Predictors for Incident Mild Parkinsonian Signs in Older Japanese

Background: Mild parkinsonian signs are important clinical symptoms related to the decline of motor and cognitive functions. We aimed to identify predictors for the incidence of mild parkinsonian signs in older Japanese by conducting an 8-year longitudinal community-based cohort study. Methods: Participants aged 65 years or older, living in Ama-cho, a rural island town in western Japan, underwent a baseline assessment of motor function, cognitive function, depression score, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Tanner questionnaire, and cerebral white matter lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging from 2008 to 2010, and then underwent a follow-up neurological examination from 2016 to 2017. Mild parkinsonian signs were defined according to a modified Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale score. Results: Of the 316 participants without mild parkinsonian signs at baseline, 94 presented with incident mild parkinsonian signs at follow-up. In addition to an absence of exercise habits, a higher score on the Tanner questionnaire, PSQI, and deep white-matter hyperintensity Fazekas scores were significant independent predictors for incidence of mild parkinsonian signs. Conclusion: We suggest multiple factors related to incidence of mild parkinsonian signs. Vascular lesions and sleep disorders are associated with a pathogenesis of mild parkinsonian signs, the Tanner questionnaire is useful for early detection of subclinical mild parkinsonian signs, and exercise has a possibility of being associated with preventing onset of mild parkinsonian signs

Exercise classification using CNN with image frames produced from time-series motion data

Exercise support systems for the elderly have been developed and some were equipped with a motion sensor to evaluate their exercise motion. Normally, it provides three-dimensional time-series data of over 20 joints. In this study, we propose to apply Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) methodology to the motion evaluation. The method converts the motion data of one exercise interval into one gray scale image. From simulation results, the CNN was possible to classify the images into specified motions

A Single-institution Study on Predictors of Short-term Progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease to Parkinson’s Disease with Dementia

Background: Patients with non-demented Parkinson’s disease (PD) sometime have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD-MCI) may convert to Parkinson’s disease with dementia (PDD) within several years. Cognitive impairment also occurs in the early stages of the disease, gradually progressing to lower quality of life and instrumental activities of daily living. It is important to elucidate the predictors of progression from PD-MCI to PDD via longitudinal studies. Methods: This was a single center, case-control study. We analysed data from 49 patients with PD-MCI diagnosed as level I using the Movement Disorder Society PD-MCI criteria at baseline who had completed 1.5 years of follow-up. We defined patients who progressed to PDD as patients with progressive PD-MCI and patients who did not progress to PDD as patients with non-progressive PD-MCI. Depression, apathy, sleep disorders, constipation, light-headedness, hallucinations, impulse control disorders (ICDs) and impulsive-compulsive behaviors (ICBs) at baseline were statistically analysed as predictors of progression. Results: Of the 49 PD-MCI patients, 33 did not convert to PDD (non-progressive PD-MCI), and 16 converted to PDD (progressive PD-MCI). The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, light-headedness and ICDs were elucidated as predictors of progressive PD-MCI via a multivariate logistic regression model. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each item were MMSE score, OR 0.324, 95% CI 0.119-0.882, P = 0.027; light-headedness, OR 27.665, 95% CI 2.263-338.185, P= 0.009; and ICDs, OR 53.451, 95% CI 2.298-291.085, P = 0.010. Conclusion: Cognitive function, ICDs and light-headedness may be risk factors for the development of PDD in PD-MCI patients

Task-Guided Selection of the Dual Neural Pathways for Reading

SummaryThe visual perception of words is known to activate the auditory representation of their spoken forms automatically. We examined the neural mechanism for this phonological activation using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with a masked priming paradigm. The stimulation sites (left superior temporal gyrus [L-STG] and inferior parietal lobe [L-IPL]), modality of targets (visual and auditory), and task (pronunciation and lexical decision) were manipulated independently. For both within- and cross-modal conditions, the repetition priming during pronunciation was eliminated when TMS was applied to the L-IPL, but not when applied to the L-STG, whereas the priming during lexical decision was eliminated when the L-STG, but not the L-IPL, was stimulated. The observed double dissociation suggests that the conscious task instruction modulates the stimulus-driven activation of the lateral temporal cortex for lexico-phonological activation and the inferior parietal cortex for spoken word production, and thereby engages a different neural network for generating the appropriate behavioral response

A Four-Legged Mobile Robot with Prismatic Joints on Spiral Footholds

This paper addresses a new design of a four-legged mobile robot with a double-spiral mobile architecture. The double-spiral mobile architecture has been proposed with the intention of use for environmental surveys in wetlands, where reed-like plants grow densely. It consists of two pairs of spirals and one mobile robot. Each pair of spirals plays the role of footholds for the mobile robot. By traveling at a higher place from the ground, the robot can avoid strong resistance force from the dense and hard-stemmed plants. In addition, the spirals intermediate between the robots and the muddy ground to avoid sinking. The proposed leg mechanism does not have any vertical movement. It contributes to energy saving in the robot. Also it provides the arbitrary motion of the body platform while the legs grip the spirals tightly. We derive the robot’s kinematics and statics and show the validity of the design mathematically.特集 : The Papers Presented at the Symposium on Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Robotics 2015 (MIER2015) held at Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan on 29 - 30 May 201

