Auditory evoked potentials and multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, demyelinating disease that can affect several areas of the central nervous system. Damage along the auditory pathway can alter its integrity significantly. Therefore, it is important to investigate the auditory pathway, from the brainstem to the cortex, in individuals with MS. Objective: the aim of this study was to characterize auditory evoked potentials in adults with MS of the remittent-recurrent type. Method: the study comprised 25 individuals with MS, between 25 and 55 years, and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (research and control groups). Subjects underwent audiological and electrophysiological evaluations. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding the results of the auditory brainstem response and the latency of the Na and P300 waves. Conclusion: Individuals with MS present abnormalities in auditory evoked potentials indicating dysfunction of different regions of the central auditory nervous system.Univ São Paulo FMUSP, Auditory Evoked Potentials Lab, Sch Med, Speech Pathol & Audiol Course, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo FMUSP, Speech Pathol & Audiol Course, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo Hosp, São Paulo, BrazilFMUSP, Rehabil Sci Program, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo Hosp, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

The first global ontological standard for ethically driven robotics and automation systems

In the complex and rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, the elaboration of ethical concerns, considerations, and requirements helps elucidate the nature of technology’s reach and impact on society where there is a legal void. Thus, establishing ethics in AI and robotics is fundamental to identifying their potential risks and benefits, especially in our pandemicwrecked world [1]. The development of AI and robotics within an ethical framework enables the anticipation of future application contexts and articulation of uses that do not yet exist. Ethical considerations help to create a much-desired relationship between technology and human values and address the impacts a technology can have, thereby addressing issues of trust, safety, security, data privacy, and algorithmic bias. The need for an ethical framework is urgent because of the increasing adoption and use of autonomous and intelligent systems (A/ISs) in many domains, such as health care, education, finance, and insurance services

Ontologies for Industry 4.0

The current fourth industrial revolution, or ‘Industry 4.0’ (I4.0), is driven by digital data, connectivity, and cyber systems, and it has the potential to create impressive/new business opportunities. With the arrival of I4.0, the scenario of various intelligent systems interacting reliably and securely with each other becomes a reality which technical systems need to address. One major aspect of I4.0 is to adopt a coherent approach for the semantic communication in between multiple intelligent systems, which include human and artificial (software or hardware) agents. For this purpose, ontologies can provide the solution by formalizing the smart manufacturing knowledge in an interoperable way. Hence, this paper presents the few existing ontologies for I4.0, along with the current state of the standardization effort in the factory 4.0 domain and examples of real-world scenarios for I4.0.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Mixtures of Estrogenic Chemicals Enhance Vitellogenic Response in Sea Bass

BACKGROUND: The potential impact of natural and synthetic estrogens on aquatic ecosystems has attracted considerable attention because it is currently accepted that their joint effects are more severe when they are present in mixtures. Although it is well-known that they occur as mixtures in the marine environment, there is little information about the combined effects of estrogenic chemicals on marine biota. OBJECTIVE: In 14-day tests with juvenile sea bass, we analyzed singly and in combination the estrogenic activity of estradiol (E2), ethynylestradiol (EE2), and bisphenol A (BPA) using vitellogenin induction as an end point. METHODS: Fish were exposed to each compound, and on the basis of these concentration-response data, we predicted mixture effects by applying the model of concentration addition. The mixtures were tested using a fixed-ratio design, and the resulting mixture effects were compared to the predictions. RESULTS: EE2 was the most potent steroid, with an EC50 (median effective concentration) of 0.029 μg/L, 3.6 times more potent than E2 (EC50 = 0.104 μg/L); BPA was the least potent chemical, with an EC50 of 77.94 μg/L. The comparative assessment yielded a good agreement between observed and predicted mixture effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the potential hazard of these compounds to seawater life by their ability to act together in an additive manner. It provides evidence that concentration addition can be used as a predictive tool for assessing the combined effects of estrogenic chemicals in marine ecosystems

Towards a robot task ontology standard

Ontologies serve robotics in many ways, particularly in de- scribing and driving autonomous functions. These functions are built around robot tasks. In this paper, we introduce the IEEE Robot Task Representation Study Group, including its work plan, initial development efforts, and proposed use cases. This effort aims to develop a standard that provides a comprehensive on- tology encompassing robot task structures and reasoning across robotic domains, addressing both the relationships between tasks and platforms and the relationships between tasks and users. Its goal is to develop a knowledge representation that addresses task structure, with decomposition into subclasses, categories, and/or relations. It includes attributes, both common across tasks and specific to particular tasks and task types

Defining positioning in a core ontology for robotics

Unambiguous definition of spatial position and orientation has crucial importance for robotics. In this paper we propose an ontology about positioning. It is part of a more extensive core ontology being developed by the IEEE RAS Working Group on ontologies for robotics and automation. The core ontology should provide a common ground for further ontology development in the field. We give a brief overview of concepts in the core ontology and then describe an integrated approach for representing quantitative and qualitative position information.3-7 November 201