The Efficacy of Guided Imagery for Recovery from Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Replacement

As an exploratory, developmental injury intervention study, this research investigated the efficacy of providing psychological intervention in the form of relaxation and guided imagery to a group of orthopedic patients recovering from major knee surgery. Utilizing a prospective, experimental research design with 30 subjects randomly assigned to either an intervention, placebo, or control group, this study employed physiological as well as psychological outcome measures. Intervention consisted of 10 individual mental practice sessions for intervention group members as an adjunct to physical therapy. Content of these sessions was intentionally designed to facilitate physiotherapy goals. Imagery protocols with which to deliver these standardized sessions were also designed to directly parallel established physical rehabilitation protocols. Placebo group participants were exposed to nonspecific intervention factors of attention and support, while control group members completed their physical therapy as usual. Results of this study revealed that for this sample of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) orthopedic patients, psychological injury intervention in the form of relaxation and guided imagery contributed to statistically significant better physical and psychological outcomes. Strength and extension improvement, as well as reduction in state, trait, and reinjury anxiety, were superior for the intervention group as compared to placebo and control groups from preintervention (2 weeks postsurgery) to post-intervention (24 weeks postsurgery). Other benefits of the intervention, according to subject self-report, included pain and stress management, empowerment, control of recovery, and overall body wellness . Implications of these research findings are discussed, as well as suggestions offered for subsequent injury intervention research

Perceived Water Quality and Reported Health among Adults during the Flint, MI Water Crisis

Background and Purpose: In April 2014, the municipal water source for Flint, Michigan was changed from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Although residents reported concerns about the quality of tap water and resulting health problems, officials insisted that the water was safe. This study examined relationships between self-reported tap water quality during the water crisis and health conditions among Flint residents. Methods: Participants from each residential Census Tract in the City of Flint were recruited via address lists, online social media, and community-based events. The survey included mental and physical health items from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and an item on tap water quarter quality experiences. Analyses were weighted to be demographically representative. Results: Participants (N = 277) rated their tap water quality (taste, smell, appearance) as Poor (57%), Fair (20%), Good (13%), Very Good (6%), and Excellent (3%). Controlling for age, gender, years of education, whether respondents were African American or Hispanic/Latino/a, and population demographics, lower perceived tap water quality was associated with worse mental and physical health across all indicators. Conclusion: This study demonstrates associations of tap water quality experiences with reported poor physical and mental health among adults in Flint during the Flint Water Crisis

Experimental study of super-rotation in a magnetostrophic spherical Couette flow

We report measurements of electric potentials at the surface of a spherical container of liquid sodium in which a magnetized inner core is differentially rotating. The azimuthal angular velocities inferred from these potentials reveal a strong super-rotation of the liquid sodium in the equatorial region, for small differential rotation. Super-rotation was observed in numerical simulations by Dormy et al. [1]. We find that the latitudinal variation of the electric potentials in our experiments differs markedly from the predictions of a similar numerical model, suggesting that some of the assumptions used in the model - steadiness, equatorial symmetry, and linear treatment for the evolution of both the magnetic and velocity fields - are violated in the experiments. In addition, radial velocity measurements, using ultrasonic Doppler velocimetry, provide evidence of oscillatory motion near the outer sphere at low latitude: it is viewed as the signature of an instability of the super-rotating region

A 50 Kilowatt Distributed Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Generation System for the University of Wyoming

The University of Wyoming (UW) campus (USA) is serving as the site for a 50 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) power system. Three sub-systems were sited and built on the UW campus in 1996. The first sub-system, a 10 kW roof-integrated system of PV roof tiles is located on the roof of the Engineering Building. The second sub-system-a 5 kW rack-mounted, ballasted PV system is on a walkway roof of the Engineering building. The third sub-system is a 35 kW shade structure system and is located adjacent to the parking lot of the University\u27s football stadium. The three sub-systems differ in their design strategy since each is being used for research and education at the University. Each sub-system, being located at some distance away from one another, supplies a different part of the campus grid. Efforts continue at setting up a central monitoring system which will receive data remotely from all locations. A part of this monitoring system is complete. While the initial monitoring data shows satisfactory performance, a number of reliability problems with PV modules and inverters have delayed full functionality of the syste

Toxic trauma: Household water quality experiences predict posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms during the Flint, Michigan, water crisis

