Search Results (315)

This study aimed to evaluate the within-system agreement and interchangeability of real-time and post-processed external load metrics in elite football. Data were collected from 50 official Serie A matches using Dynamix (K-Sport World S.R.L., Pesaro, Italy), the platform for acquiring and standardizing tracking inputs. SmartLive, a real-time monitoring module embedded within Dynamix, was compared with post-processed data from the league-approved optical tracking provider (Hawk-Eye Innovations Limited, Basingstoke, UK) in Serie A. The external load metrics analyzed included total distance covered; distances at speeds exceeding 15, 20, and 25 km·h⁻¹; distances within the 15–20 km·h⁻¹ and 20–25 km·h⁻¹ ranges; distance covered during accelerations > 2 m·s⁻² and decelerations < −2 m·s⁻²; and peak speed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) demonstrated excellent agreement across all metrics, with values ranging from 0.929 to 0.999. Bland–Altman analysis revealed small mean differences between systems, indicating strong agreement. Overall, the findings confirm that both real-time and post-processed data are in close agreement across a wide range of performance metrics. Minor discrepancies were observed in intermediate speed zones and acceleration/deceleration events. This study provides the first validation of SmartLive’s within-system agreement with post-processed data, supporting its use alongside post-processed data in elite football environments. Full article

Background: Low-cost virtual reality exergames may help maintain and improve postural control in children with spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy (CP). This study aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of the same six-week, low-cost exergame programme delivered via telerehabilitation (TR) and face-to-face (FF) in CP children. Methods: In this randomised controlled trial, 15 CP patients completed 18 sessions over 6 weeks. The TR group received remotely delivered sessions, whereas the FF control group completed in-person sessions with a physiotherapist. Outcomes were assessed at baseline; weeks 2, 4, and 6; and follow-ups at weeks 8 and 10. Postural control (centre-of-pressure sway area; CoP_sway) was measured during eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), voluntary mediolateral sway to a 30 bpm auditory cue (EO/EC), and during exergames targeting mediolateral (ML-WS) and anteroposterior (AP-WS) weight-shifting. Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS) were also assessed. Results: At week 6, both TR and FF significantly reduced CoP_sway (TR: p = 0.001, EC; FF: p = 0.01, EO). TR also improved dynamic postural control (p < 0.05) and TUG scores (p = 0.03), with functional gains sustained until week 10. Between-group comparisons revealed that TR achieved significantly greater reductions in AP weight-shifting (SD_ML, p = 0.001; V_ML, p = 0.004) and TUG (p = 0.009) than FF, with these advantages persisting throughout follow-up as revealed by post hoc analysis. Conversely, only FF significantly reduced ankle muscle tone (MMAS, p = 0.05). TR demonstrated broader improvements in secondary CoP metrics and superior long-term retention of functional mobility gains. Conclusions: Both six-week exergame interventions led to improvements in postural control. This trial demonstrated that telerehabilitation is a viable, comparable alternative to face-to-face delivery. Long-term retention suggests both modalities are complementary, offering flexible solutions to enhance routine physiotherapy service pathways. These findings provide a basis for validating these models across larger clinical cohorts. Full article

This study proposes a robust hybrid framework for iris segmentation in covert biometric systems, specifically addressing the challenge of non-ideal images featuring fully or nearly closed eyes. To overcome the limitations of traditional geometric methods, this study implements a SqueezeNet-based Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) for rapid eye-state classification. Comparative analysis with various pretrained DCNN models indicates that SqueezeNet provides an optimal balance of accuracy and efficiency, requiring only 1.24 million parameters and a minimal memory footprint of 5.2 MB. For iris contour demarcation, the proposed algorithm combines the Circular Hough Transform (CHT) with global gray-level statistics and anatomical constraints to facilitate reliable iris localization. Utilizing image decimation, percentile-based thresholding, and Canny edge detection, it systematically delineates the limbic and pupillary boundaries. This improved search methodology ensures precise contour delineation, even under sub-optimal imaging circumstances. The proposed algorithm was validated on a novel dataset encompassing challenging conditions such as specular reflections, blur, non-uniform illumination, and varying degrees of occlusion, including nearly or fully closed eyes. Experimental results demonstrate superior segmentation accuracy and significant computational efficiency, underscoring the model’s potential for real-time biometric applications in unconstrained environments. Full article

