Spike pattern recognition by supervised classification in low dimensional embedding space

© The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Epileptiform discharges in interictal electroencephalography (EEG) form the mainstay of epilepsy diagnosis and localization of seizure onset. Visual analysis is rater-dependent and time consuming, especially for long-term recordings, while computerized methods can provide efficiency in reviewing long EEG recordings. This paper presents a machine learning approach for automated detection of epileptiform discharges (spikes). The proposed method first detects spike patterns by calculating similarity to a coarse shape model of a spike waveform and then refines the results by identifying subtle differences between actual spikes and false detections. Pattern classification is performed using support vector machines in a low dimensional space on which the original waveforms are embedded by locality preserving projections. The automatic detection results are compared to experts’ manual annotations (101 spikes) on a whole-night sleep EEG recording. The high sensitivity (97 %) and the low false positive rate (0.1 min−1), calculated by intra-patient cross-validation, highlight the potential of the method for automated interictal EEG assessment.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Minichromosome maintenance proteins 2 and 5 in non-benign epithelial ovarian tumours: relationship with cell cycle regulators and prognostic implications

Minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCM) have recently emerged as novel proliferation markers with prognostic implications in several tumour types. This is the first study investigating MCM-2 and MCM-5 immunohistochemical expression in a series of ovarian adenocarcinomas and low malignant potential (LMP) tumours aiming to determine possible associations with clinicopathological parameters, the conventional proliferation index Ki-67, cell cycle regulators (p53, p27Kip1, p21WAF1 and pRb) and patients' outcome. Immunohistochemistry was applied in a series of 43 cases of ovarian LMP tumours and 85 cases of adenocarcinomas. Survival analysis was restricted to adenocarcinomas. The median MCM-2 and MCM-5 labelling indices (LIs) were significantly higher in adenocarcinomas compared to LMP tumours (P<0.0001 for both associations). In adenocarcinomas, the levels of MCM-2 and MCM-5 increased significantly with advancing tumour stage (P=0.0052 and P=0.0180, respectively), whereas both MCM-2 and MCM-5 increased significantly with increasing tumour grade (P=0.0002 and P=0.0006, respectively) and the presence of bulky residual disease (P<0.0001 in both relationships). A strong positive correlation was established between MCM-2 or MCM-5 expression level and Ki-67 LI (P<0.0001) as well as p53 protein (P=0.0038 and P=0.0500, respectively). Moreover, MCM-2 LI was inversely correlated with p27Kip−1 LI (P=0.0068). Finally, both MCM-2 and MCM-5 were associated significantly with adverse patients' outcome in both univariate (⩾20 vs >20%, P=0.0011 and ⩾25 vs <25%, P=0.0100, respectively) and multivariate (P=0.0001 and 0.0090, respectively) analysis. An adequately powered independent group of 45 patients was used in order to validate our results in univariate survival analysis. In this group, MCM-2 and MCM-5 expression retained their prognostic significance (P<0.0001 in both relationships). In conclusion, MCM-2 and MCM-5 proteins appear to be promising as prognostic markers in patients with ovarian adenocarcinomas

Heat-related issues and practical applications for Paralympic athletes at Tokyo 2020

International sporting competitions, including the Paralympic Games, are increasingly being held in hot and/or humid environmental conditions. Thus, a greater emphasis is being placed on preparing athletes for the potentially challenging environmental conditions of the host cities, such as the upcoming Games in Tokyo in 2020. However, evidence-based practices are limited for the impairment groups that are eligible to compete in Paralympic sport. This review aims to provide an overview of heat-related issues for Paralympic athletes alongside current recommendations to reduce thermal strain and technological advancements in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. When competing in challenging environmental conditions a number of factors may contribute to an athlete’s predisposition to heightened thermal strain. These include the characteristics of the sport itself (type, intensity, duration, modality and environmental conditions), the complexity and severity of the impairment and classification of the athlete. For heat vulnerable Paralympic athletes, strategies such as the implementation of cooling methods and heat acclimation can be used to combat the increase in heat strain. At an organisational level regulations and specific heat policies should be considered for several Paralympic sports. Both the utilisation of individual strategies and specific heat health policies should be employed to ensure that Paralympics athletes’ health and sporting performance are not negatively affected during competition in the heat at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Responsible Research Assessment: with or without the Nordic bibliometric indicator

This presentation includes the slide-deck used for a panel discussion "Responsible Research Assessment - with or without the Nordic bibliometric indicator" at the 28th Nordic Workshop on Bibliometrics and Research Policy (NWB2023) 13 October 2023. Responsible research assessment (RRA) entails balancing qualitative and quantitative methods, recognizing diversity of academic work and fields, and rewarding open science practices. CoARA agreement for Reforming Research Assessment reinforces the DORA (The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) recommendation against inappropriate uses of journal- and publication-based metrics (especially JIF and h-index). While the European Council supports the RRA agenda, it recently invited member states to address the issue of predatory publishing practices. The Nordic bibliometric indicator relies on evaluation of journals and book publishers by national field-specific panels of experts. Since 2005, the indicator has been adapted in some form at national or institutional level in all Nordic countries but now its uses are reconsidered. Denmark and Norway have decided to stop using the indicator in the performance-based funding of universities, and Finland is reconsidering its funding model. Many Swedish universities use the Norwegian list for internal funding allocations. Iceland uses the Norwegian, Danish and Finnish lists used as supporting tool since 2019 and the Finnish list more extensively since 2022 in a new research assessment system. The panel discussed the following three questions from the national and/or their institution's perspective: 1. What are the most important recent changes in the use of the Nordic bibliometric indicator in your country/institution? 2. What have been the main concerns about the uses of the indicator with respect to the RRA agenda and the CoARA Agreement? 3. What is the role of journal evaluation (by citation metrics or experts) in addressing predatory, questionable, deceptive and low-quality publishing practices? The panel comprised experts in research assessment and bibliometrics from five Nordic countries: Denmark: Marianne Gauffriau (IT University of Copenhagen) Finland: Laura Niemi (University of Turku) Iceland: Baldvin Zarioh (University of Iceland) Norway: Gunnar Sivertsen (NIFU – Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education) Sweden: Björn Hammarfelt (University of Borås) The panel was moderated by Janne Pölönen (TSV – Federation of Finnish Learned Societies

The rhetorics and myths of anti-piracy campaigns: criminalization, moral pedagogy and capitalist property relations in the classroom

Studying remixed texts with adolescents and young adults can open up space for important discussions of creativity, ethical appropriation, and media power. © 2013 International Reading Association