Utilising semantic technologies for decision support in dementia care

The main objective of this work is to discuss our experience in utilising semantic technologies for building decision support in Dementia care systems that are based on the non-intrusive on the non-intrusive monitoring of the patient’s behaviour. Our approach adopts context-aware modelling of the patient’s condition to facilitate the analysis of the patient’s behaviour within the inhabited environment (movement and room occupancy patterns, use of equipment, etc.) with reference to the semantic knowledge about the patient’s condition (history of present of illness, dependable behaviour patterns, etc.). The reported work especially focuses on the critical role of the semantic reasoning engine in inferring medical advice, and by means of practical experimentation and critical analysis suggests important findings related to the methodology of deploying the appropriate semantic rules systems, and the dynamics of the efficient utilisation of complex event processing technology in order to the meet the requirements of decision support for remote healthcare systems

Bibliographic Review on Distributed Kalman Filtering

In recent years, a compelling need has arisen to understand the effects of distributed information structures on estimation and filtering. In this paper, a bibliographical review on distributed Kalman filtering (DKF) is provided.\ud The paper contains a classification of different approaches and methods involved to DKF. The applications of DKF are also discussed and explained separately. A comparison of different approaches is briefly carried out. Focuses on the contemporary research are also addressed with emphasis on the practical applications of the techniques. An exhaustive list of publications, linked directly or indirectly to DKF in the open literature, is compiled to provide an overall picture of different developing aspects of this area

Model Prediction-Based Approach to Fault Tolerant Control with Applications

Abstract— Fault-tolerant control (FTC) is an integral component in industrial processes as it enables the system to continue robust operation under some conditions. In this paper, an FTC scheme is proposed for interconnected systems within an integrated design framework to yield a timely monitoring and detection of fault and reconfiguring the controller according to those faults. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF)-based fault detection and diagnosis system is initially run on the main plant and parameter estimation is being done for the local faults. This critical information\ud is shared through information fusion to the main system where the whole system is being decentralized using the overlapping decomposition technique. Using this parameter estimates of decentralized subsystems, a model predictive control (MPC) adjusts its parameters according to the\ud fault scenarios thereby striving to maintain the stability of the system. Experimental results on interconnected continuous time stirred tank reactors (CSTR) with recycle and quadruple tank system indicate that the proposed method is capable to correctly identify various faults, and then controlling the system under some conditions

Improved Distributed Estimation Method for Environmental\ud time-variant Physical variables in Static Sensor Networks

In this paper, an improved distributed estimation scheme for static sensor networks is developed. The scheme is developed for environmental time-variant physical variables. The main contribution of this work is that the algorithm in [1]-[3] has been extended, and a filter has been designed with weights, such that the variance of the estimation errors is minimized, thereby improving the filter design considerably\ud and characterizing the performance limit of the filter, and thereby tracking a time-varying signal. Moreover, certain parameter optimization is alleviated with the application of a particular finite impulse response (FIR) filter. Simulation results are showing the effectiveness of the developed estimation algorithm

Remote Sensing and Topographic Information in a GIS environment for Urban Growth and Change: Case Study Amman the Capital of Jordan

Urbanization results in the expansion of administrative boundaries, mainly at the periphery, ultimately leading to changes in landcover. Agricultural land, naturally vegetated land, and other land types are converted into residential areas with a high density of constructs, such as transportation systems and housing. In urban regions of rapid growth and change, urban planners need regular information on up to date ground change. Amman (the capital of Jordan) is growing at unprecedented rates, creating extensive urban landscapes. Planners interact with these changes without having a global view of their impact. The use of aerial photographs and satellite images data combined with topographic information and field survey could provide effective information to develop urban change and growth inventory which could be explored towards producing a very important signature for the built-up area changes

