Chaos, Fractal and Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Surface Electromyography in Muscular Dystrophy

We analyze muscular dystrophy recorded by sEMG and use standard methodologies and nonlinear chaotic methods here including the RQA. We reach sufficient evidence that the sEMG signal contains a large chaotic component. We have estimated the correlation dimension (fractal measure), the largest Lyapunov exponent, the LZ complexity and the %Rec and %Det of the RQA demonstrating that such indexes are able to detect the presence of repetitive hidden patterns in sEMG which, in turn, senses the level of MU synchronization within the muscle. The results give also an interesting methodological indication in the sense that it evidences the manner in which nonlinear methods and RQA must be arranged and applied in clinical routine in order to obtain results of clinical interest. We have studied the muscular dystrophy and evidence that the continuous regime of chaotic transitions that we have in muscular mechanisms may benefit in this pathology by the use of the NPT treatment that we have considered in detail in our previous publications.

First Time Demonstration of the Quantum Interference Effect during Integration of Cognition and Emotion in Children

Quantum cognition is a scientific approach to cognitive phenomena which makes use of the mathematical formalism of quantum theory. Quantum interference effect constitutes one of this theory’s main tenets and has been repeatedly demonstrated experimentally, in the last decade, in adult subjects. In the present paper, we aim to demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of thequantum interference effect on children during an experiment involving an integration of cognition and emotion. Our positive results consolidate the presuppositions of quantum cognition, enlarging its field of application to children’s mental apparatus and evidence the important question to consider the quantum model in the current investigated question of the interaction of cognition and emotion in children at neurological and psychological levels.

The Resurgence of Chinese Anti-Americanism in the 1990s:State Policy or Popular Expression?

While Western observers typically attribute the population's nationalist anti-Americanism largely to government propaganda or manipulation,they misunderstand the roots of anti-American behavior in China.As depicted by Peter Hay Gries in China's New Nationalism and by Michael H.Hunt in The Genesis of China's Foreign Policy,a more nuanced portrayal is in order.While the two books utilize distinct social- psychological and historical perspectives,an integrative reading of the two suggests that popular expression is in fact largely responsible for China's anti-Americanism.At first this conclusion in favor of popular expression may seem at odds with Hunt's state-centered analysis of the roots of foreign policy.Nevertheless,after a brief summary of each book and a comparative application to the issue of anti-Americanism,the authors demonstrate that applying a comparative historical reappraisal to Hunt's study suggests that both scholarly works support the predominant role of popular expression on contemporary China's nationalist anti- Americanism.

A Quantum Neurological Model of Perception-Cognition and Awareness in Ambiguous Figures and the Case of the Dalmatian Dog

The present paper has mainly the aim to formulate a quantum neurological model of brain dynamics during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures here including the case of the Dalmatian dog. First of all, we summarize our previous experimental and theoretical studies, evidencing as the basic conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics enter in a decisive manner in explaining the basic functions of brain dynamics at perceptive and cognitive level and at the level of our consciousness. This is done in detail in Sections 2 and 3 where we discuss also the role of the so called quantum interference effect and we include here the results of an our recent experiment confirming the role of quantum theory and of its quantum interference effect also at perceptive-cognitive and awareness levels. In Section 4, following our previous study, we consider the so called Mach-Zehnder interferometer. It is a physical device that is employed in quantum mechanical experiments in order to analyze such quantum interference effect. Soon after the discussion of this device, we proceed with the elaboration of a detailed quantum neurological model in the sense that we consider the brain regions identified in V1;V2/V3/V4 and A20 and we obtain that they may behave just as the beam splitters involved in the Mach-Zehnder quantum mechanical interferometer. In this manner, we formulate a model of V1;V2/V3/V4, A20 brain dynamics as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and such model delineates a proposed neurological mechanism explaining perception-cognition and awareness in humans under the input of ambiguous figures and in the particular case of the Dalmatian dog.

