Open Access

Sleep is essential to physical and mental health. However, the traditional approach to sleep analysis—polysomnography (PSG)—is intrusive and expensive. Therefore, there is great interest in the development of non-contact, non-invasive, and non-intrusive sleep monitoring systems and technologies that can reliably and accurately measure cardiorespiratory parameters with minimal impact on the patient. This has led to the development of other relevant approaches, which are characterised, for example, by the fact that they allow greater freedom of movement and do not require direct contact with the body, i.e., they are non-contact. This systematic review discusses the relevant methods and technologies for non-contact monitoring of cardiorespiratory activity during sleep. Taking into account the current state of the art in non-intrusive technologies, we can identify the methods of non-intrusive monitoring of cardiac and respiratory activity, the technologies and types of sensors used, and the possible physiological parameters available for analysis. To do this, we conducted a literature review and summarised current research on the use of non-contact technologies for non-intrusive monitoring of cardiac and respiratory activity. The inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of publications were established prior to the start of the search. Publications were assessed using one main question and several specific questions. We obtained 3774 unique articles from four literature databases (Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, and Scopus) and checked them for relevance, resulting in 54 articles that were analysed in a structured way using terminology. The result was 15 different types of sensors and devices (e.g., radar, temperature sensors, motion sensors, cameras) that can be installed in hospital wards and departments or in the environment. The ability to detect heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep disorders such as apnoea was among the characteristics examined to investigate the overall effectiveness of the systems and technologies considered for cardiorespiratory monitoring. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the considered systems and technologies were identified by answering the identified research questions. The results obtained allow us to determine the current trends and the vector of development of medical technologies in sleep medicine for future researchers and research.

Linear and nonlinear response functions (RF) are extracted for the climate system and the carbon cycle represented by the MPI-ESM and cGENIE models, respectively. Appropriately designed simulations are run for this purpose. Joining these RFs, we have a climate emulator with carbon emissions as the forcing and any desired observable quantity (provided the data is saved), such as the surface air temperature or precipitation, as the predictand. Like e.g. for atmospheric CO2 concentration, we also have RFs for the solar constant as a forcing — mimicking solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering. We consider two application cases. 1. One is based on the Paris 2015 agreement, determining the necessary least amount of SRM geoengineering needed to keep the global mean surface air temperature below a certain threshold, e.g. 1.5 or 2 [oC], given a certain amount of carbon emission abatement (ABA) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) geoengineering. 2. The other application considers the conservation of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Using a zero-dimensional simplification of a complex ice sheet model, we determine (a) if we need SRM given some ABA and CDR, and, if possible, (b) the required least amount of SRM to avoid the collapse of the GrIS. Keeping temperatures below 2 [oC] even is hardly possible without sustained SRM (1.); however, the collapse of the GrIS can be avoided applying SRM even for moderate levels of CDR and ABA, an overshoot being affordable (2.).

Wie kann Korpuslinguistik für den Fremdsprachenunterricht genutzt werden? Wie kann Data-driven Learning initiiert werden? Wer sich mit diesen Fragen beschäftigt und sich über den Einsatz im DaF-Unterricht informieren möchte, wird kaum fündig, denn die publizierten Materialien wurden in der Regel für den Englischunterricht verfasst. In dieser Sammelrezension werden daher vier Monografien vorgestellt, in denen der Einsatz der Korpuslinguistik zur Sprachvermittlung Englisch beschrieben wird. Es sollen die Schwerpunkte und Besonderheiten der Monografien herausgearbeitet und der mögliche Nutzen für Deutsch als Fremdsprache eruiert werden.

