Introduction: This article describes an evaluation of MagNav, a speech-based, infrastructure-free indoor navigation system. The research was conducted in the Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the United States, to empirically investigate the impact of memory load on route-guidance performance. Method: Twelve participants who are blind and 12 age-matched sighted controls participated in the study. Comparisons are made for route-guidance performance between use of updated, real-time route instructions (system-aided condition) and a system-unaided (memory-based condition) where the same instructions were only provided in advance of route travel. The sighted controls (who navigated under typical visual perception but used the system for route guidance) represent a best case comparison benchmark with the blind participants who used the system. Results: Results across all three test measures provide compelling behavioral evidence that blind navigators receiving real-time verbal information from the MagNav system performed route travel faster (navigation time), more accurately (fewer errors in reaching the destination), and more confidently (fewer requests for bystander assistance) compared to conditions where the same route information was only available to them in advance of travel. In addition, no statistically reliable differences were observed for any measure in the system-aided conditions between the blind and sighted participants. Posttest survey results corroborate the empirical findings, further supporting the efficacy of the MagNav system. Discussion: This research provides compelling quantitative and qualitative evidence showing the utility of an infrastructure-free, low-memory demand navigation system for supporting route guidance through complex indoor environments and supports the theory that functionally equivalent navigation performance is possible when access to real-time environmental information is available, irrespective of visual status. Implications for designers and practitioners: Findings provide insight for the importance of developers of accessible navigation systems to employ interfaces that minimize memory demands.

This project developed and evaluated a smartphone-based system to improve mobility and transportation access for the cognitively impaired. The proposed system is intended to allow the cognitively impaired to use public transportation systems, community transportation and dedicated transportation services for the disabled with greater ease and safety. Individuals with cognitive disabilities are often unable to operate an automobile, or may require a prolonged recovery period before resuming driving. Public transportation systems represent a significant means to allow these individuals to maintain independence. Yet public transportation systems can pose significant challenges to individuals with cognitive impairment. The goal of this project is to develop a system to reduce these barriers via a technological solution consisting of components developed both for the cognitively impaired user and their caregiver or family member. The first component consists of a cognitive prosthetic device featuring traditional memory cueing and reminders as well as custom location-based transportation specific functions. This cognitive mobility assistant will leverage the computing power and GPS location determination capabilities of inexpensive, powerful smart phones. The second component consists of a management application which offers caregivers the ability to configure and program the reminder and transit functions remotely via the Internet. Following completion of the prototype system a pilot human test was performed with cognitively disabled individuals and family members or caregivers to assess the usability and acceptability of both system components.

Telecoils in hearing aids serve a dual purpose: to enhance telephone conversation and enable hearing aids to serve as a wireless interface for public audio broadcasts. When broadcasting audio signals, the signal is transmitted to the telecoil sensor (a magnetic field sensor located in the hearing aid) via magnetic energy from an induction wire loop located near the listener. This induction loop can be a small assembly located in the handset of the telephone or a large wire loop within a public venue like a theatre. Current hearing aids detect the magnetic signal using a single telecoil. If the telecoil is not aligned with the magnetic field, the strength of the detected signal is diminished. Unfortunately, public induction loops and telephone handsets seldom share a common alignment to the hearing aid, leading to sub-optimal performance by one or both in hearing aids available today. In this research, a prototype behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid with tri-axial telecoils was developed and DSP algorithms to process and combine the three signals were developed. The resulting hearing aid was evaluated in a human trial and provided better performance than a similar quality conventional telecoil hearing aid.

We present a demonstration of a novel protocol for secure transmissions on a Ultra-wideband impulse radio that includes distance bounding. Distance bounding requires radios to be within a certain radius to communicate. This new protocol can be used in body area networks for medical devices where security is imperative. Many current wireless medical devices were not designed with security as a priority including devices that can be life threatening if controlled by a hacker. This protocol provides multiple levels of security including encryption and a distance bounding test to prevent long distance attacks.

Indoor navigation technology is needed to support seamless mobility for the visually impaired. This paper describes the construction and evaluation of an inertial dead reckoning navigation system that provides real-time auditory guidance along mapped routes. Inertial dead reckoning is a navigation technique coupling step counting together with heading estimation to compute changes in position at each step. The research described here outlines the development and evaluation of a novel navigation system that utilizes information from the mapped route to limit the problematic error accumulation inherent in traditional dead reckoning approaches. The prototype system consists of a wireless inertial sensor unit, placed at the users' hip, which streams readings to a smartphone processing a navigation algorithm. Pilot human trials were conducted assessing system efficacy by studying route-following performance with blind and sighted subjects using the navigation system with real-time guidance, versus offline verbal directions.

Indoor navigation technology is needed to support seamless mobility for the visually impaired. This paper describes the construction of and evaluation of a navigation system that infers the users' location using only magnetic sensing. It is well known that the environments within steel frame structures are subject to significant magnetic distortions. Many of these distortions are persistent and have sufficient strength and spatial characteristics to allow their use as the basis for a location technology. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a prototype magnetic navigation system consisting of a wireless magnetometer placed at the users' hip streaming magnetic readings to a smartphone processing location algorithms. Human trials were conducted to assess the efficacy of the system by studying route-following performance with blind and sighted subjects using the navigation system for real-time guidance.

