Health Monitoring Units Research Articles

Edge Server Deployment for Health Monitoring With Reinforcement Learning in Internet of Medical Things

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has recently gained a lot of interest in the health care industry. IoMT enables real-time and omnipresent monitoring of a patient's health status, resulting in massive amounts of medical data being generated. The centralized massive data processing places enormous strain on the typical cloud computing, rendering it incapable of supporting a variety of real-time health care applications. Therefore, edge computing that moves application programs and data processing from central infrastructure to the edge nodes has attracted wide attention. However, adopting existing edge server (ES) deployment strategies for IoMT is not suitable due to the decentralized and high real-time service requirements of IoMT systems. In particular, traditional ES deployment strategies in IoMT system confront major load imbalance across ESs, latency issues, and energy consumption concerns. To address these challenges, a deployment strategy of ESs based on the state-action-reward-state-action (SARSA) learning, named ESL, is designed. Specifically, ESs are quantified by evaluating the silhouette coefficient (SC) and the sum of squared errors. Then, through fuzzy C-means (FCM) algorithm, the preliminary division of health monitoring units (HMUs) and the initial locations of ESs are obtained. Finally, SARSA learning is adopted to determine the deployment of ESs. Furthermore, extensive experiments and analyses confirm that ESL achieves the core objective of optimizing load balancing among ESs while also optimizing request-response latency and request processing energy consumption.

Energy-saving Service Offloading for the Internet of Medical Things Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

As a critical branch of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the medicine industry, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) significantly improves the quality of healthcare due to its real-time monitoring and low medical cost. Benefiting from edge and cloud computing, IoMT is provided with more computing and storage resources near the terminal to meet the low-delay requirements of computation-intensive services. However, the service offloading from health monitoring units (HMUs) to edge servers generates additional energy consumption. Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI), which has developed rapidly in recent years, has proved effective in some resource allocation applications. Taking both energy consumption and delay into account, we propose an energy-aware service offloading algorithm under an end-edge-cloud collaborative IoMT system with Asynchronous Advantage Actor-critic (A3C), named ECAC. Technically, ECAC uses the structural similarity between the natural distributed IoMT system and A3C, whose parameters are asynchronously updated. Besides, due to the typical delay-sensitivity mechanism and time-energy correction, ECAC can adjust dynamically to the diverse service types and system requirements. Finally, the effectiveness of ECAC for IoMT is proved on real data.

Small-Area Geographic and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Colorectal Cancer in Cyprus.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide. To date, the relationship between regional deprivation and CRC incidence or mortality has not been studied in the population of Cyprus. The objective of this study was to analyse the geographical variation of CRC incidence and mortality and its possible association with socioeconomic inequalities in Cyprus for the time period of 2000-2015. This is a small-area ecological study in Cyprus, with census tracts as units of spatial analysis. The incidence date, sex, age, postcode, primary site, death date in case of death, or last contact date of all alive CRC cases from 2000-2015 were obtained from the Cyprus Ministry of Health's Health Monitoring Unit. Indirect standardisation was used to calculate the sex and age Standardise Incidence Ratios (SIRs) and Standardised Mortality Ratios (SMRs) of CRC while the smoothed values of SIRs, SMRs, and Mortality to Incidence ratio (M/I ratio) were estimated using the univariate Bayesian Poisson log-linear spatial model. To evaluate the association of CRC incidence and mortality rate with socioeconomic deprivation, we included the national socioeconomic deprivation index as a covariate variable entering in the model either as a continuous variable or as a categorical variable representing quartiles of areas with increasing levels of socioeconomic deprivation. The results showed that there are geographical areas having 15% higher SIR and SMR, with most of those areas located on the east coast of the island. We found higher M/I ratio values in the rural, remote, and less dense areas of the island, while lower rates were observed in the metropolitan areas. We also discovered an inverted U-shape pattern in CRC incidence and mortality with higher rates in the areas classified in the second quartile (Q2-areas) of the socioeconomic deprivation index and lower rates in rural, remote, and less dense areas (Q4-areas). These findings provide useful information at local and national levels and inform decisions about resource allocation to geographically targeted prevention and control plans to increase CRC screening and management.

