A Microservice Infrastructure for Distributed Communities of Practice

Non-formal learning in Communities of Practice (CoPs) makes up a significant portion of today’s knowledge gain. However, only little technological support is tailored specifically towards CoPs and their particular strengths and challenges. Even worse, CoPs often do not possess the resources to host or even develop a software ecosystem to support their activities. In this paper, we describe a distributed, microservice-based Web infrastructure for non-formal learning in CoPs. It mitigates the need for central infrastructures, coordination or facilitation and takes into account the constant change of these communities. As a real use case, we implement an inquiry-based learning application on-top of our infrastructure. Our evaluation results indicate the usefulness of this learning application, which shows promise for future work in the domain of community-hosted, microservice-based Web infrastructures for learning outside of formal settings

Test-retest reliability of the Shape/Texture Identification testTM in people with chronic stroke

To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Shape/Texture Identification test (STI-test(TM)) in persons with chronic stroke

Aqueous outflow imaging techniques and what they tell us about intraocular pressure regulation.

Recent advances in the medical and surgical management of open-angle glaucoma have increased the number of treatment options available. Several new intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering treatments target the conventional aqueous outflow (AO) system. However, success rates are variable and outcomes in individual patients are often difficult to predict. Variable treatment responses remain unexplained and highlight deficiencies in our current understanding of AO regulation and IOP homeostasis. Imaging is often relied upon to confirm diagnoses and monitor treatment responses in other ocular and systemic pathologies. As yet no suitable AO imaging tool has been developed to fulfil this role in glaucoma. A variety of imaging techniques have been used to study the AO tracts of humans and animals in ex vivo and in vivo eyes. In this review, results from novel imaging techniques that assess aqueous drainage through the episcleral venous system are considered and we argue these provide new insights into AO regulation. We suggest that the ability to objectively measure AO responses to interventions would be a significant clinical advance, and we have demonstrated that this can be achieved with direct visualisation of aqueous drainage. We predict that the evolution of AO imaging technology will continue to reveal critical components of AO and IOP regulation, and that personalised IOP-lowering treatment in glaucoma care may well become a reality in the near future.1. A core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome Trust – Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute 2. Haemoglobin Video Imaging facilities funded by Sydney Eye Hospital Foundation, Carl Zeiss Meditec, and Glaukos Corporatio

The 'At-risk mental state' for psychosis in adolescents : clinical presentation, transition and remission.

Despite increased efforts over the last decade to prospectively identify individuals at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic illness, limited attention has been specifically directed towards adolescent populations (<18 years). In order to evaluate how those under 18 fulfilling the operationalised criteria for an At-Risk Mental State (ARMS) present and fare over time, we conducted an observational study. Participants (N = 30) generally reported a high degree of functional disability and frequent and distressing perceptual disturbance, mainly in the form of auditory hallucinations. Seventy percent (21/30) were found to fulfil the criteria for a co-morbid ICD-10 listed mental health disorder, with mood (affective; 13/30) disorders being most prevalent. Overall transition rates to psychosis were low at 24 months follow-up (2/28; 7.1 %) whilst many participants demonstrated a significant reduction in psychotic-like symptoms. The generalisation of these findings may be limited due to the small sample size and require replication in a larger sample

