Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An independent SSVEP-based brain–computer interface in locked-in syndrome

Objective. Steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) allow healthy subjects to communicate. However, their dependence on gaze control prevents their use with severely disabled patients. Gaze-independent SSVEP-BCIs have been designed but have shown a drop in accuracy and have not been tested in brain-injured patients. In the present paper, we propose a novel independent SSVEP-BCI based on covert attention with an improved classification rate. We study the influence of feature extraction algorithms and the number of harmonics. Finally, we test online communication on healthy volunteers and patients with locked-in syndrome (LIS). Approach. Twenty-four healthy subjects and six LIS patients participated in this study. An independent covert two-class SSVEP paradigm was used with a newly developed portable light emitting diode-based ‘interlaced squares' stimulation pattern. Main results. Mean offline and online accuracies on healthy subjects were respectively 85 ± 2% and 74 ± 13%, with eight out of twelve subjects succeeding to communicate efficiently with 80 ± 9% accuracy. Two out of six LIS patients reached an offline accuracy above the chance level, illustrating a response to a command. One out of four LIS patients could communicate online. Significance. We have demonstrated the feasibility of online communication with a covert SSVEP paradigm that is truly independent of all neuromuscular functions. The potential clinical use of the presented BCI system as a diagnostic (i.e., detecting command-following) and communication tool for severely brain-injured patients will need to be further explored.
Improving myoelectric pattern recognition using invariant feature extraction

The existing algorithms of myoelectric pattern recognition (MPR) are far from enough to satisfy the criteria which an ideal control system for upper extremity prostheses should fulfill. This study focuses on the criterion of short training, or possibly zero training. Due to the non-stationarity inhered in surface electromyography (sEMG) signals, the system may need to be re-trained day by day in the extended usage of myoelectric protheses. However, as the subjects perform the same motion types in different days, we hypothesize there still exists some invariant characteristics in the sEMG signals. Therefore, give a set of training data from several days, it is possible to find an invariant component in them. To this end, an invariant feature space analysis (IFSA) framework based on kernel feature extraction is proposed in this paper. A desired transformation, which minimizes the dissimilarity between sEMG feature distributions of different days and maximizes the dependence between the training data and their corresponding labels, is found. The results show that the generalization ability of the classifier trained on previous days to the unseen testing days can be improved by using IFSA. More specifically, IFSA significantly outperforms Baseline (original input feature) with average classification rate of 1.11% to 1.69% (p <; 0.0001) in task including 9 motion classes or 13 motion classes. This implies that the promising approach can help for achieving the zero-training of MPR.
Multi-Hop Ride Sharing

We study the problem of ride sharing in road networks. Current approaches to this problem focus on simple bulletin board like services or on algorithms that do not allow to transfer. In this work, we present a solution with an arbitrary number of transfers that respects personal preferences of the users. We engineer the ride sharing problem by searching a graph that represents a timetable network similar to those used for train networks. Our experimental analysis shows that our solution provides good performance and that it is significantly faster than a naive search. The algorithm achieves about an order of magnitude higher speedups over Dijkstra's algorithm than what could be expected from previous work.
Abelian ‘ Gauge Theory ’ Inspired by Ideal Hydrodynamics

We study a possibly integrable model of abelian gauge fields on a two-dimensional surface M , with volume form μ . It has the same phase space as ideal hydrodynamics, a coadjoint orbit of the volume-preserving diffeomorphism group of M . Gauge field Poisson brackets differ from the Heisenberg algebra, but are reminiscent of Yang-Mills theory on a null surface. Enstrophy invariants are Casimirs of the Poisson algebra of gauge invariant observables. Some symplectic leaves of the Poisson manifold are identified. The Hamiltonian is a magnetic energy, similar to that of electrodynamics, and depends on a metric whose volume element is not a multiple of μ . The magnetic field evolves by a quadratically non-linear ‘Euler’ equation, which may also be regarded as describing geodesic flow on SDiff(M,μ). Static solutions are obtained. For uniform μ , an infinite sequence of local conserved charges beginning with the hamiltonian are found. The charges are shown to be in involution, suggesting integrability. Besides being a theory of a novel kind of ideal flow, this is a toy-model for Yang-Mills theory and matrix field theories, whose gauge-invariant phase space is conjectured to be a coadjoint orbit of the diffeomorphism group of a non-commutative space.
Demonstrating Passivity and Dissipativity using Computational Methods