Analysis of the Autonomic Regulation in a Case of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy after Ken Ware Treatment

This is a study on autonomic neuroscience. In a previous paper in?[1], we studied a subject affected from facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy before and after Ken Ware treatment (NPT). Using the non linear methodology of the Generalized Mutual Information (GMI) analysis of Sensory Motor Rhythm, we produced detailed results evidencing that the mentioned NPT treatment involved a net improvement of the patient under his subjective psychological condition, and in particular, under the neurological and sensory motor profile. We quantified with accuracy the improvement that the subject realized during such treatment. Of course, previous studies of several authors?have evidenced that muscular dystrophies are strongly linked to a profound ANS disfunction.Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the ANS of the subject before and after the treatment. We performed analysis in time as well as in frequency domain and by using non linear?methods. The basic result of the paper was that, according to our analysis, the subjects started?with a serious ANS disfunction before the NPT treatment and that a net improvement was obtained after this therapy. All the examined parameters resulted strongly altered before the treatment and all they returned in the normal range after the NPT.

Case Report: Generalized Mutual Information (GMI) Analysis of Sensory Motor Rhythm in a Subject Affected by Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy after Ken Ware Treatment

In this case report we study the dynamics of the SMR band in a subject affected from Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy and subjected to Ken Ware Neuro Physics treatment. We use the Generalized Mutual Information (GMI) to analyze in detail the SMR band at rest during the treatment. Brain dynamics responds to a chaotic-deterministic regime with a complex behaviour?that?constantly self-rearranges and self-organizes such dynamics in function of the outside require-ments. We demonstrate that the SMR chaotic dynamics responds directly to such regime and that also decreasing in EEG during muscular activity really increases its ability of self-arrangement and self-organization in brain. The proposed novel method of the GMI is arranged by us so that it may?be used in several cases of clinical interest. In the case of muscular dystrophy here examined,?GMI?enables us to quantify with accuracy the improvement that the subject realizes during such?treatment.

Analysis of Brain-Neuromuscular Synchronization and Coupling Strength in Muscular Dystrophy after NPT Treatment

We perform an analysis of brain-neuromuscular synchronization and coupling strength in muscular dystrophy before and after NPT treatment. In order to estimate with accuracy the level of brain synchronization, we introduce and use the method of the cross GMI that was elaborated by Pompe. The finality is to account for the nonlinear chaotic dynamic contributions that regulate the dynamics. We find that this method is excellent and it may be applied in such case of sEMG and EEG study as well as at a general neurological level. By it we arrive to quantify the coupling strength and synchronization first between two muscular sections (left and right trapezes) and after between Brain activity, as recorded by the EEG, and the trapezes. We compare the results before and after the NPT treatment and we find that the improvement obtained following such treatment is very consistent. We have now in progress other studies relating in particular the application of such new methodologies to other more serious pathologies as the HSP (Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia).

Experimental Results on a New Method for Analysis of Heart Rate Variability

A new method for HRV analysis is described and experimental results are given.

Verification of the Validity of the NPT Treatment in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: An Investigation Performed by Application of Random Matrix Theory

We have applied the Random Matrix Theory in order to examine the validity of the NPT treatment in HSP. We have investigated the pathology examining the sEMG recorded signal for about eight minutes. We have performed standard electromyographic investigations as well as we have applied the RMT method of analysis. We have investigated the sEMG signals before and after the NPT treatment. The application of a so robust method as the RMT evidences that the NPT treatment was able to induce a net improvement of the disease respect to the pathological status before NPT.

Cost projections for microwave plasma CO production using renewable energy

Successful deployment of renewable fuel production requires substantial cost reduction along the entire value chain of the underlying manufacturing routes.To improve their performance,renewable fuel production technologies should follow a cost-reducing learning curve.In this article,we adopt recent evidence that learning-by-doing is directly influenced by the technology unit size and explore three scenarios for microwave plasma CO_(2)conversion in which the learning rate varies between 10%,15%,and 20%.Our projections reveal that the total investments required to deploy this CO_(2)conversion technology at an exajoule scale decline from 83 down to 23 billion euros under a 10%increase in the value of the learning rate.The CO_(2) production costs in 2050 amount to 247–346€(2019)/t CO_(2),in which the range is determined by the value of the learning rate.Even under substantial learning until 2050 the levelized CO production cost is unlikely to become competitive with conventional natural gas-based CO_(2) production processes,except when a CO_(2)tax is applied of up to 150€(2019)/t CO_(2).To optimally exploit effects of learning-by-doing,we recommend developing several CO production technologies simultaneously with multiple unit sizes,so as to improve the chance of ultimately selecting the process with the highest learning rate.

