bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Green Template for Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings Based on Building Information Modeling: Focus on Embodied Environmental Impact
Authors: Lee Sungwoo , Tae Sungho , Roh Seungjun , Kim Taehyung
Published: December 2015

The increased popularity of building information modeling (BIM) for application in the construction of eco-friendly green buildings has given rise to techniques for evaluating green buildings constructed using BIM features. Existing BIM-based green building evaluation techniques mostly rely on externally provided evaluation tools, which pose problems associated with interoperability, including a lack of data compatibility and the amount of time required for format conversion. To overcome these problems, this study sets out to develop a template (the “green template”) for evaluating the embodied environmental impact of using a BIM design tool as part of BIM-based building life-cycle assessment (LCA) technology development. Firstly, the BIM level of detail (LOD) was determined to evaluate the embodied environmental impact, and constructed a database of the impact factors of the embodied environmental impact of the major building materials, thereby adopting an LCA-based approach. The libraries of major building elements were developed by using the established databases and compiled evaluation table of the embodied environmental impact of the building materials. Finally, the green template was developed as an embodied environmental impact evaluation tool and a case study was performed to test its applicability. The results of the green template-based embodied environmental impact evaluation of a test building were validated against those of its actual quantity takeoff (2D takeoff), and its reliability was confirmed by an effective error rate of ≤5%. This study aims to develop a system for assessing the impact of the substances discharged from concrete production process on six environmental impact categories, i.e., global warming (GWP), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), abiotic depletion (ADP), ozone depletion (ODP), and photochemical oxidant creation (POCP), using the life a cycle assessment (LCA) method. To achieve this, we proposed an LCA method specifically applicable to concrete and tailored to the Korean concrete industry by adapting the ISO standards to suit the Korean situations.
Correction: Moustafa, I.M.; et al. Conformational Ensemble of the Poliovirus 3CD Precursor Observed by MD Simulations and Confirmed by SAXS: A Strategy to Expand the Viral Proteome? Viruses 2015, 7, 5962–5986
Authors: Viruses Editorial Office
Published: December 2015

The Viruses Editorial Office wishes to add the section “Supplementary Materials” to [? ]. [...]
What Can We Learn from a Metagenomic Analysis of a Georgian Bacteriophage Cocktail?
Authors: Zschach Henrike , Joensen Katrine , Lindhard Barbara , Lund Ole , Goderdzishvili Marina , Chkonia Irina , Jgenti Guliko , Kvatadze Nino , Alavidze Zemphira , Kutter Elizabeth , Hasman Henrik , Larsen Mette
Published: December 2015

Phage therapy, a practice widespread in Eastern Europe, has untapped potential in the combat against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. However, technology transfer to Western medicine is proving challenging. Bioinformatics analysis could help to facilitate this endeavor. In the present study, the Intesti phage cocktail, a key commercial product of the Eliava Institute, Georgia, has been tested on a selection of bacterial strains, sequenced as a metagenomic sample, de novo assembled and analyzed by bioinformatics methods. Furthermore, eight bacterial host strains were infected with the cocktail and the resulting lysates sequenced and compared to the unamplified cocktail. The analysis identified 23 major phage clusters in different abundances in the cocktail, among those clusters related to the ICTV genera T4likevirus, T5likevirus, T7likevirus, Chilikevirus and Twortlikevirus, as well as a cluster that was quite distant to the database sequences and a novel Proteus phage cluster. Examination of the depth of coverage showed the clusters to have different abundances within the cocktail. The cocktail was found to be composed primarily of Myoviridae (35%) and Siphoviridae (32%), with Podoviridae being a minority (15%). No undesirable genes were found.
Blending the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Logical Systems in Scenic Beauty Assessment of Check Dams in Streams
Authors: Peng Szu-Hsien , Tang Chuan
Published: December 2015

With Taiwan’s steep terrain and fracture geology, natural disasters are likely to occur after heavy rainfall. To reduce the effects of upstream sediment on human surroundings, check dams are an essential transverse structure for streams in watersheds. However, there is likely to be a detrimental visual impact on the landscape without consideration of the integration of dams with the environment. Based on previous studies of landscape assessment, this paper considers the factors of texture, color, and form, often used as part of expert paradigms, as the major aesthetic aspects of check dams. These factors are used to construct an expert questionnaire using the Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The preliminary criteria and weights for Scenic Beauty Assessment of check dams are determined based on the results of AHP. A Fuzzy Logical System is further applied to solve the linguistic fuzziness of landscape assessment so as to establish a complete expert scenic beauty assessment model. Five cases are further tested for comparison with 224 public samples with Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE). Results demonstrate that the model presents the validity of expert paradigm and the reliability of the psychophysical paradigm. These results can provide a reference for engineering designers seeking to integrate check dams with the natural landscape. The results indicate that the present method can efficiently assess the scenic beauty of check dams as established by a scientific method.
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering by colloidal CdSe nanocrystal submonolayers fabricated by the Langmuir–Blodgett technique
Authors: Milekhin Alexander G , Sveshnikova Larisa L , Duda Tatyana A , Rodyakina Ekaterina E , Dzhagan Volodymyr M , Gordan Ovidiu D , Veber Sergey L , Himcinschi Cameliu , Latyshev Alexander V , Zahn Dietrich R T
Published: December 2015

