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Blended learning is increasingly gaining importance in all levels of educational system, particularly in tertiary education. In engineering profiles the core blended learning activity is students' independent work, the efficiency of which is defined by the degree of students' active involvement into the educational process, their ability to absorb new knowledge independently, on their own. Our research is aimed at the analysis of blended learning and at revealing the approaches meant to activate students' independent work in blended learning based on LMS Moodle platform. The characteristic feature of the suggested approach is the orientation towards skills and work methods mastering carried out in the form of professional competencies training at practical classes and laboratory workshops. For the purpose of our research we used one of the most interactive Moodle tools--"workshop" in order to fulfill informational, educational and monitoring functions of learning. The use of the tool allowed revealing drawbacks of the method under study and managing these drawbacks in the most effective way. The paper contains the description of students' learning and independent work which would stimulate students' activity, self-management and develop their communicative skills. The outcomes of the current research proved that the approaches suggested significantly stir students' interest, thus, enhancing students their learning motivation, development of critical thinking and self-reflection, which altogether facilitate understanding theoretical material, encourage the development of practical skills and promote the pursue of academic goals.

Wearable technologies provide many possibilities for applications in medicine, and especially in physiotherapy, where tracking and evaluation of body motion are of utmost importance. Despite the existence of multiple smart garments produced for applications in physiotherapy, there is limited information available on the actual impact of these technologies on the clinical outcomes. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the Double Aid (DAid) smart shirt, a purely textile-based system, on the training process of patients with subacromial pain syndrome. A randomized controlled trial was performed where patients with subacromial pain syndrome had to perform the assigned training exercises while employing the DAid smart shirt system. The core point of each exercise was to perform a movement while holding the shoulders stationary. The smart shirt was designed to sense even slight shoulder motion thus providing the patient with feedback on the accuracy of the motion, and allowing the patient to adjust the movement. The appropriate muscles should be strengthened through an increased effort to control the shoulder motion. The recovery of patients using the feedback system at the end of the treatment was compared to that of a reference group through standardized tests—the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score (DASH score), Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability test (CKCUES test), and internal/external rotation ratio. The test group that used the DAid system demonstrated significantly better results of the performed tests for all applied outcome measures compared to the reference group (p < 0.001). An overall positive impact on the patient recovery was observed from the DAid smart shirt system when applied for rehabilitation training of patients with subacromial pain syndrome.

A comparative study of surface acid-base properties is performed for silica and alumina nanoparticles prepared by different methods, including liquid phase syntheses, plasma-chemical methods and electric explosion. According to the data of IR-spectroscopy and dynamic pH-metry, surface characteristics, particularly the predominance of certain centers, such as acidic or basic Lewis or Brønsted sites, significantly vary for samples with the same chemical and phase composition depending on the applied synthetic procedure. The obtained results demonstrate a possibility to adjust the functional composition of the surface of disperse nanosized materials and importance of the study of its acid-base (donor-acceptor) properties responsible for the interaction with the environment and other materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The manner in which shooters pull the trigger may significantly affect the shooter's results. Shooting coaches are often not able to detect incorrect pull because of gun movement during the shot and recoil.Objective: Development of the smart-textile based trigger pull monitoring system and demonstration of its ability to distinguish correct and wrong triggering techniques.Methods: Two separated knitted resistive pressure sensors were integrated over III and II phalanges in the index finger fingerstall; single sensor was integrated over both III and II phalanges of the middle finger fingerstall. Resistance of the sensors was measured in a course of shots, performed by expert shooter, which simulated typical novice's trigger pull errors.Results: Sensors' resistance recordings were made for following erroneous trigger pull motions: pulling of the trigger with index finger's II phalanx instead of III; fast and jerky trigger pull (trigger tear-off); too fast release of the trigger after