建设恢复力和适应性以对付北极的变化

人类行为引起的空前的全球变化挑战着社会支撑我们这颗行星保持自身优点的能力。这就要求对变化进行主动的管理以培养地球的恢复力——维持在变化的情况下对社会很重要的一些属性,和适应性——发展新的社会生态构造以便在新的条件下有效地发挥作用。北极的广大地区仍然完整地保留着原型的生态及社会过程及反馈,这为我们为变化预先做出计划提供了可能是最后一个实验的机会。如果该策略的可行性在北极可以被证实,我们对于变化的动态所得到的进一步的理解就可以实施到那些被人类较大地改变了的地区中。现在执行管理北极变化的政策的条件可能很理想,因为近来的研究提供了极其重要的科学知识,合适的国际机制也已各就各位,而且,如果北极地区的国家选择这样做的话,他们具备实行必要改变的财力。

Alpha-rhythm stimulation using brain entrainment enhances heart rate variability in subjects with reduced HRV

In the present research, we have used the brain entrainment (BWE) treatment simultaneously recording time series data of R-R intervals of the ECG during rest condition. In detail, we have used alpha brain stimulation and we have found that it induces an enhancement of HRV, particularly in Total Variability and Vagal Modulation activities. The experiment has been performed by us on ten subjects with age ranging from 20 to 70 years old. The risk induced from low HRV is by this time well known in literature. Therefore, the obtained result promises to be of valuable interest not only in terms of the basic neurological investigation but also because it delineates new possibilities in terms of clinical application.

Heart Rate Variability: On the Importance to Perform HRV Analysis in Subjects Affected from Muscular Dystrophy

This paper discusses a case of muscular dystrophy on which it has been performed HRV analysis. The results that we obtain evidence that the subject delineates a net ANS dysfunction. All the basic parameters relating standard time and frequency domain of HRV analysis result profoundly altered. Examination by Poicaré plot evidences in particular that the subject has an atrial fibrillation. Non linear indexes ApEn and Samp En evidence the very high condition of risk of the subject. The merging indication is for the cardiologist and scholars in cardiovascular disease to perform always ANS investigation in subjects in case of muscular dystrophy. After the NPT treatment, the subject obtains a net improvement.

Additional Comments Added to Our Recent Answer to G. Ghirardi

Recently we published on International Journal of Theoretical Physics an answer to G. Ghirardi relating a paper published by this author in 1999. Since the argument is so complex and articulated, in the present paper we add further comments relating in particular the matter of the quantum collapse as we have elaborated it in our previous work using only Clifford algebra and thus reaching the basic result that it is a mechanism involving only information with a cybernetic collapse and retrocollapse dynamics as first it was introduced by Costa de Beauregard. We evidence as quantum collapse involves directly our psyche and our consciousness that of course is by itself an entity selecting alternatives on the basis of quantum rules. According to our previous experiments we also add comments on the possibility to estimate quantum interference at the level of perception and cognitive dynamics and reconstruct the wave function giving the possibility such result to discriminate between pure quantum superposition of states and mixtures just to re-confirm the role of quantum mechanics at the basic structure of mental entities.

China’s Investment Contributes to Stability in Host Countries

As intra-national conflicts replace international wars to be the dominant form of collective political violence,the international dimension of domestic conflict has prompted reflections on the effects of globalization and multinational corporations represented by international investment.Theoretically,international investment may trigger or defuse conflicts.Although China is the world’s second largest source of outward foreign direct investment(OFDI),there has been limited empirical literature on how China’s OFDI has influenced domestic conflict in host countries.Based on the OFDI data of 115 developing countries from 2004 to 2016,this paper offers an empirical study on the effects of China’s OFDI on the eruption of domestic conflict in host countries and the underlying mechanisms.Results suggest that China’s OFDI in developing countries has made domestic conflict significantly less likely to erupt in those countries primarily by reducing the unemployment rate.These findings reflect the contribution of China’s investment to the internal stability of host countries.However,problems in the overseas operations of Chinese companies cannot be overlooked.

