Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of epilepsy: electromagnetic stimulation-mediated neuromodulation therapy and new technologies

Epilepsy is a severe,relapsing,and multifactorial neurological disorder.Studies regarding the accurate diagnosis,prognosis,and in-depth pathogenesis are crucial for the precise and effective treatment of epilepsy.The pathogenesis of epilepsy is complex and involves alterations in variables such as gene expression,protein expression,ion channel activity,energy metabolites,and gut microbiota composition.Satisfactory results are lacking for conventional treatments for epilepsy.Surgical resection of lesions,drug therapy,and non-drug interventions are mainly used in clinical practice to treat pain associated with epilepsy.Non-pharmacological treatments,such as a ketogenic diet,gene therapy for nerve regeneration,and neural regulation,are currently areas of research focus.This review provides a comprehensive overview of the pathogenesis,diagnostic methods,and treatments of epilepsy.It also elaborates on the theoretical basis,treatment modes,and effects of invasive nerve stimulation in neurotherapy,including percutaneous vagus nerve stimulation,deep brain electrical stimulation,repetitive nerve electrical stimulation,in addition to non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation.Numerous studies have shown that electromagnetic stimulation-mediated neuromodulation therapy can markedly improve neurological function and reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.Additionally,many new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy are being explored.However,current research is mainly focused on analyzing patients’clinical manifestations and exploring relevant diagnostic and treatment methods to study the pathogenesis at a molecular level,which has led to a lack of consensus regarding the mechanisms related to the disease.

The emerging role of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles to ameliorate hippocampal NLRP3 inflammation induced by binge-like ethanol treatment in adolescence

Our previous studies have reported that activation of the NLRP3(NOD-,LRR-and pyrin domain-containing protein 3)-inflammasome complex in ethanol-treated astrocytes and chronic alcohol-fed mice could be associated with neuroinflammation and brain damage.Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles(MSC-EVs)have been shown to restore the neuroinflammatory response,along with myelin and synaptic structural alterations in the prefrontal cortex,and alleviate cognitive and memory dysfunctions induced by binge-like ethanol treatment in adolescent mice.Considering the therapeutic role of the molecules contained in mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles,the present study analyzed whether the administration of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles isolated from adipose tissue,which inhibited the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome,was capable of reducing hippocampal neuroinflammation in adolescent mice treated with binge drinking.We demonstrated that the administration of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles ameliorated the activation of the hippocampal NLRP3 inflammasome complex and other NLRs inflammasomes(e.g.,pyrin domain-containing 1,caspase recruitment domain-containing 4,and absent in melanoma 2,as well as the alterations in inflammatory genes(interleukin-1β,interleukin-18,inducible nitric oxide synthase,nuclear factor-kappa B,monocyte chemoattractant protein-1,and C–X3–C motif chemokine ligand 1)and miRNAs(miR-21a-5p,miR-146a-5p,and miR-141-5p)induced by binge-like ethanol treatment in adolescent mice.Bioinformatic analysis further revealed the involvement of miR-21a-5p and miR-146a-5p with inflammatory target genes and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways.Taken together,these findings provide novel evidence of the therapeutic potential of MSC-derived EVs to ameliorate the hippocampal neuroinflammatory response associated with NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by binge drinking in adolescence.

Signal de-noising method based on wavelet decomposition

A noise reduction method for infrared detector output signal is studied during dynamic calibration of thermocou- pie. Firstly, the deficiency of the classical filter method is analyzed and the application of the wavelet analysis is introduced for signal de-noising during the dynamic testing. Secondly, the theoretical basis of wavelet analysis, the choice of wavelet base and the determination of decomposed series and threshold are analyzed. Finally, the de-noising experiment for infrared detector signal is carried out on the Matlab platform. The results indicate the proposed wavelet de-noising method is effective to remove fixed frequency and high-frequency noise; furthermore, good synchronization is achieved between the de-noised signal and the useful signal components in the original signal, which is of great significance to thermocouple modeling analys- is.

Applications of Wavelet Analysis in Differential Propagation Phase Shift Data De-noising

Using numerical simulation data of the forward differential propagation shift （ΦDP） of polarimetric radar,the principle and performing steps of noise reduction by wavelet analysis are introduced in detail.Profiting from the multiscale analysis,various types of noises can be identified according to their characteristics in different scales,and suppressed in different resolutions by a penalty threshold strategy through which a fixed threshold value is applied,a default threshold strategy through which the threshold value is determined by the noise intensity,or a ΦDP penalty threshold strategy through which a special value is designed for ΦDP de-noising.Then,a hard-or soft-threshold function,depending on the de-noising purpose,is selected to reconstruct the signal.Combining the three noise suppression strategies and the two signal reconstruction functions,and without loss of generality,two schemes are presented to verify the de-noising effect by dbN wavelets：（1） the penalty threshold strategy with the soft threshold function scheme （PSS）; （2） the ΦDP penalty threshold strategy with the soft threshold function scheme （PPSS）.Furthermore,the wavelet de-noising is compared with the mean,median,Kalman,and finite impulse response （FIR） methods with simulation data and two actual cases.The results suggest that both of the two schemes perform well,especially when ΦDP data are simultaneously polluted by various scales and types of noises.A slight difference is that the PSS method can retain more detail,and the PPSS can smooth the signal more successfully.

