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emgteach is an open-source Python package that provides a unified PySide6 desktop application for real-time acquisition, offline analysis and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) normalisation of surfa…

emgteach is an open-source Python package that provides a unified PySide6 desktop application for real-time acquisition, offline analysis and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) normalisation of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals. It is designed for hands-on biopotential acquisition in undergraduate physiology teaching laboratories, and is meant to be set up by instructors with different levels of technical background and used directly by students during a practical session.The application is hardware-agnostic through a common AcquisitionDevice interface and ships with two interchangeable low-cost backends: BITalino (revolution) over Bluetooth, and an Arduino RedBoard Plus + MyoWare 2.0 over USB serial (open firmware included). A single setting switches between them.Main features:Three-tab GUI (Acquisition, Analysis, MVC normalisation) wrapping a reusable, Qt-free analytic core.Bilingual interface (English / Spanish) with automatic start-up language detection and an in-app language switch.Two-channel acquisition (e.g. agonist/antagonist) with a stacked two-channel live view.Automatic contraction-onset detection (baseline + k·SD threshold) stored as EDF+ annotations.Muscle-load analysis (Jonsson APDF): static (P10), median (P50) and peak (P90) %MVC levels, both offline and as a live monitor with warning/danger zones.One-click PDF session and MVC/muscle-load reports.Reliable EDF+ output using a buffered-write pattern that avoids a silent file-corruption artefact during continuous streaming.Assisted selection of significant fragments, with an editable fragment editor (detection parameters and envelope-filter cut-offs) applied to the analysis.CSV export of results and a live signal-quality check during recording.Classroom mode: a read-only live dashboard served over the local network so students follow the session on their phone/tablet browser (no install), with a per-session access code so the follower link only works while the broadcast is running.Kinematics via the BITalino accelerometer (v2.0.0): a movement-versus-EMG analysis panel, a guided force-velocity acquisition wizard (an MVC maximum followed by cued quick lifts, each auto-marked with its load), and a force-velocity study that turns one recording into the load-velocity, Hill force-velocity, power and recruitment curves. Since v3.0.0 the accelerometer's input is a stated convention (muscle on A1, accelerometer on A2) rather than a selectable channel.Configuration by practical (v3.0.0): three practicals — one muscle, agonist/antagonist and muscle kinematics — fix the channel count, the accelerometer and what each tab offers, replacing the settings that were previously chosen one at a time.The session as a single file with its phases marked inside it (v3.0.0): warm-up, calibration repetitions, preparation and recording, so the maximum voluntary contraction every percentage is measured against travels with the signal, and a derived (tuned) recording carries the decisions taken on screen.Teaching layer (v3.0.0): a guided tour over the interface, contextual help on every box, one analysis row per contraction with its electromechanical delay, and an agonist/antagonist co-activation index (Falconer-Winter) computed per marked phase in %MVC.Handling at the laboratory bench (v3.1.0): the fragment editor as a three-step procedure that counts the marked contractions against the protocol and lets each be kept, dropped, split or dragged, with the detection sensitivity set per practical and recorded in the report and the CSV; a single running instance with a start-up splash; pictures of the electrode placement and the calibration in the guided tour; and a printable sheet for each station of the agonist/antagonist practical.Patch 3.1.1: the co-activation of a named window is read on the uncut recording, with each muscle's resting level taken from the whole recording phase, so choosing fragments no longer measures the antagonist against a rest taken from a signal with no rest in it.Patch 3.1.2: the calibration asks for a brief, explosive maximal jerk of each muscle's own movement (wrist flexion with the fist clenched for the forearm flexor, wrist extension with the hand open for the extensor) instead of a sustained push against something fixed, and releases carry the source only.Version 3.2.0: the MVC reference is the highest point the envelope reaches across the calibration repetitions kept (it was the highest 0.2 s running mean), and everything judged against it is measured the same way; the co-activation floor is 4.5 % of that reference; each fatigue segment's MDF is computed over the analysis band. A recording reanalysed with 3.2.0 gives % MVC figures different from those of 3.1.2.Version 3.3.0: the task maximum is read on the whole recording phase, from the start of the recording to the end of the file, whatever fragments are chosen (a maximum of the phase, not of the selection); panel 3 draws each spectrum scaled to unit area, with the MDF and the total power in the legend.Version 3.4.0: the Analysis tab's panels are numbered 1 to 12 from one table, the same in every practical, and every title says how to read its panel and names the muscle when it shows one; the two muscles' raw traces share panel 1 with an axis each; panel 8 is a path through time. Nothing computed changes.Version 3.5.0: a BITalino simulated by the application itself (the address «simulada»), which speaks the board's protocol byte for byte, so the acquisition, the calibration, the recording and the classroom broadcast can be prepared and taught where the board is not at hand; a connection diagnostic for the station, built without Qt or scipy; the event log of every recording saved beside it and a recovery for a recording whose process died before it could be closed; and the session report and the CSV export repaired, the report's table of contractions having lost four of its seven columns off the page.Version 3.6.0: the simulated board obeys the calibration — the wizard tells the device when it is asking for a maximal effort and the synthetic subject gives it, so a session rehearsed without hardware reads in % MVC as a real one does (about a half for the alternating gestures, 40 % for the grip, which co-activates) instead of above 100 % of its own maximum. Nothing computed changes.Version 3.7.0, the version the article describes: the guided session goes on into the task — four panels, each with a row of boxes that maps its phase, the free manoeuvres counted as the muscle clears a tenth of its own maximum for 0.30 s, and the grip as one hold of about eight seconds squeezing a ball — and the force-velocity study has the same map; the fragment editor proposes each row from where its contraction leaves rest to where it returns, and in the kinematics practical one row per lift the wizard marked, each load going to the lift its cue announced; the pair practical names its pair; one reference electrode, on the olecranon, and both pairs placed 5 cm from the epicondyle of their own side; the recording says it is connecting until the board answers and gives up with a warning after 20 s without holding the window.Patch 3.7.1: a corrupted BITalino frame no longer ends the recording — the reading resynchronises on the next frames that validate, each accepted only when the frame after it also validates with the next sequence number — and a gap in the link is marked in the EDF+ file and the event log; saving the tuned recording of a recording with nothing to tune says why instead of an unexpected error. Nothing computed changes; 3.7.0 remains the version the article describes.Patch 3.7.2: the classroom broadcast serves its page on port 8080 and its data on 8443, and a laboratory can change both in a text file, difusion.txt, next to the application, since which ports get through depends on the network; a port held by another program is named in the warning. Nothing computed changes.emgteach runs on Windows, macOS and Linux with Python 3.10–3.12, is covered by a suite of 1419 automated tests, and is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. Source code, documentation and issue tracker: https://github.com/aagisto-maker/emgteachStarted in 2025 as the author's own Python programs over open-source libraries and the boards' interfaces; brought together into a single application and developed since with the assistance of an AI coding tool (Claude Code, Anthropic) under the author's specification, review and hardware validation. See the README section "How this software was developed". The anatomical base of the electrode-placement figure and of the guided tour's pictures is an AI-generated image of two forearms, made without text or electrodes; the muscles, electrodes and labels are drawn over it by the figure script.

