Gaze-controlled Mouse

Technology is growing at a rapid rate. Virtually every home owns some sort of personal computer or a smartphone. These devices provide a powerful way to gain knowledge, communicate with other people, and interact with the world. Unfortunately, due to physical disabilities, many people are unable to use the current primary means for interacting with these devices: keyboards, mice, and touchscreens. Furthermore, even for people that can use these input devices, continuous, repetitive use can lead to medical issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome. We propose a solution that is targeted to patients and professionals who are suffering from motor issues such as Parkinson’s disease, Arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome where the use of hands is difficult or downright impossible.  We present our gaze-controlled mouse.  This device will be controlled using the patient’s eyes which will eliminate the need of hands. The gaze-controlled mouse will use the pupils to correctly map the mouse cursor on a computer thereby using the patient’s eyes to move the cursor effectively. Additionally, it will use a combination of blinks, dwell time, or other methods to interact with the computer. This will be accomplished by using cameras that will be mounted on the computer with its own image processing processor that capture the eyes and pupils and correctly map the position to the mouse on the computer. &nbsp

Interactions of Mean Climate Change and Climate Variability on Food Security Extremes

Recognizing that climate change will affect agricultural systems both through mean changes and through shifts in climate variability and associated extreme events, we present preliminary analyses of climate impacts from a network of 1137 crop modeling sites contributed to the AgMIP Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP). At each site sensitivity tests were run according to a common protocol, which enables the fitting of crop model emulators across a range of carbon dioxide, temperature, and water (CTW) changes. C3MP can elucidate several aspects of these changes and quantify crop responses across a wide diversity of farming systems. Here we test the hypothesis that climate change and variability interact in three main ways. First, mean climate changes can affect yields across an entire time period. Second, extreme events (when they do occur) may be more sensitive to climate changes than a year with normal climate. Third, mean climate changes can alter the likelihood of climate extremes, leading to more frequent seasons with anomalies outside of the expected conditions for which management was designed. In this way, shifts in climate variability can result in an increase or reduction of mean yield, as extreme climate events tend to have lower yield than years with normal climate.C3MP maize simulations across 126 farms reveal a clear indication and quantification (as response functions) of mean climate impacts on mean yield and clearly show that mean climate changes will directly affect the variability of yield. Yield reductions from increased climate variability are not as clear as crop models tend to be less sensitive to dangers on the cool and wet extremes of climate variability, likely underestimating losses from water-logging, floods, and frosts

Understanding the support experiences of families of children with autism and sensory processing difficulties: A qualitative study.

Background: Support, such as information, advice and therapies, can play a vital role in the lives of families of autistic children. However, little is known about the support experiences of UK parents and carers. Aim: To explore experiences of and access to support for families of children with autism and sensory processing difficulties, from the perspective of parents and carers. Methods: Semi‐structured, timeline‐assisted interviews were conducted with parents/carers of 30 children aged 5–11, exploring experiences of support. Framework analysis was used to identify themes in the interview data. Results: Support varied widely and was not accessed equitably. Specialist autism support, together with support from other parents and voluntary organizations, was perceived as more useful than statutory and nonspecialist provision. Unmet support needs included an ongoing point of contact for information and advice for parents, and access to direct therapy and specialist mental health provision for children

Exploring critical intervention features and trial processes in the evaluation of sensory integration therapy for autistic children

Background: We evaluated the clinical and cost-effectiveness of manualised sensory integration therapy (SIT) for autistic children with sensory processing difficulties in a two-arm randomised controlled trial. Trial processes and contextual factors which may have affected intervention outcomes were explored within a nested process evaluation. This paper details the process evaluation methods and results. We also discuss implications for evaluation of individual level, tailored interventions in similar populations. Methods: The process evaluation was conducted in line with Medical Research Council guidance. Recruitment, demographics, retention, adherence, and adverse effects are reported using descriptive statistics. Fidelity of intervention delivery is reported according to the intervention scoring manual. Qualitative interviews with therapists and carers were undertaken to explore the acceptability of the intervention and trial processes. Qualitative interviews with carers explored potential contamination. Results: Recruitment, reach and retention within the trial met expected thresholds. One hundred thirty-eight children and carers were recruited (92% of those screened and 53.5% of those who expressed an interest) with 77.5% retained at 6 months and 69.9% at 12 months post-randomisation. The intervention was delivered with structural and process fidelity with the majority (78.3%) receiving a ‘sufficient dose’ of intervention. However, there was considerable individual variability in the receipt of sessions. Carers and therapists reported that trial processes were generally acceptable though logistical challenges such as appointment times, travel and COVID restrictions were frequent barriers to receiving the intervention. No adverse effects were reported. Conclusions: The process evaluation was highly valuable in identifying contextual factors that could impact the effectiveness of this individualised intervention. Rigorous evaluations of interventions for autistic children are important, especially given the limitations such as limited sample sizes and short-term follow-up as faced by previous research. One of the challenges lies in the variability of outcomes considered important by caregivers, as each autistic child faces unique challenges. It is crucial to consider the role of parents or other caregivers in facilitating access to these interventions and how this may impact effectiveness. Trial registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN14716440. August 11, 2016

Common Variants of Inflammatory Cytokine Genes Are Associated with Risk of Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetes among Asian Indians

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory cytokine genes have been proposed as good candidate genes for conferring susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy. In the present study, we examined the combined effect of multiple alleles of pro inflammatory cytokine genes for determining the risk of nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes (CCL2, TGFB1, IL8, CCR5, and MMP9) were genotyped in two independently ascertained type 2 diabetic cohorts with (DN) and without nephropathy (DM); consisting of patients from North India (n = 495) and South India (n = 188). Genotyping was carried out using PCR, allele specific oligonucleotide-PCR (ASO-PCR), PCR-RFLP and TaqMan allelic discrimination assays and the gene-gene interaction among genetic variants were determined by multi dimensional reduction (MDR) software. Serum high sensitive CRP (hs-CRP) levels were measured by ELISA. The hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in DN as compared to the DM group (p<0.05). The CCL2, IL8, CCR5 and MMP9 polymorphisms were found to be associated with the risk of diabetic nephropathy. Frequency of CCL2 II, IL8 -251AA, CCR5 59029AA and MMP9 279Gln/Gln genotypes were significantly higher in DN than in DM group (p<0.05) and associated with an increased risk of nephropathy in both North and South Indian cohorts. CCR5 DD and IL8 -251AA genotypes were more prevalent in North Indian DN group only. The co-occurrence of risk associated genotypes (II, -2518GG (CCL2), DD (CCR5) and 279Gln/Gln (MMP9) conferred a tenfold increased risk of nephropathy among type 2 diabetics (p<0.0002). CONCLUSION: The present study highlights that common variants of inflammatory cytokine genes exert a modest effect on risk of DN and a combination of risk alleles confer a substantial increased risk of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes among Asian Indians

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI