Outcome of tibialis posterior tendon transfer to middle cuneiform by interference screw technique for foot drop

Background: Foot drop is a common problem which compromises the quality of life and impairs activities of daily living. Walking becomes difficult with foot drop because the foot quickly hits the obstacles, or the knee has to be more flexed than usual when going up stairs. Transfer of the tibialis posterior tendon restores active dorsiflexion of the foot, while tenodesis prevents the foot from dropping. To this purpose, we explored the results of this technique in a small cohort of foot drop patients.Methods: Twenty-five patients with foot drop due to various causes such as tibial condyle fracture, fracture dislocation of the hip, post hip surgeries, late compartment syndrome and due to spinal aetiology by lumbar canal stenosis, post spinal surgeries due to discectomy and spondylolisthesis were included. Patients with post-traumatic arthritis of ankle, metabolic causes, poliomyelitis, sensory and motor neuropathy were excluded. Patients underwent anterior transposition of the tibialis posterior tendon (PTT) to the middle cuneiform through the interosseous membrane using tenodesis screw technique. The outcomes measured 2, 6 12 and 24 weeks postoperatively were a power of dorsiflexion, use of footwear to assess the dorsiflexion of the ankle in swing phase and at heel strike, hindfoot valgus patient satisfaction and activities of daily living.Results: The average age of the patients was 46±7.4 years. 18/25 (72%) had the 4+/5 power of dorsiflexion, 7/25 (28%) had 4-/5 power. 23/25 (92%) of patients use of footwear of certain types, suggesting that these patients improved from a high-stepping gait to a heel-toe gait.  18/25 (72%) patients were very satisfied, and 4/25 (16%) were happy, 3/25 (12%) patients were not satisfied. We found that 14/25 (56%) were having regular daily activity, and rational recreation and none of our patient had a severe limitation on functional assessment. All the 25 patients in our cohort exhibited dorsiflexion of the ankle in swing phase by 12 weeks post operatively.3/25 (12%) had hindfoot valgus postoperatively. None of our patients had wound complication at the insertion site.  Conclusions: Tenodesis screw technique for insertion site fixation showed 72% result in restoring ankle function with a similar patient satisfaction and minimal complications

Data for: Exploring customer engagement with Instagram influencers, post Covid-19

This dataset was collected as part of a Masters by Research project. The data comprises responses collected from 633 Instagram users globally, aged between 18-35 yrs age, on the relationship between Instagram users and Influencers using a 5-point Likert scale survey on Qualtrics. The socio-demographic data was on their profession, frequency of usage, and reason for use. The study aimed to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship between COVID- 19 restrictions and customer engagement on Instagram between the relationship of users and Influencers. The study looks at the different variables that impact customer engagement between influencers and users on Instagram, such as trust, interactivity, virtual experience, and visual display of content

Data for: Exploring customer engagement with Instagram influencers, post Covid-19

This dataset was collected as part of a Masters by Research project. The data comprises responses collected from 633 Instagram users globally, aged between 18-35 yrs age, on the relationship between Instagram users and Influencers using a 5-point Likert scale survey on Qualtrics. The socio-demographic data was on their profession, frequency of usage, and reason for use. The study aimed to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship between COVID- 19 restrictions and customer engagement on Instagram between the relationship of users and Influencers. The study looks at the different variables that impact customer engagement between influencers and users on Instagram, such as trust, interactivity, virtual experience, and visual display of content

Methodologic issues in the use of workers' compensation databases for the study of work injuries with days away from work. I. Sensitivity of case ascertainment

Background Case ascertainment costs vary substantially between primary and secondary data sources. This review summarizes information on the sensitivity of state administrative databases in workers' compensation systems for the ascertainment of days-away-from-work (DAFW) work injuries for use in modeling studies. Methods Review of the literature supplemented by data from governmental or organizational reports or produced for this report. Results Employers currently appear to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for 98.9% of wage and salary workers. Wage and salary jobs account for approximately 90% of jobs in the United States. In industries such as manufacturing, the fraction of covered jobs is probably closer to 98%. In Minnesota, the number of DAFW cases ascertained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual survey of occupational injuries and illnesses is approximately 92–97% concordant with the number of wage compensation claims for injuries producing DAFW over the period 1992–2000, once adjustments are made to permit direct comparisons of the numbers. The workers' compensation databases provide information for more than 95% of the total DAFW resulting from work injuries. Covariate estimates are unaffected by this less than 5% loss because effects appear dependent on time from injury. Conclusions Statewide workers' compensation administrative databases can have substantial utility for epidemiologic study of work injuries with DAFW because of their size, using high sensitivity for case ascertainment as the evaluative criterion. Am. J. Ind. Med. 45:260–274, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34825/1/10333_ftp.pd

