Cognitive processes require a functional interaction between specialized multiple, local and remote brain regions. Although these interactions can be strongly altered by an acquired brain injury, brain plasticity allows network reorganization to be principally responsible for recovery. The present work evaluates the impact of brain injury on functional connectivity patterns. Networks were calculated from resting-state magnetoencephalographic recordings from 15 brain injured patients and 14 healthy controls by means of wavelet coherence in standard frequency bands. We compared the parameters defining the network, such as number and strength of interactions as well as their topology, in controls and patients for two conditions: following a traumatic brain injury and after a rehabilitation treatment. A loss of delta- and theta-based connectivity and conversely an increase in alpha- and beta-band-based connectivity were found. Furthermore, connectivity parameters approached controls in all frequency bands, especially in slow-wave bands. A correlation between network reorganization and cognitive recovery was found: the reduction of delta-band-based connections and the increment of those based on alpha band correlated with Verbal Fluency scores, as well as Perceptual Organization and Working Memory Indexes, respectively. Additionally, changes in connectivity values based on theta and beta bands correlated with the Patient Competency Rating Scale. The current study provides new evidence of the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying neuronal plasticity processes after brain injury, and suggests that these changes are related with observed changes at the behavioural level.
Computer vision, despite all the recent progress, still cannot be employed technically in most hazardous and highly industrialized areas. Most of the alternative solutions to this modern issue are usually unavailable mainly due to the elevated cost of the overall visual inspection solution. The most suitable option is the use of an incoherent optical fiber bundle (IOFB), which clearly requires a calibration step prior to image transmission. This technique has been presented previously and has received national and international patents. We also contributed strongly to the improvement of this image transmission technique through IOFB. Thus, we summarize our chosen IOFB calibration method and associated essential steps that definitively improve the reconstructed image quality. Furthermore, by employing the new optimal steps combination that we introduce, we also drastically reduce the processing time needed to calibrate and reconstruct an IOFB-transmitted output image compared to previous proposals. Finally, we present a new full-resolution method, which also requires the previously described and optimized calibration methods, to achieve a higher image definition. C 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
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