Closing the loop: Novel quantitative fMRI approach for manipulation of the sensorimotor loop in tremor

Tremor is thought to be an effect of oscillatory activity within the sensorimotor network. To date, the underlying pathological brain networks are not fully understood. Disentangling tremor activity from voluntary motor output and sensorimotor feedback systems is challenging. To better understand the intrinsic sensorimotor fingerprint...

Choosing the wrong integrated research approach and how to correct it: reflections on developing a shared information management system’

Researchers often lack critical information to decide what type of integrated research approach - multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary - is needed at the start of a project. In the present paper, we aim to contribute insights regarding these difficulties by discussing the case study of the ongoing development of shared information management...

Directionality of corticomuscular coupling in essential tremor and cortical myoclonic tremor

Objective: A role of the motor cortex in tremor generation in essential tremor (ET) is assumed, yet the directionality of corticomuscular coupling is unknown. Our aim is to clarify the role of the motor cortex. To this end we also study ‘familial cortical myoclonic tremor with epilepsy’ (FCMTE) and slow repetitive voluntary movements with a...

Distinct cortical activity patterns in Parkinson's disease and essential tremor during a bimanual tapping task

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by movement deficits. Especially in PD, maintaining cyclic movement can be significantly disturbed due to pathological changes in the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Providing external cues improves timing of these movements in PD and...

Transdisciplinary approach to hyper-transparency

Over the last decade, transparency schemes have started to undergo a radical transformation. This transformation is driven by advancements in cloud computing, cryptography and automated measurement technology, which have made it possible to develop shared information management systems (SIMS). These SIMS form the backbone of the latest, state...

Deficits in tapping accuracy and variability in tremor patients

Background: The basal ganglia and cerebellum are brain structures involved in movement initiation, execution and termination. They are thought to be involved in the tremor generation and movement deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). Especially in PD, maintaining cyclic movement, such as walking or tapping can be...

A Power Spectral Density-Based Method to Detect Tremor and Tremor Intermittency in Movement Disorders

There is no objective gold standard to detect tremors. This concerns not only the choice of the algorithm and sensors, but methods are often designed to detect tremors in one specific group of patients during the performance of a specific task. Therefore, the aim of this study is twofold. First, an objective quantitative method to detect...

A model-based study and policy analysis of domestic violence and sexual harassment against women and children

This paper addresses the pervasive problem of sexual harassment and domestic violence against women and children. Following a brief introduction to the scope and consequences of sexual harassment in different regions, this article focuses on the current situation in Egypt. To gain insight on the effects of the different policies proposed in the...

GPS position time-series analysis based on asymptotic normality of M-estimation

The efficacy of robust M-estimators is a well-known issue when dealing with observational blunders. When the number of observations is considerably large—long time series for instance—one can take advantage of the asymptotic normality of the M-estimation and compute reasonable estimates for the unknown parameters of interest. A few leading M...

A preliminary formal specification of virtual organization creation with RAISE specification language

Recently, several flavors of Formal Methods (FMs) have been gaining industrial acceptance and production quality software tools have begun emerging. Domain Engineering (DE) has been introduced as one of outstanding ideas in software development. It serves form al methods that provide a rigorous, mathematical based framework (domain model) for...