Side Of Face Research Articles

Effect of tool offset distance variation and mechanical property evaluation for effective cladding of copper to steel by friction stir cladding

Deposition of copper on top of a steel substrate combines the advantages of the corrosion resistance of copper with the high tensile strength of steel. Due to their diverse properties, it is challenging to deposit copper on steel. In this work, the deposition of a 3 mm-thick copper layer has been carried out on top of a 6 mm thick steel substrate, utilizing the friction stir welding (FSW) process. During the process, several repetitive passes are required with a suitable tool offset to cover the entire plate effectively. A smaller tool pin offset results in the requirement of more passes, while too large a pin offset leaves the area between two passes unbonded. To optimize the tool offset distance, a series of trial experiments with offset values of 6, 8, 10, and 12 mm were carried out. Metallography examination along with X-ray radiography was carried out on the prepared clad samples. The average grain size of the steel substrate below the clad layer showed refined grains with a size of 5 μm, indicating an improvement of more than 60 % over the base steel. SEM and EDS map analysis revealed proper bonding of the cladding material with the substrate. Uniaxial tensile tests on flat specimens were carried out for base copper, base steel, and copper clad steel samples. The copper clad steel has a YS of 261 MPa and tensile strength of 359 MPa in comparison to the base copper, which has a YS of 131 MPa and a UTS of 227 MPa. Fractography analysis revealed stretching marks between copper and steel due to the difference in elongation rates of both materials. A guided bend test for face bend, root bend, and side bend revealed no delamination or crack initiation along the convex surface. Microhardness analysis was carried out across the interface from copper to steel, where a maximum hardness value of 226 HV was recorded near the interface close to the steel region.

Angioleiomyoma of parotid gland: a rare case report

Angioleiomyoma or vascular leiomyoma first described by Virchow is a very uncommon benign soft tissue tumor. Angioleiomyoma has been defined as frequently painful, benign subcutaneous or deep dermal tumor composed of mature smooth muscle bundles which are surrounded and interlaced by vascular channels. Only 8.5% cases arise in the head and neck. A 39 years old male presented with swelling right side face and upper neck past five years. The swelling was non tender, immobile and non-compressible. There was lateral pharyngeal wall bulge which was pushing the tonsil medially. The patient underwent total conservative parotidectomy and histopathology (HPE) came out to be angioleiomyoma. Angioleiomyoma is difficult to diagnose correctly from clinical manifestations and imaging alone, and a biopsy is mandatory to make the diagnosis.

Transient Focal Neurologic Episodes in Non-Traumatic Convexity Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (P12-5.028)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To report an interesting case of Transient Focal Neurological Episodes (TFNEs) in a patient presenting with a non-traumatic convexity subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH). <h3>Background:</h3> cSAH is a common imaging finding in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the management of cSAH can become challenging in cases without any history of informed trauma, especially when they present with Transient Focal Neurological Episodes (TFNEs). Although Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA) related TFNEs has been described in literature, it is not well regarded in the patients with sporadic cSAH finding. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> Case Presentation <h3>Results:</h3> A 67-year-old, right-handed, woman with no significant medical history, presented with recurrent, transient right-sided hemiparesis and hemianesthesia spreading from the right side of face to right upper and lower extremities. Non-contrast CT head showed a left cerebral cSAH. CT angiogram of the head and neck did not show any evidence of aneurysms, vascular malformations or RCVS. UDS came back negative. EEG showed left frontoparietal focal slowing with no epileptiform discharges or seizures. Empiric treatment with levetiracetam was started with partial improvement of symptoms. Furthermore, six vessel angiogram showed a small incidental aneurysm in the left MCA bifurcation, deemed not the cause of the cSAH. MRI brain without contrast showed several foci of hemosiderin deposition and superficial cortical siderosis, cSAH, and lobar cerebral microbleeds in frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. She met the Modified Boston criteria for probable CAA and the diagnosis of TFNEs related to CAA with cSAH was made. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> It is imperative to consider CAA in the differential diagnosis of non-traumatic cSAH with TFNEs as these patients are at increased risk for symptomatic ICH, especially with antithrombotic therapy. <b>Disclosure:</b> Dr. Lee has nothing to disclose. Dr. Landman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Garcia Ocasio has nothing to disclose. Dr. Veselinovic has nothing to disclose. Adriana Ochoa has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mohamed has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zubairi has nothing to disclose.

