Human activity recognition with smartphone and wearable sensors using deep learning techniques: a review

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is a field that infers human activities from raw time-series signals acquired through embedded sensors of smartphones and wearable devices. It has gained much attraction in various smart home environments, especially to continuously monitor human behaviors in ambient assisted living to provide elderly care and rehabilitation. The system follows various operation modules such as data acquisition, pre-processing to eliminate noise and distortions, feature extraction, feature selection, and classification. Recently, various state-of-the-art techniques have proposed feature extraction and selection techniques classified using traditional Machine learning classifiers. However, most of the techniques use rustic feature extraction processes that are incapable of recognizing complex activities. With the emergence and advancement of high computational resources, Deep Learning techniques are widely used in various HAR systems to retrieve features and classification efficiently. Thus, this review paper focuses on providing profound concise of deep learning techniques used in smartphone and wearable sensor-based recognition systems. The proposed techniques are categorized into conventional and hybrid deep learning models described with its uniqueness, merits, and limitations. The paper also discusses various benchmark datasets used in existing techniques. Finally, the paper lists certain challenges and issues that require future research and improvements

Design of a Novel Low Cost Point of Care Tampon (POCkeT) Colposcope for Use in Resource Limited Settings

Introduction: Current guidelines by WHO for cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries involves visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) of the cervix, followed by treatment during the same visit or a subsequent visit with cryotherapy if a suspicious lesion is found. Implementation of these guidelines is hampered by a lack of: trained health workers, reliable technology, and access to screening facilities. A low cost ultra-portable Point of Care Tampon based digital colposcope (POCkeT Colposcope) for use at the community level setting, which has the unique form factor of a tampon, can be inserted into the vagina to capture images of the cervix, which are on par with that of a state of the art colposcope, at a fraction of the cost. A repository of images to be compiled that can be used to empower front line workers to become more effective through virtual dynamic training. By task shifting to the community setting, this technology could potentially provide significantly greater cervical screening access to where the most vulnerable women live. The POCkeT Colposcope’s concentric LED ring provides comparable white and green field illumination at a fraction of the electrical power required in commercial colposcopes. Evaluation with standard optical imaging targets to assess the POCkeT Colposcope against the state of the art digital colposcope and other VIAM technologies. Results: Our POCkeT Colposcope has comparable resolving power, color reproduction accuracy, minimal lens distortion, and illumination when compared to commercially available colposcopes. In vitro and pilot in vivo imaging results are promising with our POCkeT Colposcope capturing comparable quality images to commercial systems. Methods: Rapid 3D printing, consumer grade light sources, and cameras were used to construct the TVDC. The TVDC’s concentric LED ring provides comparable white and green field illumination at a fraction of the electrical power required in commercial colposcopes, and crossed polarizers provide a reduction in glare. Evaluation was performed using standard optical imaging targets to assess the TVDC against the state of the art digital colposcope and other VIA technologies. Results: Our TVDC has comparable resolving power, color reproduction accuracy, minimal lens distortion, and illumination when compared to commercially available colposcopes. In vitro and pilot in vivo imaging results are promising with our TVDC capturing images of comparable quality to commercial systems. Conclusion: The TVDC is capable of capturing images suitable for cervical lesion analysis. Our portable low cost system will be useful for increasing access to cervical cancer screening and diagnostics in resource-limited settings by providing a more readily portable and easy to use device for medical personnel.The image data and support information that is published in the article "Design of a Novel Low Cost Trans-Vaginal Digital Colposcope for use in Resource Limited Settings" are available at: http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/8357.National Institutes of Health (US) 5R21CA162747-0

Imitation in Large Games

In games with a large number of players where players may have overlapping objectives, the analysis of stable outcomes typically depends on player types. A special case is when a large part of the player population consists of imitation types: that of players who imitate choice of other (optimizing) types. Game theorists typically study the evolution of such games in dynamical systems with imitation rules. In the setting of games of infinite duration on finite graphs with preference orderings on outcomes for player types, we explore the possibility of imitation as a viable strategy. In our setup, the optimising players play bounded memory strategies and the imitators play according to specifications given by automata. We present algorithmic results on the eventual survival of types

