Tailoring the Mechanical Properties of Selective Laser Sintered Parts

The ~£1 million IMCRC-funded integrated project ‘Personalised Sports Footwear: From Elite to High Street’ is investigating the use of Rapid Manufacturing to produce personalised sports shoes, with the aim of enhancing performance, reducing injury, and providing improved functionality. Research has identified that, for sprinting, performance benefits can be achieved by tuning the bending stiffness of a shoe to the characteristics of an individual athlete. This paper presents research to date on several novel methods of influencing the mechanical properties of Selective Laser Sintered shoe soles, with a particular focus on stiffness.Mechanical Engineerin

The role of working memory and verbal fluency in autobiographical memory in early Alzheimer’s disease and matched controls

Retrieval of autobiographical memories (AMs) is important for “sense of self”. Previous research and theoretical accounts suggest that working memory (WM) and semantic and phonemic fluency abilities facilitate the hierarchical search for, and reliving of past, personal events in the mind’s eye. However, there remains a lack of consensus as to the nature of the relationships between these cognitive functions and the truly episodic aspects of AM. The present study therefore aimed to explore the associations between these variables in a sample with a wide range of cognitive abilities. The study incorporated a between-groups component, and a correlational component with multiple regression. Participants with Alzheimer’s disease (n = 10) and matched healthy controls (n = 10) were assessed on measures of semantic and episodic AM search and retrieval, auditory and spatial WM, and semantic and phonemic fluency. The AD group produced less episodic AM content compared to controls. Semantic fluency predicted episodic AM retrieval independent of age effects but there were no significant relationships between measures of phonemic fluency, WM and episodic AM. The results suggest that the ability to maintain hierarchical search of the semantic knowledge-base is important for truly episodic reliving, and interventions for people with AM impairment might therefore benefit from incorporating structured, individualised external memory-aids to facilitate AM search and retrieval

The Effects of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching on Post-Exercise Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in Young Adults

International Journal of Exercise Science 7(1) : 14-21, 2014. Until recently, the scientific community believed that post-exercise stretching could reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), but recent reviews of studies on the topic have concluded that pre- or post-exercise static stretching has no effect on mitigating DOMS. However, the effect of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) post-exercise stretching on preventing DOMS has not been adequately studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of post-exercise PNF stretching on DOMS. Young adult participants (N=57) were randomly assigned to a PNF stretching group (n=19), a static stretching group (n=20), and to a no-stretching control group (n=18). All participants completed exercise designed to induce DOMS prior to post-exercise experimental stretching protocols. Participants rated their soreness level on a pain scale 24 and 48 hours post-exercise. A 3 x 2 mixed ANOVA showed there was an effect for time (p\u3c.01). Post hoc testing revealed that DOMS pain significantly decreased (p\u3c.05) from 24 to 48 hours post-exercise for the PNF and control groups, but not for the static stretching group. Other analyses revealed a significant correlation (r=.61, p\u3c.01) between the pre- and post-exercise stretch scores and the 48 hour post-exercise pain score for the PNF group. Consistent with the results of previous research on post-exercise static stretching, these results indicate that post-exercise PNF stretching also does not prevent DOMS. However, the correlation analysis suggests it is possible the pre-stretch muscle contractions of the post-exercise PNF protocol may have placed a load on an already damaged muscle causing more DOMS for some participants

The Tri-State High School Band Symposium: An Honor Band Experience for the Region\u27s Finest Wind and Percussion Players and Their Directors

A sampler concert conducted by Robert Sheldon & Mathew Inkster.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/music_programs/1110/thumbnail.jp

Mobile applications for weather and climate information: their use and potential for smallholder farmers

Mobile phones are increasingly being used to provide smallholder farmers with agricultural and related information. There is currently great interest in their scope to communicate climate and weather information. Farmers consistently identify demand for weather information and whilst ICTs may be one way of delivering this at scale there are concerns that this should not be seen as a panacea. At a time when there have been a range of initiatives and projects that have been implemented this paper seeks to draw lessons and identify key considerations to inform the development of future mobile applications to provide climate services to smallholder farmers. A literature review, interviews with key informants and experts and 15 case study reviews were conducted. This focused principally on Sub Saharan Africa but included some examples from India. Despite numerous initiatives few have developed fully beyond the pilot stage and few have been evaluated. Some of the provision to date has been of questionable value to farmers. A key observation is that relatively little attention has been paid in design, to the needs for and use of both the information and technology by farmers, and few attempts made to differentiate provision according to gender and other demographic variables. Other factors contributing to success included communications approaches, which are interactive and/or involve trusted intermediaries who can add context to and help interpret more complex information. Providing weather information alongside other services as ‘bundles’ and in conjunction with complementary communications approaches appears to work well. An important challenge is how to meet farmers’ needs for location specific, timely and relevant information in economically sustainable ways. More widely there are challenges in achieving successful business models and potential conflicts between initiatives driven by mobile network operators and public goals. The study identified areas of considerable potential which include: the use of increasingly available mobile data connections to ensure locally relevant content is available to farmers in timely fashion (including both historical climate information and forecasts); development of participatory decision making tools to enable farmers to interpret information for their own contexts and consider implications and management options; use of visual applications and participatory video on mobile devices to enhance learning and advisory services for farmers; the potential for increased feedback between farmers and service providers as well as increased knowledge sharing between farmers provided by the use of social media

Cognitive decline heralds onset of symptomatic inherited prion disease

The clinical effectiveness of any disease-modifying treatment for prion disease, as for other neurodegenerative disorders, will depend on early treatment before damage to neural tissue is irrevocable. Thus, there is a need to identify markers that predict disease onset in healthy at-risk individuals. Whilst imaging and neurophysiological biomarkers have shown limited use in this regard, we recently reported progressive neurophysiological changes in individuals with the inherited prion disease mutation P102L. We have also previously demonstrated a signature pattern of fronto-parietal dysfunction in mild prion disease. Here we address whether these cognitive features anticipate the onset of symptoms in a unique sample of patients with inherited prion disease. In the cross-sectional analysis, we analysed the performance of patients at three time points in the course of disease onset: prior to symptoms (n = 27), onset of subjective symptoms without positive clinical findings (n = 8) and symptomatic with positive clinical findings (n = 24). In the longitudinal analysis, we analysed data from 24 patients who were presymptomatic at the time of recruitment and were followed up over a period of up to 17 years, of whom 16 remained healthy and eight converted to become symptomatic. In the cross-sectional analysis, the key finding was that, relative to a group of 25 healthy non-gene carrier controls, patients with subjective symptoms but without positive clinical findings were impaired on a smaller but similar set of tests (Trail Making Test part A, Stroop test, Performance IQ, gesture repetition, figure recall) to those previously found to be impaired in mild prion disease. In the longitudinal analysis, Trail Making Test parts A and B, Stroop test and Performance IQ scores significantly discriminated between patients who remained presymptomatic and those who converted, even before the converters reached criteria for formal diagnosis. Notably, performance on the Stroop test significantly discriminated between presymptomatic patients and converters before the onset of clinical symptoms [area under the curve = 0.83 (95% confidence interval, 0.62–1.00), P = 0.009]. Thus, we report here, for the first time, neuropsychological abnormalities in healthy patients prior to either symptom onset or clinical diagnosis of inherited prion disease. This constitutes an important component of an evolving profile of clinical and biomarker abnormalities in this crucial group for preventive medicine

