Towards high-quality simultaneous EEG-fMRI at 7T: Detection and reduction of EEG artifacts due to head motion.

The enhanced functional sensitivity offered by ultra-high field imaging may significantly benefit simultaneous EEG-fMRI studies, but the concurrent increases in artifact contamination can strongly compromise EEG data quality. In the present study, we focus on EEG artifacts created by head motion in the static B0 field. A novel approach for motion artifact detection is proposed, based on a simple modification of a commercial EEG cap, in which four electrodes are non-permanently adapted to record only magnetic induction effects. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI data were acquired with this setup, at 7T, from healthy volunteers undergoing a reversing-checkerboard visual stimulation paradigm. Data analysis assisted by the motion sensors revealed that, after gradient artifact correction, EEG signal variance was largely dominated by pulse artifacts (81-93%), but contributions from spontaneous motion (4-13%) were still comparable to or even larger than those of actual neuronal activity (3-9%). Multiple approaches were tested to determine the most effective procedure for denoising EEG data incorporating motion sensor information. Optimal results were obtained by applying an initial pulse artifact correction step (AAS-based), followed by motion artifact correction (based on the motion sensors) and ICA denoising. On average, motion artifact correction (after AAS) yielded a 61% reduction in signal power and a 62% increase in VEP trial-by-trial consistency. Combined with ICA, these improvements rose to a 74% power reduction and an 86% increase in trial consistency. Overall, the improvements achieved were well appreciable at single-subject and single-trial levels, and set an encouraging quality mark for simultaneous EEG-fMRI at ultra-high field.

Asymmetrical balance of power in preadolescents' mutual friendships

Dyadic friendShip' asymmetry was examined in relation to gender, friendship quality, and friendship status. Sixty-nine grade five children and their mutual, same-sex, friends participated in a laboratory session comprised ofvarious activities and completed questionnaires to identify mutual friends and evaluate friendship quality. Asymmetry of power was assessed observationally during an origami task. Variations in balance of power were evident in children's friendships. Boys' dyads had significantly greater levels of asymmetry than girls' dyads. Regardless of gender, asymmetry was associated with lower friendship quality, particularly as indexed by validation and caring and conflict resolution. Asymmetry was unrelated to differences in friendship status. Furthermore, relative individual power within the friendship was not related to individual perceptions offriendship quality. The implications ofthese findings in the theoretical and empirical literature were considered and suggestions for future research were made.

Improved Loaded Quality Factor of Cavity Resonators with Cross lris Coupling

The performance of circular, rectangular and cross irises for the coupling of microwave power to rectangular waveguide cavity resonators is discussed. For the measurement of complex permittivity of materials using cavity perturbation techniques, rectangular cavities with high Q-factors are required. Compared to the conventional rectangular and circular irises, the cross Iris coupling structure provides very high loaded quality factor for all the resonant frequencies. The proposes cross iris coupling structure enhances the accuracy of complex permittivity measurements.

Studies On The Dynamics And Water Quality Of The Muvattupuzha River In Relation To Effluent Discharge

The present study aims at the investigation of the 1ysico—chemical features of a tropical tidal river viz. we Muvattupuzha river. This river is expected to receive Jderate to heavy pollution loads in years to come, from we lone industrial unit, already set up on its bank. ilike other rivers, the geographical disposition of this Lver attains unique importance as regards its dynamics for 3) availability of natural runoff water from catchment :eas, which becomes very heavy during the monsoon season 3) regular steady availability of tail race water from a /dro—electric power station throughout the yearThe study also aims at arriving at the balancing forces of inherent self~purification of the river verses pollution loads from the factory effluents. The investigation period falls ahead of actual pollution occurrence and so the ambient conditions for a period of nearly one-and-a—half years were investigated, the analyses of which providflz to formulate the inter-relations of parameters varying with seasons. Tracer experiments were carried out which revealed the dispersion and dilution characteristics of the river in the vicinity of effluent outfall. The studv covers the trial—cum-capacity production periods of the factory during which effluents of various strength and quantity were discharged into the river; a few computed values arQ’cjmpgrQdl ... with the observed values. The base data along with the profiles of Oxygen sag equation have been utilized fb develop a mathematical model of the river with regard to its water quality

Channel Adaptive MAC Protocol with Traffic-Aware Distributed Power Management in Wireless Sensor Networks-Some Performance Issues

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), neglecting the effects of varying channel quality can lead to an unnecessary wastage of precious battery resources and in turn can result in the rapid depletion of sensor energy and the partitioning of the network. Fairness is a critical issue when accessing a shared wireless channel and fair scheduling must be employed to provide the proper flow of information in a WSN. In this paper, we develop a channel adaptive MAC protocol with a traffic-aware dynamic power management algorithm for efficient packet scheduling and queuing in a sensor network, with time varying characteristics of the wireless channel also taken into consideration. The proposed protocol calculates a combined weight value based on the channel state and link quality. Then transmission is allowed only for those nodes with weights greater than a minimum quality threshold and nodes attempting to access the wireless medium with a low weight will be allowed to transmit only when their weight becomes high. This results in many poor quality nodes being deprived of transmission for a considerable amount of time. To avoid the buffer overflow and to achieve fairness for the poor quality nodes, we design a Load prediction algorithm. We also design a traffic aware dynamic power management scheme to minimize the energy consumption by continuously turning off the radio interface of all the unnecessary nodes that are not included in the routing path. By Simulation results, we show that our proposed protocol achieves a higher throughput and fairness besides reducing the delay

