Postural Movements Research Articles

PEMBERIAN TRAMPOLIN BASED SSC DAN CORE STABILITY DALAM PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN FUNGSIONAL ANAK DOWN SYNDROME

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is a common condition caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21. Clinical manifestations include hypotonia, poor posture control, abnormal movement, heart abnormalities, and respiratory function, which hinder functional ability. Down syndrome management interventions can use Trampolin based SSC and core stability exercise. Method: This case study uses a pre- and post-test research design by comparing assessments before and after Trampolin based SSC and core stability exercise interventions, then observed and evaluated for 4 meetings. Results: There was an increase in functional ability measured using GMFM from dimension C to dimension D. Conclusion: This case study concludes that physiotherapy intervention has an influence on the functional ability of patients with Down syndrome.

Neuropathic Tremor in Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Neuropathic Tremor (NT) is a postural/kinetic tremor of the upper extremity, often encountered in patients with chronic neuropathies such as paraprotein-associated and hereditary neuropathies. To describe the clinical and electrophysiological features of NT in a previously underrecognized setting- during recovery from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Patients with a documented diagnosis of GBS in the past, presenting with tremor were identified from review of clinical records. Participants underwent structured, videotaped neurological examination, and electrophysiological analysis using tri-axial accelerometry-surface electromyography. Tremor severity was assessed using the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale. We describe the clinical and electrophysiological features of 5 patients with GBS associated NT. Our cohort had a fine, fast, and slightly jerky postural tremor of frequency ranging from 8 to 10 Hz. Dystonic posturing and overflow movements were noted in 4/5 patients. Tremor appeared 3 months-5 years after the onset of GBS, when patients had regained near normal muscle strength and deep tendon jerks were well elicitable. Electrophysiological analysis of tremor strongly suggested the presence of a central oscillator in all patients. NT is not limited to chronic inflammatory or hereditary neuropathies and may occur in the recovery phase of GBS. The tremor is characterized by a high frequency, jerky postural tremor with dystonic posturing. Electrophysiological evaluation suggests the presence of a central oscillator, hypothetically the cerebellum driven by impaired sensorimotor feedback.

Recognition of emotional body language from dyadic and monadic point-light displays in 5-year-old children and adults

Most child studies on emotion perception used faces and speech as emotion stimuli, but little is known about children’s perception of emotions conveyed by body movements, that is, emotional body language (EBL). This study aimed to investigate whether processing advantages for positive emotions in children and negative emotions in adults found in studies on emotional face and term perception also occur in EBL perception. We also aimed to uncover which specific movement features of EBL contribute to emotion perception from interactive dyads compared with noninteractive monads in children and adults. We asked 5-year-old children and adults to categorize happy and angry point-light displays (PLDs), presented as pairs (dyads) and single actors (monads), in a button-press task. By applying representational similarity analyses, we determined intra- and interpersonal movement features of the PLDs and their relation to the participants’ emotional categorizations. Results showed significantly higher recognition of happy PLDs in 5-year-olds and of angry PLDs in adults in monads but not in dyads. In both age groups, emotion recognition depended significantly on kinematic and postural movement features such as limb contraction and vertical movement in monads and dyads, whereas in dyads recognition also relied on interpersonal proximity measures such as interpersonal distance. Thus, EBL processing in monads seems to undergo a similar developmental shift from a positivity bias to a negativity bias, as was previously found for emotional faces and terms. Despite these age-specific processing biases, children and adults seem to use similar movement features in EBL processing.