The "Virtual Workshop on Semantic mapping of excavation data" took place on the 15th June 2022 (on Zoom) and was organised as an open forum to illustrate aspects of the work carried out by the Archaeo…

The "Virtual Workshop on Semantic mapping of excavation data" took place on the 15th June 2022 (on Zoom) and was organised as an open forum to illustrate aspects of the work carried out by the Archaeological Excavation Modelling Working Group, a sub-group within WP 4.4.12. The presenters, both Partners and Associate Partners of the ARIADNEplus consortium, explored semantic modelling and the use of CIDOC CRM, as well as the tools developed to assist researchers with mapping their data. Five case studies on semantic mapping of excavation data were also presented. Each presentation was followed by a Q&A, while a discussion at the end of each session allowed participants to engage in conversation and contribute their experiences and ideas with a view to making excavation data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). This is the first presentation by George Bruseker of Takin Solutions in Part A: Introduction and tools for semantic mapping of the Workshop.

Obituario que despide al Dr. C. Ricardo Izquierdo Medina, un académico cubano cuya vida estuvo consagrada a la formación de posgrado, al desarrollo de la enfermería y a la educaci…

Obituario que despide al Dr. C. Ricardo Izquierdo Medina, un académico cubano cuya vida estuvo consagrada a la formación de posgrado, al desarrollo de la enfermería y a la educación médica. Su fallecimiento, ocurrido el 25 de agosto de 2026 a los 63 años, ha dejado un dolor profundo e irreparable entre colegas, profesionales y estudiantes que compartieron con él su pasión por el conocimiento y la excelencia académica. Este texto es un homenaje a su calidez humana, su exigencia rigurosa y su vocación de servicio, así como un testimonio del vacío que su partida provoca en la comunidad científica cubana. Su legado, sin embargo, permanecerá vivo en quienes formó, en las investigaciones que inspiró y en todos los que tuvieron el privilegio de conocerlo.

Forced migration in Africa is more than a humanitarian crisis; it reshapes political, economic, and social structures by altering identities, redrawing borders, and challenging governance. This paper …

Forced migration in Africa is more than a humanitarian crisis; it reshapes political, economic, and social structures by altering identities, redrawing borders, and challenging governance. This paper examines the historical roots of displacement, from precolonial mobility systems to disruptions caused by colonial-era borders and postcolonial state formation and analyses the political and economic shifts driven by migration. It explores security risks, opportunities for regional cohesion, and the role of the African Union's Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons (FMP) in fostering integration. Through historical analysis, case studies from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Kenya, and a legal and policy review, this study argues that Africa must transition from viewing forced migration as a destabilising force to recognising its potential to drive mobility, innovation, and unity. To achieve stability and prosperity, Africa must shift from restricting mobility to harnessing it for development and resilience. A border is just a line on a map until people are forced to cross it; then it becomes a question of survival, identity, and power. Borders define states, but people shape civilisations. The true test of Africa's future lies in how it embraces those forced to move.

