this paper proposed a multimodal fusion between brain and peripheral signals for emotion detection. The input signals were electroencephalogram, galvanic skin resistance, temperature, blood pressure and respiration, which can reflect the influence of emotion on the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system respectively. The acquisition protocol is based on a subset of pictures which correspond to three specific areas of valance-arousal emotional space (positively excited, negatively excited, and calm). The features extracted from input signals, and to improve the results, correlation dimension as a strong nonlinear feature is used for brain signals. The performance of the Quadratic Discriminant Classifier has been evaluated on different feature sets: peripheral signals, EEG's, and both. In comparison among the results of different feature sets, EEG signals seem to perform better than other physiological signals, and the results confirm the interest of using brain signals as peripherals in emotion assessment. According to the improvement in EEG results compare in each raw of the table, it seems that nonlinear features would lead to better understanding of how emotional activities work.

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Background:One of the consequences of violence during pregnancy is impaired mother-fetus attachment. Objectives: The present study aimed at determining the effect of supportive-educational intervention on maternal-fetal attachment in pregnant women facing domestic violence. Methods: The current study was conducted on 100 pregnant women subjected to domestic violence by their husbands. The subjects were selected using convenience sampling method and were randomized to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received four sessions of individual supportive-educational intervention, while the control group were provided with routine care during the same period. Data were collected using the Cranley maternal-fetal attachment scale in the two groups and analyzed by statistical tests eight weeks after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, the mean maternal-fetal attachment score was significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group (80.36 ± 6.75 vs. 65.50 ± 6.78; P = 0.0001). Conclusions:The study results showed that supportive-educational intervention was effective in promoting maternal-fetal attachment. Therefore, it was recommended that such interventions be integrated in the prenatal care programs of pregnant women facing domestic violence.

An emotion recognition system on the basis of physiological signals is proposed in this paper. The aim is to perform a multimodal fusion between electroencephalographic signals of the brain (EEG) and peripheral physiological signals. our acquisition protocol is based on a subset of pictures which correspond to three specific areas of valance-arousal emotional space (positively excited, negatively excited, and calm). Preprocessing and feature extraction methods have been set up in such away that emotion-specific characteristics can be extracted from input signals. The performance of two classifiers has been evaluated on different feature sets: peripheral signals, EEG's, and both. A comparison among the results of different feature sets confirms the interest of using brain signals as peripherals in emotion assessment.

BackgroundPhysical activity is an important component of health in old age that provides personal independence, physical ability, and quality of life.ObjectivesThe current study aimed to evaluate physical activity and associated factors among the elderly population in Kashan, Iran.Patients and MethodsThis is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was 400 elderly people (aged more than 60 years) living in Kashan, Iran in 2014. The subjects randomly selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from healthcare centers in three regions of Kashan. The sample size differed by gender and residence type. Each participant’s demographic characteristics and level of physical activity were recorded in a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Pearson correlations, and ordinal regression were used in the data analysis. The significance level for all the tests was P < 0.05.Results237 (59.2%) of the subjects were female. The average age of the study population was 67.6 ± 6.8 years. Their average physical activity energy consumption was 326.21 ± 364.84 according to the metabolic equivalent of hours per week. 20 subjects (5%) reported no physical activity. 320 (80%) and 59 (14.8%) subjects had low and moderate physical activity levels, respectively. Only 1 subject (0.2%) had extreme levels of physical activity. Men (n = 43, 26.4%) were more likely to be moderately or extremely physically active than women were (n = 17, 7.2%). There was a significant relationship between physical activity and sex (P < 0.0001), marital status (P < 0.0001), educational status (P < 0.002), current occupation (P < 0.0001), and personal independence (P < 0.00001). Of course, effective predictive variations included age (P = 0.034), gender (P = 0.001), marital status (P = 0.033), independent status (P = 0), and local environment (P =0.001).ConclusionsThe study revealed low physical activity in the elderly population in Kashan. The pattern of physical activity in the elderly depends on their lifestyle. A promotion of active lifestyles should be a part of health care planning for the elderly.