Big Data for Smart Society (GATE) Institute

Seismic provision of all types of structures is of paramount importance in regions defined by medium and high seismic hazard. This is all the more true in the case of steel storage tanks, as these often contain toxic, flammable and explosive substances or the fuels needed for post-state recovery after a catastrophic event. Additionally, steel storage tanks could be an integral part of special facilities related to national security and defence. The current paper presents an overview of the European design codes used in practice regarding the analysis, behaviour and design of steel tanks under earthquake loading, namely EN 1998-4 (BDS EN 1998-4:2006, along with the national annex BDS EN 1998-4:2006/NA:2012) and EN 14015 (BDS EN 14015:2005). Other legislative documents-API Standard 650 and API Standard 620 are also considered. The aim of the paper is to compare the provisions provided by the aforementioned documents focusing on the aspects that require further investigation and regulation, as well as those not dealt with in the regulatory framework. Special attention is paid to the effects that a seismic event would have on the stationary roofs of vertical cylindrical steel storage tanks.

Air pollution is a global problem, which needs to be understood and controlled to ensure a healthy environment and inform sustainable development. Urban areas have been established as one of the main contributors to air pollution, and, as such, urban air quality is the subject of an increasing volume of research. One of the principal means of studying air pollution dispersion is to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. Subject to careful verification and validation, these models allow for analysts to predict air flow and pollution concentration for various urban morphologies under different environmental conditions. This article presents a detailed review of the use of CFD to model air pollution dispersion in an urban environment over the last decade. The review extracts and summarises information from nearly 90 pieces of published research, categorising it according to over 190 modelling features, which are thematically systemised into 7 groups. The findings from across the field are critically compared to available urban air pollution modelling guidelines and standards. Among the various quantitative trends and statistics from the review, two key findings stand out. The first is that, despite the existence of best practice guidelines for pollution dispersion modelling, anywhere between 12% and 34% of the papers do not specify one or more aspects of the utilised models, which are required to reproduce the study. The second is that none of the articles perform verification and validation according to accepted standards. The results of this review can, therefore, be used by practitioners in the field of pollution dispersion modelling to understand the general trends in current research and to identify open problems to be addressed in the future.

Seismic provision of all types of structures is of paramount importance in regions subjected to medium and high seismic hazard. This is all the more true in the case of steel storage tanks, as these often contain toxic, flammable and explosive substances or the fuels needed for post-state recovery after a catastrophic event. Additionally, steel storage tanks could be an integral part of special facilities related to national security and defence. The current paper presents an overview of the European design codes used in practice regarding the analysis, behaviour and design of steel tanks under earthquake loading, namely EN 1998-4 (BDS EN 1998-4:2006, along with the national annex BDS EN 1998-4:2006/NA:2012) and EN 14015 (BDS EN 14015:2005). Other legislative documents – API Standard 650 and API Standard 620 are also considered. The aim of the paper is to compare the provisions provided by the aforementioned documents focusing on the aspects that require further investigation and re...

Epilepsy is a pathological condition of the human central nervous system in which normal brain functions are impaired by unexpected transitions to states called seizures. We developed a lumped neuronal model that has the property of switching between two states as a result of intrinsic or extrinsic perturbations, such as noisy fluctuations. In one version of the model, seizure risk is controlled by a single connectivity parameter representing excitatory couplings between two model lumps. We show that this risk can be reconstructed from calculation of the cross-covariance between the activities of the two neural populations during the nonictal phase. In a second simulation sequence, we use a system of 10 interconnected lumps with randomly generated connectivity matrices. We show again that the tendency to develop seizures can be inferred from the cross-covariances calculated during the nonictal states. Our conclusion is that the risk of epileptic transitions in biological systems can be objectively quantified. This article is part of a Supplemental Special Issue entitled The Future of Automated Seizure Detection and Prediction.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by sudden, often unexpected transitions from normal to pathological behavioral states called epileptic seizures. Some of these seizures are accompanied by uncontrolled, often rhythmic movements of body parts when seizure activity propagates to brain areas responsible for the initiation and control of movement. The dynamics of these transitions is, in general, unknown. As a consequence, individuals have to be monitored for long periods in order to obtain sufficient data for adequate diagnosis and to plan therapeutic strategy. Some people may require long-term care in special units to allow for timely intervention in case seizures get out of control. Our goal is to present a method by which a subset of motor seizures can be detected using only remote sensing devices (i.e., not in contact with the subject) such as video cameras. These major motor seizures (MMS) consist of clonic movements and are often precursors of generalized tonic-clonic (convulsive) seizures, sometimes leading to a condition known as status epilepticus, which is an acute life-threatening event. We propose an algorithm based on optical flow, extraction of global group transformation velocities, and band-pass temporal filtering to identify occurrence of clonic movements in video sequences. We show that for a validation set of 72 prerecorded epileptic seizures in 50 people, our method is highly sensitive and specific in detecting video segments containing MMS with clonic movements.

