Face, content, and construct validity of the EndoViS training system for objective assessment of psychomotor skills of laparoscopic surgeons

Background The aim of this study is to present face, content, and constructs validity of the endoscopic orthogonal video system (EndoViS) training system and determines its efficiency as a training and objective assessment tool of the surgeons’ psychomotor skills. Methods Thirty-five surgeons and medical students participated in this study: 11 medical students, 19 residents, and 5 experts. All participants performed four basic skill tasks using conventional laparoscopic instruments and EndoViS training system. Subsequently, participants filled out a questionnaire regarding the design, realism, overall functionality, and its capabilities to train hand–eye coordination and depth perception, rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Motion data of the instruments were obtained by means of two webcams built into a laparoscopic physical trainer. To identify the surgical instruments in the images, colored markers were placed in each instrument. Thirteen motion-related metrics were used to assess laparoscopic performance of the participants. Statistical analysis of performance was made between novice, intermediate, and expert groups. Internal consistency of all metrics was analyzed with Cronbach’s α test. Results Overall scores about features of the EndoViS system were positives. Participants agreed with the usefulness of tasks and the training capacities of EndoViS system (score >4). Results presented significant differences in the execution of three skill tasks performed by participants. Seven metrics showed construct validity for assessment of performance with high consistency levels. Conclusions EndoViS training system has been successfully validated. Results showed that EndoViS was able to differentiate between participants of varying laparoscopic experience. This simulator is a useful and effective tool to objectively assess laparoscopic psychomotor skills of the surgeons.

Influence of the training system on the agronomic behavior and grape composition of Albariño in Rías Baixas apellation

The aim of this study was to evaluate if early defoliation can be an alternative to bunch thinning in limiting yield and improving quality in grapes of the white cultivar Loureiro (Vitis vinifera L.), grafted onto 1103P. The field trial had been set up in a commercial vineyard in Vinhos Verdes Region (Northwest of Portugal, 41º 48? 53? N, 8º 24? 42? W). Treatments studied, performed five days before full bloom were: LR5 ? Leaf removal of the first five basal leaves, performed manually, LR8 ? Leave removal of the first eight basal leaves, LRM ? mechanical leaf removal and C ? the control, without defoliation. This paper reports the results of four years (2010-2013). The results presented a significant removal of main leaf area after defoliation principally in the most intensive treatment (LR8) but at harvest, the total leaf area had been compensated by lateral regrowth and no statistical differences between the treatments and the control were found. Early defoliation caused a decrease in fruit set and also a significant reduction in the diameter of the berry within the more severe defoliation treatments (LR5 and LR8). Yield factors were also significantly affected by the defoliation, causing a reduction of bunch weight and in 2013 a yield reduction in LR8 and LRM, and in 2010 in LR8. Conversely, LR5 presented a yield always similar to the control C. The reduction of cluster compactness and the substantial improvement of the microclimate at the cluster level significantly reduced bunch rot incidence in the defoliated modalities compared to control. No carry-over effects, along the four years trial were observed Early defoliation proved to be a canopy management technique that can have a strong impact in the final quality of grapes, reducing the compactness and lower the incidence and intensity of bunch rot, even if the reduction of yield observed in other papers had not been observed in all modalities.

Importance of canopy porosity into vineyard and the relationship with the grape maturity. Digital estimation method

In warm and dry climates, the use of porous systems should be required in order to allow a better leaf distribution inside the plant, causing more space in the clusters area and enhancing determined physiological processes so in the leaf (photosynthesis, v entilation, transpiration) as in berry (growth and maturation). Plant geometry indexes, yield and must composition have been studied in three different systems: sprawl with 12 shoots/m (S1); sprawl system with 18 shoots/m (S2) and vertical positioned syste m or VSP with 12 shoots/m (VSP1). Total leaf area increases as the crop load does, whoever surface area depends on to two factors: crop load and the training system (VSP vs. sprawl), which can provide differences in leaf exposure efficiencies. The main objective of this study was to validate digital photography measurements used to compare porosity differences among treatments and, as they affect plant microclimate and, therefore, yield and berry quality. Also, all previous studied indexes (LAI, SA, SFEr) tended to overestimate the relationship between exposed leaf surface and porosity of each treatment, but the use of digital method proved to be an effective tool in order to assess canopy porosity. Results showed that not positioned and free systems (sprawl) scored between 25- 50% more porosity in the clusters area than the fixed vertical system (VSP), which resulted in a better plant microclimate for test conditions, mainly by improving the exposure of internal clusters and internal canopy ventilation. On the other hand, higher crop load treatment (S2) showed a real increase in yield (16%) without any relevant change into must composition, even improving total anthocyanin content into berry during ripening

