Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

In recent years, indoor positioning has emerged as a critical function in many end-user applications; including military, civilian, disaster relief and peacekeeping missions. In comparison with outdoor environments, sensing location information in indoor environments requires a higher precision and is a more challenging task in part because various objects reflect and disperse signals. Ultra WideBand (UWB) is an emerging technology in the field of indoor positioning that has shown better performance compared to others. In order to set the stage for this work, we provide a survey of the state-of-the-art technologies in indoor positioning, followed by a detailed comparative analysis of UWB positioning technologies. We also provide an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to analyze the present state of UWB positioning technologies. While SWOT is not a quantitative approach, it helps in assessing the real status and in revealing the potential of UWB positioning to effectively address the indoor positioning problem. Unlike previous studies, this paper presents new taxonomies, reviews some major recent advances, and argues for further exploration by the research community of this challenging problem space.

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/5/707/pdf

Ultra Wideband Indoor Positioning Technologies: Analysis and Recent Advances.

Since the introduction of the first edition of International Classification of Sleep Disorders: Diagnostic and Coding Manual(ICSD-1)in 1990,national and international meetings were held to openly discuss the ongoing developments of sleep disorders and a new International Classification of Sleep Disorders: Diagnostic and Coding Manual(ICSD-2)was published in 2005.Compared with ICSD-1,the classification of ICSD-2 was developed in a manner compatible with new International Classification of Diseases(ICD-9 and ICD-10)and formed a coordinated system of International Classification of Diseases.The updated version was characterized by the significant improvements of its logicality and clinical practicability,and was more consistent with the International Classification of Disease.The contents of ICSD-2 were introduced in this article.

Brief introduction to second edition of International Classification of Sleep Disorders:Diagnostic and Coding Manual

Measuring Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure

Abstract Ambient assisted living (AAL) technology is of considerable interest in supporting the independence and quality of life of older adults. As such, it is a core focus of the emerging field of gerontechnology, which considers how technological innovation can aid health and well-being in older age. For this scoping review, a comprehensive search of databases and key journals was conducted from January to April of 2013 in order to identify AAL technologies that have the potential to help deal with some of the challenges associated with aging. In particular, we focused on technologies that could potentially be used by people living with some degree of cognitive impairment, ranging from normal cognitive aging to mild cognitive impairment up to earlier stages of dementia. Options currently available and those still under development were both included in our search. Fifty-nine technologies were identified and are outlined here, along with a discussion of history of AAL from a gerontological perspective and related theoretical considerations.

https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/jisys.2016.25.issue-1/jisys-2014-0136/jisys-2014-0136.xml

Ambient Assisted Living Technologies for Aging Well: A Scoping Review

The Request-Response (RR) paradigm is widely used in ubiquitous systems to exchange information in a secure, reliable and timely manner. Nonetheless, there is also an emerging need for adopting the Publish-Subscribe (PubSub) paradigm in this kind of systems, due to the advantages that this paradigm offers in supporting mobility by means of asynchronous, non-blocking and one-to-many message distribution semantics for event notification. This paper analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of both the RR and PubSub paradigms to support communications in ubiquitous systems and proposes an abstract communication model in order to enable their seamless integration. Thus, developers will be focused on communication semantics and the required quality properties, rather than be concerned about specific communication mechanisms. The aim is to provide developers with abstractions intended to decrease the complexity of integrating different communication paradigms commonly needed in ubiquitous systems. The proposal has been applied to implement a middleware and a real home automation system to show its applicability and benefits.

A Communication Model to Integrate the Request-Response and the Publish-Subscribe Paradigms into Ubiquitous Systems

The plethora of current positioning technologies, each one with very different features, together with the variety of environments wherein they are to be implanted, force system architects to thoroughly consider the choice for one of them in an isolated way, without combinining several options Additionally, what makes a technology very appropriate in a certain constraints, may be the result of failing to fulfill others Thus, trade-off solutions are usually to be made In this paper, we provide a survey on different positioning techniques in relation to the satisfaction of certain non-functional requirements such as accuracy, responsiveness, complexity, scalability, etc, so that it can serve as guide to system designers in their ultimate decisions The survey serves as an analysis and intends to highlight the need to undertake a new design capable of adapting this kind of distributed systems to specific characteristics of those technologies and environments; this objective could be achieved on the basis of a design considering non-functional such as requirements

A Survey on Indoor Positioning Systems: Foreseeing a Quality Design

Cloud computing and associated services are changing the way in which we manage information and access data. E-health services are not impermeable to novel technologies, especially those that involve mobile devices. At present, many patient monitoring m-health (mobile-health) platforms consist of close, vendor-dependent solutions based on particular architectures and technologies offering a limited set of interfaces to interoperate with. This fact hinders to advance in quality attributes such as customization, adaptation, extension, interoperability and even transparency of cloud infrastructure of existing solutions according to the specific needs of their users (patients and physicians). This paper presents an extensible, scalable, highly-interoperable and customizable platform called Zappa, designed to support e-Health/m-Health systems and that is able to operate in the cloud. The platform is based on components and services architecture, as well as on open and close source hardware and open-source software that reduces its acquisition and operation costs. The platform has been used to develop several remote mobile monitoring m-health systems.

Zappa: An Open Mobile Platform to Build Cloud-Based m-Health Systems

Enabling correct design and formal analysis of Ambient Assisted Living systems

Currently, brain injury rehabilitation programs aid patients to regain their daily living skills. In these programs, each patient has to repeatedly perform a wide range of rehabilitation exercises under the in situ supervision of health professionals, normally, in a medical center or (unusually) at home, during training sessions. This model entails frequent displacements, either of professionals or patients for the sessions to be supervised. A Home-based and mobile e-rehabilitation platform by which patients could be effectively supervised, remotely and asynchronously, during the performance of the prescribed exercises can be an alternative to this model that would reduce number of displacements. Mobile devices and novel computation paradigms such as Cloud Computing can be used to support cooperation and interaction between health professionals, patients and their relatives in order to come up with home-based e-rehabilitation programs for brain-injured patients where medical records about patient performances are easily accessible and stored. This paper describes CloudRehab, a customizable home-based e-rehabilitation platform for brain-injured patients that make use of mobile devices, commercial heart rate sensors, Web and Cloud Computing technologies, which has been validated with several patients.

/pdf/a-mobile-cloud-supported-e-rehabilitation-platform-for-brain-4816auzvs4.pdf

Kawtar Benghazi

Papers

A Communication Model to Integrate the Request-Response and the Publish-Subscribe Paradigms into Ubiquitous Systems

A Survey on Indoor Positioning Systems: Foreseeing a Quality Design

Zappa: An Open Mobile Platform to Build Cloud-Based m-Health Systems

Enabling correct design and formal analysis of Ambient Assisted Living systems

A mobile cloud-supported e-rehabilitation platform for brain-injured patients