Evaluating the accuracy of speech to text applications for cochlear implant candidates during COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: Universal mask wearing due to COVID-19 has introduced barriers to clear communication. In hearing impaired individuals this can impact informed surgical consent. For cochlear implant candidates, who do not rely on sign language, real-time transcription with a stenographer (CART) is the gold-standard in assistive technologies. If CART is not available, speech to text (STT) applications have been advertised as solutions, but their transcription accuracy with or without an N95 mask is not well-established. Herein, we sought to investigate the transcription accuracy of three STT solutions for iPhone and compare their performance to the CART service at our institution. METHODS: Three native English speakers and three non-native English speakers read two passages (a cochlear implant consent and the non-medical 'Rainbow passage') with and without an N95 mask. Error rates from the comparison of the transcript (from either the STT app or CART) with the original passage were calculated. RESULTS: The CART service had the lowest error rate of all testing conditions (4.79-7.14%). Ava 24/7 (15.0 ± 9.49%) and the iPhone dictation (15.6 ± 6.65%) had significantly lower average error rates than the Live Transcribe (37.7 ± 20.3%) (P < 0.0001) application. Neither the presence of an N95 nor the type of passage had a statistically significant impact on the error rate. CONCLUSION: CART should be used to augment communication with patients who are hard of hearing. If CART is not available, a STT application such as Ava 24/7 or the native iPhone dictation application may be considered, even in the context of medical terminology.

A Privacy-Preserving Approach to Identify COVID-19 Infection Origins via Volunteered Share of Health Data Records by Mobile Users

Human-beings are suffering from the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the world. In order to quickly identify, quarantine and cure the infected people, and to stop further infections, it is crucial to expose those origins who have been infected but are asymptomatic. However, this task is not easy, especially when the rigid security and privacy constraints on health records are taken into consideration. In this paper, we develop a new method to solve this problem. In the outbreak of a disease like COVID-19, the proposed method can find hidden infected people (or communities) through volunteered share of health data by some mobile users. Such volunteers only reveal whether they are healthy or infected e.g. through they mobile apps. This approach minimises health data disclosure and preserves privacy for the others. There are three steps in the proposed method. First, we borrow the idea from traditional epidemiology and design a novel algorithm to estimate the number of infection origins based on a Susceptible-Infected model. Second, we introduce the concept of 'heavy centre' to locate those origins. The probability of each node being infected will then be derived by building a spreading model based on the origins. To evaluate our method, we conduct a series of experiments on various networks with different structures. We examine the performance in estimating the number of origins as well as their origins. The results show that the proposed method yields higher accuracies than the existing methods, even when the fraction of volunteers is small. © 2001-2012 IEEE.

Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2023

The annual ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal® worldwide survey to determine industry trends by health and fitness professionals is now in its 17th consecutive year. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly made an impact on the 2021 survey and continued for 2022, but for 2023, some current trends are emerging whereas others are weakening because of the world's recovery from the isolation caused by COVID-19. The #1 trend for 2023, as it was for 2022, is wearable technology. Home exercise gyms was #2 for 2022 but has dropped to #13 for 2023. Fitness programs for older adults will make a comeback in 2023, breaking the top 10 at #4. Functional fitness training, a popular form of exercise for the older adult, is the #5 trend for 2023. Apply It!: From this article, the reader should understand the following concepts: • Explain the differences between a fitness fad and a fitness trend • Use the worldwide fitness trends in the commercial, corporate, clinical (including medical fitness), and community health and fitness industry to further promote physical activity • Study expert opinions about identified fitness trends for 2023

The New Generation of Contact Tracing Solution: The Case of Morocco

Nowadays, the entire world is struggling to adapt and survive the global pandemic. Moreover, most countries had a hard time keeping up with the new mutations of COVID-19. Therefore, taking preventive measures to control the spreading of the virus, including lockdowns, curfews, social distancing, masks, vaccines, is not enough to stop the virus. However, using the new technologies to adapt the prevention measures and enhance the existing ones will be more efficient. Most countries have already developed their non-pharmaceutical interventions measures (NPIs), mainly contacts tracing solutions at the pandemic beginning. Using those mobile applications, the authorities were able to reduce the spreading of the virus. Nevertheless, the virus is evolving, mutating, and becoming more and more dangerous to survive. Therefore, these mobile applications have become less effective in facing the constant changes of the pandemic situation. To that end, the need for enhancing and evolving contact tracing became more urgent. The goal here is to control the spread of the new variants and keep up with the rapid changes happening around the world. In this paper, we will present a detailed view of the new solution built to take contact tracing to a new level, empowered by the Bluetooth Low Energy technology for communication, advanced encryption method for security and data privacy, as well as secured storage and data management to have a system capable of slowing the COVID-19 variants from spreading and save lives. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

SHAREABLE RESOURCE: New Year, Wiser You

The article presents the discussion on preparing a renewed health plan and absolve to change poor habits. Topics include pandemic accelerated many trends in the health and fitness industry and taught many lessons;and walking, running, hiking, biking, swimming, racquet sports, and seasonal sports being readily accessible.

Construct Validity and Test-Retest Reliability of a Free Mobile Application to Evaluate Aerobic Capacity and Endurance in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Patients-A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Disability associated with the symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome is one of its main features and can have a considerable impact on care and rehabilitation units. This, linked to a decreased aerobic capacity and endurance in post-COVID-19 syndrome patients, increases interest in studying the potential of mobile applications to assess performance capacity. The purpose of this research was to study how a free mobile application assesses aerobic capacity and endurance and its relationship with aerobic capacity, test-retest reliability, and endurance evaluated by a conventional test, along with fatigue and health-related quality of life. Methods: An observational study was conducted. RUNZI®, a free mobile application, was used by mounting a Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone using a strap on the right forearm while all participants simultaneously performed a 6-Minute Walking Test (6MWT). Construct validity between the 6MWT and the total distance performed evaluated by RUNZI® was explored. Additionally, evaluation scales to assess fatigue (MFIS) and health-related quality of life (SF-36) were used to analyze the construct validity of RUNZI®. For test−retest reliability of the app, the same instructions about the 6MWT and procedure with the app were given to all participants at two different time periods. Results: A total of 16 post-COVID-19 syndrome patients (15 females and 1 male) completed the procedure. Distance measured with the RUNZI® showed an excellent correlation with the 6MWT assessed conventionally (p < 0.0001; r = 0.851). No statistical correlations were found between the distance assessed by the RUNZI® app with MFIS and the SF-36. Test−retest reliability was found to be close to statistical significance (p = 0.058) for distance (m) measured by RUNZI® with an ICC of 0.482. Conclusions: Instrumental 6MWT assessed by the RUNZI® app for the Android® operating system showed an excellent correlation with conventional 6MWT, indicating its construct validity in post-COVID-19 syndrome patients. Further, values for the test−retest reliability for the free mobile application were close to statistical significance with a reliability considered poor in an indoor setting.

"I was never one of those people who just jumped right in for me": patient perspectives on self-advocacy training for women with advanced cancer.

PURPOSE: Patients with advanced cancer experience many complicated situations that can make self-advocacy (defined as the ability speak up for yourself in the face of a challenge) difficult. Few self-advocacy interventions exist, and most are atheoretical with minimal patient engagement. The purpose of this study is to describe participant perspectives of a novel, self-advocacy serious game intervention called Strong Together. METHODS: This was a qualitative cross-sectional descriptive study among women receiving cancer care at an academic cancer center within 3 months of an advanced gynecologic or breast cancer diagnosis. Participants randomized to receive the intervention completed one-on-one semi-structured interviews 3-months post Strong Together and had the option to share voice journals about their experiences. Inductive qualitative approaches were used to descriptively analyze transcripts and voice journals. Descriptive content analysis approaches were used to group similar codes together into themes summarizing participants' experiences engaging with the Strong Together intervention. RESULTS: Participants (N = 40) reported that the Strong Together intervention was acceptable, noting that it was realistic and reflective of their personal experiences. Overarching themes included seeing myself in most scenarios and wanting more content; giving me the go ahead to expect more; offering ideas for how to stand up for myself; reinforcing what I am already doing; and reminding me of what I have. Participants suggested adding additional content including diverse characters. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that women with advanced cancer were receptive to a self-advocacy skills-building intervention. Future research should explore the mechanisms linking serious games to learning and health outcomes.

User Experience Evaluation of IT Support Mobile Application Using System Usability Scale (SUS) and Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA)

The development of today's digital world has been running more rapidly at the time of the presence of covid-19 pandemics, in which all aspects of life are very dependent on digitalization that time, and companies keep doing the work of enhancing innovation in their businesses, which is the developing of IT such as mobile application. PT XYZ is one of the companies engaged in printing and digital services. PT XYZ uses the mobile application IT Support to assist technicians in completing reports of printer damage experienced by consumers. During the order services process, users oftenly feel that menu on mobile application IT Support not effective and efficient yet on helping them to process order service, the elements in the mobile application are inconsistent so it complicated the user. To improve and finding the usability problem specifically needed the process user experience evaluation mobile application with system usability scale (SUS) and retrospective think aloud (RTA). Total sample used in the research was 52 respondents from active user IT Support using purposive sampling technique. The SUS score result is 50.77 in grade D. The less satisfied, because the SUS score is still smaller than 68. Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) results with 11 respondents showed problems with usability and needed recommendations for interface improvements. The result of user experience evaluation is user interface recommendation to enhance the technician's performance to be more optimal. () © 2022 IEEE.

TerraVet: A Mobile and Web Application Framework for Pet Owners and Veterinary Clinic

The lives of pet animals are equally essential as how a human life. Pet owners and the veterinarian are responsible for providing good welfare for pets despite the problems. However, the rise of COVID-19 temporarily disturbs the veterinary services where some of them limit or stop their operations, resulting in the absence and difficulties for the pet owners to locate the available veterinarian, especially when there is an immediate need for treatment, vaccination, or consultation. Aside from that, setting an appointment and buying the pet's needs are seen to be a problem with regards to the situation since most of the pet owners are afraid to go outside because they might be infected with the virus. In line with this, TerraVet: A Mobile and Web Application Framework for Veterinary Clinics and Pet Owners is proposed to resolve the underlying dilemmas in administering and facilitating veterinary care. The main objective of this suggested project is to develop and design a platform where pet owners may locate their nearby veterinarian using the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. In addition, the application enables the pet owner to arrange an appointment, product reservation, and online consultation. The veterinary clinic may post details regarding their offered services, products, and medicines. TerraVet will also design an electronic pet card to monitor their health status. © 2022 ACM.

