Design and evaluation of a mobile smart home interactive system with elderly users in Brazil

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing - This article presents a study concerning the evaluation of a smart home control system for elderly people with a sample of 10 users in a city in the interior of...     

Second primitive malignant tumour in patients with gynaecological cancer

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterise the occurrence of multiple primitive gynaecological malignant neoplasias, restricted to the genital tract and breast or associated with other organs, and to detect which types of association are most frequent concerning location, histology and staging. POPULATION AND METHODS: The records of patients with gynaecological cancer at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology--Lisbon Centre, between 1986 and 1993 were used in this study. RESULTS: Of the 10,746 women with gynaecological cancer, 91 (0.8%) were found to have a second primitive malignant neoplasia. Of these neoplasias, 64% (58 cases) were also located at a gynaecological site. The most frequent associations were endometrium/breast (13 cases), bilateral breast (12 cases) and ovary/endometrium (11 cases). The majority of primitive multiple gynaecological tumours were synchronous. Regarding gynaecological cancer and non-gynaecological cancer, in 28 cases (31%), the most common non-gynaecological location was the colon/rectum. Five patients had triple tumours. CONCLUSION: Although these situations are relatively rare the possibility of multiple primitive cancers should be considered with the presence of malignant tumours in two or more organs. This distinction between multiple primitive or metastatic cancers could be important for treatment as well as prognosis.     

How far can one compress digital fault records? Analysis of a matching pursuit-based algorithm

In this paper, we verify how far electric disturbance signals can be compressed without compromising the analysis of encoded fault records. A recently proposed compression algorithm, referred to as Damped Sinusoidal Matching Pursuit (DSMP) has the remarkable feature of obtaining both compact and physically interpretable representations. However, for fault analysis applications, one is primarily interested in how accurate can be the analysis performed on compressed signals, instead of evaluating mean-squared error figures. Unlike previous works in digital fault records compression, the performance of the DSMP compression method is evaluated using a protocol based on fault analysis procedures commonly performed by expert engineers. This protocol is applied for comparing the results obtained in the analysis of both uncompressed records and their compressed versions at different compression ratios. The results show that the DSMP is a reliable compression system since it achieves high compression ratios (6.4:1) without causing fault analysis misinterpretation.     

Optimizing the use of dry cutting in rough turning steel operations

The main objective of using cutting fluids in machining operations is the reduction of temperature in the cutting region to increase tool life. However, the advantages offered by cutting fluids have been strongly debated because of their negative effects on the economic aspect, the environment and the health of workers using them. A trend to solve these problems is cutting without fluid, a method named dry cutting, which has been made possible due to technological innovations. This work aims to seek conditions in which dry cutting is satisfactory compared with the flood of fluid (called here wet cutting) usually used. Aiming at this goal, several experiments were carried out varying parameters such as cutting speed, feed, depth of cut and tool material in rough turning of ABNT 1045 steel in dry and wet cutting. The analysis of the results showed that wet turning is, as expected, better for tool life. The second conclusion is that dry cutting cannot be used with large depth of cut. But the main conclusion is that, if the tool material is changed to a more wear resistant one, dry cutting can be used with results very similar to those obtained with a flood of fluid.     

Experience with model-based performance, reliability, and adaptability assessment of a complex industrial architecture

In this paper, we report on our experience with the application of validated models to assess performance, reliability, and adaptability of a complex mission critical system that is being developed to dynamically monitor and control the position of an oil-drilling platform. We present real-time modeling results that show that all tasks are schedulable. We performed stochastic analysis of the distribution of task execution time as a function of the number of system interfaces. We report on the variability of task execution times for the expected system configurations. In addition, we have executed a system library for an important task inside the performance model simulator. We report on the measured algorithm convergence as a function of the number of vessel thrusters. We have also studied the system architecture adaptability by comparing the documented system architecture and the implemented source code. We report on the adaptability findings and the recommendations we were able to provide to the system’s architect. Finally, we have developed models of hardware and software reliability. We report on hardware and software reliability results based on the evaluation of the system architecture.     

