475 research outputs found
Learn 2 Move 16-24: effectiveness of an intervention to stimulate physical activity and improve physical fitness of adolescents and young adults with spastic cerebral palsy; a randomized controlled trial
No full textBackground: Persons with cerebral palsy (CP) are at risk for developing an inactive lifestyle and often have poor fitness levels, which may lead to secondary health complications and diminished participation and quality of life. However, persons with CP also tend not to receive structural treatment to improve physical activity and fitness in adolescence, which is precisely the period when adult physical activity patterns are established. Methods: We aim to include 60 adolescents and young adults (16-24 years) with spastic CP. Participants will be randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group (no treatment; current policy). The intervention will last 6 months and consist of three parts; 1) counselling on daily physical activity; 2) physical fitness training; and 3) sports advice. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, all participants will be measured before, during, directly after, and at 6 months following the intervention period. Primary outcome measures will be: 1) physical activity level, which will be measured objectively with an accelerometry-based activity monitor during 72 h and subjectively with the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities; 2) aerobic fitness, which will be measured with a maximal ramp test on a bicycle or armcrank ergometer and a 6-minute walking or wheelchair test; 3) neuromuscular fitness, which will be measured with handheld dynamometry; and 4 body composition, which will be determined by measuring body mass, height, waist circumference, fat mass and lipid profile. Conclusions: This paper outlines the design, methodology and intervention of a multicenter randomized controlled trial (LEARN 2 MOVE 16-24) aimed at examining the effectiveness of an intervention that is intended to permanently increase physical activity levels and improve fitness levels of adolescents and young adults with CP by achieving a behavioral change toward a more active lifestyle. Trial registration: Dutch Trial Register; NTR1785
fMRI functional and effective connectivity in humans supports a direct pathway from Thalamus to hMT+
No full textfMRI functional and effective connectivity in humans supports a direct pathway from Thalamus to hMT+
No full textMorphodynamics of the Karnali Fluvial Fan: An assessment of the effects of human interventions on the morphodynamics of an alluvial river using optical remote sensing data
No full textHumans have a long history of intervening in natural river systems. These human interventions affect how water and sediment interact with the bed and banks of the river. The interaction between water and sediment is called morphodynamics and is an important component of the natural ecosystem of the river and its surroundings. This research aims to investigate if human interventions have disturbed the natural morphodynamics in the Karnali fluvial fan and if this can be the cause of grassland degradation in the adjacent floodplains of the Bardiya national park. To do so, the following research question is answered: What is the relation between human interventions and the morphodynamics of the Karnali fluvial fan? To do so, a method is developed where a time-series analysis of the morphodynamics is performed, based on discharge and optical remote sensing data. The flow regime is investigated by computing the temporal evolution of discharge, the flow duration curve, the base flow index, and the water distribution at the bifurcation in the upstream part of the fan. Morphodynamic parameters that can be described using remote sensing data concern the planform and the land cover of the river channel-belt. The planform dynamics are described by looking at the evolution of the sinuosity and braiding, and the land cover dynamics are represented by the evolution of the river's channel, sediment bar, and grassland areas. The most important human interventions are identified, after which the relation between the morphodynamics and the human interventions is assessed. No evidence was found that human interventions have significantly influenced the evolution of the morphodynamics of the Karnali fluvial fan. Only on a small scale, changes or peculiarities in morphodynamic parameters can be attributed to human interventions. In this case study, the construction of embankments reduced lateral erosion, and the Kailashpuri dam influenced upstream sedimentation and erosion processes. A shift of the main stream from the eastern to western river branch in 2009 most likely caused a change in river-floodplain interaction in the branch closest to the Bardiya national park. The quantities of sediment and water extraction were found to be negligible in comparison to the natural water and sediment fluxes.This research is the first step in quantifying the morphodynamic behaviour of the Karnali fluvial fan and indicates which are the most important drivers of morphodynamic changes. Besides this contribution, the study also includes the development of a methodology that could improve remote sensing-based morphodynamics studies.Water Managemen
L’attachement subjectif à la laïcité et le désir de domination
No full textInternational audienceLa laïcité incarne-t-elle un principe politique qui engage vers plus le liberté etd’égalité ? Ou, au contraire, est-ce un instrument au service de la dominationd’un groupe sur un autre ? Malgré l’importance de ces questions, et lesdébats qu’elle suscite, il y a peu de tentatives visant à objectiver une réponsesur ce sujet. Dans cette communication, je présente un survol d’une série derecherches (enquêtes de terrain, expérimentations en laboratoire, enquêtesnationales) qui permettent d’aboutir à quelques constations en décalageavec le discours ambiant. D’abord, et de manière générale, les personneségalitaires (selon leurs réponses à l’échelle d’orientation à la dominancesociale, Duarte, Dambrun & Guimond, 2004) sont plus attachées à la laïcité que les personnes inégalitaires. Cependant, face à une menace d’ordresymbolique et culturel (i. e. les « musulmans » menacent les valeursfrançaises), telle que mesurée dans les réponses à un questionnaire ou induitecomme variable indépendante dans une expérimentation, les personnesinégalitaires deviennent aussi fortement attachées à la laïcité que lespersonnes égalitaires, mais elles en détournent le sens en direction d’unenouvelle laïcité d’interdiction (cf. Roebroeck & Guimond, 2017). Ces résultatssuggèrent, conformément à la théorie de la malléabilité des idéologies deEric Knowles et collègues (2009), que la laïcité est devenue en France uneidéologie malléable dont certaines personnes exploitent le sens en vued’atteindre des objectifs inégalitaires
