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Background: Optoelectronic systems and force platforms represent the gold standard for postural sway assessment, but pose disadvantages in terms of equipment, cost and preparation time.Objective: Wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) have been proposed to overcome these issues, but have never been compared to an optoelectronic system. The study aim was therefore to investigate agreement between inertial measurement unit and optoelectronic system in postural sway assessment.Methods: Thirty healthy volunteers performed four balance tasks. IMU was placed on the sacrum (S2) with a retroreflective marker over the sensor and subjects' performance was simultaneously recorded by both systems. Total (TOT), anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) length of trace, range, speed, root mean squared (RMS), and confidence ellipse were computed.Results: ICCs revealed excellent correlations for Length-TOT, Length-AP and Speed-AP, good correlation for Length-ML, Speed-ML, Confidence Ellipse, Range-AP and RMS-AP, and moderate correlation for range-ML and RMS-ML. Bland-Altman plot showed greater estimation for Length-TOT, Length-AP, Speed-AP, confidence ellipse and RMS-AP using optoelectronic system, and for Length-ML, Range-AP, Range-ML, Speed-ML, RMS-ML using IMU. Both systems revealed the same differences among tasks.Conclusion: The excellent to good agreement of IMU for length of trace and speed parameters and its user-friendly application suggest its potential implementations in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to carry out two tasks at once is critical to effective functioning in the real world and deficits are termed Dual-task interference or effect—DTE. DTE substantially compromised the gait of subjects with Parkinson’s disease and freezing of gait (PD + FOG), leading to exaggerated slowing, increasing gait dysrhythmicity, and inducing FOG episodes. This study aimed to investigate the DTE in gait variability of subjects with PD and freezing of gait (PD + FOG). Thirty-three patients with PD + FOG and 14 healthy individuals (REFERENCE) took part at this study. Two gait conditions were analyzed: usual walking (single task) and walking while taking the word-color Stroop test (dual task). The computed variables were as follows: gait velocity, step length, step timing, gait asymmetry, variability measures and DTE of each variable. The PD + FOG group has presented negative DTE values for all analyzed variables, indicating dual task cost. The REFERENCE group has presented dual-task benefits for step length standard deviation and step time. Differences between both groups and conditions were found for all variables, except for step time. Taking the word-color Stroop test while walking led to a larger dual-task cost in subjects with PD + FOG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Timed Up and Go test (TUG) is used to assess individual mobility. It evaluates static and dynamic balance by means of the total time required to complete the test, usually measured by a stopwatch. In recent years tools based on portable inertial measurement units (IMU) for clinical application are increasingly available on the market. More specifically, a tool (hardware and dedicated software) to quantify the TUG test based on IMU is now available. However, it has not yet been validated in subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, the aim of this study is to compare measurements from instrumented TUG tests (or iTUG) acquired by an IMU with those obtained using an optoelectronic system (the gold standard) and by a stopwatch, to gain an in-depth understanding of IMU behavior in computing iTUG in subjects with PD. To do this, three TUG test trials were carried out on 30 subjects with PD and measured with all three systems simultaneously. System agreements were evaluated using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient and Bland-Altman plots. The device tested showed excellent reliability, accuracy and precision in quantifying total TUG test duration. Since TUG is a widely used test in rehabilitation settings, its automatic quantification through IMUs could potentially improve the quality of assessments in the quantification of PD gait ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fall of 1918, after over four years of war, the cohesion of Austria-Hungary collapsed. In the aftermath of the Great War, Burgenland (Western Hungary) was part of a pattern of complex territorial issues, though it was actually the smallest disputed territory between Hungary and her successor states. The region became a disputed land after the Allied Supreme Council recommended the transfer of most of it to Austria. The internal crisis in Budapest, the Habsburg restoration attempts and the activities of many militia on the ground led to an extremely dangerous situation. Diplomatic and direct military involvement of the Powers eventually resolved the issue with an agreement providing for a plebiscite on the fate of Sopron and the other smaller towns of the region. At least until 1921 Western Hungary represented an element of destabilization in Europe, while its partition was a significant event in the evolution of relations between the two new states of Hungary and Austria, and a testing ground for European diplomacy. The purpose of this article is to highlight the role of Italy in these complex events and to elucidate the contribution of its military in the formulation of clearer political strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test quantifies physical mobility by measuring the total performance time. In this study, we quantified the single TUG subcomponents and, for the first time, explored the effects of gait cycle and pelvis asymmetries on them. Transfemoral (TF) and transtibial (TT) amputees were compared with a control group. A single wearable inertial sensor, applied to the back, captured kinematic data from the body and pelvis during the 10-m walk test and the TUG test. From these data, two categories of symmetry indexes (SI) were computed: One SI captured the differences between the antero-posterior accelerations of the two sides during the gait cycle, while another set of SI quantified the symmetry over the three-dimensional pelvis motions. Moreover, the total time of the TUG test, the time of each subcomponent, and the velocity of the turning subcomponents were measured. Only the TF amputees showed significant reductions in each SI category when compared to the controls. During the TUG test, the TF group showed a longer duration and velocity reduction mainly over the turning subtasks. However, for all the amputees there were significant correlations between the level of asymmetries and the velocity during the turning tasks. Overall, gait cycle and pelvis asymmetries had a specific detrimental effect on the turning performance instead of on linear walking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The First World War is a defining moment for the history of the 20th century. The conflict quickly became a sort of immense entrenched camp where the terrible features of the war were to worsen, reaching an absolute condition in which they absorbed all the energies and human resources of the belligerents. The situation on the field then caused a process of adaptation of all the logistics to sustain the troops at the front. Another interesting aspect of the war was the new approach to the soldier, his moral became important as well as the safety of his mind. For the first time in the history we see a whole ensemble of theories on the impact of war on the human psyche while creating a complex medical apparatus for the soldiers. In the rear of the front, a complex structure is created, to support to the sick and wounded, while the study of psychiatry develop quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility across people with a large range of age was evaluated, for the first time, by using an instrumented timed up and go test (iTUG) based on signals acquired by a single wearable inertial sensor. Eighty healthy participants, from childhood to old age, performed the test, covering walking distances of 3 m and 7 m. Total time, temporal, and velocity parameters of linear and turning subcomponents of the test were quantified. While children, adults, and senior adults exhibited similar values for all the parameters, older adults showed increases in duration and reductions in velocity during the turning phases when compared with the other groups. an increase in velocity was observed during mid turning when the test was performed along the longer distance. Similarity across children, adults, and senior adults indicates that healthy individuals develop the abilities performed in the iTUG early, while the slowing down shown during the turning phases by the older adults may reflect the need to implement adaptive adjustments to face changes of direction. These results emphasize the idea that reducing equipment to a single sensor provides an appropriate quantification when the iTUG is used to investigate a broader age range or different levels of complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]