This project developed and evaluated the utility of a mobility assistant cognitive prosthetic that leverages the computing power and GPS location determination capabilities of smart phones to provide location-sensitive mobility assistance. New relatively inexpensive smart phones offer powerful computing and location sensing capabilities. A prototype cognitive prosthetic was developed to assist users in their use of transportation systems. User Interface design included remote caregiver programming features, and automated SMS status generation. Location specific memory cues are triggered by comparing current GPS coordinate location with expected route coordinates obtained from stored route databases based on the GTFS feeds from transit systems. Additional development focused on developing algorithms to identify potential user errors, such as wrong-bus. These reminders and instructions will allow cognitively disabled persons to utilize public transportation systems with greater confidence leading to greater mobility and independence.

A wide assortment of technologies have been proposed to construct indoor navigation services for the blind and vision impaired. Proximity-based systems and multilateration systems have been successfully demonstrated and employed. Despite the technical success of these technologies, broad adoption has been limited due to their significant infrastructure and maintenance costs. An alternative approach utilizing the indoor magnetic signatures inherent to steel-frame buildings solves the infrastructure cost problem; in effect the existing building is the location system infrastructure. Although magnetic indoor navigation does not require the installation of dedicated hardware, the dedication of resources to produce precise survey maps of magnetic anomalies represents a further barrier to adoption. In the present work an alternative leader-follower form of waypoint-navigation system has been developed that works without surveyed magnetic maps of a site. Instead the wayfarer's magnetometer readings are compared to a pre-recorded magnetic "leader" trace containing magnetic data collected along a route and annotated with waypoint information. The goal of the navigation system is to correlate the follower's magnetometer data with the leader's to trigger audio cues at precise points along the route, thus providing location-based guidance to the user. The system should also provide early indications of off-route conditions. As part of the research effort a smartphone based application was created to record and annotate leader traces with audio and numeric data at waypoints of interest, and algorithms were developed to determine (1) when the follower reaches a waypoint and (2) when the follower goes off-route. A navigation system utilizing this technology would enable a low-cost indoor navigation system capable of replaying audio annotations at precise locations along pre-recorded routes.

Surface electrodes in modern myoelectric prosthetics are often embedded in the prosthesis socket and make contact with the skin. These electrodes detect and amplify muscle action potentials from voluntary contractions of the muscle in the residual limb and are used to control the prosthetic's movement and function. There are a number of performance-related deficiencies associated with external electrodes including the maintenance of sufficient electromyogram (EMG) signal amplitude, extraneous noise acquisition, and proper electrode interface maintenance that are expected to be improved or eliminated using the proposed implanted sensors. This research seeks to investigate the design components for replacing external electrodes with fully-implantable myoelectric sensors that include a wireless interface to the prosthetic limbs. This implanted technology will allow prosthetic limb manufacturers to provide products with increased performance, capability, and patient-comfort. The EMG signals from the intramuscular recording electrode are amplified and wirelessly transmitted to a receiver in the prosthetic limb. Power to the implant is maintained using a rechargeable battery and an inductive energy transfer link from the prosthetic. A full experimental system was developed to demonstrate that a wireless biopotential sensor can be designed that meets the requirements of size, power, and performance for implantation.

We report a measurement of the exclusive B+ meson decay to the D-s(()*K-)(+)pi(+) final state using 657 x 10(6) B (B) over bar pairs collected at the gamma(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider. We use D-s* -> D-s(-) -> phi pi(-), (K) over bar*(892)K-0(-) and (KSK-)-K-0 decay modes for D-s(()*()) reconstruction and measure the following branching fractions: B(B+ -> Ds-K+pi(+)) = (1.71(-0.07)(+0.08)(stat)(-0.20)(+0.20)(syst) +/- 0.15(B-int)) x 10(-4) and B(B+ -> D-s*K--(+)pi(+)) = (1.31(-0.12)(+0.13)(stat)(-0.25)(+0.25)(syst) +/- 0.12(B-int)) x 10(-4). The uncertainties are due to statistics, experimental systematic errors, and uncertainties of intermediate branching fractions, respectively.

A positive impact on cardiac arrest survival has been demonstrated with the substantial reduction in time to defibrillation provided by the widespread deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). However, recent studies have identified the importance of performing chest compressions before defibrillation in facilitating effective recovery from long duration ventricular fibrillation (VF). Despite the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), effective performance of it in the field is hampered by many problems including the dependence on rescuer technique, which is known to be variable even with trained professionals. This research seeks to enhance survival outcomes following resuscitation. A full experimental system was developed that used an instrumented CPR manikin to provide interactive CPR coaching while collecting performance data. This system was utilized in a controlled human CPR performance study comparing the differences in chest compression performance with and without visual coaching and with and without interactive performance feedback coaching. Results from the human study support a number of conclusions and recommendations. In general using any type of coaching provided improvements in all of the CPR performance measures excluding chest recoil where there was a slight decrease in performance. The statistical results also indicated that the audio/visual coaching conditions provided a more effective coaching condition with respect to chest compression rate. Most notably, the feedback conditions both provided a statistically significant or trends toward improving chest compression effectiveness and produced superior performance as a whole.

