In the original publication of the article, it was published under the title ‘Mini-review article: the role of spinal reciprocal inhibition and intracortical inhibition in functional recovery from ...stroke’.
Spinal reciprocal inhibition (RI) and intracortical inhibition are important physiological mechanisms for voluntary movement control and functional recovery of voluntary movement in patients with ...stroke. Spasticity, which impairs motor performance, is one of the major manifestations of stroke. RI may be involved in reducing spasticity. This might allow finger extension, and, therefore, better hand function by reducing co-contraction with finger extensors. One potential mechanism of functional reorganization of the motor cortex is that pre-existing masking pathways are unmasked by decreased intracortical inhibition. The inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA plays an important role in this process. Changes in RI might be mediated through unmasking of cortical pathways through decreased inhibition, with the neurotransmitter GABA. These changes can be assessed using short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI) and RI. Functional recovery in the chronic phase of stroke induced by rehabilitation was accompanied by SICI and spinal RI changes. Cortical reorganization and spinal plasticity might play important roles in functional recovery induced by rehabilitation, even in patients with chronic severe hemiparesis. This review aims to provide a focused overview of neuroplasticity of spinal RI and intracortical inhibition associated with functional motor recovery from stroke.
•A gray-box model of the industrial Czochralski (CZ) process was developed.•The model was built for the CZ process producing 300 mm diameter single-crystal Si.•The model predicts a crystal radius, a ...crystal growth rate, and heater temperature.•Computing a temperature gradient by a statistical model improves prediction accuracy.•The results demonstrated the high prediction accuracy of the gray-box model.
More than 95% of 300 mm diameter single-crystal silicon ingots, the raw material for semiconductors, are produced by the Czochralski process. The demand for improving yield, throughput, and control performance has been increasing. The present study developed a gray-box model that can predict controlled variables from manipulated variables with higher accuracy than the conventional first-principle model (Zheng et al., 2018), aiming at realizing model predictive control of the Czochralski process. The proposed gray-box model used a statistical model to predict the temperature gradient of the crystal at the solid–liquid interface Gcry, which was constant in the first-principle model. The crystal length and the melt temperature are used as the input variables to predict Gcry. The prediction accuracy of the proposed gray-box model was compared with that of the first-principle model using real process data obtained during the production of four silicon ingots. The results demonstrated that the proposed model reduced the root mean square errors of the crystal radius, the crystal growth rate, and the heater temperature by 94.1%, 62.7%, and 70.6% on average, respectively.
Abstract
The present study aimed to determine the magnitude of and risk factors for the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international classification of functioning, disability and health ...(ICF) in patients with multiple system atrophy (PwMSA). The study was part of a cross-sectional, nationwide, multipurpose mail survey for Japanese PwMSA from October to December, 2020. The primary outcome was the impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on ICF functioning, consisting of body function, activity, and participation. Age, sex, disease type, disease duration, and dwelling place were asked as participants’ characteristics, and the multiple system impairment questionnaire (MSIQ), patient health questionnaire-2, modified rankin scale, barthel index, life-space assessment (LSA), and EuroQoL were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors for a worse function score due to the COVID-19 pandemic for each ICF functioning domain. A total of 155 patients (mean age 65.6 SD 8.1 years; 43.9% women; mean disease duration 8.0 SD 6.2 years; 65% MSA with cerebellar ataxia, 13% MSA with parkinsonism, 9% MSA with predominant autonomic features) were analyzed. Of the ICF functioning domains, the respondents reported that the early COVID-19 pandemic affected body function in 17.4%, activity in 17.6%, and participation in 46.0%. The adjusted multivariate model identified MSIQ and LSA as the two variables that independently contributed to all domains. The COVID-19 pandemic affected ICF functioning of PwMSA in Japan, and the severity of disease-related impairments and a large daily living space were common risk factors. These results help support the focus on patient characteristics for medical and social welfare support.
•A first-principle model of the Czochralski (CZ) process is constructed.•The model calculates the crystal radius and the crystal growth rate.•The model takes into account the dynamic characteristics ...of the CZ process.•The model is for industrial CZ processes producing 300 mm single-crystal silicon.•The high accuracy of the model is confirmed through a case study.
The Czochralski (CZ) process is the dominant method for manufacturing large cylindrical single-crystal ingots for the electronics industry. Although many models and control methods for the CZ process have been proposed, they were only tested with small equipment and only a few industrial application were reported. In this research, we constructed a first-principle model for controlling industrial CZ processes that produce 300 mm single-crystal silicon ingots. The developed model, which consists of energy, mass balance, hydrodynamic, and geometrical equations, calculates the crystal radius and the crystal growth rate as output variables by using the heater input, the crystal pulling rate, and the crucible rise rate as input variables. To improve accuracy, we modeled the CZ process by considering factors such as changes in the positions of the crucible and the melt level. The model was validated with the operation data from an industrial 300 mm CZ process. We compared the calculated and actual values of the crystal radius and the crystal growth rate, and the results demonstrated that the developed model simulated the industrial process with high accuracy.
