bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Instability and Irrationality: Destructive and Constructive Services within Intelligent Environments
Authors: Egerton Simon  , Zamudio Victor  , Callaghan Victor  , Clarke Graham
Published: February 2025

Does chance have a role in intelligent environments? In this work-in-progress paper we argue that chance and non-deterministic behaviour can play a fundamental and important role in intelligent environments. We discuss how this behaviour can be both destructive and constructive. Underpinning our ideas is the view that intelligent environments may be seen as a complex system of interacting services. In the first part of this paper we show that such complex systems can produce unexpected interactions that cause unplanned and often undesirable instabilities. However, not all instabilities are undesirable and in the second half of this paper, we present a conceptual notion that views system instability as a form of irrationality and propose a quantum control model for service agents within smart environments. We conjecture that irrational control models enable the service agents to perform better than if they were using traditional, rational, control models. Our purpose in presenting this work is to both provoke discussion and describe our early research on what we hope will be an interesting direction for intelligent building research.
Information Places: Defining Settings for Locative Media
Authors: Willis Katharine
Published: February 2025

In our everyday life we are used to using physical settings as backgrounds for social encounters; we might agree to ‘Meet on the corner’ or ‘See you at the café’. But information available and delivered on mobile devices enables a different relationship with our spatial world. Instead we may agree to catch up once the other person comes into Bluetooth range, or to meet on a Myspace page. These interactions still have a relationship with location; we still have to physically be somewhere even if it remote from the person we are communicating with, but it is more complex and layered. The situated nature of the interaction creates opportunities for behaviours that transcend existing concepts of space. This research proposes both to develop a theoretical approach and to undertake a series of empirical studies, which attempt to understand the particular role that the physical and social setting has on how and why people acquire and act on digital spatial information.
Inhabiting Hybrids
Authors: Hennig Ralf
Published: February 2025

Our traditional understanding of dwelling stems from its classification within the private sphere, and in adherence with the latin privatus from privare, to exclude, suggests an exclusion of the public sphere. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, this most basic relationship between the public and private has been increasingly broken down. The societal shift from the “Industrial Culture” to the “Digital Culture” is accountable for a clear transformation in the relationship between the private home and media, and with the infiltration of the public into the private has led us to a point where the borders between these two spheres are now hard to define. If, based on this societal shift, a paradigm change in architectural design and practise in the late 1990s is apparent, then now, in the process of the current change in the structure of our society, we can observe this paradigm change coming into its full fruition. Under the influence of increasing economic and technological penetration, unstoppable media linkages and improved mobility it shows that the shift of borders described above is not an isolated case. Rather, multitudinal dualisms grouped together around the concept of the private house in the course of the last view centuries attract our attention by becoming rather ambiguous. Previously clear distinctions such as inside/outside, individual/community, living/working, house/city, place/non-place, and reality vs. the virtual are becoming less distinctive, priming a more open, flowing, hybrid concept of dwelling. Using selected examples, it can be shown that current developments also have historical predecessors. Thereby we can perceive that a more or less hybrid concept of living has always existed (at least in relation to the background societal conditions and their influence on dwelling). Currently, this inherent double nature of dwelling, this union of apparently opposite elements, is being further strengthened. This has wide-reaching implications for architecture and urban development.
Community losses and grieving processes: An epistemological revolution
Authors: Métraux Jean-Claude
Published: February 2025

It can be assumed that armed conflicts within communities cause many and various forms of collective grief. The quality of collective grief processes defines the actors' view on change, activity and otherness. Their theory helps to precise the conditions for a growing conscience of being author and actor, both individual and collective, of one's own becoming; the conditions, too, for a full respect of otherness. As recognition plays a crucial role in the elaboration of collective grief, its indicators are the most likely to identify the presence or absence of the conditions required for the process of collective grieves. Such indicators will be defined. This kind of evaluation should be led simultaneously at the level of the donors, of the local NGOs and of the professionals and volunteers directly involved in the field work.
A Study of Two-inputs Scanning Methods to Enhance the Communication Rate
Authors: Rivera Octavio  , Molina Alberto  , Gómez Isabel María  , Merino Manuel
Published: February 2025

Text entry is one of the communication alternatives requiring special systems and techniques to enable disabled people to type. Automatic scanning virtual keyboards are an alternative to enable handicapped people to input text. This kind of system have a limited text entry rate. In this paper two alternatives are proposed in order to increase this rate. A study of the achieved gain is introduced using a simple mathematical model.
Mainstream Services for Elderly and Disabled People at Home
Authors: Fagerberg Gunnar
Published: February 2025

