214 research outputs found
Noncontact heart rate measurement via period detection methods of periodic signals
Get PDFConventional heart rate measurement techniques, including manual measurement by placing two fingers on the wrist or side of the neck, electrocardiogram (ECG) or pulse oximetry devices require direct physical contact to the subject and this has the potential to cause inconveniences in cases when the subject has skin irritations or severe burns, contagious disease or intensive care conditions. Hence, there is a need for noncontact heart rate measurement. Previous research on noncontact heart rate measurement utilizes either a complex hardware setup, such as laser illuminators or high-speed cameras, or expensive computational methods, such as independent component analysis. The aim of this work is to apply different signal processing methods utilized in pitch detection problems of periodic signals, namely zero-crossings, autocorrelation, maximum likelihood and Fourier-based methods, to the signal obtained from the average pixel values of the frames of a video recording of the subject’s face obtained using a standard webcam in order to find simple yet effective methods and compare them to previous works, under the same stability assumptions of the subject and illumination of the environment. For this purpose, first, the noncontact heart rate measurement problem is posed as a sinusoidal parameter estimation problem in order to analyze it from a sinusoidal parameter estimation problem point of view. Then, nonparametric methods that are used in period detection of periodic signal problems is presented and their performances are compared with each other as well as previous research. Algorithms are tested on both synthetically generated data and data obtained from input video files. Findings indicate that under stability conditions, inexpensive pitch detection techniques perform almost as well or better compared to computationally expensive methods. Finally, a different approach is taken from the oscillator devices perspective, and an oscillator circuit is used in a similar fashion to an injection locking problem in order to find the period of the input signal from the output of the oscillator circuit. In cases where the circuit parameters such as resistor and capacitor values are tuned accordingly based on the input signal, it is possible to extract heart rate information from the falling edge occurrences of output oscillator voltage with high accuracy.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2018-12-01The student, Gizem Tabak, accepted the attached license on 2016-12-07 at 13:25.The student, Gizem Tabak, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-12-07 at 13:33.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-12-07 at 16:04.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #10472 on 2017-02-28 at 14:43:22Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-01T17:02:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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The murder trial of R v Vincent Tabak [2011]
No full textThe trial took place at Bristol Crown Court, England, United Kingdom for the murder of Joanna Yeates, and Dr Vincent Tabak was the Defendant. The author attended at court for this trial and this paper notes many of the obvious and unsatisfactory legal and procedural points in this trial. Dr Vincent Tabak was convicted of the murder at this trial. Of course the jury were not to know the finer points of law as the lower court judge did not advise the jury of any such points before they adjourned to make their decision. All but one concluded that Dr Tabak was guilty as charged, although even the charge was vague and all-encompassing as he was charged with ‘murder between Friday 17 December 2010 and Sunday 19 December 2010’. Defence counsel, very eminent barrister-at-law, appeared to be cowed by the other side and let them walk all over this case procedurally. For example, prosecution counsel handed him 1200 pages of evidence on the first day of the trial, as if to FULFIL disclosure obligations. E was stunned and asked the court for time off. But this was never again discussed.
The lower court judge appeared as if he had already decided on the case. When Defence Counsel asked him if he had before him a copy of a certain document, he flippantly say he had it but had left it on his desk in his room. When Defence Counsel, of international renown, was ready to present his opening speech and cross-examination of his client, Dr Vincent Tabak, this lower court judge dismissed the jury to their lunch break knowing that counsel was going to speak. Court had to be adjourned and the members of the jury quickly assembles by the court porters as they were leaving the court, which must have hampered their interest in what counsel’s statement said. A photograph of a dead body by a roadside, allegedly, Miss Yeates, was shown by projector slide a dozen irrelevant times during the trial period, thus embedding that photograph in the jury’s mind. The computer evidence leaves much to be desired and could, some suggested, easily have been concocted by the prosecution team, abusing the law of metadata evidence. Te lady who presented it did not give the court her qualifications and her expertise if any- and much more that beggars belief and loses trust in the British Criminal Justice System, such as it is, following ‘form over substance’
The murder trial of R v Vincent Tabak [2011]
No full textThe trial took place at Bristol Crown Court, England, United Kingdom for the murder of Joanna Yeates, and Dr Vincent Tabak was the Defendant. The author attended at court for this trial and this paper notes many of the obvious and unsatisfactory legal and procedural points in this trial. Dr Vincent Tabak was convicted of the murder at this trial. Of course the jury were not to know the finer points of law as the lower court judge did not advise the jury of any such points before they adjourned to make their decision. All but one concluded that Dr Tabak was guilty as charged, although even the charge was vague and all-encompassing as he was charged with ‘murder between Friday 17 December 2010 and Sunday 19 December 2010’. Defence counsel, very eminent barrister-at-law, appeared to be cowed by the other side and let them walk all over this case procedurally. For example, prosecution counsel handed him 1200 pages of evidence on the first day of the trial, as if to FULFIL disclosure obligations. E was stunned and asked the court for time off. But this was never again discussed.
