Hochschule Konstanz University of Applied Sciences
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Non-invasive devices for respiratory sound monitoring
No full textRespiratory diseases are leading causes of death and disability in the world. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is also affecting the respiratory system. Detecting and diagnosing respiratory diseases requires both medical professionals and the clinical environment. Most of the techniques used up to date were also invasive or expensive.
Some research groups are developing hardware devices and techniques to make possible a non-invasive or even remote respiratory sound acquisition. These sounds are then processed and analysed for clinical, scientific, or educational purposes.
We present the literature review of non-invasive sound acquisition devices and techniques.
The results are about a huge number of digital tools, like microphones, wearables, or Internet of Thing devices, that can be used in this scope.
Some interesting applications have been found. Some devices make easier the sound acquisition in a clinic environment, but others make possible daily monitoring outside that ambient. We aim to use some of these devices and include the non-invasive recorded respiratory sounds in a Digital Twin system for personalized health
Leaving the field in the digital age
Get PDFAnthropologists’ arrival stories have long served to justify, naturalize, and domesticate—often through humor—the fraught moment of entering unasked into other people's lives. This textual convention has been thoroughly critiqued, but no comparable attention has been paid to the analogous moment of departure from the field. The digital age enables both sides to maintain contact, a shift that negates the finality of earlier departures. This article engages the changes wrought by digital media that allow us to remain connected to the field. While this seems a humane affordance, it also means that it is no longer feasible to cleanly sever ties established ‘there’. When anthropologists leave the field, the field will likely follow them—on Facebook or Instagram
A Minimum Set of Physiological Parameters to Diagnose Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Using Non-Invasive Portable Monitors
No full textIntroduction. Despite its high accuracy, polysomnography (PSG) has several drawbacks for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Consequently, multiple portable monitors (PMs) have been proposed. Objective. This systematic review aims to investigate the current literature to analyze the sets of physiological parameters captured by a PM to select the minimum number of such physiological signals while maintaining accurate results in OSA detection. Methods. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of publications were established prior to the search. The evaluation of the publications was made based on one central question and several specific questions. Results. The abilities to detect hypopneas, sleep time, or awakenings were some of the features studied to investigate the full functionality of the PMs to select the most relevant set of physiological signals. Based on the physiological parameters collected (one to six), the PMs were classified into sets according to the level of evidence. The advantages and the disadvantages of each possible set of signals were explained by answering the research questions proposed in the methods. Conclusions. The minimum number of physiological signals detected by PMs for the detection of OSA depends mainly on the purpose and context of the sleep study. The set of three physiological signals showed the best results in the detection of OSA
Mit #climatechallenge zu mehr CSR? Ein innovatives Lernformat für Verantwortungsübernahme in der großen Transformation
No full textDie anhaltende Klimakrise erfordert einen grundlegenden Wandel hin zu einer klimafreundlichen Gesellschaft. Pioniere des Wandels sind wichtige Akteure dieser Transformation. Sie können den Wandel mit einer zweigleisigen Strategie einleiten: Erstens können sie ihre persönliche CO2-Bilanz (Footprint) verbessern. Zweitens können sie sich als Bürger engagieren und sich für strukturelle Veränderungen einsetzen, die den Klimaschutz für alle einfacher machen (Handprint). Das Unterrichtsformat #climatechallenge führt die Teilnehmer an Fußabdruckaktivitäten durch 30-tägige Veränderungsexperimente heran. Während ihrer Experimente (z. B. autofreier Transport, Vermeidung emissionsreicher Lebensmittel) erleben die Teilnehmer in der Regel strukturelle Barrieren. In einer zweiten Phase werden die Teilnehmer eingeladen, Aktivitäten zu entwickeln und durchzuführen, die sich mit diesen strukturellen Barrieren befassen. Diese Doppelstrategie vom Footprint zum Handprint eröffnet eine neue Perspektive auf das Veränderungspotenzial. Eine erste Studie deutet darauf hin, dass ein langfristiger Effekt erzielt wird: Ökologisches Bewusstsein, Selbstwirksamkeit und positives Umweltverhalten wurden nach der Teilnahme an einer #climatechallenge leicht gesteigert. Die neuen Denk- und Handlungsmuster, die von den Studierenden während ihrer #climatechallenge entwickelt wurden, können später in den Unternehmenskontext übertragen werden. Auch Unternehmen stellen sich den Herausforderungen der Klimakrise. Sie sind zunehmend auf Mitarbeiter angewiesen, die interne Transformationsprozesse mit kritischem und pro-aktivem Denken und einer Perspektive auf die oben erwähnte Doppelstrategie gestalten und umsetzen. #climatechallenge erleichtert die Einübung dieser Denkweise im Hochschulkontext, die dann später auf den Arbeitsplatz übertragen werden kann.The ongoing climate crisis requires a major transformation towards a climate-friendly society. Pioneers of change are important actors in this transformation. They can initiate change using a two-pronged strategy: First, they can improve their personal carbon footprint. Second, they can