Showing papers by "Florida Polytechnic University published in 2012"

Gardening as a potential activity to reduce falls in older adults.

Abstract: This study examines whether participation in gardening predicts reduced fall risk and performance on balance and gait-speed measures in older adults. Data on adults age 65 and older (N = 3,237) from the Health and Retirement Study and Consumption and Activities Mail Survey were analyzed. Participants who spent 1 hr or more gardening in the past week were defined as gardeners, resulting in a total of 1,585 gardeners and 1,652 nongardeners. Independent t tests, chi square, and regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between gardening and health outcomes. Findings indicate that gardeners reported significantly better balance and gait speed and had fewer chronic conditions and functional limitations than nongardeners. Significantly fewer gardeners than nongardeners reported a fall in the past 2 yr. The findings suggest that gardening may be a potential activity to incorporate into future fall-prevention programs.

Finding recurrent patterns from continuous sign language sentences for automated extraction of signs

Abstract: We present a probabilistic framework to automatically learn models of recurring signs from multiple sign language video sequences containing the vocabulary of interest. We extract the parts of the signs that are present in most occurrences of the sign in context and are robust to the variations produced by adjacent signs. Each sentence video is first transformed into a multidimensional time series representation, capturing the motion and shape aspects of the sign. Skin color blobs are extracted from frames of color video sequences, and a probabilistic relational distribution is formed for each frame using the contour and edge pixels from the skin blobs. Each sentence is represented as a trajectory in a low dimensional space called the space of relational distributions. Given these time series trajectories, we extract signemes from multiple sentences concurrently using iterated conditional modes (ICM). We show results by learning single signs from a collection of sentences with one common pervading sign, multiple signs from a collection of sentences with more than one common sign, and single signs from a mixed collection of sentences. The extracted signemes demonstrate that our approach is robust to some extent to the variations produced within a sign due to different contexts. We also show results whereby these learned sign models are used for spotting signs in test sequences.

Software requirement prioritization using fuzzy multi-attribute decision making

Abstract: Although many approaches have been proposed to prioritize requirements in software projects, almost none has been widely adopted. This is mostly due to their complexity, time commitment, lack of consistency, or implementation difficulties. This paper proposes a novel approach to do so that is practical, easy to implement and can show a reasonable level of consistency. In addition, it takes in consideration the imprecise nature of requirements and quality attributes by modeling the latter as fuzzy variables. The problem of prioritizing requirements is formulated as a fuzzy multi-attribute decision problem in which the expected value operator is used to rank the alternatives listed in the problem formulation. This approach can be easily extended to include other quality attributes as well as customized to fit the needs of most software projects.

A simulation-based fuzzy multi-attribute decision making for prioritizing software requirements

Abstract: It is well known that most of the approaches proposed in recent research to prioritize software requirements have not been widely adopted. These approaches are too complex and time consuming, or inconsistent and difficult to implement. This paper proposes a new approach to prioritize requirements that is practical and easily implementable. Whereas most proposed approaches quantify requirements in precise and crisp parameters, this paper takes in consideration the imprecise nature of requirements by modeling their attributes as fuzzy variables. As such, these variables are integrated into a fuzzy multi-attribute decision making problem in which the requirements represented as attributes are ranked via the expected value operator of a fuzzy variable. The expected values of the attributes in the problem are computed by numerical simulation. This approach is easily extendable to include other attributes and can be easily customized as a decision making tool for software project managers.

Intelligent system for predicting wireless sensor network performance in on-demand deployments

Abstract: The need for advanced tools that provide efficient design and planning of on-demand deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSN) is critical for meeting our nation's demand for increased intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance in numerous safety-critical applications. For practical applications, WSN deployments can be time-consuming and error-prone, since they have the utmost challenge of guaranteeing connectivity and proper area coverage upon deployment. This creates an unmet demand for decision-support systems that help manage this complex process. This paper presents research-in-progress to develop an advanced decision-support system for predicting the optimal deployment of wireless sensor nodes within an area of interest. The proposed research will have significant impact on the future application of WSN technology, specifically in the emergency response, environmental quality, national security, and engineering education domains.

Effects of Radio Frequency Identification–Related Radiation on In Vitro Biologics

Abstract: The recent developments on the use of e-pedigree to identify the chain of custody of drugs suggests the use of advanced track and trace technologies such as two-dimensional barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags RFID technology is used mainly for valuable commodities such as pharmaceutical products while incorporating additional functionalities like monitoring environmental variables to ensure product safety and quality In its guidance for the use of RFID technologies for drugs (Compliance Policy Guide Section 400210), the Food and Drug Administration outlined multiple parameters that would apply to any study or application using RFID However, drugs approved under a Biologics License Application or protein drugs covered by a New Drug Application were excluded mainly due to concerns about the effects of radio frequency radiation (thermal and/or non-thermal) on biologics Even though the thermal effects of radio frequency on biologics are relatively well understood, there are few studies in the literature about the non-thermal effects of radio frequency with regards to the protein structure integrity In this paper, we analyze the non-thermal effects of radio frequency radiation by exposing a wide variety of biologics including biopharmaceuticals with vaccines, hormones, and immunoglobulins, as well as cellular blood products such as red blood cells and whole blood-derived platelets as well as fresh frozen plasma In order to represent the majority of the frequency spectrum used in RFID applications, five different frequencies (1356 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz, and 24 GHz) are used to account for the most commonly used international frequency bands for RFID With the help of specialized radio frequency signal-generating hardware, magnetic and electromagnetic fields are created around the exposed products with power levels greater than Federal Communications Commission–regulated limits The in vitro test results on more than 100 biopharmaceutical products from eight major pharmaceutical companies as well, as different blood products, show no non-thermal effect by radio frequency radiation LAY ABSTRACT: Forthcoming requirements, such as the California Board of Pharmacy Track and Trace initiative regarding the use of e-pedigree to identify the chain of custody of drugs, suggest the use of advanced track and trace technologies such as two-dimensional barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags When used for pharmaceuticals, RFID technology can support additional functionalities like monitoring temperature to ensure product safety In its guidance for the use of RFID technologies for drugs, the Food and Drug Administration outlined multiple parameters that would apply to pilot studies using RFID while excluding drugs approved under a Biologics License Application or protein drugs covered by a New Drug Application due to concerns about the effects of radio frequency radiation on biologics Even though the effects of radio frequency on biologics due to temperature changes are relatively well understood, there are few studies in the literature about other effects of radio frequency that can occur without a noticeable change in temperature In this paper, we expose a wide variety of biologics including biopharmaceuticals to radio frequency radiation at different frequencies, as well as cellular blood products and plasma to high frequency radiation The in vitro test results show no detectable effect due to radio frequency radiation