Categorization of compensatory motions in transradial myoelectric prosthesis users

Background: Prosthesis users perform various compensatory motions to accommodate for the loss of the hand and wrist as well as the reduced functionality of a prosthetic hand. Objectives: Investigate different compensation strategies that are performed by prosthesis users. Study Design: Comparative analysis Methods: 20 able-bodied subjects and 4 prosthesis users performed a set of bimanual activities. Movements of the trunk and head were recorded using a motion capture system, and a digital video recorder. Clinical motion angles were calculated to assess the compensatory motions made by the prosthesis users. The video recording also assisted in visually identifying the compensations. Results: Compensatory motions by the prosthesis users were evident in the tasks performed (slicing and stirring activities) as compared to the benchmark of able-bodied subjects. Compensations took the form of a measured increase in range of motion, an observed adoption of a new posture during task execution, and pre-positioning of items in the workspace prior to initiating a given task. Conclusion: Compensatory motions were performed by prosthesis users during the selected tasks. These can be categorized into three different types of compensations

"Best fit" framework synthesis: refining the method

Background Following publication of the first worked example of the “best fit” method of evidence synthesis for the systematic review of qualitative evidence in this journal, the originators of the method identified a need to specify more fully some aspects of this particular derivative of framework synthesis. Methods and Results We therefore present a second such worked example in which all techniques are defined and explained, and their appropriateness is assessed. Specified features of the method include the development of new techniques to identify theories in a systematic manner; the creation of an a priori framework for the synthesis; and the “testing” of the synthesis. An innovative combination of existing methods of quality assessment, analysis and synthesis is used to complete the process. This second worked example was a qualitative evidence synthesis of employees’ views of workplace smoking cessation interventions, in which the “best fit” method was found to be practical and fit for purpose. Conclusions The method is suited to producing context-specific conceptual models for describing or explaining the decision-making and health behaviours of patients and other groups. It offers a pragmatic means of conducting rapid qualitative evidence synthesis and generating programme theories relating to intervention effectiveness, which might be of relevance both to researchers and policy-makers

Big hearts, small hands:A focus group study exploring parental food portion behaviours

© The Author(s). 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: The development of healthy food portion sizes among families is deemed critical to childhood weight management; yet little is known about the interacting factors influencing parents' portion control behaviours. This study aimed to use two synergistic theoretical models of behaviour: the COM-B model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour) and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify a broad spectrum of theoretically derived influences on parents' portion control behaviours including examination of affective and habitual influences often excluded from prevailing theories of behaviour change. Methods: Six focus groups exploring family weight management comprised of one with caseworkers (n = 4), four with parents of overweight children (n = 14) and one with parents of healthy weight children (n = 8). A thematic analysis was performed across the dataset where the TDF/COM-B were used as coding frameworks. Results: To achieve the target behaviour, the behavioural analysis revealed the need for eliciting change in all three COM-B domains and nine associated TDF domains. Findings suggest parents' internal processes such as their emotional responses, habits and beliefs, along with social influences from partners and grandparents, and environmental influences relating to items such as household objects, interact to influence portion size behaviours within the home environment. Conclusion: This is the first study underpinned by COM-B/TDF frameworks applied to childhood weight management and provides new targets for intervention development and the opportunity for future research to explore the mediating and moderating effects of these variables on one another.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Flavour Physics in the Soft Wall Model

We extend the description of flavour that exists in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model to the soft wall (SW) model in which the IR brane is removed and the Higgs is free to propagate in the bulk. It is demonstrated that, like the RS model, one can generate the hierarchy of fermion masses by localising the fermions at different locations throughout the space. However, there are two significant differences. Firstly the possible fermion masses scale down, from the electroweak scale, less steeply than in the RS model and secondly there now exists a minimum fermion mass for fermions sitting towards the UV brane. With a quadratic Higgs VEV, this minimum mass is about fifteen orders of magnitude lower than the electroweak scale. We derive the gauge propagator and despite the KK masses scaling as $m_n^2\sim n$, it is demonstrated that the coefficients of four fermion operators are not divergent at tree level. FCNC's amongst kaons and leptons are considered and compared to calculations in the RS model, with a brane localised Higgs and equivalent levels of tuning. It is found that since the gauge fermion couplings are slightly more universal and the SM fermions typically sit slightly further towards the UV brane, the contributions to observables such as $\epsilon_K$ and $\Delta m_K$, from the exchange of KK gauge fields, are significantly reduced.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables; v2: references added; v3: modifications to figures 4,5 and 6. version to appear in JHE

Improving the normalization of complex interventions: measure development based on normalization process theory (NoMAD): study protocol

<b>Background</b> Understanding implementation processes is key to ensuring that complex interventions in healthcare are taken up in practice and thus maximize intended benefits for service provision and (ultimately) care to patients. Normalization Process Theory (NPT) provides a framework for understanding how a new intervention becomes part of normal practice. This study aims to develop and validate simple generic tools derived from NPT, to be used to improve the implementation of complex healthcare interventions.<p></p> <b>Objectives</b> The objectives of this study are to: develop a set of NPT-based measures and formatively evaluate their use for identifying implementation problems and monitoring progress; conduct preliminary evaluation of these measures across a range of interventions and contexts, and identify factors that affect this process; explore the utility of these measures for predicting outcomes; and develop an online users’ manual for the measures.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> A combination of qualitative (workshops, item development, user feedback, cognitive interviews) and quantitative (survey) methods will be used to develop NPT measures, and test the utility of the measures in six healthcare intervention settings.<p></p> <b>Discussion</b> The measures developed in the study will be available for use by those involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating complex interventions in healthcare and have the potential to enhance the chances of their implementation, leading to sustained changes in working practices

