Distributed Hybrid Simulation of the Internet of Things and Smart Territories

This paper deals with the use of hybrid simulation to build and compose heterogeneous simulation scenarios that can be proficiently exploited to model and represent the Internet of Things (IoT). Hybrid simulation is a methodology that combines multiple modalities of modeling/simulation. Complex scenarios are decomposed into simpler ones, each one being simulated through a specific simulation strategy. All these simulation building blocks are then synchronized and coordinated. This simulation methodology is an ideal one to represent IoT setups, which are usually very demanding, due to the heterogeneity of possible scenarios arising from the massive deployment of an enormous amount of sensors and devices. We present a use case concerned with the distributed simulation of smart territories, a novel view of decentralized geographical spaces that, thanks to the use of IoT, builds ICT services to manage resources in a way that is sustainable and not harmful to the environment. Three different simulation models are combined together, namely, an adaptive agent-based parallel and distributed simulator, an OMNeT++ based discrete event simulator and a script-language simulator based on MATLAB. Results from a performance analysis confirm the viability of using hybrid simulation to model complex IoT scenarios.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1605.0487

High Energy Physics in the Atmosphere: Phenomenology of Cosmic Ray Air Showers

The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 10**6 GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air showers. We describe the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from collider data to ultra high energies, and discuss the prospects for insights into forward physics at the LHC. We also describe the main electromagnetic processes that govern the longitudinal shower evolution, as well as the lateral spread of particles. Armed with these two principal shower ingredients and motivation from the underlying physics, we provide an overview of some of the different methods proposed to distinguish primary species. The properties of neutrino interactions and the potential of forthcoming experiments to isolate deeply penetrating showers from baryonic cascades are also discussed. We finally venture into a terra incognita endowed with TeV-scale gravity and explore anomalous neutrino-induced showers.Comment: Typo in caption of Fig. 8 corrected, references adde

Hardware design of a portable medical device to measure the quadriceps muscle group after a total knee arthroplasty by EMG, LBIA and clinical score methods

El propòsit d'aquest projecte és el disseny del hardware d'un dispositiu mèdic portàtil per a mesurar senyals d'electromiografia (EMG) i bioimpedància localitzada (LBIA), que s'utilitzarà per avaluar la progressió de dues pròtesis de genoll (Medial-Pivot i Ultra- Congruent) en pacients operats d'una artroplàstia total de genoll per a l'hospital Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona. Per això, s'ha realitzat un estudi complet sobre els senyals d'EMG i LBIA, per tal de definir les característiques necessàries de l'equip mèdic i poder optimitzar el disseny electrònic. Per l'adquisició de senyals EMG, s'ha dissenyat i simulat un sistema compost per diferents fases, que treballen independentment per adquirir, amplificar, filtrar i adaptar el senyal EMG pel seu futur processament digital. D'altra banda, per obtenir valors de la bioimpedància localitzada dels diferents músculs que conformen el quàdriceps, s'ha dissenyat un sistema compost per dos grans blocs; el primer bloc és l'etapa d'injecció, on es genera i s'injecta un senyal feble de corrent altern a la zona a mesurar, mentre que el segon bloc, és l'etapa d'adquisició de senyals. Aquest últim s'encarrega d'adquirir la diferència de voltatge produïda per la injecció de corrent al múscul (anteriorment mencionat) per després calcular la bioimpedància a partir de la llei d'ohm. Tots els senyals són digitalitzats mitjançant el microcontrolador STM32F407VG, que s'encarregarà de processar i aconseguir les dades claus per determinar quina de les deus pròtesis desenvolupa una millor funció mecànica i una millor adaptació biològica. És important remarcar que tot el disseny, sigui per a EMG o LBIA s'ha dut a terme de manera discreta sense fer servir Front-Ends comercials o integrats complexos més que l'amplificador d'instrumentació o ADC. En addició, el present treball inclou una primera estimació dels costos de producció i fabricació per a una sola unitat, càlculs de consums i funcionament (sorolls, CMRR del sistema i amplada de banda) i una simulació completa d'EMG i LBIA per observar com funciona i es du a terme cada etapa del circuit. Finalment, en tractar-se d'un equip mèdic, també s'ha revisat la normativa aplicable i se n'ha analitzat l'impacte ambiental, s'ha proposat i definit diferents punts per a futurs treballs, com podria ser la validació i testatge de l'equip, càlculs més aproximats de consums i perfilar la bill of materials (BOM) per a grans demandes de components.The purpose of this project is the hardware design of a portable medical device to measure electromyography (EMG) and localized bioimpedance (LBIA) signals, which will be used to evaluate the adaptability and progression of two knee prostheses (medial-pivot and ultra-congruent) in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona. For this, the present work undercovers the relevant properties of the EMG and LBIA signals in order to define the characteristics of the medical equipment and thus optimize its electronic design. For the EMG measurements, a system made up of different stages has been designed and simulated. These phases work independently to acquire, amplify, filter, and adapt the EMG signal for its further digital processing. On the other hand, to obtain the bioimpedance values of different quadriceps muscles, a system composed of two large blocks has been designed; the first is the injection block, where a weak alternating current signal is generated and injected into the area to be measured, while the second block is the signal acquisition stage. The purpose of the latter is to acquire the voltage difference produced by the injection of current (mentioned above) and then obtain the bioimpedance from Ohm's law. All the signals are digitized from the STM32F407VG microcontroller, which will be in charge of processing and obtaining the key data to determine which of the two prostheses performs a better mechanical function and biological adaptation. It is important to note that the entire design, whether for EMG or LBIA, has been developed discreetly without using commercial Front-Ends or complex ICs other than the instrumentation amplifier or ADC. In addition, the thesis includes a first estimation of the production and manufacturing costs for a single unit, calculations of consumption and work operation (noise, CMRR of the system and bandwidth) and a complete simulation of EMG and LBIA to observe how it works on each stage for both circuits. Finally, as it is a medical device, the applicable regulations have also been reviewed and its environmental impact has been analysed. Additionally, different points have been proposed and defined for future work, such as the construction of the PCB and its respective validation, improving both the consumption calculations and the list of materials (BOM) for large component demands.El propósito de este proyecto es el diseño del Hardware de un dispositivo médico portátil para mediciones de electromiografía (EMG) y bioimpedancia localizada (LBIA), que se utilizará para estudiar la evolución de la adaptabilidad y funcionamiento de dos prótesis de rodilla (medial-pívot y ultracongruente) en pacientes operados de artroplastia total de rodilla en el Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio exhaustivo sobre las propiedades de las señales de EMG y LBIA con la finalidad de definir las características del equipo médico y de esta forma, optimizar el diseño electrónico del mismo. Para la lectura de mediciones EMG, se ha diseñado y simulado un sistema constituido por distintas etapas, que trabajan independientemente para adquirir, amplificar, filtrar, y adaptarla señal EMG para su posterior procesado digital. Por otro lado, para obtener los valores de bioimpedancia de distintos músculos del cuádriceps, se ha diseñado un sistema compuesto por dos grandes bloques; el primero es el bloque de inyección, donde se genera y se inyecta una señal débil de corriente alterna en la zona a medir, mientras que el segundo bloque es la etapa de adquisición de señales. Esta última tiene como finalidad adquirir la diferencia de voltaje producido por la inyección de corriente (anteriormente mencionada) para después obtener la bioimpedancia a partir de la ley de ohm. Todas las señales son digitalizadas a partir del microcontrolador STM32F407VG, que se encargará de procesar y obtener los datos claves para determinar cuál de las dos prótesis desempeña una mejor función mecánica y adaptación biológica. Es importante remarcar que todo el diseño, ya sea para EMG o LBIA, se ha desarrollado de manera discreta sin usar Front-Ends comerciales o integrados complejos más que el amplificador de instrumentación o ADC. En adición, la tesis incluye una primera estimación de los costes de producción y fabricación para una sola unidad, cálculos de consumos y funcionamiento (ruidos, CMRR del sistema y ancho de banda) y una simulación completa de EMG y LBIA para observar cómo funciona y se desarrolla cada etapa de los distintos circuitos. Finalmente, al tratarse de un equipo médico, también se ha revisado la normativa aplicable y se ha analizado el impacto ambiental del mismo. Por último, se han propuesto y definido distintos puntos para futuros trabajos, como es la construcción de la PCB y su respectiva validación, realizar cálculos más aproximados de consumos y perfilar la lista de materiales (BOM) para grandes demandas de componentes

Evoking a Simulated Past: technology and manipulation of human memory.

