Participation Index Research Articles

An appraisal of people's participation in the joint forest management programme in the Kashmir Himalayas

People's participation in decision-making processes in the domain of forest management has been acknowledged as an effective mechanism for improving livelihoods and forest conditions. The present study makes an attempt to ascertain the participation levels and identify the factors influencing the people's participation in Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes in the Kashmir Himalayas. The study is based on primary data, with a sample size of 434 households collected through a two-stage random sampling survey. The Participation Index (PI) was used to measure people's participation across different stages: planning, implementation, and monitoring. The determinants that influence the level of participation are then analyzed through the Binary Logistic Regression Model (BLRM). The findings indicate that the people's participation at the planning stage was 47.93%, at the implementation stage 54.38%, and at the monitoring stage 49.46%, indicating an overall moderate level of participation. The BLRM depicts that among the selected variables, gender, marital status, years of schooling, land holding size, income from forest, distance from the market, training, knowledge, and information have a significantly positive influence, while age, distance from the forest, restrictions on charcoal/timber harvesting, and a lack of incentives were found to have a significant negative influence on the people's participation in the JFM programme. Therefore, policy reforms should be reoriented to improve the organizational structure of forest management groups and implement fair benefit-sharing mechanisms, which are crucial for enhancing the participation of local communities in forest management initiatives.

Adoption of community-based land rehabilitation programs (CBLRP) and its effect on livelihoods in Offa district, south Ethiopia

Land degradation is a major issue in Ethiopia and has a significant impact on agriculture and subsistence. Community-based land restoration projects are essential to address this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a community-based land restoration programs and its impact on livelihoods in the Offa District of south Ethiopia. Four Kebeles were randomly selected for the study and 133 household heads (52 program participants and 81 non-participants) were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data was collected by using an interview schedule, focus-group discussions, and key informant interviews. Data were analyzed using a binary logistic regression model, propensity score matching, participation index (PI), t-test, and chi-square test. The results showed that the implemented land rehabilitation measures had higher crop production and farm income for most adopter households compared to their counterparts. The logistic regression model revealed that the slope of farmland, gender of household heads, family size, perception of rehabilitation, access to training, and farm experience positively influenced household participation in the community-based land rehabilitation programme (CBLRP) in the study area. However, the age of the respondents, access to education, size of farmland, frequency of extension contact positively and ownership of livestock negatively influenced household participation. Propensity score matching revealed that CBLRP resulted in higher crop output and farm revenue for most participating families than counterparts. Based on these findings, it is recommended that agricultural and rural development offices, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders should consider the factors that influence household participation in rehabilitation programs in the study area to effectively address the issue of the households’ participation at various levels of rehabilitation programs.

Index of active participation in society

The concept of Active citizenship is gaining importance. Ignoring the issues of selection of dimensions and items, the paper addresses methodological issues and aggregation of indicators of multidimensional active participation index (PI) by two methods. Policy makers and researchers can take advantages of the proposed methods of arithmetic aggregation (Method-1) with normally distributed transformed scores or multiplicative aggregation (Method-2) without scaling and choosing weights. Thus, the Method-2 avoids the problems of rank robustness specific to selection of weights. Multiplicative aggregation proposed in Method-2 can be converted to additive model by taking logarithms. Normal distributions of two or more groups by Method-1 are likely to give rise to lower value of Ginis coefficient indicating equality. Avoiding major limitations of ordinal scores, both methods satisfy desired properties, analysis under parametric set up for meaningful comparisons including testing of statistical hypothesis, identification of critical dimensions, ranking of the dimensions by elasticity, assessment of progress/decline of PI, etc. Method-2 offers more generalized approach satisfying time reversal test and formation of chain indices. However, test of normality is required for this method unlike the Method-1 which ensures normally distributed scores.

