Development of mu rhythm in infants and preschool children.

Mu rhythm is an idling rhythm that originates in the sensorimotor cortex during rest. The frequency of mu rhythm, which is well established in adults, is 8-12 Hz, whereas the limited results available from children suggest a frequency as low as 5.4 Hz at 6 months of age, which gradually increases to the adult value. Understanding the normal development of mu rhythm has important theoretical and clinical implications since we still know very little about this signal in infants and how it develops with age. We measured mu rhythm over the left hemisphere using a pediatric magnetoencephalography (MEG) system in 25 infants (11-47 weeks), 18 preschool children (2-5 years) and 6 adults (20-39 years) for two 5-min sessions during two intermixed conditions: a rest condition in which the hands were at rest, and a prehension condition in which the subject squeezed a pipette with his/her right hand. In all participants, mu rhythm was present over the frontoparietal area during the rest condition, but was clearly suppressed during the prehension condition. Mu rhythm peak frequency, determined from the amplitude spectra, increased rapidly as a function of age from 2.75 Hz at 11 weeks to 8.25 Hz at 47 weeks (r2 = 0.83). It increased very slowly during the preschool period (3.1 ± 0.9 years; 8.5 ± 0.54 Hz). The frequency in these children was, however, lower than in adults (10.3 ± 1.2 Hz). Our results show a rapid maturation in spontaneous mu rhythm during the first year of life.

Functional coupling of parietal α rhythms is enhanced in athletes before visuomotor performance: a coherence electroencephalographic study.

It has been shown that elite pistol shooters are characterized by a power increase of wide cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha (about 8-12 Hz) and beta (about 14-35 Hz) rhythms during the preparation of air pistol shots, possibly related to selective attentional and "neural efficiency" processes [Del Percio C, Babiloni C, Bertollo M, Marzano N, Iacoboni M, Infarinato F, Lizio R, Stocchi M, Robazza C, Cibelli G, Comani S, Eusebi F (2009a) Hum Brain Mapp 30(11):3527-3540; Del Percio C, Babiloni C, Marzano N, Iacoboni M, Infarinato F, Vecchio F, Lizio R, Aschieri P, Fiore A, Toràn G, Gallamini M, Baratto M, Eusebi F (2009b) Brain Res Bull 79(3-4):193-200]. Here, we tested the hypothesis that such processes are associated with an enhanced functional coupling of posterior cortical regions involved in task-relevant attentional processes and visuo-motor transformations. To this aim, between-electrodes spectral coherence was computed from spatially enhanced EEG data collected during a previous study (i.e. right handed 18 elite air pistol shooters and 10 matched non-athletes; augmented 10-20 system; surface Laplacian estimation). Theta (about 4-6 Hz), low-frequency alpha (about 8-10 Hz), high-frequency alpha (about 10-12 Hz), low-frequency beta (14-22 Hz), high-frequency beta (23-35 Hz), and gamma (36-44 Hz) bands were considered. Statistical results showed that intra-hemispheric low-frequency alpha (parietal-temporal and parietal-occipital regions), high-frequency alpha (parietal-temporal and parietal-occipital regions), high-frequency beta, and gamma (parietal-temporal regions) coherence values were stable in amplitude in the elite athletes but not in the non-athletes during the preparation of pistol shots. The same applies to inter-hemispheric low-frequency alpha (parietal regions), high-frequency alpha (parietal regions), high-frequency beta and gamma coherence values. These findings suggest that under the present experimental conditions, elite athletes are characterized by the stabilization of functional coupling of preparatory EEG rhythms between "visuo-spatial" parietal area and other posterior cortical areas.

Entropy-based automated classification of independent components separated from fMCG.

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is a noninvasive technique suitable for the prenatal diagnosis of the fetal heart function. Reliable fetal cardiac signals can be reconstructed from multi-channel fMCG recordings by means of independent component analysis (ICA). However, the identification of the separated components is usually accomplished by visual inspection. This paper discusses a novel automated system based on entropy estimators, namely approximate entropy (ApEn) and sample entropy (SampEn), for the classification of independent components (ICs). The system was validated on 40 fMCG datasets of normal fetuses with the gestational age ranging from 22 to 37 weeks. Both ApEn and SampEn were able to measure the stability and predictability of the physiological signals separated with ICA, and the entropy values of the three categories were significantly different at p <0.01. The system performances were compared with those of a method based on the analysis of the time and frequency content of the components. The outcomes of this study showed a superior performance of the entropy-based system, in particular for early gestation, with an overall ICs detection rate of 98.75% and 97.92% for ApEn and SampEn respectively, as against a value of 94.50% obtained with the time-frequency-based system.

Performance comparison of independent component analysis algorithms for fetal cardiac signal reconstruction: a study on synthetic fMCG data.

