556 research outputs found
A manual physical therapy approach versus subacromial corticosteroid injection for treatment of shoulder impingement syndrome: a protocol for a randomised clinical trial
Introduction: Corticosteroid injections (CSI) are a recommended and often-used first-line intervention for shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) in primary care and orthopaedic settings. Manual physical therapy (MPT) offers a non-invasive approach with negligible risk for managing SIS. There is limited evidence to suggest significant long-term improvements in pain, strength and disability with the use of MPT, and there are conflicting reports from systematic reviews that question the long-term efficacy of CSI. Specifically, the primary objective is to compare the effect of CSI and MPT on pain and disability in subjects with SIS at 12 months. Design: This pragmatic randomised clinical trial will be a mixed-model 235 factorial design. The independent variables are treatment (MPT and CSI) and time with five levels from baseline to 1 year. The primary dependent variable is the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and the secondary outcome measures are the Global Rating of Change and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale. For each ANOVA, the hypothesis of interest will be the two-way group-by-time interaction. Methods and analysis: The authors plan to recruit 104 participants meeting established impingement criteria. Following examination and enrolment, eligible participants will be randomly allocated to receive a pragmatic approach of either CSI or MPT. The MPT intervention will consist of six sessions, and the CSI intervention will consist of one to three sessions. All subjects will continue to receive usual care. Subjects will be followed for 12 months. Dissemination and ethics: The protocol was approved by the Madigan Army Medical Center Institutional Review Board. The results may have an impact on clinical practice guidelines. This study was funded in part by the Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Products Grant through the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists. Trial Registration: http://clinicaltrials.gov/NCT01190891
Optomechanical scheme for the detection of weak impulsive forces
We show that a cooling scheme and an appropriate quantum nonstationary
strategy can be used to improve the signal to noise ratio for the
optomechanical detection of weak impulsive forces.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, 1 figur
Probing spin-phonon interactions in silicon carbide with Gaussian acoustics
Hybrid spin-mechanical systems provide a platform for integrating quantum
registers and transducers. Efficient creation and control of such systems
require a comprehensive understanding of the individual spin and mechanical
components as well as their mutual interactions. Point defects in silicon
carbide (SiC) offer long-lived, optically addressable spin registers in a
wafer-scale material with low acoustic losses, making them natural candidates
for integration with high quality factor mechanical resonators. Here, we show
Gaussian focusing of a surface acoustic wave in SiC, characterized by a novel
stroboscopic X-ray diffraction imaging technique, which delivers direct, strain
amplitude information at nanoscale spatial resolution. Using ab initio
calculations, we provide a more complete picture of spin-strain coupling for
various defects in SiC with C3v symmetry. This reveals the importance of shear
for future device engineering and enhanced spin-mechanical coupling. We
demonstrate all-optical detection of acoustic paramagnetic resonance without
microwave magnetic fields, relevant to sensing applications. Finally, we show
mechanically driven Autler-Townes splittings and magnetically forbidden Rabi
oscillations. These results offer a basis for full strain control of
three-level spin systems.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
The UK clinical aptitude test and clinical course performance at Nottingham: a prospective cohort study
Background
The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced in 2006 as an additional tool for the selection of medical students. It tests mental ability in four distinct domains (Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, and Decision Analysis), and the results are available to students and admission panels in advance of the selection process. Our first study showed little evidence of any predictive validity for performance in the first two years of the Nottingham undergraduate course.
The study objective was to determine whether the UKCAT scores had any predictive value for the later parts of the course, largely delivered via clinical placements.
Methods
Students entering the course in 2007 and who had taken the UKCAT were asked for permission to use their anonymised data in research. The UKCAT scores were incorporated into a database with routine pre-admission socio-demographics and subsequent course performance data. Correlation analysis was followed by hierarchical multivariate linear regression.
Results
The original study group comprised 204/254 (80%) of the full entry cohort. With attrition over the five years of the course this fell to 185 (73%) by Year 5. The Verbal Reasoning score and the UKCAT Total score both demonstrated some univariate correlations with clinical knowledge marks, and slightly less with clinical skills. No parts of the UKCAT proved to be an independent predictor of clinical course marks, whereas prior attainment was a highly significant predictor (p <0.001).
Conclusions
This study of one cohort of Nottingham medical students showed that UKCAT scores at admission did not independently predict subsequent performance on the course. Whilst the test adds another dimension to the selection process, its fairness and validity in selecting promising students remains unproven, and requires wider investigation and debate by other schools
Mirror quiescence and high-sensitivity position measurements with feedback
We present a detailed study of how phase-sensitive feedback schemes can be
used to improve the performance of optomechanical devices. Considering the case
of a cavity mode coupled to an oscillating mirror by the radiation pressure, we
show how feedback can be used to reduce the position noise spectrum of the
mirror, cool it to its quantum ground state, or achieve position squeezing.
Then, we show that even though feedback is not able to improve the sensitivity
of stationary position spectral measurements, it is possible to design a
nonstationary strategy able to increase this sensitivity.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure
Continuous variable entanglement by radiation pressure
We show that the radiation pressure of an intense optical field impinging on
a perfectly reflecting vibrating mirror is able to entangle in a robust way the
first two optical sideband modes. Under appropriate conditions, the generated
entangled state is of EPR type [A. Einstein, {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. {\bf 47},
777 (1935)].Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Entangling macroscopic oscillators exploiting radiation pressure
It is shown that radiation pressure can be profitably used to entangle {\it
macroscopic} oscillators like movable mirrors, using present technology. We
prove a new sufficient criterion for entanglement and show that the achievable
entanglement is robust against thermal noise. Its signature can be revealed
using common optomechanical readout apparatus.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, new separability criterion added, new figure
2, authors list change
Neurogenesis Drives Stimulus Decorrelation in a Model of the Olfactory Bulb
The reshaping and decorrelation of similar activity patterns by neuronal
networks can enhance their discriminability, storage, and retrieval. How can
such networks learn to decorrelate new complex patterns, as they arise in the
olfactory system? Using a computational network model for the dominant neural
populations of the olfactory bulb we show that fundamental aspects of the adult
neurogenesis observed in the olfactory bulb -- the persistent addition of new
inhibitory granule cells to the network, their activity-dependent survival, and
the reciprocal character of their synapses with the principal mitral cells --
are sufficient to restructure the network and to alter its encoding of odor
stimuli adaptively so as to reduce the correlations between the bulbar
representations of similar stimuli. The decorrelation is quite robust with
respect to various types of perturbations of the reciprocity. The model
parsimoniously captures the experimentally observed role of neurogenesis in
perceptual learning and the enhanced response of young granule cells to novel
stimuli. Moreover, it makes specific predictions for the type of odor
enrichment that should be effective in enhancing the ability of animals to
discriminate similar odor mixtures
- …