Predictors of hospital readmission after trauma: A retrospective cohort study in New Zealand

IntroductionUnderstanding predictors of hospital readmission following major trauma is important as readmissions are costly and some are potentially avoidable. This study describes the incidence of, and sociodemographic, injury-related and treatment-related factors predictive of, hospital readmission related to: a) all-causes, b) the index trauma injury, and c) subsequent injury events in the 30 days and 12 months following discharge for major trauma patients nationally in New Zealand. MethodsData from the New Zealand Trauma Registry (NZTR) was linked with Ministry of Health hospital discharge data. Hospital readmissions were examined for all patients entered into the NZTR for an injury event between 1 January and 31 December 2018. Readmissions were examined for the 12-months following the discharge date for participant's index trauma injury. ResultsOf 1986 people, 42% had ≥1 readmission in the 12 months following discharge; 15% within 30 days. Seven percent had ≥1 readmission related to the index trauma within 30 days of discharge; readmission was 3.43 (95% CI 1.87, 6.29) times as likely if the index trauma was self-inflicted compared to unintentional, and 1.64 (95% CI 1.15, 2.34) times as likely if the index trauma involved intensive care unit admission. Those admitted to hospital for longer for their index trauma were less likely to be readmitted due to their index trauma injury within 30 days compared to those admitted for 0–1 day. Seventeen percent were readmitted for a subsequent injury event within 12 months, with readmission more likely for older people (>65 years), those with comorbidities, Māori compared with non-Māori and those with higher trauma injury severity. ConclusionA substantial proportion of people are readmitted after discharge for major trauma. Factors identified in this study will be useful to consider when developing interventions to reduce preventable readmissions including those related to the index trauma injury, readmissions from other causes and subsequent injury-related readmissions. Further research specifically examining planned and unplanned readmissions is warranted.

What to look for in setting sports training tasks for young players? Analysis of the numerical configuration of players and court size constraints on futsal small-sided games performance difficulty level and player participation

ABSTRACT This study aimed to analyse the effects of the numerical configuration of players and court size constraints on futsal small-sided game (SSG) performance difficulty level and player participation. For that, the degree of effectiveness of 6155 offensive actions performed by 59 young players (9–12 years) was investigated in six SSG conditions (2v1a, 2v1b, 2v2, 3v3, 4v2, and 2v4). For the analysis, the raw data were transformed into three indexes: Difficulty Index Without the Ball (DI WOB), Difficulty Index With the Ball (DI WB), and Participation Index (PI). Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in the effectiveness of actions performed without the ball and with the ball indicated that the SSGs presented different levels of performance difficulty and player participation. More effective actions were performed in attack superiority configurations and full-court sizes, especially if these constraints were combined, indicating they induced an easier level of play. Court size constraint affected player participation in an inversely proportional fashion (larger spaces of practice induced less player participation). The study results are useful to adjust futsal SSGs for players with different skills. In addition, the adopted action evaluation approach has the potential to become the SSG a performance scanner for the players’ current level.

Community-Based Watershed Development Processes and Extent of Community Participation in the Northwestern Highlands of Ethiopia

This study describes processes followed and involvement of community members in implementation of community-based watershed development (CBWD) projects in three micro-watersheds (Adef Wuha, Guansa and Tija Baji) in northwest Ethiopia. Data was collected through household survey from systematically selected 114 household heads that possessed farmlands in the study watersheds. Focus group discussion and key informant interviews were also conducted to collect supplementary qualitative information. Participation index (PI) was used to measure the extent of community participation in the different activities of watershed development. The results showed that the extent of community participation could be rated as moderate, with a PI score of about 63%. The communities had actively participated in the selection of members of Community Watershed Planning Teams (CWPT) and in discussions on watershed development plans subsequently developed, identifying problems and prioritizing local needs and in preparations of conservation bylaws. They also actively participated in the implementation of physical soil and water conservation (SWC) (terraces, cutoff drains, water ways, check-dams, hand-dug well and spring development) and biological measures (afforestation, planting trees and grasses, and nursery development). The households received food and hand tools (e.g. spade) in return for their participation. Dependency to food and material support, high expert turnover, low level and partiality of bylaws implementation, shortage of grazing land and fuel wood were the main challenges that affect the sustainability of the watershed development outcomes. In other words, these should be addressed to ensure sustainability of the achievements. Keywords: Land degradation; community watershed conservation; participation index; Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/87-02 Publication date: September 30 th 2022

The Effect of Social Capital on the Welfare of Coastal Populations of Rokan Hilir Riau Indonesia

