Introducing Context-Awareness in Applications by Transforming High-Level Rules

International audienceIn the last years, we have witnessed the increase in the popu- larity and capabilities of mobile technologies. This evolution has enforced the idea of smart environments, in which devices are aware and able to react to changes in their environment. In this position paper we describe a specific approach for the development of context-aware software. We propose to make existing applications context-aware by means of three main components: context models, high-level rules and code-generation processors. We present each component and analyze the issues related to the development of context-aware software following this strategy

Context Distribution for Supporting Composition of Applications in Ubiquitous Computing

Poster PaperInternational audienceFor context-aware devices and applications to be able to interact both with each other and their environment, mechanisms are required to allow these to react to changes in the environment. Furthermore, individual applications participating in a context must work together in an integrated and coherent manner. To address this concern, we have designed and implemented CARBO, a generative, rule based centralized orchestration engine. However, in ubiquitous computing, context is distributed amongst different participants. In this paper we describe how we extended CARBO with the notion of context slices, which distribute the context state amongst different devices. We also discuss the use of tagged futures as an implementation strategy. This simplifies the work needed to synchronize context instances across devices, which eases the maintenance of context consistency

Canonical Decomposition of Ictal Scalp EEG and Accurate Source Localisation: Principles and Simulation Study

Long-term electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings are important in the presurgical evaluation of refractory partial epilepsy for the delineation of the ictal onset zones. In this paper, we introduce a new concept for an automatic, fast, and objective localisation of the ictal onset zone in ictal EEG recordings. Canonical decomposition of ictal EEG decomposes the EEG in atoms. One or more atoms are related to the seizure activity. A single dipole was then fitted to model the potential distribution of each epileptic atom. In this study, we performed a simulation study in order to estimate the dipole localisation error. Ictal dipole localisation was very accurate, even at low signal-to-noise ratios, was not affected by seizure activity frequency or frequency changes, and was minimally affected by the waveform and depth of the ictal onset zone location. Ictal dipole localisation error using 21 electrodes was around 10.0 mm and improved more than tenfold in the range of 0.5–1.0 mm using 148 channels. In conclusion, our simulation study of canonical decomposition of ictal scalp EEG allowed a robust and accurate localisation of the ictal onset zone

Early soft and flexible fusion of electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging via double coupled matrix tensor factorization for multisubject group analysis

Data fusion refers to the joint analysis of multiple datasets that provide different (e.g., complementary) views of the same task. In general, it can extract more information than separate analyses can. Jointly analyzing electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements has been proved to be highly beneficial to the study of the brain function, mainly because these neuroimaging modalities have complementary spatiotemporal resolution: EEG offers good temporal resolution while fMRI is better in its spatial resolution. The EEG–fMRI fusion methods that have been reported so far ignore the underlying multiway nature of the data in at least one of the modalities and/or rely on very strong assumptions concerning the relation of the respective datasets. For example, in multisubject analysis, it is commonly assumed that the hemodynamic response function is a priori known for all subjects and/or the coupling across corresponding modes is assumed to be exact (hard). In this article, these two limitations are overcome by adopting tensor models for both modalities and by following soft and flexible coupling approaches to implement the multimodal fusion. The obtained results are compared against those of parallel independent component analysis and hard coupling alternatives, with both synthetic and real data (epilepsy and visual oddball paradigm). Our results demonstrate the clear advantage of using soft and flexible coupled tensor decompositions in scenarios that do not conform with the hard coupling assumption

Efficacy and safety of adjunctive padsevonil in adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy: Results from two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials

Antiepileptic drug; Antiseizure medication; TolerabilityFármaco antiepiléptico; Medicamento anticonvulsivo; TolerabilidadMedicament antiepilèptic; Medicament anticonvulsiu; TolerabilitatObjective To characterize efficacy, safety/tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of padsevonil (PSL) administered concomitantly with ≤3 antiseizure medications (ASMs) for observable focal seizures in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy in two multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trials. Methods The phase 2b dose-finding trial (EP0091/NCT03373383) randomized patients 1:1:1:1:1 to PSL 50/100/200/400 mg or placebo twice daily (b.i.d.). The phase 3 efficacy trial (EP0092/NCT03739840) randomized patients 1:1:1:1 to PSL 100/200/400 mg or placebo b.i.d. Patients with observable (focal aware with motor symptoms, focal impaired awareness, focal to bilateral tonic–clonic) focal seizures for ≥3 years, experiencing them ≥4 times per 28 days including during the 4-week baseline period despite treatment with ≥4 lifetime ASMs including current ASMs, were enrolled. Results In EP0091 and EP0092, 410 and 231 patients, respectively, were randomized and received at least one dose of trial medication. In patients in EP0091 on PSL 50/100/200/400 mg b.i.d. (n = 80/82/81/81, respectively) versus placebo (n = 81), outcomes included percentage reductions over placebo in observable focal seizure frequency during the 12-week maintenance period: 17.2%, 19.1% (p = 0.128), 19.2% (p = 0.128), 12.4% (p = 0.248); 75% responder rates (p-values for odds ratios): 13.8%, 12.2% (p = 0.192), 11.1% (p = 0.192), 16.0% (p = 0.124) versus 6.2%; 50% responder rates: 33.8% (p = 0.045), 31.7% (p = 0.079), 25.9% (p = 0.338), 32.1% (p = 0.087), versus 21.0%; TEAEs were reported by 82.7% (67/81), 78.3% (65/83), 74.4% (61/82), 90.1% (73/81) versus 78.3% (65/83). In patients in EP0092 on PSL 100/200/400 mg b.i.d. (n = 60/56/56, respectively) versus placebo (n = 54), outcomes included percentage reductions over placebo: −5.6% (p = 0.687), 6.5% (p = 0.687), 6.3% (p = 0.687); 75% responder rates: 15.3% (p = 0.989), 12.5% (p = 0.989), 14.3% (p = 0.989) versus 13.0%; 50% responder rates: 35.6% (p = 0.425), 33.9% (p = 0.625), and 42.9% (p = 0.125) versus 27.8%; TEAEs were reported by 80.0% (48/60), 78.9% (45/57), 83.1% (49/59) versus 67.3% (37/55). Significance In both trials, the primary outcomes did not reach statistical significance in any PSL dose group compared with placebo. PSL was generally well tolerated, and no new safety signals were identified

Electrocorticography of Spatial Shifting and Attentional Selection in Human Superior Parietal Cortex

Spatial-attentional reorienting and selection between competing stimuli are two distinct attentional processes of clinical and fundamental relevance. In the past, reorienting has been mainly associated with inferior parietal cortex. In a patient with a subdural grid covering the upper and lower bank of the left anterior and middle intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the superior parietal lobule (SPL), we examined the involvement of superior parietal cortex using a hybrid spatial cueing paradigm identical to that previously applied in stroke and in healthy controls. In SPL, as early as 164 ms following target onset, an invalidly compared to a validly cued target elicited a positive event-related potential (ERP) and an increase in intertrial coherence (ITC) in the theta band, regardless of the direction of attention. From around 400–650 ms, functional connectivity [weighted phase lag index (wPLI) analysis] between SPL and IPS briefly inverted such that SPL activity was driving IPS activity. In contrast, the presence of a competing distracter elicited a robust change mainly in IPS from 300 to 600 ms. Within superior parietal cortex reorienting of attention is associated with a distinct and early electrophysiological response in SPL while attentional selection is indexed by a relatively late electrophysiological response in the IPS. The long latency suggests a role of IPS in working memory or cognitive control rather than early selection

Preoperative amygdala fMRI in temporal lobe epilepsy

Purpose: Anterior temporal lobe resections (ATLR) benefit 70% of patients with refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), but may be complicated by emotional disturbances. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of the amygdala in processing emotions in TLE and whether this may be a potential preoperative predictive marker for emotional disturbances following surgery. Methods: We studied 54 patients with refractory mesial TLE due to hippocampal sclerosis (28 right, 26 left) and 21 healthy controls using a memory encoding fMRI paradigm, which included viewing fearful and neutral faces. Twenty-one TLE patients (10 left, 11 right) subsequently underwent ATLR. Anxiety and depression were assessed preoperatively and 4 months postoperatively using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: On viewing fearful faces, healthy controls demonstrated left lateralized, while right TLE patients showed bilateral amygdala activation. Left TLE patients had significantly reduced activation in left and right amygdalae compared to controls and right TLE patients. In right TLE patients, left and right amygdala activation was significantly related to preoperative anxiety and depression levels, and preoperative right amygdala activation correlated significantly with postoperative change of anxiety and depression scores, characterized by greater increases in anxiety and depression in patients with greater preoperative activation. No such correlations were seen for left TLE patients. Discussion: The fearful face fMRI paradigm is a reliable method for visualizing amygdala activation in controls and patients with mesial TLE. Activation of the right amygdala preoperatively was predictive of emotional disturbances following right ATLR

European Expert Opinion on ANT-DBS therapy for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (a Delphi consensus)

Introduction: Although deep brain stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT-DBS) represents an established third-line therapy for patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, guiding reports on practical treatment principles remain scarce. Methods: An Expert Panel (EP) of 10 European neurologists and 4 neurosurgeons was assembled to share their experience with ANT-DBS therapy. The process included a review of the current literature, which served as a basis for an online survey completed by the EP prior to and following a face-to-face meeting (Delphi method). An agreement level of >= 71 % was considered as consensus. Results: Out of 86 reviewed studies, 46 (53 %) were selected to extract information on the most reported criteria for patient selection, management, and outcome. The Delphi process yielded EP consensus on 4 parameters for selection of good candidates and patient management as well as 7 reasons of concern for this therapy. Since it was not possible to give strict device programming advice due to low levels of evidence, the experts shared their clinical practice: all of them start with monopolar stimulation, 79 % using the cycling mode. Most (93 %) EP members set the initial stimulation frequency and pulse width according to the SANTE parameters, while there is more variability in the amplitudes used. Further agreement was achieved on a list of 7 patient outcome parameters to be monitored during the follow-up. Conclusions: Although current evidence is too low for definite practical guidelines, this EP report could support the selection and management of patients with ANT-DBS