@article{BuergerHeistermann2023, author = {B{\"u}rger, Gerd and Heistermann, Maik}, title = {Shallow and deep learning of extreme rainfall events from convective atmospheres}, series = {Natural hazards and earth system sciences : NHESS}, volume = {23}, journal = {Natural hazards and earth system sciences : NHESS}, number = {9}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, issn = {1684-9981}, doi = {10.5194/nhess-23-3065-2023}, pages = {3065 -- 3077}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Our subject is a new catalogue of radar-based heavy rainfall events (CatRaRE) over Germany and how it relates to the concurrent atmospheric circulation. We classify daily ERA5 fields of convective indices according to CatRaRE, using an array of 13 statistical methods, consisting of 4 conventional ("shallow") and 9 more recent deep machine learning (DL) algorithms; the classifiers are then applied to corresponding fields of simulated present and future atmospheres from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) project. The inherent uncertainty of the DL results from the stochastic nature of their optimization is addressed by employing an ensemble approach using 20 runs for each network. The shallow random forest method performs best with an equitable threat score (ETS) around 0.52, followed by the DL networks ALL-CNN and ResNet with an ETS near 0.48. Their success can be understood as a result of conceptual simplicity and parametric parsimony, which obviously best fits the relatively simple classification task. It is found that, on summer days, CatRaRE convective atmospheres over Germany occur with a probability of about 0.5. This probability is projected to increase, regardless of method, both in ERA5-reanalyzed and CORDEX-simulated atmospheres: for the historical period we find a centennial increase of about 0.2 and for the future period one of slightly below 0.1.}, language = {en} } @article{SammoudBouguezziUthoffetal.2023, author = {Sammoud, Senda and Bouguezzi, Raja and Uthoff, Aaron and Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo and Moran, Jason and Negra, Yassine and Hachana, Younes and Chaabene, Helmi}, title = {The effects of backward vs. forward running training on measures of physical fitness in young female handball players}, series = {Frontiers in sports and active living}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in sports and active living}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2624-9367}, doi = {10.3389/fspor.2023.1244369}, pages = {10}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction This study examined the effects of an 8-week backward running (BR) vs. forward running (FR) training programmes on measures of physical fitness in young female handball players. Methods Twenty-nine players participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to a FR training group, BR training group, and a control group. Results and discussion Within-group analysis indicated significant, small-to-large improvements in all performance tests (effect size [g] = 0.36 to 1.80), except 5-m forward sprint-time in the BR group and 5- and 10-m forward sprint-time in the FR group. However, the CG significantly decreased forward sprint performance over 10-m and 20-m (g = 0.28 to 0.50) with no changes in the other fitness parameters. No significant differences in the amount of change scores between the BR and FR groups were noted. Both training interventions have led to similar improvements in measures of muscle power, change of direction (CoD) speed, sprint speed either forward or backward, and repeated sprint ability (RSA) in young female handball players, though BR training may have a small advantage over FR training for 10-m forward sprint time and CoD speed, while FR training may provide small improvements over BR training for RSAbest. Practitioners are advised to consider either FR or BR training to improve various measures of physical fitness in young female handball players.}, language = {en} } @article{ZiubanovaLaurinavichyuteParshina2023, author = {Ziubanova, Anastasia A. and Laurinavichyute, Anna and Parshina, Olga}, title = {Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145638}, pages = {9}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction Early linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors - early access to sign and/or spoken language - on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers. Methods In the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested. Results Hard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found. Discussion Our results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children.}, language = {en} } @article{RosenblumPikovsky2023, author = {Rosenblum, Michael and Pikovsky, Arkady}, title = {Inferring connectivity of an oscillatory network via the phase dynamics reconstruction}, series = {Frontiers in network physiology}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in network physiology}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2674-0109}, doi = {10.3389/fnetp.2023.1298228}, pages = {10}, year = {2023}, abstract = {We review an approach for reconstructing oscillatory networks' undirected and directed connectivity from data. The technique relies on inferring the phase dynamics model. The central assumption is that we observe the outputs of all network nodes. We distinguish between two cases. In the first one, the observed signals represent smooth oscillations, while in the second one, the data are pulse-like and can be viewed as point processes. For the first case, we discuss estimating the true phase from a scalar signal, exploiting the protophase-to-phase transformation. With the phases at hand, pairwise and triplet synchronization indices can characterize the undirected connectivity. Next, we demonstrate how to infer the general form of the coupling functions for two or three oscillators and how to use these functions to quantify the directional links. We proceed with a different treatment of networks with more than three nodes. We discuss the difference between the structural and effective phase connectivity that emerges due to high-order terms in the coupling functions. For the second case of point-process data, we use the instants of spikes to infer the phase dynamics model in the Winfree form directly. This way, we obtain the network's coupling matrix in the first approximation in the coupling strength.