We examined the relationship between perceptions of household tap water quality and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the Flint, Michigan, water crisis in 2015–2016. The Speak to Your Health Community Survey is a community‐based participatory component of the health surveillance system in Genesee County, Michigan. Perceptions of household tap water quality was added to the 2015–2016 survey wave after inadequate official response to concerns over water quality after a change in Flint’s municipal water supply. Respondents (N = 786) also completed a brief PTSD screening tool. We examined the relationships of perceived household tap water quality to PTSD symptomatology and positive screening criteria for PTSD, controlling for sociodemographics. Perceived tap water quality predicted PTSD symptomatology and positive screening criteria for PTSD, independent of sociodemographics. The adverse mental health impact of municipal toxic contamination may generalize to other similar environmental contamination incidents.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138395/1/jcop21898_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138395/2/jcop21898.pd

Young carers in England: findings from the 2018 BBC survey on the prevalence and nature of caring among young people

Background Many young people are involved in caring for parents, siblings, or other relatives who have an illness or disability. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of caring by young people in England. Method A national survey of 925 English young people was conducted using the 18‐item survey version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Caring Activities Checklist for Young Carers. Results Around 7% of young people were identified as doing at least a high amount of caring activity and 3% a very high amount. Most frequently, caring by a young person is for a mother or a sibling, with a physical disability. Caring activity consisted mostly of domestic activities, household management, and emotional care. Conclusion This study provides the most up to date and methodologically sophisticated survey data on the prevalence of young caring in England, with implications for policy and practice

Textile-Integrated Transmitting Unit

This contribution deals with the main parts of the textile-integrated transmitting unit, a transmitter and an antenna, operating in the ISM 5.8 GHz band. The transmitter is based on commercially available WLAN UART Serial Port OWS451 and it is controlled via the UART interface by microprocessor ATmega328. The antenna is based on the circular ring-slot concept and it is able to provide monopolar radiation pattern to ensure maximum coverage of the unit. The unit will be integrated in a seat cover and it will transmit the telemetry of sensors integrated in the seat (temperature, pressure…)

A Systematic Review of the Effect of Cognitive Strategies on Strength Performance

Background Researchers have tested the beliefs of sportspeople and sports medicine specialists that cognitive strategies influence strength performance. Few investigators have synthesised the literature. Objectives The specific objectives were to review evidence regarding (a) the cognitive strategy–strength performance relationship; (b) participant skill level as a moderator; and (c) cognitive, motivational, biomechanical/physiological, and emotional mediators. Method Studies were sourced via electronic databases, reference lists of retrieved articles, and manual searches of relevant journals. Studies had to be randomised or counterbalanced experiments with a control group or condition, repeated measures, and a quality control score above 0.5 (out of 1). Cognitive strategies included goal setting, imagery, self-talk, preparatory arousal, and free choice. Dependent variables included maximal strength, local muscular endurance, or muscular power. Results Globally, cognitive strategies were reliability associated with increased strength performance (results ranged from 61 to 65 %). Results were mixed when examining the effects of specific strategies on particular dependent variables, although no intervention had an overall negative influence. Indeterminate relationships emerged regarding hypothesised mediators (except cognitive variables) and participant skill level as a moderator. Conclusions Although cognitive strategies influence strength performance, there are knowledge gaps regarding specific types of strength, especially muscular power. Cognitive variables, such as concentration, show promise as possible mediators

Blocking and Non-blocking Assignments in Explicit and Implicit Style Verilog Synthesis

We show transformations that convert blocking assignments into non-blocking assignments. Such transformations are useful because the parallel-processing nature of hardware is more easily conceptualized and mapped to technology with non-blocking assignment. To validate our theory, we synthesized using Synopsys FPGA Express, which supports both blocking and non-blocking assignments. Some of these transformations apply to both explicit-(IEEE P1364.1 proposed RTL synthesis standard) and implicit- (multiple clocking events in an always block) style Verilog. The more complicated transformations apply only to implicit-style code. We also notice there is a one-clock-cycle mismatch between implicit-style synthesis and simulation, which is, in general, solvable only for non-blocking assignment. We avoid this mismatch by modifying our testbench. We feel the complexity of transforming blocking to non-blocking assignment as well as testbench mismatch justify our decision to implement only non-blocking assignment in our Verilog Implicit to One-hot (VITO) preprocessor. Explicit versus Implicit There are two styles of behavioral code that can be synthesized: implicit and explicit. Explicit-style code is more restrictive than implicit-style code in two main respects: explicit-style code prohibits the use of while or forever loops, and explicit-style code allows only one clocking-event expression per always block (which must occur at the top of the block). Explicit-style code is accepted by all synthesis vendors and is the basis of the proposed IEEE P1364.1 standard [5] for the so-called “Register Transfer Level Subset ” of Verilog. Implicit-style code [1, 6] relaxes these restrictions so that multiple clocking events as well as while and forever loops are allowed, provided that the clocking events are identical (shown as @(posedge sysclk) in the following examples) and each loop contains at leas