Brain2Pix: Fully convolutional naturalistic video reconstruction from brain activity

Reconstructing complex and dynamic visual perception from brain activity remains a major challenge in machine learning applications to neuroscience. Here we present a new method for reconstructing naturalistic images and videos from very large single-participant functional magnetic resonance data that leverages the recent success of image-to-image transformation networks. This is achieved by exploiting spatial information obtained from retinotopic mappings across the visual system. More specifically, we first determine what position each voxel in a particular region of interest would represent in the visual field based on its corresponding receptive field location. Then, the 2D image representation of the brain activity on the visual field is passed to a fully convolutional image-to-image network trained to recover the original stimuli using VGG feature loss with an adversarial regularizer. In our experiments, we show that our method offers a significant improvement over existing video reconstruction technique

On the Ginzburg-Landau Analysis of the Upper Critical Field Hc2 in MgB2

Temperature dependence of the upper critical field Hc2 (T) for the superconducting magnesium diboride, MgB2, is studied in the vicinity of Tc by using a two-band Ginzburg-Landau (G-L) theory. The temperature dependence of Hc2 (T) near Tc exhibits a positive curvature. In addition, the calculated temperature dependence and its higher order derivatives are also shown to be in a good agreement with the experimental data. In analogy with the multi-band character of Eliashberg microscopic theory, the positive curvature of Hc2 (T) is described reasonably by solving the two-band of G-L theory.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, submitted to SUST November 200

Helminth fauna of Lebanon lizard, Phoenicolacerta laevis (Gray, 1838), (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Southern Turkey

In the years 2010 and 2014, fifty-four samples of Phoenicolacerta laevis from eight localities in Adana (n=6) and Hatay (n=48) were collected and examined for helminth parasites. New host and locality records were recorded. As a results of present study, three species of Digenea, Sonsinotrema tacapense, Prosthodendrium chilostomum, Brachylaima sp. (metacercaria); two species of Cestoda, Oochoristica tuberculata and Mesocestoides sp. and four species of Nematoda, Skrjabinodon medinae, Spauligodon sp., Thubunaea sp. and a larva of the Ascaridiidae Ascarididae gen. sp. were reported for lizard samples. We document new host records for all of helminth species reported here. Sonsionotrema tacapense (Digenea), and Thubunaea sp. (Nematoda) are recorded for the first time from Turkey. There are, to our knowledge, no reports of helminths for P. laevis in Turkey and also from its range

Strong suppression of Coulomb corrections to the cross section of e+e- pair production in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions

The Coulomb corrections to the cross section of $e^+e^-$ pair production in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions are calculated in the next-to-leading approximation with respect to the parameter $L=\ln \gamma_A\gamma_B$ ($\gamma_{A,B}$ are the Lorentz factors of colliding nuclei). We found considerable reduction of the Coulomb corrections even for large $\gamma_A\gamma_B$ due to the suppression of the production of $e^+e^-$ pair with the total energy of the order of a few electron masses in the rest frame of one of the nuclei. Our result explains why the deviation from the Born result were not observed in the experiment at SPS.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

Real-world indoor mobility with simulated prosthetic vision:The benefits and feasibility of contour-based scene simplification at different phosphene resolutions

Contains fulltext : 246314.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Neuroprosthetic implants are a promising technology for restoring some form of vision in people with visual impairments via electrical neurostimulation in the visual pathway. Although an artificially generated prosthetic percept is relatively limited compared with normal vision, it may provide some elementary perception of the surroundings, re-enabling daily living functionality. For mobility in particular, various studies have investigated the benefits of visual neuroprosthetics in a simulated prosthetic vision paradigm with varying outcomes. The previous literature suggests that scene simplification via image processing, and particularly contour extraction, may potentially improve the mobility performance in a virtual environment. In the current simulation study with sighted participants, we explore both the theoretically attainable benefits of strict scene simplification in an indoor environment by controlling the environmental complexity, as well as the practically achieved improvement with a deep learning-based surface boundary detection implementation compared with traditional edge detection. A simulated electrode resolution of 26 x 26 was found to provide sufficient information for mobility in a simple environment. Our results suggest that, for a lower number of implanted electrodes, the removal of background textures and within-surface gradients may be beneficial in theory. However, the deep learning-based implementation for surface boundary detection did not improve mobility performance in the current study. Furthermore, our findings indicate that, for a greater number of electrodes, the removal of within-surface gradients and background textures may deteriorate, rather than improve, mobility. Therefore, finding a balanced amount of scene simplification requires a careful tradeoff between informativity and interpretability that may depend on the number of implanted electrodes.14 p

Investigation of pilot scale manufacturing of polysulfone (PSf) membranes by wet phase inversion method

Membranes are used as a support layer for the fabrication of thin film composite membranes. Sup- port layer properties can affect many performance parameters of TFC membranes such as flux, rejection, morphology and stability against pressure. Although studies in lab scale fabrication exist, investigation the pilot scale polysulfone membrane fabrication has not been done. In this study, opti- mization of polysulfone support membranes fabrication was conducted in pilot scale. Coagulation bath temperature; casting speed and solution content were selected as main parameters for the opti- mization. Membrane surface properties were investigated in details with SEM and pore size dis- tribution. Membrane performance were determined with permeability experiments. Differences in pilot scale and lab scale membrane manufacturing were observed and compared with literature. On the contrary to literature it was found that, coagulation bath temperature has exact opposite effect in pilot scale membrane formation compared to lab scale studies. 10°C drop (from 25°C to 15°C) in coagulation bath temperature decreased mean pore size of membranes from 27 nm to 8 nm and per- meability from 464 l/m2h to 100 l/m2h while everything else was kept constant

Current challenges and future perspectives for the full circular economy of water in European countries

This paper reviews the current problems and prospects to overcome circular water economy management challenges in European countries. The geopolitical paradigm of water, the water economy, water innovation, water management and regulation in Europe, environmental and safety concerns at water reuse, and technological solutions for water recovery are all covered in this review, which has been prepared in the frame of the COST ACTION (CA, 20133) FULLRECO4US, Working Group (WG) 4. With a Circular Economy approach to water recycling and recovery based on this COST Action, this review paper aims to develop novel, futuristic solutions to overcome the difficulties that the European Union (EU) is currently facing. The detailed review of the current environmental barriers and upcoming difficulties for water reuse in Europe with a Circular Economy vision is another distinctive aspect of this study. It is observed that the biggest challenge in using and recycling water from wastewater treatment plants is dealing with technical, social, political, and economic issues. For instance, geographical differences significantly affect technological problems, and it is effective in terms of social acceptance of the reuse of treated water. Local governmental organizations should support and encourage initiatives to expand water reuse, particularly for agricultural and industrial uses across all of Europe. It should not also be disregarded that the latest hydro politics approach to water management will actively contribute to addressing the issues associated with water scarcity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Symmetry breaking and quantum correlations in finite systems: Studies of quantum dots and ultracold Bose gases and related nuclear and chemical methods

Investigations of emergent symmetry breaking phenomena occurring in small finite-size systems are reviewed, with a focus on the strongly correlated regime of electrons in two-dimensional semicoductor quantum dots and trapped ultracold bosonic atoms in harmonic traps. Throughout the review we emphasize universal aspects and similarities of symmetry breaking found in these systems, as well as in more traditional fields like nuclear physics and quantum chemistry, which are characterized by very different interparticle forces. A unified description of strongly correlated phenomena in finite systems of repelling particles (whether fermions or bosons) is presented through the development of a two-step method of symmetry breaking at the unrestricted Hartree-Fock level and of subsequent symmetry restoration via post Hartree-Fock projection techniques. Quantitative and qualitative aspects of the two-step method are treated and validated by exact diagonalization calculations. Strongly-correlated phenomena emerging from symmetry breaking include: (I) Chemical bonding, dissociation, and entanglement (at zero and finite magnetic fields) in quantum dot molecules and in pinned electron molecular dimers formed within a single anisotropic quantum dot. (II) Electron crystallization, with particle localization on the vertices of concentric polygonal rings, and formation of rotating electron molecules (REMs) in circular quantum dots. (III) At high magnetic fields, the REMs are described by parameter-free analytic wave functions, which are an alternative to the Laughlin and composite-fermion approaches. (IV) Crystalline phases of strongly repelling bosons. In rotating traps and in analogy with the REMs, such repelling bosons form rotating boson molecules (RBMs).Comment: Review article published in Reports on Progress in Physics. REVTEX4. 95 pages with 37 color figures. To download a copy with high-quality figures, go to publication #82 in http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~ph274cy