Discriminant BOLD Activation Patterns during Mental Imagery in Parkinson’s Disease

in Proceedings of MLINI 2012 (in press)

Using machine learning based models in clinical applications has become current practice and can prove useful to provide information at the subject’s level, such as predicting an (early) diagnosis or ... [more ▼]

Using machine learning based models in clinical applications has become current practice and can prove useful to provide information at the subject’s level, such as predicting an (early) diagnosis or monitoring the evolution of a disease. However, the performance of these models depends on the choice of a biomarker to detect the presence or absence of a disease. Choosing a biomarker is not straightforward, especially in the case of Parkinson’s disease when compared to healthy subjects. In the present work, we investigated the mental imagery of gait as a biomarker of Parkinson’s disease and showed that the signal in the mesencephalic locomotor region during the mental imagery of gait at a comfortable pace can discriminate significantly between idiopathic Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy subjects. Although there is room for improvement, the results of this preliminary study are promising. [less ▲]

Pour une esthétique de la vérité - De Kant à Kant en passant par Bachelard

in Philosophie (in press)

Carrying capacity of stainless steel columns in the low slenderness range.

in Journal of Structural Engineering (in press)

The strength of thin-walled stainless steel columns has been investigated extensively over the past few years. In European standards, the concept of section classification for determining the cross ... [more ▼]

The strength of thin-walled stainless steel columns has been investigated extensively over the past few years. In European standards, the concept of section classification for determining the cross-section capacity is used. In this system, for Class 4 cross-sections, the Effective Width Method (EWM) must be used to account for the effect of local buckling. Because of the complexity and limitations of this method, other methods have been developed, such as the Direct Strength Method (DSM) for cold-formed thin-walled profiles and the Continuous Strength Method (CSM), initially established for members made of nonlinear metallic materials. In the CSM, to take advantage of strain hardening, a deformation-based design approach employing a continuous relationship between the cross-sectional slenderness and the cross-sectional deformation capacity is used. To a large extent, the CSM yield accurate predictions, especially in the low slenderness range where the current DSM design procedures for members submitted to pure compression tends to produce conservative predictions, for materials with pronounced strain hardening such as stainless steel alloys. The present paper presents an extension of the traditional DSM which provides accurate design strength predictions in the low slenderness range for stainless steel thin-walled section columns failing by distortional, local and overall buckling. It contains practical information concerning the reference experimental data and draws conclusions about the justification of the proposed analytical formula. The paper is divided into three main parts: the description of the database, the establishment of the design model and a reliability analysis of the method. [less ▲]

Why some species cannot colonize restored habitats? The effects of seed and microsite availability

in Journal for Nature Conservation (in press)

Restoration of calcareous grasslands was promoted as a conservation strategy to reduce the risks imposed by habitat loss and fragmentation. Restoration already provided promising results for several taxa ... [more ▼]

Restoration of calcareous grasslands was promoted as a conservation strategy to reduce the risks imposed by habitat loss and fragmentation. Restoration already provided promising results for several taxa, however some specialist species still fail at colonizing restored habitats. We aimed at explaining this lack of colonization success for three calcareous grasslands specialist species in Southern Belgium: Pulsatilla vulgaris, Trifolium montanum and Veronica prostrata. We studied: (i) Germination in control and outdoor conditions (cold, heat, smoke and litter effects); (ii) In-situ seedling emergence patterns (effects of seed addition and germination microsites availability). The three species were able to germinate in Petri dishes in the absence of treatment. Cold enhanced the germination of V. prostrata. Fire-related treatments (heat shock and smoke exposure) did not enhance germination and were deleterious to V. prostrata. Litter cover improved P. vulgaris emergence in outdoor containers, but had a negative effect on V. prostrata. In the field, V. prostrata did not emerge. T. montanum seedlings were observed in the reference grasslands when seeds were added, but not in the restored grasslands. P. vulgaris emerged in the reference grasslands, and to a lower degree in the restored grasslands. The combination of seed addition and microsites availability for seed germination resulted in enhanced seedling emergence for P. vulgaris. Our results suggest that seed and microsite availability can be limiting factors for site colonization, but the combination of both is likely much more limiting. Lower seedling emergence in restored than in reference grasslands suggests a lower habitat quality in restored grasslands. [less ▲]

Craftwork, industry and art. ISIA (1922-1943) and the roots of Italian design education

in Fallan, Kjetil; Lees-Maffei, Grace (Eds.) Made in Italy: Rethinking a Century of Italian Design (in press)

Mamlūk literary compendia. The case of al-Maqrīzī and al-Ṣafadī

in Swain, Simon; Wakelnig, Elvira (Eds.) Compendia: Gathering and Conveying Philosophical and Scientific Knowledge in Medieval Islam (in press)

A.P.M.H. Lardinois, J.H Blok et M.G.M. Van der Poel, Sacred Words: Orality, Literacy and Religion, Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2011

in Antiquité Classique : Revue Interuniversitaire d'Etudes Classiques (in press)

Scalar triplet leptogenesis without right-handed neutrino decoupling

in Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplement (in press)

We discuss leptogenesis in the context of type-II seesaw in the case in which in addition to the scalar electroweak triplet decays the lepton asymmetry is also induced by right-handed neutrino decays ... [more ▼]

We discuss leptogenesis in the context of type-II seesaw in the case in which in addition to the scalar electroweak triplet decays the lepton asymmetry is also induced by right-handed neutrino decays (mild hierarchical scenarios). We show that within this setup, depending on the relative sizes of the relevant parameters, one can identify three classes of generic models, each one with its own consequences for leptogenesis. [less ▲]

Lepton flavor violation and seesaw symmetries

in Hyperfine Interactions (in press)

When the standard model is extended with right-handed neutrinos the symmetries of the resulting Lagrangian are enlarged with a new global U(1)R Abelian factor. In the context of minimal seesaw models we ... [more ▼]

When the standard model is extended with right-handed neutrinos the symmetries of the resulting Lagrangian are enlarged with a new global U(1)R Abelian factor. In the context of minimal seesaw models we analyze the implications of a slightly broken U(1)R symmetry on charged lepton flavor violating decays. We find, depending on the R-charge assignments, models where charged lepton flavor violating rates can be within measurable ranges. In particular, we show that in the resulting models due to the structure of the light neutrino mass matrix muon flavor violating decays are entirely determined by neutrino data (up to a normalization factor) and can be sizable in a wide right-handed neutrino mass range. [less ▲]

65e Session de la SIHDA

in Index – Quaderni camerti di studi romanistici (in press)