Monitoring visual attention on a neurorehabilitation environment based on interactive video

The use of new technologies in neurorehabilitation has led to higher intensity rehabilitation processes, extending therapies in an economically sustainable way. Interactive Video (IV) technology allows therapists to work with virtual environments that reproduce real situations. In this way, patients deal with Activities of the Daily Living (ADL) immersed within enhanced environments [1]. These rehabilitation exercises, which focus in re-learning lost functions, will try to modulate the neural plasticity processes [2]. This research presents a system where a neurorehabilitation IV-based environment has been integrated with an eye-tracker device in order to monitor and to interact using visual attention. While patients are interacting with the neurorehabilitation environment, their visual behavior is closely related with their cognitive state, which in turn mirrors the brain damage condition suffered by them [3] [4]. Patients’ gaze data can provide knowledge on their attention focus and their cognitive state, as well as on the validity of the rehabilitation tasks proposed [5].

Computer workstation vetting by supply current monitoring

It is our goal within this project to develop a powerful electronic system capable to claim, with high certainty, that a malicious software is running (or not) along with the workstations’ normal activity. The new product will be based on measurement of the supply current taken by a workstation from the grid. Unique technique is proposed within these proceedings that analyses the supply current to produce information about the state of the workstation and to generate information of the presence of malicious software running along with the rightful applications. The testing is based on comparison of the behavior of a fault-free workstation (established i advance) and the behavior of the potentially faulty device.

Leading Safety Indicators: Proactively Monitoring Safety Performance

Traditional measures or indicators of workplace safety performance reflect unrecognized hazards, unsafe conditions, reckless behavior, and other safety program shortcomings only after a worker is injured or falls ill. In contrast to traditional or lagging indicators, leading indicators can predict poor safety performance to ensure that safety program failings are addressed before an occupational injury or illness actually occurs. This Capstone Project identified a variety of proactive safety management practices, policies, and activities shown to have a positive impact on workplace safety as leading safety indicators. The end result is a comprehensive framework of leading safety indicators that employers can use to proactively gauge safety program performance and address unrecognized hazards, unsafe conditions, reckless behavior, and other safety program deficiencies.

Kinetic study of thermal 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides using differential scanning calorimetry as monitoring window

Kinetics of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition involving azomethine ylides, generated from thermal [1,2]-prototropy of the corresponding imino ester, employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), is surveyed. Glycine and phenylalanine derived imino esters have different behavior. The first one prefers reacting with itself at 75 ºC, rather than with the dipolarophile. However, the α-substituted imino ester gives the cycloadduct at higher temperatures. The thermal dynamic analysis by 1H NMR of the neat reaction mixture of the glycine derivative reveals the presence of signals corresponding to the dipole in very small proportion. The non-isothermal and isothermal DSC curves of the cycloaddition of phenylalaninate and diisobutyl fumarate are obtained from freshly prepared samples. The application of known kinetic models and mathematical multiple non-linear regressions (NLR) allow to determine and to compare Ea, lnA, reaction orders, and reaction enthalpy. Finally a rate equation for each different temperature can be established for this particular thermal cycloaddition.

Seismic behavior of a masonry chimney with severe cracking condition: preliminary study

This paper presents a structural analysis of a masonry chimney built in the 1940s, which is currently being cataloged as local interest heritage. This structure has not served any industrial purpose for the last thirty years. The chimney is located in the town of Agost (Alicante - Spain) and directly exposed to the prevailing winds from the sea, as it is approximately 12 km away from the waterfront and there are not any significant barriers, which could protect the structure against the wind. There are longitudinal cracks and fissures all along the shaft because of the chimney’s geometrical characteristics, the effect of the masonry creep and especially the lack of maintenance. Moreover, there is also a permanent bending deformation in the upper 1/3 of the height due to the wind pressure. A numerical analysis for the static behavior against gravity and wind loads was performed using the structure’s current conditions after a detailed report of its geometry, its construction system and the cracking pattern. Afterwards, the dynamic behavior was studied, i.e. a seismic analysis using both response spectra and accelerograms in order to examine the structural stability. This work shows the pre-monitoring analysis before any experimental testing. Using the current results the future test conditions will be determined (e.g. number of sensors and monitoring point location, excitation systems, etc) prior to a possible structural reinforcement by applying composite material (fiber reinforced polymers).

