Efficacy of augmented reality versus conventional physical therapy for the improvement of balance, gait, upper-limb and dual task in people with multiple sclerosis

Introducción: La Esclerosis Múltiple (EM)es un trastorno progresivo multifocal del sistema nervioso central, que a menudo resulta en diversas manifestaciones clínicas. Las personas con Esclerosis Múltiple (pcEM) a menudo sufren diferentes trastornos motores en el equilibrio, la marcha y las extremidades superiores, incluso mientras realizan alguna actividad de la vida diaria, lo que también afecta la doble tarea. La realidad aumentada (RA) se está convirtiendo en una herramienta de entrenamiento popular para la recuperación funcional en fisioterapia. Por tanto, el objetivo era demostrar la eficacia de la RA para el equilibrio, la marcha, los miembros superiores y la tarea dual, como una herramienta más en el amplio abanico de posibilidades de la EF para la EM. Métodos: 30 pcEM fueron igualmente aleatorizados en el grupo de RA o el grupo de terapia convencional (TC). Cada grupo recibió sesiones de entrenamiento de equilibrio, marcha, miembros superiores y tareas duales durante cuatro semanas consecutivas, tres sesiones por semana, sesiones de 45 minutos. Las pruebas clínicas, las medidas de resultado instrumentadas y los cuestionarios autoinformados se recopilaron al inicio de los programas de intervención y al final. Resultados: el análisis final incluyó a 23 pacientes (12F, 11M; edad media, (S.D.) = 49,83 (10,82) años; media EDSS (S.D.) = 4,64 (1,15)). ANOVA reveló cambios estadísticamente significativos en el tiempo pero no en el tiempo por interacción de grupo. Ambos grupos mostraron un efecto principal del tiempo en 36, y solo RA en 7 de las 48 variables consideradas para miembros superiores, equilibrio, marcha y tarea dual. No se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas a favor del RA Conclusiones: Se demuestra que el entrenamiento de miembros superiores, equilibrio, marcha y tareas duales basado en RA es un método eficaz como terapia convencional para la EM.Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis is a multifocal progressive disorder of the central nervous system, often resulting in diverse clinical manifestations. People with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) often suffer from different motor disturbances in balance, gait, and the upper limbs, including while they are performing some daily life activity, which also affects dual tasking. Augmented reality (AR) is becoming a popular training tool for functional recovery in physical therapy (PT). Therefore, the aim was to demonstrate the efficacy of AR for balance, gait, the upper limbs and dual task, as one more tool in the wide range of possibilities in PT for pwMS. Methods: 30 pwMS were equally randomized into the augmented reality group (ARG) or the conventional therapy group (CTG). Each group received balance, gait, upper-limb and dual task training sessions for four consecutive weeks, three sessions per week, 45-minute sessions. Clinical tests, instrumented outcome measures, and self-reported questionnaires were collected upon initiation of the intervention programs and at the end. Outcomes: Final analysis included 23 patients (12F,11M; mean age, (S.D.) = 49.83(10.82) years; mean EDSS (S.D.) = 4.64 (1.15)). ANOVA revealed statistically significant changes in time but not in the time per group interaction. Both groups showed a main effect of time in 36, and only ARG in 7 out of 48 variables considered for the upper limbs, balance, gait and dual task. No statistically significant differences in favor of the ARG were observed Conclusions: It is demonstrated that upper-limb, balance, gait and dual task training based on AR is an effective method as conventional therapy for pwMS

Chaos induced coherence in two independent food chains

Coherence evolution of two food web models can be obtained under the stirring effect of chaotic advection. Each food web model sustains a three--level trophic system composed of interacting predators, consumers and vegetation. These populations compete for a common limiting resource in open flows with chaotic advection dynamics. Here we show that two species (the top--predators) of different colonies chaotically advected by a jet--like flow can synchronize their evolution even without migration interaction. The evolution is charaterized as a phase synchronization. The phase differences (determined through the Hilbert transform) of the variables representing those species show a coherent evolution.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Alibava : A portable readout system for silicon microstrip sensors

A portable readout system for silicon microstrip sensors is currently being developed. This system uses a front-end readout chip, which was developed for the LHC experiments. The system will be used to investigate the main properties of this type of sensors and their future applications. The system is divided in two parts: a daughter board and a mother board. The first one is a small board which contains two readout chips and has fan-ins and sensor support to interface the sensors. The last one is intended to process the analogue data that comes from the readout chips and from external trigger signals, to control the whole system and to communicate with a PC via USB. The core of this board is a FPGA that controls the readout chips, a 10 bit ADC, an integrated TDC and an USB controller. This board also contains the analogue electronics to process the data that comes from the readout chips. There is also provision for an external trigger input (e.g. scintillator trigger) and a 'synchronised' trigger output for pulsing an external excitation source (e.g. laser system)

Brain activity changes with emotional words in different stages of psychosis

BackgroundTo date, a large number of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have been conducted on psychosis. However, little is known about changes in brain functioning in psychotic patients using an emotional auditory paradigm at different stages of the disease. Such knowledge is important for advancing our understanding of the disorder and thus creating more targeted interventions. This study aimed to investigate whether individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and chronic schizophrenia show abnormal brain responses to emotional auditory processing and to compare the responses between FEP and chronic schizophrenia. MethodsPatients with FEP (n = 31) or chronic schizophrenia (n = 23) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 31) underwent an fMRI scan while presented with both emotional and nonemotional words. ResultsUsing HC as a reference, patients with FEP showed decreased right temporal activation, while patients with chronic schizophrenia showed increased bilateral temporal activation. When comparing the patient groups, individuals with FEP showed lower frontal lobe activation. ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study with an emotional auditory paradigm used in psychotic patients at different stages of the disease. Our results suggested that the temporal lobe might be a key issue in the physiopathology of psychosis, although abnormal activation could also be derived from a connectivity problem. There is lower activation in the early stage and evolution to greater activation when patients become chronic. This study highlights the relevance of using emotional paradigms to better understand brain activation at different stages of psychosis

