Assessing Neuronal Synchrony and Brain Function Through Local Field Potential and Spike Analysis

Studies of neuronal network oscillations and rhythmic neuronal synchronization have led to a number of important insights in recent years, giving us a better understanding of the temporal organization of neuronal activity related to essential brain functions like sensory processing and cognition. Important principles and theories have emerged from these findings, including the communication through coherence hypothesis, which proposes that synchronous oscillations render neuronal communication effective, selective, and precise. The implications of such a theory may be universal for brain function, as the determinants of neuronal communication inextricably shape the neuronal representation of information in the brain. However, the study of communication through coherence is still relatively young. Since its articulation in 2005, the theory has predominantly been applied to assess cortical function and its communication with downstream targets in different sensory and behavioral conditions. The results herein are intended to bolster this hypothesis and explore new ways in which oscillations coordinate neuronal communication in distributed regions. This includes the development of new analytic tools for interpreting electrophysiological patterns, inspired by phase synchronization and spike train analysis. These tools aim to offer fast results with clear statistical and physiological interpretation

High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1406 “High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet)“ project. Long considered important pillars of the scientific method, Modelling and Simulation have evolved from traditional discrete numerical methods to complex data-intensive continuous analytical optimisations. Resolution, scale, and accuracy have become essential to predict and analyse natural and complex systems in science and engineering. When their level of abstraction raises to have a better discernment of the domain at hand, their representation gets increasingly demanding for computational and data resources. On the other hand, High Performance Computing typically entails the effective use of parallel and distributed processing units coupled with efficient storage, communication and visualisation systems to underpin complex data-intensive applications in distinct scientific and technical domains. It is then arguably required to have a seamless interaction of High Performance Computing with Modelling and Simulation in order to store, compute, analyse, and visualise large data sets in science and engineering. Funded by the European Commission, cHiPSet has provided a dynamic trans-European forum for their members and distinguished guests to openly discuss novel perspectives and topics of interests for these two communities. This cHiPSet compendium presents a set of selected case studies related to healthcare, biological data, computational advertising, multimedia, finance, bioinformatics, and telecommunications

Models and analysis of vocal emissions for biomedical applications: 5th International Workshop: December 13-15, 2007, Firenze, Italy

The MAVEBA Workshop proceedings, held on a biannual basis, collect the scientific papers presented both as oral and poster contributions, during the conference. The main subjects are: development of theoretical and mechanical models as an aid to the study of main phonatory dysfunctions, as well as the biomedical engineering methods for the analysis of voice signals and images, as a support to clinical diagnosis and classification of vocal pathologies. The Workshop has the sponsorship of: Ente Cassa Risparmio di Firenze, COST Action 2103, Biomedical Signal Processing and Control Journal (Elsevier Eds.), IEEE Biomedical Engineering Soc. Special Issues of International Journals have been, and will be, published, collecting selected papers from the conference

High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1406 “High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet)“ project. Long considered important pillars of the scientific method, Modelling and Simulation have evolved from traditional discrete numerical methods to complex data-intensive continuous analytical optimisations. Resolution, scale, and accuracy have become essential to predict and analyse natural and complex systems in science and engineering. When their level of abstraction raises to have a better discernment of the domain at hand, their representation gets increasingly demanding for computational and data resources. On the other hand, High Performance Computing typically entails the effective use of parallel and distributed processing units coupled with efficient storage, communication and visualisation systems to underpin complex data-intensive applications in distinct scientific and technical domains. It is then arguably required to have a seamless interaction of High Performance Computing with Modelling and Simulation in order to store, compute, analyse, and visualise large data sets in science and engineering. Funded by the European Commission, cHiPSet has provided a dynamic trans-European forum for their members and distinguished guests to openly discuss novel perspectives and topics of interests for these two communities. This cHiPSet compendium presents a set of selected case studies related to healthcare, biological data, computational advertising, multimedia, finance, bioinformatics, and telecommunications

Recent Advances in Signal Processing

The signal processing task is a very critical issue in the majority of new technological inventions and challenges in a variety of applications in both science and engineering fields. Classical signal processing techniques have largely worked with mathematical models that are linear, local, stationary, and Gaussian. They have always favored closed-form tractability over real-world accuracy. These constraints were imposed by the lack of powerful computing tools. During the last few decades, signal processing theories, developments, and applications have matured rapidly and now include tools from many areas of mathematics, computer science, physics, and engineering. This book is targeted primarily toward both students and researchers who want to be exposed to a wide variety of signal processing techniques and algorithms. It includes 27 chapters that can be categorized into five different areas depending on the application at hand. These five categories are ordered to address image processing, speech processing, communication systems, time-series analysis, and educational packages respectively. The book has the advantage of providing a collection of applications that are completely independent and self-contained; thus, the interested reader can choose any chapter and skip to another without losing continuity

The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment as a measure of personality disorder traits in children and adolescents

Many psychological problems in adulthood have their roots in childhood and adolescence. This is particularly true for personality disorders (PDs). In order to identify young people with PD traits before their problems become pervasive, we need reliable and valid assessment tools. This volume includes three papers seeking to examine the usefulness of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for measuring PD traits in young people. Part 1 is a systematic review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that used the ASEBA to investigate the internalising and externalising problems of young people presenting with (or who later developed) personality difficulties. The majority of the studies examined antisocial and borderline PD. The review concluded that there was consistent evidence of criterion validity for a few ASEBA scales but the ASEBA did not have adequate psychometric properties for accurately identifying young people with PD. Part 2 is an empirical paper that used a large database created for audit purposes in a community-based psychotherapy and counselling service for young people. The ASEBA profiles of young people with PD traits and PD-related presenting problems were examined. This paper also describes the development and psychometric evaluation of two new, PD-related ASEBA scales. Finally, Part 3 is a critical appraisal of the research undertaken. It discusses epistemological and methodological aspects of the work and reflects upon the proposed changes in the conceptualisation of PD in the updated diagnostic system. This paper also highlights the clinical dilemmas related to diagnosing PD before adulthood