Evaluating the effect of tranexamic acid as mesotherapy on persistent post-acne erythema: A before and after study.

Acne vulgaris is a common skin disease that is more common in young population and it can be associated with some sequels after resolving the lesions. Post-inflammatory erythema is one of these complications that can be disturbing for patients and does not have any definite treatment. This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid (TA) as mesotherapy in treatment of post-acne erythema (PAE) treatment. This clinical trial study was performed in the dermatology clinic on 17 patients with persistent PAE (3 months after acne recovery). Two sessions of treatment were performed by a physician with 2-week intervals; TA was injected as mesotherapy into the right side of each patient's face as the case group, while the opposite side was used as the control group. A Visioface device was used to compare before and after treatment photographs of each side of the face in color mode with quantitative measures such as lesions count, area, and area percent. Finally, 15 patients completed treatment sessions. There were statistically significant differences in right side lesions before and after treatment with p-values of 0.047, 0.002, and 0.035 for count, area, and area percent, respectively. There was no significant difference before and after treatment in terms of count, area. and area-percent on the left side. According to the results of this study, TA injection as mesotherapy for resolving PAE can be effective. However, due to small sample size, further studies are needed.

Flexural strengthening of RC beams using sisal fibre reinforced polymer (SFRP) composite with anchorage systems

This research paper presents a study on the use of sisal fibre reinforced polymer (SFRP) composite as a sustainable alternative to artificial fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Three anchorage systems, namely SE, SEM, and EE, were developed to prevent delamination of the SFRP composite from the RC beams, and their effectiveness was evaluated. The effects of SFRP composite layers, configuration, and main reinforcement ratio on the flexural capacity of RC beams were investigated. Experimental results from four-point loading tests on 15 simply supported RC beams showed that the SFRP composite improved the ductility and load-carrying capacity of the beams. Numerical analysis supported the experimental findings and successfully simulated the load-displacement curve, failure load, and failure modes of the RC beams. The research contributes to sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of strengthening RC beams and concludes that the SEM anchorage system was the most efficient in avoiding SFRP delamination, and strengthening configuration B (U-shaped) resulted in a significantly higher increase in the ultimate load-carrying capacity of RC beams due to improved bonding at the side faces of the beams.

Power Calculation of Anti-Driveaway Crane Device from Eccentric and Wedge Mechanisms

To carry out a power calculation of the anti-driveaway device (AD) of lifting cranes operating in the open air, it is necessary to know the conditions that ensure their reliable stop and fixation on rails, as well as kinematic parameters, namely, the speed and acceleration of cranes when they move along the rails under the influence of the wind force. The considered AD for stopping cranes driven away by the force of the wind uses a tong gripper driven by an eccentric mechanism.The paper presents the calculation of the forces arising during the operation of the tong gripper, considering the possibilities of various types of friction on the contact surfaces both in the absence of lubrication and in its presence. The calculations of the eccentric mechanism as one of the fundamental mechanisms of the anti-driveaway crane device are presented in the paper. The stronger the wind force, the more due to the kinematic connection of the two mechanisms, when turning the eccentric mechanism, the pressure of the tong mechanism increases on the side faces of the head of the crane rail. The constructive solution of the AD excludes any actions of the personnel and makes it automatic.

Periocular Biometric Recognition for Masked Faces

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), people are recommended to wear facial masks to limit the spread of the virus. Under the circumstances, traditional face recognition technologies cannot achieve satisfactory results. In this paper, we propose a face recognition algorithm that combines the traditional features and deep features of masked faces. For traditional features, we extract Local Binary Pattern (LBP), Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) features from the periocular region, and use the Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier to perform personal identification. We also propose an improved Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model Angular Visual Geometry Group Network (A-VGG) to learn deep features. Then we use the decision-level fusion to combine the four features. Comprehensive experiments were carried out on databases of real masked faces and simulated masked faces, including frontal and side faces taken at different angles. Images with motion blur were also tested to evaluate the robustness of the algorithm. Besides, the experiment of matching a masked face with the corresponding full face is accomplished. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has state-of-the-art performance in masked face recognition, and the periocular region has rich biological features and high discrimination.

