Restoring Independent Living after Disability Using a Wearable Device: A Synergistic Physio-Neuro Approach to Leverage Neuroplasticity

The number of people living with various grades of disability is now in excess of 1 billion. A significant portion of this population is dependent on caregivers and unable to access or afford therapy. This emerging healthcare challenge coincides with new knowledge about the self-learning, self-organizing, neuroplastic nature of the brain, offering hope to those trying to regain independence after disability. As conditions such as stroke and dementia begin to affect more and more people in the younger age groups, there is an urgent, global need for a connected rehabilitation solution that leverages the advantages of neuroplasticity to restore cognitive and physical function. This chapter explains a novel approach using a Synergistic Physio-Neuro learning model (SynPhNe learning model), which mimics how babies learn. This learning model has been embedded into a wearable, biofeedback device that can be used to restore function after stroke, injury, the degenerative effects of aging or a childhood learning disability. This chapter enumerates the clinical studies conducted with adult stroke patients in two scenarios—with therapist supervision and with lay person supervision. The results indicate that such a learning model is effective and promises to be an accessible and affordable solution for patients striving for independence

RNA Viral Community in Human Feces: Prevalence of Plant Pathogenic Viruses

The human gut is known to be a reservoir of a wide variety of microbes, including viruses. Many RNA viruses are known to be associated with gastroenteritis; however, the enteric RNA viral community present in healthy humans has not been described. Here, we present a comparative metagenomic analysis of the RNA viruses found in three fecal samples from two healthy human individuals. For this study, uncultured viruses were concentrated by tangential flow filtration, and viral RNA was extracted and cloned into shotgun viral cDNA libraries for sequencing analysis. The vast majority of the 36,769 viral sequences obtained were similar to plant pathogenic RNA viruses. The most abundant fecal virus in this study was pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV), which was found in high concentrations—up to 10(9) virions per gram of dry weight fecal matter. PMMV was also detected in 12 (66.7%) of 18 fecal samples collected from healthy individuals on two continents, indicating that this plant virus is prevalent in the human population. A number of pepper-based foods tested positive for PMMV, suggesting dietary origins for this virus. Intriguingly, the fecal PMMV was infectious to host plants, suggesting that humans might act as a vehicle for the dissemination of certain plant viruses

Information quality and service quality as drivers of user satisfaction in on-line brokerages.

Our paper explores the drivers of user satisfaction with regard to on-line brokerages. The SERVQUAL's five dimensions of service quality have been used as the basis of our model, as well two additional factors (price and information quality)that we have found to be of importance

Estimating the lifetime economic burden of Parkinson's disease in Singapore

10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03868.xEuropean Journal of Neurology202368-374EJNE

An in vitro assessment of human fetal pancreatic islets of Langerhans in culture.

Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore204465-47

Physical activity and mammographic density in an Asian multi-ethnic cohort

Background: Physical activity is a modifiable lifestyle factor associated with reduced breast cancer risk. Mammographic density is a strong, independent risk factor for breast cancer, and some breast cancer risk factors have been shown to modify mammographic density. However, the effect of physical activity on mammographic density, studied predominantly among Caucasians, has yielded conflicting results. In this study, we examined, in an Asian population, the association between physical activity and mammographic density. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 2,377 Malaysian women aged 40–74 years. Physical activity information was obtained at screening mammogram and mammographic density was measured from mammograms by the area-based STRATUS method (n = 1,522) and the volumetric Volpara™ (n = 1,200) method. Linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between physical activity and mammographic density, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: We observed that recent physical activity was associated with area-based mammographic density measures among postmenopausal women, but not premenopausal women. In the fully adjusted model, postmenopausal women with the highest level of recent physical activity had 8.0 cm2 [95% confidence interval: 1.3, 14.3 cm2] lower non-dense area and 3.1% [0.1, 6.3%] higher area-based percent density, compared to women with the lowest level of recent physical activity. Physical activity was not associated to volumetric mammographic density. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the beneficial effects of physical activity on breast cancer risk may not be measurable through mammographic density. Future research is needed to identify appropriate biomarkers to assess the effect of physical activity on breast cancer risk

Fecally Borne PMMV Is Infectious to a Pepper Plant

<div><p>(A) Fecal supernatant containing PMMV was inoculated on to a leaf of a <i>Capsicum</i> plant (Day 0). After 7 d of inoculation, this leaf developed typical symptoms of viral infection (Day 7).</p> <p>(B) RNA extracts from uninfected control leaves (lane 1) and PMMV-positive fecal supernatant challenged leaves (lane 2) were tested for PMMV by RT-PCR.</p></div

Alignment of Assembled PMMV-Like Sequences from Three Shotgun Libraries with the Reference PMMV Genome Sequence

<p>The PMMV-like viral genome sequence segments from Lib 1 (A), Lib 2 (B), and Lib 3 (C) were aligned with the reference PMMV genome sequence (6,357 bp). Colored bars (D) indicated the similarity level between library sequences with template sequences as measured by BLAST score.</p

Different PBV Strains Found in Two Fecal Samples from the Same Individual

<div><p>(A) The PBV-like sequence segments identified in Lib 1 were aligned to the partial genome sequence of PBV strain 4-GA-91 using BLASTn. The identities of nucleotide sequence between the contigs and the reference PBV sequence were 95%–99%.</p> <p>(B) The PBV-like sequence segments in Lib 2 were too remote to both known PBV strains (4-GA-91 and 1-CHN-97) at the nucleotide level, but could be aligned to the PBV strain 1-CHN-97 using tBLASTx. The identity of amino acid sequences between the PBV-like sequence segments in Lib 2 and the reference PBV genome sequence were 46%–69%.</p> <p>(C) Colored bars indicate the similarity level between library sequences with template sequences as measured by BLAST score.</p></div