From Heterogeneous Sensor Networks to Integrated Software Services: Design and Implementation of a Semantic Architecture for the Internet of Things at ARCES@UNIBO

The Internet of Things (IoTs) is growing fast both in terms of number of devices connected and of complexity of deployments and applications. Several research studies an- alyzing the economical impact of the IoT worldwide identify the interoperability as one of the main boosting factor for its growth, thanks to the possibility to unlock novel commercial opportunities derived from the integration of heterogeneous systems which are currently not interconnected. However, at present, interoperability constitutes a relevant practical issue on any IoT deployments that is composed of sensor platforms mapped on different wireless technologies, network protocols or data formats. The paper addresses such issue, and investigates how to achieve effective data interoperability and data reuse on complex IoT deployments, where multiple users/applications need to consume sensor data produced by heterogeneous sensor networks. We propose a generic three-tier IoT architecture, which decouples the sensor data producers from the sensor data consumers, thanks to the intermediation of a semantic broker which is in charge of translating the sensor data into a shared ontology, and of providing publish-subscribe facilities to the producers/consumers. Then, we describe the real-world implementation of such architecture devised at the Advanced Research Center on Electronic System (ARCES) of the University of Bologna. The actual system collects the data produced by three different sensor networks, integrates them through a SPARQL Event Processing Architecture (SEPA), and supports two front- end applications for the data access, i.e. a web dashboard and an Amazon Alexa voice service

Gestione ad interrupt di una piattaforma inerziale basata su FIFO

Questo lavoro si pone come obbiettivo quello della programmazione di un nodo senore, usato nel monitoraggio strutturale, per la raccolta di dati in FIFO, di accelerazione e velocità angolare, provenienti da una unità inerziale, tramite un meccanismo ad interrupt. Dopo l'analisi dell'hardware utilizzato, il software implementeto viene validato tramite una rosa di esperimenti fatti in diversi contesti: in situazione stazionaria, su un cantilever, su una trave semplice e su una trave reticolare modulare riconfigurabile

Movements Improvements from Bimanual Interactive Training Post-Stroke

Artificially augmenting error during therapeutic training has shown promise in some recent studies. Here was explored visual error augmentation using a visual distortion that instantaneously shifts the subject’s cursor in the direction of error. 29 chronic stroke survivors were asked to practice a bimanual reaching task for approximately 40 minutes, for three weeks. The primary outcome of the study was Fugl-Meyer. Results show that the change in the mean values for the group who received the error augmentation between pre-evaluation and post-evaluation is 2.80, while between pre-evaluation and follow-up is 1.47. Even if both are below the minimal clinical importance difference of the scale, 5.6, results seem promising. Other kinematic outcomes were examined, such as range of motion deficit, asymmetry in the top-down direction, and the average movement time. All these three metrics were added together to obtain a composite error metric. Results show that the change in the mean values for the group who received the error augmentation between pre-evaluation and post-evaluation is -15.05, while between pre-evaluation and follow-up is -11.82. Because this is an error metric if the values are more negative, then the subject is improving. Such automated touch-free therapy may prove compelling because such approaches can reduce the expenses and complexity of using a robot while providing additional therapeutic support during arm rehabilitation, but further studies are necessary to highlight the benefit of the visual error augmentation without any haptic feedback and also the possible profiles of patients who can most benefit

The physiology of motor delusions in anosognosia for hemiplegia: Implications for current models of motor awareness

Right brain damaged patients sometimes deny that their left arm is paralysed or even claim to have just moved it. This condition is known as anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP). Here, we used fMRI to study patients with and without AHP during the execution of a motor task. We found that the delusional belief of having moved was preceded by brain activation of the cortical regions that are implicated in motor control in the left intact hemisphere and in the spared motor regions of the right hemisphere; patients without anosognosia did not present with the same degree of activation. We conclude that the false belief of movement is associated with a combination of strategically placed brain lesions and the preceding residual neural activity of the fronto-parietal motor network. These findings provide evi- dence that the activity of motor cortices contributes to our beliefs about the state of our motor system

Return towards normality in admissions for myocardial infarction after the lockdown removal for COVID-19 outbreak in Italy

BACKGROUND: Investigations demonstrated a decrease of admissions for myocardial infarction (MI) during the CoronaVirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak. No study has evaluated the time required to reverse this downward curve of MI admissions.METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis on patients (N = 2415) admitted to the Emergency Departments for acute MI in nine Italian centers. Primary endpoint was the incidence rates (IRs) of MI admissions in the post-lockdown COVID-19 period (case-period: from May 4 to July 12, 2020) vs. the following control periods: January 1-February 19, 2020 (pre-lockdown period); February 20-May 3, 2020 (intra-lockdown period); May 4-July 12, 2019 (inter-year non-COVID-19 period).RESULTS: IR of admissions for MI in the post-lockdown period was higher than the intra-lockdown period (IR ratio, IRR: 1.60, 95% CI 1.42-1.81; p = 0.0001), was lower than the pre-lockdown period (IRR: 0.86, 0.77-0.96; p = 0.009) and similar to the inter-year non-COVID-19 period (IRR: 0.96, 0.87-1.07; p = 0.47). Within the case period, the increase in MI admissions was more pronounced in earlier vs later weeks (IRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.02-1.38, p = 0.024) and, compared to the inter-year control period, was significant for non ST-segment elevation MI (IRR: 1.25, 95% CI 1.08-1.46, p = 0.004), but was not observed for ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI), where hospitalizations were reduced (IRR 0.76, 95% CI 0.65-0.88, p = 0.0001).CONCLUSIONS: Our study first indicates an increase in the number of admissions for MI after the removal of the national lockdown for COVID-19 in Italy. This increase was prevalent in the first weeks following the lockdown removal, but was under-represented in STEMI patients