In this paper, we describe a novel wireless system to facilitate the objective assessments of neurological movement disorders like dyskinesia. The ability of the prototype system to provide precise, objective biomechanical data about human motor performance has been demonstrated via controlled tests using a robotic arm. The system is designed to be used in clinical settings and will not require an extensive setup or training. The system may be used to supplement the clinical routine examinations by providing objective performance data to aid diagnosis or to monitor therapeutic success. In addition, it can be a useful tool for research on neurological movement disorders.

Using the CLEO II detector operating at the CESR ee collider, we have measured the structure functions in the decay τ → πππντ , based on a sample corresponding to 4 × 10 produced τ -pair events. We determine the integrated structure functions, which depend only on the three pion invariant mass, as well as the structure functions differential in the Dalitz plot. We extract model independent limits on non-axial-vector contributions from the measured structure functions as less than 16.6% of the total branching fraction, at the 95% confidence level. Separating the non-axial-vector contributions into scalar and vector contributions, we measure that scalars (vectors) contribute with less than 9.4% (7.3%) to the total branching ratio, at the 95% confidence level. PACS numbers: 13.25.Jx, 13.35.Dx, 14.40.Cs, 14.60.Fg Typeset using REVTEX

A measurement of the spin alignment of charged D mesons produced in continuum ee → cc̄ events at √s = 10.5 GeV is presented. This study using 4.72 fb of CLEO II data shows that there is little evidence of any D spin alignment.

Indoor navigation technology is needed to support seamless mobility for the visually impaired. A small portable personal navigation device that provides current position, useful contextual wayfinding information about the indoor environment and directions to a destination would greatly improve access and independence for people with low vision. This paper describes the construction of such a device which utilizes a commercial Ultra-Wideband (UWB) asset tracking system to support real-time location and navigation information. Human trials were conducted to assess the efficacy of the system by comparing target-finding performance between blindfolded subjects using the navigation system for real-time guidance, and blindfolded subjects who only received speech information about their local surrounds but no route guidance information (similar to that available from a long cane or guide dog). A normal vision control condition was also run. The time and distance traveled was measured in each trial and a point-back test was performed after goal completion to assess cognitive map development. Statistically significant differences were observed between the three conditions in time and distance traveled; with the navigation system and the visual condition yielding the best results, and the navigation system dramatically outperforming the non-guided condition.

We have searched for the effective FCNC decays b → sl+l− using an inclusive method. We set upper limits on the branching ratios B(b → se+e−) < 5.7 × 10−5, B(b → sμ+μ−) < 5.8 × 10−5, and B(b → seμ) < 2.2 × 10−5 (at 90 % C.L.). Combining the di-electron and di-muon decay modes we find: B(b → sl+l−) < 4.2 × 10−5 (at 90 % C.L.).

We report new measurements of the differential and total branching ratios for inclusive B decay to D, D and D and the first measurement of the same quantities for inclusive B decay to D. Here B is the mixture of Bd and Bu from Υ(4S) decay. Furthermore, since more than one charm particle (or antiparticle) of the same kind can be produced in B decay, here “inclusive B branching ratio” is used to mean the average number of charm particles and their antiparticles of a certain species produced in B decay. We obtain the following results (the first error is statistical, the second systematic of this analysis, the third is propagated from other measurements): B(B → DX) = (0.636 ± 0.014 ± 0.019 ± 0.018),B(B → DX) = (0.235 ± 0.009 ± 0.009 ± 0.024),B(B → DX) = (0.247 ± 0.012 ± 0.018 ± 0.018),B(B → DX) = (0.239 ± 0.011 ± 0.014 ± 0.009). The following ratio of branching ratios is not affected by most of the systematic errors: B(B → DX)/B(B → DX) = (1.03±0.07±0.09±0.08). We also report the first measurement of the momentumdependent D polarization and a new measurement of the D polarization in inclusive B decay. Using these measurements and other CLEO results and making some additional assumptions, we calculate the average number of c and c̄ quarks produced in B decay to be 〈nc〉 = 1.10 ± 0.05.

We describe a measurement of B−B0 mixing parameters exploiting a method of partial reconstruction of the decay chains B → Dπ and B → Dρ. Using 9.6 ×10BB pairs collected at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we find χd = 0.198 ± 0.013 ± 0.014, |yd| < 0.41 at 95% confidence level, and |Re(ǫB)| < 0.034 at 95% confidence level.

Using ee annihilation data collected by the CLEO II detector at CESR, we have observed the decay D s → ωπ. This final state may be produced through the annihilation decay of the D s , or through final state interactions. We find a branching ratio of Γ(D s → ωπ)/Γ(D s → ηπ) = 0.16 ± 0.04 ± 0.03, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. PACS numbers: 13.25.Ft, 14.40.Lb