Passivity and dissipativity are energy based properties of dynamical systems that may be used for the analysis and synthesis of linear and nonlinear systems. The two properties provide valuable stability results as well as compositional result sf or the analysis of interconnected systems. Using both the stability and compositionality results, large scale systems can be determined to be stable by analyzing the components in terms of energy dissipation and then sequentially analyzing the system interconnections. One o ft he drawbacks of this approach is that demonstrating that a system is passive or dissipative typically requires finding an energy storage function, which is analogous to a Lyapunov function . A s with Lyapunov stability, the search for a storage function to show dissipativity is in general an open-ended search. This paper surveys computational methods for finding energy storage functions. This includes linear matrix inequality (LMI) methods for linear systems and sum of squares (SOS) methods for polynomial nonlinear systems. When these methods are applicable, the search for storage functions can be automated to greatly simplify analysis and synthesis of linear and nonlinear systems. New material is provided on the application of these methods to find passivity indices for dynamical systems. Additional material is provided on using SOS methods to demonstrate dissipativity for switched systems. Examples are provided to illustrate how these methods may be used in practice.
Alcohol Use Disorder with and without Stimulant Use: Brain Morphometry and Its Associations with Cigarette Smoking, Cognition, and Inhibitory Control

Objective Little is known about the effects of polysubstance use and cigarette smoking on brain morphometry. This study examined neocortical brain morphometric differences between abstinent polysubstance dependent and alcohol-only dependent treatment seekers (ALC) as well as light drinking controls (CON), the associations of cigarette smoking in these polysubstance users (PSU), and morphometric relationships to cognition and inhibitory control. Methods All participants completed extensive neuropsychological assessments and 4 Tesla brain magnetic resonance imaging. PSU and ALC were abstinent for one month at the time of study. Parcellated morphological data (volume, surface area, thickness) were obtained with FreeSurfer methodology for the following bilateral components: dorso-prefrontal cortex (DPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insula. Regional group differences were examined and structural data correlated with domains of cognition and inhibitory control. Results PSU had significantly smaller left OFC volume and surface area and trends to smaller right DPFC volume and surface area compared to CON; PSU did not differ significantly from ALC on these measures. PSU, however, had significantly thinner right ACC than ALC. Smoking PSU had significantly larger right OFC surface area than non-smoking PSU. No significant relationships between morphometry and quantity/frequency of substance use, alcohol use, or age of onset of heavy drinking were observed. PSU exhibited distinct relationships between brain structure and processing speed, cognitive efficiency, working memory and inhibitory control that were not observed in ALC or CON. Conclusion Polysubstance users have unique morphometric abnormalities and structure-function relationships when compared to individuals dependent only on alcohol and light drinking controls. Chronic cigarette smoking is associated with structural brain irregularities in polysubstance users. Further elucidation of these distinctive characteristics could help inform the development of targeted and thus potentially more effective treatments in this large but understudied population.
Presentation of (telepresent) self: On the double-edged effects of mirrors

Mobile remote presence systems present new opportunities and challenges for physically distributed people to meet and work together. One of the challenges observed from a couple of years of using Texai, a mobile remote presence (MRP) system, is that remote operators are often unaware of how they present themselves through the MRP. Problems arise when remote operators are not clearly visible through the MRP video display; this mistake makes the MRP operators look like anonymous intruders into the local space rather than approachable colleagues. To address this problem, this study explores the effects of visual feedback for remote teleoperators, using a controlled experiment in which mirrors were either present or absent in the local room with the MRP system (N=24). Participants engaged in a warm-up remote communication task followed by a remote driving task. Compared to mirrors-absent participants, mirrors-present participants were more visible on the MRP screens and practiced navigating longer. However, the mirrors-present participants also reported experiencing more frustration and having less fun. Implications for theory and design are discussed.
Positive real control for uncertain 2-D discrete systems in general model

This paper discusses the problem of positive real control for uncertain two-dimensional discrete systems in general model (2-D GM) with norm-bounded parameter uncertainties. Attention is focused on the design of dynamic output feedback controllers, which guarantee that the closed-loop system is robustly stable and the closed-loop transfer function is extended strictly positive real (ESPR) for all admissible uncertainties. A sufficient condition for ESPR of 2-D GM is first presented. Based on this, the explicit parameters of the desired output feedback controller are designed using a linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, a numerical example to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method is provided.
The effects of age, sex, ethnicity, and sleep-disordered breathing on sleep architecture.