}, language = {en} } @article{BlaserWeymarWendt2023, author = {Blaser, Berenike Lisa and Weymar, Mathias and Wendt, Julia}, title = {The effect of a single-session heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1292983}, pages = {13}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction Vagally mediated heart rate variability is an index of autonomic nervous system activity that is associated with a large variety of outcome variables including psychopathology and self-regulation. While practicing heart rate variability biofeedback over several weeks has been reliably associated with a number of positive outcomes, its acute effects are not well known. As the strongest association with vagally mediated heart rate variability has been found particularly within the attention-related subdomain of self-regulation, we investigated the acute effect of heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control using the revised Attention Network Test. Methods Fifty-six participants were tested in two sessions. In one session each participant received a heart rate variability biofeedback intervention, and in the other session a control intervention of paced breathing at a normal ventilation rate. After the biofeedback or control intervention, participants completed the Attention Network Test using the Orienting Score as a measure of attentional control. Results Mixed models revealed that higher resting baseline vagally mediated heart rate variability was associated with better performance in attentional control, which suggests more efficient direction of attention to target stimuli. There was no significant main effect of the intervention on attentional control. However, an interaction effect indicated better performance in attentional control after biofeedback in individuals who reported higher current stress levels. Discussion The results point to acute beneficial effects of heart rate variability biofeedback on cognitive performance in highly stressed individuals. Although promising, the results need to be replicated in larger or more targeted samples in order to reach stronger conclusions about the effects.}, language = {en} } @article{SchellWardelmannHauffeetal.2023, author = {Schell, Mareike and Wardelmann, Kristina and Hauffe, Robert and Rath, Michaela and Chopra, Simran and Kleinridders, Andr{\´e}}, title = {Lactobacillus rhamnosus sex-specifically attenuates depressive-like behavior and mitigates metabolic consequences in obesity}, series = {Biological psychiatry: global open science}, volume = {3}, journal = {Biological psychiatry: global open science}, number = {4}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {2667-1743}, doi = {10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.02.011}, pages = {651 -- 662}, year = {2023}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Patients with diabetes exhibit an increased prevalence for emotional disorders compared with healthy humans, partially due to a shared pathogenesis including hormone resistance and inflammation, which is also linked to intestinal dysbiosis. The preventive intake of probiotic lactobacilli has been shown to improve dysbiosis along with mood and metabolism. Yet, a potential role of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus 0030) (LR) in improving emotional behavior in established obesity and the underlying mechanisms are unknown. METHODS: Female and male C57BL/6N mice were fed a low-fat diet (10\% kcal from fat) or high-fat diet (HFD) (45\% kcal from fat) for 6 weeks, followed by daily oral gavage of vehicle or 1 3 10 8 colony-forming units of LR, and assessment of anxiety- and depressive-like behavior. Cecal microbiota composition was analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid were collected for metabolomic analysis, and gene expression of different brain areas was assessed using reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: We observed that 12 weeks of HFD feeding induced hyperinsulinemia, which was attenuated by LR application only in female mice. On the contrary, HFD-fed male mice exhibited increased anxiety- and depressive-like behavior, where the latter was specifically attenuated by LR application, which was independent of metabolic changes. Furthermore, LR application restored the HFD-induced decrease of tyrosine hydroxylase, along with normalizing cholecystokinin gene expression in dopaminergic brain regions; both tyrosine hydroxylase and cholecystokinin are involved in signaling pathways impacting emotional disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that LR attenuates depressive-like behavior after established obesity, with changes in the dopaminergic system in male mice, and mitigates hyperinsulinemia in obese female mice.}, language = {en} } @article{CestnikMauRosenblum2022, author = {Cestnik, Rok and Mau, Erik T. K. and Rosenblum, Michael}, title = {Inferring oscillator's phase and amplitude response from a scalar signal exploiting test stimulation}, series = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics}, volume = {24}, journal = {New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics}, number = {12}, publisher = {Dt. Physikalische Ges., IOP}, address = {Bad Honnef, London}, issn = {1367-2630}, doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/aca70a}, pages = {27}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The phase sensitivity curve or phase response curve (PRC) quantifies the oscillator's reaction to stimulation at a specific phase and is a primary characteristic of a self-sustained oscillatory unit. Knowledge of this curve yields a phase dynamics description of the oscillator for arbitrary weak forcing. Similar, though much less studied characteristic, is the amplitude response that can be defined either using an ad hoc approach to amplitude estimation or via the isostable variables. Here, we discuss the problem of the phase and amplitude response inference from observations using test stimulation. Although PRC determination for noise-free neuronal-like oscillators perturbed by narrow pulses is a well-known task, the general case remains a challenging problem. Even more challenging is the inference of the amplitude response. This characteristic is crucial, e.g. for controlling the amplitude of the collective mode in a network of interacting units-a task relevant to neuroscience. Here, we compare the performance of different techniques suitable for inferring the phase and amplitude response, particularly with application to macroscopic oscillators. We suggest improvements to these techniques, e.g. demonstrating how to obtain the PRC in case of stimuli of arbitrary shape. Our main result is a novel technique denoted by IPID-1, based on the direct reconstruction of the Winfree equation and the analogous first-order equation for isostable dynamics. The technique works for signals with or without well-pronounced marker events and pulses of arbitrary shape; in particular, we consider charge-balanced pulses typical in neuroscience applications. Moreover, this technique is superior for noisy and high-dimensional systems. Additionally, we describe an error measure that can be computed solely from data and complements any inference technique.