The MonAMI project will demonstrate that accessible, useful services for elderly and disabled persons living at home can be delivered in mainstream ICT systems and platforms. Services will address the areas: safety and security, communication and information, activity planning, health and comfort applications. They will be delivered on mainstream technologies such as digital-TV, third-generation mobile telephones and broadband Internet. The services will first be tested in Feasibility and Usability centres in six Member States with user tests in lab-like conditions. Feasible, usable and appropriate services will then be tested on a large scale in Validation centres in four Member States. Hundreds of users will try out the services in their homes and the impact and consequences will be analysed in order to pave the way towards real mainstream implementation.
The Partial Concurrent Thinking Aloud: A New Usability Evaluation Technique for Blind Users
Authors: Borsci Simone  , Federici Stefano
Published: February 2025

The aim of this study is to build up a verbal protocol technique for samples of visual impaired users in order to overcome the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols. Indeed, when blind users surf using a screen reader and talk about the way they interact with the computer, the evaluation is influenced by a structural interference. Users are force to think aloud and listen to the screen reader at the same time. The technique we improved, called Partial Concurrent Thinking Aloud (PCTA), integrates a modified set of concurrent verbalization and retrospective analysis. One group of 6 blind user and another group of 6 sighted users evaluated the usability of a website by PCTA. Estimating the number of users needed with an asymptotic test, we found out that the two groups had an equivalent ability of identifying usability problems, both over 80%. The result suggest that PCTA, even respecting the properties of classic verbal protocols, also allows to overcome the structural interference and the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols when used with screen-reader users.
Users' Perceptions of Environmental Control Systems
Authors: Judge Simon  , Robertson Zoë  , Hawley Mark S.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents users' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of environmental control systems, the data having been collected as part of a project developing a new speech-driven environmental control system. The first stage of this project collected data from existing users of speech-driven environmental control systems and provided information for the specification for the new device. A secondary analysis of this data revealed perceptions about environmental control systems in general and the results are presented here. Independence and control emerged as a key aspect of environmental control systems. In addition it was possible to identify other themes around topics such as perceptions of service delivery and provision. It can be easy for a non disabled person to overlook the importance of being able to independently change the television channel or make a phone call and this data reinforces the importance of this to people who use environmental control systems.
Evaluation of the Emergent Information Reading Strategy in Bilingual Presentation of Japanese Sign Language and Japanese Text
Authors: Yonemura Shun-ichi  , Kamata Kazuo  , Eitoku Shin-ichiro
Published: February 2025

This paper evaluates a message acquisition strategy for deaf people suitable for emergencies. The strategy is to display both Japanese sign language (JSL) and Japanese text (JT) while the evaluation assumes that gaze analysis is indicative of information transmission. An experiment showed that there were three strategies; JSL dominant, JT dominant, and neutral. The results also confirm that in presenting emergency information to deaf people, showing a comprehensive text helps information comprehension regardless of the initial acquisition strategy.
Wireless Portable Computer Systems and Technologies for the Disabled and the Aged towards an Accessible, Inclusive and Intelligent Metropolis of the Future: the South African Context
Authors: Macagnano E.V.
Published: February 2025

City sustainability can only be achieved through full integration of all its citizens in city life, in particular the aged and people with disabilities. Why? In every modern society they represent up to 20% of the population. Their number is now increasing due to medical advances, causing an increasing economic burden on society. Yet they have the right to dignity, socio-economic opportunities and inclusion. An extended working life and independent access to city resources would reduce such problems. This Paper describes research undertaken in Pretoria, South Africa proposing substantial changes to city environments (urban design, infrastructure provision and utilization of services) into ‘Intelligent Enabling Environments’, where disabled and aged people would be provided with user-friendly wearable computing devices, connected to a wireless, distributed and invisible data transmission system, able to allow access ‘on-the-go’ of useful data related to buildings, urban infrastructure and services, and to transmit also user's personal data. Data would include information on public buildings (location, accessibility, services provided), events, accessible city routes, public transport etc. Users would be automatically 3D tracked and the display of information would be ‘hands-free’ and embedded in flexible wearable devices in personal clothing, or as part of miniaturized head-mounted-devices, customized to provide also audible information in multiple languages. Information would be accessed through interactive menus, designed around users' life-styles, activities and level of education and valid both in a first and a third-world urban design context; it would be transmitted and received within enabled ‘smart buildings’ and also through an urban wireless system, via satellite and/or hot-spots. The design of future cities would be affected, revolutionized and made more effective, therefore sustainable. This paper explores the research methodology followed and the results obtained. The project has embraced current research on innovative futuristic technologies and focuses on a Technology Demonstrator executed in a city block in the city of Pretoria. Results would be relevant in a developmental and global context.
An Innovations Broker that Increases Availability of Assistive Technology
Authors: Cudd Peter  , Judge Simon  , Hawley Mark
Published: February 2025

