EEG source imaging assists decoding in a face recognition task

EEG based brain state decoding has numerous applications. State of the art decoding is based on processing of the multivariate sensor space signal, however evidence is mounting that EEG source reconstruction can assist decoding. EEG source imaging leads to high-dimensional representations and rather strong a priori information must be invoked. Recent work by Edelman et al. (2016) has demonstrated that introduction of a spatially focal source space representation can improve decoding of motor imagery. In this work we explore the generality of Edelman et al. hypothesis by considering decoding of face recognition. This task concerns the differentiation of brain responses to images of faces and scrambled faces and poses a rather difficult decoding problem at the single trial level. We implement the pipeline using spatially focused features and show that this approach is challenged and source imaging does not lead to an improved decoding. We design a distributed pipeline in which the classifier has access to brain wide features which in turn does lead to a 15% reduction in the error rate using source space features. Hence, our work presents supporting evidence for the hypothesis that source imaging improves decoding

Structure and dynamics of colloidal depletion gels: coincidence of transitions and heterogeneity

Transitions in structural heterogeneity of colloidal depletion gels formed through short-range attractive interactions are correlated with their dynamical arrest. The system is a density and refractive index matched suspension of 0.20 volume fraction poly(methyl methacyrlate) colloids with the non-adsorbing depletant polystyrene added at a size ratio of depletant to colloid of 0.043. As the strength of the short-range attractive interaction is increased, clusters become increasingly structurally heterogeneous, as characterized by number-density fluctuations, and dynamically immobilized, as characterized by the single-particle mean-squared displacement. The number of free colloids in the suspension also progressively declines. As an immobile cluster to gel transition is traversed, structural heterogeneity abruptly decreases. Simultaneously, the mean single-particle dynamics saturates at a localization length on the order of the short-range attractive potential range. Both immobile cluster and gel regimes show dynamical heterogeneity. Non-Gaussian distributions of single particle displacements reveal enhanced populations of dynamical trajectories localized on two different length scales. Similar dependencies of number density fluctuations, free particle number and dynamical length scales on the order of the range of short-range attraction suggests a collective structural origin of dynamic heterogeneity in colloidal gels.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Tracking Down a Critical Halo Mass for Killing Galaxies through the Growth of the Red-Sequence

Red-sequence galaxies record the history of terminated star-formation in the Universe and can thus provide important clues to the mechanisms responsible for this termination. We construct composite samples of published cluster and field galaxy photometry in order to study the build-up of galaxies on the red-sequence, as parameterised by the dwarf-to-giant ratio (DGR). We find that the DGR in clusters is higher than that of the field at all redshifts, implying that the faint end of the red-sequence was established first in clusters. We find that the DGR evolves with redshift for both samples, consistent with the ``down-sizing'' picture of star formation. We examine the predictions of semi-analytic models for the DGR and find that neither the magnitude of its environmental dependence nor its evolution is correctly predicted in the models. Red-sequence DGRs are consistently too high in the models, the most likely explanation being that the strangulation mechanism used to remove hot gas from satellite galaxies is too efficient. Finally we present a simple toy model including a threshold mass, below which galaxies are not strangled, and show that this can predict the observed evolution of the field DGR.Comment: MNRAS letters accepted. 5 pages, 1 figur

The Masses of Population II White Dwarfs

Globular star clusters are among the first stellar populations to have formed in the Milky Way, and thus only a small sliver of their initial spectrum of stellar types are still burning hydrogen on the main-sequence today. Almost all of the stars born with more mass than 0.8 M_sun have evolved to form the white dwarf cooling sequence of these systems, and the distribution and properties of these remnants uniquely holds clues related to the nature of the now evolved progenitor stars. With ultra-deep HST imaging observations, rich white dwarf populations of four nearby Milky Way globular clusters have recently been uncovered, and are found to extend an impressive 5 - 8 magnitudes in the faint-blue region of the H-R diagram. In this paper, we characterize the properties of these population II remnants by presenting the first direct mass measurements of individual white dwarfs near the tip of the cooling sequence in the nearest of the Milky Way globulars, M4. Based on Gemini/GMOS and Keck/LRIS multiobject spectroscopic observations, our results indicate that 0.8 M_sun population II main-sequence stars evolving today form 0.53 +/- 0.01 M_sun white dwarfs. We discuss the implications of this result as it relates to our understanding of stellar structure and evolution of population II stars and for the age of the Galactic halo, as measured with white dwarf cooling theory.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophys. J. on Aug. 05th, 2009. 19 pages including 9 figures and 2 tables (journal format

Partial ionization in dense plasmas: comparisons among average-atom density functional models.

Nuclei interacting with electrons in dense plasmas acquire electronic bound states, modify continuum states, generate resonances and hopping electron states, and generate short-range ionic order. The mean ionization state (MIS), i.e, the mean charge Z of an average ion in such plasmas, is a valuable concept: Pseudopotentials, pair-distribution functions, equations of state, transport properties, energy-relaxation rates, opacity, radiative processes, etc., can all be formulated using the MIS of the plasma more concisely than with an all-electron description. However, the MIS does not have a unique definition and is used and defined differently in different statistical models of plasmas. Here, using the MIS formulations of several average-atom models based on density functional theory, we compare numerical results for Be, Al, and Cu plasmas for conditions inclusive of incomplete atomic ionization and partial electron degeneracy. By contrasting modern orbital-based models with orbital-free Thomas-Fermi models, we quantify the effects of shell structure, continuum resonances, the role of exchange and correlation, and the effects of different choices of the fundamental cell and boundary conditions. Finally, the role of the MIS in plasma applications is illustrated in the context of x-ray Thomson scattering in warm dense matter

Evaluation of West Nile Virus Education Campaign

We evaluated the 2003 Kansas West Nile virus public education campaign. Awareness was widespread but compliance was low. Spanish-speaking persons were poorly informed. Relevant factors included population segment variability, campaign content, media choice, and materials delivery methods