Design Optimization of Composite Prosthetic Tubes Using GA-ANN Algorithm Considering Tsai-Wu Failure Criteria

The investigation of possible failures in composite materials is a matter of very great importance, and the Tsai-Wu criterion is an effective criterion for analyzing those flaws in anisotropic materials and defining whether the material at a given load will or will not suffer structural failure. In this study, an optimization procedure is proposed to minimize the maximum value of Tsai-Wu of laminated composite tubes subject to axial loading. Artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms are chosen as optimization tools. The results of this study show that the developed algorithm converges faster. Then, the maximum Tsai-Wu value is used as the objective function and the fiber orientations are the constraints in the optimization process. The results yielded by them are compared and discussed. Optimal results are compared with respect to the usual initial design. The design approach is recommended for structures where composites are the key load-carrying members such as orthopedic prosthesis.     

A semiotic engineering approach to user interface design

Designing software involves good perception, good reasoning, and a talent to express oneself effectively through programming and interactive languages. Semiotic theories can help HCI designers increase their power to perceive, reason and communicate. By presenting some of the results we have reached with semiotic engineering over the last few years, we suggest that the main contributions of semiotic theory in supporting HCI design are: to provide designers with new perceptions on the process and product of HCI design; to bind together all the stages of software development and use, giving them a unique homogeneous treatment; and to pose innovative questions that extend the frontiers of HCI investigations.     

A DSL for specifying run-time adaptations for embedded systems: an application to vehicle stereo navigation

The traditional approach for specifying adaptive behavior in embedded applications requires developers to engage in error-prone programming tasks. This results in long design cycles and in the inherent inability to explore and evaluate a wide variety of alternative adaptation behaviors, critical for systems exposed to dynamic operational and situational environments. In this paper, we introduce a domain-specific language (DSL) for specifying and implementing run-time adaptable application behavior. We illustrate our approach using a real-life stereo navigation application as a case study, highlighting the impact and benefits of dynamically adapting algorithm parameters. The experiments reveal our approach effective, as such run-time adaptations are easily specified in a higher level by the DSL, and thus at a lower programming effort than when using a general-purpose language such as C.     

宽带数据转换器应用的JESD204B与串行LVDS接口考量

0 引言 开发串行接口业界标准JESD204A/JESD204B的目的在于解决以高效省钱的方式互连最新宽带数据转换器与其他系统IC的问题.其动机在于通过采用可调整高速串行接口,对接口进行标准化,降低数据转换器与其他器件(如现场可编程门阵列FPGA和系统级芯片SoC)之间的数字输入/输出数量.     

Fetal Undernutrition Modifies Vascular RAS Balance Enhancing Oxidative Damage and Contributing to Remodeling

Fetal stress is known to increase susceptibility to cardiometabolic diseases and hypertension in adult age in a process known as fetal programming. This study investigated the relationship between vascular RAS, oxidative damage and remodeling in fetal programming. Six-month old Sprague-Dawley offspring from mothers that were fed ad libitum (CONTROL) or with 50% intake during the second half of gestation (maternal undernutrition, MUN) were used. qPCR or immunohistochemistry were used to obtain the expression of receptors and enzymes. Plasma levels of carbonyls were measured by spectrophotometry. In mesenteric arteries from MUN rats we detected an upregulation of ACE, ACE2, AT₁ receptors and NADPH oxidase, and lower expression of AT₂, Mas and MrgD receptors compared to CONTROL. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and plasma levels of carbonyls were higher in MUN than in CONTROL. Vascular morphology evidenced an increased media/lumen ratio and adventitia/lumen ratio, and more connective tissue in MUN compared to CONTROL. In conclusion, fetal undernutrition indices RAS alterations and oxidative damage which may contribute to the remodeling of mesenteric arteries, and increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular events and hypertension.