Eyeblink recognition improves fatigue prediction from single-channel forehead EEG in a realistic sustained attention task.

OBJECTIVE: A passive brain-computer interface recognizes its operator's cognitive state without an explicitly performed control task. This technique is commonly used in conjunction with consumer-grade EEG devices for detecting the conditions of fatigue, attention, emotional arousal, or motion sickness. While it is easy to mount the sensors in the forehead area, which is not covered with hair, the recorded signals become greatly contaminated with eyeblink and movement artifacts, which makes it a challenge to acquire the data of suitable for analysis quality, particularly in few channel systems where a lack of spatial information limits the applicability of sophisticated signal cleaning algorithms. In this article, we demonstrate that by combining the features associated with electrocortical activities and eyeblink recognition analysis, it becomes feasible to design an accurate system for the inattention state prediction using just a single EEG sensor. APPROACH: Fifteen healthy 22-28 years old participants took part in the experiment that implemented a realistic sustained attention task of nighttime highway driving in a virtual environment. The EEG data were collected using a portable wireless Mindo-4 device, which constitutes an adjustable elastic strip with foam-based sensors, a data-acquisition module, an amplification and digitizing unit, and a Bluetooth[Formula: see text] module. MAIN RESULTS: The spectral analysis of the EEG samples that immediately preceded the lane departure events revealed alterations in the tonic power spectral density, which accompanied elongations in the drivers' reaction times. The RMSE of the predicted reaction times, which are based on a combination of the brain-related and eyeblink features, is 0.034 ± 0.019 s, and the r2 is 0.885 ± 0.057 according to a within-session leave-one-trial-out cross-validation. SIGNIFICANCE: The drowsiness prediction from a frontal single-channel setup can achieve a comparable performance with using an array of occipital EEG sensors. As a direct result of utilizing a dry sensor placed in the non-covered with hair head area, the proposed approach in this study is low-cost and user-friendly.

[Refined Assessment of Exposure and Health Risks of Heavy Metals in Water for the Children in Xigu District, Lanzhou].

Water is an important pathway for human exposure to heavy metals. Accurate assessment of the health risks that are related to exposure to heavy metals in drinking and household water are required for the preparation of targeted health risk prevention measures. This study explores and identifies the health risks related to exposure to heavy metals via drinking and household water pathways in Xigu District, Lanzhou, northwestern China, using household water samples and survey data obtained during July-September 2015 (wet season) and December 2015-January 2016 (dry season). During each period, drinking water and household water that were available for use by children aged 0-5 and 6-17 years were sampled and a questionnaire on water-related behavior patterns was completed for each household. Cd, Cr, Pb, and As concentrations were analyzed in all water samples, and were used along with water-related exposure factors from the questionnaires to estimate exposure doses and associated health risks using models recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The results showed that the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Pb, and As in both drinking and household water samples did not exceed the relative thresholds defined in China's national water quality standards. The concentrations of heavy metals in household water were more affected by seasonal factors than of those of drinking water. The non-cancer and cancer risks were in the ranges of 2.82×10-8-2.43×10-2 and 7.55×10-9-3.62×10-5, respectively, which are within acceptable levels, although the non-cancer and cancer risks from drinking water were both higher than of those determined for household water. Furthermore, the non-cancer and cancer risks from household water for children aged 0-5 years were lower than of those for children aged 6-17 years in each period. However, the cancer risk from drinking water for children aged 0-5 years was lower than of that for children aged 6-17 years, whereas the reverse was found for non-cancer risks. This study indicates that Cd, Cr, Pb, and As in drinking and household water did not pose significant detrimental effects to human health, and that the refined exposure assessment used could reduce uncertainties in health risk assessments.