Evolutionary coordination system for fixed-wing communications unmanned aerial vehicles

A system to coordinate the movement of a group of un- manned aerial vehicles that provide a network backbone over mobile ground-based vehicles with communication needs is presented. Using evo- lutionary algorithms, the system evolves flying manoeuvres that position the aerial vehicles by fulfilling two key requirements; i) they maximise net coverage and ii) they minimise the power consumption. Experimental results show that the proposed coordination system is able to offer a de- sirable level of adaptability with respect to the objectives set, providing useful feedback for future research directions

Selling surveillance technology: semiotic themes in advertisements for ageing in place with dementia

Six advertisements were explored that sell surveillance technologies for people living with dementia through qualitative content analysis. Advertisements from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands were analysed to explore semiotic textual meaning and people living with dementia (N = 5) and carers (N = 4) responded to these advertisements. The semiotic themes report a “wanderer” discourse which signals to track people living with dementia, children pets and possessions. Mainly negative representations communicate the dangers of wandering towards younger-female carers, few positive representations show a smiling person with dementia and only one person was represented as interacting with technology. Participants did not understand the advertisements and people living with dementia felt stigmatised. There is a lack of reflexivity when people living with dementia are seen as objects. The reliance on stereotypes targeted at carers with misunderstood conceivable trackers hinders resilience for people living with dementia and implies the continuous stigmatisation that occurs when they are disregarded as human technology-users

What do we require from surveillance technology? A review of the needs of people with dementia and informal caregivers

Introduction: Dementia has become a major global concern and surveillance technology might provide support for informal caregivers and people with dementia. However, the needs of caregivers and people with dementia for surveillance technology have not been reviewed. Method: A scoping literature review was used to identify the needs of caregivers and/or people with dementia towards surveillance technology. Electronic database searching was undertaken on LexisNexis, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing, Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Assistive Technology database, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies were synthesized by theme. Results: Twenty-eight eligible studies were identified, with the majority reporting the needs of caregivers rather than people with dementia. The predominant themes for caregivers were location accuracy, and increasing the safety of the person with dementia. People with dementia wanted simple useful technology that fits within their capacity and existing routines. Conclusions: The needs of people with dementia must be considered when designing surveillance products. Studies have mostly focused on caregivers and discount ST product requirements. Further work is required to establish effective use of surveillance technology in dementia care. Therefore, further research should cross analyze these results by examining both the needs of caregivers, and people with dementia

Does Good Mutation Help You Live Longer?

We study the dynamics of an age-structured population in which the life expectancy of an offspring may be mutated with respect to that of its parent. When advantageous mutation is favored, the average fitness of the population grows linearly with time $t$, while in the opposite case the average fitness is constant. For no mutational bias, the average fitness grows as t^{2/3}. The average age of the population remains finite in all cases and paradoxically is a decreasing function of the overall population fitness.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Analytic approach to the evolutionary effects of genetic exchange

We present an approximate analytic study of our previously introduced model of evolution including the effects of genetic exchange. This model is motivated by the process of bacterial transformation. We solve for the velocity, the rate of increase of fitness, as a function of the fixed population size, $N$. We find the velocity increases with $\ln N$, eventually saturated at an $N$ which depends on the strength of the recombination process. The analytical treatment is seen to agree well with direct numerical simulations of our model equations

Maintaining Social Connections in Dementia: A Qualitative Synthesis

The clinical symptoms of dementia include difficulty with speech, poor short-term memory, and changes in behavior. These symptoms can affect how the person with dementia understands and performs in social interactions. This qualitative review investigated how people with mild to moderate dementia managed social connections. A systematic search of social science databases retrieved 13 articles; data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Results established the work undertaken by people with dementia to maintain and present a social persona seen as socially acceptable. Interpretations are contextualized within Goffman and Sabat's theories on "self." People with dementia were agentic in impression management: undertaking work to maintain recognized social roles, while being aware of when their illness led to others discrediting them. Wider recognition of strategies used to maintain a social self could inform interventions designed to increase capability and confidence in co-managing social connections following dementia diagnosis

Recombination dramatically speeds up evolution of finite populations

We study the role of recombination, as practiced by genetically-competent bacteria, in speeding up Darwinian evolution. This is done by adding a new process to a previously-studied Markov model of evolution on a smooth fitness landscape; this new process allows alleles to be exchanged with those in the surrounding medium. Our results, both numerical and analytic, indicate that for a wide range of intermediate population sizes, recombination dramatically speeds up the evolutionary advance

Diagnosing coeliac disease: Out with the old and in with the new?

Coeliac disease (CD) is a complex condition resulting from an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. When diagnosing the condition, serological testing and genotyping are useful in excluding CD, although the gold standard of testing is currently histopathological examination of the small intestine. There are drawbacks associated with this form of testing however and because of this, novel forms of testing are currently under investigation. Before we develop completely novel tests though, it is important to ask whether or not we can simply use the data we gather from coeliac patients more effectively and build a more accurate snapshot of CD through statistical analysis of combined metrics. It is clear that not one single test can accurately diagnose CD and it is also clear that CD patients can no longer be defined by discrete classifications, the continuum of patient presentation needs to be recognised and correctly captured to improve diagnostic accuracy. This review will discuss the current diagnostics for CD and then outline novel diagnostics under investigation for the condition. Finally, improvements to current protocols will be discussed with the need for a holistic “snapshot” of CD using a number of metrics simultaneously