Purpose: To evaluate the 1 year behavior of accommodation and optical quality one year after the implantation of phakic intraocular lenses, specifically the implantable collamer lens (ICL), in myopic patients, comparing outcomes between low- and high-myopia groups. Methods: This comparative longitudinal study included 38 eyes of 38 patients who underwent ICL implantation for myopia correction. Patients were divided into two groups based on preoperative manifest sphere: low myopia (−2.50 D to −6.25 D) and high myopia (>−6.25 D to −12.50 D). The amplitude of accommodation (AA), subjective accommodative response (AR), optical quality parameters including the modulation transfer function (MTF) cut-off, objective scatter index (OSI) and Strehl ratio (SR), and objective accommodative response with a double-pass system (HD Analyzer, Visiometrics) were assessed preoperatively, 1 month, and 1 year postoperatively. Results: Both groups achieved postoperative refractive outcomes close to emmetropia, with high efficacy and safety indices. A statistically significant decrease in the amplitude of accommodation was observed at 1 month and remained stable at 1 year in both groups; however, this change was not clinically meaningful. The optical quality parameters (MTF cut-off, OSI, and Strehl ratio) and objective accommodative response with the HD Analyzer showed no clinically relevant changes over time, with no significant intergroup differences detected (p-value > 0.05). Conclusions: An initial reduction in accommodative amplitude was observed after ICL implantation without recovery over time; however, it was not clinically relevant, as it fell within the test–retest variability in the minus lens technique. Other accommodative parameters and optical quality remained stable at 1 year in both low and high myopia. Full article

Background: Stroke-related impairments in balance and gait are among the most common and disabling sequelae, significantly limiting functional independence and increasing fall risk. This study investigated the effects of short-term dynamic balance training on balance and gait in post-stroke hemiplegic patients. Methods: In this randomized controlled pilot trial, 16 post-stroke hemiplegic patients (intervention group, n = 8; control group, n = 8; mean age ≈ 58 years; predominantly male) were assigned to either a control group receiving conventional rehabilitation or an intervention group receiving additional daily dynamic balance training using the Prokin-252 system (30 min/day, 5 days/week, 3 weeks). Primary outcome measures included balance performance (Berg Balance Scale, mini-BESTest, single-leg stance), center-of-pressure (COP) parameters, gait performance (Timed Up and Go Test), and surface electromyography (sEMG) activity. Results: Following the intervention, both groups demonstrated improvements; however, the intervention group showed significantly greater gains in balance and gait outcomes. Specifically, Berg Balance Scale scores improved significantly (p = 0.012), as did mini-BESTest scores (p = 0.004). Eyes-closed single-leg stance time increased significantly on both sides (p < 0.05). COP analysis revealed reductions in sway area and trajectory length under challenging conditions. sEMG analysis indicated increased activation of the affected-side gluteus medius. In terms of gait performance, the intervention group demonstrated greater improvements in Timed Up and Go Test performance (p = 0.002), dual-task walking, and gait phase symmetry. Conclusions: Supplementing conventional rehabilitation with dynamic balance training effectively enhances balance and gait function in post-stroke patients, potentially through improved neuromuscular control. The integration of sensor-based COP analysis and sEMG provides additional mechanistic insight into rehabilitation outcomes. Full article

