Effect of Static Posture on Online Performance of P300-Based BCIs for TV Control

To implement a practical brain-computer interface (BCI) for daily use, continuing changes in postures while performing daily tasks must be considered in the design of BCIs. To examine whether the performance of a BCI could depend on postures, we compared the online performance of P300-based BCIs built to select TV channels when subjects took sitting, recline, supine, and right lateral recumbent postures during BCI use. Subjects self-reported the degrees of interference, comfort, and familiarity after BCI control in each posture. We found no significant difference in the BCI performance as well as the amplitude and latency of P300 and N200 among the four postures. However, when we compared BCI accuracy outcomes normalized within individuals between two cases where subjects reported relatively more positively or more negatively about using the BCI in a particular posture, we found higher BCI accuracy in those postures for which individual subjects reported more positively. As a result, although the change of postures did not affect the overall performance of P300-based BCIs, the BCI performance varied depending on the degree of postural comfort felt by individual subjects. Our results suggest considering the postural comfort felt by individual BCI users when using a P300-based BCI at home

Effects of Emotional Stimulations on the Online Operation of a P300-Based Brain-Computer Interface

Using P300-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in daily life should take into account the user's emotional state because various emotional conditions are likely to influence event-related potentials (ERPs) and consequently the performance of P300-based BCIs. This study aimed at investigating whether external emotional stimuli affect the performance of a P300-based BCI, particularly built for controlling home appliances. We presented a set of emotional auditory stimuli to subjects, which had been selected for each subject based on individual valence scores evaluated a priori, while they were controlling an electric light device using a P300-based BCI. There were four conditions regarding the auditory stimuli, including high valence, low valence, noise, and no sound. As a result, subjects controlled the electric light device using the BCI in real time with a mean accuracy of 88.14%. The overall accuracy and P300 features over most EEG channels did not show a significant difference between the four auditory conditions (p > 0.05). When we measured emotional states using frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and compared FAA across the auditory conditions, we also found no significant difference (p > 0.05). Our results suggest that there is no clear evidence to support a hypothesis that external emotional stimuli influence the P300-based BCI performance or the P300 features while people are controlling devices using the BCI in real time. This study may provide useful information for those who are concerned with the implementation of a P300-based BCI in practice

Myricetin improves endurance capacity and mitochondrial density by activating SIRT1 and PGC-1α

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Interplay between RNASEH2 and MOV10 controls LINE-1 retrotransposition

Long interspersed nuclear element 1 is an autonomous non-long terminal repeat retrotransposon that comprises similar to 17% of the human genome. Its spontaneous retrotransposition and the accumulation of heritable L1 insertions can potentially result in genome instability and sporadic disorders. Moloney leukemia virus 10 homolog (MOV10), a putative RNA helicase, has been implicated in inhibiting L1 replication, although its underlying mechanism of action remains obscure. Moreover, the physiological relevance of MOV10-mediated L1 regulation in human disease has not yet been examined. Using a proteomic approach, we identified RNASEH2 as a binding partner of MOV10. We show that MOV10 interacts with RNASEH2, and their interplay is crucial for restricting L1 retrotransposition. RNASEH2 and MOV10 co-localize in the nucleus, and RNASEH2 binds to L1 RNAs in a MOV10-dependent manner. Small hairpin RNA-mediated depletion of either RNASEH2A or MOV10 results in an accumulation of L1-specific RNA-DNA hybrids, suggesting they contribute to prevent formation of vital L1 heteroduplexes during retrotransposition. Furthermore, we show that RNASEH2-MOV10-mediated L1 restriction downregulates expression of the rheumatoid arthritis-associated inflammatory cytokines and matrix-degrading proteinases in synovial cells, implicating a potential causal relationship between them and disease development in terms of disease predisposition. c. The Author(s) 2018

Ex-ante simulation of mobile TV market based on consumers preference data

Subscribers to mobile TV are able to watch programming via a mobile telecommunications network. While expectations for mobile TVare promising, it is at present a fledgling industry, and deployments of mobile TV networks have been driven largely by systemimplementation concerns rather than consumer demand and market considerations. In South Korea, mobile TVofferings are based on two competing standards: satellite digital multimedia broadcasting (S-DMB) and terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB). Beginningwith stated preference data drawn from a conjoint survey administered before the launch of commercial mobile TV services in South Korea, the authors use Bayesian estimation to investigate the effect of consumer preferences on the mobile TV market. Results indicate that consumers viewsubscription cost and media quality as the two most important attributes ofmobile TVand that T-DMBbased service should presently occupy roughly 75% of the market.Moreover, the authors model the effects of varying the core attributes of the services on market share as well as the market share elasticity of each type of service. The authors test their modeled results against actual subscription data, and the model fairs well, leading to the conclusion that mobile TV broadcasters and policymakers alike will find use for the study's findings and the model itself.This research was supported by Information Technology Research Center (ITRC) from Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) in Korea

