72 research outputs found
Analysis of the progression of alterations in gait electromyography in subjects with diabetic neuropathy classified by a fuzzy linguistic model
No full textO uso de um sistema fuzzy baseado em regras pode permitir uma melhor distinção entre diferentes graus da polineuropatia sensoriomotora distal diabética, possibilitando um esclarecimento de quais são as alterações de atividade muscular e em que estágio da doença elas ocorrem nos diabéticos. As alterações eletromiográficas durante a marcha de diabéticos descritas até hoje não são muito consistentes entre os autores e são sutis, e uma das possíveis causas é a dificuldade em definir grupos experimentais homogêneos com definições claras da gravidade da doença de cada sujeito. Ao classificar pacientes diabéticos em graus de neuropatia de ausente a grave com a lógica fuzzy, ficou elucidado que mudanças na atividade muscular se iniciam mesmo antes da instalação da neuropatia, com atrasos no vasto lateral em 31% na recepção de carga e antecipação do tibial anterior no apoio terminal da marcha em 16%. A neuropatia diabética piora o quadro, exacerbando a antecipação do tibial anterior nas fases mais graves, chegando a uma diferença de 33%, e tornando o pico de ativação do mesmo músculo precoce no início da fase de apoio. As alterações musculares parecem ser causadas por mudanças estruturais e fisiológicas do tecido muscular em si por causa dos sub-produtos gerados pela hiperglicemia em função do mal controle do diabetes mellitus e este quadro é agravado pela instalação dos acometimentos neurológicos com o desenvolvimento da polineuropatia diabéticaThe use of Fuzzy expert model could be an interesting approach to enable a better distinction among different stages of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy, and differences in muscle activity and in the time when these changes start occurring could be elucidated with this classification. EMG alterations during gait, supposedly caused by this disease, are subtle and still not consistent among authors, possibly due to difficulties in defining homogeneous experimental groups with clear definition of the disease stage of each subject. By classifying diabetic patients from absent to severe neuropathy with fuzzy logic, it clarified that muscle activity changes begin even before diabetic neuropathy is established , with delays of up to 31% in vastus lateralis peak activity at early stance and anticipation of 16% in tibialis anterior onset during terminal stance. The presence of diabetic neuropathy aggravates the changes in tibialis anterior, with 33% earlier onset time, and delayed peak activity at heel strike. Muscular alterations seem to be caused by structural and physiological changes in muscle tissue itself, caused by accumulation of advanced glycation end-products due to poor diabetes control, and these alterations become worse with the onset of neurological impairments when diabetic neuropathy is establishe
Evidence-informed methods for predicting rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with patellofemoral pain
No full textPatellofemoral pain is a very common musculoskeletal complaint and exercise interventions are the treatment of choice for this condition. However, 15% to 40% of patients present a poor response to rehabilitation and identifying objective measures that can help screen patients who are more likely to present successful results after rehabilitation is important for the optimization of treatment strategies. Therefore, the overarching purpose of this thesis is to develop evidence-based methods for predicting the outcome of exercise treatment in young recreational runners with patellofemoral pain.
We found that a classification model using data from conventional motion capture system was able to distinguish between treatment responders and non-responders with 78% of accuracy. To make this classification model more accessible in a clinical setting, we tested whether pelvic acceleration patterns during running could be clustered into homogeneous sub-groups of individuals with patellofemoral pain. We identified two clusters for females and one cluster for males, indicating the clinical utility of this approach for the identification of patient sub-groups.
The next study developed a classification model based on pelvic acceleration data to classify patients according to treatment response, achieving an 85% classification accuracy and showing a more clinically accessible approach. Finally, we tested the equivalency of marker-based and inertial measurement unit-based segment acceleration data when applied to a random classification problem in order to understand if the latter classification model could be applied using wearable devices. Overall, the findings indicated a 35% likelihood of decrease in performance of classifiers when the input data were crossed over from different sources. Therefore, a new classification model would have to be developed using data from wearable sensors to facilitate the implementation of this method in a clinical setting.