A P-loop Mutation in Gα Subunits Prevents Transition to the Active State: Implications for G-protein Signaling in Fungal Pathogenesis

Heterotrimeric G-proteins are molecular switches integral to a panoply of different physiological responses that many organisms make to environmental cues. The switch from inactive to active Gαβγ heterotrimer relies on nucleotide cycling by the Gα subunit: exchange of GTP for GDP activates Gα, whereas its intrinsic enzymatic activity catalyzes GTP hydrolysis to GDP and inorganic phosphate, thereby reverting Gα to its inactive state. In several genetic studies of filamentous fungi, such as the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, a G42R mutation in the phosphate-binding loop of Gα subunits is assumed to be GTPase-deficient and thus constitutively active. Here, we demonstrate that Gα(G42R) mutants are not GTPase deficient, but rather incapable of achieving the activated conformation. Two crystal structure models suggest that Arg-42 prevents a typical switch region conformational change upon Gαi1(G42R) binding to GDP·AlF4− or GTP, but rotameric flexibility at this locus allows for unperturbed GTP hydrolysis. Gα(G42R) mutants do not engage the active state-selective peptide KB-1753 nor RGS domains with high affinity, but instead favor interaction with Gβγ and GoLoco motifs in any nucleotide state. The corresponding Gαq(G48R) mutant is not constitutively active in cells and responds poorly to aluminum tetrafluoride activation. Comparative analyses of M. oryzae strains harboring either G42R or GTPase-deficient Q/L mutations in the Gα subunits MagA or MagB illustrate functional differences in environmental cue processing and intracellular signaling outcomes between these two Gα mutants, thus demonstrating the in vivo functional divergence of G42R and activating G-protein mutants

Selective APRIL Blockade Delays Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Mouse

SLE pathogenesis is complex, but it is now widely accepted that autoantibodies play a key role in the process by forming excessive immune complexes; their deposits within tissues leading to inflammation and functional damages. A proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily mediating antibody-producing plasma cell (PC)-survival that may be involved in the duration of pathogenic autoantibodies in lupus. We found significant increases of APRIL at the mRNA and protein levels in bone marrow but not spleen cells from NZB/W lupus mice, as compared to control mice. Selective antibody-mediated APRIL blockade delays disease development in this model by preventing proteinuria, kidney lesions, and mortality. Notably, this was achieved by decreasing anti-DNA and anti-chromatin autoantibody levels, without any perturbation of B- and T- cell homeostasis. Thus, anti-APRIL treatment may constitute an alternative therapy in SLE highly specific to PCs compared to other B-cell targeting therapies tested in this disease, and likely to be associated with less adverse effects than any anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant agents previously used

Phase measurement of light absorption and scatter in human tissue

Analog and digital technologies are presented for precise measurement of propagation delay of photons from source and detector placed on portions of the human body. The goal of the apparatus design is to quantify absorption (μa) and scattering (μs′) induced by biological pigments and biological structures, respectively. Body tissues are highly scattering with a mean distance between scatterers of less than a mm (at 700-850 nm). Significant absorption is mainly due to 5%-10% of the tissue volume occupied by blood. Measurement of μa and μs′ is done by both time and frequency domain equipment. This article focuses upon frequency domain equipment because of its simplicity, reduced noise bandwidth, versatility, and the strong analogy to very high frequency/ultrahigh frequency communication devices, particularly those using phase modulation. Comparisons are made of homodyne and heterodyne systems together with evaluation of single and multiple side band systems, with particular emphasis on methods for multiplexed optical and radio frequencies by frequency encoding or time-sharing technologies. The applications of these phase modulation systems to quantitative brain and muscle blood oximetry, functional activity of the forebrain, and other important problems of medical science, are presented. © 1998 American Institute of Physics

Affine modifications and affine hypersurfaces with a very transitive automorphism group

