1,720,959 research outputs found
Upper limb coordination during reach to grasp tasks performed at self-selected and maximal speeds
No full textStroke affects 110 000 people every year in England (Dept. Health, 2007). Post-stroke upper limb impairment often restricts reach to grasp tasks. This work forms part of on-going research aimed at developing a rehabilitation system using functional electrical stimulation (FES), mediated by advanced iterative learning control (ILC) algorithms. Performance error during a task is corrected by ILC, using data from previous trials to update the FES signal during the subsequent trial (Freeman et al., 2012). The aim of this work was to quantify upper limb coordination during reach to grasp tasks, with the purpose of informing the ILC control algorithms to be used with FES
Goal-Orientated Upper Limb Stroke Rehabilitation Utilizing Functional Electrical Stimulation and Advanced Sensing and Control Technologies
No full textA qualitative study exploring views and experiences of people with stroke undergoing transcranial direct current stimulation and upper limb robot therapy
No full textBackgroundNeurorehabilitation technologies used mainly in research such as robot therapy (RT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can promote upper limb motor recovery after stroke. Understanding the feasibility and efficacy of stroke rehabilitation technologies for upper limb impairments is crucial for effective implementation in practice. Small studies have explored views of RT by people with stroke; however experiences of people receiving tDCS in combination with RT have never been explored.ObjectiveTo explore views and experiences of people with sub-acute and chronic stroke that had previously taken part in a randomised controlled trial involving tDCS and RT for their impaired upper limb.MethodsAn interview study includes open and closed questions. Face-to-face interviews were audio recorded. Open-ended question responses were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis; closed questions were analyzed using descriptive analysis.ResultsParticipants felt that RT was enjoyable (90%) and beneficial for their affected arm (100%). From the open question data, it was found that the intervention was effective for the impaired arm especially in the sub-acute stage. Main reported concerns were that tDCS caused painful, itching and burning sensations and RT was sometimes tiring and difficult. Participants recommended that future research should focus on designing a more comfortable method of tDCS and develop a robot that promotes hand movements.ConclusionsThis study provides new knowledge about the benefits and barriers associated with these technologies which are crucial to the future effective implementation of these tools in practice.</p
Participant Feedback in the Evaluation of Novel Stroke Rehabilitation Technologies
Full text linkAbstract: Purpose: Stroke participant perspectives are used to evaluate a novel rehabilitation system employing electrical stimulation (ES) technology combined with robotic assistance and virtual reality. The broader implications of such feedback for future technological development are discussed. Method: While supported by a robot, ES was applied to the triceps and anterior deltoid muscles of 5 chronic stroke participants with upper limb impairment to assist them in completing functional, virtual reality tracking tasks. Advanced ES controllers adjusted the amount of ES applied on each attempt to improve accuracy and maximise voluntary effort. The system was evaluated in terms of participants ’ perspectives, expressed during a semi-structured interview, and clinical outcome measures. Results: The rehabilitation system was well accepted by participants and viewed positively, despite mixed opinions regarding effectiveness. Feedback demonstrated an alignment in participants ’ perceptions of reduced impairment and clinical outcomes, in which a significant (p < 0.001) mean change of 9.3 in Fugl-Meyer scores was observed. Participant feedback also provided insight into individual differences observed in clinical outcomes. From our findings six key issues regarding effectiveness, muscles trained, system flexibility and portability, possible discomfort and the value of participant perspectives emerged that may be relevant for researchers developing new rehabilitation technologies. Conclusion: Participant feedback via a semi-structured interview provided important insight into the usability and effectiveness of using this system as a platform for upper limb stroke rehabilitation
The application of precisely controlled functional electrical stimulation to the shoulder, elbow and wrist for upper limb stroke rehabilitation: a feasibility study
Full text linkFunctional electrical stimulation (FES) during repetitive practice of everyday tasks can facilitate recovery of upper limb function following stroke. Reduction in impairment is strongly associated with how closely FES assists performance, with advanced iterative learning control (ILC) technology providing precise upper-limb assistance. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of extending ILC technology to control FES of three muscle groups in the upper limb to facilitate functional motor recovery post-stroke
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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