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Die Entstehung moderner Nationalstaaten ging historisch mit der Entwicklung spezifischer Verständnisse von Individuum, Bevölkerung und Gesellschaft, räumlichen Grenzen und Zugehörigkeiten einher. Über die amtliche Statistik, die ebenfalls in diesem Kontext entstanden ist, wurden diese politischen Konzepte zu messbaren Kategorien und empirischen Realitäten. Gegenstand dieses Beitrags ist die spezifische Konstitution von \"Gesellschaft\" durch die amtliche Statistik. Die Relevanz des statistischen Gesellschaftsverständnisses begründet sich dadurch, dass sie die Grundlage für Stichprobenziehungen in der standardisierten Sozialforschung und damit auch für die kulturvergleichende Sozialforschung bildet: Als Schlüssel zur Verallgemeinerung von Forschungsergebnissen von wenigen Fällen auf größere Maßstäbe erfordert die standardisierte Forschung Stichproben aus angebbaren Grundgesamtheiten. Typischerweise handelt es sich dabei um Register der amtlichen Statistik wie z.B. Einwohnermeldeämter. Dies wird in der Literatur jedoch als Container-Ansatz von Gesellschaft kritisiert, weil eine Kongruenz zwischen (nationalem) Territorium, Kultur und Gesellschaft angenommen wird, statt deren Verhältnis zu analysieren. Dies ist nicht nur eine methodische Schwachstelle, vielmehr affirmiert und naturalisiert diese Stichprobenstrategie den nationalen Rahmen von Gesellschaft und Kultur. Dadurch werden transnationale soziale Beziehungen und Identitätsrahmen verborgen. Hintergrund für die Analyse spezifischer Probleme und Versäumnisse in der amtlichen Statistik bildet die Kritik am skizzierten territorialen Gesellschaftsbegriff, die im Folgenden vorgestellt wird und sich insbesondere auf die Mobilitäts- und Migrationsforschung stützt.

Forschungsarbeiten in unterschiedlichen Ländern haben gezeigt, dass junge Menschen, die in Pflegeeinrichtungen leben, häufig negative Dominanzerfahrungen machen. In diesem Beitrag befassen wir uns mit Methoden, die geeignet sind, Machtbeziehungen in den Blick zu nehmen, wenn es darum geht, die Perspektiven von Jugendlichen auf ihr Alltagsleben zu erfassen. Hierzu berichten wir zunächst die Ergebnisse aus einem Review der internationalen Methodenliteratur inkl. ethischer Fragen, die in diesem Kontext relevant werden. Hiervon ausgehend skizzieren wir unseren Ansatz, mit dem wir versucht haben, jungen Menschen mit einem qualitativen und länderübergreifenden Shortitudinal-Design zur Selbstermächtigung im Forschungsprozess zu verhelfen. Insgesamt haben 16 Personen aus französischen und englischen Pflegeeinrichtungen an der Studie teilgenommen. Wir zeigen, wie wir ihnen Kontrolle zurückgegeben haben: über ihre Nutzung der Forschungsinstrumente, über die Themen, die diskutiert wurden und über die Räume, in denen Daten generiert wurden. Deutlich wird, in welcher Weise die Wahlen der Jugendliche die Bereiche reflektieren, in denen sie sich als machtvoll erleben. Die hierzu erforderlichen Methoden erlaubten uns insoweit Einsichten, wie es Jugendlichen gelingen kann, innerhalb der zumeist restriktiven Alltagsbedingungen in Pflegeeinrichtungen eigene Spielräume zu schaffen bzw. zu wahren.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important clinical tool and frequently used to study the brain-behavior relationship in humans noninvasively. Traditionally, EEG signals are recorded by positioning electrodes on the scalp and keeping them in place with glue, rubber bands, or elastic caps. This setup provides good coverage of the head, but is impractical for EEG acquisition in natural daily-life situations. Here, we propose the transparent EEG concept. Transparent EEG aims for motion tolerant, highly portable, unobtrusive, and near invisible data acquisition with minimum disturbance of a user's daily activities. In recent years several ear-centered EEG solutions that are compatible with the transparent EEG concept have been presented. We discuss work showing that miniature electrodes placed in and around the human ear are a feasible solution, as they are sensitive enough to pick up electrical signals stemming from various brain and non-brain sources. We also describe the cEEGrid flex-printed sensor array, which enables unobtrusive multi-channel EEG acquisition from around the ear. In a number of validation studies we found that the cEEGrid enables the recording of meaningful continuous EEG, event-related potentials and neural oscillations. Here, we explain the rationale underlying the cEEGrid ear-EEG solution, present possible use cases and identify open issues that need to be solved on the way toward transparent EEG.