A memória é uma das características fundamentais do ser humano, ela molda a nossa personalidade e permite-nos reagir às experiências da vida. Ao longo da História, os seres humanos têm vindo a procurar formas de melhorar as suas capacidades cognitivas, contando com mecanismos e dispositivos externos, como a escrita e a produção de imagens. No século vinte e um, a memória humana não pode ser separada da tecnologia digital, já que armazenamos constantemente registos das nossas experiências em smartphones e computadores. Hoje, temos acesso a quase toda a informação do mundo nos nossos bolsos, o que nos leva a confiar demasiado na tecnologia para armazenar as nossas memórias. Mas esse acesso a toda essa informação está a transformar a maneira como formamos, armazenamos e reconstruímos memórias. Apesar de termos registos de várias memórias do dia-a-dia, a capacidade do nosso cérebro de formar novas memórias está a mudar, tornando-nos mais esquecidos. Partindo destas ideias, desenvolvemos uma instalação multimédia que explora processos de reconstrução e associação de memórias, e um ensaio crítico que potencie o questionamento sobre a tecnologia e a manipulação da memória humana. Os nossos objectivos principais são pesquisar sobre o cérebro humano, a memória humana e a sua relação com as emoções; pesquisar sobre práticas arquivísticas; e pesquisar sobre o impacto das tecnologias da memória; a fim de potenciar o questionamento e gerar discussão sobre o impacto da tecnologia na memória humana individual e os seus possíveis efeitos. A instalação, denominada Evoking a Simulated Past, é descrita nesta dissertação, bem como o processo criativo e as contribuições da pesquisa sobre a memória humana e as práticas arquivísticas para a implementação do projecto.Memory is one of the fundamental characteristics of human beings, it shapes our personality and allows us to react to life experiences. Throughout History human beings have been looking for ways to enhance their cognitive abilities by relying on mechanisms and external devices, such as writing and picture-making. In the 21st century human memory cannot be separated from digital technology, as we constantly store records of our daily experiences in smartphones and computers. Today, we have access to almost all the information of the world in our pockets which leads us to trust too much on technology to store our memories. But the access to all that information is changing how we form, store and reconstruct memories. While we have recordings of our daily memories in our smartphones and computers, the ability of our brain to form new memories is changing, making us more forgetful. Regarding these ideas, we developed a multimedia installation that explores processes of memory reconstruction and association and a critical essay that fosters the questioning about technology and manipulation of human memory. Our main goals are to research on the human brain; the human memory and its relationship with emotions; research on archival practices; research on the impact of technologies on human memory; in order to foster the questioning and generate discussion about the impact of technology on the individual memory and its possible outcomes. The installation, named Evoking a Simulated Past, is described in this dissertation as well as the creative process and how the research on human memory and archival practices contributed to its implementation

Combination of an electrolytic pretreatment unit with secondary water reclamation processes

The design and fabrication of a flight concept prototype electrolytic pretreatment unit (EPU) and of a contractor-furnished air evaporation unit (AEU) are described. The integrated EPU and AEU potable water recovery system is referred to as the Electrovap and is capable of processing the urine and flush water of a six-man crew. Results of a five-day performance verification test of the Electrovap system are presented and plans are included for the extended testing of the Electrovap to produce data applicable to the combination of electrolytic pretreatment with most final potable water recovery systems. Plans are also presented for a program to define the design requirements for combining the electrolytic pretreatment unit with a reverse osmosis final processing unit

