Transportation and handling shock and vibration environmental criteria

Shock and vibration design criteria manual for transportation and handlin

Washout of chronic therapeutic deep brain stimulation increases cortical phase-amplitude coupling.

Invasive human brain recordings have shown that acute therapeutic deep brain stimulation (DBS) reduces cortical synchronization, measured by coupling of beta phase to gamma amplitude. Here we show by noninvasive scalp electroencephalography that withdrawal of chronic DBS elevates phase-amplitude coupling, in proportion to the worsening of contralateral rigidity

Development of a Tier-1 Assay for Assessing the Toxicity of Insecticidal Substances Against Coleomegilla maculata

To assess the potential dietary effects of insecticidal substances on the predacious ladybird beetle, Coleomegilla maculata De Geer, a Tier-1 laboratory testing system was developed. Artificial diets using shrimp eggs were developed, and a tier-1 bioassay examining C. maculata development and survival was designed based on those diets. To further measure the artificial diet in a Tier-1 testing system, larvae of C. maculata were fed the diet treated with different concentrations of an inorganic stomach poison, potassium arsenate (PA), or a cysteine protease inhibitor, E-64. The results demonstrated that the testing system was capable of detecting the dietary effects of both substances on the survival and development of C. maculata. With increasing concentrations of PA in the diet, fewer larvae developed to adults, with only 22.7% larvae surviving to the adult stage in the treatment with the highest content of PA (32 μg/g of diet). Likewise, dose-dependent responses also were found for other life-table parameters of C. maculata. Similar to the assays with PA, the survival rates of C. maculata consistently decreased with increasing E-64 content in the diet. Survival analysis showed that the insects fed E-64 at 50, 150, and 450 μg/g in the diet had significantly lower survival rates compared with those on the untreated artificial diet. The study presented here describes a robust testing system that will be useful for assessing the potential hazard (or toxicity) effects after dietary exposure of insecticidal compounds produced by GE plants or conventional insecticides on the ladybird predator, C. maculat

The European Ryegrass Core Collection: A Tool to Improve the Use of Genetic Resources

A core collection of 162 populations of ryegrass (Lolium perenne) native to 18 European countries, is being evaluated across Europe in a multi-country trial. Each participating country contributed the lesser of 10% or 25 accessions from its collection of native populations. The accessions are being grown at 18 sites in 17 countries. Quick, cheap protocols were developed for evaluation. Preliminary results are presented for performance during the first winter. Populations of northern origin showed uniformly low winter damage and low winter growth at all evaluation sites. Populations of Mediterranean origin were more affected by the environment used for evaluation, developing higher winter yield at sites with mild winters, lower winter yield where winters were colder, and suffering severe damage at sites with the coldest winters

Sensing data and methodology from the Adaptive DBS Algorithm for Personalized Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease (ADAPT-PD) clinical trial

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) is an emerging advancement in DBS technology; however, local field potential (LFP) signal rate detection sufficient for aDBS algorithms and the methods to set-up aDBS have yet to be defined. Here we summarize sensing data and aDBS programming steps associated with the ongoing Adaptive DBS Algorithm for Personalized Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease (ADAPT-PD) pivotal trial (NCT04547712). Sixty-eight patients were enrolled with either subthalamic nucleus or globus pallidus internus DBS leads connected to a Medtronic PerceptTM PC neurostimulator. During the enrollment and screening procedures, a LFP (8–30 Hz, ≥1.2 µVp) control signal was identified by clinicians in 84.8% of patients on medication (65% bilateral signal), and in 92% of patients off medication (78% bilateral signal). The ADAPT-PD trial sensing data indicate a high LFP signal presence in both on and off medication states of these patients, with bilateral signal in the majority, regardless of PD phenotype

Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: A Review of Emerging Issues and Technologies

This paper provides an overview of current progress in the technological advances and the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, as presented by participants of the Fourth Annual DBS Think Tank, which was convened in March 2016 in conjunction with the Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration at the University of Florida, Gainesveille FL, USA. The Think Tank discussions first focused on policy and advocacy in DBS research and clinical practice, formation of registries, and issues involving the use of DBS in the treatment of Tourette Syndrome. Next, advances in the use of neuroimaging and electrochemical markers to enhance DBS specificity were addressed. Updates on ongoing use and developments of DBS for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, obesity, addiction were presented, and progress toward innovation(s) in closed-loop applications were discussed. Each section of these proceedings provides updates and highlights of new information as presented at this year’s international Think Tank, with a view toward current and near future advancement of the field

Geographic information retrieval in a mobile environment: evaluating the needs of mobile individuals

This paper describes research that aims to define the information needs of mobile individuals, to implement a mobile information system that can satisfy those needs, and finally to evaluate the performance of that system with end-users. First a review of the emerging discipline of geographic information retrieval (GIR) is presented as background to the more specific issue of mobile information retrieval. Following this, a user needs study is described evaluating the requirements of potential users of a mobile information system; the study finds that there is a strong geographic component to users' information needs. Next, four geographic post-query filters are described which attempt to represent the region of space associated with an individual's query made at some specific spatial location. These filters are spatial proximity (distance in space), temporal proximity (travel time), speed-heading prediction surfaces (likelihood of visiting locations) and visibility (locations that can be seen). Two of these filters — spatial proximity and speed-heading prediction surfaces — are implemented in a mobile information system and subsequently evaluated with users in an outdoor setting. The results of evaluation suggest that retrieved information to which post-query geographic filters have been applied is considered more relevant than unfiltered information, and that users find information sorted by spatial proximity to be more relevant than that sorted by a prediction surface of likely future locations. The paper closes with a discussion of the wider implications of these results for developers of mobile information systems and location-based services