Development of lower limb rehabilitation evaluation system based on virtual reality technology

Nowadays, with the development of the proportion of the elderly population in the world, several problems caused by the population aging gradually into people's horizons. One of the biggest problems plagued the vast majority of the elderly is hemiplegia, which leads to the vigorous development of the physical therapists. However, these traditional methods of physical therapy mainly rely on the skill of the physical therapists. In order to make up the defects of traditional methods, many research groups have developed different kinds of robots for lower limb rehabilitation training but most of them can only realize passive training which cannot adopt rehabilitation training based on the patients' individual condition effectively and they do not have a rehabilitation evaluation system to assess the real time training condition of the hemiplegic patients effectively. In order to solve the problems above, this paper proposed a lower limb rehabilitation evaluation system which is based on the virtual reality technology. This system has an easy observation of the human-computer interaction interface and the doctor is able to adjust the rehabilitation training direct at different patients in different rehabilitation stage based on this lower limb rehabilitation evaluation system. Compared with current techniques, this novel lower limb rehabilitation evaluation system is expected to have significant impacts in medical rehabilitation robot field

Diagnostic Testing of Finite Moment Conditions for the Consistency and Root-N Asymptotic Normality of the GMM and M Estimators

Common econometric analyses based on point estimates, standard errors, and confidence intervals presume the consistency and the root-n asymptotic normality of the GMM or M estimators. However, their key assumptions that data entail finite moments may not be always satisfied in applications. This article proposes a method of diagnostic testing for these key assumptions with applications to both simulated and real datasets.</p

Spatial Distribution, Risk Assessment and Sources of Heavy Metals in Roadside Soils Exposed to the Zhengzhou-Kaifeng Intercity Railway in Huanghuai Plain, China

Heavy metal accumulation in soil can seriously harm human health, and it is necessary to identify the accumulation status and access the potential risks for local pollution control and sustainable economic development. This study evaluated the pollution level, spatial distribution, potential risk and sources of soil heavy metals along the Zhengzhou-Kaifeng intercity railway and compared pollution characteristics in north side soils with south side soils of the railway. A total of 260 soil samples were collected from a section along the railway. In practice, only the average Zn and Pb contents in soils were slightly higher than their corresponding risk screening values. The heavy metal enrichment in the north side soils was marginally lower than that in the south side soils. The spatial distribution of soil heavy metals except Pb could be mainly influenced by the different land use types. The geoaccumulation index and potential ecological risk of a single heavy metal indicated that Cd was the major contaminant with moderate pollution and high ecological risks in the south side soils and none to moderate pollution and moderate ecological risks in the north side soils. However, the mean multimetal potential ecological risk values suggested that the north side soils were at low ecological risks and the south side soils were at moderate ecological risks. The comprehensive non-carcinogenic risks and total carcinogenic risks for adults were low and acceptable, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis, PCA, and APCS-MLR analyses identified that the contributions of natural sources, mixed sources of industrial and traffic activities, agricultural activities, and other sources were 57.49%, 21.44%, 12.67% and 8.40%, respectively, and the major soil pollution Cd was mainly related to mixed sources of industrial and traffic activities. Therefore, continuous soil heavy metal monitoring is essential to elucidate the long-term railway operation effect on soil heavy metal accumulation.</p

Table_2_Antimicrobial Resistance and CRISPR Typing Among Salmonella Isolates From Poultry Farms in China.XLSX