We study a kind of modification of an affine domain which produces another affine domain. First appeared in passing in the basic paper of O. Zariski (1942), it was further considered by E.D. Davis (1967). The first named author applied its geometric counterpart to construct contractible smooth affine varieties non-isomorphic to Euclidean spaces. Here we provide certain conditions which guarantee preservation of the topology under a modification. As an application, we show that the group of biregular automorphisms of the affine hypersurface $X \subset C^{k+2}$ given by the equation $uv=p(x_1,...,x_k)$ where $p \in C[x_1,...,x_k],$ acts $m-$transitively on the smooth part reg$X$ of $X$ for any $m \in N.$ We present examples of such hypersurfaces diffeomorphic to Euclidean spaces.Comment: 39 Pages, LaTeX; a revised version with minor changes and correction

CSSN Research Report 2021:2: The Mises Institute Network and Climate Policy. 9 Findings

Think tanks have played a decisive role in the organised obstruction of climate action, denying, minimising, or derailing ambitious climate change mitigation. This research briefing reviews the case of the Ludwig von Mises Institutes and the Property and Freedom Society, a network of ultra-libertarian groups active around the world, which we refer to as the Mises Institute Network in the mobilisation and the dissemination of climate policy opposition discourse. We review the origins, the history, the global distribution and the climate-related output of 31 Mises Institutes between 2000 and 2021. Our analysis reveals climate obstruction messaging based on a critique of climate science, principled objections to state intervention and planning and the social forces supporting climate change mitigation, as well as advocacy of free-market environmentalism as a suitable alternative to established climate politics. While Mises social theory includes a determined critique of environmentalism, it paid limited attention to climate change before 2016. From 2016, there has been a concerted effort to disseminate climate opposition discourse featuring a clear spike in published articles during 2019. Contextually, 2019 saw the U.S. Green New Deal proposal and the European Union Green Deal decision suggesting a tipping point for advocating free-market environmentalism in response to climate change to contend the increased state intervention discourse emerging in domestic and international climate policy planning. Additionally, ties exist between scholars of Mises Institutes to a broad range of business groups ranging from gold, trade and investment firms in Germany, tobacco companies in the U.S., business school, consulting and service firms in Spain, and metal employer association and financial groups in Sweden. Furthermore, the network is engaging in an international effort to recruit new members into the ultra-libertarian movement, with an active university presence and active online campaign to spread Mises’ philosophy and recruit more members, particularly students and young people, to the movement. Despite the lack of transparency and limited evidence of fossil industry funding, the Mises Network of think tanks has a clear voice in the denial and delaying think tank train, gaining speed at this pivotal moment in time. Our results indicate a dedicated effort to spread climate change opposition messages across the network. The core ideology of the Austrian economics tradition related to Ludwig von Mises provides the climate change opposition with a straightforward repertoire of arguments. Put simply, the coordinated activities of Mises Institutes across countries illustrates an attempt to circulate widely opposition to climate policy based on the radicalism of Mises social theory that focuses on resistance to government intervention and a form of market fundamentalism as a primer to maintain business as usual at the behest of the planet

On the canonical map of surfaces with q>=6

We carry out an analysis of the canonical system of a minimal complex surface of general type with irregularity q>0. Using this analysis we are able to sharpen in the case q>0 the well known Castelnuovo inequality K^2>=3p_g+q-7. Then we turn to the study of surfaces with p_g=2q-3 and no fibration onto a curve of genus >1. We prove that for q>=6 the canonical map is birational. Combining this result with the analysis of the canonical system, we also prove the inequality: K^2>=7\chi+2. This improves an earlier result of the first and second author [M.Mendes Lopes and R.Pardini, On surfaces with p_g=2q-3, Adv. in Geom. 10 (3) (2010), 549-555].Comment: Dedicated to Fabrizio Catanese on the occasion of his 60th birthday. To appear in the special issue of Science of China Ser.A: Mathematics dedicated to him. V2:some typos have been correcte