"Playstation eyetoy games" improve upper extremity-related motor functioning in subacute stroke:a randomized controlled clinical trial

Aim. To evaluate the effects of "Playstation EyeToy Games" on upper extremity motor recovery and upper extremity-related motor functioning of patients with subacute stroke. Methods. The authors designed a randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, 4-week trial, with follow-up at 3 months. A total of 20 hemiparetic inpatients (mean age 61.1 years), all within 12 months post-stroke, received 30 minutes of treatment with "Playstation EyeToy Games" per day, consisting of flexion and extension of the paretic shoulder, elbow and wrist as well as abduction of the paretic shoulder or placebo therapy (watching the games for the same duration without physical involvement into the games) in addition to conventional program, 5 days a week, 2-5 hours/day for 4 weeks. Brunnstrom's staging and self-care subitems of the functional independence measure (FIM) were performed at 0 month (baseline), 4 weeks (post-treatment), and 3 months (follow-up) after the treatment. Results. The mean change score (95% confidence interval) of the FIM self-care score (5.5 [2.9-8.0] vs 1.8 [0.1-3.7], P=0.018) showed significantly more improvement in the EyeToy group compared to the control group. No significant differences were found between the groups for the Brunnstrom stages for hand and upper extremity. Conclusion. "Playstation EyeToy Games" combined with a conventional stroke rehabilitation program have a potential to enhance upper extremity-related motor functioning in subacute stroke patients.</div

Functional capacity and actual daily activity do not contribute to patient satisfaction after total knee arthroplasty

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>After total knee arthroplasty (TKA) only 75-89% of patients are satisfied. Because patient satisfaction is a prime goal of all orthopaedic procedures, optimization of patient satisfaction is of major importance. Factors related to patient satisfaction after TKA have been explored, but no studies have included two potentially relevant factors, i.e. the functional capacity of daily activities and actual daily activity. This present prospective study examines whether functional capacity and actual daily activity (in addition to an extensive set of potential factors) contribute to patient satisfaction six months after TKA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 44 patients were extensively examined preoperatively and six months post surgery. Functional capacity was measured with three capacity tests, focusing on walking, stair climbing, and chair rising. Actual daily activity was measured in the patient's home situation by means of a 48-hour measurement with an Activity Monitor. To establish which factors were related to patient satisfaction six months post surgery, logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds ratios.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preoperative and postoperative functional capacity and actual daily activity had no relation with patient satisfaction. Preoperatively, only self-reported mental functioning was positively related to patient satisfaction. Postoperatively, based on multivariate analysis, only fulfilled expectations regarding pain and experienced pain six months post surgery were related to patient satisfaction.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Functional capacity and actual daily activity do not contribute to patient satisfaction after TKA. Patients with a better preoperative self-reported mental functioning, and patients who experienced less pain and had fulfilled expectations regarding pain postoperatively, were more often satisfied.</p

Decompressive hemicraniectomy in severe cerebral venous thrombosis: a prospective case series

Small retrospective case series suggest that decompressive hemicraniectomy can be life saving in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and impending brain herniation. Prospective studies of consecutive cases are lacking. Thus, a single centre, prospective study was performed. In 2006 we adapted our protocol for CVT treatment to perform acute decompressive hemicraniectomy in patients with impending herniation, in whom the prognosis with conservative treatment was considered infaust. We included all consecutive patients with CVT between 2006 and 2010 who underwent hemicraniectomy. Outcome was assessed at 12 months with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Ten patients (8 women) with a median age of 41 years (range 26–52 years) were included. Before surgery 5 patients had GCS < 9, 9 patients had normal pupils, 1 patient had a unilaterally fixed and dilated pupil. All patients except one had space-occupying intracranial hemorrhagic infarcts. The median preoperative midline shift was 9 mm (range 3–14 mm). Unilateral hemicraniectomy was performed in 9 patients and bilateral hemicraniectomy in one. Two patients died from progressive cerebral edema and expansion of the hemorrhagic infarcts. Five patients recovered without disability at 12 months (mRS 0–1). Two patients had some residual handicap (one minor, mRS 2; one moderate, mRS 3). One patient was severely handicapped (mRS 5). Our prospective data show that decompressive hemicraniectomy in the most severe cases of cerebral venous thrombosis was probably life saving in 8/10 patients, with a good clinical outcome in six. In 2 patients death was caused by enlarging hemorrhagic infarcts