SPECIAL ISSUE: Exploring the Effects of Shared Heart-Focused Intention in Music Performance on Musicians and Audience Members

This exploratory study sought to determine if a shared group intention by members of a string quartet for two pieces of music would have an effect on themselves and audience members. An experimental design was implemented consisting of two interventions. The first intervention introduced a series of exercises focused on posture and biomechanical movements. The second intervention introduced HeartMath’s Quick Coherence and Heart Lock-In techniques. The Pachelbel Canon in D and Mozart Divertimenti in F K138 were chosen as the works to perform. For data collection, all participants (N = 12) were fitted with ambulatory Bodyguard heart rate variability (HRV) recorders. Qualitative data were collected with questionnaires, and videos recorded comments. All three sessions were video recorded. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to test within-subjects effects in baseline HRV measurements among three sessions. Audience participants (n = 8) and musician participants (n = 4) were analyzed as separate groups. Quantitative results showed a significant change in HRV among the musicians from baseline after the Heart Lock-In breathing technique was introduced. Qualitative results showed improved mental focus and feelings of connectivity among the musicians. Audience HRV data had a high level of artifact, and the results showed no significance. After the final performance, qualitative comments focused on the performances being more engaging and the musicians being more connected with each other.

Movement kinematic and postural control differences when performing a visuomotor skill in real and virtual environments

Immersive technologies, like virtual and mixed reality, pose a novel challenge for our sensorimotor systems as they deliver simulated sensory inputs that may not match those of the natural environment. These include reduced fields of view, missing or inaccurate haptic information, and distortions of 3D space; differences that may impact the control of motor actions. For instance, reach-to-grasp movements without end-point haptic feedback are characterised by slower and more exaggerated movements. A general uncertainty about sensory input may also induce a more conscious form of movement control. We tested whether a more complex skill like golf putting was also characterized by more consciously controlled movement. In a repeated-measures design, kinematics of the putter swing and postural control were compared between (i) real-world putting, (ii) VR putting, and (iii) VR putting with haptic feedback from a real ball (i.e., mixed reality). Differences in putter swing were observed both between the real world and VR, and between VR conditions with and without haptic information. Further, clear differences in postural control emerged between real and virtual putting, with both VR conditions characterised by larger postural movements, which were more regular and less complex, suggesting a more conscious form of balance control. Conversely, participants actually reported less conscious awareness of their movements in VR. These findings highlight how fundamental movement differences may exist between virtual and natural environments, which may pose challenges for transfer of learning within applications to motor rehabilitation and sport.

Saphenous neuropathy in a string musician

Instrumental musicians are prone to numerous musculoskeletal issues due to the asymmetric posture and repetitive movements maintained through long periods of practice. In this case report, the authors present an 18-year-old female cello player who complained of neuropathic pain in her left lower extremity from the medial aspect of her knee down to the medial malleolus.

Cognitive and visual task effects on gaze behaviour and gait of younger and older adults

Cognitive dual tasks alter gait of younger and older adults and recent research has demonstrated that they also influence gaze behaviour and standing postural control. These findings suggest that age-related changes in cognitive and gaze function might increase fall risk in older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect cognitive and visual dual tasks on the gait and gaze behaviour of younger and older adults. Ten older and ten younger adults walked for 3 min on a treadmill at preferred walking speed under three conditions, single task, cognitive and visual dual task conditions. Gait dynamics were measured using accelerometry and gaze behaviour was measured using wearable eye-trackers. Stride time variability and centre of mass (COM) motion complexity increased in dual-task conditions in older adults but had no difference for younger adults. Dual tasks had limited effect on gaze behaviour; however, visual input duration was greater, and visual input frequency and saccade frequency were lower in older than younger adults. The gaze adaptations in older adults may be the result of slower visual processing or represent a compensatory strategy to suppress postural movement. The increase in gait COM motion complexity in older adults suggests the dual tasks led to more automatic gait control resulting from both cognitive and visual tasks.