In response to the redundant spatio-temporal modeling and insufficient adaptation to dynamic decision-making in eye-tracking interaction of smart home interfaces, a smart home interface eye-tracking response optimization model based on spatio-temporal Transformer and gate control cross-attention is proposed. It adapts the physiological characteristics of eye-tracking jumps through dynamic sparse attention gating to compress computational redundancy and combines multi-objective reinforcement learning attention modulation to construct a closed-loop decision-making mechanism, optimizing interface parameters in real-time. Experiments showed that the model reduced eye-tracking trajectory prediction error by 23.7% compared to advanced benchmarks, increased the success rate of adapting to dynamic mutation scenarios to 89.2%, and controlled performance fluctuations within 2.3% under noise interference. In high-fidelity user testing, the accuracy of cross-task gaze transfer reached 93.4%, the failure rate of glare interference was optimized to 2.4%, and the user cognitive load index was reduced by 27.9%. Its resource consumption and energy consumption were reduced by 26.7% and 44.9%, respectively, while its posture deviation tolerance remained at 3.5°. The sparse spatio-temporal modeling of the spatio-temporal adaptive Transformer module and the enhanced gating mechanism of the hierarchical gated cross-attention module work together to break through the limitations of traditional methods in computational efficiency and dynamic feedback, providing high-precision and low-latency eye-tracking interaction solutions for smart home interface systems, and promoting the practical evolution of personalized human–machine collaborative control. Full article

This study examined temporal scalp electroencephalography (EEG) absolute power and brief self-reported psychological state measures before and after participation in a Life Story Program (LSP) in older adults. Five older women participated in the study. For each participant, pre- and post-assessments were scheduled at approximately the same time of day and included a brief four-item questionnaire and biosignal acquisition in a controlled seated environment. EEG was recorded at 500 Hz from T5 and T6 during an eyes-closed resting condition. For EEG analysis, only non-speaking segments were used; the initial 3–5 min stabilization period was excluded, and the subsequent 10 min of data were analyzed. One participant was excluded after outlier screening, resulting in a final EEG sample of four participants. EEG preprocessing included linear detrending, 60 Hz notch filtering, 0.5–50 Hz band-pass filtering, artifact rejection, and Welch-based estimation of absolute power in the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Given the small sample size, all analyses were treated as exploratory. Questionnaire responses remained generally stable across assessments. No statistically significant pre–post differences were observed after false discovery rate correction, although small reductions, particularly in the gamma band, were observed. These findings should be interpreted as preliminary observations requiring confirmation in larger controlled studies with broader multichannel EEG coverage and more robust recording configurations. Full article

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is the most common intraocular malignancy. If left untreated, Rb can result in death within 1–2 years. However, with timely detection and proper treatment, the survival rate is as high as 98%. The primary goal of Rb treatment is to eliminate cancer and save the patient’s life, while the second goal includes preserving the eye and vision. Management of Rb requires timely detection, differentiation of the tumor from similar conditions, staging, making informed decisions about the best therapeutic approach, and close follow-up to detect any signs of tumor recurrence. There are several treatment options available for Rb. Early detection and proper treatment are essential in saving the lives and vision of children affected by Rb. Progress in developing efficient diagnostic and therapeutic techniques brings hope to patients with Rb and their families. The PubMed database was utilized to identify relevant references published during the last 35 years. This article shows basic and current concepts on managing Rb, which encompasses diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, follow-up, and challenges. Full article

Background: Children and adolescents with hearing loss frequently experience reduced participation in physical activity and impairments in balance and postural control, often associated with vestibular dysfunction and altered sensory integration. In this context, school-based motor interventions may represent an accessible strategy to support functional balance. The present study investigated the effects of a 12-week dance- and rhythm-based motor programme implemented within the school curriculum on static and dynamic balance in students with hearing loss. Methods: Twenty-five participants were randomly allocated to an experimental group (n = 15), which received the intervention in addition to standard curricular activities, or to a control group (n = 10), which continued with regular school-based physical activity only. Balance was assessed at baseline and post-intervention using stabilometric measures under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions and the Pediatric Reach Test. Results: Stabilometric outcomes showed mixed patterns: improvements over time were observed in both groups under eyes-closed conditions, whereas under eyes-open conditions greater reductions in sway were detected in the control group. A significant Group × Time interaction emerged exclusively for backward reach performance and for the composite balance score, indicating a relative preservation of posterior dynamic balance and a more favourable multidimensional adaptation in the experimental group. Conclusions: These findings suggest that dance- and rhythm-oriented motor activities integrated into school settings may support specific, functionally relevant components of balance in students with hearing loss, although the results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and the heterogeneity of the participants. Full article