Change blindness: eradication of gestalt strategies

Arrays of eight, texture-defined rectangles were used as stimuli in a one-shot change blindness (CB) task where there was a 50% chance that one rectangle would change orientation between two successive presentations separated by an interval. CB was eliminated by cueing the target rectangle in the first stimulus, reduced by cueing in the interval and unaffected by cueing in the second presentation. This supports the idea that a representation was formed that persisted through the interval before being 'overwritten' by the second presentation (Landman et al, 2003 Vision Research 43149–164]. Another possibility is that participants used some kind of grouping or Gestalt strategy. To test this we changed the spatial position of the rectangles in the second presentation by shifting them along imaginary spokes (by ±1 degree) emanating from the central fixation point. There was no significant difference seen in performance between this and the standard task [F(1,4)=2.565, p=0.185]. This may suggest two things: (i) Gestalt grouping is not used as a strategy in these tasks, and (ii) it gives further weight to the argument that objects may be stored and retrieved from a pre-attentional store during this task

Experiencing responsibility in the context of project management

This portfolio presents my research on organisational change, comprising four consecutive research projects and a synopsis which brings together the emerging themes of my enquiry. My work shows the movement of my thinking during a three year period, as I engaged in an emergent exploration of my experience (Christensen, 2003; Stacey & Griffin, 2003). When I began my enquiry, I was mainly concerned about the limits of control and predictability while offering strategic options, focusing on the discipline of strategic management as a framework to my practice. While engaging with my experience of participating in management change projects, I gradually realised that I was more concerned about the emotional responses evoked in the context of project management. As my research developed, I started to associate those emotional responses with the experience of responsibility, understanding that experience as an important theme for my practice which influences how people are able to work together. I came to articulate the notion of responsibility as an experience of feeling a compulsion to do or not to do something, an enabling constraint associated with the event or the expectation of having to respond or to give account for it, justifying one's actions or omissions. I claim that responsibility emerges in communicative interaction (Mead, 1934), as people continuously negotiate its meaning while power relating (Elias, 1970; 1998). Further, I point to how project management has developed surveillance-based management techniques, such as project planning and control tools, which functionalise responsibility through disciplinary processes (Foucault, 1975) in order to attain deliberate control. I argue that the assumption underpinning those techniques is that holding people to account for the completion of their tasks (the passive form of responsibility), will influence those people into taking active responsibility for how they are expected to perform (Bovens, 1998). Drawing on my experience of participating in management change projects, I argue that this is not always the case and I point to how more complex work dynamics may develop. I also argue that those surveillance-based management techniques rely on the positive valuation attached to behaving responsibility (responsibility as value), as well as on how being responsible is incorporated in an organisation's formal and informal rules (responsibility as norm). Retaining both the qualities of value and norm (Joas, 2000). responsibility is then incorporated in emergent organisational ideologies (Stacey. 2004), sometimes taking the form of cult value (Mead, 1923). Narrating my experience, I illustrate how experiencing responsibility in the context of project management evokes emotional responses, such as shame, guilt or pride, which are not accounted for nor referred in project management literature (Pinto, 1998; Turner, 1999; Burke, 1999; Dixon, 2000; Lock, 2003). This portfolio contributes to expand that literature, focusing on the emotional aspects of project management which are left out in its straight- forward and rational approach. Furthermore, understanding my experience of responsibility in relation to communicative interaction, power relating, emerging ideologies, cult values, disciplining processes and emotional responses has shifted my practice, enabling me to work differently

30th International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering Management (COMADEM 2017)

Proceedings of COMADEM 201

Innovative Wireless Localization Techniques and Applications

Innovative methodologies for the wireless localization of users and related applications are addressed in this thesis. In last years, the widespread diffusion of pervasive wireless communication (e.g., Wi-Fi) and global localization services (e.g., GPS) has boosted the interest and the research on location information and services. Location-aware applications are becoming fundamental to a growing number of consumers (e.g., navigation, advertising, seamless user interaction with smart places), private and public institutions in the fields of energy efficiency, security, safety, fleet management, emergency response. In this context, the position of the user - where is often more valuable for deploying services of interest than the identity of the user itself - who. In detail, opportunistic approaches based on the analysis of electromagnetic field indicators (i.e., received signal strength and channel state information) for the presence detection, the localization, the tracking and the posture recognition of cooperative and non-cooperative (device-free) users in indoor environments are proposed and validated in real world test sites. The methodologies are designed to exploit existing wireless infrastructures and commodity devices without any hardware modification. In outdoor environments, global positioning technologies are already available in commodity devices and vehicles, the research and knowledge transfer activities are actually focused on the design and validation of algorithms and systems devoted to support decision makers and operators for increasing efficiency, operations security, and management of large fleets as well as localized sensed information in order to gain situation awareness. In this field, a decision support system for emergency response and Civil Defense assets management (i.e., personnel and vehicles equipped with TETRA mobile radio) is described in terms of architecture and results of two-years of experimental validation