bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A New Human-Machine Interaction of Smart Plants
Authors: Huang Wen-Bin  , Chang Shuo-Wen  , Xie Mei-Yun  , Yen Chu-Rong  , Horng Mong-Fong
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we present a new human-machine interaction of smart plant based wireless communication and mobile computing. We develop an integrated solution, including an embedded system, soil sensors and Android APP to monitor the status of potted plant, control the watering, and interact with users. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is employed in this application to sense and collect the environmental information of the target plant, deliver the collected information to user mobile devices through a Bluetooth network. The logged data regarded as a plant history is helpful to the raising of the same plant and will be shared with others on social network. The developed sensor network is verified in practices and the measured data is compared with the real data from Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Taiwan. The experimental results show that the proposed approach offers an acceptable measurement scheme in low cost. That is suitable for potted plants. The functions of the developed user interface are (1) moisture notification (2) temperature alarm (3) Illumination accumulation and caution and (4) Log of measurement and activation. The designed human-machine interaction is a new style for favoring users. This implementation eases the burden of raising a plant in home, office and city. Even not an agriculture expert can easily follow up and enjoy the fun of cultivating a good plant.
The Weighted Independent Domination Problem in Series-Parallel Graphs
Authors: Chang Shun-Chieh  , Liu Jia-Jie  , Wang Yue-Li
Published: February 2025

A set S of vertices in a graph G=(V,E) is an independent dominating set of G if no two vertices in S are adjacent and every vertex not in S is adjacent to a vertex in S. Suppose every vertex v∈V and every edge e∈E are associated with a cost which is a real number, denoted by c(v) and c(e), respectively. The weighted independent domination problem is to find an independent dominating set D such that its total cost c(D)=Σx∈Dc(x)+Σx∉Dmin {c(x,y), for y∈D and (x,y)∈E} is minimum. In this paper, we propose a linear time algorithm for solving this problem in series-parallel graphs.
Mining Association Rules in the BCCA Liver Cancer Data Set
Authors: Pinheiro Fabiola  , Kuo Mu-Hsing  , Thomo Alex  , Barnett Jeff
Published: February 2025

The objective of this study is to apply data mining techniques to determine factors that are commonly associated with liver cancer incidence, using an anonymized data set of 6064 patients from the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA). The association rules indicate that in BC the patient demographic factors associated with increased liver cancer include: age ranges 60–69, male gender, and geographic location in the Greater Vancouver area. The main factors associated with decreased survivability in BC were being male and in the age range 70–79. In the Yukon, being male and in the age range 60–69 was the main factor associated with both increased incidence of liver cancer and decreased survivability.
Patient Narratives Representing Patient Voices to Inform Research: A Pilot Qualitative Study
Authors: Ash Joan S.  , Cottrell Erika  , Saxton Lauren  , Newman Lucas  , Gebhardt Eric  , Helfand Mark
Published: February 2025

We are investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of establishing a library of patient narratives to inform patient-centered research in the U.S. Veterans Affairs organization. Using qualitative methods, we conducted a needs assessment of 15 researchers and then interviewed and videotaped 11 veterans with traumatic brain injury or diabetes. We developed a method for displaying the narratives to researchers modeled after a UK initiative called DIPEx and then performed preliminary usability testing. We found that it is not only feasible to provide researchers with patient narratives that could help guide their research, but that similar narratives might be useful to practitioners, health system decision makers, and other patients as well.
A Decision Tree Classification Model For Determining The Location For Solar Power Plant
Authors: Mittal Dishant  , Gaurav Dev
Published: February 2025

Energy resources on the Earth are limited which makes renewable energy a crucial requirement to ensure the utilization of non-renewable resources at a sustainable rate. To address this problem, previously, a low cost, energy efficient hardware model was presented which was capable of floating in air and regularly sending the information related to monitored weather conditions to cellular phone using gsm networks [2]. By virtue of the recorded values they predicted manually taking an approximation that whether the place is favorable for establishment of solar and wind energy generation plants. In this paper, we intend to apply machine learning techniques that can operate on a much larger dataset to identify the probable sites for establishing solar energy power plant efficiently. We compare multiple classification techniques like nearest centroid classification, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) classification and decision tree classification for generating the most effective model. The dataset for experimentation was gathered from the model that was proposed in [2]. The results indicate that decision tree approach resulted in the highest accuracy of over 99.8 % and outperformed nearest centroid and stochastic gradient descent (SGD) approaches for the mentioned dataset.
Improvement of Diagnosis Coding by Analysing EHR and Using Rule Engine: Application to the Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Lardon Jérémy  , Asfari Hadyl  , Souvignet Julien  , Trombert-Paviot Béatrice  , Bousquet Cédric
Published: February 2025

