Optimizing the identification of long-interval intracortical inhibition from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Objective: This study aimed to optimally evaluate the effect of the long-interval intracortical inhibition (LICI) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) through transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) by eliminating the volume conductance with signal source estimation and using a realistic sham coil as a control.

Methods: We compared the LICI effects from the DLPFC between the active and sham stimulation conditions in 27 healthy participants. Evoked responses between the two conditions were evaluated at the sensor and source levels.

EEG decoding with spatiotemporal convolutional neural network for visualization and closed-loop control of sensorimotor activities: A simultaneous EEG-fMRI study.

Closed-loop neurofeedback training utilizes neural signals such as scalp electroencephalograms (EEG) to manipulate specific neural activities and the associated behavioral performance. A spatiotemporal filter for high-density whole-head scalp EEG using a convolutional neural network can overcome the ambiguity of the signaling source because each EEG signal includes information on the remote regions. We simultaneously acquired EEG and functional magnetic resonance images in humans during the brain-computer interface (BCI) based neurofeedback training and compared the reconstructed and modeled hemodynamic responses of the sensorimotor network.

The effects on rehospitalization rate of transitional care using information communication technology in patients with heart failure: A scoping review.

Background: The number of people with heart failure is increasing. These patients have a high readmission rate and need ongoing health care and follow-up after hospital discharge. However, face-to-face nursing care is expensive; therefore, remote care options are required.

Fatigue life prediction considering variability for additively manufactured pure titanium clasps.

Purpose: This study aims to develop a numerical prediction method for the average and standard deviation values of the largely varied fatigue life of additively manufactured commercially pure titanium (CPTi grade 2) clasps. Accordingly, the proposed method is validated by applying it to clasps of different shapes.

Methods: The Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) equation and finite element analysis (FEA) were used to predict the average fatigue life.

Comparison of the fatigue life of pure titanium and titanium alloy clasps manufactured by laser powder bed fusion and its prediction before manufacturing.

Purpose: In this study, the fatigue properties of additively manufactured titanium clasps were compared with those of commercially pure titanium (CPTi) and Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64), manufactured using laser powder-bed fusion.

Methods: Fourteen specimens of each material were tested under the cyclic condition at 1 Hz with applied maximum strokes ranging from 0.2 to 0.

Beta rhythmicity in human motor cortex reflects neural population coupling that modulates subsequent finger coordination stability.

Human behavior is not performed completely as desired, but is influenced by the inherent rhythmicity of the brain. Here we show that anti-phase bimanual coordination stability is regulated by the dynamics of pre-movement neural oscillations in bi-hemispheric primary motor cortices (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA). In experiment 1, pre-movement bi-hemispheric M1 phase synchrony in beta-band (M1-M1 phase synchrony) was online estimated from 129-channel scalp electroencephalograms.

Brain-Computer Interfacing Deforms Manifold of Populational Neural Activity Patterns in Human Cerebral Cortex.

Human brains are capable of modulating innate activities to adapt to novel environments and tasks; for sensorimotor neural system this means acquisition of a rich repertoire of activity patterns that improve behavioral performance. To directly map the process of acquiring the neural repertoire during tasks onto performance improvement, we analyzed net neural populational activity during the learning of its voluntary modulation by brain-computer interface (BCI) operation in female and male humans. The recorded whole-head high-density scalp electroencephalograms (EEGs) were subjected to dimensionality reduction algorithm to capture changes in cortical activity patterns represented by the synchronization of neuronal oscillations during adaptation.

Nanoscale defect evaluation framework combining real-time transmission electron microscopy and integrated machine learning-particle filter estimation.

Observation of dynamic processes by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an attractive technique to experimentally analyze materials' nanoscale phenomena and understand the microstructure-properties relationships in nanoscale. Even if spatial and temporal resolutions of real-time TEM increase significantly, it is still difficult to say that the researchers quantitatively evaluate the dynamic behavior of defects. Images in TEM video are a two-dimensional projection of three-dimensional space phenomena, thus missing information must be existed that makes image's uniquely accurate interpretation challenging.

Use of common average reference and large-Laplacian spatial-filters enhances EEG signal-to-noise ratios in intrinsic sensorimotor activity.

Background: Oscillations in the resting-state scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) represent various intrinsic brain activities. One of the characteristic EEG oscillations is the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR)-with its arch-shaped waveform in alpha- and betabands-that reflect sensorimotor activity. The representation of sensorimotor activity by the SMR depends on the signal-to-noise ratio achieved by EEG spatial filters.

Gaussian Curvature Entropy for Curved Surface Shape Generation.

The overall shape features that emerge from combinations of shape elements, such as "complexity" and "order", are important in designing shapes of industrial products. However, controlling the features of shapes is difficult and depends on the experience and intuition of designers. Among these features, "complexity" is said to have an influence on the "beauty" and "preference" of shapes.

Neurofeedback of scalp bi-hemispheric EEG sensorimotor rhythm guides hemispheric activation of sensorimotor cortex in the targeted hemisphere.

Oscillatory electroencephalographic (EEG) activity is associated with the excitability of cortical regions. Visual feedback of EEG-oscillations may promote sensorimotor cortical activation, but its spatial specificity is not truly guaranteed due to signal interaction among interhemispheric brain regions. Guiding spatially specific activation is important for facilitating neural rehabilitation processes.

Scalp electroencephalograms over ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex reflect contraction patterns of unilateral finger muscles.

A variety of neural substrates are implicated in the initiation, coordination, and stabilization of voluntary movements underpinned by adaptive contraction and relaxation of agonist and antagonist muscles. To achieve such flexible and purposeful control of the human body, brain systems exhibit extensive modulation during the transition from resting state to motor execution and to maintain proper joint impedance. However, the neural structures contributing to such sensorimotor control under unconstrained and naturalistic conditions are not fully characterized.