This paper reports the very first steps in a research and development process in the United Kingdom that aims to improve the conversion of assistive technology (AT) ideas and solutions developed for individuals in to products available in the market place. As such the paper is part of the authors open approach to developing the tools that will achieve this. A user involvement approach is used that utilizes presentation of the findings of a preliminary analysis by the authors.
Modelling Assistive Technology Systems Using Coloured Petri Nets
Authors: Gilligan John  , Smith Peter
Published: February 2025

At the heart of good design is the ability to understand the domain of application. In design and development, domain understanding, is often supported by different views and representations of the domain. For example in information systems development, design and analysis typically centres around domain annotations such as entity relationship diagrams and data flow diagrams. These are highly visual representation schemes which help both system analysis and development and assist the different stakeholders communicate with each other. Assistive technology systems are complex. Their development involves many different people from many different backgrounds and disciplines. They must communicate with each other. In the same way that software development has benefited from the use of suitable annotation schemes, then so can the development of assistive technology systems. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that Assistive Technology Systems can be modelled using a well known system representation scheme called Coloured Petri Nets.
A Qualitative Approach to Assess Cost-Outcomes in Interventions for Promoting Independent Living
Authors: Barberà Ricard  , Poveda Rakel  , Laparra-Hernández José  , Belda-Lois Juan Manuel  , Lahuerta Rubén  , García Carlos  , Solves Clara  , Alcántara Enrique
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a qualitative methodology to assess costs and outcomes in interventions aiming to promote independent living and to increase quality of life within the elder population. This qualitative approach allows prioritizing the assignment of an important number of quite different products and resources in a structured and relative low-time consuming manner. This method is based on the consideration of two economical parameters: costs and benefits of the intervention; a functional parameter: improvement in the performance of Activities of Daily Living and a psychosocial parameter: perception of quality of life.
Biomedical Applications of Near Infrared Spectroscopy
Authors: Macnab Andrew
Published: February 2025

This Chapter discusses the latest advances in the application of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) in biomedical science.
The Study of Protein Reactions by Reaction-Induced Infrared Difference Spectroscopy
Authors: Barth Andreas
Published: February 2025

Reaction-induced infrared difference spectroscopy of proteins is reviewed. This technique enables detailed characterization of enzyme function on the level of single bonds of proteins, cofactors or substrates. Discussed are methods to initiate protein reactions in the infrared samples, general aspects of spectra interpretation, measurements of enzyme activity and studies of protein function at the example of the Ca2+pump.
Principles of Emergency Planning: Standardisation, Integration and Sustainability
Authors: Alexander David
Published: February 2025

This chapter examines the theoretical and practical bases of emergency planning (including disaster, crisis and contingency planning). A distinction is drawn between permanent plans (which, however, should be living documents) and contingency planning during emergency situations. Planning is considered more as a process than an end product. The relationship between plans, procedures and protocols is described. The chapter discusses the use of scenarios as a basis for planning emergency responses. Emphasis is given to the exploration of reference scenarios of known hazards in terms of what how they relate to emergency response needs. Next, the phases of emergency planning are described, with particular attention to how they can be implemented in a socially inclusive way. After this, the chapter discusses the integration and standardisation of plans around the local authority level, which in many cases is the reference level for planning activities. The discussion is extended to the role of disaster planning at the community level. The chapter concludes by considering the fields of ignorance and potential for unforeseen change in threats and hazards. It ends with a brief, synthetic summary of the emergency planning process.
Model-based Inference Techniques for detecting High-Level Team Intentions
Authors: Hein Albert  , Burghardt Christoph  , Giersich Martin  , Kirste Thomas
Published: February 2025

Situation awareness is a critical prerequisite for providing proactive assistance in the context of Ubiquitous Computing. In this chapter we will focus on the detection of high-level team intentions. At first we introduce an exemplary scenario of a team meeting in a smart environment and outline relevant criteria for our approach. Then we give a short insight into the current state of the art, discussing related research projects while trying to find points of intersections for a more generic modeling approach. We reflect team behavior and individual problem solving strategies against the background of social and cognitive psychology and review sources of prior information like domain knowledge and common sense to outline a basic generic model structure. We will argue that especially probabilistic model based approaches are capable of efficiently and robustly inferring activities by making use of this knowledge. We will take a closer look at models which are able to represent human behavior at different levels of abstraction, accompanied by a short explanation of their reasoning mechanisms for inference and prediction. At last we take a look at the synthesis of such models using planning methods for behavior sequences.
Ambient Spatial Intelligence
Authors: Duckham Matt  , Bennett Rohan
Published: February 2025

