The dorsolateral pre‑frontal cortex bi‑polar error‑related potential in a locked‑in patient implanted with a daily use brain–computer interface

While brain computer interfaces (BCIs) offer the potential of allowing those suffering from loss of muscle control to once again fully engage with their environment by bypassing the affected motor system and decoding user intentions directly from brain activity, they are prone to errors. One possible avenue for BCI performance improvement is to detect when the BCI user perceives the BCI to have made an unintended action and thus take corrective actions. Error-related potentials (ErrPs) are neural correlates of error awareness and as such can provide an indication of when a BCI system is not performing according to the user’s intentions. Here, we investigate the brain signals of an implanted BCI user suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) due to late-stage ALS that prevents her from being able to speak or move but not from using her BCI at home on a daily basis to communicate, for the presence of error-related signals. We first establish the presence of an ErrP originating from the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (dLPFC) in response to errors made during a discrete feedback task that mimics the click-based spelling software she uses to communicate. Then, we show that this ErrP can also be elicited by cursor movement errors in a continuous BCI cursor control task. This work represents a first step toward detecting ErrPs during the daily home use of a communications BCI.     

The behaviour of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals during struvite precipitation in urine

Separating urine from wastewater at the source reduces the costs of extensive wastewater treatment. Recovering the nutrients from urine and reusing them for agricultural purposes adds resource saving to the benefits. Phosphate can be recovered in the form of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate). In this paper, the behaviour of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals during the precipitation of struvite in urine is studied.When precipitating struvite in urine spiked with hormones and non-ionic, acidic and basic pharmaceuticals, the hormones and pharmaceuticals remain in solution for more than 98%.For heavy metals, initial experiments were performed to study metal solubility in urine. Solubility is shown to be affected by the chemical conditions of stored and therefore hydrolysed urine. Thermodynamic modelling reveals low or very low equilibrium solute concentrations for cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb). Experiments confirmed Cd, Cu and Pb carbonate and hydroxide precipitation upon metal addition in stored urine with a reaction half-life of ca. 7 days.For all metals considered, the maximum specific metal concentrations per gram phosphate or nitrogen showed to be typically several orders of magnitudes lower in urine than in commercially available fertilizers and manure. Heavy metals in struvite precipitated from normal stored urine could not be detected.Phosphate recovery from urine over struvite precipitation is shown to render a product free from most organic micropollutants and containing only a fraction of the already low amounts of heavy metals in urine.     

Dynamic forecasting of individual cow milk yield in automatic milking systems

Accurate forecasting of dairy cow milk yield is useful to dairy farmers, both in relation to financial planning and for detection of deviating yield patterns, which can be an indicator of mastitis and other diseases. In this study we developed a dynamic linear model (DLM) designed to forecast milk yields of individual cows per milking, as they are milked in milking robots. The DLM implements a Wood's function to account for the expected total daily milk yield. It further implements a second-degree polynomial function to account for the effect of the time intervals between milkings on the proportion of the expected total daily milk yield. By combining these 2 functions in a dynamic framework, the DLM was able to continuously forecast the amount of milk to be produced in a given milking. Data from 169,774 milkings on 5 different farms in 2 different countries were used in this study. A separate farm-specific implementation of the DLM was made for each of the 5 farms. To determine which factors would influence the forecast accuracy, the standardized forecast errors of the DLM were described with a linear mixed effects model (lme). This lme included lactation stage (early, middle, or late), somatic cell count (SCC) level (nonelevated or elevated), and whether or not the proper farm-specific version of the DLM was used. The standardized forecast errors of the DLM were only affected by SCC level and interactions between SCC level and lactation stage. Therefore, we concluded that the implementation of Wood's function combined with a second-degree polynomial is useful for dynamic modeling of milk yield in milking robots, and that this model has potential to be used as part of a mastitis detection system.     

Molecular analysis of yeasts from Indonesian cassava and glutinous rice tapé

Tapé is a popular delicacy in Indonesia that is prepared by fermenting starch-rich material. Yeast plays an important role in the making of tapé especially in the aroma and taste of the product. In this study, yeasts were isolated from tapé and subjected to diversity analysis using the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique on 5.8S rRNA encoding gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). A total of 21 yeast isolates were obtained from 3 different types of Indonesian tapé (cassava tapé, white-, and black-glutinous rice tapé). The identified yeast species from cassava tapé were Pichia jadinii, Candida glabrata, and Clavispora lusitaniae. P. fabianii, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, and Ogataea polymorpha were obtained from white glutinous rice tapé, while Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Wickerhamomyces anomalus were obtained from black glutinous rice tapé.     