Africa's This article examines how non-formal education (NFE) cultivates civic agency among African youth. Drawing on experiential learning theories and comparative case studies from Africa, it argues…

Africa's This article examines how non-formal education (NFE) cultivates civic agency among African youth. Drawing on experiential learning theories and comparative case studies from Africa, it argues that NFE provides a transformative pathway for youth civic participation by integrating leadership, reflection, and practical engagement. Through analysis of programs such as Tostan's Community Empowerment Program in Senegal and the Solar Mamas initiative in Zanzibar, the paper demonstrates that NFE fosters both collective and individual empowerment, albeit with varying levels of sustainability and institutional linkages. The discussion highlights the need for policy frameworks that integrate NFE into national systems without diluting its participatory essence. It concludes that the transformative potential of NFE lies in its non-linear, context-specific design and its capacity to bridge civic learning with governance participation.

This dataset is provided in support of the publication "Large-scale monitoring of Earth’s tidal response on the deep seafloor using fiber-optic sensing", published in Communications Earth & …

This dataset is provided in support of the publication "Large-scale monitoring of Earth’s tidal response on the deep seafloor using fiber-optic sensing", published in Communications Earth & Environment. The accompanying ZIP archive contains:            (1) Output model data of solid-Earth tide (SET) and ocean tide loading (OTL) predictions around the deep seafloor part of the fiber-optic cable. OTL is computed from convolving the ocean tide mass distribution from the FES2004 model (Lyard et al., 2006) with Green's functions for surface loading using the OTL software (Scherneck, 1991). SET is evaluated following the theory for luni-solar earth deformation of an elastic, axially symmetric, rotating spheroidal Earth model with a liquid core developed by Wahr (1981). The tide-generating potential is represented using the harmonic development of Tamura (1987). Two NetCDF files are provided, one for SET and one for OTL. Each file contains time series of the three horizontal strain rate components: east, north, and northeast.            (2) Preprocessed DAS data obtained following the procedure described in the 'Methods' section of the manuscript. Three NetCDF datasets are provided: (i) the processed strain rate data used for the main analyses presented in the manuscript, (ii) the highpass filtered strain rate data used to reproduce Figure 3, and (iii) the same processed DAS dataset as in (i), but without the removal of common-mode noise by spatial mean subtraction over section C at each time step.            (3) Interpolated cable coordinates in NetCDF format, including longitude, latitude, bathymetry along the cable, and cable azimuth. This work was supported by the French government through the National Research Agency (ANR) under the France 2030 investment plan, via the 'Recherche à risques et à fort impact (RI)²' program (reference ANR-24-RRII-0001). The study received also support from the Priority Research Programme (PRP) 'Ocean and Climate', jointly led by CNRS and Ifremer.        

Introducción: las redes sociales han transformado la comunicación y la percepción estética, pero también facilitan la difusión de desinformación en sal…

Introducción: las redes sociales han transformado la comunicación y la percepción estética, pero también facilitan la difusión de desinformación en salud. El piercing orofacial, presentado como una tendencia atractiva, suele omitir sus riesgos clínicos, agravado por la falta de competencias informacionales de los usuarios y la influencia de la medicina del deseo. Objetivo: analizar la relación entre redes sociales, piercing orofacial y medicina del deseo, así como las implicaciones de la insuficiencia de competencias informacionales como causa de desinformación en salud. Desarrollo: se realizó una revisión bibliográfica, en el periodo febrero-agosto de 2025, en las bases de datos SciELO, Dialnet, PubMed y Google Académico, complementada con fuentes grises. Se seleccionaron 25 referencias. El análisis muestra que las plataformas digitales priorizan contenido visual atractivo sobre evidencia médica, mientras los algoritmos y el neuromarketing mercantilizan la imagen corporal. La medicina del deseo, orientada a satisfacer demandas estéticas, enfrenta dilemas éticos al priorizar deseos individuales sobre criterios terapéuticos. La ausencia de habilidades para evaluar críticamente fuentes conduce a decisiones basadas en información incompleta, incrementando riesgos de infecciones, lesiones dentales y desconfianza hacia los sistemas sanitarios. Se proponen estrategias para identificar sesgos y fomentar la alfabetización digital. Consideraciones finales: la desinformación sobre piercing orofacial en redes sociales exige fortalecer las competencias informacionales desde edades tempranas. Solo mediante una formación crítica y responsable los usuarios podrán diferenciar contenidos veraces de engañosos, evitar prácticas inseguras y reducir la vulnerabilidad frente a narrativas estéticas comerciales.

In the recent years, some linguistic advances occurred in the field of cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics is the interpretation of thoughts, concepts, mental phenomena occurring in human con…

In the recent years, some linguistic advances occurred in the field of cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics is the interpretation of thoughts, concepts, mental phenomena occurring in human conscious and in nature. Besides, oil and gas engineering context requires us understanding figurative terminology in that field. However, it is difficult to comprehend the idea of concepts in the technical context if one has no mental image of that field. Therefore, cognitive-frame model reveals representation of complex knowledge structure of oil and gas industry and its terminological system at the conceptual level and encoded in language.