Rhythmic movementssuch as swimming, flying, and walkingare ubiquitous in nature. Intrinsically active neural networks called central pattern generators (CPGs) provide the feedforward signals to actuate these movements, but the preferred movement frequency is often equivalent to the resonant frequency of the musculoskeletal system. Sensory feedback is essential to synchronize the neural and musculoskeletal systems to the mechanical resonant frequency, a phenomenon called resonance tuning. In this dissertation, we use a simple computational model of rhythmic movement to understand how the configuration of sensory feedback affects both the sensitivity of resonance tuning to parameter variation and the resiliency of resonance tuning to perturbation. Although previous studies have shown that resonance tuning is limited to frequencies that are above the intrinsic CPG frequency, we demonstrate that this limitation is only valid with negative feedback and with endogenously bursting CPG neurons. Specifically, we show that with positive feedback, resonance tuning occurs at frequencies that are below the intrinsic CPG frequency. Moreover, when the synaptic connections within the CPG are required for bursting activity, resonance tuning occurs both above and below the intrinsic CPG frequency with negative feedback and does not occur with positive feedback. Using Floquet analysis, we then demonstrate that perturbations decay more quickly when resonance tuning is realized with positive than with negative proportional feedback. Finally, we evaluate how the intrinsic CPG frequency, feedback gain, and mechanical damping affect the stability and range of resonance tuning with negative and positive feedback. Overall, these results indicate that the configuration of sensory feedback dramatically affects both the parameter space in which resonance tuning occurs and the stability of the resultant periodic motion.

It is known that muscles possess both intrinsic and reflexive responses to stretch, both of which have been studied extensively. While much is known about heterogenic and autogenic reflexes during XER, these have not been well characterized during locomotion. In this study, we mapped the distribution of autogenic and heterogenic feedback in hindlimb extensor muscles using muscle stretch in the spontaneously locomoting premammillary decerebrate cat. We used natural stimulation and compared stretch-evoked force responses obtained during locomotion with those obtained during XER. The goal was to ascertain whether feedback was modulated between the two states. We found that heterogenic feedback pathways, particularly those emanating from MG, remained inhibitory during locomotion while autogenic feedback specifically in MG increases in gain. Furthermore, increases in MG gain were due to force-dependent mechanisms. This suggests that rather than an abrupt transition from inhibition to excitation with changes in motor tasks, these pathways coexist and contribute to maintaining interjoint coordination. Increases in autogenic gain provide a localized loading reflex to contribute to the completion of the movement. The results of these experiments are clinically significant, particularly for the rehabilitation of spinal cord injured patients. To effectively administer treatment and therapy for patients with compromised spinal reflexes, a complete understanding of the circuitry is required.

Engineers often view variability as undesirable and seek to minimize it, such as when they employ transistor-matching techniques to improve circuit and system performance. Biology, however, makes no discernible attempt to avoid this variability, which is particularly evident in biological nervous systems whose neurons exhibit marked variability in their cellular properties. In previous studies, this heterogeneity has been shown to have mixed consequences on network rhythmicity, which is essential to locomotion and other oscillatory neural behaviors. The systems that produce and control these stereotyped movements have been optimized to be energy efficient and dependable, and one particularly well-studied rhythmic network is the central pattern generator (CPG), which is capable of generating a coordinated, rhythmic pattern of motor activity in the absence of phasic sensory input. Because they are ubiquitous in biological preparations and reveal a variety of physiological behaviors, these networks provide a platform for studying a critical set of biological control paradigms and inspire research into engineered systems that exploit these underlying principles. We are directing our efforts toward the implementation of applicable technologies and modeling to better understand the combination of these two concepts---the role of heterogeneity in rhythmic networks of neurons. The central engineering theme of our work is to use digital and analog platforms to design and build Hodgkin--Huxley conductance-based neuron models that will be used to implement a half-center oscillator (HCO) model of a CPG. The primary scientific question that we will address is to what extent this heterogeneity affects the rhythmicity of a network of neurons. To do so, we will first analyze the locations, continuities, and sizes of bursting regions using single-neuron models and will then use an FPGA model neuron to study parametric and topological heterogeneity in a fully-connected 36-neuron HCO. We found that heterogeneity can lead to more robust rhythmic networks of neurons, but the type and quantity of heterogeneity and the population-level metric that is used to analyze bursting are critical in determining when this occurs.