become involved as citizens and lobby for structural changes that make climate protection easier for everyone (handprint). The teaching format #climatechallenge leads participants through footprint activities via 30-day change experiments. During their experiments (e.g. car-free mobility, avoiding high emission food), participants usually experience structural barriers. In a second phase, participants are invited to develop and implement activities addressing these structural barriers. This dual strategy from the footprint to the handprint opens a new perspective on the potential for change. An initial study indicates a long-term effect is achieved: Ecological awareness, self-efficacy and positive environmental behavior were slightly increased after participating in a #climatechallenge. The new patterns of thought and action developed by students during their #climatechallenge can later be transferred into the corporate context. Companies are equally facing the challenges of the climate crisis. They are increasingly dependent on employees that design and implement internal transformation processes with critical thought, pro-activism and a perspective on the dual strategy as mentioned above. #climatechallenge motivates students to practice this pioneering mindset in the university context. They can later apply this to the workplace
Physicochemical quality of twin layer solar tunnel dried tomato slices
No full textThe objective of this experimental study was to evaluate the effect of twin layer solar tunnel drying on physicochemical quality of tomato slices. The novelty of this dryer is that it has two layers of trays unlike Hohenheim solar tunnel dryer which makes it to have drying capacity of more than two times compare to type hohenheim solar tunnel dryer with equal collector area. The experiment consists of two (tray position and drying position) factors with two levels of tray position (upper tray (samples exposed to direct solar radiation) and lower tray (samples are exposed to only heated air)) and three levels of drying position (collector out let,middle of the dryer and dryer out let) with three replications. During the experiment 180 kg of Tomato slices of Galilea variety with 5mm thickness were dried in the twin layer solar tunnel dryer. Data on physicochemical quality of tomato were collected and analyzed using SAS (version 9.2). software. From the experimental result; an increase in lycopene and phenolic content retention along the length of the dryer was observed while Vitamin C retention showed a decreasing trend. Large retention of total phenol, lycopene and beta carotene content were observed for the lower tray dried tomato slices compared to the upper tray dried ones. The water activity and PH values of the solar tunnel dried tomatoes were within the safe range from microbial growth, enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning. Compared to sun drying; solar tunnel dried tomatoes showed a much better nutrient retention for all quality parameters which is comparable with the data reported for energy intensive mechanical dryers
Recognition of Matrices Which Are Sign-Regular of a Given Order and a Generalization of Oscillatory Matrices
No full textIn this paper, rectangular matrices whose minors of a given order have the same strict sign are considered and sufficient conditions for their recognition are presented. The results are extended to matrices whose minors of a given order have the same sign or are allowed to vanish. A matrix A is called oscillatory if all its minors are nonnegative and there exists a positive integer k such that A^k has all its minors positive. As a generalization, a new type of matrices, called oscillatory of a specific order, is introduced and some of their properties are investigated
The lingering living dead phenomenon: Distorting venture survival studies?
No full textDespite the increased attention dedicated to research on the antecedents and determinants of new venture survival in entrepreneurship, defining and capturing survival as an outcome represents a challenge in quantitative studies. This paper creates awareness for ventures being inactive while still classified as surviving based on the data available. We describe this as the ‘living dead’ phenomenon, arguing that it yields potential effects on the empirical results of survival studies. Based on a systematic literature review, we find that this issue of inactivity has not been sufficiently considered in previous new venture survival studies. Based on a sample of 501 New Technology-Based Firms, we empirically illustrate that the classification of living dead ventures into either survived or failed can impact the factors determining survival. On this basis, we contribute to an understanding of the issue by defining the ‘living dead’ phenomenon and by proposing recommendations for research practice to solve this issue in survival studies, taking the data source, the period under investigation and the sample size into account
List decoding for concatenated codes based on the Plotkin construction with BCH component codes
No full textReed-Muller codes are a popular code family based on the Plotkin construction. Recently, these codes have regained some interest due to their close relation to polar codes and their low-complexity decoding. We consider a similar code family, i.e., the Plotkin concatenation with binary BCH component codes. This construction is more flexible regarding the attainable code parameters. In this work, we consider a list-based decoding algorithm for the Plotkin concatenation with BCH component codes. The proposed list decoding leads to a significant coding gain with only a small increase in computational complexity. Simulation results demonstrate that the Plotkin concatenation with the proposed decoding achieves near maximum likelihood decoding performance. This coding scheme can outperform polar codes for moderate code lengths
