SMILE: smart monitoring intelligent learning engine. An ontology-based context-aware system for supporting patients subjected to severe emergencies

Remote healthcare has made a revolution in the healthcare domain. However, an important problem this field is facing is supporting patients who are subjected to severe emergencies (as heart attacks) to be both monitored and protected while being at home. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework with the main objectives of: 1) emergency handling through monitoring patients, detecting emergencies and insuring fast emergency responses; 2) preventing an emergency from happening in the first place through protecting patients by organising their lifestyles and habits. To achieve these objectives, we propose a layered middleware. Our context model combines two modelling methods: probabilistic modelling to capture uncertain information and ontology to ease knowledge sharing and reuse. In addition, our system uses a two-level reasoning approach (ontology-based reasoning and Bayesian-based reasoning) to manage both certain and uncertain contextual parameters in an adaptive manner. Bayesian network is learned from ontology. Moreover, to ensure a more sophisticated decision-making for service presentation, influence diagram and analytic hierarchy process are used along with regular probabilistic rules (confidence level) and basic semantic logic rules

PHEN : parkinson helper emergency notification system using Bayesian Belief Network

Context-aware systems are used to aid users in their daily lives. In the recent years, researchers are exploring how context aware systems can benefit humanity through assist patients, specifically those who suffer incurable diseases, to cope with their illness. In this paper, we direct our work to help people who suffer from Parkinson disease. We propose PHEN, Parkinson Helper Engine Network System, a context-aware system that aims to support Parkinson disease patients on m any levels. We use ontology is for context representation and modeling. Then the ontology based context model is used to learn with Bayesian Belief network (BBN) which is beneficial in handling the uncertainty aspect of context-aware systems

Audible-to-Infrared Bridging

Home entertainment devices, such as televisions, stereos, and media players, have, traditionally, been equipped with remote controls so that a user might be able to activate or control the home entertainment device wirelessly. Many remote controls’ only wireless communication capabilities are tied to infrared (IR) signaling to control the entertainment device, and as such, are not equipped to respond to communications that might be received through other means. An IR bridge module is described that is capable of “bridging” communications between an entertainment device and another device that might be used as part of home automation, such as a voice-recognizing personal assistant. The IR bridge module receives a wi-fi or ethernet signal from the voice-recognizing personal assistant and, in response, transmits infrared signals to the entertainment device. The IR bridge module may operate in a training mode, during which it learns and maps infrared remote control commands to a voice command. The IR bridge module may also operate in an execution mode, during which it “bridges” active communication and commands between the voice-recognizing personal assistant and an entertainment device

Posttranslational modifications of GLUT4 affect its subcellular localization and translocation

The facilitative glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) is expressed in adipose and muscle and plays a vital role in whole body glucose homeostasis. In the absence of insulin, only ~1% of cellular GLUT4 is present at the plasma membrane, with the vast majority localizing to intracellular organelles. GLUT4 is retained intracellularly by continuous trafficking through two inter-related cycles. GLUT4 passes through recycling endosomes, the trans Golgi network and an insulin-sensitive intracellular compartment, termed GLUT4-storage vesicles or GSVs. It is from GSVs that GLUT4 is mobilized to the cell surface in response to insulin, where it increases the rate of glucose uptake into the cell. As with many physiological responses to external stimuli, this regulated trafficking event involves multiple posttranslational modifications. This review outlines the roles of posttranslational modifications of GLUT4 on its function and insulin-regulated trafficking

Smart Playing Cards

Technology can be used to enhance the experience of existing games including card games. One way this can be accomplished is through the use of near field communications to detect the state of playing cards and use the detected state of the cards to perform experience enhancing actions associated with their respective state. For example, the gameplay experience while playing cards can be enhanced in a variety of ways including keeping score of a game (e.g., a player’s cribbage score), providing special effects (e.g., visual effects or sound effects associated with a card game), and preventing cheating

A Dynamic, Scalable Algorithm to Optimize the Allocation of Athletics Scholarships

When a high school student athlete makes the decision to swim collegiately, one of the leading factors in choosing a university is the amount of the scholarship award. These awards are determined by the equivalency category in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisions I and II and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Rules govern financial aid and the number of scholarships allowed by a member institution. The exact financial distribution among athletes, however, is mostly the coaches’ responsibility and there is scarcity in the literature on how these scholarships are distributed among athletes in a college/ university, which is why it’s important for Athletics Departments within these colleges and universities to have a model to help distribute the scholarship amounts in an optimal manner that promotes transparency and ethical leadership. This paper provides a model to aid coaches in the distribution of financial award/ scholarships in a women’s swimming in a major urban university; however, the model can be applied and adjusted for financial award distribution for any collegiate sport following any institute specific policies and preferences

Integer Representations of the Generalized Symmetric Groups

In this paper, we construct a mixed-base number system over the generalized symmetric group $G(m,1,n)$, which is a complex reflection group with a root system of type $B_n^{(m)}$. We also establish one-to-one correspondence between all positive integers in the set $\{1,\cdots,m^nn!\}$ and the elements of $G(m,1,n)$ by constructing the subexceedant function in relation to this group. In addition, we provide a new enumeration system for $G(m,1,n)$ by defining the inversion statistic on $G(m,1,n)$. Finally, we prove that the \textit{flag-major index} is equi-distributed with this inversion statistic on $G(m,1,n)$. Therefore, the flag-major index is Mahonian on $G(m,1,n)$ with respect to the length function $L$

Impact of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations on sustained virologic response in HCV-infected patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced 651 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with 651 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not 655. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin