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Objective This study is a randomized experimental design study conducted to investigate the effect of task-oriented mental practice (TOMP) on upper limb function and coordination in chronic stroke patients. Methods A total of 34 chronic stroke patients participated in this study and were randomly divided into an experimental group (EG) of 17 patients (TOMP) and a control group (CG) of 17 patients (task-oriented training). To measure the subject’s upper extremity function and coordination, the results of Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) of motor function (U/E) and co-coordination ratio (CCR) values calculated from the measurements of the BTS FreeEMG 300 were used. Results In the comparison before and after group intervention in terms of FMA, the EG showed significant changes in all items of FMA, but the CG showed significant changes only in the shoulder items ( p < 0.05). In the comparison between groups, significant differences were observed only in the total score of FMA ( p < 0.05). In terms of the CCR value, positive changes were found in the EG in all items except for the shoulder flexion, but negative changes were observed in all items in the CG. Conclusion It was confirmed that the TOMP applied in this study can have a positive effect on upper limb function and coordination in chronic stroke patients.

In MRI, deep neural networks have been proposed to reconstruct diffusion model parameters. However, the inputs of the networks were designed for a specific diffusion gradient scheme (i.e., diffusion gradient directions and numbers) and a specific b-value that are the same as the training data. In this study, a new deep neural network, referred to as DIFFnet, is developed to function as a generalized reconstruction tool of the diffusion-weighted signals for various gradient schemes and b-values. For generalization, diffusion signals are normalized in a q-space and then projected and quantized, producing a matrix (Qmatrix) as an input for the network. To demonstrate the validity of this approach, DIFFnet is evaluated for diffusion tensor imaging (DIFFnetDTI) and for neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (DIFFnetNODDI). In each model, two datasets with different gradient schemes and b-values are tested. The results demonstrate accurate reconstruction of the diffusion parameters at substantially reduced processing time (approximately 8.7 times and 2240 times faster processing time than conventional methods in DTI and NODDI, respectively; less than 4% mean normalized root-mean-square errors (NRMSE) in DTI and less than 8% in NODDI). The generalization capability of the networks was further validated using reduced numbers of diffusion signals from the datasets and a public dataset from Human Connection Project. Different from previously proposed deep neural networks, DIFFnet does not require any specific gradient scheme and b-value for its input. As a result, it can be adopted as an online reconstruction tool for various complex diffusion imaging.

Conjugated polymer-based energy-harvesting devices hold distinctive advantages in terms of low toxicity, high flexibility, and capability of large-area integration at low cost for sustainable development. An organic thermoelectric (OTE) device has been considered one of the promising energy-harvesting candidates in recent years because it can efficiently convert low-temperature waste heat into electricity over its inorganic counterparts. However, a cruel irony is that environmentally toxic solvents and acids are utilized for fabrication and performance improvement of the OTE devices, retarding the development and use of genuinely green energy-harvesting. Here, we present eco-friendly, non-toxic strategies for a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-based high-performance OTE device by incorporating a nature-abundant material, vitamin C (VC), as an additive. We found that the intrinsic polar nature and reducing ability of VC induce synergy effects of microstructure alignment with PSS removal and dedoping of PEDOT, leading to simultaneous enhancement of the electrical conductivity (400 S cm

Carefully engineered radiofrequency (RF) pulses play a key role in a number of systems such as mobile phone, radar, and magnetic resonance imaging. The design of an RF waveform, however, is often posed as an inverse problem with no general solution. As a result, various design methods each with a specific purpose have been developed based on the intuition of human experts. In this work, we propose an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered RF pulse design framework, DeepRF, which utilizes the self-learning characteristics of deep reinforcement learning to generate a novel RF pulse. The effectiveness of DeepRF is demonstrated using four types of RF pulses that are commonly used. The DeepRF-designed pulses successfully satisfy the design criteria while reporting reduced energy. Analyses demonstrate the pulses utilize new mechanisms of magnetization manipulation, suggesting the potentials of DeepRF in discovering unseen design dimensions beyond human intuition. This work may lay the foundation for an emerging field of AI-driven RF waveform design., Published at Nature Machine Intelligence

