Sample entropy analysis of EEG signals via artificial neural networks to model patients' consciousness level based on anesthesiologists experience.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.This research is supported by the Center forDynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan, which is sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. MOST103-2911-I-008-001). Also, it is supported by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology in Taiwan (Grant nos. CSIST-095-V301 and CSIST-095-V302)

Electromagnetic emissions from the IC packaging

The EMC and EMI of the IC packaging are becoming increasingly important to modern electronics. Its EMC, SI, and PI have been broadly attested. But electromagnetic radiations from IC packaging and the corresponding EMI were seldom studied. In this paper, the fundamental principles and properties of the electromagnetic radiations caused by vias and traces in IC packagings are carefully investigated. Various radiation mechanisms are analyzed for different representative scenarios. Numerical simulations are employed to support the analyzing results. © 2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Electromagnetic emissions from the IC packaging

The EMC and EMI of the IC packaging are becoming increasingly important to modern electronics. Its EMC, SI, and PI have been broadly attested. But electromagnetic radiations from IC packaging and the corresponding EMI were seldom studied. In this paper, the fundamental principles and properties of the electromagnetic radiations caused by vias and traces in IC packagings are carefully investigated. Various radiation mechanisms are analyzed for different representative scenarios. Numerical simulations are employed to support the analyzing results. © 2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Identifying Topological Order by Entanglement Entropy

Topological phases are unique states of matter incorporating long-range quantum entanglement, hosting exotic excitations with fractional quantum statistics. We report a practical method to identify topological phases in arbitrary realistic models by accurately calculating the Topological Entanglement Entropy (TEE) using the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG). We argue that the DMRG algorithm naturally produces a minimally entangled state, from amongst the quasi-degenerate ground states in a topological phase. This proposal both explains the success of this method, and the absence of ground state degeneracy found in prior DMRG sightings of topological phases. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the calculational procedure by obtaining the TEE for several microscopic models, with an accuracy of order $10^{-3}$ when the circumference of the cylinder is around ten times the correlation length. As an example, we definitively show the ground state of the quantum $S=1/2$ antiferromagnet on the kagom\'e lattice is a topological spin liquid, and strongly constrain the full identification of this phase of matter.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Reconstruction of body cavity volume in terrestrial tetrapods

tracts required for the digestion of plant fiber, this concept has not been addressed quantitatively. We estimated the volume of the torso in 126 terrestrial tetrapods (synapsids including basal synapsids and mammals, and diapsids including birds, non-avian dinosaurs and reptiles) classified as either herbivore or carnivore in digital models of mounted skeletons, using the convex hull method. The difference in relative torso volume between diet types was significant in mammals, where relative torso volumes of herbivores were about twice as large as that of carnivores, supporting the general hypothesis. However, this effect was not evident in diapsids. This may either reflect the difficulty to reliably reconstruct mounted skeletons in non-avian dinosaurs, or a fundamental difference in the bauplan of different groups of tetrapods, for example due to differences in respiratory anatomy. Evidently, the condition in mammals should not be automatically assumed in other, including more basal, tetrapod lineages. In both synapsids and diapsids, large animals showed a high degree of divergence with respect to the proportion of their convex hull directly supported by bone, with animals like elephants or Triceratops having a low proportion, and animals such as rhinoceros having a high proportion of bony support. The relevance of this difference remains to be further investigated

Adaptação do Questionário de Autonomia nos Adolescentes (QAA) para a língua portuguesa

O presente estudo tem como objectivo principal apresentar a versão portuguesa do Questionário de Autonomia nos Adolescentes, traduzido e adaptado a partir do Adolescent Autonomy Questionnaire (Noom, 1999). De forma a observar as qualidades psicométricas da versão portuguesa procedeu-se à análise da estrutura factorial, análise da fidelidade, análise da sensibilidade e correlações inter- -factores. Os resultados obtidos com uma amostra de 171 adolescentes indicaram, através de análise factorial confirmatória, que o modelo original constituído por três dimensões não se revelou adequado à estrutura correlacional observada. Neste sentido, recorreu-se a uma análise exploratória que reproduziu uma estrutura composta por quatro factores – Auto-determinação; Independência; Autonomia cognitiva e Autonomia emocional. Em termos gerais, observaram-se indícios favoráveis à adequabilidade da presente versão do instrumento para a população adolescente portuguesa em contexto escolar. As diferenças observadas entre os participantes em função da idade (14-16 anos vs. 17-19 anos) são consistentes com os resultados obtidos nos estudos do instrumento original, fornecendo evidências adicionais favoráveis à validade da versão portuguesa.ABSTRACT: The present study aims to adapt and translate the Adolescent Autonomy Questionnaire (Noom, 1999) for the Portuguese context. In order to observe the psychometric qualities of the Portuguese version, the factorial structure, reliability, sensibility and inter-factor correlations were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 171 adolescents revealed that the original tridimensional model was not adequate to the observed correlacional structure. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis yielded a structure with four factors – Self-determination, Independence, Cognitive autonomy and Emotional Autonomy. Concerning the psychometric qualities, analysis provided evidences favorable to the suitability of the present version of the questionnaire for the Portuguese adolescent population in educational context. The differences observed between the participants regarding their age (14-16 years vs. 17-19 years) are consistent with the results found in the studies of the original questionnaire, providing additional evidences favorable to the validity of the Portuguese version

Directed cell migration in the presence of obstacles

BACKGROUND: Chemotactic movement is a common feature of many cells and microscopic organisms. In vivo, chemotactic cells have to follow a chemotactic gradient and simultaneously avoid the numerous obstacles present in their migratory path towards the chemotactic source. It is not clear how cells detect and avoid obstacles, in particular whether they need a specialized biological mechanism to do so. RESULTS: We propose that cells can sense the presence of obstacles and avoid them because obstacles interfere with the chemical field. We build a model to test this hypothesis and find that this naturally enables efficient at-a-distance sensing to be achieved with no need for a specific and active obstacle-sensing mechanism. We find that (i) the efficiency of obstacle avoidance depends strongly on whether the chemotactic chemical reacts or remains unabsorbed at the obstacle surface. In particular, it is found that chemotactic cells generally avoid absorbing barriers much more easily than non-absorbing ones. (ii) The typically low noise in a cell's motion hinders the ability to avoid obstacles. We also derive an expression estimating the typical distance traveled by chemotactic cells in a 3D random distribution of obstacles before capture; this is a measure of the distance over which chemotaxis is viable as a means of directing cells from one point to another in vivo. CONCLUSION: Chemotactic cells, in many cases, can avoid obstacles by simply following the spatially perturbed chemical gradients around obstacles. It is thus unlikely that they have developed specialized mechanisms to cope with environments having low to moderate concentrations of obstacles