Background: Monitoring body kinematics has fundamental relevance in several biological and technical disciplines. In particular the possibility to exactly know the posture may furnish a main aid in rehabilitation topics. In the present work an innovative and unobtrusive garment able to detect the posture and the movement of the upper limb has been introduced, with particular care to its application in post stroke rehabilitation field by describing the integration of the prototype in a healthcare service. Methods: This paper deals with the design, the development and implementation of a sensing garment, from the characterization of innovative comfortable and diffuse sensors we used to the methodologies employed to gather information on the posture and movement which derive from the entire garments. Several new algorithms devoted to the signal acquisition, the treatment and posture and gesture reconstruction are introduced and tested. Results: Data obtained by means of the sensing garment are analyzed and compared with the ones recorded using a traditional movement tracking system. Conclusion: The main results treated in this work are summarized and remarked. The system was compared with a commercial movement tracking system (a set of electrogoniometers) and it performed the same accuracy in detecting upper limb postures and movements.

Background: A renewed interest for activity and chronicity indices as predictors of lupus nephritis (LN) outcome has emerged. Revised National Institutes of Health activity and chronicity indices have been proposed to classify LN lesions, but they should be validated by future studies. The aims of this study were (1) to detect the histologic features associated with the development of kidney function impairment (KFI), and (2) to identify the best clinical-histologic model to predict KFI at time of kidney biopsy. Methods: Patients with LN who had more than ten glomeruli per kidney biopsy specimen were admitted to the study. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate whether activity and chronicity indices could predict KFI development. Results: Among 203 participants with LN followed for 14 years, correlations were found between the activity index, and its components, and clinical-laboratory signs of active LN at baseline. The chronicity index was correlated with serum creatinine. Thus, serum creatinine was significantly and directly correlated with both activity and chronicity indices. In the multivariate analysis, glomerulosclerosis (OR, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.17 to 7.91; P=0.02) and fibrous crescents (OR, 6.84; 95% CI, 3.22 to 14.52; P<0.001) associated with either moderate/severe tubular atrophy (OR, 3.17; 95% CI, 1.04 to 9.64; P=0.04), or with interstitial fibrosis (OR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.05 to 5.32; P=0.04), predicted KFI. Considering both clinical and histologic features, serum creatinine (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.31 to 2.15; P<0.001), arterial hypertension (OR, 4.64; 95% CI, 1.90 to 11.32; P<0.001), glomerulosclerosis (OR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.00 to 4.50; P=0.05), and fibrous crescents (OR, 5.18; 95% CI, 2.43 to 11.04; P<0.001) independently predicted KFI. Older age (P<0.001) and longer delay between clinical onset of LN and kidney biopsy (P<0.001) were significantly correlated with baseline chronicity index. Conclusions: The chronicity index and its components, but not the activity index, were significantly associated with an impairment of kidney function. The Cox model showed that serum creatinine, arterial hypertension, chronic glomerular lesions, and delay in kidney biopsy predicted KFI. These data reinforce the importance of timely kidney biopsy in LN.