Objectives This study aimed to assess the effect of the spinal circuit of repetitive magnetic stimulation (rPMS) on the soleus muscle among healthy subjects.Methods Nineteen healthy adults were ...included in this study. Intermittent rPMS was applied to the left soleus muscle for 20 minutes. We applied different intensity rPMS (high-intensity, low-intensity, and non-stimulation) in different three days. RI (reciprocal inhibition) from the tibialis anterior to the soleus muscle with an inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 2ms and 20ms was assessed before, immediately after and 30 minutes at each session.Results Two factor repeated measure ANOVA test showed a significant interaction (F2,33 = 9.688, p < 0.001) between tasks and time in the RI ratio 2ms. Post-hoc analysis showed that RI ratio 2ms significantly differed from those immediately after, and 30 min after high-intensity rPMS (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively). A significant difference was observed between high-intensity rPMS and non-stimulation immediately after the stimulation (p = 0.003). However, no significant difference was found in the RI ratio 20ms between all the intensities (p > 0.05).Conclusion This study demonstrates that high-intensity rPMS can effectively modulate spinal circuits, as evidenced by the decreased RI in healthy individuals. This suggests the potential use of rPMS as a therapeutic intervention for patients with muscle weakness. Disinhibition of the RI may lead to a more effective contraction of the target muscle. This effect could be expected to strengthen the muscles and alleviate paralysis, making it a promising avenue for future research and clinical applications in the field of rehabilitation. Further investigation is warranted to explore the precise mechanisms underlying the observed effects and to optimize the parameters of rPMS for specific clinical populations.
Two-dimensional (2D) clinical gait analysis systems are more affordable and portable than contemporary three-dimensional (3D) clinical models. Using the Vicon 3D motion capture system as the ...standard, we evaluated the internal statistics of the Imasen and open-source OpenPose gait measurement systems, both designed for 2D input, to validate their output based on the similarity of results and the legitimacy of their inner statistical processes. We measured time factors, distance factors, and joint angles of the hip and knee joints in the sagittal plane while varying speeds and gaits during level walking in three in-person walking experiments under normal, maximum-speed, and tandem scenarios. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the 2D models were greater than 0.769 for all gait parameters compared with those of Vicon, except for some knee joint angles. The relative agreement was excellent for the time-distance gait parameter and moderate-to-excellent for each gait motion contraction range, except for hip joint angles. The time-distance gait parameter was high for Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.899-0.993 but low for 0.298-0.971. Correlation coefficients were greater than 0.571 for time-distance gait parameters but lower for joint angle parameters, particularly hip joint angles. Our study elucidates areas in which to improve 2D models for their widespread clinical application.
Daily health management and exercise are important for staying healthy and avoiding the need for long-term care. However, it is not easy to maintain regular exercise. Therefore, exercise needs to be ...done efficiently. In recent years, due to the aging population and increasing severity of illness, older patients often experience a significant decline in physical function, even with minimal rest, which often interferes with their daily life after discharge from the hospital. Frailty not only affects ADLs, but also strongly influences prognosis, including the development of atherosclerotic disease and rehospitalization. This perspective is a summary of the 51st Metropolitan Public Lecture held on June 17, 2023, and discusses exercise-based rehabilitation programs that can be delivered at home to prevent physical frailty and avoid hospitalization-related disability.
Pedaling is widely used for rehabilitation of locomotion because it induces similar muscle activity to that observed during locomotion. However, no study has examined the effects of pedaling exercise ...on intracortical inhibition. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of pedaling exercise on short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) in the cortical area controlling the tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles. Ten healthy adults participated in this study and were instructed to perform 7 min of active and passive pedaling. Paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to investigate the SICI. Using interstimulus intervals of 2–3 ms, the SICI of TA and SOL muscles was recorded at rest before and after the pedaling and repetitive ankle dorsiflexion tasks. SICI in both TA and SOL muscles decreased immediately after active pedaling. There were no significant changes in SICI after the passive pedaling and repetitive ankle dorsiflexion. A short-term, low-intensity active pedaling exercise decreases the intracortical inhibition of the leg area of the motor cortex. Our results suggest that pedaling has the potential to restore ambulation-inducing cortical reorganization among patients with central nervous system lesions.
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