Orientadores: Laecio Carvalho de Barros, Rodney Carlos Bassanezi / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matematica, Estatistica e Computação Cientifica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T02:48:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Peixoto_MagdadaSilva_D.pdf: 4244795 bytes, checksum: 6ed64db20c222bb5bb2e020084610233 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: A Morte Súbita dos Citros é uma doença que afeta e mata laranjeiras doces e as tangerineiras Cmvo e Ponkan enxertadas sobre limoeiros Cmvo e Volkameriano, que representam cerca de 85% dos pomares cítricos de São Paulo e sul do Triângulo Mineiro. Acredita-se que tal doença seja causada por vírus transmitidos por pulgões (vetor) de citros. Para estudar a disseminação da doença propomos um modelo de simulação a partir de autômatos celulares, o qual leva em conta o efeito do vento nas distâncias alcançadas pelo pulgão. Para estabelecer a relação entre espaço percorrido pelo vetor e a intensidade do vento utilizamos um sistema baseado em regras fuzzy. Para estudar a densidade populacional dos pulgões, levamos em conta que eles têm a joaninha como principal predador natural. Estabelecemos uma base de regras fuzzy para modelar a interação pulgões e joaninhas. As trajetórias obtidas no plano de fase são comparadas com as de um modelo determinístico presa-predador do tipo Holling- Tanner e também a um modelo determinístico presa-predador de Lotlm- Volterra. A partir dos resultados obtidos, iniciamos um estudo para investigar alguma política de controle da Morte Súbita dos Citros / Abstract: Citrus Sudden Death is a relatively new disease that has affected and killed sweet oranges grafted on the Rangpur lime. This is a worrying characteristic because the Rangpur lime amounts to 85% of the citrus orchards in São Paulo and the south of "Triângulo Mineiro". It is believed that the disease is caused by a virus transmitted by citrus aphids (vectors). We have adopted the Cellular Automata model to study the advance of the disease, which considers the effect of the wind in the distances reached by the aphids. We have adopted the rule-based fuzzy system to establish the relationship between the space covered by the vector and the intensity of the wind. To study the population density of aphids, we have considered that the ladybug is its main enemy. The trajectories of the phase-plane are compared to those of deterministic predatorprey models of the Holling- Tanner and Lotka- Volterra types. From the obtained results, we have begun a study to investigate some control policies for the Citrus Sudden Death / Doutorado / Matematica Aplicada / Doutor em Matemática Aplicada

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of the present study was to test the use of visually displayed EMG biofeedback as a means for training hearing impaired adolescents to reduce anterior temporalis or frontalis muscle tension . Five male and four female hearing impaired students between the ages of 13 and 15 were chosen from the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, CA to serve as participants. Each participant was randomly assigned to either an experimental or control condition. Participants in the experimental groups were given five 15 minute EMG biofeedback training sessions. An additional group of 4 adolescents with normal hearing from Marshall Junior High School, Stockton, CA served as a hearing control group. The dependent measure was a 5 minute pretest and post-test measurement of muscle tension (in microvolts). Split-plot analyses were performed to determine if there were significant differences between a ) the .hearing impaired experimental and the hearing impaired control groups, b) the hearing impaired control and the hearing control groups, and c) the hearing impaired experimental group and the hearing control group. Results of the analyses showed that at post-test both the hearing impaired experimental group and the hearing control group showed a significant decrease in muscle tension F(1,7)=5.85 p< .05. The interaction was nonsignificant. Comparison of the two control groups showed that at post-test the two groups were not significantly different in levels of muscle tension. The comparison between the hearing impaired experimental and the hearing control groups resulted in a significant interaction (Group X Time of Testing) F( 1,6)=9.47, p=.02, and the main effect for time of testing approached significance.

This dissertation addresses the development of integrative modeling strategies capable of combining deterministic and stochastic, discrete and continuous, as well as multi-scale features. The first set of studies combines the purely deterministic modeling methodology of Biochemical Systems Theory (BST) with a hybrid approach, using Functional Petri Nets, which permits the account of discrete features or events, stochasticity, and different types of delays. The efficiency and significance of this combination is demonstrated with several examples, including generic biochemical networks with feedback controls, gene regulatory modules, and dopamine based neuronal signal transduction. A study expanding the use of stochasticity toward systems with small numbers of molecules proposes a rather general strategy for converting a deterministic process model into a corresponding stochastic model. The strategy characterizes the mathematical connection between a stochastic framework and the deterministic analog. The deterministic framework is assumed to be a generalized mass action system and the stochastic analogue is in the format of the chemical master equation. The analysis identifies situations where internal noise affecting the system needs to be taken into account for a valid conversion from a deterministic to a stochastic model. The conversion procedure is illustrated with several representative examples, including elemental reactions, Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics, a genetic regulatory motif, and stochastic focusing. The last study establishes two novel, particle-based methods to simulate biochemical diffusion-reaction systems within crowded environments. These simulation methods effectively simulate and quantify crowding effects, including reduced reaction volumes, reduced diffusion rates, and reduced accessibility between potentially reacting particles. The proposed methods account for fractal-like kinetics, where the reaction rate depends on the local concentrations of the molecules undergoing the reaction. Rooted in an agent based modeling framework, this aspect of the methods offers the capacity to address sophisticated intracellular spatial effects, such as macromolecular crowding, active transport along cytoskeleton structures, and reactions on heterogeneous surfaces, as well as in porous media. Taken together, the work in this dissertation successfully developed theories and simulation methods which extend the deterministic, continuous framework of Biochemical Systems Theory to allow the account of delays, stochasticity, discrete features or events, and spatial effects for the modeling of biological systems, which are hybrid and multiscale by nature.

Today, advances in wireless sensor networks are making it possible to capture large amounts of information about a person and their interaction within their home environment. However, what is missing is how to ensure the security of the collected data and its use to alter human behavior for positive benefit. In this research, exploration was conducted involving the "infrastructure" and "intelligence" aspects of a wireless sensor network through a Behavior Modification Sensor System. First was to understand how a secure wireless sensor network could be established through the symmetric distribution of keys (the securing of the infrastructure), and it involves the mathematical analysis of a novel key pre-distribution scheme. Second explores via field testing the "intelligence" level of the system. This was meant to support the generation of persuasive messages built from the integration of a person's physiological and living pattern data in persuading physical activity behavior change associated with daily walking steps. This system was used by an elderly female in a three-month study. Findings regarding the "infrastructure" or the novel key pre-distribution scheme in comparison to three popular key distribution methods indicates that it offers greater network resiliency to security threats (i.e., 1/2^32 times lower), better memory utilization (i.e., 53.9% less), but higher energy consumption (i.e., 2% higher) than its comparison group. Findings from the "intelligence" level of the research posit that using a person's physiological and living pattern data may allow for more "information rich" and stronger persuasive messages. Findings indicate that the study participant was able to change and improve her average daily walking steps by 61% over a pre-treatment period. As the study participant increased her physical activity, changes in her living pattern were also observed (e.g., time spent watching television decreased while time spent engaged in walking increased by an average of 15 minutes per day). Reinforcement of these findings were noted between a pre and post-study survey that indicated the study participant moved from a contemplation stage of change where physical activity engagement was intended but not acted upon to an action stage of change where physical activity engagement dominated the new behavior.