Global population growth, urbanization, and climate change worsen the immediate environment of many individuals. Elevated concentrations of air pollutants, higher levels of acoustic noise, and more heat days, as well as increasingly complex mixtures of pollutants pose health risks for urban inhabitants. There is a growing awareness of the need to record personal environmental conditions (“the human exposome”) and to study options and implications of adaptive and protective behavior of individuals. The vast progress in smart technologies created wearable sensors that record environmental as well as spatio-temporal data while accompanying a person. Wearable sensing has two aspects: firstly, the exposure of an individual is recorded, and secondly, individuals act as explorers of the urban area. A literature review was undertaken using scientific literature databases with the objective to illustrate the state-of-the-art of person-based environmental sensing in urban settings. We give an overview of the study designs, highlight and compare limitations as well as results, and present the results of a keyword analysis. We identify current trends in the field, suggest possible future advancements, and lay out take-home messages for the readers. There is a trend towards studies that involve various environmental parameters and it is becoming increasingly important to identify and quantify the influence of various conditions (e.g., weather, urban structure, travel mode) on people’s exposure.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Natürliche Familienplanung (NFP, englisch: „fertility awareness-based methods“ [FABM]) umfasst Methoden der Zyklusbeobachtung, mit deren Hilfe das Eintreten einer Schwangerschaft geplant oder vermieden werden kann. Es gibt zahlreiche Methoden der NFP, die sich hinsichtlich Sicherheit, Praktikabilität und Akzeptanz erheblich unterscheiden. Zielsetzung Vorstellung von Gesichtspunkten im Rahmen der Erarbeitung einer S2k-Leitlinie zur nichthormonellen Empfängnisverhütung, die für eine Beurteilung der praktischen Brauchbarkeit einer NFP-Methode entscheidend sind und damit einer Beratung zugrunde liegen sollten. Material und Methoden In die Bewertung und ausführliche Darstellung der in der Leitlinie aufgeführten Methoden der NFP fließen die ein, die eine ausreichende Breite und Akzeptanz der Anwendung im europäischen Raum erfüllen. Publizierte kontrollierte Studien insbesondere zur kontrazeptiven Effektivität sind Voraussetzung. Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerung In die Leitlinie aufgenommen wurden eine Ein-Zeichen-Methode und drei Zwei-Zeichen-Methoden. Zu jeder dieser aufgenommenen NFP-Methoden lassen sich Aussagen zur Empfängniswahrscheinlichkeit innerhalb der fertilen Phase, zur kontrazeptiven Sicherheit und zur Akzeptanz machen. Grundvoraussetzung für eine zu empfehlende NFP-Methode ist, dass die Anwenderinnen zyklische Veränderungen von Körpersymptomen beobachten und im aktuellen Zyklus auswerten. Dadurch sind sie nicht mehr auf einen regelmäßigen Zyklus angewiesen. Aus diesem Grund wurden die alten Kalendermethoden nicht in die Leitlinie aufgenommen. Des Weiteren nicht aufgenommen wurde die alleinige Temperaturmethode, die heute weitestgehend obsolet ist, und NFP-Methoden, die überwiegend in außereuropäischen Ländern Anwendung finden. Schlussfolgerung der Leitlinienrecherche zum Kapitel „Natürliche Familienplanung“ ist, dass bei Wunsch nach hoher kontrazeptiver Sicherheit aufgrund der Daten im europäischen Raum derzeit nur symptothermale Methoden mit hoher Effektivität empfohlen werden sollten.

Depression is a common, burdensome, often recurring mental health disorder that frequently goes undetected and untreated. Mobile phones are ubiquitous and have an increasingly large complement of sensors that can potentially be useful in monitoring behavioral patterns that might be indicative of depressive symptoms. The objective of this study was to explore the detection of daily-life behavioral markers using mobile phone global positioning systems (GPS) and usage sensors, and their use in identifying depressive symptom severity. A total of 40 adult participants were recruited from the general community to carry a mobile phone with a sensor data acquisition app (Purple Robot) for 2 weeks. Of these participants, 28 had sufficient sensor data received to conduct analysis. At the beginning of the 2-week period, participants completed a self-reported depression survey (PHQ-9). Behavioral features were developed and extracted from GPS location and phone usage data. A number of features from GPS data were related to depressive symptom severity, including circadian movement (regularity in 24-hour rhythm; r=-.63, P=.005), normalized entropy (mobility between favorite locations; r=-.58, P=.012), and location variance (GPS mobility independent of location; r=-.58, P=.012). Phone usage features, usage duration, and usage frequency were also correlated (r=.54, P=.011, and r=.52, P=.015, respectively). Using the normalized entropy feature and a classifier that distinguished participants with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥5) from those without (PHQ-9 score <5), we achieved an accuracy of 86.5%. Furthermore, a regression model that used the same feature to estimate the participants' PHQ-9 scores obtained an average error of 23.5%. Features extracted from mobile phone sensor data, including GPS and phone usage, provided behavioral markers that were strongly related to depressive symptom severity. While these findings must be replicated in a larger study among participants with confirmed clinical symptoms, they suggest that phone sensors offer numerous clinical opportunities, including continuous monitoring of at-risk populations with little patient burden and interventions that can provide just-in-time outreach.

