Neurological modeling of what experts vs. non-experts find interesting

The P3 and related ERP's have a long history of use to identify stimulus events in subjects as part of oddball-style experiments. In this work we describe the ongoing development of oddball style experiments which attempt to capture what a subject finds of interest or curious, when presented with a set of visual stimuli i.e. images. This joint work between Dublin City University (DCU) and the European Space Agency's Advanced Concepts Team (ESA ACT) is motivated by the challenges of autonomous space exploration where the time lag for sending data back to earth for analysis and then communicating an action or decision back to the spacecraft means that decision-making is slow. Also, when extraterrestrial sensors capture data, the determination of what data to send back to earth is driven by an expertly devised rule set, that is scientists need to determine apriori what will be of interest. This cannot adapt to novel or unexpected data that a scientist may find curious. Our work is attempting to determine if it is possible to capture what a scientist (subject) finds of interest (curious) in a stream of image data through EEG measurement. One of the our challenges is to determine the difference between an expert and a lay subject response to stimulus. To investigate the theorized difference, we use a set of lifelog images as our dataset. Lifelog images are first person images taken by a small wearable camera which continuously records images whilst it is worn. We have devised two key experiments for use with this data and two classes of subjects. Our subjects are a person who has worn the personal camera, from which our collection of lifelog images is taken and who becomes our expert, and the remaining subjects are people who have no association with the captured images. Our first experiment is a traditional oddball experiment where the oddballs are people having coffee, and can be thought of as a directed information seeking task. The second experiment is to present a stream of lifelog images to the subjects and record which images cause a stimulus response. Once the data from these experiments has been captured our task is to compare the responses between the expert and lay subject groups, to determine if there are any commonalities between these groups or any distinct differences. If the latter outcome is the case the objective is then to investigate methods for capturing properties of images which cause an expert to be interested in a presented image. Further novelty is added to our work by the fact we are using entry-level off-the-shelf EEG devices, consisting of 4 nodes with a sampling rate of 255Hz

Diagnostic method of measuring hanger rods tension forces in the suspension of the power boilers combustion chamber

Combustion chambers of contemporary power boilers are suspended on hanger roads because of thermal strains. The hangers are placed along the side edges of a rectangular chamber. A tensile force of hanger road has a significant influence on stress state of combustion chambers. A method of tensile force measurements and determine the correct of are tensile force is therefore important. There are presented a novel method of a tensile force's measurements and methodology for determining the distribution of tensile forces

Numerical and experimental identification of vibration convection chamber of fluid power boiler

On the housing of convection chamber vibrations were measured, using acceleration sensors in 16 measurement points, connected to a multichannel recorder. The measurement data were recorded for different states of boiler load, in a wide range of time - 4 hours of measurement. The measurement results indicated that the most important vibrations frequencies of side walls were in the band 30- 30.5 Hz, appeared in block during increase of the power and operation under full load. High amplitudes were also recorded in the band 7-9Hz with a load of 260 MW unit after 2 hours of steady work. Convection chamber was at resonance for these frequencies [1]. In order to identify the vibration of the actual object it was necessary to identify the form of natural frequency of the convection chamber. As first, was discrete model of convection chamber created, and then modal analysis was made, using the Lanczos algorithm. Results of the modal analysis pointed out that due to the complexity of the convection chambers geometry there was a big number of local and global modal shapes. We could see big amplitudes of convection chamber shell displacements in the ranges of structural mode bands: 7-9 Hz, 1618 Hz, 30-30.5 Hz. If the excitations frequencies in the example from flowing gas are in the same range as natural shapes, the resonance may occur. We cannot determine actual displacements and stress using numerical modal analysis. We have to identify the source of variable strength, to obtain values of time-varying stresses. If we compare the results of modal analysis and measurement at the real object, we can select the areas of construction, in which there is a high probability of resonance. The cause of the convection chambers resonance was probably force created by turbulent boundary layer of gas. The gas flows along the inside of the convection chamber walls [6]. Resonance can be prevented by increasing the stiffness of the chamber walls in areas where there are large vibration amplitude. In this way, we can increase local natural frequency of the chamber. A good method to increase stiffness of the chamber walls is the distribution of bracing beams between the existing stiffeners [2]

Exploration of Grit and Emotional Intelligence and Success in a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

Background: Higher education programs that admit students to sequential curricula incur a substantial financial loss when an enrolled student fails to continue in the program for whatever reason. In many instances, the seat cannot be filled, and valuable tuition dollars often over $90,000 per student is lost to the institution. In addition to financial loss, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs are required to report and explain rates to the Commission for Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Admission committees at Doctor of Physical Therapy programs seek candidates that will be successful in the program and pass the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore relationships of non-cognitive characteristics (grit and emotional intelligence) and Grade Point Average (GPA) in the first year of a DPT program with the intent to potentially identify students who might benefit from remediation/intervention to prevent attrition. Methods: Forty-two students in the first year of a Doctor of Physical Therapy program completed the Grit scale and the Mayers-Salovey Emotional Intelligence test early in the fall semester of year one. Results: There were no significant relationships between grit or emotional intelligence and academic success in the first year of a DPT program. Conclusions: The current study provides preliminary information related to non-cognitive factors of grit and emotional intelligence and success in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program

Critical Current Degradation in HTS Tapes for Superconducting Fault Current Limiter under Repeated Overcurrent

Superconducting fault current limiters (SFCL) can be an alternative to conventional devices limiting short-circuit currents in power systems. SFCL use high-temperature superconducting tapes of the second generation (HTS 2G) in SFCL, which, after reaching the characteristic critical current of the tape, go into the resistive state (quenching), limiting the short-circuit current. The critical current determines the moment of activation of the SFCL. Therefore, its value should not change during the operation of the device due to repeated limitation of short-circuit currents. The constancy of the critical current is a prerequisite for proper cooperation with the power system protection devices. Multiple quenching can cause microdamage in the superconducting layers responsible for lowering of the value of the critical current of the HTS tapes. The article presents the research results on the degradation processes of 2G HTS tapes intended for the construction of SFCL due to the action of prospective short-circuit currents with values exceeding the critical current of the tested tapes. The decrease in the value of the critical current of the HTS tape as a result of multiple transitions to the resistive state was investigated. The amount of energy emitted during the test current pulse of 0.2 s duration was determined. The limitation values of the voltage drop on the tape, which does not cause accelerated degradation processes, were defined. The microstructural tests of cross-sections of new HTS tapes subjected to prospective short-circuit currents were performed

Scientific Ideas Included in the Concepts of Bioacoustics, Acoustic Ecology, Ecoacoustics, Soundscape Ecology, and Vibroacoustics

The paper discusses the research areas which are placed in the modern science on the borderline between ecology and acoustics. It is explained what ideas are included in the concepts of bioacoustics, acoustic ecology, ecoacoustics, and soundscape ecology. The results obtained in these domains are compared with those received in vibroacoustic research presented at the Polish WIBROTECH conference cycle. The paper suggests an inventory of research topics connected with acoustics and ecology. In the second part of the paper the author presents the possibilities of ambisonic technology of recording and listening to sounds for the analysis in bioacoustic research