General tau theory as a model to evaluate audiovisual interplay in interceptive actions

When interacting with the environment, sensory information is essential to guide movements. Picking up the appropriate sensory information (both visual and auditory) about the progression of an event is required to reach the right place at the right time. In this study, we aimed to see if general tau theory could explain the audiovisual guidance of movement in interceptive action (an interception task). The specific contributions of auditory and visual sensory information were tested by timing synchronous and asynchronous audiovisual interplays in successful interceptive trials. The performance was computed by using the tau-coupling model for information-movement guidance. Our findings revealed that while the auditory contribution to movement guidance did change across conditions, the visual contribution remained constant. In addition, when comparing the auditory and visual contributions, the results revealed a significant decrease in the auditory compared to the visual contribution in just one of the asynchronous conditions where the visual target was presented after the sound. This may be because more attention was drawn to the visual information, resulting in a decrease in the auditory guidance of movement. To summarize, our findings reveal how tau-coupling can be used to disentangle the relative contributions of the visual and auditory sensory modalities in movement planning

DIAGNOSIS OF MYASTHENIA GRAVIS USING FUZZY GAZE TRACKING SOFTWARE

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder, which may lead to paralysis and even death if not treated on time. One of its primary symptoms is severe muscular weakness, initially arising in the eye muscles. Testing the mobility of the eyeball can help in early detection of MG. In this study, software was designed to analyze the ability of the eye muscles to focus in various directions, thus estimating the MG risk. Progressive weakness in gazing at the directions prompted by the software can reveal abnormal fatigue of the eye muscles, which is an alert sign for MG. To assess the user’s ability to keep gazing at a specified direction, a fuzzy algorithm was applied to images of the user’s eyes to determine the position of the iris in relation to the sclera. The results of the tests performed on 18 healthy volunteers and 18 volunteers in early stages of MG confirmed the validity of the suggested software

The Effect of Financial Development on Trade in Acceded Countries to the WTO: A Comparision of total Trade and Trade in Services

Based on the literature on the relationship between financial development and trade, this paper examines the effect of financial development on both trade and trade in services in acceded countries to the WTO. By using a panel data method for the period of 1985 to 2006, the results indicate that financial development has a positive effect on total trade in acceded countries; therefore, it shows that financial development is a determinant factor of trade development and policy in these countries. On the other hand, financial development has a negative effect on trade in services

The Ratio of Second to Fourth Digit Length (2D:4D) in Children with Autistic Disorder

Introduction Emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of Autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digits (2D:4D) are purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. Ratio of second and fourth digits (2D:4D)  is usually used as a proxy for prenatal testosterone. Methods and Materials In this study, 2D:4D in 48 children with ASD and in 41  control child was measured. Two groups were matched with the gender and age. Both groups were selected by convenience sampling method. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 19.0 software, considering as significant less than .05 (p < .05). Results: Results showed that the average ratio of 2D:4D in ASD children were lower than the ratio in control children (

Experimental study of thermal conductivity coefficient of GNSs-WO3/LP107160 hybrid nanofluid and development of a practical ANN modeling for estimating thermal conductivity

In the present study, the effects of nanoparticles, mass fraction percentage and temperature on the conductive heat transfer coefficient of Graphene nanosheets- Tungsten oxide/Liquid paraffin 107160 hybrid nanofluid was investigated. For this purpose, four different mass fractions were used in the range of 0.005%–5% in a number of examinations. The results illustrated that the thermal conductivity coefficient was increased with the increment of the mass fraction percentage and the temperature of Graphene nanosheets- Tungsten oxide nanomaterials in the base fluid. Then, a feed-forward artificial neural network was used to model the thermal conductivity coefficient. In general, with the increase in temperature and concentration of nanofluid, the value of thermal conductivity increases. The optimum value of thermal conductivity for this experiment was observed in the volume fraction of 5% and at the temperature of 70 °C. The results of this modeling indicated that the fault of the data estimated for the coefficient of thermal conductivity in the Graphene nanosheets- Tungsten oxide/Liquid paraffin 107160 nanofluid, as a function of mass fraction percentage and temperature, was less than 3%, as compared to the experimental data