Identification of Relationships Between Electroencephalography (EEG) Bands and Design Activities

Author(s):  
Lixin Liu ◽  
Thanh An Nguyen ◽  
Yong Zeng ◽  
Abdessamad Ben Hamza

Electroencephalography (EEG) study of design activities has been drawing increasing attentions in design cognition research. The aim of this present paper is to identify EEG bands that are associated with design activities through principal component analysis (PCA). Based on the analysis of the data on 32 subjects collected from experiments conducted in the Design Lab at Concordia University, it was found that resting, problem solving and evaluation activities have relations to specific EEG bands. EEG powers of beta-2 (20–30Hz), gamma-1 (20–30Hz), and gamma-2 (30–40Hz) are mostly associated to the design activities whereas resting is mostly associated to alpha band (8–14Hz). In addition, there are differences in frequency above 20Hz between the resting before and after design activities. The work presented in this paper can be used to further quantify designer’s cognitive activities, which will ultimately improve the development of effective design tools and methods.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1879
Author(s):  
Oladipupo Q. Adiamo ◽  
Yasmina Sultanbawa ◽  
Daniel Cozzolino

In recent times, the popularity of adding value to under-utilized legumes have increased to enhance their use for human consumption. Acacia seed (AS) is an underutilized legume with over 40 edible species found in Australia. The study aimed to qualitatively characterize the chemical composition of 14 common edible AS species from 27 regions in Australia using mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy as a rapid tool. Raw and roasted (180 °C, 5, 7, and 9 min) AS flour were analysed using MIR spectroscopy. The wavenumbers (1045 cm−1, 1641 cm−1, and 2852–2926 cm−1) in the MIR spectra show the main components in the AS samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the MIR data displayed the clustering of samples according to species and roasting treatment. However, regional differences within the same AS species have less of an effect on the components, as shown in the PCA plot. Statistical analysis of absorbance at specific wavenumbers showed that roasting significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the compositions of some of the AS species. The results provided a foundation for hypothesizing the compositional similarity and/or differences among AS species before and after roasting.


2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 2566-2573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Jiang ◽  
Jingqian Wang ◽  
Edward T. Olsen ◽  
Thomas Pagano ◽  
Luke L. Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Midtropospheric CO2 retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) were used to explore the influence of stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) on CO2 in the middle to upper troposphere. To choose the SSW events that had strong coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere, the authors applied a principal component analysis to the NCEP/Department of Energy Global Reanalysis 2 (NCEP-2) geopotential height data at 17 pressure levels. Two events (April 2003 and March 2005) that have strong couplings between the stratosphere and troposphere were chosen to investigate the influence of SSW on AIRS midtropospheric CO2. The authors investigated the temporal and spatial variations of AIRS midtropospheric CO2 before and after the SSW events and found that the midtropospheric CO2 concentrations increased by 2–3 ppm within a few days after the SSW events. These results can be used to better understand how the chemical tracers respond to the large-scale dynamics in the high latitudes.


Author(s):  
Anderson Hidarto ◽  
Chindy Christine

With a mission to enhance the quality of EFL teachers, the Regional English Language Office (RELO) of the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia has conducted a pre-service teacher camp where practical teaching innovations are taught alongside reflective practices and the development of social and intercultural competences. This paper aims to examine how the participants, who are pre-service language teachers, perceived their professional identity as potential EFL educators after attending Camp EPIC and to what extent the program contributed to this process of professional identity formation. The study employed a mixed-methods survey where a total of 45 participants of Camp EPIC 2018 were purposively selected. They were asked to provide descriptions of themselves as teachers before and after the teacher camp, which were then analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. As for the quantitative data, a set of thirty-three Likert-scale items were examined using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The triangulated data indicated that the participants’ perception was positively altered after the camp. While some mentioned that they were more resourceful and creative with teaching ideas, others showed a higher level of self-efficacy concerning their competence. These changes could be attributed to four major features of the camp: reflection, feedback, resource exploitation, and collaboration.


