Prediction of Ball Placement Using Computer Simulation for Wheelchair Players in Table Tennis Singles

Because wheelchair table tennis players are physically limited by their handicap, they have to be trained efficiently for acquiring excellent skills and remarkable performance. Two integral skills they must possess are the control of ball placement and t

The LEAP checklist for laboratory evaluation and analytical performance characteristics reporting of clinical measurement procedures

Reporting a measurement procedure and its analytical performance following method evaluation in a peer-reviewed journal is an important means for clinical laboratory practitioners to share their findings. It also represents an important source of evidence base to help others make informed decisions about their practice. At present, there are significant variations in the information reported in laboratory medicine journal publications describing the analytical performance of measurement procedures. These variations also challenge authors, readers, reviewers, and editors in deciding the quality of a submitted manuscript. The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Working Group on Method Evaluation Protocols (IFCC WG-MEP) developed a checklist and recommends its adoption to enable a consistent approach to reporting method evaluation and analytical performance characteristics of measurement procedures in laboratory medicine journals. It is envisioned that the Laboratory Evaluation and Analytical Performance Characteristics (LEAP) checklist will improve the standardisation of journal publications describing method evaluation and analytical performance characteristics, improving the quality of the evidence base that is relied upon by practitioners

Hong Kong Chinese school children with elevated urine melamine levels: A prospective follow up study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2008, the outbreak of kidney stones in children fed by melamine-tainted milk products in Mainland China has caused major public concern of food safety. We identified Hong Kong school children with elevated urine melamine level from a community-based school survey in 2007-08 and reviewed their clinical status in 2009.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2007-08, 2119 school children participated in a primary and secondary school survey in Hong Kong using a cluster sampling method. Urine aliquots from 502 subjects were assayed for melamine level. High urine melamine level was defined as urine melamine/creatinine ratio >7.1 μg/mmol. Subjects with high urine melamine level were invited for clinical evaluation in 2009 including urinalysis and ultrasound imaging of the urinary system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age range of this subcohort was 6 - 20 years with 67% girls (335 female and 167 male subjects). The spot urine melamine/creatinine ratio of the 502 urine aliquots ranged from undetectable to 1467 μg/mmol (median 0.8 μg/mmol). Of these, 213 subjects had undetectable level (42%). We invited 47 (9%) subjects with high urine melamine level for re-evaluation and one subject declined. The median duration of follow-up was 23.5 months (interquartile range: 19.8 - 30.6 months). None of the 46 subjects (28% boys, mean age 13.9 ± 2.9 years) had any abnormality detected on ultrasound study of the urinary system. All subjects had stable renal function with a median urine albumin-creatinine ratio of 0.70 mg/mmol (interquartile range: 0.00 - 2.55 mg/mmol).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hong Kong Chinese school children with high urine melamine levels appeared to have benign clinical course in the short term although a long term follow-up study is advisable in those with persistently high urine melamine level.</p

Insights on Distinct Left Atrial Remodeling Between Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

BACKGROUND: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly coexist with overlapping pathophysiology like left atrial (LA) remodeling, which might differ given different underlying mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate the different patterns of LA wall remodeling in AF vs. HFpEF. METHODS: We compared LA wall characteristics including wall volume (LAWV), wall thickness (LAWT), and wall thickness heterogeneity (LAWT[SD]) and LA structure, function among the controls (without AF or HFpEF, n = 115), HFpEF alone (n = 59), AF alone (n = 37), and HFpEF+AF (n = 38) groups using multi-detector computed tomography and echocardiography. RESULTS: LA wall remodeling was most predominant and peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) was worst in HFpEF+AF patients as compared to the rest. Despite lower E/e' (9.8 ± 3.8 vs. 13.4 ± 6.4) yet comparable LA volume, LAWT and PALS in AF alone vs. HFpEF alone, LAWV [12.6 (11.6–15.3) vs. 12.0 (10.2–13.7); p = 0.01] and LAWT(SD) [0.68 (0.61–0.71) vs. 0.60 (0.56–0.65); p < 0.001] were significantly greater in AF alone vs. HFpEF alone even after multi-variate adjustment and propensity matching. After excluding the HFpEF+AF group, both LAWV and LAWT [SD] provided incremental values when added to PALS or LAVi (all p for net reclassification improvement <0.05) in discriminating AF alone, with LAWT[SD] yielding the largest C-statistic (0.78, 95% CI: 0.70–0.86) among all LA wall indices. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a similar extent of LA enlargement and dysfunction in HFpEF vs. AF alone, larger LAWV and LAWT [SD] can distinguish AF from HFpEF alone, suggesting the distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanism of LA remodeling in AF vs. HFpEF

Insights on Distinct Left Atrial Remodeling Between Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly coexist with overlapping pathophysiology like left atrial (LA) remodeling, which might differ given different underlying mechanisms. Objectives: We sought to investigate the different patterns of LA wall remodeling in AF vs. HFpEF. Methods: We compared LA wall characteristics including wall volume (LAWV), wall thickness (LAWT), and wall thickness heterogeneity (LAWT[SD]) and LA structure, function among the controls (without AF or HFpEF, n = 115), HFpEF alone (n = 59), AF alone (n = 37), and HFpEF+AF (n = 38) groups using multi-detector computed tomography and echocardiography. Results: LA wall remodeling was most predominant and peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) was worst in HFpEF+AF patients as compared to the rest. Despite lower E/e' (9.8 ± 3.8 vs. 13.4 ± 6.4) yet comparable LA volume, LAWT and PALS in AF alone vs. HFpEF alone, LAWV [12.6 (11.6–15.3) vs. 12.0 (10.2–13.7); p = 0.01] and LAWT(SD) [0.68 (0.61–0.71) vs. 0.60 (0.56–0.65); p &lt; 0.001] were significantly greater in AF alone vs. HFpEF alone even after multi-variate adjustment and propensity matching. After excluding the HFpEF+AF group, both LAWV and LAWT [SD] provided incremental values when added to PALS or LAVi (all p for net reclassification improvement &lt;0.05) in discriminating AF alone, with LAWT[SD] yielding the largest C-statistic (0.78, 95% CI: 0.70–0.86) among all LA wall indices. Conclusions: Despite a similar extent of LA enlargement and dysfunction in HFpEF vs. AF alone, larger LAWV and LAWT [SD] can distinguish AF from HFpEF alone, suggesting the distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanism of LA remodeling in AF vs. HFpEF.</p

On the direct insulator-quantum Hall transition in two-dimensional electron systems in the vicinity of nanoscaled scatterers.

A direct insulator-quantum Hall (I-QH) transition corresponds to a crossover/transition from the insulating regime to a high Landau level filling factor ν > 2 QH state. Such a transition has been attracting a great deal of both experimental and theoretical interests. In this study, we present three different two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) which are in the vicinity of nanoscaled scatterers. All these three devices exhibit a direct I-QH transition, and the transport properties under different nanaoscaled scatterers are discussed.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Cumulus cells and their extracellular matrix affect the quality of the spermatozoa penetrating the cumulus mass

Objective: To investigate the role of the cumulus cells and the cumulus matrix in affecting the penetrability, morphology, acrosome reaction, and motility of human spermatozoa penetrating the cumulus oophorus. Design: Controlled experimental laboratory study. Setting: University gynecology unit. Patient(s): Women undergoing assisted reproduction treatment and men visiting the subfertility clinics. Intervention(s): Human spermatozoa were allowed to penetrate through the cumulus oophorus and cell-depleted cumulus matrix in a capillary, and were treated with cumulus cell extract or hyaluronic acid. Main Outcome Measure(s): The morphology, acrosomal status, and motility of human spermatozoa were determined. Result(s): Fewer spermatozoa could penetrate the fresh cell-depleted matrix compared with intact cumulus oophorus. Spermatozoa that penetrated through the cumulus oophorus had higher percentages of normal morphology and acrosome reaction and had specific motility pattern. These effects were lost or reduced in the cell-depleted matrix that had been stored overnight. Hyaluronic acid, a main component of the cumulus matrix at concentration found in the cumulus oophorus, modulated sperm motility but did not affect spontaneous acrosome reaction. Cumulus cell extract did not affect sperm motility, but induced acrosome reaction. Conclusion(s): Both the cumulus matrix and the cumulus cells contribute to the effect of cumulus oophorus on spermatozoa penetrating through it. © 2009 American Society for Reproductive Medicine.postprin

Towards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving

Objectives A partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available. Methods This study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students’ data. Results We identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest–posttest differences in students’ readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students’ social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation. Conclusions The narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education

The problem of obesity among adolescents in Hong Kong: a comparison using various diagnostic criteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity is now a global epidemic. In this study, we aimed to assess the rates of obesity using several major diagnostic criteria in Chinese school adolescents in Hong Kong.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a cross-sectional study. Using a computer-generated coding system, we randomly selected schools from different geographical regions in Hong Kong to obtain a representative sample. Subjects aged 11–18 years of age were randomly selected from different class of the schools. Their rates of obesity according to four different international and local criteria were compared [International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) 2000 criterion; the Group of China Obesity Task Force (COTF) 2004 criterion; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2000 Growth Charts and the Hong Kong Growth Survey (HKGS) charts in 1993].</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 2098 adolescents [982 (46.8%) boys and 1116 (53.2%) girls], the mean age (± SD) was 15.1 ± 1.8 years (range: 11–18 years; median: 15.0 years). The crude rates of obesity were similar based on IOTF, COTF or CDC criteria (boys: 3.9–6.0%, girls: 1.8–3.7%), however, the rate increased to 11–27% if the HKGS charts were used. Obesity rate varied markedly according to age. It decreased from 8–10% among those aged 12–13 years to 2–4% among those aged 17–18 years.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of obesity in Hong Kong adolescents using various diagnostic criteria were similar except for the 1993 HKGS criteria, which gave an exceeding high figure. Using the IOTF, COTF or CDC criteria, the adolescent obesity in Hong Kong varied from 1.8% to 6.0%.</p