Coding medical diagnosis in case mix databases is a time-consuming task as every information available in patient records has to be taken into account. We developed rules based on EHR data with the Drools rules engine in order to support diagnosis coding of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in our hospital. 520 patients had a GFR < 60 ml/min as estimated by the Cockroft-Gault formula and corresponded to 429 case mix database entries. We compared stays in which the patient was older than 12 and younger than 65 or 80 at the time of the stay. We concluded that our rules engine implementation may improve coding of CKD for 45.6% of patients with a GFR < 60 ml/min and younger than 65. When patients are older than 65 our rule engine may be less useful for suggesting missing codes of CKD because the estimation of GFR by the Cockroft-Gault formula becomes less reliable as patients get older.
Re-use of SNOMED CT subset in development of the Danish national standard for home care nursing problems
Authors: Højen Anne Randorff  , Gøeg Kirstine Rosenbeck  , Elberg Pia Britt
Published: February 2025

SNOMED CT was chosen as reference terminology for standardisation of homecare nursing documentation to make reporting comparable across the 98 Danish municipalities. The method outlined in this paper for developing a Danish national homecare nursing SNOMED CT subsets is a pragmatic approach to build new SNOMED CT subsets drawing on existing and available SNOMED CT subsets. Combining this approach with awareness of hierarchical coherency in SNOMED CT subsets makes effective retrieval of data possible.
Observing health professionals' workflow patterns for diabetes care – First steps towards an ontology for EHR services
Authors: Schweitzer M.  , Lasierra N.  , Hoerbst A.
Published: February 2025

Increasing the flexibility from a user-perspective and enabling a workflow based interaction, facilitates an easy user-friendly utilization of EHRs for healthcare professionals' daily work. To offer such versatile EHR-functionality, our approach is based on the execution of clinical workflows by means of a composition of semantic web-services. The backbone of such architecture is an ontology which enables to represent clinical workflows and facilitates the selection of suitable services. In this paper we present the methods and results after running observations of diabetes routine consultations which were conducted in order to identify those workflows and the relation among the included tasks. Mentioned workflows were first modeled by BPMN and then generalized. As a following step in our study, interviews will be conducted with clinical personnel to validate modeled workflows.
Implementing a tele-expertise system to optimise the antibiotic use and stewardship: The case of the Montpellier University Hospital (France)
Authors: Morquin D.  , Ologeanu-Taddei R.  , Koumar Y.  , Bourret R.  , Reynes J.
Published: February 2025

This paper has two aims: 1) to describe the tele-expertise system implemented in the Montpellier University Hospital (France) in order to optimize antimicrobial use 2) to analyze the prescribers' adherence to this system. For the second purpose, an observational prospective study was conducted for 12 months. Data were collected from counselling advices, which were notified in the electronic medical records. 1386 tele-expertise actions were performed. Among them, 87% were made without clinical evaluation at the bedside. The prescribers' adherence rate to a diagnosis was 79%. For the therapeutic requests, 87% of answers were fully followed. The results outline how the tele-expertise system enables both infectious disease specialists and prescribers to make better decisions in particular cases.
AUVA - Augmented Reality Empowers Visual Analytics to explore Medical Curriculum Data
Authors: Nifakos Sokratis  , Vaitsis Christos  , Zary Nabil
Published: February 2025

Medical curriculum data play a key role in the structure and the organization of medical programs in Universities around the world. The effective processing and usage of these data may improve the educational environment of medical students. As a consequence, the new generation of health professionals would have improved skills from the previous ones. This study introduces the process of enhancing curriculum data by the use of augmented reality technology as a management and presentation tool. The final goal is to enrich the information presented from a visual analytics approach applied on medical curriculum data and to sustain low levels of complexity of understanding these data.
Mobile Health Apps in Sweden: What do Physicians Recommend?
Authors: Zhang Yiping  , Koch Sabine
Published: February 2025

Background: Currently over 50, 000 mobile health apps are available worldwide. In general, they are considered as innovations potentially delivering benefits to patients. Physicians are considered as potential channels to disseminate these innovations to patients. However, physicians' behavior in this regard has not been studied.
Nurses behaviour pre and post the implementation of data capture using tablet computers in a rural clinic in South Africa
Authors: Wright Graham  , O'Mahony Don  , Kabuya Chrispin  , Betts Helen  , Odama Anthony
Published: February 2025

This Time and Motion study was part of a larger Open Source Development Project to evaluate the use of Tablet computers for collecting patient data in rural clinics in the OR Tambo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The intention was to determine if there were any differences in the activities and workloads between the two methods of data capture. The main difference between the Phases was that the number of activities undertaken per patient decreased in the second phase. More time was spent on each activity.
Synthesis and characterization of high-strength silica-based microcapsules to encapsulate organic solvents
Authors: Galgali G.  , van der Zwaag S.
Published: February 2025