To boost the photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance of hematite photoanodes, high temperature annealing has been widely applied to enhance crystallinity, to improve the interface between the hematite-substrate interface, and to introduce tin-dopants from the substrate. However, when using additional dopants, the interaction between the unintentional tin and intentional dopant is poorly understood. Here, using germanium, we investigate how tin diffusion affects overall photoelectrochemical performance in germanium:tin co-doped systems. After revealing that germanium is a better dopant than tin, we develop a facile germanium-doping method which suppresses tin diffusion from the fluorine doped tin oxide substrate, significantly improving hematite performance. The NiFeOx@Ge-PH photoanode shows a photocurrent density of 4.6 mA cm−2 at 1.23 VRHE with a low turn-on voltage. After combining with a perovskite solar cell, our tandem system achieves 4.8% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (3.9 mA cm−2 in NiFeOx@Ge-PH/perovskite solar water splitting system). Our work provides important insights on a promising diagnostic tool for future co-doping system design., Germanium (Ge) has potential as a dopant suitable for the hematite-based photoelectrochemical water splitting system. Here, the authors report the fabrication of Ge doped porous hematite and demonstrate an efficient tandem system of Ge doped porous hematite and the perovskite solar cell.

The hole density of individual copper sulfide nanocrystals (Cu2-xS NCs) is determined from the stoichiometric mismatch (x) between copper and sulfide atoms. Consequently, the electronic properties of the material vary over a range of x. To exploit Cu2-xS NCs in devices, assemblies of NCs are typically required. Herein, we investigate the influence of x, referred to as the stoichiometric doping effect, on the structural, optical, electrical, and thermoelectric properties of electronically coupled Cu2-xS NC assemblies. The doping process is done by immersing the solid NC assemblies into a solution containing a Cu(I) complex for different durations (0-10 min). As Cu+ gradually occupied the copper-deficient sites of Cu2-xS NCs, x could be controlled from 0.9 to less than 0.1. Consequently, the near-infrared (NIR) absorbance of Cu2-xS NC assemblies changes systematically with x. With increasing x, electrical conductivity increased and the Seebeck coefficient decreased systematically, leading to the maximal thermoelectric power factor from a film of Cu2-xS NCs at an optimal doping condition yielding x = 0.1. The physical characteristics of the Cu2-xS NC assemblies investigated herein will provide guidelines for exploiting this emerging class of nanocrystal system based on doping.

Two types of p-type thermoelectric (TE) polymers with alkyl (PCPDTSBT) and oligoethylene glycol (OEG) side chains (PCPDTSBT-A) on an sp2-hybridized olefinic bis(alkylsulfanyl)methylene-substituted ...

We report two organocompatible strategies to enhance the output performance of all-solution-processed poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thermoelectric generators (TEGs): introducing an additive spray printing process and functionalized polymer interlayers to reduce the module resistance. The spray printing enabled the deposition of 1-μm-thick PEDOT:PSS layers with a high degree of design freedom, resulting in a significantly reduced sheet resistance of 16 Ω sq-1 that is closely related to the thermoelectric output performance. Also, by inserting an ultrathin silane-terminated polystyrene (PS) interlayer between the PEDOT:PSS thermoelectric layers and inkjet-printed Ag interconnects selectively, the contact resistivity extracted by the transmission line method was reduced from 6.02 × 10-2 to 2.77 × 10-2 Ω cm2. We found that the PS interlayers behaved as a thin tunneling layer, which facilitated the carrier injection from the inkjet-printed Ag electrodes into the PEDOT:PSS films by field emission with an effectively lowered energy barrier. The activation energy was also extracted using the Richardson equation, resulting in a reduction of 2.59 ± 0.04 meV after the PS treatment. Scalable plastic-compatible processability and selective interface engineering enabled to demonstrate the flexible 74-leg PEDOT:PSS TEGs exhibiting the open-circuit voltage of 9.21 mV and the output power of 2.23 nW at a temperature difference of 10 K.