Recent clinical work has implicated network structure as critically important in the initiation of seizures in people with idiopathic generalized epilepsies. In line with this idea, functional networks derived from the electroencephalogram (EEG) at rest have been shown to be significantly different in people with generalized epilepsy compared to controls. In particular, the mean node degree of networks from the epilepsy cohort was found to be statistically significantly higher than those of controls. However, the mechanisms by which these network differences can support recurrent transitions into seizures remain unclear. In this study, we use a computational model of the transition into seizure dynamics to explore the dynamic consequences of these differences in functional networks. We demonstrate that networks with higher mean node degree are more prone to generating seizure dynamics in the model and therefore suggest a mechanism by which increased mean node degree of brain network...

Graph theory has evolved into a useful tool for studying complex brain networks inferred from a variety of measures of neural activity, including fMRI, DTI, MEG and EEG. In the study of neurological disorders, recent work has discovered differences in the structure of graphs inferred from patient and control cohorts. However, most of these studies pursue a purely observational approach; identifying correlations between properties of graphs and the cohort which they describe, without consideration of the underlying mechanisms. To move beyond this necessitates the development of computational modeling approaches to appropriately interpret network interactions and the alterations in brain dynamics they permit, which in the field of complexity sciences is known as dynamics on networks. In this study we describe the development and application of this framework using modular networks of Kuramoto oscillators. We use this framework to understand functional networks inferred from resting state EEG recordings of a cohort of 35 adults with heterogeneous idiopathic generalized epilepsies and 40 healthy adult controls. Taking emergent synchrony across the global network as a proxy for seizures, our study finds that the critical strength of coupling required to synchronize the global network is significantly decreased for the epilepsy cohort for functional networks inferred from both theta (3-6 Hz) and low-alpha (6-9 Hz) bands. We further identify left frontal regions as a potential driver of seizure activity within these networks. We also explore the ability of our method to identify individuals with epilepsy, observing up to 80% predictive power through use of receiver operating characteristic analysis. Collectively these findings demonstrate that a computer model based analysis of routine clinical EEG provides significant additional information beyond standard clinical interpretation, which should ultimately enable a more appropriate mechanistic stratification of people with epilepsy leading to improved diagnostics and therapeutics.

In our previous studies, we showed that the both realistic and analytical computational models of neural dynamics can display multiple sustained states (attractors) for the same values of model parameters. Some of these states can represent normal activity while other, of oscillatory nature, may represent epileptic types of activity. We also showed that a simplified, analytical model can mimic this type of behavior and can be used instead of the realistic model for large scale simulations. The primary objective of the present work is to further explore the phenomenon of multiple stable states, co-existing in the same operational model, or phase space, in systems consisting of large number of interconnected basic units. As a second goal, we aim to specify the optimal method for state control of the system based on inducing state transitions using appropriate external stimulus. We use here interconnected model units that represent the behavior of neuronal populations as an effective d...

The paper suggests an analysis of data concerning 306 educational project proposals submitted for European funding in 2013. Several fundamental questions regarding the role of the evaluation for achieving European ideas and goals when financing projects in education area are posed and answers have been provided. The hypothesis that the actual assessment confirms the objectives of the EU is discussed against the alternative that this assessment changes the focus of EU funding. Another natural question that finds an answer in the present work is "How to plan the preparation of the project proposal with a view to optimize its effectiveness and the expected results?" The data is analysed by the methods of histogram analysis, principal component analysis,cross-covariance, correlation and variation analysis, Hilbert's transform, as well as graph's theory techniques.

