4-Class MI-EEG Signal Generation and Recognition with CVAE-GAN

As the capability of an electroencephalogram’s (EEG) measurement of the real-time electrodynamics of the human brain is known to all, signal processing techniques, particularly deep learning, could either provide a novel solution for learning but also optimize robust representations from EEG signals. Considering the limited data collection and inadequate concentration of during subjects testing, it becomes essential to obtain sufficient training data and useful features with a potential end-user of a brain–computer interface (BCI) system. In this paper, we combined a conditional variational auto-encoder network (CVAE) with a generative adversarial network (GAN) for learning latent representations from EEG brain signals. By updating the fine-tuned parameter fed into the resulting generative model, we could synthetize the EEG signal under a specific category. We employed an encoder network to obtain the distributed samples of the EEG signal, and applied an adversarial learning mechanism to continuous optimization of the parameters of the generator, discriminator and classifier. The CVAE was adopted to adjust the synthetics more approximately to the real sample class. Finally, we demonstrated our approach take advantages of both statistic and feature matching to make the training process converge faster and more stable and address the problem of small-scale datasets in deep learning applications for motor imagery tasks through data augmentation. The augmented training datasets produced by our proposed CVAE-GAN method significantly enhance the performance of MI-EEG recognition

Effects of brief mindfulness training on smoking cue-reactivity in tobacco use disorder: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundThe prevalence of Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) represents a significant and pressing global public health concern, with far-reaching and deleterious consequences for individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. The craving caused by smoking cue is an important trigger for relapse, fundamentally hindering the cessation of cigarette smoking. Mindfulness interventions focusing on cue-reactivity was effective for the treatment of related dependence. Brief mindfulness training (BMT) meets the short-term needs for intervention but the effects still need to be examined. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of BMT intervention on smoking cue-reactivity among Chinese college students with TUD, to uncover the dynamic models of brain function involved in this process.MethodA randomized control trial (RCT) based on electroencephalography (EEG) was designed. We aim to recruit 90 participants and randomly assign to the BMT and control group (CON) with 1:1 ratio. A brief mindfulness training will be administered to experimental group. After the intervention, data collection will be conducted in the follow-up stage with 5 timepoints of assessments. EEG data will be recorded during the smoking cue-reactivity task and 'STOP' brief mindfulness task. The primary outcomes include subjective reports of smoking craving, changes in EEG indicators, and mindfulness measures. The secondary outcomes will be daily smoking behaviours, affect and impulsivity, as well as indicators reflecting correlation between mindfulness and smoking cue-reactivity. To evaluate the impact of mindfulness training, a series of linear mixed-effects models will be employed. Specifically, within-group effects will be examined by analysing the longitudinal data. Additionally, the effect size for all statistical measurements will be reported, offering a comprehensive view of the observed effects.DiscussionThe current study aims to assess the impact of brief mindfulness-based intervention on smoking cue-reactivity in TUD. It also expected to enhance our understanding of the underlying processes involved in brain function and explore potential EEG biomarkers at multiple time points.Trial registrationTrial registration number: ChiCTR2300069363, registered on 14 March 2023. Protocol Version 1.0., 10 April 2023

Evaluated variables.

BackgroundThe prevalence of Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) represents a significant and pressing global public health concern, with far-reaching and deleterious consequences for individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. The craving caused by smoking cue is an important trigger for relapse, fundamentally hindering the cessation of cigarette smoking. Mindfulness interventions focusing on cue-reactivity was effective for the treatment of related dependence. Brief mindfulness training (BMT) meets the short-term needs for intervention but the effects still need to be examined. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of BMT intervention on smoking cue-reactivity among Chinese college students with TUD, to uncover the dynamic models of brain function involved in this process.MethodA randomized control trial (RCT) based on electroencephalography (EEG) was designed. We aim to recruit 90 participants and randomly assign to the BMT and control group (CON) with 1:1 ratio. A brief mindfulness training will be administered to experimental group. After the intervention, data collection will be conducted in the follow-up stage with 5 timepoints of assessments. EEG data will be recorded during the smoking cue-reactivity task and ‘STOP’ brief mindfulness task. The primary outcomes include subjective reports of smoking craving, changes in EEG indicators, and mindfulness measures. The secondary outcomes will be daily smoking behaviours, affect and impulsivity, as well as indicators reflecting correlation between mindfulness and smoking cue-reactivity. To evaluate the impact of mindfulness training, a series of linear mixed-effects models will be employed. Specifically, within-group effects will be examined by analysing the longitudinal data. Additionally, the effect size for all statistical measurements will be reported, offering a comprehensive view of the observed effects.DiscussionThe current study aims to assess the impact of brief mindfulness-based intervention on smoking cue-reactivity in TUD. It also expected to enhance our understanding of the underlying processes involved in brain function and explore potential EEG biomarkers at multiple time points.Trial registrationTrial registration number: ChiCTR2300069363, registered on 14 March 2023. Protocol Version 1.0., 10 April 2023.</div

SPIRIT schedule of enrolment, interventions and assessment.

Note: -t1, 0, baseline; t1, post intervention; t2-t5, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year follow-up.</p

Stabilizing n-type cubic AgBiSe2 thermoelectric materials through alloying with PbS

Phase transition generates rapid changes of transport parameters and poor mechanical property, and thus restricts the application of thermoelectric materials. AgBiSe2 exhibits cubic phase at above 580 K with high-symmetry structure and low lattice thermal conductivity, indicating the potentiality of high thermoelectric performances. In this work, the cubic structure of AgBiSe2 was achieved at ambient conditions by alloying with PbS, enhancing the configurational entropy at both cationic and anionic sites. The cubic structure was rather stable after several measurement cycles. Nb substitution at cationic sites effectively reduced band gap, and increased both carrier concentration and effective mass. All samples exhibited relatively low lattice thermal conductivity (0.68–0.34 W/(m·K)) in the temperature range of 300–773 K, due to the nanoscale inhomogeneity and the random distribution of multiple species at some atomic sites. A maximum zT of 0.65 at 773 K was obtained for (Ag0.99Nb0.01BiSe2)0.8(PbS)0.2 sample. The entropy-driven structural stabilization is a promising strategy to achieve stable structure for practical thermoelectric applications

SPIRIT diagram.