China’s engagement with development assistance for health in Africa

Background:As an emerging donor in health related development across the world,particularly towards Africa,the People’s Republic of China(PRC)has been increasing its influence within the field of global public health over the past few decades.Yet between the period of 2000 and 2013,little is known about the scope,scale and priority of China’s grant-making programs.Methods:Based on data sourced from the China Aid Database(version-1.2),descriptive analyses were applied to analyze the features of 531 health related projects that were undertaken between 2000 and 2013.Spearmen correlation was also performed to assess the relationship between China’s export and aid to recipient countries.Results:The total value of China’s grant-making programs in the health related sector between 2000 and 2013 was 5.67 billion USD,with 531 projects undertaken.During the five year period between 2004 and 2008,China had a contribution of 1.54 billion USD,which increased to 3.8 billion USD during the five year period between 2009 and 2013-an 146.26%increase.In terms of specific diseases,China is most concerned with building an African public health system through donations targeted towards general health(313 projects),combating Malaria(115 projects)and maternal,neonatal and child health(MNCH),(12 projects).When it comes to recipient countries,if counted in total value,Zimbabwe received the most financial assistance from China,totaling 1.08 billion USD and 19 projects,while Angola and Tanzania received more projects-30 and 29 projects respectively.In terms of the channeling of aid funding,most projects were targeted towards infrastructure,equipment and medicine(304 projects in total),followed by medical teams(189 projects).Moreover,there is a statistically significant relationship between aid to Africa and Chinese exports to Africa.Conclusion:During the past decade,Chinese aid projects played an important role in the African public health system through providing funding for infrastructure,equipment and medicine,training health professionals,as well as disease treatment.However,very limited attention was paid towards disease prevention,health promotion and awareness initiatives,and health education.Furthermore,serious questions were raised regarding the long-term financial sustainability and actual impact these projects have on health development.

The Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Output of the NuCalm Device of Solace Lifesciences Is Found to Be a Multifractal and Therefore It Is Indicated in the Treatment of Heart Rate Variability in the Dysfunction of Autonomic Nervous System in Anxiety, Depression and Stress

We have investigated the Nu Calm Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation device of the NuCalm Solace Lifesciences founding that it gives a multifractal output. A diminishing fractal/multifractal HRV is consistently reported in literature as related to a serious Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) dysfunction that of course we observe in several psychological and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we suggest the investigators to apply such a device in subjects affected from anxiety, depression and stress using the method of inducing tVNS stimulation.

Family support,discrimination,and quality of life among ART-treated HIV-infected patients:a two-year study in China

Background:By September 2016,approximately 653,865 people in China were living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA)and 492,725 people were receiving antiretroviral therapy(ART).PLWHA frequently experience discrimination in all domains of their personal and social lives.The World Health Organization includes discrimination in its list of social determinants of health factors that have been linked to poor physical and psychological health.This paper identifies the family support enjoyed and discrimination faced by people infected with HIV and examines the effect they have on patients’quality of life(QOL)as they undergo ART in China.Methods:We conducted this observational cohort study of ART-treated patients with HIV in Guangxi Province using a questionnaire survey at baseline,6,12,and 24 months,starting in 2010.Descriptive analysis was used to describe the demographic characteristics(e.g.,age,sex,educational level,marital status,and employment status)of participants.Generalized estimating equations(GEE)were employed to examine the relationships between family support,discrimination,and QOL.Results:In the study,90.4%(n=281)of patients received family support at baseline,here defined as the initiation of ART,91.8%(n=244)received family support 6 months into ART,95.5%(n=220)at 12 months,and 94.3%(n=230)at 24 months.The proportion of patients who did not feel discriminated against by their families was 87.2%(n=274)at baseline,90.4%(n=229)6 months into ART,90.0%(n=210)at 12 months,and 94.5%(n=219)at 24 months.Patients’overall QOL scores were positively associated with having received family support(OR=2.74,P=0.040,95%CI:1.68-4.47),not feeling discriminated against by their families(OR=1.3,P=0.041,95%CI:1.07-1.59)or discrimination from patients themselves,including never experiencing fear of abandonment by family(OR=2.05,P=0.025,95%CI:1.49-2.82).Conclusions:Family support along with no or minimal discrimination was found to contribute to QOL among people infected with HIV.Their overall QOL tended to improve significantly as ART continued.This suggests that strategies meant to improve and strengthen family support,care for PLWHA,and promote HIV screening among high-risk populations should be explored by both policy makers and researchers.

Nuclear Assessment

The United States needs a comprehensive policy and market-based solutions to address the challenges and demands of energy provision in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in January 2009, he called for the building of "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants." This was followed by his high- profile speech in Prague in April 2009,