Although knowledge of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas system has been applied in many research areas, comprehensive studies of this system in Salmonella, particularly in analysis of antibiotic resistance, have not been reported. In this work, 75 Salmonella isolates obtained from broilers or broilers products were characterized to determine their antimicrobial susceptibilities, antibiotic resistance gene profiles, and CRISPR array diversities, and genotyping was explored. In total, 80.00% (60/75) of the strains were multidrug resistant, and the main pattern observed in the isolates was CN-AZM-AMP-AMC-CAZ-CIP-ATM-TE-SXT-FOS-C. The resistance genes of streptomycin (aadA), phenicol (floR-like and catB3-like), β-lactams (blaTEM, blaOXA, and blaCTX), tetracycline [tet(A)-like], and sulfonamides (sul1 and sul2) appeared at higher frequencies among the corresponding resistant isolates. Subsequently, we analyzed the CRISPR arrays and found 517 unique spacer sequences and 31 unique direct repeat sequences. Based on the CRISPR spacer sequences, we developed a novel typing method, CRISPR locus three spacer sequences typing (CLTSST), to help identify sources of Salmonella outbreaks especially correlated with epidemiological data. Compared with multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), conventional CRISPR typing (CCT), and CRISPR locus spacer pair typing (CLSPT), discrimination using CLTSST was weaker than that using CCT but stronger than that using MLST and CLSPT. In addition, we also found that there were no close correlations between CRISPR loci and antibiotics but had close correlations between CRISPR loci and antibiotic resistance genes in Salmonella isolates.</p

Table_1_Antimicrobial Resistance and CRISPR Typing Among Salmonella Isolates From Poultry Farms in China.XLSX

Although knowledge of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas system has been applied in many research areas, comprehensive studies of this system in Salmonella, particularly in analysis of antibiotic resistance, have not been reported. In this work, 75 Salmonella isolates obtained from broilers or broilers products were characterized to determine their antimicrobial susceptibilities, antibiotic resistance gene profiles, and CRISPR array diversities, and genotyping was explored. In total, 80.00% (60/75) of the strains were multidrug resistant, and the main pattern observed in the isolates was CN-AZM-AMP-AMC-CAZ-CIP-ATM-TE-SXT-FOS-C. The resistance genes of streptomycin (aadA), phenicol (floR-like and catB3-like), β-lactams (blaTEM, blaOXA, and blaCTX), tetracycline [tet(A)-like], and sulfonamides (sul1 and sul2) appeared at higher frequencies among the corresponding resistant isolates. Subsequently, we analyzed the CRISPR arrays and found 517 unique spacer sequences and 31 unique direct repeat sequences. Based on the CRISPR spacer sequences, we developed a novel typing method, CRISPR locus three spacer sequences typing (CLTSST), to help identify sources of Salmonella outbreaks especially correlated with epidemiological data. Compared with multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), conventional CRISPR typing (CCT), and CRISPR locus spacer pair typing (CLSPT), discrimination using CLTSST was weaker than that using CCT but stronger than that using MLST and CLSPT. In addition, we also found that there were no close correlations between CRISPR loci and antibiotics but had close correlations between CRISPR loci and antibiotic resistance genes in Salmonella isolates.</p

Additional file 1 of Relationship between glycated hemoglobin levels and three-month outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients with or without diabetes: a prospective Korean cohort study

Supplementary Materials 1

Three Transition-Metal Substituted Polyoxotungstates Containing Keggin Fragments: From Trimer to One-Dimensional Chain to Two-Dimensional Sheet

Three novel transition-metal substituted polyoxotungstates based on Keggin fragments, Cs3K3[Co(H2O)6]2[Co(H2O)3(α-GeW11CoO38)3]·30H2O (1), K18{[Mn(H2O)3]2[Mn(H2O)2][(B-β-SiW9O33(OH))Mn3(H2O)(B-β-SiW8O30(OH))]2}·16H2O (2), and K8[Cd(H2O)3]2[Cd4(H2O)2(B-α-SiW9O34)2]·20H2O (3), have been synthesized by reaction of dilacunary Keggin precursors K8[γ-GeW10O36]·6H2O/K8[γ-SiW10O36]·12H2O with transition-metal salts at ambient temperature and characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analyses, IR spectra, UV spectra, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The polyoxoanion of 1 is a novel trimer constructed from three mono-CoII substituted Keggin fragments [α-GeW11CoO38]4− linked by six W−O−Co/W bridges and a capping [Co(H2O)3]2+ bridge. 2 displays the one-dimensional chain built by tetrameric {[Mn(H2O)3]2[Mn(H2O)2][(B-β-SiW9O33(OH))Mn3(H2O)(B-β-SiW8O30(OH))]2}18− units, which is the first one-dimensional silicotungstate containing asymmetric sandwich-type moieties constructed from [B-β-SiW9O34]10− and [B-β-SiW8O31]10− fragments. 3 utilizes the two-dimensional sheet established by tetra-CdII substituted sandwich-type [Cd4(H2O)2(B-α-SiW9O34)2]12− units and [Cd(H2O)3]2+ linkers, representing the first two-dimensional (3,6)-topological network with a Schläfli symbol of 364653 built by sandwich-type Keggin units in polyoxometalate chemistry. Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate antiferromagnetic exchange interactions within CoII ions in 1 and within MnII ions in 2. The best least-squares fitting values for 2 are J = −1.16 cm−1 and g = 2.13 based on the isostropic spin model. Furthermore, the room-temperature solid-state photoluminescence of 3 displays two emission bands, which are derived from O → Cd ligand-to-metal charge transfer transitions and O → W ligand-to-metal charge transfer transitions, respectively

