Modelling heart rate dynamics in relation to speed and power output in sprint kayaking as a basis for training evaluation and optimisation.

With the development of power output sensors in the field of paddle sports and the ongoing advancements in dynamical analysis of exercise data, this study aims to model the measurements of external training intensity in relation to heart rate (HR) time-series during flat-water kayak sprint. Nine elite athletes performed a total of 47 interval training sessions with incremental intensity (light to (sub-) maximal effort levels). The data of HR, speed and power output were measured continuously and rating of perceived exertion and blood lactate concentration ([BLa]) were sampled at the end of each interval stage.

Markerless motion analysis to assess reaching-sideways in individuals with dyskinetic cerebral palsy: A validity study.

This study aimed to evaluate clinical utility of 2D-markerless motion analysis (2DMMA) from a single camera during a reaching-sideways-task in individuals with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) by determining (1) concurrent validity by correlating 2DMMA against marker-based 3D-motion analysis (3DMA) and (2) construct validity by assessing differences in 2DMMA features between DCP and typically developing (TD) peers. 2DMMA key points were tracked from frontal videos of a single camera by DeepLabCut and accuracy was assessed against human labelling. Shoulder, elbow and wrist angles were calculated from 2DMMA and 3DMA (as gold standard) and correlated to assess concurrent validity.

Identifying time-varying dynamics of heart rate and oxygen uptake from single ramp incremental running tests.

The fact that ramp incremental exercise yields quasi-linear responses for pulmonary oxygen uptake (V˙O2) and heart rate (HR) seems contradictory to the well-known non-linear behavior of underlying physiological processes. Prior research highlights this issue and demonstrates how a balancing of system gain and response time parameters causes linearV˙O2responses during ramp tests. This study builds upon this knowledge and extracts the time-varying dynamics directly from HR andV˙O2data of single ramp incremental running tests.

A Novel Video-Based Methodology for Automated Classification of Dystonia and Choreoathetosis in Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy During a Lower Extremity Task.

Background: Movement disorders in children and adolescents with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP) are commonly assessed from video recordings, however scoring is time-consuming and expert knowledge is required for an appropriate assessment.

Objective: To explore a machine learning approach for automated classification of amplitude and duration of distal leg dystonia and choreoathetosis within short video sequences.

Methods: Available videos of a heel-toe tapping task were preprocessed to optimize key point extraction using markerless motion analysis.

The relationship between manual ability, dystonia and choreoathetosis severity and upper limb movement patterns during reaching and grasping in children and young adults with dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

Introduction: Impaired upper limb movements are a key feature in dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP). However, information on how specific movement patterns relate to manual ability, performance and underlying movement disorders is lacking. Insight in these associations may contribute to targeted upper limb management in dyskinetic CP.

Accuracy of Fitbit Charge 4, Garmin Vivosmart 4, and WHOOP Versus Polysomnography: Systematic Review.

Background: Despite being the gold-standard method for objectively assessing sleep, polysomnography (PSG) faces several limitations as it is expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive; requires various equipment and technical expertise; and is impractical for long-term or in-home use. Consumer wrist-worn wearables are able to monitor sleep parameters and thus could be used as an alternative for PSG. Consequently, wearables gained immense popularity over the past few years, but their accuracy has been a major concern.

Assessment of the Barriers and Enablers of the Use of mHealth Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa According to the Perceptions of Patients, Physicians, and Health Care Executives in Ethiopia: Qualitative Study.

Background: Digital technologies are increasingly being used to deliver health care services and promote public health. Mobile wireless technologies or mobile health (mHealth) technologies are particularly relevant owing to their ease of use, broad reach, and wide acceptance. Unlike developed countries, Sub-Saharan Africa experiences more challenges and obstacles when it comes to deploying, using, and expanding mHealth systems.

mHealth in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe: A systematic review comparing the use and availability of mHealth approaches in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

Background: mHealth can help with healthcare service delivery for various health issues, but there's a significant gap in the availability and use of mHealth systems between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, despite the ongoing digitalization of the global healthcare system.

Objective: This work aims to compare and investigate the use and availability of mHealth systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, and identify gaps in current mHealth development and implementation in both regions.

