Neural magnetic field dependent fMRI toward direct functional connectivity measurements: A phantom study

Recently, the main issue in neuroscience has been the imaging of the functional connectivity in the brain. No modality that can measure functional connectivity directly, however, has been developed yet. Here, we show the novel MRI sequence, called the partial spinlock sequence toward direct measurements of functional connectivity. This study investigates a probable measurement of phase differences directly associated with functional connectivity. By employing partial spinlock imaging, the neural magnetic field might influence the magnetic resonance signals. Using simulation and phantom studies to model the neural magnetic fields, we showed that magnetic resonance signals vary depending on the phase of an externally applied oscillating magnetic field with non-right flip angles. These results suggest that the partial spinlock sequence is a promising modality for functional connectivity measurements

Maximum opening of the mouth by mouth prop during dental procedures increases the risk of upper airway constriction

From a retrospective evaluation of data on accidents and deaths during dental procedures, it has been shown that several patients who refused dental treatment died of asphyxia during dental procedures. We speculated that forcible maximum opening of the mouth by using a mouth prop triggers this asphyxia by affecting the upper airway. Therefore, we assessed the morphological changes of the upper airway following maximal opening of the mouth. In 13 healthy adult volunteers, the sagittal diameter of the upper airway on lateral cephalogram was measured between the two conditions; closed mouth and maximally open mouth. The dyspnea in each state was evaluated by a visual analog scale. In one subject, a computed tomograph (CT) was taken to assess the three-dimensional changes in the upper airway. A significant difference was detected in the mean sagittal diameter of the upper airway following use of the prop (closed mouth: 18.5 ± 3.8 mm, maximally open mouth: 10.4 ± 3.0 mm). All subjects indicated upper airway constriction and significant dyspnea when their mouth was maximally open. Although a CT scan indicated upper airway constriction when the mouth was maximally open, muscular compensation was admitted. Our results further indicate that the maximal opening of the mouth narrows the upper airway diameter and leads to dyspnea. The use of a prop for the patient who has communication problems or poor neuromuscular function can lead to asphyxia. When the prop is used for patient refusal in dentistry, the respiratory condition should be monitored strictly, and it should be kept in mind that the “sniffing position” is effective for avoiding upper airway constriction. Practitioners should therefore consider applying not only systematic desensitization, but also general anesthesia to the patient who refuses treatment, because the safety of general anesthesia has advanced, and general anesthesia may be safer than the use of a prop and restraints

Effects of experimental procedures on lie recognition

It has been pointed out that conventional experimental procedures might distort results about lie recognition. Levine (2014) argues in his Truth–Default Theory (TDT) that people usually trust others but that they can quickly abandon their trust when witnessing a trigger event in which they examine why the person told a lie. He also stated that asking participants to judge which stimulus persons are lying in experiments can work as a “lie prime” (i.e., a trigger event). Furthermore, when participants are asked to think about lies, this may increase the estimated frequency of lies. We conducted two studies to investigate the effects of the following instruction: “Please determine who told a lie.” Instead of asking participants to determine who is lying, we asked participants to give their impressions of stimulus persons, based on the presumption that an individual positively evaluates others who tell the truth. Study 1 employed a between-participant design but we found that the instructions had no significant effects. Study 2 employed a within-participant design and we found that the lie instructions had significant effects on lie recognition in evaluating stimulus persons. In the without-lie-instruction condition, stimulus persons were more likely to be positively evaluated than those in the with-lie-instruction condition. Our study suggests that researchers should be more careful about what instructions they give to participants in lie recognition experiments

Task Scheduling Algorithm for Multicore Processor Systems with Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading

PDPTA'14 : The 2014 International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Processing Techniques and Applications , Jul 21-24, 2014 , Las Vegas, NV, USAIn this paper, we propose a task scheduling algorithm for multiprocessor systems with Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technologies. The proposed algorithm minimizes the total computation time taking account of dynamic changes of the processing speed by the two technologies, in addition to the network contention among the processors. We constructed a clock speed model with which the changes of processing speed with Turbo Boost and Hyper-threading can be estimated for various processor usage patterns. We then constructed a new scheduling algorithm that minimizes the total execution time of a task graph considering network contention and the two technologies. We evaluated the proposed algorithm by simulations and experiments with a multi-processor system consisting of 4 PCs. In the experiment, the proposed algorithm produced a schedule that reduces the total execution time by 36% compared to conventional methods which are straightfor-ward extensions of an existing method

Development of a Novel Reformer for Tar-free Syngas Production

AbstractA novel reformer using highly efficient heat regeneration for tar-free syngas production is developed and its performance demonstrated in a pilot-scale plant using steam gasification. Basic design parameters of the regenerative tar reformer, namely residence time and amount of oxidant are determined based on numerical results. It has been predicted that good performance could be achieved at an operation temperature about 1573K, the residence time exceeding 4sec and an oxidant addition of 12% of the syngas flow rate. The regenerative tar reformer so designed shows stable operation. Over 99% of light and heavy tars are reformed to gas in the case of 11.3% oxygen addition to syngas. Further it is seen that a reduction of oxygen consumption more than 30% compared to a conventional oxidation reformer can be achieved. The formation of a high temperature zone has a strong influence on the tar reforming efficiency

Predictors of cognitive function in patients with hypothalamic hamartoma following stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation surgery

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138275/1/epi13838.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138275/2/epi13838_am.pd