Professionals' Views and Experiences of Using Rehabilitation Robotics With Stroke Survivors: A Mixed Methods Survey

From Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2021, received 2021-09-20, accepted 2021-10-22, epub 2021-11-11Publication status: PublishedObjective: To understand the reason for low implementation of clinical and home-based rehabilitation robots and their potential. Design: Online questionnaire (November 2020 and February 2021). Subjects: A total of 100 professionals in stroke rehabilitation area were involved (Physiotherapists n = 62, Occupation therapists n = 35). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Measures: Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis were used to analyze the responses: 1. Participants' details, 2. Professionals' views and experience of using clinical rehabilitation robots, 3. Professionals' expectation and concerns of using home-based rehabilitation robots. Results: Of 100 responses, 37 had experience of rehabilitation robots. Professionals reported that patients enjoyed using them and they increased accessibility, autonomy, and convenience especially when used at home. The main emergent themes were: “aims and objectives for rehabilitation robotics,” “requirements” (functional, software, and safety), “cost,” “patient factors” (contraindications, cautions, and concerns), and “staff issues” (concerns and benefits). The main benefits of rehabilitation robots were that they provided greater choice for therapy, increased the amount/intensity of treatment, and greater motivation to practice. Professionals perceived logistical issues (ease of use, transport, and storage), cost and limited adaptability to patients' needs to be significant barriers to tier use, whilst acknowledging they can reduce staff workload to a certain extent. Conclusion: The main reported benefit of rehabilitation robots were they increased the amount of therapy and practice after stroke. Ease of use and adaptability are the key requirements. High cost and staffing resources were the main barriers

Exceptional capture of methane at low pressure by an iron‐based metal‐organic framework

The selective capture of methane (CH4) at low concentrations and its separation from N2 are extremely challenging owing to the weak host-guest interactions between CH4 molecules and any sorbent material. Here, we report the exceptional adsorption of CH4 at low pressure and efficient separation of CH4/N2 by MFM-300(Fe). MFM-300(Fe) shows a very high uptake for CH4 of 0.85 mmol g−1 at 1 mbar and 298 K and a record CH4/N2 selectivity of 45 for porous solids, representing a new benchmark for CH4 capture and CH4/N2 separation. The excellent separation of CH4/N2 by MFM-300(Fe) has been confirmed by dynamic breakthrough experiments. In situ neutron powder diffraction, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopies, coupled with modelling, reveal a unique and strong binding of CH4 molecules involving Fe-OH···CH4 and C···phenyl ring interactions within the pores of MFM-300(Fe), thus promoting the exceptional adsorption of CH4 at low pressure

The potential of construction robotics to reduce airborne virus transmission in the construction industry in the UK and China

This paper aims to identify construction robotics' potential to reduce airborne virus transmission, review factors limiting the technology's adoption and highlight how similar barriers have been addressed in other industries. Construction robotics were identified and classified into 8 themes with 25 categories through a critical literature review. We undertook interviews with 4 construction contractors and conducted an online questionnaire with 32 experts from the UK (n=14) and China (n=18) who reviewed the robotic systems we identified and ranked the potential ability of each to reduce airborne virus transmission within the construction industry. The results of this study showed that construction robotics is not only beneficial to reduce airborne virus transmission, but may also help to reduce the spread of future contagious viruses. We found no significant difference (P>0.05) in practical usage and implementation barriers to construction robotics between the UK and China. Cost, training and limited awareness of robotic technologies were the main implementation barriers we identified in both countries. Both the UK and China may need to adopt strategies such as providing more financial support to small construction industries and skill training which are utilised successfully in other sectors to realise the potential of construction robotic technologies

On Construction of a Super Hierarchy of the Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa Equation

In this paper, a super Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa (WKI) hierarchy associated with a 3×3 matrix spectral problem is derived with the help of the zero-curvature equation. We obtain the super bi-Hamiltonian structures by using of the super trace identity. Infinitely, many conserved laws of the super WKI equation are constructed by using spectral parameter expansions

