Comparison of Four Control Methods for a Five-Choice Assistive Technology

Severe motor impairments can affect the ability to communicate. The ability to see has a decisive influence on the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems available to the user. To better understand the initial impressions users have of AAC systems we asked naïve healthy participants to compare two visual (a visual P300 brain-computer interface (BCI) and an eye-tracker) and two non-visual systems (an auditory and a tactile P300 BCI). Eleven healthy participants performed 20 selections in a five choice task with each system. The visual P300 BCI used face stimuli, the auditory P300 BCI used Japanese Hiragana syllables and the tactile P300 BCI used a stimulator on the small left finger, middle left finger, right thumb, middle right finger and small right finger. The eye-tracker required a dwell time of 3 s on the target for selection. We calculated accuracies and information-transfer rates (ITRs) for each control method using the selection time that yielded the highest ITR and an accuracy above 70% for each system. Accuracies of 88% were achieved with the visual P300 BCI (4.8 s selection time, 20.9 bits/min), of 70% with the auditory BCI (19.9 s, 3.3 bits/min), of 71% with the tactile BCI (18 s, 3.4 bits/min) and of 100% with the eye-tracker (5.1 s, 28.2 bits/min). Performance between eye-tracker and visual BCI correlated strongly, correlation between tactile and auditory BCI performance was lower. Our data showed no advantage for either non-visual system in terms of ITR but a lower correlation of performance which suggests that choosing the system which suits a particular user is of higher importance for non-visual systems than visual systems

Longing for the Refinement of the Heian Court during the Edo Period: Development of Printed Books with Kasen-e

People of the Edo Period (1603–1868) longed for the refinement of the Heiancourt and had it deeply rooted on their minds. This study will research this longing inthe publications of printed books with kasen-e. Moreover, by examining the transitionand characteristics of these works, various aspects of the inheritance of tradition andinnovation will be added to the history of early modern publishing culture.First, a chronological table of printed books with kasen-e published in the Edoperiod will be presented, in order to get an overall view (it is geared to the woodblockprintedbooks, and as a general rule, this excludes the variants of hyakunin isshu andthe variants of sanjūrokkasen, and ōraimono). The chronological table lists a total of88 titles, starting with sagabon Sanjūrokkasen (published around Keichō era, tokuōhon,1 volume), and ending with Teika sen kin’yōshō (published in Ansei 3/1856, ōhon,1volume). And then, each of the following categories will be examined: A: book size,B: publisher, C: book cover, D: artist, and E: multi-colored print to grasp the overallcharacteristics and trends. In particular, the following six artists will be focused on:(D-1) HISHIKAWA Moronobu, (D-2) NISHIKAWA Sukenobu, (D-3) HASEGAWAMitsunobu, (D-4) KATSUKAWA Shunshō, (D-5) TOSA Mitsusada, and (D-6) KITABusei. The characteristics of each representative work will be analyzed. Based onthose results, the entire situation in the Edo period will be surveyed and various aspectsof the tradition and innovation of kasen-e illustrated in printed books will come intolight.*This study is a translated version of KANSAKU Ken’ichi’s “Edo no ōchōbi:Kasen-e iri kanpon no tenkai.” In Kinsei wakashi no kenkyū (Tokyo: KadokawaGakugei Shuppan, 2013).　本稿では、江戸の人びとの心底にしかと揺曳していた王朝美へのあこがれを歌仙絵入刊本に訊ね、その変遷や特質を窺うことで、歌仙絵における伝統の継承と革新の種々相を近世出版文化史上に跡づける。　具体的には、まず全体像を見渡すために、江戸時代における歌仙絵入刊本の年表を提示する（整版を対象とし、異種百人一首や異種三十六歌仙、往来物は原則として除外）。嵯峨本の『三十六歌仙』（〔慶長〕刊・特大１冊）を筆頭に、幕末の『定家撰錦葉抄』（安政３年刊・大１冊）まで、全88点。これを、Ａ書型／Ｂ版元／Ｃ表紙／Ｄ絵師／Ｅ多色摺の各項目ごとに探って、全体の特徴と傾向を摑む。特にＤ絵師では、（ア）菱川師宣、（イ）西川祐信、（ウ）長谷川光信、（エ）勝川春章、（オ）土佐光貞、（カ）喜多武清、都合６人を取り上げて、それぞれの代表的作品に即して特徴を析出する。その上で、江戸期全体を改めて俯瞰し、刊本における歌仙絵の伝統と革新の諸相を引き出した。　本稿は、神作研一「江戸の王朝美—歌仙絵入刊本の展開—」（『近世和歌史の研究』所収、角川学芸出版、2013）を英訳したものである