We present the results of an investigation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by optical phonons in colloidal CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) homogeneously deposited on both arrays of Au nanoclusters and Au dimers using the Langmuir–Blodgett technique. The coverage of the deposited NCs was less than one monolayer, as determined by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. SERS by optical phonons in CdSe nanocrystals showed a significant enhancement that depends resonantly on the Au nanocluster and dimer size, and thus on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) energy. The deposition of CdSe nanocrystals on the Au dimer nanocluster arrays enabled us to study the polarization dependence of SERS. The maximal SERS signal was observed for light polarization parallel to the dimer axis. The polarization ratio of the SERS signal parallel and perpendicular to the dimer axis was 20. The SERS signal intensity was also investigated as a function of the distance between nanoclusters in a dimer. Here the maximal SERS enhancement was observed for the minimal distance studied (about 10 nm), confirming the formation of SERS “hot spots”.
Organocatalytic and enantioselective Michael reaction between α-nitroesters and nitroalkenes. Syn/anti-selectivity control using catalysts with the same absolute backbone chirality
Authors: Martínez Jose I , Uria Uxue , Muñiz Maria , Reyes Efraím , Carrillo Luisa , Vicario Jose L
Published: December 2015

The asymmetric and catalytic Michael reaction between α-nitroesters and nitroalkenes has been studied in the presence of two bifunctional catalysts both containing the same absolute chirality at the carbon backbone. The reaction performed in similar conditions allows us to control the syn or anti selectivity of the Michael adduct obtaining good yields and high enantiocontrol in all cases.
VALUING ‘GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE’ IN JEDDAH: A CITY LOST IN ‘GREY’ INFRASTRUCTURE
Authors: Aljoufie Mohammed , Tiwari Alok
Published: December 2015

In the planning of the urban green infrastructure it is important how the decision makers and residents value their living environment. While the coverage of Green Infrastructure in the case of Jeddah appears negligible, the paper attempts to find out its causal factor. We primarily consider (1) what are the challenges of resident's well-being in Jeddah which Green Infrastructure can solve. (2) What are the constraints; obstructing the sustainable expansion and development of green infrastructure in Jeddah and (3) what are the policy interventions required as well as crucial issues to be considered while planning of green infrastructure in Jeddah. Primary data through satellite imagery and secondary data from extensive literature search incorporating internal and external linkages on the problems; could generate further discussion on the way by which green infrastructure planning could be successfully loomed.
Legitimate and Illegitimate Wars after 1990
Authors: Eichler Jan
Published: December 2015

This treatise is a follow-up to an article by the same author in Military Review No. 2, 2012, dealing with legal and illegal war after 1990. Now the author concentrates on another key question: the legitimacy and the unlawfulness of force deployments in internationalrelations. The paper is grounded on fundamental works by the former Australian foreign secretary Gareth Evans, setting international rules or criteria determining when it is right to fight. The effectiveness of the global security system is not only on the legality of its security decisions, military actions, but the common perception of their legitimacy-whether they are made on solid evidentiary grounds, for the right reasons, morally as well as legally.
The Application of Fuel Dopes for ACR Cars, Material and Equipments
Authors: Komár Aleš
Published: December 2015

The article presents the results of advanced defence research for the higher economy and security support of military cars and vehicles. The Czech national programme to cut or lower exhaust fumes belongs among our eminent and foremost tasks. Exhaust gases form 20 per cent of total volume of harmful emissions. The newly developed dopes supplemented to fuels, namely to solid fuels, polluting a lot our atmosphere, significantly contribute to the fulfilment of this national task. The article is accompanied by relevant charts and tablets.
Productivisme et souffrance chez les enseignants-chercheurs au Brésil
Authors: De Sousa Antonio Paulino
Published: December 2015

Dans le contexte de la crise économique, les effets des politiques d’austérité se font sentir dans l’enseignement supérieur et la recherche en divers pays. La réforme de l’enseignement supérieur est en cours dans tous les pays de l’Amérique latine. Le Brésil a mis en place des nouvelles formes de régulation du marché de l’Éducation supérieure où le concept d’évaluation devient central. Cet article analyse la souffrance sociale des enseignants-chercheurs comme un des effets des nouvelles pratiques d’évaluation de la productivité. Les experts sous-estiment le rôle du contexte social et des conditions de travail ainsi que les difficultés pour publier. Enfin, la course à la productivité a fait apparaître l’angoisse, le stress, l’incertitude et donc la souffrance sociale. Pour éviter la souffrance, chaque chercheur produit ses stratégies, ce qui n’est pas évident comme on a pu le constater par le travail de terrain.
Les réformes curriculaires au Bénin : identifier les défaillances structurelles pour plus d’efficience
Authors: Hounkpe Adjignon Débora Gladys
Published: December 2015

