Sex-Dependent Social and Repetitive Behavior and Neurochemical Profile in Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by deficits in social interaction, impaired communication, and repetitive behaviors. ASD presents a 3:1 ratio of diagnosed boys and girls, raising the question regarding sexual dimorphic mechanisms underlying ASD symptoms, and their molecular basis. Here, we performed in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in juvenile male and female Tsc2+/− mice (an established genetic animal model of ASD). Moreover, behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations during social and repetitive tasks were analyzed. We found significant sexual dimorphisms in the levels of metabolites in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Further, we observed that female mutant animals had a differential social behavior and presented an increase in repetitive behavior. Importantly, while mutant females displayed a more simplified communication during social tasks, mutant males exhibited a similar less complex vocal repertoire but during repetitive tasks. These results hint toward sex-dependent alterations in molecular and metabolic pathways, which can lead to the sexual dimorphic behaviors and communication observed in social and repetitive environments.

Upon Improving the Performance of Localized Healthcare Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are becoming popular in a variety of domains, responsible for automating repetitive tasks or allowing users to seamlessly access useful information. With the advances in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, there has been an increasing interest in applying such assistants in new areas and with new capabilities. In particular, their application in e-healthcare is becoming attractive and is driven by the need to access medically-related knowledge, as well as providing first-level assistance in an efficient manner. In such types of virtual assistants, localization is of utmost importance, since the general population (especially the aging population) is not familiar with the needed “healthcare vocabulary” to communicate facts properly; and state-of-practice proves relatively poor in performance when it comes to specialized virtual assistants for less frequently spoken languages. In this context, we present a Greek ML-based virtual assistant specifically designed to address some commonly occurring tasks in the healthcare domain, such as doctor’s appointments or distress (panic situations) management. We build on top of an existing open-source framework, discuss the necessary modifications needed to address the language-specific characteristics and evaluate various combinations of word embeddings and machine learning models to enhance the assistant’s behaviour. Results show that we are able to build an efficient Greek-speaking virtual assistant to support e-healthcare, while the NLP pipeline proposed can be applied in other (less frequently spoken) languages, without loss of generality.

Face recognition in Service robotics: Analysis of the padding effect according to people age / Reconhecimento facial em robótica de serviço: análise do efeito de preenchimento de acordo com a idade das pessoas

Service robots usually perform repetitive tasks such as collecting garbage, cleaning the house, among others. This kind of robot needs different skills to perform its daily tasks, being people´s recognition a critical skill. One of the techniques used to improve face recognition is padding. The padding technique increases, by a given scale factor, the bounding box of a detected face. In previous work, we had presented a comparative analysis of the influence of the padding in the algorithm used for face recognition. This paper extends the previous analysis by considering the effect of various padding scale factors among different life stages (i.e., toddler, children, teenager, adult, senior, and golden oldie). The result of this analysis shows that increasing the bounding box of detected faces is less efficient for middle-aged people than for younger and elderly people.

Pitfalls in Sleep and Memory Research and How to Avoid Them: A Consensus Paper

Understanding the complex relationship between sleep and memory is a major challenge in neuroscience. Thousands of studies on memory consolidation in humans suggest that sleep triggers offline memory processes, resulting in less forgetting of declarative memory and performance stabilization in non-declarative memory. However, an increasing number of contradictory findings reveal potential issues with how research is conducted in this field and call into question the reliability and interpretation of the results. In this consensus paper, we describe four sets of prevalent methodological pitfalls in human sleep and memory research: (i) non-optimal experimental designs, (ii) task complexity, (iii) fatigue effects in repetitive tasks, and (iv) inappropriate data analysis practices. We then offer solutions to each of these pitfalls. We believe that implementing these solutions in future research of sleep and memory will lead to more reliable results and significantly advance our understanding in this field.

Enhancing Operational Safety Through Mechanization and Intelligent Automation of Drill Floor Operations

Our rig crews regularly work around structures that pose risks such as dropped objects and pinch points. HSE and operational performance is highly dependent on human performance. Human performance or human factors have resulted in a relatively high frequency of serious Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) incidents associated with tubular handling on ADNOC Onshore rigs. An example is the fatality on a rig in Abu Dhabi while preparing to run casing in February 2018. We believe we can prevent major incidents, enhance efficiency and reduce risk by removing our people from harm's way through mechanization and intelligent automation of drill floor activities. The objective of this work is to reduce the human factor as low as reasonably practicable through mechanization and intelligent automation of tubular handling operations on ADNOC Onshore rigs. An incident prevention workshop recommended a technology search to enable hands free operations and reduce the human to machine interaction as much as reasonably practicable. A quick market research and a "Go, See, Assess" exercise with ADNOC Shareholders revealed several potential offerings on the market. ADNOC Onshore collaborated with two major technology providers and jointly designed a mechanized set up for ADNOC Onshore land rigs. The solution involved the use of mechanized equipment such as Casing Running Tools complete with hydraulically actuated single joint elevators, hydraulic catwalk, automated power slips, remote operated tong system with supporting alignment systems, air operated elevators, remote operated stabber, etc. The solution was successfully implemented on multiple rigs. The mechanized set up reduced the number of people in the so called RED Zone by 50% (Stabber, Tong Operator, Thread Inspector and Floor man) during casing and completion running operations. Other benefits realized include: Reduced reliance on human performance Reduced risk of harm to people due to dropped objects and pinch points on the rig floor Assured consistency in executing repetitive tasks such as running casing, etc This level of mechanization and intelligent automation is a first in the ADNOC Group, represents a STEP CHANGE in operational safety and has transformed how we do our business, underpinning HSE as priority number one.