Investigation of impressions for approach motion of a mobile robot based on psychophysiological analysis

This paper investigates impressions of approach motions of a mobile robot based on psychophysiological analysis. In one of our previous studies, we suggested that actuation noise caused by the robots tended to raise the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response of heart rate variability. In another experiment it was observed that blocking out either the sound or the sight of the robot motion attenuated the electrodermal activity (EDA), which reflects the SNS. From these investigations, one candidate for motion rules for human-friendly robots was deduced such that robots must reduce their motion speed in the immediate vicinity of human. To confirm validity of the motion rule, we constructed an experimental setup with a mobile robot approaching humans at several speeds, and investigated the human impressions by means of psychophysiological methods. The experimental results showed that robot motion adjacent to humans tended to increase EDA responses. We found especially that the approach motion tented to give stronger stimuli to humans than motions at a distance. The faster approach motion tended to increase EDA responses, but there was no significant statistical difference from the response to slower approach motion. From factor analysis of the subjective ratings two factors were extracted, which were interpreted as "relief of mind" and "observation on motion

Vibration Suppression of a Journal Bearing Using Temperature Control:A Preliminary Experiment

A prototype of a circular hydrodynamic journal bearing to control temperature distributions of the bearing bush and the oil film was manufactured, with a preliminary experiment subsequently conducted to evaluate the extent of vibration suppression within the bearing. The specifications of the bearing were as follows: a bearing diameter of 50 mm, a bearing length of 50 mm, and a radial clearance of 0.025 mm. The bearing bush was divided into six parts, and five Peltier devices were installed for cooling and heating each part. The parameters of the experiment were as follows: a load up to 100 N, a rotational speed up to 35 rps, and a lubricating oil of ISO VG22. When the lower half of the bearing bush was cooled and the upper half was heated, the vibration was suppressed under a specific operating condition.特集 : The Papers Presented at the Symposium on Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Robotics 2015 (MIER2015) held at Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan on 29 - 30 May 201

Development of the sensor and actuator node device for an autonomous ATV

This paper addresses the development of sensor and actuator node device for an autonomous All Terrain Vehicle (ATV). Generally, the present field survey activities are performed by manual labors. The range of the field survey tends to be vast; therefore a lot of labors are needed. To realize the investigation of the environment with less manned labors, we add the functionality for automation to the ATV. In this paper, we introduce the CAN bus network to the autonomous ATV for the distributed control system, and construct the steering angle control system of the ATV and evaluated it.特集 : Special Section for the Papers Presented at the Symposium on Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Robotics held at Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, Japan on 11 - 12 January 201

A motion rule for human-friendly robots basedinvestigations and its application to mobile robot on electrodermal activity

This paper investigates impressions on the robot motion based on EDA experiments, deduces a motion rule for human-friendly robots from the investigations, and applies it to a mobile robot experimental apparatus. In our previous work, it was suggested that actuation noise come from the robots tended to raise the sympathetic nerve system (SNS) response of the heart rate variability. In another experiment it is observed that blocking out either the sound or the sight attenuated the electrodermal activity (EDA), which reflects the SNS, to the robot motion. In the present work, the experiment was designed not so as to avoid the influence of the habituation differently from the previous experiments, which was the significant factor contributing to reducing the EDA responses. As a result of statistical analysis, it was concluded that the present work supported the result of the previous work. Based on these investigations, we deduced the motion rule for human-friendly robots from this investigation, that robots must reduce their motion speed in the immediate vicinity of humans. We constructed the experimental setup that a mobile robot approached human with its speed decreased in conformity with the rule. To estimate the distance from the human, the skin color detection and depth-from-focus techniques were applied to a monocular color video camera system with pan/tilt/zoom operation. The experimental result showed that a proper choice of commands could perform the robot motion to reduce its speed in the immediate vicinity of the human

Effects of rTMS of pre-supplementary motor area on fronto basal ganglia network activity during stop-signal task

Stop-signal task (SST) has been a key paradigm for probing human brain mechanisms underlying response inhibition, and the inhibition observed in SST is now considered to largely depend on a fronto basal ganglia network consisting mainly of right inferior frontal cortex, pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and basal ganglia, including subthalamic nucleus, striatum (STR), and globus pallidus pars interna (GPi). However, causal relationships between these frontal regions and basal ganglia are not fully understood in humans. Here, we partly examined these causal links by measuring human fMRI activity during SST before and after excitatory/inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of pre-SMA. We first confirmed that the behavioral performance of SST was improved by excitatory rTMS and impaired by inhibitory rTMS. Afterward, we found that these behavioral changes were well predicted by rTMS-induced modulation of brain activity in pre-SMA, STR, and GPi during SST. Moreover, by examining the effects of the rTMS on resting-state functional connectivity between these three regions, we showed that the magnetic stimulation of pre-SMA significantly affected intrinsic connectivity between pre-SMA and STR, and between STR and GPi. Furthermore, the magnitudes of changes in resting-state connectivity were also correlated with the behavioral changes seen in SST. These results suggest a causal relationship between pre-SMA and GPi via STR during response inhibition, and add direct evidence that the fronto basal ganglia network for response inhibition consists of multiple top-down regulation pathways in humans