Signal processing of EEG data and AI assisted classification of emotional responses based on visual stimuli

This report outlines the research conducted to explore on the topic of classification of human neurological data using machine learning models. The primary objective was to investigate alternative approaches for efficiently interpreting EEG data and test the possibilities for predicting human emotions. During the study, data was collected by recording the brain activity of volunteering respondents using electroencephalography. These participants were exposed to visual stimuli in the purpose of provoking specific neural activity as a result of emotional responses in the brain. The collected data underwent traditional signal preprocessing techniques typically employed in EEG data analysis. Subsequently, the filtered data was subjected to wavelet transformation, both with and without synchrosqueezing. Principal components analysis was used to perform dimensionality reduction on the resulting features extracted from the data. The final model achieved a prediction accuracy of 32% when classifying between eight different classes of emotional responses based on training data from three respondents

Considering elite adolescent academy footballers’ pathways: A socio-cultural examination of elite players’ day-to-day practices, relationships and experiences

Background Within their day-to-day practices, it has been observed that elite academy soccer players experience various forms of symbolic violence (Cushion & Jones, 2006) whilst also accepting traditional workplace norms within an environment that is defined by discipline (Roderick, 2006; Giulianotti, 1999). Against this backdrop, and to potentially avert any limiting outcomes in this population, in this study we examine the experiences of elite academy footballers to lend further empirical weight to this discussion. Method The current study collected data from semi-structured interviews using a Foucauldian inspired interview guide (Avner, Denison, & Jones, 2014). In order to remain truthful to the nature of the research project, the method followed the process of creating transcripts from the interview process and analysing them using Foucault’s disciplinary analysis (1995). Results When considering the findings of the research, theme one showed that subjection to coach observation has led to athletes accepting their routines and normalized practices. Theme two identified intense levels of self-regulation and the acceptance of being a 24 hour athlete. The third theme as it was able to highlight the problematic consequences of such high levels of surveillance with surveillance technologies in the academy setting but also provide an alternative discussion in the form of players beginning their own critical thinking process towards the use of surveillance technologies. Conclusion Overall, the findings from this research have shown that adopting a socio-cultural lens can help to understand the complex relationships within academy and also the relationships the players have with their body. This thesis has helped to promote ideas and thought processes that with the intention of helping stimulate coaches to think about why they engage in set practices and the ongoing impact that these chosen practices have on player development

Lystgass som smertelindring i den norske ambulansetjenesten

Bakgrunn for oppgaven I flere land benyttes lystgass som smertelindring i ambulansetjenesten. Dette benyttes ikke i Norge, og det er derfor interessant å undersøke om lystgass kan være et effektivt og egnet medikament i den norske ambulansetjenesten. Hensikt Hensikten med denne studien er å undersøke om lystgass er et effektivt gassanalgetikum mot moderate til sterke akutte smerter i en prehospital setting. Metode Metoden for denne studien er en litteraturstudie. Fire vitenskapelige forskningsartikler er hentet fra søkemotorene PubMed og Cinahl. Studiene er publisert etter 2012 og inkluderer pasienter over 18 år som har fått smertelindring med lystgass mot akutte smerter. De utvalgte studiene, pensumlitteratur og selvvalgt litteratur, samt andre aktuelle kilder vil belyse problemstillingen. Resultat Det er inkludert to randomiserte kontrollerte studier, en litteraturstudie og en pilotstudie. De randomiserte studiene viser reduksjon i smertescore fra sterke til moderate smerter innen 5 minutter. Pilotstudien måler smertescore etter hvert 20. minutt, og viser også en nedgang fra sterke til moderate smerter. Litteraturstudien viser at lystgass har noe raskere innsettende effekt enn gassanalgetikumet methoxyflurane. Studiene viser til samme og samtidig få bivirkninger. Majoriteten av deltakerne ville gjentatt samme smertelindring. Diskusjon og konklusjon Gjennom denne litteraturstudien har vi erfart at det er lite oppdatert prehospital forskning på bruk av lystgass. Det finnes ikke nok forskning til å konkludere om lystgass er et gassanalgetikum som er egnet i ambulansetjenesten. Likevel kan vi ut i fra studiene anta at lystgass har rask og god effekt på moderate til sterke akutte smerter, samt få alvorlige bivirkninger.Background Several countries utilize Nitrous Oxide for pain relief in their ambulance services. This is not used in Norway however, and it is therefore interesting to examine if it could be an effective and suitable medication to be used within the Norwegian ambulance service. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine if Nitrous Oxide is an effective analgesic that can be used to treat moderate to severe acute pain in a prehospital environment. Method The method of this study is a systematic review. There are four scientific studies included in this assignment. These were found using the databases PubMed and Cinahl. All the studies were published after 2012, and include patients that are given nitrous oxide to treat acute pain. The scientific studies, our curriculum, and other relevant literature, where used as sources to approach our selected topic. Results The studies that are included are two randomized controlled trials, a systematic review and a pilot study. The randomized trials show a pain reduction from severe to moderate within 5 minutes. The pilot study registers pain intensity every 20 minutes and also shows a reduction from severe to moderate. The systematic review indicated that Nitrous Oxide had a more efficient onset than the gas analgesic Methoxyflurane. All studies indicate similar but few side effects. Most participants said they were willing to repeat the treatment if it was offered again. Discussion/Conclusion Through this study we’ve experienced that there is little contemporary research on the use of Nitrous Oxide in a prehospital setting. There is not enough research to conclude if Nitrous Oxide is suitable as an analgesic gas within the ambulance service. However, the data shows that Nitrous Oxide is efficient in reducing acute pain in the severe to moderate spectrum, and that it has few serious side effects