Research on fiber optic gyro signal de-noising based on wavelet packet soft-threshold

Gyro＇s drift is not only the main drift error which influences gyro＇s precision but also the primary factor that affects gyro＇s reliability. Reducing zero drift and random drift is a key problem to the output of a gyro signal. A three-layer de-nosing threshold algorithm is proposed based on the wavelet decomposition to dispose the signal which is collected from a running fiber optic gyro （FOG）. The coefficients are obtained from the three-layer wavelet packet decomposition. By setting the high frequency part which is greater than wavelet packet threshold as zero, then reconstructing the nodes which have been filtered out noise and interruption, the soft threshold function is constructed by the coefficients of the third nodes. Compared wavelet packet de-noise with forced de-noising method, the proposed method is more effective. Simulation results show that the random drift compensation is enhanced by 13.1%, and reduces zero drift by 0.052 6°/h.

Geotechnical engineering blasting:a new modal aliasing cancellation methodology of vibration signal de-noising

In the present study of peak particle velocity(PPV)and frequency,an improved algorithm(principal empirical mode decomposition,PEMD)based on principal component analysis(PCA)and empirical mode decomposition(EMD)is proposed,with the goal of addressing poor filtering de-noising effects caused by the occurrences of modal aliasing phenomena in EMD blasting vibration signal decomposition processes.Test results showed that frequency of intrinsic mode function(IMF)components decomposed by PEMD gradually decreases and that the main frequency is unique,which eliminates the phenomenon of modal aliasing.In the simulation experiment,the signal-to-noise(SNR)and root mean square errors(RMSE)ratio of the signal de-noised by PEMD are the largest when compared to EMD and ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD).The main frequency of the de-noising signal through PEMD is 75 Hz,which is closest to the frequency of the noiseless simulation signal.In geotechnical engineering blasting experiments,compared to EMD and EEMD,the signal de-noised by PEMD has the lowest level of distortion,and the frequency band is distributed in a range of 0-64 Hz,which is closest to the frequency band of the blasting vibration signal.In addition,the proportion of noise energy was the lowest,at 1.8%.

Moving horizon based wavelet de-noising method of dual-observed geomagnetic signal for nonlinear high spin projectile roll positioning

Phase-frequency characte ristics of approximate sinusoidal geomagnetic signals can be used fo r projectile roll positioning and other high-precision trajectory correction applications.The sinusoidal geomagnetic signal deforms in the exposed and magnetically contaminated environment.In order to preciously recognize the roll information and effectively separate the noise component from the original geomagnetic sequence,based on the error source analysis,we propose a moving horizon based wavelet de-noising method for the dual-observed geomagnetic signal filtering where the captured rough roll frequency value provides reasonable wavelet decomposition and reconstruction level selection basis for sampled sequence;a moving horizon window guarantees real-time performance and non-cumulative calculation amount.The complete geomagnetic data in full ballistic range and three intercepted paragraphs are used for performance assessment.The positioning performance of the moving horizon wavelet de-noising method is compared with the band-pass filter.The results show that both noise reduction techniques improve the positioning accuracy while the wavelet de-noising method is always better than the band-pass filter.These results suggest that the proposed moving horizon based wavelet de-noising method of the dual-observed geomagnetic signal is more applicable for various launch conditions with better positioning performance.

Fault Diagnosis of Motor in Frequency Domain Signal by Stacked De-noising Auto-encoder

With the rapid development of mechanical equipment,mechanical health monitoring field has entered the era of big data.Deep learning has made a great achievement in the processing of large data of image and speech due to the powerful modeling capabilities,this also brings influence to the mechanical fault diagnosis field.Therefore,according to the characteristics of motor vibration signals(nonstationary and difficult to deal with)and mechanical‘big data’,combined with deep learning,a motor fault diagnosis method based on stacked de-noising auto-encoder is proposed.The frequency domain signals obtained by the Fourier transform are used as input to the network.This method can extract features adaptively and unsupervised,and get rid of the dependence of traditional machine learning methods on human extraction features.A supervised fine tuning of the model is then carried out by backpropagation.The Asynchronous motor in Drivetrain Dynamics Simulator system was taken as the research object,the effectiveness of the proposed method was verified by a large number of data,and research on visualization of network output,the results shown that the SDAE method is more efficient and more intelligent.

