A Reference Architecture for Cloud-Edge Meta-Operating Systems Enabling Cross-Domain, Data-Intensive, ML-Assisted Applications: Architectural Overview and Key Concepts.

Future data-intensive intelligent applications are required to traverse across the cloud-to-edge-to-IoT continuum, where cloud and edge resources elegantly coordinate, alongside sensor networks and data. However, current technical solutions can only partially handle the data outburst associated with the IoT proliferation experienced in recent years, mainly due to their hierarchical architectures. In this context, this paper presents a reference architecture of a meta-operating system (RAMOS), targeted to enable a dynamic, distributed and trusted continuum which will be capable of facilitating the next-generation smart applications at the edge. RAMOS is domain-agnostic, capable of supporting heterogeneous devices in various network environments. Furthermore, the proposed architecture possesses the ability to place the data at the origin in a secure and trusted manner. Based on a layered structure, the building blocks of RAMOS are thoroughly described, and the interconnection and coordination between them is fully presented. Furthermore, illustration of how the proposed reference architecture and its characteristics could fit in potential key industrial and societal applications, which in the future will require more power at the edge, is provided in five practical scenarios, focusing on the distributed intelligence and privacy preservation principles promoted by RAMOS, as well as the concept of environmental footprint minimization. Finally, the business potential of an open edge ecosystem and the societal impacts of climate net neutrality are also illustrated.

Instantaneous radiated power of brain activity: application to prepulse inhibition and facilitation for body dysmorphic disorder.

BACKGROUND: Global measures of neuronal activity embrace the advantage of a univariate, holistic and unique description of brain activity, reducing the spatial dimensions of electroencephalography (EEG) analysis at the cost of lower precision in localizing effects. In this work, the instantaneous radiated power (IRP) is proposed as a new whole-brain descriptor, reflecting the cortical activity from an exclusively electromagnetic perspective. Considering that the brain consists of multiple elementary dipoles, the whole-brain IRP takes into account the radiational contribution of all cortical sources. Unlike conventional EEG analyses that evaluate a large number of scalp or source locations, IRP reflects a whole-brain, event-related measure and forces the analysis to focus on a single time-series, thus efficiently reducing the EEG spatial dimensions and multiple comparisons. RESULTS: To apply the developed methodology in real EEG data, two groups (25 controls vs 30 body dysmorphic disorder, BDD, patients) were matched for age and sex and tested in a prepulse inhibition (PPI) and facilitation (PPF) paradigm. Two global brain descriptors were extracted for between-groups and between-conditions comparison purposes, namely the global field power (GFP) and the whole-brain IRP. Results showed that IRP can replicate the expected condition differences (with PPF being greater than PPI responses), exhibiting also reduced levels in BDD compared to control group overall. There were also similar outcomes using GFP and IRP, suggesting consistency between the two measures. Finally, regression analysis showed that the PPI-related IRP (during N100 time-window) is negatively correlated with BDD psychometric scores. CONCLUSIONS: Investigating the brain activity with IRP significantly reduces the data dimensionality, giving insights about global brain synchronization and strength. We conclude that IRP can replicate the existing evidence regarding sensorimotor gating effects, revealing also group electrophysiological alterations. Finally, electrophysiological IRP responses exhibited correlations with BDD psychometrics, potentially useful as supplementary tool in BDD symptomatology.

A Cost-Efficient 5G Non-Public Network Architectural Approach: Key Concepts and Enablers, Building Blocks and Potential Use Cases.

The provision of high data rate services to mobile users combined with improved quality of experience (i.e., zero latency multimedia content) drives technological evolution towards the design and implementation of fifth generation (5G) broadband wireless networks. To this end, a dynamic network design approach is adopted whereby network topology is configured according to service demands. In parallel, many private companies are interested in developing their own 5G networks, also referred to as non-public networks (NPNs), since this deployment is expected to leverage holistic production monitoring and support critical applications. In this context, this paper introduces a 5G NPN architectural approach, supporting among others various key enabling technologies, such as cell densification, disaggregated RAN with open interfaces, edge computing, and AI/ML-based network optimization. In the same framework, potential applications of our proposed approach in real world scenarios (e.g., support of mission critical services and computer vision analytics for emergencies) are described. Finally, scalability issues are also highlighted since a deployment framework of our architectural design in an additional real-world scenario related to Industry 4.0 (smart manufacturing) is also analyzed.

Early auditory-evoked potentials in body dysmorphic disorder: An ERP/sLORETA study.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by excessive preoccupation with imagined or slight physical defects in appearance. BDD is associated with cognitive impairments (attention, visual processing). Our study aims to evaluate the early neural responses (N100, P200) to prepulse inhibition (PPI) and prepulse facilitation (PPF), to investigate attentional processing of BDD in the auditory domain. Fifty-five adults took part: 30 BDD patients and 25 healthy controls. We compared their brain responses to PPI and PPF by analyzing global field power (GFP), event-related potentials (ERPs) and their respective sources. BDD exhibited reduced N100 amplitudes compared to healthy controls in response to the startle tone elicited by both PPI and PPF, potentially suggesting impaired allocation of attention. Interestingly, the lower the GFP at the N100, the higher the BDD severity. Source reconstruction analysis showed reduced activation for BDD during the N100 time window in PPI. Scalp responses and source activations in PPI were decreased overall compared to PPF, confirming the gating effect of PPI. We provided evidence that the N100 may serve as an electrophysiological marker of BDD, predicting its severity. Our study demonstrated the potential of using ERPs combined with behavioural PPI and PPF protocols to advance our understanding of BDD pathophysiology.

Test-retest reliability of brain oscillations in a prepulse inhibition and facilitation paradigm: effects of gender in healthy humans.

There is a growing interest in assessing the reliability of electroencephalographic (EEG) measures in clinical and research settings. Prepulse inhibition (PPI: representing attentional modulation) and facilitation (PPF: reflecting selective attention) paradigms have been used to study inhibitory function and selective attention, respectively. However, to date, little has been known with regards to the stability of brain oscillatory activity during PPI and PPF. We investigated the stability of event-related EEG oscillations during PPI and PPF in healthy humans over two monthly sessions. Power spectral densities were analysed at traditional frequency bands (delta, alpha, beta sub-bands, and gamma). We assessed test-retest reliability by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs, absolute agreement definition) and examined potential effects of gender. The results showed good-to-excellent reproducibility of EEG power (both in PPI and PPF) over all frequency bands (ICCs > 0.75), except for delta (ICCs < 0.75), with alpha exhibiting the highest repeatability performance. In addition, females showed reduced reliability compared to males in both PPI and PPF, possibly attributed to menstrual cycle phase across our female participants. Overall, our findings suggest that brain oscillatory activity can be test-retest reliable, while gender needs to be controlled with caution. Finally, event-related EEG oscillations during both PPI and PPF could provide a complementary tool to study psychopathology in clinical practice.