Author(s):  
Anja Podlesek ◽  
Marina Martinčević ◽  
Andrea Vranić

Executive functions enable and support most of our daily cognitive functioning. Within the number of executive functions proposed, updating, inhibition and shifting are most often considered as the three core executive functions. Cognitive training paradigms provide a platform for a possible enhancement of these functions. Since updating training has been studied to a greater extent, we wanted to investigate the effectiveness of inhibition and shifting training in this study. Emerging adults (psychology students) were randomly assigned either to the inhibition training (based on the Simon task; n = 36) or to the shifting training (based on the task switching paradigm; n = 35). Both groups underwent twelve 20-minute sessions distributed over four weeks. Measurements before and after the training included criterion tasks (i.e. the training tasks), near-transfer tasks (i.e. tasks that address the trained functions but use different types of stimuli or rules to respond), and far-transfer tasks (i.e., tasks that address untrained cognitive functions). The control participants (n = 36) were tested with a combination of these tasks. Both training groups improved their criteria task performance over time, while convincing training-related gains were not found in either near- or far-transfer tasks. This study raises some conceptual questions for the training of executive functions with respect to a sample of emerging adults with above-average cognitive abilities, motivational elements of training, and the role of executive functions in more complex everyday cognitive activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Zhijun Wu ◽  
Rong Li ◽  
Panpan Yin ◽  
Changliang Li

Steganalysis is used for preventing the illegal use of steganography to ensure the security of network communication through detecting whether or not secret information is hidden in the carrier. This paper presents an approach to detect the quantization index modulation (QIM) of steganography in G.723.1 based on the analysis of the probability of occurrence of index values before and after steganography and studying the influence of adjacent index values in voice over internet protocol (VoIP). According to the change of index value distribution characteristics, this approach extracts the distribution probability matrix and the transition probability matrix as feature vectors, and uses principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality. Through a large amount of sample training, the support vector machine (SVM) is designed as a classifier to detect the QIM steganography. The speech samples with different embedding rates and different durations were tested to verify their impact on the accuracy of the steganalysis. The experimental results show that the proposed approach improves the accuracy and reliability of the steganalysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Vannereux ◽  
Agnes Giboreau ◽  
Anestis Dougkas

AbstractIntroductionDespite the well-documented health benefits of a dietary pattern higher in plant-based food such as legumes, their consumption remains low. Knowing that taste is the first factor in consumers’ food choice, flavoring of legumes using blends of herbs and spices (H&S) is an interesting approach to increase their consumption. This study examines the effect of H&S on the appreciation and energy intake of low salt legume-based dishes in a real context ecological environment.Materials and MethodsA 2-step pilot testing was designed to determine the most favorable recipe between 4 different blends of H&S. Firstly, 4 recipes were evaluated in a balanced order of presentation using different blends of legumes (chickpeas and lentils) and H&S by 115 participants (age 18–35) in an experimental restaurant. Overall liking was measured, followed by a preference-ranking test. Secondly, a perception assessment test was performed (n = 54) with the preferred recipe being divided into 4 variants higher (S) or lower in salt (LS) and H&S (S, LS, LSHS, SHS), according to a 2×2 factorial design (2-AFC test). In a randomized cross-over trial, 94 participants (age 18–35) attended 4 sessions 1 week apart and received the 4 variants as a mezze-type starter. Overall liking, food intake and appetite ratings (VAS) were assessed before and after the starter, main dish and dessert during lunch.ResultsParticipants significantly preferred the Spinach recipe compared with the Ginger, Paprika and Curcuma recipes and they could easily determine the different levels for salt and spices (t-test 5%). There were no significant differences in overall liking and taste between the different levels of salt and spiciness, although Principal Component Analysis showed 55% of the participants rating higher scores for the H&S recipes. Similarly, there were no differences in energy intake between S, LS, LSHS, SHS or total energy intake of the complete lunch. There was no difference in the ratings of hunger, desire to eat and prospective consumption although fullness was significantly higher followed by the S compared with LSHS (P < 0.005).DiscussionOverall appreciation was similar after the addition of H&S in low-salt starter to the high-salt starters, implying that reducing salt content without compromising acceptance is a feasible strategy at an ecological setting. However, there was no difference in energy intake of the four variants and overall appetite ratings. Further analysis, on interindividual differences in terms of eating behavior and acceptance, seems prudent.