Three versus four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The optimal cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) remains controversial. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of three and four cycles of NAC in the treatment of MIBC through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Relevant studies were systematically collected and reviewed in PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science Databases, and the Cochrane Library. Relative ratios (RRs), Hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate outcome measures. Studies comparing the pathological response and prognosis of three versus four cycles of NAC for MIBC were included. Five studies were included in this meta-analysis, including 2190 patients, of whom 1016 underwent three cycles of NAC and 1174 underwent four cycles of NAC. All studies were retrospective cohort studies. We found that 4 cycles of NAC had significantly better cancer-specific survival than 3 cycles (HR = 1.31, 95%CI,1.03–1.67, p = 0.029). There was no significant difference in overall survival between patients who received 3 and 4 cycles of chemotherapy (HR = 1.18, 95%CI = 0.83–1.69, p = 0.345). Similarly, no significant difference was observed in pathological objective response (RR = 0.95, 95%CI= 0.81–1.11, p = 0.515) and complete response rates (RR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.69–1.11, p = 0.256) in MIBC after 3 or 4 cycles of NAC. Three and four cycles of NAC had similar pathological responses and prognosis for MIBC, although the cancer-specific survival rate of four cycles was better than that of three cycles. The pathological response rate and overall survival of three and four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer were similar.Four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy may improve the cancer-specific survival of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancerIt is reasonable and feasible for clinicians to use three or four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The pathological response rate and overall survival of three and four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer were similar. Four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy may improve the cancer-specific survival of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer It is reasonable and feasible for clinicians to use three or four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.</p

Additional file 1: of MrSVP, a secreted virulence-associated protein, contributes to thermotolerance and virulence of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii

Figure S1. Disruption and complementation of Mrsvp in M. robertsii. (A) Mrsvp was disrupted by homologous recombination, and complementation of this gene was performed using a plasmid construct containing Mrsvp. (B) Confirmation the disruption mutants by PCR. The template is genomic DNA. Mrsvp, PCR was conducted with Mrsvp F and Mrsvp R; bar, PCR was conducted with primers bar F and bar R; ben, PCR was conducted with primers ben F and ben R. CK, control check; WT, wild type; ΔMrSVP, the knockout mutant; Comp, the complementation mutant. (C) Confirmation of the knockout mutants by PCR. The template is cDNA. Detailed information on primers is shown in Table 1. Figure S2. Growth and production of conidia by strains WT, ΔMrSVP, and ΔMrSVP/MrSVP. (A) The growth rate of WT M. robertsii, of the knockout mutant, and of the complementation mutant. (B) The yield of conidia was measured for the WT, ΔMrSVP, and ΔMrSVP/MrSVP. Figure S3. The effects of chemical stress reagents on growth, and the effect of UV-B irradiation on conidial viability. (A) The colony size of strains WT, ΔMrSVP, and of the complementation mutant in the presence of chemical stress reagents. (B) The relative percentage of germination of M. robertsii conidia that were exposed to UV-B radiation. Based on nonirradiated control estimates, relative germination was calculated. (ZIP 1932 kb

Additional file 1 of Non-linear relationship between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and incident diabetes mellitus: a secondary retrospective analysis based on a Japanese cohort study

Additional file 1: Table 1S. The Baseline Characteristics of participants