shot; and excessive grip force, applied by middle finger. For each type of erroneous movement, recordings waveforms included distinguishable features that characterised a particular type of error.Conclusions: The developed trigger pull monitoring system provides signals that could be used for recognition of the incorrect trigger pull motions during gun shots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plantar pressure measurement has been proven to produce crucial information for gait analysis. Socks with integrated textile pressure sensors are a promising tool for non-obtrusive plantar pressure acquisition and monitoring.Research Question: Can the DAid Pressure Socks System be employed for the measurement of plantar pressure and temporal parameters during walking?Method: Plantar pressure measurement was acquired simultaneously by the DAid Pressure Socks System (DPSS) and Pedar® insole measurement system for a normal walking gait of 17 volunteers. The measurement from both systems was processed and gait temporal parameters were calculated. The calculated temporal parameters included stride time, step time, stance time, swing time, single support time, double support time, and cadence. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was calculated to evaluate the agreement between the plantar pressure measurement and temporal parameters obtained from both systems.Results: For plantar pressure measurement, excellent agreement (ICC > 0.90) was achieved in approximately 23 % cases, while in roughly 37 %, 27 %, and 13 % cases the agreement was good (ICC > 0.75), moderate (ICC > 0.50), and poor (ICC < 0.50), respectively. The mean relative differences (as a percentage) between the temporal parameter values calculated from the measurement of both systems were 0.80 % (stride time), 3.06 % (step time), 3.15 % (stance time), 5.08 % (swing time / opposite single support time), 14.47 % (double support time), and 0.78 % (cadence).Significance: The ICC result calculated for the plantar pressure measurement indicated a reasonable agreement between both systems. Additionally, the relatively low mean difference was observed for 5 out of 6 calculated temporal gait parameters. Consequently, the presented DPSS could be considered as a substitute for the commercial gait analysis tools for applications that do not require great accuracy of the absolute plantar pressure measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structure and self-polarization of P(VDF-TrFE) Langmuir-Blodgett nanofilms were analyzed under temperature-driven phase transitions, according to their thickness, composition, and structural conformation. Both thermo-stimulated exoelectron emission (TSEE) spectroscopy and computational simulation, including quantum-chemical calculations from first principles, were carried out. PVDF and composite P(VDF-TrFE) (70:30) molecular chains as Trans and Gauche conformers, as well as crystal cells, were modeled for these TSEE analyses. The quantum-chemical calculations and the computational simulation were based on the density functional theory (DFT) as well as semi-empirical (PM3) methods. It was demonstrated that the energy of electron states, as well as the total energies of the studied P(VDF-TrFE) molecular clusters during phase transformation, is influenced by electron work function and electron affinity. Analysis was performed by combining TSEE experimental data with the computational data of the molecular models, demonstrating the effectiveness of this joint approach. For the first time, TSEE was used for contactless measurements of nanofilm polarization, and characterization of the phase transition. The proposed new method can be widely applied in nanobiomedicine, particularly in development of new bone bio-implants, including built-in sensors (new smart nanotechnology). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The presented paper relates to the field of "smart textiles". A new type of knitted strain sensing elements (knitted resistive fabric (KRF)) which can be integrated in the smart garment was developed. KRF was produced from conductive resistive, nonconductive isolating and nonconductive elastomeric yarns. Elastomeric yarn was used as the base yarn and was knitted within the whole fabric, but isolating and resistive yarns (functional yarns) were used as face yarns and knitted in specific sequence. Electrical model of KRF is proposed to describe the behavior of sensing element. The developed KRF has high sensitivity to strain deformation and can be used as local strain sensor or distributed resistive sensing field to control deformation of human body parts, joint motion, respiration etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in surface electric potential of P(VDF-TrFE 70:30) films deposited on glass substrate under influence of UV radiation were investigated. It was found that after 6 minutes of UV irradiation surface electric potential of the films decreased and no changes were observed further increasing irradiation time. Surface electric potential exponentially relaxed to its initial value within 30 min after the irradiation was stopped. The study suggests that P(VDF-TrFE 70:30) films deposited on glass substrate are sensitive to UV radiation and might be used as a material for an UV detector, however, further studies are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]