A series of ionically interconnected polypyrrole (PPy) films are fabricated through two-monomer-connected-precursor polymerization by varying diacid linkers, thereby significantly influencing the crystalline morphology and electrical properties. The structure obtained using 1,5-napthalenedisulfonic acid (PPy-Nap) as a fused aromatic linker exhibits a higher electrical conductivity (∼78 S cm

The photoelectrochemical performance of a co-doped hematite photoanode might be hindered due to the unintentionally diffused Sn from a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate during the high-temperature annealing process by providing an increased number of recombination centers and structural disorder. We employed a two-step annealing process to manipulate the Sn concentration in co-doped hematite. The Sn content [Sn/(Sn + Fe)] of a two-step annealing sample decreased to 1.8 from 6.9% of a one-step annealing sample. Si and Sn co-doped hematite with the reduced Sn content exhibited less structural disorder and improved charge transport ability to achieve a 3.0 mA cm-2 photocurrent density at 1.23 VRHE, which was 1.3-fold higher than that of the reference Si and Sn co-doped Fe2O3 (2.3 mA cm-2). By decorating with the efficient co-catalyst NiFe(OH)x, a maximum photocurrent density of 3.57 mA cm-2 was achieved. We further confirmed that the high charging potential and poor cyclability of the zinc-air battery could be dramatically improved by assembling the optimized, stable, and low-cost hematite photocatalyst with excellent OER performance as a substitute for expensive Ir/C in the solar-assisted chargeable battery. This study demonstrates the significance of manipulating the unintentionally diffused Sn content diffused from FTO to maximize the OER performance of the co-doped hematite.

The hole density of individual copper sulfide nanocrystals (Cu

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to examine the sleep quality, pain, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) of outpatients with chronic stroke, and to examine their correlation. [Participants and Methods] This study was conducted on 42 outpatients with chronic stroke, and data on their sleep quality, pain, and instrumental activities of daily living were collected and analyzed using the survey measurement tools. [Results] The analysis shows significant correlations among the sleep quality, pain, and instrumental activities of daily living of the outpatients with chronic stroke. [Conclusion] The findings of this study confirmed that the sleep quality and pain of outpatients with chronic stroke was related with their capacities of instrumental activities of daily living.

We report that metal ions (M: Sn4+ and Ti4+) and boron-codoped hematite photoanodes with an n–n+ homojunction showed significantly increased photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting activity with...

A monolithic integration of high-performance soft electronic modules into various fabric materials has enabled a paradigm shift in wearable textile electronics. However, the current textile electronics have struggled against fatigue under repetitive deformation due to the absence of materials and structural design strategies for imparting electrical and mechanical robustness to individual fibers. Here, we report a mechanically and electrically durable, stretchable electronic textile (MED-ET) enabled by a precisely controlled diffusion of tough self-healing stretchable inks into fibers and an adoption of the kirigami-inspired design. Remarkably, the conductive percolative pathways in the fabric of MED-ET even under a harshly deformed environment were stably maintained due to an electrical recovery phenomenon which originates from the spontaneous rearrangement of Ag flakes in the self-healing polymer matrix. Specifically, such a unique property enabled damage-resistant performance when repetitive deformation and scratch were applied. In addition, the kirigami-inspired design was capable of efficiently dissipating the accumulated stress in the conductive fabric during stretching, thereby providing high stretchability (a tensile strain of 300%) without any mechanical fracture or electrical malfunction. Finally, we successfully demonstrate various electronic textile applications such as stretchable micro-light-emitting diodes (Micro-LED), electromyogram (EMG) monitoring and all-fabric thermoelectric devices (F-TEG).

Respiration-induced B$_0$ fluctuation corrupts MRI images by inducing phase errors in k-space. A few approaches such as navigator have been proposed to correct for the artifacts at the expense of sequence modification. In this study, a new deep learning method, which is referred to as DeepResp, is proposed for reducing the respiration-artifacts in multi-slice gradient echo (GRE) images. DeepResp is designed to extract the respiration-induced phase errors from a complex image using deep neural networks. Then, the network-generated phase errors are applied to the k-space data, creating an artifact-corrected image. For network training, the computer-simulated images were generated using artifact-free images and respiration data. When evaluated, both simulated images and in-vivo images of two different breathing conditions (deep breathing and natural breathing) show improvements (simulation: normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) from 7.8% to 1.3%; structural similarity (SSIM) from 0.88 to 0.99; ghost-to-signal-ratio (GSR) from 7.9% to 0.6%; deep breathing: NRMSE from 13.9% to 5.8%; SSIM from 0.86 to 0.95; GSR 20.2% to 5.7%; natural breathing: NRMSE from 5.2% to 4.0%; SSIM from 0.94 to 0.97; GSR 5.7% to 2.8%). Our approach does not require any modification of the sequence or additional hardware, and may therefore find useful applications. Furthermore, the deep neural networks extract respiration-induced phase errors, which is more interpretable and reliable than results of end-to-end trained networks., 19 pages

