Computerized visual feedback: an adjunct to robotic-assisted gait training

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Robotic devices for walking rehabilitation allow new possibilities for providing performance-related information to patients during gait training. Based on motor learning principles, augmented feedback during robotic-assisted gait training might improve the rehabilitation process used to regain walking function. This report presents a method to provide visual feedback implemented in a driven gait orthosis (DGO). The purpose of the study was to compare the immediate effect on motor output in subjects during robotic-assisted gait training when they used computerized visual feedback and when they followed verbal instructions of a physical therapist. SUBJECTS: Twelve people with neurological gait disorders due to incomplete spinal cord injury participated. METHODS: Subjects were instructed to walk within the DGO in 2 different conditions. They were asked to increase their motor output by following the instructions of a therapist and by observing visual feedback. In addition, the subjects' opinions about using visual feedback were investigated by a questionnaire. RESULTS: Computerized visual feedback and verbal instructions by the therapist were observed to result in a similar change in motor output in subjects when walking within the DGO. Subjects reported that they were more motivated and concentrated on their movements when using computerized visual feedback compared with when no form of feedback was provided. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Computerized visual feedback is a valuable adjunct to robotic-assisted gait training. It represents a relevant tool to increase patients' motor output, involvement, and motivation during gait training, similar to verbal instructions by a therapist

A Triphasic Sorting System: Coordination Cages in Ionic Liquids.

Host-guest chemistry is usually carried out in either water or organic solvents. To investigate the utility of alternative solvents, three different coordination cages were dissolved in neat ionic liquids. By using (19) F NMR spectroscopy to monitor the presence of free and bound guest molecules, all three cages were demonstrated to be stable and capable of encapsulating guests in ionic solution. Different cages were found to preferentially dissolve in different phases, allowing for the design of a triphasic sorting system. Within this system, three coordination cages, namely Fe4 L6 2, Fe8 L12 3, and Fe4 L4 4, each segregated into a distinct layer. Upon the addition of a mixture of three different guests, each cage (in each separate layer) selectively bound its preferred guest.This work was supported by the European Research Council (259352). We also thank the Cambridge Chemistry NMR service for experimental assistance.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.20150577

Integrated systems research for sustainable smallholder agriculture in the Central Mekong: Achievements and challenges of implementing integrated systems research

Internal Revie

Formation of a stable deacagonal quasicrystalline Al-Pd-Mn surface layer

We report the in situ formation of an ordered equilibrium decagonal Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal overlayer on the 5-fold symmetric surface of an icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn monograin. The decagonal structure of the epilayer is evidenced by x-ray photoelectron diffraction, low-energy electron diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction. This overlayer is also characterized by a reduced density of states near the Fermi edge as expected for quasicrystals. This is the first time that a millimeter-size surface of the stable decagonal Al-Pd-Mn is obtained, studied and compared to its icosahedral counterpart.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Ref. Lett. (18 July 2001

Coordination Cages Selectively Transport Molecular Cargoes Across Liquid Membranes.

Chemical purifications are critical processes across many industries, requiring 10-15% of humanity's global energy budget. Coordination cages are able to catch and release guest molecules based upon their size and shape, providing a new technological basis for achieving chemical separation. Here, we show that aqueous solutions of FeII4L6 and CoII4L4 cages can be used as liquid membranes. Selective transport of complex hydrocarbons across these membranes enabled the separation of target compounds from mixtures under ambient conditions. The kinetics of cage-mediated cargo transport are governed by guest binding affinity. Using sequential transport across two consecutive membranes, target compounds were isolated from a mixture in a size-selective fashion. The selectivities of both cages thus enabled a two-stage separation process to isolate a single compound from a mixture of physicochemically similar molecules

2017 EACTS/EACTA Guidelines on patient blood management for adult cardiac surgery

Authors/Task Force Members: Christa Boer (EACTA Chairperson)(Netherlands), Michael I. Meesters (Netherlands), Milan Milojevic (Netherlands), Umberto Benedetto (UK), Daniel Bolliger (Switzerland), Christian von Heymann (Germany), Anders Jeppsson (Sweden), Andreas Koster (Germany), Ruben L. Osnabrugge (Netherlands), Marco Ranucci (Italy), Hanne Berg Ravn (Denmark), Alexander B.A. Vonk (Netherlands), Alexander Wahba (Norway), Domenico Pagano (EACTS Chairperson)(UK),. Document Reviewers: Moritz W.V. Wyler von Ballmoos (USA), Mate Petricevic (Croatia), Arie Pieter Kappetein (Netherlands), Miguel Sousa-Uva (Portugal), Georg Trummer (Germany), Peter M. Rosseel (Netherlands), Michael Sander (Germany), Pascal Colson (France), Adrian Bauer (Germany)

Standardized voluntary force measurement in a lower extremity rehabilitation robot

BACKGROUND: Isometric force measurements in the lower extremity are widely used in rehabilitation of subjects with neurological movement disorders (NMD) because walking ability has been shown to be related to muscle strength. Therefore muscle strength measurements can be used to monitor and control the effects of training programs. A new method to assess isometric muscle force was implemented in the driven gait orthosis (DGO) Lokomat. To evaluate the capabilities of this new measurement method, inter- and intra-rater reliability were assessed. METHODS: Reliability was assessed in subjects with and without NMD. Subjects were tested twice on the same day by two different therapists to test inter-rater reliability and on two separate days by the same therapist to test intra-rater reliability. RESULTS: Results showed fair to good reliability for the new measurement method to assess isometric muscle force of lower extremities. In subjects without NMD, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.72 to 0.97 and intra-rater reliability from 0.71 to 0.90. In subjects with NMD, ICC ranged from 0.66 to 0.97 for inter-rater and from 0.50 to 0.96 for intra-rater reliability. CONCLUSION: Inter- and intra- rater reliability of an assessment method for measuring maximal voluntary isometric muscle force of lower extremities was demonstrated. We suggest that this method is a valuable tool for documentation and controlling of the rehabilitation process in patients using a DGO