Measurement of T1 and T2 relaxation times of the pancreas at 7 T using a multi-transmit system

Objective

To determine T₁ and T₂ relaxation times of healthy pancreas parenchyma at 7 T using a multi-transmit system.

Materials and methods

Twenty-six healthy subjects were scanned with a 7 T MR system using eight parallel transceiver antennas, each with two additional receive loops. A Look-Locker sequence was used to obtain images for T₁ determination, while T₂ was obtained from spin-echo images and magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements with different echo times. T₁ and T₂ times were calculated using a mono-exponential fit of the average magnitude signal from a region of interest in the pancreas and were tested for correlation with age.

Results

The age range of the included subjects was 21–72 years. Average T₁ and T₂ relaxation times in healthy pancreas were 896 ± 149 ms, and 26.7 ± 5.3 ms, respectively. No correlation with age was found.

Conclusion

T₁ and T₂ relaxation times of the healthy pancreas were reported for 7 T, which can be used for image acquisition optimization. No significant correlations were found between age and T₁ or T₂ relaxation times of the pancreas. Considering their low standard deviation and no observable age dependence, these values may be used as a baseline to study potentially pancreatic tissue affected by disease.

     

The energy payback time of advanced crystalline silicon PV modules in 2020: a prospective study

The photovoltaic (PV) market is experiencing vigorous growth, whereas prices are dropping rapidly. This growth has in large part been possible through public support, deserved for its promise to produce electricity at a low cost to the environment. It is therefore important to monitor and minimize environmental impacts associated with PV technologies. In this work, we forecast the environmental performance of crystalline silicon technologies in 2020, the year in which electricity from PV is anticipated to be competitive with wholesale electricity costs all across Europe. Our forecasts are based on technological scenario development and a prospective life cycle assessment with a thorough uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. We estimate that the energy payback time at an in‐plane irradiation of 1700 kWh/(m² year) of crystalline silicon modules can be reduced to below 0.5 years by 2020, which is less than half of the current energy payback time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combining confinement and NO calcination to arrive at highly dispersed supported nickel and cobalt oxide catalysts with a tunable particle size

Control over the size and size distribution of supported nanoparticles is key to their efficient use in catalysis. In the preparation of nanoparticles by impregnation using nitrate precursors, the support pore diameter can be used to influence the average crystallite size. However, the particle size distributions obtained via this method are generally broad and the dispersions relatively low. Higher dispersions and narrow particle size distributions are obtained via thermal decomposition of the metal nitrate precursor in 1% (v/v) NO in Ar instead of air. Here we will show that by combining the confinement effect of ordered mesoporous silica with a decomposition step of metal nitrates in NO, silica supported nickel and cobalt oxides with a tunable particle size (2–4 nm) can be obtained at high loadings (10–20 wt%).     

Children's Responses to Negative News: The Effects of Constructive Reporting in Newspaper Stories for Children

For a well-functioning democracy, it is crucial that children consume news. However, news can elicit overly negative emotions and discourage engagement in children. The question, therefore, is how news can be adapted to children's sensitivities and needs but can still inform them. This study investigated whether constructive reporting (solution-based narratives including positive emotions) in news about negative events improved emotional responses and encouraged engagement (intention and inspiration to engage). In an experiment, 8–13-year-olds (N = 332) read a story containing either constructive elements or not. Constructive news elicited lower levels of negative emotional responses and provided more inspiration for engagement than nonconstructive news. These promising findings open doors for follow-up investigations regarding constructive news reporting, also among adult audiences.     

3D Printed Actuators: Reversibility,Relaxation, and Ratcheting

Additive manufacturing strives to combine any combination of materials into 3D functional structures and devices, ultimately opening up the possibility of 3D printed machines. It remains difficult to actuate such devices, thus limiting the scope of 3D printed machines to passive devices or necessitating the incorporation of external actuators that are manufactured differently. Here, 3D printed hybrid thermoplast/conducter bilayers are explored, which can be actuated by differential heating caused by externally controllable currents flowing through their conducting faces. The functionality of such actuators is uncovered and it is shown that they allow to 3D print, in one pass, simple flexible robotic structures that propel forward under step‐wise applied voltages. Moreover, exploiting the thermoplasticity of the nonconducting plastic parts at elevated temperatures, it is shown that how strong driving leads to irreversible deformations—a form of 4D printing—which also enlarges the range of linear response of the actuators. Finally, it is shown that how to leverage such thermoplastic relaxations to accumulate plastic deformations and obtain very large deformations by alternatively driving both layers of a bilayer; this is called ratcheting. The strategy is scalable and widely applicable, and opens up a new approach to reversible actuation and irreversible 4D printing of arbitrary structures and machines.