Methods: The study adhered to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines for article search and selection to ensure an unbiased comparison between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

Altered upper limb kinematics in individuals with dyskinetic cerebral palsy in comparison with typically developing peers - A statistical parametric mapping study.

Background: Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is clinically characterized by involuntary movements and abnormal postures, which can aggravate with activity. While upper limb movement variability is often detected in the clinical picture, it remains unknown how movement patterns of individuals with DCP differ from typically developing (TD) peers.

Research Question: Do individuals with DCP show i) higher time-dependent standard deviations of upper limb joint angles and ii) altered upper limb kinematics in time and/or amplitude during functional upper limb tasks in comparison with TD individuals?

Methods: Three-dimensional upper limb movement patterns were cross-sectionally compared in 50 individuals with and without DCP during three functional tasks: reach forward (RF), reach and grasp vertical (RGV) and reach sideways (RS).

mHealth in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe: Context of current health, healthcare status, and demographic structure.

Introduction: The advent of digital systems and global mobile phone availability presents an opportunity for better healthcare access and equity. However, the disparity in the usage and availability of mHealth systems between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has not been explored in relation to current health, healthcare status, and demographics.

Objective: This study aimed to compare mHealth system availability and use in SSA and Europe in the above-mentioned context.

Daily allergy burden and heart rate characteristics in adults with allergic rhinitis based on a wearable telemonitoring system.

Background: Allergic rhinitis includes a certain degree of autonomic imbalance. However, no information is available on how daily changes in allergy burden affect autonomic imbalance. We aimed to estimate associations between daily allergy burden (allergy symptoms and mood) and daily heart rate characteristics (resting heart rate and sample entropy, both biomarkers of autonomic balance) of adults with allergic rhinitis, based on real-world measurements with a wearable telemonitoring system.

Heart rate and oxygen uptake kinetics obtained from continuous measurements with wearable devices during outdoor walks of patients with COPD.

Objective: Continuous physiological measurements during a laboratory-based exercise test can provide physiological biomarkers, such as heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (V̇O) kinetics, that carry clinically relevant information. In contrast, it is not clear how continuous data generated by wearable devices during daily-life routines could provide meaningful biomarkers. We aimed to determine whether valid HR and V̇O kinetics can be obtained from measurements with wearable devices during outdoor walks in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A modelling framework for local thermal comfort assessment related to bicycle helmet use.

Thermal discomfort due to accumulated sweat increasing head skin wettedness may contribute to low wearing rates of bicycle helmets. Using curated data on human head sweating and helmet thermal properties, a modelling framework for the thermal comfort assessment of bicycle helmet use is proposed. Local sweat rates (LSR) at the head were predicted as the ratio to the gross sweat rate (GSR) of the whole body or by sudomotor sensitivity (SUD), the change in LSR per change in body core temperature (Δt).

Reliability and Discriminative Validity of Wearable Sensors for the Quantification of Upper Limb Movement Disorders in Individuals with Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy.

-Movement patterns in dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) are characterized by abnormal postures and involuntary movements. Current evaluation tools in DCP are subjective and time-consuming. Sensors could yield objective information on pathological patterns in DCP, but their reliability has not yet been evaluated.

Assessment of movement disorders using wearable sensors during upper limb tasks: A scoping review.

Studies aiming to objectively quantify movement disorders during upper limb tasks using wearable sensors have recently increased, but there is a wide variety in described measurement and analyzing methods, hampering standardization of methods in research and clinics. Therefore, the primary objective of this review was to provide an overview of sensor set-up and type, included tasks, sensor features and methods used to quantify movement disorders during upper limb tasks in multiple pathological populations. The secondary objective was to identify the most sensitive sensor features for the detection and quantification of movement disorders on the one hand and to describe the clinical application of the proposed methods on the other hand.

Psychometric properties of upper limb kinematics during functional tasks in children and adolescents with dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is characterised by involuntary movements, and the movement patterns of children with DCP have not been extensively studied during upper limb tasks. The aim of this study is to evaluate psychometric properties of upper limb kinematics in participants with DCP and typically developing (TD) participants. In current repeatability and validity study, forty individuals with typical development (n = 20) and DCP (n = 20) performed a reach forward/sideways and a reach and grasp task during motion analysis on two occasions.