Internet of Wearable Medical Things for COVID-19 Diagnostics

Wearable devices have played a key role in the medical industry, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic spread. The need for a self-monitoring system increased since the spread of the virus. With the development of semiconductor technology and the increased research and development in medical wearable devices, wearable devices have been able to detect the medical condition of patients. This paper presents a biomedical wearable device to monitor the vital signs of patients. The device can be used to detect the patient COVID-19 infection. Data were extracted using different sensors and other components, and results were displayed on a mobile application that showed the health status of the patient. A PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design was made for the purpose of making the system a wearable device. The system power consumption ranged from 5-37.5mW. © 2022 IEEE.

Development of Mobile Butterfly Application-Based Augmented Reality as an Alternative Learning Medium During Post COVID-19

Indonesia experienced a COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. Limited mobility impacts various sectors, including tourism. Alian Butterfly Park is one of those affected. Alternatives were made to attract visitors, such as developing Augmented Reality applications to educate visitors about the new normal. Previous research developed a similar application, namely butterfly education with Augmented Reality technology, but its implementation still uses markers. It makes the user have to visit in person. This research improves the previous application. The improvement such as adding the interaction in AR butterfly life cycle, a virtual tour to collect butterflies, and the AR object is developed markerless. The application is developed using the agile development method. The application that has been developed is tested on the target user of the application. Testing is done by giving a black box testing. The test method is carried out by the black box testing method on 3 students. From the tests carried out, from a total of 25 test scenarios, there are 23 successful test scenarios and 2 test scenarios that fail due to bugs. The success value of the entire test scenario is 92% and the bugs found are 156 only affect the appearance of the application and do not affect the application critically. In addition, 2 scenarios are successful but are given special note due to environmental factors that can affect the results of the test. © 2022 IEEE.

Understanding Use Intention of mHealth Applications Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT-2) Model in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the healthcare industry, especially public health resources and resource allocation. With the change in people's lifestyles and increased demand for medical and health care in the post-pandemic era, the Internet and home healthcare have rapidly developed. As an essential part of Internet healthcare, mobile health (mHealth) applications help to fundamentally address the lack of medical resources and meet people's healthcare needs. In this mixed-method study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 users in China (mean age = 26.13, SD = 2.80, all born in China) during the pandemic, based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT-2) mode, and identified four dimensions of user needs in mHealth scenarios: convenience, control, trust, and emotionality. Based on the interview results, we adjusted the independent variables, deleted the hedonic motivation and the habit, and added the perceived trust and perceived risk as the variables. Using a structural equation model (SEM), we designed the questionnaire according to the qualitative results and collected data from 371 participants (above 18 years old, 43.9% male) online to examine the interrelationships these variables. The results show that performance expectancy (ß = 0.40, p < 0.001), effort expectancy (ß = 0.40, p < 0.001), social influence (ß = 0.14, p < 0.05), facilitating condition (ß = 0.15, p < 0.001), and perceived trust (ß = 0.31, p < 0.001) had positive effects on use intention. Perceived risk (ß = -0.31, p < 0.001) harmed use intention, and price value (ß = 0.10, p > 0.5) had no significant effects on use intention. Finally, we discussed design and development guidelines that can enhance user experience of mHealth applications. This research combines the actual needs and the main factors affecting the use intention of users, solves the problems of low satisfaction of user experience, and provides better strategic suggestions for developing mHealth applications in the future.

How tablets/applications enhance social connections and social support in people with dementia: A qualitative systematic review.

The 2020 Lancet issue identified social isolation as one of 12 modifiable risk factors for dementia and revealed that enhanced social connections and social support can effectively reduce the incidence of social isolation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, technology attracted an increasing amount of attention, and it is necessary to synthesize ideas from existing evidence. First, we explored how people with dementia experienced changes in social connection and social support due to tablet/app use. Second, we explored the attitudes of people with dementia towards tablets and mobile applications. Third, we explored the feasibility of using tablets and mobile applications to enhance social connection and social support among people with dementia. We systematically searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP databases. Two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts of studies, extracted the data and performed critical appraisals of each included study. The data synthesis was conducted using thematic analysis. A total of nine studies were included. Eight studies used mobile applications via tablets, and one study collected textual data from Twitter for analysis. Four themes were synthesized: (1) change from the perspective of caregivers; (2) growth of nonsingle aspects; (3) emotional feeling of belonging; and (4) feasibility of using digital technology. Tablet- and mobile application-based interventions can enhance both online and offline social connections and provide multiple types of social support among people with dementia. People with dementia have positive attitudes towards tablets and mobile applications. Overall, it is feasible for people with dementia to use technology.