Time of Flight Spectroscopy of Photon Migration in Turbid Media

Light interacting with biological matter is dominated by light scattering; biological matter is turbid. In order not to harm the natural structure of biological matter, visible light can be used to investigate it, and to avoid the light being absorbed from e.g. blood and water, an optical window in the longer wavelength region of the visible spectrum is used, that is, red light. One can actually check the validity of this optical window in a very simple way with nothing but a normal flash light and a finger tip. Putting the finger tip onto the flash light, it can be seen what light is mostly let through, and indeed, the finger appears red! Spectralon®, which is a type of plastic, is the material we know of with the highest diffuse reflectance, i.e. the most scattering material that has come to our attention. A first aim for this thesis was to investigate Spectralon® in terms of scattering and absorption coefficients, which is directly related to the number of events of scattering and absorption, respectively. These single events of scattering and absorption were recorded using Time-of-Flight Spectroscopy (TOFS). The system used to measure these properties of Spectralon® in short consists of a laser, optical fibers, i.e. one source fiber and one detection fiber, and a detector. In order to diagnose the response of the system, i.e. how fast it is, so called Impulse Response Function (IRF) measurements are made. These IRF measurements are made in connection to each sample measurement, and in order not to harm the detector with the light coming from the laser, as well as attempting to fill the entire cross-section of the detection fiber with light, some material must be put in between the source and the detection fiber. That is, in one aspect, this material might be seen as a pair of shades for the detector, which in turn is our eyes. A second aim for this thesis was finding a suitable material for this very important job. These investigations were carried out both theoretically by running computer simulations, but foremost experimentally by systematically testing different materials and then comparing the results . The number of materials were narrowed down to four; black-printed white writing paper, ready black paper, black-sprayed Teflon® tape, and black masking tape. As one of the first measurements in the world, the both the scattering coefficient and the absorption coefficient as a function of wavelength were measured for Spectralon®. The results agree with the theory on how the material should behave; the absorption coefficient increases with the wavelength and the scattering coefficient decreases in the same region. As for finding a suitable IRF material, it could be concluded from the experiments that the black-printed paper, already used today by the Biophotonics group, despite the porous nature of paper, indeed is a suitable material for this type of measurement.Då vi lyser med ljus på något ämne kan det huvudsakligen hända tre olika saker; ljuset går rakt igenom ämnet (transmitteras), ljuset tas upp av ämnet (absorberas) eller ljuset ändrar riktning i ämnet (sprids). Vi ser alla dessa effekter hela tiden och de är självklara i vårt vardagliga liv. Ett exempel är de färger vi uppfattar och som utgör en stor del av de synintryck som vi får från vår omgivning. Vi uppfattar ljuset från solen eller en vanlig glödlampa som vitt eftersom det består av alla färger, eller våglängder, som vi kan se. Att olika saker har olika färger beror på att de absorberar olika färger från det vita ljuset. Det gröna gräset till exempel absorberar alla färger i det vita ljuset utom just grönt, och just därför uppfattar vi det som grönt. Något vi uppfattar som svart absorberar alla våglängder, och något vitt absorberar inga våglängder alls. Varje slag av atomer (grundämnen), och därför också molekyler som ju består av atomer, absorberar olika våglängder och på så sätt kan ljus användas för att bestämma vilka grundämnen som ingår i en förening. Spridning, som är den dominerande processen då ljus lyses på biologisk materia, är effekten som till exempel gör himlen blå under dagen och röd eller gul vid soluppgången eller solnedgången. Vi skiljer synligt ljus från annat ljus efter vårt ögas förmåga att uppfatta det. Solljus innehåller även våglängder som vi inte kan uppfatta. Exempel på sådana områden av våglängder är ultraviolett och infrarött. Det finns dock en hel del djurarter som kan uppfatta båda dessa våglängdsområden eller ett utav dem. Exempelvis blåmesen uppfattar förutom det synliga området även det ultravioletta. Det finns en sorts fjäril som uppfattar så mycket som tolv olika våglängdsområden, medans vi människor bara uppfattar ett! Grunden till dessa skillnader mellan olika arter ligger i den fysiologiska uppbyggnaden av ögat. Hos oss människor kanske förmågan att uppfatta olika våglängdsområden är begränsad, men det ljus vi uppfattar är hur som helst ofarligt för oss, det är så kallat icke-joniserande. Att någonting är icke-joniserande innebär att det inte har förmågan att ändra på strukturen hos atomer och molekyler i vår kropp eller i andra biologiska material. Dessutom skapar synligt ljus inte heller några andra obehag för oss. Därför kan det vara fördelaktigt att använda synligt ljus då man vill undersöka strukturen hos biologiska material. I biomedicinsk optik används synligt ljust med långa våglängder, det vill säga rött ljus, nära det infraröda våglängdsområdet. Anledningen till att rött ljus är att föredra framför andra färger är att till exempel vatten och blod, som är vanliga i biologiskt material, absorberar mindre av dessa våglängder. Att absorptionen är lägre innebär att man kan nå djupare ner i materialet med rött ljus. Spridningen av detta röda ljus går att undersöka med rent matematiska modeller och datorer. Spridningen kan också undersökas experimentellt med en laser som ger de önskade våglängderna. Lasern skickar då en extremt kort puls av ljus som sedan leds genom en tunn glasfiber till materialet man önskar undersöka. På andra sidan av materialet finns ytterligare en glasfiber som leder ljuset vidare till detektorn. Enstaka händelser av absorption och spridning kan detekteras, och informationen kan användas för att bestämma vad materialet är uppbyggt av och hur. Syftet med den här uppsatsen var huvudsakligen att försöka bidra med en förbättring av de experimentella mättekniker som används idag. För att de mätningar som görs ska vara exakta måste man veta hur snabbt systemet är, det vill säga hur lång tid det tar för pulsen från lasern att nå detektorn. När snabbheten testas placeras något material mellan glasfibern från lasern och glasfibern till detektorn, alltså där man normalt sett har sitt prov, och tiden det tar för ljuset att nå detektorn registreras. Det är nödvändigt att ha något material mellan de två fibrerna, bland annat för att dämpa ljuset som kommer från lasern som annars skulle förstöra detektorn. Man skulle på så sätt kunna se materialet mellan fibrerna som ett par solglasögon till detektorn, som ju är våra ögon. Vilket material som skulle kunna vara lämpligt för dessa mätningar undersöks, dels teoretiskt med hjälp av ett datorprogram, men också genom att experimentellt testa fyra olika material som kan tänkas vara passande. Idag används vanligt skrivpapper som gjorts svart som materialet mellan fibrerna, och det visade sig att detta papper fungerar bra för dessa mätningar. Ett andra syfte var att undersöka en sorts plast som går under namnet Spectralon®. Spectralon® är det material vi känner till som sprider ljus i flest riktningar, det vill säga, när man lyser med ljus på Spectralon® sprids ljuset i alla riktningar runt omkring. Både absorptions- och spridningsegenskaperna för Spectralon® bestämdes

