Using Augmented Reality and Internet of Things to improve accessibility of people with motor disabilities in the context of Smart Cities

Smart Cities need to be designed to allow the inclusion of all kinds of citizens. For instance, motor disabled people like wheelchair users may have problems to interact with the city. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies provide the tools to include all citizens in the Smart City context. For example, wheelchair users may not be able to reach items placed beyond their arm’s length, limiting their independence in everyday activities like shopping, or visiting libraries. We have developed a system that enables wheelchair users to interact with items placed beyond their arm’s length, with the help of Augmented Reality (AR) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. Our proposed system is an interactive AR application that runs on different interfaces, allowing the user to digitally interact with the physical items on the shelf, thanks to an updated inventory provided by an RFID system. The resulting experience is close to being able to browse a shelf, clicking on it and obtaining information about the items it contains, allowing wheelchair users to shop independently, and providing autonomy in their everyday activities. Fourteen wheelchair users with different degrees of impairment have participated in the study and development of the system. The evaluation results show promising results towards more independence of wheelchair users, providing an opportunity for equality improvement.This work was partly funded by the Spanish Government through projects TIN2012-34965 PIGALL, TIN2011-27076-C03-02 CO-PRIVACY, TIN2014-57364-C2-2-R SMARTGLACIS, TEC2015-71303-R SINERGIA, and TSI-020602-2012-147 IRIS. The authors also acknowledge support from Obra Social “la Caixa” -ACUP through project 2011ACUP00261

Auto-encoder variants for solving handwritten digits classification problem

Auto-encoders (AEs) have been proposed for solving many problems in the domain of machine learning and deep learning since the last few decades. Due to their satisfactory performance, their multiple variations have also recently appeared. First, we introduce the conventional AE model and its different variant for learning abstract features from data by using a contrastive divergence algorithm. Second, we present the major differences among the following three popular AE variants: sparse AE (SAE), denoising AE (DAE), and contractive AE (CAE). Third, the main contribution of this study is performing the comparative study of the aforementioned three AE variants on the basis of their mathematical modeling and experiments. All the variants of the standard AE are evaluated on the basis of the MNIST benchmark handwritten digit dataset for classification problem. The observed output reveals the benefit of using the AE model and its variants. From the experiments, it is concluded that CAE achieved better classification accuracy than those of SAE and DAE

Single nucleotide polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis of the exon 2 of leptin gene in Lohi sheep

Background: Leptin hormone, encoded by leptin (LEP) gene is involved in many biological and physiological processes in the body. Polymorphism in LEP gene has been observed and correlated with a variety of reproductive and productive traits in several sheep breeds worldwide, but its role has not been much studied in local sheep breeds of Pakistan. The present study was conducted to analyze polymorphism in LEP gene in Lohi breed of sheep.Methods: Subsequent to statistical analysis (generalized linear model), 18 animals were selected randomly from the flock for blood samples collection followed by DNA extraction, amplification using PCR prior to sequencing. The amplified product of exon 2 and partial intron 2 regions of LEP gene was 268bp.Results: Molecular analysis showed a heterozygous condition i.e. C>Y at position 15 and 18 in exon 2. The data on average daily weight gain (ADG) from birthday to 90 days were used for association study, while environmental effects were minimized by means of generalized linear model. Association of polymorphisms in LEP gene with ADG did not yield any significant results.Conclusion: In conclusion, analysis of LEP gene sequence verified the existence of genetic changes in Lohi sheep. Further investigations are needed to find variations that might be linked with traits of economic importance for upcoming breeding program sand marker-assisted selection.Keywords: DNA; Exon 2; LEP; PCR; Loh

Remote Administration of ADHD-Sensitive Cognitive Tasks: A Pilot Study

Objective: We assessed the feasibility and validity of remote researcher-led administration and self-administration of modified versions of two cognitive tasks sensitive to ADHD, a four-choice reaction time task (Fast task) and a combined Continuous Performance Test/Go No-Go task (CPT/GNG), through a new remote measurement technology system. Method: We compared the cognitive performance measures (mean and variability of reaction times (MRT, RTV), omission errors (OE) and commission errors (CE)) at a remote baseline researcher-led administration and three remote self-administration sessions between participants with and without ADHD (n = 40). Results: The most consistent group differences were found for RTV, MRT and CE at the baseline researcher-led administration and the first self-administration, with 8 of the 10 comparisons statistically significant and all comparisons indicating medium to large effect sizes. Conclusion: Remote administration of cognitive tasks successfully captured the difficulties with response inhibition and regulation of attention, supporting the feasibility and validity of remote assessments