Relevance of the Hotel Services Quality Management

У роботі досліджено необхідність управління якістю надання готельних послуг, у тому числі розглянуто рекомендації щодо підвищення якості надання готельних послуг для формування соціально-орієнтованого, конкурентоспроможного готельного комплексу, здатного задовольнити широкі потреби клієнтів.In this work it is investigaded the need to manage the quality of hotel services, including recommendations to improve the quality of hotel services for the formation of socially-oriented, competitive hotel that can meet the broad needs of customers

Beyond the homunculus: Visual responses of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) neurons to virtual touch of a virtual

Following a brief period of brushing a monkey arm with a real brush, synchronized with the vision of an arm avatar being brushed virtually, neurons in the primary somatosensory and motor cortices began to fire in response to the virtual brushing alone, suggesting that cortical representation of the body can be reshaped, in a matter of minutes, to incorporate even virtual limbs

Human-machine interface for two-dimensional steering control with the auricular muscles

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) can be used to decode a user's motor intention to control an external device. People that suffer from motor disabilities, such as spinal cord injury, can benefit from the uses of these interfaces. While many solutions can be found in this direction, there is still room for improvement both from a decoding, hardware, and subject-motor learning perspective. Here we show, in a series of experiments with non-disabled participants, a novel decoding and training paradigm allowing naïve participants to use their auricular muscles (AM) to control two degrees of freedom with a virtual cursor. AMs are particularly interesting because they are vestigial muscles and are often preserved after neurological diseases. Our method relies on the use of surface electromyographic records and the use of contraction levels of both AMs to modulate the velocity and direction of a cursor in a two-dimensional paradigm. We used a locking mechanism to fix the current position of each axis separately to enable the user to stop the cursor at a certain location. A five-session training procedure (20–30 min per session) with a 2D center-out task was performed by five volunteers. All participants increased their success rate (Initial: 52.78 ± 5.56%; Final: 72.22 ± 6.67%; median ± median absolute deviation) and their trajectory performances throughout the training. We implemented a dual task with visual distractors to assess the mental challenge of controlling while executing another task; our results suggest that the participants could perform the task in cognitively demanding conditions (success rate of 66.67 ± 5.56%). Finally, using the Nasa Task Load Index questionnaire, we found that participants reported lower mental demand and effort in the last two sessions. To summarize, all subjects could learn to control the movement of a cursor with two degrees of freedom using their AM, with a low impact on the cognitive load. Our study is a first step in developing AM-based decoders for HMIs for people with motor disabilities, such as spinal cord injury

Cytokine balance as a diagnostic marker of inflammation in experimental purulent lesions of soft tissues

Inflammatory process is at the heart of artificial (artificial) purulent-inflammatory diseases of soft tissues (APDST), which may lead to the development of phlegmon and abscesses at the site of invasion within a three-day period. The study of the cytokine status of rats with APDST allows us to evaluate the dynamics of inflammation markers and assess the peculiarities of the pathological course in artificial model of inflammation. The experiment was carried out on 126 white Wistar rats divided into 3 groups: (1) the main group (n = 57), where the laboratory model of APDST was used; (2) a comparison group (n = 58), in which the rats were injected with a mixture of opportunistic bacterial strains isolated from pure cultures of human oral fluid, i.e., S. epidermidis, S. mitis, S. salivarius at the titer of 9lg (CFU) per 1 ml injected together with a mixture of 2.5% hydrocortisone acetate emulsion (20 mg per 100 g of animal body weight), and dexamethasone solution at the dose of 0.5 mg; (3) control group (n = 11), where the animals were injected with 0.9% sodium chloride solution in a volume of 0.3 ml, together with a mixture of 2.5% hydrocortisone acetate emulsion at the rate of 20 mg per 100 g of body weight, and dexamethasone solution at the dose of 0.5 mg. Blood cells were studied using the Mindray DC-2800 Vet Auto Hematology Analyzer automated rat blood test system. The dynamics of pro-inflammatory cytokines: tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), antiinflammatory cytokines: interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10) was assessed by enzyme immunoassay. To predict the course of inflammation towards complications, or resolution of the inflammatory process, the ratio of pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory cytokines was used, with normal ratio considered an estimated average of the cytokine ratio for the control group. When analyzing results of this experimental study, the nature of cellular inflammatory response was assessed in dynamics, and its relationship with inflammation markers was determined. All animals of the main group developed soft tissue phlegmon within 3 to 7 days from the beginning of the experiment, and their mortality rate was 100%. In comparison group, the abscesses developed in 82.8% of cases on the day 12 to 15 from the start of the experiment, without any deaths observed. The ratio of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the main group increased 8-fold already by the end of the 1st day, the comparison group was characterized by the absence of significant differences from the control group. The highest levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were recorded in the main experimental group on the days 12 to 15

