How can a smart application recognise and reason about a human's purposeful activities in order to be able to coach in a purposeful way? Esteban Guerrero at Umeå University in Sweden presents new computer-based methods for this that are based on activity-centric and argument-based theories.
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Can Telehealth Fill Gap in Autism Services?
Parents struggling to find and afford therapy for their child with autism may eventually be able to provide that therapy themselves with the help of telehealth training. Findings from a federally funded pilot study on telehealth training at Michigan State University show the online program successfully helped parents of children with autism improve their child's social communication using research-based intervention techniques.
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Serious Video Games may Help Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake
Few US children meet daily recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables, making fruit and vegetable consumption an important issue for researchers. Eating adequate amounts of these foods is not only ideal for a healthy lifestyle, but has also been shown to reduce the risk of some chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.
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A Personalized Virtual Heart Predicts the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death
When electrical waves in the heart run amok in a condition called arrhythmia, sudden death can occur. To save the life of a patient at risk, doctors currently implant a small defibrillator to sense the onset of arrhythmia and jolt the heart back to a normal rhythm. But a thorny question remains: How should doctors decide which patients truly need an invasive, costly electrical implant that is not without health risks of its own?
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Online Therapy Effective at Treating Depression and Anxiety
Doctors from the University of Pittsburgh showed that providing an online computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) program both alone and in combination with Internet Support Groups (ISG) is a more effective treatment for anxiety and depression than doctors' usual primary care.
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Smartphone App for Monitoring Heart Palpitations is Comparable to 14-day Event Monitor
A smartphone app that tracks palpitations in heart patients provides comparable performance to the 14-day event monitors that are the current standard of care, according to a University at Buffalo study presented May 4th at the annual Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) meeting in San Francisco.
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Advanced 3-D Imaging Technique Applied to Deadly Lung Disease
Doctors and scientists at the University of Southampton have used advanced 3D X-ray imaging technology to give new insight into the way an aggressive form of lung disease develops in the body. Originally designed for the analysis of substantial engineering parts, such as jet turbine blades,
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