Lystgass som smertelindring i den norske ambulansetjenesten

Bakgrunn for oppgaven I flere land benyttes lystgass som smertelindring i ambulansetjenesten. Dette benyttes ikke i Norge, og det er derfor interessant å undersøke om lystgass kan være et effektivt og egnet medikament i den norske ambulansetjenesten. Hensikt Hensikten med denne studien er å undersøke om lystgass er et effektivt gassanalgetikum mot moderate til sterke akutte smerter i en prehospital setting. Metode Metoden for denne studien er en litteraturstudie. Fire vitenskapelige forskningsartikler er hentet fra søkemotorene PubMed og Cinahl. Studiene er publisert etter 2012 og inkluderer pasienter over 18 år som har fått smertelindring med lystgass mot akutte smerter. De utvalgte studiene, pensumlitteratur og selvvalgt litteratur, samt andre aktuelle kilder vil belyse problemstillingen. Resultat Det er inkludert to randomiserte kontrollerte studier, en litteraturstudie og en pilotstudie. De randomiserte studiene viser reduksjon i smertescore fra sterke til moderate smerter innen 5 minutter. Pilotstudien måler smertescore etter hvert 20. minutt, og viser også en nedgang fra sterke til moderate smerter. Litteraturstudien viser at lystgass har noe raskere innsettende effekt enn gassanalgetikumet methoxyflurane. Studiene viser til samme og samtidig få bivirkninger. Majoriteten av deltakerne ville gjentatt samme smertelindring. Diskusjon og konklusjon Gjennom denne litteraturstudien har vi erfart at det er lite oppdatert prehospital forskning på bruk av lystgass. Det finnes ikke nok forskning til å konkludere om lystgass er et gassanalgetikum som er egnet i ambulansetjenesten. Likevel kan vi ut i fra studiene anta at lystgass har rask og god effekt på moderate til sterke akutte smerter, samt få alvorlige bivirkninger.Background Several countries utilize Nitrous Oxide for pain relief in their ambulance services. This is not used in Norway however, and it is therefore interesting to examine if it could be an effective and suitable medication to be used within the Norwegian ambulance service. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine if Nitrous Oxide is an effective analgesic that can be used to treat moderate to severe acute pain in a prehospital environment. Method The method of this study is a systematic review. There are four scientific studies included in this assignment. These were found using the databases PubMed and Cinahl. All the studies were published after 2012, and include patients that are given nitrous oxide to treat acute pain. The scientific studies, our curriculum, and other relevant literature, where used as sources to approach our selected topic. Results The studies that are included are two randomized controlled trials, a systematic review and a pilot study. The randomized trials show a pain reduction from severe to moderate within 5 minutes. The pilot study registers pain intensity every 20 minutes and also shows a reduction from severe to moderate. The systematic review indicated that Nitrous Oxide had a more efficient onset than the gas analgesic Methoxyflurane. All studies indicate similar but few side effects. Most participants said they were willing to repeat the treatment if it was offered again. Discussion/Conclusion Through this study we’ve experienced that there is little contemporary research on the use of Nitrous Oxide in a prehospital setting. There is not enough research to conclude if Nitrous Oxide is suitable as an analgesic gas within the ambulance service. However, the data shows that Nitrous Oxide is efficient in reducing acute pain in the severe to moderate spectrum, and that it has few serious side effects