Gamifying Online News in a Senior Online Community: Insights from Designing and Assessing the Readers’ Experience

Aging audiences and the shift of news consumption to an online paradigm have led to the need of finding strategies to engage aging readers with online news by assessing their news consumption habits and identifying the potential for digital platforms to assist the reader’s journey, i.e., the activities performed from access to the information to the relatedness and shareability of the news content. It is well established that the use of game elements and game thinking within the context of a community can capture the user’s attention and lead to behavioral engagement toward repetitive tasks. However, information about the design implications of socially gamified news to the aging reader’s experience is still lacking. Using a development research approach, we implemented a prototype that socially gamifies news to support the aging reader experience based on a pre-assessment survey with 248 participants about their news consumption habits and motivations. We then validated the prototype with six market-oriented representatives of Portuguese newspapers and eleven adults aged 50 and over. A model for onboarding a reader’s 6-step journey (read, react, discuss, share, relate and experience) within the context of a Senior Online Community using gamification is proposed. The game elements used can inform the design of a much more personalized experience of consuming news and news behavioral engagement.

Rebar Worker Analysis Using a 3-Axis Accelerometer

The purpose of the present study is to grasp the situation of construction sites easily by distinguishing the movements of construction workers at construction sites from the accelerometer data attached to their waists. For the construction manager to accurately perceive the active or inactive state of his workers, their movements were classified into three distinct categories: walking, standing, and sitting. We tracked and observed two rebar workers for 5 days at a large building construction site. Their movements were classified by two-axis plots of (1) the difference between the maximum and minimum absolute values and (2) the value of acceleration at each second, and visualized by a heatmap among others for this trial. The results showed that despite the difficulty in distinguishing rebar work without a total body movement while sitting, the accuracy of discrimination was 60–80% in walking and sitting. From this analysis, we were able to identify repetitive tasks and the differences between morning and afternoon tasks. Furthermore, by applying simple visualization, we could concisely represent changes in work intensity over a relatively long period.

RPA progression throughout years and futuristic aspects of RPA

This paper robotic process automation is highlighted in modern business environments to understand about the progression of robotic process automation and how robotic process automation has brought changes to the world of business. Adoption of robotic process automation tools has raised lots of questions, but their deployment in a business has changed the outcome of the return on investment in a business by reducing cost and time taken on repetitive tasks. The paper is differentiating robotic process automation bot from artificial intelligence and robotics for the better understanding of lay audience. The paper also gives an insight about futuristic aspects of robotic process automation and robotic process automation 2.0.

Design and development of an automated robot for collecting latex cups in rubber plantation

The main reason for robots in agriculture are saving the time and energy required for performing repetitive tasks and increasing the productivity. The turnover rate in rubber plantation is high and youngster nowadays refuse to work in this industrial. This project aims to build a small-scaled automated robot prototype for collecting latex cups in hopes to reduce the dependency of labor in collecting latex. It was fabricated by using 3D printer and consists of transmission system, linear actuator robotic arm and a storage tank. It was analyzed through static test and balance test for mechanical stability. The robot developed can perform auto-navigation with proper calibration on the transmission at flat terrain, and able to control the 3 Degree of Freedom (DoF) robotic arm on the prototype to grab the latex cup smoothly. Ultrasonic sensors are used to locate the rubber trees and movements of the prototype. The robotic arm and the base are controlled by an Arduino Uno and motor driver circuit respectively. A magnetometer was implemented to ensure the prototype could move straight throughout the process. During test, the prototype was placed in front of two “rubber trees” (imitated by water bottle) to let it retrieves the model latex cups and extract the liquid inside. The results showed that implementation of magnetometer enabled the robot much more consistent in the moving direction and proper delay time used for the navigation of the robot. The prototype is able to automate basic tasks and act as fundamental design for future development.

Analysis for the Robotic process automation firm’s future development based on the business model

Robotic process automation tool provides an open-source platform that enables their customers to automate repetitive tasks to reduce their time of working, in which tool can be used in various industrial fields such as banking, healthcare, finance, etc. Our analysis is based on SWOT analysis, Porter’s five force, pistol analysis, and financial projection. We set the UiPath which is one of the leading companies in the industry as an object to analysis whether it deserves the long-term investment and what is the advantage and disadvantages of the company. Besides that, our article also illustrates the environment of the industry, whether it will support UiPath or not. Eventually, we find the UiPath is an investable company, so our team decides to use 1 billion to invest in the company in exchange for 7% equity.