastic support deformation and dynamics specifies support parameters in an explicit form and additionally in models of human motion in an explicit form as well. Quantitative estimation of a dynamic motion magnification in kinematics and dynamics models has been given while using computing experiment for grand

  3. Measuring the educational environment in ambulatory settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnoldo Riquelme

    2015-04-01

    Conclusions: The 50-item ACLEEM inventory is a multidimensional and valid instrument requiring only 15 respondents for reliable results. We recommend using it to measure the EE in the ambulatory postgraduate Spanish-speaking programs.

  4. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring - comparison with office ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ambulatory blood pressure recordings in private practice ... position according to established guidelines. ... white-coat effect was defined as a difference of at least 20 .... patients with hypertension: Importance of blood pressure response to ...

  5. Preparing for the primary care clinic: an ambulatory boot camp for internal medicine interns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esch, Lindsay M.; Bird, Amber-Nicole; Oyler, Julie L.; Lee, Wei Wei; Shah, Sachin D.; Pincavage, Amber T.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Internal medicine (IM) interns start continuity clinic with variable ambulatory training. Multiple other specialties have utilized a boot camp style curriculum to improve surgical and procedural skills, but boot camps have not been used to improve interns’ ambulatory knowledge and confidence. The authors implemented and assessed the impact of an intern ambulatory boot camp pilot on primary care knowledge, confidence, and curricular satisfaction. Methods During July 2014, IM interns attended ambulatory boot camp. It included clinically focused case-based didactic sessions on common ambulatory topics as well as orientation to the clinic and electronic medical records. Interns anonymously completed a 15-question pre-test on topics covered in the boot camp as well as an identical post-test after the boot camp. The interns were surveyed regarding their confidence and satisfaction. Results Thirty-eight interns participated in the boot camp. Prior to the boot camp, few interns reported confidence managing common outpatient conditions. The average pre-test knowledge score was 46.3%. The average post-test knowledge score significantly improved to 76.1% (pinterns reported that the boot camp was good preparation for clinics and 97% felt that the boot camp boosted their confidence. Conclusions The ambulatory boot camp pilot improved primary care knowledge, and interns thought it was good preparation for clinic. The ambulatory boot camp was well received and may be an effective way to improve the preparation of interns for primary care clinic. Further assessment of clinical performance and expansion to other programs and specialties should be considered. PMID:26609962

  6. 42 CFR 419.31 - Ambulatory payment classification (APC) system and payment weights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Ambulatory payment classification (APC) system and... Outpatient Services § 419.31 Ambulatory payment classification (APC) system and payment weights. (a) APC... of resource use into APC groups. Except as specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, items and...

  7. Meta-synthesis on nurse practitioner autonomy and roles in ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang-Romjue, Pauline

    2018-04-01

    Many healthcare stakeholders view nurse practitioners (NPs) as an important workforce resource to help fill the anticipated shortage of 20,400 ambulatory care physicians that is expected by 2020. Multiple quantitative studies revealed the attributes of NPs' practice autonomy and roles. However, there is no qualitative meta-synthesis that describes the experiences of NPs' practice autonomy and roles. To describe and understand the experiences of NPs regarding their practice autonomy and roles in various ambulatory settings through the exploration of existing qualitative studies: meta-synthesis. A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted to gain insight into ambulatory NPs' practice autonomy and roles through content analysis and reciprocal translation. Articles published between 2000 and 2017 were retrieved by searching 7 databases using the following key words: U.S. qualitative studies, advance practice nurses, NP role in ambulatory care, NP autonomy, and outpatient care. Autonomy, NPs' roles and responsibilities, practice relationships, and organizational work environment pressures are the four main themes that emerged from the content analysis of the nine selected qualitative studies. Within and between states, NPs' experiences with autonomy and NPs' roles are multifaceted depending on state regulations, practice relationships, and organizational work environments. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Characteristics and significance of ischemia detected by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nabel, E.G.; Rocco, M.B.; Selwyn, A.B.

    1987-01-01

    Ambulatory electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring of ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) provides a new technique for the assessment of ischemic activity and the evaluation of therapies outside of the hospital. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the majority of patients with CAD have episodes of symptomatic and asymptomatic ST segment depression during routine daily activities. Rubidium-82 positron-emission tomographic studies have provided evidence for decreased myocardial perfusion during these episodes of ST segment depression. The prognostic importance of asymptomatic ischemia has been shown in patients with unstable angina to be a marker for early unfavorable cardiac events. Preliminary results suggest a poorer outcome for those patients with chronic stable angina who show episodes of ischemia as well. Ambulatory monitoring studies suggest that total ischemic activity may be underestimated by conventional testing. Whether all ischemic activity detected by ambulatory monitoring requires treatment awaits further study. 69 references

  9. The role of human ventral visual cortex in motion perception

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saygin, Ayse P.; Lorenzi, Lauren J.; Egan, Ryan; Rees, Geraint; Behrmann, Marlene

    2013-01-01

    Visual motion perception is fundamental to many aspects of visual perception. Visual motion perception has long been associated with the dorsal (parietal) pathway and the involvement of the ventral ‘form’ (temporal) visual pathway has not been considered critical for normal motion perception. Here, we evaluated this view by examining whether circumscribed damage to ventral visual cortex impaired motion perception. The perception of motion in basic, non-form tasks (motion coherence and motion detection) and complex structure-from-motion, for a wide range of motion speeds, all centrally displayed, was assessed in five patients with a circumscribed lesion to either the right or left ventral visual pathway. Patients with a right, but not with a left, ventral visual lesion displayed widespread impairments in central motion perception even for non-form motion, for both slow and for fast speeds, and this held true independent of the integrity of areas MT/V5, V3A or parietal regions. In contrast with the traditional view in which only the dorsal visual stream is critical for motion perception, these novel findings implicate a more distributed circuit in which the integrity of the right ventral visual pathway is also necessary even for the perception of non-form motion. PMID:23983030

  10. Ambulatory versus home versus clinic blood pressure: the association with subclinical cerebrovascular diseases: the Ohasama Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hara, Azusa; Tanaka, Kazushi; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Kondo, Takeo; Kikuya, Masahiro; Metoki, Hirohito; Hashimoto, Takanao; Satoh, Michihiro; Inoue, Ryusuke; Asayama, Kei; Obara, Taku; Hirose, Takuo; Izumi, Shin-Ichi; Satoh, Hiroshi; Imai, Yutaka

    2012-01-01

    The usefulness of ambulatory, home, and casual/clinic blood pressure measurements to predict subclinical cerebrovascular diseases (silent cerebrovascular lesions and carotid atherosclerosis) was compared in a general population. Data on ambulatory, home, and casual/clinic blood pressures and brain MRI to detect silent cerebrovascular lesions were obtained in 1007 subjects aged ≥55 years in a general population of Ohasama, Japan. Of the 1007 subjects, 583 underwent evaluation of the extent of carotid atherosclerosis. Twenty-four-hour, daytime, and nighttime ambulatory and home blood pressure levels were closely associated with the risk of silent cerebrovascular lesions and carotid atherosclerosis (all Ppressure values were simultaneously included in the same regression model, each of the ambulatory blood pressure values remained a significant predictor of silent cerebrovascular lesions, whereas home blood pressure lost its predictive value. Of the ambulatory blood pressure values, nighttime blood pressure was the strongest predictor of silent cerebrovascular lesions. The home blood pressure value was more closely associated with the risk of carotid atherosclerosis than any of the ambulatory blood pressure values when home and one of the ambulatory blood pressure values were simultaneously included in the same regression model. The casual/clinic blood pressure value had no significant association with the risk of subclinical cerebrovascular diseases. Although the clinical indications for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and home blood pressure measurements may overlap, the clinical significance of each method for predicting target organ damage may differ for different target organs.

  11. Human Hand Motion Analysis and Synthesis of Optimal Power Grasps for a Robotic Hand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Cordella

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Biologically inspired robotic systems can find important applications in biomedical robotics, since studying and replicating human behaviour can provide new insights into motor recovery, functional substitution and human-robot interaction. The analysis of human hand motion is essential for collecting information about human hand movements useful for generalizing reaching and grasping actions on a robotic system. This paper focuses on the definition and extraction of quantitative indicators for describing optimal hand grasping postures and replicating them on an anthropomorphic robotic hand. A motion analysis has been carried out on six healthy human subjects performing a transverse volar grasp. The extracted indicators point to invariant grasping behaviours between the involved subjects, thus providing some constraints for identifying the optimal grasping configuration. Hence, an optimization algorithm based on the Nelder-Mead simplex method has been developed for determining the optimal grasp configuration of a robotic hand, grounded on the aforementioned constraints. It is characterized by a reduced computational cost. The grasp stability has been tested by introducing a quality index that satisfies the form-closure property. The grasping strategy has been validated by means of simulation tests and experimental trials on an arm-hand robotic system. The obtained results have shown the effectiveness of the extracted indicators to reduce the non-linear optimization problem complexity and lead to the synthesis of a grasping posture able to replicate the human behaviour while ensuring grasp stability. The experimental results have also highlighted the limitations of the adopted robotic platform (mainly due to the mechanical structure to achieve the optimal grasp configuration.

  12. Ambulatory Measurement of Ground Reaction Forces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veltink, Peter H.; Liedtke, Christian; Droog, Ed

    2004-01-01

    The measurement of ground reaction forces is important in the biomechanical analysis of gait and other motor activities. It is the purpose of this study to show the feasibility of ambulatory measurement of ground reaction forces using two six degrees of freedom sensors mounted under the shoe. One

  13. Ambulatory movements, team dynamics and interactions during robot-assisted surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Nabeeha; Hussein, Ahmed A; Cavuoto, Lora; Sharif, Mohamed; Allers, Jenna C; Hinata, Nobuyuki; Ahmad, Basel; Kozlowski, Justen D; Hashmi, Zishan; Bisantz, Ann; Guru, Khurshid A

    2016-07-01

    To analyse ambulatory movements and team dynamics during robot-assisted surgery (RAS), and to investigate whether congestion of the physical space associated with robotic technology led to workflow challenges or predisposed to errors and adverse events. With institutional review board approval, we retrospectively reviewed 10 recorded robot-assisted radical prostatectomies in a single operating room (OR). The OR was divided into eight zones, and all movements were tracked and described in terms of start and end zones, duration, personnel and purpose. Movements were further classified into avoidable (can be eliminated/improved) and unavoidable (necessary for completion of the procedure). The mean operating time was 166 min, of which ambulation constituted 27 min (16%). A total of 2 896 ambulatory movements were identified (mean: 290 ambulatory movements/procedure). Most of the movements were procedure-related (31%), and were performed by the circulating nurse. We identified 11 main pathways in the OR; the heaviest traffic was between the circulating nurse zone, transit zone and supply-1 zone. A total of 50% of ambulatory movements were found to be avoidable. More than half of the movements during RAS can be eliminated with an improved OR setting. More studies are needed to design an evidence-based OR layout that enhances access, workflow and patient safety. © 2016 The Authors BJU International © 2016 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients' emotions when using different patient education methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heikkinen, Katja; Salanterä, Sanna; Leppänen, Tiina; Vahlberg, Tero; Leino-Kilpi, Helena

    2012-07-01

    A randomised controlled trial was used to evaluate elective ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients' emotions during internet-based patient education or face-to-face education with a nurse. The internet-based patient education was designed for this study and patients used websites individually based on their needs. Patients in the control group participated individually in face-to-face patient education with a nurse in the ambulatory surgery unit. The theoretical basis for both types of education was the same. Ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients scored their emotions rather low at intervals throughout the whole surgical process, though their scores also changed during the surgical process. Emotion scores did not decrease after patient education. No differences in patients' emotions were found to result from either of the two different patient education methods.

  15. Ambulatory oxygen: why do COPD patients not use their portable systems as prescribed? A qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenwick Angela

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with COPD on long term oxygen therapy frequently do not adhere to their prescription, and they frequently do not use their ambulatory oxygen systems as intended. Reasons for this lack of adherence are not known. The aim of this study was to obtain in-depth information about perceptions and use of prescribed ambulatory oxygen systems from patients with COPD to inform ambulatory oxygen design, prescription and management. Methods A qualitative design was used, involving semi-structured face-to-face interviews informed by a grounded theory approach. Twenty-seven UK community-dwelling COPD patients using NHS prescribed ambulatory systems were recruited. Ambulatory oxygen systems comprised cylinders weighing 3.4 kg, a shoulder bag and nasal cannulae. Results Participants reported that they: received no instruction on how to use ambulatory oxygen; were uncertain of the benefits; were afraid the system would run out while they were using it (due to lack of confidence in the cylinder gauge; were embarrassed at being seen with the system in public; and were unable to carry the system because of the cylinder weight. The essential role of carers was also highlighted, as participants with no immediate carers did not use ambulatory oxygen outside the house. Conclusions These participants highlighted previously unreported problems that prevented them from using ambulatory oxygen as prescribed. Our novel findings point to: concerns with the lack of specific information provision; the perceived unreliability of the oxygen system; important carer issues surrounding managing and using ambulatory oxygen equipment. All of these issues, as well as previously reported problems with system weight and patient embarrassment, should be addressed to improve adherence to ambulatory oxygen prescription and enhance the physical and social benefits of maintaining mobility in this patient group. Increased user involvement in both system development

  16. Relationships of muscle strength and bone mineral density in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C-L; Lin, K-C; Wu, C-Y; Ke, J-Y; Wang, C-J; Chen, C-Y

    2012-02-01

    This work explores the relationships of muscle strength and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP). The knee extensor strength, but not motor function, was related to aBMD. Thus, muscle strength, especially antigravity muscle strength, was more associated with aBMD in these children than motor function. Muscle strength is related to bone density in normal children. However, no studies have examined these relationships in ambulatory children with CP. This work explores the relationships of muscle strength and aBMD in ambulatory children with CP. Forty-eight ambulatory children with spastic CP, aged 5-15 years, were classified into two groups based on Gross Motor Function Classification System levels: I (n = 28) and II (n = 20). Another 31 normal development (ND) children were recruited as the comparison group for the aBMD. Children with CP underwent assessments of growth, lumbar and distal femur aBMD, Gross Motor Function Measure-66 (GMFM-66), and muscle strength of knee extensor and flexor by isokinetic dynamometer. The distal femur aBMD, but not lumbar aBMD, was lower in children with CP than in ND children (p antigravity muscle strength, were more associated with the bone density of ambulatory children with CP than motor function. The data may allow clinicians for early identifying the ambulatory CP children of potential low bone density.

  17. Learning Silhouette Features for Control of Human Motion

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ren, Liu; Shakhnarovich, Gregory; Hodgins, Jessica K; Pfister, Hanspeter; Viola, Paul A

    2004-01-01

    .... The system combines information about the user's motion contained in silhouettes from several viewpoints with domain knowledge contained in a motion capture database to interactively produce a high quality animation...

  18. Ambulatory Melanoma Care Patterns in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji, A. L.; Davis, S. A.; Feldman, S. R.; Fleischer, A. B.; Baze, M. R.; Feldman, S. R.; Feldman, S. R.; Fleischer, A. B.

    2013-01-01

    To examine trends in melanoma visits in the ambulatory care setting. Methods. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) from 1979 to 2010 were used to analyze melanoma visit characteristics including number of visits, age and gender of patients, and physician specialty. These data were compared to US Census population estimates during the same time period. Results. The overall rate of melanoma visits increased (ρ< 0.0001) at an apparently higher rate than the increase in population over this time. The age of patients with melanoma visits increased at approximately double the rate (0.47 year per interval year, ρ< 0.0001) of the population increase in age (0.23 year per interval year). There was a nonsignificant(ρ=0.19) decline in the proportion of female patients seen over the study interval. Lastly, ambulatory care has shifted towards dermatologists and other specialties managing melanoma patients and away from family/internal medicine physicians and general/plastic surgeons. Conclusions. The number and age of melanoma visits has increased over time with respect to the overall population, mirroring the increase in melanoma incidence over the past three decades. These trends highlight the need for further studies regarding melanoma management efficiency

  19. [Epidemiology of the medico-legal risk associated with the practice of ambulatory surgery in France: a study based on insurance data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theissen, A; Fuz, F; Catineau, J; Sultan, W; Beaussier, M; Carles, M; Raucoules-Aimé, M; Niccolai, P

    2014-03-01

    The medico-legal risk specifically associated with the practice of ambulatory surgery is still not well studied. SHAM insurances are the biggest French provider of medical liability insurances. The study of the insurance claims provided by this insurer is therefore a relevant source of data on the complications related to ambulatory surgery. The aim of this study was to compare the claim rate related to ambulatory surgery with non-ambulatory surgery. We did a retrospective study on insurance claims provided by SHAM insurances between 2007 and 2011 to compare the claim rate related to ambulatory surgery with non-ambulatory surgery. We searched the files in the SHAM database, and then analyzed them. On the study period, out of a total of 29565 registered claims, 467 (1.6%) originated from ambulatory surgery. On the total of 29,098 registered claims for non-ambulatory surgery, 2151 (7.4%) led to a condemnation whereas the rate was 7% (33 out of 467 claims) for ambulatory surgery. The condemnations linked to ambulatory surgery amounted to 1.5% of the total (33 out of 2184), for a cost of 1.7 M€ (versus 400,3 M€ for non-ambulatory surgery). The average cost of a compensation is therefore 50,500 € for ambulatory surgery and 186,000 € for non-ambulatory surgery. The medical specialties concerned are primarily ophthalmology, abdominal and orthopedics surgery. The main identified causes were medical errors (n=16) and nosocomial infections (n=13). The claim rate in ambulatory surgery is proportionally less frequent with compensations three times less and were related to the most frequent type of surgery done in ambulatory settings. These data should help strengthen quality approach in ambulatory surgery. Copyright © 2014 Société française d’anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  20. Biomechanical energy harvesting from human motion: theory, state of the art, design guidelines, and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riemer, Raziel; Shapiro, Amir

    2011-04-26

    Biomechanical energy harvesting from human motion presents a promising clean alternative to electrical power supplied by batteries for portable electronic devices and for computerized and motorized prosthetics. We present the theory of energy harvesting from the human body and describe the amount of energy that can be harvested from body heat and from motions of various parts of the body during walking, such as heel strike; ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow joint motion; and center of mass vertical motion. We evaluated major motions performed during walking and identified the amount of work the body expends and the portion of recoverable energy. During walking, there are phases of the motion at the joints where muscles act as brakes and energy is lost to the surroundings. During those phases of motion, the required braking force or torque can be replaced by an electrical generator, allowing energy to be harvested at the cost of only minimal additional effort. The amount of energy that can be harvested was estimated experimentally and from literature data. Recommendations for future directions are made on the basis of our results in combination with a review of state-of-the-art biomechanical energy harvesting devices and energy conversion methods. For a device that uses center of mass motion, the maximum amount of energy that can be harvested is approximately 1 W per kilogram of device weight. For a person weighing 80 kg and walking at approximately 4 km/h, the power generation from the heel strike is approximately 2 W. For a joint-mounted device based on generative braking, the joints generating the most power are the knees (34 W) and the ankles (20 W). Our theoretical calculations align well with current device performance data. Our results suggest that the most energy can be harvested from the lower limb joints, but to do so efficiently, an innovative and light-weight mechanical design is needed. We also compared the option of carrying batteries to the

  1. Infection Prevention and Control in Pediatric Ambulatory Settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rathore, Mobeen H; Jackson, Mary Anne

    2017-11-01

    Since the American Academy of Pediatrics published its statement titled "Infection Prevention and Control in Pediatric Ambulatory Settings" in 2007, there have been significant changes that prompted this updated statement. Infection prevention and control is an integral part of pediatric practice in ambulatory medical settings as well as in hospitals. Infection prevention and control practices should begin at the time the ambulatory visit is scheduled. All health care personnel should be educated regarding the routes of transmission and techniques used to prevent the transmission of infectious agents. Policies for infection prevention and control should be written, readily available, updated every 2 years, and enforced. Many of the recommendations for infection control and prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for hospitalized patients are also applicable in the ambulatory setting. These recommendations include requirements for pediatricians to take precautions to identify and protect employees likely to be exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials while on the job. In addition to emphasizing the key principles of infection prevention and control in this policy, we update those that are relevant to the ambulatory care patient. These guidelines emphasize the role of hand hygiene and the implementation of diagnosis- and syndrome-specific isolation precautions, with the exemption of the use of gloves for routine diaper changes and wiping a well child's nose or tears for most patient encounters. Additional topics include respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette strategies for patients with a respiratory tract infection, including those relevant for special populations like patients with cystic fibrosis or those in short-term residential facilities; separation of infected, contagious children from uninfected children when feasible; safe handling and disposal of needles and other sharp medical devices; appropriate use of personal

  2. Design of a compact low-power human-computer interaction equipment for hand motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xianwei; Jin, Wenguang

    2017-01-01

    Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) raises demand of convenience, endurance, responsiveness and naturalness. This paper describes a design of a compact wearable low-power HCI equipment applied to gesture recognition. System combines multi-mode sense signals: the vision sense signal and the motion sense signal, and the equipment is equipped with the depth camera and the motion sensor. The dimension (40 mm × 30 mm) and structure is compact and portable after tight integration. System is built on a module layered framework, which contributes to real-time collection (60 fps), process and transmission via synchronous confusion with asynchronous concurrent collection and wireless Blue 4.0 transmission. To minimize equipment's energy consumption, system makes use of low-power components, managing peripheral state dynamically, switching into idle mode intelligently, pulse-width modulation (PWM) of the NIR LEDs of the depth camera and algorithm optimization by the motion sensor. To test this equipment's function and performance, a gesture recognition algorithm is applied to system. As the result presents, general energy consumption could be as low as 0.5 W.

  3. Age-specific differences between conventional and ambulatory daytime blood pressure values

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conen, David; Aeschbacher, Stefanie; Thijs, Lutgarde

    2014-01-01

    Mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure (BP) values are considered to be lower than conventional BP values, but data on this relation among younger individuals ... population-based cohorts. We compared individual differences between daytime ambulatory and conventional BP according to 10-year age categories. Age-specific prevalences of white coat and masked hypertension were calculated. Among individuals aged 18 to 30, 30 to 40, and 40 to 50 years, mean daytime BP...

  4. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in daily clinical practice - the Spanish ABPM Registry experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorostidi, Manuel; Banegas, José R; de la Sierra, Alejandro; Vinyoles, Ernest; Segura, Julián; Ruilope, Luis M

    2016-01-01

    Many patients are hypertensive at the medical settings but show normal blood pressure out of the doctor's office, and are classified as white-coat hypertensives. On the other hand, many patients with controlled hypertension at the clinic show ambulatory blood pressure levels above the thresholds considered for an adequate blood pressure control, known as having masked hypertension. Using data from the Spanish Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Registry (Spanish ABPM Registry), a national program developed to promote the use of the ambulatory technique for hypertension management in daily practice, we have reviewed the main strengths of this approach, that is the ability to detect discrepancies of blood pressure status with respect to office blood pressure measurement, and to better assess accurate rates of hypertension control. White-coat hypertension within patients with elevated office blood pressure, and masked hypertension within office-controlled patients affected one of three patients in each office status. On the other hand, rates of ambulatory blood pressure control (50%) doubled those of office blood pressure control (25%), still remaining half the patients uncontrolled. We think that a systematic use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and strategies to improve blood pressure control constitute key priorities in hypertension management. © 2015 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

  5. The internal medicine clerkship and ambulatory learning experiences: results of the 2010 clerkship directors in internal medicine survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaheen, Amy; Papp, Klara K; Torre, Dario

    2013-01-01

    Education in the ambulatory setting should be an integral part of undergraduate medical education. However, previous studies have shown education in this setting has been lacking in medical school. Ambulatory education occurs on some internal medicine clerkships. The extent of this education is unclear. The purpose of this survey was to assess the structure, curriculum, assessment methods, and barriers to implementation of ambulatory education on the internal medicine clerkship. An annual survey of institutional members of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) was done in April 2010. The data were anonymous and descriptive statistics were used to summarize responses. Free text results were analyzed using qualitative techniques. The response rate was 75%. The majority of respondents had a required ambulatory component to the clerkship. Ambulatory experiences distinct from the inpatient internal medicine experience were common (46%). Integration with either the inpatient experiences or other departmental clerkships also occurred. The majority of ambulatory educational experiences were with generalists (74%) and/or subspecialists (45%). The most common assessment tool was the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) ambulatory shelf exam. Thematic analysis of the question about how practice based learning was taught elicited four major themes: Not taught; taught in the context of learning evidence based medicine; taught while learning chronic disease management with quality improvement; taught while learning about health care finance. Barriers to implementation included lack of faculty and financial resources. There have been significant increases in the amount of time dedicated to ambulatory internal medicine. The numbers of medical schools with ambulatory internal medicine education has increased. Integration of the ambulatory experiences with other clerkships such as family medicine occurs. Curriculum was varied but difficulties with dissemination

  6. Polynomial analysis of ambulatory blood pressure measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwinderman, A. H.; Cleophas, T. A.; Cleophas, T. J.; van der Wall, E. E.

    2001-01-01

    In normotensive subjects blood pressures follow a circadian rhythm. A circadian rhythm in hypertensive patients is less well established, and may be clinically important, particularly with rigorous treatments of daytime blood pressures. Polynomial analysis of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

  7. Influence of Visual Motion, Suggestion, and Illusory Motion on Self-Motion Perception in the Horizontal Plane.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven David Rosenblatt

    Full Text Available A moving visual field can induce the feeling of self-motion or vection. Illusory motion from static repeated asymmetric patterns creates a compelling visual motion stimulus, but it is unclear if such illusory motion can induce a feeling of self-motion or alter self-motion perception. In these experiments, human subjects reported the perceived direction of self-motion for sway translation and yaw rotation at the end of a period of viewing set visual stimuli coordinated with varying inertial stimuli. This tested the hypothesis that illusory visual motion would influence self-motion perception in the horizontal plane. Trials were arranged into 5 blocks based on stimulus type: moving star field with yaw rotation, moving star field with sway translation, illusory motion with yaw, illusory motion with sway, and static arrows with sway. Static arrows were used to evaluate the effect of cognitive suggestion on self-motion perception. Each trial had a control condition; the illusory motion controls were altered versions of the experimental image, which removed the illusory motion effect. For the moving visual stimulus, controls were carried out in a dark room. With the arrow visual stimulus, controls were a gray screen. In blocks containing a visual stimulus there was an 8s viewing interval with the inertial stimulus occurring over the final 1s. This allowed measurement of the visual illusion perception using objective methods. When no visual stimulus was present, only the 1s motion stimulus was presented. Eight women and five men (mean age 37 participated. To assess for a shift in self-motion perception, the effect of each visual stimulus on the self-motion stimulus (cm/s at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction was measured. Significant effects were seen for moving star fields for both translation (p = 0.001 and rotation (p0.1 for both. Thus, although a true moving visual field can induce self-motion, results of this

  8. Pediatric ambulatory anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    August, David A; Everett, Lucinda L

    2014-06-01

    Pediatric patients often undergo anesthesia for ambulatory procedures. This article discusses several common preoperative dilemmas, including whether to postpone anesthesia when a child has an upper respiratory infection, whether to test young women for pregnancy, which children require overnight admission for apnea monitoring, and the effectiveness of nonpharmacological techniques for reducing anxiety. Medication issues covered include the risks of anesthetic agents in children with undiagnosed weakness, the use of remifentanil for tracheal intubation, and perioperative dosing of rectal acetaminophen. The relative merits of caudal and dorsal penile nerve block for pain after circumcision are also discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Emergent risk factors associated with eyeball loss and ambulatory vision loss after globe injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyun Lee, Seung; Ahn, Jae Kyoun

    2010-07-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate risk factors associated with eyeball loss and ambulatory vision loss on emergent examination of patients with ocular trauma. We reviewed the medical records of 1,875 patients hospitalized in a single tertiary referral center between January 2003 and December 2007. Emergent examinations included a history of trauma, elapsed time between injury and hospital arrival, visible intraocular tissues, and initial visual acuity (VA) using a penlight. The main outcome measures were ocular survival and ambulatory vision survival (>20/200) at 1 year after trauma using univariate and multivariate regression analysis. The ocular trauma scores were significantly higher in open globe injuries than in closed globe injuries (p eyeball loss. Elapsed time more than 12 hours and visible intraocular tissues were the significant risk factors associated with ambulatory vision loss. The most powerful predictor of eyeball loss and ambulatory vision loss was eyeball rupture. In closed globe injuries, there were no significant risk factors of eyeball loss, whereas initial vision less than LP and the presence of relative afferent pupillary defect were the significant risk factors associated with ambulatory vision loss. An initial VA less than LP using a penlight, a history of golf ball injury, and elapsed time more than 12 hours between ocular trauma and hospital arrival were associated with eyeball loss and ambulatory vision loss. Physicians should bear these factors in mind so that they can more effectively counsel patients with such injuries.

  10. Man-systems evaluation of moving base vehicle simulation motion cues. [human acceleration perception involving visual feedback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirkpatrick, M.; Brye, R. G.

    1974-01-01

    A motion cue investigation program is reported that deals with human factor aspects of high fidelity vehicle simulation. General data on non-visual motion thresholds and specific threshold values are established for use as washout parameters in vehicle simulation. A general purpose similator is used to test the contradictory cue hypothesis that acceleration sensitivity is reduced during a vehicle control task involving visual feedback. The simulator provides varying acceleration levels. The method of forced choice is based on the theory of signal detect ability.

  11. Ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients' knowledge with internet-based education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heikkinen, Katja; Leino-Kilpi, H; Salanterä, S

    2012-01-01

    There is a growing need for patient education and an evaluation of its outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients' knowledge with Internet-based education and face-to-face education with a nurse. The following hypothesis was proposed: Internet-based patient education (experiment) is as effective as face-to-face education with a nurse (control) in increasing patients' level of knowledge and sufficiency of knowledge. In addition, the correlations of demographic variables were tested. The patients were randomized to either an experiment group (n = 72) or a control group (n = 75). Empirical data were collected with two instruments. Patients in both groups showed improvement in their knowledge during their care. Patients in the experiment group improved their knowledge level significantly more in total than those patients in the control group. There were no differences in patients' sufficiency of knowledge between the groups. Knowledge was correlated especially with patients' age, gender and earlier ambulatory surgeries. As a conclusion, positive results concerning patients' knowledge could be achieved with the Internet-based education. The Internet is a viable method in ambulatory care.

  12. From aviation to medicine: applying concepts of aviation safety to risk management in ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilf-Miron, R; Lewenhoff, I; Benyamini, Z; Aviram, A

    2003-02-01

    The development of a medical risk management programme based on the aviation safety approach and its implementation in a large ambulatory healthcare organisation is described. The following key safety principles were applied: (1). errors inevitably occur and usually derive from faulty system design, not from negligence; (2). accident prevention should be an ongoing process based on open and full reporting; (3). major accidents are only the "tip of the iceberg" of processes that indicate possibilities for organisational learning. Reporting physicians were granted immunity, which encouraged open reporting of errors. A telephone "hotline" served the medical staff for direct reporting and receipt of emotional support and medical guidance. Any adverse event which had learning potential was debriefed, while focusing on the human cause of error within a systemic context. Specific recommendations were formulated to rectify processes conducive to error when failures were identified. During the first 5 years of implementation, the aviation safety concept and tools were successfully adapted to ambulatory care, fostering a culture of greater concern for patient safety through risk management while providing support to the medical staff.

  13. Influence of Visual Motion, Suggestion, and Illusory Motion on Self-Motion Perception in the Horizontal Plane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenblatt, Steven David; Crane, Benjamin Thomas

    2015-01-01

    A moving visual field can induce the feeling of self-motion or vection. Illusory motion from static repeated asymmetric patterns creates a compelling visual motion stimulus, but it is unclear if such illusory motion can induce a feeling of self-motion or alter self-motion perception. In these experiments, human subjects reported the perceived direction of self-motion for sway translation and yaw rotation at the end of a period of viewing set visual stimuli coordinated with varying inertial stimuli. This tested the hypothesis that illusory visual motion would influence self-motion perception in the horizontal plane. Trials were arranged into 5 blocks based on stimulus type: moving star field with yaw rotation, moving star field with sway translation, illusory motion with yaw, illusory motion with sway, and static arrows with sway. Static arrows were used to evaluate the effect of cognitive suggestion on self-motion perception. Each trial had a control condition; the illusory motion controls were altered versions of the experimental image, which removed the illusory motion effect. For the moving visual stimulus, controls were carried out in a dark room. With the arrow visual stimulus, controls were a gray screen. In blocks containing a visual stimulus there was an 8s viewing interval with the inertial stimulus occurring over the final 1s. This allowed measurement of the visual illusion perception using objective methods. When no visual stimulus was present, only the 1s motion stimulus was presented. Eight women and five men (mean age 37) participated. To assess for a shift in self-motion perception, the effect of each visual stimulus on the self-motion stimulus (cm/s) at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction was measured. Significant effects were seen for moving star fields for both translation (p = 0.001) and rotation (pperception was shifted in the direction consistent with the visual stimulus. Arrows had a small effect on self-motion

  14. Scavenging energy from human motion with tubular dielectric polymer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jean-Mistral, Claire; Basrour, Skandar

    2010-04-01

    Scavenging energy from human motion is a challenge to supply low consumption systems for sport or medical applications. A promising solution is to use electroactive polymers and especially dielectric polymers to scavenge mechanical energy during walk. In this paper, we present a tubular dielectric generator which is the first step toward an integration of these structures into textiles. For a 10cm length and under a strain of 100%, the structure is able to scavenge 1.5μJ for a poling voltage of 200V and up to 40μJ for a poling voltage of 1000V. A 30cm length structure is finally compared to our previous planar structure, and the power management module for those structures is discussed.