Independent component analysis (ICA) algorithms have been successfully used for signal extraction tasks in the field of biomedical signal processing. We studied the performances of six algorithms (FastICA, CubICA, JADE, Infomax, TDSEP and MRMI-SIG) for fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG). Synthetic datasets were used to check the quality of the separated components against the original traces. Real fMCG recordings were simulated with linear combinations of typical fMCG source signals: maternal and fetal cardiac activity, ambient noise, maternal respiration, sensor spikes and thermal noise. Clusters of different dimensions (19, 36 and 55 sensors) were prepared to represent different MCG systems. Two types of signal-to-interference ratios (SIR) were measured. The first involves averaging over all estimated components and the second is based solely on the fetal trace. The computation time to reach a minimum of 20 dB SIR was measured for all six algorithms. No significant dependency on gestational age or cluster dimension was observed. Infomax performed poorly when a sub-Gaussian source was included; TDSEP and MRMI-SIG were sensitive to additive noise, whereas FastICA, CubICA and JADE showed the best performances. Of all six methods considered, FastICA had the best overall performance in terms of both separation quality and computation times.

Optimal filter design for shielded and unshielded ambient noise reduction in fetal magnetocardiography.

The greatest impediment to extracting high-quality fetal signals from fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is environmental magnetic noise, which may have peak-to-peak intensity comparable to fetal QRS amplitude. Being an unstructured Gaussian signal with large disturbances at specific frequencies, ambient field noise can be reduced with hardware-based approaches and/or with software algorithms that digitally filter magnetocardiographic recordings. At present, no systematic evaluation of filters' performances on shielded and unshielded fMCG is available. We designed high-pass and low-pass Chebychev II-type filters with zero-phase and stable impulse response; the most commonly used band-pass filters were implemented combining high-pass and low-pass filters. The achieved ambient noise reduction in shielded and unshielded recordings was quantified, and the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-distortion ratio (SDR) of the retrieved fetal signals was evaluated. The study regarded 66 fMCG datasets at different gestational ages (22-37 weeks). Since the spectral structures of shielded and unshielded magnetic noise were very similar, we concluded that the same filter setting might be applied to both conditions. Band-pass filters (1.0-100 Hz) and (2.0-100 Hz) provided the best combinations of fetal signal detection rates, SNR and SDR; however, the former should be preferred in the case of arrhythmic fetuses, which might present spectral components below 2 Hz.

A method for the automatic reconstruction of fetal cardiac signals from magnetocardiographic recordings.

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) allows monitoring the fetal heart function through algorithms able to retrieve the fetal cardiac signal, but no standardized automatic model has become available so far. In this paper, we describe an automatic method that restores the fetal cardiac trace from fMCG recordings by means of a weighted summation of fetal components separated with independent component analysis (ICA) and identified through dedicated algorithms that analyse the frequency content and temporal structure of each source signal. Multichannel fMCG datasets of 66 healthy and 4 arrhythmic fetuses were used to validate the automatic method with respect to a classical procedure requiring the manual classification of fetal components by an expert investigator. ICA was run with input clusters of different dimensions to simulate various MCG systems. Detection rates, true negative and false positive component categorization, QRS amplitude, standard deviation and signal-to-noise ratio of reconstructed fetal signals, and real and per cent QRS differences between paired fetal traces retrieved automatically and manually were calculated to quantify the performances of the automatic method. Its robustness and reliability, particularly evident with the use of large input clusters, might increase the diagnostic role of fMCG during the prenatal period.

Automatic detection of cardiac waves on fetal magnetocardiographic signals.

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) provides fetal cardiac traces useful for the prenatal monitoring of fetal heart function. In this paper, we describe an analytical model (ACWD) for the automatic detection of cardiac waves boundaries that works on fetal signals reconstructed from fMCG by means of independent component analysis. ACWD was validated for 45 healthy and 4 arrhythmic fetuses ranging from 22 to 37 weeks; ACWD outcomes were compared with the estimates of three independent investigators. Descriptive statistics were used to assess correspondence between the outcomes of the automatic and manual approaches. The parametric two-tailed Pearson correlation test (alpha=0.01) was employed to quantify, by means of the coefficients of determination, the amount of common variation between the sequences of intervals quantified automatically and manually. ACWD performances on short and long rhythm strips were investigated. ACWD demonstrated to be a robust tool providing dependable estimates of cardiac intervals and their variability during the third gestational trimester also in case of fetal arrhythmias. SNR and stability of fetal traces were the factors limiting ACWD performances. ACWD computation time, which was approximately 1:600 with respect to the manual procedure, was comparable with the time required for fCTI estimation on averaged beats.

Integrated software suite for magnetocardiographic data analysis--a proposal based on an interactive programming environment.