Operational Analysis Based on the MBSE Grid for the Implementation of Hydroelectric Group Health Monitoring and Management Unit

Any study or project within the framework of system design has chosen to start the modeling phase with the model-based systems engineering approach (MBSE), it will encounter decision-making difficulties of the approach. to adopt. During the last two decades, many MBSE methodologies have been developed, but the majority of them present an incomplete or abstract architectural framework for organizing the modeling work. The MBSE Grid based Systems Modeling Language (SysML) approach has made the modeling task easier for system engineers. Indeed, SysML constitutes a powerful tool, using its diagrams, to model the points of view according to the principle of development of requirement, behavior or structure of the system. This paper summarizes the MBSE methodologies most used in research work and development projects. In the context of our study, the MBSE Grid approach is adopted with slight modifications concerning the names of the domains of the grid. By combining with Bombardier Transport SysMM's MBSE methodology, which consists of three main phases, the proposed MBSE grid presents a modeling approach by analysis: operational, functional and technical of the system. The purpose of this work is to conduct an operational analysis, for the implementation of a Health Monitoring and Management Unit (HMMU) of a hydropower group. Keywords—MBSE, MBSE Grid, Operational Analysis, SysML Hydroelectric group

Atopic diseases and airway-related symptoms in Bavarian pre-schoolers: determinants and association with immunization.

Atopic diseases are among the most common chronic conditions in childhood. Causes of allergies are manifold. The aim of this paper is to evaluate risk factors for atopic diseases and unremitting wheeze and to examine if there is an association between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and atopic dermatitis, asthma and unremitting wheeze in Bavarian pre-schoolers. Parents filled out a questionnaire on children's health and environmental and socioeconomic factors. The questionnaire was administered within the Health Monitoring Units in a cross-sectional study in Bavaria, Germany (2014/2015). Data on vaccinations were obtained via the School Entrance Examination, a mandatory examination for pre-school children in Bavaria. Rates of influential factors of atopic diseases and wheeze, MMR and DTP (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccination were calculated for all children stratified by health outcomes. To examine if there is an association between MMR vaccination and health outcomes, a multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Data were available for 3237 individuals. Symptoms and diseases were more frequent in boys. Higher parental education was associated with a higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis. There were no significant associations between any of the health outcome groups and MMR vaccination in the multiple logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders. The present study is in line with the current state of research that MMR vaccination is not associated with atopic diseases.

Medical care and treatment of children with asthmatic or wheezing health outcomes and urban–rural differences in Bavaria – a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Asthma is among the most common chronic conditions in children. The aim of this publication is to describe prevalence rates and factors associated with asthmatic or wheezing preschoolers and to evaluate medical care and treatment with regard to urban–rural differences. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were collected through a questionnaire, which was distributed to parents within the Health Monitoring Units in Bavaria (HMU), Germany. Data from 4767 children were available (2016/17). Those children were classified into four diagnostic groups: Unremitting Wheeze, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) Asthma, Physician-diagnosed Asthma, and healthy control group. Urban–rural differences were tested by Pearson’s chi-squared test or by Fisher’s exact test. Independent variables were factors associated with health outcomes, for example, residency or migrant status. To examine associations between independent and outcome variables multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Prevalence rates were 6.3% for ‘Unremitting Wheeze’, 5.2% for ‘ISAAC Asthma’, and 1.2% for ‘Physician-diagnosed Asthma’. Factors associated with health outcomes were the occurrence of asthma in first-degree relatives, male sex, and migrant status. Generally, higher rates of doctor’s visits, positive allergy tests, and corticosteroids intake in the diagnostic groups in rural compared to urban areas were observed. Rates of performed allergy tests were 55.6% for ‘ISAAC Asthma’ and 74.6% for ‘Physician-diagnosed Asthma’. Conclusions: Prevalence rates of the diagnostic groups decreased compared to the HMU 2014/15. According to previous studies, factors associated with asthmatic or wheezing health outcomes could be confirmed. Children in rural areas generally received more medical care. Key points Children’s prevalence rates of asthma or wheezing disorders decreased in the past 2 years within Bavaria. This study is consistent with risk factors for asthma from the literature: asthma in the family, male gender, and migrant status. Children in rural areas receive more medical care than children in urban areas. There should me more allergy tests among children with medical diagnosis in Bavaria as low rates indicate gaps in care.

