Development and evaluation of a smartphone-based electroencephalography (EEG) system

The aim of the study was to design, develop and evaluate a general-purpose EEG platform which integrates with a smartphone. The target specification was a system with 19 EEG channels and data stored onto the smartphone via a Wi-Fi connection. The hardware was developed using three ADS1299 integrated circuits, and the game engine, Unity, was used to develop the smartphone app. An evaluation of the system was conducted using recordings of alpha waves during periods of eye closure in participants (Bland-Altman statistical comparison with a clinical grade EEG system). The smartphone was also used to deliver time-locked auditory stimuli using an oddball paradigm to evaluate the ability of the developed system to acquire event related potentials (ERP) during sitting and walking. No significant differences were found for the alpha wave peak amplitude, frequency and area under the curve for the intra-system (two consecutive periods of alpha waves) or inter-system (developed smartphone-based EEG system versus FDA-approved system) comparisons. ERP results showed the peak amplitude of the auditory P300 component to deviant tones was significantly higher when compared to standard tones for sitting and walking activities. It is envisaged that our general-purpose EEG system will encourage other researchers to design and build their own specific versions rather than being limited by the fixed features of commercial products

Role of Advertising and Sales-Promotions to Create Brand-Satisfaction in the FMCG; Evidence from Pakistan

The role of brand satisfaction as a predecessor of brand loyalty has been acknowledged by researchers, academicians, and practitioners for long. Various concepts, theories, and models have been presented in the literature to understand the antecedents and predictors of brand satisfaction. It has been propounded that advertising supports to incite brand satisfaction. At the same time, many studies go against this point of view indicating its detrimental role in this regard. Although the research on sales promotions and brand satisfaction in the context of quality, performance, and value perceptions is meagre, it tends to depict it, for the most time, damaging and therefore unsuitable. This empirical research is an attempt to explore the comparative effectiveness of sales promotions and advertising to induce brand satisfaction taking into account all important constructs. The research has been conducted on the FMCG sector involving two most frequently purchased products consuming minimal household budget i.e. bath soap and toothpaste. The study findings, although determine advertising relatively more efficacious to produce feelings of satisfaction towards a brand, the role of sales promotions cannot be downplayed as they are equally important in respect of brand quality and utilitarian value

Prophylactic Theophyline reduces birth asphyxia related renal injury in term neonates

BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION: Birth Asphyxia (Perinatal Asphyxia) in newborn is a condition caused by the inadequate supply of oxygen before, during, or just after birth. Kidney is the most damaged organ in asphyxiated full-term infants. Theophylline is considered to be effective as adenosine antagonist in reducing renal injury related to birth asphyxia OBJECTIVE: To determine mean serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate in term neonates with perinatal asphyxia after prophylactic dose of theophylline as compared with that of control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, a total of 60 neonates fulfilling inclusion criteria were included in study,--removed for blind review--. After taking written informed consent, all neonates were randomized into either A (Theophylline group) or B (Placebo group). Theophylline group received single dose of intravenous aminophylline (5 mg/kg, 0.25 ml/kg) while 0.25 ml/kg of normal saline was administered to placebo group over five-minute period within the first hour of presentation. Each patient was evaluated using the predesigned proforma. The 24-hour fluid intake and the urine output were recorded during the first 5 days of life. To assess the infant’s renal function, their serum creatinine, creatinine clearance (GFR) was determined on days one, three and five and compared between both groups. RESULTS: The mean age cases in Theophylline group was 10.73 ± 8.11 hours and in control group the mean age of cases was 14.33 ± 7.52 hours. In Theophylline group there were 17(56.67%) male and 13(43.33%) female cases while in control group there were 17(56.67%) male and 13(43.33%) female cases. The mean creatinine level in Theophylline group was 0.78 ± 0.29 and in control group was 1.15 ± 0.51 with statistically lower mean level in Theophylline group, p-value < 0.05. The mean Glomerular filtration rate in Theophylline group was 31.59 ± 6.35 and in control group was 21.17 ± 7.38 3with statistically lower mean Glomerular filtration rate in Theophylline group, p-value < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Through the findings of this study, the therapeutic efficacy of theophylline is confirmed in terms of maintaining serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate. So, in future renal function can be protected by introducing theophylline and by maintaining renal function we can reduce risk of mortality. KEY WORDS: birth asphyxia, Sarnat grading system, theophylline, mean glomerular filtration rate

P16. Introducing Peer Physical Examination

We are a new medical school (now into our eighth year) and until the 2008/09 academic year our Year One and Two students acquiredphysical examination skills by examining healthy volunteers. The Year One cohort in 2008/09 were the first to acquire these skills using Peer Physical Examination (PPE), performing the examinations on each other, and this was rolled out to involve all Year One and Twostudents this academic year.Introducing PPE involved a culture shift within the medical school, training of existing and new tutors and revisions to our written studyguide material.Over the past eighteen months we have overcome several practical and ideological challenges during the introduction of PPE as a teaching method.Our poster explains our teaching methods, the challenges encountered and the pragmatic ways in which we have navigated a course through these challenges at both an individual and organisational level. We are now able to give much clearer guidance to students and tutors with the benefit of what we have learntover the past 18 months

A computational analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow in high-speed scanning of laser micro-welding

A transient three-dimensional model is numerically developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method to understand some critical criteria such as temperature fields and melt pool formation by considering the heat source and the material interaction and the effect of laser welding parameters on laser micro-welding process. To gain more implicit insight of fluid dynamics, the issue of circulation of molten metal assisted by the surface tension, buoyancy and recoil pressure forces in the weld pool has been investigated Assuming that atmospheric and vaporised material pressures are balanced at the front of the laser beam. The governing equations from the Navier–Stokes for Newtonian fluid are prepared to estimate the melt flow that influences the rate of temperature distribution in a 3-D domain. The simulation results have been compared with two sets of experimental research to predict the weld bead geometry and solidification pattern which laser welds are made on thin stainless steel sheet (SUS304). The shape comparison describes those parameters relevant to any changes in the melt dynamics and temperatures are of great importance on the formation of weld pool and heat distribution during laser micro-welding. The fair agreement between simulated and experimental results, demonstrates the reliability of the computed model

A non-invasive, home-based EEG hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring using skin surface electrodes : a single-case feasibility study

Hypoglycaemia unawareness is a common condition associated with increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia. The purpose of the authors' study was to develop a simple to use, home-based and non-invasive hypoglycaemia warning system based on electroencephalography (EEG), and to demonstrate its use in a single-case feasibility study. Methods: A participant with type 1 diabetes forms a single-person case study where blood sugar levels and EEG were recorded. EEG was recorded using skin surface electrodes placed behind the ear located within the T3 region by the participant in the home. EEG was analysed retrospectively to develop an algorithm which would trigger a warning if EEG changes associated with hypoglycaemia onset were detected. Results: All hypoglycaemia events were detected by the EEG hypoglycaemia warning algorithm. Warnings were triggered with blood glucose concentration levels at or below 4.2 mmol/l in this participant and no warnings were issued when in euglycaemia. Conclusion: The feasibility of a non-invasive EEG-based hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring in the home has been demonstrated in a single case study. The results suggest that further studies are warranted to evaluate the system prospectively in a larger group of participants

Playing First-Person Perspective Games with Deep Reinforcement Learning Using the State-of-the-Art Game-AI Research Platforms

Computer games have become one of the most interesting and dynamic research areas of artificial intelligence as computer games are the best testbeds to evaluate and test the theoretical ideas in artificial intelligence before applying them in real-world. The enhancement in computing power, advancement in machine learning particularly deep reinforcement learning, and the evolution of neural networks are allowing the autonomous game agents to perform substantially well that often leave behind human beings by using only the screen raw pixels for making their actions or decisions. In this chapter, we use Deep reinforcement learning in the form of Deep Q-learning under its two variants Deep Q-Network (DQN) and Deep Recurrent Q-Learning Network (DRQN) to control agents in playing the two famous computer games i.e. Doom and Minecraft. We present how to build an implementation of a testbed for such state-of-the-art methods using the ViZDoom, Gym-Minecraft and Microsoft\u27s Malmo platforms. Initially, we present our results on a simplified game scenario(s) from Doom in predicting the enemy positions (game features) with the difference in the performance of the DQN and DRQN in both fully observable Markovian decision process (FOMDP) and partially observable Markovian decision process (POMDP) and claim that the DQN performs better at predicting the enemy positions. Finally, we present results on another game scenario(s) from Minecraft to test and confirm the performance of DRQN in POMDP where unlike other existing works, our proposed architectures outperform the built-in AI agents and human players in predicting the game features with enhanced accuracy

Response of face-selective brain regions to trustworthiness and gender of faces

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have demonstrated a role for the amygdala in processing the perceived trustworthiness of faces, but it remains uncertain whether its responses are linear (with the greatest response to the least trustworthy-looking faces), or quadratic (with increased fMRI signal for the dimension extremes). It is also unclear whether the trustworthiness of the stimuli is crucial or if the same response pattern can be found for faces varying along other dimensions. In addition, the responses to perceived trustworthiness of face-selective regions other than the amygdala are seldom reported. The present study addressed these issues using a novel set of stimuli created through computer image-manipulation both to maximise the presence of naturally occurring cues that underpin trustworthiness judgments and to allow systematic manipulation of these cues. With a block-design fMRI paradigm, we investigated neural responses to computer-manipulated trustworthiness in the amygdala and core face-selective regions in the occipital and temporal lobes. We asked whether the activation pattern is specific for differences in trustworthiness or whether it would also track variation along an orthogonal male–female gender dimension. The main findings were quadratic responses to changes in both trustworthiness and gender in all regions. These results are consistent with the idea that face-responsive brain regions are sensitive to face distinctiveness as well as the social meaning of the face features