A cognitive robotic ecology approach to self-configuring and evolving AAL systems

Robotic ecologies are systems made out of several robotic devices, including mobile robots, wireless sensors and effectors embedded in everyday environments, where they cooperate to achieve complex tasks. This paper demonstrates how endowing robotic ecologies with information processing algorithms such as perception, learning, planning, and novelty detection can make these systems able to deliver modular, flexible, manageable and dependable Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions. Specifically, we show how the integrated and self-organising cognitive solutions implemented within the EU project RUBICON (Robotic UBIquitous Cognitive Network) can reduce the need of costly pre-programming and maintenance of robotic ecologies. We illustrate how these solutions can be harnessed to (i) deliver a range of assistive services by coordinating the sensing & acting capabilities of heterogeneous devices, (ii) adapt and tune the overall behaviour of the ecology to the preferences and behaviour of its inhabitants, and also (iii) deal with novel events, due to the occurrence of new user's activities and changing user's habits

Oxytocin and social pretreatment have similar effects on processing of negative emotional faces in healthy adult males

Oxytocin has been shown to affect several aspects of human social cognition, including facial emotion processing. There is also evidence that social stimuli (such as eye-contact) can effectively modulate endogenous oxytocin levels. In the present study we directly tested whether intranasal oxytocin administration and pre-treatment with social stimuli had similar effects on face processing at the behavioral level. Subjects (N = 52 healthy adult males) were presented with a set of faces with expressions of different valence (negative, neutral, positive) following different types of pretreatment (oxytocin—OT or placebo—PL and social interaction—Soc or no social interaction—NSoc, N = 13 in each) and were asked to rate all faces for perceived emotion and trustworthiness. On the next day subjects' recognition memory was tested on a set of neutral faces and additionally they had to again rate each face for trustworthiness and emotion. Subjects in both the OT and the Soc pretreatment group (as compared to the PL and to the NSoc groups) gave higher emotion and trustworthiness scores for faces with negative emotional expression. Moreover, 24 h later, subjects in the OT and Soc groups (unlike in control groups) gave lower trustworthiness scores for previously negative faces, than for faces previously seen as emotionally neutral or positive. In sum these results provide the first direct evidence of the similar effects of intranasal oxytocin administration and social stimulation on the perception of negative facial emotions as well as on the delayed recall of negative emotional information

Respiratory response to low-intensity physical exercise in women with chronic fatigue syndrome

The aim of the study was to evaluate the cardiorespiratory parameters at rest and and as the response to very low intensity physical exercise in women with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

Importunate Permutation: Aphorstical Parochialist

The title and appellation above illustrate the apposite felicity in felicitous apposition of transposals in sets. Anil, Richard Lederer and Susan Thorpe among others, have looked at this area either directly or tangentially in these pages in recent years. My purpose here is to present a robus but necessarily subjective presentation of many curious, delightful, absurd and otherwise interesting examples of the genre

Esfuerzo percibido y frecuencia cardiaca: el control de la intensidad de los esfuerzos en el entrenamiento de judo

Esta investigación estudia la relación existente entre los diferentes tipos de esfuerzo (formas de entrenamiento) y los cambios en la F.C. (frecuencia cardíaca) y R.E.P. (esfuerzo percibido), así como la relación existente entre estas dos variables.. Se realizó con el grupo de judokas del programa olímpico A.D.O. Barcelona-92. Consiste en realizar tres formas de entrenamiento con variaciones de intensidad y duración, en dos sesiones, con un intervalo de 48 horas. Los sujetos que completaron todas las pruebas fueron sesenta y cinco Judokas, 32 mujeres y 33 hombres, con diferentes niveles de ejecución y clasificados en tres grupos en función de dicho nivel, Olímpicos, Internacionales y Nacionales, con edades comprendidas entre los 17 y 30 años. Después de cada forma de entrenamiento, los sujetos contestaban el cuestionario de la escala R.E.P. de Borg (1962), y se anotaba la frecuencia cardíaca, recogida con el pulsómetro, al finalizar cada ejercicio y pasados treinta segundos. Los resultados indican que ambas variables (F.C. y R.E.P.) sufren un cambio semejante ante los diferentes tipos de esfuerzo, aunque la correlación entre ellas es más baja que la presentada en otras investigacionesThe presents research studies the relationship between different types of efforts (training forms) and the changest on heart rate (HR) and on the rate of perceived effort (RPE), as well as the relationship between these last two variables. 65 judokas of the ADO Barcelona'92 Olympic program toke part in the research. 32 subjects were female and 33 males, and they were clasified intro three differentlevels: Olimpics, Internationals and nationals. Subjects had to perform in two sessions of 48 hours of interval, three different training tasks with variation on the intensity and duration. 30 seconds after finishing each training task, subjects had to fill the RPE (Borg, 1962), and their HR was measured by a pulsometer. The results shown that both variables undergo a similar change with regard to the different tipes of effort, although the correlaionship between them is lower than the observed in previous research

Using eye temperature and heart rate for stress assessment in young horses competing in jumping competitions and its possible influence on sport performance

The aims of this study were, first, to evaluate eye temperature (ET) with infrared thermography and heart rate (HR) to measure stress in horses during show jumping competitions and their relationship with competition results, and second, to evaluate the influence of different extrinsic and intrinsic factors of the horse on the stress measurements analysed. One hundred and seventy-three Spanish Sport Horses were analysed for ET and HR, and these measurements were taken 3 h before the competition, just after and 3 h after it. Two interval measurements were also assessed for each parameter. Positive significant correlations were found between ET and HR, measured before (r=0.23), just after competition (r= 0.28) and for the later interval (r= 0.26), whereas negative correlations with competition results were found only for ET when measured just after competing (r=− 0.25). Two intrinsic factors (genetic line and age) and no extrinsic factors showed significant differences for ET, whereas one intrinsic factor (age) and two extrinsic factors (journey duration and number of training hours) showed significant differences for HR. The marginal means showed significantly higher ET values for the Anglo-Arab genetic line and for 5-year-old animals. HR values were significantly higher for 4-year-old animals, for horses which had travelled 4 to 6 h and for horses that had 3 to 6 h of daily training. This study suggests that, although ET and HR seemed to share a similar physiological basis, the factors that most influenced each parameter were different. Finally, ET seems to be a suitable tool for assessing stress during show jumping competitions in horses