213 research outputs found
Optimisation of rocker sole footwear for prevention of first plantar ulcer : comparison of group-optimised and individually-selected footwear designs
Background: Appropriate footwear for individuals with diabetes but no ulceration history could reduce the risk of first ulceration. However, individuals who deem themselves at low risk are unlikely to seek out bespoke footwear which is personalised. Therefore, our primary aim was to investigate whether group-optimised footwear designs, which could be prefabricated and delivered in a retail setting, could achieve appropriate pressure reduction, or whether footwear selection must be on a patient-by-patient basis. A second aim was to compare responses to footwear design between healthy participants and people with diabetes in order to understand the transferability of previous footwear research, performed in healthy populations.Methods: Plantar pressures were recorded from 102 individuals with diabetes, considered at low risk of ulceration. This cohort included 17 individuals with peripheral neuropathy. We also collected data from 66 healthy controls. Each participant walked in 8 rocker shoe designs (4 apex positions × 2 rocker angles). ANOVA analysis was then used to understand the effect of two design features and descriptive statistics used to identify the group optimised design. Using 200 kPa as a target, this group-optimised design was then compared to the design identified as the best for each participant (using plantar pressure data).Results: Peak plantar pressure increased significantly as apex position was moved distally and rocker angle reduced (p < 0.001). The group-optimised design incorporated an apex at 52% of shoe length, a 20° rocker angle and an apex angle of 95°. With this design 71–81% of peak pressures were below the 200 kPa threshold, both in the full cohort of individuals with diabetes and also in the neuropathic subgroup. Importantly, only small increases (<5%) in this proportion were observed when participants wore footwear which was individually selected. In terms of optimised footwear designs, healthy participants demonstrated the same response as participants with diabetes, despite having lower plantar pressures.Conclusions: This is the first study demonstrating that a group optimised, generic rocker shoe might perform almost as well as footwear selected on a patient by patient basis in a low risk patient group. This work provides a starting point for clinical evaluation of generic versus personalised pressure reducing footwear
Evaluating the effect of apex position and rocker in curved rocker shoes
Curved rocker shoes are designed with a contoured outsole which can be characteristics by three principle design features: rocker angle, apex angle and apex position. Although these shoes are routinely prescribed to reduce in-shoe pressure in patients with diabetes, there is only minimal scientific evidence to inform the choice of value for each of the three design features. Results from a previous study [1], suggested that a 95° apex angle may be the best compromise for offloading the different regions of the forefoot. The results of this study also suggested that higher rocker angle may lead to decrease pressure, however, this study did not quantify the precise effect of rocker angle and apex position in shoes with a 95° apex angle
Is it possible to predict optimal rocker shoe design using barefoot gait parameters?
Curved rocker shoes are routinely prescribed for people with diabetes in order reduce in-shoe plantar pressures. However, previous research has shown that different individuals may require different rocker outsole geometries in order to optimise pressure reduction [1, 2]. This has led some researchers to suggest that every individual should try a range of possible outsole designs to identify the design which maximises pressure reduction [1]. However, this process may not be feasible in a clinical setting. Given that plantar pressure has been shown to depend on specific gait variables [3], it may be possible to develop an algorithm which could predict an individual’s pressure response to a specific rocker outsole design using an input of gait data. Such an algorithm would remove the need to try on a large number of pairs of rocker shoes
Von Bezold assimilation effect reverses in stereoscopic conditions
Lightness contrast and lightness assimilation are opposite phenomena: in contrast,
grey targets appear darker when bordering bright surfaces (inducers) rather than dark ones; in
assimilation, the opposite occurs. The question is: which visual process favours the occurrence
of one phenomenon over the other? Researchers provided three answers to this question. The
first asserts that both phenomena are caused by peripheral processes; the second attributes their
occurrence to central processes; and the third claims that contrast involves central processes,
whilst assimilation involves peripheral ones. To test these hypotheses, an experiment on an IT
system equipped with goggles for stereo vision was run. Observers were asked to evaluate the
lightness of a grey target, and two variables were systematically manipulated: (i) the apparent
distance of the inducers; and (ii) brightness of the inducers. The retinal stimulation was kept
constant throughout, so that the peripheral processes remained the same. The results show that
the lightness of the target depends on both variables. As the retinal stimulation was kept constant, we
conclude that central mechanisms are involved in both lightness contrast and lightness assimilation
Spin-Nematic Squeezed Vacuum in a Quantum Gas
Using squeezed states it is possible to surpass the standard quantum limit of
measurement uncertainty by reducing the measurement uncertainty of one property
at the expense of another complementary property. Squeezed states were first
demonstrated in optical fields and later with ensembles of pseudo spin-1/2
atoms using non-linear atom-light interactions. Recently, collisional
interactions in ultracold atomic gases have been used to generate a large
degree of quadrature spin squeezing in two-component Bose condensates. For
pseudo spin-1/2 systems, the complementary properties are the different
components of the total spin vector , which fully characterize the state on
an SU(2) Bloch sphere. Here, we measure squeezing in a spin-1 Bose condensate,
an SU(3) system, which requires measurement of the rank-2 nematic or quadrupole
tensor as well to fully characterize the state. Following a quench
through a nematic to ferromagnetic quantum phase transition, squeezing is
observed in the variance of the quadratures up to -8.3(-0.7 +0.6) dB
(-10.3(-0.9 +0.7) dB corrected for detection noise) below the standard quantum
limit. This spin-nematic squeezing is observed for negligible occupation of the
squeezed modes and is analogous to optical two-mode vacuum squeezing. This work
has potential applications to continuous variable quantum information and
quantum-enhanced magnetometry
Quantum nondemolition measurement of mechanical motion quanta
The fields of opto- and electromechanics have facilitated numerous advances
in the areas of precision measurement and sensing, ultimately driving the
studies of mechanical systems into the quantum regime. To date, however, the
quantization of the mechanical motion and the associated quantum jumps between
phonon states remains elusive. For optomechanical systems, the coupling to the
environment was shown to preclude the detection of the mechanical mode
occupation, unless strong single photon optomechanical coupling is achieved.