Test your surrogate data before you test for nonlinearity

The schemes for the generation of surrogate data in order to test the null hypothesis of linear stochastic process undergoing nonlinear static transform are investigated as to their consistency in representing the null hypothesis. In particular, we pinpoint some important caveats of the prominent algorithm of amplitude adjusted Fourier transform surrogates (AAFT) and compare it to the iterated AAFT (IAAFT), which is more consistent in representing the null hypothesis. It turns out that in many applications with real data the inferences of nonlinearity after marginal rejection of the null hypothesis were premature and have to be re-investigated taken into account the inaccuracies in the AAFT algorithm, mainly concerning the mismatching of the linear correlations. In order to deal with such inaccuracies we propose the use of linear together with nonlinear polynomials as discriminating statistics. The application of this setup to some well-known real data sets cautions against the use of the AAFT algorithm.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Optimizing Functional Network Representation of Multivariate Time Series

By combining complex network theory and data mining techniques, we provide objective criteria for optimization of the functional network representation of generic multivariate time series. In particular, we propose a method for the principled selection of the threshold value for functional network reconstruction from raw data, and for proper identification of the network's indicators that unveil the most discriminative information on the system for classification purposes. We illustrate our method by analysing networks of functional brain activity of healthy subjects, and patients suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment, an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more pronounced decline of dementia. We discuss extensions of the scope of the proposed methodology to network engineering purposes, and to other data mining tasks

A Continuum Saltation Model for Sand Dunes

We derive a phenomenological continuum saltation model for aeolian sand transport that can serve as an efficient tool for geomorphological applications. The coupled differential equations for the average density and velocity of sand in the saltation layer reproduce both known equilibrium relations for the sand flux and the time evolution of the sand flux as predicted by microscopic saltation models. The three phenomenological parameters of the model are a reference height for the grain-air interaction, an effective restitution coefficient for the grain-bed interaction, and a multiplication factor characterizing the chain reaction caused by the impacts leading to a typical time or length scale of the saturation transients. We determine the values of these parameters by comparing our model with wind tunnel measurements. Our main interest are out of equilibrium situations where saturation transients are important, for instance at phase boundaries (ground/sand) or under unsteady wind conditions. We point out that saturation transients are indispensable for a proper description of sand flux over structured terrain, by applying the model to the windward side of an isolated dune, thereby resolving recently reported discrepancies between field measurements and theoretical predictions.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Gauge covariance and the fermion-photon vertex in three- and four- dimensional, massless quantum electrodynamics

In the quenched approximation, the gauge covariance properties of three vertex Ans\"{a}tze in the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the fermion self energy are analysed in three- and four- dimensional quantum electrodynamics. Based on the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis effective action, it is inferred that the spectral representation used for the vertex in the gauge technique cannot support dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. A criterion for establishing whether a given Ansatz can confer gauge covariance upon the Schwinger-Dyson equation is presented and the Curtis and Pennington Ansatz is shown to satisfy this constraint. We obtain an analytic solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for quenched, massless three-dimensional quantum electrodynamics for arbitrary values of the gauge parameter in the absence of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.Comment: 17 pages, PHY-7143-TH-93, REVTE

How the blood pool properties at onset affect the temporal behavior of simulated bruises

The influence of initial blood pool properties on the temporal behavior of bruises is currently unknown. We addressed this important issue by utilizing three typical classes of bruises in our three-layered finite compartment model. We simulated the effects of their initial shapes, regularity of boundaries and initial blood concentration distributions (gaussian vs. homogeneous) on the hemoglobin and bilirubin areas in the dermal top layer. Age determination of bruises with gaussian hemoglobin concentration was also addressed. We found that the initial blood pool properties strongly affect bruise behavior. We determined the age of a 200-h simulated bruise with gaussian hemoglobin concentration with 3 h uncertainty. In conclusion, bruise behavior depends non-intuitively on the initial blood pool properties; hence, a model that includes shape, area and concentration distribution at onset is indispensable. Future age determination, including inhomogeneous hemoglobin distributions, will likely be based on the presented method for gaussian distributions