Integrating TPM and QFD for improving quality in maintenance engineering

To provide maintenance engineering community with a model named “Maintenance quality function deployment” (MQFD) for nourishing the synergy of quality function deployment (QFD) and total productive maintenance (TPM) and enhancing maintenance quality of products and equipment.The principles of QFD and TPM were studied. MQFD model was designed by coupling these two principles. The practical implementation feasibility of MQFD model was checked in an automobile service station.Both QFD and TPM are popular approaches and several benefits of implementing them have been reported worldwide. Yet the world has not nourished the synergic power of integrating them. The MQFD implementation study reported in this paper has revealed its practical validity

Predicting overall service quality: a structural equation modelling approach

In this article, the results of a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire (Parasuraman et al., 1991) are reported. The modifications consisted in substituting questionnaire items particularly suited to a specific service (banking) and context (county of Girona, Spain) for the original rather general and abstract items. These modifications led to more interpretable factors which accounted for a higher percentage of item variance. The data were submitted to various structural equation models which made it possible to conclude that the questionnaire contains items with a high measurement quality with respect to five identified dimensions of service quality which differ from those specified by Parasuraman et al. And are specific to the banking service. The two dimensions relating to the behaviour of employees have the greatest predictive power on overall quality and satisfaction ratings, which enables managers to use a low-cost reduced version of the questionnaire to monitor quality on a regular basis. It was also found that satisfaction and overall quality were perfectly correlated thus showing that customers do not perceive these concepts as being distinct

A survey on voltage sag events in power systems

This paper aims to survey the techniques and methods described in literature to analyse and characterise voltage sags and the corresponding objectives of these works. The study has been performed from a data mining point of view

Análisis de los elementos de Soft Power presentes en la política exterior alemana de cooperación para el desarrollo (2002-2009)R ALEMANA DE COOPERACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO (2002-2009)

A lo largo de la historia el Sistema Internacional se ha configurado a partir de los diferentes polos de poder y de diversas formas de interacción entre actores. Una de estas formas es la cooperación internacional, la cual abre el espacio a nuevos asuntos dentro de la agenda internacional y permite profundizar la colaboración en determinados temas de interés de los actores. Esta forma de relacionamiento puede ser entendida como una herramienta de Soft Power definiéndose éste como un elemento que permite a los Estados influenciar dentro del sistema internacional por medio de acciones no bélicas y que facilita el acercamiento de los países desarrollados con los países en vías de desarrollo para moldear el sistema internacional. Siguiendo esta idea, el Estado Alemán ha implementado el uso del Soft Power dentro de su política exterior buscando generar beneficios tanto a Alemania como para los Estados receptores de cooperación. Alemania ha redefinido sus prioridades: ajustar y reorganizar sus estrategias de cooperación para optimizar recursos, teniendo en cuenta la historia alemana y los cambios estructurales que las dos guerras mundiales generaron en la perspectiva de su política exterior. La fuerte y firme estructura política, económica y social ha permitido que este sea el único país de la Unión Europea que no ha sufrido directamente la crisis económica y por lo tanto ha logrado seguir aportando parte de su PIB a la cooperación internacional. Esto ha generado un diálogo político entre diferentes países, el cual permite el acercamiento con los gobiernos de turno en cada Estado para la creación de políticas encaminadas al desarrollo y al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos.

The community museum: a space for the exercise of communal power

This paper discusses two key elements in the field of museums: a summary of the concept of the community museum, on the one hand, and, on the other, a proposal as to how this concept is put into practice, especially in the early stages of the creation of the museum, when the social basis for the project is being established. We will discuss how the community museum combines and integrates complex processes aimed at strengthening the community as a collective subject, asserting its identity, improving its quality of life and building alliances between communities. In the second part, which has a methodological focus, we will discuss how the museum is born out of community aspirations to strengthen its identity and integrity, the initial process of consensus-building, the roles of different agents, both internal and external to the community, as well as some factors that foster or prevent community appropriation. To conclude we will emphasize the potential of community museum networks as a strategy to generate a broader field of action, in which communities can exercise greater autonomy, by collectively developing and appropriating projects of regional and even international scope.