Here, we propose and analyse an electromechanical setup, which allows to
overcome this limitation and resolve the energy levels of a mechanical
oscillator. We find that the heating of the membrane, caused by the interaction
with the environment and unwanted couplings, can be suppressed for carefully
designed electromechanical systems. The results suggest that phonon number
measurement is within reach for modern electromechanical setups.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures plus 24 pages, 11 figures supplemental materia
Young women's use of a microbicide surrogate: The complex influence of relationship characteristics and perceived male partners' evaluations
This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be found at the link below.Currently in clinical trials, vaginal microbicides are proposed as a female-initiated method of sexually transmitted infection prevention. Much of microbicide acceptability research has been conducted outside of the United States and frequently without consideration of the social interaction between sex partners, ignoring the complex gender and power structures often inherent in young women’s (heterosexual) relationships. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to build on existing microbicide research by exploring the role of male partners and relationship characteristics on young women’s use of a microbicide surrogate, an inert vaginal moisturizer (VM), in a large city in the United States. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 young women (18–23 years old; 85% African American; 47.5% mothers) following use of the VM during coital events for a 4 week period. Overall, the results indicated that relationship dynamics and perceptions of male partners influenced VM evaluation. These two factors suggest that relationship context will need to be considered in the promotion of vaginal microbicides. The findings offer insights into how future acceptability and use of microbicides will be influenced by gendered power dynamics. The results also underscore the importance of incorporating men into microbicide promotion efforts while encouraging a dialogue that focuses attention on power inequities that can exist in heterosexual relationships. Detailed understanding of these issues is essential for successful microbicide acceptability, social marketing, education, and use.This study was funded by a grant from National Institutes of Health (NIHU19AI 31494) as well as research awards to the first author: Friends of the Kinsey Institute Research Grant Award, Indiana University’s School of HPER Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid of Research Award, William L. Yarber Sexual Health Fellowship, and the Indiana University Graduate and Professional Student Organization Research Grant
Quantum Communication
Quantum communication, and indeed quantum information in general, has changed
the way we think about quantum physics. In 1984 and 1991, the first protocol
for quantum cryptography and the first application of quantum non-locality,
respectively, attracted a diverse field of researchers in theoretical and
experimental physics, mathematics and computer science. Since then we have seen
a fundamental shift in how we understand information when it is encoded in
quantum systems. We review the current state of research and future directions
in this new field of science with special emphasis on quantum key distribution
and quantum networks.Comment: Submitted version, 8 pg (2 cols) 5 fig
Comments on black holes I: The possibility of complementarity
We comment on a recent paper of Almheiri, Marolf, Polchinski and Sully who
argue against black hole complementarity based on the claim that an infalling
observer 'burns' as he approaches the horizon. We show that in fact
measurements made by an infalling observer outside the horizon are
statistically identical for the cases of vacuum at the horizon and radiation
emerging from a stretched horizon. This forces us to follow the dynamics all
the way to the horizon, where we need to know the details of Planck scale
physics. We note that in string theory the fuzzball structure of microstates
does not give any place to 'continue through' this Planck regime. AMPS argue
that interactions near the horizon preclude traditional complementarity. But
the conjecture of 'fuzzball complementarity' works in the opposite way: the
infalling quantum is absorbed by the fuzzball surface, and it is the resulting
dynamics that is conjectured to admit a complementary description.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures, v3: clarifications & references adde
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