Cet article est une proposition de contribution portant sur l’introduction d’une nouvelle norme pédagogique dans l’enseignement secondaire béninois. Il offre une réflexion pertinente sur les difficultés actuellement rencontrées dans la formation initiale des enseignants au Bénin, en abordant de façon critique quelques défaillances structurelles dans le système éducatif béninois, qui compliquent le partenariat entre les acteurs et surtout l’acceptation des programmes basés sur les compétences en vigueur théoriquement depuis les années 1990.
La santé et la politique de la ville en France dans le prisme des migrants du Maghreb
Authors: Hammouche Abdelhafid
Published: December 2015

Cet article s’appuie sur des travaux réalisés depuis les années 1990 et interroge la santé dans le cadre de l’action publique dans lesdites banlieues en France. La première partie, introduite par une réflexion sur la définition de la santé, caractérise la politique de la ville. La partie suivante est consacrée aux Ateliers Santé Ville institués par le Comité interministériel de la Ville en 1999, qui constituent la traduction institutionnelle de cette politique publique. Puis, elle donne un aperçu sur la place de la santé dans ce qui tient lieu de politique urbaine en Algérie. La dernière partie amorce une analyse de la considération de la santé en faisant tenir un rôle d’analyseur aux migrants pour mettre en relief la variété des définitions et des pratiques de la santé discutées ici.
Approche territoriale durable et coopération décentralisée franco-algérienne : les effets du partenariat avec Mulhouse sur El Khroub
Authors: Akerkar Arezki
Published: December 2015

Le développement de la décentralisation a favorisé la coopération internationale décentralisée entre collectivités territoriales. Elle est passée des jumelages traditionnels à caractère protocolaire à une approche dite partenariale (territoriale) associant les objectifs de gouvernance territoriale et de démocratie participative. Ce texte analyse les dynamiques qui font de la coopération décentralisée une compétence originale mise en œuvre par les collectivités territoriales elles-mêmes. Il étudie le partenariat entre les villes de Mulhouse et d’El Khroub et il montre les apports et les limites de cette dynamique d’échanges.
Les paysans de l’agriculture familiale de l’Altiplano bolivien à l’épreuve des risques climatiques
Authors: Allali Boujemaa
Published: December 2015

Les paysans de l’agriculture familiale de l’Altiplano bolivien sont exposés à des risques climatiques qui distribuent des épreuves pénibles, inégales et révélatrices des transformations environnementales et socio-économiques qui menacent l’agriculture familiale. Ces épreuves dévoilent différentes stratégies de résilience individuelle, les traditionnelles et/ou les innovantes. Le cadre conceptuel mobilisé articule l’approche par les épreuves telles que définies par Martucelli (2006), celle de la vulnérabilité globale (Wilches-Chaux 1993) et celle de la résilience individuelle (Lallau, 2011).
Le travail social à l’épreuve du marché : l’émergence des entreprises intermédiaires à la fin des années 1970
Authors: Gérome Clément
Published: December 2015

Cet article retrace la genèse du champ de l’insertion par l’activité économique (IAE), dont l’objet est la mise au travail de chômeurs « en difficulté » afin de permettre leur accès ultérieur à un emploi de droit commun. Il entend montrer dans quelle mesure la naissance du secteur de l’IAE à la fin des années 1970 constitue une rupture vis-à-vis des pratiques dominantes dans le champ du travail social. La mobilisation du concept d’épreuve permettra de rendre compte des logiques de justification et de légitimation des initiateurs des premiers dispositifs de l’IAE pour répondre aux critiques qui leur sont adressées et tenter d’institutionnaliser l’IAE parmi les politiques d’action sociale françaises.
Application of Grey Forecasting Model Based on Improved Residual Correction in the Cost Estimation of University Education
Authors: Ge Chao , Xie Jiaqi
Published: December 2015

The forecast of the cost of education in university is conducive to strengthening the management of the cost of education, mining the potential of reducing the cost, improving the management level and improving the use efficiency of the funds. Through accounting and forecasting of the cost of education in university, we can make the school to plan the cost and quota index according to its own practical needs, so as to improve the financial system and cost management system of university education.

This will enable the university to carry out the correct decision-making, and provide support for the preparation of financial budget and long-term planning. At present, there are some defects in existing method of the university education cost prediction. The unitary regression method is very difficult to effectively remove the noise value in the fitting. Artificial neural network model is applied to predict the big data. Although the traditional gray forecasting model has a good prediction effect with the less data and poor information, the model still has the disadvantage that the background value is not smooth enough. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes an adaptive residual correction method based on grey system theory, and improves the grey forecasting model. This method can effectively remove the noise in the original data sequence, and it can be used to predict the cost of university education in China.
A Multi-task Combinatorial Optimization Model Based on Genetic Algorithm and its Application in College Education Curriculum Planning
Authors: Li Jianying , Zhou Zhe , Wang Liying
Published: December 2015

Multi-task combinatorial optimization of a complex system is an important aspect of multi-task planning. To address the existing defects and limitations of the existing multi-task combinatorial optimization methods, the paper proposes a multi-task combinatorial model based on genetic algorithm. As a complex multi-task combinatorial optimization, the curriculum planning for higher education applies to itself the multi-task combinatorial model, which is based on genetic algorithm. Having fully considered such factors as teaching resources distribution, students’ intention and teachers’ intention, the paper designs a more efficient fitness function that has flexibly distributed courses and time in curriculum planning to meet the need of teaching in higher schools. Meanwhile, the paper utilizes specific cases of higher education to verify and analyze the algoritnm, and also carryies out a simulation test under the Matlab environment.

The result indicates that the multi-task combinatorial optimization model based on genetic algorithm can relatively significantly optimize curriculum planning of higher education.
Cloud Computing and Its Application in Big Data Processing of Distance Higher Education
Authors: Zhang Guolei , Li Jia , Hao Li
Published: December 2015

In the development of information technology the development of scientific theory has brought the progress of science and technology. The progress of science and technology has an impact on the educational field, which changes the way of education. The arrival of the era of big data for the promotion and dissemination of educational resources has played an important role, it makes more and more people benefit. Modern distance education relies on the background of big data and cloud computing, which is composed of a series of tools to support a variety of teaching mode. Clustering algorithm can provide an effective evaluation method for students' personality characteristics and learning status in distance education. However, the traditional K-means clustering algorithm has the characteristics of randomness, uncertainty, high time complexity, and it does not meet the requirements of large data processing. In this paper, we study the parallel K-means clustering algorithm based on cloud computing platform Hadoop, and give the design and strategy of the algorithm. Then, we carry out experiments on several different sizes of data sets, and compare the performance of the proposed method with the general clustering method. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm which is accelerated has good speed up and low cost. It is suitable for the analysis and mining of large data in the distance higher education.
Research on the Evaluation Index System and the Grey Clustering Analysis Model of Teaching Quality of Physical Education in Higher Education
Authors: Wu Baoquan
Published: December 2015

Teaching quality evaluation of physical education usually involves multiple influence factors with grey and uncertain information. This brings about limitations to effective evaluation of teaching quality of physical education in colleges and universities. Thus, this paper draws merits from previous research and proposes a teaching quality evaluation system and model of physical education in colleges and universities. First, based on real situations, grey categories of evaluation state for physical education teaching quality are established. The definite weighted functions of grey category of evaluation state are confirmed. Specific steps of the teaching quality evaluation model based on grey clustering analysis are accounted for. Finally, a case study is introduced to verify the model. This model enlightens a new way to evaluate teaching quality of physical education in colleges and universities.
Bridging the Age-based Digital Divide
Authors: Antonio Amy , Tuffley David
Published: December 2015

An increasing reliance on digital technology in one's everyday life necessitates the development of digital literacy skills to enable one's continued participation in the Internet information-age. As existing services, such as banking and shopping, move increasingly online, the likelihood of excluding certain demographic groups, such as the elderly and those living in rural areas, increases exponentially. The following article outlines the results of a pilot study that explored the perceived digital literacy skills of a group of adults in a rural community. It will be shown that despite relatively low confidence levels reported by the participants, they were nevertheless keen to learn how to use digital technologies. Based on participant feedback, the study concludes that there is a need to develop pedagogical strategies to teach digital literacy skills to older adults, particularly those living in rural and remote areas.
Empirical Analysis of Relationship-based User Reposting Behavior on Microblog Network
Authors: Diao Su-Meng , Liu Yun , Zeng Qing-An
Published: December 2015

Microblogs have become a significant online social service for information propagation. Compared with other SNS, a microblog makes use of a flexible unidirectional subscription structure to encourage users to get information from others. In this paper, the authors performed relationship-based large-scale statistics and analyzed long-term reposting behavior. The total number of reposts from a certain followee with a bidirectional or unidirectional relationship is power-law, as well as a reposting interval time. Statistics suggest the curve of bidirectional friends decays slower with a smaller slope, which implies the interactions between bidirectional friends are more stable and intensive. Moreover, reposts from bidirectional friends take approximate 55 percentages, although bidirectional relationships comprise only 33 percent of relationships. Furthermore, the authors investigated the impact of following relationships and found that users focus more on social influence and activity level for unidirectional friends; however, for bidirectional friends, interactions and closeness are more crucial.
Polarization
Authors: Riaz Muhammad Faraz , Anwar Sofia , Nasreen Samia
Published: December 2015