Application of RLS adaptive filteringin signal de-noising

In view of the problem that noises are prone to be mixed in the signals,an adaptive signal de-noising system based on reursive least squares （RLS） algorithm is introduced.The principle of adaptive filtering and the process flow of RLS algorithm are described.Through example simulation,simulation figures of the adaptive de-noising system are obtained.By analysis and comparison,it can be proved that RLS adaptive filtering is capable of eliminating the noises and obtaining useful signals in a relatively good manner.Therefore,the validity of this method and the rationality of this system are demonstrated.

Technology of signal de-noising and singularity elimination based on wavelet transform

Based on wavelet transform theory,a method for signal de-noising and singularity detection and elimination is proposed,which can reduce the noises and express local singularity.Each singularity can also be detected and located through the local modulus maxima of wavelet transform.Simulation experiments are conducted with MATLAB software.The experimental results demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper is effective and feasible.

SAR image de-noising via grouping-based PCA and guided filter

A novel synthetic aperture radar(SAR)image de-noising method based on the local pixel grouping(LPG)principal component analysis(PCA)and guided filter is proposed.This method contains two steps.In the first step,we process the noisy image by coarse filters,which can suppress the speckle effectively.The original SAR image is transformed into the additive noise model by logarithmic transform with deviation correction.Then,we use the pixel and its nearest neighbors as a vector to select training samples from the local window by LPG based on the block similar matching.The LPG method ensures that only the similar sample patches are used in the local statistical calculation of PCA transform estimation,so that the local features of the image can be well preserved after coefficients shrinkage in the PCA domain.In the second step,we do the guided filtering which can effectively eliminate small artifacts left over from the coarse filtering.Experimental results of simulated and real SAR images show that the proposed method outstrips the state-of-the-art image de-noising methods in the peak signalto-noise ratio(PSNR),the structural similarity(SSIM)index and the equivalent number of looks(ENLs),and is of perceived image quality.

Application of S-transform threshold filtering in Anhui experiment airgun sounding data de-noising

As a relatively new method of processing non-stationary signal with high time-frequency resolution, S transform can be used to analyze the time-frequency characteristics of seismic signals. It has the following characteristics: its time-frequency resolution corresponding to the signal frequency, reversible inverse transform, basic wavelet that does not have to meet the permit conditions. We combined the threshold method, proposed the S-transform threshold filtering on the basis of S transform timefrequency filtering, and processed airgun seismic records from temporary stations in "Yangtze Program"(the Anhui experiment). Compared with the results of the bandpass filtering, the S transform threshold filtering can improve the signal to noise ratio(SNR) of seismic waves and provide effective help for first arrival pickup and accurate travel time. The first arrival wave seismic phase can be traced farther continuously, and the Pm seismic phase in the subsequent zone is also highlighted.

Partial Discharge Source Classification and De-Noising in Rotating Machines Using Discrete Wavelet Transform and Directional Coupling Capacitor

This paper introduces a new method to separate PD1 from other disturbing signals present on the high voltage genera-tors and motors. The method is based on combination of a pattern classifier, the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), to de-noise PD and Time-Of-Arrival method to separate PD sources. Furthermore, it will be shown that it can recognize PD sources including rotating machine’s internal and external discharge pulses (e.g. on the bus bar).

SAR image de-noising based on texture strength and weighted nuclear norm minimization

As synthetic aperture radar（SAR） has been widely used nearly in every field, SAR image de-noising became a very important research field. A new SAR image de-noising method based on texture strength and weighted nuclear norm minimization（WNNM） is proposed. To implement blind de-noising, the accurate estimation of noise variance is very important. So far, it is still a challenge to estimate SAR image noise level accurately because of the rich texture. Principal component analysis（PCA） and the low rank patches selected by image texture strength are used to estimate the noise level. With the help of noise level, WNNM can be expected to SAR image de-noising. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms many excellent de-noising algorithms such as Bayes least squares-Gaussian scale mixtures（BLS-GSM） method, non-local means（NLM） filtering in terms of both quantitative measure and visual perception quality.

Single Channel Speech Enhancement by De-noising Using Stationary Wavelet Transform

A method of single channel speech enhancement is proposed by de-noising using stationary wavelet transform. The approach developed herein processes multi-resolution wavelet coefficients individually and then recovery signal is reconstructed. The time invariant characteristics of stationary wavelet transform is particularly useful in speech de-noising. Experimental results show that the proposed speech enhancement by de-noising algorithm is possible to achieve an excellent balance between suppresses noise effectively and preserves as many target characteristics of original signal as possible. This de-noising algorithm offers a superior performance to speech signal noise suppress.