Computing in distributed systems increasingly occurs somewhere, with that location being integral to computational process itself. Ambient spatial intelligence (AmSI) is concerned with embedding the intelligence to respond to spatiotemporal queries and monitor geographical events in built and natural environments. The emergence of AmSI is enabled by new spatial computing technology: geosensor networks (wireless networks of sensor-enabled, location-aware computers monitoring environmental change). This chapter argues that decentralized spatial computing (DeSC), where spatial information is partially or completely filtered, summarized, or analysed in a geosensor network, is a fundamental technique required to support AmSI. By contrast, existing models for complex spatiotemporal analysis and queries almost always adopt a centralized approach to computation, where global spatial data is collated and processed, for example in a spatial database or GIS. The chapter identifies four main research challenges facing DeSC (dealing with uncertainty, dynamism, information integration, and interfaces), and illustrates the importance of DeSC to AmSI with reference to three key AmSI applications: management of the environment, infrastructure, and people. Finally, a legislative analysis of one specific domain of human activity, government acts in Australia, illustrates the potential for increasing importance of AmSI in the near future.
Internet browsing through RFID-powered gadgets
Authors: Muguira Leire  , Ruiz-de-Garibay Jonathan  , Vazquez Juan Ignacio
Published: February 2025

The vision of the Internet of Things is challenging researchers from different fields with the common goal of designing innovative Internet-connected experiences or augmenting existing objects' capabilities with Internet-related features. During these first stages, researchers must explore new ways and concepts, and share the results with the scientific community. In this paper, we present our work on creating RFID-based smart gadgets in order to take Internet experience to the next level, merging the on-line and the tangible worlds into a single continuous space.
NFC/RFID applications in medicine: security challenges and solutions
Authors: Jara Antonio J.  , Zamora Miguel A.  , Skarmeta Antonio F.G.
Published: February 2025

NFC technology is being included in the new generation of cellular phones and with this, a new generation of services and applications. These new applications can be defined in any scope, e.g. shopping centre, transport, education, medicine, among others. All of them share the security problems that NFC inherits from RFID. Particularly in this paper are presented the deployment of services in medical environments that can be carried out with NFC and how to apply security measures in them. We must make a distinction between these defined services into two categories. On one hand, it will be based on cellular phone, where hospital staff (doctors, nurses, etc.) can manage patient's information, capture data from medical devices and manage of Electronic Health Record (EHR). On the other hand we find a set of services where NFC is used like communication channel to transfer information and to set up devices implanted in the human body (implants) and other solutions where we take the properties of electromagnetic induction of passive RFID to use as power source to recharge batteries of those implants (e.g. pacemakers, glucometers, etc.).
Genetic Programming Application for User Capabilities Determination
Authors: Zablotskaya Kseniya
Published: February 2025

In this work we create a preliminary model of dependency between person's capabilities and statistical features extracted from transcribed monologues. People of different age and educational level were asked to paraphrase the same short TV-reports and afterwards to pass a verbal part of an intelligence test. Since such kind of data is very time consuming, we created just a preliminary model on an insignificant amount of data to be sure that we are going in the right direction. Genetic programming was used for developing an approximation model of person's capabilities on the base of collected data.
Design and Ethics of Product Impact on User Behavior and Use Practices
Authors: Dorrestijn Steven
Published: February 2025

Smart technologies and progressive automation raise questions concerning the use of such technologies. The design challenge to enhance usability cannot be seen apart from the broader societal, and ethical concern of how technologies are accommodated in a way of living. The designer's tinkering to improve usability, is therefore an ethically relevant practice, as is the consumers engagement with new technologies. Explicit consideration and design of product impact can help to improve the accommodation of technology. The ethical problem of product impact and freedom is treated by elaborating that product impact not so much infringes on freedom but provokes specific forms of freedom.
IGAMSAI – Idea Generation with Autonomous multimedia gathering for Meetings Summaries in AmI
Authors: Freitas Carlos Filipe  , Meireles António  , Figueiredo Lino  , Ramos Carlos
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present IGAMSAI, an idea generation system for Ambient Intelligence in the context of work, which was developed in GECAD research center, with two layers, an operational layer systems and an intelligent layer following an architecture previously proposed [3][2]. The operational layer is composed by an audio and video system and an audio to text converter built in the top of a pervasive component. The intelligent layer is an improved version of IGTAI [6]. Both layers are independent. With their integration it is possible to improve users' experience in Smart Meeting Rooms or even in distributed meetings, in time and space. Another feature is the ability to present the users with meetings reviews focused on the meeting key points and also the complete meeting.
A Trace-Based Framework for supporting Digital Object Memories
Authors: Settouti Lotfi S.  , Prié Yannick  , Cram Damien  , Champin Pierre-Antoine  , Mille Alain
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we present a Trace Based framework for managing and transforming traces of observation and use of real life objects. Considering trace based systems as Digital Object Memories (DOMe), we describe how our framework can be used to manage DOMe, using trace models and transformations to raise the abstraction level of traces and infer useful knowledge. To demonstrate our approach, we present a simple fictional example of smart home where the use and the state of some of everyday objects are observed, and the resulting traces of such observations are exploited as DOMe providing useful services.
Using Peer-to-Peer Dynamic Querying in Grid Information Services
Authors: Talia Domenico  , Trunfio Paolo
Published: February 2025