Americium : its behavior in soil and plant systems /

Mode of access: Internet.

Prevalence of injecting drug use and associated risk behavior among regular ecstasy users in Australia

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of injecting drug use and associated risk behaviour among a sentinel sample of ecstasy users. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted with regular ecstasy users as part of an annual monitoring study of ecstasy and related drug markets in all Australian capital cities. Results: Twenty-three percent of the sample reported having ever injected a drug and 15% reported injecting in the 6 months preceding interview. Independent predictors of lifetime injection were older age, unemployment and having ever been in prison. Completion of secondary school and identifying as heterosexual was associated with a lower likelihood of having ever injected. Participants who had recently injected typically did so infrequently; only 9% reported daily injecting. Methamphetamine was the most commonly injected drug. Prevalence of needle sharing was low (6%), although half (47%) reported sharing other injecting equipment in the preceding 6 months. Conclusions: Ecstasy users who report having injected a drug at some time appear to be demographically different to ecstasy users who have not injected although neither are they typical of other drug injectors. The current investigation suggests that ongoing monitoring of injecting among regular ecstasy users is warranted. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of thermal residual stresses on fatigue crack opening and propagation behavior in an Al/SiCp metal matrix composite

The effects of a thermal residual stress field on fatigue crack growth in a silicon carbide particle-reinforced aluminum alloy have been measured. Stress fields were introduced into plates of material by means of a quench from a solution heat-treatment temperature. Measurements using neutron diffraction have shown that this introduces an approximately parabolic stress field into the plates, varying from compressive at the surfaces to tensile in the center. Long fatigue cracks were grown in specimens cut from as-quenched plates and in specimens which were given a stress-relieving overaging heat treatment prior to testing. Crack closure levels for these cracks were determined as a function of the position of the crack tip in the residual stress field, and these are shown to differ between as-quenched and stress-relieved samples. By monitoring the compliance of the specimens during fatigue cycling, the degree to which the residual stresses close the crack has been evaluated. © 1995 The Minerals, Metals & Material Society.

Agent-based Anomalies Monitoring in Distributed Systems

In this paper an agent-based approach for anomalies monitoring in distributed systems such as computer networks, or Grid systems is proposed. This approach envisages on-line and off-line monitoring in order to analyze users’ activity. On-line monitoring is carried in real time, and is used to predict user actions. Off-line monitoring is done after the user has ended his work, and is based on the analysis of statistical information obtained during user’s work. In both cases neural networks are used in order to predict user actions and to distinguish normal and anomalous user behavior.

High performance liquid level monitoring system based on polymer fiber Bragg gratings embedded in silicone rubber diaphragm

Liquid-level sensing technologies have attracted great prominence, because such measurements are essential to industrial applications, such as fuel storage, flood warning and in the biochemical industry. Traditional liquid level sensors are based on electromechanical techniques; however they suffer from intrinsic safety concerns in explosive environments. In recent years, given that optical fiber sensors have lots of well-established advantages such as high accuracy, costeffectiveness, compact size, and ease of multiplexing, several optical fiber liquid level sensors have been investigated which are based on different operating principles such as side-polishing the cladding and a portion of core, using a spiral side-emitting optical fiber or using silica fiber gratings. The present work proposes a novel and highly sensitive liquid level sensor making use of polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (POFBGs). The key elements of the system are a set of POFBGs embedded in silicone rubber diaphragms. This is a new development building on the idea of determining liquid level by measuring the pressure at the bottom of a liquid container, however it has a number of critical advantages. The system features several FBG-based pressure sensors as described above placed at different depths. Any sensor above the surface of the liquid will read the same ambient pressure. Sensors below the surface of the liquid will read pressures that increase linearly with depth. The position of the liquid surface can therefore be approximately identified as lying between the first sensor to read an above-ambient pressure and the next higher sensor. This level of precision would not in general be sufficient for most liquid level monitoring applications; however a much more precise determination of liquid level can be made by linear regression to the pressure readings from the sub-surface sensors. There are numerous advantages to this multi-sensor approach. First, the use of linear regression using multiple sensors is inherently more accurate than using a single pressure reading to estimate depth. Second, common mode temperature induced wavelength shifts in the individual sensors are automatically compensated. Thirdly, temperature induced changes in the sensor pressure sensitivity are also compensated. Fourthly, the approach provides the possibility to detect and compensate for malfunctioning sensors. Finally, the system is immune to changes in the density of the monitored fluid and even to changes in the effective force of gravity, as might be obtained in an aerospace application. The performance of an individual sensor was characterized and displays a sensitivity (54 pm/cm), enhanced by more than a factor of 2 when compared to a sensor head configuration based on a silica FBG published in the literature, resulting from the much lower elastic modulus of POF. Furthermore, the temperature/humidity behavior and measurement resolution were also studied in detail. The proposed configuration also displays a highly linear response, high resolution and good repeatability. The results suggest the new configuration can be a useful tool in many different applications, such as aircraft fuel monitoring, and biochemical and environmental sensing, where accuracy and stability are fundamental. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