  15. Human motion characteristics in relation to feeling familiar or frightened during an announced short interaction with a proactive humanoid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baddoura, Ritta; Venture, Gentiane

    2014-01-01

    During an unannounced encounter between two humans and a proactive humanoid (NAO, Aldebaran Robotics), we study the dependencies between the human partners' affective experience (measured via the answers to a questionnaire) particularly regarding feeling familiar and feeling frightened, and their arm and head motion [frequency and smoothness using Inertial Measurement Units (IMU)]. NAO starts and ends its interaction with its partners by non-verbally greeting them hello (bowing) and goodbye (moving its arm). The robot is invested with a real and useful task to perform: handing each participant an envelope containing a questionnaire they need to answer. NAO's behavior varies from one partner to the other (Smooth with X vs. Resisting with Y). The results show high positive correlations between feeling familiar while interacting with the robot and: the frequency and smoothness of the human arm movement when waving back goodbye, as well as the smoothness of the head during the whole encounter. Results also show a negative dependency between feeling frightened and the frequency of the human arm movement when waving back goodbye. The principal component analysis (PCA) suggests that, in regards to the various motion measures examined in this paper, the head smoothness and the goodbye gesture frequency are the most reliable measures when it comes to considering the familiar experienced by the participants. The PCA also points out the irrelevance of the goodbye motion frequency when investigating the participants' experience of fear in its relation to their motion characteristics. The results are discussed in light of the major findings of studies on body movements and postures accompanying specific emotions.

  16. Reduction of motion artifact in pulse oximetry by smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Yuan-ting

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The pulse oximeter, a medical device capable of measuring blood oxygen saturation (SpO2, has been shown to be a valuable device for monitoring patients in critical conditions. In order to incorporate the technique into a wearable device which can be used in ambulatory settings, the influence of motion artifacts on the estimated SpO2 must be reduced. This study investigates the use of the smoothed psuedo Wigner-Ville distribution (SPWVD for the reduction of motion artifacts affecting pulse oximetry. Methods The SPWVD approach is compared with two techniques currently used in this field, i.e. the weighted moving average (WMA and the fast Fourier transform (FFT approaches. SpO2 and pulse rate were estimated from a photoplethysmographic (PPG signal recorded when subject is in a resting position as well as in the act of performing four types of motions: horizontal and vertical movements of the hand, and bending and pressing motions of the finger. For each condition, 24 sets of PPG signals collected from 6 subjects, each of 30 seconds, were studied with reference to the PPG signal recorded simultaneously from the subject's other hand, which was stationary at all times. Results and Discussion The SPWVD approach shows significant improvement (p Conclusion The results suggested that the SPWVD approach could potentially be used to reduce motion artifact on wearable pulse oximeters.

  17. Ambulatory oral surgery: 1-year experience with 11 680 patients from Zagreb district, Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jokić, Dražen; Macan, Darko; Perić, Berislav; Tadić, Marinka; Biočić, Josip; Đanić, Petar; Brajdić, Davor

    2013-01-01

    Aim To examine the types and frequencies of oral surgery diagnoses and ambulatory oral surgical treatments during one year period at the Department of Oral Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava in Zagreb, Croatia. Methods Sociodemographic and clinical data on 11 680 ambulatory patients, treated between January 1 and of December 31, 2011 were retrieved from the hospital database using a specific protocol. The obtained data were subsequently analyzed in order to assess the frequency of diagnoses and differences in sex and age. Results The most common ambulatory procedure was tooth extraction (37.67%) and the most common procedure in ambulatory operating room was alveolectomy (57.25%). The test of proportions showed that significantly more extractions (P Zagreb than in patients residing in rural areas. Conclusion The data from this study may be useful for planning of ambulatory oral surgery services, budgeting, and sustaining quality improvement, enhancing oral surgical curricula, training and education of primary health care doctors and oral surgery specialists, and promoting patients’ awareness of the importance of oral health. PMID:23444246

  18. The clinical utility of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM): a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harianto, Harry; Valente, Michael; Hoetomo, Soenarno; Anpalahan, Mahesan

    2014-01-01

    The current evidence suggests that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) should be an integral part of the diagnosis and management of hypertension. However, its uptake in routine clinical practice has been variable. This paper reviews the current evidence for the role of ABPM in clinical practice, including in hypotensive disorders and in specific comorbidities. It further discusses the clinical significance of abnormal ambulatory blood pressure patterns and hypertensive syndromes such as white coat, masked and resistant hypertension.

  19. Ambulatory anesthetic care in children undergoing myringotomy and tube placement: current perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robinson H

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Hal Robinson, Thomas Engelhardt Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen, UK Purpose: Myringotomy and tube placement is one of the most frequently performed ear, nose and throat (ENT surgeries in the pediatric population. Effective anesthetic management is vital to ensuring successful ambulatory care and ensuring child and parental satisfaction.Recent findings: This review summarizes recently published studies about the long-term effects of general anesthesia in young children, novel approaches to preoperative fasting and simplified approaches to the assessment and management of emergence delirium (ED and emergence agitation (EA. New developments in perioperative ambulatory care, including management of comorbidities and day care unit logistics, are discussed.Summary: Long-term follow-up of children exposed to general anesthesia before the age of 4 years has limited impact on academic achievement or cognitive performance and should not delay the treatment of common ENT pathology, which can impair speech and language development. A more liberal approach to fasting, employing a 6–4–0 regime allowing children fluids up until theater, may become an accepted practice in future. ED and EA should be discriminated from pain in recovery and, where the child is at risk of harm, should be treated promptly. Postoperative pain at home remains problematic in ambulatory surgery and better parental education is needed. Effective ambulatory care ultimately requires a well-coordinated team approach from effective preassessment to postoperative follow-up. Keywords: myringotomy, ventilation tubes, anesthesia, pediatrics, ambulatory, day case

  20. Side effects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steen, M.S. van der; Lenders, J.W.M.; Thien, Th.

    2005-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To study the experiences and complaints of patients who underwent 24 h blood pressure monitoring. METHODS: Two groups of hypertensive patients of a tertiary outpatient clinic were asked to fill in a nine-item questionnaire about the side effects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

  1. An examination of the degrees of freedom of human jaw motion in speech and mastication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostry, D J; Vatikiotis-Bateson, E; Gribble, P L

    1997-12-01

    The kinematics of human jaw movements were assessed in terms of the three orientation angles and three positions that characterize the motion of the jaw as a rigid body. The analysis focused on the identification of the jaw's independent movement dimensions, and was based on an examination of jaw motion paths that were plotted in various combinations of linear and angular coordinate frames. Overall, both behaviors were characterized by independent motion in four degrees of freedom. In general, when jaw movements were plotted to show orientation in the sagittal plane as a function of horizontal position, relatively straight paths were observed. In speech, the slopes and intercepts of these paths varied depending on the phonetic material. The vertical position of the jaw was observed to shift up or down so as to displace the overall form of the sagittal plane motion path of the jaw. Yaw movements were small but independent of pitch, and vertical and horizontal position. In mastication, the slope and intercept of the relationship between pitch and horizontal position were affected by the type of food and its size. However, the range of variation was less than that observed in speech. When vertical jaw position was plotted as a function of horizontal position, the basic form of the path of the jaw was maintained but could be shifted vertically. In general, larger bolus diameters were associated with lower jaw positions throughout the movement. The timing of pitch and yaw motion differed. The most common pattern involved changes in pitch angle during jaw opening followed by a phase predominated by lateral motion (yaw). Thus, in both behaviors there was evidence of independent motion in pitch, yaw, horizontal position, and vertical position. This is consistent with the idea that motions in these degrees of freedom are independently controlled.

  2. Extract the Relational Information of Static Features and Motion Features for Human Activities Recognition in Videos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Yao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Both static features and motion features have shown promising performance in human activities recognition task. However, the information included in these features is insufficient for complex human activities. In this paper, we propose extracting relational information of static features and motion features for human activities recognition. The videos are represented by a classical Bag-of-Word (BoW model which is useful in many works. To get a compact and discriminative codebook with small dimension, we employ the divisive algorithm based on KL-divergence to reconstruct the codebook. After that, to further capture strong relational information, we construct a bipartite graph to model the relationship between words of different feature set. Then we use a k-way partition to create a new codebook in which similar words are getting together. With this new codebook, videos can be represented by a new BoW vector with strong relational information. Moreover, we propose a method to compute new clusters from the divisive algorithm’s projective function. We test our work on the several datasets and obtain very promising results.

  3. Pathway to Best Practice in Spirometry in the Ambulatory Setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peracchio, Carol

    2016-01-01

    Spirometry performed in the ambulatory setting is an invaluable tool for diagnosis, monitoring, and evaluation of respiratory health in patients with chronic lung disease. If spirometry is not performed according to American Thoracic Society (ATS) guidelines, unnecessary repeated testing, increased expenditure of time and money, and increased patient and family anxiety may result. Two respiratory therapists at Mission Health System in Asheville, NC, identified an increase in patients arriving at the pulmonary function testing (PFT) laboratories with abnormal spirometry results obtained in the ambulatory setting. These abnormal results were due to incorrect testing procedure, not chronic lung disease. Three training methods were developed to increase knowledge of correct spirometry testing procedure in the ambulatory setting. The therapists also created a plan to educate offices that do not perform spirometry on the importance and availability of PFT services at our hospital for the population of patients with chronic lung disease. Notable improvements in posttraining test results were demonstrated. The education process was evaluated by a leading respiratory expert, with improvements suggested and implemented. Next steps are listed.

  4. Office blood pressure or ambulatory blood pressure for the prediction of cardiovascular events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mortensen, Rikke Nørmark; Gerds, Thomas Alexander; Jeppesen, Jørgen Lykke; Torp-Pedersen, Christian

    2017-11-21

    To determine the added value of (i) 24-h ambulatory blood pressure relative to office blood pressure and (ii) night-time ambulatory blood pressure relative to daytime ambulatory blood pressure for 10-year person-specific absolute risks of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. A total of 7927 participants were included from the International Database on Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in relation to Cardiovascular Outcomes. We used cause-specific Cox regression to predict 10-year person-specific absolute risks of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. Discrimination of 10-year outcomes was assessed by time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). No differences in predicted risks were observed when comparing office blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure. The median difference in 10-year risks (1st; 3rd quartile) was -0.01% (-0.3%; 0.1%) for cardiovascular mortality and -0.1% (-1.1%; 0.5%) for cardiovascular events. The difference in AUC (95% confidence interval) was 0.65% (0.22-1.08%) for cardiovascular mortality and 1.33% (0.83-1.84%) for cardiovascular events. Comparing daytime and night-time blood pressure, the median difference in 10-year risks was 0.002% (-0.1%; 0.1%) for cardiovascular mortality and -0.01% (-0.5%; 0.2%) for cardiovascular events. The difference in AUC was 0.10% (-0.08 to 0.29%) for cardiovascular mortality and 0.15% (-0.06 to 0.35%) for cardiovascular events. Ten-year predictions obtained from ambulatory blood pressure are similar to predictions from office blood pressure. Night-time blood pressure does not improve 10-year predictions obtained from daytime measurements. For an otherwise healthy population sufficient prognostic accuracy of cardiovascular risks can be achieved with office blood pressure. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2017. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Low bone mineral density in ambulatory persons with cerebral palsy? A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mus-Peters, Cindy T R; Huisstede, Bionka M A; Noten, Suzie; Hitters, Minou W M G C; van der Slot, Wilma M A; van den Berg-Emons, Rita J G

    2018-05-22

    Non-ambulatory persons with cerebral palsy are prone to low bone mineral density. In ambulatory persons with cerebral palsy, bone mineral density deficits are expected to be small or absent, but a consensus conclusion is lacking. In this systematic review bone mineral density in ambulatory persons with cerebral palsy (Gross Motor Function Classification Scales I-III) was studied. Medline, Embase, and Web of Science were searched. According to international guidelines, low bone mineral density was defined as Z-score ≤ -2.0. In addition, we focused on Z-score ≤ -1.0 because this may indicate a tendency towards low bone mineral density. We included 16 studies, comprising 465 patients aged 1-65 years. Moderate and conflicting evidence for low bone mineral density (Z-score ≤ -2.0) was found for several body parts (total proximal femur, total body, distal femur, lumbar spine) in children with Gross Motor Function Classification Scales II and III. We found no evidence for low bone mineral density in children with Gross Motor Function Classification Scale I or adults, although there was a tendency towards low bone mineral density (Z-score ≤ -1.0) for several body parts. Although more high-quality research is needed, results indicate that deficits in bone mineral density are not restricted to non-ambulatory people with cerebral palsy. Implications for Rehabilitation Although more high-quality research is needed, including adults and fracture risk assessment, the current study indicates that deficits in bone mineral density are not restricted to non-ambulatory people with CP. Health care professionals should be aware that optimal nutrition, supplements on indication, and an active lifestyle, preferably with weight-bearing activities, are important in ambulatory people with CP, also from a bone quality point-of-view. If indicated, medication and fall prevention training should be prescribed.

  6. Accuracy of home versus ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the diagnosis of white-coat and masked hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Yuan-Yuan; Li, Yan; Huang, Qi-Fang; Song, Jie; Shan, Xiao-Li; Dou, Yu; Xu, Xin-Juan; Chen, Shou-Hong; Wang, Ji-Guang

    2015-08-01

    We investigated accuracy of home blood pressure (BP) monitoring in the diagnosis of white-coat and masked hypertension in comparison with ambulatory BP monitoring. Our study participants were enrolled in the China Ambulatory and Home BP Registry, and underwent clinic, home, and 24-h ambulatory BP measurements. We defined white-coat hypertension as an elevated clinic SBP/DBP (≥140/90 mmHg) and a normal 24-h ambulatory (coat hypertension (13.1 vs. 19.9%), masked hypertension (17.8 vs. 13.1%), and sustained hypertension (46.4 vs. 39.6%) significantly (P ≤ 0.02) differed between 24-h ambulatory and home BP monitoring. In treated patients (n = 1201), only the prevalence of masked hypertension differed significantly (18.7 vs. 14.5%; P = 0.005). Regardless of the treatment status, home compared with 24-h ambulatory BP had low sensitivity (range 47-74%), but high specificity (86-94%), and accordingly low positive (41-87%), but high negative predictive values (80-94%), and had moderate diagnostic agreement (82-85%) and Kappa statistic (0.41-0.66). In untreated and treated patients, age advancing was associated with a higher prevalence of white-coat hypertension and a lower prevalence of masked hypertension defined by 24-h ambulatory (P ≤ 0.03) but not home BP (P ≥ 0.10). Home BP monitoring has high specificity, but low sensitivity in the diagnosis of white-coat and masked hypertension, and may therefore behave as a complementary to, but not a replacement of, ambulatory BP monitoring.

  7. Differences in Treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis by Ambulatory Care Setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, William S; Gift, Thomas L; Leichliter, Jami S; Jenkins, Wiley D

    2015-12-01

    Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the US and timely, correct treatment can reduce CT transmission and sequelae. Emergency departments (ED) are an important location for diagnosing STIs. This study compared recommended treatment of CT in EDs to treatment in physician offices. Five years of data (2006-2010) were analyzed from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NHAMCS), including the Outpatient survey (NHAMCS-OPD) and Emergency Department survey (NHAMCS-ED). All visits with a CT diagnosis and those with a diagnosis of unspecified venereal disease were selected for analysis. Differences in receipt of recommended treatments were compared between visits to physician offices and emergency departments using Chi square tests and logistic regression models. During the 5 year period, approximately 3.2 million ambulatory care visits had diagnosed CT or an unspecified venereal disease. A greater proportion of visits to EDs received the recommended treatment for CT compared to visits to physician offices (66.1 vs. 44.9 %, p < .01). When controlling for patients' age, sex and race/ethnicity, those presenting to the ED with CT were more likely to receive the recommended antibiotic treatment than patients presenting to a physician's office (OR 2.16; 95 % CI 1.04-4.48). This effect was attenuated when further controlling for patients' expected source of payment. These analyses demonstrate differences in the treatment of CT by ambulatory care setting as well as opportunities for increasing use of recommended treatments for diagnosed cases of this important STI.

  8. Spherical, rolling magnet generators for passive energy harvesting from human motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowers, Benjamin J.; Arnold, David P.

    2009-09-01

    In this work, non-resonant, vibrational energy harvester architectures intended for human-motion energy scavenging are researched. The basic design employs a spherical, unidirectionally magnetized permanent magnet (NdFeB) ball that is allowed to move arbitrarily in a spherical cavity wrapped with copper coil windings. As the ball rotates and translates within the cage, the time-varying magnetic flux induces a voltage in the coil according to Faraday's Law. Devices ranging from 1.5 cm3 to 4 cm3 in size were tested under human activity scenarios—held in the user's hand or placed in the user's pocket while walking (4 km h-1) and running (14.5 km h-1). These harvesters have demonstrated rms voltages ranging from ~80 mV to 700 mV and time-averaged power densities up to 0.5 mW cm-3.

  9. Controlling Urban Lighting by Human Motion Patterns results from a full Scale Experiment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Esben Skouboe; Andersen, Hans Jørgen; Jensen, Ole B.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a full-scale experiment investigating the use of human motion intensities as input for interactive illumination of a town square in the city of Aalborg in Denmark. As illuminators sixteen 3.5 meter high RGB LED lamps were used. The activity on the square was monitored by three...... thermal cameras and analysed by computer vision software from which motion intensity maps and peoples trajectories were estimated and used as input to control the interactive illumination. The paper introduces a 2-layered interactive light strategy addressing ambient and effect illumination criteria...... totally four light scenarios were designed and tested. The result shows that in general people immersed in the street lighting did not notice that the light changed according to their presence or actions, but people watching from the edge of the square noticed the interaction between the illumination...

  10. Ambulatory blood pressure and adherence monitoring: diagnosing pseudoresistant hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnier, Michel; Wuerzner, Gregoire

    2014-01-01

    A small proportion of the treated hypertensive population consistently has a blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg despite a triple therapy including a diuretic, a calcium channel blocker, and a blocker of the renin-angiotensin system. According to guidelines, these patients have so-called resistant hypertension. The prevalence of this clinical condition is higher in tertiary than primary care centers and often is associated with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea syndrome. Exclusion of pseudoresistant hypertension using ambulatory or home blood pressure monitoring is a crucial step in the investigation of patients with resistant hypertension. Thus, among the multiple factors to consider when investigating patients with resistant hypertension, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring should be performed very early. Among other factors to consider, physicians should investigate patient adherence to therapy, assess the adequacy of treatment, exclude interfering factors, and, finally, look for secondary forms of hypertension. Poor adherence to therapy accounts for 30% to 50% of cases of resistance to therapy depending on the methodology used to diagnose adherence problems. This review discusses the clinical factors implicated in the pathogenesis of resistant hypertension with a particular emphasis on pseudoresistance, drug adherence, and the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for the diagnosis and management of resistant hypertension.

  11. Can information technology improve my ambulatory practice ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies for health. mHealth is the use of mobile technology in health. As with all information technology (IT), advances in development are rapidly taking place. The application of such technology to individual ambulatory anaesthesia practice should improve the ...

  12. Unanticipated hospital admission in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing ambulatory noncardiac surgical procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuki, Koichi; Koutsogiannaki, Sophia; Lee, Sandra; DiNardo, James A

    2018-05-18

    An increasing number of surgical and nonsurgical procedures are being performed on an ambulatory basis in children. Analysis of a large group of pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing ambulatory procedures has not been undertaken. The objective of this study was to characterize the profile of children with congenital heart disease who underwent noncardiac procedures on an ambulatory basis at our institution, to determine the incidence of adverse cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events, and to determine the risk factors for unscheduled hospital admission. This is a retrospective study of children with congenital heart disease who underwent noncardiac procedures on an ambulatory basis in a single center. Using the electronic preoperative anesthesia evaluation form, we identified 3010 patients with congenital heart disease who underwent noncardiac procedures of which 1028 (34.1%) were scheduled to occur on an ambulatory basis. Demographic, echocardiographic and functional status data, cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events, and reasons for postprocedure admission were recorded. Univariable analysis was conducted. The unplanned hospital admission was 2.7% and univariable analysis demonstrated that performance of an echocardiogram within 6 mo of the procedure and procedures performed in radiology were associated with postoperative admission. Cardiovascular adverse event incidence was 3.9%. Respiratory adverse event incidence was 1.8%. Ambulatory, noncomplex procedures can be performed in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease and good functional status with a relatively low unanticipated hospital admission rate. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Ambulatory anesthetic care in children undergoing myringotomy and tube placement: current perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Hal; Engelhardt, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Myringotomy and tube placement is one of the most frequently performed ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeries in the pediatric population. Effective anesthetic management is vital to ensuring successful ambulatory care and ensuring child and parental satisfaction. This review summarizes recently published studies about the long-term effects of general anesthesia in young children, novel approaches to preoperative fasting and simplified approaches to the assessment and management of emergence delirium (ED) and emergence agitation (EA). New developments in perioperative ambulatory care, including management of comorbidities and day care unit logistics, are discussed. Long-term follow-up of children exposed to general anesthesia before the age of 4 years has limited impact on academic achievement or cognitive performance and should not delay the treatment of common ENT pathology, which can impair speech and language development. A more liberal approach to fasting, employing a 6-4-0 regime allowing children fluids up until theater, may become an accepted practice in future. ED and EA should be discriminated from pain in recovery and, where the child is at risk of harm, should be treated promptly. Postoperative pain at home remains problematic in ambulatory surgery and better parental education is needed. Effective ambulatory care ultimately requires a well-coordinated team approach from effective preassessment to postoperative follow-up.

  14. Auricular Acupuncture for Pain Relief after Ambulatory Knee Arthroscopy—A Pilot Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taras I. Usichenko

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Auricular acupuncture (AA is effective in treating various pain conditions, but there have been no analyses of AA for the treatment of pain after ambulatory knee surgery. We assessed the range of analgesic requirements under AA after ambulatory knee arthroscopy. Twenty patients randomly received a true AA procedure (Lung, Shenmen and Knee points or sham procedure (three non-acupuncture points on the auricular helix before ambulatory knee arthroscopy. Permanent press AA needles were retained in situ for one day after surgery. Post-operative pain was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen, and weak oral opioid tramadol was used for rescue analgesic medication. The quantity of post-operative analgesics and pain intensity were used to assess the effect of AA. The incidence of analgesia-related side effects, time to discharge from the anesthesia recovery room, heart rate and blood pressure were also recorded. Ibuprofen consumption after surgery in the AA group was lower than in the control group: median 500 versus 800 mg, P = 0.043. Pain intensity on a 100 mm visual analogue scale for pain measurement and other parameters were similar in both groups. Thus AA might be useful in reducing the post-operative analgesic requirement after ambulatory knee arthroscopy.

  15. The Use of the Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index in Patients Suspected of Secondary Hypertension

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verbakel, J.R.; Adiyaman, A.; Kraayvanger, N.; Dechering, D.G.; Postma, C.T.

    2016-01-01

    The ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) is a marker of arterial stiffness and is derived from ambulatory 24-h blood pressure registration. We studied whether the AASI could be used as a predictive factor for the presence of renal artery stenosis (RAS) in patients with a suspicion of secondary

  16. Ambulatory care pavilion takes its place out front by solving multiple needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saukaitis, C A

    1994-09-01

    In sum, this structure exemplifies the fact that high-tech tertiary care medical centers can be user-friendly to the ambulatory health care consumer by serving their routine needs conveniently and efficiently. Says Gerald Miller, president of Crozer-Chester: "The ambulatory care pavilion has enabled Crozer to successfully and efficiently merge physicians' offices with institutional-based services and inpatient services. We are pleased with how the pavilion positions our medical center for the next century.

  17. Methods for Motion Correction Evaluation Using 18F-FDG Human Brain Scans on a High-Resolution PET Scanner

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keller, Sune H.; Sibomana, Merence; Olesen, Oline Vinter

    2012-01-01

    Many authors have reported the importance of motion correction (MC) for PET. Patient motion during scanning disturbs kinetic analysis and degrades resolution. In addition, using misaligned transmission for attenuation and scatter correction may produce regional quantification bias in the reconstr......Many authors have reported the importance of motion correction (MC) for PET. Patient motion during scanning disturbs kinetic analysis and degrades resolution. In addition, using misaligned transmission for attenuation and scatter correction may produce regional quantification bias...... in the reconstructed emission images. The purpose of this work was the development of quality control (QC) methods for MC procedures based on external motion tracking (EMT) for human scanning using an optical motion tracking system. Methods: Two scans with minor motion and 5 with major motion (as reported...... (automated image registration) software. The following 3 QC methods were used to evaluate the EMT and AIR MC: a method using the ratio between 2 regions of interest with gray matter voxels (GM) and white matter voxels (WM), called GM/WM; mutual information; and cross correlation. Results: The results...

  18. Increased systolic ambulatory blood pressure and microalbuminuria in treated and non-treated hypertensive smokers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Kaspar; Kristensen, Kjeld S; Bang, Lia E

    2004-01-01

    The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of smoking status on both clinic and ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) by using 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring in treated and non-treated hypertensive smokers and non-smokers. A secondary aim was to evaluate...

  19. Performance characterization of Watson Ahumada motion detector using random dot rotary motion stimuli.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siddharth Jain

    Full Text Available The performance of Watson & Ahumada's model of human visual motion sensing is compared against human psychophysical performance. The stimulus consists of random dots undergoing rotary motion, displayed in a circular annulus. The model matches psychophysical observer performance with respect to most parameters. It is able to replicate some key psychophysical findings such as invariance of observer performance to dot density in the display, and decrease of observer performance with frame duration of the display.Associated with the concept of rotary motion is the notion of a center about which rotation occurs. One might think that for accurate estimation of rotary motion in the display, this center must be accurately known. A simple vector analysis reveals that this need not be the case. Numerical simulations confirm this result, and may explain the position invariance of MST(d cells. Position invariance is the experimental finding that rotary motion sensitive cells are insensitive to where in their receptive field rotation occurs.When all the dots in the display are randomly drawn from a uniform distribution, illusory rotary motion is perceived. This case was investigated by Rose & Blake previously, who termed the illusory rotary motion the omega effect. Two important experimental findings are reported concerning this effect. First, although the display of random dots evokes perception of rotary motion, the direction of motion perceived does not depend on what dot pattern is shown. Second, the time interval between spontaneous flips in perceived direction is lognormally distributed (mode approximately 2 s. These findings suggest the omega effect fits in the category of a typical bistable illusion, and therefore the processes that give rise to this illusion may be the same processes that underlie much of other bistable phenomenon.

  20. Mapping the organization of axis of motion selective features in human area MT using high-field fMRI.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Zimmermann

    Full Text Available Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI at high magnetic fields has made it possible to investigate the columnar organization of the human brain in vivo with high degrees of accuracy and sensitivity. Until now, these results have been limited to the organization principles of early visual cortex (V1. While the middle temporal area (MT has been the first identified extra-striate visual area shown to exhibit a columnar organization in monkeys, evidence of MT's columnar response properties and topographic layout in humans has remained elusive. Research using various approaches suggests similar response properties as in monkeys but failed to provide direct evidence for direction or axis of motion selectivity in human area MT. By combining state of the art pulse sequence design, high spatial resolution in all three dimensions (0.8 mm isotropic, optimized coil design, ultrahigh field magnets (7 Tesla and novel high resolution cortical grid sampling analysis tools, we provide the first direct evidence for large-scale axis of motion selective feature organization in human area MT closely matching predictions from topographic columnar-level simulations.

  1. Comparison of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and office blood pressure measurements in obese children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renda, Rahime

    2018-04-01

    Obesity in adults has been related to hypertension and abnormal nocturnal dipping of blood pressure, which are associated with poor cardiovascular and renal outcomes. Here, we aimed to resolve the relationship between the degree of obesity, the severity of hypertension and dipping status on ambulatory blood pressure in obese children. A total 72 patients with primary obesity aged 7 to 18 years (mean: 13.48 ± 3.25) were selected. Patients were divided into three groups based on body mass index (BMİ) Z-score. Diagnosis and staging of ambulatory hypertension based on 24-h blood pressure measurements, obtained from ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Based on our ambulatory blood pressure data, 35 patients (48.6%) had hypertension, 7 (20%) had ambulatory prehypertension, 21 (60%) had hypertension, and 7 patients (20%) had severe ambulatory hypertension. There was a significant relationship between severity of hypertension and the degree of obesity (p lood pressure results and loads were similar between groups. Diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure levels during the night, diastolic blood pressure loads, and heart rate during the day were significantly higher in Group 3 (p lood pressure at night, mean arterial pressure at night, diastolic blood pressure loads and heart rate at day. Increase in BMI Z-score does not a significant impact on daytime blood pressure and nocturnal dipping status.

  2. Modeling and experimental investigation of an impact-driven piezoelectric energy harvester from human motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei, Sheng; Hu, Hong; He, Siyuan

    2013-01-01

    An impact-driven piezoelectric energy harvester from human motion is proposed in this paper. A high-frequency PZT-5A bimorph cantilever beam with attached proof mass at the free end was selected. A frequency up-conversion strategy was realized using impulse force generated by human motion. An aluminum prototype was attached to the leg of a person on a treadmill and measurements taken of the dissipated electric energy across multiple resistances over a range of walking speeds. The outer dimensions of this prototype are 90 mm × 40 mm × 24 mm. It has been shown that the average output voltage generated by the piezoelectric bimorph increases sequentially with a faster walking speed, the power varies with the external resistances and maximum levels occur at the optimal resistance, which is consistent with the simulation result. An open circuit voltage of 2.47 V and maximum average power of 51 μW can be achieved across a 20 kΩ external load resistance and 5 km h −1 walking speed. Experimental results reveal that the impact-driven piezoelectric energy harvesting system mounted on a person’s leg has the potential for driving wearable devices. (paper)

  3. Management of abnormal uterine bleeding – focus on ambulatory hysteroscopy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kolhe S

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Shilpa Kolhe Ambulatory Gynaecology Unit, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, UK Abstract: The rapid evolution in ambulatory hysteroscopy (AH has transformed the approach to diagnose and manage abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB. The medical management in primary care remains the mainstay for initial treatment of this common presentation; however, many women are referred to secondary care for further evaluation. To confirm the diagnosis of suspected intrauterine pathology, the traditional diagnostic tool of day case hysteroscopy and dilatation and curettage in a hospital setting under general anesthesia is now no longer required. The combination of ultrasound diagnostics and modern AH now allows thorough evaluation of uterine cavity in an outpatient setting. Advent of miniature hysteroscopic operative systems has revolutionized the ways in which clinicians can not only diagnose but also treat menstrual disorders such as heavy menstrual bleeding, intermenstrual bleeding and postmenopausal bleeding in most women predominantly in a one-stop clinic. This review discussed the approach to manage women presenting with AUB with a focus on the role of AH in the diagnosis and treatment of this common condition in an outpatient setting. Keywords: abnormal uterine bleeding, ambulatory hysteroscopy, endometrial polyps, one-stop clinic, vaginoscopic approach

  4. Ambulatory blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion in clinically healthy subjects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clausen, Peter Vilhelm; Jensen, J S; Borch-Johnsen, K

    1998-01-01

    UAER. Because 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure is a superior predictor of hypertensive target organ involvement, we aimed to investigate blood pressure profile in clinically healthy subjects with elevated UAER. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed with a portable recorder in 27 subjects...... loss of albumin could not be solely related to the higher blood pressure. In conclusion, apparently healthy subjects with elevated UAER had slightly but significantly higher 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels in addition to increased blood pressure loads but normal circadian variation...

  5. Aristotle, Motion, and Rhetoric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutton, Jane

    Aristotle rejects a world vision of changing reality as neither useful nor beneficial to human life, and instead he reaffirms both change and eternal reality, fuses motion and rest, and ends up with "well-behaved" changes. This concept of motion is foundational to his world view, and from it emerges his theory of knowledge, philosophy of…

  6. Real World Testing Of A Piezoelectric Rotational Energy Harvester For Human Motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pillatsch, P; Yeatman, E M; Holmes, A S

    2013-01-01

    Harvesting energy from human motion is challenging because the frequencies are generally low and random compared to industrial machinery that vibrates at much higher frequencies. One of the most promising and popular strategies to overcome this is frequency up-conversion. The transducing element is actuated at its optimal frequency of operation, higher than the source excitation frequency, through some kind of catch and release mechanism. This is beneficial for efficient power generation. Such devices have now been investigated for a few years and this paper takes a previously introduced piezoelectric rotational harvester, relying on beam plucking for the energy conversion, to the next step by testing the device during a half marathon race. The prototype and data acquisition system are described in detail and the experimental results presented. A comparison of the input excitation, based on an accelerometer readout, and the output voltage of the piezoelectric beam, recorded at the same time, confirm the successful implementation of the system. For a device functional volume of 1.85 cm 3 , a maximum power output of 7 μW was achieved when the system was worn on the upper arm. However, degradation of the piezoelectric material meant that the performance dropped rapidly from this initial level; this requires further research. Furthermore, the need for intermediate energy storage solutions is discussed, as human motion harvesters only generate power as long as the wearer is actually moving

  7. From aviation to medicine: applying concepts of aviation safety to risk management in ambulatory care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilf-Miron, R; Lewenhoff, I; Benyamini, Z; Aviram, A

    2003-01-01

    

 The development of a medical risk management programme based on the aviation safety approach and its implementation in a large ambulatory healthcare organisation is described. The following key safety principles were applied: (1) errors inevitably occur and usually derive from faulty system design, not from negligence; (2) accident prevention should be an ongoing process based on open and full reporting; (3) major accidents are only the "tip of the iceberg" of processes that indicate possibilities for organisational learning. Reporting physicians were granted immunity, which encouraged open reporting of errors. A telephone "hotline" served the medical staff for direct reporting and receipt of emotional support and medical guidance. Any adverse event which had learning potential was debriefed, while focusing on the human cause of error within a systemic context. Specific recommendations were formulated to rectify processes conducive to error when failures were identified. During the first 5 years of implementation, the aviation safety concept and tools were successfully adapted to ambulatory care, fostering a culture of greater concern for patient safety through risk management while providing support to the medical staff. PMID:12571343

  8. Ultrasensitive, passive and wearable sensors for monitoring human muscle motion and physiological signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Feng; Yi, Changrui; Liu, Shichang; Wang, Yan; Liu, Lacheng; Liu, Xiaoqing; Xu, Xuming; Wang, Li

    2016-03-15

    Flexible sensors have attracted more and more attention as a fundamental part of anthropomorphic robot research, medical diagnosis and physical health monitoring. Here, we constructed an ultrasensitive and passive flexible sensor with the advantages of low cost, lightness and wearability, electric safety and reliability. The fundamental mechanism of the sensor is based on triboelectric effect inducing electrostatic charges on the surfaces between two different materials. Just like a plate capacitor, current will be generated while the distance or size of the parallel capacitors changes caused by the small mechanical disturbance upon it and therefore the output current/voltage will be produced. Typically, the passive sensor unambiguously monitors muscle motions including hand motion from stretch-clench-stretch, mouth motion from open-bite-open, blink and respiration. Moreover, this sensor records the details of the consecutive phases in a cardiac cycle of the apex cardiogram, and identify the peaks including percussion wave, tidal wave and diastolic wave of the radial pulse wave. To record subtle human physiological signals including radial pulsilogram and apex cardiogram with excellent signal/noise ratio, stability and reproducibility, the sensor shows great potential in the applications of medical diagnosis and daily health monitoring. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Evaluating Effectiveness of Modeling Motion System Feedback in the Enhanced Hess Structural Model of the Human Operator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaychik, Kirill; Cardullo, Frank; George, Gary; Kelly, Lon C.

    2009-01-01

    In order to use the Hess Structural Model to predict the need for certain cueing systems, George and Cardullo significantly expanded it by adding motion feedback to the model and incorporating models of the motion system dynamics, motion cueing algorithm and a vestibular system. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate effectiveness of these innovations by performing a comparison analysis of the model performance with and without the expanded motion feedback. The proposed methodology is composed of two stages. The first stage involves fine-tuning parameters of the original Hess structural model in order to match the actual control behavior recorded during the experiments at NASA Visual Motion Simulator (VMS) facility. The parameter tuning procedure utilizes a new automated parameter identification technique, which was developed at the Man-Machine Systems Lab at SUNY Binghamton. In the second stage of the proposed methodology, an expanded motion feedback is added to the structural model. The resulting performance of the model is then compared to that of the original one. As proposed by Hess, metrics to evaluate the performance of the models include comparison against the crossover models standards imposed on the crossover frequency and phase margin of the overall man-machine system. Preliminary results indicate the advantage of having the model of the motion system and motion cueing incorporated into the model of the human operator. It is also demonstrated that the crossover frequency and the phase margin of the expanded model are well within the limits imposed by the crossover model.

  10. Antroduodenal manometry: 24-hour ambulatory monitoring versus short-term stationary manometry in patients with functional dyspepsia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jebbink, R. J.; vanBerge-Henegouwen, G. P.; Akkermans, L. M.; Smout, A. J.

    1995-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To examine the interdigestive and postprandial antroduodenal motility patterns of patients with functional dyspepsia using prolonged ambulatory antroduodenal manometry and to compare these findings with conventional stationary manometry. METHODS: Prolonged ambulatory and short-term

  11. [Considerations on local-regional anesthesia for ambulatory tooth extractions in patients with heart disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debernardi, G; Borgogna, E

    1975-01-01

    Ambulatory dental extraction was performed on 150 patients with various forms of heart disease. No serious complications were noted with an anaesthetic without vasoconstriction (plain 3% carbocaine). The prior history was carefully studied and pressure values were determined. It is felt that heart disease does not form an absolute contraindication to ambulatory dental extraction.

  12. Anesthesia for Ambulatory Pediatric Surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Pilot Study in Burkina Faso.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabré, Yvette B; Traoré, Idriss S S; Kaboré, Flavien A R; Ki, Bertille; Traoré, Alain I; Ouédraogo, Isso; Bandré, Emile; Wandaogo, Albert; Ouédraogo, Nazinigouba

    2017-02-01

    Long surgical wait times and limited hospital capacity are common obstacles to surgical care in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Introducing ambulatory surgery might contribute to a solution to these problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of introducing ambulatory surgery into a pediatric hospital in SSA. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study that took place over 6 months. It includes all patients assigned to undergo ambulatory surgery in the Pediatric University Hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Eligibility criteria for the ambulatory surgery program included >1 year of age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) 1 status, surgery with a low risk of bleeding, lasting anesthesia with halothane. Sixty-five percent also received regional or local anesthesia consisting of caudal block in 79.23% or nerve block in 20.77%. The average duration of surgery was 33 ± 17.47 minutes. No intraoperative complications were noted. All the patients received acetaminophen and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in the recovery room. Twelve (11.7%) patients had complications in recovery, principally nausea and vomiting. Eight (7.8%) patients were admitted to the hospital. No serious complications were associated with ambulatory surgery. Its introduction could possibly be a solution to improving pediatric surgical access in low-income countries.

  13. A Motion System for Social and Animated Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelle Saldien

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an innovative motion system that is used to control the motions and animations of a social robot. The social robot Probo is used to study Human-Robot Interactions (HRI, with a special focus on Robot Assisted Therapy (RAT. When used for therapy it is important that a social robot is able to create an “illusion of life” so as to become a believable character that can communicate with humans. The design of the motion system in this paper is based on insights from the animation industry. It combines operator-controlled animations with low-level autonomous reactions such as attention and emotional state. The motion system has a Combination Engine, which combines motion commands that are triggered by a human operator with motions that originate from different units of the cognitive control architecture of the robot. This results in an interactive robot that seems alive and has a certain degree of “likeability”. The Godspeed Questionnaire Series is used to evaluate the animacy and likeability of the robot in China, Romania and Belgium.

  14. Cognitive assessment on elderly people under ambulatory care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruna Zortea

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate the cognitive state of elderly people under ambulatory care and investigating the connection between such cognitive state and sociodemographic variables, health conditions, number of and adhesion to medicine. Methods: transversal, exploratory, and descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, realized with 107 elderly people under ambulatory care in a university hospital in southern Brazil, in november, 2013. The following variables were used: gender, age, civil status, income, schooling, occupation, preexisting noncommunicable diseases, number and type of prescribed medications, adhesion, mini-mental state examination score, and cognitive status. Data was analyzed through inferential and descriptive statistics. Results: the prevalence of cognitive deficit was of 42.1% and had a statistically significant connection to schooling, income, civil status, hypertension, and cardiopathy. Conclusion: nurses can intervene to avoid the increase of cognitive deficit through an assessment of the elderly person, directed to facilitative strategies to soften this deficit.

  15. Ambulatory Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, Ryan W; Wycoff, Andrea M; Trull, Timothy J

    2016-08-01

    In recent years, significant technological advances have changed our understanding of dynamic processes in clinical psychology. A particularly important agent of change has been ambulatory assessment (AA). AA is the assessment of individuals in their daily lives, combining the twin benefits of increased ecological validity and minimized retrospective biases. These benefits make AA particularly well-suited to the assessment of dynamic processes, and recent advancements in technology are providing exciting new opportunities to understand these processes in new ways. In the current article, we briefly detail the capabilities currently offered by smartphones and mobile physiological devices, as well as some of the practical and ethical challenges of incorporating these new technologies into AA research. We then provide several examples of recent innovative applications of AA methodology in clinical research, assessment, and intervention and provide a case example of AA data generated from a study utilizing multiple mobile devices. In this way, we aim to provide a sense of direction for researchers planning AA studies of their own.

  16. Nutritional status of adults participating in ambulatory rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Supreet; Miller, Michelle D; Halbert, Julie; Giles, Lynne C; Crotty, Maria

    2008-01-01

    To assess the overall nutritional status of older adults participating in ambulatory rehabilitation and determine its association with relevant outcomes including physical function and quality of life. Cross-sectional. Ambulatory rehabilitation service in the Southern region of Adelaide, Australia. A total of 229 participants recruited as part of a RCT between June 2005 and June 2006, stroke (n=83), elective orthopedic procedure (n=44) and other medical condition (n=102). Nutritional status was measured using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Simplified Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) and Body Mass Index. Functional performance was assessed using the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and quality of life was measured using the Short Form-36 (SF-36). Sixty-three percent of participants were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition according to the MNA and a third had a risk of >or= 5% weight loss in the subsequent six months, according to the SNAQ. Participants with a diagnosis other than stroke or elective orthopedic procedure were the most vulnerable, with 53% (n=74/140) classified as at risk of malnutrition or malnourished and a longer length of stay in hospital. Functional performance was no different for participants assessed as at risk of malnutrition or malnourished compared to the well nourished, but the SF-36 mental component score was significantly higher for those who were well nourished (p=0.003). Findings emphasise the magnitude of the malnutrition problem in ambulatory rehabilitation settings. Further research is required to evaluate the resource implications against expected benefits of providing nutrition interventions at this point.

  17. Energy harvesting from human motion: exploiting swing and shock excitations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ylli, K; Hoffmann, D; Willmann, A; Becker, P; Folkmer, B; Manoli, Y

    2015-01-01

    Modern compact and low power sensors and systems are leading towards increasingly integrated wearable systems. One key bottleneck of this technology is the power supply. The use of energy harvesting techniques offers a way of supplying sensor systems without the need for batteries and maintenance. In this work we present the development and characterization of two inductive energy harvesters which exploit different characteristics of the human gait. A multi-coil topology harvester is presented which uses the swing motion of the foot. The second device is a shock-type harvester which is excited into resonance upon heel strike. Both devices were modeled and designed with the key constraint of device height in mind, in order to facilitate the integration into the shoe sole. The devices were characterized under different motion speeds and with two test subjects on a treadmill. An average power output of up to 0.84 mW is achieved with the swing harvester. With a total device volume including the housing of 21 cm 3 a power density of 40 μW cm −3 results. The shock harvester generates an average power output of up to 4.13 mW. The power density amounts to 86 μW cm −3 for the total device volume of 48 cm 3 . Difficulties and potential improvements are discussed briefly. (paper)

  18. Wait watchers: the application of a waiting list active management program in ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Belvis, Antonio Giulio; Marino, Marta; Avolio, Maria; Pelone, Ferruccio; Basso, Danila; Dei Tos, Gian Antonio; Cinquetti, Sandro; Ricciardi, Walter

    2013-04-01

    This study describes and evaluates the application of a waiting list management program in ambulatory care. Waiting list active management survey (telephone call and further contact); before and after controlled trial. Local Health Trust in Veneto Region (North-East of Italy) in 2008-09. Five hundred and one people on a 554 waiting list for C Class ambulatory care diagnostic and/or clinical investigations (electrocardiography plus cardiology ambulatory consultation, eye ambulatory consultation, carotid vessels Eco-color-Doppler, legs Eco-color-Doppler or colonoscopy, respectively). Active list management program consisting of a telephonic interview on 21 items to evaluate socioeconomic features, self-perceived health status, social support, referral physician, accessibility and patients' satisfaction. A controlled before-and-after study was performed to evaluate anonymously the overall impact on patients' self-perceived quality of care. The rate of patients with deteriorating healthcare conditions; rate of dropout; interviewed degree of satisfaction about the initiative; overall impact on citizens' perceived quality of care. 95.4% patients evaluated the initiative as useful. After the intervention, patients more likely to have been targeted with the program showed a statistically significant increase in self-reported quality of care. Positive impact of the program on some dimensions of ambulatory care quality (health status, satisfaction, willingness to remain in the queue), thus confirming the outstanding value of 'not to leave people alone' and 'not to leave them feeling themselves alone' in healthcare delivery.

  19. [Ambulatory pediatrics: a challenge].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ransy, V; Gevers, B; Landsberg, M

    2006-01-01

    Ambulatory paediatrics in University hospitals has remarkably evolved during the past decade, along with technological progress and the current need for undelayed information and attention; demand for hospital medical advice increases consequently, either directly in outpatients wards or indirectly by phone or e-mails. Specific medico-social aspects linked essentially to populations' migration, poverty, chronic stress and family splitting are regularly encountered. Hospital architecture and adequacy of medical and nursing staff must both be adjusted to these changing medical demands including medical teaching. We now face the ever-growing challenge of providing an adequate management of actual medico-psycho-social aspects and integrating up-to-date paediatrics in our daily practices.

  20. Participation restrictions in ambulatory amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: Physical and psychological factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Groenestijn, Annerieke C; Schröder, Carin D; Kruitwagen-Van Reenen, Esther T; Van Den Berg, Leonard H; Visser-Meily, Johanna M A

    2017-11-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of participation restrictions in ambulatory patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to identify physical and psychological contributory factors. In this cross-sectional study, self-reported participation restrictions of 72 ambulatory ALS patients were assessed using the social health status dimension (SIPSOC) of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP-68). Associations between SIPSOC and physical functioning, psychological factors, and demographic factors were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses. Ninety-two percent of the patients reported participation restrictions; 54.9% could be explained by physical functioning; psychological factors accounted for 8.1% of the variance. Lung capacity, functional mobility, fatigue, and helplessness were independently associated with participation restrictions. Ambulatory ALS patients have participation restrictions, which may be influenced if early ALS care is directed toward lung capacity, functional mobility, fatigue, and feelings of helplessness. Muscle Nerve 56: 912-918, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Compensatory movements during functional activities in ambulatory children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joyce Martini

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: During the transitional phase (ambulatory to non-ambulatory, synergies characterize the evolution of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD. This study was performed to describe and quantify compensatory movements while sitting down on/rising from the floor and climbing up/down steps. Method: Eighty videos (5 children × 4 assessments × 4 tasks were recorded quarterly in the year prior to gait loss. Compensatory movements from the videos were registered based on the Functional Evaluation Scale for DMD. Results: The most frequently observed compensatory movements were upper limb support on lower limbs/floor/handrail during all the tasks and lumbar hyperlordosis, trunk support on handrail, equinus foot, increased base of support, non-alternated descent, and pauses while climbing up/down steps. Conclusion: Climbing up/down steps showed a higher number of compensatory movements than sitting down on/rising from the floor, which seemed to be lost before climbing up/down steps in ambulatory children with DMD.

  2. Motion of the surface of the human tympanic membrane measured with stroboscopic holography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jeffrey Tao; Aarnisalo, Antti A.; Harrington, Ellery; Hernandez-Montes, Maria del Socorro; Furlong, Cosme; Merchant, Saumil N.; Rosowski, John J.

    2010-01-01

    Sound-induced motion of the surface of the human tympanic membrane (TM) was studied by stroboscopic holographic interferometery, which measures the amplitude and phase of the displacement at each of about 40000 points on the surface of the TM. Measurements were made with tonal stimuli of 0.5, 1, 4 and 8 kHz. The magnitude and phase of the sinusoidal displacement of the TM at each driven frequency were derived from the fundamental Fourier component of the raw displacement data computed from stroboscopic holograms of the TM recorded at eight stimulus phases. The correlation between the Fourier estimates and measured motion data was generally above 0.9 over the entire TM surface. We used three data presentations: (i) Plots of the phasic displacements along a single chord across the surface of the TM, (ii) Phasic surface maps of the displacement of the entire TM surface, and (iii) Plots of the Fourier derived amplitude and phase-angle of the surface displacement along four diameter lines that define and bisect each of the four quadrants of the TM. These displays led to some common conclusions: At 0.5 and 1 kHz, the entire TM moved roughly in-phase with some small phase delay apparent between local areas of maximal displacement in the posterior half of the TM. At 4 and 8 kHz, the motion of the TM became more complicated with multiple local displacement maxima arranged in rings around the manubrium. The displacements at most of these maxima were roughly in-phase, while some moved out-of-phase. Superposed on this in- and out-of-phase behavior were significant cyclic variations in phase with location of less than 0.2 cycles or occasionally rapid half-cycle step-like changes in phase. The high frequency displacement amplitude and phase maps discovered in this study can not be explained by any single wave motion, but are consistent with a combination of low and higher order modal motions plus some small traveling-wave-like components. The observations of the dynamics of TM

  3. Ambulatory surgery center market share and rates of outpatient surgery in the elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollenbeck, Brent K; Hollingsworth, John M; Dunn, Rodney L; Zaojun Ye; Birkmeyer, John D

    2010-12-01

    Relative to outpatient surgery in hospital settings, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are more efficient and associated with a lower cost per case. However, these facilities may also spur higher overall procedure utilization and thus lead to greater overall health care costs. The authors used the State Ambulatory Surgery Database from the State of Florida to identify Medicare-aged patients undergoing 4 common ambulatory procedures in 2006, including knee arthroscopy, cystoscopy, cataract removal, and colonoscopy. Hospital service areas (HSAs) were characterized according to ASC market share, that is, the proportion of residents undergoing outpatient surgery in these facilities. The authors then examined relationships between ASC market share and rates of each procedure. Age-adjusted rates of ambulatory surgery ranged from 190.5 cases per 1000 to 320.8 cases per 1000 in HSAs with low and high ASC market shares, respectively (P market share. The greatest difference, both in relative and absolute terms, was observed for patients undergoing cystoscopy. In areas of high ASC market share, the age-adjusted rate of cystoscopy was nearly 3-fold higher than in areas with low ASC market share (34.5 vs 11.9 per 1000 population; P elderly. Whether ASCs are meeting unmet clinical demand or spurring overutilization is not clear.

  4. 75 FR 78246 - Medicare Program; Re-Chartering of the Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-15

    ...] Medicare Program; Re-Chartering of the Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) Groups... announces the re-chartering of the Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) Groups (the... (APC) groups and their associated weights established under the Medicare hospital Outpatient...

  5. Tuning for temporal interval in human apparent motion detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bours, Roger J E; Stuur, Sanne; Lankheet, Martin J M

    2007-01-08

    Detection of apparent motion in random dot patterns requires correlation across time and space. It has been difficult to study the temporal requirements for the correlation step because motion detection also depends on temporal filtering preceding correlation and on integration at the next levels. To specifically study tuning for temporal interval in the correlation step, we performed an experiment in which prefiltering and postintegration were held constant and in which we used a motion stimulus containing coherent motion for a single interval value only. The stimulus consisted of a sparse random dot pattern in which each dot was presented in two frames only, separated by a specified interval. On each frame, half of the dots were refreshed and the other half was a displaced reincarnation of the pattern generated one or several frames earlier. Motion energy statistics in such a stimulus do not vary from frame to frame, and the directional bias in spatiotemporal correlations is similar for different interval settings. We measured coherence thresholds for left-right direction discrimination by varying motion coherence levels in a Quest staircase procedure, as a function of both step size and interval. Results show that highest sensitivity was found for an interval of 17-42 ms, irrespective of viewing distance. The falloff at longer intervals was much sharper than previously described. Tuning for temporal interval was largely, but not completely, independent of step size. The optimal temporal interval slightly decreased with increasing step size. Similarly, the optimal step size decreased with increasing temporal interval.

  6. Biofilm antifungal susceptibility of Candida urine isolated from ambulatory patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Débora da Luz Becker

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: the association between the biofilm formations an antifungal resistance has been suggested to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of several Candida species. Besides, studies have included invasive candidiasis from hospitalized patients; however there are few studies that evaluated the species distribution, antifungal susceptibility and biofilm formation of Candida species isolated from ambulatory patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether biofilm producing contributes to antifungal resistance in Candida isolates from urine sample obtained from ambulatory patients. Methods: During one year, 25 urine samples positive for yeast were collected, stored and plated on agar supplemented with chloramphenicol and Sabouread left at room temperature for 5 days for subsequent: 52% (13/25 were C. albicans, 36% (9/25 C. tropicalis, 8% (2/25 C. krusei and 4% (1/25 C. parapsilosis. Results: The ability to form biofilm was detected in 23 (92% of the yeast studied and 15.4% (2/13 of C. albicans were fluconazole (FLU and ketoconazole (KET resistant, while 11.1% (1/9 of C. tropicalis were ketoconazole resistant and were anidulafungin (ANI non-susceptible. Conclusion: our results showed the high capacity for biofilm formation among Candida isolates from ambulatory patients.

  7. Watsu approach for improving spasticity and ambulatory function in hemiparetic patients with stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chon, Seung Chul; Oh, Duck Won; Shim, Jae Hun

    2009-06-01

    This study reports the effect of Watsu as rehabilitation method for hemiparetic patients with stroke. Watsu consisted of 40 treatment sessions for 8 weeks, delivered underwater or at water surface level, it applied in three patients. Outcome measures included tools for assessing spasticity and ambulatory function. All patients showed decreased scores in the TAS and RVGA after Watsu application. Watsu was helpful in controlling spasticity and improving ambulatory function of the patients with hemiparesis.

  8. The Influences of Arm Resist Motion on a CAR Crash Test Using Hybrid III Dummy with Human-Like Arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yongchul; Youm, Youngil; Bae, Hanil; Choi, Hyeonki

    Safety of the occupant during the crash is very essential design element. Many researches have been investigated in reducing the fatal injury of occupant. They are focusing on the development of a dummy in order to obtain the real human-like motion. However, they have not considered the arm resist motion during the car accident. In this study, we would like to suggest the importance of the reactive force of the arm in a car crash. The influences of reactive force acting on the human upper extremity were investigated using the impedance experimental method with lumped mass model of hand system and a Hybrid III dummy with human-like arm. Impedance parameters (e.g. inertia, spring constant and damping coefficient) of the elbow joint in maximum activation level were measured by free oscillation test using single axis robot. The results showed that without seat belt, the reactive force of human arm reduced the head, chest, and femur injury, and the flexion moment of the neck is higher than that of the conventional dummy.

  9. Significant Change Spotting for Periodic Human Motion Segmentation of Cleaning Tasks Using Wearable Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai-Chun Liu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The proportion of the aging population is rapidly increasing around the world, which will cause stress on society and healthcare systems. In recent years, advances in technology have created new opportunities for automatic activities of daily living (ADL monitoring to improve the quality of life and provide adequate medical service for the elderly. Such automatic ADL monitoring requires reliable ADL information on a fine-grained level, especially for the status of interaction between body gestures and the environment in the real-world. In this work, we propose a significant change spotting mechanism for periodic human motion segmentation during cleaning task performance. A novel approach is proposed based on the search for a significant change of gestures, which can manage critical technical issues in activity recognition, such as continuous data segmentation, individual variance, and category ambiguity. Three typical machine learning classification algorithms are utilized for the identification of the significant change candidate, including a Support Vector Machine (SVM, k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN, and Naive Bayesian (NB algorithm. Overall, the proposed approach achieves 96.41% in the F1-score by using the SVM classifier. The results show that the proposed approach can fulfill the requirement of fine-grained human motion segmentation for automatic ADL monitoring.

  10. 3D pose estimation and motion analysis of the articulated human hand-forearm limb in an industrial production environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Markus; Barrois, Björn; Krüger, Lars; Wöhler, Christian; Sagerer, Gerhard; Kummert, Franz

    2010-09-01

    This study introduces an approach to model-based 3D pose estimation and instantaneous motion analysis of the human hand-forearm limb in the application context of safe human-robot interaction. 3D pose estimation is performed using two approaches: The Multiocular Contracting Curve Density (MOCCD) algorithm is a top-down technique based on pixel statistics around a contour model projected into the images from several cameras. The Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm is a bottom-up approach which uses a motion-attributed 3D point cloud to estimate the object pose. Due to their orthogonal properties, a fusion of these algorithms is shown to be favorable. The fusion is performed by a weighted combination of the extracted pose parameters in an iterative manner. The analysis of object motion is based on the pose estimation result and the motion-attributed 3D points belonging to the hand-forearm limb using an extended constraint-line approach which does not rely on any temporal filtering. A further refinement is obtained using the Shape Flow algorithm, a temporal extension of the MOCCD approach, which estimates the temporal pose derivative based on the current and the two preceding images, corresponding to temporal filtering with a short response time of two or at most three frames. Combining the results of the two motion estimation stages provides information about the instantaneous motion properties of the object. Experimental investigations are performed on real-world image sequences displaying several test persons performing different working actions typically occurring in an industrial production scenario. In all example scenes, the background is cluttered, and the test persons wear various kinds of clothes. For evaluation, independently obtained ground truth data are used. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  11. Ambulatory diffuse optical tomography and multimodality physiological monitoring system for muscle and exercise applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Gang; Zhang, Quan; Ivkovic, Vladimir; Strangman, Gary E.

    2016-09-01

    Ambulatory diffuse optical tomography (aDOT) is based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and enables three-dimensional imaging of regional hemodynamics and oxygen consumption during a person's normal activities. Although NIRS has been previously used for muscle assessment, it has been notably limited in terms of the number of channels measured, the extent to which subjects can be ambulatory, and/or the ability to simultaneously acquire synchronized auxiliary data such as electromyography (EMG) or electrocardiography (ECG). We describe the development of a prototype aDOT system, called NINscan-M, capable of ambulatory tomographic imaging as well as simultaneous auxiliary multimodal physiological monitoring. Powered by four AA size batteries and weighing 577 g, the NINscan-M prototype can synchronously record 64-channel NIRS imaging data, eight channels of EMG, ECG, or other analog signals, plus force, acceleration, rotation, and temperature for 24+ h at up to 250 Hz. We describe the system's design, characterization, and performance characteristics. We also describe examples of isometric, cycle ergometer, and free-running ambulatory exercise to demonstrate tomographic imaging at 25 Hz. NINscan-M represents a multiuse tool for muscle physiology studies as well as clinical muscle assessment.

  12. Interactive motion-controlled games in the neurorehabilitation of adult post-stroke patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emilia Mikołajewska

    2015-08-01

    Emilia Mikołajewska Rehabilitation Clinic Military Clinical Hospital No. 10 and Polyclinic Bydgoszcz, Poland e-mail: e.mikolajewska@wp.pl, emiliam@cm.umk.pl www: http://emikolajewska.netstrefa.eu   Keywords: neurorehabilitation; physiotherapy; stroke; neurological deficit; therapeutic game.   Abstract   Despite efforts of scientists and clinicians stroke still constitutes one of the major causes of disability worldwide. Motion-controlled video games become increasingly common adjunct to the traditional physical therapy. Such games are usually available, low-cost, fun, and functional ways to increase everyday treatment possibilities, both in hospital, ambulatory and home settings. Research and scientific publications concerning this issue are still rare. Assessment how interactive motion-controlled games can be incorporated into current guidelines of the eclectic approach within neurorehabilitation of adult post-stroke survivors is key issue within contemporary neurorehabilitation of adults. Complementary use of such games may constitute another breakthrough both in in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation and care. This review aims at potential of aforementioned solutions and modalities for the rehabilitation of function in cases of stroke.

  13. Pilot study on real-time motion detection in UAS video data by human observer and image exploitation algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hild, Jutta; Krüger, Wolfgang; Brüstle, Stefan; Trantelle, Patrick; Unmüßig, Gabriel; Voit, Michael; Heinze, Norbert; Peinsipp-Byma, Elisabeth; Beyerer, Jürgen

    2017-05-01

    Real-time motion video analysis is a challenging and exhausting task for the human observer, particularly in safety and security critical domains. Hence, customized video analysis systems providing functions for the analysis of subtasks like motion detection or target tracking are welcome. While such automated algorithms relieve the human operators from performing basic subtasks, they impose additional interaction duties on them. Prior work shows that, e.g., for interaction with target tracking algorithms, a gaze-enhanced user interface is beneficial. In this contribution, we present an investigation on interaction with an independent motion detection (IDM) algorithm. Besides identifying an appropriate interaction technique for the user interface - again, we compare gaze-based and traditional mouse-based interaction - we focus on the benefit an IDM algorithm might provide for an UAS video analyst. In a pilot study, we exposed ten subjects to the task of moving target detection in UAS video data twice, once performing with automatic support, once performing without it. We compare the two conditions considering performance in terms of effectiveness (correct target selections). Additionally, we report perceived workload (measured using the NASA-TLX questionnaire) and user satisfaction (measured using the ISO 9241-411 questionnaire). The results show that a combination of gaze input and automated IDM algorithm provides valuable support for the human observer, increasing the number of correct target selections up to 62% and reducing workload at the same time.

  14. Ambulatory surgery and anaesthesia in HUKM, a teaching hospital in Malaysia: the first two years experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norsidah, A M; Yahya, N; Adeeb, N; Lim, A L

    2001-03-01

    Ambulatory or day care surgery is still in its infancy in this part of the world. Our newly built university affiliated hospital started its Day Surgery Centre in February 1998. It is the first multidisciplinary ambulatory surgery centre in a teaching hospital in the country. It caters for Orthopaedic surgery, Urology, Plastic surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, General surgery, Paediatric surgery and Ophthalmology. We have done 2,604 cases and our unanticipated admission rate is less than 2%. There has been no major morbidity or mortality. The problems of setting up a multidisciplinary ambulatory centre in a teaching hospital are discussed.

  15. Nutritional status and food habits of drug addicts in an ambulatory treatment

    OpenAIRE

    Ferreira, Isadora Borne; Paiva, Camila Bosse; Narvaez, Joana Corrêa de Magalhães; Bosa, Vera Lucia

    2015-01-01

    Objetivo: Identificar o estado nutricional e hábitos alimentares de pacientes masculinos em recuperação de dependência química em acompanhamento ambulatorial de uma unidade de adição. Métodos: Estudo transversal com 25 pacientes adultos em tratamento ambulatorial para dependência química. Foram aferidos parâmetros antropométricos (peso, estatura, circunferência da cintura e índice de massa corporal) e de composição corporal (bioimpedância elétrica), e foram investigados hábitos alimentares (Q...

  16. A Single Camera Motion Capture System for Human-Computer Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okada, Ryuzo; Stenger, Björn

    This paper presents a method for markerless human motion capture using a single camera. It uses tree-based filtering to efficiently propagate a probability distribution over poses of a 3D body model. The pose vectors and associated shapes are arranged in a tree, which is constructed by hierarchical pairwise clustering, in order to efficiently evaluate the likelihood in each frame. Anew likelihood function based on silhouette matching is proposed that improves the pose estimation of thinner body parts, i. e. the limbs. The dynamic model takes self-occlusion into account by increasing the variance of occluded body-parts, thus allowing for recovery when the body part reappears. We present two applications of our method that work in real-time on a Cell Broadband Engine™: a computer game and a virtual clothing application.

  17. Kinematics and Dynamics of Motion Control Based on Acceleration Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohishi, Kiyoshi; Ohba, Yuzuru; Katsura, Seiichiro

    The first IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control was held in 1990 pointed out the importance of physical interpretation of motion control. The software servoing technology is now common in machine tools, robotics, and mechatronics. It has been intensively developed for the numerical control (NC) machines. Recently, motion control in unknown environment will be more and more important. Conventional motion control is not always suitable due to the lack of adaptive capability to the environment. A more sophisticated ability in motion control is necessary for compliant contact with environment. Acceleration control is the key technology of motion control in unknown environment. The acceleration control can make a motion system to be a zero control stiffness system without losing the robustness. Furthermore, a realization of multi-degree-of-freedom motion is necessary for future human assistance. A human assistant motion will require various control stiffness corresponding to the task. The review paper focuses on the modal coordinate system to integrate the various control stiffness in the virtual axes. A bilateral teleoperation is a good candidate to consider the future human assistant motion and integration of decentralized systems. Thus the paper reviews and discusses the bilateral teleoperation from the control stiffness and the modal control design points of view.

  18. Difficult airway management of children in ambulatory anesthesia: challenges and solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huang AS

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Andrea S Huang,1 Lindsey Rutland,2 John Hajduk,1 Narasimhan Jagannathan1,2 1Department of Pediatric Anesthesia, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 2Department of Anesthesiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract: As the field of pediatric ambulatory anesthesia expands, anesthesiologists can anticipate encountering an increasing number of patients with expected and unexpected difficult airways. This unique setting and patient population both present challenges in making a decision whether and how to safely proceed in the case of a child with a difficult airway. A host of patient, provider, procedure, and facility-specific factors should be considered. Providers should understand the differences between the pediatric and adult airway, recognize common features and syndromes associated with difficult airways, and be comfortable with different airway equipment and techniques available in the ambulatory setting. Early anticipation, a comprehensive patient assessment, and a clear decision-making algorithm with multiple airway management plans are all critical in safely and effectively managing these patients. These issues and recommendations will be discussed in this comprehensive narrative review. Keywords: difficult airway, pediatrics, ambulatory surgery, airway devices, children

  19. Ambulatory Healthcare Utilization in the United States: A System Dynamics Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaz, Rafael; Behr, Joshua G.; Tulpule, Mandar

    2011-01-01

    Ambulatory health care needs within the United States are served by a wide range of hospitals, clinics, and private practices. The Emergency Department (ED) functions as an important point of supply for ambulatory healthcare services. Growth in our aging populations as well as changes stemming from broader healthcare reform are expected to continue trend in congestion and increasing demand for ED services. While congestion is, in part, a manifestation of unmatched demand, the state of the alignment between the demand for, and supply of, emergency department services affects quality of care and profitability. The central focus of this research is to provide an explanation of the salient factors at play within the dynamic demand-supply tensions within which ambulatory care is provided within an Emergency Department. A System Dynamics (SO) simulation model is used to capture the complexities among the intricate balance and conditional effects at play within the demand-supply emergency department environment. Conceptual clarification of the forces driving the elements within the system , quantifying these elements, and empirically capturing the interaction among these elements provides actionable knowledge for operational and strategic decision-making.

  20. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and microalbuminuria in normotensive subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cohen Cesar Nissan

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between microalbuminuria with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in normotensive individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Thirty-seven patients underwent determination of the rate of urinary excretion of albumin through radioimmunoassay and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Their mean age was 26.5±6.7 years, and the mean duration of their disease was 8 (1-34 years. Microalbuminuria was defined as urinary excretion of albumin > or = 20 and 50% and diastolic pressure load > 30% during sleep was associated with microalbuminuria (p=0.008. The pressure drop during sleep did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSION: Microalbuminuric normotensive insulin-dependent diabetic patients show greater mean pressure value and pressure load during ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and these variables correlate with urinary excretion of albumin.