This study aimed to analyze the effect of social capital on the welfare of the coastal population of Rokan Hilir Regency. This study used a survey method with a quantitative approach. Welfare indicators include income, family expenditure, health and access to health services, housing conditions and facilities, education, and access to transportation. Meanwhile, the indicators of social capital include network participation variables, reciprocal relations, trust, social norms, social values ​​and proactiveness. The results of this study showed that six variables of social capital had a positive influence on the increase in coastal people welfare. These variables contribute at the level of 64.0% in terms of welfare improvement. The network participation variable (PN) affects more effectively than other variables, where an increase of one unit of the network participation index (PN) will increase the welfare level index (Y) to 0.451. Furthermore, the reciprocity (RC) and proactive (PR) variables have an equal effect on welfare, where an increase of one unit will increase the welfare index (Y) by 0.120 - 0.124 units with a significant level of 0.1. Finally, the variables of trust (TR), norm (SN) and value (SV) have an equal effect on welfare (Y) of 0.9 - 0.112, meaning that if one or all the three variables increase by one unit index, the welfare (Y) will increase between 0.9 - 0.112 index units

Spatial Negative Co-Location Pattern Directional Mining Algorithm with Join-Based Prevalence

It is usually difficult for prevalent negative co-location patterns to be mined and calculated. This paper proposes a join-based prevalent negative co-location mining algorithm, which can quickly and effectively mine all the prevalent negative co-location patterns in spatial data. Firstly, this paper verifies the monotonic nondecreasing property of the negative co-location participation index (PI) value as the size increases. Secondly, using this property, it is deduced that any prevalent negative co-location pattern with size n can be generated by connecting prevalent co-location with size 2 and with an n − 1 size candidate negative co-location pattern or an n − 1 size prevalent positive co-location pattern. Finally, the experiment results demonstrate that while other conditions are fixed, the proposed algorithm has an excellent efficiency level. The algorithm can eliminate the 90% useless negative co-location pattern maximumly and eliminate the useless 40% negative co-location pattern averagely.

The relationship between the effect of hand visibility on visuotactile temporal resolution and autistic traits.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have atypical sensory processing, particularly when sensory stimuli are delivered from different modalities with a temporal lag of subseconds. Previousstudies have suggested that individuals with ASD require a longer temporal lag to judge temporal orders of successive audiovisual stimuli than neurotypical individuals; however, it remains unclear whether a lower temporal resolution in the visuotactile domain is associated with an individual's autistic traits. In addition, a previous study demonstrated that visuotactile temporal resolution degraded when the participants saw a hand image on a display. In this study, we investigated whether the temporal resolution of the visuotactile stimuli degrades when the participant's own hand or rubber hands are visible, and whether the effect of the hand's visibility on the temporal resolution decreases according to an individual's autistic traits. We used the temporal order judgment (TOJ) of the vibrotactile stimulus delivered to the participant's index finger and an LED attached above their own hand or rubber hand. Our findings suggest that when participants could not see their hand, temporal order judgment tended to be coarser in participants with higher autistic traits. However, this tendency was not observed when they could see both their own or the rubber hands. Moreover, temporal resolution degraded when the participants could see their own hands. These results indicate that autistic traits influence the temporal resolution of visuotactile stimuli if they are delivered as external signals in TOJ.

Understanding forest users' participation in participatory forest management (PFM): Insights from Mt. Elgon forest ecosystem, Kenya

Participation of local communities in forest management decision-making has been promoted as a mechanism of improving livelihoods and forest conditions, yet the level of participation in many programs remains low. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 924 forest-dependent households in Western Kenya, we examine the factors that support or constrain forest dependent people's participation in a Participatory Forest Management (PFM) program. We run a probit model to assess households' choice to join PFM and then compute a Participation Index (PI) for forest users' participation across different stages of the PFM program – planning, implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E). The determinants of participation are then analyzed using the fractional regression approach. Results show that over half (52%) of the respondents participated in PFM. While vulnerability to shocks, being in a farmers' group, a household's access to the forest within the previous 12 months and access to extension were associated with the likelihood of participating in PFM, the influence of the household head's age and education, access to credit and food insecurity had a negative influence. Our results reveal PIs of 41%, 49%, and 42% at the planning, implementation, and M&E stages respectively, indicating a moderate participation level. The fractional regression model shows that transaction costs associated with access to markets, gender (being male), household expenditure and expected forest benefits positively influence household participation in PFM, while the opportunity costs associated with off-farm income, distance to the forest and lack of extension have a negative influence on participation. These results point to the need to take the household context (gender, education, household expenditure and vulnerability) into consideration during planning and implementation of the forestry programs. The implication is that forest authorities should identify and implement mechanisms to enhance benefits from forests but also reduce costs of participation, especially for women.