Importance of canopy porosity into vineyard and the relationship with the grape maturity. Digital estimation method

In warm and dry climates, the use of porous systems should be required in order to allow a better leaf distribution inside the plant, causing more space in the clusters area and enhancing determined physiological processes so in the leaf (photosynthesis, ventilation, transpiration) as in berry (growth and maturation). Plant geometry indexes, yield and must composition have been studied in three different systems: sprawl with 12 shoots/m (S1); sprawl system with 18 shoots/m (S2) and vertical positioned system or VSP with 12 shoots/m (VSP1). Total leaf area increases as the crop load does, whoever surface area depends on to two factors: crop load and the training system (VSP vs . sprawl), which can provide differences in leaf exposure efficiencies. The main objective of this study was to validate digital photography measurements used to compare porosity differences among treatments and, as they affect plant microclimate and, therefore, yield and berry quality. Also, all previous studied indexes (LAI, SA, SFEr) tended to overestimate the relationship between exposed leaf surface and porosity of each treatment, but the use of digital method proved to be an effective tool in order to assess canopy porosity. Results showed that not positioned and free systems (sprawl) scored between 25 - 50% more porosity in the clusters area than the fixed vertical system (VSP), which resulted in a better plant microclimate for test conditions, mainly by improving the exposure of internal clusters and internal canopy ventilation. On the other hand, higher crop load treatment (S2) showed a real increase in yield (16%) without any relevant change into must composition, even improving total anthocyanin content into berry during ripening

The application of biomechanics to penalty corner drag-flick training: a case of Study

The penalty corner is one of the most important game situations in field hockey with one third of all goals resulting from this tactical situation. The aim of this study was to develop and apply a training method, based on previous studies, to improve the drag- flick skill on a young top-class field hockey player. A young top-class player exercised three times per week using specific drills over a four week period. A VICON optoelectronic system (Oxford Metrics, Oxford, UK) was employed to capture twenty drag-flicks, with six cameras sampling at 250 Hz, prior and after the training period. In order to analyze pre- and post-test differences a dependent t-test was carried out. Angular velocities and the kinematic sequence were similar to previous studies. The player improved (albeit not significantly) the angular velocity of the stick. The player increased front foot to the ball at T1 (p < 0.01) and the drag-flick distances. The range of motion from the front leg decreased from T1 to T6 after the training period (p < 0.01). The specific training sessions conducted with the player improved some features of this particular skill. This article shows how technical knowledge can help with the design of training programs and whether some drills are more effective than others.

Innovative self management system for guided cardiac rehabilitation

This paper describes the design and development of a system for cardio rehabilitation of patients that suffered a myocardial infarction. The proposed solution focuses on exercise prescriptions and the encouragement of healthy behaviors. The innovative strategy of the design takes into account health promotion models to provide safe, assistive exercise training sessions, personalized feedbacks, and educational contents.

UPM system for the translation task

This paper describes the UPM system for translation task at the EMNLP 2011 workshop on statistical machine translation (http://www.statmt.org/wmt11/), and it has been used for both directions: Spanish-English and English-Spanish. This system is based on Moses with two new modules for pre and post processing the sentences. The main contribution is the method proposed (based on the similarity with the source language test set) for selecting the sentences for training the models and adjusting the weights. With system, we have obtained a 23.2 BLEU for Spanish-English and 21.7 BLEU for EnglishSpanish

A Stress-Detection System Based on Physiological Signals and Fuzzy Logic

A stress-detection system is proposed based on physiological signals. Concretely, galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate (HR) are proposed to provide information on the state of mind of an individual, due to their nonintrusiveness and noninvasiveness. Furthermore, specific psychological experiments were designed to induce properly stress on individuals in order to acquire a database for training, validating, and testing the proposed system. Such system is based on fuzzy logic, and it described the behavior of an individual under stressing stimuli in terms of HR and GSR. The stress-detection accuracy obtained is 99.5% by acquiring HR and GSR during a period of 10 s, and what is more, rates over 90% of success are achieved by decreasing that acquisition period to 3-5 s. Finally, this paper comes up with a proposal that an accurate stress detection only requires two physiological signals, namely, HR and GSR, and the fact that the proposed stress-detection system is suitable for real-time applications.

