APPLICATION OF A COMMERCIAL DATALOGGER TO ELECTRIC POWERED AND MANUAL WHEELCHAIRS OF CHILDREN

APPLICATION OF A COMMERCIAL DATALOGGER TO ELECTRIC POWERED AND MANUAL WHEELCHAIRS OF CHILDRENBeth Ann Kaminski, BSEUniversity of Pittsburgh, 2004Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the usage characteristics of children wheelchair users. This was accomplished by utilizing dataloggers to quantify how far and how fast children drive or propel their wheelchairs, as well as observing the movement time data. The relationships between usage per type of wheelchair, gender, and day of the week were evaluated.Methods: 20 subjects between the ages of 6-17 years old who use a manual (n=10) or power (n=10) wheelchair for their primary source of community-based mobility were studied. The children in this study reported the disabilities of cerebral palsy (n=6), spina bifida (n=11), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (n=2), and spinal cord injury (n=1). Overall, nine females and 11 males participated in the study. All subjects, or their parents, provided demographic information and characteristics of their wheelchair. Each child¡¦s wheelchair was then instrumented with a datalogger. The datalogger was attached to wheelchair for five to seven days. During this time, the participants were instructed to go about their daily activities as usual. Results: On an average day, the manual wheelchair users traveled 1583.6 „b 880.2 meters at an average speed of 0.67 „b 0.16 meters/sec, while the power wheelchair users traveled 1524.5 „b 1057.0 meters at 0.63 „b 0.16 meters/sec. Overall, the children traveled average daily distances in the range of 8.5 meters to 3929.1 meters and at speeds between 0.39 to 1.42 meters/sec. The males in the study, on average, traveled 1910.1 „b 1160.0 meters per day at 0.66 „b 0.14 meters/sec while the females traveled 1118.9 „b 247.9 meters at 0.60 „b 0.19 meters/sec. The children were active for an average of 15 hours per day on the weekdays and 12.5 hours on the weekend days. The children traveled an average of 1738.7 „b 1173.5 meters per day at 0.63 „b 0.14 meters/sec on the weekdays and 1088.9 „b 902.8 meters per day on the weekends. Data from nine manual wheelchair shows the subjects drove in the forward direction 93.2% of the time and backwards 6.8% of the time. Conclusions: No differences were found between the distance and speeds traveled for children manual and power wheelchair users. In comparison, the children wheelchair users show similar driving characteristics in speed and distance traveled to adult wheelchair users. The findings suggest that the male children traveled longer distances per day (P = 0.046) and at higher speeds. The children appear to be more active on weekdays as compared to the weekends. The weekday distance is significantly higher than weekend distance (P = 0.035)

NASA's Public Participation Universe: Why and How the U.S. Space Agency Is Democratizing Its Approaches to Innovation

This paper analyzes NASA's increasing effort to invite greater public participation in its techno scientific work through open innovation methodologies. First we examine why NASA has expanded its use of these approaches, noting the roles of an intertwined set of forcing functions including budget constraints, the availability of technological resources, and committed individuals. Next we outline the strategies the agency has invoked to engage the public in research, technology development, and other activities to advance and shape NASA's mission. As we show, promoting greater public involvement has entailed facilitating the NASA workforce's familiarity with open innovation approaches as well as developing projects and creating outreach strategies appropriate to the envisioned participant base. We then discuss the wide variety of outcomes NASA's open innovation initiatives have yielded in support of NASA research and development objectives as well as benefits to participants and others. We conclude with a discussion of the remaining barriers to the use of open innovation techniques as a standard practice and the strategies in work to overcome those barriers so the full potential of a democratized approach to innovation can be realized

Collision times in pi-pi and pi-K scattering and spectroscopy of meson resonances

Using the concept of collision time (time delay) introduced by Eisenbud and Wigner and its connection to on-shell intermediate unstable states, we study mesonic resonances in pi-pi and pi-K scattering. The time-delay method proves its usefulness by revealing the spectrum of the well-known rho- and K*-mesons and by supporting some speculations on rho-mesons in the 1200 MeV region. We use this method further to shed some light on more speculative meson resonances, among others the enigmatic scalars. We confirm the existence of chiralons below 1 GeV in the unflavoured and strange meson sector.Comment: 22 pages LaTex, 8 figure

A site assessment tool for inpatient controlled human infection models for enteric disease pathogens

The use of the controlled human infection model to facilitate product development and to advance understanding of host-pathogen interactions is of increasing interest. While administering a virulent (or infective) organism to a susceptible host necessitates an ongoing evaluation of safety and ethical considerations, a central theme in conducting these studies in a safe and ethical manner that yields actionable data is their conduct in facilities well-suited to address their unique attributes. To that end, we have developed a framework for evaluating potential sites in which to conduct inpatient enteric controlled human infection model to ensure consistency and increase the likelihood of success.publishedVersio