Determinants of forest dependent household’s participation in payment for ecosystem services: Evidence from Plantation Establishment Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS) in Kenya

Payment for ecosystem service (PES) programs are increasingly being promoted as suitable mechanisms for addressing degradation of forest resources in developing countries. While interest in PES has grown over the last decade, empirical research on factors influencing household involvement in PES remains limited. This paper analyses factors influencing household participation in a forestry PES scheme in Kenya. Drawing on a cross sectional survey of 919 households in Mt Elgon, Kenya, we estimate a household participation index (PI) in the Plantation Establishment Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS) program based on involvement in nine key program activities. We then run a Heckpoisson model to determine factors that affect household participation in the PES program. The results show that while the level of participation was medium (with nearly 50% of eligible households participating), involvement was higher among the wealthier and male headed households. The intensity of participation across PELIS activities was above average (reflected in a participation index of 5.3 out of a maximum nine). The key factors associated with participation were access to forest benefits (products and share of PELIS income) and having a positive attitude towards environmental conservation. The access to different forms of household capitals was found to have varying influence on participation, depending on household socioeconomic context. While ownership of livestock had a positive influence on participation, the effect of farm size and off-farm income was negative. Equally, the level of expected crop harvests had a negative influence on participation suggesting presence of incentive incompatibility among some benefits. Our findings have three important implications. First, the low level of participation among the women and poor, and resultant disproportionate distribution of benefits suggests the need for mechanisms to reduce program costs and other barriers that limit participation of the poor and marginalized groups. Second, the varying influence of household capitals point to the importance of taking into consideration gender and other socio economic contexts when designing and implementing PES programs. Lastly, considering that PELIS can only enrol a limited number of participants, PES programs may need to expand the range of incentives in order to accommodate more beneficiaries.

Spatial Characteristic of Tourism Sites on Neighborhood Support Facilities and Proximities in Cultural World Heritage Sites

Tourism is continuously developing as a new economic source in Indonesia. Tourism activities extend to the various services, products, and experiences provided in the tourism site’s surrounding area. Tourism development requires information on possible related activities with tourism. However, there was a lack of studies that examined the relationship between tourism sites and the simultaneous presence of multiple public facilities, which would reveal the value of proximity. This paper aims to investigate the proximity patterns of tourism sites and the support facilities, to develop a strategy for tourism sites. The average nearest-neighbor results verify that there are clustering tendencies for almost all datasets. The Kernel Density Estimation (KDE)-based raster’s were created to visualize the patterns of tourism sites and nearby public facilities, which located near three world cultural heritage sites in Indonesia. Co-location pattern mining was applied to examine the co-location behavior between tourism sites and tourism support facilities using the Participation Index (PI) as the measurement parameter. This study provides knowledge, specifically the existence of co-location rules between tourism sites and tourism support facilities, which consist of food services, accommodations, transportation, shopping, and other tourism support facilities. The network graph shows that the location of tourism support facilities can be affected by the types of tourism sites, providing practical implications for individuals, business owners, and policymakers. Government policies related to planning for tourism destination development that consider the characteristics of spatial interactions are expected to be able to support government targets for increasing lengths of stay and tourist expenditures.

Dynamic network properties of the interictal brain determine whether seizures appear focal or generalised

Current explanatory concepts suggest seizures emerge from ongoing dynamics of brain networks. It is unclear how brain network properties determine focal or generalised seizure onset, or how network properties can be described in a clinically-useful manner. Understanding network properties would cast light on seizure-generating mechanisms and allow to quantify to which extent a seizure is focal or generalised. Functional brain networks were estimated in segments of scalp-EEG without interictal discharges (68 people with epilepsy, 38 controls). Simplified brain dynamics were simulated using a computer model. We introduce: Critical Coupling (Cc), the ability of a network to generate seizures; Onset Index (OI), the tendency of a region to generate seizures; and Participation Index (PI), the tendency of a region to become involved in seizures. Cc was lower in both patient groups compared with controls. OI and PI were more variable in focal-onset than generalised-onset cases. In focal cases, the regions with highest OI and PI corresponded to the side of seizure onset. Properties of interictal functional networks from scalp EEG can be estimated using a computer model and used to predict seizure likelihood and onset patterns. This may offer potential to enhance diagnosis through quantification of seizure type using inter-ictal recordings.