Depth Sensor-Based Assessment of Reachable Work Space for Visualizing and Quantifying Paretic Upper Extremity Motor Function in People With Stroke.

Background: Quantitative evaluation of upper extremity (UE) motor function is important in people with hemiparetic stroke. A depth sensor-based assessment of reachable work space (RWS) was applied to visualize and quantify paretic UE motor function.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to examine the characteristics of RWS and to assess its validity, reliability, measurement error, and responsiveness in people with hemiparetic stroke.

Sensorimotor Connectivity after Motor Exercise with Neurofeedback in Post-Stroke Patients with Hemiplegia.

Impaired finger motor function in post-stroke hemiplegia is a debilitating condition with no evidence-based or accessible treatments. Here, we evaluated the neurophysiological effectiveness of direct brain control of robotic exoskeleton that provides movement support contingent with brain activity. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the neurofeedback intervention, we assessed resting-state functional connectivity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfcMRI) between the ipsilesional sensory and motor cortices before and after a single 1-h intervention.

Two-stage regression of high-density scalp electroencephalograms visualizes force regulation signaling during muscle contraction.

Objective: A critical feature for the maintenance of precise skeletal muscle force production by the human brain is its ability to configure motor function activity dynamically and adaptively in response to visual and somatosensory information. Existing studies have concluded that not only the sensorimotor area but also distributed cortical areas act cooperatively in the generation of motor commands for voluntary force production to the desired level. However, less attention has been paid to such physiological mechanisms in conventional brain-computer interface (BCI) design and implementation.

A new therapeutic application of brain-machine interface (BMI) training followed by hybrid assistive neuromuscular dynamic stimulation (HANDS) therapy for patients with severe hemiparetic stroke: A proof of concept study.

Background: Hybrid assistive neuromuscular dynamic stimulation (HANDS) therapy improved paretic upper extremity motor function in patients with severe to moderate hemiparesis. We hypothesized that brain machine interface (BMI) training would be able to increase paretic finger muscle activity enough to apply HANDS therapy in patients with severe hemiparesis, whose finger extensor was absent.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of BMI training followed by HANDS therapy in patients with severe hemiparesis.

Brain-computer interface with somatosensory feedback improves functional recovery from severe hemiplegia due to chronic stroke.

Recent studies have shown that scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain-computer interface (BCI) has a great potential for motor rehabilitation in stroke patients with severe hemiplegia. However, key elements in BCI architecture for functional recovery has yet to be clear. We in this study focused on the type of feedback to the patients, which is given contingently to their motor-related EEG in a BCI context.

Event-related desynchronization reflects downregulation of intracortical inhibition in human primary motor cortex.

There is increasing interest in electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) as a tool for rehabilitation of upper limb motor functions in hemiplegic stroke patients. This type of BCI often exploits mu and beta oscillations in EEG recorded over the sensorimotor areas, and their event-related desynchronization (ERD) following motor imagery is believed to represent increased sensorimotor cortex excitability. However, it remains unclear whether the sensorimotor cortex excitability is actually correlated with ERD.

Daily training with realistic visual feedback improves reproducibility of event-related desynchronisation following hand motor imagery.

Objective: Few brain-computer interface (BCI) studies have addressed learning mechanisms by exposure to visual feedback that elicits scalp electroencephalogram. We examined the effect of realistic visual feedback of hand movement associated with sensorimotor rhythm.

Methods: Thirty-two healthy participants performed in five daily training in which they were shown motor imagery of their dominant hand.

Mechanical design of an intracranial stent for treating cerebral aneurysms.

Endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms using stents has advanced markedly in recent years. Mechanically, a cerebrovascular stent must be very flexible longitudinally and have low radial stiffness. However, no study has examined the stress distribution and deformation of cerebrovascular stents using the finite element method (FEM) and experiments.

Modulation of mu rhythm desynchronization during motor imagery by transcranial direct current stimulation.

Background: The mu event-related desynchronization (ERD) is supposed to reflect motor preparation and appear during motor imagery. The aim of this study is to examine the modulation of ERD with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Methods: Six healthy subjects were asked to imagine their right hand grasping something after receiving a visual cue.

Theoretical study on the f-f transition intensities of lanthanide trihalide systems.

The photoabsorption intensities of intra-4f(N) transitions (f-f transitions) in lanthanide systems have been extensively studied with the semiempirical Judd-Ofelt theory. The oscillator strengths of most f-f transitions are insensitive to a change of surrounding environment because 4f electrons are shielded by closed-shell 5s and 5p electrons from outside. However, there are some exceptional transitions, so-called hypersensitive transitions, whose intensities are very sensitive to a change of surrounding environment, and the reason for this hypersensitivity has not been clarified.

Integration-plot test for peri-stimulus time histograms in human motor units.

A statistical test is proposed for peri-stimulus time histograms in human motor units for the case where a test stimulus is delivered at a constant interval after a previous discharge. This mathematically described test included the notion of the multiple comparison and thus achieved higher sensitivity than the previously proposed method. With regard to data acquisition, the interval from a sham stimulus to the next discharge was acquired as a control, and the total number of samples was set to be four times as large as that in the test situation to reduce the statistical scattering noise.

Changes of reflex size in upper limbs using wrist splint in hemiplegic patients.

We evaluated the effect of prolonged wrist extension on H reflex in the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) muscle and tendon jerk (T) reflex in the biceps brachii (BB) muscle of 17 chronic hemiplegic patients. H reflex of the FCR and T reflex of the BB were assessed every 5 minutes within 20 minutes during prolonged wrist extension and post-20 minutes after the extension. As a result, H reflex in the FCR was reduced by passive wrist stretch in 82% of the spastic limbs.