OBJECTIVES: This paper describes an integrated software suite (ISS) for the processing of magnetocardiographic (MCG) recordings obtained with super-conducting multi-channel systems having different characteristics. We aimed to develop a highly flexible suite including toolboxes for current MCG applications, organized consistently with an open architecture that allows function integrations and upgrades with minimal modifications; the suite was designed for the compliance not only of physicists and engineers but also of physicians, who have a different professional profile and are accustomed to retrieve information in different ways. METHODS: The MCG-ISS was designed to work with all common graphical user interface operative systems. MATLAB was chosen as the interactive programming environment (IPE), and the software was developed to achieve usability, interactivity, reliability, modularity, expansibility, interoperability, adaptability and graphics style tailoring. Three users, already experienced in MCG data analysis, have intensively tested MCG-ISS for six months. A great amount of MCG data on normal subjects and patients was used to assess software performances in terms of user compliance and confidence and total analysis time. RESULTS: The proposed suite is an all-in-one analysis tool that succeeded in speeding MCG data analysis up to about 55% with respect to standard reference routines; it consequently enhanced analysis performance and user compliance. CONCLUSIONS: Those results, together with the MCG-ISS advantage of being independent on the acquisition system, suggest that software suites like the proposed one could uphold a wider diffusion of MCG as a diagnostic tool in the clinical setting.

Simultaneous monitoring of separate fetal magnetocardiographic signals in twin pregnancy.

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) allows the non-invasive recording of fetal cardiac electrical activity with increasing efficacy as gestation progresses. Many reports on the successful extraction of reliable fetal magnetocardiographic traces in singleton pregnancies exist in the literature, whereas there is only one report on the reconstruction of averaged fetal cardiac signals obtained in a twin pregnancy with the use of a double sensor array system. In this paper, we aimed at assessing the effectiveness of an ICA-based procedure to reconstruct the time course of fetal cardiac signals recorded with a single-shot multi-channel fMCG device in an uncomplicated twin pregnancy at 27 weeks. The evaluation of heart rate and beats synchronicity permitted the differentiation of fetal components; the quality of reconstructed fetal signals allowed visual inspection on single cycles and the simultaneous monitoring of separate fetal heart rate patterns. The proposed technique might be applied in twin pregnancies not only to characterize fetal arrhythmias, but also in all cases of discordant fetal growth, either in the case of intra-uterine growth retardation affecting one fetus, or in the case of twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a life-threatening condition where both fetuses are at risk of heart failure.

Time course reconstruction of fetal cardiac signals from fMCG: independent component analysis versus adaptive maternal beat subtraction.

M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography, cardiotocography and transabdominal fetal ECG are available in clinical practice to monitor fetal cardiac activity during advancing gestation, but none of these methods allows the direct measurement of morphological and temporal parameters for fetal rhythm assessment. Fetal magnetocardiograms (fMCGs) are noninvasive recordings of magnetic field variations associated with electrical activity of the fetal heart obtained with superconducting sensors positioned over the maternal abdomen inside a shielded room. Because of maternal cardiac activity, fMCGs are contaminated by maternal components that need to be eliminated to reconstruct fetal cardiac traces. The aim of the present work was to use two methods working in the time domain, an independent component analysis algorithm (FastICA) and an adaptive maternal beat subtraction technique (AMBS), for the retrieval of fetal cardiac signals from fMCGs. Detection rates of both methods were calculated, and FastICA and AMBS performances were compared in the context of clinical applications by estimating several temporal and morphological characteristics of the retrieved fetal traces, such as the shape and duration P-QRS-T waves, arrhythmic beat detection and classification, and noise reduction. Quantitative and qualitative comparison produced figures that always suggested that FastICA was superior to AMBS from the perspective of clinical use of the recovered fetal signals.

PI-3-kinase/NF-kappaB mediated response of Jurkat T leukemic cells to two different chemotherapeutic drugs, etoposide and TRAIL.

Jurkat T leukemic cells respond to Etoposide, antineoplastic agent which targets the DNA unwinding enzyme, Topoisomerase II, and TNF-Related-Apoptosis-Inducing-Ligand (TRAIL), 34 kDa transmembrane protein, which displays minimal or no toxicity on normal cells and tissues, not only disclosing the occurrence of apoptosis but also a kind of resistance. A similar rate of viability upon the exposure to these two drugs up to 24 h has been evidenced, followed by the occurrence of a rescue process against TRAIL, not performed against Etoposide, along with an higher number of dead cells upon Etoposide exposure, in comparison with TRAIL treatment. These preliminary results let us to speculate on the possible involvement of PI-3-kinase in TRAIL resistance disclosed by surviving cells (20%), may be phosphorylating Akt-1 and, in parallel, IkappaB alpha on both serine and tyrosine residues. On the other hand, in Etoposide Jurkat exposed cells Ser 32-36 phosphorylation of IkappaB alpha is not sufficient to overbalance the apoptotic fate of the cells, since Bax increase, IAP decrease, and caspase-3 activation determine the persistence of the apoptotic state along with the occurrence of cell death by necrosis. Thus, the existence of a balance between apoptotic and rescue response in 20% of cells surviving to TRAIL suggests the possibility of pushing it in favor of cell death in order to improve the yield of pharmacological strategies.