We report the synthesis and properties of solvent-filled silica microcapsules to be used in thermoplastic extrinsic self-healing polymeric systems processed via conventional extrusion processing. The silica microcapsules were produced via hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) using an aqueous glycerol microemulsion as the template. The effect of the solvent/TEOS ratio on the dimensions and wall thickness of the microcapsules was studied. Pre-hydrolysis of TEOS was found to be essential to obtain isolated free-flowing silica microcapsules. Microcapsule compression loads of up to 350 mN were obtained. Full details of the work have been reported elsewhere [1].
Users Perspectives on Interactive Distance Technology Enabling Home-Based Motor Training for Stroke Patients
Authors: Ehn Maria  , Hansson Pär  , Sjölinder Marie  , Boman Inga-Lill  , Folke Mia  , Sommerfeld Disa  , Borg Jörgen  , Palmcrantz Susanne
Published: February 2025

The aim of this work has been to develop a technical support enabling home-based motor training after stroke. The basis for the work plan has been to develop an interactive technical solution supporting three different groups of stroke patients: (1) patients with stroke discharged from hospital with support from neuro team; (2) patients with stroke whose support from neuro team will be phased out and (3) patients living with impaired motor functions long-term. The technology has been developed in close collaboration with end-users using a method earlier evaluated and described [12]. This paper describes the main functions of the developed technology. Further, results from early user-tests with end-users, performed to identify needs for improvements to be carried out during further technical development. The developed technology will be tested further in a pilot study of the safety and, usefulness of the technology when applied as a support for motor training in three different phases of the post-stroke rehabilitation process.
A prediction system for ankyrin repeat domain family
Authors: Wang Teng-Wei  , Lo Ying-Tsang  , Pai Tun-Wen  , Fujita Hamido
Published: February 2025

Ankyrin Repeat Domain (ARD) is an alpha-solenoid repeat structure formed by cascading a series of ankyrin repeat units. These fundamental repeat units within a structure possess low sequence similarity but high structural conservation. An ARD serves as a protein–protein interaction platform in nature, and it is discovered as an important factor influencing hypoxia response through hydroxylation interaction with Factor Inhibiting HIF (FIH) enzymes which can repress HIF under normoxia environment. In this study, we designed a sequence based method incorporated with secondary structural features to predict boundaries of all internal repeats within an ARD protein, and the binding positions for hydroxylation were also identified through pattern matching approaches. Performance of the proposed prediction system achieved a sensitivity of 73.1%, a specificity of 99.3%, and an accuracy of 94.1% for ARD recognition. In addition, a comprehensive web database system was constructed with a total of 15,322 identified ARD candidates from all 63 model species genomes collected in Ensembl (release version of 73). We believe that the proposed prediction system and developed database can facilitate biologists in further exploration on ARD related researches regarding protein-protein interaction mechanisms.
The Robust FlexRay Communication Network with Distributed Fault-Tolerant Mechanisms Applied in X-by-Wire System
Authors: Hung Yi-Chan  , Chen Chi-Sheng  , Liou Yao-Jhong  , Wang Zuo-Wen  , Sheu Yung-Hoh
Published: February 2025

In recent years, standards for vehicle safety have continued to improve, and strict regulations have been developed. When software is gradually integrated with a number of electronic components in the electronic control units of vehicles, substantial amounts of message data are continually sent and received within communication networks. Therefore, assessing the performance of vehicular communication networks and ensuring the accuracy of data transfers is crucial. The task migration technique is adopted in the research to develop the robust FlexRay ECU node with fault-tolerant mechanism which is consists of the fault-tolerant FlexRay ECU and the fault-tolerant peripheral coprocessor. The FlexRay ECU node is utilized to construct a robust FlexRay communication network with fault-tolerant mechanism to complete the X-by-Wire system. The technique of the fault-tolerant mechanism in this research is global domain, the alternate (ALT) node will assign the tasks from the failed ECU to the other normal ECU while a FlexRay ECU fails in the communication network, and the communication schedule will be rearranged. Besides, the CarSim simulating software and FlexRay signal analyzer are utilized in the research to construct simulated tests for verifying the integrity of the system.
iOS based Forward Collision Warning System
Authors: Jheng Chen-Wei  , Li Chih-Wen  , Chuang Chen-Chia  , Hsiao Chih-Ching  , Lee Tsu-Tian
Published: February 2025

To reduce the accident, technology of computer vision and the iPhone are used to develop of forward collision warning system. Generally, hardware device was used for the system, such as infrared. Technology of computer vision was used for lane, vehicle and distance. Lane data was detected from features about line. Lane data was used for average method, make lane detection robust. Based on the shadow of vehicle, the vehicle position was detected. Warning machine is judges dangerous for vehicle. The warning mechanism depends on the condition that is sorted. Each country has prescribed a length of dashed line in highway. Based on length of dashed line, 4 meters of the area in front of the vehicle is calculated based on Pinhole camera model. This system can be applied to iPhone. The iPhone has a best camera capabilities, auto-exposure, and auto-correction. Experimental results show that rate of lane detection does not affect the rate of error alert in warning mechanism. Forward collision warning system is robust.
A Novel Object Detection Method Based on Fuzzy Sets Theory and SURF
Authors: Rahmaniar Wahyu  , Wang Wen-June
Published: February 2025

