University of Konstanz
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Offistretch : camera-based real-time feedback for daily stretching exercises
No full textIn this paper, we present OffiStretch, a camera-based system for optimal stretching guidance at home or in the workplace. It consists of a vision-based method for real-time assessment of the user’s body pose to provide visual feedback as interactive guidance during stretching exercises. Our method compares the users’ actual pose with a pre-trained target pose to assess the quality of stretching for a number of different exercises. We utilize angular and spatial pose features to perform this comparison for each individual exercise. The result of this pose assessment is presented to the user as real-time visual feedback on an "augmented mirror" display. As our method relies simply on a single RGB camera, it can be easily utilized in everyday training scenarios. We validate our method in a user study, comparing users’ performance and motivation in stretching when receiving audio-visual guidance on a TV screen both with and without our live feedback. While participants performed equally well in both conditions, feedback boosted their motivation to perform the exercises, highlighting its potential for increasing users’ well-being. Moreover, our results suggest that participants preferred stretching exercises with our live feedback over the condition without the feedback. Finally, an expert evaluation with professional physiotherapists reveals that further work must target improvements of the feedback to ensure correct guidance during stretching.publishe
Visually Assessing 1-D Orderings of Contiguous Spatial Polygons
No full textOne-dimensional orderings of spatial entities have been researched in many contexts, e.g. spatial indexing structures or visualizations for spatiotemporal trend analysis. While plenty of studies have been conducted to evaluate orderings of point-based data, polygonal shapes, despite their different topological properties, have received less attention. Existing measures to quantify errors in projections or orderings suffer from generic neighborhood definitions and over-simplification of distances when applied to polygonal data. In this work, we address these shortcomings by introducing measures that adapt to a varying neighborhood size depending on the number of contiguous neighbors and thus, address the limitations of existing measures for polygonal shapes. To guide experts in determining a suitable ordering, we propose a user-steerable visual analytics prototype capable of locally and globally inspecting ordering errors, investigating the impact of geographic obstacles, and comparing ordering strategies using our measures. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through a use case and conducted an expert study with 8 data scientists as a qualitative evaluation of our approach. Our results show that users are capable of identifying ordering errors, comparing ordering strategies on a global and local scale, as well as assessing the impact of semantically relevant geographic obstacles.publishe
Long-ranged stress correlations in viscoelastic liquids
No full textThis work presents computer simulations of a binary mixture of hard particles in two and three dimensions. The packing fraction is chosen to be close to the glass transition, but still in the liquid phase. In this case the time dependent shear modulus shows a distinct plateau over several decades in time, indicating the onset of mechanical elasticity. Solid like spatial stress correlations proportional to r-D and r-D-2 in D dimensions are observed in Newtonian dynamics. These results are successfully compared to theory predictions based on the Zwanzig-Mori projection operator formalism. The transition to a diffusive propagation is observed in Brownian dynamics simulations. Correlated stresses over one decade in particle diameters are observed but the signal is not strong enough for a quantitative analysis. The emergence of the r-D power law reflects the Eshelby pattern, derived from linear elasticity theory, as the liquid solidifies. The stress correlation function is described by a fourth order tensor. This object simplifies significantly when the isotropy of the system is explicitly used by a decomposition of the stress correlation function into spherical tensors.publishe
The Role of Parents in Schooling : Focus Groups as a Tool for Reflecting on Social Expectations and Individual Perceptions
No full textIn this article, I discuss how parents understand and perceive their role in secondary school education. With increasing expectations in contemporary society regarding successful life courses, most parents feel pressured to support their child's education and well-being in schooling. To examine the dynamic of social expectations and the perceptions of individuals' roles I used data from a German focus group study (N=25) and deliberately selected a group of three mothers with contrasting social and educational backgrounds. In addition to grounded theory methodology, I opted for methodological triangulation and included theoretical concepts from symbolic interactionism. Regardless of their background, I found the mothers had internalized the same high role expectations, but they differed in their perceptions of being able to fulfill them. Role conflicts were most obvious when there was a lack of knowledge and social resources. In these cases, help from the fathers as well as tutor and teacher contact supported meeting the demands of schooling. However, the mothers preferred to solve problems by themselves before contacting teachers. This could be due to distant or distrustful feelings towards teachers, which is important because the mothers' satisfaction with the school's performance was related to their concern for their child's well-being.publishe
Mireia Aragay, Cristina Delgado-García, Martin Middeke (eds.): Affects in 21st-Century British Theatre : Exploring Feeling on Page and Stage
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Thyroid Hormones in Early Life : Effects on Mitochondria, Telomere Dynamics and Behavioural Performance
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Association between redox biomarkers, DNA damage and aerobic capacity before and after physical stress in young men
No full textThe interaction of reactive molecules with proteins, lipids and carbohydrates results in the formation of compounds generally called redox biomarkers. It is widely recognized that high intensity exercise results in an increase of oxidative stress which in turn induces DNA damage. However, aerobic trained individuals seem to be less affected than untrained individuals. We previously showed that exercise-induced DNA damage is indeed higher in untrained individuals compared with trained individuals. But to which extent redox biomarkers are associated with DNA damage and how both are associated with aerobic capacity remains unclear. Therefore, we measured well-established redox biomarkers in plasma from young healthy volunteers before and after exhaustive exercise. We found that aerobic capacity, as measured by the level of VO2 peak, is negatively associated with glyoxal, methylglyoxal and 3-deoxyglucosone concentration in plasma before and after exhaustive physical exercise. In contrast, protein carbonyls, 3-nitrotyrosine and malondialdehyde were not associated with aerobic capacity. Interestingly, glyoxal was positively associated with DNA strand breaks in immune cells before but not after exhaustive exercise, indicating a beneficial effect of a high aerobic capacity on DNA integrity. These results provide a potential mechanism of how exercise protects against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer development.publishe
Ethical principles for regulatory risk decision-making
No full textRisk assessors, managers, and decision-makers are responsible for evaluating diverse human, environmental, and animal health risks. Although the critical elements of risk assessment and management are well-described in national and international documents, the ethical issues involved in risk decision-making have received comparatively little attention to date. To address this aspect, this article elaborates fundamental ethical principles designed to support fair, balanced, and equitable risk-based decision-making practices. Experts and global thinkers in risk, health, regulatory, and animal sciences were convened to share their lived experiences in relation to the intersection between risk science and analysis, regulatory science, and public health. Through a participatory and knowledge translation approach, an integrated risk decision-making model, with ethical principles and considerations, was developed and applied using diverse, contemporary risk decision-making and regulatory contexts. The ten principles - autonomy, minimize harm, maintain respect and trust, adaptability, reduce disparities, holistic, fair and just, open and transparent, stakeholder engagement, and One Health lens - demonstrate how public sector values and moral norms (i.e., ethics) are relevant to risk decision-making. We also hope these principles and considerations stimulate further discussion, debate, and an increased awareness of the application of ethics in identifying, assessing, and managing health risks.publishe
Indikation von Uferstrukturbelastungen durch Makrophyten und Makrozoobenthos an Seen in Brandenburg : Teil 2: Einfluss von Trophie (ACP) und Uferstruktur (HyMo) auf biologische Bewertungsmetriks und Zusammensetzung von Makrozoobenthos- (MZB) und Makrophytengemeinschaften (MPH) : Bericht der ARGE „Team Seeufer MMM“ für das Landesamt für Umwelt Brandenburg, Ref. W26, Projekt SuBoLakes (Az. 35825/01), AP 5 der Deutschen Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)
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