Reminder Care System: An Activity-Aware Cross-Device Recommendation System

© 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects large numbers of elderly people worldwide and represents a significant social and economic burden on society, particularly in relation to the need for long term care facilities. These costs can be reduced by enabling people with AD to live independently at home for a longer time. The use of recommendation systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the context of smart homes can contribute to this goal. In this paper, we present the Reminder Care System (RCS), a research prototype of a recommendation system for the IoT for elderly people with cognitive disabilities. RCS exploits daily activities that are captured and learned from IoT devices to provide personalised recommendations. The experimental results indicate that RCS can inform the development of real-world IoT applications

A Smart Game for Data Transmission and Energy Consumption in the Internet of Things

The current trend in developing smart technology for the Internet of Things (IoT) has motivated a lot of research interest in optimizing data transmission or minimizing energy consumption, but with little evidence of proposals for achieving both objectives in a single model. Using the concept of game theory, we develop a new MAC protocol for IEEE 802.15.4 and IoT networks in which we formulate a novel expression for the players' utility function and establish a stable Nash equilibrium (NE) for the game. The proposed IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol is modeled as a smart game in which analytical expressions are derived for channel access probability, data transmission probability, and energy used. These analytical expressions are used in formulating an optimization problem (OP) that maximizes data transmission and minimizes energy consumption by nodes. The analysis and simulation results suggest that the proposed scheme is scalable and achieves better performance in terms of data transmission, energy-efficiency, and longevity, when compared with the default IEEE 802.15.4 access mechanism.Peer reviewe

Engineering affect: emotion regulation, the internet, and the techno-social niche

Philosophical work exploring the relation between cognition and the Internet is now an active area of research. Some adopt an externalist framework, arguing that the Internet should be seen as environmental scaffolding that drives and shapes cognition. However, despite growing interest in this topic, little attention has been paid to how the Internet influences our affective life — our moods, emotions, and our ability to regulate these and other feeling states. We argue that the Internet scaffolds not only cognition but also affect. Using various case studies, we consider some ways that we are increasingly dependent on our Internet-enabled “techno-social niches” to regulate the contours of our own affective life and participate in the affective lives of others. We argue further that, unlike many of the other environmental resources we use to regulate affect, the Internet has distinct properties that introduce new dimensions of complexity to these regulative processes. First, it is radically social in a way many of these other resources are not. Second, it is a radically distributed and decentralized resource; no one individual or agent is responsible for the Internet’s content or its affective impact on users. Accordingly, while the Internet can profoundly augment and enrich our affective life and deepen our connection with others, there is also a distinctive kind of affective precarity built into our online endeavors as well

Health and self-perceived barriers to internet use among older migrants : a population-based study

Background In older adults, including those with a migrant background, ill health is associated with less internet use. However, it is not known what are the specific self-perceived barriers to internet use among older migrants with different health conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between different health conditions and self-perceived barriers to internet use among older migrants. Methods We used the Care, Health and Ageing of Russian-speaking Minority in Finland (CHARM) study, which is a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling Russian-speaking adults aged >= 50 years living in Finland (N=1082, 57% men, mean age 63.2 years, standard deviation 8.4 years, response rate 36%). Postal survey data were collected in 2019. Health indicators were self-rated health (SRH), depressive symptoms, cognitive functioning, and doctor-diagnosed conditions. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between health indicators and a summary scale consisting of the following barriers of internet use: (1) internet use is too complicated and hard to learn; (2) having concerns about safety issues; (3) internet use is too expensive; (4) physical limitations hinder the internet use; (5) memory problems hinder the internet use. In addition, the two most commonly reported barriers (the first two) were examined separately using logistic regression analyses. The analyses were adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status, local language proficiency, and income support, and the health conditions, and were performed with weights accounting for the survey design and non-response. Results After adjustments, spine/back problems (b=0.13; p=0.049), depressive symptoms (b=0.40; p=0.007), and problems in learning new things (b=0.60; pPeer reviewe

Signal estimation in cognitive satellite networks for satellite-based industrial internet of things

Satellite industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) plays an important role in industrial manufactures without requiring the support of terrestrial infrastructures. However, due to the scarcity of spectrum resources, existing satellite frequency bands cannot satisfy the demand of IIoT, which have to explore other available spectrum resources. Cognitive satellite networks are promising technologies and have the potential to alleviate the shortage of spectrum resources and enhance spectrum efficiency by sharing both spectral and spatial degrees of freedom. For effective signal estimations, multiple features of wireless signals are needed at receivers, the transmissions of which may cause considerable overhead. To mitigate the overhead, part of parameters, such as modulation order, constellation type, and signal to noise ratio (SNR), could be obtained at receivers through signal estimation rather than transmissions from transmitters to receivers. In this article, a grid method is utilized to process the constellation map to obtain its equivalent probability density function. Then, binary feature matrix of the probability density function is employed to construct a cost function to estimate the modulation order and constellation type for multiple quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) signal. Finally, an improved M 2 M ∞ method is adopted to realize the SNR estimation of MQAM. Simulation results show that the proposed method is able to accurately estimate the modulation order, constellation type, and SNR of MQAM signal, and these features are extremely useful in satellite-based IIoT