Numerical Modelling of a Metal Vapour Flow inside a Vapour Distribution Box
No full textVapour Distribution Boxes (VDBs) are used for continuous Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) coating. The present study shows a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of Zinc vapour inside a VDB, analyses the lateral Zinc vapour distribution and identifies regions in which phase change is likely to happen.Molecular Science and Technolog
dMRI: Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Window onto Structural Brain Networks and White Matter Microstructure
No full textDiffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dmri) can be used to probe the connectivity and microstructure of human brain tissue non-invasively in vivo. The diffusion-weighted mr signal has sensitivity to micrometer-scale tissue properties averaged over the imaging voxel size, for example, intra-cellular and extra-cellular volumes and the 3d orientations of axonal bundles. It derives its contrast from sensitivity to the bulk displacement of water through what is known as thermal motion, brownian motion, or passive (self-)diffusion. In the brain, cell membranes, organelles, and myelin sheaths create barriers and form biological compartments that constrain the displacement of water molecules, modifying the statistical behavior of bulk diffusion over time. This review therefore focuses on the use of dmri for estimates of the local orientations and estimates of microstructure of fiber tracts, and on an understanding of dmri signal mechanisms and appropriate signal processing and modeling for this purpose. It first discusses basic diffusion mri acquisition principles and diffusion contrast and the constraints the acquisition places on the modeling of diffusion. It then sets out the diffusion tensor model, the most used model in dmri that underlies diffusion tensor imaging, in a way which prepares a discussion of its limitations. The next sections set out advances in dmri beyond dti as focusing on tractography and connectomics, with a need to accurately model spatially complex fiber configurations and on diffusion microstructure, with a need to accurately model restricted diffusion and compartmentalization. Throughout, the emphasis is on a thorough understanding of basic principles and assumptions underlying techniques, as well as their possibilities and limitations for inference of brain connectivity, with a minimum of technical detail and mathematics. This review ends with an outlook on future developments emanating from current trends
To what extent is morphodynamics of Terai Arc Landscape rivers altered by human actions?
No full textGreen Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Rivers, Ports, Waterways and Dredging EngineeringSupport Hydraulic EngineeringWater Resource
Let's walk! Design the gait test station for children
No full textThis project aims at designing a gait test station for children. The gait test station tests children’s walking in Child Brain Lab at Sophia Children’s hospital. The children in this project are at the age of 4-10 with different capacities.There are two scopes in this project, the service scope of the gait test and the experience scope of children. The service scope is to define the current procedure of the gait test. The procedure includes the gait test device, the gait test process, and the test conductor’s working experience. A service blueprint specifies the entire procedure. Another research with physical therapists, child experts, and parents by questionnaire is conducted in the service scope. With those experts’ experiences, I understand children’s related capacities to follow and finish a gait test; some design opportunities also are found. Regarding the scope of children’s experience, as the gait test station has not been set up at the hospital, the research with children is conducted at home, based on the defined service blueprint. In the Covid-19 situation, the children are researched remotely or at the family home with permission. With the research results, children’s current situations are defined and depicted in the experience maps. The current situations are four different typical situations at the gait test station. After the series of research activities, children’s current problems at the gait test station are defined. I formulate my design goal as Design an experience journey for children’s (aged 4-10) gait test to induce their natural walking, make them motivated and fun, or learn about the walking. A shortlist of design requirements is also concluded in the service scope. Before the design phase, there is a project phase of design sprints. I test and iterate different interventions in this phase for several rounds. With the intervention iterations, I can emphasize more on children to better design for them. With the iteration results, the design patterns are concluded on children’s experience maps. A list of design elements is also concluded from the iteration interventions. In the design phase, concepts have been generated with the combination of all the design patterns. As these are the combined concepts, I first evaluate if the concept includes all the design elements in different design patterns. The concepts are also evaluated with the hospital in the service scope. With these two evaluations, one concept has been selected. This concept contains three different tasks for different types of children. The three tasks are exploring walking knowledge, imitating animal walking, and sending animals to the jungle. Children can have one task during the gait test to achieve the envisioned experience. In the final concept, the technology tool is changed from the previous concept to enhance the walking experience. With the final concept, a new service blueprint and a technology roadmap are made as final deliverables. Considering a long-term implementation, I also implemented the concept into the interactive videos for short term use. The interactive videos can directly work at the gait test station, also as a final deliverable
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