Validation of the SenseWear armband in circuit resistance training with different loads

The use of the SenseWear™ armband (SWA), an objective monitor of physical activity, is a relatively new device used by researchers to measure energy expenditure. These monitors are practical, relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of SWAs for the measurement of energy expenditure (EE) in circuit resistance training (CRT) at three different intensities in moderately active, healthy subjects. The study subjects (17 females, 12 males) undertook CRT at 30, 50 and 70% of the 15 repetition maximum for each exercise component wearing an SWA as well as an Oxycon Mobile (OM) portable metabolic system (a gold standard method for measuring EE). The EE rose as exercise intensity increased, but was underestimated by the SWAs. For women, Bland-Altman plots showed a bias of 1.13 ± 1.48 METs and 32.1 ± 34.0 kcal in favour of the OM system, while for men values of 2.33 ± 1.82 METs and 75.8 ± 50.8 kcal were recorded.

Effect of endurance, speed and strength training on skin temperature measured by infrared thermography = Efecto del entrenamiento de resistencia, velocidad y fuerza en la temperatura de la piel a través de la termografía infrarroja

La termografía infrarroja (TI) es una técnica no invasiva y de bajo coste que permite, con el simple acto de tomar una fotografía, el registro sin contacto de la energía que irradia el cuerpo humano (Akimov & Son’kin, 2011, Merla et al., 2005, Ng et al., 2009, Costello et al., 2012, Hildebrandt et al., 2010). Esta técnica comenzó a utilizarse en el ámbito médico en los años 60, pero debido a los malos resultados como herramienta diagnóstica y la falta de protocolos estandarizados (Head & Elliot, 2002), ésta se dejó de utilizar en detrimento de otras técnicas más precisas a nivel diagnóstico. No obstante, las mejoras tecnológicas de la TI en los últimos años han hecho posible un resurgimiento de la misma (Jiang et al., 2005, Vainer et al., 2005, Cheng et al., 2009, Spalding et al., 2011, Skala et al., 2012), abriendo el camino a nuevas aplicaciones no sólo centradas en el uso diagnóstico. Entre las nuevas aplicaciones, destacamos las que se desarrollan en el ámbito de la actividad física y el deporte, donde recientemente se ha demostrado que los nuevos avances con imágenes de alta resolución pueden proporcionar información muy interesante sobre el complejo sistema de termorregulación humana (Hildebrandt et al., 2010). Entre las nuevas aplicaciones destacan: la cuantificación de la asimilación de la carga de trabajo físico (Čoh & Širok, 2007), la valoración de la condición física (Chudecka et al., 2010, 2012, Akimov et al., 2009, 2011, Merla et al., 2010), la prevención y seguimiento de lesiones (Hildebrandt et al., 2010, 2012, Badža et al., 2012, Gómez Carmona, 2012) e incluso la detección de agujetas (Al-Nakhli et al., 2012). Bajo estas circunstancias, se acusa cada vez más la necesidad de ampliar el conocimiento sobre los factores que influyen en la aplicación de la TI en los seres humanos, así como la descripción de la respuesta de la temperatura de la piel (TP) en condiciones normales, y bajo la influencia de los diferentes tipos de ejercicio. Por consiguiente, este estudio presenta en una primera parte una revisión bibliográfica sobre los factores que afectan al uso de la TI en los seres humanos y una propuesta de clasificación de los mismos. Hemos analizado la fiabilidad del software Termotracker, así como su reproducibilidad de la temperatura de la piel en sujetos jóvenes, sanos y con normopeso. Finalmente, se analizó la respuesta térmica de la piel antes de un entrenamiento de resistencia, velocidad y fuerza, inmediatamente después y durante un período de recuperación de 8 horas. En cuanto a la revisión bibliográfica, hemos propuesto una clasificación para organizar los factores en tres grupos principales: los factores ambientales, individuales y técnicos. El análisis y descripción de estas influencias deben representar la base de nuevas investigaciones con el fin de utilizar la TI en las mejores condiciones. En cuanto a la reproducibilidad, los resultados mostraron valores excelentes para imágenes consecutivas, aunque la reproducibilidad de la TP disminuyó ligeramente con imágenes separadas por 24 horas, sobre todo en las zonas con valores más fríos (es decir, zonas distales y articulaciones). Las asimetrías térmicas (que normalmente se utilizan para seguir la evolución de zonas sobrecargadas o lesionadas) también mostraron excelentes resultados pero, en este caso, con mejores valores para las articulaciones y el zonas centrales (es decir, rodillas, tobillos, dorsales y pectorales) que las Zonas de Interés (ZDI) con valores medios más calientes (como los muslos e isquiotibiales). Los resultados de fiabilidad del software Termotracker fueron excelentes en todas las condiciones y parámetros. En el caso del estudio sobre los efectos de los entrenamientos de la velocidad resistencia y fuerza en la TP, los resultados muestran respuestas específicas según el tipo de entrenamiento, zona de interés, el momento de la evaluación y la función de las zonas analizadas. Los resultados mostraron que la mayoría de las ZDI musculares se mantuvieron significativamente más calientes 8 horas después del entrenamiento, lo que indica que el efecto del ejercicio sobre la TP perdura por lo menos 8 horas en la mayoría de zonas analizadas. La TI podría ser útil para cuantificar la asimilación y recuperación física después de una carga física de trabajo. Estos