We conclude that the outcome of exercise intervention protocols for the treatment of patellofemoral pain can be predicted using baseline gait analysis data with systems that can be applied in a laboratory setting and has the potential of being translated to a clinical setting as well
Vector-like pairs and Brill–Noether theory
No full textAbstractHow likely is it that there are particles in a vector-like pair of representations in low-energy spectrum, when neither symmetry nor anomaly consideration motivates their presence? We address this question in the context of supersymmetric and geometric phase compactification of F-theory and Heterotic dual. Quantisation of the number of generations (or net chiralities in more general term) is also discussed along the way. Self-dual nature of the fourth cohomology of Calabi–Yau fourfolds is essential for the latter issue, while we employ Brill–Noether theory to set upper bounds on the number ℓ of vector-like pairs of chiral multiplets in the SU(5)GUT (5+5¯) representations. For typical topological choices of geometry for F-theory compactification for SU(5) unification, the range of 0≤ℓ≲4 for perturbative unification is not in immediate conflict with what is already understood about F-theory compactification at this moment
Capture of bacteria by flexible carbon nanotubes
Get PDFCapture of bacteria with flexible carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was done in vitro. Bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was mixed with Streptococcus mutans. Precipitation assays and colony-forming unit formation assays showed free S. mutans in the solution was significantly decreased by the addition of the CNTs. Observation of the precipitate by scanning electron microscopy showed bacterial adhesion to CNTs. It has been shown that CNTs of different diameters have significantly different effects on the precipitation efficiency, and the manners in which they capture the cells are different. We found that MWCNTs (diameter of approximately 30 nm) had the highest precipitation efficiency, which was attributable to both their adequate dispersibility and aggregation activity. From observations by scanning electron microscopy, bundles of SWCNTs and thin MWCNTs (diameter of approximately 30 nm), which were moderately flexible, were easily wound around the curved surface of S. mutans. Bare CNTs having high adhesive ability could be useful as biomaterials, e.g., as tools for the elimination of oral pathogens at the nano-level
Rapid analysis of metallic dental restorations using X-ray scanning analytical microscopy
Get PDFObjectives: X-ray scanning analytical microscopy (XSAM) makes it possible to analyze small specimens in air without pretreatment. The purpose of this study was to utilize XSAM for the rapid analysis of metallic dental restorations by microsampling. Methods: Six different dental alloys were scratched with brand-new silicone points to obtain metal on the silicone point for compositional analysis. The fluorescent spectra of XSAM were measured to determine the metal attached to the specimen. Results: The major components of the six dental metals, except for palladium, were clearly detected. The identification of palladium was difficult since the fluorescent X-ray of palladium is quite close to that of rhodium, which is the source metal of the incident X-rays. However, with a slight modification of XSAM, palladium was also identified. The total time required for sampling and analysis with XSAM was less than 10 min. The amount of the attached metal was estimated to be less than 30 μg. This amount of sampling does not damage metal restorations. Significance: XSAM analysis using the microsampling technique is useful for the rapid analysis of metallic restorations
Rotational Slip Flow in Coaxial Cylinders by the Finite-Difference Lattice Boltzmann Methods
No full textAbstractRecent studies on applications of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and the finite-difference lattice Boltzmann method (FDLBM) to velocity slip simulations are mostly on one-dimensional (1D) problems such as a shear flow between parallel plates. Applications to a 2D problem may raise new issues. The author performed numerical simulations of rotational slip flow in coaxial cylinders as an example of 2D problem. Two types of 2D models were used. The first were multi-speed FDLBM models proposed by the author. The second was a standard LBM, the D2Q9 model. The simulations were performed applying a finite difference scheme to both the models. The study had two objectives. The first was to investigate the accuracies of LBM and FDLBM on applications to rotational slip flow. The second was to obtain an experience on application of the cylindrical coordinate system. The FDLBM model with 8 directions and the D2Q9 model showed an anisotropic flow pattern when the relaxation time constant or the Knudsen number was large. The FDLBM model with 24 directions showed accurate results even at large Knudsen numbers.</jats:p