Understanding heterogeneous consumer preferences for residential zero-energy buildings (ZEBs) in South Korea: A latent class approach

The development of energy-efficient buildings has been deemed a critical component in accomplishing reduction targets and making cities more sustainable. Hence, governments of highly developed countries with large urban populations have set policy targets and introduce incentive schemes to expand the supply of the green buildings, which are environmentally friendly and energy-efficient over their entire lifecycle. However, the low return on investment, lack of awareness, and insufficient information and incentives have hindered the adoption of zero energy buildings (ZEBs) in the Korean housing sector. This study aimed to examine the public's heterogeneous preference structure towards residential ZEBs to identify marketing and policy implications for promoting demand. The findings showed that cost-related factors were the most significant elements affecting public acceptance of ZEBs in Korea. Additionally, the study simulated the acceptance of ZEBs as a function of subsidy levels and found that consumers are willing to pay a premium for more energy-efficient homes with greater environmental contributions and that provide long-term benefits in overall housing expenses. In all, it is recommended for the government to identify suitable regions for the implementation of ZEBs based on regional characteristics and to implement a subsidy program to achieve the goal of expanding environmentally sustainable homes.N

Attitudes in Korea toward Introducing Smart Policing Technologies: Differences between the General Public and Police Officers

This study analyzes different attitudes toward introduction of smart policing technologies in cybercrime policing among the Korean public and police. Policing is essential for a sustainable community. Technological advances in policing have both positive and negative aspects, making it essential to investigate perceptions of both public and police when introducing smart policing technologies. A discrete choice experiment was undertaken to survey preferences of the public and police toward introduction of such technologies and conduct simulation analysis to compare changes in the acceptance of various scenarios. The study divides cybercrime policing into prevention and investigation. The sample included 500 members of the public and 161 police officers. The results show that the public thinks an increase in yearly taxes and invasion of privacy are the most important factors. Conversely, the police think factors enhancing the efficiency of policing are most important. Moreover, when smart policing technologies are introduced, the public and police perceive more utility in the prevention and investigation of cybercrime, respectively. Few studies in this field separate the prevention and investigation of crimes, or compare perceptions of the public and police toward the introduction of smart policing technologies. This study’s quantitative analysis provides insights lacking in previous literature

The effect of video distraction on a visual P300 BCI

This study investigated the effect of distraction induced by videos on the operation of a visual P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI). A visual P300 BCI designed for controlling home appliances was used in the experiment. Participants used the BCI in two conditions: 1) being presented with visual stimuli on top of a background video including various motions and changes of scenery; and 2) being presented only with visual stimuli. The visual distraction in P300 BCI resulted in the reduction of P2, N2 and P3 absolute peak amplitudes ( ), It also lowered average target detection accuracy (70.37%) compared to the no distraction condition (78.52%), which was more prominent in several participants. This study suggests that a visual P300 BCI can be used under visual distraction without a significant decrease of performance, while individual influences may vary

SAMHD1 specifically restricts retroviruses through its RNase activity

Background Human SAMHD1 possesses dual enzymatic functions. It acts as both a dGTP-dependent triphosphohydrolase and as an exoribonuclease. The dNTPase function depletes the cellular dNTP pool, which is required for retroviral reverse transcription in differentiated myeloid cells and resting CD4+ T cells; thus this activity mainly plays a role in SAMHD1-mediated retroviral restriction. However, a recent study demonstrated that SAMHD1 directly targets HIV-1 genomic RNA via its RNase activity, and that this function (rather than dNTPase activity) is sufficient for HIV-1 restriction. While HIV-1 genomic RNA is a potent target for SAMHD1 during viral infection, the specificity of SAMHD1-mediated RNase activity during infection by other viruses is unclear. Results The results of the present study showed that SAMHD1 specifically degrades retroviral genomic RNA in monocyte-derived macrophage-like cells and in primary monocyte-derived macrophages. Consistent with this, SAMHD1 selectively restricted retroviral replication, but did not affect the replication of other common non-retro RNA genome viruses, suggesting that the RNase-mediated antiviral function of SAMHD1 is limited to retroviruses. In addition, neither inhibiting reverse transcription by treatment with several reverse transcriptase inhibitors nor infection with reverse transcriptase-defective HIV-1 altered RNA levels after viral challenge, indicating that the retrovirus-specific RNase function is not dependent on processes associated with retroviral reverse transcription. Conclusions The results presented herein suggest that the RNase activity of SAMHD1 is sufficient to control the replication of retroviruses, but not that of non-retro RNA viruses