Evaluation of six CTLA-4 polymorphisms in high-risk melanoma patients receiving adjuvant interferon therapy in the He13A/98 multicenter trial

<p>ABSTRACT</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Interferon is approved for adjuvant treatment of patients with stage IIb/III melanoma. The toxicity and uncertainty regarding survival benefits of interferon have qualified its acceptance, despite significant durable relapse prevention in a fraction of patients. Predictive biomarkers that would enable selection of patients for therapy would have a large impact upon clinical practice. Specific CTLA-4 polymorphisms have previously shown an association with response to CTLA-4 blockade in patients with metastatic melanoma and the development of autoimmunity.</p> <p>Experimental design</p> <p>286 melanoma patients and 288 healthy controls were genotyped for six CTLA-4 polymorphisms previously suggested to be important (AG 49, CT 318, CT 60, JO 27, JO30 and JO 31). Specific allele frequencies were compared between the healthy and patient populations, as well as presence or absence of these in relation to recurrence. Alleles related to autoimmune disease were also investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant differences were found between the distributions of CTLA-4 polymorphisms in the melanoma population compared with healthy controls. Relapse free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) did not differ significantly between patients with the alleles represented by these polymorphisms. No correlation between autoimmunity and specific alleles was shown. The six polymorphisms evaluated where strongly associated (Fisher's exact p-values < 0.001 for all associations) and significant linkage disequilibrium among these was indicated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>No polymorphisms of CTLA-4 defined by the SNPs studied were correlated with improved RFS, OS, or autoimmunity in this high-risk group of melanoma patients.</p

Genetic basis of control of Rhynchosporium secalis infection and symptom expression in barley

The genetic basis of several different components of resistance to Rhynchosporium secalis in barley was investigated in a mapping population derived from a cross between winter and spring barley types. Both the severity of visual disease symptoms and amount of R. secalis DNA in leaf tissues were assessed in field trials in Scotland in the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 growing seasons. Relative expression of symptoms was defined as the residual values from a linear regression of amount of R. secalis DNA against visual plot disease score at GS 50. Amount of R. secalis DNA and visual disease score were highly correlated traits and identified nearly identical QTL. The genetic control of relative expression of symptoms was less clear. However, a QTL on chromosome 7H was identified as having a significant effect on the expression of visual disease symptoms relative to overall amount of R. secalis colonisationPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Transport in holographic superfluids

We construct a slowly varying space-time dependent holographic superfluid and compute its transport coefficients. Our solution is presented as a series expansion in inverse powers of the charge of the order parameter. We find that the shear viscosity associated with the motion of the condensate vanishes. The diffusion coefficient of the superfluid is continuous across the phase transition while its third bulk viscosity is found to diverge at the critical temperature. As was previously shown, the ratio of the shear viscosity of the normal component to the entropy density is 1/(4 pi). As a consequence of our analysis we obtain an analytic expression for the backreacted metric near the phase transition for a particular type of holographic superfluid.Comment: 45 pages + appendice

Is heavy eccentric calf training superior to wait-and-see, sham rehabilitation, traditional physiotherapy and other exercise interventions for pain and function in mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy?

Background: Mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is prevalent amongst athletic and non-athletic populations with pain, stiffness and impaired function typically reported. While different management options exist, loading protocols remain the best available intervention and have been shown to be effective in the management of AT. Trials investigating loading in AT have used a variety of different protocols, and recent narrative reviews suggest that no protocol is superior to another when comparing outcomes in pain and function. However, there has been no systematic review or meta-analysis completed to determine this. Furthermore, the narrative review did not consider wait-and-see or sham interventions, thus a systematic review and met-analysis which includes wait-and see or sham interventions is warranted. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analyses will be conducted as per the PRISMA guidelines. The databases PUBMED, CINAHL (Ovid) and CINAHL (EBSCO) will be searched for articles published from inception to 31 December 2017. Our search focuses on studies examining the improvement of pain and function when completing a loading program for mid-portion AT. Only randomised/ quasi-randomised trials will be included while case reports and case series will be excluded. The primary outcome assessing pain and function will be the Victorian Institute Sports Assessment - Achilles (VISA-A). Two reviewers will screen articles, extract data and assess the risk of bias independently with a third reviewer resolving any disagreements between the two reviewers. A meta-analysis will then be performed on the data (if appropriate) to determine if the traditional heavy load calf training protocol described by Alfredson is superior to wait-and-see, sham intervention, traditional physiotherapy, and other forms of exercise rehabilitation. Discussion: This systematic review and meta-analysis will allow us to investigate if there are difference in pain and function when comparing wait-and-see, sham interventions, traditional physiotherapy and different exercise interventions to the traditional heavy eccentric calf training protocol for mid-portion Achilles tendon pain. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018084493