}, language = {en} } @article{ZhouFischerBrahmsetal.2023, author = {Zhou, Lin and Fischer, Eric and Brahms, Clemens Markus and Granacher, Urs and Arnrich, Bert}, title = {DUO-GAIT}, series = {Scientific data}, volume = {10}, journal = {Scientific data}, number = {1}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2052-4463}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-023-02391-w}, pages = {10}, year = {2023}, abstract = {In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing and evaluating gait analysis algorithms based on inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, which has important implications, including sports, assessment of diseases, and rehabilitation. Multi-tasking and physical fatigue are two relevant aspects of daily life gait monitoring, but there is a lack of publicly available datasets to support the development and testing of methods using a mobile IMU setup. We present a dataset consisting of 6-minute walks under single- (only walking) and dual-task (walking while performing a cognitive task) conditions in unfatigued and fatigued states from sixteen healthy adults. Especially, nine IMUs were placed on the head, chest, lower back, wrists, legs, and feet to record under each of the above-mentioned conditions. The dataset also includes a rich set of spatio-temporal gait parameters that capture the aspects of pace, symmetry, and variability, as well as additional study-related information to support further analysis. This dataset can serve as a foundation for future research on gait monitoring in free-living environments.}, language = {en} } @article{UthGutierrezBravoFliessbach2024, author = {Uth, Melanie and Guti{\´e}rrez-Bravo, Rodrigo and Fliessbach, Jan}, title = {On the incompatibility of object fronting and progressive aspect in Yucatec Maya}, series = {Frontiers in language sciences}, volume = {2}, journal = {Frontiers in language sciences}, publisher = {Frontiers Media S.A.}, address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}, issn = {2813-4605}, doi = {10.3389/flang.2023.1286520}, pages = {10}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In this paper, we present data from an elicitation study and a corpus study that support the observation that the Yucatec Maya progressive aspect auxiliary t{\´a}an is replaced by the habitual auxiliary k in sentences with contrastively focused fronted objects. Focus has been extensively studied in Yucatec, yet the incompatibility of object fronting and progressive aspect in Yucatec Maya remains understudied. Both our experimental results and our corpus study point in the direction that this incompatibility may very well be categorical. Theoretically, we take a progressive reading to be derived from an imperfectivity operator in combination with a singular operator, and we propose that this singular operator implicates the negation of event plurality, leading to an exhaustive interpretation which ranks below corrective focus on a contrastive focus scale. This means that, in a sentence with object focus fronting, the use of the marked auxiliary t{\´a}an (as opposed to the more general k) would trigger two contrastive foci, which would be an unlikely and probably dispreferred speech act.}, language = {en} } @article{HeideNetzebandtAhrensetal.2023, author = {Heide, Judith and Netzebandt, Jonka and Ahrens, Stine and Br{\"u}sch, Julia and Saalfrank, Teresa and Schmitz-Antonischki, Dorit}, title = {Improving lexical retrieval with LingoTalk}, series = {Frontiers in communication}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in communication}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2297-900X}, doi = {10.3389/fcomm.2023.1210193}, pages = {16}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction LingoTalk is a German speech-language app designed to enhance lexical retrieval in individuals with aphasia. It incorporates automatic speech recognition (ASR) to provide therapist-independent feedback. The execution and effectiveness of a self-administered intervention with LingoTalk was explored in a case series study. Methods Three individuals with chronic aphasia participated in a highly individualized, supervised self-administered intervention lasting 3 weeks. The LingoTalk app closely monitored the frequency, intensity and progress of the intervention. Treatment efficacy was assessed using a multiple baseline design, examining both item-specific treatment effects and generalization to untreated items, an untreated task, and spontaneous speech. Results All participants successfully completed the intervention with LingoTalk, although one participant was not able to use the ASR feature. None of the participants fully adhered to the treatment protocol. All participants demonstrated significant and sustained improvement in the naming of practiced items, although there was limited evidence of generalization. Additionally, there was a slight reduction in word-finding difficulties during spontaneous speech. Discussion This small-scale study indicates that self-administered intervention with LingoTalk can improve oral naming of treated items. Thus, it has the potential to complement face-to-face speech-language therapy, such as within in a "flipped speech room" approach. The choice of feedback mode is discussed. Transparent progress monitoring of the intervention appears to positively influence patients' motivation.}, language = {en} }