In this paper a novel object detection with the combination of fuzzy concepts and SURF is presented. This method contains several steps which are fuzzy C-means (FCM) clustering, Gaussian filter, edge detection and speed-up robust feature (SURF). The image contains the target object which can be taken from a camera more than 2 meters away. SURF is used to detect the feature points and extract the feature descriptor that shows an excellent performance on robust and accurate object detection; however, it is prone to fail when the target object is rather far away from the camera such as the distance more than 2 meters. The proposed method addresses to solve the problem that is achieved by some pre-processing for the image as follows. Using FCM to shows up the colourful parts and using fuzzy inference system (FIS) to detect the edges in the image. The above two processes can improve the accuracy of feature detection and reduce the calculation of the descriptor in SURF. The experiment shows the proposed method performs the target extraction efficiently and accurately with the distance 2 meters between the target object and the camera.
Design and Realization of Smart Electrical Machinery Teaching Aids System
Authors: Perng Shyh-Shing  , Jiang Maoh-Chin  , Li Chih-Wen  , Wu Ter-Feng  , Jiang Yi-Ru
Published: February 2025

This paper has developed a set of smart teaching aids system for electrical machinery. This device operated with voice guidance is based on an innovative concept that substitutes “DC pulsed source” for “AC sinusoidal source”. In manual operation mode, we break down the “rapid-continuous” motion of rotating electrical machinery into the “stepping-discrete” manual operation movements. Through hands-on operations, students operating with voice guidance get to know the principles of rotating electrical machinery motions step-by-step. By observing the LED lights that indicate the electromagnetic changes inside the electrical machinery, students can also easily understand the complex operation principles of the rotating magnetic field, created by “time-phase” of the stator current and “space-vector” of the stator coil. The teaching aids and teaching materials can also be teaching reference of electrical machinery theory and experimental courses in vocational schools and universities.
A Personalized Feedback System for Supporting Behavior Change for Patients After an Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Kreiner Karl  , Welte Stefan  , Modre-Osprian Robert  , Fetz Bettina  , Heidt Andreas  , Kropf Martin  , Ammenwerth Elske  , Pölzl Gerhard  , Kastner Peter
Published: February 2025

Cardiovascular diseases belong to the most common causes of death. Telehealth applications can help to improve therapy and support behavior change. It was the objective of the present work to construct and evaluate within a trial (25 patients) an automated feedback system for a telehealth application to support behavior change. We used a rule-based approach and constructed 26 rules in 9 categories. Rule design and implementation followed the principles of the Austrian Medical Product Law, resulting in an automated rule-based feedback system. Evaluations show high user satisfaction with 80% of all users perceiving the system as useful.
Improving Emergency Room Performance by Reducing Patients' Length of Stay
Authors: Khalifa Mohamed
Published: February 2025

Improving the performance of Emergency Room (ER) has become a major concern for both healthcare professionals and researchers. ER patients' length of stay is one of the most important indicators for performance monitoring as well as improvement. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of enhancing ER information accessibility of nurses, through a special ER nurses training program, on reducing patients' length of stay. Data on 5,769 ER encounters were retrospectively retrieved and analyzed to compare ER length of stay and related intervals of the first quarter of 2015, after implementing the training program, to the first quarter of 2014, before implementing the program. There was a 25.5% improvement on “Arrival to Triage” interval, 17.7% improvement on “Triage to ER Bed”, 16.1% improvement on “ER Bed Assigned to Doctor Examination” and 13.2% improvement on “Doctor Examination to Discharge” interval. The total ER length of stay was improved by 13.7%.
The Prognostic Scale CRASH in the Treatment of Children with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Vasilyeva Irina Vitalevna  , Mesherakov Semen Vladimirivich  , Arseniev Sergey Borosovich  , Semenova Zanna Borisovna
Published: February 2025

The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness and validity of prognostic scale CRASH which is calculated using on-line resources and which may serve as a decision support for physicians in treating severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. This retrospective study was conducted using clinical and physiological data of 168 hospitalized pediatric patients with severe traumatic brain injury (GCS score less than or equal to 8). CRASH scale was used for calculating the severity of patients' state and for prognosing death outcomes at 14 days and at 6 months using the on-line resource. Our research has shown that the prognostic scale CRASH has an excellent discrimination ability (AUROC=0.816) in each version. The study has also shown that the scale has a satisfactory calibration ability in the option of 14 days with CT (χ2 equal 8.7 and p-value equal to 0.368). Calibration ability for other options was unsatisfactory. Thus, CRASH scale with CT scan has turned to be useful for assessing death outcomes at 14 days in children with severe TBI.
Availability Communication: Requirements for an Awareness System to Support Nurses' Handling of Nurse Calls
Authors: Klemets Joakim  , Toussaint Pieter
Published: February 2025