Polarization is an interesting additional social indicator for analyzing income inequality and poverty across countries, as it captures the phenomenon of ‘clustering around extreme poles'. Rising income polarization can be harmful since it is closely linked to poverty, social exclusion, social tension and social unrest. Present study emphasizes on the measurement of income polarization in Pakistan to determine the degree of this social conflict. Polarization is measured by the index provided in Bossert and Schwor (2006). Results are further decomposed over time to identify the major factors contributing to polarization in Pakistan. Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS) and Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) surveys for the years 2001-02, 2004-05 and 2007-08 are utilized for the sake of empirical analysis. The results reveal that the polarization increased from 2001-02 to 2004-05 and then it decreased from 2004-05 to 2007-08.
Modeling and Experimental Analysis of an In-body Area Nanonetwork
Authors: Loscrí Victoria , Matekovits Ladislau , Peter Ildiko , Maria Vegni Anna
Published: December 2015

Nanotechnology is gaining more and more consensus in several application fields, comprised in-body applications. Innovative therapies and diagnostic approaches are based on the use of injections or oral delivery of nanoparticles. The acceleration of this type of development makes very urgent a deeply and accurate analysis of the interaction between the nanoparticles and the biological fluid where the nanoparticles are immersed. In this paper, we focus on Titanium (Ti and its alloy (e.g.; TiO2) systems, given their specific features in terms of density, lack of cytotoxic effects, etc.. Specifically, we design and study an in-body system by characterizing the emission and diffusion processes. Further, we propose an experimental study of the morphology and other important characteristics (e.g. the pH of the particles, and the dielectric constant of the solution) of nano-TiO2 systems when immersed in a Ringer solution, in order to derive important information related to their potential toxicity inside the human body.
Low-threshold CMOS Rectifier Design for Energy Harvesting in Biomedical Sensors
Authors: Yuce Mehmet , Mohammadi Ali , Redoute Jean-Michel
Published: December 2015

The power transfer efficiency of energy harvesting systems is strongly dependent on the power conditioning circuits, especially rectifiers. The voltage drop across rectifier and its leakage current can drastically influence the efficiency. The hybrid energy harvesters impose even more severe constraints on the rectifier. The low Vth transistors and bulk regulation technique are used in this work to mitigated the voltage drop and leakage current, respectively. It has been shown that the bulk regulation stops the current leakage through body of PMOS transistor. A near zero threshold cross connected CMOS rectifier is presented in this work using the standard 180nm UMC technology and experimental analysis are carried out to evaluate the circuit performance.
WE-Harvest: A Wearable Piezoelectric-Electromagnetic Energy Harvester
Authors: Yuce Mehmet , Hamid Rawnak , Mohammadi Ali
Published: December 2015

Wearable electronics require a sustainable electrical power supply to operate. Energy harvesting techniques can be used to convert available nonelectrical energy sources into electrical energy. This paper presents WE-Harvest, a new wearable energy harvesting system that combines the piezoelectric and electromagnetic energy harvesters for wearable devices. Regular human body motions, such as moving the arm, provide the input vibrations. A two-stage modified Dickson multiplier is used to step up the output voltage. The experimental results demonstrate that the combined topology enhances the power transfer efficiency. The dependence of energy harvester output on the load and input frequency has also been investigated.
Foot Motion Measurement for Home based Rehabilitation Using Distributed Wearable Sensor
Authors: WANG ZHELONG , Qiu Sen
Published: December 2015

This paper presents a wearable sensors based foot motion measurement method for rehabilitation applications. Two commercial wearable sensors were adopted with three measurement units fixed on feet. Quaternions were employed to represent three-dimensional orientation and an proportional-integral-filter (PIF) algorithm was used to calculate the quaternion derivative. Foot position and orientation were estimated and the effectiveness of the proposed method was validated on healthy subjects. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method is capable of providing consistent tracking of human foot without significant drift, with less than 0.5% position error, which matches that of Kalman based methods. The aim of this work is to allow therapists to make use of the biofeedback information to create biofeedback rehabilitation protocols, which can be used to monitor and evaluate rehabilitation progresses by the performance of patients doing prescribe corrective body movement and gesture. Moreover, this method could be applied to other cyclical activity monitoring.
Analysis of Indoor Rowing Motion using Wearable Inertial Sensors
Authors: Bosch Stephan , Shoaib Muhammad , Geerlings Stephen , Buit Lennart , Meratnia Nirvana , Havinga Paul
Published: December 2015

In this exploratory work the motion of rowers is analyzed while rowing on a rowing machine. This is performed using inertial sensors that measure the orientation at several positions on the body. Using these measurements, this work provides a preliminary analysis of the differences between experienced and novice rowers, or between a good and a bad technique. The analysis shows that the measured postural angles show no clear trend that would set apart experienced and novice rowers or a bad and a good technique. However, there are clear differences in absolute postural angle's consistency and timing consistency of strokes between novice and experienced rowers. We also applied a machine learning technique to the data to find the similarities between different rowers and an experienced reference rower. The results can be used to compare the quality of the rowing technique with respect to a reference. In this paper, we present our initial results as well as the challenges that need to be further explored.
Mauka-Mauka : Measuring and Predicting Opportunities for Webcam-based Heart Rate Sensing in Workplace Environment
Authors: Singh Mridula , Kumar Abhishek , Yadav Kuldeep , Madhu Himanshu , Mukherjee Tridib
Published: December 2015

Prolonged sitting and physical inactivity at workplace often lead to various health risks such as diabetes, heart attack, cancer etc. Many organizations are investing in wellness programs to ensure the well-being of their employees. Generally wearable devices are used in such wellness programs to detect health problems of employees, but studies have shown that wearables do not result in sustained adoption. Heart rate measurement has emerged as an effective tool to detect various ailments such as anxiety, stress, cardiovascular diseases etc. There are pre-existing techniques that use webcam feed to sense heart rate subject to some experimental constraints like stillness of face, light illumination etc. In this paper, we show that in-situ opportunities can be found and predicted for webcam based heart rate sensing in the workplace environment by analyzing data from unobtrusive sensors in a pervasive manner.
Correlations between Inertial Body Sensor Measures and Clinical Measures in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Gong Jiaqi , Engelhard Matthew , Goldman Myla , Lach John
Published: December 2015

Gait assessment using inertial body sensors is becoming popular as an outcome measure in multiple sclerosis (MS) research, supplementing clinical observations and patient-reported outcomes with precise, objective measures. Although numerous research reports have demonstrated the performance of inertial measures in distinguishing healthy controls and MS subjects, the relationship between these measures and the impact of MS on gait impairment remains poorly understood. In contrast, although clinical evaluation has limited variability in scores, it is meaningful and interpretable for clinicians.Therefore, this paper investigates correlations between two inertial measures and three clinical measures of walking ability. The clinical measures are the MS Walking Scale (MSWS-12), the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and the six minute walk (6MW) distance. The inertial measures are the double stance time to single stance time ratio (DST/SST) and the causality index, both of which have been proven effective in MS gait assessment in previous work.28 MS subjects and 13 healthy controls were recruited from an MS outpatient clinic. Most correlations among measures were strong and significant. Experimental results suggested that combining all five measures may improve separability performance for tracking MS disease progression.
Posture Sensor: Cross Leg Detector at Knee Level
Authors: Leela Krishna Chand Gudi Siva , Young Shin Soo
Published: December 2015

This paper presents a wearable posture device that can detect and alert when a person tries to attempt a cross leg at the knee level. Generally having a cross leg is considered as normal but if it is done regular then it can create large number of problems such as damaging the veins, increasing the blood pressure, temporary paralysis and sometimes long term numbness. It will also help men to have good posture. The main problem is that we don’t even realize that we are doing it. So, to overcome this problem, we have developed a prototype, that can alert the user. We have developed two types of prototypes where the first one is with feedback and other one is without feedback of our activity regarding cross leg.
Design and Analysis of a Wireless Nanosensor Network for Monitoring Human Lung Cells
Authors: Zarepour Eisa , Hassan Najmul , Hassan Mahbub , Tung Chou Chun , Ebrahimi Warkiani Majid
Published: December 2015

Thanks to nanotechnology, it is now possible to fabricate sensor nodes below 100 nanometers in size. Although wireless communication at this scale has not been successfully demonstrated yet, simulations confirm that these sensor nodes would be able to communicate in the terahertz band using graphene as a transmission antenna. These developments suggest that deployment of wireless nanoscale sensor networks (WNSNs) inside human body could be a reality one day. In this paper, we design and analyse a WNSN for monitoring human lung cells. We find that respiration, i.e., the periodic inhalation and exhalation of oxygen and carbon dioxide, is the major process that influences the terahertz channel inside lung cells. The channel is characterized as a two-state channel, where it periodically switches between good and bad states. Using real human respiratory data, we find that the channel absorbs terahertz signal much faster when it is in bad state compared to good state. Our simula- tion experiments confirm that we could reduce transmission power of the nanosensors, and hence the electromagnetic radiation inside lungs due to deployment of WNSN, by a factor of 20 if we could schedule all communication only during good channel states. We propose two duty cycling protocols along with a simple channel estimation algorithm that enables nanosensors to achieve such scheduling.
Acu Glass: Quantifying Acupuncture Therapy using Google Glass
Authors: Jiang Haotian , Starkman James , Kuo Chia-Hung , Huang Ming-Chun
Published: December 2015