Barriers to older adults’ uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions

Background To address increasing demand of mental healthcare treatments for older adults and the need to reduce delivery costs, healthcare providers are turning to mobile applications. The importance of psychological barriers have been highlighted in the uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions and efforts have been made to identify these barriers in order to facilitate initial uptake and acceptance. However, limited research has focused on older adults’ awareness of these applications and factors that might be hindering their use. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived barriers that older adults experience in the uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 10 older adults, 50 years or older (female = 7, mean age = 68 years), who experienced periods of low mood. National Health Service applications were demonstrated to facilitate conversation and explore participants’ understanding of mental health and mobile-based mental health interventions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts. Results The social ecological model was adopted as an organising framework for the thematic analysis which identified six distinct barriers to older adults’ uptake of mobile-based mental health interventions: mental electronic-health (e-health) awareness, interaction with technology, discontinuation, ‘seeing’ facilitates therapeutic alliance, incongruent role of the general practitioner and privacy and confidentiality. Conclusions Older adults experience a number of barriers to uptake ranging from the individual level to a macro, organisational level. The practical implications of these barriers are discussed such as the need for increased awareness of mobile-based mental health interventions among older adults

Technology, autonomy, and manipulation

Since 2016, when the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal began to emerge, public concern has grown around the threat of “online manipulation”. While these worries are familiar to privacy researchers, this paper aims to make them more salient to policymakers — first, by defining “online manipulation”, thus enabling identification of manipulative practices; and second, by drawing attention to the specific harms online manipulation threatens. We argue that online manipulation is the use of information technology to covertly influence another person’s decision-making, by targeting and exploiting their decision-making vulnerabilities. Engaging in such practices can harm individuals by diminishing their economic interests, but its deeper, more insidious harm is its challenge to individual autonomy. We explore this autonomy harm, emphasising its implications for both individuals and society, and we briefly outline some strategies for combating online manipulation and strengthening autonomy in an increasingly digital world

Development of a tailored, telehealth intervention to address chronic pain and heavy drinking among people with HIV infection: integrating perspectives of patients in HIV care.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain and heavy drinking commonly co-occur and can infuence the course of HIV. There have been no interventions designed to address both of these conditions among people living with HIV (PLWH), and none that have used telehealth methods. The purpose of this study was to better understand pain symptoms, patterns of alcohol use, treatment experiences, and technology use among PLWH in order to tailor a telehealth intervention that addresses these conditions SUBJECTS: Ten participants with moderate or greater chronic pain and heavy drinking were recruited from a cohort of patients engaged in HIV-care (Boston Alcohol Research Collaborative on HIV/AIDS Cohort) and from an integrated HIV/primary care clinic at a large urban hospital. METHODS: One-on-one interviews were conducted with participants to understand experiences and treatment of HIV, chronic pain, and alcohol use. Participants’ perceptions of the infuence of alcohol on HIV and chronic pain were explored as was motivation to change drinking. Technology use and treatment preferences were examined in the fnal section of the interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and uploaded into NVivo® v12 software for analysis. A codebook was developed based on interviews followed by thematic analysis in which specifc meanings were assigned to codes. RESULTS: A number of themes were identifed that had implications for intervention tailoring including: resilience in coping with HIV; autonomy in health care decision-making; coping with pain, stress, and emotion; understanding treatment rationale; depression and social withdrawal; motives to drink and refrain from drinking; technology use and capacity; and preference for intervention structure and style. Ratings of intervention components indicated that participants viewed each of the proposed intervention content areas as “helpful” to “very helpful”. Videoconferencing was viewed as an acceptable modality for intervention delivery CONCLUSIONS: Results helped specify treatment targets and provided information about how to enhance intervention delivery. The interviews supported the view that videoconferencing is an acceptable telehealth method of addressing chronic pain and heavy drinking among PLWH.UH2 AA026192 - NIAAA NIH HHSPublished versio

Asegúrate: an intervention program against cyberbullying based on teachers' commitment and on design of its instructional materials

This article presents the impact on cyberbullying of the Asegúrate program. This educational program is based on the theory of normative social behavior, self-regulation skills,and the beliefs held by adolescents and consists in a whole package of strategies and resources to help teachers to include in the ordinary curricula. The evaluation of Asegúrate was carried out with a sample of 4779 students (48.9% girls) in 5th and 6th grade in primary education and compulsory secondary education (M = 12.76; SD = 1.67) through a quasi-experimental methodology, with two measures over time. The instrument used was the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. The results show that the involvement in cyberbullying as cyber-victim,cyber-aggressor, and cyber-bully-victim increase without intervention, whereas it diminishes when intervention is carried out by the teachers who have received specific training and have used the didactic Asegúrate package. Additionally, the impact of the intervention on the different types of behaviors was analyzed, and the results show that Asegúrate is more effective with some forms than with others. Consequently, the Asegúrate program is effective for decreasing the prevalence of cyberbullying, but some modifications need to be made to impact on all the different forms it can take.Gobierno de España PSI2017-86723-RGobierno de España PSI2016-74871-