Computational analysis of natural compounds targeted for NICD of notch pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Therapeutic drugs are required to fight against Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is one of the prominent cancer types and is considered the world's second leading cause of death related to cancer. HCC is caused by chronic usage of alcohol, obesity, hepatitis virus etc. Currently, the chemotherapeutics drugs available possess severe side effects and face multi-drug resistance due to which the mortality rate is high. The normal liver shows lower expression of notch receptors in comparison to HCC patients where overexpression of notch receptors is observed in the patient’s liver. The present study is based on screening natural compound databases using structure-based virtual screening to find compounds with the capability to inhibit the expression of Notch signaling pathway. 7929 compounds from three natural compound databases (NANPDB, EANPDB, and SANCDB) were subjected to LibDock succeeded by ADME and toxicity prediction using Biovia Discovery Studio Suite. To observe the binding system, molecular docking was performed between the natural compounds and the Notch intracellular domain (target molecule). The computational analysis resulted in a novel natural compound i.e., 5-(2′',3′'-epoxy-3′'-methylbutyl)-3-(3′-hydroxy-3′-methyl-1′-acetyloxy-but-2′-yl)indole. In silico ADMET analysis showed that this compound had good absorption levels with minimal toxic effects. In future, this compound can be utilized as a lead molecule for the development of an anti-HCC medication.

Center backbone-rigidified DNA polygonal nanostructures and bottom face-templated polyhedral pyramids with structural stability in a complex biological medium.

Due to the sequence programmability, good biocompatibility, versatile functionalities and vast sequence space, DNA oligonucleotides are considered to be ideal building blocks for the assembly of diverse nanostructures in one, two and three dimensions that are capable of engineering of multiple functional nucleic acids into a useful tool to implement intended tasks in biological and medical field. However, the construction of wireframe nanostructures consisting of only a few DNA strands remains quite challenging mainly because of the molecular flexibility-based uncontrollability of size and shape. In this contribution, utilizing gel electrophoretic analysis and atomic force microscopy, we demonstrate the modeling assembly technique for the construction of wireframe DNA nanostructures that can be divided into two categories: rigid center backbone-guided modeling (RBM) and bottom face-templated assembly (BTA) that are responsible for the construction of DNA polygons and polyhedral pyramids, respectively. The highest assembly efficiency (AE) is about 100%, while the lowest AE is not less than 50%. Moreover, when adding one edge for polygons or one side face for pyramids, we only need to add one oligonucleotide strand. Especially, the advanced polygons (e.g., pentagon and hexagon) of definite shape are for the first time constructed. Along this line, introduction of cross-linking strands enables the hierarchical assembly of polymer polygons and polymer pyramids. These wireframe DNA nanostructures exhibit the substantially enhanced resistance to nuclease degradation and maintain their structural integrity in fetal bovine serum for several hours even if the vulnerable nicks are not sealed. The proposed modeling assembly technique represents important progress toward the development of DNA nanotechnology and is expected to promote the application of DNA nanostructures in biological and biomedical fields. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: DNA oligonucleotides are considered to be ideal building blocks for the assembly of diverse nanostructures. However, the construction of wireframe nanostructures consisting of only a few DNA strands remains quite challenging. In this contribution, we demonstrate the modeling technique for the construction of different wireframe DNA nanostructures: rigid center backbone-guided modeling (RBM) and bottom face-templated assembly (BTA) that are responsible for the assembly of DNA polygons and polyhedral pyramids, respectively. Moreover, cross-linking strands enables the hierarchical assembly of polymer polygons and polymer pyramids. These wireframe DNA nanostructures exhibit the substantially enhanced resistance to nuclease degradation and maintain their structural integrity in fetal bovine serum for several hours, promoting the application of DNA nanostructures in biological and biomedical fields.

Flexible and Speedy Preparation of Large-Scale Polystyrene Monolayer through Hemispherical-Depression-Assisted Self-Assembling and Vertical Lifting

Liquid interfacial self-assembled two-dimensional nanomonolayers are promising as colloidal crystal templates or lithographic masks for the mass production of periodic nanoarrays. However, the interfacial self-assembled monolayers usually suffer various defects such as grain boundaries, line defects, vacancy defects, and multilayers due to imperfect process technology. Here, we demonstrated a series of optimized strategies including the hemispherical-depression-assisted self-assembly, dot coating approach, and vertical lifting transfer protocol to eliminate surface defects especially multilayers jointly. After stabilizing the hemispherical depression height to 1.5 mm with a 40° tilted silicon slide, the self-assembly time was significantly shortened to 10 min for a 1 × 2 cm2 area of PS monolayer. The series of strategies were successfully implemented not only on glass and silicon flat substrates but also on the side and end face of optical fiber, even on flexible substrates, while maintaining great morphologies. Besides, in association with nanospherical lens photolithography and nanosphere lithography technologies, various two-dimensional nanoarrays such as nanotriangles and nanoholes could be successfully obtained for subsequent optical properties research, which present broad application prospects in biochemical sensing, medicine, environmental protection, and other fields.