The effects of whole body vibration on peripheral cardiovascular function

Exposure to acute bouts of whole body vibration (WBV), which can be employed as a novel form of exercise, has been reported to increase local skeletal muscle blood flow. However, the mechanism for this effect remains unclear. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the mechanism that would explain the effect of vibration on the peripheral cardiovascular function. Initially, the aim was to investigate the potential mechanism of the effect of WBV on the systemic blood flow, since there are currently no studies reporting any systemic effects of WBV on blood flow. The results did not demonstrate any systemic effects on blood flow (i.e. forearm blood flow) in response to acute unloaded and loaded squats with WBV. It was concluded that it was difficult to identify the effects of vibration on systemic cardiovascular function because, most likely due to the higher exercise intensity, skeletal muscle activation resulted in a decrement in blood flow from a distal site (i.e. forearm) to the main site (i.e. lower limb). Through the development of experimental methods involving applying vibration passively to the lower limbs, which avoids any influence of direct skeletal muscle activation and focuses solely on the mechanism inducing effects, it was demonstrated that ankle systolic blood pressure and ankle brachial pressure index substantially decreased in the post-vibration period. It was concluded that vibration has a direct effect on the peripheral cardiovascular function via increased vasodilatation; however, the mechanism underlying this effect remained unresolved. The effects of different durations of passive vibration on the peripheral circulation were also investigated and the results demonstrated that a longer duration of passive vibration (i.e. 8 minutes) resulted in a significantly higher lower leg blood flow during the recovery period than a shorter duration (i.e. 1, 2 and 4 minutes) of passive vibration. These data provide evidence for a greater effect of WBV occurring with a longer duration on the peripheral cardiovascular function, caused by the vasodilatation response throughout the recovery period. However, there might be a minimum effect of skeletal muscle activation occurring with a longer duration of passive vibration that leads to a direct response to localised heating. Furthermore, the thesis attempted to distinguish the effects of passive vibration on skeletal muscle activation from those on the peripheral vascular system. An experiment was designed in which passive vibration was applied with and without circulatory occlusion, to examine whether there was any underlying skeletal muscle activation. It was found that vibration with intact circulation produces more heat than the control, no vibration and occlusion, and occlusion plus vibration conditions. These effects were reflected by the higher skin temperature observed during exposure to vibration, and continuing into recovery. These data provide evidence that passive vibration does not appear to induce an increase in muscle activity. The data also suggest that the mechanism of the rise in skin temperature in response to passive vibration exposure is due to a vasodilatation that occurred in the lower limb via inducing an increase in shear stress at the blood vessels wall and led to an increase in circulating blood flow during exposure that continues into recovery. Overall, the results obtained demonstrate that vasodilatation occurs during and after vibration exposure and appears to be a process that is independent of skeletal muscle activation. It is postulated that the stimulus is a direct effect on the blood vessels via inducing an increase in shear stress that results in an increased vasodilatation, thereby increasing blood flow. Hence, these observations demonstrate that vibration stimulus has a direct effect on the muscle vascular bed as a primary effect and that there is no carry over effect into the systemic circulation. Thus, the results of this thesis indicate that vibration induced enhancement in the peripheral circulation could be using as a training stimulus and also could have a beneficial effect in assisting recovery routines from exertion

Synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and performance of quality companies

© 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – This paper aims to examine the synchronous and lagged relationships between CEOs\u27 pay and the performance of a group of public companies that had won a very prestigious award: the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). Design/methodology/approach – This study uses three rates of return to represent firm performance: return on assets, return on equity and holding period return. Regression analysis is used to determine the direction of causality between CEO pay and firm performance and the existence of lagged relationship between them. Findings – The findings indicate the existence of synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and firm performance. However, the direction of causality is mainly from pay to performance, and not vice versa. Research limitations/implications – The results presented in this paper are limited by the small sample size of MBNQA winning companies. Although the award began in 1988, only a few companies won the award each year and many of them were not public companies. In addition, five companies won the award twice and one company won the award three times, which further reduces the sample size. Originality/value – This paper finds the existence of synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and firm performance for a group of quality companies