In this letter, we present a novel approach for integrating an electrostatic microactuator with a spiral thin-film resistor on a coplanar silicon substrate. We demonstrate a technique for fabricating ...large arrays of silicon nitride microactuators using low-stress plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition films. The process for integrating thin-film resistors spiraled around these actuators using sputtered films of tantalum nitride (sheet resistivity up to 1.4 kΩ per square) is then presented. We discuss a key application of this technology in optically addressable adaptive optics micromirror arrays.
Robotic vision introduces the need for real-time processing of noisy, rapidly fluctuating data in an environment that is constantly changing. Convenient presumptions are difficult to maintain in a ...real-world setting, such as static camera systems and deep learning algorithms that consume large amounts of data that is preferably slightly varying. We created a neuromorphic oculomotor controller and integrated it into a biomimetic robotic head prototype based on recent neurological research that demonstrate that saccade and smooth pursuit, the slow and rapid movements of the eyes, are handled by the same neuronal circuitry. The oculomotor controller is distinctive in that it 1) encodes and processes information using spikes that are communicated among models of biological neurons,2) Because it replicates the anatomy of the brain, it can be used without any special training. It’s interesting to note that while the robotic eye kinematics are remarkably similar to those described in studies on the human eye, the tracking performance of our proposed system is comparable to that of PID controllers. This work advances ComBra Lab’s main objective, which is to create ”bottom-up” computational models of brain networks that are neuro-mimetic and exploit the brain’s naturally occurring intelligence to operate robots. Our main contributions building on previous work has been making the robot more robust in target detection and expanding the applications to face detection.
Imitation learning holds tremendous promise in learning policies efficiently for complex decision making problems. Current state-of-the-art algorithms often use inverse reinforcement learning (IRL), ...where given a set of expert demonstrations, an agent alternatively infers a reward function and the associated optimal policy. However, such IRL approaches often require substantial online interactions for complex control problems. In this work, we present Regularized Optimal Transport (ROT), a new imitation learning algorithm that builds on recent advances in optimal transport-based trajectory-matching. Our key technical insight is that adaptively combining trajectory-matching rewards with behavior cloning can significantly accelerate imitation even with only a few demonstrations. Our experiments on 20 visual control tasks across the DeepMind Control Suite, the OpenAI Robotics Suite, and the Meta-World Benchmark demonstrate an average of 7.8x faster imitation to reach 90% of expert performance compared to prior state-of-the-art methods. On real-world robotic manipulation, with just one demonstration and an hour of online training, ROT achieves an average success rate of 90.1% across 14 tasks.
The leaves of “Khat” (Catha edulis), an indigenous shrub of Yemen and Arabian Peninsula are habitually chewed by the inhabitants for psychostimulant properties.
To describe a unique task specific ...Oro-mandibular dystonia (OMD) in Yemenese men, with a temporal association with chewing “Khat”.
Multicentric, retrospective analysis (2009–2020) of patients with OMD associated with “Khat” chewing, evaluating clinical features and response to Onabotulinum toxin A.
35 Yemenese men with a negative family history, normal neuroimaging mean age of 44.31(±3.21) years and prolonged (20.31 ± 3.27 years) history of chewing Khat, around 5.16(±0.80) hours/day presented with OMD-20 jaw opening, 13 jaw closing and 2 mixed affecting chewing (n = 6), speech (n = 3), or both (n = 26). Additional lingual dystonia was seen in five.
Chewing of khat is a repetitive task involving the jaw musculature and may be one of the causative factors of this task specific OMD. Recognition can prevent disability in these regions.
•Khat’ leaves are chewed by inhabitants of Yemen, Arabian Peninsula, and certain parts of eastern Africa as recreational activity.•Chewing of ‘khat’ is a repetitive task is involving the jaw musculature2, and likely has an association likely associated with the development of oromandibular dystonia in these patients.•A possible causal hypothesis proposes that repetitive motor activities alter the sensorimotor cortical circuit leading to dystonia.•Botulinum toxin injections and stopping the habit of chewing ‘khat’ may help reduce disability and recognition of this treatable entity.•Recognition of this entity can have widespread ramifications in preventive health in countries where this habit is common.
