Force-Sensitive Mat for Vertical Jump Measurement to Assess Lower Limb Strength: Validity and Reliability Study.

Background: Vertical jump height is widely used in health care and sports fields to assess muscle strength and power from lower limb muscle groups. Different approaches have been proposed for vertical jump height measurement. Some commonly used approaches need no sensor at all; however, these methods tend to overestimate the height reached by the subjects.

Sensing Systems for Respiration Monitoring: A Technical Systematic Review.

Respiratory monitoring is essential in sleep studies, sport training, patient monitoring, or health at work, among other applications. This paper presents a comprehensive systematic review of respiration sensing systems. After several systematic searches in scientific repositories, the 198 most relevant papers in this field were analyzed in detail.

Improving Physical Activity Levels and Psychological Variables on University Students in the Contemplation Stage.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a physical activity intervention, based on self-determination theory and the transtheoretical model, on university students in the contemplation stage.

Participants: 42 students, in the contemplation stage at baseline, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (16 women, 2 men; M age = 19.1 ± 1.

Wearable Sensors for Measuring Movement in Short Sessions of Mindfulness Sitting Meditation: A Pilot Study.

Mindfulness techniques are useful tools in health and well-being. To improve and facilitate formal training, beginners need to know if they are in a stable sitting posture and if they can hold it. Previous monitoring studies did not consider stability during sitting meditation or were specific for longer traditional practices.

Combining novelty detectors to improve accelerometer-based fall detection.

Research on body-worn sensors has shown how they can be used for the detection of falls in the elderly, which is a relevant health problem. However, most systems are trained with simulated falls, which differ from those of the target population. In this paper, we tackle the problem of fall detection using a combination of novelty detectors.

The Effect of Personalization on Smartphone-Based Fall Detectors.

The risk of falling is high among different groups of people, such as older people, individuals with Parkinson's disease or patients in neuro-rehabilitation units. Developing robust fall detectors is important for acting promptly in case of a fall. Therefore, in this study we propose to personalize smartphone-based detectors to boost their performance as compared to a non-personalized system.

A comparison of public datasets for acceleration-based fall detection.

Falls are one of the leading causes of mortality among the older population, being the rapid detection of a fall a key factor to mitigate its main adverse health consequences. In this context, several authors have conducted studies on acceleration-based fall detection using external accelerometers or smartphones. The published detection rates are diverse, sometimes close to a perfect detector.

The efficacy and pattern of use of a computer-assisted programme for the treatment of anxiety: a naturalistic study using mixed methods in primary care in Spain.

Background: Naturalistic studies to assess the efficacy and pattern of use of computer-delivered psychotherapy programmes in real daily clinical conditions are infrequent. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders, and many of them do not receive adequate management, especially in primary care settings. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of an internet-delivered programme for anxiety in primary care.

Detecting falls as novelties in acceleration patterns acquired with smartphones.

Despite being a major public health problem, falls in the elderly cannot be detected efficiently yet. Many studies have used acceleration as the main input to discriminate between falls and activities of daily living (ADL). In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using smartphones for fall detection.

Challenges, issues and trends in fall detection systems.

Since falls are a major public health problem among older people, the number of systems aimed at detecting them has increased dramatically over recent years. This work presents an extensive literature review of fall detection systems, including comparisons among various kinds of studies. It aims to serve as a reference for both clinicians and biomedical engineers planning or conducting field investigations.

Mindfulness-based mobile applications: literature review and analysis of current features.

Background: Interest in mindfulness has increased exponentially, particularly in the fields of psychology and medicine. The trait or state of mindfulness is significantly related to several indicators of psychological health, and mindfulness-based therapies are effective at preventing and treating many chronic diseases. Interest in mobile applications for health promotion and disease self-management is also growing.