Lessons from reducing bribery in Uganda’s health services

AbstractMotivationBribery is common in Uganda’s health sector, with an estimated one in four Ugandans who engage with the sector being asked to pay a bribe for services in 2010. Health workers in the public sector are badly paid, while significant numbers of well‐trained health workers emigrate to find better‐paid work. However, between 2010 and 2015, estimated rates of bribery halved in Ugandan health services.PurposeWhy did bribery in Uganda’s health service fall so much in the 2010s? What does this mean for anticorruption research and practice?Approach and methodsIn addition to reviewing relevant literature and documents, in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with service providers, users and experts were conducted in Uganda’s Central, Eastern and Western provinces.FindingsThe establishment of the Health Monitoring Unit (HMU) in 2009 has been a major factor in reducing bribery. It used highly visible, often controversial investigations based on a principal–agent approach to anticorruption. Its approach, however, also led to negative unintended consequences, including undermining morale among frontline health providers and probably also citizens’ trust in health services. It is moreover questionable if the HMU’s approach can be sustained.Policy ImplicationsTo tackle frontline bribery effectively and sustainably, and so enhance service delivery, anticorruption interventions must consider the underlying functions and needs—such as compensating frontline staff for low wages—that bribery may help fill. Otherwise controls on corruption may result in more harm than the good they do in reducing corruption.

A Self-Powered, Real-Time, LoRaWAN IoT-Based Soil Health Monitoring System

Typical soil health assessment requires intensive field sampling and laboratory analysis. Although this approach yields accurate results, it can be costly and labor intensive and not suitable for continuous tracking of soil properties. Advances in soil sensor and wireless technologies are poised to replace physical sampling and offline measurement with in-field monitoring. This article reports the development, deployment, and validation of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) system for continuous monitoring of soil health. The end nodes of the proposed system, called soil health monitoring units (SHMUs), are solar powered and can be installed on a field for extended periods of time. Each SHMU transmits soil temperature, moisture, electrical conductivity, carbon dioxide (CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ), and geolocation data wirelessly using long-range wide-area network (LoRaWAN) radio technology. Data are received by a LoRaWAN gateway, which uploads it to a server for long-term storage and analysis. Users can view acquired data through a Web-based dashboard. The following significant experiments were carried out to validate the developed system: 1) a network consisting of eight SHMUs was deployed at an agricultural field site for several weeks and soil health metrics were analyzed using the soil health dashboard; 2) the flexibility of the system was demonstrated by the addition of an extra CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> sensor allowing an additional variable directly linked to soil health to be recorded; 3) a wireless communication range of 3422 m was estimated at a transmission power of 10 dBm by deploying the developed system on a large field; 4) the average current consumption of a SHMU (including its associated sensors) was estimated to be 13 mA, at this rate, the onboard Li-ion battery is able to sustain a SHMU for several days; and 5) a 7 cm ×6.5 cm solar panel was able to fully charge the onboard battery in 14 days while supplying power to the SHMU.

Data aggregation and precedence by delay sensitivity (DAP-DS): Data transmission over wireless body sensor networks

Computer-aided patient health monitoring is vital in clinical practices. In regard to this, the body wearable sensor nodes and health-related data collection through these sensor nodes are playing a significant role in the recent past. The sensor networks built upon these body wearable sensor nodes are critical due to the delay sensitivity of the data collected and transmitted in these networks. In order to identify the diverse symptoms of patients without involving the instruments into the body, the “monitoring system” acts as an important role. In case of emergency, the total data which is produced from the health monitoring systems are transferred to “health-monitoring unit”. The diseases can be prevented by logging and analyzing the collected information. Human interference in continues monitoring of the patient health in regular time intervals for each individual is not feasible to optimize the clinical support. In this point of view, the current health care field is strongly using the body sensors which are wearable and are linked to a “monitoring system”. The network which gathers the data associated with different health metrics aimed at the single patient. In this manuscript, the proposal is about scheduling strategy which schedules the collected messages from varied sensors of the corresponding node underneath of condemnatory objective called “delay sensitivity” of messages. To evade controller waiting time is also a proposal of this manuscript. The robustness and scalability of the proposed scheduling scheme are evinced in a simulation study.