To boost the photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance of a hematite photoanode, high temperature annealing has been widely applied to enhance crystallinity and remove the physical interface between the hematite and the fluorine doped thin oxide (FTO) substrate. However, the high temperature also results in unintentional Sn-doping due to thermal diffusion from the bottom FTO substrate. Therefore, when using additional dopants and the subsequent high temperature annealing process to enhance performance, the procedure should more precisely be considered co-doping of the hematite photoanode. However, at present, the interaction between the unintentional Sn and intentional dopant is poorly understood. Here, using germanium (Ge), which has been proven a promising dopant in previously reported simulations, we investigated how Sn diffusion affects overall PEC performance in Sn:Ge co-doped systems. After revealing the negative interaction of Sn and Ge dopants, we developed a facile Ge-doping method which suppresses Sn diffusion from the FTO substrate, significantly improving hematite performance. The Sn:Ge-hematite photoanode showed a photocurrent density of 4.6 mA cm− 2 at 1.23 VRHE with an excellent low turn-on voltage. After combining with a perovskite solar cell, our tandem system achieved outstanding 4.8% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (3.9 mA cm− 2 in an unassisted water splitting system). Our work provides important insights on a promising diagnostic tool for future co-doping system design.

Respiration-induced B

Doping engineering is of key importance for controlling the electrical, optical and structural properties of the semiconductor. Doping of hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) with heteroatoms is especially essential to boost its poor electrical properties for enhanced photocatalytic water splitting. For some impurities that create an unfavorable thermodynamic equilibrium, doped hematite with a reasonable water splitting performance needs to be synthesized under elaborate experimental conditions, which severely restricts the realization of hydrogen economy. Here we show that the high formation energy of a Si-doped hematite can be decreased with the introduction of a host Ti-dopant via a thermodynamically favorable equilibrium process, making easy and cost-efficient solution-based Si-doping possible. By taking advantage of formation energy control, we achieved a photocurrent density of 5.7 mA cm -2 at 1.23 V RHE in the optimized Si-doped hematite (Si:Ti-hematite) without using any noble metal or demanding experimental processes. Our study suggests a ground rule for the facile injection of the high-formation energy dopant into photocatalysts, which can be readily extended to other doped systems to achieve a substantial improvement in PEC performance.

A semicrystalline p-type thermoelectric conjugated polymer based on a polymer backbone of cyclopentadithiophene and benzothiadiazole, poly[(4,4′-(bis(hexyldecylsulfanyl)methylene)cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole)] (PCPDTSBT), is designed and synthesized by replacing normal alkyl side-chains with bis(alkylsulfanyl)methylene substituents. The sp2-hybridized olefinic bis(alkylsulfanyl)methylene side-chains and the sulfur–sulfur (S–S) chalcogen interactions extend a chain planarity with strong interchain packing, which is confirmed by density functional calculations and morphological studies, i.e., grazing incidence X-ray scattering measurement. The doping, electrical, morphological, and thermoelectric characteristics of PCPDTSBT are investigated by comparison with those of poly[(4,4′-bis(2-ethylhexyl)cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT) with ethylhexyl side-chains. Upon doping with a Lewis acid, B(C6F5)3, the maximum electrical c...

[Purpose] The purpose of this research is to take a look at the influences of client-centered therapy on the level of everyday life performance, the level of satisfaction, and the quality of life of the chronic stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] This research used client-centered therapy with two chronic stroke and hemiplegia patients as subjects. The therapy was carried out once a day, five times a week, for thirty minutes at a time for four weeks. Also, five kinds of training were included in the medical treatment programs which were organized after the initial Canadian occupational performance measure (COPM) evaluations. Evaluations were carried out before and after the mediation. Changes in the level of everyday life performance level of satisfaction were measured using the COPM, and changes in quality of life were measured using the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL). [Results] After the application of medical treatment, both subjects showed positive changes in terms of the level of everyday life performance, level of satisfaction, and quality of life. [Conclusion] Both subjects demonstrated improvements in all aspects of both outcome measurements which implied that a short client-centered therapy program could help chronic stroke patients improve some aspects of their life.