A behavior based approach to virus detection

Fast spreading unknown viruses have caused major damage on computer systems upon their initial release. Current detection methods have lacked capabilities to detect unknown viruses quickly enough to avoid mass spreading and damage. This dissertation has presented a behavior based approach to detecting known and unknown viruses based on their attempt to replicate. Replication is the qualifying fundamental characteristic of a virus and is consistently present in all viruses making this approach applicable to viruses belonging to many classes and executing under several conditions. A form of replication called self-reference replication, (SR-replication), has been formalized as one main type of replication which specifically replicates by modifying or creating other files on a system to include the virus itself. This replication type was used to detect viruses attempting replication by referencing themselves which is a necessary step to successfully replicate files. The approach does not require a priori knowledge about known viruses. Detection was accomplished at runtime by monitoring currently executing processes attempting to replicate. Two implementation prototypes of the detection approach called SRRAT were created and tested on the Microsoft Windows operating systems focusing on the tracking of user mode Win32 API system calls and Kernel mode system services. The research results showed SR-replication capable of distinguishing between file infecting viruses and benign processes with little or no false positives and false negatives. ^

Effects of an extreme temperature event on the behavior and age structure of an estuarine top predator, Carcharhinus leucas

The frequency of extreme environmental events is predicted to increase in the future. Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of these extreme events on large-bodied predators will provide insight into the spatial and temporal scales at which acute environmental disturbances in top-down processes may persist within and across ecosystems. Here, we use long-term studies of movements and age structure of an estuarine top predator—juvenile bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas—to identify the effects of an extreme ‘cold snap’ from 2 to 13 January 2010 over short (weeks) to intermediate (months) time scales. Juvenile bull sharks are typically year-round residents of the Shark River Estuary until they reach 3 to 5 yr of age. However, acoustic telemetry revealed that almost all sharks either permanently left the system or died during the cold snap. For 116 d after the cold snap, no sharks were detected in the system with telemetry or captured during longline sampling. Once sharks returned, both the size structure and abundance of the individuals present in the nursery had changed considerably. During 2010, individual longlines were 70% less likely to capture any sharks, and catch rates on successful longlines were 40% lower than during 2006−2009. Also, all sharks caught after the cold snap were young-of-the-year or neonates, suggesting that the majority of sharks in the estuary were new recruits and several cohorts had been largely lost from the nursery. The longer-term impacts of this change in bull shark abundance to the trophic dynamics of the estuary and the importance of episodic disturbances to bull shark population dynamics will require continued monitoring, but are of considerable interest because of the ecological roles of bull sharks within coastal estuaries and oceans.

A Behavior Based Approach to Virus Detection

Fast spreading unknown viruses have caused major damage on computer systems upon their initial release. Current detection methods have lacked capabilities to detect unknown virus quickly enough to avoid mass spreading and damage. This dissertation has presented a behavior based approach to detecting known and unknown viruses based on their attempt to replicate. Replication is the qualifying fundamental characteristic of a virus and is consistently present in all viruses making this approach applicable to viruses belonging to many classes and executing under several conditions. A form of replication called self-reference replication, (SR-replication), has been formalized as one main type of replication which specifically replicates by modifying or creating other files on a system to include the virus itself. This replication type was used to detect viruses attempting replication by referencing themselves which is a necessary step to successfully replicate files. The approach does not require a priori knowledge about known viruses. Detection was accomplished at runtime by monitoring currently executing processes attempting to replicate. Two implementation prototypes of the detection approach called SRRAT were created and tested on the Microsoft Windows operating systems focusing on the tracking of user mode Win32 API system calls and Kernel mode system services. The research results showed SR-replication capable of distinguishing between file infecting viruses and benign processes with little or no false positives and false negatives.