Cognitive decline heralds onset of symptomatic inherited prion disease

The clinical effectiveness of any disease-modifying treatment for prion disease, as for other neurodegenerative disorders, will depend on early treatment before damage to neural tissue is irrevocable. Thus, there is a need to identify markers which predict disease onset in healthy at-risk individuals. Whilst imaging and neurophysiological biomarkers have shown limited use in this regard, we recently reported progressive neurophysiological changes in healthy people with the inherited prion disease mutation P102L (Rudge et al, Brain 2019). We have also previously demonstrated a signature pattern of fronto-parietal dysfunction in mild prion disease (Caine et al., 2015; 2018). Here we address whether these cognitive features anticipate the onset of symptoms in a unique sample of patients with inherited prion disease. In the cross-sectional analysis, we analysed the performance of patients at three time points in the course of disease onset: prior to symptoms (n = 27), onset of subjective symptoms without positive clinical findings (n = 8) and symptomatic with positive clinical findings (n = 24). In the longitudinal analysis, we analysed data from twenty four patients who were presymptomatic at the time of recruitment and were followed up over a period of up to seventeen years, of whom sixteen remained healthy and eight converted to become symptomatic. In the cross-sectional analysis, the key finding was that, relative to a group of 25 healthy non-gene carrier controls, patients with subjective symptoms but without positive clinical findings were impaired on a smaller but very similar set of tests (Trail Making Test part A, Stroop Test, Performance IQ, gesture repetition, figure recall) to those previously found to be impaired in mild prion disease (Caine et al., 2015; 2018). In the longitudinal analysis, Trail Making Test parts A and B, Stroop test and Performance IQ scores significantly discriminated between patients who remained presymptomatic and those who converted, even before the converters reached criteria for formal diagnosis. Notably, performance on the Stroop test significantly discriminated between presymptomatic patients and converters before the onset of clinical symptoms (AUC = .83 (95% CI, 0.62-1.00), p =.009). Thus, we report here, for the first time, neuropsychological abnormalities in healthy patients prior to either symptom onset or clinical diagnosis of IPD. This constitutes an important component of an evolving profile of clinical and biomarker abnormalities in this crucial group for preventive medicine

Fostering Local Health Department and Health System Collaboration Through Case Conferences for At-Risk and Vulnerable Population

In case conferences, health care providers work together to identify and address patients' complex social and medical needs. Public health nurses from the local health department joined case conference teams at federally qualified health center primary care sites to foster cross-sector collaboration, integration, and mutual learning. Public health nurse participation resulted in frequent referrals to local health department services, greater awareness of public health capabilities, and potential policy interventions to address social determinants of health

Implications of the problem orientated medical record (POMR) for research using electronic GP databases: a comparison of the Doctors Independent Network Database (DIN) and the General Practice Research Database (GPRD).

Background The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) and Doctor's Independent Network Database (DIN), are large electronic primary care databases compiled in the UK during the 1990s. They provide a valuable resource for epidemiological and health services research. GPRD (based on VAMP) presents notes as a series of discrete episodes, whereas DIN is based on a system (MEDITEL) that used a Problem Orientated Medical Record (POMR) which links prescriptions to diagnostic problems. We have examined the implications for research of these different underlying philosophies. Methods Records of 40,183 children from 141 practices in DIN and 76,310 from 464 practices in GRPD who were followed to age 5 were used to compare the volume of recording of prescribing and diagnostic codes in the two databases. To assess the importance and additional value of the POMR within DIN, the appropriateness of diagnostic linking to skin emollient prescriptions was investigated. Results Variation between practices for both the number of days on which prescriptions were issued and diagnoses were recorded was marked in both databases. Mean number of "prescription days" during the first 5 years of life was similar in DIN (19.5) and in GPRD (19.8), but the average number of "diagnostic days" was lower in DIN (15.8) than in GPRD (22.9). Adjustment for linkage increased the average "diagnostic days" to 23.1 in DIN. 32.7% of emollient prescriptions in GPRD appeared with an eczema diagnosis on the same day compared to only 19.4% in DIN; however, 86.4% of prescriptions in DIN were linked to an earlier eczema diagnosis. More specifically 83% of emollient prescriptions appeared under a problem heading of eczema in the 121 practices that were using problem headings satisfactorily. Conclusion Prescribing records in DIN and GPRD are very similar, but the usage of diagnostic codes is more parsimonious in DIN because of its POMR structure. Period prevalence rates will be underestimated in DIN unless this structure is taken into account. The advantage of the POMR is that in 121 of 141 practices using problem headings as intended, most prescriptions can be linked to a problem heading providing a specific reason for their issue