Review of real brain-controlled wheelchairs

This paper presents a review of the state of the art regarding wheelchairs driven by a brain-computer interface (BCI). Using a brain-controlled wheelchair (BCW), disabled users could handle a wheelchair through their brain activity, granting autonomy to move through an experimental environment. A classification is established, based on the characteristics of the BCW, such as the type of electroencephalographic (EEG) signal used, the navigation system employed by the wheelchair, the task for the participants, or the metrics used to evaluate the performance. Furthermore, these factors are compared according to the type of signal used, in order to clarify the differences among them. Finally, the trend of current research in this field is discussed, as well as the challenges that should be solved in the future

Brain switch mode: an alternative to drive a brain-controlled wheelchair

To date, different control paradigms of low level navigation have been tested for brain-controlled wheelchairs, mainly divided into continuous or discrete control [1]. However, these paradigms have certain drawbacks such as the need to keep the mental tasks active for a long time, as in continuous mode, or the impossibility to freely choose any distance of the movement or the turn, as in the discrete mode. An alternative paradigm to solve these problems could be the use of the brain switch mode [2], which would allow a more flexible control of the distance, requiring a lower workload for the user.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Proposals of Control Paradigms Applied to a Brain-Controlled Wheelchair

Proposals of Control Paradigms Applied to a Brain-Controlled Wheelchair, Ron-Angevin R., Velasco-Álvarez F., Fernández Rodriguez A., Proceeding og the BITs 4th Annual World Congress of Smart Material 2018, Osaka (Japan), 6-8 March 2018Several of the neurological diseases that human beings can result in severe disabilities. In some cases, people who suffer from such deficiencies lose any chance of communication with their environment, being the only possible alternative to give the brain a new channel not based on muscular activity, allowing these people to send messages and commands to the external world. The systems that allows the latter is what is known as Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). Their common feature is to process the brain’s electrical activity for extracting information that can be used to command an external device, as for example, a wheelchair to provide them some mobility. One of the most important limitations of these brain controlled wheelchair is to guarantee that a person can, through his mental activity, safely control the variety of navigation commands that provide control of the wheelchair: advance, turn, move back, and stop. The vast majority of the mobile robot navigation applications that are controlled via a BCI demand that the user performs as many different mental tasks as there are different control commands, worsening the classification accuracy. In order to enable an effective and autonomous wheelchair navigation with a BCI system without worsening user performance, the Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) group of the University of Málaga (UMA-BCI) proposed and later developed a new paradigm based on the discrimination of only two classes (one active mental task versus any other mental activity), which enabled the selection of four commands: move forwards, turn right, move backward and turn left. The final aim of this contribution is to show how to control a robotic wheelchair through the use of only two mental tasks. The mapping of these two mental tasks into several navigation commands allows the Brain-Controlled Wheelchair to be moved and turned in order to achieve effective navigation.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The cinemas deterritorializing potential and its philosophical contagion

Guillermo del Toro’s most recent film The Shape of Water (2017) ends with a sequence presenting the leading role’s peculiar transformation that not only saves her life but allows her to breathe underneath the water and to be with the amphibious manlike creature she loves. By showing the exact instant where the character’s ancient neck scars open into gills with a thought-provoking low angle medium close-up in a floating environment, the film denotes a resonance between physical metamorphosis and a change of perspective. In addition, the sequence’s final scene is an extreme long shot of the story’s two main characters merged in a hug and surrounded by an aquatic empty landscape. Thus suggesting that the shift process’s culmination is not merely a matter of altered body parts but also of changing contexts, environments and ways to be, perceive and understand reality. However, this example is not the only one of how motion pictures have been approaching and displaying different transformation processes and their multiple implications. Almost a decade before The Shape of Water, the anime feature films Studio Ghibli released Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008). The story of a red goldfish princess who wishes to become a human after knowing a five-year-old boy. The film focuses on Ponyo’s becoming-human journey, showing how it develops alongside with her motivations and the ramifications of such a desire. The moment where Ponyo’s will of change provides her with legs and hands, disrupting her restraining water-bubble borders and altering nature’s balance, establishes a key progression to analyze and experience the complex shifting relationship between a subject and its milieu

Optimum Selection of DNN Model and Framework for Edge Inference

This paper describes a methodology to select the optimum combination of deep neuralnetwork and software framework for visual inference on embedded systems. As a first step, benchmarkingis required. In particular, we have benchmarked six popular network models running on four deep learningframeworks implemented on a low-cost embedded platform. Three key performance metrics have beenmeasured and compared with the resulting 24 combinations: accuracy, throughput, and power consumption.Then, application-level specifications come into play. We propose a figure of merit enabling the evaluationof each network/framework pair in terms of relative importance of the aforementioned metrics for a targetedapplication. We prove through numerical analysis and meaningful graphical representations that only areduced subset of the combinations must actually be considered for real deployment. Our approach can beextended to other networks, frameworks, and performance parameters, thus supporting system-level designdecisions in the ever-changing ecosystem of embedded deep learning technology.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (TEC2015-66878-C3-1-R)Junta de Andalucía (TIC 2338-2013)European Union Horizon 2020 (Grant 765866

Assessment of unintentional islanding operations in distribution networks with large induction motors

This paper is aimed at assessing the impact of unintentional islanding operations (IOs) in the presence of large induction motors (IMs) within distribution networks (DNs). When a fault occurs,followingthecircuitbreaker(CB)faultclearing,theIMsacttransientlyasgenerators,duetoits inertia, until the CB reclosing takes place. The present work is the outcome of a project carried out in a small DN, where ¿eld measurements were recorded over two years. This paper provides a detailed description of the test system, a selected list of ¿eld measurements, and a discussion on modeling guidelinesusedtocreatethemodeloftheactualpowersystem. Themaingoalistovalidatethesystem model by comparing ¿eld measurements with simulation results. The comparison of simulations and ¿eld measurements prove the appropriateness of the modeling guidelines used in this work and highlight the high accuracy achieved in the implemented three-phase Matlab/Simulink modelPostprint (published version

Growth Diagnostics

What we propose to do in this paper is to develop a framework for growth diagnostics -- that is, a strategy for figuring out the policy priorities. The strategy is aimed at identifying the most binding constraints on economic activity, and hence the set of policies that, once targeted on these constraints at any point in time, is likely to provide the biggest bang for the reform buck

Efecto de la administración de dosis subletales de LPS por la vía oral, en la sobrevida y producción de citocinas durante el desarrollo de sepsis polimicrobiana inducida por ligadura y punción de ciego