Characterization of jet-in-hot-coflow flames using tangential stretching rate

This article presents a numerical study of a jet-in-hot-coflow (JHC) burner which emulates Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) conditions. Such combustion regime offers reduction in pollutant emissions and improvements in efficiency. However, some phenomena like the relations between auto-ignition and flame propagation, local extinction and re-ignition are not easily detected by experimental analysis or through the inspection of CFD calculations. The advanced post-processing tools based on the theories of computational singular perturbation (CSP) and tangential stretching rate (TSR) are adopted to investigate the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) results of the JHC burner with different coflow oxygen levels. A topological characterization of the flowfield is achieved employing the local number of chemically exhausted modes, highlighting regions that share similar dynamical features. Strong chemical activity, denoted by a small number of exhausted modes, is found in the fuel/coflow mixing layer and, to a minor extent, in the coflow/air mixing layer, exhibiting correlation with the higher heat release rate zones. The analysis of the reactive layers with TSR suggests that the flame under MILD condition is initiated by auto-ignition. Moreover, the investigation of the TSR participation indices (PIs) mark the local extinction and re-ignition zone for the low oxygen level case, indicating that the lack of oxygen in the coflow suppresses the path to produce final combustion products and heat—thus reducing the reactivity of the whole system.

The association between digit ratio (2D:4D) and overweight or obesity among Chinese children and adolescents: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between 2D:4D and childhood overweight or obesity, which might indirectly show the role of prenatal hormone in childhood overweight or obesity. MethodsUsing stratified cluster sampling approach, a school-based cross-sectional investigation was undertaken among 687 children and adolescents aged 8–15 years. Each participant's index finger (2D) and ring finger (4D) length, height, weight, testosterone, and estradiol levels were measured, and their dietary behaviors, physical and sedentary activities were also surveyed. ResultsThe prevalence of overweight or obesity among children and adolescents aged 8- and 12–15 years was 36.0% and 25.9%, respectively (P < 0.05). There were no associations between 2D:4D and overweight or obesity in both boys and girls (P > 0.05). However, 2D and multiplying index of digit ratio and length (MIDRL) associated directly with overweight or obesity among boys (OR (95%CI) were 1.45 (1.00, 2.14), 1.46 (1.01, 2.11), respectively), and was indirectly related to overweight or obesity by testosterone (OR were 1.30, 1.26, respectively). ConclusionsIn boys, 2D and MIDRL were directly related to overweight or obesity, and indirectly associated with overweight or obesity by testosterone, which suggested that prenatal hormone exposure might associate with overweight or obesity among boys.

A Markov chain analysis for BIST participation index

This study addresses the trend estimation of the participation indices (PARTI) in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) using Markov chain (MC) theory. PARTI can be regarded as the Participation 50 Index (KAT50) and the Participation 30 Index (KATLM). Since KAT50 has only been calculated since 9th July 2014, there are only a few studies on this index. Therefore, in this study, we examine the PARTI indices. Firstly, we have employed MC method using 520 daily closing values of KATLM, between 1st July 2014 and 29th July 2016. For the KAT50 index, we used 514 daily closing values between 9th July 2014 and 29th July 2016, considering the states of these indices as increasing, decreasing or remaining stable. In order to perform a Markov chain analysis relating to prediction of the future situation, a transition probability matrix was created. Using this matrix, a steady-state analysis of the chain was performed and the future trends of KAT50-KATLM were forecasted successfully. It can be concluded that the results of this study are very helpful for individual and institutional investors’ investment decisions within global economies.

Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis for a Jet-in-Hot-Coflow burner operating in MILD combustion

Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of Moderate and Intense Low oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion of a Jet-in-Hot-Coflow (JHC) burner were performed using detailed chemistry. On the contrary to traditional flames, where heat release is occurring in very thin fronts, MILD combustion occurs in the distributed reaction regime where the reaction zone is broad, thus, this paper applies a direct Arrhenius closure with detailed chemistry to resolve important details of the fuel oxidation reactions. Comparisons of LES results are in good agreement with experiments, demonstrating that the simulations capture the intermediate species and finite reaction rate effects. A Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis (CEMA) was used to determine the flame structure and to detect the pre- and post-ignition regions, including the contributions to the CEMs analyzing the Explosion Index (EI) and Participation Index (PI). To the best of our knowledge, a detailed study of CEMA on MILD or flameless regime has never been reported. The flame structure was clearly visualized with CEMA, as well as the lean and the rich flame fronts. Different flame zones close to the anchoring points of these turbulent lifted flames were selected and the analysis demonstrates the contributions of dominant chemical species, such as HO2 and O. The reactions related to the dominant local CEM were obtained to highlight the nature of the stabilization in these highly diluted operating conditions.