Detection of bridge anomalous behavior and assessment of their impact on structural performance

Peer reviewed

On the Regulation of Small Actors: Three Experimental Essays about Policies based on Voluntary Compliance and Decentralized Monitoring

Monitoring and enforcement are perhaps the biggest challenges in the design and implementation of environmental policies in developing countries where the actions of many small informal actors cause significant impacts on the ecosystem services and where the transaction costs for the state to regulate them could be enormous. This dissertation studies the potential of innovative institutions based on decentralized coordination and enforcement to induce better environmental outcomes. Such policies have in common that the state plays the role of providing the incentives for organization but the process of compliance happens through decentralized agreements, trust building, signaling and monitoring. I draw from the literatures in collective action, common-pool resources, game-theory and non-point source pollution to develop the instruments proposed here. To test the different conditions in which such policies could be implemented I designed two field-experiments that I conducted with small-scale gold miners in the Colombian Pacific and with users and providers of ecosystem services in the states of Veracruz, Quintana Roo and Yucatan in Mexico. This dissertation is organized in three essays.

The first essay, “Collective Incentives for Cleaner Small-Scale Gold Mining on the Frontier: Experimental Tests of Compliance with Group Incentives given Limited State Monitoring”, examines whether collective incentives, i.e. incentives provided to a group conditional on collective compliance, could “outsource” the required local monitoring, i.e. induce group interactions that extend the reach of the state that can observe only aggregate consequences in the context of small-scale gold mining. I employed a framed field-lab experiment in which the miners make decisions regarding mining intensity. The state sets a collective target for an environmental outcome, verifies compliance and provides a group reward for compliance which is split equally among members. Since the target set by the state transforms the situation into a coordination game, outcomes depend on expectations of what others will do. I conducted this experiment with 640 participants in a mining region of the Colombian Pacific and I examine different levels of policy severity and their ordering. The findings of the experiment suggest that such instruments can induce compliance but this regulation involves tradeoffs. For most severe targets – with rewards just above costs – raise gains if successful but can collapse rapidly and completely. In terms of group interactions, better outcomes are found when severity initially is lower suggesting learning.

The second essay, “Collective Compliance can be Efficient and Inequitable: Impacts of Leaders among Small-Scale Gold Miners in Colombia”, explores the channels through which communication help groups to coordinate in presence of collective incentives and whether the reached solutions are equitable or not. Also in the context of small-scale gold mining in the Colombian Pacific, I test the effect of communication in compliance with a collective environmental target. The results suggest that communication, as expected, helps to solve coordination challenges but still some groups reach agreements involving unequal outcomes. By examining the agreements that took place in each group, I observe that the main coordination mechanism was the presence of leaders that help other group members to clarify the situation. Interestingly, leaders not only helped groups to reach efficiency but also played a key role in equity by defining how the costs of compliance would be distributed among group members.

The third essay, “Creating Local PES Institutions and Increasing Impacts of PES in Mexico: A real-Time Watershed-Level Framed Field Experiment on Coordination and Conditionality”, considers the creation of a local payments for ecosystem services (PES) mechanism as an assurance game that requires the coordination between two groups of participants: upstream and downstream. Based on this assurance interaction, I explore the effect of allowing peer-sanctions on upstream behavior in the functioning of the mechanism. This field-lab experiment was implemented in three real cases of the Mexican Fondos Concurrentes (matching funds) program in the states of Veracruz, Quintana Roo and Yucatan, where 240 real users and 240 real providers of hydrological services were recruited and interacted with each other in real time. The experimental results suggest that initial trust-game behaviors align with participants’ perceptions and predicts baseline giving in assurance game. For upstream providers, i.e. those who get sanctioned, the threat and the use of sanctions increase contributions. Downstream users contribute less when offered the option to sanction – as if that option signal an uncooperative upstream – then the contributions rise in line with the complementarity in payments of the assurance game.