Understanding crop colonization of oilseed rape crops by the cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)).

Development of accurate pest monitoring systems is essential for the establishment of integrated pest management strategies. Information about the pest behavior during the colonization process, as well as the sex and reproductive status of the colonizing population often are lacking and hinder their development. The cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB, Psylliodes chrysocephala) can cause the complete destruction of oilseed rape crops (OSR, Brassica napus). In the present study, the colonization process of OSR fields by the CSFB was studied. More individuals were caught on the outward facing side of the traps than the side of the trap facing towards the crop at the field border and catches were higher on the trapping units at the center of the field than at its border, suggesting that more beetles were entering than leaving the crop. Catches were higher on lower traps placed near to the crop than on those positioned further from the ground and also were higher during the day than late afternoon and night. The sex-ratio of individuals caught was skewed towards males and sexual maturity was acquired for females during the experiment. Integration of sampling data with local meteorological data showed that the catches correlated mostly with air temperature and relative humidity. This study provides new information about the dispersion of the CSFB in OSR fields during the colonization process, and highlights correlations between local meteorological factors and activity of the CSFB, and represent a new step towards implementing monitoring strategies against this pest. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Numerical investigations on heat transfer enhancement and energy flow distribution for interlayer battery thermal management system using Tesla-valve mini-channel cooling

Targeted at addressing cooling concerns of high power Cell-Pack, a novel interlayer battery thermal management system applying Tesla-valve mini-channel is proposed. The effect of cold plate position and Tesla-valve channel parameters is investigated to obtain optimal thermal performance through coupled battery cold-plate simulations with a 2C-discharge rate and wide Re range. Compared to main face cooling, side face cooling demonstrates more favorable thermal performance with decreasing maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference by 5.6 °C and 8.5 °C respectively. With application of forward Tesla-valve mini-channel, the maximum temperature decreases by 3.8 °C compared to straight mini channel at a moderate Re of 500. This prior thermal performance is corresponded to the even distributed heat transfer enhancement zones with flow fluctuations. Furtherly, the thermal–hydraulic performance is optimized by channel number, Tesla valve number and contraflow design with doubled Nusselt number and normalized thermal performance factor, maintaining the maximum temperature below 38 °C at a higher discharge current of 210 A. Consequently, the optimal forward Tesla-valve mini-channel owns considerable cooling efficiency factor of 369 and the highest energy flow percentage of 59.2% compared to the straight mini-channel, demonstrating the improved thermal–hydraulic performance and cooling efficiency.

Sound velocity mapping from GHz Brillouin oscillations in transparent materials by optical incidence from the side of the sample

Time-domain Brillouin scattering (TDBS) is an all-optical experimental technique for investigating transparent materials based on laser picosecond ultrasonics. Its application ranges from imaging thin-films, polycrystalline materials and biological cells to physical properties such as residual stress, temperature gradients and nonlinear coherent nano-acoustic pulses. When the sample refractive index is spatially uniform and known in TDBS, analysis by windowed Fourier transforms allows one to depth-profile the sound velocity. Here, we present a new method in TDBS for extracting sound velocity without a knowledge of the refractive index, by use of probe light obliquely incident on a side face—as opposed to the usual top face—of the sample. We demonstrate this method using a fused silica sample with a titanium transducer film and map the sound velocity in the depth direction. In future, it should be possible to map the sound velocity distribution in three dimensions in inhomogeneous samples, with applications to the imaging of biological cells.