  1. A syphilis co-infection study in human papilloma virus patients attended in the sexually transmitted infection ambulatory clinic, Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lúcia Maria de Sena Souza

    Full Text Available Despite the prevalence of syphilis worldwide, little is known about its manifestations when associated with other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI, specifically the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV. Current epidemiological studies show that there is a high incidence of both diseases in ambulatory clinics all over Brazil. This study aims to estimate the incidence of syphilis - HPV co-infections, among patients from the STI ambulatory clinic at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia Hospital, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two-hundred and seven patients were seen in the clinic between March and December 2005, of which 113 (54.6% sought care for an HPV infection. Blood samples were taken from all patients to check syphilis serology using the flocculation and the non-treponemic test or VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory and the TPHA (Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay treponemic and confirmatory method. Of the 207 patients, 113 (54.6% consulted referring to HPV as their primary complaint, and of these, 18 (15.9% also presented with positive syphilis serology, demonstrating a high incidence of coinfection. The average age of the patients varied between 20 and 25 years, 203 (98.1% were male and 4 (1.9% were female. The predominance of the male sex in this sample confirms the profile usually treated in STI clinics across the country, and the age range is that of typically high sexually activity. Conclusion: The results demonstrated the need for a differentiated examination of all STD patients.

  2. Ambulatory assessment of human body kinematics and kinetics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schepers, H. Martin

    2009-01-01

    Traditional human movement analysis systems consist of an optical position measurement system with one or more 6D force plates mounted in a laboratory. Although clinically accepted as `the golden standard' for the assessment of human movement, the restriction to a laboratory environment with its

  3. New antithrombotic agents in the ambulatory setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbs, Neville M; Weightman, William M; Watts, Stephen A

    2014-12-01

    Many patients presenting for surgical or other procedures in an ambulatory setting are taking new antiplatelet or anticoagulant agents. This review assesses how the novel features of these new agents affect the management of antithrombotic therapy in the ambulatory setting. There have been very few studies investigating the relative risks of continuing or ceasing new antithrombotic agents. Recent reviews indicate that the new antithrombotic agents offer greater efficacy or ease of administration but are more difficult to monitor or reverse. They emphasize the importance of assessing the bleeding risk of the procedure, the thrombotic risk if the agent is ceased, and patient factors that increase the likelihood of bleeding. The timing of cessation of the agent, if required, depends on its pharmacokinetics and patients' bleeding risks. Patients at high risk of thrombotic complications may require bridging therapy. Once agreed upon, the perioperative plan should be made clear to all involved. As there are few clinical studies to guide management, clinicians must make rational decisions in relation to continuing or ceasing new antithrombotic agents. This requires knowledge of their pharmacokinetics, and a careful multidisciplinary assessment of the relative thrombotic and bleeding risks in individual patients.

  4. Attitude of clinical faculty members in Shiraz Medical University towards private practice physicians' participation in ambulatory care education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khatereh Mahori

    2002-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: Improvement of medical education is necessary for meeting health care demands. Participation of private practice physicians in ambulatory care training is an effective method for enhancing medical students' skills. Purpose This study was undertaken to determine clinical professors' views about participation of physicians with private office in ambulatory care training. Methods: Participants composed of 162 Shiraz Medical University faculty members from 12 disciplines. A questionnaire requesting faculty members' views on different aspects of ambulat01y care teaching and interaction of community-based organizations was distributed. Results: Of 120 (74.1% respondents, 64 (54.2% believed that clinical settings of medical university are appropriate for ambulatory care training. Private practice physicians believed more than academic physicians without private office that private offices have wider range of patients, more common cases, and better follow up chance; and is also a better setting for learning ambulatory care compared with medical university clinical centers. Overall, 32 (29.1% respondent’s found the participation of physicians with private practice on medical education positive. Key words medical education, ambulatory medicine, private practice

  5. Cross-sensory facilitation reveals neural interactions between visual and tactile motion in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica eGori

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Many recent studies show that the human brain integrates information across the different senses and that stimuli of one sensory modality can enhance the perception of other modalities. Here we study the processes that mediate cross-modal facilitation and summation between visual and tactile motion. We find that while summation produced a generic, non-specific improvement of thresholds, probably reflecting higher-order interaction of decision signals, facilitation reveals a strong, direction-specific interaction, which we believe reflects sensory interactions. We measured visual and tactile velocity discrimination thresholds over a wide range of base velocities and conditions. Thresholds for both visual and tactile stimuli showed the characteristic dipper function, with the minimum thresholds occurring at a given pedestal speed. When visual and tactile coherent stimuli were combined (summation condition the thresholds for these multi-sensory stimuli also showed a dipper function with the minimum thresholds occurring in a similar range to that for unisensory signals. However, the improvement of multisensory thresholds was weak and not directionally specific, well predicted by the maximum likelihood estimation model (agreeing with previous research. A different technique (facilitation did, however, reveal direction-specific enhancement. Adding a non-informative pedestal motion stimulus in one sensory modality (vision or touch selectively lowered thresholds in the other, by the same amount as pedestals in the same modality. Facilitation did not occur for neutral stimuli like sounds (that would also have reduced temporal uncertainty, nor for motion in opposite direction, even in blocked trials where the subjects knew that the motion was in the opposite direction showing that the facilitation was not under subject control. Cross-sensory facilitation is strong evidence for functionally relevant cross-sensory integration at early levels of sensory

  6. Patient Satisfaction with Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-02-01

    few are going to opt to change health plans. 14. SUBJECT TERMS PATIENT SATISFACTION; CONSUMER SATISFACTION; SURVEY 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 57 16...to address is overall patient satisfaction with Kimbrough’s current health care system. I surveyed customers on: how satisfied or dissatisfied they...research project was designed to determine how satisfied customers are with Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center. A patient satisfaction survey developed by

  7. Visual-vestibular interaction in motion perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hosman, Ruud J A W; Cardullo, Frank M.; Bos, Jelte E.

    2011-01-01

    Correct perception of self motion is of vital importance for both the control of our position and posture when moving around in our environment. With the development of human controlled vehicles as bicycles, cars and aircraft motion perception became of interest for the understanding of vehicle

  8. Electronic health record "super-users" and "under-users" in ambulatory care practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumball-Smith, Juliet; Shekelle, Paul; Damberg, Cheryl L

    2018-01-01

    This study explored variation in the extent of use of electronic health record (EHR)-based health information technology (IT) functionalities across US ambulatory care practices. Use of health IT functionalities in ambulatory care is important for delivering high-quality care, including that provided in coordination with multiple practitioners. We used data from the 2014 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics survey. The responses of 30,123 ambulatory practices with an operational EHR were analyzed to examine the extent of use of EHR-based health IT functionalities for each practice. We created a novel framework for classifying ambulatory care practices employing 7 domains of health IT functionality. Drawing from the survey responses, we created a composite "use" variable indicating the extent of health IT functionality use across these domains. "Super-user" practices were defined as having near-full employment of the 7 domains of health IT functionalities and "under-users" as those with minimal or no use of health IT functionalities. We used multivariable logistic regression to investigate how the odds of super-use and under-use varied by practice size, type, urban or rural location, and geographic region. Seventy-three percent of practices were not using EHR technologies to their full capability, and nearly 40% were classified as under-users. Under-user practices were more likely to be of smaller size, situated in the West, and located outside a metropolitan area. To achieve the broader benefits of the EHR and health IT, health systems and policy makers need to identify and address barriers to full use of health IT functionalities.

  9. Impact of Sliding Window Length in Indoor Human Motion Modes and Pose Pattern Recognition Based on Smartphone Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaojing Wang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Human activity recognition (HAR is essential for understanding people’s habits and behaviors, providing an important data source for precise marketing and research in psychology and sociology. Different approaches have been proposed and applied to HAR. Data segmentation using a sliding window is a basic step during the HAR procedure, wherein the window length directly affects recognition performance. However, the window length is generally randomly selected without systematic study. In this study, we examined the impact of window length on smartphone sensor-based human motion and pose pattern recognition. With data collected from smartphone sensors, we tested a range of window lengths on five popular machine-learning methods: decision tree, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor, Gaussian naïve Bayesian, and adaptive boosting. From the results, we provide recommendations for choosing the appropriate window length. Results corroborate that the influence of window length on the recognition of motion modes is significant but largely limited to pose pattern recognition. For motion mode recognition, a window length between 2.5–3.5 s can provide an optimal tradeoff between recognition performance and speed. Adaptive boosting outperformed the other methods. For pose pattern recognition, 0.5 s was enough to obtain a satisfactory result. In addition, all of the tested methods performed well.

  10. Collaborative Care in Ambulatory Psychiatry: Content Analysis of Consultations to a Psychiatric Pharmacist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotlib, Dorothy; Bostwick, Jolene R.; Calip, Seema; Perelstein, Elizabeth; Kurlander, Jacob E.; Fluent, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Objectives To determine the volume and nature (or topic) of consultations submitted to a psychiatric pharmacist embedded in an ambulatory psychiatry clinic, within a tertiary care academic medical center and to increase our understanding about the ways in which providers consult with an available psychiatric pharmacist. Experimental Design Authors analyze and describe the ambulatory psychiatric pharmacist consultation log at an academic ambulatory clinic. All consultation questions were submitted between July 2012 and October 2014. Principal Observations Psychiatry residents, attending physicians, and advanced practice nurse practitioners submitted 280 primary questions. The most common consultation questions from providers consulted were related to drug-drug interactions (n =70), drug formulations/dosing (n =48), adverse effects (n =43), and pharmacokinetics/lab monitoring/cross-tapering (n =36). Conclusions This is a preliminary analysis that provides information about how psychiatry residents, attending physicians, and advanced practice nurse practitioners at our health system utilize a psychiatric pharmacist. This collaborative relationship may have implications for the future of psychiatric care delivery. PMID:28936009

  11. Collaborative Care in Ambulatory Psychiatry: Content Analysis of Consultations to a Psychiatric Pharmacist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotlib, Dorothy; Bostwick, Jolene R; Calip, Seema; Perelstein, Elizabeth; Kurlander, Jacob E; Fluent, Thomas

    2017-09-15

    To determine the volume and nature (or topic) of consultations submitted to a psychiatric pharmacist embedded in an ambulatory psychiatry clinic, within a tertiary care academic medical center and to increase our understanding about the ways in which providers consult with an available psychiatric pharmacist. Authors analyze and describe the ambulatory psychiatric pharmacist consultation log at an academic ambulatory clinic. All consultation questions were submitted between July 2012 and October 2014. Psychiatry residents, attending physicians, and advanced practice nurse practitioners submitted 280 primary questions. The most common consultation questions from providers consulted were related to drug-drug interactions (n =70), drug formulations/dosing (n =48), adverse effects (n =43), and pharmacokinetics/lab monitoring/cross-tapering (n =36). This is a preliminary analysis that provides information about how psychiatry residents, attending physicians, and advanced practice nurse practitioners at our health system utilize a psychiatric pharmacist. This collaborative relationship may have implications for the future of psychiatric care delivery.

  12. An Anesthetist’s Experience and the Incidence of Critical Cases in Ambulatory Surgery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. V. Bolshedvorov

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate the impact of experience on the quality of anesthesia in ambulatory surgery. Materials and methods. The authors undertook a study of the role of experience and specialization on the occurrence of complications in ambulatory anesthesia care. By using the internal audit and calculating the frequency of critical cases, they examined the results of the work of two groups of anesthetists: 1 medical beginners after 2-year adjunct practice and 2 one-day hospital specialists having an at least 7-year practice length. Results. In the beginner group, the number of critical cases per operation was twice higher than that in the experienced specialists. The paper shows the detrimental pattern of the residual principle in selecting anesthetists for work at a one-day hospital and provides evidence that specialization is required in the area under discussion. Key words: ambulatory anesthesiology, role of an anesthetist’s experience, critical cases.

  13. Full-motion video analysis for improved gender classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flora, Jeffrey B.; Lochtefeld, Darrell F.; Iftekharuddin, Khan M.

    2014-06-01

    The ability of computer systems to perform gender classification using the dynamic motion of the human subject has important applications in medicine, human factors, and human-computer interface systems. Previous works in motion analysis have used data from sensors (including gyroscopes, accelerometers, and force plates), radar signatures, and video. However, full-motion video, motion capture, range data provides a higher resolution time and spatial dataset for the analysis of dynamic motion. Works using motion capture data have been limited by small datasets in a controlled environment. In this paper, we explore machine learning techniques to a new dataset that has a larger number of subjects. Additionally, these subjects move unrestricted through a capture volume, representing a more realistic, less controlled environment. We conclude that existing linear classification methods are insufficient for the gender classification for larger dataset captured in relatively uncontrolled environment. A method based on a nonlinear support vector machine classifier is proposed to obtain gender classification for the larger dataset. In experimental testing with a dataset consisting of 98 trials (49 subjects, 2 trials per subject), classification rates using leave-one-out cross-validation are improved from 73% using linear discriminant analysis to 88% using the nonlinear support vector machine classifier.

  14. Exploring the link between ambulatory care and avoidable hospitalizations at the Veteran Health Administration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pracht, Etienne E; Bass, Elizabeth

    2011-01-01

    This paper explores the link between utilization of ambulatory care and the likelihood of rehospitalization for an avoidable reason in veterans served by the Veteran Health Administration (VA). The analysis used administrative data containing healthcare utilization and patient characteristics stored at the national VA data warehouse, the Corporate Franchise Data Center. The study sample consisted of 284 veterans residing in Florida who had been hospitalized at least once for an avoidable reason. A bivariate probit model with instrumental variables was used to estimate the probability of rehospitalization. Veterans who had at least 1 ambulatory care visit per month experienced a significant reduction in the probability of rehospitalization for the same avoidable hospitalization condition. The findings suggest that ambulatory care can serve as an important substitute for more expensive hospitalization for the conditions characterized as avoidable. © 2011 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

  15. Ambulatory surgery for the patient with breast cancer: current perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pek CH

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Chong Han Pek,1 John Tey,2 Ern Yu Tan1 1Department of General Surgery, 2Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore Abstract: Ambulatory breast cancer surgery is well accepted and is the standard of care at many tertiary centers. Rather than being hospitalized after surgery, patients are discharged on the day of surgery or within 23 hours. Such early discharge does not adversely affect patient outcomes and has the added benefits of better psychological adjustment for the patient, economic savings, and a more efficient utilization of health care resources. The minimal care needed post-discharge also means that the caregiver is not unduly burdened. Unplanned conversions to inpatient admission and readmission rates are low. Wound complications are infrequent and no issues with drain care have been reported. Because the period of postoperative observation is short and monitoring is not as intensive, ambulatory surgery is only suitable for low-risk procedures such as breast cancer surgery and in patients without serious comorbidities, where the likelihood of major perioperative events is low. Optimal management of pain, nausea, and vomiting is essential to ensure a quick recovery and return to normal function. Regional anesthesia such as the thoracic paravertebral block has been employed to improve pain control during the surgery and in the immediate postoperative period. The block provides excellent pain relief and reduces the need for opiates, which also consequently reduces the incidence of nausea and vomiting. The increasing popularity of total intravenous anesthesia with propofol has also helped reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting in the postoperative period. Ambulatory surgery can be safely carried out in centers where there is a well-designed workflow to ensure proper patient selection, counseling, and education, and where patients and caregivers have easy access to

  16. 45. Ezetimibe and statins yields on silent holter ambulatory myocardial ischemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Kadro

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Further cholestrol lowering may affect silent ischemia detected on holter monitoring. Cholesterol lowering is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Statins are the main drugs for cholesterol lowering. Ezetimibe when added to statins gives further reduction in cholesterol but its long-term effect on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and ischemic events is not known. This study sought to determine whether further cholesterol lowering with ezitimibe will also results in a reduction of myocardial ischemia during daily life. We enrolled 50 patients with proven stable coronary artery disease (CAD and at least one episode of ST-segment depression on ambulatory ECG monitoring. All of them were receiving optimal therapy for CAD including statin therapy for cholesterol reduction. 25 patients were randomized to continue their statin therapy (Statin only group and 25 to recieve statin plus ezitimibe 10 mg/day (ezitimibe group. Serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels and ambulatory monitoring were repeated after 4–6 months of therapy. The two groups were comparable with respect to baseline characteristics, number of episodes of ST-segment depression, and baseline serum cholesterol levels. The ezitimibe group had lower mean total and LDL cholesterol levels at study end and experienced a significant reduction in the number of episodes of ST-segment depression compared with the statin only group. ST-segment depression was completely resolved in 13 of 25 patients (52% in the ezitimibe group versus 3 of 25 (12% in the statin only group. The ezitimibe group exhibited a highly significant reduction in ambulatory ischemia (P < .001. By logistic regression, treatment with ezitimibe was an independent predictor of ischemia resolution. Further cholesterol lowering with ezitimibe can result in reduction or resolution of myocardial ischemia recorded as episodes of ST-segment depression in ambulatory monitoring of the ECG.

  17. Measuring hot flash phenomenonology using ambulatory prospective digital diaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, William I.; Thurston, Rebecca C.

    2016-01-01

    Objective This study provides the description, protocol, and results from a novel prospective ambulatory digital hot flash phenomenon diary. Methods This study included 152 midlife women with daily hot flashes who completed an ambulatory electronic hot flash diary continuously for the waking hours of 3 consecutive days. In this diary, women recorded their hot flashes and accompanying characteristics and associations as the hot flashes occurred. Results Self-reported hot flash severity on the digital diaries indicated that the majority of hot flashes were rated as mild (41.3%) or moderate (43.7%). Severe (13.1%) and very severe (1.8%) hot flashes were less common. Hot flash bother ratings were rated as mild (43%), or moderate (33.5%), with fewer hot flashes reported bothersome (17.5%) or very bothersome (6%). The majority of hot flashes were reported as occurring on the on the face (78.9%), neck (74.7%), and chest (61.3%). Prickly skin was reported concurrently with 32% of hot flashes, 7% with anxiety and 5% with nausea. A novel finding, 38% of hot flashes were accompanied by a premonitory aura. Conclusion A prospective electronic digital hot flash diary allows for a more precise quantitation of hot flashes while overcoming many of the limitations of commonly employed retrospective questionnaires and paper diaries. Unique insights into the phenomenology, loci and associated characteristics of hot flashes were obtained using this device. The digital hot flash phenomenology diary is recommended for future ambulatory studies of hot flashes as a prospective measure of the hot flash experience. PMID:27404030

  18. Human-Like Behavior of Robot Arms: General Considerations and the Handwriting Task-Part I: Mathematical Description of Human-Like Motion: Distributed Positioning and Virtual Fatigue

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Potkonjak, V.; Tzafestas, S.; Kostic, D.; Djordjevic, G.

    2001-01-01

    This two-part paper is concerned with the analysis and achievement of human-like behavior by robot arms (manipulators). The analysis involves three issues: (i) the resolution of the inverse kinematics problem of redundant robots, (ii) the separation of the end-effector's motion into two components,

  19. Integration Method of Emphatic Motions and Adverbial Expressions with Scalar Parameters for Robotic Motion Coaching System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okuno, Keisuke; Inamura, Tetsunari

    A robotic coaching system can improve humans' learning performance of motions by intelligent usage of emphatic motions and adverbial expressions according to user reactions. In robotics, however, method to control both the motions and the expressions and how to bind them had not been adequately discussed from an engineering point of view. In this paper, we propose a method for controlling and binding emphatic motions and adverbial expressions by using two scalar parameters in a phase space. In the phase space, variety of motion patterns and verbal expressions are connected and can be expressed as static points. We show the feasibility of the proposing method through experiments of actual sport coaching tasks for beginners. From the results of participants' improvements in motion learning, we confirmed the feasibility of the methods to control and bind emphatic motions and adverbial expressions, as well as confirmed contribution of the emphatic motions and positive correlation of adverbial expressions for participants' improvements in motion learning. Based on the results, we introduce a hypothesis that individually optimized method for binding adverbial expression is required.

  20. Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Eiji; Kitaoka, Akiyoshi; Sakamoto, Kiwako; Yasugi, Masaki; Tanaka, Kenta

    2018-01-01

    The cerebral cortex predicts visual motion to adapt human behavior to surrounding objects moving in real time. Although the underlying mechanisms are still unknown, predictive coding is one of the leading theories. Predictive coding assumes that the brain's internal models (which are acquired through learning) predict the visual world at all times and that errors between the prediction and the actual sensory input further refine the internal models. In the past year, deep neural networks based on predictive coding were reported for a video prediction machine called PredNet. If the theory substantially reproduces the visual information processing of the cerebral cortex, then PredNet can be expected to represent the human visual perception of motion. In this study, PredNet was trained with natural scene videos of the self-motion of the viewer, and the motion prediction ability of the obtained computer model was verified using unlearned videos. We found that the computer model accurately predicted the magnitude and direction of motion of a rotating propeller in unlearned videos. Surprisingly, it also represented the rotational motion for illusion images that were not moving physically, much like human visual perception. While the trained network accurately reproduced the direction of illusory rotation, it did not detect motion components in negative control pictures wherein people do not perceive illusory motion. This research supports the exciting idea that the mechanism assumed by the predictive coding theory is one of basis of motion illusion generation. Using sensory illusions as indicators of human perception, deep neural networks are expected to contribute significantly to the development of brain research.

  1. Blood Pressure Measurement: Clinic, Home, Ambulatory, and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drawz, Paul E.; Abdalla, Mohamed; Rahman, Mahboob

    2014-01-01

    Blood pressure has traditionally been measured in the clinic setting using the auscultory method and a mercury sphygmomanometer. Technological advances have led to improvements in measuring clinic blood pressure and allowed for measuring blood pressures outside the clinic. This review outlines various methods for evaluating blood pressure and the clinical utility of each type of measurement. Home blood pressures and 24 hour ambulatory blood pressures have improved our ability to evaluate risk for target organ damage and hypertension related morbidity and mortality. Measuring home blood pressures may lead to more active participation in health care by patients and has the potential to improve blood pressure control. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring enables the measuring nighttime blood pressures and diurnal changes, which may be the most accurate predictors of risk associated with elevated blood pressure. Additionally, reducing nighttime blood pressure is feasible and may be an important component of effective antihypertensive therapy. Finally, estimating central aortic pressures and pulse wave velocity are two of the newer methods for assessing blood pressure and hypertension related target organ damage. PMID:22521624

  2. Motion compensation for MRI-guided radiotherapy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Glitzner, M.

    2017-01-01

    Radiotherapy aims to deliver a lethal radiation dose to cancer cells immersed in the body using a high energetic photon beam. Due to physiologic motion of the human anatomy (e.g. caused by filling of internal organs or breathing), the target volume is under permanent motion during irradiation,

  3. Risk Factors for new accidental falls in elderly patients at traumatology ambulatory center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porto Gautério, Daiane; Zortea, Bruna; Costa Santos, Silvana Sidney; da Silva Tarouco, Bárbara; Lopes, Manoel José; João Fonseca, Cesar

    2015-01-01

    To identify the risks factors for new accidental falls in elderly patients attended in the Traumatology Ambulatory of a University hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Quantitative study of the type of multiple cases. Performed at the traumatology ambulatory, amongst fifteen elders that attended the inclusion criteria: age of sixty or more; patient at the traumatology ambulatory because of a fall motivated by accident, oriented and in conditions of answer an interview of data collectors. The data collection was made between April and June, 2013, with the Elderly Nursing Core Set scale (Lopes & Fonseca). The data analysis was made by a descriptive structure, which helped identify the existence of relation patterns among the cases. The risk factors for new accidental falls identified with larger incidence amongst the elders studied were: impaired balance (15/15), age above 65 (11/15), use of antihypertensive drugs (9/15), absence of non-slip material at home environment (7/15), in seven cases; rugs scattered at the floor of the house (6/15). The combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that include the environmental risks is considered a much more relevant cause to occur the new falls. The minimization of the home dangers, allied to the control of the elder intrinsic factors, may reduce the risks of causes. In that sense, is necessary that the nursing team make available more attention to the elderly assisted at the ambulatories, mainly those with sequelae due to fall accidents.

  4. Effects of an isocaloric healthy Nordic diet on ambulatory blood pressure in metabolic syndrome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brader, Lea Johanne; Uusitupa, M; Dragsted, Lars Ove

    2014-01-01

    Background/objectives:Dietary pattern is central in the prevention of hypertension and blood pressure (BP)-related diseases. A diet based on healthy Nordic foods may have a favourable impact on BP. The objective was to clarify whether a Nordic alternative for a healthy food pattern would have...... beneficial effects on ambulatory BP in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS).Subjects/methods:In total, 37 subjects were randomized to either a healthy Nordic diet or a control diet. A healthy Nordic diet embraced whole grains, rapeseed oil, berries, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and low-fat dairy...... weeks of intervention.Results:After 12 weeks, ambulatory diastolic BP (-4.4 mm Hg; P=0.001) and mean arterial pressure (-4.2 mm Hg; P=0.006) were lowered by the healthy Nordic diet compared with the control diet, whereas changes in ambulatory systolic BP did not differ significantly between diets (-3...

  5. Assessment of pedometer-determined physical activity in Danish adults: the importance of non-ambulatory activities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rothausen, Berit Worm; Gille, Maj-Britt; Biltoft-Jensen, Anja Pia

    and Physical Activity 2007-08, wore a pedometer (Yamax SW-200 Tokyo, Japan) and recorded daily steps and non-ambulatory activities for seven consecutive days. Time spent on non-ambulatory activities was converted to step equivalents using 1) a simple conversion method (SCM) adding 200 step equivalents...... assessing pedometer-determined physical activity. Adding activity-specific step equivalents/min, or simply adding 200 step equivalents/min, provides very similar results. Furthermore, when accounting for cycling an adjustment for double-counting should be considered.......Purpose To estimate mean values of steps/day in a representative sample of Danish adults (15-75 years) using two different conversion methods for non-ambulatory (non-step) activities. Methods A simple random sample comprising 229 adults (52% men) from the Danish National Survey of Dietary Habits...

  6. Example-Based Automatic Music-Driven Conventional Dance Motion Synthesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Songhua [ORNL; Fan, Rukun [University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Geng, Weidong [Zhejiang University

    2011-04-21

    We introduce a novel method for synthesizing dance motions that follow the emotions and contents of a piece of music. Our method employs a learning-based approach to model the music to motion mapping relationship embodied in example dance motions along with those motions' accompanying background music. A key step in our method is to train a music to motion matching quality rating function through learning the music to motion mapping relationship exhibited in synchronized music and dance motion data, which were captured from professional human dance performance. To generate an optimal sequence of dance motion segments to match with a piece of music, we introduce a constraint-based dynamic programming procedure. This procedure considers both music to motion matching quality and visual smoothness of a resultant dance motion sequence. We also introduce a two-way evaluation strategy, coupled with a GPU-based implementation, through which we can execute the dynamic programming process in parallel, resulting in significant speedup. To evaluate the effectiveness of our method, we quantitatively compare the dance motions synthesized by our method with motion synthesis results by several peer methods using the motions captured from professional human dancers' performance as the gold standard. We also conducted several medium-scale user studies to explore how perceptually our dance motion synthesis method can outperform existing methods in synthesizing dance motions to match with a piece of music. These user studies produced very positive results on our music-driven dance motion synthesis experiments for several Asian dance genres, confirming the advantages of our method.

  7. Example-based automatic music-driven conventional dance motion synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Rukun; Xu, Songhua; Geng, Weidong

    2012-03-01

    We introduce a novel method for synthesizing dance motions that follow the emotions and contents of a piece of music. Our method employs a learning-based approach to model the music to motion mapping relationship embodied in example dance motions along with those motions' accompanying background music. A key step in our method is to train a music to motion matching quality rating function through learning the music to motion mapping relationship exhibited in synchronized music and dance motion data, which were captured from professional human dance performance. To generate an optimal sequence of dance motion segments to match with a piece of music, we introduce a constraint-based dynamic programming procedure. This procedure considers both music to motion matching quality and visual smoothness of a resultant dance motion sequence. We also introduce a two-way evaluation strategy, coupled with a GPU-based implementation, through which we can execute the dynamic programming process in parallel, resulting in significant speedup. To evaluate the effectiveness of our method, we quantitatively compare the dance motions synthesized by our method with motion synthesis results by several peer methods using the motions captured from professional human dancers' performance as the gold standard. We also conducted several medium-scale user studies to explore how perceptually our dance motion synthesis method can outperform existing methods in synthesizing dance motions to match with a piece of music. These user studies produced very positive results on our music-driven dance motion synthesis experiments for several Asian dance genres, confirming the advantages of our method.

  8. A human motion model based on maps for navigation systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaiser Susanna

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Foot-mounted indoor positioning systems work remarkably well when using additionally the knowledge of floor-plans in the localization algorithm. Walls and other structures naturally restrict the motion of pedestrians. No pedestrian can walk through walls or jump from one floor to another when considering a building with different floor-levels. By incorporating known floor-plans in sequential Bayesian estimation processes such as particle filters (PFs, long-term error stability can be achieved as long as the map is sufficiently accurate and the environment sufficiently constraints pedestrians' motion. In this article, a new motion model based on maps and floor-plans is introduced that is capable of weighting the possible headings of the pedestrian as a function of the local environment. The motion model is derived from a diffusion algorithm that makes use of the principle of a source effusing gas and is used in the weighting step of a PF implementation. The diffusion algorithm is capable of including floor-plans as well as maps with areas of different degrees of accessibility. The motion model more effectively represents the probability density function of possible headings that are restricted by maps and floor-plans than a simple binary weighting of particles (i.e., eliminating those that crossed walls and keeping the rest. We will show that the motion model will help for obtaining better performance in critical navigation scenarios where two or more modes may be competing for some of the time (multi-modal scenarios.

  9. Exoskeleton Motion Control for Children Walking Rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Ploscaru

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a quick method for motion control of an exoskeleton used on children walking rehabilitation with ages between four to seven years old. The exoskeleton used on this purpose has six servomotors which work independently and actuates each human lower limb joints (hips, knees and ankles. For obtaining the desired motion laws, a high-speed motion analysis equipment was used. The experimental rough data were mathematically modeled in order to obtain the proper motion equations for controlling the exoskeleton servomotors.

  10. Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eiji Watanabe

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The cerebral cortex predicts visual motion to adapt human behavior to surrounding objects moving in real time. Although the underlying mechanisms are still unknown, predictive coding is one of the leading theories. Predictive coding assumes that the brain's internal models (which are acquired through learning predict the visual world at all times and that errors between the prediction and the actual sensory input further refine the internal models. In the past year, deep neural networks based on predictive coding were reported for a video prediction machine called PredNet. If the theory substantially reproduces the visual information processing of the cerebral cortex, then PredNet can be expected to represent the human visual perception of motion. In this study, PredNet was trained with natural scene videos of the self-motion of the viewer, and the motion prediction ability of the obtained computer model was verified using unlearned videos. We found that the computer model accurately predicted the magnitude and direction of motion of a rotating propeller in unlearned videos. Surprisingly, it also represented the rotational motion for illusion images that were not moving physically, much like human visual perception. While the trained network accurately reproduced the direction of illusory rotation, it did not detect motion components in negative control pictures wherein people do not perceive illusory motion. This research supports the exciting idea that the mechanism assumed by the predictive coding theory is one of basis of motion illusion generation. Using sensory illusions as indicators of human perception, deep neural networks are expected to contribute significantly to the development of brain research.

  11. The demand for ambulatory mental health services from specialty providers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horgan, C M

    1986-01-01

    A two-part model is used to examine the demand for ambulatory mental health services in the specialty sector. In the first equation, the probability of having a mental health visit is estimated. In the second part of the model, variations in levels of use expressed in terms of visits and expenditures are examined in turn, with each of these equations conditional on positive utilization of mental health services. In the second part of the model, users are additionally grouped into those with and without out-of-pocket payment for services. This specification accounts for special characteristics regarding the utilization of ambulatory mental health services: (1) a large part of the population does not use these services; (2) of those who use services, the distribution of use is highly skewed; and (3) a large number of users have zero out-of-pocket expenditures. Cost-sharing does indeed matter in the demand for ambulatory mental health services from specialty providers; however, the decision to use mental health services is affected by the level of cost-sharing to a lesser degree than is the decision regarding the level of use of services. The results also show that price is only one of several important factors in determining the demand for services. The lack of significance of family income and of being female is notable. Evidence is presented for the existence of bandwagon effects. The importance of Medicaid in the probability of use equations is noted. PMID:3721874

  12. Muscle Synergy-Driven Robust Motion Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Kyuengbo; Iwamoto, Masami; Kakei, Shinji; Kimpara, Hideyuki

    2018-04-01

    Humans are able to robustly maintain desired motion and posture under dynamically changing circumstances, including novel conditions. To accomplish this, the brain needs to optimize the synergistic control between muscles against external dynamic factors. However, previous related studies have usually simplified the control of multiple muscles using two opposing muscles, which are minimum actuators to simulate linear feedback control. As a result, they have been unable to analyze how muscle synergy contributes to motion control robustness in a biological system. To address this issue, we considered a new muscle synergy concept used to optimize the synergy between muscle units against external dynamic conditions, including novel conditions. We propose that two main muscle control policies synergistically control muscle units to maintain the desired motion against external dynamic conditions. Our assumption is based on biological evidence regarding the control of multiple muscles via the corticospinal tract. One of the policies is the group control policy (GCP), which is used to control muscle group units classified based on functional similarities in joint control. This policy is used to effectively resist external dynamic circumstances, such as disturbances. The individual control policy (ICP) assists the GCP in precisely controlling motion by controlling individual muscle units. To validate this hypothesis, we simulated the reinforcement of the synergistic actions of the two control policies during the reinforcement learning of feedback motion control. Using this learning paradigm, the two control policies were synergistically combined to result in robust feedback control under novel transient and sustained disturbances that did not involve learning. Further, by comparing our data to experimental data generated by human subjects under the same conditions as those of the simulation, we showed that the proposed synergy concept may be used to analyze muscle synergy

  13. Contrast and assimilation in motion perception and smooth pursuit eye movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spering, Miriam; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

    2007-09-01

    The analysis of visual motion serves many different functions ranging from object motion perception to the control of self-motion. The perception of visual motion and the oculomotor tracking of a moving object are known to be closely related and are assumed to be controlled by shared brain areas. We compared perceived velocity and the velocity of smooth pursuit eye movements in human observers in a paradigm that required the segmentation of target object motion from context motion. In each trial, a pursuit target and a visual context were independently perturbed simultaneously to briefly increase or decrease in speed. Observers had to accurately track the target and estimate target speed during the perturbation interval. Here we show that the same motion signals are processed in fundamentally different ways for perception and steady-state smooth pursuit eye movements. For the computation of perceived velocity, motion of the context was subtracted from target motion (motion contrast), whereas pursuit velocity was determined by the motion average (motion assimilation). We conclude that the human motion system uses these computations to optimally accomplish different functions: image segmentation for object motion perception and velocity estimation for the control of smooth pursuit eye movements.

