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We ran the first Affective Movement Recognition (AffectMove) challenge that brings together datasets of affective bodily behaviour across different real-life applications to foster work in this area. Research on automatic detection of naturalistic affective body expressions is still lagging behind detection based on other modalities whereas movement behaviour modelling is a very interesting and very relevant research problem for the affective computing community. The AffectMove challenge aimed to take advantage of existing body movement datasets to address key research problems of automatic recognition of naturalistic and complex affective behaviour from this type of data. Participating teams competed to solve at least one of three tasks based on datasets of different sensors types and real-life problems: multimodal EmoPain dataset for chronic pain physical rehabilitation context, weDraw-1 Movement dataset for maths problem solving settings, and multimodal Unige-Maastricht Dance dataset. To foster work across datasets, we also challenged participants to take advantage of the data across datasets to improve performances and also test the generalization of their approach across different applications.

This technical paper presents a case study for both industry and academic areas concerning the application of engineering solutions and smart technologies in a complex project aimed to upgrade power flexibility and to achieve total asset integration between a Refinery Plant and a Combined Cycle Power Plant. With the purpose of sharing peculiar factors related to "revamping" project modality, it has been adopted, in this paper, a descriptive approach overlaying the same project management structure actually implemented during the works. At the same time, the most innovative solutions and challenging aspects have been evidenced for all project wbs consisting of: the electrical interconnection between the different High Voltage Substations and Electrical National Grid, the contextual integration of control automation systems and the combustion system upgrade of Gas Turbine including related modifications to balance of plant. In the conclusions main benefits and advantages achieved by the project have been highlighted in a comprehensive overview.

Recent results from psychophysics and developmental psychology show that children do not integrate and use the same sensory modalities in the same way, but they rather have a preferential sensory channel to learn specific concepts. In schools, however, the visual channel is often the only one exploited for teaching, whereas the other channels are left to a marginal role. The weDRAW project, an ongoing European two-years project, explores the chance to create and evaluate new methodologies to teaching, grounded on multisensory technologies. In particular, the project targets a deeper understanding of arithmetic and geometry. A major novelty of such a new technology is that it is based on the renewed understanding of what communication between senses is and how it occurs during child development, that is, that specific sensory systems have specific roles for learning specific concepts. Neuroscientific prospectives suggest that it is possible to develop new teaching/learning channels, personalized for each student based on the child's sensory skills. This practice work consists of a demo simulating a set-up in a primary school, where children with any level of previous mathematical knowledge can try the technologies themselves. The demo includes full-body activities to "play" and "draw" arithmetical and geometrical concepts, such as playing a fraction using body rhythms and drawing shapes and symmetries.

This abstract presents a computational model and a software library for the EyesWeb XMI platform to measure a mid-level movement quality of particular importance to convey expressivity: Postural Tension. A whole body posture can be described by a vector containing the angles between the adjacent lines identifying feet (the line connecting the barycentre of each foot), knees, hip, trunk, shoulders, head, and gaze (eyes direction). Postural Tension is the extent at which a movement exhibits rotation of these multiple horizontal planes including spirals. The abstract presents a definition of this mid-level quality, and describe a demonstration: movement of a user is captured with a low-cost wearable device, postural tension and transmission of energy through the body are then extracted, visualized and sonified.