El modelo de ligadura y punción de ciego (CLP) se utiliza para estudiar mecanismos fisiopatológicos de daño en sepsis. En el modelo de choque endotóxico , la administración de dosis subletales de lipopolisacárido (LPS), protege contra dosis letales posteriores; sin embargo, éste efecto se desconoce en el modelo de CLP. En este estudio se exploró el efecto de la administración de dosis subletales de LPS por la vía oral (O), en la sobrevida y producción de citocinas de animales con sepsis polimicrobiana. Durante la primera fase del estudio, ratones Balb/c machos fueron agrupados en a) sham, b) controles, c) tratados con 5 dosis subletales de LPS (50 µg/100 µl) dos veces por semana vía intraperitoneal (IP) o d) tratados vía O. Sólo los grupos control y tratados con LPS vías IP y O fueron retados con la CLP. Se evaluó superviviencia, positividad de hemocultivos, análisis microbiológico de heces, concentraciones séricas de TNF, IFN-γ, IL-6 e IL-10, expresión de TNF en hígado y pulmón, además del porcentaje de células de Kupffer en hígado y de edema en pulmón, y la presencia de inmunoglobulinas anti-LPS. En la segunda fase, ratones Balb/c fueron agrupados en a) sham, b) controles, tratados profilácticamente con c) 0.01, d) 0.1, e) 1 o f) 10 mg/kg de fragmentos F(ab)2 anti-TNF; éste mismo protocolo fue probado con fragmentos F(ab)2 anti-IFNγ. En estos grupos se evaluó la superviviencia y producción sérica de TNF, IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ e IL-10. Una vez definida la dosis protectora para cada anticuerpo, su administración se inició en diferentes tiempos para definir su papel terapéutico. Los resultados de la primera fase mostraron que solo la CLP ocasionó una infección polimicrobiana, y que el tratamiento con LPS vía O protegió vs el grupo C (87% vs 50%)(p<0.05). La protección se asoció con reducción de IFN-γ vs C (p<0.05) y aumento de IL-10 4h después de la cirugía, reducción del tiempo de expresión de TNF hasta las 4h en hígado y retraso de la expresión a partir de las 4h en pulmón del grupo O vs la expresión observada en C (desde la 1.5-24h). El tratamiento con LPS vía O también redujo el porcentaje de células de Kupffer en hígado (27.5 vs 37.7) y % de edema en pulmón (12.51 vs 26.6) vs C (p<0.05). Finalmente en el grupo O se observó un predominio de IgM vs los grupos C e IP (p<0.05). En la segunda fase del estudio, el tratamiento con fragmentos F(ab)2 anti-TNF protegió en dosis de 1 mg/kg vs C (69% vs 29%; p<0.05). La protección se asoció a la coexistencia de IL-1β e IL-10 durante las primeras 24h de estudio, además de niveles elevados de IL-6 a las 48, disminuyó IL-1β y aumentó IL-10. Finalmente observó que el tratamiento con 1 mg/kg de anti- TNF, protegió solo cuando se inició -2h, -30min o 30min de la CLP. Por su parte, la administración de fragmentos F(ab)2 anti-IFN-γ aumentó la superviviencia en dosis de 0.01 mg/kg (78%) vs 33% documentado en C (p<0.05), lo que se asoció con la coexistencia de Il-1β e IL-10 durante las primeras 24h de estudio, 48h después disminuyó IL-1β y aumentó IL-10, en tanto que la IL-6 se mantuvo elevada durante todo el estudio. El efecto terapéutico del anti-IFN-γ pudo constatarse cuando se administró -2 o 24h después de la CLP, ya que aumentó la supervivencia en 88 y 94% respectivamente vs 54% observada en C (p<0.05). Se concluye que el tratamiento con dosis subletales de LPS vía oral protegió significativamente en el modelo murino de sepsis inducida por CLP. Palabras clave. CLP, sepsis, tolerancia, coexistencia.Cecal ligation and puncture model (CLP) is used to investigate mechanisms of tissue injury in sepsis. In endotoxic shoch model, administration of sublethal doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), protects against subsequent lethal doses; however, this effect is unknown in CLP model. This study was aimed to explore the effect of administration of sublethal doses of LPS by oral route (O), on the survival and cytokine milieu in animals with polymicrobian sepsis. In a first phase male mice Balb/c were grouped into a) sham, b) controls, c) treated with 5 sublethal doses of LPS (50 µg/100 µl) twice a week by intraperitonel route (IP) or d) treated by O route; the control group and those treated with LPS O and IP routes were challenged with CLP. We evaluated survival, positive blood cultures, microbiological testing of stool, serum concentrations of TNF, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10, TNF expression in liver and lung, as well as percentage of Kupffer cells in liver and lung edema, and presence of anti-LPS immunoglobulins. In the second phase, Balb / c mice were divided into a) sham, b) controls, treated prophylactically with c) 0.01, d) 0.1, e) 1 of) 10 mg / kg of F (ab) 2 anti-TNF fragments, this protocol was also tested with F (ab) 2 anti-IFN-γ fragments. In these groups we evaluated the survival and production of serum TNF, IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-10. After the protective dose for each antibody, was defined, its administration was initiated at different times. The results of the first phase showed that LPS treatment significantly protected via O in comparison with C group (87% vs 50%; p0.05). This protection was associated with reduced IFN-γ vs C (p <0.05) and increased IL-10 4h after surgery. The TNF expression was abolished at 4h in liver, while it initiates at 4h and continues until 48h in lung of group O vs expression observed in C (1.5- 24h). LPS treatment by O route also reduced the percentage of Kupffer cells in liver (27.5 vs. 37.7) and percentage of lung edema (12.51 vs 26.6) vs C (p <0.05). Finally, in the O group showed a predominance of IgM vs C and IP groups (p <0.05). In the second phase of the study, treatment with F (ab) 2 anti-TNF fragments protected in doses of 1 mg/kg vs C (69 vs 29%; p<0.05). This protection was associated with the coexistence of IL-1β and IL-10 during the first 24 hours of study, and high levels of IL-6; 48 after CLP, IL-1β decreased and IL-10 increased. Finally, we found that treatment with 1 mg /kg of anti-TNF protected only when it was began prior (-2h, -30min) or 30min after from the CLP. Administration of F (ab) 2 fragments anti-IFN-γ protected at doses of 0.01 mg/kg (78% survival) vs C (33%) (p <0.05), which was associated with coexistence of Il-1β and IL-10 during the first 24 hours of study, decreased IL-1β and increased IL-10 48h after of CLP, while IL-6 remained elevated throughout the study. Therapeutic effect of anti-IFN-γ was tested when his administration started -2 or 24h after CLP, increased survival at 88 and 94% respectively vs 54% observed in C (p <0.05). We conclude that the treatment with sublethal doses of LPS by oral route significantly protects in the sepsis murine model induced by CLP

Politicisation and disinformation in Historical Memory. Perception of audiences on Twitter with regard to Vox’s position on Federico García Lorca

En agosto de 2021, dirigentes del partido de ultraderecha Vox afirman que Federico García Lorca votaría a su fuerza política. El poeta, fusilado en 1936 por franquistas acusado de homosexual, masón y socialista, enterrado en una fosa común es un símbolo de lo español y de la Memoria Histórica que, en España, ha capitalizado la izquierda. La relectura de su figura, la construcción de una nueva narrativa de la memoria en torno a la polémica de Vox y su debate digital es el tema de este trabajo. Así, se pretende medir el impacto que alcanzaron estas afirmaciones en Twitter y la reacción de los usuarios digitales, indagando en la polarización y la desinformación. A través de una metodología de análisis de contenido cuantitativo-cualitativo aplicada a 1.311 tuits publicados sobre este episodio se estudian variables de tono, viralidad, enfoque o presencia de descalificaciones en el discurso. Los resultados avanzan un rechazo de los usuarios ante las declaraciones de Vox, una presencia relevante de perfiles anónimos, así como un alto porcentaje de insultos hacia Vox. También evidencian la politización de la memoria, la creación de una historia virtual interactiva y el avance de la desinformación y el olvido.In August 2021, leaders of the far-right Vox party made statements claiming that Federico García Lorca would vote for this political force today. The poet, shot by Franco’s side in 1936, accused of homosexuality, being a Freemason and a socialist, and buried in a mass grave, is a symbol of the Spanish and the Historical Memory that, in Spain, has been capitalised by the left. A new analysis of this personage, the construction of a new narrative of memory around the controversy of Vox and the digital debate is the subject of this research. It is intended to measure the impact that these statements achieved on Twitter and the reaction of digital users, investigating polarisation and misinformation. Through a quantitative-qualitative content analysis methodology applied to 1,311 tweets published on this controversy, variations in tone, virality, focus or the presence of disqualifications or insults are studied. The results highlight users’ rejection of the declarations of Vox, the relevant presence of anonymous profiles, as well as a high percentage of insults towards Vox, the politicisation of memory, the creation of an interactive virtual history and the increase in misinformation and oblivion