83 research outputs found
Embracing additive manufacture: implications for foot and ankle orthosis design
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The design of foot and ankle orthoses is currently limited by the methods used to fabricate the devices, particularly in terms of geometric freedom and potential to include innovative new features. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, where objects are constructed via a series of sub-millimetre layers of a substrate material, may present the opportunity to overcome these limitations and allow novel devices to be produced that are highly personalised for the individual, both in terms of fit and functionality.</p> <p>Two novel devices, a foot orthosis (FO) designed to include adjustable elements to relieve pressure at the metatarsal heads, and an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) designed to have adjustable stiffness levels in the sagittal plane, were developed and fabricated using AM. The devices were then tested on a healthy participant to determine if the intended biomechanical modes of action were achieved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The adjustable, pressure relieving FO was found to be able to significantly reduce pressure under the targeted metatarsal heads. The AFO was shown to have distinct effects on ankle kinematics which could be varied by adjusting the stiffness level of the device.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results presented here demonstrate the potential design freedom made available by AM, and suggest that it may allow novel personalised orthotic devices to be produced which are beyond the current state of the art.</p
flavour tagging using charm decays at the LHCb experiment
An algorithm is described for tagging the flavour content at production of
neutral mesons in the LHCb experiment. The algorithm exploits the
correlation of the flavour of a meson with the charge of a reconstructed
secondary charm hadron from the decay of the other hadron produced in the
proton-proton collision. Charm hadron candidates are identified in a number of
fully or partially reconstructed Cabibbo-favoured decay modes. The algorithm is
calibrated on the self-tagged decay modes and using of data collected by the LHCb
experiment at centre-of-mass energies of and
. Its tagging power on these samples of
decays is .Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
http://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-027.htm
The propensity to adopt evidence-based practice among physical therapists
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many authors, as well as the American Physical Therapy Association, advocate that physical therapists adopt practice patterns based on research evidence, known as evidence-based practice (EBP). At the same time, physical therapists should be capable of integrating EBP within the day-to-day practice of physical therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which personal characteristics and the characteristics of the social system in the workplace influence the propensity of physical therapists to adopt EBP.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study used a 69 item mailed self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire had four major sections. The first three sections were each drawn from a different theoretical framework and from different authors' work. The instrument was developed to capture the propensity of physical therapists to adopt EBP, characteristics of the social system in the workplace of physical therapists, personal characteristics of physical therapists, and selected demographic variables of physical therapists. The eligible population consisted of 3,897 physical therapists licensed by the state of Georgia in the United States of America. A random sample of 1320 potential participants was drawn.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>939 questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 73%. 831 of the participants' questionnaires were useable and became the basis for the study. There was a moderate association between desire for learning (<it>r </it>= .36, <it>r</it><sup>2 </sup>= .13), highest degree held (<it>r </it>= .29, <it>r</it><sup>2 </sup>= .08), practicality (<it>r </it>= .27, <it>r</it><sup>2 </sup>= .07) and nonconformity (<it>r </it>= .24, <it>r</it><sup>2 </sup>= .06) and the propensity to adopt EBP. A negative correlation was found between age, years licensed and percentage of time in direct patient care. The findings demonstrated that the best three variables for predicting the propensity to adopt EBP in physical therapy were: desire for learning, highest degree held, and practicality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study confirms there is no single factor to facilitate research evidence into day-to-day practice. Multiple practice change strategies will be needed to facilitate change in practice.</p
An interdisciplinary intervention to prevent falls in community-dwelling elderly persons: protocol of a cluster-randomized trial [PreFalls]
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prevention of falls in the elderly is a public health target in many countries around the world. While a large number of trials have investigated the effectiveness of fall prevention programs, few focussed on interventions embedded in the general practice setting and its related network. In the Prevent Falls (PreFalls) trial we aim to investigate the effectiveness of a pre-tested multi-modal intervention compared to usual care in this setting.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>PreFalls is a controlled multicenter prospective study with cluster-randomized allocation of about 40 general practices to an experimental or a control group. We aim to include 382 community dwelling persons aged 65 and older with an increased risk of falling. All participating general practitioners are trained to systematically assess the risk of falls using a set of validated tests. Patients from intervention practices are invited to participate in a 16-weeks exercise program with focus on fall prevention delivered by specifically trained local physiotherapists. Patients from practices allocated to the control group receive usual care. Main outcome measure is the number of falls per individual in the first 12 months (analysis by negative binomial regression). Secondary outcomes include falls in the second year, the proportion of participants falling in the first and the second year, falls associated with injury, risk of falls, fear of falling, physical activity and quality of life.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Reducing falls in the elderly remains a major challenge. We believe that with its strong focus on a both systematic and realistic fall prevention strategy adapted to primary care setting PreFalls will be a valuable addition to the scientific literature in the field.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01032252">NCT01032252</a></p
The legal framework for financial advertising:curbing behavioural exploitation
Policy makers and behavioural finance scholars express growing concern that marketing practices by financial institutions exploit retail investorsâ behavioural biases. Investor protection regulation should thus address these marketing practices and include mechanisms curbing behavioural exploitation. That raises the question whether the marketing communications regime of the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive can live up to this demand. This article develops a regulatory model that integrates behavioural finance insights into the new marketing communications regime. It then determines how regulatory authorities can apply this model when they interpret and apply specific regulatory requirements. It demonstrates how a regulatory authority or a court can translate empirical behavioural finance research findings into legal arguments when assessing whether marketing practices can significantly distort a model investorâs decision-making process. The article further establishes that the detailed requirements imposed on investment firms by the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive are necessary in order to protect investors from behavioural exploitation. Finally, the article submits policy proposals that aim to protect investors more effectively from behavioural exploitation
Identification of beauty and charm quark jets at LHCb
Identification of jets originating from beauty and charm quarks is important
for measuring Standard Model processes and for searching for new physics. The
performance of algorithms developed to select - and -quark jets is
measured using data recorded by LHCb from proton-proton collisions at
TeV in 2011 and at TeV in 2012. The efficiency for
identifying a jet is about 65%(25%) with a probability for
misidentifying a light-parton jet of 0.3% for jets with transverse momentum
GeV and pseudorapidity . The dependence of
the performance on the and of the jet is also measured
Observation of the decay B0s â Ï(2S)K +Ïâ
The decay B0
s â Ï(2S)K +Ïâ is observed using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
3.0 fbâ1 collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV.
The branching fraction relative to the B0 â Ï(2S)K +Ïâ decay mode is measured to be
B(B0
s â Ï(2S)K +Ïâ)
B(B0 â Ï(2S)K +Ïâ) = 5.38 ± 0.36 (stat) ± 0.22 (syst) ± 0.31 (f s/ fd)%,
where f s/ fd indicates the uncertainty due to the ratio of probabilities for a b quark to hadronise into
a B0
s or B0 meson. Using an amplitude analysis, the fraction of decays proceeding via an intermediate
Kâ(892)0 meson is measured to be 0.645 ± 0.049 (stat) ± 0.049 (syst) and its longitudinal polarisation
fraction is 0.524 ± 0.056 (stat) ± 0.029 (syst). The relative branching fraction for this component is
determined to be
B(B0
s â Ï(2S)Kâ(892)0)
B(B0 â Ï(2S)Kâ(892)0) = 5.58 ± 0.57 (stat) ± 0.40 (syst) ± 0.32 (f s/ fd)%.
In addition, the mass splitting between the B0
s and B0 mesons is measured as
M(B0
s ) â M(B0) = 87.45 ± 0.44 (stat) ± 0.09 (syst) MeV/c2
Observation of the B0 â Ï0Ï0 decay from an amplitude analysis of B0 â (Ï+Ïâ)(Ï+Ïâ) decays
Protonâproton collision data recorded in 2011 and 2012 by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fbâ1, are analysed to search for the charmless B0 â Ï0Ï0 decay.
More than 600 B0 â (Ï+Ïâ)(Ï+Ïâ) signal decays are selected and used to perform an amplitude
analysis, under the assumption of no CP violation in the decay, from which the B0 â Ï0Ï0 decay is
observed for the first time with 7.1 standard deviations significance. The fraction of B0 â Ï0Ï0 decays
yielding a longitudinally polarised final state is measured to be fL = 0.745+0.048
â0.058(stat) ± 0.034(syst).
The B0 â Ï0Ï0 branching fraction, using the B0 â ÏKâ(892)0 decay as reference, is also reported as
B(B0 â Ï0Ï0) = (0.94 ± 0.17(stat) ± 0.09(syst) ± 0.06(BF)) Ă 10â6
Measurement of the CP-violating phase ÎČ in B0 â J/ÏÏ+Ïâ decays and limits on penguin effects
Time-dependent CP violation is measured in the (â)
B 0 â J/ÏÏ+Ïâ channel for each Ï+Ïâ resonant
final state using data collected with an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fbâ1 in pp collisions using the LHCb
detector. The final state with the largest rate, J/ÏÏ0(770), is used to measure the CP-violating angle
2ÎČeff to be (41.7 ± 9.6+2.8
â6.3)âŠ. This result can be used to limit the size of penguin amplitude contributions
to CP violation measurements in, for example, (â)
B 0
s â J/ÏÏ decays. Assuming approximate SU(3) flavour
symmetry and neglecting higher order diagrams, the shift in the CP-violating phase Ïs is limited to be
within the interval [â1.05âŠ,+1.18âŠ] at 95% confidence level. Changes to the limit due to SU(3) symmetry
breaking effects are also discussed
LHCb detector performance
The LHCb detector is a forward spectrometer at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The experiment is designed for precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of beauty and charm hadrons. In this paper the performance of the various LHCb sub-detectors and the trigger system are described, using data taken from 2010 to 2012. It is shown that the design criteria of the experiment have been met. The excellent performance of the detector has allowed the LHCb collaboration to publish a wide range of physics results, demonstrating LHCb's unique role, both as a heavy flavour experiment and as a general purpose detector in the forward region
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