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EEG-based functional connectivity analysis of brain abnormalities: A systematic review study
Get PDFSeveral imaging modalities and many signal recording techniques have been used to study the brain activities. Significant advancements in medical device technologies like electroencephalographs have provided conditions for recording neural information with high temporal resolution. These recordings can be used to calculate the connections between different brain areas. It has been proved that brain abnormalities affect the brain activity in different brain regions and the connectivity patterns between them are changed as a result. This paper studies the electroencephalogram (EEG) functional connectivity methods and investigates the impacts of brain abnormalities on brain functional connectivities. The effects of different brain abnormalities including stroke, depression, emotional disorders, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and Alzheimer's disease on functional connectivity of the EEG recordings have been explored in this study. The EEG-based metrics and network properties of different brain abnormalities have been discussed to present a comparison of the connectivities affected by each abnormality. Also, the effects of therapy and medical intake on the EEG functional connectivity network of each abnormality have been reviewed.This research received no external funding
Institutional distance and location choice: an experimental approach to the perception puzzle
Get PDFThe supplementary material for this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-12-2022-0282 .Purpose:
In this research, we designed and implemented a unique vignette experiment to study the effect of managers' perceptions of institutional distance on foreign location choice, as well as the moderating effect of managerial international experience and preferred entry mode on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach:
We employ an experimental vignette methodology (EVM) approach applied in the context of Chinese managers to test the causal relationships depicted in our hypotheses. In this way, we measure the decision-makers' perceptions ex ante, i.e. in conjunction with and prior to a decision about a foreign location choice.
Findings:
Our findings show that managers' ex-ante perceptions of institutional distance negatively affect decisions on foreign location choice. Also, we find that managerial international experience and preference for high commitment entry modes mitigate the negative effect of managers' perceptions of institutional distance on foreign location choice.
Originality/value:
This research study adds to our understanding of the effect of managers' perceptions of institutional distance and managerial contingencies on foreign location decisions. Further, it advances novel experimental design in international business research in general and on foreign location choice in particular
Why Should the Innocent Suffer? Mental harm as disability and the establishment of a post bellum duty of care for enemy civilians
No full textThe file on this institutional repository is embargoed indefinitely. Please use the open access Digital Commons link to access the article at Fordham International Law Journal once the article has been published
Thermodynamics of Mg–Y–O Alloys and Segregation at the Mg/MgO Interface
Get PDFConference paper presented at The Magnesium Technology Symposium at the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition Conference, Orlando, FL, USA
Conference, 4-6 Mar 2024.Elemental segregation driven by the reduction of the total Gibbs energy of the system has been widely observed at the melt/substrate interfaces in various Al- and Mg alloys containing different inoculant particles. This study provides experimental observations, analyses, and identifications of the formation of Y-segregation 2DCs at the Mg/MgO interfaces in a solidified Mg–0.5Y (w%) sample. From an extended Gibbs adsorption isotherm, the interfacial segregation of solute Y in a dilute Mg alloy melt is quantitatively described. The thermodynamics of the elemental interactions, conditions for the formation of MgO and Y2O3 particles, and the contributions to the interfacial energy difference are detailed. A reasonable atomic segregation factor at the liquid/MgO interface from the bulk Mg–0.5Y melt is estimated. This changes the structural and chemical configuration at the interface, thus the nucleation potency of native MgO particles as well as the as-cast grain size
Using bolted connections for the construction, de-construction and reuse of lightweight exterior infill walls: Experimental study
Get PDFData availability The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Bolted connections offer advantages in terms of disassembly and reusability, potentially replacing conventional connections like screws, welds, or chemical bonds. This research investigates the behaviour of bolted connections between lightweight exterior infill walls and beams of primary structural members that are conventionally connected using screws. Although previous studies have investigated bolted connections in different structural members, understanding of the behaviours of these specific connections remains limited. The connections between infill walls and steel beams primarily experience shear loads under serviceability conditions. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted to gain insight into their shear behaviour. The obtained experimental results were analysed using existing predictive equations from design standards that are used across European, North American and Oceanian countries, to identify the most suitable equations for designing such connections.EPSRC through the Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-Based Construction Materials from the UK Research and Innovation (EPSRC Reference: EP/V011820/1)