  14. Devices for Ambulatory Monitoring of Sleep-Associated Disorders in Children with Neurological Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulate-Campos, Adriana; Tsuboyama, Melissa; Loddenkemper, Tobias

    2017-12-25

    Good sleep quality is essential for a child's wellbeing. Early sleep problems have been linked to the later development of emotional and behavioral disorders and can negatively impact the quality of life of the child and his or her family. Sleep-associated conditions are frequent in the pediatric population, and even more so in children with neurological problems. Monitoring devices can help to better characterize sleep efficiency and sleep quality. They can also be helpful to better characterize paroxysmal nocturnal events and differentiate between nocturnal seizures, parasomnias, and obstructive sleep apnea, each of which has a different management. Overnight ambulatory detection devices allow for a tolerable, low cost, objective assessment of sleep quality in the patient's natural environment. They can also be used as a notification system to allow for rapid recognition and prompt intervention of events like seizures. Optimal monitoring devices will be patient- and diagnosis-specific, but may include a combination of modalities such as ambulatory electroencephalograms, actigraphy, and pulse oximetry. We will summarize the current literature on ambulatory sleep devices for detecting sleep disorders in children with neurological diseases.

  15. Health professionals' beliefs related to parental involvement in ambulatory care: an international inquiry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tourigny, Jocelyne; Chartrand, Julie; Massicotte, Julie

    2008-01-01

    Changes in health care delivery in Canada and Europe, especially the shift to ambulatory care, have modified the care that children and parents receive and have prompted the need for a partnership alliance. The objectives of this exploratory study were to identify Canadian and Belgian health professionals' beliefs and attitudes towards parental involvement in their child's ambulatory care and to determine if these beliefs varied according to cultural background. Health professionals from both countries generally were in favor of parental involvement in their child's care, but are uncertain about its advantages and disadvantages. Facilitators and barriers mentioned by the health care providers were related to parents' abilities or their attitudes toward partnership, and they also expressed a need for more education on the subject. Results of this study indicate that health professionals working in ambulatory care are not fully ready to utilize parents as true partners in their interventions with children and families. Staff education is an important step towards the establishment and maintenance of a real partnership.

  16. Challenges to Safe Injection Practices in Ambulatory Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Laura; Weissburg, Benjamin; Rogers, Kelli; Musuuza, Jackson; Safdar, Nasia; Shirley, Daniel

    2017-05-01

    Most recent infection outbreaks caused by unsafe injection practices in the United States have occurred in ambulatory settings. We utilized direct observation and a survey to assess injection practices at 31 clinics. Improper vial use was observed at 13 clinics (41.9%). Pharmacy support and healthcare worker education may improve injection practices. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:614-616.

  17. Signal Quality Improvement Algorithms for MEMS Gyroscope-Based Human Motion Analysis Systems: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiaying Du

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Motion sensors such as MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers are characterized by a small size, light weight, high sensitivity, and low cost. They are used in an increasing number of applications. However, they are easily influenced by environmental effects such as temperature change, shock, and vibration. Thus, signal processing is essential for minimizing errors and improving signal quality and system stability. The aim of this work is to investigate and present a systematic review of different signal error reduction algorithms that are used for MEMS gyroscope-based motion analysis systems for human motion analysis or have the potential to be used in this area. A systematic search was performed with the search engines/databases of the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, and Scopus. Sixteen papers that focus on MEMS gyroscope-related signal processing and were published in journals or conference proceedings in the past 10 years were found and fully reviewed. Seventeen algorithms were categorized into four main groups: Kalman-filter-based algorithms, adaptive-based algorithms, simple filter algorithms, and compensation-based algorithms. The algorithms were analyzed and presented along with their characteristics such as advantages, disadvantages, and time limitations. A user guide to the most suitable signal processing algorithms within this area is presented.

  18. Signal Quality Improvement Algorithms for MEMS Gyroscope-Based Human Motion Analysis Systems: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Jiaying; Gerdtman, Christer; Lindén, Maria

    2018-04-06

    Motion sensors such as MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers are characterized by a small size, light weight, high sensitivity, and low cost. They are used in an increasing number of applications. However, they are easily influenced by environmental effects such as temperature change, shock, and vibration. Thus, signal processing is essential for minimizing errors and improving signal quality and system stability. The aim of this work is to investigate and present a systematic review of different signal error reduction algorithms that are used for MEMS gyroscope-based motion analysis systems for human motion analysis or have the potential to be used in this area. A systematic search was performed with the search engines/databases of the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, and Scopus. Sixteen papers that focus on MEMS gyroscope-related signal processing and were published in journals or conference proceedings in the past 10 years were found and fully reviewed. Seventeen algorithms were categorized into four main groups: Kalman-filter-based algorithms, adaptive-based algorithms, simple filter algorithms, and compensation-based algorithms. The algorithms were analyzed and presented along with their characteristics such as advantages, disadvantages, and time limitations. A user guide to the most suitable signal processing algorithms within this area is presented.

  19. Model-Based Motion Tracking of Infants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Mikkel Damgaard; Herskind, Anna; Nielsen, Jens Bo

    2014-01-01

    Even though motion tracking is a widely used technique to analyze and measure human movements, only a few studies focus on motion tracking of infants. In recent years, a number of studies have emerged focusing on analyzing the motion pattern of infants, using computer vision. Most of these studies...... are based on 2D images, but few are based on 3D information. In this paper, we present a model-based approach for tracking infants in 3D. The study extends a novel study on graph-based motion tracking of infants and we show that the extension improves the tracking results. A 3D model is constructed...

  20. Electrophysiological correlates of learning-induced modulation of visual motion processing in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viktor Gál

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Training on a visual task leads to increased perceptual and neural responses to visual features that were attended during training as well as decreased responses to neglected distractor features. However, the time course of these attention-based modulations of neural sensitivity for visual features has not been investigated before. Here we measured event related potentials (ERP in response to motion stimuli with different coherence levels before and after training on a speed discrimination task requiring object-based attentional selection of one of the two competing motion stimuli. We found that two peaks on the ERP waveform were modulated by the strength of the coherent motion signal; the response amplitude associated with motion directions that were neglected during training was smaller than the response amplitude associated with motion directions that were attended during training. The first peak of motion coherence-dependent modulation of the ERP responses was at 300 ms after stimulus onset and it was most pronounced over the occipitotemporal cortex. The second peak was around 500 ms and was focused over the parietal cortex. A control experiment suggests that the earlier motion coherence-related response modulation reflects the extraction of the coherent motion signal whereas the later peak might index accumulation and readout of motion signals by parietal decision mechanisms. These findings suggest that attention-based learning affects neural responses both at the sensory and decision processing stages.

  1. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring-derived short-term blood pressure variability in primary hyperparathyroidism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Concistrè, A; Grillo, A; La Torre, G; Carretta, R; Fabris, B; Petramala, L; Marinelli, C; Rebellato, A; Fallo, F; Letizia, C

    2018-04-01

    Primary hyperparathyroidism is associated with a cluster of cardiovascular manifestations, including hypertension, leading to increased cardiovascular risk. The aim of our study was to investigate the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring-derived short-term blood pressure variability in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, in comparison with patients with essential hypertension and normotensive controls. Twenty-five patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (7 normotensive,18 hypertensive) underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at diagnosis, and fifteen out of them were re-evaluated after parathyroidectomy. Short-term-blood pressure variability was derived from ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and calculated as the following: 1) Standard Deviation of 24-h, day-time and night-time-BP; 2) the average of day-time and night-time-Standard Deviation, weighted for the duration of the day and night periods (24-h "weighted" Standard Deviation of BP); 3) average real variability, i.e., the average of the absolute differences between all consecutive BP measurements. Baseline data of normotensive and essential hypertension patients were matched for age, sex, BMI and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring values with normotensive and hypertensive-primary hyperparathyroidism patients, respectively. Normotensive-primary hyperparathyroidism patients showed a 24-h weighted Standard Deviation (P blood pressure higher than that of 12 normotensive controls. 24-h average real variability of systolic BP, as well as serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels, were reduced in operated patients (P blood pressure variability is increased in normotensive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and is reduced by parathyroidectomy, and may potentially represent an additional cardiovascular risk factor in this disease.

  2. Risk Factors for new accidental falls in elderly patients at traumatology ambulatory center

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daiane Porto Gautério

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To identify the risks factors for new accidental falls in elderly patients attended in the Traumatology Ambulatory of a University hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methodology. Quantitative study of the type of multiple cases. Performed at the traumatology ambulatory, amongst fifteen elders that attended the inclusion criteria: age of sixty or more; patient at the traumatology ambulatory because of a fall motivated by accident, oriented and in conditions of answer an interview of data collectors. The data collection was made between April and June, 2013, with the Elderly Nursing Core Set scale (Lopes & Fonseca. The data analysis was made by a descriptive structure, which helped identify the existence of relation patterns among the cases. Results. The risk factors for new accidental falls identified with larger incidence amongst the elders studied were: impaired balance (15/15, age above 65 (11/15, use of antihypertensive drugs (9/15, absence of non-slip material at home environment (7/15, in seven cases; rugs scattered at the floor of the house (6/15. Conclusion. The combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that include the environmental risks is considered a much more relevant cause to occur the new falls. The minimization of the home dangers, allied to the control of the elder intrinsic factors, may reduce the risks of causes. In that sense, is necessary that the nursing team make available more attention to the elderly assisted at the ambulatories, mainly those with sequelae due to fall accidents.

  3. Model-Based Description of Human Body Motions for Ergonomics Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imai, Sayaka

    This paper presents modeling of Working Process and Working Simulation factory works. I focus on an example work (motion), its actual work(motion) and reference between them. An example work and its actual work can be analyzed and described as a sequence of atomic action. In order to describe workers' motion, some concepts of Atomic Unit, Model Events and Mediator are introduced. By using these concepts, we can analyze a workers' action and evaluate their works. Also, we consider it as a possible way for unifying all the data used in various applications (CAD/CAM, etc) during the design process and evaluating all subsystems in a virtual Factory.

  4. Falls in ambulatory individuals with spinal cord injury : incidence, risk factors and perceptions of falls

    OpenAIRE

    Jørgensen, Vivien

    2016-01-01

    Background: Falls in ambulatory individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) are common and may have adverse consequences. Little and inconclusive research has been done in this population, and there is a need for more knowledge in order to develop prevention strategies appropriate for this population. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to study the incidence of and identify the risk factors for recurrent (>2) and injurious falls in ambulatory individuals with SCI...

  5. National ambulatory antibiotic prescribing patterns for pediatric urinary tract infection, 1998-2007.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Copp, Hillary L; Shapiro, Daniel J; Hersh, Adam L

    2011-06-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate patterns of ambulatory antibiotic use and to identify factors associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for pediatric urinary tract infections (UTIs). We examined antibiotics prescribed for UTIs for children aged younger than 18 years from 1998 to 2007 using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Amoxicillin-clavulanate, quinolones, macrolides, and second- and third-generation cephalosporins were classified as broad-spectrum antibiotics. We evaluated trends in broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing patterns and performed multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic use. Antibiotics were prescribed for 70% of pediatric UTI visits. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic (49% of visits). Broad-spectrum antibiotics were prescribed one third of the time. There was no increase in overall use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (P = .67); however, third-generation cephalosporin use doubled from 12% to 25% (P = .02). Children younger than 2 years old (odds ratio: 6.4 [95% confidence interval: 2.2-18.7, compared with children 13-17 years old]), females (odds ratio: 3.6 [95% confidence interval: 1.6-8.5]), and temperature ≥ 100.4°F (odds ratio: 2.9 [95% confidence interval: 1.0-8.6]) were independent predictors of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing. Race, physician specialty, region, and insurance status were not associated with antibiotic selection. Ambulatory care physicians commonly prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics for the treatment of pediatric UTIs, especially for febrile infants in whom complicated infections are more likely. The doubling in use of third-generation cephalosporins suggests that opportunities exist to promote more judicious antibiotic prescribing because most pediatric UTIs are susceptible to narrower alternatives.

  6. Feasibility of ambulatory, continuous 24-hour finger arterial pressure recording

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Imholz, B. P.; Langewouters, G. J.; van Montfrans, G. A.; Parati, G.; van Goudoever, J.; Wesseling, K. H.; Wieling, W.; Mancia, G.

    1993-01-01

    We tested Portapres, an innovative portable, battery-operated device for the continuous, noninvasive, 24-hour ambulatory measurement of blood pressure in the finger. Portapres is based on Finapres, a stationary device for the measurement of finger arterial pressure. Systems were added to record

  7. Patient satisfaction and acceptability: a journey through an ambulatory gynaecology clinic in the West of Ireland

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Uzochukwu, I

    2016-06-01

    Ambulatory Gynaecology allows a “see-and-treat” approach to managing gynaecological conditions, providing a more streamlined, integrated care pathway than the traditional gynaecology clinic and inpatient care model. This study was designed to assess patient satisfaction and acceptability of Ambulatory Gynaecology services in Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar, Ireland. It also provided for feedback from patients as to how the service might be improved. \\r\

  8. Decreased reward value of biological motion among individuals with autistic traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Elin H; Cross, Emily S

    2018-02-01

    The Social Motivation Theory posits that a reduced sensitivity to the value of social stimuli, specifically faces, can account for social impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Research has demonstrated that typically developing (TD) individuals preferentially orient towards another type of salient social stimulus, namely biological motion. Individuals with ASD, however, do not show this preference. While the reward value of faces to both TD and ASD individuals has been well-established, the extent to which individuals from these populations also find human motion to be rewarding remains poorly understood. The present study investigated the value assigned to biological motion by TD participants in an effort task, and further examined whether these values differed among individuals with more autistic traits. The results suggest that TD participants value natural human motion more than rigid, machine-like motion or non-human control motion, but this preference is attenuated among individuals reporting more autistic traits. This study provides the first evidence to suggest that individuals with more autistic traits find a broader conceptualisation of social stimuli less rewarding compared to individuals with fewer autistic traits. By quantifying the social reward value of human motion, the present findings contribute an important piece to our understanding of social motivation in individuals with and without social impairments. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Smoothing of respiratory motion traces for motion-compensated radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ernst, Floris; Schlaefer, Alexander; Schweikard, Achim

    2010-01-01

    The CyberKnife system has been used successfully for several years to radiosurgically treat tumors without the need for stereotactic fixation or sedation of the patient. It has been shown that tumor motion in the lung, liver, and pancreas can be tracked with acceptable accuracy and repeatability. However, highly precise targeting for tumors in the lower abdomen, especially for tumors which exhibit strong motion, remains problematic. Reasons for this are manifold, like the slow tracking system operating at 26.5 Hz, and using the signal from the tracking camera "as is." Since the motion recorded with the camera is used to compensate for system latency by prediction and the predicted signal is subsequently used to infer the tumor position from a correlation model based on x-ray imaging of gold fiducials around the tumor, camera noise directly influences the targeting accuracy. The goal of this work is to establish the suitability of a new smoothing method for respiratory motion traces used in motion-compensated radiotherapy. The authors endeavor to show that better prediction--With a lower rms error of the predicted signal--and/or smoother prediction is possible using this method. The authors evaluated six commercially available tracking systems (NDI Aurora, PolarisClassic, Polaris Vicra, MicronTracker2 H40, FP5000, and accuTrack compact). The authors first tracked markers both stationary and while in motion to establish the systems' noise characteristics. Then the authors applied a smoothing method based on the a trous wavelet decomposition to reduce the devices' noise level. Additionally, the smoothed signal of the moving target and a motion trace from actual human respiratory motion were subjected to prediction using the MULIN and the nLMS2 algorithms. The authors established that the noise distribution for a static target is Gaussian and that when the probe is moved such as to mimic human respiration, it remains Gaussian with the exception of the FP5000 and the

  10. Smoothing of respiratory motion traces for motion-compensated radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ernst, Floris; Schlaefer, Alexander; Schweikard, Achim

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The CyberKnife system has been used successfully for several years to radiosurgically treat tumors without the need for stereotactic fixation or sedation of the patient. It has been shown that tumor motion in the lung, liver, and pancreas can be tracked with acceptable accuracy and repeatability. However, highly precise targeting for tumors in the lower abdomen, especially for tumors which exhibit strong motion, remains problematic. Reasons for this are manifold, like the slow tracking system operating at 26.5 Hz, and using the signal from the tracking camera ''as is''. Since the motion recorded with the camera is used to compensate for system latency by prediction and the predicted signal is subsequently used to infer the tumor position from a correlation model based on x-ray imaging of gold fiducials around the tumor, camera noise directly influences the targeting accuracy. The goal of this work is to establish the suitability of a new smoothing method for respiratory motion traces used in motion-compensated radiotherapy. The authors endeavor to show that better prediction--With a lower rms error of the predicted signal--and/or smoother prediction is possible using this method. Methods: The authors evaluated six commercially available tracking systems (NDI Aurora, PolarisClassic, Polaris Vicra, MicronTracker2 H40, FP5000, and accuTrack compact). The authors first tracked markers both stationary and while in motion to establish the systems' noise characteristics. Then the authors applied a smoothing method based on the a trous wavelet decomposition to reduce the devices' noise level. Additionally, the smoothed signal of the moving target and a motion trace from actual human respiratory motion were subjected to prediction using the MULIN and the nLMS 2 algorithms. Results: The authors established that the noise distribution for a static target is Gaussian and that when the probe is moved such as to mimic human respiration, it remains Gaussian with the

  11. Human factors estimation methods in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takano, Kenichi; Yoshino, Kenji; Nagasaka, Akihiko; Ishii, Keichiro; Nakasa, Hiroyasu

    1985-01-01

    To improve the operational and maintenance work reliability, it is neccessary for workers to maintain his performance always at high level, that leads to decreasing mistaken judgements and operations. This paper inuolves the development and evaluation of ''Multi-Purpose Physiological Information Measurement system'' to estimate human performance and conditions with a highly fixed quantity. The following itemes is mentioned : (1) Most suitable physiological informations are selected to measure worker' performance in nuclear power plant with none-disturbance, ambulatory, continual, and multi channel measurement. (2) Relatively important physiological informations are measured with the real-time monitoring functions. (electrocardiogram, respirometric functions and EMG (electromyogram) pulse rete). (3) It is made to optimize the measurement condition and analysing methods in the use of a noise-cut function and a D.C. drift cutting method. (4) As a example, it is clear that, when the different weight is loaded to the arm and make it strech-bend motion, the EMG signal is measured and analysed by this system, the analysed EMG pulse rate and maximum amplitude is related to the arm loaded weight. (author)

  12. Sensing Movement: Microsensors for Body Motion Measurement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hansong Zeng

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Recognition of body posture and motion is an important physiological function that can keep the body in balance. Man-made motion sensors have also been widely applied for a broad array of biomedical applications including diagnosis of balance disorders and evaluation of energy expenditure. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art sensing components utilized for body motion measurement. The anatomy and working principles of a natural body motion sensor, the human vestibular system, are first described. Various man-made inertial sensors are then elaborated based on their distinctive sensing mechanisms. In particular, both the conventional solid-state motion sensors and the emerging non solid-state motion sensors are depicted. With their lower cost and increased intelligence, man-made motion sensors are expected to play an increasingly important role in biomedical systems for basic research as well as clinical diagnostics.

  13. Impact of renal denervation on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure: results from SYMPLICITY HTN-3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakris, George L; Townsend, Raymond R; Liu, Minglei; Cohen, Sidney A; D'Agostino, Ralph; Flack, John M; Kandzari, David E; Katzen, Barry T; Leon, Martin B; Mauri, Laura; Negoita, Manuela; O'Neill, William W; Oparil, Suzanne; Rocha-Singh, Krishna; Bhatt, Deepak L

    2014-09-16

    Prior studies of catheter-based renal artery denervation have not systematically performed ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to assess the efficacy of the procedure. SYMPLICITY HTN-3 (Renal Denervation in Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension) was a prospective, blinded, randomized, sham-controlled trial. The current analysis details the effect of renal denervation or a sham procedure on ABPM measurements 6 months post-randomization. Patients with resistant hypertension were randomized 2:1 to renal denervation or sham control. Patients were on a stable antihypertensive regimen including maximally tolerated doses of at least 3 drugs including a diuretic before randomization. The powered secondary efficacy endpoint was a change in mean 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP). Nondipper to dipper (nighttime blood pressure [BP] 10% to 20% lower than daytime BP) conversion was calculated at 6 months. The 24-h ambulatory SBP changed -6.8 ± 15.1 mm Hg in the denervation group and -4.8 ± 17.3 mm Hg in the sham group: difference of -2.0 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.0 to 1.1; p = 0.98 with a 2 mm Hg superiority margin). The daytime ambulatory SBP change difference between groups was -1.1 (95% CI: -4.3 to 2.2; p = 0.52). The nocturnal ambulatory SBP change difference between groups was -3.3 (95 CI: -6.7 to 0.1; p = 0.06). The percent of nondippers converted to dippers was 21.2% in the denervation group and 15.0% in the sham group (95% CI: -3.8% to 16.2%; p = 0.30). Change in 24-h heart rate was -1.4 ± 7.4 in the denervation group and -1.3 ± 7.3 in the sham group; (95% CI: -1.5 to 1.4; p = 0.94). This trial did not demonstrate a benefit of renal artery denervation on reduction in ambulatory BP in either the 24-h or day and night periods compared with sham (Renal Denervation in Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension [SYMPLICITY HTN-3]; NCT01418261). Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by

  14. Motion sickness: a negative reinforcement model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowins, Brad

    2010-01-15

    Theories pertaining to the "why" of motion sickness are in short supply relative to those detailing the "how." Considering the profoundly disturbing and dysfunctional symptoms of motion sickness, it is difficult to conceive of why this condition is so strongly biologically based in humans and most other mammalian and primate species. It is posited that motion sickness evolved as a potent negative reinforcement system designed to terminate motion involving sensory conflict or postural instability. During our evolution and that of many other species, motion of this type would have impaired evolutionary fitness via injury and/or signaling weakness and vulnerability to predators. The symptoms of motion sickness strongly motivate the individual to terminate the offending motion by early avoidance, cessation of movement, or removal of oneself from the source. The motion sickness negative reinforcement mechanism functions much like pain to strongly motivate evolutionary fitness preserving behavior. Alternative why theories focusing on the elimination of neurotoxins and the discouragement of motion programs yielding vestibular conflict suffer from several problems, foremost that neither can account for the rarity of motion sickness in infants and toddlers. The negative reinforcement model proposed here readily accounts for the absence of motion sickness in infants and toddlers, in that providing strong motivation to terminate aberrant motion does not make sense until a child is old enough to act on this motivation.

  15. A motion sensing-based framework for robotic manipulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Hao; Xia, Zeyang; Weng, Shaokui; Gan, Yangzhou; Fang, Peng; Xiong, Jing

    2016-01-01

    To data, outside of the controlled environments, robots normally perform manipulation tasks operating with human. This pattern requires the robot operators with high technical skills training for varied teach-pendant operating system. Motion sensing technology, which enables human-machine interaction in a novel and natural interface using gestures, has crucially inspired us to adopt this user-friendly and straightforward operation mode on robotic manipulation. Thus, in this paper, we presented a motion sensing-based framework for robotic manipulation, which recognizes gesture commands captured from motion sensing input device and drives the action of robots. For compatibility, a general hardware interface layer was also developed in the framework. Simulation and physical experiments have been conducted for preliminary validation. The results have shown that the proposed framework is an effective approach for general robotic manipulation with motion sensing control.

  16. AMBULATORY BLOOD PRESSURE PATTERNS IN CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuels, Joshua; Ng, Derek; Flynn, Joseph T.; Mitsnefes, Mark; Poffenbarger, Tim; Warady, Bradley A.; Furth, Susan

    2012-01-01

    Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the best method of detecting abnormal blood pressure (BP) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), whose hypertension may be missed with office BP measurements. We report ABPM findings in 332 children 1 year after entry in the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) cohort study. All subjects underwent casual and ambulatory BP measurement. BP was categorized based on casual and ABPM results into normal, white coat, masked, and ambulatory hypertension. Only half of the subjects had a normal ABPM. BP load was elevated (>25%) in 52% (n= 172) while mean BP was elevated in 32% (n= 105). In multivariate analysis, those using an ACE inhibitor (ACEi) were 89% more likely to have a normal ABPM than those who did not report using an ACEi (OR: 1.89, 95%CI: 1.17, 3.04). For every 20% faster decline in annualized GFR change, the odds of an abnormal ABPM increased 26% (OR: 1.26, 95%CI: 0.97, 1.64; p= 0.081). A 2.25 fold increase in urine protein:creatinine ratio annualized change was associated with a 39% higher odds of an abnormal ABPM (OR: 1.39, 95%CI: 1.06, 1.82; p= 0.019). Abnormalities on ABPM are common in children with CKD, and are strongly associated with known risk factors for end stage renal disease. Individuals on ACEi were less likely to have abnormal ABPM, suggesting a possible therapeutic intervention. ABPM should be used to monitor risk and guide therapy in children with CKD. PMID:22585950

  17. Improving outpatient access and patient experiences in academic ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neill, Sarah; Calderon, Sherry; Casella, Joanne; Wood, Elizabeth; Carvelli-Sheehan, Jayne; Zeidel, Mark L

    2012-02-01

    Effective scheduling of and ready access to doctor appointments affect ambulatory patient care quality, but these are often sacrificed by patients seeking care from physicians at academic medical centers. At one center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the authors developed interventions to improve the scheduling of appointments and to reduce the access time between telephone call and first offered appointment. Improvements to scheduling included no redirection to voicemail, prompt telephone pickup, courteous service, complete registration, and effective scheduling. Reduced access time meant being offered an appointment with a physician in the appropriate specialty within three working days of the telephone call. Scheduling and access were assessed using monthly "mystery shopper" calls. Mystery shoppers collected data using standardized forms, rated the quality of service, and transcribed their interactions with schedulers. Monthly results were tabulated and discussed with clinical leaders; leaders and frontline staff then developed solutions to detected problems. Eighteen months after the beginning of the intervention (in June 2007), which is ongoing, schedulers had gone from using 60% of their registration skills to over 90%, customer service scores had risen from 2.6 to 4.9 (on a 5-point scale), and average access time had fallen from 12 days to 6 days. The program costs $50,000 per year and has been associated with a 35% increase in ambulatory volume across three years. The authors conclude that academic medical centers can markedly improve the scheduling process and access to care and that these improvements may result in increased ambulatory care volume.

  18. Perception of biological motion from size-invariant body representations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus eLappe

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The visual recognition of action is one of the socially most important and computationally demanding capacities of the human visual system. It combines visual shape recognition with complex non-rigid motion perception. Action presented as a point-light animation is a striking visual experience for anyone who sees it for the first time. Information about the shape and posture of the human body is sparse in point-light animations, but it is essential for action recognition. In the posturo-temporal filter model of biological motion perception posture information is picked up by visual neurons tuned to the form of the human body before body motion is calculated. We tested whether point-light stimuli are processed through posture recognition of the human body form by using a typical feature of form recognition, namely size invariance. We constructed a point-light stimulus that can only be perceived through a size-invariant mechanism. This stimulus changes rapidly in size from one image to the next. It thus disrupts continuity of early visuo-spatial properties but maintains continuity of the body posture representation. Despite this massive manipulation at the visuo-spatial level, size-changing point-light figures are spontaneously recognized by naive observers, and support discrimination of human body motion.

  19. Ambulatory surgery with chloroprocaine spinal anesthesia: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghisi D

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Daniela Ghisi, Stefano Bonarelli Department of Anaesthesia and Postoperative Intensive Care, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy Abstract: Spinal anesthesia is a reliable and safe technique for procedures of the lower extremities. Nevertheless, some of its characteristics may limit its use for ambulatory surgery, including delayed ambulation, risk of urinary retention, and pain after block regression. The current availability of short-acting local anesthetics has renewed interest for this technique also in the context of short- and ultra-short procedures. Chloroprocaine (CP is an amino-ester local anesthetic with a very short half-life. It was introduced and has been successfully used for spinal anesthesia since 1952. Sodium bisulfite was then added as a preservative after 1956. The drug was then abandoned in the 1980s for several reports of neurological deficits in patients receiving accidentally high doses of intrathecal CP during epidural labor analgesia. Animal studies have proven the safety of the preservative-free formulation, which has been extensively evaluated in volunteer studies as well as in clinical practice with a favorable profile in terms of both safety and efficacy. In comparison with bupivacaine, 2-chloroprocaine (2-CP showed faster offset times to end of anesthesia, unassisted ambulation, and discharge from hospital. These findings suggests that 2-CP may be a suitable alternative to low doses of long-acting local anesthetics in ambulatory surgery. Its safety profile also suggests that 2-CP could be a valid substitute for intrathecal short- and intermediate-acting local anesthetics, such as lidocaine and mepivacaine – often causes of transient neurological symptoms. In this context, literature suggests a dose ranging between 30 and 60 mg of 2-CP for procedures lasting 60 minutes or less, while 10 mg is considered the no-effect dose. The present review describes recent evidence about 2-CP as an anesthetic agent for

  20. Neuromorphic Configurable Architecture for Robust Motion Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo Botella

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The robustness of the human visual system recovering motion estimation in almost any visual situation is enviable, performing enormous calculation tasks continuously, robustly, efficiently, and effortlessly. There is obviously a great deal we can learn from our own visual system. Currently, there are several optical flow algorithms, although none of them deals efficiently with noise, illumination changes, second-order motion, occlusions, and so on. The main contribution of this work is the efficient implementation of a biologically inspired motion algorithm that borrows nature templates as inspiration in the design of architectures and makes use of a specific model of human visual motion perception: Multichannel Gradient Model (McGM. This novel customizable architecture of a neuromorphic robust optical flow can be constructed with FPGA or ASIC device using properties of the cortical motion pathway, constituting a useful framework for building future complex bioinspired systems running in real time with high computational complexity. This work includes the resource usage and performance data, and the comparison with actual systems. This hardware has many application fields like object recognition, navigation, or tracking in difficult environments due to its bioinspired and robustness properties.

  1. Pain Management in Ambulatory Surgery—A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan G. Jakobsson

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Day surgery, coming to and leaving the hospital on the same day as surgery as well as ambulatory surgery, leaving hospital within twenty-three hours is increasingly being adopted. There are several potential benefits associated with the avoidance of in-hospital care. Early discharge demands a rapid recovery and low incidence and intensity of surgery and anaesthesia related side-effects; such as pain, nausea and fatigue. Patients must be fit enough and symptom intensity so low that self-care is feasible in order to secure quality of care. Preventive multi-modal analgesia has become the gold standard. Administering paracetamol, NSIADs prior to start of surgery and decreasing the noxious influx by the use of local anaesthetics by peripheral block or infiltration in surgical field prior to incision and at wound closure in combination with intra-operative fast acting opioid analgesics, e.g., remifentanil, have become standard of care. Single preoperative 0.1 mg/kg dose dexamethasone has a combined action, anti-emetic and provides enhanced analgesia. Additional α-2-agonists and/or gabapentin or pregabalin may be used in addition to facilitate the pain management if patients are at risk for more pronounced pain. Paracetamol, NSAIDs and rescue oral opioid is the basic concept for self-care during the first 3–5 days after common day/ambulatory surgical procedures.

  2. Social support and ambulatory blood pressure in older people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanchez-Martínez, Mercedes; López-García, Esther; Guallar-Castillón, Pilar; Cruz, Juan J; Orozco, Edilberto; García-Esquinas, Esther; Rodríguez-Artalejo, Fernando; Banegas, José R

    2016-10-01

    Social support has been associated with greater nocturnal decline (dipping) in blood pressure (BP) in younger and middle-aged individuals. However, it is uncertain if aggregated measures of social support are related to ambulatory SBP in older adults, where high SBP is frequent and clinically challenging. We studied 1047 community-living individuals aged at least 60 years in Spain. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory BP was determined under standardized conditions. Social support was assessed with a seven-item questionnaire on marital status, cohabitation, frequency of contact with relatives, or with friends and neighbors, emotional support, instrumental support, and outdoor companionship. A social support score was built by summing the values of the items that were significantly associated with SBP variables, such that the higher the score, the better the support. Participants' mean age was 71.7 years (50.8% men). Being married, cohabiting, and being accompanied when out of home were the support items significantly associated with SBP variables. After adjustment for sociodemographic (age, sex, education), behavioral (BMI, alcohol, tobacco, salt consumption, physical activity, Mediterranean diet score), and clinical variables [sleep quality, mental stress, comorbidity, BP medication, and ambulatory BP levels and heart rate (HR)], one additional point in the social support score built with the abovementioned three support variables, was associated with a decrease of 0.93 mmHg in night-time SBP (P = 0.039), totaling 2.8 mmHg decrease for a score of 3 vs. 0. The three-item social support score was also inversely associated with the night/day SBP ratio (β = -0.006, P = 0.010). In older adults, social support is independently associated with lower nocturnal SBP and greater SBP dipping. Further research is needed in prospective studies to confirm these results.