We present a facile yet efficient single-step pyrolysis method to prepare bulk-scale high-performance N-doped 3D-graphitic foams with various length-scale pores. The iron precursors act as catalysts for the conversion of organic substances to a graphitic structure while simultaneously providing a rigid template that prevents the aggregation of organic components, and soluble polymers act as a carbon source for the formation of N-doped multilayer graphene under high-temperature and inert conditions. The 3D-graphitic foams possess highly interconnected networks composed of micro-, meso-, and macropores with a specific surface area of up to 1509 m2 g–1 and a high conductivity of 10 S m–1. The resulting 3D-graphitic foams exhibited specific capacitance values of 330 and 242 F g–1 with outstanding cycling stability (a 23% loss after 100 000 cycles for a symmetric cell) in a three-electrode system and in a symmetric cell, respectively, when used as active materials in a supercapacitor. This study suggests the g...

Internet of Things (IoT) has been established in various industries and IoT technology is highlighted as a new value creation technology. Especially, Korean government has launched Manufacturing Innovation 3.0 Strategy for developing Smart Factory concept to improve national and corporate’s competitiveness. This study tries to present new industry classification scheme considering 10 national key manufacturing industries. Based on the new scheme, 10 national main forces industries are categorized into 6 segments. We have conducted SWOT analysis to comprehend Korean IoT environment. Based on the analysis, we have positioned 6 segments at the strategic decision-making grid to analyze industries’ IoT practical usage.

Scientific and technological advances in transparent conductive electrodes improve the heating performance of flexible transparent film heaters (TFHs), which can be utilized for various applications as defrosters and heaters. To achieve high performance as well as practical TFHs, several conditions, such as high optical transmittance, low electrical resistance, heating uniformity, and operational stability in various environmental conditions should be satisfied. However, due to the trade-offs between optical transmittance and electrical resistance, it is not easy to fulfill all the requirements concurrently. Here we report flexible TFHs using a ternary composite of silver nanowire (AgNW), conducting polymer (i.e., poly[3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene]:polystyrene sulfonate [PEDOT:PSS]), and a thin conductive oxide (i.e., indium tin oxide [ITO]) layer, exhibiting higher performance in terms of the maximum heating temperature (>110 °C), operational stability, mechanical flexibility, and optical transmittance (95% at 550 nm), compared to pristine AgNW-based TFHs. We also demonstrated the stable operation of the AgNW–PEDOT:PSS/ITO TFHs soaked in water, showing excellent environmental stability. To analyse the fundamental mechanisms for the improved performance of the AgNW–PEDOT:PSS/ITO TFHs, we investigated the progress of joule heating using a device simulator, and found that the improvement originated not only from reduced electrical resistance but also from enhanced heat dissipation with PEDOT:PSS and ITO. We anticipate that our analysis and results will be helpful for further development of practical flexible TFHs.

We report an efficient Ti-doped FeOOH (Ti-FeOOH) co-catalyst applied on SiOx thin layer coated Ti-doped porous Fe2O3 (Ti-PH) to realize an excellent water splitting photoelectrochemical cell. The SiOx thin layer coated on Ti-doped porous hematite induces preferential deposition of the Ti-FeOOH co-catalyst on the inner pores of Ti-PH, which enhances oxygen evolution reaction performance without interrupting the absorption of light by hematite. The photocurrent density of Ti-FeOOH/Ti-PH is 4.06 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, 3.4 times higher than that of conventional worm-like hematite, with excellent long-term stability for 36 h. This represents the state-of-the-art performance among hematite-based systems with the exception of very few studies that used precious materials. Importantly, the proposed photoanode can be fabricated by a simple and cost-efficient solution-based method, i.e. with cheap precursors and without any specific equipment.

[Purpose] The purpose of this research is to take a look at the influences of the dual task training on the hand function and the balance ability of the stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] The dual task training was applied to 2 stroke hemiplegia patients. The dual task training had been carried out for 30 minutes by each session for 5 days a week for 3 weeks. The evaluations had been carried out 5 times for 3 weeks before and after the intervention. And the changes of the hand function had been measured by using the box and block test. And, for the changes of the balancing ability, the Berg Balance Scale was used. [Results] Both the hand function and the balancing ability of the subjects were improved after the dual task training. [Conclusion] Through the results of the research, it was able to confirm that the dual task training is effective for the enhancements of the hand function and the balancing ability of the stroke patients.