Emotional Brain-Computer Interfaces

Research in Brain-computer interface (BCI) has significantly increased during the last few years. In addition to their initial role as assisting devices for the physically challenged, BCIs are now proposed for a wider range of applications. As in any HCI application, BCIs can also benefit from adapting their operation to the emotional state of the user. BCIs have the advantage of having access to brain activity which can provide signicant insight into the user's emotional state. This information can be utilized in two manners. 1) Knowledge of the inuence of the emotional state on brain activity patterns can allow the BCI to adapt its recognition algorithms, so that the intention of the user is still correctly interpreted in spite of signal deviations induced by the subject's emotional state. 2) The ability to recognize emotions can be used in BCIs to provide the user with more natural ways of controlling the BCI through affective modulation. Thus, controlling a BCI by recollecting a pleasant memory can be possible and can potentially lead to higher information transfer rates.\ud These two approaches of emotion utilization in BCI are elaborated in detail in this paper in the framework of noninvasive EEG based BCIs

"Is the Copy Better than the Original? The Regulation of Orphan Drugs: a US-EU Comparative Perspective"

The US Orphan Drug Act of 1983 pioneered the regulation of this type of medicines, and its success encouraged other countries to enact similar legislation. Among these new orphan drug laws is the one that was drafted in the European Union in 2000. This paper attempts to scrutinize some of the key points of the initial American regulatory framework as well as the main criticisms that it received and to subsequently take a look at the responses that European authorities have devised to address such attacks to the American text. The overwhelming satisfaction surrounding US law may explain the great similarity with its European younger brother, even though the “copy†has tried to make some modest contributions from its own, for instance while addressing what perhaps is the most serious caveat of the law: the abuses by the industry that lead to high prices and “blockbuster orphansâ€. However, both jurisdictions still have some more aspects to ameliorate in order to create a more perfect set of incentives that may assure the availability of remedies for rare diseases striking a better balance between competition and innovation. Besides, some newly raised issues, like the necessity of international cooperation to address the challenges posed by a global pharmaceutical market and the need for extending the benefits of orphan drug legislation to so-called “third-world diseasesâ€, are awaiting legal answers

Hemeroscopium House by Ensamble Studio

Material of interest: Prefabricated concrete beams. Properties of material: Imposes “lightness” despite the heavy structural beamshttps://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bcs/1073/thumbnail.jp

Vegetation and fire history since the last glacial maximum in an inland area of the western Mediterranean Basin (Northern Iberian Plateau, NW Spain)

We reconstructed vegetation responses to climate oscillations, fire and human activities since the last glacial maximum in inland NW Iberia, where previous paleoecological research is scarce. Extremely sparse and open vegetation composed of steppic grasslands and heathlands with scattered pioneer trees suggests very cold and dry conditions during the Oldest Dryas, unsuitable for tree survival in the surroundings of the study site. Slight woodland expansion during the Bolling/Allerod was interrupted by the Younger Dryas cooling. Pinewoods dominated for most of the early Holocene, when a marked increase in fire activity occurred. Deciduous trees expanded later reaching their maximum representation during the mid-Holocene. Enhanced fire activity and the presence of coprophilous fungi around 6400-6000 cal yr BP suggest an early human occupation around the site. However, extensive deforestation only started at 4500 calyrBP, when fire was used to clear the tree canopy. Final replacement of woodlands with heathlands, grasslands and cereal crops occurred from 2700 cal yr BP onwards due to land-use intensification. Our paleoecological record can help efforts aimed at restoring the natural vegetation by indicating which communities were dominant at the onset of heavy human impact, thus promoting the recovery of currently rare oak and alder stands

Field Propagation Experiments of Male African Savanna Elephant Rumbles: A Focus on the Transmission of Formant Frequencies.

African savanna elephants live in dynamic fission⁻fusion societies and exhibit a sophisticated vocal communication system. Their most frequent call-type is the 'rumble', with a fundamental frequency (which refers to the lowest vocal fold vibration rate when producing a vocalization) near or in the infrasonic range. Rumbles are used in a wide variety of behavioral contexts, for short- and long-distance communication, and convey contextual and physical information. For example, maturity (age and size) is encoded in male rumbles by formant frequencies (the resonance frequencies of the vocal tract), having the most informative power. As sound propagates, however, its spectral and temporal structures degrade progressively. Our study used manipulated and resynthesized male social rumbles to simulate large and small individuals (based on different formant values) to quantify whether this phenotypic information efficiently transmits over long distances. To examine transmission efficiency and the potential influences of ecological factors, we broadcasted and re-recorded rumbles at distances of up to 1.5 km in two different habitats at the Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa. Our results show that rumbles were affected by spectral⁻temporal degradation over distance. Interestingly and unlike previous findings, the transmission of formants was better than that of the fundamental frequency. Our findings demonstrate the importance of formant frequencies for the efficiency of rumble propagation and the transmission of information content in a savanna elephant's natural habitat

Pictures in Your Mind: Using Interactive Gesture-Controlled Reliefs to Explore Art

