An auditory brain-computer interface to detect changes in sound pressure level for automatic volume control.

Volume control is necessary to adjust sound levels for a comfortable audio or video listening experience. This study aims to develop an automatic volume control system based on a brain-computer interface (BCI). We thus focused on a BCI using an auditory oddball paradigm, and conducted two types of experiments.

Association of functional and cognitive impairment severity with discharge to long-term care facilities in older patients admitted to a general acute care hospital from home.

Background: The early recognition of hospitalized patients at risk of being discharged to long-term care facilities (LTCFs) may help to identify those who require transitional care programs and interventions that support discharge to home. We examined the association of functional and cognitive impairment severity with discharge to LTCFs among older hospitalized patients.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we used an administrative claims database linked with geriatric assessment data from a general acute care hospital in Japan.

All-Cause Readmission or Potentially Avoidable Readmission: Which Is More Predictable Using Frailty, Comorbidities, and ADL?

Background And Objectives: Readmission-related health care reforms have shifted their focus from all-cause readmissions (ACR) to potentially avoidable readmissions (PAR). However, little is known about the utility of analytic tools from administrative data in predicting PAR. This study determined whether 30-day ACR or 30-day PAR is more predictable using tools that assess frailty, comorbidities, and activities of daily living (ADL) from administrative data.

Characteristics associated with hospitalization within 30 days of geriatric intermediate care facility admission.

Aim: To identify facility-level characteristics associated with hospitalization within 30 days after admission to a geriatric intermediate care facility (GICF) (30-day hospitalization) in Japan.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used nationwide long-term care insurance claims data and a national survey of long-term geriatric care facilities. The study population was residents admitted to GICFs between October 2016 and February 2018.

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Assessment: A Laboratory-Based Evaluation of Agreement between Commonly Used ActiGraph and Omron Accelerometers.

Different models of accelerometer have the potential to provide a different estimate of the same physical activity or sedentary behavior. Our study compared the outputs of the Active Style Pro (ASP) and ActiGraph (AG) devices in assessing predicted metabolic equivalents (METs) for specific activities under laboratory conditions. Thirty healthy young adults wore two hip accelerometers (ASP and AG), simultaneously while performing twenty-two activities (eight sedentary, eight household, and six ambulatory activities) in a controlled laboratory setting.

Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior under Free-Living Conditions: Comparison of Active Style Pro HJA-350IT and ActiGraph GT3X.

Various accelerometers have been used in research measuring physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). This study compared two triaxial accelerometers-Active style Pro (ASP) and ActiGraph (AG)-in measuring PA and SB during work and nonwork days in free-living conditions. A total of 50 working participants simultaneously wore these two accelerometers on one work day and one nonwork day.

Comparison of Older and Newer Generation Active Style Pro Accelerometers in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Surveillance under a Free-Living Environment.

. Comparability of accelerometers in epidemiological studies is important for public health researchers. This study aimed to compare physical activity (light, LPA; moderate, MPA; and moderate-to-vigorous, MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SB) data collected using two Omron triaxial accelerometer generations (Active style Pro, ASP) among a sample of Japanese workers in a free-living environment.

Improving the Performance of an Auditory Brain-Computer Interface Using Virtual Sound Sources by Shortening Stimulus Onset Asynchrony.

Recently, a brain-computer interface (BCI) using virtual sound sources has been proposed for estimating user intention via electroencephalogram (EEG) in an oddball task. However, its performance is still insufficient for practical use. In this study, we examine the impact that shortening the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) has on this auditory BCI.

Validity and Reliability of Japanese-Language Self-reported Measures for Assessing Adults Domain-Specific Sedentary Time.

Background: Good quality measures of Japanese adults' sedentary behaviors are needed to accurately assess correlates of specific sedentary behaviors. The present study assessed criterion validity of total sedentary behavior and test-retest reliability of six domain-specific sedentary behaviors.

Methods: We administered a questionnaire, based on previous studies, that measured domain-specific sedentary behaviors.

Comparability of activity monitors used in Asian and Western-country studies for assessing free-living sedentary behaviour.

This study aims to compare the outputs of the waist-worn Active style Pro HJA-350IT (ASP; used in studies with Asian populations), the waist-worn ActiGragh™GT3X+ using the normal filter (GT3X+) and the thigh-worn activPAL3 (AP) in assessing adults' sedentary behaviour (total sedentary time, number of breaks) under free-living conditions. Fifty healthy workers wore the three monitors simultaneously during their waking hours on two days, including a work day and a non-work day. Valid data were at least 10 hours of wearing time, and the differences between monitors on the sedentary outputs using the AP as criterion measurement were analyzed by ANOVA.

Estimating the intended sound direction of the user: toward an auditory brain-computer interface using out-of-head sound localization.

The auditory Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) using electroencephalograms (EEG) is a subject of intensive study. As a cue, auditory BCIs can deal with many of the characteristics of stimuli such as tone, pitch, and voices. Spatial information on auditory stimuli also provides useful information for a BCI.

Estimation of direction of attention using EEG and out-of-head sound localization.

Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs) are being researched controlling external devices such as robots and computers by measuring the cranial nerve activity of the operator. The brain activities evoked by visual stimuli have been studied intensively. However, few studies have considered a BMI that uses the brain activities evoked by auditory stimuli.