Reproducibility of in-home CFRD screening using continuous glucose monitoring and mixed meal tolerance test

Background: Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) is associated with insulin-remediable pulmonary decline, so early detection is critical. Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) have shown promise in screening but are not recommended by clinical practice guidelines. Little is known about the reproducibility of CGM results for a given patient. Methods: Twenty non-insulin treated adults and adolescents with CF placed an in-home CGM and wore it for two 14-day periods. Participants underwent a mixed meal tolerance test (MMTT) on day 5 of each 14-day period. Glycemic data from CGM 1 and CGM 2 were compared regarding published thresholds to define abnormality: percent time >140 mg/dL of ≥4.5%, percent time >140 mg/dL of >17.5%, and percent time >180 mg/dL of >3.4%. Results of the repeat MMTT were compared for peak glucose and 2-hour glucose thresholds: >140 mg/dL, >180 mg/dL, and >200 mg/dL. Results: For percent time >140 mg/dL of ≥ 4.5%, five of 20 subjects had conflicting results between CGM 1 and CGM 2. For percent time >140 mg/dL of >17.5% and >180 mg/dL of >3.4%, only one of 20 subjects had conflicting results between CGM 1 and CGM 2. On the MMTT, few participants had a 2-hour glucose >140 mg/dL. Peak glucose >140 mg/dL, 180 mg/dL, and 200 mg/dL were more common, with 10–37% of participants demonstrating disagreement between CGM 1 and CGM 2. Conclusions: Repeated in-home CGM acquisitions show reasonable reproducibility regarding the more stringent thresholds for time >140 mg/dL and >180 mg/dL. More data is needed to determine thresholds for abnormal mixed meal tolerance tests in CFRD screening

Assessment of shoulder proprioception in the female softball athlete

Contains fulltext : 157665.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)RU Radboud Universiteit, 1 juli 2016Promotores : Buitelaar, J.K., Dijkstra, A.F.J

Deficient IFN-gamma Expression in Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) T Cells Can Be Rescued by IFN-gamma-Mediated Increase in NFATc2 Expression

Regulation of nuclear factor of activated T cells-c2 (NFATc2) gene expression is not clearly defined. We previously reported reduced NFATc2 protein expression in cord blood T lymphocytes. Here we show that NFATc2 expression in T cells is dependent in part on the presence of IFN-gamma during primary stimulation, as blocking of IFN-gamma blunted NFATc2 protein and mRNA upregulation. Conversely, addition of exogenous IFN-gamma during stimulation resulted in increased expression of NFATc2 in cord blood T lymphocytes. This correlated with rescue of deficient IFN-gamma expression by cord blood T cells. Rescue of IFN-gamma expression in cord blood T cells was dependent on the presence of antigen-presenting cells, as addition of IFN-gamma during stimulation of purified cord blood T cells did not result in an increase of IFN-gamma expression, and depletion of monocytes ablated the rescue of IFN-gamma expression. Our results point to impaired function in the antigen-presenting cell population of cord blood, playing a role in the hyporesponsiveness of T cells

Reduced expression of NFAT-associated genes in UCB versus adult CD4plus T lymphocytes during primary stimulation

The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the blunted allo-responsiveness of umbilical cord blood (UCB) T cells have not been fully elucidated. Protein expression of NFATc2 (nuclear factor of activated T cells c2), a critical transcription factor necessary for up-regulation of multiple cytokines known to amplify T-cell allogeneic responses, is reduced in UCB T cells. Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays were used to compare gene expression of primary purified CD4+ UCB T cells to adult peripheral blood CD4+ T cells (AB) at baseline, 6, and 16 hours of primary stimulation. NFAT-regulated genes exhibited lower expression in UCB CD4+ T cells including the following: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-{gamma} (IFN-{gamma}), tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} (TNF-{alpha}), interleukin 3 (IL-3), IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-2 receptor {alpha} (IL-2R{alpha}; CD25), CD40L, and macrophage inflammatory protein 1 {alpha} (MIP-1{alpha}). Transcription factors involved in the NFAT pathway including C/EBP{beta}, JunB, and Fosl1 (Fra-1), as well as Th1- and Th2-related transcription factors STAT4 (signal transducers and activators of transcription 4), T-bet, and c-maf showed reduced expression in UCB compared with AB during primary stimulation. Reduced cytokine, chemokine, and receptor expression was also found in UCB. Gene array data were confirmed using RNase protection assays, flow cytometry, and quantitative multiplexed cytokine measurements. Reduced global expression of NFAT-associated genes, as well as cytokines and chemokines, in UCB CD4+ T cells may contribute to the decreased graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) observed after UCB transplantation