  3. Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Ambulatory Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Your Care Ambulatory Care To prevent health care errors, patients are urged to... SpeakUP TM Everyone has a ... he or she has confused you with another patient. P ay attention to the ... for their identification (ID) badges. • Notice whether your caregivers have washed ...

  4. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in clinical trials with antihypertensive agents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.H. van den Meiracker (Anton)

    1995-01-01

    textabstractAmbulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being used increasingly for the evaluation of antihypertensive agents in clinical trials. In this brief review several aspects of ABPM are discussed. In particular, attention is paid to the extent to which ABPM is subject to a placebo

  5. Outcome-driven thresholds for ambulatory pulse pressure in 9938 participants recruited from 11 populations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Yu-Mei; Thijs, Lutgarde; Li, Yan

    2014-01-01

    Evidence-based thresholds for risk stratification based on pulse pressure (PP) are currently unavailable. To derive outcome-driven thresholds for the 24-hour ambulatory PP, we analyzed 9938 participants randomly recruited from 11 populations (47.3% women). After age stratification (... interval of the HRs associated with stepwise increasing PP levels crossed unity at 64 mm Hg. While accounting for all covariables, the top tenth of PP contributed less than 0.3% (generalized R(2) statistic) to the overall risk among the elderly. Thus, in randomly recruited people, ambulatory PP does...

  6. Compensation of Wave-Induced Motion and Force Phenomena for Ship-Based High Performance Robotic and Human Amplifying Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Love, LJL

    2003-09-24

    The decrease in manpower and increase in material handling needs on many Naval vessels provides the motivation to explore the modeling and control of Naval robotic and robotic assistive devices. This report addresses the design, modeling, control and analysis of position and force controlled robotic systems operating on the deck of a moving ship. First we provide background information that quantifies the motion of the ship, both in terms of frequency and amplitude. We then formulate the motion of the ship in terms of homogeneous transforms. This transformation provides a link between the motion of the ship and the base of a manipulator. We model the kinematics of a manipulator as a serial extension of the ship motion. We then show how to use these transforms to formulate the kinetic and potential energy of a general, multi-degree of freedom manipulator moving on a ship. As a demonstration, we consider two examples: a one degree-of-freedom system experiencing three sea states operating in a plane to verify the methodology and a 3 degree of freedom system experiencing all six degrees of ship motion to illustrate the ease of computation and complexity of the solution. The first series of simulations explore the impact wave motion has on tracking performance of a position controlled robot. We provide a preliminary comparison between conventional linear control and Repetitive Learning Control (RLC) and show how fixed time delay RLC breaks down due to the varying nature wave disturbance frequency. Next, we explore the impact wave motion disturbances have on Human Amplification Technology (HAT). We begin with a description of the traditional HAT control methodology. Simulations show that the motion of the base of the robot, due to ship motion, generates disturbances forces reflected to the operator that significantly degrade the positioning accuracy and resolution at higher sea states. As with position-controlled manipulators, augmenting the control with a Repetitive

  7. Acceptance of Ambulatory Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in Central Switzerland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widjaja, Sandra P; Fischer, Henning; Brunner, Alexander R; Honigmann, Philipp; Metzger, Jürg

    2017-11-01

    Currently, most patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in Switzerland are inpatients for 2-3 days. Due to a lack of available hospital beds, we asked whether day-case surgery would be an option for patients in central Switzerland. The questions of acceptability of outpatient LC and factors contributing to the acceptability thus arose. Hundred patients suffering from symptomatic cholecystolithiasis, capable of communicating in German, and between 18 and 65 years old, were included. Patients received a pre-operative questionnaire on medical history and social situation when informed consent on surgery and participation in the study was obtained. Exclusion criteria were patients suffering from acute cholecystitis or any type of cancer; having a BMI >40 kg/m 2 ; needing conversion to open cholecystectomy or an intraoperative drainage; and non-German speakers. Surgery was performed laparoscopically. Both surgeon and patient filled in a postoperative questionnaire. The surgeon's questionnaire listed medical and technical information, and the patients' questionnaire listed medical information, satisfaction with the treatment and willingness to be released on the same day. These data from both questionnaires were grouped into social and medical factors and analysed on their influence upon willingness to accept an ambulatory procedure. No outpatient follow-up apart from checking for readmission to our hospital within 1 month after discharge was performed. Of the 100 participants, one-third was male. More than two-thirds were Swiss citizens. Only one participant was ineligible for rapid release evaluation due to need of a drainage. Among the social factors contributing to the acceptability of ambulatory care, we found nationality to be relevant; Swiss citizens preferred an inpatient procedure, whereas non-Swiss citizens were significantly more willing to return home on the same day. Household size, sex and age did not correlate with a preference for

  8. Tratamento ambulatorial da endocardite bacteriana estreptocócica Tratamiento clínico de la endocarditis bacteriana estreptocócica Ambulatory treatment of streptococcal bacterial endocarditis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sirio Hassem Sobrinho

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available A endocardite bacteriana é uma grave doença infecciosa cujo tratamento é tradicionalmente feito com o paciente internado. recebendo medicação intravenosa. A possibilidade de tratamento domiciliar ou ambulatorial. em casos estritamente selecionados. é atraente tanto do ponto de vista social quanto do econômico. Apresentamos o relato de 6 pacientes com diagnóstico de endocardite bacteriana por Streptococcus. tratados parcial ou integralmente em regime ambulatorial. Todos evoluíram sem complicações e com resolução completa do quadro infeccioso.La endocarditis bacteriana es una severa enfermedad infecciosa cuyo tratamiento se hace tradicionalmente con el paciente internado, recibiendo medicación intravenosa. La posibilidad de tratamiento domiciliar o clínico, en casos estrictamente seleccionados, es atractivo desde el punto de vista social como del económico. Presentamos el caso clínico de 6 pacientes con diagnóstico de endocarditis bacteriana por streptococcus, tratados parcial o integralmente en régimen ambulatorio. Todos evolucionaron sin complicaciones y con resolución completa del cuadro infeccioso.Bacterial endocarditis is a severe infectious disease. of which treatment is traditionally carried out in hospitalized patients through intravenous medication. The possibility of at-home or ambulatory treatment. for stringently selected cases. is attractive from the social as well as from the economic point of view. We report 6 patients with a diagnosis of bacterial endocarditis caused by Streptococcus. treated partially or completely on an outpatient basis. All of them evolved without complications and presented complete resolution of the infection.

  9. POD evaluation for joint angles from inertial and optical motion capturing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimizu, Kai; Kobayashi, Futoshi; Nakamoto, Hiroyuki; Kojima, Fumio

    2016-01-01

    It has been recognized that advances in preventive maintenance can improve the sustainment of systems, facilities, and infrastructure. Robot technologies have also received attention for maintenance applications. In order to operate delicate tasks, multi-fingered robot hands have been proposed in cases where human capability is deficient. This paper deals with motion capturing systems for controlling the hand/arm robot remotely. Several types of motion capturing systems have been developed so far. However, it is difficult for individual motion capturing systems to measure precise joint angles of a human arm. Therefore, in this paper, we integrate the inertial motion capturing system with the optical motion capturing system to capture a human arm posture. By evaluating the reliability of each motion capturing system, the integration is carried out. The probability of detection (POD) is applied to evaluate and compare the reliability of datasets measured by each motion capturing system. POD is one of the widely used statistical techniques to determine reliability. We apply the â analysis to determine the POD(a) function from the data set. Based on the POD evaluation, two motion capturing systems are integrated. (author)

  10. Motion based parsing for video from observational psychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokaram, Anil; Doyle, Erika; Lennon, Daire; Joyeux, Laurent; Fuller, Ray

    2006-01-01

    In Psychology it is common to conduct studies involving the observation of humans undertaking some task. The sessions are typically recorded on video and used for subjective visual analysis. The subjective analysis is tedious and time consuming, not only because much useless video material is recorded but also because subjective measures of human behaviour are not necessarily repeatable. This paper presents tools using content based video analysis that allow automated parsing of video from one such study involving Dyslexia. The tools rely on implicit measures of human motion that can be generalised to other applications in the domain of human observation. Results comparing quantitative assessment of human motion with subjective assessment are also presented, illustrating that the system is a useful scientific tool.

  11. Trends in Ambulatory Prescribing of Antiplatelet Therapy among US Ischemic Stroke Patients: 2000–2007

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudeep Karve

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Study objectives were to assess temporal trends and identify patient- and practice-level predictors of the prescription of antiplatelet medications in a national sample of ischemic stroke (IS patients seeking ambulatory care. Methods. IS-related outpatient visits by adults were identified using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for the years 2000–2007. We assessed prescribing of antiplatelet medications using the generic drug code and drug entry codes in these data. Temporal trends in antiplatelet prescribing were assessed using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test for trend. Results. We identified 9.5 million IS-related ambulatory visits. Antiplatelet medications were prescribed at 35.5% of visits. Physician office prescribing of the clopidogrel-aspirin combination increased significantly from 0.5% in 2000 to 22.0% in 2007 (P=0.05, whereas prescribing of aspirin decreased from 17.9% to 7.0% (P=0.50 during the same period. Conclusion. We observed a continued increase in prescription of the aspirin-clopidogrel combination from 2000 to 2007. Clinical trial evidence suggests that the aspirin-clopidogrel combination does not provide any additional benefit compared with clopidogrel alone; however, our study findings indicate that even with lack of adequate clinical evidence physician prescribing of this combination has increased in real-world community settings.

  12. Skeletal muscle mass and exercise performance in stable ambulatory patients with heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, C C; Chomsky, D B; Rayos, G; Yeoh, T K; Wilson, J R

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether skeletal muscle atrophy limits the maximal exercise capacity of stable ambulatory patients with heart failure. Body composition and maximal exercise capacity were measured in 100 stable ambulatory patients with heart failure. Body composition was assessed by using dual-energy X-ray absorption. Peak exercise oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and the anaerobic threshold were measured by using a Naughton treadmill protocol and a Medical Graphics CardioO2 System. VO2peak averaged 13.4 +/- 3.3 ml.min-1.kg-1 or 43 +/- 12% of normal. Lean body mass averaged 52.9 +/- 10.5 kg and leg lean mass 16.5 +/- 3.6 kg. Leg lean mass correlated linearly with VO2peak (r = 0.68, P < 0.01), suggesting that exercise performance is influences by skeletal muscle mass. However, lean body mass was comparable to levels noted in 1,584 normal control subjects, suggesting no decrease in muscle mass. Leg muscle mass was comparable to levels noted in 34 normal control subjects, further supporting this conclusion. These findings suggest that exercise intolerance in stable ambulatory patients with heart failure is not due to skeletal muscle atrophy.

  13. Abordagem ambulatorial do nutricionista em anemia hemolítica Nutritional ambulatory approach in hemolytic anemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Aparecida Vieira

    1999-04-01

    Full Text Available Descreve a atuação do nutricionista em ambulatório de Hematologia Pediátrica em um hospital escola e relata as condutas dietéticas necessárias na abordagem de crianças com anemia hemolítica com e sem sobrecarga de ferro, e também as atitudes mais freqüentes dos familiares em relação à alimentação desses pacientes.The Authors describe the performance of the Dietitian in a Pediatric Hematology Ambulatory. They emphasize the necessary dietetic procedures for adequate management of children with hemolytic anemia, with and without iron overload. Furthermore, they approach the family's attitude towards the patient's nutrition.

  14. Applications of Phase-Based Motion Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branch, Nicholas A.; Stewart, Eric C.

    2018-01-01

    Image pyramids provide useful information in determining structural response at low cost using commercially available cameras. The current effort applies previous work on the complex steerable pyramid to analyze and identify imperceptible linear motions in video. Instead of implicitly computing motion spectra through phase analysis of the complex steerable pyramid and magnifying the associated motions, instead present a visual technique and the necessary software to display the phase changes of high frequency signals within video. The present technique quickly identifies regions of largest motion within a video with a single phase visualization and without the artifacts of motion magnification, but requires use of the computationally intensive Fourier transform. While Riesz pyramids present an alternative to the computationally intensive complex steerable pyramid for motion magnification, the Riesz formulation contains significant noise, and motion magnification still presents large amounts of data that cannot be quickly assessed by the human eye. Thus, user-friendly software is presented for quickly identifying structural response through optical flow and phase visualization in both Python and MATLAB.

  15. Psychophysical evidence for auditory motion parallax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genzel, Daria; Schutte, Michael; Brimijoin, W Owen; MacNeilage, Paul R; Wiegrebe, Lutz

    2018-04-17

    Distance is important: From an ecological perspective, knowledge about the distance to either prey or predator is vital. However, the distance of an unknown sound source is particularly difficult to assess, especially in anechoic environments. In vision, changes in perspective resulting from observer motion produce a reliable, consistent, and unambiguous impression of depth known as motion parallax. Here we demonstrate with formal psychophysics that humans can exploit auditory motion parallax, i.e., the change in the dynamic binaural cues elicited by self-motion, to assess the relative depths of two sound sources. Our data show that sensitivity to relative depth is best when subjects move actively; performance deteriorates when subjects are moved by a motion platform or when the sound sources themselves move. This is true even though the dynamic binaural cues elicited by these three types of motion are identical. Our data demonstrate a perceptual strategy to segregate intermittent sound sources in depth and highlight the tight interaction between self-motion and binaural processing that allows assessment of the spatial layout of complex acoustic scenes.

  16. Patient care delivery and integration: stimulating advancement of ambulatory care pharmacy practice in an era of healthcare reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epplen, Kelly T

    2014-08-15

    This article discusses how to plan and implement an ambulatory care pharmacist service, how to integrate a hospital- or health-system-based service with the mission and operations of the institution, and how to help the institution meet its challenges related to quality improvement, continuity of care, and financial sustainability. The steps in implementing an ambulatory care pharmacist service include (1) conducting a needs assessment, (2) aligning plans for the service with the mission and goals of the parent institution, (3) collaborating with patients and physicians, (4) standardizing the patient care process, (5) proposing the service, (6) attaining the necessary resources, (7) identifying stakeholders, (8) identifying applicable quality standards, (9) defining competency standards, (10) planning for service payment, and (11) monitoring outcomes. Ambulatory care pharmacists have current opportunities to become engaged with patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, preventive and wellness programs, and continuity of care initiatives. Common barriers to the advancement of ambulatory care pharmacist services include lack of complete access to patient information, inadequate information technology, and lack of payment. Ambulatory care pharmacy practitioners must assertively promote appropriate medication use, provide patient-centered care, pursue integration with the patient care team, and seek appropriate recognition and compensation for the services they provide. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Successful Semi-Ambulatory Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Bridge to Heart-Lung Transplantation in a Very Small Child.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, J Y W; Buchholz, H; Ryerson, L; Conradi, A; Adatia, I; Dyck, J; Rebeyka, I; Lien, D; Mullen, J

    2015-08-01

    Lung transplantation (LTx) may be denied for children on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) due to high risk of cerebral hemorrhage. Rarely has successful LTx been reported in children over 10 years of age receiving awake or ambulatory veno-venous ECMO. LTx following support with ambulatory veno-arterial ECMO (VA ECMO) in children has never been reported to our knowledge. We present the case of a 4-year-old, 12-kg child with heritable pulmonary artery hypertension and refractory right ventricular failure. She was successfully bridged to heart-lung transplantation (HLTx) using ambulatory VA ECMO. Initial resuscitation with standard VA ECMO was converted to an ambulatory circuit using Berlin heart cannulae. She was extubated and ambulating around her bed while on VA ECMO for 40 days. She received an HLTx from an oversized marginal lung donor. Despite a cardiac arrest and Grade 3 primary graft dysfunction, she made a full recovery without neurological deficits. She achieved 104% force expiratory volume in 1 s 33 months post-HLTx. Ambulatory VA ECMO may be a useful strategy to bridge very young children to LTx or HLTx. Patient tailored ECMO cannulation, minimization of hemorrhage, and thrombosis risks while on ECMO contributed to a successful HLTx in our patient. © Copyright 2015 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

  18. Safety and cost benefit of an ambulatory program for patients with low-risk neutropenic fever at an Australian centre.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teh, Benjamin W; Brown, Christine; Joyce, Trish; Worth, Leon J; Slavin, Monica A; Thursky, Karin A

    2018-03-01

    Neutropenic fever (NF) is a common complication of cancer chemotherapy. Patients at low risk of medical complications from NF can be identified using a validated risk assessment and managed in an outpatient setting. This is a new model of care for Australia. This study described the implementation of a sustainable ambulatory program for NF at a tertiary cancer centre over a 12-month period. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre introduced an ambulatory care program in 2014, which identified low-risk NF patients, promoted early de-escalation to oral antibiotics, and early discharge to a nurse-led ambulatory program. Patients prospectively enrolled in the ambulatory program were compared with a historical-matched cohort of patients from 2011 for analysis. Patient demographics, clinical variables (cancer type, recent chemotherapy, treatment intent, site of presentation) and outcomes were collected and compared. Total cost of inpatient admissions was determined from diagnosis-related group (DRG) codes and applied to both the prospective and historical cohorts to allow comparisons. Twenty-five patients were managed in the first year of this program with a reduction in hospital median length of stay from 4.0 to 1.1 days and admission cost from Australian dollars ($AUD) 8580 to $AUD2360 compared to the historical cohort. Offsetting salary costs, the ambulatory program had a net cost benefit of $AUD 71895. Readmission for fever was infrequent (8.0%), and no deaths were reported. Of relevance to hospitals providing cancer care, feasibility, safety, and cost benefits of an ambulatory program for low-risk NF patients have been demonstrated.

  19. Wearable Stretch Sensors for Motion Measurement of the Wrist Joint Based on Dielectric Elastomers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Bo; Li, Mingyu; Mei, Tao; McCoul, David; Qin, Shihao; Zhao, Zhanfeng; Zhao, Jianwen

    2017-11-23

    Motion capture of the human body potentially holds great significance for exoskeleton robots, human-computer interaction, sports analysis, rehabilitation research, and many other areas. Dielectric elastomer sensors (DESs) are excellent candidates for wearable human motion capture systems because of their intrinsic characteristics of softness, light weight, and compliance. In this paper, DESs were applied to measure all component motions of the wrist joints. Five sensors were mounted to different positions on the wrist, and each one is for one component motion. To find the best position to mount the sensors, the distribution of the muscles is analyzed. Even so, the component motions and the deformation of the sensors are coupled; therefore, a decoupling method was developed. By the decoupling algorithm, all component motions can be measured with a precision of 5°, which meets the requirements of general motion capture systems.

  20. Nurse-measured or ambulatory blood pressure in routine hypertension care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veerman, D. P.; van Montfrans, G. A.

    1993-01-01

    Nurses are considered to evoke less white-coat hypertension, and might therefore be able to estimate average blood pressure as well as and more conveniently than ambulatory monitoring. The objective of the present study was to determine the correspondence between blood pressure measured by a doctor

  1. Comparison of valsartan and amlodipine on ambulatory blood pressure variability in hypertensive patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eguchi, Kazuo; Imaizumi, Yuki; Kaihara, Toshiki; Hoshide, Satoshi; Kario, Kazuomi

    We tested the hypothesis that calcium channel blockers (CCBs: amlodipine group, n = 38)) are superior to angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs: valsartan group, n = 38) against ambulatory blood pressure variability (BPV) in untreated Japanese hypertensive patients. Both drugs significantly reduced ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP values. With regard to BPV, standard deviation (SD) in SBP did not change with the administration of either drug, but the ARB significantly increased SD in awake DBP (12 ± 4-14 ± 4 mmHg). The ARB also significantly increased the coefficients of variation (CVs)in awake and 24-h SBP/DBP (all P valsartan, especially in reducing maximum BP levels.

  2. Leveraging Two Kinect Sensors for Accurate Full-Body Motion Capture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhiquan Gao

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Accurate motion capture plays an important role in sports analysis, the medical field and virtual reality. Current methods for motion capture often suffer from occlusions, which limits the accuracy of their pose estimation. In this paper, we propose a complete system to measure the pose parameters of the human body accurately. Different from previous monocular depth camera systems, we leverage two Kinect sensors to acquire more information about human movements, which ensures that we can still get an accurate estimation even when significant occlusion occurs. Because human motion is temporally constant, we adopt a learning analysis to mine the temporal information across the posture variations. Using this information, we estimate human pose parameters accurately, regardless of rapid movement. Our experimental results show that our system can perform an accurate pose estimation of the human body with the constraint of information from the temporal domain.

  3. Linearized motion estimation for articulated planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, Ankur; Sheikh, Yaser; Kanade, Takeo

    2011-04-01

    In this paper, we describe the explicit application of articulation constraints for estimating the motion of a system of articulated planes. We relate articulations to the relative homography between planes and show that these articulations translate into linearized equality constraints on a linear least-squares system, which can be solved efficiently using a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker system. The articulation constraints can be applied for both gradient-based and feature-based motion estimation algorithms and to illustrate this, we describe a gradient-based motion estimation algorithm for an affine camera and a feature-based motion estimation algorithm for a projective camera that explicitly enforces articulation constraints. We show that explicit application of articulation constraints leads to numerically stable estimates of motion. The simultaneous computation of motion estimates for all of the articulated planes in a scene allows us to handle scene areas where there is limited texture information and areas that leave the field of view. Our results demonstrate the wide applicability of the algorithm in a variety of challenging real-world cases such as human body tracking, motion estimation of rigid, piecewise planar scenes, and motion estimation of triangulated meshes.

  4. Sensitivity and specificity of obesity diagnosis in pediatric ambulatory care in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Carolyn O; Milliren, Carly E; Feldman, Henry A; Taveras, Elsie M

    2013-09-01

    We examined the sensitivity and specificity of an obesity diagnosis in a nationally representative sample of pediatric outpatient visits. We used the 2005 to 2009 National Ambulatory Medical Care and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care surveys. We included visits with children 2 to 18 years, yielding a sample of 48 145 database visits. We determined 3 methods of identifying obesity: documented body mass index (BMI) ≥95th percentile; International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code; and positive answer to the question, "Does the patient now have obesity?" Using BMI as the gold standard, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of a clinical obesity diagnosis. Among the 19.5% of children who were obese by BMI, 7.0% had an ICD-9 code and 15.2% had a positive response to questioning. The sensitivity of an obesity diagnosis was 15.4%, and the specificity was 99.2%. The sensitivity of the obesity diagnosis in pediatric ambulatory visits is low. Efforts are needed to increase identification of obese children.

  5. Motion sickness, stress and the endocannabinoid system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Choukèr

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A substantial number of individuals are at risk for the development of motion sickness induced nausea and vomiting (N&V during road, air or sea travel. Motion sickness can be extremely stressful but the neurobiologic mechanisms leading to motion sickness are not clear. The endocannabinoid system (ECS represents an important neuromodulator of stress and N&V. Inhibitory effects of the ECS on N&V are mediated by endocannabinoid-receptor activation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied the activity of the ECS in human volunteers (n = 21 during parabolic flight maneuvers (PFs. During PFs, microgravity conditions (<10(-2 g are generated for approximately 22 s which results in a profound kinetic stimulus. Blood endocannabinoids (anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG were measured from blood samples taken in-flight before start of the parabolic maneuvers, after 10, 20, and 30 parabolas, in-flight after termination of PFs and 24 h later. Volunteers who developed acute motion sickness (n = 7 showed significantly higher stress scores but lower endocannabinoid levels during PFs. After 20 parabolas, blood anandamide levels had dropped significantly in volunteers with motion sickness (from 0.39+/-0.40 to 0.22+/-0.25 ng/ml but increased in participants without the condition (from 0.43+/-0.23 to 0.60+/-0.38 ng/ml resulting in significantly higher anandamide levels in participants without motion sickness (p = 0.02. 2-AG levels in individuals with motion sickness were low and almost unchanged throughout the experiment but showed a robust increase in participants without motion sickness. Cannabinoid-receptor 1 (CB1 but not cannabinoid-receptor 2 (CB2 mRNA expression in leucocytes 4 h after the experiment was significantly lower in volunteers with motion sickness than in participants without N&V. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that stress and motion sickness in humans are associated with impaired endocannabinoid

  6. Data Accuracy of the Bubble Sheet Ambulatory Data System and the KG-Ambulatory Data System in the Internal Medicine Clinic, Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, Fort Polk, Louisiana

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    MacLaren, Lisa

    2000-01-01

    ...) and Ambulatory Patient Group (APG) outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). Three data sets were examined at different points in time based on type of ADS used and implementation of data quality management efforts...

  7. Ambulatory hysteroscopy and its role in the management of abnormal uterine bleeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Natalie A M; Robinson, Lynne L L; Clark, T Justin

    2015-10-01

    Hysteroscopy is now an ambulatory procedure, having moved from a conventional day-case operating theatre environment to the outpatient clinic setting. Outpatient hysteroscopy can be used as a diagnostic test and as a therapeutic modality for women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding. In many cases women can be diagnosed and treated efficiently during a single hospital appointment. This article reviews the development of ambulatory hysteroscopy and how it should optimally be performed and implemented. The contemporary role of this technology for investigating and treating women with abnormal uterine bleeding is then discussed. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  8. Modeling repetitive motions using structured light.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yi; Aliaga, Daniel G

    2010-01-01

    Obtaining models of dynamic 3D objects is an important part of content generation for computer graphics. Numerous methods have been extended from static scenarios to model dynamic scenes. If the states or poses of the dynamic object repeat often during a sequence (but not necessarily periodically), we call such a repetitive motion. There are many objects, such as toys, machines, and humans, undergoing repetitive motions. Our key observation is that when a motion-state repeats, we can sample the scene under the same motion state again but using a different set of parameters; thus, providing more information of each motion state. This enables robustly acquiring dense 3D information difficult for objects with repetitive motions using only simple hardware. After the motion sequence, we group temporally disjoint observations of the same motion state together and produce a smooth space-time reconstruction of the scene. Effectively, the dynamic scene modeling problem is converted to a series of static scene reconstructions, which are easier to tackle. The varying sampling parameters can be, for example, structured-light patterns, illumination directions, and viewpoints resulting in different modeling techniques. Based on this observation, we present an image-based motion-state framework and demonstrate our paradigm using either a synchronized or an unsynchronized structured-light acquisition method.

  9. Ear Acupuncture for Post-Operative Pain Associated with Ambulatory Arthroscopic Knee Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-14

    E7(/(3+21(180%(5 ,QFOXGHDUHDFRGH 14 Jan 2014 Final Report Ear acupuncture for post-operative pain associated with ambulatory arthroscopic...DISTRIBUTION A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. The purpose of this study is to compare ear acupuncture plus standard therapy versus...3298 Ear Acupuncture for Post-operative Pa111 Assoc1ated With Ambulatory Arthroscopic Knee Surgery A Randomized Controlled Trial ’• V ’’ ’-’ I

  10. Estimation of Ground Reaction Forces and Moments During Gait Using Only Inertial Motion Capture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelos Karatsidis

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Ground reaction forces and moments (GRF&M are important measures used as input in biomechanical analysis to estimate joint kinetics, which often are used to infer information for many musculoskeletal diseases. Their assessment is conventionally achieved using laboratory-based equipment that cannot be applied in daily life monitoring. In this study, we propose a method to predict GRF&M during walking, using exclusively kinematic information from fully-ambulatory inertial motion capture (IMC. From the equations of motion, we derive the total external forces and moments. Then, we solve the indeterminacy problem during double stance using a distribution algorithm based on a smooth transition assumption. The agreement between the IMC-predicted and reference GRF&M was categorized over normal walking speed as excellent for the vertical (ρ = 0.992, rRMSE = 5.3%, anterior (ρ = 0.965, rRMSE = 9.4% and sagittal (ρ = 0.933, rRMSE = 12.4% GRF&M components and as strong for the lateral (ρ = 0.862, rRMSE = 13.1%, frontal (ρ = 0.710, rRMSE = 29.6%, and transverse GRF&M (ρ = 0.826, rRMSE = 18.2%. Sensitivity analysis was performed on the effect of the cut-off frequency used in the filtering of the input kinematics, as well as the threshold velocities for the gait event detection algorithm. This study was the first to use only inertial motion capture to estimate 3D GRF&M during gait, providing comparable accuracy with optical motion capture prediction. This approach enables applications that require estimation of the kinetics during walking outside the gait laboratory.

  11. Quality of life in automated and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Michels, Wieneke M.; van Dijk, Sandra; Verduijn, Marion; le Cessie, Saskia; Boeschoten, Elisabeth W.; Dekker, Friedo W.; Krediet, Raymond T.; Apperloo, A. J.; Bijlsma, J. A.; Boekhout, M.; Boer, W. H.; van der Boog, P. J. M.; Büller, H. R.; van Buren, M.; de Charro, F. Th; Doorenbos, C. J.; van den Dorpel, M. A.; van Es, A.; Fagel, W. J.; Feith, G. W.; de Fijter, C. W. H.; Frenken, L. A. M.; Grave, W.; van Geelen, J. A. C. A.; Gerlag, P. G. G.; Gorgels, J. P. M. C.; Huisman, R. M.; Jager, K. J.; Jie, K.; Koning-Mulder, W. A. H.; Koolen, M. I.; Kremer Hovinga, T. K.; Lavrijssen, A. T. J.; Luik, A. J.; van der Meulen, J.; Parlevliet, K. J.; Raasveld, M. H. M.; van der Sande, F. M.; Schonck, M. J. M.; Schuurmans, M. M. J.; Siegert, C. E. H.; Stegeman, C. A.; Stevens, P.; Thijssen, J. G. P.; Valentijn, R. M.; Vastenburg, G. H.; Verburgh, C. A.; Vincent, H. H.; Vos, P. F.

    2011-01-01

    Despite a lack of strong evidence, automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is often prescribed on account of an expected better quality of life (QoL) than that expected with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Our aim was to analyze differences in QoL in patients starting dialysis on APD

  12. Neural representations of kinematic laws of motion: evidence for action-perception coupling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dayan, Eran; Casile, Antonino; Levit-Binnun, Nava; Giese, Martin A; Hendler, Talma; Flash, Tamar

    2007-12-18

    Behavioral and modeling studies have established that curved and drawing human hand movements obey the 2/3 power law, which dictates a strong coupling between movement curvature and velocity. Human motion perception seems to reflect this constraint. The functional MRI study reported here demonstrates that the brain's response to this law of motion is much stronger and more widespread than to other types of motion. Compliance with this law is reflected in the activation of a large network of brain areas subserving motor production, visual motion processing, and action observation functions. Hence, these results strongly support the notion of similar neural coding for motion perception and production. These findings suggest that cortical motion representations are optimally tuned to the kinematic and geometrical invariants characterizing biological actions.

  13. The features of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in patients with diabetes mellitus depending on endothelial dysfunction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.O. Pertseva

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background. Arterial hypertension in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM plays a main role in the earlier formation of diabetic kidney disease (DKD. Endothelial dysfunction is considered to be a process based on the development of diabetic complications. It is important to study the markers, which gives the opportunity to identify DKD in early stage. Objective: to evaluate 24-h ambulatory blood pressure data in patients with DM and its correlation with estimated glomerular filtration rate and endothelial dysfunction. Materials and methods. The endothelial function was determined by the levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-b1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1. There were 124 patients with DM (66 with type 1 and 58 with type 2 under observation. Results. Levels of endothelial function (TGF-b1 and VCAM-1 indexes in patients with type 1 and type 2 DM depended on glomerular filtration rate. Between the indexes of endothelial function (TGF-b1, VCAM-1 and the 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure, there is strong and average correlation, therefore, parameters of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and presence of endothelial dysfunction can be considered as early signs of DKD progression in patients with DM. Conclusions. 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in patients with DM on the early stages of diabetic nephropathy is characterized by significant circadian rhythm disorders. The insufficient night decline of blood pressure in patients with type 1 and type 2 DM characterizes the presence of diabetic nephropathy progression according to the indexes of 24-h ambulatory blood pressure.

  14. Non-linear methods for the quantification of cyclic motion

    OpenAIRE

    Quintana Duque, Juan Carlos

    2016-01-01

    Traditional methods of human motion analysis assume that fluctuations in cycles (e.g. gait motion) and repetitions (e.g. tennis shots) arise solely from noise. However, the fluctuations may have enough information to describe the properties of motion. Recently, the fluctuations in motion have been analysed based on the concepts of variability and stability, but they are not used uniformly. On the one hand, these concepts are often mixed in the existing literature, while on the other hand, the...

  15. Definition of ambulatory blood pressure targets for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in relation to clinic blood pressure: prospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Head, Geoffrey A; Mihailidou, Anastasia S; Duggan, Karen A; Beilin, Lawrence J; Berry, Narelle; Brown, Mark A; Bune, Alex J; Cowley, Diane; Chalmers, John P; Howe, Peter R C; Hodgson, Jonathan; Ludbrook, John; Mangoni, Arduino A; McGrath, Barry P; Nelson, Mark R; Sharman, James E; Stowasser, Michael

    2010-04-14

    Twenty-four hour ambulatory blood pressure thresholds have been defined for the diagnosis of mild hypertension but not for its treatment or for other blood pressure thresholds used in the diagnosis of moderate to severe hypertension. We aimed to derive age and sex related ambulatory blood pressure equivalents to clinic blood pressure thresholds for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. We collated 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure data, recorded with validated devices, from 11 centres across six Australian states (n=8575). We used least product regression to assess the relation between these measurements and clinic blood pressure measured by trained staff and in a smaller cohort by doctors (n=1693). Mean age of participants was 56 years (SD 15) with mean body mass index 28.9 (5.5) and mean clinic systolic/diastolic blood pressure 142/82 mm Hg (19/12); 4626 (54%) were women. Average clinic measurements by trained staff were 6/3 mm Hg higher than daytime ambulatory blood pressure and 10/5 mm Hg higher than 24 hour blood pressure, but 9/7 mm Hg lower than clinic values measured by doctors. Daytime ambulatory equivalents derived from trained staff clinic measurements were 4/3 mm Hg less than the 140/90 mm Hg clinic threshold (lower limit of grade 1 hypertension), 2/2 mm Hg less than the 130/80 mm Hg threshold (target upper limit for patients with associated conditions), and 1/1 mm Hg less than the 125/75 mm Hg threshold. Equivalents were 1/2 mm Hg lower for women and 3/1 mm Hg lower in older people compared with the combined group. Our study provides daytime ambulatory blood pressure thresholds that are slightly lower than equivalent clinic values. Clinic blood pressure measurements taken by doctors were considerably higher than those taken by trained staff and therefore gave inappropriate estimates of ambulatory thresholds. These results provide a framework for the diagnosis and management of hypertension using ambulatory blood pressure values.

