The Effect of Subcutaneous Electrical Stimulation on Hypertonia in Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke

After brain injury, increased levels of monoamines in the central nervous system may result in hypertonia, or increased muscle tone on the affected side. The purpose of this project is to determine how low levels of cutaneous electrical stimulation affect hypertonia in patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke. Electromyography (EMG) data was collected from the biceps, lateral triceps, and brachioradialis muscles before and after 20 minutes of electrical stimulation over the biceps. Electrical stimulation was conducted at a frequency of 20 Hz, pulse duration 0.1 ms, and an intensity slightly below the motor threshold. Furthermore, a sham stimulation was administered for 20 minutes, and flexor/extensor activation was intermittently performed to test whether hypertonia returned. If stimulation of cutaneous afferents can reduce hyperexcitability of motor neurons in individuals with stroke, then by electrical stimulation of the skin, we expect to see statistically significant differences in hypertonia as measured by EMGs. The results from this experiment can be used to develop new treatments for hypertonia and associated stretch reflex hyperexcitability, common and debilitating motor symptoms of chronic hemiparetic stroke

High-Temperature sensor based on peanut flat-end reflection structure

A high-temperature sensor based on a peanut flat-end reflection structure is demonstrated. The sensor can be simply fabricated by splicing the spherical end-faces of two segments of single-mode fibers and then cleaving one other end as a flat reflect surface. The proposed structure works as a reflected interferometer. When the ambient temperature changes, the resonant dip wavelength of the interferometer will shift due to the linear expansion or contraction and the thermo-optic effect. As a result, the temperature measurement can be achieved by monitoring the resonant dip wavelength of the interferometer. Experimental results show that the proposed sensor probe based on the peanut flat-end reflection structure works well and it can measure the temperature range from 100 °C to 900 °C with the sensitivity of 0.098 nm/ °C with R²  =  0.988. When temperature ranges from 400 °C to 900 °C, the sensitivity of 0.11 nm/ °C can be achieved with R² = 0.9995. Due to its compact and simple configuration, the proposed sensor is a good high temperature sensor probe.This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province China under Grant No.LY17F050010

Culture Condition Effect on Bioflocculant Production and Actual Wastewater Treatment Application by Different Types of Bioflocculants

The effect of culture condition on different types of bioflocculant production and its application on actual wastewater treatment were studied in this chapter. The advantages of mixed strain HXJ-1 were as follows: directly using acidic wine wastewater, adapting to wastewater at high concentrations and the presence of less nitrogen. HXJ-1 achieved good flocculating rate when the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 12,000 mg/L, C/N 20:1. Three kinds of bioflocculants had some good treatment results on starch wastewater, printing and dyeing wastewater and landfill leachate. The treatment effect of XJBF-1 (produced by mixed strain HXJ-1) on the starch wastewater was better than that of traditional polyacrylamide and other bioflocculants produced by a single bacterial (X15BF-1) and yeast strain (J1BF-1). XJBF-1 had better treatment results on three types of wastewater. It also had good removal rate of chromaticity, especially on the starch wastewater , the printing and dyeing wastewater; the removal rate was up to 88%, and the starch wastewater COD removal rate was up to 86%

Motion Control for an Intelligent Walking Support Machine

Walking is a vital exercise for health promotion and fundamental ability necessary for everyday life. Up to now, many robots for walking support or walking rehabilitation of the elderly and the disabled are reported. In this paper, a new omni-directional walking support machine is developed. The machine can realize walking support by following the user's control intention which is detected according to the user's manipulation. However, the motion of the machine is affected by the nonlinear frictions, center-of-gravity (COG) shifts and loads changes caused by users. It is necessary to improve the machine's motion performance to follow the user intention and support the user. Therefore, this paper describes a motion control method based on digital acceleration control to deal with the problem of nonlinear frictions, COG shifts and loads changes. Simulations are executed and the results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed digital acceleration control method

Improving the Motion Performance for an Intelligent Walking Support Machine by RLS Algorithm

To make the old people and handicapped people move easily by themselves, an omni-directional walking support machine (WSM) has been developed. In our previous study, to improve the motion performance of the WSM, a digital acceleration control method has been developed to deal with the nonlinear friction. However, the design of the digital acceleration controller requires to know the exact plant parameters of the WSM which are variable due to center of gravity (COG) shift and load changes. The change of the plant parameters affects the motion performance of the digital acceleration control system. Therefore, in this paper, a discrete-time system identification method using recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is proposed to online identify the WSM’s plant parameters for the digital acceleration controller. Simulations are executed and compared with the digital acceleration controller without using RLS algorithm, and the results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method

2022 Convocation

Program Welcome: Katie Berger, Chief Student Affairs Officer Pledge of Allegiance: Yina Wang \u2723, Student Council President Opening Remarks: Dr. Evan M. Glazer, President Opening Remarks: Dr. Comfort Akwaji-Anderson, Principal and Chief Academic Officer Featured Musical Selection: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 by Henryk Wieniawski, performed by Sooah (Irene) Park \u2723, Violinist, Robert Sacks, Pianist Keynote Address: Joe Beda \u2793 Closing Remarks: Dr. Comfort Akwaji-Anderson, Principal and Chief Academic Office

Regulatory mechanism of macrophage polarization based on Hippo pathway

Macrophages are found to infiltrate and migrate in a large number of Tumor-associated macrophages (TMEs) and other macrophages in the microenvironment of tumors and related diseases, and undergo phenotypic changes in response to a variety of cytokines, mainly including the primary phenotype M2 and the anti-tumor phenotype M1. The Hippo signaling pathway affects the development of cancer and other diseases through various biological processes, such as inhibition of cell growth. In this review, we focus on immune cells within the microenvironment of tumors and other diseases, and the role of the Hippo pathway in tumors on macrophage polarization in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and other diseases

Epi-illumination SPIM for volumetric imaging with high spatial-temporal resolution.

We designed an epi-illumination SPIM system that uses a single objective and has a sample interface identical to that of an inverted fluorescence microscope with no additional reflection elements. It achieves subcellular resolution and single-molecule sensitivity, and is compatible with common biological sample holders, including multi-well plates. We demonstrated multicolor fast volumetric imaging, single-molecule localization microscopy, parallel imaging of 16 cell lines and parallel recording of cellular responses to perturbations