BACKGROUND Polysomnography is used to assess sleep quality and to gauge the functional effect of sleep disorders. Few population-based data are available to estimate the variation in sleep architecture across the population and the extent to which sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), a common health condition, contributes to poor sleep independent of other factors. The objective of this study was to describe the population variability in sleep quality and to quantify the independent associations with SDB. METHODS Cross-sectional analyses were performed on data from 2685 participants, aged 37 to 92 years, in a community-based multicenter cohort study. Dependent measures included the percentage time in each sleep stage, the arousal index, and sleep efficiency. Independent measures were age, sex, ethnicity, comorbidity status, and the respiratory disturbance index. RESULTS Lighter sleep was found in men relative to women and in American Indians and blacks relative to other ethnic groups. Increasing age was associated with impaired sleep in men, with less consistent associations in women. Notably, women had, on average, 106% more slow wave sleep. Sleep-disordered breathing was associated with poorer sleep; however, these associations were generally smaller than associations with sex, ethnicity, and age. Current smokers had lighter sleep than ex-smokers or never smokers. Obesity had little effect on sleep. CONCLUSIONS Sleep architecture varies with sex, age, ethnicity, and SDB. Individual assessment of the effect of SDB on sleep quality needs to account for other host characteristics. Men, but not women, show evidence of poorer sleep with aging, suggesting important sex differences in sleep physiology.
Impact of ENSO on the Variability of the Asian–Australian Monsoons as Simulated in GCM Experiments

Abstract The influences of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the summer- and wintertime precipitation and circulation over the principal monsoon regions of Asia and Australia have been studied using a suite of 46-yr experiments with a 30-wavenumber, 14-level general circulation model. Observed monthly varying sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the 1950–95 period have been prescribed in the tropical Pacific in these experiments. The lower boundary conditions at maritime sites outside the tropical Pacific are either set to climatological values [in the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) runs], predicted using a simple 50-m oceanic mixed layer (TOGA-ML runs), or prescribed using observed monthly SST variations. Four independent integrations have been conducted for each of these three forcing scenarios. The essential characteristics of the model climatology for the Asian–Australian sector compare well with the observations. Composites of the simulated precipitation data over the outstanding.
The morgana model for the rise of galaxies and active nuclei

We present the Model for the Rise of Galaxies and Active Nuclei (MORGANA), a new code for the formation and evolution of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Starting from the merger trees of dark matter (DM) haloes and a model for the evolution of substructure within the haloes, the complex physics of baryons is modelled with a set of state-of-the-art models that describe the mass, metal and energy flows between the various components (baryonic halo, bulge, disc) and phases (cold and hot gas, stars) of a galaxy. These flows are then numerically integrated to produce predictions for the evolution of galaxies. The processes of shock-heating and cooling, star formation, feedback, galactic winds and superwinds, accretion on to black holes and AGN feedback are described by new models. In particular, the evolution of the halo gas explicitly follows the thermal and kinetic energies of the hot and cold phases, while star formation and feedback follow the results of the multiphase model recently proposed by Monaco. The increased level of sophistication of these models allows to move from a phenomenological description of gas physics, based on simple scalings with the depth of the DM halo potential, towards a fully physically motivated one. We deem that this is fully justified by the level of maturity and rough convergence reached by the latest versions of numerical and semi-analytic models of galaxy formation. The comparison of the predictions of MORGANA with a basic set of galactic data reveals from the one hand an overall rough agreement, and from the other hand highlights a number of well- or less-known problems: (i) producing the cut-off of the luminosity function requires to force the quenching of the late cooling flows by AGN feedback, (ii) the normalization of the Tully‐Fisher relation of local spirals cannot be recovered unless the DM haloes are assumed to have a very low concentration, (iii) the mass function of H I gas is not easily fitted at small masses, unless a similarly low concentration is assumed, (iv) there is an excess of small elliptical galaxies at z = 0. These discrepancies, more than the points of agreement with data, give important clues on the missing ingredients of galaxy formation.
Supporting Knowledge Diversity in Knowledge Intensive Firms: A New Frontier for Information System Design

