Augmented reality annotations to assist persons with Alzheimers and their caregivers

Persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their caregivers implement diverse strategies to cope with memory loss. A common strategy involves placing tags on drawers or removing cabinet doors to make their contents visible. This study describes the Ambient aNnotation System (ANS), aimed at assisting people suffering from AD and their caregivers with this task. The system has two main modules: The tagging subsystem allows caregivers to create and manage ambient annotations in order to assist people with memory problems. The second subsystem allows people with AD to use a mobile phone to recognize tags in the environment and to receive relevant information in the form of audio, text, or images. The identification of these tags is performed in real time by uploading images from the mobile phone to a server, which uses the SURF algorithm for object recognition. We describe the design and implementation of the system as well as results of the evaluation of its performance and efficiency. ANS can process query images approximately every 2 s and is able to locate users in their homes with a precision of 0.93. A usability study conducted with six subjects determined that audio notifications are more effective than vibrating notifications to alert the user about tags in the environment.     

RF Power Amplifier Behavioral Modeling Based on Takenaka–Malmquist–Volterra Series

In this paper, a Takenaka–Malmquist–Volterra (TMV) model structure is employed to improve the approximations in the low-pass equivalent behavioral modeling of radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs). The Takenaka–Malmquist basis generalizes the orthonormal basis functions previously used in this context. In addition, it allows each nonlinearity order in the expanded Volterra model to be parameterized by multiple complex poles (dynamics). The state-space realizations for the TMV models are introduced. The pole sets for the TMV model and also for the previous Laguerre–Volterra (LV) and Kautz–Volterra (KV) models are obtained using a constrained nonlinear optimization approach. Based on experimental data measured on a GaN HEMT class AB RF PA excited by a WCDMA signal, it is observed that the TMV model reduces the normalized mean-square error and the adjacent channel error power ratio for the upper adjacent channel (upper ACEPR) by 1.6 dB when it is compared to the previous LV and KV models under the same computational complexity.     

Forecasting Financial Failure of Firms via Genetic Algorithms

Given a wide amount of possible ratios available for constructing a LOGIT model for forecasting bankruptcy, this paper provides a computational search methodology, only guided by data, for selecting the financial ratios employed in the model. This procedure is based on genetic algorithms which are used to explore the universe of models made available by all possible existing financial ratios (with very redundant information). This search process of the correct model is guided by the Schwarz information criterion. As an empirical illustration, the methodology is applied to forecasting the failure of firms in the Spanish building industry using annual public accounting information.     

Characterization of Salmonella Enteritidis isolated from human samples

This study aimed to characterize Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) isolated from blood (n = 12) and feces (n = 68) of salmonellosis victims in Southern Brazil. All isolates were submitted to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, PCR-ribotyping, and XbaI macrorestriction Pulsed-Field Gel Eletrophoresis (PFGE). Results demonstrated high levels of ampicillin and nalidixic acid resistance, and strains isolated in different geographic regions were clustered together, presenting a common resistance profile. All strains demonstrated similar and related PCR-ribotyping patterns (R1, R2, and R3); being that the predominant profile R1 grouped 47.5% of the strains. PFGE profile P1 grouped the majority of the strains (96.25%), suggesting a clonal relationship among the strains or inability of molecular typing methods to discriminate strains of this serovar. Results suggested on an increase in antimicrobial resistance and that strains of S. Enteritidis with similar PFGE and PCR-ribotyping profiles were involved in several salmonellosis outbreaks in Southern Brazil.     

Eumelanin for nature‐inspired UV‐absorption enhancement of plastics

In the human body, the black‐brown biopigment eumelanin blocks harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the plastics industry, additives are often added to polymers to increase their UV‐absorption properties. We herein report an assessment of the biopigment eumelanin as a nature‐inspired additive for plastics to enhance their UV absorption. Since eumelanin is produced by natural sources and is nontoxic, it is an interesting candidate in the field of sustainable plastic additives. In this work, the eumelanin‐containing films of commercial ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer, a plastic used for packaging applications, were obtained by melt compounding and compression molding. The biopigment dispersion in the films was improved by means of the melanin free acid treatment. It was observed that eumelanin amounts as low as 0.8 wt% caused an increase of the UV absorption, up to one order of magnitude in the UVA range. We also evaluated the effect of eumelanin on the thermal stability and photostability of the films: the biopigment proved to be double‐edged, working both as UV‐absorption enhancer and photo‐prooxidant, as thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy revealed. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Case-base maintenance with multi-objective evolutionary algorithms

Case-Base Reasoning is a problem-solving methodology that uses old solved problems, called cases, to solve new problems. The case-base is the knowledge source where the cases are stored, and the amount of stored cases is critical to the problem-solving ability of the Case-Base Reasoning system. However, when the case-base has many cases, then performance problems arise due to the time needed to find those similar cases to the input problem. At this point, Case-Base Maintenance algorithms can be used to reduce the number of cases and maintain the accuracy of the Case-Base Reasoning system at the same time. Whereas Case-Base Maintenance algorithms typically use a particular heuristic to remove (or select) cases from the case-base, the resulting maintained case-base relies on the proportion of redundant and noisy cases that are present in the case-base, among other factors. That is, a particular Case-Base Maintenance algorithm is suitable for certain types of case-bases that share some indicators, such as redundancy and noise levels. In the present work, we consider Case-Base Maintenance as a multi-objective optimization problem, which is solved with a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm. To this end, a fitness function is introduced to measure three different objectives based on the Complexity Profile model. Our hypothesis is that the Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm performing Case-Base Maintenance may be used in a wider set of case-bases, achieving a good balance between the reduction of cases and the problem-solving ability of the Case-Based Reasoning system. Finally, from a set of the experiments, our proposed Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm performing Case-Base Maintenance shows regularly good results with different sets of case-bases with different proportion of redundant and noisy cases.     

Freeze‐drying concentration of Rangpur lime juice

The use of freeze‐drying for concentrating lime Rangpur juice was investigated. This procedure allowed obtaining concentrated Rangpur lime juices between 23 and 51.3 °Brix, without affecting their organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. The efficiency of the procedure was inversely related to the film thickness of the matrix to be lyophilised. The sublimation speed per unit area diminished with the reduction in the residual moisture content of the juice. The mathematical model that fitted to the concentration procedure allowed to predict the time required for concentrating Rangpur lime by freeze‐drying starting from samples of different thickness. When compared with other citric juices evaluated, the Rangpur lime juice was the most suitable for freeze‐drying concentration. The results could be used to devise optimal industrial freeze‐drying cycles for processing Rangpur lime juices at different concentrations.