Residential crowding and asthma in preschool children, a cross-sectional study

BackgroundAsthma is the most common chronic disease in children, and associations with crowding have been reported. The aim of this study was to explore possible associations of crowding with asthma in children. MethodsSeven cross-sectional surveys with preschool children were conducted within the framework of the health monitoring units in Bavaria, Germany, from 2004 to 2014. Residential crowding was defined as habitation of more than one person per room or less than 20m2 living space per person. Logistic regression models examined temporal changes in crowding, applying the first survey as reference. The relationship between crowding and physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma defined by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and asthma symptoms were analyzed. ResultsAnalyzing temporal changes of crowding rates did not reveal any differences over the years. However, the stratified descriptive analysis indicated a crowding increase in time in urban households where parents had a low education level (47.9% in 2004/05, 55.8% in 2014/15). No association was found between crowding and the variables “physician-diagnosed asthma” in 2014/15, “asthma defined by ISAAC” in 2014/15, or “wheezing” in 2014/15. A positive association with cough was identified in 2014/15 after adjusting for confounders (aOR=1.42 [95% CI: 1.20–1.69]). ConclusionsIn general, residential crowding did not change from 2004 to 2014; however, there seems to be a small upsurge for children with low-educated parents, living in urban areas over the years. A statistically significant association between crowding and cough was only found in the survey from 2014/15.

The Impact of Migration Background on the Health Outcomes of Preschool Children: Linking a Cross-Sectional Survey to the School Entrance Health Examination Database in Bavaria, Germany.

This study investigated the impact of migration background on the health outcomes of preschool children from families of various social status levels. During the school entrance health examination (Schuleingangsuntersuchung (SEU)) from October 2012 to August 2013, the parents of 5052 preschool children (62% response rate) participated in a cross-sectional health survey within the framework of health-monitoring units (Gesundheits-Monitoring-Einheiten (GME)) in Bavaria, Germany. They were handed a self-administered questionnaire with questions relating to the language spoken at home and other socio-demographic characteristics. By applying the record linkage method, 3747 participants were correctly linked to the corresponding data of the SEU. Based on the merged dataset, 4 definitions of migration background were explored regarding demographic indicators, the parents' mother tongue, and the language spoken at home. The association between migration background and health outcomes of preschool children was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression models separately. The risk estimates were presented for the study population and stratified into high, medium, and low social status. The models were repeated for each of the 4 migration background variables. The results show significant associations between migration background and health outcomes of preschool children (except in pronunciation). A migration background had the strongest impact on the development of word/sentence formation disorder. Compared to non-migrant preschool children, migrant children had twice the chances for full vaccination coverage (OR [95% CI]: 2.4 [1.9-3.1]) but only half the chance to participate in all health examinations from U1 to U9 (0.5 [0.4-0.6]). These children were also at two-fold increased risk to be overweight/obese (2.2 [1.7-2.8]). Moreover, preschool children with double-sided migration from medium social status families faced the highest risk for word/sentence formation disorder (9.5 [5.6-16.1] with SEU definition and 23.3 [10.3-52.6] with GME definition of a migration background). Future prevention programs at the preschool level should focus on children with double-sided migration from medium social status families. With respect to social and cultural integration, the definition of migration background based on the language spoken at home should be appropriate for future SEUs.

Asthmatic/wheezing phenotypes in preschool children: Influential factors, health care and urban-rural differences.