Dynamic Querying (DQ) is a technique adopted in unstructured Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks to minimize the number of nodes that is necessary to visit to obtain the desired number of results. In this chapter we describe the use of the DQ technique over a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to implement a scalable Grid information service. The DQ-DHT (Dynamic Querying over a Distributed Hash Table) algorithm has been designed to perform DQ-like searches over DHT-based networks. The aim of DQ-DHT is two-fold: allowing arbitrary queries to be performed in structured P2P networks, and providing dynamic adaptation of search according to the popularity of resources to be located. Through the use of the DQ-DHT technique it is possible to implement a scalable Grid information service supporting both structured search and execution of arbitrary queries for searching Grid resources on the basis of complex criteria or semantic features.
Facing Services in Computational Clouds
Authors: Metsch Thijs  , Vaquero Luis M.  , Rodero-Merino Luis  , Lindner Maik  , Massonet Philippe
Published: February 2025

When describing some parts of a big system they all seem so different. But combining them all together leads to the big picture. The same is true for today's technologies. When looking at all the different facets of Grid and Cloud computing no concrete picture might evolve. But trying to address all kind of issues might lead to a system which is able to manage service on demand. This paper tries to provide the big picture, of what today is called Cloud computing. It focuses on the faces, business models and handling of services in Clouds. And therefor tries to give the big picture of Cloud computing.
Algorithms and scheduling techniques for clusters and grids
Authors: Benoit Anne  , Marchal Loris  , Robert Yves  , Vivien Frédéric
Published: February 2025

The main objective of this chapter is to show the need for algorithmic and scheduling techniques. Even if resources at our disposal would become abundant and cheap, not to say unlimited and free (a perspective that is not granted), we would still need to assign the right task to the right device. We give several examples of such situations where careful resource selection and allocation are mandatory. Finally we outline some important algorithmic challenges that need be addressed in the future.
Building Collaborative Applications for System-level Science
Authors: Bubak Marian  , Gubała Tomasz  , Kasztelnik Marek  , Malawski Maciej
Published: February 2025

A novel approach to scientific investigations, besides analysis of individual phenomena, integrates different, interdisciplinary sources of knowledge about a complex system to obtain an understanding of the system as a whole. This innovative way of research called system-level science, requires advanced methods and tools for enabling collaboration of research groups. This paper presents a new approach to development and execution of collaborative applications. These applications are built as experiment plans with a notation based on the Ruby language. The virtual laboratory, which is an integrated system of dedicated tools and servers, provides a common space for planning, building, improving and performing in-silico experiments by a group of developers. The application is built with elements called gems which are available on the distributed Web- and Grid-based infrastructure. The process of application developments and the functionality of the virtual laboratory are demonstrated with a real-life example of the drug susceptibility ranking application from the HIV treatment domain.
Parallel Data Mining from Multicore to Cloudy Grids
Authors: Fox Geoffrey  , Bae Seung-Hee  , Ekanayake Jaliya  , Qiu Xiaohong  , Yuan Huapeng
Published: February 2025

We describe a suite of data mining tools that cover clustering, information retrieval and the mapping of high dimensional data to low dimensions for visualization. Preliminary applications are given to particle physics, bioinformatics and medical informatics. The data vary in dimension from low (2-20), high (thousands) to undefined (sequences with dissimilarities but not vectors defined). We use deterministic annealing to provide more robust algorithms that are relatively insensitive to local minima. We discuss the algorithm structure and their mapping to parallel architectures of different types and look at the performance of the algorithms on three classes of system; multicore, cluster and Grid using a MapReduce style algorithm. Each approach is suitable in different application scenarios. We stress that data analysis/mining of large datasets can be a supercomputer application.
System Level Accelerator with Blue Gene: A Heterogeneous Computing Model for Grand Challenge Problems
Authors: David Tim
Published: February 2025

An algorithm is presented which can be used to “link” two differing computer architectures together in what has become known as System Level Acceleration (SLA). This allows for a substantial increase in the complexity of the problem to be solved and also in the range of scales that often inhibits the scientist/engineer. Two examples of problems able to be solved via SLA, that of coupled cells in an vascular domain and modeling blood auto-regulation in the cerebro-vasculature.
Grid and e-Science in Korea
Authors: Cho Kihyeon
Published: February 2025

