Mina Teicher

ADHD and Dysgraphia: Underlying Mechanisms

Multiple complaints in the domain of writing are common among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this work we sought to characterize the writing disorder by studying dysgraphia in twenty 6th grade boys with ADHD and normal reading skills matched to 20 healthy boys who served as a comparison group. Dysgraphia, defined as deficits in spelling and handwriting, was assessed according to neuropsychological explanatory processes within 3 primary domains: linguistic processing, motor programming and motor kinematics. Children with ADHD made significantly more spelling errors, but showed a unique pattern introducing letter insertions, substitutions, transpositions and omissions. This error type, also known as graphemic buffer errors, can be explained by impaired attention aspects needed for motor planning. Kinematic manifestations of writing deficits were fast, inaccurate and an inefficient written product accompanied by higher levels of axial pen pressure. These results suggest that the spelling errors and writing deficits seen in children with ADHD and normal reading skills stem primarily from non-linguistic deficits, while linguistic factors play a secondary role. Recommendations for remediation include educational interventions, use of word processing and judicious use of psychostimulants.

Simultaneous remote extraction of multiple speech sources and heart beats from secondary speckles pattern

The ability of dynamic extraction of remote sounds is very appealing. In this manuscript we propose an optical approach allowing the extraction and the separation of remote sound sources. The approach is very modular and it does not apply any constraints regarding the relative position of the sound sources and the detection device. The optical setup doing the detection is very simple and versatile. The principle is to observe the movement of the secondary speckle patterns that are generated on top of the target when it is illuminated by a spot of laser beam. Proper adaption of the imaging optics allows following the temporal trajectories of those speckles and extracting the sound signals out of the processed trajectory. Various sound sources are imaged in different spatial pixels and thus blind source separation becomes a very simple task.

Three-dimensional mapping and range measurement by means of projected speckle patterns

We present a novel approach for three-dimensional (3D) measurements that includes the projection of coherent light through ground glass. Such a projection generates random speckle patterns on the object or on the camera, depending if the configuration is transmissive or reflective. In both cases the spatially random patterns are seen by the sensor. Different spatially random patterns are generated at different planes. The patterns are highly random and not correlated. This low correlation between different patterns is used for both 3D mapping of objects and range finding.

Remote estimation of blood pulse pressure via temporal tracking of reflected secondary speckles pattern

We present a novel technique for remote noncontact blood pulse pressure measurement. It is based on tracking both temporal and amplitude changes of reflected secondary speckle produced in human skin when illuminated by a laser beam. The implemented technique extracts the difference between the systolic and the diastolic blood pressure. Experimental results are presented showing good agreement when compared with conventional measurement methods.

A General Framework for Trajectory Triangulation

The multiple view geometry of static scenes is now well understood. Recently attention was turned to dynamic scenes where scene points may move while the cameras move. The triangulation of linear trajectories is now well handled. The case of quadratic trajectories also received some attention.We present a complete generalization and address the problem of general trajectory triangulation of moving points from non-synchronized cameras. Two cases are considered: (i) the motion is captured in the images by tracking the moving point itself, (ii) the tangents of the motion only are extracted from the images.The first case is based on a new representation (to computer vision) of curves (trajectories) where a curve is represented by a family of hypersurfaces in the projective space ℙ5. The second case is handled by considering the dual curve of the curve generated by the trajectory.In both cases these representations of curves allow: (i) the triangulation of the trajectory of a moving point from non-synchronized sequences, (ii) the recovery of more standard representation of the whole trajectory, (iii) the computations of the set of positions of the moving point at each time instant an image was made.Furthermore, theoretical considerations lead to a general theorem stipulating how many independent constraints a camera provides on the motion of the point. This number of constraint is a function of the camera motion.On the computation front, in both cases the triangulation leads to equations where the unknowns appear linearly. Therefore the problem reduces to estimate a high-dimensional parameter in presence of heteroscedastic noise. Several method are tested.

Multiple view geometry of non-planar algebraic curves

We introduce a number of new results in the context of multi-view geometry from general algebraic curves. We start with the derivation of the extended Kruppas equations which are responsible for describing the epipolar constraint of two projections of a general (non-planar) algebraic curve. As part of the derivation of those constraints we address the issue of dimension analysis and as a result establish the minimal number of algebraic curves required for a solution of the epipolar geometry as a function of their degree and genus. We then establish new results on the reconstruction of general algebraic curves from multiple views. We address three different representations of curves: (i) the regular point representation for which we show that the reconstruction from two views of a curve of degree d admits two solutions, one of degree d and the other of degree d(d-1), (ii) the dual space representation (tangents) for which we derive a lower bound for the number of views necessary for reconstruction as a function of the curve degree and genus, and (iii) a new representation (to computer vision) based on the set of lines meeting the curve which does not require any curve fitting in image space, for which we also derive lower bounds for the number of views necessary for reconstruction as a function of the curve degree alone.

Projection of speckle patterns for 3D sensing

In this communication we present the use of projected speckle patterns coming from a phase random mask for sensing depths and thicknesses. The sensing is based on the change of the speckle pattern with propagation and the lack of correlation between speckle patterns recorded at different depths or lateral locations. The principle is used for mapping thickness of transparent media, for depth ranging and for 3D mapping of diffuse objects.

C 2 subdivision over triangulations with one extraordinary point

This paper presents a new subdivision scheme that operates over an infinite triangulation, which is regular except for a single extraordinary vertex. The scheme is based on the quartic three-directional Box-spline scheme, and is guaranteed to generate C^2 limit functions whenever the valency n of the extraordinary vertex is in the range 4=

Programmed deep brain stimulation synchronizes VTA gamma band field potential and alleviates depressive-like behavior in rats

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) significantly alleviates symptoms in various neurological disorders. Current research focuses on developing programmed stimulation protocols for customization to individual symptoms. However, the therapeutic mechanism of action of programmed DBS (pDBS) is poorly understood. We previously demonstrated that pDBS in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) normalizes molecular and behavioral abnormalities in the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat model for depression. Herein, we examined the effect of a short-duration, low-frequency DBS template on local field potential (LFP) synchronization patterns along the anterior-posterior axis of the VTA of FSL rats, and correlation of this effect with depressive-like behavior, as compared with non-programmed, continuous low-frequency DBS (npDBS). We used the wavelet phase coherence (WPC) measure for effective representation of time and frequency of LFP patterns, and the forced swim test to measure immobility (despair). Baseline WPC values were lower in FSLs as compared with SD controls, at the low and high gamma frequency range (above 30 Hz). Baseline immobility scores for FSL rats were higher than those of SD rats, while pDBS, and not npDBS, significantly reduced FSL immobility scores to control SD levels, up to day 14. pDBS also significantly increased the change (between baseline and day 14) in WPC values, in beta, low gamma and high gamma frequency ranges. The change in high gamma (60-100 Hz) WPC values correlated with improvement in depressive-like behavior. Our results suggest that programmed DBS of the VTA increases interaction among local neuronal populations, an effect that may underlie the normalization of depressive-like behavior.

A microscope configuration for nanometer 3-D movement monitoring accuracy

In this paper we present a new microscopy configuration based upon temporal tracking of a secondary reflected speckle by imaging the speckle through properly defocused optics. The configuration is used to monitor three-dimensional (3-D) spontaneous contraction of rat cardiac muscle cells while achieving nanometer tracking accuracy at a rate of 30 frames per second (fps) without using interferometric recording. Estimation of the change in the optical path of accuracy of 50 nm in the transverse direction and of 200 nm in the axial direction was achieved.