  16. Interspecialty communication supported by health information technology associated with lower hospitalization rates for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Malley, Ann S; Reschovsky, James D; Saiontz-Martinez, Cynthia

    2015-01-01

    Practice tools such as health information technology (HIT) have the potential to support care processes, such as communication between health care providers, and influence care for "ambulatory care-sensitive conditions" (ACSCs). ACSCs are conditions for which good outpatient care can potentially prevent the need for hospitalization. To date, associations between such primary care practice capabilities and hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions have been primarily limited to smaller, local studies or unique delivery systems rather than nationally representative studies of primary care physicians in the United States. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of 1,819 primary care physicians who responded to the Center for Studying Health System Change's Physician Survey. We linked 3 years of Medicare claims (2007 to 2009) with these primary care physician survey respondents. This linkage resulted in the identification of 123,760 beneficiaries with one or more of 4 ambulatory care-sensitive chronic conditions (diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and congestive heart failure) for whom these physicians served as the usual provider. Key independent variables of interest were physicians' practice capabilities, including communication with specialists, use of care managers, participation in quality and performance measurement, use of patient registries, and HIT use. The dependent variable was a summary measure of ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations for one or more of these 4 conditions. Higher provider-reported levels of communication between primary care and specialist physicians were associated with lower rates of potentially avoidable hospitalizations. While there was no significant main effect between HIT use and ACSC hospitalizations, the associations between interspecialty communication and ACSC hospitalizations were magnified in the presence of higher HIT use. For example, patients in practices with both the

  17. UMCE-FM: Untethered Motion Capture Evaluation for Flightline Maintenance Support

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kider, Jr., Joseph T; Stocker, Catherine R; Badler, Norman I

    2008-01-01

    .... The primary objective was to determine the potential of untethered motion capture capabilities for real-time human subject motion capture and performance data collection with full-scale physical props...

  18. Associations of ambulatory blood pressure with urinary caffeine and caffeine metabolite excretions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guessous, Idris; Pruijm, Menno; Ponte, Belén; Ackermann, Daniel; Ehret, Georg; Ansermot, Nicolas; Vuistiner, Philippe; Staessen, Jan; Gu, Yumei; Paccaud, Fred; Mohaupt, Markus; Vogt, Bruno; Pechère-Bertschi, Antoinette; Pechère-Berstchi, Antoinette; Martin, Pierre-Yves; Burnier, Michel; Eap, Chin B; Bochud, Murielle

    2015-03-01

    Intake of caffeinated beverages might be associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality possibly via the lowering of blood pressure. We estimated the association of ambulatory blood pressure with urinary caffeine and caffeine metabolites in a population-based sample. Families were randomly selected from the general population of Swiss cities. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted using validated devices. Urinary caffeine, paraxanthine, theophylline, and theobromine excretions were measured in 24 hours urine using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. We used mixed models to explore the associations of urinary excretions with blood pressure although adjusting for major confounders. The 836 participants (48.9% men) included in this analysis had mean age of 47.8 and mean 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 120.1 and 78.0 mm Hg. For each doubling of caffeine excretion, 24-hour and night-time systolic blood pressure decreased by 0.642 and 1.107 mm Hg (both P values theobromine excretion was not associated with blood pressure. Anti-hypertensive therapy, diabetes mellitus, and alcohol consumption modify the association of caffeine urinary excretion with systolic blood pressure. Ambulatory systolic blood pressure was inversely associated with urinary excretions of caffeine and other caffeine metabolites. Our results are compatible with a potential protective effect of caffeine on blood pressure. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

  19. Effects of an isocaloric healthy Nordic diet on ambulatory blood pressure in metabolic syndrome: a randomized SYSDIET sub-study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brader, L; Uusitupa, M; Dragsted, L O; Hermansen, K

    2014-01-01

    Dietary pattern is central in the prevention of hypertension and blood pressure (BP)-related diseases. A diet based on healthy Nordic foods may have a favourable impact on BP. The objective was to clarify whether a Nordic alternative for a healthy food pattern would have beneficial effects on ambulatory BP in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS). In total, 37 subjects were randomized to either a healthy Nordic diet or a control diet. A healthy Nordic diet embraced whole grains, rapeseed oil, berries, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and low-fat dairy products of Nordic origin. The mean nutrient intake in the Nordic countries formed the control diet, embracing wheat products, dairy fat-based spread and a lower intake of fruits, vegetables and fish. Diets were isoenergetic. Ambulatory BP was monitored and 24-h urine was collected before and after 12 weeks of intervention. After 12 weeks, ambulatory diastolic BP (-4.4 mm Hg; P=0.001) and mean arterial pressure (-4.2 mm Hg; P=0.006) were lowered by the healthy Nordic diet compared with the control diet, whereas changes in ambulatory systolic BP did not differ significantly between diets (-3.5 mm Hg; P=0.122). Heart rate tended to be lower in those on the healthy Nordic diet (P=0.057). Urinary sodium and potassium excretions were unaffected by diets and consequently not associated with the healthy Nordic diet-induced lowering of BP. Consumption of Nordic varieties of health-enhancing foods for 12 weeks decreased diastolic ambulatory BP and mean arterial pressure in subjects with features of MetS during weight-stable condition, suggesting beneficial effects of a healthy Nordic dietary pattern on ambulatory BP.

  20. National Ambulatory Antibiotic Prescribing Patterns for Pediatric Urinary Tract Infection, 1998–2007

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Daniel J.; Hersh, Adam L.

    2011-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate patterns of ambulatory antibiotic use and to identify factors associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for pediatric urinary tract infections (UTIs). METHODS: We examined antibiotics prescribed for UTIs for children aged younger than 18 years from 1998 to 2007 using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Amoxicillin-clavulanate, quinolones, macrolides, and second- and third-generation cephalosporins were classified as broad-spectrum antibiotics. We evaluated trends in broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing patterns and performed multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic use. RESULTS: Antibiotics were prescribed for 70% of pediatric UTI visits. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic (49% of visits). Broad-spectrum antibiotics were prescribed one third of the time. There was no increase in overall use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (P = .67); however, third-generation cephalosporin use doubled from 12% to 25% (P = .02). Children younger than 2 years old (odds ratio: 6.4 [95% confidence interval: 2.2–18.7, compared with children 13–17 years old]), females (odds ratio: 3.6 [95% confidence interval: 1.6–8.5]), and temperature ≥100.4°F (odds ratio: 2.9 [95% confidence interval: 1.0–8.6]) were independent predictors of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing. Race, physician specialty, region, and insurance status were not associated with antibiotic selection. CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory care physicians commonly prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics for the treatment of pediatric UTIs, especially for febrile infants in whom complicated infections are more likely. The doubling in use of third-generation cephalosporins suggests that opportunities exist to promote more judicious antibiotic prescribing because most pediatric UTIs are susceptible to narrower

  1. Motion sensing energy controller

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saphir, M.E.; Reed, M.A.

    1984-01-01

    A moving object sensing processor responsive to slowly varying motions of a human being or other moving object in a zone of interest employs high frequency pulse modulated non-visible radiation generated by a radiation generating source, such as an LED, and detected by a detector sensitive to radiation of a preselected wavelength which generates electrical signals representative of the reflected radiation received from the zone of interest. The detectorsignals are processed to normalize the base level and remove variations due to background level changes, and slowly varying changes in the signals are detected by a bi-polar threshold detector. The control signals generated by the threshold detector in response to slowly varying motion are used to control the application of power to a utilization device, such as a set of fluoroescent lights in a room, the power being applied in response to detection of such motion and being automatically terminated in the absence of such motion after a predetermined time period established by a settable incrementable counter

  2. Impact of natalizumab on ambulatory improvement in secondary progressive and disabled relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Cadavid

    Full Text Available There is an unmet need for disease-modifying therapies to improve ambulatory function in disabled subjects with multiple sclerosis.Assess the effects of natalizumab on ambulatory function in disabled subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS.We retrospectively reviewed ambulatory function as measured by timed 25-foot walk (T25FW in clinical trial subjects with an Expanded Disability Status Scale score ≥3.5, including RRMS subjects from the phase 3 AFFIRM and SENTINEL trials, relapsing SPMS subjects from the phase 2 MS231 study, and nonrelapsing SPMS subjects from the phase 1b DELIVER study. For comparison, SPMS subjects from the intramuscular interferon beta-1a (IM IFNβ-1a IMPACT study were also analyzed. Improvement in ambulation was measured using T25FW responder status; response was defined as faster walking times over shorter (6-9-month or longer (24-30-month treatment periods relative to subjects' best predose walking times.There were two to four times more T25FW responders among disabled MS subjects in the natalizumab arms than in the placebo or IM IFNβ-1a arms. Responders walked 25 feet an average of 24%-45% faster than nonresponders.Natalizumab improves ambulatory function in disabled RRMS subjects and may have efficacy in disabled SPMS subjects. Confirmation of the latter finding in a prospective SPMS study is warranted.

  3. Dynamic representations of human body movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kourtzi, Z; Shiffrar, M

    1999-01-01

    Psychophysical and neurophysiological studies suggest that human body motions can be readily recognized. Human bodies are highly articulated and can move in a nonrigid manner. As a result, we perceive highly dissimilar views of the human form in motion. How does the visual system integrate multiple views of a human body in motion so that we can perceive human movement as a continuous event? The results of a set of priming experiments suggest that motion can readily facilitate the linkage of different views of a moving human. Positive priming was found for novel views of a human body that fell within the path of human movement. However, no priming was observed for novel views outside the path of motion. Furthermore, priming was restricted to those views that satisfied the biomechanical constraints of human movement. These results suggest that visual representation of human movement may be based upon the movement limitations of the human body and may reflect a dynamic interaction of motion and object-recognition processes.

  4. Automatic Human Movement Assessment With Switching Linear Dynamic System: Motion Segmentation and Motor Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Souza Baptista, Roberto; Bo, Antonio P L; Hayashibe, Mitsuhiro

    2017-06-01

    Performance assessment of human movement is critical in diagnosis and motor-control rehabilitation. Recent developments in portable sensor technology enable clinicians to measure spatiotemporal aspects to aid in the neurological assessment. However, the extraction of quantitative information from such measurements is usually done manually through visual inspection. This paper presents a novel framework for automatic human movement assessment that executes segmentation and motor performance parameter extraction in time-series of measurements from a sequence of human movements. We use the elements of a Switching Linear Dynamic System model as building blocks to translate formal definitions and procedures from human movement analysis. Our approach provides a method for users with no expertise in signal processing to create models for movements using labeled dataset and later use it for automatic assessment. We validated our framework on preliminary tests involving six healthy adult subjects that executed common movements in functional tests and rehabilitation exercise sessions, such as sit-to-stand and lateral elevation of the arms and five elderly subjects, two of which with limited mobility, that executed the sit-to-stand movement. The proposed method worked on random motion sequences for the dual purpose of movement segmentation (accuracy of 72%-100%) and motor performance assessment (mean error of 0%-12%).

  5. Markerless human motion tracking using hierarchical multi-swarm cooperative particle swarm optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saini, Sanjay; Zakaria, Nordin; Rambli, Dayang Rohaya Awang; Sulaiman, Suziah

    2015-01-01

    The high-dimensional search space involved in markerless full-body articulated human motion tracking from multiple-views video sequences has led to a number of solutions based on metaheuristics, the most recent form of which is Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). However, the classical PSO suffers from premature convergence and it is trapped easily into local optima, significantly affecting the tracking accuracy. To overcome these drawbacks, we have developed a method for the problem based on Hierarchical Multi-Swarm Cooperative Particle Swarm Optimization (H-MCPSO). The tracking problem is formulated as a non-linear 34-dimensional function optimization problem where the fitness function quantifies the difference between the observed image and a projection of the model configuration. Both the silhouette and edge likelihoods are used in the fitness function. Experiments using Brown and HumanEva-II dataset demonstrated that H-MCPSO performance is better than two leading alternative approaches-Annealed Particle Filter (APF) and Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO). Further, the proposed tracking method is capable of automatic initialization and self-recovery from temporary tracking failures. Comprehensive experimental results are presented to support the claims.

  6. Assessment of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: better reproducibility with polynomial analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cleophas, A. F.; Zwinderman, A. H.; Cleophas, T. J.

    2000-01-01

    Objective: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) data using values of arbitrarily separated day- and nighttime hours are poorly reproducible, undermining the validity of this diagnostic tool. Previous studies from our group have demonstrated that polynomial curves can be produced of ABPM data

  7. Optimization of voltage output of energy harvesters with continuous mechanical rotation extracted from human motion (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rashid, Evan; Hamidi, Armita; Tadesse, Yonas

    2017-04-01

    With increasing popularity of portable devices for outdoor activities, portable energy harvesting devices are coming into spot light. The next generation energy harvester which is called hybrid energy harvester can employ more than one mechanism in a single device to optimize portion of the energy that can be harvested from any source of waste energy namely motion, vibration, heat and etc. In spite of few recent attempts for creating hybrid portable devices, the level of output energy still needs to be improved with the intention of employing them in commercial electronic systems or further applications. Moreover, implementing a practical hybrid energy harvester in different application for further investigation is still challenging. This proposal is projected to incorporate a novel approach to maximize and optimize the voltage output of hybrid energy harvesters to achieve a greater conversion efficiency normalized by the total mass of the hybrid device than the simple arithmetic sum of the individual harvesting mechanisms. The energy harvester model previously proposed by Larkin and Tadesse [1] is used as a baseline and a continuous unidirectional rotation is incorporated to maximize and optimize the output. The device harvest mechanical energy from oscillatory motion and convert it to electrical energy through electromagnetic and piezoelectric systems. The new designed mechanism upgrades the device in a way that can harvest energy from both rotational and linear motions by using magnets. Likewise, the piezoelectric section optimized to harvest at least 10% more energy. To the end, the device scaled down for tested with different sources of vibrations in the immediate environment, including machinery operation, bicycle, door motion while opening and closing and finally, human motions. Comparing the results from literature proved that current device has capability to be employed in commercial small electronic devices for enhancement of battery usage or as a backup

  8. Human-directed local autonomy for motion guidance and coordination in an intelligent manufacturing system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alford, W. A.; Kawamura, Kazuhiko; Wilkes, Don M.

    1997-12-01

    This paper discusses the problem of integrating human intelligence and skills into an intelligent manufacturing system. Our center has jointed the Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) Project, an international consortium dedicated to developing holonic systems technologies. One of our contributions to this effort is in Work Package 6: flexible human integration. This paper focuses on one activity, namely, human integration into motion guidance and coordination. Much research on intelligent systems focuses on creating totally autonomous agents. At the Center for Intelligent Systems (CIS), we design robots that interact directly with a human user. We focus on using the natural intelligence of the user to simplify the design of a robotic system. The problem is finding ways for the user to interact with the robot that are efficient and comfortable for the user. Manufacturing applications impose the additional constraint that the manufacturing process should not be disturbed; that is, frequent interacting with the user could degrade real-time performance. Our research in human-robot interaction is based on a concept called human directed local autonomy (HuDL). Under this paradigm, the intelligent agent selects and executes a behavior or skill, based upon directions from a human user. The user interacts with the robot via speech, gestures, or other media. Our control software is based on the intelligent machine architecture (IMA), an object-oriented architecture which facilitates cooperation and communication among intelligent agents. In this paper we describe our research testbed, a dual-arm humanoid robot and human user, and the use of this testbed for a human directed sorting task. We also discuss some proposed experiments for evaluating the integration of the human into the robot system. At the time of this writing, the experiments have not been completed.

  9. Wearable human body joint and posture measuring system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dunias, P.; Gransier, R.; Jin, A.; Statham, A.; Willems, P.

    2011-01-01

    In many medical applications, especially the orthopaedic setting, ambulatory, monitoring of human joint angles could be of substantial value to improving rehabilitation strategies and unravelling the pathomechanics of many degenerative joint diseases (e.g. knee osteoarthritis). With the ageing of

  10. Exploring the business case for ambulatory electronic health record system adoption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Paula H; McAlearney, Ann Scheck; Robbins, Julie; McCullough, Jeffrey S

    2011-01-01

    Widespread implementation and use of electronic health record (EHR) systems has been recognized by healthcare leaders as a cornerstone strategy for systematically reducing medical errors and improving clinical quality. However, EHR adoption requires a significant capital investment for healthcare providers, and cost is often cited as a barrier. Despite the capital requirements, a true business case for EHR system adoption and implementation has not been made. This is of concern, as the lack of a business case can influence decision making about EHR investments. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of business case analysis in healthcare organizations' decisions to invest in ambulatory EHR systems, and to identify what factors organizations considered when justifying an ambulatory EHR. Using a qualitative case study approach, we explored how five organizations that are considered to have best practices in ambulatory EHR system implementation had evaluated the business case for EHR adoption. We found that although the rigor of formal business case analysis was highly variable, informants across these organizations consistently reported perceiving that a positive business case for EHR system adoption existed, especially when they considered both financial and non-financial benefits. While many consider EHR system adoption inevitable in healthcare, this viewpoint should not deter managers from conducting a business case analysis. Results of such an analysis can inform healthcare organizations' understanding about resource allocation needs, help clarify expectations about financial and clinical performance metrics to be monitored through EHR systems, and form the basis for ongoing organizational support to ensure successful system implementation.

  11. Comparison of Flight Simulators Based on Human Motion Perception Metrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valente Pais, Ana R.; Correia Gracio, Bruno J.; Kelly, Lon C.; Houck, Jacob A.

    2015-01-01

    In flight simulation, motion filters are used to transform aircraft motion into simulator motion. When looking for the best match between visual and inertial amplitude in a simulator, researchers have found that there is a range of inertial amplitudes, rather than a single inertial value, that is perceived by subjects as optimal. This zone, hereafter referred to as the optimal zone, seems to correlate to the perceptual coherence zones measured in flight simulators. However, no studies were found in which these two zones were compared. This study investigates the relation between the optimal and the coherence zone measurements within and between different simulators. Results show that for the sway axis, the optimal zone lies within the lower part of the coherence zone. In addition, it was found that, whereas the width of the coherence zone depends on the visual amplitude and frequency, the width of the optimal zone remains constant.

  12. [Basic laws of blood screw motion in human common carotid arteries].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulikov, V P; Kirsanov, R I

    2008-08-01

    The basic laws of blood screw motion in common carotid arteries in people were determined by means of modern ultrasound techniques for the first time. 92 healthy adults, aged 18-30, were examined. The blood flow in the middle one-third of common carotid arteries was registered by means of Color Doppler Imaging and impulse Doppler with the help of ultrasound Medison 8000EX scanner by linear transducer of 5-9 MHz. The steady registration of blood screw motion in both common carotid arteries in Color Doppler Imaging regimen was observed in 54.3 % of cases. The direction of screw stream rotation in most cases (54%) was multi-directed: in the right common carotid artery it was right, in the left common carotid artery--left (48%), and in 6% of cases it was reverse. For 46% of cases blood rotation in both common carotid arteries was one-directed (26%--right, 20%--left). The velocity parameters of rotation component of blood motion were determined, maximum velocity being 19.68 +/- 5.84 cm/sec, minimum--4.57 +/- 2.89 cm/sec, average--7.48 +/- 2.49 cm/sec, angular--10.7 +/- 2.49 sec(-1). The rated velocity of blood cells motion in screw motion with regard of screw current lines to the vessel vertical axis makes up from 158.67 +/- 32.79 to 224.39 +/- 46.37 cm/sec.

  13. What women like: influence of motion and form on esthetic body perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina eCazzato

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have shown the distinct contribution of motion and form to the esthetic evaluation of female bodies. Here, we investigated how variations of implied motion and body size interact in the esthetic evaluation of female and male bodies in a sample of young healthy women. Participants provided attractiveness, beauty, and liking ratings for the shape and posture of virtual renderings of human bodies with variable body size and implied motion. The esthetic judgments for both shape and posture of human models were influenced by body size and implied motion, with a preference for thinner and more dynamic stimuli. Implied motion, however, attenuated the impact of extreme body size on the esthetic evaluation of body postures, and body size variations did not affect the preference for more dynamic stimuli. Results show that body form and action cues interact in esthetic perception, but the final esthetic appreciation of human bodies is predicted by a mixture of perceptual and affective evaluative components.

  14. Biomechanical analysis of range of motion and failure characteristics of osteoporotic spinal compression fractures in human cadaver

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert F Heary

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Vertebroplasty is a treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. The optimal location of needle placement for cement injection remains a topic of debate. As such, the authors assessed the effects of location of two types of cement instillations. In addition, the motion and failure modes at the index and adjacent segments were measured. Materials and Methods: Seven human osteoporotic cadaver spines (T1-L4, cut into four consecutive vertebral segments, were utilized. Of these, following the exclusion of four specimens not suitable to utilize for analysis, a total of 24 specimens were evaluable. Segments were randomly assigned into four treatment groups: unipedicular and bipedicular injections into the superior quartile or the anatomic center of the vertebra using confidence (Confidence Spinal Cement System®, DePuy Spine, Raynham, MA, USA or polymethyl methacrylate. The specimens were subjected to nondestructive pure moments of 5 Nm, in 2.5 Nm increments, using pulleys and weights to simulate six degrees of physiological motion. A follower preload of 200 N was applied in flexion extension. Testing sequence: range of motion (ROM of intact specimen, fracture creation, cement injection, ROM after cement, and compression testing until failure. Nonconstrained motion was measured at the index and adjacent levels. Results: At the index level, no significant differences were observed in ROM in all treatment groups (P > 0.05. There was a significant increase in adjacent level motion only for the treatment group that received a unipedicular cement injection at the anatomic center. Conclusion: The location of the needle (superior or central and treatment type (unipedicular or bipedicular had no significant effect on the ROM at the index site. At the adjacent levels, a significant increase occurred with therapy through a unipedicular approach into the centrum of the vertebra at the treated segment.

  15. Persistent high job demands and reactivity to mental stress predict future ambulatory blood pressure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steptoe, A; Cropley, M

    2000-05-01

    To test the hypothesis that work stress (persistent high job demands over 1 year) in combination with high reactivity to mental stress predict ambulatory blood pressure. Assessment of cardiovascular responses to standardized behavioural tasks, job demands, and ambulatory blood pressure over a working day and evening after 12 months. We studied 81 school teachers (26 men, 55 women), 36 of whom experienced persistent high job demands over 1 year, while 45 reported lower job demands. Participants were divided on the basis of high and low job demands, and high and low systolic pressure reactions to an uncontrollable stress task. Blood pressure and concurrent physical activity were monitored using ambulatory apparatus from 0900 to 2230 h on a working day. Cardiovascular stress reactivity was associated with waist/hip ratio. Systolic and diastolic pressure during the working day were greater in high job demand participants who were stress reactive than in other groups, after adjustment for age, baseline blood pressure, body mass index and negative affectivity. The difference was not accounted for by variations in physical activity. Cardiovascular stress reactivity and sustained psychosocial stress may act in concert to increase cardiovascular risk in susceptible individuals.

  16. European society of hypertension position paper on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    O'Brien, Eoin; Parati, Gianfranco; Stergiou, George; Asmar, Roland; Beilin, Laurie; Bilo, Grzegorz; Clement, Denis; de la Sierra, Alejandro; de Leeuw, Peter; Dolan, Eamon; Fagard, Robert; Graves, John; Head, Geoffrey A.; Imai, Yutaka; Kario, Kazuomi; Lurbe, Empar; Mallion, Jean-Michel; Mancia, Giuseppe; Mengden, Thomas; Myers, Martin; Ogedegbe, Gbenga; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Omboni, Stefano; Palatini, Paolo; Redon, Josep; Ruilope, Luis M.; Shennan, Andrew; Staessen, Jan A.; vanMontfrans, Gert; Verdecchia, Paolo; Waeber, Bernard; Wang, Jiguang; Zanchetti, Alberto; Zhang, Yuqing

    2013-01-01

    Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being used increasingly in both clinical practice and hypertension research. Although there are many guidelines that emphasize the indications for ABPM, there is no comprehensive guideline dealing with all aspects of the technique. It was agreed at a

  17. Blood pressure variability in relation to outcome in the International Database of Ambulatory blood pressure in relation to Cardiovascular Outcome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stolarz-Skrzypek, Katarzyna; Thijs, Lutgarde; Richart, Tom

    2010-01-01

    Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring provides information not only on the BP level but also on the diurnal changes in BP. In the present review, we summarized the main findings of the International Database on Ambulatory BP in relation to Cardiovascular Outcome (IDACO) with regard to risk...

  18. Parents' satisfaction with pediatric ambulatory anesthesia in northeast of Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boonmak, Suhattaya; Boonmak, Polpun; Pothiruk, Kittawan; Hoontanee, Nattakhan

    2009-12-01

    Study the satisfaction of parents with ambulatory anesthesia and associated factors, including characteristics of the patients and their parents. This was a prospective, descriptive, observation study. The authors included children who were scheduled for ambulatory anesthetic service between birth and 14 years of age and attended at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand. The authors excluded patients whose parents could not be reached by telephone. Before anesthesia, the authors recorded the patients and parents' characteristics, level of information perception (pre-, peri- and post-anesthesia and complications). After anesthesia, the anesthesia technique and any complications were recorded. The day after anesthesia, the authors made phone calls to the patients to record the parents' satisfaction score (viz, of overall, pre-, peri- and post-anesthesia care, and information about the level of patient care at home), and any anesthesia related complications. Ninety-two patients and their parents were included in the present study. Overall parents 'satisfaction with the anesthesia service was 96.7% (i.e., 89/92) (95% CI 90.8-99.3). Parents' satisfaction with pre- and peri-anesthesia care was 100% (95% CI 96.1-100) and 97.9% (95% CI 92.4-99.7), respectively. Parents' satisfaction with the PACU care and information of patient care at home was 96.7% (95% CI 90.8-99.3) and 91.3% (95% CI 83.6-96.2), respectively. Associated factors where parents were dissatisfied included PACU care satisfaction (i.e., relative risk 22.5 (95% CI 3.2-158)) and patient care information at home (i.e., relative risk 13.3 (95% CI 1.3-136.0)). The present study showed a high level of parents' satisfaction. Parents' dissatisfaction associated with PACU care and information about post anesthesia care at home. Additionally information on parents' characteristics provides invaluable data for improving pediatric ambulatory anesthesia in Srinagarind Hospital.

  19. Ambulatory anesthesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting: predicting the probability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hegarty AT

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Aoife T Hegarty,1 Muiris A Buckley,1 Conan L McCaul1–3 1Department of Anaesthesia, The Rotunda Hospital, 2Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, 3School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Abstract: Nausea and vomiting are distinctly unpleasant symptoms that may occur after surgery and anesthesia, and high priority is given to their prevention by patients. Research in this area is plentiful and has focused on event prediction and pharmacological prophylaxis but despite this, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV typically occurs in 20%–30% of patients in contemporary practice. Prediction of postoperative and postdischarge nausea and vomiting is particularly important in the ambulatory surgical population as these symptoms may occur following discharge from hospital and continue for up to one week when access to antiemetic therapies is limited. Many of the existing predictive scoring systems are based on data from inpatient populations and limited to the first 24 hours after surgery. Scoring systems based on data from ambulatory surgical populations to predict PONV are only moderately good. The best-performing systems in ambulatory patients are those of Sinclair and Sarin with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 and 0.74, respectively, but are limited by the short duration of follow-up and a greater emphasis on nausea than vomiting. Given that the ability to predict both PONV and postdischarge nausea and vomiting is clearly limited, emphasis has been placed on prophylactic strategies that incorporate antiemetic medication, intravenous hydration, and nonnarcotic analgesia. PONV has been reduced to <10% in institutions using multimodal approaches. Scoring systems may facilitate “risk tailoring” in which patient risk profile is used as a stratification method for pharmacointervention. Keywords: postoperative nausea and vomiting, prediction, antiemetics, anesthesia

  20. The Anxiolytic Effect of Aromatherapy on Patients Awaiting Ambulatory Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng-Hua Ni

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine if aromatherapy could reduce preoperative anxiety in ambulatory surgery patients. A total of 109 preoperative patients were randomly assigned to experimental (bergamot essential oil and control (water vapor conditions and their responses to the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and vital signs were monitored. Patients were stratified by previous surgical experience, but that did not influence the results. All those exposed to bergamot essential oil aromatherapy showed a greater reduction in preoperative anxiety than those in the control groups. Aromatherapy may be a useful part of a holistic approach to reducing preoperative anxiety before ambulatory surgery.

  1. Optimization-based human motion prediction using an inverse-inverse dynamics technique implemented in the AnyBody Modeling System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farahani, Saeed Davoudabadi; Andersen, Michael Skipper; de Zee, Mark

    2012-01-01

    derived from the detailed musculoskeletal analysis. The technique is demonstrated on a human model pedaling a bicycle. We use a physiology-based cost function expressing the mean square of all muscle activities over the cycle to predict a realistic motion pattern. Posture and motion prediction...... on a physics model including dynamic effects and a high level of anatomical realism. First, a musculoskeletal model comprising several hundred muscles is built in AMS. The movement is then parameterized by means of time functions controlling selected degrees of freedom of the model. Subsequently......, the parameters of these functions are optimized to produce an optimum posture or movement according to a user-defined cost function and constraints. The cost function and the constraints are typically express performance, comfort, injury risk, fatigue, muscle load, joint forces and other physiological properties...

  2. Laban movement analysis to classify emotions from motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewan, Swati; Agarwal, Shubham; Singh, Navjyoti

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we present the study of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) to understand basic human emotions from nonverbal human behaviors. While there are a lot of studies on understanding behavioral patterns based on natural language processing and speech processing applications, understanding emotions or behavior from non-verbal human motion is still a very challenging and unexplored field. LMA provides a rich overview of the scope of movement possibilities. These basic elements can be used for generating movement or for describing movement. They provide an inroad to understanding movement and for developing movement efficiency and expressiveness. Each human being combines these movement factors in his/her own unique way and organizes them to create phrases and relationships which reveal personal, artistic, or cultural style. In this work, we build a motion descriptor based on a deep understanding of Laban theory. The proposed descriptor builds up on previous works and encodes experiential features by using temporal windows. We present a more conceptually elaborate formulation of Laban theory and test it in a relatively new domain of behavioral research with applications in human-machine interaction. The recognition of affective human communication may be used to provide developers with a rich source of information for creating systems that are capable of interacting well with humans. We test our algorithm on UCLIC dataset which consists of body motions of 13 non-professional actors portraying angry, fear, happy and sad emotions. We achieve an accuracy of 87.30% on this dataset.

  3. The comprehensive care project: measuring physician performance in ambulatory practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmboe, Eric S; Weng, Weifeng; Arnold, Gerald K; Kaplan, Sherrie H; Normand, Sharon-Lise; Greenfield, Sheldon; Hood, Sarah; Lipner, Rebecca S

    2010-12-01

    To investigate the feasibility, reliability, and validity of comprehensively assessing physician-level performance in ambulatory practice. Ambulatory-based general internists in 13 states participated in the assessment. We assessed physician-level performance, adjusted for patient factors, on 46 individual measures, an overall composite measure, and composite measures for chronic, acute, and preventive care. Between- versus within-physician variation was quantified by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). External validity was assessed by correlating performance on a certification exam. Medical records for 236 physicians were audited for seven chronic and four acute care conditions, and six age- and gender-appropriate preventive services. Performance on the individual and composite measures varied substantially within (range 5-86 percent compliance on 46 measures) and between physicians (ICC range 0.12-0.88). Reliabilities for the composite measures were robust: 0.88 for chronic care and 0.87 for preventive services. Higher certification exam scores were associated with better performance on the overall (r = 0.19; pmeasures and by sampling feasible numbers of patients for each condition. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

  4. An elective course on current concepts in adult ambulatory care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincent, Ashley H; Weber, Zachary A

    2014-12-15

    To design and evaluate a doctor of pharmacy course exploring disease states commonly encountered in ambulatory care, while applying literature to clinical practice and promoting a continual learning mindset. This elective incorporated a learner-centered teaching approach. Each week, 2 groups of students were assigned a clinical trial to present to their peers. The focus was on clinical application and impact, rather than literature evaluation. A social networking group on Facebook was used to expose students to pharmacy information outside the classroom. Student grades were determined by multiple activities: presentations, participation and moderation of the Facebook group, class participation, quiz scores, and quiz question development. Course evaluations served as a qualitative assessment of student learning and perceptions, quizzes were the most objective assessment of student learning, and presentation evaluations were the most directed assessment of course goals. This elective was an innovative approach to teaching ambulatory care that effectively filled a curricular void. Successful attainment of the primary course goals and objectives was demonstrated through course evaluations, surveys, and quiz and presentation scores.