Age and Visual Contribution Effects on Postural Control Assessed by Principal Component Analysis of Kinematic Marker Data

Postural control, the ability to control the body’s position in space, is considered a critical aspect of health outcomes. This current study aimed to investigate the effects of age and visual contribution on postural control. To this end, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to extract movement components/synergies (i.e., principal movements, PMs) from kinematic marker data of bipedal balancing on stable and unstable surfaces with eyes closed and open, pooled from 17 older adults (67.8 ± 6.6 years) and 17 young adults (26.6 ± 3.3 years), one PCA-analysis for each surface condition. Then, three PCA-based variables were computed for each PM: the relative explained variance of PM-position (PP_rVAR) and of PM-acceleration (PA_rVAR) for measuring the composition of postural movements and of postural accelerations, respectively, and the root mean square of PM-acceleration (PA_RMS) for measuring the magnitude of neuromuscular control. The results show the age and visual contribution effects observed in PM1, resembling the anteroposterior ankle sway in both surface conditions. Specifically, only the greater PA1_rVAR and PA1_RMS are observed in older adults (p ≤ 0.004) and in closed-eye conditions (p < 0.001), reflecting their greater need for neuromuscular control of PM1 than in young adults and in open-eye conditions.

The Mind and the Brain: A Multiscale Interpretation of Cognitive Brain Functionality

Welcome to a special issue of Journal of Multiscale Neuroscience focused on The Mind and The Brain: A Multiscale Interpretation of Cognitive Brain Functionality. This special issue contains six articles that come from different disciplinary perspectives and methods that themselves span a range of spatiotemporal scales for analyzing cognition and behavior. At a time when the field of cognitive science is transitioning away from the computer metaphor of the mind and toward complex interactive frameworks (Spivey, 2023), these articles serve as waypoints for how to go about building those new theories. The articles include philosophical reviews of the processes that allow for self-organization to emerge in a multiscale cognitive system (Silberstein, 2023) and how best to model such multiscale processes (Favela, 2023). They include dense-sampling measures of postural movements (Corbin et al., 2023), time series analyses of music perception (Waddington & Balasubramaniam, 2023), and recurrence quantification analysis of spoken sentence comprehension (Nguyen & Spivey, 2023). And it all culminates in a big-picture perspective on how mental activity across any and all life forms may be best understood as emerging from collective action among sub-elements interacting to form self-organized metastable cognitive structures (Falandays et al., 2023).

Modulation of center-of-pressure signal in children on the autism spectrum: A case-control study

BackgroundProper postural and motor control plays a fundamental role in the child’s ontogenetic development. So far, the postural control in children on the autism spectrum has mainly been assessed with standard posturographic measurements of center of pressure (COP) displacements. Research questionWhat are the differences in postural control between autistic and typically developing children? MethodsThe study group comprised 16 autistic children aged 6–10 years, identified by a psychiatrist. The control group consisted of 16 typically developing children aged 6–10 years with no posture deformities, no pervasive developmental disorder and no history of postural control or movement deficits.The data were collected during quiet standing with eyes open using a force plate. To gain a better insight into the postural control processes, the rambling-trembling and sample entropy analyses were used in COP data processing. ResultsCompared to typically developing children, those with autism spectrum had significantly higher values of COP and rambling trajectory parameters in the antero-posterior direction during quiet standing. The variables of the trembling trajectory did not differ significantly between the groups. The autistic children had significantly lower values of sample entropy in the antero-posterior direction compared to typically developing children. SignificanceMore advanced measures of COP displacements including the rambling-trembling method and sample entropy revealed differences in postural control between autistic and typically developing children. These methods may therefore contribute to functional assessment of postural control deficits in children on the autism spectrum.

Utilizing Augmented Reality to Quantify Information Processing and Motor Performance in Military Personnel to Detect Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (P8-1.002)

