Edaptive Computing (United States)

Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is characterized by involuntary and uncontrollable laughing and/or crying episodes, occurring secondary to neurological disease or injury. The impact of PBA on social and occupational function, health status, quality of life (QOL), and quality of relationships (QOR) is not well studied. This US survey conducted by Harris Interactive compared health status and daily function of patients with and without PBA. Eligible respondents were Harris Panel Online registrants previously diagnosed with stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or primary, nonpaid caregivers for such patients who were too debilitated to participate. PBA was identified by a Center for Neurologic Study lability scale score of 13 or greater. Measures included the 36-item short form health survey (SF-36), the work productivity and impairment (WPAI) questionnaire, visual analog scales (VAS) for impact of PBA symptoms on QOL and QOR, and customized questions related to burden and impact of involuntary laughing/crying episodes on patients' lives. Survey responses were weighted to adjust for the relative proportion of the primary neurological conditions in the overall population and between group differences in patient age and gender. PBA and non-PBA group responses were compared using two-tailed t tests adjusted for severity of the primary neurological conditions. The 1,052 respondents included 399 PBA group participants and 653 controls. The PBA group showed significantly worse scores versus non-PBA controls on component and summary SF-36 scores (P<0.05 for all), VAS scores (P<0.05 for both), and WPAI scores (P<0.05). Among PBA group respondents, PBA contributed a great deal to or was the main cause of patients becoming housebound for 24% and being moved to supervised living placement for 9% of respondents. PBA is associated with considerable burden incremental to that of the underlying neurological conditions, affecting QOL, QOR, health status, and social and occupational functioning.

Correct and reliable collaboration among elements of layered sensor networks is crucial for maintaining an accurate and comprehensive picture of the battlespace. This paper describes an automated method for formally verifying that the architectures and internal interactions of layered sensor networks will not fail to meet requirements.

Experience in selecting and working with outside directors is not yet common among family business executives. This firsthand account from the president of a family firm describes how he chose his board and how he works with his directors.

A mathematical model for perception which derives from a theory of efficient data representation in the central nervous system is described. A possibly infinite and continuous space, S (over which sensory stimuli range), is mapped into a finite space of discrete points, C (the indices on the classification of such stimuli). An ordering of pairs of points in S × S together with either the number of classifications required or a maximum tolerable error is given and assumed to derive from feedback (experience). The model chooses a characteristic finite subset, P, of the stimulus space, which defines a function and a range about each element of the subset such that the union of all such ranges is maximal and that the function provides a metric (on C) which preserves the given ordering. Restrictions on the choice of P derive from limitations in the information carrying capacity of the resulting classification system. A context-dependent Gestalt description of perception results in which extremely complex and varied phenomena can be perceived without proportionately large human memory. For each application specific distortions of perception in specified contexts are predicted. The system, in some aspects, resembles an hierarchical clustering scheme. It is hence use-ful for representing different patterns of satisfaction of several features in a pattern recognition scheme by a single set of integers with metric properties which reflect relevance to the task (i.e., an n-valued logic replace a two-valued logic).