Runners with patellofemoral pain demonstrate sub-groups of pelvic acceleration profiles using hierarchical cluster analysis: an exploratory cross-sectional study
No full textAbstract Background Previous studies have suggested that distinct and homogenous sub-groups of gait patterns exist among runners with patellofemoral pain (PFP), based on gait analysis. However, acquisition of 3D kinematic data using optical systems is time consuming and prone to marker placement errors. In contrast, axial segment acceleration data can represent an overall running pattern, being easy to acquire and not influenced by marker placement error. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if pelvic acceleration patterns during running could be used to classify PFP patients into homogeneous sub-groups. A secondary purpose was to analyze lower limb kinematic data to investigate the practical implications of clustering these subjects based on 3D pelvic acceleration data. Methods A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to determine sub-groups of similar running profiles among 110 PFP subjects, separately for males (n = 44) and females (n = 66), using pelvic acceleration data (reduced with principal component analysis) during treadmill running acquired with optical motion capture system. In a secondary analysis, peak joint angles were compared between clusters (α = 0.05) to provide clinical context and deeper understanding of variables that separated clusters. Results The results reveal two distinct running gait sub-groups (C1 and C2) for female subjects and no sub-groups were identified for males. Two pelvic acceleration components were different between clusters (PC1 and PC5; p < 0.001). While females in C1 presented similar acceleration patterns to males, C2 presented greater vertical and anterior peak accelerations. All females presented higher and delayed mediolateral acceleration peaks than males. Males presented greater ankle eversion (p < 0.001), lower knee abduction (p = 0.007) and hip adduction (p = 0.002) than all females, and lower hip internal rotation than C1 (p = 0.007). Conclusions Two distinct and homogeneous kinematic PFP sub-groups were identified for female subjects, but not for males. The results suggest that differences in running gait patterns between clusters occur mainly due to sex-related factors, but there are subtle differences among female subjects. This study shows the potential use of pelvic acceleration patterns, which can be acquired with accessible wearable technology (i.e. accelerometers)
福島第一原発事故,2017年,福島市渡利・小倉寺の里山の汚染の実態
Get PDF2018-03-31In May of 2017, the author investigated the air radiation dose (1m above the ground) at the village forest in Watari and Oguraji areas. The range of the radiation dose was 0.15~1.77 μSv/h and its average was 0.56 μSv/h. In August of 2017, the author investigated the air radiation dose (1m above the ground) at the village forest in Watari area. The range of the radiation dose was 0.09~1.16 μSv/h and its average was 0.35 μSv/h. Decontamination work of this area started in 2012 and has been ended at the beginning of the investigation. However, the radiation dose rate in this area after the decontamination was still higher than the target value of 0.23 μSv/h tentatively proposed by Ministry of the Environment.2017年5月に福島市の渡利・小倉寺の里山において空間放射線率（高さ1m）を調査した．測定点は1039地点，空間放射線量率（地上1m）は0.15～1.77μSv/h，平均は0.56μSv/hであった．また，2017年8月，福島市渡利の弁天山においても同様の調査をした．測定点は830点，空間線量率(地上1m)は0.09～1.16μSv/h，平均は0.35μSv/hであった．公的な除染作業は，本調査時には終了している．しかし，空間放射線量率（地上1m）は除染の目標値0.23μSv/h以下には達していない．また，除染物を詰めた袋の放置，除染土の廃棄も見られた．departmental bulletin pape
Rapid and non-destructive analysis of metallic dental restorations using X-ray fluorescence spectra and light-element sampling tools
Get PDF1. Introduction: Recently, allergic diseases caused by dental metals have been increasing. Therefore, rapid and accurate analytical methods for the metal restorations in the oral cavities of patients are required. The purpose of this study was to develop a non-destructive extraction method for dental alloys, along with a subsequent, rapid and accurate elemental analysis. 2. Materials and Methods: Samples were obtained by polishing the surfaces of metal restorations using a dental rotating tool with disposable buffs and polishing pastes. As materials for the analysis, three dental alloys were used. To compare the sampling and analysis efficiencies, two buffs and seven pastes were used. After polishing the surface of a metal restoration, the buff was analyzed using X-ray scanning analytical microscopy (XSAM). 3. Results: The efficiency of the analysis was judged based on the sampling rate achieved and the absence of disturbing elements in the background in fluorescence X-ray spectra. The best results were obtained for the combination of TexMet as a buff with diamond as a paste. This combination produced a good collection efficiency and a plain background in the fluorescence X-ray spectra, resulting in a high precision of the analysis
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