Magnetic tweezers based force spectroscopy studies of the structure and dynamics of nucleosomes and chromatin

Animals and plants are build from a large number of cells. These cells continuously respond to signals from outside and inside the cell by producing various kinds of proteins. The blueprints of these proteins are stored in genes. The genes, in cells with a nucleus, are carried in chromosomes: threadlike structures in the nucleus of a cell that become visible when the cell, upon dividing, condenses these structures. Chromosomes consist of roughly two parts: proteins, that take care of the condensation and DNA, carrying the genetic information of the cell. Without this condensation, the DNA in a human cell would never fit into the nucleus. During a cell division, DNA is compacted even more. The condensation has to be done in an orderly fashion so that the chromosomes can be replicated correctly at each cell division. Besides the compaction, the DNA still needs to be accessible for the expression of genes. The activity of genes can even be controlled by regulation of the DNA compaction. For a complete understanding of the regulation of DNA compaction, we need to understand, at molecular detail, not only the structure but also the dynamics of the compaction of DNA. At the first level of compaction, DNA winds around specific proteins, called histones. The DNA-histon complex is called a nucleosome. Another species of histone proteins, called linker histones are known to constrict the DNA exiting the nucleosome, thereby stabilizing the structure of the nucleosome. Under physiological conditions, arrays of nucleosomes fold into compact fibers called chromatin fibers. The transient structure of nucleosomes and the interaction between nucleosomes in a chromatin fiber, plays an important role in the compaction of DNA. We chose to use force spectroscopy, because this technique makes it possible to study the structure and dynamics of nucleosomes at the level of single molecules. In chapter 2 we introduced a simple method for dynamic force spectroscopy using magnetic tweezers. This method allows application of sub-piconewton force on single molecules, by calibration of the applied force from the distance between a pair of magnets and a magnetic sphere, which is used to apply a force to a molecule. Initial dynamic force spectroscopy experiments on DNA molecules revealed a large hysteresis in the force-extension curve. This hysteresis was caused by viscous drag on the magnetic bead making it impossible to measure the weak interactions between DNA and nucleosomes. Smaller beads decreased this hysteresis sufficiently to reveal intra-molecular interactions at sub-piconewton forces. Compared to typical quasi-static force spectroscopy our method is significantly faster, allowing the real time study of transient structures and reaction intermediates. As a proof of principle nucleosome-nucleosome interactions on a sub-saturated chromatin fiber were analyzed. In chapter 3 we investigated the Brownian fluctuations of the magnetic sphere in a magnetic tweezers experiment. We measured the force induced unwrapping of DNA from a single nucleosome. We showed that hidden Markov analysis, adopted for the non-linear force-extension of DNA, can readily resolve unwrapping events that are significantly smaller than the Brownian fluctuations. The probability distribution of the height of the magnetic bead was used to accurately resolve small changes in contour length and persistence length of a DNA molecule containing a nucleosome. The latter is shown to be directly related to the DNA bending angle of the complex. The adapted hidden Markov analysis can be used for any transient DNA-protein complex and provides a robust method for the investigation of these transient events. In chapter 4 we used magnetic tweezers to probe the mechanical properties of a single, well-defined array of 25 nucleosomes folded into a chromatin fiber. We found that the fiber stretched linearly like a Hookian spring to more than three times its starting length at forces up to 4\mbox{ pN}. This unexpected large extension points to a solenoid as the underlying topology of the chromatin fiber. Surprisingly, linker histones do not affect the length or stiffness of the fibers. They do stabilize the fiber at forces up to 7\mbox{ pN}. Fibers with a nucleosome repeat length of 167 basepairs instead of 197 basepairs are significantly stiffer, consistent with a two-start helical arrangement. The extensive thermal breathing of the chromatin fiber that is a consequence of the observed high compliance provides a structural basis for understanding the balance between compaction of DNA to fit into the cell core and the transparency of DNA to allow proteins to access the genetic information of the cell. In chapter 5 we investigated the unexpected difference in the force needed for the unwrapping of the first turn and unwrapping of the second turn of nucleosomes in experiments on single nucleosomes and nucleosomes in a fiber. The forces needed to unwrap a single nucleosome were much smaller, 3 pN for the first turn and 6 pN for the second turn, than those for a nucleosome in a fiber, 6 pN and 18 pN respectively. We modeled a nucleosome-DNA-bead system, used in force spectroscopy experiments, as spheres and springs. We found that the thermal fluctuations of neighbouring nucleosomes stabilized the nucleosome thereby increasing the unwrapping force for a nucleosome in a fiber. This effect shows that results obtained for single nucleosomes cannot simply be extrapolated to a system containing multiple nucleosomes.NWOUBL - phd migration 201