Different wheezing and asthmatic phenotypes turned out to indicate differences in etiology, risk factors and health care. We examined influential factors and urban-rural differences for different phenotypes. Parents of 4732 children filled out a questionnaire concerning children's health and environmental factors administered within the Health Monitoring Units (GME) in a cross-sectional study in Bavaria, Germany (2014/2015). To classify respiratory symptoms, five phenotype groups were built: episodic, unremitting and frequent wheeze, ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children) - asthma and physician-diagnosed asthma (neither of the groups are mutually exclusive). For each phenotype, health care variables were presented and stratified for residence. Urban-rural differences were tested by Pearson's chi-squared tests. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze associations between influential factors and belonging to a phenotype group, and to compare groups with regard to health care variables as outcome. Risk factors for wheezing phenotypes were male gender (OR = 2.02, 95%-CI = [1.65-2.48]), having older siblings (OR = 1.24, 95%-CI = [1.02-1.51]), and preterm delivery (OR = 1.61, 95%-CI = [1.13-2.29]) (ORs for unremitting wheeze). 57% of children with ISAAC asthma and 74% with physician-diagnosed asthma had performed allergy tests. Medication intake among all groups was more frequent in rural areas, and physician's asthma diagnoses were more frequent in urban areas. In accordance with previous research this study confirms that male gender, older siblings and preterm delivery are associated with several wheezing phenotypes. Overall, low numbers of allergy tests among children with physician's diagnoses highlight a discrepancy between common practice and current knowledge and guidelines. Residential differences in health care might encourage further research and interventions strategies.

Solution-based polycrystalline silicon transistors produced on a paper substrate

Printing of electronics is pursued as a low-cost alternative to conventional manufacturing processes. In addition, owing to relatively low process temperatures, flexible substrates can be used enabling novel applications. Among flexible substrates, paper was found to be a particularly interesting candidate, since it has an order of magnitude lower price than low-cost polymer alternatives, and is biodegradable. As ink materials, organic and metal-oxide semiconductors are thoroughly being investigated; however, they lack in electric performance compared to silicon in terms of device mobility, reliability, and energy efficiency. In recent years, liquid precursors for silicon were found and used to create polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si). However, fabrication of transistors on top of low-cost flexible substrates such as paper has remained an outstanding challenge. Here we demonstrate both p-channel and n-channel poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated directly on top of paper with field-effect mobilities of 6.2 and 2.0 cm2/V s, respectively. Many fabrication challenges have been overcome by limiting the maximum process temperature to approximately 100 °C, and avoiding liquid chemicals commonly used for etching and cleaning. Patterning of poly-Si has been achieved by additive selective crystallization of the precursor film using an excimer laser. This work serves as a proof of concept, and has the potential to further improve device performance. Owing to the low-cost, biodegradable nature of paper, and the high performance, reliability, and energy efficiency of poly-Si TFTs, this work opens a pathway toward truly low-cost, low-power, recyclable applications including smart packages, biodegradable health monitoring units, flexible displays, and disposable sensor nodes.

Exploring the associations between parent-reported biological indoor environment and airway-related symptoms and allergic diseases in children.

Asthma and allergic rhinitis are diseases which require special attention in childhood. Risk factors for these diseases are manifold and include environmental factors. Previous studies have shown associations between indoor mould and respiratory diseases in children. Besides indoor mould, organic waste storage, potted plants, pets and crowding could influence the microbial indoor environment at home and the respiratory health of children. Our aim was therefore to explore the associations of these factors with airway-related symptoms and respiratory diseases in preschoolers. In this cross-sectional study we evaluated data based on parent-questionnaires regarding the health of their children from the 2014/2015 Health Monitoring Units (GME) in Bavaria. Bivariate and multivariate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%-CI) were calculated with logistic regression to explore associations between exposures (visible mould, organic waste storage, potted plants, pets and crowding) and outcome variables (doctor diagnosed allergic rhinitis with symptoms in the last 12 months, doctor diagnosed asthma with symptoms in the last 12 months, 12 month prevalence of symptoms such as dry cough at night without a cold, wheeze, wheeze attacks and allergic rhinitis symptoms). We analysed data from 4732 children (response rate 56.7%) with a mean age of 5.3 years. Visible mould was present in 4.7% of all households and associated with doctor diagnosed asthma with symptoms in the last 12 months [aOR 2.16 (95%-CI 1.01-4.63)], wheeze in the last 12 months [aOR 1.60 (95%-CI 1.0-2.50)] and allergic rhinitis symptoms in the last 12 months [aOR 1.75 (95%-CI 1.07-2.87)]. Crowding was associated with dry cough at night without a cold in the last 12 months [aOR 1.71 (95%-CI 1.42-2.05). The other indoor factors showed no association with respiratory health of the children. Our results, in line with previous studies, showed positive associations between visible mould at home and airway-related symptoms and allergic diseases in children irrespective of the effect of the other considered indoor exposures. Despite the low prevalence of mould exposure in our study population, our results suggest intervention should be taken for those who do have visible mould exposure at home.