The present study is based on real data of 306 project proposals submitted for funding in 2013. The distribution of the project proposals by the countries of initiation and partnering countries is specifically considered in relation to the quality of the established consortia. A quality indicator is defined that determines whether a given project has the appropriate quality/ characteristics to meet the predefined quality requirements/criteria. In the basis of this indicator local and global measures for quantification of the project’s success are introduced. The local and global measures for success along with the results obtained by "Quality of the consortium" evaluation criterion are used to calculate the statistical evaluation and the reconstruction of the optimal number of partners in a consortium, ensuring success of the project application. The presented data were analysed by methods of applied statistics and relevant findings were made about the discussed topic and ...

Objective: Automated seizure detection and alarming could improve quality of life and potentially prevent sudden, unexpected death in patients with severe epilepsy. As currently available systems focus on tonic-clonic seizures, we want to detect a broader range of seizure types, including tonic, hypermotor, and clusters of seizures. Methods: In this multicenter, prospective cohort study, the nonelectroencephalographic (non-EEG) signals heart rate and accelerometry were measured during the night in patients undergoing a diagnostic video-EEG examination. Based on clinical video-EEG data, seizures were classified and categorized as clinically urgent or not. Seizures included for analysis were tonic, tonic-clonic, hypermotor, and clusters of short myoclonic/tonic seizures. Features reflecting physiological changes in heart rate and movement were extracted. Detection algorithms were developed based on stepwise fulfillment of conditions during increases in either feature. A training set was used for development of algorithms, and an independent test set was used for assessing performance. Results: Ninety-five patients were included, but due to sensor failures, data from only 43 (of whom 23 patients had 86 seizures, representing 402 h of data) could be used for analysis. The algorithms yield acceptable sensitivities, especially for clinically urgent seizures (sensitivity = 71-87%), but produce high false alarm rates (2.3-5.7 per night, positive predictive value = 25-43%). There was a large variation in the number of false alarms per patient. Significance: It seems feasible to develop a detector with high sensitivity, but false alarm rates are too high for use in clinical practice. For further optimization, personalization of algorithms may be necessary.

The human brain, largely accepted as the most complex biological system known, is still far from being understood in its parts or as a whole. More specifically, biological mechanisms of epileptic states and state transitions are not well understood. Here, we explore the concept of the epilepsy as a manifestation of a multistate network composed of coupled oscillatory units. We also propose that functional coupling between neuroglial elements is a dynamic process, characterized by temporal changes both at short and long time scales. We review various experimental and modeling data suggesting that epilepsy is a pathological manifestation of such a multistate networkboth when viewed as a coupled oscillatory network, and as a system of multistate stable state attractors. Based on a coupled oscillators model, we propose a significant role for glial cells in modulating hyperexcitability of the neuroglial networks of the brain. Also, using these concepts, we explain a number of observable phenomena such as propagation patterns of bursts within a seizure in the isolated intact hippocampus in vitro, postictal generalized suppression in human encephalographic seizure data, and changes in seizure susceptibility in epileptic patients. Based on our conceptual model we propose potential clinical applications to estimate brain closeness to ictal transition by means of active perturbations and passive measures during ongoing activity.

Rationale. Object tracking has significance in many applications ranging from control of unmanned vehicles to autonomous monitoring of specific situations and events, especially when providing safety for patients with certain adverse conditions such as epileptic seizures. Conventional tracking methods face many challenges, such as the need for dedicated attached devices or tags, influence by high image noise, complex object movements, and intensive computational requirements. We have developed earlier computationally efficient algorithms for global optical flow reconstruction of group velocities that provide means for convulsive seizure detection and have potential applications in fall and apnea detection. Here, we address the challenge of using the same calculated group velocities for object tracking in parallel. Methods. We propose a novel optical flow-based method for object tracking. It utilizes real-time image sequences from the camera and directly reconstructs global motion-group parameters of the content. These parameters can steer a rectangular region of interest surrounding the moving object to follow the target. The method successfully applies to multi-spectral data, further improving its effectiveness. Besides serving as a modular extension to clinical alerting applications, the novel technique, compared with other available approaches, may provide real-time computational advantages as well as improved stability to noisy inputs. Results. Experimental results on simulated tests and complex real-world data demonstrate the method's capabilities. The proposed optical flow reconstruction can provide accurate, robust, and faster results compared to current state-of-the-art approaches.