The lower court judge appeared as if he had already decided on the case. When Defence Counsel asked him if he had before him a copy of a certain document, he flippantly say he had it but had left it on his desk in his room. When Defence Counsel, of international renown, was ready to present his opening speech and cross-examination of his client, Dr Vincent Tabak, this lower court judge dismissed the jury to their lunch break knowing that counsel was going to speak. Court had to be adjourned and the members of the jury quickly assembles by the court porters as they were leaving the court, which must have hampered their interest in what counsel’s statement said. A photograph of a dead body by a roadside, allegedly, Miss Yeates, was shown by projector slide a dozen irrelevant times during the trial period, thus embedding that photograph in the jury’s mind. The computer evidence leaves much to be desired and could, some suggested, easily have been concocted by the prosecution team, abusing the law of metadata evidence. Te lady who presented it did not give the court her qualifications and her expertise if any- and much more that beggars belief and loses trust in the British Criminal Justice System, such as it is, following ‘form over substance’
Is Bursting More Effective than Spiking in Evoking Pituitary Hormone Secretion? A Spatiotemporal Simulation Study of Calcium and Granule Dynamics
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Physiological Society via the DOI in this record.Endocrine cells of the pituitary gland secrete a number of hormones, and the amount of hormone released by a cell is controlled in large part by the cell's electrical activity and subsequent Ca2+ influx. Typical electrical behaviors of pituitary cells include continuous spiking and so-called pseudo-plateau bursting. It has been shown that the amplitude of Ca2+ fluctuations is greater in bursting cells, leading to the hypothesis that bursting cells release more hormone than spiking cells. In this work, we apply computer simulations to test this hypothesis. We use experimental recordings of electrical activity as input to mathematical models of Ca2+ channel activity, buffered Ca2+ diffusion, and Ca2+-driven exocytosis. To compare the efficacy of spiking and bursting on the same cell, we pharmacologically block the large conductance potassium (BK) current from a bursting cell, or add a BK current to a spiking cell via dynamic clamp. We find that bursting is generally at least as effective as spiking at evoking hormone release, and is often considerably more effective, even when normalizing to Ca2+ influx. Our hybrid experimental/modeling approach confirms that adding a BK-type K+ current, which is typically associated with decreased cell activity and reduced secretion, can actually produce an increase in hormone secretion, as suggested earlier.JT and RB were partially supported by grant DMS1220063 from the National Science Foundation
Telemedicine for patients with COPD: new treatment approaches to improve daily activity behaviour
Get PDFObtaining a physically active lifestyle is essential in the treatment of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Inactivity is thought to be part of a vicious circle of deconditioning, which leads to a reduced quality of life and which may be accelerated by exacerbations (periods of acute worsening of the patient’s condition). The aim of this thesis was to study whether telemedicine can promote daily activity behaviour and support patients with COPD in their self-management of exacerbations. To achieve this goal, a telemonitoring study was performed to gain insight in the daily activity behaviour. Subsequently, an ambulant activity coach was designed that aims to increase awareness and improve the activity level and the distribution of activities during the day. The activity coach was used to investigate its potential to change daily activity behaviour within a 4-week telerehabilitation intervention. A next generation of the activity coach used machine learning to provide motivational cues automatically at the most suitable moment to the patient, which was evaluated in a 3-month intervention. In addition, the activity coach was evaluated as an integrated part of a 9-month telehealth programme, which also included web-based exercising and self-management of exacerbations. Separate from the activity coach, a motivating alternative to conventional exercising was developed: the orange submarine game. The activity coach was able to positively contribute to increasing activity levels: 1) COPD patients significantly changed their activity level on a short-term notice in response to the motivational cues and 2) a higher usage of the activity coach was significantly associated with an improvement in activity levels. So, the self-learning activity coach seems beneficial to increase the activity level and improve the activity balance, although not in all patients. Patients were satisfied with the received care of the telehealth programme and especially the self-management module was highly used. The game was found to be a motivational tool for exercising. In conclusion, the results show that telemedicine has potential to promote an active lifestyle in patients with COPD. For future, decision-support technology should provide highly individualized and persuasive feedback, while gamification strategies could further increase motivation
Fanny Tabak and the first steps of Science, Technology and Gender Studies in Brazil