Laudatio zur Salomon Neumann-Medaille 2016: RKI Abteilung Epidemiologie und Gesundheitsmonitoring

The German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP) confers the Salomon-Neumann-Medal for outstanding merits in the field of Preventive and Social Medicine. Salomon Neumann (1819-1908) was one of the most renowned representatives of Social Medicine, whose phrase "Medicine is a Social Science" is punched oh the medal. The Salomon Neumann-Medal 2016 was awarded to the Health Monitoring Unit of the Robert Koch-Institute (RKI), i. e. the Department for Epidemiology and Health Monitoring with its head Bärbel Maria Kurth. The article documents the honorific speech which stresses the importance of Health Monitoring for evidence informed policy making.

Health-Monitoring-Units (GME) in Bavaria: standardized and repeated data collection of children’s health status and influential factors

Introduction Supported by the Bavarian State Ministry of health, in 2004 health monitoring units (GME) were established by the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority. The aim is to collect health data of children. Methods: During school entrance examinations, the parents of preschool children complete GME provided questionnaires regarding different health topics. This data is analyzed as 1) cross-sectional studies and 2) cohort studies, in which the parents and the children are repeatedly questioned. These surveys are conducted in three urban (Munich, Ingolstadt, Bamberg city) and three rural regions (Schwandorf, Günzburg, Bamberg rural district) within Bavaria. Main topics of the GME are widespread diseases like asthma and allergies and influencing factors. Results Recent analyses of the GME data indicate that the prevalence of asthma and allergies and the symptoms of preschool children were fairly stable from 2004 to 2012. Furthermore no differences between city and rural prevalence were present. After the introduction of the smoking ban in public areas in Bavaria, the passive smoke exposure of children at home decreased from 14,3% (2004) to 7,2% (2012). Respiratory diseases showed no clear association with exposure to passive smoking at home, except in 2012, were asthma was associated with the general smoking behavior (includes smoking outside) of parents (OR=1.6; 95% KI [1.1-2.3]). Conclusion The GME provide standardized and repeated cross-sectional as well as longitudinal data that allow monitoring the health status of children and influencing factors. In the past, prevention programs regarding obesity and ultraviolet radiation exposure have already been evaluated using GME. Furthermore with the GME it is possible to monitor potential health effects of relevant changes in legislation, such as the smoking ban. The potential of GME data is underlined by its current use in the analysis of associations between pollen records and children’s allergic sensitization.

Association of sociodemographic and environmental factors with the mental health status among preschool children-Results from a cross-sectional study in Bavaria, Germany.

It has been reported that a great proportion of mental health disorders have an origin in early childhood. In order to evaluate factors possibly associated with children's health, the health monitoring units have been established since 2004 in six study regions in Bavaria, Germany. The second health monitoring survey, implemented in 2005-06, focuses on the mental health status of preschool children. The goal of this study is (1) to examine the association of sociodemographic and environmental factors with mental health and (2) to analyze the applicability of the results of the health monitoring units to all preschool children in Bavaria by calculating weighting factors. Data on 6206 preschool children are available. Logistic regression analysis is applied to analyze possible associations with mental health. A weighting method is applied to correct for deviances compared to the whole population of preschool children in Bavaria (N=132,783). 11% of preschool children show mental health problems. Regarding different indicators of sociodemographic status, low household income [unadjusted OR 3.34, 95% CI: 2.23-4.98] shows the strongest association of mental health problems. Non-accessibility of green space [unadjusted OR 2.74, 95% CI: 1.87-4.00] is also strongly associated with mental health. The results of the unweighted and weighted analysis are similar. Our findings suggest that sociodemographic status and factors in the living environment show associations with mental health of children. Based on the results of the unweighted and weighted analyses, the second health monitoring analysis shows little deviances compared to data of all Bavarian preschool children. Therefore, the results can be compared to all Bavarian preschool children.