The emerging global economy is increasingly characterized by knowledge intensive firms. These firms require that diverse, specialized knowledge workers develop unique knowledge competencies, and also collaborate in ways that enhance the performance of the organization. By highlighting the need for both the separate development of competencies as well as their combined application, knowledge intensive firms put renewed attention on the phenomena of differentiation and integration as originally theorized by Lawrence and Lorsch (1967). The Information Systems field has for too long emphasized the integration half of their insight, and has neglected the need to develop information systems to support the differentiation of knowledge and the conduct of dialogue among highly differentiated experts. This paper argues the need for information systems that actively value the diversity of differentiated knowledge and that provide mechanisms for the integration of knowledge which respects the separateness of each expertise and way of knowing.
Detection and Summarization of Novel Network Attacks Using Data Mining

This paper introduces the Minnesota Intrusion Detection System (MINDS), which uses a suite of data mining techniques to automatically detect attacks against computer networks and systems. While the long-term objective of MINDS is to address all aspects of intrusion detection, in this paper we present two specific contributions. First, we present MINDS anomaly detection module that assigns a score to each connection that reflects how anomalous the connection is compared to the normal network traffic. Experimental results on live network traffic at the University of Minnesota show that our anomaly detection techniques have been successful in automatically detecting several novel intrusions that could not be identified using state-of-the-art signature-based tools such as SNORT. Many of these have been reported on the CERT/CC list of recent advisories and incident notes. We also present the results of comparing the MINDS anomaly detection module to SPADE (Statistical Packet Anomaly Detection Engine), which is designed to detect stealthy scans. Second, we present MINDS association pattern analysis module that summarizes those network connections that are ranked highly anomalous by the anomaly detection module. Given the very high volume of connections observed per unit time, such characterization of novel attacks is essential in enabling a security analyst to understand emerging threats. Experimental evaluation shows that the MINDS approach is very useful in creating accurate summaries of novel attacks.
Thermionic Emission as a Tool to Study Transport in Undoped nFinFETs

Thermally activated subthreshold transport has been investigated in undoped triple-gate MOSFETs. The evolution of the barrier height and of the active cross-sectional area of the channel as a function of gate voltage has been determined. The results of our experiments and of the tight-binding simulations we have developed are both in good agreement with previous analytical calculations, confirming the validity of the thermionic approach to investigate transport in FETs. This method provides an important tool for the improvement of device characteristics.
Nonsmooth Data Error Estimates With Applications To The Study Of The Long-Time Behavior Of Finite El

A rather general semilinear parabolic problem is studied together with its spatially semidiscrete nite element approximation. Both problems are formulated within the framework of nonlinear semigroups in the Sobolev space H 1 ((). The main result is an error estimate for solutions with initial data in H 1 ((), valid during an arbitrary nite time interval. The proof is based on the semigroup formulation and is rather elementary. A completely discrete scheme based on the backward Euler method for time discretization is analyzed in an analogous way. This type of error estimate is a key ingredient in recent work by several authors concerning the long-time behavior of nite element solutions. Two examples of this kind are presented: the upper semicontinuity of attractors and a long-time error bound for exponentially stable solutions.
Non-Abelian Monopoles and Vortices

The Seiberg-Witten equations are defined on certain complex line bundles over smooth oriented four manifolds. When the base manifold is a complex Kahler surface, the Seiberg-Witten equations are essentially the Abelian vortex equations. Using known non-abelian generalizations of the vortex equations as a guide, we explore some non-abelian versions of the Seiberg-Witten equations. We also make some comments about the differences between the vortex equations that have previously appeared in the literature and those that emerge as Kahler versions of Seiberg-witten type equations.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness: the need for a distinction between hypersensitivity and excessive airway narrowing.

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is currently defined as an increase in sensitivity to a wide variety of airway narrowing stimuli. Most patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit such an enhanced sensitivity. In asthma, in particular, this hypersensitivity is accompanied by excessive degrees of airway narrowing. This raises the question as to whether measures of sensitivity, e.g. the provocative concentration or dose producing 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20 or PD20), comprise all the relevant information in bronchial hyperresponsiveness. In adjunct to model studies, there is experimental evidence in man that the potential mechanisms of bronchial hyperresponsiveness can be divided into those causing hypersensitivity and those responsible for the increase in the maximal attainable degree of airway narrowing. The recognition and distinction of these components of hyperresponsiveness have clinical implications in the diagnosis and therapy of asthma and COPD. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a composite functional disorder, which requires treatment of each of its components.