Author(s):  
Weining Ning ◽  
Joy Goodman-Deane ◽  
P. John Clarkson

AbstractInsufficient design often causes challenges to users on a cognitive level, hindering them from interacting with products smoothly. There is a lack of effective design tools and supporting materials that can help designers to understand human cognition and how it affects the way that users experience and use products and services. This paper aims to identify current approaches that can be applied to address this issue, and to examine their strengths and weaknesses. This helps to identify future directions for developing and improving cognitive design supports. A literature review was conducted of research publications in the fields of both design and cognition. Four key approaches are identified: cognitive design principles/guidelines, the demand-capability approach, cognitive walkthrough and cognitive modelling. Their strengths and weaknesses are analyzed from a design standpoint. The paper also analyses the underlying causes of the insufficient uptake of cognitive design approaches by designers.


1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 401-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kumano ◽  
M. Nanbu ◽  
S. Kusakari ◽  
T. Sakai

Beta 2 microglobulin (B2M) has been identified as a major component of amyloid deposits. This study was designed to determine whether changes occur in the synthesis of B2M in dialysis patients. Mononuclear cells (MNC) were isolated in peripheral blood from healthy volunteers, patients on hemodialysis (HD) and on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). MNC were cultured in a medium of RPMI 1640 with or without interleukins IL-1, IL-2 or interferon INF-r. B2M in the cultured cells and supernatant was measured by enzyme immunoassay. IL-2 or INF-r stimulated B2M synthesis 'was significantly lower (25%) in patients on HD than in normal controls regardless of the type of dialysis membranes used, with no change in basal B2M synthesis. No differences were detected between healthy volunteers and CAPD patients. Preincubation of MNC with complement - activating or non-complement - activating membrane had no influence on B2M synthesis. The basal B2M synthesis of MNC significantly increased after a 4-hour HD regardless of the membranes used, and IL-2 and IFN-r stimulated synthesis were both essentially the same before and after HD. It was thus concluded that maximum capacity for B2M synthesis of MNC decreases in hemodialysis patients. This low responsiveness of MNC may be partially the cause for the reduction in cell-mediated immune response in HD patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 887 ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meliha Honic ◽  
Iva Kovacic ◽  
Helmut Rechberger

Building stocks and infrastructures are representing the largest material stock of industrial economies, whereby the largest fraction of building materials is transformed into waste at the end of the life cycle. In order to optimize the recycling potential of buildings, new design-tools and methods are required, whereby it is of utmost importance to have a documentation of the material composition of buildings. In this paper, the methodology for creating a BIM-based Material Passport, enabling optimization of the design of buildings and serving as a documentation of materials existing in buildings, is described. Therefore, a specific building component - the flat roof - of a residential building is used in order to test the proposed tool-chain and show the recycling potential of the built-in materials. Thereby, the recycling potential of a version in timber construction and a version in concrete construction is assessed. The results show that the two versions have a similar recycling rate. However, concrete has a significantly higher mass in comparison to timber, by what the mass of the total waste materials is less in the timber version.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1297-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxu Tian ◽  
Xiaolei Zou

AbstractGlobal observations from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite are affected by striping-patterned noise. An optimal symmetric filter method to mitigate the striping noise in warm counts, cold counts, warm load temperatures, and scene counts instead of antenna temperatures is developed and tested in this study. The optimal filters are developed based on the results free of striping noise obtained with a striping noise detecting method by combining the principal component analysis and the ensemble empirical mode decomposition. The two-point algorithm is then used to calculate antenna temperatures with warm counts, cold counts, warm load temperatures, and scene counts before and after applying the optimal filters. The necessity of applying the striping noise mitigation to the scene counts besides the calibration counts (warm and cold counts) is also shown. This explains why the traditional method to smooth only calibration counts has failed to remove the ATMS striping noise. The optimal filters proposed in this study, which remove the high-frequency striping noise without altering low-frequency weather signals, outperform the conventional boxcar filters adopted in the current operational ATMS calibration system.


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