1,376 research outputs found

    How to promote interdisciplinary R&D in the academia: the case of the “House of the Future”

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    While empirical research does indeed suggest that collaborative R&D has many desirable outcomes, it is also clear that collaborative work is difficult and expensive. The challenge becomes increasingly sharp as complex and expensive research questions require a large pool of resources and a combination of specialized disciplines. As a result, different organizations get involved in interdisciplinary projects to expand the frontiers of knowledge. This paper analyzes the strategy and methodological approaches used to mobilize interdisciplinary R&D within a universityindustry network named ‘House of the Future’. We discuss the implications of our research for R&D networks design

    Innovation cooperation networks: case of a multisectoral and interdisciplinary partnership

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    Network cooperation processes gained special interest in the new knowledge economy as they provide better conditions to innovation and knowledge creation and diffusion. Although the importance of this strategic tool has been increasingly recognized, individualistic behaviour tends to prevail within small and medium-sized firms and many of them continue to exhibit an attitude of resistance when dealing with collaborative experiences. This paper has two main goals. First, it explores how networks can promote innovation and help overcome the difficulties inherent in cooperation processes. Second, it illustrates an innovative approach to network cooperation in a multisectoral and inter-disciplinary environment, presenting the experience of the “House of the Future” network in Aveiro, Portugal

    Connecting and merging fibres: Pathway extraction by combining probability maps

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    Probability mapping of connectivity is a powerful tool to determine the fibre structure of white matter in the brain. Probability maps are related to the degree of connectivity to a chosen seed area. In many applications, however, it is necessary to isolate a fibre bundle that connects two areas. A frequently suggested solution is to select curves, which pass only through two or more areas. This is very inefficient, especially for long-distance pathways and small areas. In this paper, a novel probability-based method is presented that is capable of extracting neuronal pathways defined by two seed points. A Monte Carlo simulation based tracking method, similar to the Probabilistic Index of Connectivity (PICo) approach, was extended to preserve the directional information of the main fibre bundles passing a voxel. By combining two of these extended visiting maps arising from different seed points, two independent parameters are determined for each voxel: the first quantifies the uncertainty that a voxel is connected to both seed points; the second represents the directional information and estimates the proportion of fibres running in the direction of the other seed point (connecting fibre) or face a third area (merging fibre). Both parameters are used to calculate the probability that a voxel is part of the bundle connecting both seed points. The performance and limitations of this DTI-based method are demonstrated using simulations as well as in vivo measurements. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

    Neuropsychiatric phenotype of post COVID-19 syndrome in non-hospitalized patients

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    The post COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) is an emerging phenomenon worldwide with enormous socioeconomic impact. While many patients describe neuropsychiatric deficits, the symptoms are yet to be assessed and defined systematically. In this prospective cohort study, we report on the results of a neuropsychiatric consultation implemented in May 2021. A cohort of 105 consecutive patients with merely mild acute course of disease was identified by its high symptom load 6 months post infection using a standardized neurocognitive and psychiatric-psychosomatic assessment. In this cohort, we found a strong correlation between higher scores in questionnaires for fatigue (MFI-20), somatization (PHQ15) and depression (PHQ9) and worse functional outcome as measured by the post COVID functional scale (PCFS). In contrast, neurocognitive scales correlated with age, but not with PCFS. Standard laboratory and cardiopulmonary biomarkers did not differ between the group of patients with predominant neuropsychiatric symptoms and a control group of neuropsychiatrically unaffected PCS patients. Our study delineates a phenotype of PCS dominated by symptoms of fatigue, somatisation and depression. The strong association of psychiatric and psychosomatic symptoms with the PCFS warrants a systematic evaluation of psychosocial side effects of the pandemic itself and psychiatric comorbidities on the long-term outcome of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection

    Watching TV news as a memory task -- brain activation and age effects

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuroimaging studies which investigate brain activity underlying declarative memory processes typically use artificial, unimodal laboratory stimuli. In contrast, we developed a paradigm which much more closely approximates real-life situations of information encoding.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, we tested whether ecologically valid stimuli - clips of a TV news show - are apt to assess memory-related fMRI activation in healthy participants across a wide age range (22-70 years). We contrasted brain responses during natural stimulation (TV news video clips) with a control condition (scrambled versions of the same clips with reversed audio tracks). After scanning, free recall performance was assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The memory task evoked robust activation of a left-lateralized network, including primarily lateral temporal cortex, frontal cortex, as well as the left hippocampus. Further analyses revealed that - when controlling for performance effects - older age was associated with greater activation of left temporal and right frontal cortex.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrate the feasibility of assessing brain activity underlying declarative memory using a natural stimulation paradigm with high ecological validity. The preliminary result of greater brain activation with increasing age might reflect an attempt to compensate for decreasing episodic memory capacity associated with aging.</p

    Elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200, 62.4, and 39 GeV

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    We present measurements of elliptic flow (v2v_2) of electrons from the decays of heavy-flavor hadrons (eHFe_{HF}) by the STAR experiment. For Au+Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200 GeV we report v2v_2, for transverse momentum (pTp_T) between 0.2 and 7 GeV/c using three methods: the event plane method (v2v_{2}{EP}), two-particle correlations (v2v_2{2}), and four-particle correlations (v2v_2{4}). For Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 62.4 and 39 GeV we report v2v_2{2} for pT<2p_T< 2 GeV/c. v2v_2{2} and v2v_2{4} are non-zero at low and intermediate pTp_T at 200 GeV, and v2v_2{2} is consistent with zero at low pTp_T at other energies. The v2v_2{2} at the two lower beam energies is systematically lower than at sNN=\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200 GeV for pT<1p_T < 1 GeV/c. This difference may suggest that charm quarks interact less strongly with the surrounding nuclear matter at those two lower energies compared to sNN=200\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200 GeV.Comment: Version accepted by PR
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