Apple picking is an inherently labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly task, and robotic harvesting represents a potential alternative to address this challenge. This study presents the development and field evaluation of an integrated robotic system for apple harvesting, which combines machine vision, a dual four-degree-of-freedom (DoF) manipulator, and a mobile platform. The harvesting mechanism employed a streamlined 4-DoF manipulator driven by closed-loop stepper motors, incorporating a differential gear mechanism to execute yaw and pitch motions. Trajectory planning utilized linear interpolation with a harmonic acceleration/deceleration profile to ensure smooth end-effector movement. Fruit detection and localization within the canopy were performed by a stereo vision system running a lightweight deep neural network, achieving a mean hand-eye calibration accuracy of 4.7 ± 2.7 mm. Three negative-pressure driven soft end-effector designs—a suction soft end-effector (SSE), a grasping soft end-effector (GSE), and a suction-grasping soft end-effector (SGSE)—were assessed for their harvesting performance. Field trials conducted in a commercial spindle orchard demonstrated that the GSE achieved the highest performance, with a harvesting success rate of 80.80% among reachable fruits, a full-process success rate (from detection to collection) of 61.59%, an overall fruit damage rate of 10.89%, and an average single-fruit cycle time of 5.27 s. In contrast, the SSE and SGSE showed lower success rates (49.21% and 64.71%, respectively). This work provides a practical robotic harvesting solution. It validates the feasibility of a zoned, multi-manipulator harvesting strategy and delivers comparative data to guide the development of more efficient and robust harvesting robots. Full article

Background/Objectives: Peripheral vestibular hypofunction (PVH) commonly causes dizziness, imbalance, gait disturbances, and reduced quality of life. Task-oriented circuit training (TOCT) is a rehabilitation approach in which patients perform structured, task-specific functional movements repetitively to improve real-life motor performance. TOCT integrates functional, multisensory, and repetitive exercises based on motor learning and neuroplasticity principles, potentially enhancing rehabilitation outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of TOCT on dizziness, vertigo, balance, gait, disability, and quality of life in patients with PVH. Methods: In this single-blind, randomized controlled trial, 28 patients with PVH were randomly allocated to either a task-oriented circuit training (TOCT) group (n = 16) or a control group (n = 12). The control group performed a conventional home-based vestibular exercise program consisting of gaze stabilization and walking exercises. The TOCT group completed 25 task-specific stations, targeting gaze stabilization, balance, and gait, three times per week for four weeks. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and post-intervention using the Visual Analog Scale for dizziness and vertigo, the Sensory Organization Test for balance, spatiotemporal gait analysis, and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) for disability and quality of life. Data were analyzed using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, with the group × time interaction used to determine whether changes over time differed between the TOCT and control groups. Results: Significant time × group interactions favored TOCT for dizziness severity, vertigo severity, vestibular-related balance parameters, cadence during eyes-closed walking, and DHI total scores (p < 0.05). Within-group analyses demonstrated moderate-to-large improvements in all measured outcomes for the TOCT group, whereas the control group showed limited improvements in dizziness measures and minimal changes in balance, gait, and DHI scores. Conclusions: Task-oriented circuit training significantly improves dizziness, vertigo, balance, gait, disability, and overall quality of life in patients with PVH compared with conventional home-based vestibular exercises. Incorporating functional, multisensory, and task-specific activities within structured circuits may optimize vestibular rehabilitation outcomes. Full article

This study compared collegiate sprinters from two common admission routes in China to identify pathway-associated differences that may inform subsequent training for athletes entering via the Physical Education College Entrance Examination pathway. Twenty male collegiate sprinters were allocated to a Sports Independent Enrollment group and a Physical Education College Entrance Examination group, with ten participants in each. Participants completed isokinetic knee testing, drop jump tests, static balance tests, and drop jump electromyography assessment. Isokinetic outcomes were largely comparable between groups, although the Sports Independent Enrollment group showed faster time to reach peak torque in the nondominant-side knee extensors. In drop jumps, the Sports Independent Enrollment group demonstrated higher reactive strength, shorter ground contact time, greater leg stiffness normalized to body weight, and shorter propulsion duration. Electromyography patterns differed between groups across movement phases. Balance differences were mainly observed under the single-leg eyes-closed condition in unadjusted comparisons, but none remained significant after false discovery rate adjustment. Overall, between-group differences were more evident in rapid force production and neuromuscular control than in the magnitude of isokinetic strength. These findings provide practical targets for designing subsequent training priorities for athletes entering through the Physical Education College Entrance Examination pathway. Full article