The recent development of mobile technologies allows nurses to receive different types of requests anywhere. However, the interruptions generated by these devices often presents a challenge for nurses in their daily work in a hospital department. In previous inquires we have investigated nurses' strategies to managing technology-mediated interruptions in the form of nurse calls. This study reports on an effort to co-design a system that supports an important strategy employed by nurses. Through the involvement of domain experts, the study elicits requirements for an awareness system to support nurses' collaborative effort in handling nurse calls.
Enabling Self-Monitoring Data Exchange in Participatory Medicine
Authors: Lopez-Campos Guillermo  , Ofoghi Bahadorreza  , Martin-Sanchez Fernando
Published: February 2025

The development of new methods, devices and apps for self-monitoring have enabled the extension of the application of these approaches for consumer health and research purposes. The increase in the number and variety of devices has generated a complex scenario where reporting guidelines and data exchange formats will be needed to ensure the quality of the information and the reproducibility of results of the experiments. Based on the Minimal Information for Self Monitoring Experiments (MISME) reporting guideline we have developed an XML format (MISME-ML) to facilitate data exchange for self monitoring experiments. We have also developed a sample instance to illustrate the concept and a Java MISME-ML validation tool. The implementation and adoption of these tools should contribute to the consolidation of a set of methods that ensure the reproducibility of self monitoring experiments for research purposes.
Mobile Usability Testing in Healthcare: Methodological Approaches
Authors: Borycki Elizabeth M.  , Monkman Helen  , Griffith Janessa  , Kushniruk Andre W.
Published: February 2025

The use of mobile devices and healthcare applications is increasing exponentially worldwide. This has lead to the need for the healthcare industry to develop a better understanding of the impact of the usability of mobile software and hardware upon consumer and health professional adoption and use of these technologies. There are many methodological approaches that can be employed in conducting usability evaluation of mobile technologies. More obtrusive approaches to collecting study data may lead to changes in study participant behaviour, leading to study results that are less consistent with how the technologies will be used in the real-world. Alternatively, less obstrusive methods used in evaluating the usability of mobile software and hardware in-situ and laboratory settings can lead to less detailed information being collected about how an individual interacts with both the software and hardware. In this paper we review and discuss several innovative mobile usability evaluation methods on a contiuum from least to most obtrusive and their effects on the quality of the usability data collected. The strengths and limitations of methods are also discussed.
Challenges and Hurdles of eHealth Implementation in Developing Countries
Authors: Mandirola Brieux H.F.  , Bhuiyan Masud J.H.  , Kumar Meher S.  , Kumar V.  , Portilla F.  , Indarte S.  , Luna D.  , Otero C.  , Otero P.  , González Bernaldo de Quirós F.
Published: February 2025

Health informatics has the potential to improve the security and quality of patient care, but its impact has varied between developed and developing countries. Related to this, the objective of this study is to identify the challenges and hurdles to improve eHealth in developing countries. We surveyed experts to discover their opinions about five general questions: economic support by Government for eHealth, Government education or training projects in the field, issues related to cultural or educational problems for the implementation of eHealth, policies in terminology or messaging standards and eHealth status policies for long periods. The respondents answered affirmatively in these proportions: 1. Economic support policies 58%, 2. Training policies 25%, 3. Cultural and educational problems 95%, 4. Standards policies, 38%, 5. Policies for long periods, 50% Conclusion: Our survey has shown that the important problems that need to be addressed in order to implement e-Health in developing countries are firstly, cultural and educational, secondly, economic resources and thirdly policies for long periods.
Conceptual Knowledge Discovery in Databases for Drug Combinations Predictions in Malignant Melanoma
Authors: Regan Kelly  , Raje Satyajeet  , Saravanamuthu Cartik  , Payne Philip R.O.
Published: February 2025

The worldwide incidence of melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer, and prognosis for patients with metastatic disease is poor. Current targeted therapies are limited in their durability and/or effect size in certain patient populations due to acquired mechanisms of resistance. Thus, the development of synergistic combinatorial treatment regimens holds great promise to improve patient outcomes. We have previously shown that a model for in-silico knowledge discovery, Translational Ontology-anchored Knowledge Discovery Engine (TOKEn), is able to generate valid relationships between bimolecular and clinical phenotypes. In this study, we have aggregated observational and canonical knowledge consisting of melanoma-related biomolecular entities and targeted therapeutics in a computationally tractable model. We demonstrate here that the explicit linkage of therapeutic modalities with biomolecular underpinnings of melanoma utilizing the TOKEn pipeline yield a set of informed relationships that have the potential to generate combination therapy strategies.
A Practical Approach to Governance and Optimization of Structured Data Elements
Authors: Collins Sarah A.  , Gesner Emily  , Morgan Steven  , Mar Perry  , Maviglia Saverio  , Colburn Doreen  , Tierney Diana  , Rocha Roberto
Published: February 2025

Definition and configuration of clinical content in an enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR) implementation is highly complex. Sharing of data definitions across applications within an EHR implementation project may be constrained by practical limitations, including time, tools, and expertise. However, maintaining rigor in an approach to data governance is important for sustainability and consistency. With this understanding, we have defined a practical approach for governance of structured data elements to optimize data definitions given limited resources. This approach includes a 10 step process: 1) identification of clinical topics, 2) creation of draft reference models for clinical topics, 3) scoring of downstream data needs for clinical topics, 4) prioritization of clinical topics, 5) validation of reference models for clinical topics, and 6) calculation of gap analyses of EHR compared against reference model, 7) communication of validated reference models across project members, 8) requested revisions to EHR based on gap analysis, 9) evaluation of usage of reference models across project, and 10) Monitoring for new evidence requiring revisions to reference model.
Bridging the Gap between Clinical Practice Guidelines and Archetype-Based Electronic Health Records: A Novel Model Proposal
Authors: Garcia Diego  , Moro Claudia Maria C.  , Cintho Lilian Mie M.
Published: February 2025

The lack of a unique, standardized format for representing data and knowledge is one of the existing difficulties to integrating decision support into Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Objective: Propose an archetype-based model to allow the integration of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) and EHRs; design and implement this proposed model. Results: A generic model was designed for the integration of CPG into EHRs, and an archetype-based EHR for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention based on rules from CPGs, was made as a proof of concept of this novel integration.
Using Discrete Event Simulation to predict KPI's at a Projected Emergency Room
Authors: Concha Pablo  , Neriz Liliana  , Parada Danilo  , Ramis Francisco
Published: February 2025

Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is a powerful factor in the design of clinical facilities. DES enables facilities to be built or adapted to achieve the expected Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) such as average waiting times according to acuity, average stay times and others. Our computational model was built and validated using expert judgment and supporting statistical data. One scenario studied resulted in a 50% decrease in the average cycle time of patients compared to the original model, mainly by modifying the patient's attention model.
2,000,000 Electrocardiograms by Distance: An Outstanding Achievement for Telehealth in Brazil
Authors: Marcolino Milena Soriano  , Alkmim Maria Beatriz Moreira  , Bonisson Leonardo  , Minelli Figueira Renato  , Ribeiro Antonio Luiz
Published: February 2025

Our aim is to describe the evolution of the telediagnostic service of the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais (TNMG), a public telehealth service in Brazil. It started in 2006 with 82 cities, restricted to electrocardiography analysis. Currently it extends to 772 cities – performing also Holter, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and retinography analysis – and 48 ambulances in the north of the state, as part of a myocardial infarction system of care. Using low-cost equipment and simple technology, TNMG has employed various strategies to increase telehealth use. The number of ECGs performed by TNMG has progressively increased. It was expected to achieve 2 million in February 2015. The utilization rates were around 90%. It proved to be economically sound, promoting savings of 45M USD for an investment of 10.2M USD. It is currently a regular health service in the state, integrated into the healthcare system. In conclusion, the telehealth model developed in Minas Gerais produced good clinical and economical results.
Guidelines and Options for Computer Access from a Reclined Position
Authors: Grott Ray
Published: February 2025

Many people can benefit from working in a reclined position when accessing a computer. This can be due to disabilities involving musculoskeletal weakness, or the need to offload pressure on the spine or elevate the legs. Although there are “reclining workstations” on the market that work for some people, potentially better solutions tailored to individual needs can be configured at modest cost by following some basic principles.
Platform for frail elderly people supporting information and communication
Authors: Man Yan Ping  , Cremers Ger  , Spreeuwenberg Marieke  , de Witte Luc
Published: February 2025

There is a growing need for technology to support the frail elderly living independently in home situations. Several telecommunication systems already exist. These systems are developed mainly from the perspective of healthcare professionals and focus on efficient delivery of healthcare services. They hardly meet the specific needs of the frail elderly. In this project a platform with specific needs of the frail elderly people has been designed, running on standard PCs. This system supports living independently, social participation, wellbeing, and asking for care services. The platform was evaluated and subjects assess the system as user friendly, and supportive for their independence and self-reliance. They recommend it to other users.
Progress of the European Assistive Technology Information Network
Authors: Gower Valerio  , Andrich Renzo
Published: February 2025

The European Assistive Technology Information Network (EASTIN), launched in 2005 as the result of a collaborative EU project, provides information on Assistive Technology products and related material through the website www.eastin.eu. In the past few years several advancements have been implemented on the EASTIN website thanks to the contribution of EU funded projects, including a multilingual query processing component for supporting non expert users, a user rating and comment facility, and a detailed taxonomy for the description of ICT based assistive products. Recently, within the framework of the EU funded project Cloud4All, the EASTIN information system has also been federated with the Unified Listing of assistive products, one of the building blocks of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure initiative.
Balancing game universes for playing without sight or hearing
Authors: Westin Thomas  , Furöstam Malin  , Yasasindhu Roy  , Norberg Lena  , Wiklund Mats  , Mozelius Peter
Published: February 2025

Equal access to cultural activities is important for inclusion and computer gaming is one of the most common activities in digital culture. However, many people with impairments are excluded from participating. While parallel game universes (PGUs) provide a method to achieve equal access, the question is: how can a balanced collaborative real-time game be designed with the help of PGU for playing without sight or hearing? Balance is a central concept in game design and is important to avoid perceived cheating or disadvantages due to individual or environmental differences. The question was examined with a design science approach, where a game prototype was created in two iterations with a structured design method and evaluated using interviews and observations. In this first step of a more long-term study, ten experienced gamers without impairments were selected with purposive sampling to provide relevant data through simulation of temporary impairments or environmental issues, which can affect many or all gamers. By sorting out these issues first, later testing with actual blind and deaf gamers can focus on more specific issues for each group. The ten participants played either without sight or hearing. The results confirm the use of PGUs for creating a balanced experience but also finds that while multiplayer feel is not optimal, it is a reasonable trade-off for universal access for blind and deaf being able to play together. The results also show that a help system and equal understanding of the game play between the blind and deaf players are important aspects to achieve game balance. Further research should be done involving actual blind and deaf gamers, and similar evaluations of game balance should be conducted with users having other types of impairments.
Versatile Text Extraction System for Text-to-Speech Reading Assistant Camera
Authors: Goto Hideaki
Published: February 2025

Wearable camera device translating the text in the scene into speech is one of the most anticipated devices for the visually-impaired. The users would probably want to read any text using such a device. Although various scene text extraction methods have been developed so far, the target objects are most often limited to simple signboards, small memos, etc. We propose a versatile scene text extraction method that can handle a wide variety of targets including complex signboards with many text lines. Experimental results show that our system runs at a video rate and can extract densely arranged text lines even with some distortion and shading. A locally-adaptive binarization technique contributes to the better quality of extracted text images.
Can Disability Code Activation Promote Sustainable Development in Egypt... After the Arab Spring?
Authors: Mahmoud Issa Abdou Safaa
Published: February 2025

In January 2011, Egypt followed Tunisia in its Uprisal against the ruling oppressive regimes in search for democracy, freedom and better living conditions. The movement, later known as the Arab Spring, had implications on the country's economic and political systems. Hence, the need to adopt Sustainable Development strategies and that in order to ensure all people well being, and the implementation of their human rights. This would only be realized when the built environment would become accessible to vulnerable people, as well as to persons with disabilities and would enable them to participate and be included in various living activities. This paper reviews the impact of the Egyptian disability code, that was published 2003, and how its activation could help to provide the environment that supports persons with disabilities, and allows their integration. Key Words: Disability Code; Sustainable Development; Arab Spring; Accessible Enabling Environment, People with Disabilities Integration.
Structures, snacks, sprints, and socialising: strategies to increase writing output for AT Practitioners
Authors: Friesen Emma L.
Published: February 2025

Assistive Technology Practitioners are often engaged in research, evaluation and other reporting activities, but struggle to complete publications reporting the work. This paper presents three evidence-based strategies for increasing writing output: (i) write to a structure; (ii) use snacks and sprints, and (iii) get social. These strategies may be useful for AT Practitioners wanting to increase their writing output.
Modes of independence while informal caregiving
Authors: Tellioğlu Hilda  , Hensely-Schinkinger Susanne  , Pinatti De Carvalho Aparecido Fabiano
Published: February 2025

This paper is about understanding and conceptualizing the notion of independence in the context of caregiving. Based on the current studies and on our ethnographic and design research in an AAL project (TOPIC) we introduce a model of independence consisting of four dimensions: action, finance, decision, and emotion. These interrelated dimensions are described and discussed in the setting of informal caregiving. Some additional examples are shown to illustrate how to reduce the dependence of informal caregivers before concluding the paper.
Communication Robots for Elderly People and Their Families to Support Their Daily Lives – Case Study of Two Families Living with the Communicaton Robot
Authors: Inoue Kaoru  , Sasaki Chihiro  , Nakamura Mio
Published: February 2025

The aim of this project is to analyze how two families (one is living with a senior with physical disabilities and the other is living with seniors) feel about using the human-type communication robot “Palro” and what they demand for the improvement through their 3 weeks usage. All of them liked Palro and its programs, but needed some new programs. They pointed out that Palro sometimes had problems in the facial or voice recognition systems. Palro is useful in the area of self-care and social isolation.
A fuzzy microaggregation algorithm using fuzzy c-means
Authors: Torra Vicenç
Published: February 2025