We present the history and current status of grid and e-Science activities in Korea. Until 2006, we focused on research on grid technology and infrastructure. Since 2007, we have been enabling e-Science in four major areas: physics, life science, engineering, and tele-science. We have also provided the international and domestic research communities with both infrastructure and technology. We present the current status and activities of grid and e-Science projects in Korea. As an example of e-Science, we present the concept and deployment of e-Science for high-energy physics.
High Performance Computing with FPGAs
Authors: D'Hollander Erik H.  , Beyls Kristof
Published: February 2025

Field-programmable gate arrays represent an army of logical units which can be organized in a highly parallel or pipelined fashion to implement an algorithm in hardware. The flexibility of this new medium creates new challenges to find the right processing paradigm which takes into account the natural constraints of FPGAs: clock frequency, memory footprint and communication bandwidth. In this paper first the use of FPGAs as a multiprocessor on a chip or its use as a highly functional coprocessor are compared, and the programming tools for hardware/software codesign are discussed. Next a number of techniques are presented to maximize the parallelism and optimize the data locality in nested loops. This includes unimodular transformations, data locality improving loop transformations and use of smart buffers. Finally, the use of these techniques on a number of examples is demonstrated. The results in the paper and in the literature show that, with the proper programming tool set, FPGAs can speed up computation kernels significantly with respect to traditional processors.
Protecting Critical Infrastructures from Cyber Attacks Involving Malware
Authors: Elovici Y.  , Shabtai A.
Published: February 2025

Protecting Critical Information Infrastructures (CIIs) from attacks originating from the Internet is a great withstanding challenge. This article describes the challenges in protecting CII from malware and suggests three approaches. The first approach suggests purifying malicious traffic on public NSP/ISP networks in order to minimise the risk that innocent users, unbeknownst to them, will be exploited and used by the perpetrators as launch pads for attacks on CIIs. The second approach focuses on overlay networks established between CIs, where communication between CIs is mapped to underlying physical networks and the most critical routers are pinpointed, thereby enabling the cost/effective deployment of malware filtering devices. Finally, the third approach focuses on detecting hidden botnets, which often serve as a launch pad for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on CIIs.
Information Sharing in the Context of European Union Critical Information Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Gazzini Alessandro  , Rigoni Andrea
Published: February 2025

Effective anticipation and response to the characteristics of today's security threats require an effective information sharing (IS) component. The need for IS and the relative benefits that come with it are evident to most security stakeholders. Information sharing has become even more urgent as the extreme adaptability of our adversaries and the relative rigidity of our current security organisations, in both the public and private sectors, have become increasingly clear. Many governments have already recently issued specific IS policies, stating the objectives as well as launching operational initiatives. The European Union has also introduced an IS objective within its more general program of critical (information) infrastructure protection and has recently launched several research and pilot instruments for IS solutions. Many challenges to develop successful IS models still exist, particularly in the security environment. Most notably, there is a tendency to dedicate excessive attention to technology concerns and solutions. A successful IS model, however, needs to comprehend and incorporate a more multidimensional strategic approach and focus on the concept of IS as a market place value.
Radicalization: What does it mean?
Authors: Mandel David R.
Published: February 2025

A widely accepted viewpoint among terrorism experts and counter-terrorism practitioners is that terrorism depends on the radicalization of its instigators and perpetrators. This chapter examines various definitions of radicalization with a view toward formulating a working definition that may be of use to terrorism scholars and counter-terrorism practitioners. It is concluded that the current usage of the term radicalization is problematic for the productive social scientific analysis of the motivational bases of socio-political violence since the term is relative, subjective, and value-laden. A new working definition of the term is provided.
Islamism: The process of identity formation
Authors: Belarouci Latéfa
Published: February 2025

Many young French citizens with Maghreb roots but born and raised in France have been involved in rioting and in terrorist acts. They grow up in crowded outer suburbs and attend secular schools. Although they live in the French society they felt excluded, and never integrated with the majority population. With the dilemma of French and Muslim as mutually exclusive categories and full Frenchness denied to them, the outcome for many of them is being successfully recruited into embracing Islamism and often in its extremist variant. This is unlikely to change unless these young people are offered a viable alternative: integration in terms of equal opportunity.
Decreasing Violence in Saudi Arabia and Beyond
Authors: Zuhur Sherifa
Published: February 2025