resultados podrían ser muy útiles para entender mejor el complejo sistema de termorregulación humano, y por lo tanto, para utilizar la TI de una manera más objetiva, precisa y profesional con visos a mejorar las nuevas aplicaciones termográficas en el sector de la actividad física y el deporte Infrared Thermography (IRT) is a safe, non-invasive and low-cost technique that allows the rapid and non-contact recording of the irradiated energy released from the body (Akimov & Son’kin, 2011; Merla et al., 2005; Ng et al., 2009; Costello et al., 2012; Hildebrandt et al., 2010). It has been used since the early 1960’s, but due to poor results as diagnostic tool and a lack of methodological standards and quality assurance (Head et al., 2002), it was rejected from the medical field. Nevertheless, the technological improvements of IRT in the last years have made possible a resurgence of this technique (Jiang et al., 2005; Vainer et al., 2005; Cheng et al., 2009; Spalding et al., 2011; Skala et al., 2012), paving the way to new applications not only focused on the diagnose usages. Among the new applications, we highlighted those in physical activity and sport fields, where it has been recently proven that a high resolution thermal images can provide us with interesting information about the complex thermoregulation system of the body (Hildebrandt et al., 2010), information than can be used as: training workload quantification (Čoh & Širok, 2007), fitness and performance conditions (Chudecka et al., 2010, 2012; Akimov et al., 2009, 2011; Merla et al., 2010; Arfaoui et al., 2012), prevention and monitoring of injuries (Hildebrandt et al., 2010, 2012; Badža et al., 2012, Gómez Carmona, 2012) and even detection of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness – DOMS- (Al-Nakhli et al., 2012). Under this context, there is a relevant necessity to broaden the knowledge about factors influencing the application of IRT on humans, and to better explore and describe the thermal response of Skin Temperature (Tsk) in normal conditions, and under the influence of different types of exercise. Consequently, this study presents a literature review about factors affecting the application of IRT on human beings and a classification proposal about them. We analysed the reliability of the software Termotracker®, and also its reproducibility of Tsk on young, healthy and normal weight subjects. Finally, we examined the Tsk thermal response before an endurance, speed and strength training, immediately after and during an 8-hour recovery period. Concerning the literature review, we proposed a classification to organise the factors into three main groups: environmental, individual and technical factors. Thus, better exploring and describing these influence factors should represent the basis of further investigations in order to use IRT in the best and optimal conditions to improve its accuracy and results. Regarding the reproducibility results, the outcomes showed excellent values for consecutive images, but the reproducibility of Tsk slightly decreased with time, above all in the colder Regions of Interest (ROI) (i.e. distal and joint areas). The side-to-side differences (ΔT) (normally used to follow the evolution of some injured or overloaded ROI) also showed highly accurate results, but in this case with better values for joints and central ROI (i.e. Knee, Ankles, Dorsal and Pectoral) than the hottest muscle ROI (as Thigh or Hamstrings). The reliability results of the IRT software Termotracker® were excellent in all conditions and parameters. In the part of the study about the effects on Tsk of aerobic, speed and strength training, the results of Tsk demonstrated specific responses depending on the type of training, ROI, moment of the assessment and the function of the considered ROI. The results showed that most of muscular ROI maintained warmer significant Tsk 8 hours after the training, indicating that the effect of exercise on Tsk last at least 8 hours in most of ROI, as well as IRT could help to quantify the recovery status of the athlete as workload assimilation indicator. Those results could be very useful to better understand the complex skin thermoregulation behaviour, and therefore, to use IRT in a more objective, accurate and professional way to improve the new IRT applications for the physical activity and sport sector.

Training-induced changes in drag-flick technique in female field hockey players

The penalty corner is one of the most important goal plays in field hockey. The drag-flick is used less by women than men in a penalty corner. The aim of this study was to describe training-induced changes in the drag-flick technique in female field hockey players. Four female players participated in the study. The VICON optoelectronic system (Oxford Metrics, Oxford, UK) measured the kinematic parameters of the drag-flick with six cameras sampling at 250 Hz, prior to and after training. Fifteen shots were captured for each subject. A Wilcoxon test assessed the differences between pre-training and post-training parameters. Two players received specific training twice a week for 8 weeks; the other two players did not train. The proposed drills improved the position of the stick at the beginning of the shot (p<0.05), the total distance of the shot (p<0.05)and the rotation radius at ball release (p<0.01). It was noted that all players had lost speed of the previous run. Further studies should include a larger sample, in order to provide more information on field hockey performance.