Subcutaneous Human Dirofilariasis A Rare Case Report from Mumbai, Maharashtra

Subcutaneous human dirofilariasis is caused by the zoonotic filariae, Dirofilaria repens. The frequency of reports is increasing in literature during the last few years and is considered by some authors as an emerging zoonosis.In India, majority of the cases have been reported from Kerala, case reports from other parts of the country is rare. Here, we report a case to focus attention on this rare cause of a subcutaneous nodule which is often misdiagnosed or overlooked. We report a rare case of subcutaneous Dirofilariasis from Mumbai, Maharashtra. A 15-year-old boy who experienced a cosmetic subcutaneous cheek swelling on the left side of face, since 1.5 years. No pain, no sinus and no discharge. A complete hemogram was done which was normal. No eosinophilia was seen. Since the clinical diagnosis was a soft tissue lesion, a radiograph was not taken. The lesion was excised under local anaesthesia, which revealed a filarial nematode compatible with adult gravid female of the Dirofilaria repens, a zoonotic filariasis that causes subcutaneous dirofilariasis in dogs and cats.

Higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme based on linearization of implicit fluxes for the Euler equations

PurposeA higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme is presented for the Euler equations based on time linearization of the implicit flux vector rather than the residual vector.Design/methodology/approachThe flux vector is linearized through a truncated Taylor-series expansion whose leading-order implicit term is an inner product of the flux Jacobian and the vector of differences between the current and previous time step values of conserved variables. The implicit conserved-variable difference vector is evaluated at cell faces by using the reconstructed states at the left and right sides of a cell face and projecting the difference between the left and right states onto the right eigenvectors. Flux linearization also facilitates the construction of implicit schemes with higher-order spatial accuracy (up to third order in the present study). To enhance the diagonal dominance of the coefficient matrix and thereby increase the implicitness of the scheme, wave strengths at cell faces are expressed as the inner product of the inverse of the right eigenvector matrix and the difference in the right and left reconstructed states at a cell face.FindingsThe accuracy of the implicit algorithm at Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) numbers greater than unity is demonstrated for a number of test cases comprising one-dimensional (1-D) Sod’s shock tube, quasi 1-D steady flow through a converging-diverging nozzle, and two-dimensional (2-D) supersonic flow over a compression corner and an expansion corner.Practical implicationsThe algorithm has the advantage that it does not entail spatial derivatives of flux Jacobian so that the implicit flux can be readily evaluated using Roe’s approximate Jacobian. As a result, this approach readily facilitates the construction of implicit schemes with high-order spatial accuracy such as Roe-MUSCL.Originality/valueA novel finite-volume-based higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme was developed that uses time linearization of fluxes at cell interfaces.

A wind tunnel study of aerodynamic effects of façade and roof greening on air exchange from a cubic building

Ventilation through openings has long been considered an effective means of improving indoor air quality in living spaces. Although green roofs and façade greening are wide spread for urban buildings, their effect on ventilation is not yet fully understood. This paper presents a fundamental experimental investigation of the relevant aerodynamic effect on the air exchange of an isolated building exposed to wind. The study was performed in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel using a reduced scale (M = 1:300) cubic model building exposed to 0° wind with openings on its two side faces. Vegetation of different permeabilities, heights and thicknesses were placed on the building, and tracer gas measurements were performed. These properties may correspond to different vegetation species e.g ivy or shrubby plants, commonly used for façade or rooftop greening. Experimental results show that, regardless of species, façade greening on the windward wall attenuates air exchange rate while rooftop greening enhances it, especially at the upper building levels. When applying façade or rooftop greening of the same properties, the building’s air exchange rate is reduced by up to 16% but increases by only up to 8%, respectively. The effect of vegetation thickness is more evident for the thicker layers of façade greening. It is notable however, that a layer of low-permeability facade greening has a minor influence on air exchange rate.

Influences of Gap Flow on Air Resistance Acting on a Large Container Ship

In terms of speed lost and fuel consumed, wind loads are considered one of the main factors for large ship design, especially for container ships. Alongside water resistance, air resistance in strong wind conditions has a significant impact on the fuel efficiency and performance of container ships with large box-type bodies. This paper reports the effects of wind loads acting on a 20,000 TEU container ship carrying large numbers of deck containers using a commercial CFD software program (ANSYS Fluent V14.5 with RANS equation). A 1/255.3 scale model was used in this study to reveal the air resistance on the container ship configuration. The aerodynamic formations of the complex vortices, pressure, velocity contours, and streamlines, as well as the air forces acting on the container ship, are presented and discussed. The pressure distributions show that the gap air flows increase the stagnation pressure at the face side and decrease the pressure on the backside of each container gap through separate eddies. The difference in pressures created in the gaps contribute to the air resistance acting on the ship. It is confirmed that the use of side covers of deck containers to close the gap flows between container blocks can significantly reduce the air resistance for wind directions in the range of 30 to 60 degrees.

