Electroencephalogram-based control of an electric wheelchair

This paper presents a study on electroencephalogram (EEG)-based control of an electric wheelchair. The objective is to control the direction of an electric wheelchair using only EEG signals. In other words, this is an attempt to use brain signals to control mechanical devices such as wheelchairs. To achieve this goal, we have developed a recursive training algorithm to generate recognition patterns from EEG signals. Our experimental results demonstrate the utility of the proposed recursive training algorithm and the viability of accomplishing direction control of an electric wheelchair by only EEG signals

Emotional Similarity Word Embedding Model for Sentiment Analysis

We propose a method for constructing a dictionary of emotional expressions, which is an indispensable language resource for sentiment analysis in the Japanese. Furthermore, we propose a method for constructing a language model that reproduces emotional similarity between words, which to date has yet not been considered in conventional dictionaries and language models. In the proposed method, we pre-trained sentiment labels for the distributed representations of words. An intermediate feature vector was obtained from the pre-trained model. By learning an additional semantic label on this feature vector, we can construct an emotional semantic language model that embeds both emotion and semantics. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted a simple experiment to retrieve similar emotional words using the constructed model. The results of this experiment showed that the proposed method can retrieve similar emotional words with higher accuracy than the conventional word-embedding model

NPC1L1 inhibitor ezetimibe is a reliable therapeutic agent for non-obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We recently examined the distribution of abdominal fat, dietary intake and biochemical data in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and found that non-obese NAFLD patients did not necessarily exhibit insulin resistance and/or dysregulated secretion of adipocytokines. However, dietary cholesterol intake was superabundant in non-obese patients compared with obese patients, although total energy and carbohydrate intake was not excessive. Therefore, excess cholesterol intake appears to be one of the main factors associated with NAFLD development and liver injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We reviewed a year of follow-up data of non-obese NAFLD patients treated with Niemann-Pick C1 like 1 inhibitor ezetimibe to evaluate its therapeutic effect on clinical parameters related to NAFLD. Without any dietary or exercise modification, 10 mg/day of ezetimibe was given to 8 patients. In 4 of 8 patients, ezetimibe was administered initially. In the remaining 4 patients, medication was switched from ursodeoxycholic acid to ezetimibe.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In each patient, body mass index was maintained under 25 kg/m²during the observation period. Serum ALT levels significantly decreased within 6 months and in 4 patients levels reached the normal range (<30 U/L), which was accompanied with at least a 10% decrease in serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. However, ultrasonographic findings of fatty liver did not show obvious improvement for a year.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe can suppress hepatic injury in non-obese patients with NAFLD and that ezetimibe may offer a novel treatment for NAFLD.</p

Analysis of subgingival microbiota in monozygotic twins with different severity and progression risk of periodontitis

The study aims to reveal the composition of subgingival bacteria in monozygotic twins with discordant in severity and progression risk of periodontitis. Microbiome analysis indicated that most bacteria were heritable but differed in their abundance and immune response. The dysbiotic bacteria can be considered as risk markers for periodontitis progression

Anisotropic Optical Conductivity Accompanied by a Small Energy Gap in One-Dimensional Thermoelectric Telluride Ta4SiTe4

We investigated the optical properties of single crystals of one-dimensional telluride Ta4SiTe4, which shows high thermoelectric performance below room temperature. Optical conductivity estimated from reflectivity spectra indicates the presence of a small energy gap of 0.1-0.15 eV at the Fermi energy. At the lowest energy, optical conductivity along the Ta4SiTe4 chain is an order of magnitude higher than that perpendicular to this direction, reflecting the anisotropic electron conduction in Ta4SiTe4. These results indicate that coexistence of a very small band gap and anisotropic electron conduction is a promising strategy to develop a high-performance thermoelectric material for low temperature applications.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure