Multimodal Observation and Interpretation of Subjects Engaged in Problem Solving

In this paper we present the first results of a pilot experiment in the capture and interpretation of multimodal signals of human experts engaged in solving challenging chess problems. Our goal is to investigate the extent to which observations of eye-gaze, posture, emotion and other physiological signals can be used to model the cognitive state of subjects, and to explore the integration of multiple sensor modalities to improve the reliability of detection of human displays of awareness and emotion. We observed chess players engaged in problems of increasing difficulty while recording their behavior. Such recordings can be used to estimate a participant's awareness of the current situation and to predict ability to respond effectively to challenging situations. Results show that a multimodal approach is more accurate than a unimodal one. By combining body posture, visual attention and emotion, the multimodal approach can reach up to 93% of accuracy when determining player's chess expertise while unimodal approach reaches 86%. Finally this experiment validates the use of our equipment as a general and reproducible tool for the study of participants engaged in screen-based interaction and/or problem solving

Deep learning investigation for chess player attention prediction using eye-tracking and game data

This article reports on an investigation of the use of convolutional neural networks to predict the visual attention of chess players. The visual attention model described in this article has been created to generate saliency maps that capture hierarchical and spatial features of chessboard, in order to predict the probability fixation for individual pixels Using a skip-layer architecture of an autoencoder, with a unified decoder, we are able to use multiscale features to predict saliency of part of the board at different scales, showing multiple relations between pieces. We have used scan path and fixation data from players engaged in solving chess problems, to compute 6600 saliency maps associated to the corresponding chess piece configurations. This corpus is completed with synthetically generated data from actual games gathered from an online chess platform. Experiments realized using both scan-paths from chess players and the CAT2000 saliency dataset of natural images, highlights several results. Deep features, pretrained on natural images, were found to be helpful in training visual attention prediction for chess. The proposed neural network architecture is able to generate meaningful saliency maps on unseen chess configurations with good scores on standard metrics. This work provides a baseline for future work on visual attention prediction in similar contexts

Health and environmental effects of landfilling and incineration of waste: a literature review / Dominique Crowley ... [et al.]

HRB / 200

Impact of Head Motion on the Assistive Robot Expressiveness - Evaluation with Elderly Persons

International audienceIn the near future, robots will support human to perform tasks in many domains (industrial, domestic, educational and health tasks).Such robot behaviors need to take into account the social interaction between robot and human.In this context, we focus on the expressiveness of a moving head for an assistive robot for the elderly.We designed a new moving head for the Kompaï companion robot.On one hand, this new head improves its perception capabilities.On the other hand, we expect to jointly increase its social skills and thus its acceptability.This new head is composed of a tablet to animate a virtual face according to 4 facial expressions and a mechanical neck with 4 degrees of freedom to enhance the robot's expression.Before improving face expressions and adding more complex head movements, it is essential to evaluate the combination of simple head movements with virtual face expressions. A study was held jointly with physicians (psychologists, ergonomists) at the Broca Hospital in Paris to assess the impact to combine head movements with virtual face expressions, and the global acceptability of the Kompaï head by the elderly

Deterministic and Probabilistic Implementation of Context

International audienceThis paper addresses the problem of implementing an abstract context model. First, the abstract context model is represented by a network of situations. Two different implementations for the situation model are then proposed: a deterministic one based on Petri nets and a probabilistic one based on Hidden Markov Models. Both implementations are illustrated and applied to real-world problems

Multiple Myeloma and lifetime occupation: results from the EPILYMPH study

Background: The EPILYMPH study applied a detailed occupational exposure assessment approach to a large multi-centre case-control study conducted in six European countries. This paper analysed multiple myeloma (MM) risk associated with level of education, and lifetime occupational history and occupational exposures, based on the EPILYMPH data set. Methods: 277 MM cases and four matched controls per each case were included. Controls were randomly selected, matching for age (+/- 5 years), centre and gender. Lifetime occupations and lifetime exposure to specific workplace agents was obtained through a detailed questionnaire. Local industrial hygienists assessed likelihood and intensity for specific exposures. The odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI) were calculated for level of education, individual occupations and specific exposures. Unconditional logistic regression models were run for individual occupations and exposures. Results: A low level of education was associated with MM OR = 1.68 (95% CI 1.02-2.76). An increased risk was observed for general farmers (OR = 1.77; 95% CI 1.05-2.99) and cleaning workers (OR = 1.69; 95% CI 1.04-2.72) adjusting for level of education. Risk was also elevated, although not significant, for printers (OR = 2.06; 95% CI 0.97-4.34). Pesticide exposure over a period of ten years or more increased MM risk (OR = 1.62; 95% CI 1.01-2.58). Conclusion: These results confirm an association of MM with farm work, and indicate its association with printing and cleaning. While prolonged exposure to pesticides seems to be a risk factor for MM, an excess risk associated with exposure to organic solvents could not be confirmed

Impact of Head Motion on the Assistive Robot Expressiveness - Evaluation with Elderly Persons