Patrol team language identification system for DARPA RATS P1 evaluation

This paper describes the language identification (LID) system developed by the Patrol team for the first phase of the DARPA RATS (Robust Automatic Transcription of Speech) program, which seeks to advance state of the art detection capabilities on audio from highly degraded communication channels. We show that techniques originally developed for LID on telephone speech (e.g., for the NIST language recognition evaluations) remain effective on the noisy RATS data, provided that careful consideration is applied when designing the training and development sets. In addition, we show significant improvements from the use of Wiener filtering, neural network based and language dependent i-vector modeling, and fusion.

Design of a training tool for improving the use of hand-held detectors in humanitarian demining

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the design of a training tool intended to improve deminers' technique during close-in detection tasks. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction that highlights the impact of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the importance of training for enhancing the safety and the efficiency of the deminers, this paper considers the utilization of a sensory tracking system to study the skill of the hand-held detector expert operators. With the compiled information, some critical performance variables can be extracted, assessed, and quantified, so that they can be used afterwards as reference values for the training task. In a second stage, the sensory tracking system is used for analysing the trainee skills. The experimentation phase aims to test the effectiveness of the elements that compose the sensory system to track the hand-held detector during the training sessions. Findings – The proposed training tool will be able to evaluate the deminers' efficiency during the scanning tasks and will provide important information for improving their competences. Originality/value – This paper highlights the need of introducing emerging technologies for enhancing the current training techniques for deminers and proposes a sensory tracking system that can be successfully utilised for evaluating trainees' performance with hand-held detectors.

Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Included in a Pregnancy Exercise Program Is Effective in Primary Prevention of Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Controlled Trial

AIMS: To investigate the effect of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) taught in a general exercise class during pregnancy on the prevention of urinary incontinence (UI) in nulliparous continent pregnant women. METHODS: This was a unicenter two armed randomized controlled trial. One hundred sixty-nine women were randomized by a central computer system to an exercise group (EG) (exercise class including PFMT) (n = 73) or a control group (CG) (n = 96). 10.1% loss to follow-up: 10 from EG and 7 from CG. The intervention consisted of 70-75 sessions (22 weeks, three times per week, 55-60 min/session including 10 min of PFMT). The CG received usual care (which included follow up by midwifes including information about PFMT). Questions on prevalence and degree of UI were posed before (week 10-14) and after intervention (week 36-39) using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF). RESULTS: At the end of the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the EG. Reported frequency of UI [Never: CG: 54/60.7%, EG: 60/95.2% (P < 0.001)]. Amount of leakage [None: CG: 45/60.7%, EG: 60/95.2% (P < 0.001)]. There was also a statistically significant difference in ICIQ-UI SF Score between groups after the intervention period [CG: 2.7 (SD 4.1), EG: 0.2 (SD 1.2) (P < 0.001)]. The estimated effect size was 0.8. CONCLUSION: PFMT taught in a general exercise class three times per week for at least 22 weeks, without former assessment of ability to perform a correct contraction was effective in primary prevention of UI in primiparous pregnant women.

Noise-agnostic adaptive image filtering without training references on an evolvable hardware platform

One of the main concerns of evolvable and adaptive systems is the need of a training mechanism, which is normally done by using a training reference and a test input. The fitness function to be optimized during the evolution (training) phase is obtained by comparing the output of the candidate systems against the reference. The adaptivity that this type of systems may provide by re-evolving during operation is especially important for applications with runtime variable conditions. However, fully automated self-adaptivity poses additional problems. For instance, in some cases, it is not possible to have such reference, because the changes in the environment conditions are unknown, so it becomes difficult to autonomously identify which problem requires to be solved, and hence, what conditions should be representative for an adequate re-evolution. In this paper, a solution to solve this dependency is presented and analyzed. The system consists of an image filter application mapped on an evolvable hardware platform, able to evolve using two consecutive frames from a camera as both test and reference images. The system is entirely mapped in an FPGA, and native dynamic and partial reconfiguration is used for evolution. It is also shown that using such images, both of them being noisy, as input and reference images in the evolution phase of the system is equivalent or even better than evolving the filter with offline images. The combination of both techniques results in the completely autonomous, noise type/level agnostic filtering system without reference image requirement described along the paper.