Background— The clinical search for indicators of poor prognosis of acute pericarditis may be useful for clinical triage of patients at high risk of specific causal conditions or complications. The aim of the present article is to assess the relationship between clinical features at presentation and specific causes or complications. Methods and Results— A total of 453 patients aged 17 to 90 years (mean age 52±18 years, 245 men) with acute pericarditis (post–myocardial infarction pericarditis was excluded) were prospectively evaluated from January 1996 to August 2004. A specific cause was found in 76 of 453 patients (16.8%): autoimmune in 33 patients (7.3%), neoplastic in 23 patients (5.1%), tuberculous in 17 patients (3.8%), and purulent in 3 patients (0.7%). In multivariable analysis, women (hazard ratio [HR] 1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03 to 2.70; P =0.036) and patients with fever >38°C (HR 3.56, 95% CI 1.82 to 6.95; P P =0.002), large effusion or tamponade (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.09 to 4.23; P =0.026), and failure of aspirin or of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (HR 2.50, 95% CI 1.28 to 4.91; P =0.008) were at increased risk of specific causal conditions. After a mean follow-up of 31 months, complications were detected in 95 patients (21.0%): recurrences in 83 patients (18.3%), tamponade in 14 patients (3.1%), and constriction in 7 patients (1.5%). In multivariable analysis, women (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.52; P =0.020) and patients with large effusion or tamponade (HR 2.51, 95% CI 1.37 to 4.61; P =0.003) and failure of aspirin or of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (HR 5.50, 95% CI 3.56 to 8.51; P Conclusions— Specific clinical features (fever >38°C, subacute course, large effusion or tamponade, and aspirin or NSAID failure) may be useful to identify higher risk of specific causal conditions and complications.

Objectives We sought to investigate the safety and efficacy of a protocol for acute pericarditis triage and outpatient management of low-risk cases. Background Acute pericarditis has generally a brief and benign course after empiric treatment by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and routine hospitalization of most patients may be unnecessary. Methods From January 1996 to December 2001, all consecutive cases of acute pericarditis were evaluated on a day-hospital basis. Patients without clinical poor prognostic predictors (fever >38°C, subacute onset, immunodepression, trauma, oral anticoagulant therapy, myopericarditis, severe pericardial effusion, cardiac tamponade) were considered low-risk cases and assigned to outpatient treatment with high-dose oral aspirin. Patients with poor prognostic predictors or aspirin failure were hospitalized for etiology search and treatment. A clinical and echocardiographic follow-up was performed at 48 to 72 h, 7 to 10 days, 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year. Results Two hundred fifty-four out of 300 (84.7%) patients were selected as low-risk cases. Outpatient treatment was efficacious in 221 out of 254 (87%) cases. Thirty-three out of 254 patients were hospitalized because of aspirin failure. Patients treated on an out-of-hospital basis had no serious complications after a mean follow-up of 38 months (no cases of cardiac tamponade). A higher frequency of recurrences and constriction was recorded in aspirin-resistant cases than in aspirin responders (60.6% vs. 10.4% for recurrences and 9.1% vs. 0.5% for constriction, respectively; all p Conclusions A protocol for acute pericarditis triage and outpatient therapy of low-risk cases is safe and efficacious and may reduce management costs.

ObjectivesThis study was designed to investigate the prognostic value of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in viral or idiopathic pericarditis.BackgroundIdiopathic acute pericarditis has been recently reported as a possible cause of nonischemic release of cTnI. The prognostic value of this observation remains unknown.MethodsWe enrolled 118 consecutive cases (age 49.2 ± 18.4 years; 61 men) within 24 h of symptoms onset. A highly sensitive enzymoimmunofluorometric method was used to measure cTnI (acute myocardial infarction [AMI] threshold was 1.5 ng/ml).ResultsA cTnI rise was detectable in 38 patients (32.2%). The following characteristics were more frequently associated with a positive cTnI test: younger age (p < 0.001), male gender (p = 0.007), ST-segment elevation (p < 0.001), and pericardial effusion (p = 0.007) at presentation. An increase beyond AMI threshold was present in nine cases (7.6%), with an associated creatine kinase-MB elevation, a release pattern similar to AMI, and echocardiographic diffuse or localized abnormal left ventricular wall motion without detectable coronary artery disease. After a mean follow-up of 24 months a similar rate of complications was found in patients with a positive or a negative cTnI test (recurrent pericarditis: 18.4 vs. 18.8%; constrictive pericarditis: 0 vs. 1.3%, for all p = NS; no cases of cardiac tamponade or residual left ventricular dysfunction were detected).ConclusionsIn viral or idiopathic acute pericarditis cTnI elevation is frequently observed and commonly associated with young age, male gender, ST-segment elevation, and pericardial effusion at presentation. cTnI increase is roughly related to the extent of myocardial inflammatory involvement and, unlike acute coronary syndromes, is not a negative prognostic marker.