This chapter examines the motivating themes and strategies of several Islamist groups. In contrast to the literature on global jihad, it focuses on groups with local grievances and issues in a concentrated manner. First of all, there is al-Qa'ida fi Jazirat al-Arabiyya, a self-declared AQ affiliate. It carried out acts of terrorism against foreigners in Saudi Arabia but not elsewhere, its main grievance being the Saudi government's links to the US and the role of foreign oil companies. The links between the groups are loose and often opportunistic. In addition, there has been recruitment throughout the region to Iraq where the classic theme of resistance against the foreign occupiers unified recruits from many sources with other totally different actors. It also examines the effectiveness of a Saudi program aimed at deradicalization.
Muscle strength and mobility in diabetic patients with and without polyneuropathy
Authors: Ijzerman T.H.  , Melai T.  , Meijer K.  , Schaper N.C.  , Willems P.J.B.  , de Lange A.L.H.  , Savelberg H.H.C.M.
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of diabetic polyneuropathie (DPN) on muscle strength of the lower limb and mobility. Based on previous studies we expect that diabetes leads to a loss in muscle strength and that this process will be enhanced by neuropathy. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that muscle weakness is a main factor in limitations of the mobility. The study enrolled 62 subjects: 27 DPN patients, 16 age matched diabetic type 2 patients (DM2) without DPN (DC) and 19 healthy subjects (C). They performed isometric knee and ankle strength tests on a dynamometer. Mobility was determined from a timed ‘get up and go test’, a six minute walk test and the PASE (physical activity scale for the elderly) questionnaire. Healthy elderly had significantly higher muscle strength compared to the DC and DPN groups (p<0.01). No significant differences were found between DC and DPN. For both groups DC en DPN muscle weakness strongly correlates with the level of mobility in daily life (p<0.05 for all outcome parameters). Muscle weakness itself seems to be a strongly predictor for the decline in mobility. Moreover, DPN does not lead to a larger decrease of muscle weakness compared to DM2 patients.
A breakthrough in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome treatment or not? A case report
Authors: Spijker M.  , Vossen H.P.L.M.  , Zondervan R.C.J.
Published: February 2025

Little consensus exists, concerning cause, diagnose and treatment about Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1), which is also known as post traumatic dystrophy or reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a chronic pain condition. In an attempt to go out of the current concept of “with pain no gain” in which the pain limits are not overloaded, a new treatment approach was applied on a patient at Heliomare Rehabilitation Centre (Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands). One of the manual therapist tackled movement restricted joints with mobilizations and manipulations to restore the Range of Motion (ROM). Once that was achieved active exercise took place focusing on gait patterns. After three months of treatment the patient no longer presented complaints and reached full recovery. Even though this new approach has reached good results, this was just a case study. High quality Randomized Controlled trials involving larger sample sizes and a more scientific methodology are essential before definitive conclusions can be drawn about the benefit of this therapy technique over traditional approaches or no treatment.
Cancer rehabilitation exercise-mediated improvements over a twelve-year period in cancer survivors
Authors: Carter S.D.  , Repka C.P.  , Sprod L.K.  , Hayward R.  , Schneider C.M.
Published: February 2025

Cancer detection and treatment have improved in recent years, resulting in millions of cancer survivors living with the negative side effects of cancer therapies. The increase in the number of cancer survivors necessitates the development of strategies that can counteract these side-effects. One such strategy could be the implementation of prescriptive exercise interventions. Purpose: To summarize the exercise response in cancer survivors following exercise training over a 12-year period. Methods: Five hundred-nineteen cancer patients participated in fitness assessments which examined cardiorespiratory fitness, pulmonary function and muscular endurance. In addition, patients completed inventories that assessed fatigue, depression and quality of life. Patients were divided according to treatment status: following treatment (n=446) and during treatment (n=73). Following the exercise assessments, patients participated in an individualized exercise intervention 2-3 days per week for 3 months. Results: Significant improvements were found across time (p<.05) in blood pressure (-3.6%), resting heart rate (-7%), treadmill time (+28%), pVO2max (+15%), FEV1 (+2.3%), upper body endurance (+46.8%), lower body endurance (+58%), and core endurance (+22.3%) with concomitant improvements in fatigue (-33.9%), depression (-27.3%), and quality of life (+5.6%) in the following cancer group. The patients during treatment showed improvements in blood pressure (-3.2%), treadmill time (+16.5%), upper body endurance (+39.3%), lower body endurance (+10.3%), and core endurance (+36.8%) with concomitant improvements in fatigue (-21%), depression (-11%), and quality of life (+6.3%). No differences were found between cancer type, treatment type, or cancer stage. Conclusion: Cancer survivors have physiological and psychological improvements with the implementation of individually prescribed exercise. Additionally, the response to exercise appears to be patient specific not cancer, treatment or stage specific. Our animal studies suggest that there are likely several mechanisms involved with the beneficial effects of exercise. Such mechanisms may include adaptations in antioxidant defenses, expression of heat shock proteins, regulation of apoptosis, as well as the expression and function of nitric oxide synthase.
Inactive lifestyle in adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy
Authors: Nieuwenhuijsen C.  , van der Slot W.M.A.  , Roebroeck M.E.  , Stam H.J.  , van den Berg-Emons H.J.G.
Published: February 2025

