100,534 research outputs found
Modified Kinematic Technique for Measuring Pathological Hyperextension and Hypermobility of the Interphalangeal Joints
No full textDynamic finger joint motion is difficult to measure using optical motion analysis techniques due to the limited surface area allowed for adequate marker placement. This paper describes an extension of a previously validated kinematic measurement technique using a reduced surface marker set and outlines the required calculations based on a specific surface marker placement to calculate flexion/extension and hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal, and distal interphalangeal joints. The modified technique has been assessed for accuracy using a series of static reference frames (absolute residual error = ±3.7°, cross correlation between new method and reference frames; r = 0.99). The method was then applied to a small group of participants with rheumatoid arthritis (seven females, one male; mean age = 62.8 years ± 12.04) and illustrated congruent strategies of movement for a participant and a large range of finger joint movement over the sample (5.8–71.1°, smallest to largest active range of motion). This method used alongside the previous paper [1] provides a comprehensive, validated method for calculating 3-D wrist, hand, fingers, and thumb kinematics to date and provides a valuable measurement tool for clinical research
Restricted access : young people, online networks and school
No full textThere are some good reasons for prohibitive policies that restrict the Internet use of young people but we need to consider how prohibition can affect those who might already suffer from social inequalities. In 2008 the author surveyed young people\u27s Internet access in nine urban, rural and remote regions in Queensland, and analysed how 75 teenagers living in these places were using Internet-based networking environments in their everyday lives. Almost all of the participants liked to consider themselves technologically savvy, but the fact is that most were not and had exaggerated their skills when they completed the author\u27s questionnaire. The author also found that there were vast differences in levels of ICT access at home and in Internet provision and broadband uptake. This led her to think about the vital equalising role of computer and Internet access in schools, but when she looked at education policies and practices, however, she found that when an online network became popular the typical response of Education Queensland was to block its use in state schools. The author argues that these sorts of policies serve to widen social inequalities and that the new opportunities that ICT affords are being unevenly distributed. [Author abstract, ed
Validation and application of a computational model for wrist and hand movements using surface markers
No full textA kinematic model is presented based on surface marker placement generating wrist, metacarpal arch, fingers and thumb movements. Standard calculations are used throughout the model and then applied to the specified marker placement. A static trial involving eight unimpaired participants was carried out to assess inter-rater reliability. The standard deviations across the data were comparable to manual goniometers. In addition, a test retest trial of ten unimpaired participants is also reported to illustrate the variability of movement at the wrist joint, metacarpal arch, and index finger as an example of model output when repeating the same task many times. Light and heavyweight versions of the tasks are assessed and characteristics of individual movement strategies presented. The participant trial showed moderate correlation in radial/ulnar deviation of the wrist ( = 0 65), and strong correlation in both metacarpal arch joints ( = 075 and = 085), the MCP ( = 079), and PIP ( = 087) joints of the index finger. The results indicate that individuals use repeated strategies of movement when lifting light and heavyweight versions of the same object, but showed no obvious repeated pattern of movement across the population
Letter, [Author unclear] to Paulina T. Merritt
No full textHandwritten letter to Paulina Merritt from an unknown author, October 1, 1876.
Handwritten biographical information on Paulina T. McClung Merritt
No full textA handwritten biography of Paulina T. McClung Merritt by an unknown author, 1892.
Heterogeneous and tissue-specific regulation of effector T cell responses by IFN-gamma during Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection.
No full textIFN-γ and T cells are both required for the development of experimental cerebral malaria during Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection. Surprisingly, however, the role of IFN-γ in shaping the effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell response during this infection has not been examined in detail. To address this, we have compared the effector T cell responses in wild-type and IFN-γ(-/-) mice during P. berghei ANKA infection. The expansion of splenic CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells during P. berghei ANKA infection was unaffected by the absence of IFN-γ, but the contraction phase of the T cell response was significantly attenuated. Splenic T cell activation and effector function were essentially normal in IFN-γ(-/-) mice; however, the migration to, and accumulation of, effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the lung, liver, and brain was altered in IFN-γ(-/-) mice. Interestingly, activation and accumulation of T cells in various nonlymphoid organs was differently affected by lack of IFN-γ, suggesting that IFN-γ influences T cell effector function to varying levels in different anatomical locations. Importantly, control of splenic T cell numbers during P. berghei ANKA infection depended on active IFN-γ-dependent environmental signals--leading to T cell apoptosis--rather than upon intrinsic alterations in T cell programming. To our knowledge, this is the first study to fully investigate the role of IFN-γ in modulating T cell function during P. berghei ANKA infection and reveals that IFN-γ is required for efficient contraction of the pool of activated T cells
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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
Going back to our roots: the role of transformatory education in the battle against social exclusion
No full textIn the UK, the 1990s have seen the creation and honing of government generated discourses on social exclusion and lifelong learning. To a remarkable extent these discourses are discrete. The Social Exclusion Unit's recent report 'Bringing Britain together: a national strategy for neighbourhood renewal' addresses various educational issues yet fails to include the phrase 'lifelong learning'. Government publications on lifelong learning dedicate similarly negligible space to social exclusion. The Green Paper 'The Learning Age: a renaissance for a new Britain' suggests that learning 'contributes to social cohesion and fosters a sense of belonging, responsibility and identity' and 'builds local capacity to respond to change' (Uden 1998). Yet in spite of rhetoric espousing 'joined up thinking' to 'joined up problems', the potential of adult education approaches to combatting social exclusion still has to be identified and analysed. As McNair recently observed 'we have not yet got the role of adult learning firmly enough into the minds of those shaping broader social policy as the Social Exclusion Unit's report ... demonstrates' (McNair 1999). Recently completed research which we undertook at a voluntary sector family resource centre situated in a deprived neighbourhood presents some key ideas from which educators could design initiatives grounded in familiar transformatory praxis yet innovatory in the current social exclusion context. In this paper we explore the issues affecting policy and draw on the research findings to show how community education presents a means of reconfiguring the established problem/solution welfare nexus
Pelevin’s Trinity in the novel “t”: author – protagonist – reader
No full textThe article attempts to interpret Pelevin's artistic strategy in the novel "T" by exploring its subject organization and addressing the key problems of the author, the protagonist, and the reader as they are seen by the researcher. The article analyzes the peculiarities of constructing the narrative reality in the novel "T", and goes on to discuss Pelevin's philosophic models of the development of the humankind, and the emergence of his new anthropology
Measuring industry-science links through inventor-author relations: A profiling method
No full textIn this pilot study we examine the performance of text-based profiling in recovering a set of validated inventor-author links. In a first step we match patents and publications solely based on their similarity in content. Next, we compare inventor and author names on the highest ranked matches for the occurrence of name matches. Finally, we compare these candidate matches with the names listed in a validated set of inventor-author names. Our text-based profile methodology performs significantly better than a random matching of patents and publications, suggesting that text-based profiling is a valuable complementary tool to the name searches used in previous studies.innovation; industry-science links; text-based profiling;
- …