BACKGROUND: Future of digital public health and smart cities is interwoven and deeply linked. Citizen's and pet's conditions in their urban environment are critical for managing urbanization challenges and digital transformation. Inter- and Intra-connectivity of humans and animals take place in a dynamic space. In this environment, each one can share feelings and news over social media, and report an event happening at any time passively or actively via sensors or multimedia channels, respectively. One Digital Health (ODH) proposes a framework for collecting, managing, analyzing data, and supporting health-oriented policy development and implementation. Accident and Emergency Informatics gives tools to identify and manage overtime hazards and disruptive events, their victims and collaterals. OBJECTIVE: We aim to show how ODH framework, through implementing dynamic point of perceptions, supports the analysis of a use case involving a human and an animal in a technological environment-based urban, i.e., smart environment. METHODS: We describe an example of One Digital Health intervention wherein Accident and Emergency Informatics mechanisms run in the background. A One Digital Health Intervention is the implementation of a set of digital functionalities designed and deployed to (1) support specific initiatives that address human, animal, and environmental systems' needs and challenges; (2) assess and study these systems' outcomes and effects, and collect related data; (3) select timely metrics for the outcomes of multi-criteria decision analyses. This example intervention is based on the daily journey of two personas: Tracy (a human) and Mego (Tracy's dog). They live in a metropolis, and their activities are monitored and analyzed with IoT sensors, devices, and tools for preventing and managing any health-related abnormality. RESULTS: We built an example of an ODH Intervention summary table showing examples of "how to" analyze activities of daily living as part of an ODH Intervention. For each activity, its relations to the ODH dimensions are scored, and the relevant technical fields are evaluated in the light of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles prism. CONCLUSIONS: The example showcased of ODH intervention provides the basics to build real-world data-based research in a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) context to improve continuous health monitoring policies and systems, also for enhancing emergency management. One Digital Health framework provides medical and environmental informaticians, decision-makers, and citizens with tools for improving their daily actions. The additional, integrating Accident and Emergency Informatics layer allows them to better set forth their preparedness and response to potentially acute health-related events. The whole data management cycle must also be processed in a FAIRness way.

Purpose In order to combat climate change and safeguard a liveable future we need fundamental and rapid social change. Climate communication can play an important role to nurture the public engagement needed for this change, and higher education for sustainability can learn from climate communication. Approach The scientific evidence base on climate communication for effective public engagement is summarised into ten key principles, including ‘basing communication on people’s values’, ‘conscious use of framing’, and ‘turning concern into action’. Based on the author’s perspective and experience in the university context, implications are explored for sustainability in higher education. Findings The article provides suggestions for teaching (e.g. complement information with consistent behaviour by the lecturer, integrate local stories, and provide students with basic skills to communicate climate effectively), for research (e.g. make teaching for effective engagement the subject of applied research), for universities’ third mission to contribute to sustainable development in the society (e.g. provide climate communication trainings to empower local stakeholders), andgreening the campus (develop a proper engagement infrastructure, e.g. by a university storytelling exchange on climate action). Originality The article provides an up-to-date overview of climate communication research, which is in itself original. This evidence base holds interesting learnings for institutions of higher education, and the link between climate communication and universities has so far not been explored comprehensively.

Sleep disorders can impact daily life, affecting physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Due to the time-consuming, highly obtrusive, and expensive nature of using the standard approaches such as polysomnography, it is of great interest to develop a noninvasive and unobtrusive in-home sleep monitoring system that can reliably and accurately measure cardiorespiratory parameters while causing minimal discomfort to the user’s sleep. We developed a low-cost Out of Center Sleep Testing (OCST) system with low complexity to measure cardiorespiratory parameters. We tested and validated two force-sensitive resistor strip sensors under the bed mattress covering the thoracic and abdominal regions. Twenty subjects were recruited, including 12 males and 8 females. The ballistocardiogram signal was processed using the 4th smooth level of the discrete wavelet transform and the 2nd order of the Butterworth bandpass filter to measure the heart rate and respiration rate, respectively. We reached a total error (concerning the reference sensors) of 3.24 beats per minute and 2.32 rates for heart rate and respiration rate, respectively. For males and females, heart rate errors were 3.47 and 2.68, and respiration rate errors were 2.32 and 2.33, respectively. We developed and verified the reliability and applicability of the system. It showed a minor dependency on sleeping positions, one of the major cumbersome sleep measurements. We identified the sensor under the thoracic region as the optimal configuration for cardiorespiratory measurement. Although testing the system with healthy subjects and regular patterns of cardiorespiratory parameters showed promising results, further investigation is required with the bandwidth frequency and validation of the system with larger groups of subjects, including patients.

Background This is a systematic review protocol to identify automated features, applied technologies, and algorithms in the electronic early warning/track and triage system (EW/TTS) developed to predict clinical deterioration (CD). Methodology This study will be conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to evaluate the features of EW/TTS in terms of their automated features, technologies, and algorithms. To this end, we will include any English articles reporting an EW/TTS without time limitation. Retrieved records will be independently screened by two authors and relevant data will be extracted from studies and abstracted for further analysis. The included articles will be evaluated independently using the JBI critical appraisal checklist by two researchers. Discussion This study is an effort to address the available automated features in the electronic version of the EW/TTS to shed light on the applied technologies, automated level of systems, and utilized algorithms in order to smooth the road toward the fully automated EW/TTS as one of the potential solutions of prevention CD and its adverse consequences.

