Influence of spinal cord stimulation on evoked potentials by cutaneous electrical stimulation

In the past, limited research has been done to investigate the influence of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for treatment of chronic pain on evoked potentials (EP). Further insight into the mechanism of SCS may provide explanations for unsatisfactory results with this therapy in certain subpopulations. It also might predict effectiveness of SCS. In previous research MEG responses were measured on median and tibial nerve stimulations in chronic pain patients with and without SCS (1). However, this stimulation method preferentially activates large myelinated proprioceptive fibres, leaving painrelated small fibres unrelated. We expect that the observation of pain processing is impaired by large amounts of non-painrelated activity

Trithiocarbonates for PGM flotation

Journal ArticleSmall replacements of C12-trithiocarbonate (C12-TTC) for dithiocarbonate DTC)/dithiophosphate (DTP) in a reagent suite for the flotation of platinum group metals (PGM) have significantly improved the rejection of gangue. Coupled to this is an improvement in kinetics, grade and recovery of PGMs. In a pilot-plant trial, after a 5 mole per cent replacement of the current DTC/DTP collector combination by C12-TTC, large opaque bubbles were replaced by small clear ones. In addition, a similar flotation response was realized with one-third of the current depressant dosage

Are we asking the right questions to people with Achilles tendinopathy? The best questions to distinguish mild versus severe disability to improve your clinical management

Objective: Determine the capacity of individual items on the Tendinopathy Severity Assessment – Achilles (TENDINS-A), Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS), and Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment – Achilles (VISA-A) to differentiate patients with mild and severe tendon-related disability in order to provide clinicians the best questions when they are consulting patients with Achilles tendinopathy. Design: Cross-sectional. Participants: Seventy participants with Achilles tendinopathy (61.4% mid-portion only, 31.4% insertional only, 7.2% both). Outcome measures: The discrimination index was determined for each TENDINS-A, FAOS, and VISA-A item to determine if items could discriminate between mild and severe disability. A Guttman analysis for polytomous items was conducted. Results: All 62 tems from the TENDINS-A, FAOS, and VISA-A were ranked with the best items relating to pain with physical tendon loading, time for pain to settle following aggravating activities and time for the tendon to ‘warm-up’ following inactivity. Conclusions: Pain with loading the Achilles tendon, time for pain to settle following aggravating activity, as well as time taken for the tendon symptoms to subside after prolonged sitting or sleeping are the best questions indicative of the severity of disability in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. These questions can assist clinicians with assessing baseline severity and monitoring treatment response.</p

Are we asking the right questions to people with Achilles tendinopathy? The best questions to distinguish mild versus severe disability to improve your clinical management

Objective: Determine the capacity of individual items on the Tendinopathy Severity Assessment – Achilles (TENDINS-A), Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS), and Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment – Achilles (VISA-A) to differentiate patients with mild and severe tendon-related disability in order to provide clinicians the best questions when they are consulting patients with Achilles tendinopathy. Design: Cross-sectional. Participants: Seventy participants with Achilles tendinopathy (61.4% mid-portion only, 31.4% insertional only, 7.2% both). Outcome measures: The discrimination index was determined for each TENDINS-A, FAOS, and VISA-A item to determine if items could discriminate between mild and severe disability. A Guttman analysis for polytomous items was conducted. Results: All 62 tems from the TENDINS-A, FAOS, and VISA-A were ranked with the best items relating to pain with physical tendon loading, time for pain to settle following aggravating activities and time for the tendon to ‘warm-up’ following inactivity. Conclusions: Pain with loading the Achilles tendon, time for pain to settle following aggravating activity, as well as time taken for the tendon symptoms to subside after prolonged sitting or sleeping are the best questions indicative of the severity of disability in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. These questions can assist clinicians with assessing baseline severity and monitoring treatment response.</p

A multidisciplinary engineering summer school in an industrial setting

Most university-level engineering studies produce technically skilled engineers. However, typically students face several difficulties whenworking in multidisciplinary teams when they initiate their industrial careers. In a globalised world, it becomes increasingly important that engineers are capable of collaborating across disciplinary boundaries and exhibit soft competencies, like communication, interpersonal and social skills, time planning, creativity, initiative, and reflection. To prepare a group of engineering and industrial design students to acquire those capabilities, an international summer school that combined industrial design with different kinds of engineering disciplineswas organised on the site of Bang&Olufsen (B&O) in Denmark. This multidisciplinary engineering summer school was attended by students from six European university-level teaching institutions and was supervised by teachers from those institutions and industrial experts from B&O. The main aim of the summer school was to allow students to work in teams, composed of students from different knowledge disciplines and with different cultural backgrounds, with the purpose of developing innovative concepts and products, within a strong industrial perspective.B&OERASMU