<h3>Objective:</h3> Utilize augmented reality (AR) to create military specific scenarios that can be objectively quantified and used to facilitate the detection of and return-to-duty (RTD) following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). <h3>Background:</h3> Methods of detecting military mTBI are rooted in neuropsychological tests that measure a construct of executive or motor function. This approach does not lend itself to accurate detection or appropriate RTD. We have demonstrated the HoloLens 2 AR device provides accurate biomechanical data. Placing digital assets in a user’s real-world via AR technology creates an ecological environment to evaluate function. An AR Rifle qualification test (RQT) to evaluate dynamic movement, information processing, shooting performance and decision-making was developed. To evaluate performance in the context of a group or military unit, a room clearing assessment was created. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> Data were gathered from 157 active-duty service members. The RQT was performed under single- and dual-task conditions. Five room clearing scenarios in which information processing and motor demands were manipulated were completed. Kinematic data from the HoloLens 2 provided biomechanical outcomes characterizing cognitive and motor performance. <h3>Results:</h3> Reaction time (RT) to firing and accuracy of target acquisition in the RQT did not differ between single- and dual-task conditions (<i>p&lt;0.05)</i>. Transition time from kneel to stand did not differ between conditions; however, dual-task sway path (41.2±17.5 cm) post-transition was increased compared to single-task (35.1±14.2 cm). There was a significant increase in processing time as the complexity of the room clearing scenarios increased. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> The objective quantification of information processing (RT) and motor (postural sway and movement time) function while performing ecological AR military tasks can enhance the detection of mTBI using objective functional metrics. The use of AR to deliver realistic digital experiences will facilitate appropriate RTD to ensure the safety of the service member and their unit. <b>Disclosure:</b> Mr. Kaya has nothing to disclose. Anson Rosenfeldt has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Cleveland Clinic. Anson Rosenfeldt has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Enspire DBS. The institution of Anson Rosenfeldt has received research support from Michael J. Fox Foundation. The institution of Anson Rosenfeldt has received research support from National Institute of Health. The institution of Anson Rosenfeldt has received research support from Department of Defense. Anson Rosenfeldt has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Mr. Waltz has nothing to disclose. Mrs. Jansen has nothing to disclose. Ms. Owen has nothing to disclose. Mrs. Dunlap has nothing to disclose. Karissa Hastilow has nothing to disclose. Mrs. Scelina has nothing to disclose. Mr. Zimmerman has nothing to disclose. Morgan McGrath has nothing to disclose. Amanda Penko has nothing to disclose. The institution of Dr. Alberts has received research support from NIH. Dr. Alberts has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Alberts has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Member, Health and Wellness Council with Peloton Interactive.

Coordination of Locomotion by Serotonergic Neurons in the Predatory Gastropod Pleurobranchaea californica.

Similar design characterizes neuronal networks for goal-directed motor control across the complex, segmented vertebrates, insects, and polychaete annelids with jointed appendages. Evidence is lacking for whether this design evolved independently in those lineages, evolved in parallel with segmentation and appendages, or could have been present in a soft-bodied common ancestor. We examined coordination of locomotion in an unsegmented, ciliolocomoting gastropod, the sea slug Pleurobranchaea californica, which may better resemble the urbilaterian ancestor. Previously, bilateral A-cluster neurons in cerebral ganglion lobes were found to compose a multifunctional premotor network controlling the escape swim and feeding suppression, and mediating action selection for approach or avoidance turns. Serotonergic As interneurons of this cluster were critical elements for swimming, turning, and behavioral arousal. Here, known functions were extended to show that the As2/3 cells of the As group drove crawling locomotion via descending signals to pedal ganglia effector networks for ciliolocomotion and were inhibited during fictive feeding and withdrawal. Crawling was suppressed in aversive turns, defensive withdrawal, and active feeding, but not during stimulus-approach turns or prebite proboscis extension. Ciliary beating was not inhibited during escape swimming. These results show how locomotion is adaptively coordinated in tracking, handling, and consuming resources, and in defense. Taken with previous results, they also show that the A-cluster network acts similarly to the vertebrate reticular formation with its serotonergic raphe nuclei in facilitating locomotion, postural movements, and motor arousal. Thus, the general scheme controlling locomotion and posture might well have preceded the evolution of segmented bodies and articulated appendages.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Similar design in the neuronal networks for goal-directed motor control is seen across the complex, segmented vertebrates, insects, and polychaete annelids with jointed appendages. Whether that design evolved independently or in parallel with complexity in body and behavior has been unanswered. Here it is shown that a simple sea slug, with primitive ciliary locomotion and lacking segmentation and appendages, has similar modular design in network coordination as vertebrates for posture in directional turns and withdrawal, locomotion, and general arousal. This suggests that a general neuroanatomical framework for the control of locomotion and posture could have arisen early during the evolution of bilaterians.