No full textNeste artigo trataremos da trajetória pessoal e intelectual de Fanny Tabak, uma das únicas representantes do sexo feminino que fez parte da primeira geração de pensadores do Pensamento Latino-Americano em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade–placts. Buscaremos mostrar a originalidade de sua abordagem e as principais contribuições para os estudos de C&T na américa latina, destacando seu pioneirismo nos estudos sobre participação feminina na vida política e na educação superior no Brasil. As contribuições de Tabak abriram caminho para uma vertente de estudos que ganhou consistência e hoje mostra sua força no Brasil e América Latina, os Estudos de Ciência, Tecnologia e Gênero ou Estudos Feministas da Ciência e Tecnologia (EFCT).En este artículo rescatamos la vida y obra de la intelectual brasileña Fanny Tabak, con el objetivo de dar visibilidad a sus pioneras contribuciones al campo de los estudios en ciencia, tecnología y género en Latinoamérica. El artículo incluye una revisión de sus principales obras, articulada con una lectura de su vida personal y política. Los datos de su trayectoria personal provienen de una entrevista realizada a la autora en el año 2013. Su obra es relevante en tanto Tabak fue parte de una primera generación de autores que desde Latinoamérica construyeron lecturas locales acerca de las relaciones entre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad, y que criticaron sus estructuras
jerarquizadas. En la década de 1970, Tabak escribió las primeras publicaciones que señalan las desigualdades de género en el espacio académico brasileño y fue también una importante portavoz de las mujeres en el escenario político local e internacional. Sus planteamientos críticos a estas desigualdades han inspirado a otras generaciones feministas, abriendo las puertas a los esfuerzos académicos/militantes por cambiar los patrones androcéntricos de las C&T modernas en nuestro territorio.In this article we rescue the life and work of the Brazilian intellectual Fanny Tabak, in order to highlight her pioneering contributions on the field of Science, Technology and Gender Studies in Latin America. The article includes a review of her main works articulated to a reading of her personal and political life. The information on her personal career comes from an interview with the author that was done in 2013. Her work is relevant once Tabak belongs to the first generation of Latin-American scholars that build local readings on the relationship between science, technology and society; and criticizing their hierarchical structures. Through the 1970s she dedicated herself to write the first publications pointing gender inequalities in the Brazilian academic space, and was also an important voice for women rights in local and international political arenas. Her critical approach to these inequalities have inspired other feminist generations opening the doors for academic / activists efforts aimed to change androcentric patterns of modern S&T in our territory
Fanny Tabak and the first steps of Science, Technology and Gender Studies in Brazil
No full textFil: Lima, Márcia Maria Tait. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Departamento de Política Científica e Tecnológica; Brasil.Fil: Vasconcellos, Bruna Mendes de. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Departamento de Política Científica e Tecnológica; Brasil.Neste artigo trataremos da trajetória pessoal e intelectual de Fanny Tabak, uma das únicas representantes do sexo feminino que fez parte da primeira geração de pensadores do Pensamento Latino-Americano em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade–placts. Buscaremos mostrar a originalidade de sua abordagem e as principais contribuições para os estudos de C&T na américa latina, destacando seu pioneirismo nos estudos sobre participação feminina na vida política e na educação superior no Brasil. As contribuições de Tabak abriram caminho para uma vertente de estudos que ganhou consistência e hoje mostra sua força no Brasil e América Latina, os Estudos de Ciência, Tecnologia e Gênero ou Estudos Feministas da Ciência e Tecnologia (EFCT).En este artículo rescatamos la vida y obra de la intelectual brasileña Fanny Tabak, con el objetivo de dar visibilidad a sus pioneras contribuciones al campo de los estudios en ciencia, tecnología y género en Latinoamérica. El artículo incluye una revisión de sus principales obras, articulada con una lectura de su vida personal y política. Los datos de su trayectoria personal provienen de una entrevista realizada a la autora en el año 2013. Su obra es relevante en tanto Tabak fue parte de una primera generación de autores que desde Latinoamérica construyeron lecturas locales acerca de las relaciones entre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad, y que criticaron sus estructuras