BackgroundThe prevalence of Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) represents a significant and pressing global public health concern, with far-reaching and deleterious consequences for individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. The craving caused by smoking cue is an important trigger for relapse, fundamentally hindering the cessation of cigarette smoking. Mindfulness interventions focusing on cue-reactivity was effective for the treatment of related dependence. Brief mindfulness training (BMT) meets the short-term needs for intervention but the effects still need to be examined. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of BMT intervention on smoking cue-reactivity among Chinese college students with TUD, to uncover the dynamic models of brain function involved in this process.MethodA randomized control trial (RCT) based on electroencephalography (EEG) was designed. We aim to recruit 90 participants and randomly assign to the BMT and control group (CON) with 1:1 ratio. A brief mindfulness training will be administered to experimental group. After the intervention, data collection will be conducted in the follow-up stage with 5 timepoints of assessments. EEG data will be recorded during the smoking cue-reactivity task and ‘STOP’ brief mindfulness task. The primary outcomes include subjective reports of smoking craving, changes in EEG indicators, and mindfulness measures. The secondary outcomes will be daily smoking behaviours, affect and impulsivity, as well as indicators reflecting correlation between mindfulness and smoking cue-reactivity. To evaluate the impact of mindfulness training, a series of linear mixed-effects models will be employed. Specifically, within-group effects will be examined by analysing the longitudinal data. Additionally, the effect size for all statistical measurements will be reported, offering a comprehensive view of the observed effects.DiscussionThe current study aims to assess the impact of brief mindfulness-based intervention on smoking cue-reactivity in TUD. It also expected to enhance our understanding of the underlying processes involved in brain function and explore potential EEG biomarkers at multiple time points.Trial registrationTrial registration number: ChiCTR2300069363, registered on 14 March 2023. Protocol Version 1.0., 10 April 2023.</div

All items from the world health organization trial registration data set.

All items from the world health organization trial registration data set.</p

EEG preprocessing and analyses.

BackgroundThe prevalence of Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) represents a significant and pressing global public health concern, with far-reaching and deleterious consequences for individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. The craving caused by smoking cue is an important trigger for relapse, fundamentally hindering the cessation of cigarette smoking. Mindfulness interventions focusing on cue-reactivity was effective for the treatment of related dependence. Brief mindfulness training (BMT) meets the short-term needs for intervention but the effects still need to be examined. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of BMT intervention on smoking cue-reactivity among Chinese college students with TUD, to uncover the dynamic models of brain function involved in this process.MethodA randomized control trial (RCT) based on electroencephalography (EEG) was designed. We aim to recruit 90 participants and randomly assign to the BMT and control group (CON) with 1:1 ratio. A brief mindfulness training will be administered to experimental group. After the intervention, data collection will be conducted in the follow-up stage with 5 timepoints of assessments. EEG data will be recorded during the smoking cue-reactivity task and ‘STOP’ brief mindfulness task. The primary outcomes include subjective reports of smoking craving, changes in EEG indicators, and mindfulness measures. The secondary outcomes will be daily smoking behaviours, affect and impulsivity, as well as indicators reflecting correlation between mindfulness and smoking cue-reactivity. To evaluate the impact of mindfulness training, a series of linear mixed-effects models will be employed. Specifically, within-group effects will be examined by analysing the longitudinal data. Additionally, the effect size for all statistical measurements will be reported, offering a comprehensive view of the observed effects.DiscussionThe current study aims to assess the impact of brief mindfulness-based intervention on smoking cue-reactivity in TUD. It also expected to enhance our understanding of the underlying processes involved in brain function and explore potential EEG biomarkers at multiple time points.Trial registrationTrial registration number: ChiCTR2300069363, registered on 14 March 2023. Protocol Version 1.0., 10 April 2023.</div

Preparation and properties of HfB2-HfC and HfB2-HfC-MoB composites by reactive spark plasma sintering

ABSTRACTUltra-high-temperature ceramics are required for many aerospace applications. In this work, HfB2-30 vol.% HfC and HfB2-26 vol.% HfC-43 vol.% MoB high-density composites were prepared by one-step in-situ reactive spark plasma sintering (R-SPS) using Hf, B4C and Mo powders as starting materials. The influences of sintering temperature on the densification mechanism, microstructural evolution, mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of the composites were thoroughly investigated. The results demonstrate that the raw materials undergo a complete chemical reaction to form new binary HfB2-HfC and ternary HfB2-HfC-MoB composite structures at a temperature of 1300°C. The HfB2-HfC and HfB2-HfC-MoB composites prepared at the optimal conditions (pressure = 50 MPa, temperature = 1800°C, holding time = 5 min) had highre densities of 97% and 98%, respectively. The Vickers hardness, Young’s modulus and fracture toughness of the HfB2-HfC composite were 18.3 GPa, 525 GPa and 6.34 MPa·m1/2, respectively. However, after molybdenum was added, the Vickers hardness of the ternary HfB2-HfC-MoB composite increased to 19.4 GPa but its fracture toughness decreased slightly to 6.1 MPa·m1/2. Compared with the binary composite, the ternary composite exhibited a low and thermally stable oxidation rate up to a temperature of 1400°C, and the test was conducted in air atmosphere