The effect of lifting load on the kinematic characteristics of lumbar spinous process in vivo

BackgroundThere are limited data on the in vivo natural kinematics of the lumbar spinous process. This paper intends to explore the effect of lifting load on the in vivo movement mode of the lumbar spinous process and its biomechanical changes.MethodsTen asymptomatic subjects between the ages of 25 and 39 underwent CT scans of the lumbar spine in the supine position, and 3D models of L3-L5 were constructed. Using a Dual Fluoroscopy Imaging System (DFIS), instantaneous orthogonal fluoroscopic images of each subject's flexion–extension, left–right bending, and left–right rotational movements were taken under different loads (0 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg). The supine CT model was matched, using computer software, to the bony contours of the images from the two orthogonal views, so that the instantaneous 3D vertebral position at each location could be quantified. A Cartesian coordinate system was ultimately constructed at the tip of the spinous process to obtain the 6DOF kinematic data of the spinous process.ResultsIn different postural movements of the trunk, there was no significant difference in the rotation angle and translation range of the lumbar spinous process under different loads (P > 0.05). In flexion to extension motion, spinous processes mainly rotate < 4° along the medial and lateral axes and translate < 4 mm along the craniocaudal direction. In the left–right bending motion, spinous processes mainly rotate < 5° along the anterior and posterior axes, and the translation is mainly coupling < 2 mm. In the rotational motion, the spinous process is mainly coupled motion, the rotation range is less than 3°, and the translation range is less than 2 mm. The distance between spinous processes measured in the supine position was 6.66 ± 2.29 mm at L3/4 and 5.08 ± 1.57 mm at L4/5.ConclusionThe in vivo kinematics of the lumbar spinous process will not change significantly with increasing low load. In complex motion, the spinous process is dominated by coupling motion.

Postural and Gestural Synchronization, Sequential Imitation, and Mirroring Predict Perceived Coupling of Dancing Dyads

Body movement is a primary nonverbal communication channel in humans. Coordinated social behaviors, such as dancing together, encourage multifarious rhythmic and interpersonally coupled movements from which observers can extract socially and contextually relevant information. The investigation of relations between visual social perception and kinematic motor coupling is important for social cognition. Perceived coupling of dyads spontaneously dancing to pop music has been shown to be highly driven by the degree of frontal orientation between dancers. The perceptual salience of other aspects, including postural congruence, movement frequencies, time-delayed relations, and horizontal mirroring remains, however, uncertain. In a motion capture study, 90 participant dyads moved freely to 16 musical excerpts from eight musical genres, while their movements were recorded using optical motion capture. A total from 128 recordings from 8 dyads maximally facing each other were selected to generate silent 8-s animations. Three kinematic features describing simultaneous and sequential full body coupling were extracted from the dyads. In an online experiment, the animations were presented to 432 observers, who were asked to rate perceived similarity and interaction between dancers. We found dyadic kinematic coupling estimates to be higher than those obtained from surrogate estimates, providing evidence for a social dimension of entrainment in dance. Further, we observed links between perceived similarity and coupling of both slower simultaneous horizontal gestures and posture bounding volumes. Perceived interaction, on the other hand, was more related to coupling of faster simultaneous gestures and to sequential coupling. Also, dyads who were perceived as more coupled tended to mirror their pair's movements.