Acupuncture is a therapeutic or preventative therapy through the stimulation on acupoints that located on the body surface across the anatomy to affect the functions of specific organs or soft tissues. During the acupuncture training process, mapping the acupuncture map to patients could be a challenging work since the trainees mainly rely on the instruction from experienced acupuncturists. In this study, a wearable acupuncture assistant system using augmented reality technology was introduced to record the whole treatment process with augmented information that quantified the traditional acupuncture practice. Through constructing a dynamic, personalized, and self-regulating map of virtual acupoints, the system quantified the coordinates of the acupoints to form a basic guideline to help the trainee to recall the type and location of acupuncture map. The experimental results show that the proposed system could record the coordinate of acupoints in real time and the augmented information also has the potential to be a visual guide during treatment.
Ear-Lead Multiple Smart Bio Sensor System in M-health
Authors: Celik Numan , Balachandran Wamadeva , Manivannan Nadarajah
Published: December 2015

In this paper, we present a multi-parameter wearable sensor system in conjunction with a smartphone to enable a real-time unobtrusive monitoring of core body temperature, electrocardiogram (ear-lead ECG), and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) on ambulatory patients. Clinical research illustrating that continuing accurate measurements of core body temperature (CBT) are crucial to investigate human thermoregulation in ambulatory environment and during activity. On the other hand, ECG remains the mainstay test for primary diagnosis and survival analysis of heart diseases. We implement a wireless multisensory system that measures both the tympanic temperature inside the ear and ECG data from an ear and an arm. The behind-the-Ear device makes desirable to measure ECG data without any chest belt and allow the patient to move around freely. The proposed Bluetooth device has similarity of a hearing aid and is wirelessly connected to a smartphone for data transmission and displaying. This device not only gives access to the core temperature and ECG data in real time, but also the device can be controlled – removed and reapplied – by the patient at any time, thus increasing the performance of personal health applications.
Securing the Timestamping of Sensor Data from Wearable Healthcare Devices
Authors: Siddiqi Muhammad , Hager Gerard , Sivaraman Vijay , Jha Sanjay
Published: December 2015

An ageing population, coupled with increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, is placing unsustainable demands on current healthcare systems. Home-based medical monitoring, supported by wearable sensors for heart-rate, ECG, blood pressure, blood glucose, blood-oxygen saturation, etc., has the potential to alleviate the growing burden on hospitals. Timestamping data from such sensors accurately is important for correlating and reconstructing events of medical significance, and to increase trust in the context associated with the data. Unfortunately, reliable timestamping is non-trivial, and cannot be left entirely to the sensor device (too resource constrained), the gateway (can be tampered by user), or the datalog server (too far from the medical device). We tackle this problem to make three important contributions: (a) we demonstrate that the threat is real by showing how easy it is to tamper the timestamp on data from medically-approved devices on the market today; (b) we develop a novel solution to assure the reliability of the timestamp via a challenge mechanism whose cost-benefit trade-off can be customized; (c) we evaluate our solution via simulation to quantify the benefit as a function of the cost incurred. Our work presents a step towards increasing trust in the provenance, namely the meta-data, associated with the medical data.
Recognising lifestyle activities of diabetic patients with a smartphone
Authors: Luštrek Mitja , Cvetkovic Bozidara , Mirchevska Violeta , Kafalı Özgür , Romero Alfonso , Stathis Kostas
Published: December 2015

Diabetes is both heavily affected by the patients’ lifestyle, and it affects their lifestyle. Most diabetic patients can manage the disease without technological assistance, so we should not burden them with technology unnecessarily, but lifestylemonitoring technology can still be beneficial both for patients and their physicians. Because of that we developed an approach to lifestyle monitoring that uses the smartphone, which most patients already have. The approach consists of three steps. First, a number of features are extracted from the data acquired by smartphone sensors, such as the user’s location from GPS coordinates and visible wi-fi access points, and the physical activity from accelerometer data. Second, several classifiers trained by machine learning are used to recognise the user’s activity, such as work, exercise or eating. And third, these activities are refined by symbolic reasoning encoded in Event Calculus. The approach was trained and tested on five people who recorded their activities for two weeks each. Its classification accuracy was 0.88.
Detecting affective states in virtual rehabilitation
Authors: Rivas Jesús , Orihuela-Espina Felipe , Sucar L. , Palafox Lorena , Hernández-Franco Jorge , Bianchi-Berthouze Nadia
Published: December 2015

Virtual rehabilitation supports motor training following stroke by means of tailored virtual environments. To optimize therapy outcome, virtual rehabilitation systems automatically adapt to the different patients’ changing needs. Adaptation decisions should ideally be guided by both the observable performance and the hidden mind state of the user. We hypothesize that some affective aspects can be inferred from observable metrics. Here we present preliminary results of a classification exercise to decide on 4 states; tiredness, tension, pain and satisfaction. Descriptors of 3D hand movement and finger pressure were collected from 2 post-stroke participants while they practice on a virtual rehabilitation platform. Linear Support Vector Machine models were learnt to unfold a predictive relation between observation and the affective states considered. Initial results are promising (ROC Area under the curve (mean+/-std): 0.713 +/- 0.137). Confirmation of these opens the door to incorporate surrogates of mind state into the algorithm deciding on therapy adaptation.
Home Modifications for People With Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review
Authors: Struckmeyer Linda R. , Pickens Noralyn Davel
Published: December 2015

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this review was twofold: (1) to gain insight into what is known from the literature about home modifications for people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and (2) to identify gaps in the literature that could lead to opportunities for research.