Large language models (LLMs) exhibit strong semantic reasoning capabilities for autonomous driving decision-making; however, their substantial inference latency poses a critical challenge for real-time closed-loop vehicle control. This study proposes an engineering-oriented framework to enable latency-constrained LLM-based decision-making by integrating bird’s-eye-view (BEV) structured perception with low-bit quantized inference. The BEV perception module compresses multi-view visual inputs into structured semantic representations, thereby reducing input redundancy and enhancing inference efficiency. In addition, 4-bit post-training quantization (PTQ), combined with an optimized inference engine, is employed to alleviate computational and memory bandwidth constraints during autoregressive decoding. Experiments conducted on the CARLA simulation platform under car-following, overtaking, and mixed driving scenarios—validated through 500 independent trials—demonstrate that the proposed framework substantially reduces end-to-end inference latency while maintaining stable decision-making performance. The results indicate that the system satisfies the 10 Hz real-time control requirement and significantly improves control quality, as evidenced by reduced collision rates and lower Average Jerk compared with both traditional imitation learning (Behavioral Cloning, BC) and the Transformer-based TransFuser baseline. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness of the framework under environmental degradation and perception noise, underscoring the practical feasibility of deploying LLMs for safe and reliable closed-loop autonomous driving. Full article

This study evaluated the test–retest reliability of a depth sensor-based Fukuda Stepping Test and examined associations between sensor-derived kinematic parameters and established clinical outcomes in older adults. Eighty-six community-dwelling older adults (mean age 70.3 ± 4.7 years) performed an eyes-closed stepping task monitored by a Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor. Clinical assessments included the Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go test, Five Times Sit-to-Stand, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and WHOQOL-OLD. Test–retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients in a randomly selected subgroup. Reliability estimates varied across parameters, with temporal and displacement-based measures demonstrating more consistent agreement across sessions, whereas selected angular variables showed greater variability. Correlation analyses identified statistically significant associations between trunk kinematic changes and clinical measures, with effect sizes generally ranging from weak to moderate magnitude. Upper trunk rotation was associated with functional mobility measures, while traditional displacement-based metrics demonstrated limited clinical relationships. These findings support the feasibility of markerless depth-sensing technology for objective quantification of movement during the Fukuda Stepping Test and highlight the potential contribution of segmental kinematic parameters to multidimensional functional assessment in older adults. Full article

Background: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a common functional disorder in older adults, affecting their balance and quality of life. Therefore, finding effective ways to enhance ankle stability and function under safe conditions remains a key issue for healthy aging. Objective: This study aims to explore the effects of the Otago Exercise Program (OEP) combined with Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) on ankle stability, the pain index, and balance ability in older adults aged 60 and above with CAI. Methods: This study is a single-blind pilot randomized controlled trial, including 36 eligible older adults with CAI, with 34 completing the trial. Participants were randomly assigned to the OEP group, the combined group (OEP + NMES), and the control group. The intervention period lasted 8 weeks. Evaluation measures included the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Eyes-closed Single-Leg Stance Test (UST), and the Modified Star Excursion Balance Test (mSEBT), with assessments conducted before the intervention, at week 4, and at week 8. Result: After the intervention, all three groups showed significant improvements in CAIT, VAS, UST, and mSEBT scores (p < 0.05), with a large group × time effect observed for the primary outcome CAIT (partial η² = 0.414). The combined group (OEP + NMES) demonstrated the most significant improvement in CAIT and UST scores (p < 0.05) and outperformed the other two groups in dynamic balance in the posteromedial and posterolateral directions. Conclusions: The combined intervention of OEP and NMES significantly improves ankle stability, both static and dynamic balance abilities, and alleviates pain in older adults with CAI. This combined approach offers a safe and effective rehabilitation strategy for the older adults, with promising clinical application prospects. Full article