Combined Traction and Energy Recovery Motor for Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicle manufacturers are looking for ways to optimize energy use for vehicle range extension and reduction of battery capacity. Electric motors have lower efficiencies at very low speed and high torque. This is typically at vehicle launch from standstill, at very low speeds, and during energy regeneration at lower speeds and approaching standstill. The KersTech solution is a breakthrough technology allowing supplement of the electric drive with a hydraulic drive, active in lower speeds ranges, dropping out as the electric motor takes over in its higher efficiency range of operation. The report consists of four parts. Part I presents novel the hybrid vehicle simulations in MATLAB. Both the Diesel-Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicle and Electric-Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicle have been simulated and compared in this report. Part II deals with the electrical system control design. Permanent magnet synchronous motors have been widely used in hybrid electric vehicle applications. Permanent magnet synchronous motors have a small size, high efficiency and high performance. This report presents a mathematical model of permanent magnet synchronous motor. Power switching electronics are used to generate the desired voltage/current from DC source. A pulse width modulation technique controls the switching power electronic by creating a control signals which are applied to their gates. The whole circuit of the inverter based on space vector pulse width modulation is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and its results are presented. Field-oriented control is implemented via digital signal processors to control the permanent magnet synchronous motor. Clarke and Park transformations are applied to “abc coordinate frame of the permanent magnet synchronous motor model to get the “qd coordinate frame used in the field oriented control technique. Hence, the developed torque and the magnetizing the flux component are controlled separately. PI controller is used to control the motor speed and torque. PI controllers are designed using frequency response method and a symmetric optimum method. The whole system is simulated based on the mathematical model of PMSM and field oriented control method with designed PI controllers. Simulation results show the PMSM to have perfect dynamic response. A digital signal processor can be used to implement the field oriented control algorithms and compute the parameters in real time. Implementation of field oriented control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor shows that the motor has satisfactory response in terms of torque ripple and speed response. Nonlinear control, including Sliding Mode Controller and State Dependent Linear Matrix Inequality Controller, are also proposed as a powerful control technique to govern the speed of the permanent magnet synchronous motor in hybrid vehicle applications. In Part III, we discuss the hydraulic system design. Finally, in Part IV, the dSPACE hardware controller is used for the overall control system design

Task-Related c-Fos Expression in the Posterior Parietal Cortex During the “Rubber Tail Task” Is Diminished in Ca2+-Dependent Activator Protein for Secretion 2 (Caps2)-Knockout Mice

Rubber hand illusion (RHI), a kind of body ownership illusion, is sometimes atypical in individuals with autism spectrum disorder; however, the brain regions associated with the illusion are still unclear. We previously reported that mice responded as if their own tails were being touched when rubber tails were grasped following synchronous stroking to rubber tails and their tails (a “rubber tail illusion”, RTI), which is a task based on the human RHI; furthermore, we reported that the RTI response was diminished in Ca2+-dependent activator protein for secretion 2-knockout (Caps2-KO) mice that exhibit autistic-like phenotypes. Importance of the posterior parietal cortex in the formation of illusory perception has previously been reported in human imaging studies. However, the local neural circuits and cell properties associated with this process are not clear. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the neural basis of the RTI response and its impairment by investigating the c-Fos expression in both wild-type (WT) and Caps2-KO mice during the task since the c-Fos expression occurred soon after the neural activation. Immediately following the delivery of the synchronous stroking to both rubber tails and actual tails, the mice were perfused. Subsequently, whole brains were cryo-sectioned, and each section was immunostained with anti-c-Fos antibody; finally, c-Fos positive cell densities among the groups were compared. The c-Fos expression in the posterior parietal cortex was significantly lower in the Caps2-KO mice than in the WT mice. Additionally, we compared the c-Fos expression in the WT mice between synchronous and asynchronous conditions and found that the c-Fos-positive cell densities were significantly higher in the claustrum and primary somatosensory cortex of the WT mice exposed to the synchronous condition than those exposed to the asynchronous condition. Hence, the results suggest that decreased c-Fos expression in the posterior parietal cortex may be related to impaired multisensory integrations in Caps2-KO mice