jerarquizadas. En la década de 1970, Tabak escribió las primeras publicaciones que señalan las desigualdades de género en el espacio académico brasileño y fue también una importante portavoz de las mujeres en el escenario político local e internacional. Sus planteamientos críticos a estas desigualdades han inspirado a otras generaciones feministas, abriendo las puertas a los esfuerzos académicos/militantes por cambiar los patrones androcéntricos de las C&T modernas en nuestro territorio.In this article we rescue the life and work of the Brazilian intellectual Fanny Tabak, in order to highlight her pioneering contributions on the field of Science, Technology and Gender Studies in Latin America. The article includes a review of her main works articulated to a reading of her personal and political life. The information on her personal career comes from an interview with the author that was done in 2013. Her work is relevant once Tabak belongs to the first generation of Latin-American scholars that build local readings on the relationship between science, technology and society; and criticizing their hierarchical structures. Through the 1970s she dedicated herself to write the first publications pointing gender inequalities in the Brazilian academic space, and was also an important voice for women rights in local and international political arenas. Her critical approach to these inequalities have inspired other feminist generations opening the doors for academic / activists efforts aimed to change androcentric patterns of modern S&T in our territory
HealthNavigator voor mensen met een chronische aandoening
Get PDFHealthNavigator is een telemedicineapplicatie om mensen met een chronische aandoening te motiveren en te ondersteunen bij het wandelen. Wat is de meerwaarde van deze applicatie in de fysiotherapeutische behandeling
Designing game-based eHealth applications: strategies for sustainable engagement of older adults
Get PDFDigital healthcare applications, also called eHealth, can contribute to increasing the quality of healthcare and reducing the demand for care. A rapidly growing target group that can particularly benefit from eHealth is the older adult (65 years and up). It is of vital importance that these eHealth applications are used as they are intended: usually frequent and for a longer period of time. This so-called adherence leaves room for improvement, so that users can optimally benefit from the interventions offered. Games, or specific game elements, can be used in applications that have a primary goal other than entertainment for their natural power to engage people. This research describes how to deploy this strategy, to which refer to with ‘game-based design’, to engage users in productive activities, thereby meeting the demand for strategies to increase and improve the use of eHealth applications. The focus is mainly, but not exclusively, to address the older population. Research evolves around two lead incentives. Part one focused on a method to capture the elements of games that intrinsically motivate people to play, to investigate the elements that are motivating for elderly users, and how these can be translated into engaging design of gamified applications. A series of studies resulted in a practical tool for developers of gamified applications that enables assessment of any target group’s preferences: the 6D framework. Part two covered the development and evaluation of two gamified eHealth applications for the older adult, in which the results of the first section are applied. These studies provided insight in the development of game-based eHealth in practice. By creating transparency in this process and highlighting the rationale behind design choices and motivation strategies in game-based design, future and existing game-based applications can be optimised. By offering repeatable, practical methods, suitable content, principles and mechanisms can be selected and applied. A case study resulted in an effective, well-functioning and aesthetically attractive game-based eHealth application. Evaluations with end-users showed that the preferences as investigated with the 6D framework, and resulting strategies for long term engagement, have led to game content that engages the older adult user
Look who's talking: appearance of embodied conversational agents in eHealth
Get PDFAs we live longer and more people develop chronic diseases, the demand for care increases. The focus of our health care has to shift from curing acute complaints to (secondary) prevention of com¬plaints via long-term care and coaching. A solution widely investigated to offer this long-term care and coaching is eHealth. But, for eHealth applications to be effective, use of the applications is crucial. In that sense, engagement with an eHealth application is necessary; those who are more engaged are significantly less likely to stop using it. To engage users in long-term care and coaching, Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) can be used. As humans, we immediately form ideas about such ECAs based on their appearance when we interact with them for the first time, similar to what we do when interacting with another human for the first time. Then, when we have a positive first impression of another human, we tend to interact more with that human. This might also apply to our interaction with ECAs. Therefore, ECAs could stimulate users to start or continue interacting with the underlying eHealth application (at first glance or after short interaction respectively) to eventually reach long-term interaction. By researching how an ECA’s appearance should be designed to trigger positive impressions in these different phases of interaction, we can stimulate users to continue to next phase and eventually reach long-term engagement. The main aim of this thesis was: How to design the appearance of an ECA in eHealth to promote user engagement? The sub objectives of this thesis were: 1) How to design the appearance of an ECA in eHealth for positive impressions at first glance?, 2) How to design the appearance of an ECA in eHealth for positive impressions after short interaction? and 3) How to design the appearance of an ECA in eHealth for positive impressions after long-term interaction
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