Volatile constituents and behavioral change induced by Cymbopogon winterianus leaf essential oil in rodents

Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt (‘Java citronella’) is an important essential oil yielding aromatic grass cultivated in India and Brazil and its volatile essential oils extracted from its leaves are used in perfumery, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and flavoring industries. However, there is no report on any psychopharmacological study of C. winterianus leaf essential oil (LEO) available to date. In this study, the pharmacological effects of the LEO were investigated in animal models and its phytochemical analyses. GC-MS analysis showed a mixture of monoterpenes, as citronellal (36.19%), geraniol (32.82%) and citronellol (11.37%). LEO exhibited an inhibitory effect on the locomotor activity of mice, an antinociceptive effect by increasing the reaction time in the writhing and capsaicin tests. All doses induced a significant increase in the sleeping time of animals not having modified however, the latency. The LEO did not alter the remaining time of the animals on the rota-rod apparatus. These results suggest a possible central effect.Key words: Cymbopogon winterianus, essential oil, CNS, behavioral effects, analgesic

On drift parameter estimation for mean-reversion type stochastic differential equations with discrete observations

We study the parameter estimation for mean-reversion type stochastic differential equations driven by Brownian motion. The equations, involving a small dispersion parameter, are observed at discrete (regularly spaced) time instants. The least square method is utilized to derive an asymptotically consistent estimator. Discussions on the rate of convergence of the least square estimator are presented. The new feature of this study is that, due to the mean-reversion type drift coefficient in the stochastic differential equations, we have to use the Girsanov transformation to simplify the equations, which then gives rise to the corresponding convergence of the least square estimator being with respect to a family of probability measures indexed by the dispersion parameter, while in the literature the existing results have dealt with convergence with respect to a given probability measure

Predicting movements of onsite workers and mobile equipment for enhancing construction site safety

Tens of thousands of time-loss injuries and deaths are annually reported from the construction sector, and a high percentage of them are due to the workers being struck by mobile equipment on sites. In order to address this site safety issue, it is necessary to provide proactive warning systems. One critical part in such systems is to locate the current positions of onsite workers and mobile equipment and also predict their future positions to prevent immediate collisions. This paper proposes novel Kalman filters for predicting the movements of the workers and mobile equipment on the construction sites. The filters take the positions of the equipment and workers estimated from multiple video cameras as input, and output the corresponding predictions on their future positions. Moreover, the filters could adjust their predictions based on the worker or equipment's previous movements. The effectiveness of the filters has been tested with real site videos and the results show the high prediction accuracy of the filters

Diagnosis of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by emergency medical dispatch : A diagnostic systematic review

Introduction: Cardiac arrest is a time-sensitive condition requiring urgent intervention. Prompt and accurate recognition of cardiac arrest by emergency medical dispatchers at the time of the emergency call is a critical early step in cardiac arrest management allowing for initiation of dispatcher-assisted bystander CPR and appropriate and timely emergency response. The overall accuracy of dispatchers in recognizing cardiac arrest is not known. It is also not known if there are specific call characteristics that impact the ability to recognize cardiac arrest. Methods: We performed a systematic review to examine dispatcher recognition of cardiac arrest as well as to identify call characteristics that may affect their ability to recognize cardiac arrest at the time of emergency call. We searched electronic databases for terms related to "emergency medical dispatcher", "cardiac arrest", and "diagnosis", among others, with a focus on studies that allowed for calculating diagnostic test characteristics (e.g. sensitivity and specificity). The review was consistent with Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method for evidence evaluation. Results: We screened 2520 article titles, resulting in 47 studies included in this review. There was significant heterogeneity between studies with a high risk of bias in 18 of the 47 which precluded performing meta-analyses. The reported sensitivities for cardiac arrest recognition ranged from 0.46 to 0.98 whereas specificities ranged from 0.32 to 1.00. There were no obvious differences in diagnostic accuracy between different dispatching criteria/algorithms or with the level of education of dispatchers. Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of cardiac arrest recognition at the time of emergency call varied across dispatch centres and did not appear to differ by dispatch algorithm/criteria used or education of the dispatcher, although comparisons were hampered by heterogeneity across studies. Future efforts should focus on ways to improve sensitivity of cardiac arrest recognition to optimize patient care and ensure appropriate and timely resource utilization.Peer reviewe