Fuzzy-description logic for supporting the rehabilitation of the elderly

[EN] According to the latest statistics, the proportion of the elderly (+65) is increasing and is expected to double within the European Union in a period of 50 years. This ageing is due to the improvement of quality of life and advances in medicine in the last decades. Gerontechnology is receiving a great deal of attention as a way of providing the elderly with sustainable products, environments, and services combining gerontology and technology. One of the most important aspects to consider by gerontechnology is the mobility/rehabilitation technologies, because there is an important relationship between mobility and the elderly's quality of life. Telerehabilitation systems have emerged to allow the elderly to perform their rehabilitation exercises remotely. However, in many cases, the proposed systems assist neither the patients nor the experts about the progress of the rehabilitation. To address this problem, we propose in this paper, a fuzzy-semantic system for evaluating patient's physical state during the rehabilitation process based on well-known standard for patients' evaluation. Moreover, a tool called FINE has been developed that facilitates the evaluation be accomplished in a semi-automatic way first asking patients to carry out a set of standard tests and then inferencing their state by means of a fuzzy-semantic approach using the data captured during the rehabilitation tasks.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and by EU FEDER funds under project grants TIN2016-79100-R and TIN2015-72931-EXP. It has also been funded by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla¿La Mancha scholarship 2018-UCLM1-9131Moya, A.; Navarro, E.; Jaén Martínez, FJ.; González, P. (2020). Fuzzy-description logic for supporting the rehabilitation of the elderly. Expert Systems. 37(2):1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/exsy.12464116372Alamri, A., Cha, J., & El Saddik, A. (2010). AR-REHAB: An Augmented Reality Framework for Poststroke-Patient Rehabilitation. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 59(10), 2554-2563. doi:10.1109/tim.2010.2057750Antoniou, G., & van Harmelen, F. (2004). Web Ontology Language: OWL. Handbook on Ontologies, 67-92. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-24750-0_4Bobillo F.(2008).Managing vagueness in ontologies. Universidad de Granada.Bobillo F. (2015).The fuzzyDL system. Retrieved July 10 2018 fromhttp://www.umbertostraccia.it/cs/software/fuzzyDL/fuzzyDL.htmlBobillo, F., Delgado, M., & Gómez-Romero, J. (2012). DeLorean: A reasoner for fuzzy OWL 2. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(1), 258-272. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2011.07.016Bobillo, F., & Straccia, U. (2016). The fuzzy ontology reasoner fuzzyDL. Knowledge-Based Systems, 95, 12-34. doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2015.11.017Boucenna, S., Narzisi, A., Tilmont, E., Muratori, F., Pioggia, G., Cohen, D., & Chetouani, M. (2014). Interactive Technologies for Autistic Children: A Review. Cognitive Computation, 6(4), 722-740. doi:10.1007/s12559-014-9276-xCarter J. E. L.(2002).The Heath‐Carter anthropometric somatotype—Instruction manual. San Diego:State University.Chiu, Y.-H., Chen, T.-W., Chen, Y. J., Su, C.-I., Hwang, K.-S., & Ho, W.-H. (2018). Fuzzy logic-based mobile computing system for hand rehabilitation after neurological injury. Technology and Health Care, 26(1), 17-27. doi:10.3233/thc-171403Fernández-Caballero, A., González, P., & Navarro, E. (2017). Gerontechnologies - Current achievements and future trends. Expert Systems, 34(2), e12203. doi:10.1111/exsy.12203Giles, R. (1976). Łukasiewicz logic and fuzzy set theory. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 8(3), 313-327. doi:10.1016/s0020-7373(76)80003-xHsieh, Y.-W., Hsueh, I.-P., Chou, Y.-T., Sheu, C.-F., Hsieh, C.-L., & Kwakkel, G. (2007). Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Scale in Patients With Stroke. Stroke, 38(11), 3052-3054. doi:10.1161/strokeaha.107.490730Karime, A., Eid, M., Alja’am, J. M., Saddik, A. E., & Gueaieb, W. (2014). A Fuzzy-Based Adaptive Rehabilitation Framework for Home-Based Wrist Training. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 63(1), 135-144. doi:10.1109/tim.2013.2277536Krynicki, K., Jaen, J., & Navarro, E. (2016). An ACO-based personalized learning technique in support of people with acquired brain injury. Applied Soft Computing, 47, 316-331. doi:10.1016/j.asoc.2016.04.039Leap Motion INC. (2018).Leap Motion. Retrieved July 10 2018 fromhttps://www.leapmotion.com/Lukasiewicz, T., & Straccia, U. (2008). Managing uncertainty and vagueness in description logics for the Semantic Web. Journal of Web Semantics, 6(4), 291-308. doi:10.1016/j.websem.2008.04.001Metz, D. . (2000). Mobility of older people and their quality of life. Transport Policy, 7(2), 149-152. doi:10.1016/s0967-070x(00)00004-4Nassabi M. H. Den Akker H. &Vollenbroek‐Hutten M. (2014).An ontology‐based recommender system to promote physical activity for pre‐frail elderly 181–184.Navarro, E., González, P., López-Jaquero, V., Montero, F., Molina, J. P., & Romero-Ayuso, D. (2018). Adaptive, Multisensorial, Physiological and Social: The Next Generation of Telerehabilitation Systems. Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, 12. doi:10.3389/fninf.2018.00043OpenNI Pioneering Members. (2018).OpenNI. Retrieved July 10 2018 fromhttp://openni.ru/about/index.htmlOrbbec 3D. (2018).Orbbec Astra Pro. Retrieved July 10 2018 fromhttps://orbbec3d.com/product‐astra‐pro/Rodríguez, A. C., Roda, C., Montero, F., González, P., & Navarro, E. (2015). An Interactive Fuzzy Inference System for Teletherapy of Older People. Cognitive Computation, 8(2), 318-335. doi:10.1007/s12559-015-9356-6Shaughnessy, M., Resnick, B. M., & Macko, R. F. (2006). Testing a Model of Post-Stroke Exercise Behavior. Rehabilitation Nursing, 31(1), 15-21. doi:10.1002/j.2048-7940.2006.tb00005.xSu, C.-J., Chiang, C.-Y., & Huang, J.-Y. (2014). Kinect-enabled home-based rehabilitation system using Dynamic Time Warping and fuzzy logic. Applied Soft Computing, 22, 652-666. doi:10.1016/j.asoc.2014.04.020Velozo, C. A., & Woodbury, M. L. (2011). Translating measurement findings into rehabilitation practice: An example using Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity with patients following stroke. The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 48(10), 1211. doi:10.1682/jrrd.2010.10.0203W3C. (2012).OWL 2 web ontology language. Retrieved July 10 2018 from https://www.w3.org/TR/owl2‐overview/Zadeh, L. A. (1965). Fuzzy sets. Information and Control, 8(3), 338-353. doi:10.1016/s0019-9958(65)90241-xZhang, Z., Fang, Q., & Gu, X. (2014). Fuzzy inference system based automatic Brunnstrom stage classification for upper-extremity rehabilitation. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(4), 1973-1980. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2013.08.09