Muscleless Motor synergies and actions without movements : From Motor neuroscience to cognitive robotics

Emerging trends in neurosciences are providing converging evidence that cortical networks in predominantly motor areas are activated in several contexts related to ‘action’ that do not cause any overt movement. Indeed for any complex body, human or embodied robot inhabiting unstructured environments, the dual processes of shaping motor output during action execution and providing the self with information related to feasibility, consequence and understanding of potential actions (of oneself/others) must seamlessly alternate during goal-oriented behaviors, social interactions. While prominent approaches like Optimal Control, Active Inference converge on the role of forward models, they diverge on the underlying computational basis. In this context, revisiting older ideas from motor control like the Equilibrium Point Hypothesis and synergy formation, this article offers an alternative perspective emphasizing the functional role of a ‘plastic, configurable’ internal representation of the body (body-schema) as a critical link enabling the seamless continuum between motor control and imagery. With the central proposition that both “real and imagined” actions are consequences of an internal simulation process achieved though passive goal-oriented animation of the body schema, the computational/neural basis of muscleless motor synergies (and ensuing simulated actions without movements) is explored. The rationale behind this perspective is articulated in the context of several interdisciplinary studies in motor neurosciences (for example, intracranial depth recordings from the parietal cortex, FMRI studies highlighting a shared cortical basis for action ‘execution, imagination and understanding’), animal cognition (in particular, tool-use and neuro-rehabilitation experiments, revealing how coordinated tools are incorporated as an extension to the body schema) and pertinent challenges towards building cognitive robots that can seamlessly “act, interact, anticipate and understand” in unstructured natural living spaces

Migration as a national threat : A study about how the migration question is securitized in Sweden

The Swedish government made a turnaround regarding its former generous migration policy in the end of 2015. This thesis examines one of the Swedish governments proposals, “Särskilda åtgärder vid allvarlig fara för den allmänna ordningen och inre säkerheten i landet (2015/16:67)” through the theory of securitization. The study finds that the Swedish Government contemplates that the increased amount of migrations to Sweden is a challenge towards Sweden’s societal structures and therefore an existential threat to Sweden’s national security. In order to protect the national security and societal structures from the threat, the Swedish Government proposed for the need of ID-checks, which the Swedish parliament passed as a law. The conclusion of this paper is therefore that the Swedish Government securitizes the migration question by arguing that the amount of migrants is an existential threat to Sweden’s national security

Virtual reality based Brain-Machine-Interface for Sensori-Motor and Social experiments with Primates

As a result of improved understanding of brain mechanisms as well as unprecedented technical advancement in neural recording methods and computer technology, it is now possible to translate large-scale brain signals into movement intentions in real time. Such decoding of both actual and imagined movements of a subject allows for new paradigms of treatment for severely impaired patients, such as neural control of a prosthesis. The field of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) explores the tremendous potential of hybrid systems linking neural tissue to artificial devices. BMI operations involve a bidirectional learning process: the BMI system learns to decode brain signals by uncovering their relationship to voluntary movements, while the brain itself plastically adapts to the task. Proper BMI training is critical for its successful adoption by the patient. We believe that training a subject in a realistic virtual environment prior to the use of the physical prosthetic device is an efficient and safe method that can significantly facilitate design of practical neural prostheses for patients in need. In this dissertation we describe the control of a 3D virtual monkey (the avatar) as visual feedback for BMI with rhesus monkeys and address a number of key questions: • Monkeys’ interaction with the avatar. • Modulation of neurons in primary somatosensory (S1) and motor (M1) cortical areas during passive observation of the avatar being touched. • Modulation of neural responses by the observation of the avatar’s movements. • Changes in neural responses during long-term brain control of the avatar. We describe the plasticity of the body representation by the brain resulting from visual stimuli delivered via the avatar and tactile stimuli applied to the subject’s physical arm. We show how the avatar can be used for training rhesus monkeys to perform complex tasks. Behavioral evidence that rhesus monkeys respond to the avatar shape and motions and can even relate it with a representation of another monkey is presented. Finally two instances of novel brain controlled avatar are shown: a complete closed loop brain-machine-brain-interface with sensory feedback through direct cortical stimulation and the first successful attempt of a multi-limb BMI. We also study a simplified learning process of the BMI through the passive observation of the movements of the avatar arms