Biomechanical demands of the 2-step transitional gait cycles linking level gait and stair descent gait in older women

Stair descent is an inherently complex form of locomotion posing a high falls risk for older adults, specifically when negotiating the transitional gait cycles linking level gait and descent. The aim of this study was to enhance our understanding of the biomechanical demands by comparing the demands of these transitions. Lower limb kinematics and kinetics of the 2-step transitions linking level and descent gait at the top (level-to-descent) and the bottom (descent-to-level) of the staircase were quantified in 36 older women with no falls history. Despite undergoing the same vertical displacement (2-steps), the following significant (p<.05) differences were observed during the top transition compared to the bottom transition: reduced step velocity; reduced hip extension and increased ankle dorsiflexion (late stance/pre-swing); reduced ground reaction forces, larger knee extensor moments and powers (absorption; late stance); reduced ankle plantarflexor moments (early and late stance) and increased ankle powers (mid-stance). Top transition biomechanics were similar to those reported previously for continuous descent. Kinetic differences at the knee and ankle signify the contrasting and prominent functions of controlled lowering during the top transition and forward continuance during the bottom transition. The varying musculoskeletal demands encountered during each functional sub-task should be addressed in falls prevention programmes with elderly populations where the greatest clinical impact may be achieved. Knee extensor eccentric power through flexion exercises would facilitate a smooth transition at the top and improving ankle plantarflexion strength during single and double limb stance activities would ease the transition into level gait following continuous descent

Predicting Empathy From Resting State Brain Connectivity: A Multivariate Approach.

Recent task fMRI studies suggest that individual differences in trait empathy and empathic concern are mediated by patterns of connectivity between self-other resonance and top-down control networks that are stable across task demands. An untested implication of this hypothesis is that these stable patterns of connectivity should be visible even in the absence of empathy tasks. Using machine learning, we demonstrate that patterns of resting state fMRI connectivity (i.e. the degree of synchronous BOLD activity across multiple cortical areas in the absence of explicit task demands) of resonance and control networks predict trait empathic concern (n = 58). Empathic concern was also predicted by connectivity patterns within the somatomotor network. These findings further support the role of resonance-control network interactions and of somatomotor function in our vicariously driven concern for others. Furthermore, a practical implication of these results is that it is possible to assess empathic predispositions in individuals without needing to perform conventional empathy assessments

Developing a distributed electronic health-record store for India

The DIGHT project is addressing the problem of building a scalable and highly available information store for the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the over one billion citizens of India

Submicron Systems Architecture Project : Semiannual Technical Report

The Mosaic C is an experimental fine-grain multicomputer based on single-chip nodes. The Mosaic C chip includes 64KB of fast dynamic RAM, processor, packet interface, ROM for bootstrap and self-test, and a two-dimensional selftimed router. The chip architecture provides low-overhead and low-latency handling of message packets, and high memory and network bandwidth. Sixty-four Mosaic chips are packaged by tape-automated bonding (TAB) in an 8 x 8 array on circuit boards that can, in turn, be arrayed in two dimensions to build arbitrarily large machines. These 8 x 8 boards are now in prototype production under a subcontract with Hewlett-Packard. We are planning to construct a 16K-node Mosaic C system from 256 of these boards. The suite of Mosaic C hardware also includes host-interface boards and high-speed communication cables. The hardware developments and activities of the past eight months are described in section 2.1. The programming system that we are developing for the Mosaic C is based on the same message-passing, reactive-process, computational model that we have used with earlier multicomputers, but the model is implemented for the Mosaic in a way that supports finegrain concurrency. A process executes only in response to receiving a message, and may in execution send messages, create new processes, and modify its persistent variables before it either exits or becomes dormant in preparation for receiving another message. These computations are expressed in an object-oriented programming notation, a derivative of C++ called C+-. The computational model and the C+- programming notation are described in section 2.2. The Mosaic C runtime system, which is written in C+-, provides automatic process placement and highly distributed management of system resources. The Mosaic C runtime system is described in section 2.3

A Study to Identify School Readiness in Pre School Children 3 to 4 Years

This study aimed at finding the prevalence of children who are ready for school, both by gender and age. The study also aimed to study if the predictive factors for children who were not ready for school was different when compared to children who were ready. This chapter summarises the findings of the study in keeping with the objectives of the study. • The overall prevalence of children who were ‗ready‘ for school was similar to other studies from developed countries on the domains of Arts and scientific thinking and was comparable to the data from similar socio demographic sample. The prevalence of children being ‗ready for school‘ was higher in the domains of Personal Social development and Physical development and Health. The prevalence of children ‗ready for school‘ was lower on mathematical thinking and language and literacy. • The prevalence of girls who were ‗ready‘ for school was higher than boys who were ‗ready.‘ This was seen on all the domains of school readiness. The means performance of boys and girls on all domains were also statistically significant. This difference was evident in other large scale cohort studies (ECLS, 2001). • The older age group of children (42-48 months) were more ‗ready‘ for school than the younger age group. The percentage of children in the older age group who were ready was more than triple than in the younger age group. Younger children were 5 times more at risk for being ‗not ready‘ for school. • Among the socio economic and socio demographic predictive variables in the present study, maternal education and the location of the residence were predictive of school readiness. Maternal education was reported as an important predictor in other studies. • Among the child related variables IQ and academic performance in class were predictive of poor school readiness. Antenatal complication of PIH and neonatal complication of low birth weight and birth asphyxia were significant predictors of poor school readiness. Higher parent involvement and the non- suspect home environment were predictors of school readiness. • The availability of resources and the teacher‘s qualifications did not have a significant association with school readiness. The number of hours a child spends in school (<4 hours) and the number of children in the class were important predictors of school readiness in children. • Logistic regression of the significant variables from the socio-economic and demographic factors, child related factors, parent and home factors and school showed age, gender, IQ, academic performance, maternal education, location of residence, pregnancy induced hypertension, birth asphyxia, low birth weight, home environment and parent involvement were significant predictors of school readiness. The association of these variables with school readiness was reported in other studies but the present study is one of the few from India on school readiness and probably the only one to have analysed all these factors comprehensively