Virtual Exercise Architecture for People with Lower Body Disabilities Using Virtual Reality Technologies

This doctoral dissertation presents the research and design of the Remote Exercise and Game Architecture Language (REGAL), which was developed in the Industrial Virtual Reality Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Long-term wheelchair users have inactive lifestyle and resultant poor health condition. To promote their lifestyle, regular exercise regimen is needed. Currently, most outdoor exercises are either unavailable or unsafe for ordinary wheelchair users, while indoor exercise is too boring to adhere to. REGAL is an architecture to provide them with a safe, interactive, engaging and fully accessible indoor exercise environment with properly designed equipment. A new Virtual Exercise Environment can be conveniently built using the REGAL architecture. Different sensors are employed to track the users’ head and arm movements so that they can interact with the surrounding environment. Stereo 3D perspective is calculated based on the position and orientation of user’s eyes to provide an immersive experience in the virtual exercise environment. To make exercise games even more motivating, internet is induced in the REGAL architecture to allow multiple users at different locations to exercise together. Users can also exercise together with computers when internet is unavailable. Competition and partnership bring more fun and more motivation to exercise game players. More importantly, REGAL provides powerful support to convert existing PC games into VEEs. The traditional keyboard and mouse input of PC games can be mapped to the body movement input using REGAL. This mapping changes the fine motor control into an interactive gross motor interface, so that users can expend more energy and have a healthier lifestyle when they play PC games. Considering the huge user base of PC games and the bad effects on health, this mapping might benefit most game players and has a positive influence on people’s health in the whole world

Mechanism of Photocatalytic Cyclization of Bromoalkenes with a Dimeric Gold Complex

In recent years, dimeric gold complexes have been extensively used in photoredox reactions and have successfully mediated a series of traditionally challenging organic reactions. However, little is known about the function of the dimeric gold complexes in these reactions. In this study, we systematically studied the mechanism of the photocatalytic cyclization of bromoalkenes with the dimeric gold complex [Au₂(dppm)₂]²⁺ (dppm denotes bis­(diphenylphosphino)­methane). It is found that the dimeric gold complex acts as the radical initiator and terminator in this radical chain reaction. In the radical initiation step, the gold complex first promotes the electron transfer from amine to the bromoalkene substrate (via a reductive quenching mode) and then accepts the released bromide (from bromoalkene) to stabilize the reaction system. In the radical termination step, the dimeric gold complex mainly works as an unsynchronized bromine and electron donor. In the photocatalytic cyclization of bromoalkenes, the radical propagation step operates between the alkyl radical and the dehydrogenated amine radical. This study sheds light on the function of the dimeric gold complex in photoredox reactions and will hopefully benefit the future understanding of similar synthetic reactions

Mechanism of Photocatalytic Cyclization of Bromoalkenes with a Dimeric Gold Complex

In recent years, dimeric gold complexes have been extensively used in photoredox reactions and have successfully mediated a series of traditionally challenging organic reactions. However, little is known about the function of the dimeric gold complexes in these reactions. In this study, we systematically studied the mechanism of the photocatalytic cyclization of bromoalkenes with the dimeric gold complex [Au₂(dppm)₂]²⁺ (dppm denotes bis­(diphenylphosphino)­methane). It is found that the dimeric gold complex acts as the radical initiator and terminator in this radical chain reaction. In the radical initiation step, the gold complex first promotes the electron transfer from amine to the bromoalkene substrate (via a reductive quenching mode) and then accepts the released bromide (from bromoalkene) to stabilize the reaction system. In the radical termination step, the dimeric gold complex mainly works as an unsynchronized bromine and electron donor. In the photocatalytic cyclization of bromoalkenes, the radical propagation step operates between the alkyl radical and the dehydrogenated amine radical. This study sheds light on the function of the dimeric gold complex in photoredox reactions and will hopefully benefit the future understanding of similar synthetic reactions

Data for High-Density EEG Facilitates Detection of Small Stimuli in C-VEP BCIs

High-Density EEG Facilitates Detection of Small Stimuli in C-VEP BCIs, Data</p

Surficial Oxidation of Phosphorus for Strengthening Interface Interaction and Enhancing Lithium-Storage Performance

By virtue of high theoretical capacity and appropriate lithiation potential, phosphorus is considered as a prospective next-generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries. However, there are some problems hampering its practical application, such as low ionic conductivity and serious volume expansion. Herein, we demonstrated an in situ preoxidation strategy to build a oxidation function layer at phosphorus particle. The oxide layer not only acted as a protective layer to prolong the storage time of phosphorus anode in air but also carbonized N-methyl pyrrolidone and poly (vinylidene fluoride), strengthening the interfacial interaction between phosphorus particles and binder. The oxide layer further induced the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interface with high lithium-ion conductivity. The oxidized P-CNT maintained high specific capacity of 1306 mAh g–1 and 89% capacity after 100 cycles, much higher than that of pristine P-CNT (17.1%). The strategy of in situ oxidation is facile and conducive to the practical application of phosphorus-based anodes

Detection of simian virus 40 (SV40) early and late mRNAs in hamster tumors induced by wild-type viruses and microRNA-negative mutants following intraperitoneal inoculation.

<p>SV40 transcripts in hamster tumors induced by wild-type and microRNA-negative viral strains were reverse transcribed, quantitated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and expressed as the average number of SV40 mRNA copies per 10⁶ copies of 18S ribosomal RNA. The numbers of tumors analyzed for each viral system were the following: SVCPC-776 = 5, SVCPC-776-SM1 = 5, SVCPC = 3, and SVCPC-SM2 = 4. The error bars represent the standard deviation.</p

Lack of effect of SV40 microRNA on tumor development in Syrian golden hamsters following intraperitoneal inoculation.

<p>SV40, simian virus 40.</p>a<p><i>p</i> values for comparisons of % tumors and of time to tumors were determined by the Z test and the proportional hazards regression test, respectively.</p

Effect of simian virus 40 microRNA on viral loads in hamster liver and kidney over time.

<p>(A) Strain 776, wild-type virus and microRNA-negative mutant SM1. (B) Strain SVCPC, wild-type virus and microRNA-negative mutant SM2. Viral loads are presented as the geometric mean titers of normalized (adjusted) viral DNA copies (natural log,) per 10,000 cells. The number of different animals analyzed per virus at each time point (usually n = 4) is shown in <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003912#ppat-1003912-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Viral DNA levels were higher for the two microRNA mutants than for wild-type viruses in both liver and kidney through day 45. The differences between WT and mutant viruses were statistically significant (<i>p</i>≤0.05) for both viral systems in both tissues (see text for details). Error bars represent the standard deviation.</p

Frequent persistence of SV40 in hamster tissues following intracardiac inoculation.

<p>ND, not done; p.i., postinoculation; SV40, simian virus 40.</p>a<p>A tissue was considered positive if viral DNA copies were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (described in <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003912#s4" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a>).</p

Detection of SV40 miRNA in hamster tissues^a.

a<p>++, +, 0 = detection of SV40 miRNA with C_T35 as cut-off. ++ = ≤32 cycles; + = >32 to <35 cycles; 0 = ≥35 cycles. Each data point represents results for tissue from one animal. Two results shown for a given type of sample reflect independent results from two different animals.</p