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on February 16, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Parte da população mundial sofre com distúrbios relacionados ao controle muscular de membros superiores e inferiores que, em muitos casos, podem ter sua origem devido a interrupção da comunicação sensório-motora entre o cérebro e os grupos musculares. Estes fatores podem estar relacionados à idade, doenças neuro-degenerativas ou acidentes vasculares cerebrais (AVC). Dessa forma, devido ao gradativo envelhecimento da população, em função do aumento da expectativa de vida e consequentemente da demanda por tratamentos de reabilitação, diversos estudos da literatura utilizam equipamentos de biofeedback na reabilitação do controle muscular, não havendo, porém, uma ferramenta simples e unificada que permita a elaboração de protocolos motores para diversas patologias em uma única plataforma. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar o desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta de biofeedback visual, baseada em plataformas de força para membros inferiores e aquisição de imagem para membros superiores. Este sistema conta com duas interfaces: a primeira, programável em alto nível, é destinada ao profissional da saúde para elaboração do treino motor conforme a necessidade do paciente; a segunda é a interface do jogo, ou serious game, com o qual o paciente interage realizando a série de atividades programadas em um jogo de exercícios, ou exergames. A proposta deste estudo é fornecer uma plataforma de reabilitação programável de acordo com a necessidade específica de cada paciente, mantendo características motivacionais e de interatividade, que proporcionem entretenimento associado às atividades, reduzindo assim a evasão dos tratamentos, que costumam ser realizados por longos períodos. Ainda, neste estudo foram apresentados alguns testes, aprovados pelo comitê de ética, com voluntários, em que é aplicado um protocolo motor a um grupo de jovens saudáveis e comparando os resultados com um grupo de voluntários idosos. Os resultados deste estudo foram obtidos a partir de duas análises: a primeira é interna à sessão, em tempo real, e diz respeito à pontuação dos voluntários no jogo; a segunda é externa à sessão, utiliza os dados armazenados ao longo de um teste estabilométrico e compara medidas posturográficas do grupo de jovens e idosos saudáveis. Ainda, para complementar a validação do equipamento desenvolvido, foi realizada uma comparação dos resultados das análises posturográficas obtidas, com os resultados obtidos a partir de um baropodômetro comercial. Os resultados demonstram que o sistema permite a obtenção da estimativa da estabilometria e atividades de serious games. / The cases of disorders related to upper and lower limbs control directly affect the population. These problems may have its origin due to interruption of sensorimotor communication between the brain and the muscle groups. These factors may be related to aging, neurodegenerative diseases or stroke. Thus, due to the gradual aging of the population, the increase in life expectancy and hence the demand for rehabilitation treatments, several studies in the literature are using biofeedback to rehabilitation of muscle control. However, there is no unified tool that allows the development of exercise protocols for several diseases in a single platform. The aim of this work is to present the development of a visual biofeedback tool, based on force platforms for lower limbs and image acquisition for upper limbs. This system has two interfaces: the first, programmable in high-level, is intended for health professionals to prepare the motor training as needed by the patient; the second is the serious game interface, with which the patient interacts performing the series of activities planned in an exercise games (exergames). The purpose of this study is to provide a programmable rehabilitation platform according to the specific needs of each patient, keeping motivational and interactive features that provide fun activities to reduce evasion of treatments, which are usually carried out for long periods. Moreover, this study shows some tests, approved by the Ethics Committee, with volunteers, applying an exercise protocol to a group of healthy young and comparing the results with a group of elderly volunteers. The results of this study are obtained from two experimental setups: the first is internal to the session in real time, and concerns the scores of volunteers in the game; the second is external to the session, uses the data stored over a stabilometry and compare posturographic data between control and study group. Furthermore, in order to complement the assessments of the developed system, the posturographic data is compared to those obtainded from a commercial baropodometer. Results show that the system is able to perform the estimative of the stabilometry and serious game activities.