METHOD. A systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published from 1994 through 2014 explored home modifications and AD.

RESULTS. Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria. The three major findings pertain to (1) the caregiver role and caregiver training, (2) a client-centered collaborative approach to assessment and intervention, and (3) modifications for safety and function. Home modifications involved the physical and social environments as well as cognitive strategies at the task level.

CONCLUSION. Opportunities exist for the development of assessment procedures, the exploration of home modifications in the later stages of AD, and the study of home modification needs of people with dementia who live alone.
Contribution of Head Position, Standing Surface, and Vision to Postural Control in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Authors: Pociask Fredrick D. , DiZazzo-Miller Rosanne , Goldberg Allon , Adamo Diane E.
Published: December 2015

Postural control requires the integration of sensorimotor information to maintain balance and to properly position and orient the body in response to external stimuli. Age-related declines in peripheral and central sensory and motor function contribute to postural instability and falls. This study investigated the contribution of head position, standing surface, and vision on postural sway in 26 community-dwelling older adults. Participants were asked to maintain a stable posture under conditions that varied standing surface, head position, and the availability of visual information. Significant main and interaction effects were found for all three factors. Findings from this study suggest that postural sway responses require the integration of available sources of sensory information. These results have important implications for fall risks in older adults and suggest that when standing with the head extended and eyes closed, older adults may place themselves at risk for postural disequilibrium and loss of balance.
Protective and Vulnerability Factors Contributing to Resilience in Post-9/11 Veterans With Service-Related Injuries in Postsecondary Education
Authors: Eakman Aaron M. , Schelly Catherine , Henry Kimberly L.
Published: December 2015

OBJECTIVE. To examine differences in psychosocial protective factors (social support, meaningful occupation, and academic self-efficacy) and health-related vulnerability factors (posttraumatic stress, depression, and somatic symptoms) contributing to resilience in post-9/11 veterans with service-related injuries and nonveterans in postsecondary education.

METHOD. A cross-sectional, matched-participants design using propensity score matching was used to test differences in mean levels of protective and vulnerability factors between injured veterans (n = 26) and nonveterans (n = 19); zero-order correlations explored relationships among study variables.

RESULTS. The veteran sample demonstrated lower levels of psychosocial protective factors and higher levels of health-related vulnerability factors compared with nonveterans (|0.49| to |1.56|). Psychosocial protective factors were consistently negatively associated with health-related vulnerability factors (−.27 to −.63).

CONCLUSION. Post-9/11 veterans with service-related injuries are at a substantial disadvantage in terms of resilience; lower protective factors and elevated vulnerability factors may increase their risk for poor campus integration and impede academic achievement.
Adult Attachment, Sensory Processing, and Distress in Healthy Adults
Authors: Meredith Pamela J. , Bailey Kirsty J. , Strong Jenny , Rappel Georgia
Published: December 2015

OBJECTIVE. To better understand the ways in which adult attachment, sensory processing, and distress may be interrelated in healthy adults.

METHOD. A cross-sectional study design was used with a convenience sample of 116 healthy participants who completed questionnaires before participating in a cold pressor pain-inducement task.

RESULTS. Attachment anxiety was significantly positively correlated with sensory sensitivity as measured using the Highly Sensitive Persons Scale and the Sensory Profile and with distress (i.e., stress, anxiety, and depression). Associations between attachment anxiety and both sensory sensitivity variables were lost when controlling for stress. Attachment avoidance was correlated only with sensory sensitivity measured using the Sensory Profile, and this relationship was retained when controlling for stress. Neither the attachment nor the stress variables were associated with sensation seeking.

CONCLUSION. Findings suggest that developing active coping approaches to deal with sensory sensitivities may be a valuable way to minimize distress. Recommendations for future research are provided.
Clinical Trial Registration: The Time Has Come
Authors: Chan Leighton , Heinemann Allen W.
Published: December 2015

Note from the AJOT Editor-in-Chief: AJOT has joined several other major rehabilitation and disability journals in a collaborative initiative to mandate clinical trial registration. Authors of manuscripts reporting clinical trials must ensure that the trials are registered before submitting their manuscript. For trials that are underway and are already enrolling patients, registration will be retrospective. This interim step achieves the goals of educating authors about trial registration and providing documentation of original study designs and primary outcome measures. Multiyear studies that were not registered before enrolling participants, are ongoing at the time of this editorial, and will not be completed before the January 1, 2017, deadline may be considered for publication in AJOT with special permission from the Editor-in-Chief. This permission must be obtained before submitting the manuscript for publication. By adopting these standards, we hope to further enhance the quality of AJOT articles.

This editorial is reprinted from the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 96, 2093. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2015.09.005