Assessing the Adaptive Capacity of an Arctic Seabird to Increasing Frequency in Predation Risk from Polar Bears Using Behavioural and Physiological Metrics

Predator-prey dynamics in the Arctic are being altered with changing sea-ice phenology. The increasing frequency of predation on colonial nesting seabird eggs by a rare predator - the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), is a consequence of bears shifting to terrestrial food resources through a shortened seal-hunting season. I study a colony of nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima) on Mitivik (East Bay) Island, Nunavut, Canada, that is exposed to established nest predators such as arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), but has recently experienced an increase in polar bear nest predation due to the bears’ lost on-ice hunting opportunities. Given eiders’ limited eco-evolutionary experience with polar bears, my thesis aimed to determine the capacity of incubating eider hens to perceive and respond to this increasing frequency in predation risk from bears. I used eider heart rate and flight initiation distance (FID) as physiological and behavioural metrics, respectively, to characterize the perceived risk of imminent threat posed by simulated predators that differ in evolved familiarity. I then quantified eider heart rate to examine the capacity of incubating hens to dynamically update their perception of risk across variation in real predation risk by polar bears. My results indicate that eiders were less responsive in terms of heart rate to impending visual cues of polar bears in comparison to that of an evolved egg predator (arctic fox), but responded to all simulated threats with similar FIDs. Eiders exhibited mild tachycardia to bears present closer to their nests, but were insensitive to variation in exposure duration to bears. Taken together, these results suggest eiders do not perceive the full risk that bears pose as egg- and adult predators. This thesis provides insight into the mechanisms governing the ability of eiders to cope with polar bears and subsequent fitness consequences due to indirect effects of anthropogenic climate change

Assessing the adaptive capacity of an Arctic seabird to increasing frequency in predation risk from polar bears using behavioural and physiological metrics

Predator-prey dynamics in the Arctic are being altered with changing sea-ice phenology. The increasing frequency of predation on colonial nesting seabird eggs by a rare predator - the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), is a consequence of bears shifting to terrestrial food resources through a shortened seal-hunting season. I study a colony of nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima) on Mitivik (East Bay) Island, Nunavut, Canada, that is exposed to established nest predators such as arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), but has recently experienced an increase in polar bear nest predation due to the bears’ lost on-ice hunting opportunities. Given eiders’ limited eco-evolutionary experience with polar bears, my thesis aimed to determine the capacity of incubating eider hens to perceive and respond to this increasing frequency in predation risk from bears. I used eider heart rate and flight initiation distance (FID) as physiological and behavioural metrics, respectively, to characterize the perceived risk of imminent threat posed by simulated predators that differ in evolved familiarity. I then quantified eider heart rate to examine the capacity of incubating hens to dynamically update their perception of risk across variation in real predation risk by polar bears. My results indicate that eiders were less responsive in terms of heart rate to impending visual cues of polar bears in comparison to that of an evolved egg predator (arctic fox), but responded to all simulated threats with similar FIDs. Eiders exhibited mild tachycardia to bears present closer to their nests, but were insensitive to variation in exposure duration to bears. Taken together, these results suggest eiders do not perceive the full risk that bears pose as egg- and adult predators. This thesis provides insight into the mechanisms governing the ability of eiders to cope with polar bears and subsequent fitness consequences due to indirect effects of anthropogenic climate change