The hand brace is worn on the dorsal side of the impaired hand with 2 surface sensors attached to the extensor and flexor muscles of the arm to detect the surface electromyographic signals (sEMG) for active participation during exercise. The sEMG signals are processed so the patient can visualise the active movement of the muscle where sEMG electrodes are positioned. Different training modes allow the therapist to customise the level of assistance that the Hand of Hope provides. The difficulty level of each mode can be adjusted according to the patient's need.

The mirror was masked. The intervention was the same as the mirror therapy.

The MRC is an ordinal scale that assesses muscle strength. The scoring for each muscle ranges from 0 to 5, with a higher score indicates stronger muscle. The reliability of MRC for all muscle groups was good to excellent in patients with stroke.

The rNSA includes tactile sensation, kinesthetic sensation, and stereognosis. The rNSA is reliable measure of sensory function in stroke patients. For tactile sensation, the patient will be asked to indicate whenever he or she feels the test sensation. For kinesthetic sensations, all 3 aspects of movement will be tested: appreciation of movement, its direction and accurate joint position sense. The limb on the affected side of the body will be supported and moved by the examiner in various directions but movement is only at one joint at a time. The patients will be asked to mirror the change of movement with the other limb. For stereognosis, the object will be placed in the patient's hand for a maximum of 30 seconds. Identification is by naming, description or by pair-matching with an identical set. The object may be moved around the affected hand by the examiner. The rNSA has good intrarater and interrater reliability (Lincoln, Jackson, & Adams, 1998).

The WMFT was designed to assess the effects of CIT on arm function after stroke and traumatic brain injury (Wolf, Lecraw, Barton, & Jann, 1989). There are 15 function-based and 2 strength-based tasks. For timed functional tasks, completion times from 0 to 120 seconds are averaged. For functional ability scoring, 6-point ordinal scales are used, where 0 indicates "does not attempt with the involved arm" and 5 indicates "arm does participate, movement appears to be normal." The clinimetrics of the WMFT has been ascertained in stroke patients.

We include this test because improvement in UL motor control may contribute to arm swing and help generate forward propulsion at the foot (Tester, Barbeau, Howland, Cantrell, & Behrman, 2012) and may improve mobility and functional ambulation (Lin, et al., 2009). The 10MWT assess mobility function by measuring the time and the numbers of strides required to walk 10 meters under two conditions: (1) with the self-pace of each participant (self-pace); (2) with the speed that the participants walked as soon as possible (Rossier & Wade, 2001). The velocity and stride length of the participant are calculated. Research has validated the 10MWT in measuring mobility in stroke.

Raw EMG activities from the muscles of interest during unilateral and bilateral reaching while the patient is sitting and standing will be recorded using the AcqKnowledge data analysis software.

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most commonly administered psychometric screening assessment of cognitive functioning. The MMSE is used to screen patients for cognitive impairment, track changes in cognitive functioning over time, and often to assess the effects of therapeutic agents on cognitive function. The total score of MMSE ranged from 0 to 30. Higher values represent a better cognitive functioning.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) will be used to assess general cognitive functions. It examines several cognitive domains with a total score of 30 and higher values indicate better cognitvie functions. The MoCA has been shown to be a valid and promising tool to evaluate the global cognitive function in patients with stroke. The psychometric properties of MoCA are good to excellent for patients with cerebrovascular diseases.

The MAL consists of 30 structured questions to interview how the patients rate the frequency (amount of use subscale) and quality (quality of movement subscale) of movements while using their affected arm to accomplish each of the 30 daily activities. The score of each item ranges from 0 to 5, and the higher scores indicate more frequently used or higher quality of movements. The clinimetric properties of the MAL in stroke patients have been validated (Uswatte, Taub, Morris, Light, & Thompson, 2006).

The NEADL scale is a measure of Instrumental ADL ability, comprising sub-scales for mobility, household ability and leisure activity. The NEADL consists of 22 activity items, scoring on the basis of the required level of assistance. The range of total score is 0-66, and higher score representing better function. This measure is administered 3 times during the study period.

The SIS 3.0 is a stroke-specific instrument of health-related quality of life. It contains 59 items measuring 8 domains (i.e., strength, hand function, activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living, mobility, communication, emotion. memory and thinking and participation) with a single item assessing perceived overall recovery from stroke. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale with lower scores indicating greater difficulty in task completion during the past week. The reliability, validity, and responsiveness have been shown to be satisfactory in stroke patients.

the Stroke Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ) , a questionnaire developed to measure the most relevant self-efficacy and self-management domains specific to the stroke population. It contains 13 items that are rated on a 0 - 10 scale, with higher scores indicating greater levels of self-efficacy. Questionnaire includes a range of relevant functional tasks such as walking, getting comfortable in bed, as well as some self-management tasks.

The DLSES is designed to measure self-efficacy in psychosocial functioning and self-efficacy in activities of daily living, regardless of level of physical impairment.

The Functional Abilities Confidence Scale (FACS) was designed to measure the degree of self-efficacy or confidence a patient exhibits with various movements or postures.

The kinematic analysis will involve unilateral and bilateral tasks, in which the participants will be asked to perform by using the affected upper limb or both upper limb simultaneously. A motion analysis system with 7 cameras (VICON MX 30d, Oxford Metrics Inc., Oxford, UK) will be used to capture the motion of arm (s) in kinematic testing. The markers will be attached on the styloid processes of the ulna. Depending on the unilateral or bilateral tasks, the makers will be placed on the affected arm or the both arms, respectively.

The Task-based EEG will be collected when participants perform the n-back task before and after the intervention program to examine the effects of training on neural plasticity.