Assessment of standing balance in patients after ankle fractures

Purpose: The objective of the study is to evaluate the degree of balance disorders in patients with surgical treatment of ankle fractures with the use of stabilometric examinations.Methods: The subjects in the study were 21 patients with ankle fractures treated surgically, within one year of the procedure. The control group were 20 healthy subjects. The balance was evaluated with the use of force platform in standing posture in both single and double limb stance. The analysed parameters were the transition area of the centre of feet pressure (COP), the length of the COP path and the COP velocity. The range of movement in the ankle joint and the intensification of pain were also measured.Results: In the balance evaluation in double limb stance, there were no statistically significant differences. A significant difference was found in the attempts of single limb-stance An average value of COP transition area in the study group was 261.2 mm2 in single stance (on the right operated limb) and in the control group – 93.2 mm2, so the difference was statistically significant (p=0,0096). The presence of pain, the presence or the removal of anastomosis had no significant influence on the balance of the studied subjects. Also a significant correlation between the balance of the subjects and their age was found.Conclusions: The balance in single limb stance after an instable ankle fracture within one year of the surgical procedure is significantly poorer in comparison with healthy subjects. Elderly persons have significantly poorer balance control

The use of the Gait Variability Index for the evaluation of individuals after a stroke

The Gait Variability Index (GVI) summarizes overall gait quality, taking into account spatiotemporal parameters from a 3-dimensional gait analysis. However, there are no studies evaluating changes in gait patterns after stroke, based on the GVI. The study was designed to assess usefulness of the GVI for evaluation of gait pathology in subjects with stroke, compared to healthy individuals. Methods: Spatiotemporal gait parameters were examined in a group of 50 subjects at a chronic stage post-stroke and in 50 healthy controls. The GVI was calculated based on the 9 spatiotemporal data. Results: The findings show statistically significant differences between the values of the GVI for paretic and non-paretic limbs ( p < 0.001). Higher values of the index were identified in the case of non-paretic limb: 80.74 vs. 76.32. The GVI scores were decreased for both paretic and non-paretic limbs, compared to the controls – p < 0.001. Conclusions: The GDI score seems to be a viable tool for quantifying changes in gait pattern during evaluation of subjects with chronic post-stroke hemiparesis. Further studies should be conducted to validate the use of GVI in the post-stroke population

Evaluation of the impact of exercise of gait on a treadmill on balance of people who suffered from cerebral stroke

Purpose: The aim of the study is to define the impact of exercise on a treadmill on static balance and stability of posture in a group of patients after cerebral stroke rehabilitated in a late period, with an application of a treadmill with the function of visual biofeedback. Methods: The examination was carried out in a group of 46 people in a late period after ischemic cerebral stroke. The patients examined were randomly put to a group with intervention (n = 23), in which a rehabilitation programme with an application of a treadmill with the visual feedback function was realized and to a control group (n = 23). They evaluated balance in standing on both feet by means of a force plate, symmetry of load of lower limbs and dynamic balance in Up & Go test. Results: A statistically significant change of stabilometric parameters was observed only in the area of postural sways of the centre of pressure (COP). A significant improvement of the symmetry of load of lower limbs in standing ( p = 0.0266) was diagnosed in the examined group after the end of the programme. After the end of the programme no significant difference between the group with intervention and the control group as for a change of balance of the examined patients was found. Conclusions: In the examined group in the chronic period after cs no significant improvement of stabilometrically evaluated balance was obtained, but improvement of the symmetry of load of lower limbs as well as improvement of dynamic balance were observed

Relationships between walking velocity and distance and the symmetry of temporospatial parameters in chronic post-stroke subjects

Purpose: Subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis frequently present with asymmetric gait patterns. Symmetry, reflecting similarities in temporospatial, kinematic parameters, is an important measure of gait assessment. The study was designed to examine the relationships between asymmetry of temporal, spatial and kinematic gait parameters and walking velocity and distance. Methods: Temporospatial and kinematic gait parameters were examined in a group of 50 chronic post-stroke subjects and in a group of 25 healthy controls. Symmetry ratio was calculated for all the parameters. Gait velocity was measured during 10-metre test, the walking distance during 2-Minute Walk Test, and balance during Up&Go Test. Results: The relationship between stance phase duration symmetry and gait speed was at a moderate level (r = –0.43, p = 0.0173). There was a moderate relationship between swing phase symmetry and walking velocity and distance. The findings did not show a significant correlation between step length symmetry versus gait speed and distance. Conclusions: There is a mild relationship between self-selected gait velocity and walking distance versus temporal parameters symmetry. The findings do not confirm a relationship between self-selected gait velocity and walking distance versus spatial and kinematic parameters as well as balance. Likewise, no evidence confirms that asymmetry of temporal, spatial, kinematic gait parameters changes with the age of post-stroke subjects or is related to the length of time from stroke onset. Given the above, gait symmetry may be recognized as an important indicator of the level of gait control in post-stroke patients because it enables unique gait assessment, independent from other parameters

Model selection in neutron Compton scattering - a Bayesian approach with physical constraints

This work analyses the performance of the maximum-likelihood estimation approach in fitting Gram-Charlier expansion curves to nuclear momentum distributions with non-negativity constraints. The presented approach guarantees that the most likely model selected to describe the recorded data is also a physically meaningful one, i.e., corresponds to a non-negative probability distribution function. For the case of the most popular momentum distribution model, containing the information about the variance and excess kurtosis of the distribution, we derive a simple and easy to implement non-negativity criterion. We test the performance of the newly developed approach by applying it to interpret proton momentum distribution obtained from neutron Compton scattering from solid phosphoric acid, a system in which nuclear quantum tunnelling was proposed in the limit of low temperature. From a methodological point of view, this work provides a screening tool in the search for systems exhibiting the so-called 'non-trivial nuclear quantum effects'

Cation Dynamics and Structural Stabilization in Formamidinium Lead Iodide Perovskites

The vibrational dynamics of pure and methylammonium-doped formamidinium lead iodide perovskites (FAPbI3) has been investigated by high-resolution neutron spectroscopy. For the first time, we provide an exhaustive and accurate analysis of the cation vibrations and underlying local structure around the organic moiety in these materials using first-principles electronic-structure calculations validated by the neutron data. Inelastic neutron scattering experiments on FAPbI3 provide direct evidence of the formation of a low-temperature orientational glass, unveiling the physicochemical origin of phase metastability in the tetragonal structure. Further analysis of these data provides a suitable starting point to explore and understand the stabilization of the perovskite framework via doping with small amounts of organic cations. In particular, we find that the hydrogen-bonding interactions around the formamidinium cations are strengthened as a result of cage deformation. This synergistic effect across perovskite cages is accompanied by a concomitant weakening of the methylammonium interactions with the surrounding framework

Fractal dimension as a scaling law for nuclear quantum effects: a neutron Compton scattering study on carbon allotropes

In this work, we tackle the problem of the sensitivity of neutron Compton scattering, measured through the widths of nuclear momentum distributions, to the degree of complexity and ordering of the structural motif characterising the surrounding environment felt by a particular nucleus (carbon). In doing so, we replace the usual concept of the bond strength categorised in terms of its thermodynamical or electronic properties with a novel observable inspired by the language of mathematical topology, the Hausdorff-Besicovitch fractal dimension. We derive a relatively straightforward connection between the fractal dimension of a given system under consideration and the nuclear kinetic energy. To achieve this, we modify the concept of the energy equipartition theorem for solid-state systems composed of carbon atoms where the atom-ordering topology does not follow a simple two or three-dimensional order, but rather atoms are placed along curves in space that have an intermediate dimension related to the varying amounts of information they contain. A series of results from past neutron Compton scattering studies, as well as new results on Buckminsterfullerene (C-60), correlate with the topological measures of surface roughness and bending, as categorised quantitatively by the fractal dimension of the system. Namely, for the same formal chemical binding motif (sp(2) C) and with decreasing system dimensionality from nearly 3 towards 1, the quantum nature of the system becomes more pronounced. The simple scaling law developed in this work allows for relatively simple assessment of the nuclear "quantumness" of a given system with potentially important ramifications in the ab initio modelling of nuclear quantum effects in condensed matter