Decoding brain responses to pixelized images in the primary visual cortex: implications for visual cortical prostheses

Visual cortical prostheses have the potential to restore partial vision. Still limited by the low-resolution visual percepts provided by visual cortical prostheses, implant wearers can currently only ＂see＂ pixelized images, and how to obtain the specific brain responses to different pixelized images in the primary visual cortex（the implant area） is still unknown. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment on normal human participants to investigate the brain activation patterns in response to 18 different pixelized images. There were 100 voxels in the brain activation pattern that were selected from the primary visual cortex, and voxel size was 4 mm × 4 mm × 4 mm. Multi-voxel pattern analysis was used to test if these 18 different brain activation patterns were specific. We chose a Linear Support Vector Machine（LSVM） as the classifier in this study. The results showed that the classification accuracies of different brain activation patterns were significantly above chance level, which suggests that the classifier can successfully distinguish the brain activation patterns. Our results suggest that the specific brain activation patterns to different pixelized images can be obtained in the primary visual cortex using a 4 mm × 4 mm × 4 mm voxel size and a 100-voxel pattern.

On the low frequency characteristics of head-related transfer function

A method to correct the measured head-related transfer functions （HRTFs） at low frequency was proposed. By analyzing the HRTFs from the spherical head model at low frequency, it is proved that below the frequency of 400 Hz, magnitude of HRTF is nearly constant and the phase is a linear function of frequency both for the far and near field. Therefore, if the HRTFs above 400 Hz are accurately measured by experiment, it is able to correct the HRTFs at low frequency by the theoretical model. The results of calculation and subjective experiment show that the feasibility of the proposed method.

THE EFFECT OF LOW DOSE ASPIRIN ON THE PLATELET FUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (AMI)

To assess the optimal dose of aspirin （ASA） in the treatment of AMI, 60 cases of AMI: 1. admitted within 24 hours after onset of illness, 2. ASA not used within one week before, 3. any other drugs influencing the platelet function also not used during the course of study, were randomized into two groups, 30 cases each: one with conventional therapy as control, the other combined with daily oral ASA 100mg. They were matched in sex, age, infarct site and coexistent conditions （hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipemia, smoking etc.）. The second group was further divided into subgroup I with serum peak CK<1000 U/L and subgroup Ⅱ with serum peak CK>1000 U/L. The parameters of platelet function including plasma TXB/6-keto-PGF, platelet aggregation induced by 5-HT and epinephrine were studied on different days for 3 weeks. Twenty healthy persons were selected for normal value of platelet function.

Observer Design —— A Survey

This paper surveys the results of observer design for linear time-invariant(L-T-I) deterministic irreducible open-loop systems(OLS), the most basic type of OLS. An observer estimates Kxx(t) signal where K is a constant and x(t) is the state vector of the OLS. Thus, an observer can be used as a feedback controller that implements state feedback control(SFC) or Kxx(t)-control,and observer design is therefore utterly important in all feedback control designs of state space theory. In this survey, the observer design results are divided into three categories and for three respective main purposes. The first category of observers estimate signal Kxx(t) only with a given K, and this survey has four conclusions: 1) Function observer that estimates Kxx(t) directly is more general than state observer that estimates x(t), and may be designed with order lower than that of state observer, and the additional design objective is to minimize observer order; 2) The function observer design problem has already been simplified to the solving of a single set of linear equations only while seeking the lowest possible number of rows of the solution matrix, and an apparently most effective and general algorithm of solving such a problem can guarantee unified upper and lower bounds of the observer order; 3) Because such a single set of linear equations is the simplest possible theoretical formulation of the design problem and such theoretical observer order bounds are the lowest possible, and because the general, simple, and explicit theoretical formula for the function observer order itself do not exist, the theoretical part of this design problem is solved; 4) Because the function observer order is generically near its upper bound, further improvement on the computational design algorithm so that the corresponding observer order can be further reduced,is generically not worthwhile. The second category of observers further realize the loop transfer function and robustness properties of the direct SFC, and the conclusion of this survey is also fourfold: 1) To fully realize the loop transfer function of a practically designed Kxx(t)-control, the observer must be an output feedback controller(OFC) which has zero gain to OLS input; 2) If parameter K is separately designed before the observer design, as in the separation principle which has been followed by almost all people for over half of a century, then OFC that estimates Kxx(t) does not exist for almost all OLS s; 3) As a result, a synthesized design principle that designs an OFC first and is valid for almost all OLS s, is proposed and fully developed, the corresponding K will be designed afterwards and will be constrained by the OFC order as well as the OFC parameters; 4) Although the Kxx(t)-control is constrained in this new design principle and is therefore called the "generalized SFC"(as compared to the existing SFC in which K is unconstrained), it is still strong enough for most OLS s and this new design principle overcomes many fundamental drawbacks of the existing separation principle. The third category of observers estimate Kxx(t) signal at special applications such as fault detection and identification and systems with time delay effects. Using directly the result of OFC that estimates Kxx(t) of the second category, these observers can be generally and satisfactorily designed.