Noninvasive brain-actuated control of a mobile robot by human EEG

Brain activity recorded noninvasively is sufficient to control a mobile robot if advanced robotics is used in combination with asynchronous electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis and machine learning techniques. Until now brain-actuated control has mainly relied on implanted electrodes, since EEG-based systems have been considered too slow for controlling rapid and complex sequences of movements. We show that two human subjects successfully moved a robot between several rooms by mental control only, using an EEG-based brain-machine interface that recognized three mental states. Mental control was comparable to manual control on the same task with a performance ratio of 0.74.     

Sensitivity to punishment and sensitivity to reward and traffic violations

The aim of our study consists of contributing information on the relationship between the personality variables derived from Gray’s model and the conduct that accompanies the infringement of the road traffic rules. Seven hundred and ninety-two adults of both sexes took part in the study (389 men and 403 women), all of whom had driving licences and drove frequently. The subjects answered “The Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire”, a scale of monotony avoidance, and two Likert scales of attitude and behaviour in connection with traffic violations.

We found a high positive relationship between attitude and behaviour, with the men infringing the rules more than the women. Hypotheses regarding a relationship between traffic offences and sensibility to reward and monotony avoidance were confirmed. Those people with high scores in sensitivity to punishment and low ones in sensitivity to reward were those who drove within the law, while those with low sensitivity to punishment and high sensitivity to reward were those who broke it more. Sensitivity to reward was a stronger determinant in encouraging infringement of the rules than was sensitivity to punishment in discouraging the subjects to do so.     

Winter and spring surface velocity fields in the Cape Blanc region as deduced with the maximum cross-correlation technique

The ocean surface velocity field in the Cape Blanc region, off Northwest Africa, is investigated with the maximum cross-correlation (MCC) method applied to channel-4 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite images. An initial sensitivity analysis allows us to select the four parameters that provide maximum area coverage and the best velocity resolution, while limiting the standard deviation for each velocity component within reasonable values. These are (m, n, MV, CT)?=?(22, 32, 50, 0.6), where m and n are the number of pixels of the search window (SW) and reference window (RW), respectively, MV is the maximum possible velocity (in cm s^?1), and CT is a correlation threshold for a feature to be tracked. A total of 489 images, for years 2005 and 2006, are analysed, and 106 velocity maps are generated with good coverage of the coastal transition zone (CTZ), most of them for the winter (34) and spring (59) seasons. We remove spurious data using the method's own filters (MV, CT, and a neighbour-vector comparison), requesting the velocity components to have Gaussian distributions and smoothing the resulting velocity fields with a median-vector filter. The instantaneous velocity maps illustrate the response of the alongshore coastal jet north of Cape Blanc (and its extension along the Cape Verde frontal region) to wind forcing, as well as the presence of numerous mesoscalar features (100–300 km wide) superposed on a westward offshore transport south of Cape Blanc. We also produce mean and standard deviation winter and spring velocity maps, which are compared with the corresponding mean sea surface temperature fields. The along-shore and offshore flow is better defined and is more intense in spring than in winter, in concordance with cross-slope sharper temperature gradients during this season, and brings about a cooling of the whole region. We identify five different ubiquitous currents: a southwestward jet north of Cape Blanc, a northwestward jet off Banc d'Argin, an offshore convergent jet, a spring jet-like feature at 18° N, and a southward flow in the southwestern CTZ.     

Decentralized active control of a class of uncertain cable-stayed flexible structures

This paper addresses the problem of designing robust stabilizing controllers for a class of cable-stayed flexible structures. The dynamic behaviour of the structure is characterized by a beam decomposed into a finite number of concentrated masses. The mathematical model exhibits uncertainties in parameters, stay cable geometry and couplings, as well as in the unknown environmental excitation. The controller design is made based on the principle of sliding mode to reduce the magnitude of the transverse vibrations of the structure induced by the environmental excitation. A numerical simulation example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

Interplay between Humoral and CLA+ T Cell Response against Candida albicans in Psoriasis