Negative parental responses to coming out and family functioning in a sample of lesbian and gay young adults

Parental responses to youths' coming out (CO) are crucial to the subsequent adjustment of children and family. The present study investigated the negative parental reaction to the disclosure of same-sex attraction and the differences between maternal and paternal responses, as reported by their homosexual daughters and sons. Participants' perceptions of their parents' reactions (evaluated through the Perceived Parental Reactions Scale, PPRS), age at coming out, gender, parental political orientation, and religiosity involvement, the family functioning (assessed through the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales, FACES IV), were assessed in 164 Italian gay and lesbian young adults. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relation between family functioning and parental reaction to CO. The paired sample t-test was used to compare mothers and fathers' scores on the PPRS. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to analyze the relevance of each variable. No differences were found between mothers and fathers in their reaction to the disclosure. The analysis showed that a negative reaction to coming out was predicted by parents' right-wing political conservatism, strong religious beliefs, and higher scores in the scales Rigid and Enmeshed. Findings confirm that a negative parental reaction is the result of poor family resources to face a stressful situation and a strong belief in traditional values. These results have important implications in both clinical and social fields

Participation and satisfaction after spinal cord injury: results of a vocational and leisure outcome study

Study design: Survey. Objectives: Insight in (1) the changes in participation in vocational and leisure activities and (2) satisfaction with the current participation level of people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) after reintegration in society. Design: Descriptive analysis of data from a questionnaire. Setting: Rehabilitation centre with special department for patients with SCIs, Groningen, The Netherlands. Subjects: A total of 57 patients with traumatic SCI living in the community, who were admitted to the rehabilitation centre two to 12 years before the current assessment. Main outcome measures: Changes in participation in activities; current life satisfaction; support and unmet needs. Results: Participation expressed in terms of hours spent on vocational and leisure activities changed to a great extent after the SCI. This was mainly determined by a large reduction of hours spent on paid work. While 60% of the respondents successfully reintegrated in work, many changes took place in the type and extent of the job. Loss of work was partially compensated with domestic and leisure activities. Sports activities were reduced substantially. The change in participation level and compensation for the lost working hours was not significantly associated with the level of SCI-specific health problems and disabilities. As was found in other studies, most respondents were satisfied with their lives. Determinants of a negative life satisfaction several years following SCI were not easily indicated. Reduced quality of life was particularly related to an unsatisfactory work and leisure situation. Conclusions: Most people with SCI in this study group were able to resume work and were satisfied with their work and leisure situation

Indiscriminable sounds determine the direction of visual motion

On cross-modal interactions, top-down controls such as attention and explicit identification of cross-modal inputs were assumed to play crucial roles for the optimization. Here we show the establishment of cross-modal associations without such top-down controls. The onsets of two circles producing apparent motion perception were accompanied by indiscriminable sounds consisting of six identical and one unique sound frequencies. After adaptation to the visual apparent motion with the sounds, the sounds acquired a driving effect for illusory visual apparent motion perception. Moreover, the pure tones with each unique frequency of the sounds acquired the same effect after the adaptation, indicating that the difference in the indiscriminable sounds was implicitly coded. We further confrimed that the aftereffect didnot transfer between eyes. These results suggest that the brain establishes new neural representations between sound frequency and visual motion without clear identification of the specific relationship between cross-modal stimuli in early perceptual processing stages