76 research outputs found
Falls and Physical Activity in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis
Objectives. To examine the association between fall history and physical activity using an objective measure of physical activity (i.e., accelerometry) in persons with multiple sclerosis.
Design. A community-based sample of 75 ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis volunteered for the investigation. Participants self-reported fall history in the last year, underwent a neurological exam to determine Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, and wore an accelerometer around the waist for 7 consecutive days to determine physical activity.
Results. Overall, 37 persons (49.3% of the sample) reported falling in the last year with 28 of the 37 falling more than once. Persons who fell in the last year had a significantly lower number of steps/day than nonfallers (3510 versus 4940 steps/day; P \u3c .05). However, when controlling for disability status there was no statistically significant difference between fallers and nonfallers (4092 versus 4373 steps/day; P \u3e.05).
Conclusions. Collectively, the findings suggest that fall history may have little impact on current physical activity levels in persons with multiple sclerosis
Falls and physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis
Objectives. To examine the association between fall history and physical activity using an objective measure of physical activity (i.e., accelerometry) in persons with multiple sclerosis. Design. A community-based sample of 75 ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis volunteered for the investigation. Participants self-reported fall history in the last year, underwent a neurological exam to determine Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, and wore an accelerometer around the waist for 7 consecutive days to determine physical activity. Results. Overall, 37 persons (49.3% of the sample) reported falling in the last year with 28 of the 37 falling more than once. Persons who fell in the last year had a significantly lower number of steps/day than nonfallers (3510 versus 4940 steps/day; P < .05). However, when controlling for disability status there was no statistically significant difference between fallers and nonfallers (4092 versus 4373 steps/day; P > .05). Conclusions. Collectively, the findings suggest that fall history may have little impact on current physical activity levels in persons with multiple sclerosis
Comparison of Zn_{1-x}Mn_xTe/ZnTe multiple-quantum wells and quantum dots by below-bandgap photomodulated reflectivity
Large-area high density patterns of quantum dots with a diameter of 200 nm
have been prepared from a series of four Zn_{0.93}Mn_{0.07}Te/ZnTe multiple
quantum well structures of different well width (4 nm, 6 nm, 8 nm and 10 nm) by
electron beam lithography followed by Ar+ ion beam etching. Below-bandgap
photomodulated reflectivity spectra of the quantum dot samples and the parent
heterostructures were then recorded at 10 K and the spectra were fitted to
extract the linewidths and the energy positions of the excitonic transitions in
each sample. The fitted results are compared to calculations of the transition
energies in which the different strain states in the samples are taken into
account. We show that the main effect of the nanofabrication process is a
change in the strain state of the quantum dot samples compared to the parent
heterostructures. The quantum dot pillars turn out to be freestanding, whereas
the heterostructures are in a good approximation strained to the ZnTe lattice
constant. The lateral size of the dots is such that extra confinement effects
are not expected or observed.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX2e (amsmath, epsfig), 7 EPS figure
The relationship between processing speed and verbal and non-verbal new learning and memory in progressive multiple sclerosis
Objective: Processing speed (PS) deficits are the most common cognitive deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by learning and memory deficits, and are often an early cognitive problem. It has been argued that impaired PS is a primary consequence of MS, which in turn decreases learning. The current analysis examined the association between PS and learning in a large cohort of individuals with progressive MS. Methods: Baseline data from a randomized clinical trial on rehabilitation taking place at 11 centers across North America and Europe were analyzed. Participants included 275 individuals with clinically definite progressive MS (primary, secondary) consented into the trial. Results: Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) significantly correlated with California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) (r = 0.21, p = 0.0003) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test–Revised (BVMT-R) (r = 0.516, p < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the SDMT z score to distinguish between impaired and non-impaired CVLT-II performance demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.55–0.68) and a threshold of −1.62. ROC analysis between SDMT and BVMT-R resulted in an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.71–0.83) and threshold of −1.75 for the SDMT z score to predict impaired BVMT-R. Conclusion: Results indicate little ability beyond chance to predict CVLT-II from SDMT (61%), albeit statistically significant. In contrast, there was a 77% chance that the model could distinguish between impaired and non-impaired BVMT-R. Several potential explanations are discussed
Falls and Physical Activity in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis
Objectives. To examine the association between fall history and physical activity using an objective measure of physical activity (i.e., accelerometry) in persons with multiple sclerosis. Design. A community-based sample of 75 ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis volunteered for the investigation. Participants self-reported fall history in the last year, underwent a neurological exam to determine Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, and wore an accelerometer around the waist for 7 consecutive days to determine physical activity. Results. Overall, 37 persons (49.3% of the sample) reported falling in the last year with 28 of the 37 falling more than once. Persons who fell in the last year had a significantly lower number of steps/day than nonfallers (3510 versus 4940 steps/day; P<.05). However, when controlling for disability status there was no statistically significant difference between fallers and nonfallers (4092 versus 4373 steps/day; P>.05). Conclusions. Collectively, the findings suggest that fall history may have little impact on current physical activity levels in persons with multiple sclerosis
A comparison of the effectiveness of GaAs surface passivation with sodium and ammonium sulfide solutions
Frontal cortico-subcortical MRI correlates of fatigue and dual-task performance in progressive multiple sclerosis
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on an international rehabilitation study in MS: the CogEx experience
Pandemic restrictions have led to changes in therapy plans and disrupted rehabilitation services for people with multiple sclerosis. CogEx is an international, multicentre MS dual-intervention (cognitive rehabilitation, aerobic exercise) randomized, controlled rehabilitation trial confined to people with progressive disease. The primary outcome is cognition (processing speed).There are 11 treatment sites in six countries with participants required to make 27 site visits over 12 weeks. Collectively, the large, in-person demands of the trial, and the varying international policies for the containment of COVID-19, might disproportionately impact the administration of CogEx. During the first lockdown, all centres closed on average for 82.9 (SD = 24.3) days. One site was required to lockdown on two further occasions. One site remained closed for 16 months. Ten staff (19.2%) were required to quarantine and eight staff (15.4%) tested positive for COVID. 10 of 264 (3.8%) participants acquired COVID-19. All survived. The mean duration of enrollment delay has been [236.7 (SD = 214.5) days]. Restarting participants whose interventions were interrupted by the pandemic meant recalculating the intervention prescriptions for these individuals. While the impact of the pandemic on CogEx has been considerable, all study sites are again open. Participants and staff have shown considerable flexibility and resilience in keeping a complex, international endeavour running. The future in general remains uncertain in the midst of a pandemic, but there is cautious optimism the study will be completed with sufficient sample size to robustly evaluate our hypothesis and provide meaningful results to the MS community on the impact of these interventions on people with progressive MS. Trial registration: The trial was registered on September 20th 2018 at www.clinicaltrials.gov having identifier NCT03679468. Registration was performed before recruitment was initiated
Frontal cortico-subcortical MRI correlates of fatigue and dual-task performance in progressive multiple sclerosis
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