Candida albicans (CA) infections have been associated with psoriasis onset or disease flares. However, the integrated immune response against this fungus is still poorly characterized in psoriasis. We studied specific immunoglobulins in plasma and the CA response in cocultures of circulating memory CD45RA⁻ cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA)^+/− T cell with autologous epidermal cells from plaque and guttate psoriasis patients (cohort 1, n = 52), and also healthy individuals (n = 17). A complete proteomic profile was also evaluated in plaque psoriasis patients (cohort 2, n = 114) regarding their anti-CA IgA levels. Increased anti-CA IgA and IgG levels are present in the plasma from plaque but not guttate psoriasis compared to healthy controls. CA cellular response is confined to CLA⁺ T cells and is primarily Th17. The levels of anti-CA IgA are directly associated with CLA⁺ Th17 response in plaque psoriasis. Proteomic analysis revealed distinct profiles in psoriasis patients with high anti-CA IgA. C-C motif chemokine ligand 18, chitinase-3-like protein 1 and azurocidin were significantly elevated in the plasma from plaque psoriasis patients with high anti-CA levels and severe disease. Our results indicate a mechanism by which Candida albicans exposure can trigger a clinically relevant IL-17 response in psoriasis. Assessing anti-CA IgA levels may be useful in order to evaluate chronic psoriasis patients.     

Selective Sharing of Load Current Components Among Parallel Power Electronic Interfaces in Three-phase Four-wire Stand-alone Microgrid

This paper investigates selective sharing of load current components among the parallel operation of distributed generators (DGs) in three-phase four-wire stand-alone microgrids. The proposed control method is based on master-slave operation of DGs, and the goal of selective sharing of load current components is to have DGs located in close proximity of the load operating in slave mode, in order to inject their available energy and also compensate the non-active load current components, while the distant DGs might operate in master mode to share the remaining load autonomously. Droop control is employed due to impracticality of communication at remote nodes, and resistive line impedance compensation is adopted to decouple active and reactive power controllers and ensure proper active power sharing among master DGs, irrespective of the mitigation of non-active current components by the slave inverters. The sharing factors for each current component are determined by a higher level control. The Conservative Power Theory (CPT) decompositions provide decoupled power and current references for the inverters, resulting in a selective sharing strategy. The principles supporting the developed control strategy are discussed, and the effectiveness of the control is demonstrated through computational simulations using PSIM software.     

光纤复合架空地线(OPGW)雷击试验及分析

就IEC 60794．4．1标准所描述的雷击试验要求，对不同OPGW光缆设计进行了研究，并分析了雷击对不同OPGW缆型的影响。提高连续电流——组成部分C(最具破坏性的部分)的电荷转移量，光缆的残余抗拉强度将随之降低。当电荷转移量大于100C时，光缆被损坏程度更多地取决于光缆的直径而不是外层绞线的直径。试验结果表明，为了设计出可靠并经济的OPGW光缆，我们必须综合考虑OPGW的机械性能和依据安装地的年雷暴日水平所必需的抗雷击性能。     

pH-responsive drug delivery system based on hollow silicon dioxide micropillars coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers

We report on the fabrication of polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated hollow silicon dioxide micropillars as pH-responsive drug delivery systems. Silicon dioxide micropillars are based on macroporous silicon formed by electrochemical etching. Due to their hollow core capable of being loaded with chemically active agents, silicon dioxide micropillars provide additional function such as drug delivery system. The polyelectrolyte multilayer was assembled by the layer-by-layer technique based on the alternative deposition of cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes. The polyelectrolyte pair poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) exhibited pH-responsive properties for the loading and release of a positively charged drug doxorubicin. The drug release rate was observed to be higher at pH 5.2 compared to that at pH 7.4. Furthermore, we assessed the effect of the number of polyelectrolyte bilayers on the drug release loading and release rate. Thus, this hybrid composite could be potentially applicable as a pH-controlled system for localized drug release.     

The interpretation of X-ray photoelectron spectra of pyrolized S-containing carbonaceous materials

Theoretical models and ab initio Hartree-Fock wavefunctions have been used to investigate the S(2p) core level binding energies (BE), of pyrolized S-containing, carbonaceous materials. Comparison between experimental and calculated data for thiophene permits the accuracy of the present approach to be established. A systematic study of different situations demonstrates that, in these materials, non-oxidized S atoms can show peaks at very high BE relative to the C(1s) peak at 285.0 eV. This study confirms that the peak at 164.1 eV corresponds to ‘thiophenic’ S atoms. On the other hand, it shows that the peaks at higher BE could correspond to S atoms replacing C atoms in three-coordinated structures of graphene layers, in agreement with the arguments suggested in the experimental works. The energetic similarity between the two peaks at very high BE makes it difficult to differentiate between them, although the results of the present study seem to suggest that the peak at experimental BE ≈ 166 eV could correspond to S atoms coordinated to two C and one H atoms at the edge of graphene layers, while the peak at ≈ 169 eV would correspond to S atoms replacing C atoms in inner positions of the graphene layers, and it is bonded to three C atoms.