Ergonomic assessment based on monocular RGB camera in elderly care by a new multi-person 3D pose estimation technique (ROMP)

Nursing staff members are at high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), which not only threaten their health but also impact the quality of elderly care. Ergonomic posture risk assessment (EPRA) is usually employed to identify potential WMSD risks such as extreme posture and repetitive movements. A monocular RGB camera has been used for the EPRA in recent years due to its short time requirements and low cost. However, most work scenarios do not involve multi-person situations.Therefore, based on the latest 3D pose estimation algorithm—Monocular, One-stage Regression of Multiple 3D People (ROMP)—this study proposes a method that uses one monocular RGB camera to conduct the EPRA in multi-person and occluded scenarios. The accuracy of our method was calculated through 12 care tasks involving multi-person and occlusion, using the Noitom motion capture (MoCap) system.The results show that our method performed well, with an average accuracy of 83.8% and 90.7%, respectively, using two EPRA scoring tools, RULA and OWAS. The mean absolute error (MAE) of each joint angle was 9.4°. Thus, ROMP seems to be a potential method for conducting the EPRA in nursing workspaces with unsatisfactory conditions using a single monocular RGB camera.

Effect of antisiphon devices on ventriculoperitoneal shunt drainage dynamics in growing children.

Infants and small children face changing boundary conditions when treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) for hydrocephalus. There are no systematic data describing shunt drainage behavior and changes over time in a growing child. Using a child-adapted patient simulator, the authors investigated the drainage behaviors of fixed differential pressure (DP) valves and adjustable valves with devices for preventing overdrainage in children of different ages. Three miniNAV DP valves with a 10-cm H2O medium-pressure setting (MN10) and three adjustable proGAV2.0 valves with a 25-cm H2O gravitational unit (GU) at low 5-cm H2O opening pressure (PG5) and medium 10-cm H2O opening pressure (PG10) settings were each investigated with a hardware-in-the-loop test bed. This test bed consisted of a posture motion mechanism and two pressure compartments that mimicked intracranial and abdominal pressures and was used to test the VPS under realistic in vitro conditions. Body orientation and length were physically set according to the child's age. The software simulated the physiological situations of children aged 1, 5, and 10 years. All valves were tested according to these specifications, with 5 runs for 1 hour each in the horizontal, vertical, and horizontal positions. Intracranial pressure (ICP) and VPS flow were measured, and the respective cerebrospinal fluid volume changes and ICP set value were computed. The drainage parameters increased with age in all valves in the vertical position, with that of MN10 being pronounced in the 1-year-old simulation. The GU values in PG5 and PG10 substantially reduced drainage compared with MN10. PG10 prevented drainage in the 1-year-old and 5-year-old setups, but there was some drainage at physiological ICP in the 10-year-old setup. In contrast, MN10 produced the largest decreases in ICP across all ages and positions, and overdrainage resulted in insufficient ICP recovery in the subsequent horizontal position. ICP levels were mostly constant with PG10 at all ages. This study shows that unprotected DP valves may lead to overdrainage in infants, whereas low-pressure GU valves can prevent overdrainage through 5 years and medium-pressure GU valves admit physiological ICP through at least 10 years. Therefore, devices for preventing overdrainage should be included in the first implanted shunt, and opening pressure should be adjusted as the child grows.

Key transition technology of ski jumping based on inertial motion unit, kinematics and dynamics

BackgroundThe development and innovation of biomechanical measurement methods provide a solution to the problems in ski jumping research. At present, research on ski jumping mostly focuses on the local technical characteristics of different phases, but studies on the technology transition process are less.ObjectivesThis study aims to evaluate a measurement system (i.e. the merging of 2D video recording, inertial measurement unit and wireless pressure insole) that can capture a wide range of sport performance and focus on the key transition technical characteristics.MethodsThe application validity of the Xsens motion capture system in ski jumping was verified under field conditions by comparing the lower limb joint angles of eight professional ski jumpers during the takeoff phase collected by different motion capture systems (Xsens and Simi high-speed camera). Subsequently, the key transition technical characteristics of eight ski jumpers were captured on the basis of the aforementioned measurement system.ResultsValidation results indicated that the joint angle point-by-point curve during the takeoff phase was highly correlated and had excellent agreement (0.966 ≤ r ≤ 0.998, P < 0.001). Joint root-mean-square error (RMSE) differences between model calculations were 5.967° for hip, 6.856° for knee and 4.009° for ankle.ConclusionsCompared with 2D video recording, the Xsens system shows excellent agreement to ski jumping. Furthermore, the established measurement system can effectively capture the key transition technical characteristics of athletes, particularly in the dynamic changes of straight turn into arc in inrun, the adjustment of body posture and ski movement during early flight and landing preparation.

