An active learning approach to home heating in the smart grid

A key issue for the realization of the smart grid vision is the implementation of effective demand-side management. One possible approach involves exposing dynamic energy prices to end-users. In this paper, we consider a resulting problem on the user’s side: how to adaptively heat a home given dynamic prices. The user faces the challenge of having to react to dynamic prices in real time, trading off his comfort with the costs of heating his home to a certain temperature. We propose an active learning approach to adjust the home temperature in a semiautomatic way. Our algorithm learns the user’s preferences over time and automatically adjusts the temperature in real-time as prices change. In addition, the algorithm asks the user for feedback once a day. To find the best query time, the algorithm solves an optimal stopping problem. Via simulations, we show that our algorithm learns users’ preferences quickly, and that using the expected utility loss as the query criterion outperforms standard approaches from the active learning literature

PA-related Neighborhood Environmental Factors Identified by NGT Groups.

a<p>Votes added up across all NGT groups, used as an indicator of the importance of an item across all participants.</p>b<p>factors perceived to decrease the participants’ willingness to do PA.</p><p>PA-related Neighborhood Environmental Factors Identified by NGT Groups.</p

Kurtág's Music: The Spectacle of Nature, the Breath of History - from op. 7 to 27

Analysis of Kurtágs's compositional techniques centred on ways of generating and developing musical figures, whose immediate perceptibility can be set in a contemporary aestethics of expression. Figures are shaped from basic and elementary cells (mostly second- or third- intervallic cells), a matter still chaotic and formless, which through subsequent harmonic fillings and widenings become little by little animated; this process of musical generation alludes to those of spontaneous generation and transformation of the natural world. Kurtág's formal structures are conceived as brief, almost aphoristic ones, fashioned by the inner characters of figures; their leaps are mainly constituted by ratios of “golden section”, that is nature's inner geometry. Strong, bright- coloured gestures are the musical culmination of these “figural” and living developments. Exemplifications of some figures' articulation, as well as of their generation and development processes from elementary cells follow, through selected passages from op. 7, 17, 24, 27. This charming spectacle of nature in Kurtág's music is further innervated by a deep sense of history: Bach's polyphony, the italian Baroque aria, Beethoven's instrumental recitative, Bartók's harmony, the dodecaphonic techniques, as tutelary deity of such a personal expressive world

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Built environmental correlates of older adults’ total physical activity and walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Reviewed total physical activity articles (N = 100) – Information. (DOCX 286 kb

Additional file 1: of The neighbourhood physical environment and active travel in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PRISMA checklist. (DOC 62 kb

Additional file 2: Table S3. of Built environmental correlates of older adults’ total physical activity and walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Reviewed total physical activity articles (N = 100) – Quality assessment. (DOCX 106 kb

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Places where preschoolers are (in)active: an observational study on Latino preschoolers and their parents using objective measures

Descriptive Statistics of Physical Activity and Contextual Variables by Child’s Gender. (DOCX 21 kb

Social Dancing and Incidence of Falls in Older Adults: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

<div><p>Background</p><p>The prevention of falls among older people is a major public health challenge. Exercises that challenge balance are recognized as an efficacious fall prevention strategy. Given that small-scale trials have indicated that diverse dance styles can improve balance and gait of older adults, two of the strongest risk factors for falls in older people, this study aimed to determine whether social dance is effective in i) reducing the number of falls and ii) improving physical and cognitive fall-related risk factors.</p><p>Methods and Findings</p><p>A parallel two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 23 self-care retirement villages (clusters) around Sydney, Australia. Eligible villages had to have an appropriate hall for dancing, house at least 60 residents, and not be currently offering dance as a village activity. Retirement villages were randomised using a computer generated randomisation method, constrained using minimisation. Eligible participants had to be a resident of the village, be able to walk at least 50 m, and agree to undergo physical and cognitive testing without cognitive impairment. Residents of intervention villages (12 clusters) were offered twice weekly one-hour social dancing classes (folk or ballroom dancing) over 12 mo (80 h in total). Programs were standardized across villages and were delivered by eight dance teachers. Participants in the control villages (11 clusters) were advised to continue with their regular activities. Main outcomes: falls during the 12 mo trial and Trail Making Tests. Secondary outcomes: The Physiological Performance Assessment (i.e., postural sway, proprioception, reaction time, leg strength) and the Short Physical Performance Battery; health-related physical and mental quality of life from the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) Survey. Data on falls were obtained from 522 of 530 (98%) randomised participants (mean age 78 y, 85% women) and 424 (80%) attended the 12-mo reassessment, which was lower among folk dance participants (71%) than ballroom dancing (82%) or control participants (82%, <i>p</i> = 0.04). Mean attendance at dance classes was 51%. During the period, 444 falls were recorded; there was no significant difference in fall rates between the control group (0.80 per person-year) and the dance group (1.03 per person-year). Using negative binomial regression with robust standard errors the adjusted Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) was 1.19 (95% CI: 95% CI = 0.83, 1.71). In exploratory post hoc subgroup analysis, the rate of falls was higher among dance participants with a history of multiple falls (IRR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.54, <i>p</i> = 0.23 for interaction) and with the folk dance intervention (IRR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.73). There were no significant between-group differences in executive function test (TMT-B = 2.8 s, 95% CI: −6.2, 11.8). Intention to treat (ITT) analysis revealed no between-group differences at 12-mo follow-up in the secondary outcome measures, with the exception of postural sway, favouring the control group. Exploratory post hoc analysis by study completers and style indicated that ballroom dancing participants apparently improved their gait speed by 0.07 m/s relative to control participants (95% CI: 0.00, 0.14, <i>p</i> = 0.05). Study limitations included allocation to style based on logistical considerations rather than at random; insufficient power to detect differential impacts of different dance styles and smaller overall effects; variation of measurement conditions across villages; and no assessment of more complex balance tasks, which may be more sensitive to changes brought about by dancing.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Social dancing did not prevent falls or their associated risk factors among these retirement villages' residents. Modified dance programmes that contain "training elements" to better approximate structured exercise programs, targeted at low and high-risk participants, warrant investigation.</p><p>Trial Registration</p><p>The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000889853</p></div

Number of falls and incidence of falling among study groups and by baseline falls history.

<p>Number of falls and incidence of falling among study groups and by baseline falls history.</p

Cluster allocation and participant flow by study arm.

<p>*MMSE indicates Mini-Mental State Examination.</p