Comparing clothing-mounted sensors with wearable sensors for movement analysis and activity classification

Inertial sensors are a useful instrument for long term monitoring in healthcare. In many cases, inertial sensor devices can be worn as an accessory or integrated into smart textiles. In some situations, it may be beneficial to have data from multiple inertial sensors, rather than relying on a single worn sensor, since this may increase the accuracy of the analysis and better tolerate sensor errors. Integrating multiple sensors into clothing improves the feasibility and practicality of wearing multiple devices every day, in approximately the same location, with less likelihood of incorrect sensor orientation. To facilitate this, the current work investigates the consequences of attaching lightweight sensors to loose clothes. The intention of this paper is to discuss how data from these clothing sensors compare with similarly placed body worn sensors, with additional consideration of the resulting effects on activity recognition. This study compares the similarity between the two signals (body worn and clothing), collected from three different clothing types (slacks, pencil skirt and loose frock), across multiple daily activities (walking, running, sitting, and riding a bus) by calculating correlation coefficients for each sensor pair. Even though the two data streams are clearly different from each other, the results indicate that there is good potential of achieving high classification accuracy when using inertial sensors in clothing

Malaria transmission in the vicinity of impounded water: evidence from the Koka Reservoir, Ethiopia

Malaria / Waterborne diseases / Disease vectors / Habitats / Disease control / Entomology / Epidemiology / Surveys / Dams / Reservoirs / Villages / Case studies / Africa / Ethiopia / Koka Reservoir / Rift Valley / Awash River Basin

Australian cardiac rehabilitation exercise parameter characteristics and perceptions of high-intensity interval training: a cross-sectional survey

Purpose: This study explored current demographics, characteristics, costs, evaluation methods, and outcome measures used in Australian cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs. It also determined the actual usage and perceptions of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Methods: A cross-sectional observational web-based survey was distributed to 328 Australian CR programs nationally. Results: A total of 261 programs completed the survey (79.6% response rate). Most Australian CR programs were located in a hospital setting (76%), offered exercise sessions once a week (52%) for 6–8 weeks (49%) at moderate intensity (54%) for 46–60 min (62%), and serviced 101–500 clients per annum (38%). HIIT was reported in only 1% of programs, and 27% of respondents believed that it was safe while 42% of respondents were unsure. Lack of staff (25%), monitoring resources (20%), and staff knowledge (18%) were the most commonly reported barriers to the implementation of HIIT. Overall, Australian CR coordinators are unsure of the cost of exercise sessions. Conclusion: There is variability in CR delivery across Australia. Only half of programs reassess outcome measures postintervention, and cost of exercise sessions is unknown. Although HIIT is recommended in international CR guidelines, it is essentially not being used in Australia and clinicians are unsure as to the safety of HIIT. Lack of resources and staff knowledge were perceived as the biggest barriers to HIIT implementation, and there are inconsistent perceptions of prescreening and monitoring requirements. This study highlights the need to educate health professionals about the benefits and safety of HIIT to improve its usage and patient outcomes

Scandals from an Island: Testing Anglo-American Corporate Governance Frameworks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of banking scandals in relation to corporate governance (CG) failures in an emerging economy, arguing that Anglo-American ideas of CG are misplaced in traditional settings. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. Observations of annual general meetings (AGMs) and the personal working experience of one of the researchers, along with documentation, provided triangulating data on CG practices. Findings The authors have found that both of the banks studied had adopted CG practices contrary to the expectations of the Sri Lankan CG codes. Key features of CG practices that emerged from their investigations of these two scandals are ineffectual central bank regulations, familial boards of directors, ceremonial board meetings, biased auditing practices and manipulative AGMs, relying on traditional structures of accountability centred around families, kin and social networks. Research limitations/implications The authors argue, drawing on Weber (1958, 1961, 1968, 1978), that the traditionalist culture mediates the process of rationality in bank governance codes and regulatory frameworks Therefore, practices fall far short of expectations. Originality/value The paper builds on the extended critique of shareholder-centric CG models and their transferability to alien contexts. It contributes to the CG studies calling for more appreciation of the need to move beyond the conventional view of CG problems as simply down to conflicts of interests. The authors complement and advance the decoupling debate in CG studies drawing on the Weberian notion of traditionalism

High-intensity interval training versus moderate-intensity continuous training within cardiac rehabilitation:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aerobic capacity has been shown to be inversely proportionate to cardiovascular mortality and morbidity and there is growing evidence that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) appears to be more effective than moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in improving cardiorespiratory fitness within the cardiac population. Previously published systematic reviews in cardiovascular disease have neither investigated the effect that the number of weeks of intervention has on cardiorespiratory fitness changes, nor have adverse events been collated.We aimed to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) within the cardiac population that investigated cardiorespiratory fitness changes resulting from HIIT versus MICT and to collate adverse events.A critical narrative synthesis and meta-analysis was conducted after systematically searching relevant databases up to July 2017. We searched for RCTs that compared cardiorespiratory fitness changes resulting from HIIT versus MICT interventions within the cardiac population.Seventeen studies, involving 953 participants (465 for HIIT and 488 for MICT) were included in the analysis. HIIT was significantly superior to MICT in improving cardiorespiratory fitness overall (SMD 0.34 mL/kg/min; 95% confidence interval [CI; 0.2-0.48]; p6-week duration. Programs of 7-12 weeks' duration resulted in the largest improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness for patients with coronary artery disease. HIIT appears to be as safe as MICT for CR participants

Investigation of Daily Macronutrient intakes by Sri Lankan Managerial Level Employees working in the Private Sector

With changes of lifestyles and social values in the food culture, many individuals working as managerial level employees in the as private sector are seemingly selecting more improper daily meal combinations. This study was designed to determine whether this occurrence can have a severe impact to imbalance the daily nutrient intakes by the individuals in the mentioned social segment, which increase the tendency of having nutrition related chronic diseases. In a hierarchy range from junior executives to CEOs of private sector organizations, 800 individuals were selected by disproportionate stratified random sampling. Selected individuals are interviewed using a structured questionnaire to assess their daily food combinations and their consumed portion sizes. Frequently consumed meal combinations were then analyzed for their macronutrient composition, to compare with world Health organizations’ (WHO) Reference Dietary Intake (RDI) levels of nutrients. The results reveal of significantly (p<0.05) higher daily fat (45.3 ±1.7 g/day) and protein (65.2 ±1.4 g/day) intakes than the WHO recommendation levels and significantly (p<0.05) lower in dietary fibre (22.3 ±1.1 g/day) contents by selected participants. Carbohydrate intake (133.1 ±2.2 g/day) was higher than reference levels but was not significant (p>0.05). This indicates of a considerable risk for many individuals in the concerned social segment, of having non-communicable diseases, if observed dietary patterns are continued

Remote sensing and hydrologic models for performance assessment in Sirsa Irrigation Circle, India

Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Performance evaluation / Remote sensing / GIS / Models / Irrigated farming / Hydrology / Satellite surveys / Irrigation scheduling / Evapotranspiration / India