Abstract Adenylyl cyclase 5 (ADCY5)-related dyskinesia is a rare disorder characterized by early-onset paroxysmal choreoathetosis, dystonia, myoclonus, or a combination thereof, primarily involving ...the limbs, face, and neck. Other core clinical features include nocturnal ballistic bouts and facial dyskinesias, often followed by remission during adolescence, as well as axial hypotonia. Any mixed movement disorder accompanied by the aforementioned core features should prompt genetic testing for ADCY5 mutation. We report the case of a 31-year man from North India with a childhood-onset history of clumsy, random, and jerky body and facial movements, interfering with his speech and object-handling and walking-related functional abilities. He improved symptomatically with zonisamide and was offered caffeine as a maintenance option. Here, we review the literature on this entity, while reporting this first case of ADCY5-related dyskinesias from North India. The phenotypic spectrum linked to ADCY5 mutations has significantly broadened since its initial description in a family with “familial dyskinesia and facial myokymia.” This phenotypic variability could be responsible for a proportion of “idiopathic” hyperkinetic movement disorders. Gaining a better understanding of its clinical manifestations helps in identifying complex or uncommon cases more effectively.
Ocular complications in cryptococcal meningitis (CM) are commonly attributed to elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). We report a case of reversible vision loss complicating acquired immunodeficiency ...syndrome (AIDS) related to CM with a normal ICP. The patient had sudden onset painless blindness during the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and anti-fungal therapy. On evaluation, clinical and radiological findings of optic neuritis were present. While reviewing the literature for causes of blindness in CM, we concluded the cause was optic neuritis due to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) because of concomitant ART intake by the patient. We witnessed dramatic visual improvement after the use of systemic corticosteroids. The potential significance of this case report is to highlight the possible role of corticosteroids in the prevention of blindness due to CM.
Gene expression data are accumulating exponentially in public repositories. Reanalysis and integration of themed collections from these studies may provide new insights, but requires further human ...curation. Here we report a crowdsourcing project to annotate and reanalyse a large number of gene expression profiles from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Through a massive open online course on Coursera, over 70 participants from over 25 countries identify and annotate 2,460 single-gene perturbation signatures, 839 disease versus normal signatures, and 906 drug perturbation signatures. All these signatures are unique and are manually validated for quality. Global analysis of these signatures confirms known associations and identifies novel associations between genes, diseases and drugs. The manually curated signatures are used as a training set to develop classifiers for extracting similar signatures from the entire GEO repository. We develop a web portal to serve these signatures for query, download and visualization.
Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes (TIND), better known as insulin neuritis, is an uncommon, iatrogenic, small fibre neuropathy occurring with an abrupt betterment in glycaemic control in ...patients of chronic hyperglycaemia. TIND, as such, is a less reported entity often missed by clinicians on initial presentation, but is an important consideration in patients with rapid correction of their hyperglycaemic status. TIND is characterised by an acute onset length dependent or generalised neuropathic pain often accompanied by autonomic symptoms and signs. This mostly occur after 2-8 weeks of initiating glycaemic control with insulin and is associated with a decline in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) by ≥2% points over 3 months. In fact, these patients on presentation, have reasonably satisfactory glycosylated haemoglobin profiles, as this condition is seen with acute control of glycaemic status. We herein discuss details of this entity as a review of literature with an overview of its pathophysiology, clinical features, and management.
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a well-known cause of vascular dementia. Though a majority of these cases are sporadic, familial monogenic causes are being frequently identified as well. ...Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL) is a rare autosomal recessive CSVD, caused by mutation in HTRA 1 gene on chromosome 10q (10q25.3-q26.2) in homozygous or compound heterozygous form. Indian literature has been quite scant with very few case reports of CARASIL, and only three familial cases were confirmed with mutational analysis. Testing facilities of HTRA 1 genetic mutation are now more widely available in India than before, and should be encouraged for appropriate patients. This would help in diagnosing, prognosticating and avoiding unnecessary further investigations and medications for these patients. We herein review the Indian scenario and our previously reported experiences of this disorder, while adding a case from north India with a befitting clinical history, family history, neuroimaging and documented HTRA1 genetic mutation.
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