Computational Argumentation-based Chatbots: A Survey
Get PDFThe article archived on this institutional repository is a preprint. It has not been certified by peer review.A preprint version of the article is available at arXiv:2401.03454v1 [cs.AI], https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.03454 . It has not been certified by peer review.Chatbots are conversational software applications designed to interact dialectically with users for a plethora of different purposes. Surprisingly, these colloquial agents have only recently been coupled with computational models of arguments (i.e. computational argumentation), whose aim is to formalise, in a machine-readable format, the ordinary exchange of information that characterises human communications. Chatbots may employ argumentation with different degrees and in a variety of manners. The present survey sifts through the literature to review papers concerning this kind of argumentation-based bot, drawing conclusions about the benefits and drawbacks that this approach entails in comparison with standard chatbots, while also envisaging possible future development and integration with the Transformer-based architecture and state-of-the-art Large Language models
Late-life onset psychosis-like symptoms assessed in the Mild Behavioural Impairment framework are associated with impaired performance on the Stroop task
Get PDFAvailability of material
The data of this experiment can be found at https://doi.org/10.17633/rd.brunel.24442468
Supplementary Table 1 can be found at https://ins-inandpublish-prod.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud/papers/652519d3890bbf5b40a41e79/assets/Supplement_Table1_v2.xlsx
Supplementary Table 2 can be found at https://ins-inandpublish-prod.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud/papers/652519d3890bbf5b40a41e79/assets/Supplement_Table2_v2.xlsxA previous version of this preprint is available on 3 October 2023 at PsyArXiv Preprints, (preprint), pp. 1 - 12. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/c4vu3.Late-life onset psychosis and milder delusion-like ideation are known risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. The Mild Behavioural Impairment (MBI) framework was developed to capture specific psychotic-like symptoms relevant to dementia prognosis in older adults. This study aims to investigate the cognitive deficits associated with MBI-psychosis and their implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms and potential treatment targets. The study recruited participants between November 2021 and July 2022 from the PROTECT study registry. Participants completed the Cambridge Gambling Task, Stroop, Trail Making, Paired Associates Learning, Verbal Reasoning, Digit Span and Self-Ordered Search. Psychotic symptom status was assessed using the Mild Behavioural Impairment Checklist (MBI-C), with participants categorized as MBI-psychosis if they or their study partner reported any psychotic symptoms. Out of 2,109 eligible participants invited, 416 consented to participate. There were no significant differences in age, sex, education level, or mental health history between the MBI-psychosis and No Psychosis groups. Participants with MBI-psychosis exhibited significantly worse performance on the Stroop task (adjusted p=0.0007, Cohen’s d=0.37) compared to those without psychosis. There was also some evidence of impairment in verbal reasoning, though it did not reach significance after Bonferroni correction. No significant differences were found on other cognitive measures. This cross-sectional study provides insight into the cognitive deficits associated with MBI-psychosis. The finding of impaired Stroop task performance in individuals with MBI-psychosis is noteworthy, as this deficit is commonly observed in earlier-life major psychotic disorders. Further research is needed to explore the neural underpinnings of these deficits and to determine whether they represent early markers of neurodegenerative disease.Alzheimer’s Research UK South West Network grant; a generous donation by University of Exeter alumnus, Mr David Bays
Accelerated immune ageing is associated with COVID-19 disease severity
Get PDFAvailability of data and materials:
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.Supplementary Information is available online at: https://immunityageing.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12979-023-00406-z#Sec23 .Background: The striking increase in COVID-19 severity in older adults provides a clear example of immunesenescence, the age-related remodelling of the immune system. To better characterise the association between convalescent immunesenescence and acute disease severity, we determined the immune phenotype of COVID-19 survivors and non-infected controls. Results: We performed detailed immune phenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 103 COVID-19 survivors 3–5 months post recovery who were classified as having had severe (n = 56; age 53.12 ± 11.30 years), moderate (n = 32; age 52.28 ± 11.43 years) or mild (n = 15; age 49.67 ± 7.30 years) disease and compared with age and sex-matched healthy adults (n = 59; age 50.49 ± 10.68 years). We assessed a broad range of immune cell phenotypes to generate a composite score, IMM-AGE, to determine the degree of immune senescence. We found increased immunesenescence features in severe COVID-19 survivors compared to controls including: a reduced frequency and number of naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells (p < 0.0001); increased frequency of EMRA CD4 (p < 0.003) and CD8 T cells (p < 0.001); a higher frequency (p < 0.0001) and absolute numbers (p < 0.001) of CD28−ve CD57+ve senescent CD4 and CD8 T cells; higher frequency (p < 0.003) and absolute numbers (p < 0.02) of PD-1 expressing exhausted CD8 T cells; a two-fold increase in Th17 polarisation (p < 0.0001); higher frequency of memory B cells (p < 0.001) and increased frequency (p < 0.0001) and numbers (p < 0.001) of CD57+ve senescent NK cells. As a result, the IMM-AGE score was significantly higher in severe COVID-19 survivors than in controls (p < 0.001). Few differences were seen for those with moderate disease and none for mild disease. Regression analysis revealed the only pre-existing variable influencing the IMM-AGE score was South Asian ethnicity (β = 0.174, p = 0.043), with a major influence being disease severity (β = 0.188, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Our analyses reveal a state of enhanced immune ageing in survivors of severe COVID-19 and suggest this could be related to SARS-Cov-2 infection. Our data support the rationale for trials of anti-immune ageing interventions for improving clinical outcomes in these patients with severe disease.Medical Research Council supported UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) supported PHOSP-COVID Collaborative study
The economic burden of multimorbidity: Protocol for a systematic review
Get PDFData Availability: No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study. All relevant data from this study will be made available upon study completion.Supporting information is available online at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301485#sec019 .Correction Published: December 26, 2024: There are errors in the Funding statement. The correct Funding statement is as follows: This study is part of the first author’s PhD studies funded by the Department of Health Sciences at Brunel University of London. This research is partly funded by the NIHR (NIHR203257) using UK international development funding from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government. [issued on 26 December 2024 PLoS ONE 19(12): e0316571. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316571].Multimorbidity, also known as multiple long-term conditions, leads to higher healthcare utilisation, including hospitalisation, readmission, and polypharmacy, as well as a financial burden to families, society, and nations. Despite some progress, the economic burden of multimorbidity remains poorly understood. This paper outlines a protocol for a systematic review that aims to identify and synthesise comprehensive evidence on the economic burden of multimorbidity, considering various definitions and measurements of multimorbidity, including their implications for future cost-of-illness analyses. The review will include studies involving people of all ages with multimorbidity without any restriction on location and setting. Cost-of-illness studies or studies that examined economic burden including model-based studies will be included, and economic evaluation studies will be excluded. Databases including Scopus (that includes PubMed/MEDLINE), Web of Science, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, NHS EED (including the HTA database), and the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry, will be searched until March 2024. The risk of bias within included studies will be independently assessed by two authors using appropriate checklists. A narrative synthesis of the main characteristics and results, by definitions and measurements of multimorbidity, will be conducted. The total economic burden of multimorbidity will be reported as mean annual costs per patient and disaggregated based on counts of diseases, disease clusters, and weighted indices. The results of this review will provide valuable insights for researchers into the key cost components and areas that require further investigation in order to improve the rigour of future studies on the economic burden of multimorbidity. Additionally, these findings will broaden our understanding of the economic impact of multimorbidity, inform us about the costs of inaction, and guide decision-making regarding resource allocation and cost-effective interventions. The systematic review’s results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, presented at conferences, and shared via an online webinar for discussion.The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. This study is part of the first author's PhD project and that the first author is sponsored by the Department of Health Sciences at Brunel University London. Corrigendum, Published: December 26, 2024: There are errors in the Funding statement. The correct Funding statement is as follows: This study is part of the first author’s PhD studies funded by the Department of Health Sciences at Brunel University of London. This research is partly funded by the NIHR (NIHR203257) using UK international development funding from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government
Process Evaluation of the Newham Y2A Hub Evaluating the implementation of a specialist youth to adulthood transitions service in probation
Get PDFThis report provides findings from the process evaluation of the Newham Y2A specialist youth hub. PDF, 1.39 MB, 78 pages.All members of the research team contributed towards the design of the study, undertook data collection, contributed to analysis and were involved in writing this report.Young adults aged 18-25 years old in the criminal justice system face age-specific maturity needs, which relate to their rehabilitation. The Youth2Adulthood (Y2A) transitions Hub was developed to address these needs, alongside additional needs such as neurodiversity. The hub used a co-located probation and commissioned services model.
This process evaluation sought to gather evidence on the implementation of this bespoke hub model. Analysis of interviews with 60 members of staff and 35 young adults suggested that the Hub was implemented well. Participants were positive about the Hub and identified benefits and challenges related to its implementation
Data sources:
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