Occupational Diseases and Perceived Health in Operating Room Nurses : A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Background: The surgical environment has multiple factors that could affect nurses' health. The aim was to determine the effects of the working environment of operating room nurses on their health compared to hospitalization nurses. Methods: A sample of operating room nurses and hospitalization nurses were included in the study and participated by filling in a self-report survey containing sociodemographic data items, the validated Nordic and SF12 scales and a list of medical conditions. Results: Three hundred and thirty-one nurses participated in the study. Statistically significant results had obtained for diagnoses of musculoskeletal disorders and contact dermatitis among the operating room nurses. Conclusion/Application to Practice: Continuous training in ergonomics is essential. Moreover, surgical protocols for preventing infection should be revised, optimizing the chlorhexidine content of soaps to reduce the risk of lesions among the surgical staff

Realistic performance prediction in nanostructured solar cells as a function of nanostructure dimensionality and density

The behavior of quantum dot, quantum wire, and quantum well InAs/GaAs solar cells is studied with a very simplified model based on experimental results in order to assess their performance as a function of the low bandgap material volume fraction fLOW. The efficiency of structured devices is found to exceed the efficiency of a non-structured GaAs cell, in particular under concentration, when fLOW is high; this condition is easier to achieve with quantum wells. If three different quasi Fermi levels appear with quantum dots the efficiency can be much higher

Universitat i empresa química: un diàleg necessari entre dos mons complementaris

Un diàleg fluid entre les universitats i altres centres de recerca de Catalunya amb el teixit empresarial és, avui dia, una exigència social ineludible. La transferència de coneixement des dels centres de recerca públics a les nostres empreses ha de servir per millorar la seva competitivitat internacional. Entre les diferents formes de col·laboració, han pres força recentment els doctorats industrials. En aquest article es recullen les característiques bàsiques d'aquests doctorats, així com les experièn- cies del nostre grup de treball i, en concret, el desenvolupament d'una nova síntesi industrial de l'entecavir, un potent fàrmac contra l'hepatitis B

Dynamics of delayed-coupled chaotic logistic maps: influence of network topology, connectivity and delay times

We review our recent work on the synchronization of a network of delay-coupled maps, focusing on the interplay of the network topology and the delay times that take into account the finite velocity of propagation of interactions. We assume that the elements of the network are identical ($N$ logistic maps in the regime where the individual maps, without coupling, evolve in a chaotic orbit) and that the coupling strengths are uniform throughout the network. We show that if the delay times are sufficiently heterogeneous, for adequate coupling strength the network synchronizes in a spatially homogeneous steady-state, which is unstable for the individual maps without coupling. This synchronization behavior is referred to as ``suppression of chaos by random delays'' and is in contrast with the synchronization when all the interaction delay times are homogeneous, because with homogeneous delays the network synchronizes in a state where the elements display in-phase time-periodic or chaotic oscillations. We analyze the influence of the network topology considering four different types of networks: two regular (a ring-type and a ring-type with a central node) and two random (free-scale Barabasi-Albert and small-world Newman-Watts). We find that when the delay times are sufficiently heterogeneous the synchronization behavior is largely independent of the network topology but depends on the networks connectivity, i.e., on the average number of neighbors per node.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Also submitted to Pramana: the journal of the Indian Academy of Sciences. To appear in the Proceedings of "Perspectives on Nonlinear Dynamics 2007

Kidins220 deficiency causes ventriculomegaly via SNX27-retromer-dependent AQP4 degradation

Several psychiatric, neurologic and neurodegenerative disorders present increased brain ventricles volume, being hydrocephalus the disease with the major manifestation of ventriculomegaly caused by the accumulation of high amounts of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The molecules and pathomechanisms underlying cerebral ventricular enlargement are widely unknown. Kinase D interacting substrate of 220 kDa (KIDINS220) gene has been recently associated with schizophrenia and with a novel syndrome characterized by spastic paraplegia, intellectual disability, nystagmus and obesity (SINO syndrome), diseases frequently occurring with ventriculomegaly. Here we show that Kidins220, a transmembrane protein effector of various key neuronal signalling pathways, is a critical regulator of CSF homeostasis. We observe that both KIDINS220 and the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) are markedly downregulated at the ventricular ependymal lining of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients. We also find that Kidins220 deficient mice develop ventriculomegaly accompanied by water dyshomeostasis and loss of AQP4 in the brain ventricular ependymal layer and astrocytes. Kidins220 is a known cargo of the SNX27-retromer, a complex that redirects endocytosed plasma membrane proteins (cargos) back to the cell surface, thus avoiding their targeting to lysosomes for degradation. Mechanistically, we show that AQP4 is a novel cargo of the SNX27-retromer and that Kidins220 deficiency promotes a striking and unexpected downregulation of the SNX27-retromer that results in AQP4 lysosomal degradation. Accordingly, SNX27 silencing decreases AQP4 levels in wild-type astrocytes whereas SNX27 overexpression restores AQP4 content in Kidins220 deficient astrocytes. Together our data suggest that the KIDINS220-SNX27-retromer-AQP4 pathway is involved in human ventriculomegaly and open novel therapeutic perspectives