A platform for automated and label-free monitoring of morphological features and kinetics of spheroid fusion.

Spheroids are widely applied as building blocks for biofabrication of living tissues, where they exhibit spontaneous fusion toward an integrated structure upon contact. Tissue fusion is a fundamental biological process, but due to a lack of automated monitoring systems, the in-depth characterization of this process is still limited. Therefore, a quantitative high-throughput platform was developed to semi-automatically select doublet candidates and automatically monitor their fusion kinetics.

Prognostic value and clinicopathological correlation of the tumor regression grade in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric adenocarcinoma: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and radical gastrectomy are the gold standard treatments for resectable advanced gastric cancer (GC). However, the prognostic value of the pathological tumor regression grade (TRG) of NACT remains controversial. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the correlation between the TRG after NACT and clinicopathological features as well as its prognostic value in advanced GC.

Residential green space in association with the methylation status in a CpG site within the promoter region of the placental serotonin receptor .

Green space could influence adult cognition and childhood neurodevelopment , and is hypothesized to be partly driven by epigenetic modifications. However, it remains unknown whether some of these associations are already evident during foetal development. Similar biological signals shape the developmental processes in the foetal brain and placenta.

The Myotube Analyzer: how to assess myogenic features in muscle stem cells.

Background: The analysis of in vitro cultures of human adult muscle stem cells obtained from biopsies delineates the potential of skeletal muscles and may help to understand altered muscle morphology in patients. In these analyses, the fusion index is a commonly used quantitative metric to assess the myogenic potency of the muscle stem cells. Since the fusion index only partly describes myogenic potency, we developed the Myotube Analyzer tool, which combines the definition of the fusion index with extra features of myonuclei and myotubes obtained from satellite cell cultures.

Eye movements and stress during eye-tracking gaming performance in children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

Aim: This study aimed to explore eye movements and stress during eye-tracking gaming performance in children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP) compared with typically developing children, and associations between eye-tracking performance, eye movements, stress, and participants' characteristics.

Method: This cohort study included 12 children with dyskinetic CP aged 5 to 12 years (mean age 8 years 7 months, standard deviation [SD] 2 years 3 months) and 23 typically developing children aged 5 to 13 years (mean age 9 years 0 months, SD 2 years 7 months). Participants played 10 eye-tracking games.

Monitoring Internal and External Load During Volleyball Competition.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the relationships between continuously measured internal and external load variables during volleyball competition.

Methods: A total of 8 male elite volleyball athletes (Belgian Liga A and Liga B) were monitored during official competition matches. In total, 63 individual measurements are included in this study.

Vital Signs Prediction for COVID-19 Patients in ICU.

This study introduces machine learning predictive models to predict the future values of the monitored vital signs of COVID-19 ICU patients. The main vital sign predictors include heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation. We investigated the performances of the developed predictive models by considering different approaches.

Microcarrier Screening and Evaluation for Dynamic Expansion of Human Periosteum-Derived Progenitor Cells in a Xenogeneic Free Medium.

An increasing need toward a more efficient expansion of adherent progenitor cell types arises with the advancements of cell therapy. The use of a dynamic expansion instead of a static planar expansion could be one way to tackle the challenges of expanding adherent cells at a large scale. Microcarriers are often reported as a biomaterial for culturing cells in suspension.

Exercise load and physical activity intensity in relation to dystonia and choreoathetosis during powered wheelchair mobility in children and youth with dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

Purpose: To explore the relation between exercise load, physical activity intensity, and movement disorders during powered wheelchair (PW) mobility in people with severe dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP).

Methods: Ten participants with DCP, 6-21 years old, users of a head/foot steering system were included. Dystonia and choreoathetosis were assessed using the Dyskinesia Impairment Mobility Scale (DIMS), heart rate (HR) was used to assess the exercise load of the tasks on the participants, and the accelerometry-based activity index (AI) to measure the physical activity intensity and energy expenditure during mobility task performance.