Design and application of smart-microgrid in industrial park

Due to the uncertain and randomness of both wind power photovoltaic output of power generation side and charging load of user side, a set of wind-solar-storage-charging multi-energy complementary smart microgrid system in the park is designed. Through AC-DC coupled, green energy, such as wind energy, distributed photovoltaic power and battery echelon utilization energy storage power, can be supplemented as factory power. While alleviating the power consumption pressure in the plant, it also realizes functions such as smoothing the fluctuation green energy power generation, and peak loading shifting. Vehicle DC super and fast charging are also integrated in this station. The system realizes real-time state monitoring of different energy sources, energy storage, power distribution, and loads, which can guarantee green, smooth, efficient and economic operation of the multi-energy complementary system in the plant

Enhancing the Mn-Removal Efficiency of Acid-Mine Bacterial Consortium: Performance Optimization and Mechanism Study

In this study, an acclimated manganese-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) consortium, QBS-1, was enriched in an acid mine area; then, it was used to eliminate Mn(Ⅱ) in different types of wastewater. QBS-1 presented excellent Mn removal performance between pH 4.0 and 8.0, and the best Mn-removal efficiency was up to 99.86% after response surface methodology optimization. Unlike other MnOB consortia, the core bacteria of QBS-1 were Stenotrophomonas and Achromobacter, which might play vital roles in Mn removal. Besides that, adsorption, co-precipitation and electrostatic binding by biological manganese oxides could further promote Mn elimination. Finally, the performance of the Mn biofilter demonstrated that QBS-1 was an excellent inoculant, which indicates good potential for removing Mn contamination steadily and efficiently

Single-frequency reflection characterisation of shock tube excited plasma

Plasma has been of great interest to engineers and scientists during the past few decades due to its wide applications. Besides, the plasma-sheath-caused lose of communication (i.e. re-entry blackout) that happens when a spacecraft re-enters the earth atmosphere is still a problem to be solved. The microwave characterisation of shock tube excited plasma has been an important method for exploring the transmission and reflection of microwave signals in plasma. The existing frequency sweep or multi-frequency technologies are not desirable for the characterisation of high-speed time-varying plasma generated in shock tubes. Hence, in this paper a novel signal-frequency approach is proposed to measure both electron density and collision frequency of plasma in shock tube. As frequency sweep is not required in this method, it is extremely suitable for characterising the shock tube excited high-speed time-varying plasma. The genetic algorithm is applied to extract electron density and collision frequency from the reflection coefficient. Simulation results demonstrate excellent accuracy for electron density within 1 0 10 ∼ 1 0 12   c m − 3 and collision frequency within 5 × 1 0 10 ∼ 1 0 12   H z . This work paves the way for a fast and compact microwave reflection measurement of shock tube generated plasma

Sulforaphane-driven reprogramming of gut microbiome and metabolome ameliorates the progression of hyperuricemia

Introduction: Currently, revealing how to prevent and control hyperuricemia has become an essential public health issue. Sulforaphane has a wide range of applications in the management of hyperuricemia. Objective: The study objective was to verify the uric acid-lowering effects and the regulation of the gut-kidney axis mediated by sulforaphane and identify host-microbial co-metabolites in hyperuricemia. Methods: A hyperuricemia model was established by administering feedstuffs with 4% potassium oxonate and 20% yeast. Forty male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into the normal control, hyperuricemia, allopurinol, and sulforaphane groups. Animals were treated by oral gavage for six consecutive weeks, and then phenotypic parameters, metabolomic profiling, and metagenomic sequencing were performed. Results: Sulforaphane could lower uric acid by decreasing urate synthesis and increasing renal urate excretion in hyperuricemic rats (P＜0.05). We identified succinic acid and oxoglutaric acid as critical host-gut microbiome co-metabolites. Moreover, sulforaphane improved the diversity of microbial ecosystems and functions, as well as metabolic control of the kidney. Notably, sulforaphane exerted its renoprotective effect through epigenetic modification of Nrf2 and interaction between gut microbiota and epigenetic modification in hyperuricemic rats. Conclusion: We revealed that sulforaphane could ameliorate the progression of hyperuricemia by reprogramming the gut microbiome and metabolome. Our findings may provide a good means for efficiently preventing and treating hyperuricemia