The World Health Organization recognizes physical activity as an influencing domain on quality of life. Monitoring, evaluating, and supervising it by wearable devices can contribute to the early detection and progress assessment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, rehabilitation, and exercises in telehealth, as well as abrupt events such as a fall. In this work, we use a non-invasive and non-intrusive flexible wearable device for 3D spine pose measurement to monitor and classify physical activity. We develop a comprehensive protocol that consists of 10 indoor, 4 outdoor, and 8 transition states activities in three categories of static, dynamic, and transition in order to evaluate the applicability of the flexible wearable device in human activity recognition. We implement and compare the performance of three neural networks: long short-term memory (LSTM), convolutional neural network (CNN), and a hybrid model (CNN-LSTM). For ground truth, we use an accelerometer and strips data. LSTM reached an overall classification accuracy of 98% for all activities. The CNN model with accelerometer data delivered better performance in lying down (100%), static (standing = 82%, sitting = 75%), and dynamic (walking = 100%, running = 100%) positions. Data fusion improved the outputs in standing (92%) and sitting (94%), while LSTM with the strips data yielded a better performance in bending-related activities (bending forward = 49%, bending backward = 88%, bending right = 92%, and bending left = 100%), the combination of data fusion and principle components analysis further strengthened the output (bending forward = 100%, bending backward = 89%, bending right = 100%, and bending left = 100%). Moreover, the LSTM model detected the first transition state that is similar to fall with the accuracy of 84%. The results show that the wearable device can be used in a daily routine for activity monitoring, recognition, and exercise supervision, but still needs further improvement for fall detection.

Multi-faceted stresses of social, environmental, and economic nature are increasingly challenging the existence and sustainability of our societies. Cities in particular are disproportionately threatened by global issues such as climate change, urbanization, population growth, air pollution, etc. In addition, urban space is often too limited to effectively develop sustainable, nature-based solutions while accommodating growing populations. This research aims to provide new methodologies by proposing lightweight green bridges in inner-city areas as an effective land value capture mechanism. Geometry analysis was performed using geospatial and remote sensing data to provide geometrically feasible locations of green bridges. A multi-criteria decision analysis was applied to identify suitable locations for green bridges investigating Central European urban centers with a focus on German cities as representative examples. A cost-benefit analysis was performed to assess the economic feasibility using a case study. The results of the geometry analysis identified 3249 locations that were geometrically feasible to implement a green bridge in German cities. The sample locations from the geometry analysis were proved to be validated for their implementation potential. Multi-criteria decision analysis was used to select 287 sites that fall under the highest suitable class based on several criteria. The cost-benefit analysis of the case study showed that the market value of the property alone can easily outweigh the capital and maintenance costs of a green bridge, while the indirect (monetary) benefits of the green space continue to increase the overall value of the green bridge property including its neighborhood over time. Hence, we strongly recommend light green bridges as financially sustainable and nature-based solutions in cities worldwide.

The paper gives an introduction as well as background information on proposed changes and amendments in EN 1993-1-11 “Design of structures with tension components”, implemented during the ongoing revision. Due to some deficits in the currently applicable standard this revision is not only limited to some restructuring and editorial changes, but includes also major technical changes in the following fields: safety concept and structural analysis, actions and loads, robustness and rep-arability, design of tension components and design of clamps and saddles.

Part I deals with material modelling of woven fabric membranes. Due to their structure of crossed yarns embedded in coating, woven fabric membranes are characterised by a highly nonlinear stress-strain behaviour. In order to determine an accurate structural response of membrane structures, a suitable description of the material behaviour is required. A linear elastic orthotropic model approach, which is current practice, only allows a relative coarse approximation of the material behaviour. The present work focuses on two different material approaches: A first approach becomes evident by focusing on the meso-scale. The inhomogeneous, however periodic structure of woven fabrics motivates for microstructural modelling. An established microstructural model is considered and enhanced with regard to the coating stiffness. Secondly, an anisotropic hyperelastic material model for woven fabric membranes is considered. By performing inverse processes of parameter identification, fits of the two different material models w.r.t. measured data from a common biaxial test are shown. The results of the inversely parametrised material models are compared and discussed. Part II presents an extended approach for a simultaneous form finding and cutting patterning computation of membrane structures. The approach is formulated as an optimisation problem in which both the geometries of the equilibrium and cutting patterning configuration are initially unknown. The design objectives are minimum deviations from prescribed stresses in warp and fill direction along with minimum shear deformation. The equilibrium equations are introduced into the optimisation problem as constraints. Additional design criteria can be formulated (for the geometry of seam lines etc.). Similar to the motivation for the Updated Reference Strategy [4] the described problem is singular in the tangent plane. In both the equilibrium and the cutting patterning configuration finite element nodes can move without changing stresses. Therefore, several approaches are presented to stabilise the algorithm. The overall result of the computation is a stressed equilibrium and an unstressed cutting patterning geometry. The interaction of both configurations is described in Total Lagrangian formulation. The microstructural model, which is focused in Part I, is applied. Based on this approach, information about fibre orientation as well as the ending of fibres at cutting edges are available. As a result, more accurate results can be computed compared to simpler approaches commonly used in practice.

The digital transformation of business processes and the integration of IT systems leads to opportunities and risks for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Risks that can result in a lack of IT Governance, Risk and Compliance (IT-GRC). The purpose of this paper is to present the current state of the research project. With this, the Design Science Research approach based on Hevner is using. Based on the phase of Problem Identification and Objectives, this paper will deal with the development of an artefact and thus present the draft of the Design phase. The artefact will be developed by selecting relevant existing frameworks and standards and the identification of SME-specific conditions.

The development of a new product can be accelerated by using an approach called crowdsourcing. The engineers compete and try their best to provide the related solution based on the given product requirement submitted in the online crowdsourcing platform. The one who has submitted the best solution get a financial reward. This approach is proven to be three time faster than the conventional one. However, the crowdsourcing process is usually not transparent to a new user. The risk for the execution of a new project for developing a new product is not easy to be calculated [1, 2]. We developed a method InnoCrowd to handle this problem and the new user could use during the planning of a new product development project. This system uses AI concepts to generate a knowledgebase representing histories of successful product development projects. The system uses the knowledge to determine qualitative and quantitative risks of a new project. This paper describes the new method, the InnoCrowd design, and results of a validation experiment based on data from a current crowdsourcing platform. Finally, we compare InnoCrowd to related methods and systems in terms of design and benefits.

Digitization extends to all areas of people's lives and processes, including public administration and government technology (GovTech for short). However, there are various problems here, such as the inappropriate development of new application systems, that are to be solved efficiently by combining two aspects: methodical digitization according to the process-driven approach and the idea of an app store for processes. This simultaneously fuels a process competition to advance methodical process digitization in the EU. Furthermore, this study explains the target-oriented use of this “firing” within the EU and concludes with a proposal of a new 3-schema architecture standard for successful process digitization within the EU.

The digital transformation of business processes and the integration of IT systems leads to opportunities and risks for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Risks that can result in a lack of IT compliance. The purpose of this research-in-progress paper is to present the current state of a IT-Governance-Risk-Compliance (IT-GRC) research-project. First, the results of an already conducted literature research will be discussed, combined with qualitative interviews (expert survey) of persons close to IT compliance. In the context of this paper, a first design approach will be developed by selecting relevant existing frameworks and standards and the identification of SME-specific conditions. The first design is intended to contribute a further artefact conception of tailoring approaches and standards and the creation of a guidance.

Dissipation of heat can be a major challenge when applying sensor systems outdoors under varying environmental conditions. Typically, complex software and knowledge is needed to optimize thermal management. In this paper it is shown how the thermal optimization of a LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor can be performed efficiently. This approach uses standard CAD (computer aided design) software, which is readily available, and saves time and cost as the thermal design can be optimized before experimental realisation. A four-step process was developed and realized: (i) Measurement of the thermal energy distribution of the current sensor design; (ii) Simulation of the time-dependant thermal behaviour using standard CAD software; (iii) Simulation of a thermally optimized design. This was compared quantitatively with the original design and was also used for verification of sufficient increase in heat dissipation; (iv) Experimental realisation and verification of the optimized design. It could be shown that the optimized prototype shows significantly improved thermal behaviour in accordance with the predictions from the simulations. The new LiDAR sensor shows lower heat generation and optimized dissipation of thermal energy which proofs the applicability of the approach to complex sensors.