Caregivers' experiences with the new family‐centred paediatric physiotherapy programme COPCA : a qualitative study

Caregivers' experiences during early intervention of their infant with special needs have consequences for their participation in the intervention. Hence, it is vital to understand caregivers' view. This study explored caregivers' experiences with the family-centred early intervention programme "COPing with and CAring for infants with special needs" (COPCA)

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the motor cortex increases cortical voluntary activation and neural plasticity

INTRODUCTION: We examined the cumulative effect of 4 consecutive bouts of non-invasive brain stimulation on corticospinal plasticity and motor performance, and whether these responses were influenced by the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism. METHODS: In a randomized double-blinded cross-over design, changes in strength and indices of corticospinal plasticity were analyzed in 14 adults who were exposed to 4 consecutive sessions of anodal and sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Participants also undertook a blood sample for BDNF genotyping (N=13). RESULTS: We observed a significant increase in isometric wrist flexor strength with transcranial magnetic stimulation revealing increased corticospinal excitability, decreased silent period duration, and increased cortical voluntary activation compared to sham tDCS. DISCUSSION: The results show that 4 consecutive sessions of anodal tDCS increased cortical voluntary activation manifested as an improvement in strength. Induction of corticospinal plasticity appears to be influenced by the BDNF polymorphism

Direct Detection and Sequencing of Damaged DNA Bases

Products of various forms of DNA damage have been implicated in a variety of important biological processes, such as aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Therefore, there exists great interest to develop methods for interrogating damaged DNA in the context of sequencing. Here, we demonstrate that single-molecule, real-time (SMRT®) DNA sequencing can directly detect damaged DNA bases in the DNA template - as a by-product of the sequencing method - through an analysis of the DNA polymerase kinetics that are altered by the presence of a modified base. We demonstrate the sequencing of several DNA templates containing products of DNA damage, including 8-oxoguanine, 8-oxoadenine, O6-methylguanine, 1-methyladenine, O4-methylthymine, 5-hydroxycytosine, 5-hydroxyuracil, 5-hydroxymethyluracil, or thymine dimers, and show that these base modifications can be readily detected with single-modification resolution and DNA strand specificity. We characterize the distinct kinetic signatures generated by these DNA base modifications

Relationship between casting modulus and grain size in cast A356 aluminium alloys

Microstructure of Al-Si alloy castings depends most generally on melt preparation and on the cooling rate imposed by the thermal modulus of the component. In the case of Al-Si alloys, emphasis is put during melt preparation on refinement of pro-eutectic (Al) grains and on modification of the Al-Si eutectic. Thermal analysis has been used since long to check melt preparation before casting, i.e. by analysis of the cooling curve during solidification of a sample cast in an instrumented cup. The conclusions drawn from such analysis are however valid for the particular cooling conditions of the cups. It thus appeared of interest to investigate how these conclusions could extrapolate to predict microstructure in complicated cast parts showing local changes in the solidification conditions. For that purpose, thermal analysis cups and instrumented sand and die castings with different thermal moduli and thus cooling rates have been made, and the whole set of cooling curves thus recorded has been analysed. A statistical analysis of the characteristic features of the cooling curves related to grain refinement in sand and die castings allowed determining the most significant parameters and expressing the cube of grain size as a polynomial of these parameters. After introduction of a further parameter quantifying melt refining an excellent correlation, with a R2 factor of 0.99 was obtained

Symptoms of COPD in the absence of airflow obstruction are more indicative of pre-COPD than overdiagnosis

Dysfunction of the small airways is a precursor of COPD but is not detectable on standard spirometric testing until significant destruction has occurred. A proportion of COPD patients have an FEV1/FVC less than 0.7 which is greater than the lower limit of normal (LLN), when adjusted for their age and sex. It is not understood whether this group of patients, known as “discordant COPD” are representative of “early COPD” or overdiagnosis. We sought to characterise discordant COPD (disCOPD), using radiology, lung function, serum biomarkers, activity monitoring and quality of life scores, comparing with COPD patients with an FEV1/FVC<0.7 and <LLN and healthy, age-matched controls. Six out of 8 serum biomarkers were significantly different in the disCOPD group versus healthy controls, as were the scores of all 4 QoL questionnaires. Activity monitoring revealed similar levels of sedentary time between the disCOPD group and concordant COPD (conCOPD). CT analysis showed less involvement of small airway dysfunction and emphysema in the disCOPD group versus conCOPD. Collectively, our findings support the hypothesis that disCOPD is a clinically relevant phenomenon that represents a pre-COPD state. Identification of such patients is important for early intervention and management before progression to fully established COPD

Symptoms of COPD in the absence of airflow obstruction are more indicative of pre-COPD than overdiagnosis

Dysfunction of the small airways is a precursor of COPD but is not detectable on standard spirometric testing until significant destruction has occurred. A proportion of COPD patients have an FEV1/FVC less than 0.7 which is greater than the lower limit of normal (LLN), when adjusted for their age and sex. It is not understood whether this group of patients, known as “discordant COPD” are representative of “early COPD” or overdiagnosis. We sought to characterise discordant COPD (disCOPD), using radiology, lung function, serum biomarkers, activity monitoring and quality of life scores, comparing with COPD patients with an FEV1/FVC<0.7 and <LLN and healthy, age-matched controls. Six out of 8 serum biomarkers were significantly different in the disCOPD group versus healthy controls, as were the scores of all 4 QoL questionnaires. Activity monitoring revealed similar levels of sedentary time between the disCOPD group and concordant COPD (conCOPD). CT analysis showed less involvement of small airway dysfunction and emphysema in the disCOPD group versus conCOPD. Collectively, our findings support the hypothesis that disCOPD is a clinically relevant phenomenon that represents a pre-COPD state. Identification of such patients is important for early intervention and management before progression to fully established COPD