  5. Knee Muscle Strength at Varying Angular Velocities and Associations with Gross Motor Function in Ambulatory Children with Cerebral Palsy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Wei-Hsien; Chen, Hseih-Ching; Shen, I-Hsuan; Chen, Chung-Yao; Chen, Chia-Ling; Chung, Chia-Ying

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships of muscle strength at different angular velocities and gross motor functions in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study included 33 ambulatory children with spastic CP aged 6-15 years and 15 children with normal development. Children with CP were categorized into level I (n =…

  6. A novel ambulatory closed circuit breathing system for use during exercise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McMorrow, R. C. N.; Windsor, J. S.; Mythen, M. G.; Grocott, M. P. W.; Ahuja, V.; Aref-Adib, G.; Burnham, R.; Chisholm, A.; Clarke, K.; Coates, D.; Coates, M.; Cook, D.; Cox, M.; Dhillon, S.; Dougall, C.; Doyle, P.; Duncan, P.; Edsell, M.; Edwards, L.; Evans, L.; Gardiner, P.; Grocott, M.; Gunning, P.; Hart, N.; Harrington, J.; Harvey, J.; Holloway, C.; Howard, D.; Hurlbut, D.; Imray, C.; Ince, C.; Jonas, M.; van der Kaaij, J.; Khosravi, M.; Kolfschoten, N.; Levett, D.; Luery, H.; Luks, A.; Martin, D.; McMorrow, R.; Meale, P.; Mitchell, K.; Montgomery, H.; Morgan, G.; Morgan, J.; Murray, A.; Mythen, M.; Newman, S.; O'Dwyer, M.; Pate, J.

    2011-01-01

    P>We describe a unique ambulatory closed circuit for delivering high fractions of inspired oxygen to an exercising user who does not require isolation from their environment. We describe the major components and their function and suggest potential applications for such a circuit. This circuit may

  7. Injectable loop recorder implantation in an ambulatory setting by advanced practice providers: Analysis of outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kipp, Ryan; Young, Natasha; Barnett, Anne; Kopp, Douglas; Leal, Miguel A; Eckhardt, Lee L; Teelin, Thomas; Hoffmayer, Kurt S; Wright, Jennifer; Field, Michael

    2017-09-01

    Implantable loop recorder (ILR) insertion has historically been performed in a surgical environment such as the electrophysiology (EP) lab. The newest generation loop recorder (Medtronic Reveal LINQ™, Minneapolis, MN, USA) is injectable with potential for implantation in a non-EP lab setting by advanced practice providers (APPs) facilitating improved workflow and resource utilization. We report the safety and efficacy of injectable ILR placement in the ambulatory care setting by APPs. A retrospective review was performed including all patients referred for injectable ILR placement from March 2014 to November 2015. All device placement procedures were performed in an ambulatory care setting using the standard manufacturer deployment kit with sterile technique and local anesthetic following a single dose of intravenous antibiotics. Acute procedural success and complication rates following injectable ILR placement in the ambulatory setting were reviewed. During the study period, 125 injectable ILRs were implanted. Acute procedural success with adequate sensing (R-waves ≥ 0.2 mV) occurred in 100% of patients. There were no acute procedural complications. Subacute complications occurred in two patients (1.6% of implantations), including one possible infection treated with oral antibiotics and one device removal due to pain at the implant site. In this retrospective single-center study, implantation of injectable ILR in an ambulatory care setting by APPs following a single dose of intravenous antibiotics and standard manufacturer technique yielded a low complication rate with high acute procedural success. Use of this implantation strategy may improve EP lab workflow while providing a safe and effective technique for device placement. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Auditory motion capturing ambiguous visual motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arjen eAlink

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, it is demonstrated that moving sounds have an effect on the direction in which one sees visual stimuli move. During the main experiment sounds were presented consecutively at four speaker locations inducing left- or rightwards auditory apparent motion. On the path of auditory apparent motion, visual apparent motion stimuli were presented with a high degree of directional ambiguity. The main outcome of this experiment is that our participants perceived visual apparent motion stimuli that were ambiguous (equally likely to be perceived as moving left- or rightwards more often as moving in the same direction than in the opposite direction of auditory apparent motion. During the control experiment we replicated this finding and found no effect of sound motion direction on eye movements. This indicates that auditory motion can capture our visual motion percept when visual motion direction is insufficiently determinate without affecting eye movements.

  9. Use of Team-Based Learning Pedagogy for Internal Medicine Ambulatory Resident Teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balwan, Sandy; Fornari, Alice; DiMarzio, Paola; Verbsky, Jennifer; Pekmezaris, Renee; Stein, Joanna; Chaudhry, Saima

    2015-12-01

    Team-based learning (TBL) is used in undergraduate medical education to facilitate higher-order content learning, promote learner engagement and collaboration, and foster positive learner attitudes. There is a paucity of data on the use of TBL in graduate medical education. Our aim was to assess resident engagement, learning, and faculty/resident satisfaction with TBL in internal medicine residency ambulatory education. Survey and nominal group technique methodologies were used to assess learner engagement and faculty/resident satisfaction. We assessed medical learning using individual (IRAT) and group (GRAT) readiness assurance tests. Residents (N = 111) involved in TBL sessions reported contributing to group discussions and actively discussing the subject material with other residents. Faculty echoed similar responses, and residents and faculty reported a preference for future teaching sessions to be offered using the TBL pedagogy. The average GRAT score was significantly higher than the average IRAT score by 22%. Feedback from our nominal group technique rank ordered the following TBL strengths by both residents and faculty: (1) interactive format, (2) content of sessions, and (3) competitive nature of sessions. We successfully implemented TBL pedagogy in the internal medicine ambulatory residency curriculum, with learning focused on the care of patients in the ambulatory setting. TBL resulted in active resident engagement, facilitated group learning, and increased satisfaction by residents and faculty. To our knowledge this is the first study that implemented a TBL program in an internal medicine residency curriculum.

  10. Transient myocardial ischaemia during ambulatory monitoring out of hospital in patients with chronic stable angina pectoris

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egstrup, K

    1988-01-01

    monitoring was significantly lower than heart rate at the onset of ST-segment change during exercise testing (100.2 +/- 14.6 vs. 115.8 +/- 19.6 beats/min, p less than 0.01), which may indicate different pathophysiological mechanisms. Transient impairment in coronary oxygen supply seems to be of importance......Transient myocardial ischaemia during daily life, detected by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, was investigated in 42 patients with chronic stable angina and documented coronary artery disease. Ambulatory monitoring was initiated for 36 hours after all prophylactic antianginal medication...

  11. Neck proprioception shapes body orientation and perception of motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettorossi, Vito Enrico; Schieppati, Marco

    2014-01-01

    This review article deals with some effects of neck muscle proprioception on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead (SSA), and self-motion perception. These effects are easily observed during neck muscle vibration, a strong stimulus for the spindle primary afferent fibers. We first remind the early findings on human balance, gait trajectory, SSA, induced by limb, and neck muscle vibration. Then, more recent findings on self-motion perception of vestibular origin are described. The use of a vestibular asymmetric yaw-rotation stimulus for emphasizing the proprioceptive modulation of motion perception from the neck is mentioned. In addition, an attempt has been made to conjointly discuss the effects of unilateral neck proprioception on motion perception, SSA, and walking trajectory. Neck vibration also induces persistent aftereffects on the SSA and on self-motion perception of vestibular origin. These perceptive effects depend on intensity, duration, side of the conditioning vibratory stimulation, and on muscle status. These effects can be maintained for hours when prolonged high-frequency vibration is superimposed on muscle contraction. Overall, this brief outline emphasizes the contribution of neck muscle inflow to the construction and fine-tuning of perception of body orientation and motion. Furthermore, it indicates that tonic neck-proprioceptive input may induce persistent influences on the subject's mental representation of space. These plastic changes might adapt motion sensitiveness to lasting or permanent head positional or motor changes.

  12. The Effectiveness of Simulator Motion in the Transfer of Performance on a Tracking Task Is Influenced by Vision and Motion Disturbance Cues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grundy, John G; Nazar, Stefan; O'Malley, Shannon; Mohrenshildt, Martin V; Shedden, Judith M

    2016-06-01

    To examine the importance of platform motion to the transfer of performance in motion simulators. The importance of platform motion in simulators for pilot training is strongly debated. We hypothesized that the type of motion (e.g., disturbance) contributes significantly to performance differences. Participants used a joystick to perform a target tracking task in a pod on top of a MOOG Stewart motion platform. Five conditions compared training without motion, with correlated motion, with disturbance motion, with disturbance motion isolated to the visual display, and with both correlated and disturbance motion. The test condition involved the full motion model with both correlated and disturbance motion. We analyzed speed and accuracy across training and test as well as strategic differences in joystick control. Training with disturbance cues produced critical behavioral differences compared to training without disturbance; motion itself was less important. Incorporation of disturbance cues is a potentially important source of variance between studies that do or do not show a benefit of motion platforms in the transfer of performance in simulators. Potential applications of this research include the assessment of the importance of motion platforms in flight simulators, with a focus on the efficacy of incorporating disturbance cues during training. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  13. RGO-coated elastic fibres as wearable strain sensors for full-scale detection of human motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mi, Qing; Wang, Qi; Zang, Siyao; Mao, Guoming; Zhang, Jinnan; Ren, Xiaomin

    2018-01-01

    In this study, we chose highly-elastic fabric fibres as the functional carrier and then simply coated the fibres with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using plasma treatment, dip coating and hydrothermal reduction steps, finally making a wearable strain sensor. As a result, the full-scale detection of human motions, ranging from bending joints to the pulse beat, has been achieved by these sensors. Moreover, high sensitivity, good stability and excellent repeatability were realized. The good sensing performances and economical fabrication process of this wearable strain sensor have strengthened our confidence in practical applications in smart clothing, smart fabrics, healthcare, and entertainment fields.

  14. Endurance exercise beneficially affects ambulatory blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornelissen, Véronique A; Buys, Roselien; Smart, Neil A

    2013-04-01

    Exercise is widely recommended as one of the key preventive lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of hypertension and to manage high blood pressure (BP), but individual studies investigating the effect of exercise on ambulatory BP have remained inconclusive. Therefore, the primary purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the effect of aerobic endurance training on daytime and night-time BP in healthy adults. A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed and Cochrane Controlled Clinical trial registry from their inception to May 2012. Randomized controlled trials of at least 4 weeks investigating the effects of aerobic endurance training on ambulatory BP in healthy adults were included. Inverse weighted random effects models were used for analyses, with data reported as weighted means and 95% confidence limits. We included 15 randomized controlled trials, involving 17 study groups and 633 participants (394 exercise participants and 239 control participants). Overall, endurance training induced a significant reduction in daytime SBP [-3.2 mmHg, 95% confidence interval (CI), -5.0 to-1.3] and daytime DBP (-2.7 mmHg, 95% CI, -3.9 to -1.5). No effect was observed on night-time BP. The findings from this meta-analysis suggest that aerobic endurance exercise significantly decreases daytime, but not night-time, ambulatory BP.

  15. Primary visual cortex activity along the apparent-motion trace reflects illusory perception.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lars Muckli

    2005-08-01

    Full Text Available The illusion of apparent motion can be induced when visual stimuli are successively presented at different locations. It has been shown in previous studies that motion-sensitive regions in extrastriate cortex are relevant for the processing of apparent motion, but it is unclear whether primary visual cortex (V1 is also involved in the representation of the illusory motion path. We investigated, in human subjects, apparent-motion-related activity in patches of V1 representing locations along the path of illusory stimulus motion using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Here we show that apparent motion caused a blood-oxygenation-level-dependent response along the V1 representations of the apparent-motion path, including regions that were not directly activated by the apparent-motion-inducing stimuli. This response was unaltered when participants had to perform an attention-demanding task that diverted their attention away from the stimulus. With a bistable motion quartet, we confirmed that the activity was related to the conscious perception of movement. Our data suggest that V1 is part of the network that represents the illusory path of apparent motion. The activation in V1 can be explained either by lateral interactions within V1 or by feedback mechanisms from higher visual areas, especially the motion-sensitive human MT/V5 complex.

  16. Representation of planar motion of complex joints by means of rolling pairs. Application to neck motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Alvaro; de Rosario, Helios; Gálvez, José A; Mata, Vicente

    2011-02-24

    We propose to model planar movements between two human segments by means of rolling-without-slipping kinematic pairs. We compute the path traced by the instantaneous center of rotation (ICR) as seen from the proximal and distal segments, thus obtaining the fixed and moving centrodes, respectively. The joint motion is then represented by the rolling-without-slipping of one centrode on the other. The resulting joint kinematic model is based on the real movement and accounts for nonfixed axes of rotation; therefore it could improve current models based on revolute pairs in those cases where joint movement implies displacement of the ICR. Previous authors have used the ICR to characterize human joint motion, but they only considered the fixed centrode. Such an approach is not adequate for reproducing motion because the fixed centrode by itself does not convey information about body position. The combination of the fixed and moving centrodes gathers the kinematic information needed to reproduce the position and velocities of moving bodies. To illustrate our method, we applied it to the flexion-extension movement of the head relative to the thorax. The model provides a good estimation of motion both for position variables (mean R(pos)=0.995) and for velocities (mean R(vel)=0.958). This approach is more realistic than other models of neck motion based on revolute pairs, such as the dual-pivot model. The geometry of the centrodes can provide some information about the nature of the movement. For instance, the ascending and descending curves of the fixed centrode suggest a sequential movement of the cervical vertebrae. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Subtle Motion Analysis and Spotting using the Riesz Pyramid

    OpenAIRE

    Arango , Carlos ,; Alata , Olivier; Emonet , Rémi; Legrand , Anne-Claire; Konik , Hubert

    2018-01-01

    International audience; Analyzing and temporally spotting motions which are almost invisible to the human eye might reveal interesting information about the world. However, detecting these events is difficult due to their short duration and low intensities. Taking inspiration from video magnification techniques, we design a workflow for analyzing and temporally spotting subtle motions based on the Riesz pyramid. In addition, we propose a filtering and masking scheme that segments motions of i...

  18. Predicting Missing Marker Trajectories in Human Motion Data Using Marker Intercorrelations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gløersen, Øyvind; Federolf, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Missing information in motion capture data caused by occlusion or detachment of markers is a common problem that is difficult to avoid entirely. The aim of this study was to develop and test an algorithm for reconstruction of corrupted marker trajectories in datasets representing human gait. The reconstruction was facilitated using information of marker inter-correlations obtained from a principal component analysis, combined with a novel weighting procedure. The method was completely data-driven, and did not require any training data. We tested the algorithm on datasets with movement patterns that can be considered both well suited (healthy subject walking on a treadmill) and less suited (transitioning from walking to running and the gait of a subject with cerebral palsy) to reconstruct. Specifically, we created 50 copies of each dataset, and corrupted them with gaps in multiple markers at random temporal and spatial positions. Reconstruction errors, quantified by the average Euclidian distance between predicted and measured marker positions, was ≤ 3 mm for the well suited dataset, even when there were gaps in up to 70% of all time frames. For the less suited datasets, median reconstruction errors were in the range 5-6 mm. However, a few reconstructions had substantially larger errors (up to 29 mm). Our results suggest that the proposed algorithm is a viable alternative both to conventional gap-filling algorithms and state-of-the-art reconstruction algorithms developed for motion capture systems. The strengths of the proposed algorithm are that it can fill gaps anywhere in the dataset, and that the gaps can be considerably longer than when using conventional interpolation techniques. Limitations are that it does not enforce musculoskeletal constraints, and that the reconstruction accuracy declines if applied to datasets with less predictable movement patterns.

  19. quality of glycaemic control in ambulatory diabetics at the out-patient

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    hi-tech

    2003-08-08

    Aug 8, 2003 ... Conclusion: The majority of ambulatory diabetic patients attending the out-patient diabetic clinic had poor glycaemic control. The group with the poorest level of glycaemic control were on OHA-only, while best control was observed amongst patients on diet-only, because of possible fair endogenous insulin ...

  20. A pilot audit of a protocol for ambulatory investigation of predicted low-risk patients with possible pulmonary embolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, A H; Murphy, R

    2011-09-01

    Patients with possible pulmonary embolism (PE) commonly present to acute medical services. Research has led to the identification of low-risk patients suitable for ambulatory management. We report on a protocol designed to select low-risk patients for ambulatory investigation if confirmatory imaging is not available that day. The protocol was piloted in the Emergency Department and Medical Assessment Area at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. We retrospectively analysed electronic patient records in an open observational audit of all patients managed in the ambulatory arm over five months of use. We analysed 45 patients' records. Of these, 91.1% required imaging to confirm or refute PE, 62.2% received a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA). In 25% of patients, PE was confirmed with musculoskeletal pain (22.7%), and respiratory tract infection (15.9%) the next most prevalent diagnoses. Alternative diagnoses was provided by CTPA in 32% of cases. We identified no adverse events or readmissions but individualised follow-up was not attempted. The data from this audit suggests this protocol can be applied to select and manage low-risk patients suitable for ambulatory investigation of possible PE. A larger prospective comparative study would be required to accurately define the safety and effectiveness of this protocol.

  1. The Åstrand-Ryhming Test is not a Feasible Measure in Ambulatory Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Groenestijn, Annerieke C; Verschuren, Olaf; Schröder, Carin D; van den Berg, Leonard H; Visser-Meily, Johanna M A

    2016-11-29

    Ambulatory patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) show a decreased aerobic capacity which may hamper the ability to perform activities of daily living. A standardized measure, however, for assessing aerobic capacity in patients with ALS during the disease course, is lacking. To examine the feasibility of the Åstrand-Ryhming (ÅR) test protocol longitudinally in ambulatory patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Seven ambulatory male patients with spinal ALS onset were assessed at baseline and at 4, 7 and 10 months' follow-up. Feasibility of the ÅR test protocol was analysed using percentage of: a) completed ÅR tests; b) achieved steady states; and c) predefined heart rates. Test completion decreased from 7/7 at baseline to 10/21 at follow-up due to ALS-related symptoms as fatigue, muscle weakness and cramps. Steady states and predefined heart rates were achieved in 12/17 and 17/17 of the completed tests, respectively. Overall, the feasibility of the ÅR test protocol declines from 5/7 at baseline to 7/21 at follow-up. The results suggest that changes in aerobic capacity in ambulatory patients with ALS could not be successfully monitored due to a diminished feasibility of the ÅR test protocol.

  2. View Invariant Gesture Recognition using 3D Motion Primitives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holte, Michael Boelstoft; Moeslund, Thomas B.

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a method for automatic recognition of human gestures. The method works with 3D image data from a range camera to achieve invariance to viewpoint. The recognition is based solely on motion from characteristic instances of the gestures. These instances are denoted 3D motion...

  3. Challenges in pediatric ambulatory anesthesia: kids are different.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Corey E; Everett, Lucinda L

    2010-06-01

    The care of the child having ambulatory surgery presents a specific set of challenges to the anesthesia provider. This review focuses on areas of clinical distinction that support the additional attention children often require, and on clinical controversies that require providers to have up-to-date information to guide practice and address parental concerns. These include perioperative risk; obstructive sleep apnea; obesity; postoperative nausea and vomiting; neurocognitive outcomes; and specific concerns regarding common ear, nose, and throat procedures. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Binocular eye movement control and motion perception: what is being tracked?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Steen, Johannes; Dits, Joyce

    2012-10-19

    We investigated under what conditions humans can make independent slow phase eye movements. The ability to make independent movements of the two eyes generally is attributed to few specialized lateral eyed animal species, for example chameleons. In our study, we showed that humans also can move the eyes in different directions. To maintain binocular retinal correspondence independent slow phase movements of each eye are produced. We used the scleral search coil method to measure binocular eye movements in response to dichoptically viewed visual stimuli oscillating in orthogonal direction. Correlated stimuli led to orthogonal slow eye movements, while the binocularly perceived motion was the vector sum of the motion presented to each eye. The importance of binocular fusion on independency of the movements of the two eyes was investigated with anti-correlated stimuli. The perceived global motion pattern of anti-correlated dichoptic stimuli was perceived as an oblique oscillatory motion, as well as resulted in a conjugate oblique motion of the eyes. We propose that the ability to make independent slow phase eye movements in humans is used to maintain binocular retinal correspondence. Eye-of-origin and binocular information are used during the processing of binocular visual information, and it is decided at an early stage whether binocular or monocular motion information and independent slow phase eye movements of each eye are produced during binocular tracking.

  5. Collaborative real-time motion video analysis by human observer and image exploitation algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hild, Jutta; Krüger, Wolfgang; Brüstle, Stefan; Trantelle, Patrick; Unmüßig, Gabriel; Heinze, Norbert; Peinsipp-Byma, Elisabeth; Beyerer, Jürgen

    2015-05-01

    Motion video analysis is a challenging task, especially in real-time applications. In most safety and security critical applications, a human observer is an obligatory part of the overall analysis system. Over the last years, substantial progress has been made in the development of automated image exploitation algorithms. Hence, we investigate how the benefits of automated video analysis can be integrated suitably into the current video exploitation systems. In this paper, a system design is introduced which strives to combine both the qualities of the human observer's perception and the automated algorithms, thus aiming to improve the overall performance of a real-time video analysis system. The system design builds on prior work where we showed the benefits for the human observer by means of a user interface which utilizes the human visual focus of attention revealed by the eye gaze direction for interaction with the image exploitation system; eye tracker-based interaction allows much faster, more convenient, and equally precise moving target acquisition in video images than traditional computer mouse selection. The system design also builds on prior work we did on automated target detection, segmentation, and tracking algorithms. Beside the system design, a first pilot study is presented, where we investigated how the participants (all non-experts in video analysis) performed in initializing an object tracking subsystem by selecting a target for tracking. Preliminary results show that the gaze + key press technique is an effective, efficient, and easy to use interaction technique when performing selection operations on moving targets in videos in order to initialize an object tracking function.

  6. Neck proprioception shapes body orientation and perception of motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vito Enrico Pettorossi

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This review article deals with some effects of neck muscle proprioception on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead, and self-motion perception. These effects are easily observed during neck muscle vibration, a strong stimulus for the spindle primary afferent fibers.We first remind the early findings on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead, induced by limb and neck muscle vibration. Then, more recent findings on self-motion perception of vestibular origin are described. The use of a vestibular asymmetric yaw-rotation stimulus for emphasizing the proprioceptive modulation of motion perception from the neck is mentioned. In addition, an attempt has been made to conjointly discuss the effects of unilateral neck proprioception on motion perception, subjective straight-ahead and walking trajectory.Neck vibration also induces persistent aftereffects on the subjective straight-ahead and on self-motion perception of vestibular origin. These perceptive effects depend on intensity, duration, side of the conditioning vibratory stimulation, and on muscle status. These effects can be maintained for hours when prolonged high-frequency vibration is superimposed on muscle contraction. Overall, this brief outline emphasizes the contribution of neck muscle inflow to the construction and fine-tuning of perception of body orientation and motion. Furthermore, it indicates that tonic neck proprioceptive input may induce persistent influences on the subject's mental representation of space. These plastic changes might adapt motion sensitiveness to lasting or permanent head positional or motor changes.

  7. Biological Motion Perception in Autism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J Cusack

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Typically developing adults can readily recognize human actions, even when conveyed to them via point-like markers placed on the body of the actor (Johansson, 1973. Previous research has suggested that children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD are not equally sensitive to this type of visual information (Blake et al, 2003, but it remains unknown why ASD would impact the ability to perceive biological motion. We present evidence which looks at how adolescents and adults with autism are affected by specific factors which are important in biological motion perception, such as (eg, inter-agent synchronicity, upright/inverted, etc.

  8. Effects of health information exchange adoption on ambulatory testing rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Stephen E; Radcliff, Tiffany A; Leblanc, William G; Dickinson, L Miriam; Libby, Anne M; Nease, Donald E

    2013-01-01

    To determine the effects of the adoption of ambulatory electronic health information exchange (HIE) on rates of laboratory and radiology testing and allowable charges. Claims data from the dominant health plan in Mesa County, Colorado, from 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2010 were matched to HIE adoption data on the provider level. Using mixed effects regression models with the quarter as the unit of analysis, the effect of HIE adoption on testing rates and associated charges was assessed. Claims submitted by 306 providers in 69 practices for 34 818 patients were analyzed. The rate of testing per provider was expressed as tests per 1000 patients per quarter. For primary care providers, the rate of laboratory testing increased over the time span (baseline 1041 tests/1000 patients/quarter, increasing by 13.9 each quarter) and shifted downward with HIE adoption (downward shift of 83, prates or imputed charges in either provider group. Ambulatory HIE adoption is unlikely to produce significant direct savings through reductions in rates of testing. The economic benefits of HIE may reside instead in other downstream outcomes of better informed, higher quality care.

  9. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Christopher C; Ehrsson, H Henrik

    2016-01-01

    The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect-an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  10. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher C. Berger

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect—an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  11. Potential role of motion for enhancing maximum output energy of triboelectric nanogenerator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, Kyung-Eun; Lee, Min-Hyun; Cho, Yeonchoo; Nam, Seung-Geol; Shin, Hyeon-Jin; Park, Seongjun

    2017-07-01

    Although triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been explored as one of the possible candidates for the auxiliary power source of portable and wearable devices, the output energy of a TENG is still insufficient to charge the devices with daily motion. Moreover, the fundamental aspects of the maximum possible energy of a TENG related with human motion are not understood systematically. Here, we confirmed the possibility of charging commercialized portable and wearable devices such as smart phones and smart watches by utilizing the mechanical energy generated by human motion. We confirmed by theoretical extraction that the maximum possible energy is related with specific form factors of a TENG. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrated the effect of human motion in an aspect of the kinetic energy and impulse using varying velocity and elasticity, and clarified how to improve the maximum possible energy of a TENG. This study gives insight into design of a TENG to obtain a large amount of energy in a limited space.

  12. Potential role of motion for enhancing maximum output energy of triboelectric nanogenerator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyung-Eun Byun

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Although triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG has been explored as one of the possible candidates for the auxiliary power source of portable and wearable devices, the output energy of a TENG is still insufficient to charge the devices with daily motion. Moreover, the fundamental aspects of the maximum possible energy of a TENG related with human motion are not understood systematically. Here, we confirmed the possibility of charging commercialized portable and wearable devices such as smart phones and smart watches by utilizing the mechanical energy generated by human motion. We confirmed by theoretical extraction that the maximum possible energy is related with specific form factors of a TENG. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrated the effect of human motion in an aspect of the kinetic energy and impulse using varying velocity and elasticity, and clarified how to improve the maximum possible energy of a TENG. This study gives insight into design of a TENG to obtain a large amount of energy in a limited space.

  13. Flexible and Compressible PEDOT:PSS@Melamine Conductive Sponge Prepared via One-Step Dip Coating as Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor for Human Motion Detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yichun; Yang, Jack; Tolle, Charles R; Zhu, Zhengtao

    2018-05-09

    Flexible and wearable pressure sensor may offer convenient, timely, and portable solutions to human motion detection, yet it is a challenge to develop cost-effective materials for pressure sensor with high compressibility and sensitivity. Herein, a cost-efficient and scalable approach is reported to prepare a highly flexible and compressible conductive sponge for piezoresistive pressure sensor. The conductive sponge, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)@melamine sponge (MS), is prepared by one-step dip coating the commercial melamine sponge (MS) in an aqueous dispersion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Due to the interconnected porous structure of MS, the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS has a high compressibility and a stable piezoresistive response at the compressive strain up to 80%, as well as good reproducibility over 1000 cycles. Thereafter, versatile pressure sensors fabricated using the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS sponges are attached to the different parts of human body; the capabilities of these devices to detect a variety of human motions including speaking, finger bending, elbow bending, and walking are evaluated. Furthermore, prototype tactile sensory array based on these pressure sensors is demonstrated.

  14. The effects of oral amino acid intake on ambulatory capacity in elderly subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scognamiglio, Roldano; Avogaro, Angelo; Negut, Christian; Piccolotto, Roberto; de Kreutzenberg, Saula Vigili; Tiengo, Antonio

    2004-12-01

    The combination of high prevalence of inactivity in the older population, and high risk of ill-health and disability associated with inactivity, suggests that interventions that are successful in increasing levels of activity may have a great impact on population health in later life. With advancing age, the risk of developing serious nutritional deficiencies also increases. This study was designed to assess the effects of dietary amino acid supplementation on effort tolerance in healthy elderly subjects with reduced physical activity. Forty-four subjects (age > 65 years) with sedentary life-style and lower health-related quality of life were studied. Subjects, in an open-label fashion, received an oral amino acid mixture (AAM, 12 g/day) containing essential and non-essential amino acids for a 3-month period. Ambulatory dysfunction resulting in sedentary life-style was assessed by a 6-min walk test. A walking impairment questionnaire (WIQ) was used to evaluate self-perceived ambulatory dysfunction. Maximal isometric muscular strength of the right hand was measured during isometric exercise by a handgrip dynamometer. The 6-min walk distance increased from 214.5 +/- 32 to 262.8 +/- 34.8 m (p oral amino acid supplement, as used in this pilot study, improves ambulatory capacity and maximal isometric muscle strength in elderly subjects without affecting the main metabolic parameters. Amino acid supplementation may thus represent useful non-pharmacological intervention to maintain physical fitness in these subjects.

  15. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for hypertension in general practice.

    OpenAIRE

    Taylor, R S; Stockman, J; Kernick, D; Reinhold, D; Shore, A C; Tooke, J E

    1998-01-01

    Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being increasingly used in general practice. There is at present little published evidence regarding the clinical utility of ABPM in the care of patients with established hypertension in this setting. We examined this issue by undertaking ABPM in a group of patients with established hypertension. 40 patients (aged 33-60 years) currently being treated for hypertension were randomly selected from a general practice list and underwent a single 24-ho...

  16. The comparison of two analgesic regimes after ambulatory surgery: an observational study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Worp, F. van der; Stapel, J.T.; Lako, S.J.; Hendriks, J.C.M.; Vissers, K.C.P.; Steegers, M.A.H.

    2014-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Over the past 15 years, the number of ambulatory surgical procedures worldwide has increased continuously. Studies show that 30% to 40% of the patients experience moderate-to-severe pain in the first 48 hours. The objective of this observational study is to compare the percentage of

  17. Nocturnal variations in peripheral blood flow, systemic blood pressure, and heart rate in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sindrup, J H; Kastrup, J; Christensen, H

    1991-01-01

    Subcutaneous adipose tissue blood flow rate, together with systemic arterial blood pressure and heart rate under ambulatory conditions, was measured in the lower legs of 15 normal human subjects for 12-20 h. The 133Xe-washout technique, portable CdTe(Cl) detectors, and a portable data storage uni.......0001). The synchronism of the nocturnal subcutaneous hyperemia and the decrease in systemic mean arterial blood pressure point to a common, possibly central nervous or humoral, eliciting mechanism.......Subcutaneous adipose tissue blood flow rate, together with systemic arterial blood pressure and heart rate under ambulatory conditions, was measured in the lower legs of 15 normal human subjects for 12-20 h. The 133Xe-washout technique, portable CdTe(Cl) detectors, and a portable data storage unit...

  18. User-Independent Motion State Recognition Using Smartphone Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Fuqiang; Kealy, Allison; Khoshelham, Kourosh; Shang, Jianga

    2015-12-04

    The recognition of locomotion activities (e.g., walking, running, still) is important for a wide range of applications like indoor positioning, navigation, location-based services, and health monitoring. Recently, there has been a growing interest in activity recognition using accelerometer data. However, when utilizing only acceleration-based features, it is difficult to differentiate varying vertical motion states from horizontal motion states especially when conducting user-independent classification. In this paper, we also make use of the newly emerging barometer built in modern smartphones, and propose a novel feature called pressure derivative from the barometer readings for user motion state recognition, which is proven to be effective for distinguishing vertical motion states and does not depend on specific users' data. Seven types of motion states are defined and six commonly-used classifiers are compared. In addition, we utilize the motion state history and the characteristics of people's motion to improve the classification accuracies of those classifiers. Experimental results show that by using the historical information and human's motion characteristics, we can achieve user-independent motion state classification with an accuracy of up to 90.7%. In addition, we analyze the influence of the window size and smartphone pose on the accuracy.

  19. Structure and motion of phospholipids in human plasma lipoproteins. A 31P NMR study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fenske, D.B.; Chana, R.S.; Parmar, Y.I.; Treleaven, W.D.; Cushley, R.J.

    1990-01-01

    The structure and motion of phospholipids in human plasma lipoproteins have been studied by using 31 P NMR. Lateral diffusion coefficients, D T , obtained from the viscosity dependence of the 31 P NMR line widths, were obtained for very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL 2 , HDL 3 ), and egg PC/TO microemulsions at 25 degree C, for VLDL at 40 degree C, and for LDL at 45 degree C. In order to prove the orientation and/or order of the phospholipid head-group, estimates of the residual chemical shift anistropy, Δσ, have been obtained for all the lipoproteins and the microemulsions from the viscosity and field dependence for the 31 P NMR line widths. These results suggest differences in the orientation and/or ordering of the head-group in the HDLs. The dynamic behavior of the phosphate moiety in LDL and HDL 3 has been obtained from the temperature dependence of the 31 P spin-lattice relaxation rates. Values of the correlation time for phosphate group reorientation and the activation energy for the motion are nearly identical in LDL and HDL 3 and are similar to values obtained for phospholipid bilayers. This argues against long-lived protein-lipid interactions being the source of either the slow diffusion in LDL or the altered head-group orientation in the HDLs

  20. Inertial Sensor-Based Motion Analysis of Lower Limbs for Rehabilitation Treatments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tongyang Sun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The hemiplegic rehabilitation state diagnosing performed by therapists can be biased due to their subjective experience, which may deteriorate the rehabilitation effect. In order to improve this situation, a quantitative evaluation is proposed. Though many motion analysis systems are available, they are too complicated for practical application by therapists. In this paper, a method for detecting the motion of human lower limbs including all degrees of freedom (DOFs via the inertial sensors is proposed, which permits analyzing the patient’s motion ability. This method is applicable to arbitrary walking directions and tracks of persons under study, and its results are unbiased, as compared to therapist qualitative estimations. Using the simplified mathematical model of a human body, the rotation angles for each lower limb joint are calculated from the input signals acquired by the inertial sensors. Finally, the rotation angle versus joint displacement curves are constructed, and the estimated values of joint motion angle and motion ability are obtained. The experimental verification of the proposed motion detection and analysis method was performed, which proved that it can efficiently detect the differences between motion behaviors of disabled and healthy persons and provide a reliable quantitative evaluation of the rehabilitation state.