A review of the potential impacts of climate change on surface water quality

It is now accepted that some human-induced climate change is unavoidable. Potential impacts on water supply have received much attention, but relatively little is known about the concomitant changes in water quality. Projected changes in air temperature and rainfall could affect river flows and, hence, the mobility and dilution of contaminants. Increased water temperatures will affect chemical reaction kinetics and, combined with deteriorations in quality, freshwater ecological status. With increased flows there will be changes in stream power and, hence, sediment loads with the potential to alter the morphology of rivers and the transfer of sediments to lakes, thereby impacting freshwater habitats in both lake and stream systems. This paper reviews such impacts through the lens of UK surface water quality. Widely accepted climate change scenarios suggest more frequent droughts in summer, as well as flash-flooding, leading to uncontrolled discharges from urban areas to receiving water courses and estuaries. Invasion by alien species is highly likely, as is migration of species within the UK adapting to changing temperatures and flow regimes. Lower flows, reduced velocities and, hence, higher water residence times in rivers and lakes will enhance the potential for toxic algal blooms and reduce dissolved oxygen levels. Upland streams could experience increased dissolved organic carbon and colour levels, requiring action at water treatment plants to prevent toxic by-products entering public water supplies. Storms that terminate drought periods will flush nutrients from urban and rural areas or generate acid pulses in acidified upland catchments. Policy responses to climate change, such as the growth of bio-fuels or emission controls, will further impact freshwater quality.

On the use of headline indices to link environmental quality and income at the level of the nation state

This paper deconstructs the relationship between the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) and national income. The ESI attempts to provide a single figure which encapsulates environmental sustainability' for each country included in the analysis, and this allied with a 'league table' format so as to name and shame bad performers, has resulted in widespread reporting within the popular presses of a number of countries. In essence, the higher the value of the ESI then the more 'environmentally sustainable' a country is deemed to be. A logical progression beyond the use of the ESI to publicise environmental sustainability is its use within a more analytical context. Thus an index designed to simplify in order to have an impact on policy is used to try and understand causes of good and bad performance in environmental sustainability. For example the creators of the ESI claim that ESI is related to GDP/capita (adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity) such that the ESI increases linearly with wealth. While this may in a sense be a comforting picture, do the variables within the ESI allow for alternatives to the story, and if they do then what are the repercussions for those producing such indices for broad consumption amongst the policy makers, mangers, the press, etc.? The latter point is especially important given the appetite for such indices amongst non-specialists, and for all their weaknesses the ESI and other such aggregated indices will not go away. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Military doctrine, command philosophy and the generation of fighting power: genesis and theory

Military doctrine is one of the conceptual components of war. Its raison d’être is that of a force multiplier. It enables a smaller force to take on and defeat a larger force in battle. This article’s departure point is the aphorism of Sir Julian Corbett, who described doctrine as ‘the soul of warfare’. The second dimension to creating a force multiplier effect is forging doctrine with an appropriate command philosophy. The challenge for commanders is how, in unique circumstances, to formulate, disseminate and apply an appropriate doctrine and combine it with a relevant command philosophy. This can only be achieved by policy-makers and senior commanders successfully answering the Clausewitzian question: what kind of conflict are they involved in? Once an answer has been provided, a synthesis of these two factors can be developed and applied. Doctrine has implications for all three levels of war. Tactically, doctrine does two things: first, it helps to create a tempo of operations; second, it develops a transitory quality that will produce operational effect, and ultimately facilitate the pursuit of strategic objectives. Its function is to provide both training and instruction. At the operational level instruction and understanding are critical functions. Third, at the strategic level it provides understanding and direction. Using John Gooch’s six components of doctrine, it will be argued that there is a lacunae in the theory of doctrine as these components can manifest themselves in very different ways at the three levels of war. They can in turn affect the transitory quality of tactical operations. Doctrine is pivotal to success in war. Without doctrine and the appropriate command philosophy military operations cannot be successfully concluded against an active and determined foe.

The power of purchase: addressing sustainability through public procurement

This article focuses on sustainable development and public procurement and reflects on the significance of questioning the goals sustainable public procurement seeks to achieve. While it is recognised that developing appropriate legal frameworks and regulatory tools for environmental, social and economic quality assurance is important, achieving sustainable procurement nevertheless remains political. With the forthcoming adoption of new European Union Public Procurement Directives, the article provides a timely reminder that for sustainability to be integral to good procurement, the power of purchase must capture a paradigmatic shift from doing things better to doing better things.

Explicit and implicit subject bias in the ABS journal quality guide

This paper addresses issues raised in two recent papers published in this journal about the UK Association of Business Schools' Journal Quality Guide (ABS Guide). While much of the debate about journal rankings in general, and the ABS Guide in particular, has focused on the construction, power and (mis)use of these rankings, this paper differs in that it explains and provides evidence about explicit and implicit biases in the ABS Guide. In so doing, it poses potentially difficult questions that the editors of the ABS Guide need to address and urgently rectify if the ABS Guide seeks to build and retain legitimacy. In particular, the evidence in this paper shows explicit bias in the ABS Guide against several subject areas, including accounting and finance. It also shows implicit bias against accounting and finance when comparing journal rankings in sub-areas shared between accounting and finance and the broader business management subject areas.