Fetal magnetocardiographic mapping using independent component analysis.

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is the only noninvasive technique allowing effective assessment of fetal cardiac electrical activity during the prenatal period. The reconstruction of reliable magnetic field mapping associated with fetal heart activity would allow three-dimensional source localization. The efficiency of independent component analysis (ICA) in restoring reliable fetal traces from multichannel fMCG has already been demonstrated. In this paper, we describe a method of reconstructing a complete set of fetal signals hidden in multichannel fMCG preserving their correct spatial distribution, waveform, polarity and amplitude. Fetal independent components, retrieved with an ICA algorithm (FastICA), were interpolated (fICI method) using information gathered during FastICA iterations. The restored fetal signals were used to reconstruct accurate magnetic mapping for every millisecond during the average beat. The procedure was validated on fMCG recorded from the 22nd gestational week onward with a multichannel MCG system working in a shielded room. The interpolated traces were compared with those obtained with a standard technique, and the consistency of fetal mapping was checked evaluating source localizations relative to fetal echocardiographic information. Good magnetic field distributions during the P-QRS-T waves were attained with fICI for all gestational periods; their reliability was confirmed by three-dimensional source localizations.

Magnetocardiography and exercise testing.

Twenty healthy male subjects (age range, 15-25 years; median, 21 years) underwent magnetocardiography during physical exercise. Significant ST-segment displacements of the magnetic signal were found during exercise at a heart rate of 120 beats/min compared to the magnetic signal at rest (P < .001). Since no significant ST-segment changes were found in the electrocardiogram recorded simultaneously with the magnetocardiogram, it is concluded that the magnetocardiogram shows junctional ST-T segment changes earlier than the electrocardiogram.

Measurement of segmental transit through the gut in man. A novel approach by the biomagnetic method.

The techniques commonly used to evaluate the transit of contents through the gut feature some limitations for being either inaccurate, invasive, inconvenient, or potentially dangerous for the subjects. Aim of this study was to establish a safe, noninvasive and accurate technique for the measurement of segmental oroanal transit time. We localized an orally ingested magnetic marker by means of a biomagnetic instrumentation that allows us to identify in a three-dimensional pattern the position of a biomagnetic source inside the body. The biomagnetic localizations were compared with the anatomical data obtained by magnetic resonance imaging investigations. The study was performed in 12 healthy subjects, and scans were taken every hour up to the arrival of the marker into the cecum; thereafter, scans were taken every 4 hr up to the elimination of the marker. In 99% of the isofield maps obtained from each field scan, the marker was localized within the bowel walls. The mean oroanal transit time was 56 +/- 5 hr, the mouth-to-cecum transit time was 13 +/- 1.7 hr, and the total colonic transit time was 43.5 +/- 5 hr (mean +/- SEM). Segmental colon transit did not show major differences among the regions considered, although most of the time was spent in the right colon. In fact, a good correlation was found between transit time through the right colon and oroanal and total colonic transit (r = 0.77, P < 0.02, r = 0.79, P < 0.02 respectively). In conclusion, this method might be a safe alternative to the techniques presently used in the clinical setting for the measurement of intestinal transit.

Measurement of gastrointestinal transit time by means of biomagnetic instrumentation: preliminary results.

The measurement of gastrointestinal transit time, GITT, is of particular interest in the study of gastrointestinal activity and in the diagnosis of some pathologies. In the present work we report the measurements of GITT obtained by applying the biomagnetic method.

Natural killer function in flow cytometry. II. Evaluation of NK lytic activity by means of target cell morphological changes detected by right angle light scatter.

Morphological changes that occur in K562 cells after natural killing produce profound changes in cellular light scattering properties. The possibility of gating out all the effector cells by thresholding on perpendicular light scatter and the subsequent identification of two distinct clusters of cells, which correspond to dead and viable targets, have permitted the measurement of natural killer activity in vitro. The changes in scattering properties after cell death are mainly determined by the variation of internal refractive index of the dying cell. A comparison of the scattering and propidium iodide staining procedures showed good correlation. The morphological detection and measurement of cellular death is therefore used to estimate NK lytic activity. This methodology permits the measurement of NK activity without staining the target and the measurement of perpendicular light scatter provides an alternative approach to the study of lytic processes in vitro.