Tactile reliefs offer many benefits over the more classic raised line drawings or tactile diagrams, as depth, 3D shape, and surface textures are directly perceivable. Although often created for blind and visually impaired (BVI) people, a wider range of people may benefit from such multimodal material. However, some reliefs are still difficult to understand without proper guidance or accompanying verbal descriptions, hindering autonomous exploration. In this work, we present a gesture-controlled interactive audio guide (IAG) based on recent low-cost depth cameras that can be operated directly with the hands on relief surfaces during tactile exploration. The interactively explorable, location-dependent verbal and captioned descriptions promise rapid tactile accessibility to 2.5D spatial information in a home or education setting, to online resources, or as a kiosk installation at public places. We present a working prototype, discuss design decisions, and present the results of two evaluation studies: the first with 13 BVI test users and the second follow-up study with 14 test users across a wide range of people with differences and difficulties associated with perception, memory, cognition, and communication. The participant-led research method of this latter study prompted new, significant and innovative developments

Microarray tools to unveil viral-microbe interactions in nature

The interactions between viruses and their microbial hosts play a central role in the control of microbial communities in nature. However, the study of such interactions within the uncultured majority is technically very challenging. Here, we review how microarray tools can be used to analyze the interactions between viruses and their microbial hosts in nature, away from laboratory pure culture-based models. We show examples of how DNA arrays have been used to study the expression of viral assemblages in natural samples, and to assign viruses to hosts within uncultured communities. Finally, we briefly discuss the possibilities of protein and glycan arrays to gain insight into the ways microbes interact with their viruses.Our current studies with viral microarrays are supported by projects CGL2012-39627-C03-01 (to Josefa Antón) and AYA2011-24803 (to Víctor Parro) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, which are co-financed with FEDER support from the European Union

Almacenamiento de CO2 en formaciones permeables profundas. Análisis de la Viabilidad Tecnológica

El efecto de las emisiones de CO2 sobre el medio ambiente es cada vez más perjudicial y las consecuencias del cambio climático son patentes ya desde hace años. Es necesario, por tanto, desarrollar y aplicar políticas activas para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, y así restablecer su concentración atmosférica a niveles aceptables. Una de las metodologías que pueden aportar un elevado efecto en la reducción de emisiones es la Captura y Almacenamiento de CO2 (CAC). Este proyecto pretende dar a conocer las diferentes etapas de la CAC, así como analizar su viabilidad y aplicación en territorio español. A nivel internacional, esta tecnología se encuentra aún en fase de demostración y en constante evolución. Además, también se ha realizado un análisis extenso sobre la normativa legal relacionada con la captura, el transporte y el almacenamiento de CO2, donde se ha podido observar que aún se encuentra en fase de desarrollo. Por otra parte, uno de los grandes desafíos es la monitorización del CO2 una vez se encuentra almacenado en profundidad, se necesitan gran variedad de métodos y herramientas para conocer su comportamiento dentro de la formación geológica y la detección de posibles fugas. En este proyecto se presentan y analizan una gran variedad de técnicas disponibles y se propone el estudio de algunas de ellas en una parcela de ensayo. Finalmente, se describe y dimensiona de forma detallada un ensayo de inyección de CO2 en una parcela de tierra. El objetivo del cual consiste en analizar la idoneidad y aplicabilidad de diversos sensores, así como el impacto de ciertas concentraciones de dióxido de carbono sobre la vegetación

Gardening for wildlife : A mixed-methods exploration of the factors underlying engagement in wildlife-friendly gardening

1. Private domestic gardens have immense potential to contribute to urban biodi-versity conservation. However, they are divided into small private plots and man-aged individually by garden owners. Therefore, engagement in wildlife-friendly gardening (WFG), which entails alternative management and design choices, re-lies on the individual willingness of each garden owner.2. Using an online survey and qualitative walking interviews with garden owners, our study explores individual internal and external factors underlying engage-ment in WFG. We interpret and reflect on our findings in the context of gardening as a relational practice between people and nature.3. Our findings suggest that motivations for gardening play a central role in how internal and external factors promote or impede WFG. For example, motivations towards organic gardening and learning from nature promote WFG, whereas per-sonal and family care and well- being motivations seem to impede it.4. The perceived and actual garden area, as well as self-reported insufficient knowl-edge and social norms, covary the most with engagement in WFG. Engagement in WFG relates to people's relationships with nature, as embodied in social norms of community acceptance and cohesion, and care and respect for nature and others.5. Future research into pro-environmental behaviours in gardens should adopt more relational approaches that go beyond the individual self and take better account of feedback between individual actions and social relations.Peer reviewe

Photoelectrochemical Properties of Anodic TiO2 Nanosponge Layers

In the present work we grow TiO2 nanosponge structures by anodizing Ti in a glycerol/water/NH4F electrolyte to thickness of some mu m. We evaluate the photoelectrochemical behavior (bandgap, photocurrent-voltage characteristics) in presence and absence of methanol. Methanol drastically affects the photoresponse (due to hole capture and current doubling). The optimum thickness for photoelectrochemical applications of these nanostructures is dependent on the excitation wavelength. For applications such as solar light water splitting, anodic sponge structure of approximate to 500 nm thickness can be beneficially used to increase the photoresponse compared to compact TiO2 layers.The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation FPU grant given to Rita Sanchez Tovar, as well as DFG, and the DFG Cluster of Excellence (EAM) at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg for financial support.Sánchez Tovar, R.; Lee, K.; Garcia-Anton, J.; Schmuki, P. (2013). Photoelectrochemical Properties of Anodic TiO2 Nanosponge Layers. ECS Electrochemistry Letters. 2(3):9-11. doi:10.1149/2.005303eelS9112