Purpose: To quantify level of everyday physical activity (PA) in adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP), and to study associations with personal and CP-related characteristics. Methods: Fifty-six adults with bilateral spastic CP (mean age 36.4 (SD 5.8 years), 62% male) participated. About 75% had high gross motor functioning (GMFCS level I or II). Level of everyday PA was measured with an accelerometry-based Activity Monitor and was characterized by 1) duration of dynamic activities (composite measure, percentage of 24-hours; 2) intensity of activity (motility, in gravitational acceleration [g]); and 3) number of periods of continuous dynamic activity. We compared outcomes in adults with CP to able-bodied age-mates. Results: Duration of dynamic activities was 8.1(SD 3.7)% (116 minutes per day), and intensity of activity was 0.020 (SD 0.007)g; both outcomes were significantly lower compared to able-bodied age-mates. Of adults with CP, 39% had at least one period of continuous dynamic activities lasting longer than 10 minutes per day. Gross motor functioning was significantly associated with level of everyday PA (Rs: –0.34 to –0.48; p≤.01). Conclusion: Adults with bilateral spastic CP, especially those with low-level gross motor functioning, are at risk for an inactive lifestyle.
Validity of an activity questionnaire in persons with a physical disability
Authors: L'Ortye A.A.M.H.J.  , van den Berg-Emons H.J.G.  , Buffart L.M.  , Nieuwenhuijsen C.  , Bergen M.P.  , Stam H.J.  , Bussmann J.B.J.
Published: February 2025

Purpose: To determine the criterion validity of the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD) to assess the level of everyday physical activity (PA) in persons with a physical disability. Methods: In a total of 124 ambulatory and non-ambulatory subjects with cerebral palsy, meningomyelocele or spinal cord injury, we assessed level of everyday PA using the PASIPD, a recall questionnaire, and using an accelerometry-based activity monitor (AM), which served as reference method. Results: Significant (p ≤ 0.05) spearman correlation coefficients between the outcome parameters of the PASIPD and AM ranged between 0.22 and 0.37. The PASIPD significantly (p<0.0001) overestimated the duration of PA (3.9 (2.9) versus 1.48 (0.90) hours per day by AM). There was a significant correlation (spearman's rho -0.74, p<0.0001) between the level of everyday PA and the discrepancy between the methods, indicating higher overestimation with increasing level of everyday PA. Conclusion: The PASIPD is poorly correlated with objective PA measurements using the AM in people with a physical disability. Although similar low correlations between objective and subjective PA measurements have been found in the general population, users of the PASIPD should be cautious for overestimating physical activity levels.
Estimating the caster wheels' orientation of a manual wheelchair during level ground propulsion
Authors: Chénier F.  , Bigras P.  , Aissaoui R.
Published: February 2025

Purpose: In order to build a realistic manual wheelchair simulator, an accurate dynamic model of the wheelchair-user system is needed. Besides, the characterization of this model necessitates the continuous knowledge of each caster wheel's orientation (CWO). The aim of this work is to propose a method that predicts these orientations based on the rear wheels' kinematics. Methods: A standard wheelchair equipped with two instrumented wheels was moved following straight and curvilinear patterns. A first-order model expressing the variation rate of the CWOs with respect to the rear wheels' kinematics was developed. The numerical integration of the model leads to an estimate of the CWOs. Simultaneously, the orientation of a caster wheel was measured using a three-dimensional optoelectronic system. Results: The estimated and the observed orientation values were compared. The estimation error was very low (<5 deg) when the orientation does not abruptly change, and stayed below 10 degrees at all times. Conclusion: Based on our data, it is possible to predict the CWOs with a fairly good accuracy using only the geometrical parameters of the wheelchair and the data from the instrumented rear wheels. This method is promising since it will help characterizing the wheelchair-user dynamic model in the future.
Muscle activity patterns during robotic walking and overground walking in patients with stroke
Authors: van Werven G.  , Coenen P.  , van Nunen M.P.M.  , Gerrits H.L.  , Janssen T.W.J.
Published: February 2025

The aim of the present study was to examine the muscle activity of patients with stroke during robotic walking. In the robotic walking condition (RWC), subjects (n=10) walked in a robotic walking device with minimal support and a walking speed of 2.2 km/h. In the overground walking condition (OWC), subjects walked without any assistance on their preferred walking speed. The results showed significant differences between conditions in individual phases of the gait cycle. Thereby, a significant lower EMG amplitude was found in the RWC compared to the OWC. Furthermore, significant interaction effects were found indicating a higher activity of the paretic semitendinosus and gastrocnemius muscle during the RWC compared to the OWC, supporting the use of robot treadmill training after stroke.