Dave Deriso, pre: Medical Scientist

Mar 09

FSL rotate_bvec

This script was bothering me.

Its designed to modify your b-values after your correct your DTI data for eddy currents. Really simple script, yet I couldn’t get it to work! It was sitting there between me and my data. Nothing survives that position for long.

So, I took it apart and found weird syntax errors and mismatched storing (ie. the files it created in one function were given an address, and the next function used a different address to find the files… non-existant file errors galore). The mismatched storing was the main problem. I also noticed that the if statements weren’t always properly terminated with “fi”, but were ended with “done.” I dont know if that makes a difference, but I found it odd and fixed that too.

So, I spent a few hours cleaning it up and now it works great! I also added a few touches:

-file type protection (checks file extensions, so you dont run the wrong file type)
-better naming system (labels the file you just modified -> data_rot.bvec instead of renaming the old file to data.bvec_old)
-cleaner temporary file creation and storage (the main issue)
-progress indicators so you know that its doing something
-tells you that its done, so your not left guessing “did it work?”

FSL is a great toolkit. Im glad I could contribute, and I will be sure to again!! I hope I didnt screw anything up :)

Sweeet

Wireless EEG Part 2

So, after my last (lengthy) post on why the older NeuroSky headset is no good, I contacted the VP of R&D and explained the problem. A newer version should be in the mail shortly. I’ll let you know how it goes. Looks like the company has good support :)

I also managed to convince the Ramachandran lab that the new 14 channel Emotiv Epoc is the way to go. We will be ordering the research edition. I’ll post my review of that as well.

Dr. Pineda and I spoke this morning, and it looks like a 3rd company with a 16 channel wireless EEG will enter the testing arena shortly. This one sounds promising as it is aimed at the medical sector. We’ll see if that makes a big difference or not.

I have a meeting with a well known researcher at the Swartz Institute tomorrow morning to discuss a new project that I just got funds for… a new better than the rest wireless EEG.

I guess this will be a fun summer :)

Mar 02

[video]

Feb 25

wow.
this would make a great logo for the us treasury department.
movetofit:

elvendorkette:

sunscorchx:

cheekychen:

(via veronicalikesyou)

This is one of the most awesome photos I have ever seen. Ever.

Oh. Woah.

wow.

this would make a great logo for the us treasury department.

movetofit:

elvendorkette:

sunscorchx:

cheekychen:

(via veronicalikesyou)

This is one of the most awesome photos I have ever seen. Ever.

Oh. Woah.

Jan 26

My schedule for Winter 2010. This will change when the quarter ends on March 20th.
Courses:
Advanced Research Methods 5FMRI Research Design and Analysis 4Intro to Counseling and Therapy 3Sensation and Perception (a certain NIH internship requires it) 3 Honors Thesis 4Natural Disasters (so I can graduate) Petitioned out!!!American Literature (so I can graduate) 3International Politics  (so I can graduate) 4History of Cinema  (so I can graduate) 3Post-Restoration American History  (so I can graduate) 3
Total: 32 units

My schedule for Winter 2010. This will change when the quarter ends on March 20th.

Courses:

Advanced Research Methods 5
FMRI Research Design and Analysis 4
Intro to Counseling and Therapy 3
Sensation and Perception (a certain NIH internship requires it) 3 
Honors Thesis 4
Natural Disasters (so I can graduate)
Petitioned out!!!
American Literature (so I can graduate) 3
International Politics (so I can graduate) 4
History of Cinema (so I can graduate) 3
Post-Restoration American History (so I can graduate) 3

Total: 32 units

Jan 23

About as useful as it gets. Basically an itunes for articles. Tell anyone you know who wears a lab coat. They will love you.
http://mekentosj.com/papers/
Thanks to Dr. Colm Connolly, a new postdoc in the Paulus lab who is amazingly knowledgeable about almost anything neuroscience!

About as useful as it gets. Basically an itunes for articles. Tell anyone you know who wears a lab coat. They will love you.

http://mekentosj.com/papers/

Thanks to Dr. Colm Connolly, a new postdoc in the Paulus lab who is amazingly knowledgeable about almost anything neuroscience!

Dec 31

[video]

Woooo Finished the New Effort IRB!!!

3 days, 20 hours, and 8 pages, its a beauty. I must have rewrote each sentence close to 3 times. When you write this sort of document, you are forced to clean and linearize all of your ideas. Doing this was not easy, and I was forced to face some deep theoretical issues that have escaped me in the past months. However, tonight I was able to tackle them head on and draw new distinctions that I would have never considered. Because of this, I even added a new condition to the battery of tests in my effort paradigm. Now there are 6 task conditions. I decided to build in some flexibility that will allow me to mix and match these conditions for each project to answer some brand new psychological questions and make some pretty compelling models with the data. Now, within these 3 projects, there can be multiple experiments as the batteries of tests can be analyzed for different relationships. Needless to say, I am excited and enthusiastic about the coming year, and my honors thesis is no longer worrisome.

Dec 30

Last night I finished Dr. Marc Wittmann’s analysis (8 hours). Learned how an ANOVA works and what the heck those asterisks mean in R. *** means really significant, * means weakly significant. 2/4 of the factors were pretty signifigant and had ***, 1/4 of them was weakly signifigant and only had one *, and the last factor of the 4 was not signifigant. Sweet.
Tonight I worked on my IRB some more (5 hours). I added my 2 proposals and mixed it in with the 3rd. So there’s 3 projects in the study. The application looks really solid, but we’ll see what the chief says.
I really want to work on the new website some more, but I’m forcing myself to finish the IRB and analysis program first. SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME!!!

Last night I finished Dr. Marc Wittmann’s analysis (8 hours). Learned how an ANOVA works and what the heck those asterisks mean in R. *** means really significant, * means weakly significant. 2/4 of the factors were pretty signifigant and had ***, 1/4 of them was weakly signifigant and only had one *, and the last factor of the 4 was not signifigant. Sweet.

Tonight I worked on my IRB some more (5 hours). I added my 2 proposals and mixed it in with the 3rd. So there’s 3 projects in the study. The application looks really solid, but we’ll see what the chief says.

I really want to work on the new website some more, but I’m forcing myself to finish the IRB and analysis program first. SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME!!!

Dec 28

“If history is any teacher, it teaches that when you get indifferent and you lose the will to fight, some other guy who has the will to fight will take you over.” —

Colonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons

This is the guy who goes overseas and breaks people out of prison for rescue missions.

In 1970, Simons was hand-picked to be the ground commander of Operation Ivory Coast, a joint special operations effort to rescue American prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam.

In late 1978, Simons was contacted by Texas businessman Ross Perot, who requested his direction and leadership to help free two employees of Electronic Data Systems that were arrested shortly before the Iranian Revolution. Simons organized a rescue mission and ultimately freed the two men from the Iranian prison. All involved returned safely to the United States.

Simons’ nickname “Bull” was taken from a physical training game called the “bull pit,” whereby one Soldier climbs down into a pit in the ground, and other Soldiers engage in trying to pull the first Soldier from the pit. Simon’s large physical stature and great strength (even in his fifties, he did 250 push-ups every day) made him a formidable challenge to remove from the pit, and the name “Bull” stuck.