International audienceIn the near future, robots will support human to perform tasks in many domains (industrial, domestic, educational and health tasks).Such robot behaviors need to take into account the social interaction between robot and human.In this context, we focus on the expressiveness of a moving head for an assistive robot for the elderly.We designed a new moving head for the Kompaï companion robot.On one hand, this new head improves its perception capabilities.On the other hand, we expect to jointly increase its social skills and thus its acceptability.This new head is composed of a tablet to animate a virtual face according to 4 facial expressions and a mechanical neck with 4 degrees of freedom to enhance the robot's expression.Before improving face expressions and adding more complex head movements, it is essential to evaluate the combination of simple head movements with virtual face expressions. A study was held jointly with physicians (psychologists, ergonomists) at the Broca Hospital in Paris to assess the impact to combine head movements with virtual face expressions, and the global acceptability of the Kompaï head by the elderly

Blended Clustering for Health Data Mining

Exploratory data analysis using data mining techniques is becoming more popular for investigating subtle relationships in health data, for which direct data collection trials would not be possible. Health data mining involving clustering for large complex data sets in such cases is often limited by insufficient key indicative variables. When a conventional clustering technique is then applied, the results may be too imprecise, or may be inappropriately clustered according to expectations. This paper suggests an approach which can offer greater range of choice for generating potential clusters of interest, from which a better outcome might in turn be obtained by aggregating the results. An example use case based on health services utilization characterization according to socio-demographic background is discussed and the blended clustering approach being taken for it is described

Significant increase in azithromycin “resistance” and susceptibility to ceftriaxone and cefixime in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in 26 European countries, 2019

Euro-GASP network: Claudia Eder, Sonja Pleininger, Steliana Huhlescu, Irith de Baetselier, Blaženka Hunjak, Tatjana Nemeth Blažić, Panagiota Maikanti-Charalampous, Despo Pieridou, Hana Zákoucká, Helena Žemličková, Steen Hoffmann, Susan Cowan, Rita Peetso, Jelena Viktorova, Ndeindo Ndeikoundam, Beatrice Bercot, Anu Patari Sampo, Vesa Kirjavainen, Susanne Buder, Klaus Jansen, Vivi Miriagou, Eszter Balla, Mária Dudás, Guðrún Sigmundsdóttir, Lena Ros Asmundsdottir, Sinead Saab, Brendan Crowley, Anna Carannante, Paola Stefanelli, Gatis Pakarna, Violeta Mavcutko, Robert Cassar, Christopher Barbara, Francesca Vella, Alje Van Dam, Ineke Linde, Dominique Caugant, Hilde Kløvstad, Beata Mlynarczyk-Bonikowska, Maria-José Borrego, Peter Pavlik, Irena Klavs, Tanja Kustec, Julio Vazquez, Asuncion Diaz, Raquel Abad Torreblanca, Inga Velicko, Magnus Unemo, Helen Fifer, Kate TempletonBackground: The European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP) performs annual sentinel surveillance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae susceptibility to therapeutically relevant antimicrobials across the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA). We present the Euro-GASP results from 2019 (26 countries), linked to patient epidemiological data, and compared with data from previous years. Methods: Agar dilution and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) gradient strip methodologies were used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility (using EUCAST clinical breakpoints, where available) of 3239 N. gonorrhoeae isolates from 26 countries across the EU/EEA. Significance of differences compared with Euro-GASP results in previous years was analysed using Z-test and the Pearson's χ2 test was used to assess significance of odds ratios for associations between patient epidemiological data and antimicrobial resistance. Results: European N. gonorrhoeae isolates collected between 2016 and 2019 displayed shifting MIC distributions for; ceftriaxone, with highly susceptible isolates increasing over time and occasional resistant isolates each year; cefixime, with highly-susceptible isolates becoming increasingly common; azithromycin, with a shift away from lower MICs towards higher MICs above the EUCAST epidemiological cut-off (ECOFF); and ciprofloxacin which is displaying a similar shift in MICs as observed for azithromycin. In 2019, two isolates displayed ceftriaxone resistance, but both isolates had MICs below the azithromycin ECOFF. Cefixime resistance (0.8%) was associated with patient sex, with resistance higher in females compared with male heterosexuals and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). The number of countries reporting isolates with azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF increased from 76.9% (20/26) in 2016 to 92.3% (24/26) in 2019. Isolates with azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF (9.0%) were associated with pharyngeal infection sites. Following multivariable analysis, ciprofloxacin resistance remained associated with isolates from MSM and heterosexual males compared with females, the absence of a concurrent chlamydial infection, pharyngeal infection sites and patients ≥ 25 years of age. Conclusions: Resistance to ceftriaxone and cefixime remained uncommon in EU/EEA countries in 2019 with a significant decrease in cefixime resistance observed between 2016 and 2019. The significant increase in azithromycin "resistance" (azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF) threatens the effectiveness of the dual therapy (ceftriaxone + azithromycin), i.e., for ceftriaxone-resistant cases, currently recommended in many countries internationally and requires close monitoring.The study was funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Framework Contract No. ECDC/2017/004).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio