Heart Rate Evaluation by Smartphone: An Overview

In this paper, an overview of the smartphone measurement methods for Heart Rate (HR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is presented. HR and HRV are important vital signs to be evaluated and monitored especially in a sudden heart crisis and in the case of COVID-19. Unlike other specific medical devices, the smartphone can always be present with a person, and it is equipped with sensors that can be used to estimate or acquire such vital signs. Furthermore, their computation and connection capabilities make them suitable for Internet of Things applications. Although in the literature many interesting solutions for evaluating HR and HRV are proposed, often a lack in the analysis of the measurement uncertainty, the description of the measurement procedure for their validation, and the use of a common gold standard for testing all of them is highlighted. The lack of standardization in experimental protocol, processing methodology, and validation procedures, impacts the comparability of results and their general validity. To stimulate the research activities to fill this gap, the paper gives an analysis of the most recent literature together with a logical classification of the measurement methods by highlighting their main advantages and disadvantages from a metrological point of view together with the description of the measurement methods and instruments proposed by authors for their validation. © 2023, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

Heart Rate Evaluation by Smartphone: An Overview

In this paper, an overview of the smartphone measurement methods for Heart Rate (HR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is presented. HR and HRV are important vital signs to be evaluated and monitored especially in a sudden heart crisis and in the case of COVID-19. Unlike other specific medical devices, the smartphone can always be present with a person, and it is equipped with sensors that can be used to estimate or acquire such vital signs. Furthermore, their computation and connection capabilities make them suitable for Internet of Things applications. Although in the literature many interesting solutions for evaluating HR and HRV are proposed, often a lack in the analysis of the measurement uncertainty, the description of the measurement procedure for their validation, and the use of a common gold standard for testing all of them is highlighted. The lack of standardization in experimental protocol, processing methodology, and validation procedures, impacts the comparability of results and their general validity. To stimulate the research activities to fill this gap, the paper gives an analysis of the most recent literature together with a logical classification of the measurement methods by highlighting their main advantages and disadvantages from a metrological point of view together with the description of the measurement methods and instruments proposed by authors for their validation. © 2023, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

Comparison of the 1 and 2% pilocarpine mouthwash in a xerostomic population: a randomized clinical trial.

AIMS & BACKGROUND: Pilocarpine is an accepted treatment for xerostomia, but limited research has been conducted on the oral, topical form. The present study aimed to compare the effects of 1 and 2% pilocarpine mouthwash on xerostomic participants. METHODS: In this double-blind clinical trial study, 48 subjects with xerostomia were randomly divided into three groups to measure the effects of 1 and 2% pilocarpine and placebo mouthwashes on saliva levels. The amount of saliva in the 1st and 14th days was measured at 0, 45, 60, and 75 mins, while participants used their mouthwash three times a day for 14 days. On the 1st and 14th days, they filled out the information forms on xerostomia and the medicine's side effects before and after the intervention. RESULTS: On the 1st day, the mean salivary flow at 45, 60, and 75 mins in the 2 and 1% pilocarpine mouthwash were significantly higher than in the placebo mouthwash group (p < 0.05). On the 14th day, the mean salivary flow time at 45 mins in the 2% pilocarpine mouthwash group was significantly higher than in the placebo mouthwash group (p = 0.007). Furthermore, the mean salivary flow at 60 and 75 mins in the 2% (p < 0.001) and 1% pilocarpine mouthwash (p = 0.028) was significantly higher than in the placebo group. Moreover, the salivary flow in the 2% pilocarpine mouthwash group was significantly higher than the 1% pilocarpine mouthwash (p < 0.05) during these two times. No side effects were observed in any of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that 5 ml of 2 and 1% pilocarpine mouthwash for 2 weeks increased salivary flow in xerostomic participants compared to placebo without any side effects.

Experimental Methods of Investigating Airborne Indoor Virus-Transmissions Adapted to Several Ventilation Measures.

This study introduces a principle that unifies two experimental methods for evaluating airborne indoor virus-transmissions adapted to several ventilation measures. A first-time comparison of mechanical/natural ventilation and air purification with regard to infection risks is enabled. Effortful computational fluid dynamics demand detailed boundary conditions for accurate calculations of indoor airflows, which are often unknown. Hence, a suitable, simple and generalized experimental set up for identifying the spatial and temporal infection risk for different ventilation measures is more qualified even with unknown boundary conditions. A trace gas method is suitable for mechanical and natural ventilation with outdoor air exchange. For an accurate assessment of air purifiers based on filtration, a surrogate particle method is appropriate. The release of a controlled rate of either trace gas or particles simulates an infectious person releasing virus material. Surrounding substance concentration measurements identify the neighborhood exposure. One key aspect of the study is to prove that the requirement of concordant results of both methods is fulfilled. This is the only way to ensure that the comparison of different ventilation measures described above is reliable. Two examples (a two-person office and a classroom) show how practical both methods are and how the principle is applicable for different types and sizes of rooms.