Age Differences in Vestibular Processing: Neural and Behavioral Evidence

The vestibular system is well known for its role in balance, but its mechanisms of action in this role are not well understood. My dissertation aims to provide a better understanding of vestibular brain function, its correlation with postural control, and its alteration with advancing age. This is an important topic considering that falls are the current leading cause of injuries in older adults in the U.S., and they have negative consequences on wellbeing and independence. In this dissertation, I first review the conventional methods for studying vestibular function in the human brain, and I evaluate a novel MRI-compatible method, which relies on a pneumatic tapper. This approach successfully induces vestibular responses, while preventing the aversive effects of stimulation that are common in other approaches. Next, I assess age differences in brain responses to pneumatic vestibular stimulation, and find that older adults demonstrate less sensitivity to stimulation. Also, those with better postural control exhibit less deactivation of cross-modal sensory regions (e.g. visual and somatosensory cortices). This greater engagement of non-vestibular sensory regions in older adults with better balance could be a mechanism to compensate for inefficient vestibular processing. Consistent with this hypothesis, the relationship between postural control and deactivation of sensory regions was only evident in tasks of low difficulty (i.e. normal stance) in which compensatory neural recruitment might be most effective. After assessing the brain responses to vestibular stimulation in terms of activation and deactivation, I examine connectivity of the vestibular cortex with other regions. This last experiment demonstrates that vestibular cortex connectivity increases in response to vestibular stimulation, and young adults exhibit greater connectivity relative to older adults. Also, connectivity predicts postural stability in high difficulty tasks for young adults, and in low difficulty tasks for older adults. Better balance in young adults is associated with less vestibular connectivity (i.e. they engaged vestibular cortex more selectively), whereas better balance in older adults is associated with higher connectivity (i.e. more recruitment of other sensory regions). These findings reinforce the conclusions from the second experiment, and provide more evidence in support of the compensation related utilization of neural circuits hypothesis (CRUNCH) of neural processing in older adults.PHDKines & Psychology PhDUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145857/1/fnoohi_1.pd

A Feedback-Based Pneumatic Compression System for Effective Lymphedema Management

Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) is a method of detecting lymphedema- a debilitating medical condition involving swelling of the extremities. Pneumatic compression devices are frequently used in the compression treatment of lymphedema. Although existing compression technology provides relief of symptoms, it has limitations in terms of ease-of-use, portability, and monitoring of treatment progress. Currently, there are no BIA analyzers in the market that run on a low-power microcontroller and a rechargeable battery. Moreover, no such device currently exists that integrate the BIA analysis with pneumatic compression system to offer a feedback-based solution for lymphedema treatment. This work represents the first steps towards a complete system and describes the pneumatic compression and circuit designs for a portable BIA analyzer. The study proposes a lightweight, battery operated pneumatic compression device that can apply a pressure of 50 mmHg in a four-chamber compression garment. A microcontroller-based BIA system that can provide accurate indication of swelling based on a Nyquist plot was introduced. The envisioned mechatronic system features programmable compression sequences and operates with the human-in-the-loop using bioimpedance spectroscopy as control feedback. Performance of the compression system is verified by measurement of applied pressures and the BIA circuits are validated for single frequency and multi frequency impedance analysis of a phantom test load. With further development in the future, the system has the potential to serve as a quantitative source of valuable diagnostic information for clinicians, and in the long run may enable the smart management of lymphedema with the device essentially prescribing the course of treatment in response to measured conditions. This kind of human-in-the-loop control system may be a breakthrough in treatment of chronic conditions