Forest users’ level of participation in a participatory forest management program in southwestern Ethiopia

ABSTRACTThis study examines the level of forest users’ participation at different stages of a participatory forest management (PFM) program, and identifies factors that influence their level of participation in the Gebradima forest, southwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from five forest user groups (FUGs) through household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. A participation index (PI) and binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that the level of the forest users’ PI was 65.7%, 59%, and 54.9% at the planning, implementation, and monitoring stages, respectively. The logistic regression model showed that gender, family size, education level, income from the forest, distance of the forest from home, restriction on charcoal and timber harvesting, elite domination in decision-making processes, and lack of incentives were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) predictors for the level of participation. Thus, this study suggests that policy-makers and project designers should consider these factors in making future PFM implementation strategies to improve the level of forest users’ participation in forest management activities.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Research on Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs in India during 1998-2013

Background : We carried out a bibliometric study on the scientific publications on atypical antipsychotic drugs (AADs) from India. Methods : Using the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases, we performed the selection of documents produced in India. We applied bibliometric indicators of production and dispersion, namely Price’s law on the increase of scientific literature and Bradford’s law, respectively. We also calculated the participation index (PI) of different countries. The bibliometric data have also been correlated with relevant social and health data from India (including total per capita expenditure on health and gross domestic expenditure on research and development). Results : In this study, we identified 639 original documents published between 1998 and 2013 from India. Our results indicated fulfilment of Price’s law (correlation coefficient r = 0.9619 after exponential adjustment vs. r = 0.9382 after linear adjustment). The most widely studied AADs were olanzapine (173 documents), clozapine (117), risperidone (100) and quetiapine (65). Publications appeared in 221 different journals, with only 4 of the top 10 journals having an impact factor greater than 2. Division into Bradford zones yielded a nucleus occupied by the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (53 articles). It is remarkable that the 27.38% of the production is devoted to “medical/pharmaceutical chemistry” field. India has the largest ratio PI AAD / PI Psychiatry and Neurology in the world’s 12 most productive countries in biomedicine and health sciences. Conclusions : The publications on AADs in India have undergone exponential growth over the studied period, without evidence of reaching a saturation point. Financial disclosure : The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Topography of Synchronization of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials Elicited by Stimulation of the Sciatic Nerve in Rat.

Purpose: Traditionally, the topography of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) is generated based on amplitude and latency. However, this operation focuses on the physical morphology and field potential-power, so it suffers from difficulties in performing identification in an objective manner. In this study, measurement of the synchronization of SEPs is proposed as a method to explore brain functional networks as well as the plasticity after peripheral nerve injury.Method: SEPs elicited by unilateral sciatic nerve stimulation in twelve adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats in the normal group were compared with SEPs evoked after unilateral sciatic nerve hemisection in four peripheral nerve injured SD rats. The characterization of synchronized networks from SEPs was conducted using equal-time correlation, correlation matrix analysis, and comparison to randomized surrogate data. Eigenvalues of the correlation matrix were used to identify the clusters of functionally synchronized neuronal activity, and the participation index (PI) was calculated to indicate the involvement of each channel in the cluster. The PI value at the knee point of the PI histogram was used as a threshold to demarcate the cortical boundary.Results: Ten out of the twelve normal rats showed only one synchronized brain network. The remaining two normal rats showed one strong and one weak network. In the peripheral nerve injured group, only one synchronized brain network was found in each rat. In the normal group, all network shapes appear regular and the network is largely contained in the posterior cortex. In the injured group, the network shapes appear irregular, the network extends anteriorly and posteriorly, and the network area is significantly larger. There are considerable individual variations in the shape and location of the network after peripheral nerve injury.Conclusion: The proposed method can detect functional brain networks. Compared to the results of the traditional SEP-morphology-based analysis method, the synchronized functional network area is much larger. Furthermore, the proposed method can also characterize the rapid cortical plasticity after a peripheral nerve is acutely injured.