Masking methods are used in data privacy to avoid the disclosure of sensitive information. Microaggregation is a perturbative masking method that has been proven effective. Data masked using microaggregation can be attacked when the intruder has information of the masking method and the parameters used. Publishing this information is usual under the transparency principle. Fuzzy microaggregation was introduced a few years ago to avoid this type of transparency attacks. In this paper we propose a new simpler method for microaggregation based on fuzzy c-means. We discuss the effectiveness of the approach. One of the advantages of this approach is its computational complexity.
Evaluating Link Prediction on Large Graphs
Authors: Garcia-Gasulla Dario  , Cortés Ulises  , Ayguadé Eduard  , Labarta Jesús
Published: February 2025

Exploiting network data (i.e., graphs) is a rather particular case of data mining. The size and relevance of network domains justifies research on graph mining, but also brings forth severe complications. Computational aspects like scalability and parallelism have to be reevaluated, and well as certain aspects of the data mining process. One of those are the methodologies used to evaluate graph mining methods, particularly when processing large graphs. In this paper we focus on the evaluation of a graph mining task known as Link Prediction. First we explore the available solutions in traditional data mining for that purpose, discussing which methods are most appropriate. Once those are identified, we argue about their capabilities and limitations for producing a faithful and useful evaluation. Finally, we introduce a novel modification to a traditional evaluation methodology with the goal of adapting it to the problem of Link Prediction on large graphs.
Clustering based Approach for Automated EEG Artifacts Handling
Authors: Barua Shaibal  , Begum Shahina  , Ahmed Mobyen Uddin
Published: February 2025

Electroencephalogram (EEG), measures the neural activity of the central nervous system, which is widely used in diagnosing brain activity and therefore plays a vital role in clinical and Brain-Computer Interface application. However, analysis of EEG signal is often complex since the signal recoding often contaminates with noises or artifacts such as ocular and muscle artifacts, which could mislead the diagnosis result. Therefore, to identify the artifacts from the EEG signal and handle it in a proper way is becoming an important and interesting research area. This paper presents an automated EEG artifacts handling approach, where it combines Independent Component Analysis (ICA) with a 2ndorder clustering approach. Here, the 2ndorder clustering approach combines the Hierarchical and Gaussian Picture Model clustering algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been examined and observed on the real EEG recording. According to the result, artifacts in the EEG signals are identified and removed successfully where the artifacts handled EEG signals show acceptable considering visual inspection.
Ontology-Based Introspection in Support of Stream Reasoning
Authors: de Leng Daniel  , Heintz Fredrik
Published: February 2025

Building complex systems such as autonomous robots usually require the integration of a wide variety of components including high-level reasoning functionalities. One important challenge is integrating the information in a system by setting up the data flow between the components. This paper extends our earlier work on semantic matching with support for adaptive on-demand semantic information integration based on ontology-based introspection. We take two important standpoints. First, we consider streams of information, to handle the fact that information often becomes continually and incrementally available. Second, we explicitly represent the semantics of the components and the information that can be provided by them in an ontology. Based on the ontology our custom-made stream configuration planner automatically sets up the stream processing needed to generate the streams of information requested. Furthermore, subscribers are notified when properties of a stream changes, which allows them to adapt accordingly. Since the ontology represents both the systems information about the world and its internal stream processing many other powerful forms of introspection are also made possible. The proposed semantic matching functionality is part of the DyKnow stream reasoning framework and has been integrated in the Robot Operating System (ROS).
Virtual Reality for Artificial Intelligence: human-centered simulation for social science
Authors: Cipresso Pietro  , Riva Giuseppe
Published: February 2025

There is a long last tradition in Artificial Intelligence as use of Robots endowing human peculiarities, from a cognitive and emotional point of view, and not only in shape. Today Artificial Intelligence is more oriented to several form of collective intelligence, also building robot simulators (hardware or software) to deeply understand collective behaviors in human beings and society as a whole. Modeling has also been crucial in the social sciences, to understand how complex systems can arise from simple rules. However, while engineers' simulations can be performed in the physical world using robots, for social scientist this is impossible. For decades, researchers tried to improve simulations by endowing artificial agents with simple and complex rules that emulated human behavior also by using artificial intelligence (AI). To include human beings and their real intelligence within artificial societies is now the big challenge. We present an hybrid (human-artificial) platform where experiments can be performed by simulated artificial worlds in the following manner: 1) agents' behaviors are regulated by the behaviors shown in Virtual Reality involving real human beings exposed to specific situations to simulate, and 2) technology transfers these rules into the artificial world. These form a closed-loop of real behaviors inserted into artificial agents, which can be used to study real society.