Mental Health Status of Bavarian Preschool Children

Mental Health Status of Bavarian Preschool ChildrenAbstract Number:2108 Angelika Zach, Nicole Meyer, Lana Hendrowasito, Stefanie Kolb, Dorothee Twardella, Gabriele Bolte, Uta Nennstiel-Ratzel, Caroline Herr*, and GME study group Angelika Zach Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Nicole Meyer Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Lana Hendrowasito Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Stefanie Kolb Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Dorothee Twardella Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Gabriele Bolte Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Uta Nennstiel-Ratzel Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Caroline Herr* Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , and GME study group Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany Search for more papers by this author AbstractBackground: Several studies showed that a great proportion of mental health disorders have their beginnings in childhood and adolescence. The goal of this study was therefore to examine the relationship between sociodemographic, as well as environmental factors, and mental health status among preschool children. In order to review and increase the transferability of the results of the health monitoring units to all preschool children in Bavaria weighting factors were calculated.Methods: Parent-report based data on 6,206 preschool children of a cross-sectional study implemented within the school entrance examination in Bavaria were available. Data on mental health status were collected using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze associations of sociodemographic and environmental factors with children’s mental health status. A weighting method was applied to correct for deviances of the target population (N=132.783).Results: Approximately 11 % of all preschool children show mental health problems. Regarding different indicators of sociodemographic status, low household income [OR 3.34 95 % CI 2.23-4.98] show the strongest association with mental health problems. Among factors in the living environment, non-accessibility of green space [OR 2.74 95 % CI 1.87-4.00] is most strongly associated with mental health. The results of the unweighted and weighted analysis are similar.Conclusions: The results indicate that sociodemographic status and factors in the living environment are associated with mental health. Based on the results of the unweighted and weighted analyses, the health monitoring units in 2005-06 can be compared to all Bavarian preschool children.

Mini Actuators for Safety Critical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Avionics

The present article details the development steps and experimental results obtained during the development of smart actuators used on mini unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The research e ort is driven by the need of developing onboard health monitoring and diagnostics units for small size UAVs to improve their reliability. In the present all small UAVs use single string avionics systems with no built in redundancy, moreover the servo actuators onboard the airplane are often commercial o the shelf (COTS) hobby components with no reliability figures, limited performance guarantees and one directional communication using analog PWM signals. The development of new servo generation focused on solving the above issues. The proposed servo actuators use the existing mechanical gearboxes and housing of the COTS components, but their power electronics, motor control hardware and software components, sensors are custom designed to fit the needs of a higher demand. The actuators with their controlling microprocessors are capable of establishing two way communication via CAN and FlexRay protocol, suitable for safety critical applications, the actuators. The development challenges and experimental results in a hardware-in-theloop (HIL) simulator are discussed in the paper.

Cohort Profile: The Health Survey for England

To monitor the health of the public in England, UK, the Central Health Monitoring Unit within the UK Department of Health commissioned an annual health examination survey, which became known as the Health Survey for England (HSE). The first survey was completed in 1991. The HSE covers all of England and is a nationally representative sample of those residing at private residential addresses. Each survey year consists of a new sample of private residential addresses and people. The HSE collects detailed information on mental and physical health, health-related behaviour, and objective physical and biological measures in relation to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of people aged 16 years and over at private residential addresses. There are two parts to the HSE; an interviewer visit, to conduct an interview and measure height and weight, then a nurse visit, to carry out further measurements and take biological samples. Since 1994, survey participants aged 16 years and over have been asked for consent to follow-up through linkage to mortality and cancer registration data, and from 2003, to the Hospital Episode Statistics database, thus converting annual cross-sectional survey data into a longitudinal study. Annual survey data (1994-2009) are available through the UK Data Archive.