The Effect of Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Intervention on the Pre- and Postprandial Plasma Gut Peptide Concentrations in Children with Obesity

Objective. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a multidisciplinary treatment of obesity on plasma concentrations of several gut hormones in fasting condition and in response to a mixed meal in children. Methods. Complete data were available from 36 obese children (age 13.3 ± 2.0 yr). At baseline and after the 3-month multidisciplinary treatment, fasting and postprandial blood samples were taken for glucose, insulin, ghrelin, peptide YY (PYY), and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). Results. BMI-SDS was significantly reduced by multidisciplinary treatment (from 4.2 ± 0.7 to 4.0 ± 0.9, P < .01). The intervention significantly increased the area under the curve (AUC) of ghrelin (from 92.3 ± 18.3 to 97.9 ± 18.2 pg/L, P < .01), but no significant changes were found for PYY or GLP-1 concentrations (in fasting or postprandial condition). The insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) remained unchanged as well. Conclusion. Intensive multidisciplinary treatment induced moderate weight loss and increased ghrelin secretion, but serum PYY and GLP-1 concentrations and insulin sensitivity remained unchanged

К вопросу совершенствования технологии управления процессами воздухораспределения и газовыделения на выемочных участках

Розглянуто процес розвитку технологічних схем провітрювання та дегазації виймальних ділянок вугільних шахт. Показане, що вакуумування і відвід по трубопроводу притоків газоповітряної суміші з верхньої частини лави за межі виймальної дільниці відкриває можливість впливати на аеродинамічний процес одночасно у двох напрямках – у керуванні газовиділенням і повітрерозподілом. Вплив такого впливу розглянуте в умовах основних застосовуваних схем провітрювання.The process of technological schemes of ventilation and drainage excavation sites of coal mines. Shown that the evacuation and removal via tributaries of gas-air mixture from the top of the long wall beyond excavation site provides an opportunity to influence the aerodynamic processes in two directions - in the management of any gas and air distribution. The effect of such exposure is considered in terms of the basic circuits used airing

Do physical tests have a prognostic value in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy?

Objectives: To determine whether baseline physical tests have a prognostic value on patient-reported outcomes in Achilles tendinopathy. Design: Prospective cohort study, secondary analysis of data from a randomized trial. Methods: Patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy performed a progressive calf muscle exercise program. At baseline and after 2, 6, 12 and 24 weeks, patients completed the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment—Achilles questionnaire and performed the following physical tests: ankle dorsiflexion range of motion with a bent knee or an extended knee, calf muscle strength, jumping height and pain on palpation (Visual Analogue Scale; 0–100) and after 10 hops (Visual Analogue Scale-10-hops). Associations between baseline test results and improvement (Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment—Achilles scores) were determined using a Mixed Linear Model. Results: 80 patients were included. The mean Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment—Achilles score improved 20 points (95 % confidence interval, 16–25, P &lt; .001) after 24 weeks. There were significant associations between the baseline ankle dorsiflexion range of motion with a bent knee (β 0.2, 95 % confidence interval 0.001 to 0.3, P = .049), the baseline pain provocation tests (Visual Analogue Scale palpation: β − 0.2; 95 % confidence interval: − 0.4 to − 0.1; P &lt; .001, Visual Analogue Scale-10-hops: β − 0.3; 95 % confidence interval: − 0.4 to − 0.2; P &lt; .001) and the change in the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment—Achilles score. Conclusions: In patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy, easy-to-perform pain provocation tests have a clinically relevant prognostic value on patient-reported improvement. Patients with less pain during pain provocation tests at baseline have a better improvement in pain, function and activities after 24 weeks than patients with high baseline pain scores.</p

The fluid nature of water grabbing: the on-going contestation of water distribution between peasants and agribusinesses in Nduruma, Tanzania

This research article published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 2015This article contributes to the contemporary debate on land and water grabbing through a detailed, qualitative case study of horticultural agribusinesses which have settled in Tanzania, disrupting patterns of land and water use. In this paper we analyse how capitalist settler farms and their upstream and downstream peasant neighbours along the Nduruma river, Tanzania, expand and defend their water use. The paper is based on 3 months of qualitative field work in Tanzania. We use the echelons of rights analysis framework combined with the concept of institutional bricolage to show how this contestation takes place over the full spectrum of actual abstractions, governance and discourses. We emphasise the role different (inter)national development narratives play in shaping day-to-day contestations over water shares and rule-making. Ultimately, we emphasise that water grabbing is not a one-time event, but rather an on-going struggle over different water resources. In addition, we show how a perceived beneficial development of agribusinesses switching to groundwater allows them to avoid peasant-controlled institutions, avoiding further negotiation between the different actors and improving their image among neighbouring communities. This development illustrates how complex and obscured processes of water re-allocation can be without becoming illegal per se