Pregnant women are often unaware of the potential risks that working conditions can cause to them and their unborn child. A mobile health (mHealth) app, the Pregnancy and Work (P and W) app, developed by a multidisciplinary team and based on an evidence-based guideline for occupational physicians, aims to provide advice on work adjustment during pregnancy. This study evaluates the usability of the mHealth P and W app and the perceived usefulness of the work advice, the main goal of the app, by potential end users. A total of 12 working pregnant women participated in think aloud usability sessions and performed 9 tasks. All think aloud sessions were recorded, transcribed, and coanalyzed. The usability problems were rated for their severity in accordance with Nielsen severity scale. The completion rates and time taken for completion of tasks were registered. In addition, participants were questioned on demographics and user characteristics and were asked to evaluate the value of the app by filling in the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) score and the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. In total, 82 usability problems with a severity ≥1 were identified, of which 40 had severity ≥3. The main usability problems concerned the interpretation of terminology used in the app's questionnaires and difficulties in finding and understanding the work advice. Furthermore, 10 out of 12 participants were able to open the work advice page in the app. Only 7 out of these 10 participants understood and intended to follow the work advice. The overall mean IMI score was relatively high (5 out of 7), indicating that the participants did indeed value the use of the app. This IMI score corresponded to the overall mean SUS score (68 out of 100) and the mean grade given to the P and W app (7 out of 10). This think aloud usability study showed that the information provided in the P and W app was considered valuable by the end users, working pregnant women, and it meets their needs; however, usability issues severely impacted the perceived usefulness of the work advice given in the app.

Background The 6-minute walk test (6MWT: the maximum distance walked in 6 minutes) is used by rehabilitation professionals as a measure of exercise capacity. Today’s smartphones contain hardware that can be used for wearable sensor applications and mobile data analysis. A smartphone application can run the 6MWT and provide typically unavailable biomechanical information about how the person moves during the test. Methods A new algorithm for a calibration-free 6MWT smartphone application was developed that uses the test’s inherent conditions and smartphone accelerometer-gyroscope data to report the total distance walked, step timing, gait symmetry, and walking changes over time. This information is not available with a standard 6MWT and could help with clinical decision-making. The 6MWT application was evaluated with 15 able-bodied participants. A BlackBerry Z10 smartphone was worn on a belt at the mid lower back. Audio from the phone instructed the person to start and stop walking. Digital video was independently recorded during the trial as a gold-standard comparator. Results The average difference between smartphone and gold standard foot strike timing was 0.014 ± 0.015 s. The total distance calculated by the application was within 1 m of the measured distance for all but one participant, which was more accurate than other smartphone-based studies. Conclusions These results demonstrated that clinically relevant 6MWT results can be achieved with typical smartphone hardware and a novel algorithm.

Mobile robots are playing a significant role in Higher Education science and engineering teaching, as they offer a flexible platform to explore and teach a wide-range of topics such as mechanics, electronics and software. Unfortunately the widespread adoption is limited by their high cost and the complexity of user interfaces and programming tools. To overcome these issues, a new affordable, adaptable and easy-to-use robotic platform is proposed. Mona is a low-cost, open-source and open-hardware mobile robot, which has been developed to be compatible with a number of standard programming environments. The robot has been successfully used for both education and research at The University of Manchester, UK.

Mobile devices are being used profusely in the classrooms to improve passive learning environments and to enhance student comprehension. However, with respect to students' active involvement in problem solving activities, the typical usage of the mobile devices in answering multiple choice and true/false questions is not adequate and the use of mobile devices need to be expanded to include dynamic and interactive problem-solving activities to better satisfy students' learning needs. To facilitate such interactive problem solving using mobile devices, a comprehensive software environment is necessary. This paper details the design, deployment and evaluation of Mobile Response System (MRS) software that facilitates execution and assessment of multi-step in-class interactive problem-solving activities using mobile devices. MRS is an active learning tool, which engages students with the visual representation of a problem that spans on multiple screens, allows them to interact with that, and makes them realize the consequences of their actions instantly and visually. The immediate and automated grading feature of MRS enables a feedback-driven and evidence-based teaching methodology, which is important to improve the quality of classroom learning. MRS is designed to be independent of any interactive problem or its domain. Therefore, it allows easier integration of interactive activity Apps developed by others and can be used in any discipline. The results obtained from software metrics and runtime performance data verified the quality of the software. Additionally, the in-class assessment data verified that the MRS software is a helpful intervention for improving student comprehension and satisfaction.