Combination treatment of inflammatory bowel disease:Present status and future perspectives

The treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD),especially those with severe or refractory disease,represents an important challenge for the clinical gastroenterologist.It seems to be no exaggeration to say that in these patients,not only the scientific background of the gastroenterologist is tested,but also the abundance of“gifts”that he should possess(insight,intuition,determ-ination,ability to take initiative,etc.)for the successful outcome of the treatment.In daily clinical practice,depending on the severity of the attack,IBD is treated with one or a combination of two or more pharmaceutical agents.These combin-ations include not only the first-line drugs(e.g.,mesalazine,corticosteroids,antibiotics,etc)but also second-and third-line drugs(immunosuppressants and biologic agents).It is a fact that despite the significant therapeutic advances there is still a significant percentage of patients who do not satisfactorily respond to the treatment applied.Therefore,a part of these patients are going to surgery.In recent years,several small-size clinical studies,reviews,and case reports have been published combining not only biological agents with other drugs(e.g.,immunosuppressants or corticosteroids)but also the combination of two biologi-cal agents simultaneously,especially in severe cases.In our opinion,it is at least a strange(and largely unexplained)fact that we often use combinations of drugs in a given patient although studies comparing the simultaneous administration of two or more drugs with monotherapy are very few.As mentioned above,there is a timid tendency in the literature to combine two biological agents in severe cases unresponsive to the applied treatment or patients with severe extraintestinal manifestations.The appropriate dosage,the duration of the administration,the suitable timing for checking the clinical and laboratory outcome,as well as the treatment side-effects,should be the subject of intense clinical research shortly.In this editorial,we attempt to summarize the existing data regarding the already applied combination therapies and to humbly formulate thoughts and suggestions for the future application of the combination treatment of biological agents in a well-defined category of patients.We suggest that the application of biomarkers and artificial intelligence could help in establishing new forms of treatment using the available modern drugs in patients with IBD resistant to treatment.

A New Matlab De-noising Algorithm for Signal Extraction

The goal of a de-noising algorithm is to reconstruct a signal from its noise-corrupted observations. Perfect reconstruction is seldom possible and performance is measured under a given fidelity criterion. In a recent work, the authors addressed a new Matlab algorithm for de-noising. A key method of the algorithm is selecting an optimal basis from a library of wavelet bases for ideal de-noising. The algorithm with an optimal basis from a library of wavelet bases for de-noising was created through making use of Matlab＇s Wavelet Toolbox. The experimental results show that the new algorithm is efficient in signal de-nosing.

Application and improvement of wavelet packet de-noising in satellite transponder

The satellite transponder is a widely used module in satellite missions, and the most concerned issue is to reduce the noise of the transferred signal. Otherwise, the telemetry signal will be polluted by the noise contained in the transferred signal, and the additional power will be consumed. Therefore, a method based on wavelet packet de-noising （WPD） is introduced. Compared with other techniques, there are two features making WPD more suit- able to be applied to satellite transponders： one is the capability to deal with time-varying signals without any priori information of the input signals; the other is the capability to reduce the noise in band, even if the noise overlaps with signals in the frequency domain, which provides a great de-noising performance especially for wideband signals. Besides, an oscillation detector and an av- eraging filter are added to decrease the partial oscillation caused by the thresholding process of WPD. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce more noises and make less distortions of the signals than other techniques. In addition, up to 12 dB additional power consumption can be reduced at -10 dB signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）.

Working toward an integrated plasticity/network framework for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to inform tailored treatments

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques(NIBS),including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) and transcranial electric stim ulation(tES),are increasingly being adopted clinically for treatment of neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders,albeit with varying success.The rationale behind the use of NIBS has historically been that stim ulation techniques modulate neuronal activity in the targeted region and consequently induce plasticity which can lead to therapeutic outcomes.

Reduction of ultrasonic echo noise based on improved wavelet threshold de-noising algorithm for friction welding

In the ultrasonic detection of defects in friction welded joints, it is difficult to exactly detect some weak bonding defects because of the noise pollution. This paper proposed an improved threshold function based on the multi-resolution analysis wavelet threshold de-noising method which was put forward by Donoho and Johnstone, and applied this method in the de-noising of the defective signals. This threshold function overcomes the discontinuous shortcoming of the hard-threshold function and the disadvantage of soft threshold function which causes an invariable deviation between the estimated wavelet coeffwients and the decomposed wavelet coefficients. The improved threshold function is of simple expression and convenient for calculation. The actual test results of defect noise signal show that this improved method can get less mean square error （ MSE ） and higher signal-to-noise ratio of reconstructed signals than those calculated from hard threshold and soft threshold methods. The improved threshold function has excellent de-noising effect.