Evaluating the Pertinence of Pose Estimation model for Sign Language Translation

Sign Language is the natural language used by a community that is hearing impaired. It is necessary to convert this language to a commonly understandable form as it is used by a comparatively small part of society. The automatic Sign Language interpreters can convert the signs into text or audio by interpreting the hand movements and the corresponding facial expression. These two modalities work in tandem to give complete meaning to each word. In verbal communication, emotions can be conveyed by changing the tone and pitch of the voice, but in sign language, emotions are expressed using nonmanual movements that include body posture and facial muscle movements. Each such subtle moment should be considered as a feature and extracted using different models. This paper proposes three different models that can be used for varying levels of sign language. The first test was carried out using the Convex Hull-based Sign Language Recognition (SLR) finger spelling sign language, next using a Convolution Neural Network-based Sign Language Recognition (CNN-SLR) for fingerspelling sign language, and finally pose-based SLR for word-level sign language. The experiments show that the pose-based SLR model that captures features using landmark or key points has better SLR accuracy than Convex Hull and CNN-based SLR models.

ESTEEM – Enhanced stability and throughput for energy efficient multihop routing based on Markov Chain Model in wireless body area networks

Wireless Medical Body Area Sensor Network (WMBASN) monitors vital human biological parameters used for various healthcare and fitness applications. The design and development of a reliable WMBASN routing protocol with improved network performance are significant tasks for researchers and healthcare industries. This work focuses on multi-hop routing to select a relay node to collect data from far away sensor nodes and to Central Coordinator Node (CCN). A novel approach for choosing best fitted Assistive Node (AN) by incorporating Hidden Markov Chain Model (HMCM) called Enhanced Stability and Throughput for Energy Efficient Multihop routing protocol (ESTEEM). Selection Function selects the best-fitted AN based on HMCM relating to maximum residual energy and minimum distance between the sensor node and CCN. The outcome of the proposed ESTEEM achieves increased throughput, better stability with the first dead node and extended network lifetime with the last dead node at 71% and 95.1% of total simulation time, respectively. In addition, the proposed work also concentrates on CCN placed at different positions on the human body to analyze and identify its best position for better routing. Overall, an improved multi-hop, energy efficiency and better quality of service are achieved based on specific network parameters with random postural movements through ESTEEM, and the results are superior to conventional routing protocols.

Stretchable and self-healable conductive hydrogel-based multifunctional triboelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting and dance motion sensing

Hydrogels with the integrated characteristics of adhesion, self-healing, deformability, and conductivity hold enormous potential for the design of next-generation flexible human body posture sensor and energy device. Here, we proposed a double-network hybrid polyacrylamide/poly(acrylic acid)/MXene/PEDOT:PET (PPMP) hydrogel with excellent flexibility, self-healing capabilities, and stability. Furthermore, the proposed PPMP conductive hydrogel with MXene/PDMS encapsulation layer can play the role of a wearable strain sensor that can be used to detect various dance movement postures, including those of facial expressions, blinking, and elbow joints. Additionally, the proposed PPMP hydrogel with MXene/PDMS encapsulation layer can function as a flexible and stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator (FS-TENG) to harvest human motion energy. The FS-TENG can obtain an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 169.2 V and a short-circuit current (Isc) of 9.6 µA. Moreover, the electric energy generated by these FS-TENGs can be used to drive hygrothermographs. This research offers a feasible strategy to design self-powered strain sensors for use in dance posture monitoring and energy harvesting in human motion.