Investigating the effects of Argireline in a skin serum containing hyaluronic acids on skin surface wrinkles using the Visia® Complexion Analysis camera system for objective skin analysis.

To analyze the effects of Argireline on skin surface wrinkles using the Visia® camera system developed by Canfield Scientific Inc., U.S.A., for facial image capture. Nineteen female participants were recruited from a plastic surgery clinic. Initial facial images captured the left, front, and right sides of the participants' faces, which were documented as timepoint one. Following this, the participants immediately began to apply a facial skin serum containing triple hyaluronic acids produced by CNC cosmetic GmbH, Philippsburg, Germany. The serum was applied once in the morning and once in the evening. Participants received two identical containers labeled L for left and R for right, with each container to be used on the corresponding facial side, particularly around the eye area. One container contained Argireline, a synthetic hexapeptide, which previously was deemed to be a biosafe alternative to botulinum neurotoxin. The study was conducted as double-blind; neither the participants nor researchers knew which of the two containers contained Argireline. Participants were allowed to use their own cosmetic products throughout the study. After four weeks, the participants returned to have their faces recaptured using the Visia® camera, which was documented as timepoint two. The absolute scores of the wrinkles were noted, and results on both sides of the face were calculated and compared. The "TruSkinAge®" measurement provided by the Visia® camera was reviewed for each face side. Results between both time points and both sides of the face were compared. After the data analysis was complete, the company was contacted to determine which container contained Argireline. Nineteen participants returned for facial image capture. There were no significant adverse events, allergic reactions, or skin irritations. The investigation revealed that the wrinkle score slightly decreased for the right and left side of the face following four weeks of serum application. However, this decrease was not significant (p>0.05) based on the Wilcoxon matched pairs tests for the wrinkle scores (right side p=0.060 and left side p=0.176) and Truskin Ages® results (right side p=0.096 and left side p=0.489).Comparing the data from the right side with that from the left side of the face revealed that neither demonstrated a significant reduction in wrinkle score (p=0.829) or Truskin Ages® results (p=0.804). Argireline was included in the serum applied to the right side of the face. However, no statistical significance was seen in the results on this side of the face indicating any possible effects. Wrinkle scores and Truskin Ages® results were observed to decrease non-significantly following the application of a skin serum involving hyaluronic acid. The Visia® imaging method was used to analyze the data objectively. Differences between both sides of the face that were treated with and without Argireline were not statistically significant. Therefore, the effect of Argireline was not proven. While Argireline presented with low toxicity, its efficacy was found not to be significant. Therefore, it is not deemed to be an alternative treatment to botulinum toxin.

An Unusual Presentation of Lichen Striatus.

An Unusual Presentation of Lichen Striatus.

Extracting Spatial Muscle Activation Patterns in Facial and Neck Muscles for Silent Speech Recognition Using High-Density sEMG

Human is capable of producing versatile and precise speech owing to the complex neuromuscular systems that control the movement of facial and neck muscle groups. Silent speech recognition based on surface electromyography (sEMG) has been widely researched, which enables speech communication in the absence of an audible acoustic signal. However, the differences in the activities of facial and neck muscle groups under different phoneme pronunciation conditions have not been well investigated. The present work aims to quantify the macroscopic spatial patterns of the muscle activations at the phoneme level during the movement of facial and neck speech articulator muscle groups (SAMGs) using 320-channel high-density (HD) electrode arrays. 10 subjects performed 14 vowel speech tasks and 15 consonant speech tasks in audible speech and silent speech modes, respectively. Specifically, the root-mean-square heat maps of sEMG signals were used to characterize the SAMGs activation patterns. The results show that the muscle activation regions are overlapped under different phoneme pronunciation conditions and symmetric between the left and right sides of face and neck with the average correlation coefficient > 0.9. In addition, the best result can achieve a classification accuracy of 85.78% for consonant and 79.42% for vowel in silent speech mode. The overall results can provide a reference to the hardware or electrode design of portable device for practical use in future work.