Modeling the Nonlinear Cortical Response in EEG Evoked by Wrist Joint Manipulation.

Joint manipulation elicits a response from the sensors in the periphery which, via the spinal cord, arrives in the cortex. The average evoked cortical response recorded using electroencephalography was shown to be highly nonlinear; a linear model can only explain 10% of the variance of the evoked response, and over 80% of the response is generated by nonlinear behavior. The goal of this paper is to obtain a nonparametric nonlinear dynamic model, which can consistently explain the recorded cortical response requiring little a priori assumptions about model structure.

Quantification of task-dependent cortical activation evoked by robotic continuous wrist joint manipulation in chronic hemiparetic stroke.

Background: Cortical damage after stroke can drastically impair sensory and motor function of the upper limb, affecting the execution of activities of daily living and quality of life. Motor impairment after stroke has been thoroughly studied, however sensory impairment and its relation to movement control has received less attention. Integrity of the somatosensory system is essential for feedback control of human movement, and compromised integrity due to stroke has been linked to sensory impairment.

Quantifying Nonlinear Contributions to Cortical Responses Evoked by Continuous Wrist Manipulation.

Cortical responses to continuous stimuli as recorded using either magneto- or electroencephalography (EEG) have shown power at harmonics of the stimulated frequency, indicating nonlinear behavior. Even though the selection of analysis techniques depends on the linearity of the system under study, the importance of nonlinear contributions to cortical responses has not been formally addressed. The goal of this paper is to quantify the nonlinear contributions to the cortical response obtained from continuous sensory stimulation.

Targeted brain activation using an MR-compatible wrist torque measurement device and isometric motor tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Dedicated pairs of isometric wrist flexion tasks, with and without visual feedback of the exerted torque, were designed to target activation of the CBL and BG in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Selective activation of the cerebellum (CBL) and basal ganglia (BG), often implicated in movement disorders such as tremor and dystonia, may help identify pathological changes and expedite diagnosis. A prototyped MR-compatible wrist torque measurement device, free of magnetic and conductive materials, allowed safe execution of tasks during fMRI without causing artifacts.

Electrical vestibular stimuli to enhance vestibulo-motor output and improve subject comfort.

Electrical vestibular stimulation is often used to assess vestibulo-motor and postural responses in both clinical and research settings. Stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) is a recently established technique with many advantages over its square-wave counterpart; however, the evoked muscle responses remain relatively small. Although the vestibular-evoked responses can be enhanced by increasing the stimulus amplitude, subjects often perceive these higher intensity electrical stimuli as noxious or painful.

Methylene-azaphosphirane as a reactive intermediate.

Reaction of the transient phosphinidene complexes R-P=W(CO)5 with N-substituted-diphenylketenimines leads unexpectedly to the novel 2-aminophosphindoles, as confirmed by an X-ray crystal structure determined for one of the derivatives. Experimental evidence for a methylene-azaphosphirane intermediate was found by using the iron-complexed phosphinidene iPr2N-P=Fe(CO)4, which affords the 2-aminophosphindole together with the novel methylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[1,3]azaphosphole. Analysis of the reaction pathways with DFT indicates that the initially formed methylene-azaphosphirane yields both phosphorus heterocycles by way of a [1,5]- or [1,3]-sigmatropic shift, respectively, followed by a H-shift.

Simulating induced interdigitation in membranes.

In this study we introduce a mesoscopic lipid-water-alcohol model. Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations have been used to investigate the induced interdigitation of bilayers consisting of double-tail lipids by adding alcohol molecules to the bilayer. Our simulations nicely reproduce the experimental phase diagrams.

Synthesis, structures, and strain energies of dispirophosphiranes. Comparisons with dispirocyclopropanes.

Six novel dispirophosphirane complexes have been synthesized from the reaction of bicycloalkylidenes with the electrophilic phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)(5). They contain a central phosphirane ring, which is spirofused on one side to a cyclopropane or cyclobutane ring and on the other side with a three-, four-, five-, or six-membered ring. Their crystal structures and MP2/6-31G-computed geometries for simplified parent systems suggest that spirofusion with small rings results in a tightening of the central three-membered phosphaheterocycle, while spirofusion with larger rings results in a relaxation of the phosphirane geometry.

Metal-template-directed synthesis of diphosphorus compounds through intramolecular phosphinidene additions.

Heating the nonchelating cis-bis-7-phosphanorbornadiene-[Mo(CO)4] complex (13) results in the thermal decomposition of one of the 7-phosphanorbornadiene groups. The phosphinidene thus generated adds intramolecularly to a C=C bond of the other ligand to give the novel diphosphorus complex 14. This reaction constitutes a metal-template-directed synthesis.

Addition of a phosphinidene complex to C=N bonds: P-ylides, azaphosphiridines, and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions.

The terminal phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)5 adds to the imine bond of PhHC=N-Ph to give 3-membered ring azaphosphiridines, which undergo ring-expansion with an additional imine to yield a set of four isomeric five-membered ring diazaphospholanes. Treatment with the diimines PhHC=N-(CH2)n-N=CHPh (n=2,3,4) results instead-in all three cases-in only a single isomer of the (CH2)n bridged diazaphospholane. For n=2 or 3, this aminal group is easily hydrolyzed to afford new 6- and 7-membered ring heterocycles.

Reaction of a complexed phosphinidene with 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl-1,3,5-triphosphabenzene.

The terminal phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)5 reacts with 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl-1,3,5-triphosphabenzene to give two unexpected multicyclic organophosphorus compounds. One of them results from an initial 1,2-addition, followed by an intramolecular rearrangement. B3LYP/6-31G* calculations on simplified parent systems suggest that the reaction follows a unique concerted reaction pathway.

Developmental rescue of an embryonic-lethal mutation in the retinoblastoma gene in chimeric mice.

The requirement for a functional retinoblastoma gene, Rb-1, in murine development around days 12-15 of gestation precludes monitoring the effect of loss of Rb-1 function on later stages of development and on tumorigenesis in adult mice. Here we describe the developmental rescue of embryonic stem cells carrying two inactive Rb-1 alleles in chimeric mice. Rb-1- cells contributed substantially to most tissues in adult chimeras, including blood, liver and central nervous system, which were severely affected in pure Rb-1- embryos.