Evaluation of Adjustment Models for Taking Body Temperature with a Thermal Imaging Camera in the Context of COVID-19

In the context of the COVID-19 health emergency, it is necessary to have devices that help identify symptoms that indicate whether a person has COVID-19. As one of the main symptoms is fever, which can be identified by measuring body temperature, different non-contact measurement methods are being widely used as an alternative to traditional contact thermometers. However, readings with thermographic cameras present limitations in terms of high dependence on the environment. For this reason, this article aims to validate the temperature measurements of a thermographic camera by comparing different models using as a reference standard the readings of a calibrated medical infrared thermometer. For this purpose, 463 measurements were analyzed using an infrared thermometer and a thermographic camera simultaneously. As significant differences were observed between the measurements made using statistical analyses with (p< 0.05 ), models were developed establishing weighting and compensation criteria to obtain similar readings between the values measured from the thermal images and the infrared thermometer. For uncertainty estimation, linear and non-linear regression models such as artificial neural networks were tested, selecting the best model that allows reducing the variation among the readings. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Early Cyberspace Emergency Response by Predicting Social-Emotional Security

With the intensified social conflicts and cyberspace crises, the public is facing the emotional impact and lack of security feelings responding to emergencies. The most recent research only focuses on the influence of discrete emotions, but the induced stressful feeling of emotional security has not been a concern by the government. In this work, we first propose a concept of social-emotional security, evolving from the classical theories of risk society and psychological resilience. Second, we integrate a social-emotional security index measurement method with the proposed three metrics: emotional bias, situational risk, and potential hazard. We also suggest a grading scheme for the emotional regulation strategy with a 0.3 safety valve. Finally, the accuracy is over 78% for detecting the potential risk of emerging events, and the method is feasible in another 30 social safety events with a trend coincidence beyond 63.3%.

Digital Economic Development and Its Impact on Econimic Growth in China: Research Based on the Prespective of Sustainability

At present, there is a consensus that the digital economy provides a new impetus for sustainable economic development. Based on domestic and foreign literature reviews, this paper focuses on representative industry sectors;we present China’s 2011–2018 digital economy development index, for 173 cities, from a three-level perspective—internet development, digital literacy, and industrial efficiency improvement. Various models, such as the instrumental variable method, the double difference method, the intermediary effect model, and the spatial econometric model were used to quantitatively analyze the impact of digital economic development on urban economic growth in China. The study finds that: (1) digital economic development in China has a positive effect on urban economic growth, and a heterogeneity of effects exists between different cities. (2) Urban employment is the “effect mechanism” of digital economic growth on urban economic growth. (3) The direct effect of digital economic development on urban economic growth in China is positive, the spillover effect is positive, the direct effect is greater than the spillover effect, and the total effect is positive. The research results enrich the measurement methods used in urban digital economic development in China, providing new perspectives for studying the influence mechanisms of digital economic development on urban economic growth.

The Research on Social Distance Detection on the Complex Environment of Multi-Pedestrians

To keep a safe social distance plays an important role in the prevention of high-risk diseases. Aiming at the outbreak of COVID-19, in order to regulate the social distance between pedestrians and reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading among pedestrians, a multi-pedestrians distance measurement method based on monocular vision is reasonably proposed to realize the measurement of the distance between multiple pedestrians under the monitoring perspective. The pedestrian detection model is used by that method to capture the multi-pedestrians target under the monitoring perspective, and the monocular distance measurement principle is also used to achieve the distance measurement between the multi-pedestrians. Through analyzing these distances, the social distance between pedestrians can be regulated. The experimental results show that this method can efficiently and quickly detect people who do not meet the social distance norms. © 2021 IEEE.

"AIR PROTECTION 2021" 12th CROATIAN SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE with international participation 15-17 September 2021, Medulin, Croatia

The participants of "Air Protection 2021" presented their experiences and the issues they encounter in their work through the 54 presentations in following topics: * Topic 1 - Managing air quality - inspection and control * Topic 2 - Atmospheric emissions of pollutants * Topic 3 - Monitoring ambient air pollution * Topic 4 - Developing and testing measuring methods * Topic 5 - Estimating exposure to air pollutants and impact on health * Topic 6 - Air Protection in physical planning, construction, and environmental protection * Topic 7 - EFCA session "Air pollution from shipping emissions" * Topic 8 - IUAPPA and Global Forum special session: "Respiratory pandemics and air pollution: exploring the links" The conference started on 15th September with three introductory lectures: * Richard Mills (IUAPPA): GLOBAL AIR POLLUTION: LESSONS FROM THE LAST 20 YEARS * Sandra Krmpotić, Nina Zovko, Gordan Došen (Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Croatia): AN OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATION IN THE FIELD OF AIR QUALITY AT NATIONAL AND EU LEVEL * Vedranka Bobić (Expert witness for environmental protection, occupational safety and environmental accidents): EXPERT WITNESS EXAMINATION AND COURT PRACTICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS NOT REGULATED BY LAW- ODOURS Introductory lectures were followed by 17 presentations in Croatian on Topic 1, 2, and 3. Due to her effort CAPPA was first admitted to IUAPPA and then in 1998 to EFCA, where Vladimira Vaðić held its vice-presidency since 2020 until her retirement. Since 2019 she is a honorary member of CAPPA. [...]Andrzej Jagusiewicz held a presentation on the cost and environmental benefits of IMO regulations of shiporiginated SOx and NOx emissions, assessed for the case of the Baltic sea.