Neural Correlates of Attitude Change Following Positive and Negative Advertisements

Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects' self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not) in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour

Spatio-Temporal Updating in the Left Posterior Parietal Cortex

Adopting an unusual posture can sometimes give rise to paradoxical experiences. For example, the subjective ordering of successive unseen tactile stimuli delivered to the two arms can be affected when people cross them. A growing body of evidence now highlights the role played by the parietal cortex in spatio-temporal information processing when sensory stimuli are delivered to the body or when actions are executed; however, little is known about the neural basis of such paradoxical feelings resulting from such unusual limb positions. Here, we demonstrate increased fMRI activation in the left posterior parietal cortex when human participants adopted a crossed hands posture with their eyes closed. Furthermore, by assessing tactile temporal order judgments (TOJs) in the same individuals, we observed a positive association between activity in this area and the degree of reversal in TOJs resulting from crossing arms. The strongest positive association was observed in the left intraparietal sulcus. This result implies that the left posterior parietal cortex may be critically involved in monitoring limb position and in spatio-temporal binding when serial events are delivered to the limbs

鳥類における就巣行動制御遺伝子の解析

ブンチョウのプロラクチン（PRL）及び小腸血管作用性ペプチド（VIP）cDNAのクローニングを行なった。さらに，PRLの近位プロモーター領域の配列も同定された。ブンチョウPRLのcDNA及び近位プロモーターはニワトリ，シチメンチョウ，アヒルと高い相同性を示し，中でも近位プロモーターはVIP反応領域が晩成性と早成性鳥類ともに保存されている事が明らかになった。晩成性と早成性ともに生理的PRL放出因子と考えられるVIPのcDNAクローニングも行なった。ブンチョウのVIP前駆体基本構造はニワトリやシチメンチョウと類似しているが，5\u27非翻訳領域の上流はニワトリのものと比べ類似性がほとんど認められなかった。晩成性鳥類において，みられる血中PRLの濃度変化は早成性鳥類と異なり抱卵後期に上昇する。晩成性と早成性ともにPRL遺伝子の発現はVIPにより制御されているが，VIP遺伝子の発現時期が異なることにより，結果としてPRL遺伝子の発現増加時期が異なっている可能性が考えられた。Complementary DNA (cDNA) of prolactin (PRL) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) of the Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora) were cloned and sequenced. Java sparrow PRL was found to have 88.3, 88.3, and 89.1 % sequence identity to PRL cDNA of chicken, turkey, and duck, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequence had an overall similarity with a comparable region of chicken (91.4 %), turkey (88.9 %) and duck (92.0 %) PRL. Based on the cDNA sequence and genomic DNA sequence of the chicken PRL gene, the proximal promoter was characterized. Sequence analysis of the proximal region of Java sparrow PRL promoter revealed a high degree of similarity to that of chicken, turkey and duck PRL promoter. Moreover, cDNA of prepro-VIP was also cloned and sequenced. Java sparrow prepro-VIP shows high similarity to chicken and turkey prepro-VIP. However, upstream of the 5\u27 untranslated region of Java sparrow prepro-VIP did not show similarity to that of chicken. These results suggest that the mechanisms, which regulate expression of the VIP gene, may be different between precocial and altricial birds, but expression of the PRL gene may be widely conserved in avian species