22 research outputs found
A Prospective Case-Control Study of Radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Spastic Plantar Flexor Muscles in Very Young Children With Cerebral Palsy
Get PDFTo assess the effects of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) on plantar flexor muscle spasticity and gross motor function in very young patients with cerebral palsy (CP).The design was case-control study (level of evidence 3).The setting was the Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.Those with a diagnosis of CP and spastic plantar flexor muscles were recruited between April 2014 and April 2015.According to the parents' decision, patients received 1 ESWT session per week for 3 months, with 1500 radial shock waves per ESWT session and leg with positive energy flux density of 0.03mJ/mm(2), combined with traditional conservative therapy (rESWT group) or traditional conservative therapy alone (control group).The Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) (primary outcome measure) and passive range of motion (pROM) measurements were collected at baseline (BL), 1 month (M1), and 3 months (M3) after BL. The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-88 was collected at BL and M3.Sixty-six patients completed the final review at 3 months and were included in the study. Subjects ranged in age from 12 to 60 months (mean age 27.013.6 months;median age 22.0 months;33.3% female). For the rESWT group (n=34), mean MAS grades at BL, M1, and M3 were 2.6, 1.9, and 1.5 on the left side and 1.9, 1.7, and 1.2 on the right side. For the control group (n=32), mean MAS grades at BL, M1, and M3 were 2.5, 2.4, and 2.1 on the left side and 1.8, 1.8, and 1.5 on the right side. The within-subject effects timexside and timextreatment were statistically significant (P<0.01). Similar results were found for the improvement of mean pROM. GMFM-88 improved from BL to M3, but showed no statistically significant difference between the groups. There were no significant complications.This study demonstrates that the combination of rESWT and traditional conservative therapy is more effective than traditional conservative therapy alone in the treatment of spasticity in very young patients with CP
Eco-Environmental Effect Evaluation of <i>Tamarix chinesis</i> Forest on Coastal Saline-Alkali Land Based on RSEI Model
No full textTaking representative Tamarix chinensis forest in the national-level special protection zone for ocean ecology of Changyi city in Shandong province of China as the objective, this research studied how to use remote sensing technology to evaluate natural eco-environment and analyze spatiotemporal variation. In the process of constructing the index system of ecological environment effect evaluation based on RSEI (Remote Sensing Ecological Index) model, AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth), Salinity, Greenness, Wetness, Heat and Dryness, which can represent the ecological environment of the reserve, were selected as the corresponding indexes. In order to accurately obtain the value of the RSEI of the study area and to retain the information of the original indexes to the greatest extent, the SPCA (spatial principal components analysis) method was applied in this research. Finally, the RSEI was applied to evaluate the ecological and environmental effects and to analyze the spatial characteristics and spatiotemporal evolution of the study area. The results not only provide scientific evidence and technical guidance for the protection, transformation and management of the Tamarix chinensis forest in the protection zone but also push the development of the universal model of the ecological environment quality with a remote sensing evaluation index system at a regional scale
Characteristics and Formation Mechanism of Water-Eroded Ground Fissures in the Weihe Basin of China
No full textThe Weihe Basin is a crucial part of the Fenwei Graben System and is a typical example of an extensional fault basin. Over time, the region has been developed around 212 ground fissures, with the majority of them being associated with heavy rainfall. These water-eroded ground fissures have caused serious damage to farmland, houses, and roads, with the Liangjiacun ground fissures, Meiyuancun ground fissures, and Dizhentai ground fissures being the most known. To understand the developmental characteristics and formation mechanisms of water-eroded ground fissures in the Weihe Basin, we utilized a variety of methods, including ground surveys, mapping, trenching, drilling, and geophysical exploration. These three ground fissures are distributed along corresponding fault zones, with their orientations being closely linked to local topographic changes. Additionally, the trenching profiles showed that all three typical ground fissure zones have distinct hidden holes above the paleosol. The formation of these ground fissures is closely associated with tectonic activity and heavy rainfall, with soil ruptures resulting from tectonic activity becoming the dominant channels for surface water infiltration. Furthermore, the erosion caused by heavy rainfall accelerates the rupture and expansion of ground fissures in the shallow subsurface. This paper is a valuable resource for disaster prevention and mitigation strategies aimed at mitigating the damage caused by ground fissures in the Weihe Basin
Developmental Mechanism of Rainfall-Induced Ground Fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley
No full textActive tectonic movement and frequent ground fissure disasters occur in the Kenya Rift Valley. Ground fissures are often exposed to the ground surface after rainfall, resulting in disasters and huge economic losses. We conducted a field geological survey and exploratory trenching in order to identify the developmental characteristics of ground fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley. The ground fissures were found to be connected with concealed bedrock fissures, which is a typical characteristic of tectonic ground fissures. From the perspective of regional tectonic stress and plate movement, we investigated the causes of hidden bedrock cracks and conducted a finite element numerical simulation to study the rainfall infiltration process in the presence of hidden bedrock fractures. The results showed that the fractures in the concealed bedrock are controlled by regional tectonic stress and a northwest-trending basement tectonic shear zone. The most intense rainfall infiltration erosion occurs in concealed cracks, where the settlement induced by rainfall is also greatest. Therefore, rainfall erosion is an important factor driving the expansion of ground fissures towards surface fractures. The results of this study provide a theoretical scientific basis for disaster reduction and the prevention of ground fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley
A Kinetic Model for Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production of Plant Biomass under High Salinity
No full textThe aim of this study is to evaluate the anaerobic digestion and biogas production of plant biomass under high salinity by adopting a theoretical and technical approach for saline plant-biomass treatment. Two completely mixed lab-scale mesophilic reactors were operated for 480 days. In one of them, NaCl was added and the sodium ion concentration was maintained at 35.8 g-Na+·L−1, and the organic loading rate was 0.58-COD·L−1·d−1–1.5 g-COD·L−1·d−1; the other added Na2SO4–NaHCO3 and kept the sodium ion concentration at 27.6 g-Na+·L−1 and the organic loading rate at 0.2 g-COD·L−1·d−1–0.8 g-COD·L−1·d−1. The conversion efficiencies of the two systems (COD to methane) were 66% and 54%, respectively. Based on the sulfate-reduction reaction and the existing anaerobic digestion model, a kinetic model comprising 12 types of soluble substrates and 16 types of anaerobic microorganisms was developed. The model was used to simulate the process performance of a continuous anaerobic bioreactor with a mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration of 10 g·L−1–40 g·L−1. The results showed that the NaCl system could receive the influent up to a loading rate of 0.16 kg-COD/kg-MLSS·d−1 without significant degradation of the methane conversion at 66%, while the Na2SO4–NaHCO3 system could receive more than 2 kg-COD·kg−1-MLSS·d−1, where 54% of the fed chemical oxygen demand (COD) was converted into methane and another 12% was observed to be sulfide
Developmental Mechanism of Rainfall-Induced Ground Fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley
No full textActive tectonic movement and frequent ground fissure disasters occur in the Kenya Rift Valley. Ground fissures are often exposed to the ground surface after rainfall, resulting in disasters and huge economic losses. We conducted a field geological survey and exploratory trenching in order to identify the developmental characteristics of ground fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley. The ground fissures were found to be connected with concealed bedrock fissures, which is a typical characteristic of tectonic ground fissures. From the perspective of regional tectonic stress and plate movement, we investigated the causes of hidden bedrock cracks and conducted a finite element numerical simulation to study the rainfall infiltration process in the presence of hidden bedrock fractures. The results showed that the fractures in the concealed bedrock are controlled by regional tectonic stress and a northwest-trending basement tectonic shear zone. The most intense rainfall infiltration erosion occurs in concealed cracks, where the settlement induced by rainfall is also greatest. Therefore, rainfall erosion is an important factor driving the expansion of ground fissures towards surface fractures. The results of this study provide a theoretical scientific basis for disaster reduction and the prevention of ground fissures in the Kenya Rift Valley
Classification, grading criteria and quantitative expression of earth fissures: a case study in Daming Area, North China Plain
No full textObservation, description and preliminary analysis are important means in studies on earth fissures. As a phenomenon of surface fractures, earth fissures are formed under the joint action of exogenetic and endogenetic forces and their development can be characterized by parameters of length, width, depth, fractal dimension and influential width. Based on their length, we deduced a ‘length-grade conversion equation’ and divided earth fissures into 10 grades. In addition, we also deduced a series functions to describe the contribution of fissure-inducing forces including active fault, earthquake, groundwater withdrawal and ancient river channels based on their roles in fissure formation and their affecting conditions. These functions provide the criteria for classification of earth fissures. In order to verify the effectiveness of these methods, we took Daming fracture zone on the North China Plain as an example to quantitatively calculate the control factors of the earth fissures in this area. Moreover, we proposed various plane expression methods for single and grouped earth fissures that could be used to improve the relevant studies on earth fissures
A Prospective Case-Control Study of Radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Spastic Plantar Flexor Muscles in Very Young Children With Cerebral Palsy
Get PDFTo assess the effects of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) on plantar flexor muscle spasticity and gross motor function in very young patients with cerebral palsy (CP).The design was case-control study (level of evidence 3).The setting was the Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.Those with a diagnosis of CP and spastic plantar flexor muscles were recruited between April 2014 and April 2015.According to the parents' decision, patients received 1 ESWT session per week for 3 months, with 1500 radial shock waves per ESWT session and leg with positive energy flux density of 0.03mJ/mm(2), combined with traditional conservative therapy (rESWT group) or traditional conservative therapy alone (control group).The Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) (primary outcome measure) and passive range of motion (pROM) measurements were collected at baseline (BL), 1 month (M1), and 3 months (M3) after BL. The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-88 was collected at BL and M3.Sixty-six patients completed the final review at 3 months and were included in the study. Subjects ranged in age from 12 to 60 months (mean age 27.013.6 months;median age 22.0 months;33.3% female). For the rESWT group (n=34), mean MAS grades at BL, M1, and M3 were 2.6, 1.9, and 1.5 on the left side and 1.9, 1.7, and 1.2 on the right side. For the control group (n=32), mean MAS grades at BL, M1, and M3 were 2.5, 2.4, and 2.1 on the left side and 1.8, 1.8, and 1.5 on the right side. The within-subject effects timexside and timextreatment were statistically significant (P<0.01). Similar results were found for the improvement of mean pROM. GMFM-88 improved from BL to M3, but showed no statistically significant difference between the groups. There were no significant complications.This study demonstrates that the combination of rESWT and traditional conservative therapy is more effective than traditional conservative therapy alone in the treatment of spasticity in very young patients with CP
Comparison of the efficacy of parent-mediated NDBIs on developmental skills in children with ASD and fidelity in parents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
No full textAbstract Background Recently, studies on behavioral interventions for autism have gained popularity. Naturalistic Developmental Behavior Interventions (NDBIs) are among the most effective, evidence-based, and widely used behavior interventions for autism. However, no research has been conducted on which of the several NDBI methods is most effective for parents and children with autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, we conducted a network meta-analysis to compare the specific effects of each type of parental-mediated NDBI on children’s developmental skills and parent fidelity. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), CINAHL, and Wanfang databases were searched from inception to August 30, 2023. A total of 32 randomized controlled trial studies that examined the efficacy of different NDBIs were included. Results Parents of children with ASD who received Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) reported significant improvements in their children’s social skills (SUCRA, 74.1%), language skills (SUCRA, 88.3%), and parenting fidelity (SUCRA, 99.5%). Moreover, parents who received Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) reported significant improvements in their children’s language (SMD = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.79) and motor skills (SMD = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.79). In terms of the efficacy of improving parent fidelity, the results showed that the Improving Parents as Communication Teachers (ImPACT) intervention significantly improved parent fidelity when compared with the treatment-as-usual group (TAU) (SMD = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.39, 1.42) and the parental education intervention (PEI) (SMD = 1.10, 95% CI:0.28, 1.91).There was a difference in parent fidelity among parents who received PRT(SMD = 3.53, 95% CI: 2.26, 4.79) or ESDM(SMD = 1.42, 95% CI: 0.76, 2.09) training compared with PEI. Conclusion In conclusion, this study revealed that parents can achieve high fidelity with the ImPACT intervention, and it can serve as an early first step for children newly diagnosed with ASD. It also showed that parent-mediated ESDM is effective in improving language and motor skills for children with ASD and can be used as part of the second stage of parent training. Parent-mediated PRT can also be used as a third stage of parent training with sufficient training intensity to further improve language, social, and motor skills
Molecular dynamics study of low molecular weight gel forming salt-triggered dipeptide
No full textAbstract Molecular dynamics simulation method was used to study the aggregation of Na and Ca salts in different concentrations of Naphthalene-dipeptide (2NapFF) solutions. The results show that high-valence Ca2+ triggers the formation of a gel at a certain dipeptide concentration, and the low-valence Na+ system follows the aggregation law of general surfactants. The results also show that hydrophobic and electrostatic forces are the main driving forces for the formation of dipeptide aggregates, and that hydrogen bonds do not play a major role in the formation of dipeptide solution aggregates. Hydrophobic and electrostatic effects are the main driving forces for the formation of gels in dipeptide solutions triggered by Ca2+. Electrostatic attraction drives Ca2+ to form a weak coordination with four oxygen atoms on two carboxyl groups, which causes the dipeptide molecules to form a gel with a branched network structure
