Neuro fuzzy control of the FES assisted freely swinging leg of paraplegic subjects

The authors designed a neuro fuzzy control strategy for control of cyclical leg movements of paraplegic subjects. The cyclical leg movements were specified by three `swing phase objectives', characteristic of natural human gait. The neuro fuzzy controller is a combination of a fuzzy logic controller and a neural network, which makes the controller self tuning and adaptive. Two experiments have been performed, in which the performance of the neuro fuzzy control strategy has been compared with conventional PID control strateg

Adapting the complexity level of a serious game to the proficiency of players

As games are continuously assessing the player, this assessment can be used to adapt the complexity of a game to the proficiency of the player in real time. We performed an experiment to examine the role of dynamic adaptation. In one condition, participants played a version of our serious game for triage training that automatically adapted the complexity level of the presented cases to how well the participant scored previously. Participants in the control condition played a version of the game with no adaptation. The adapted version was significantly more efficient and resulted in higher learning gains per instructional case, but did not lead to a difference in engagement. Adapting games to the proficiency of the player could make serious games more efficient learning tools

A model-based approach to stabilizing crutch supported paraplegic standing by artifical hip joint stiffness

The prerequisites for stable crutch supported standing were analyzed in this paper. For this purpose, a biomechanical model of crutch supported paraplegic stance was developed assuming the patient was standing with extended knees. When using crutches during stance, the crutches will put a position constraint on the shoulder, thus reducing the number of degrees of freedom. Additional hip-joint stiffness was applied to stabilize the hip joint and, therefore, to stabilize stance. The required hip-joint stiffness for changing crutch placement and hip-joint offset angle was studied under static and dynamic conditions. Modeling results indicate that, by using additional hip-joint stiffness, stable crutch supported paraplegic standing can be achieved, both under static as well as dynamic situations. The static equilibrium postures and the stability under perturbations were calculated to be dependent on crutch placement and stiffness applied. However, postures in which the hip joint was in extension (C postures) appeared to the most stable postures. Applying at least 60 N /spl middot/ m/rad hip-joint stiffness gave stable equilibrium postures in all cases. Choosing appropriate hip-joint offset angles, the static equilibrium postures changed to more erect postures, without causing instability or excessive arm forces to occur

ImmunoGlobulin galaxy (IGGalaxy) for simple determination and quantitation of immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangements from NGS

Background: Sequence analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) gene rearrangements and frequency analysis is a powerful tool for studying the immune repertoire, immune responses and immune dysregulation in health and disease. The challenge is to provide user friendly, secure and reproducible analytical services that are available for both small and large laboratories which are determining VDJ repertoire using NGS technology. Results: In this study we describe ImmunoGlobulin Galaxy (IGGalaxy)- a convenient web based application for analyzing next-generation sequencing results and reporting IGH gene rearrangements for both repertoire and clonality studies. IGGalaxy has two analysis options one using the built in igBLAST algorithm and the second using output from IMGT; in either case repertoire summaries for the B-cell populations tested are available. IGGalaxy supports multi-sample and multi-replicate input analysis for both igBLAST and IMGT/HIGHV-QUEST. We demonstrate the technical validity of this platform using a standard dataset, S22, used for benchmarking the performance of antibody alignment utilities with a 99.9 % concordance with previous results. Re-analysis of NGS data from our samples of RAG-deficient patients demonstrated the validity and user friendliness of this tool. Conclusions: IGGalaxy provides clinical researchers with detailed insight into the repertoire of the B-cell population per individual sequenced and between control and pathogenic genomes. IGGalaxy was developed for 454 NGS results but is capable of analyzing alternative NGS data (e.g. Illumina, Ion Torrent). We demonstrate the use of a Galaxy virtual machine to determine the VDJ repertoire for reference data and from B-cells taken from immune deficient patients. IGGalaxy is available as a VM for download and use on a desktop PC or on a server

The human homologue of the yeast mitochondrial AAA metalloprotease Yme1p complements a yeast yme1 disruptant

AbstractIn yeast, three AAA superfamily metalloproteases (Yme1p, Afg3p and Rca1p) are localized to the mitochondrial inner membrane where they perform roles in the assembly and turnover of the respiratory chain complexes. We have investigated the function of the proposed human orthologue of yeast Yme1p, encoded by the YME1L gene on chromosome 10p. Transfection of both HEK-293EBNA and yeast cells with a green fluorescent protein-tagged YME1L cDNA confirmed mitochondrial targeting. When expressed in a yme1 disruptant yeast strain, YME1L restored growth on glycerol at 37°C. We propose that YME1L plays a phylogenetically conserved role in mitochondrial protein metabolism and could be involved in mitochondrial pathologies

Automated Selection of Hotspots (ASH): enhanced automated segmentation and adaptive step finding for Ki67 hotspot detection in adrenal cortical cancer

BACKGROUND: In prognosis and therapeutics of adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC), the selection of the most active areas in proliferative rate (hotspots) within a slide and objective quantification of immunohistochemical Ki67 Labelling Index (LI) are of critical importa

Implementing a multidisciplinary psychotropic medication review among nursing home residents with dementia:a process evaluation

OBJECTIVES: Before drawing conclusions on the contribution of an effective intervention to daily practice and initiating dissemination, its quality and implementation in daily practice should be optimal. The aim of this process evaluation was to study these aspects alongside a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of a multidisciplinary biannual medication review in long-term care organizations (NTR3569). DESIGN: Process evaluation with multiple measurements. SETTING: Thirteen units for people with dementia in six long-term care organizations in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Physicians, pharmacists, and nursing staff of participating units. INTERVENTION: The PROPER intervention is a structured and biannually repeated multidisciplinary medication review supported by organizational preparation and education, evaluation, and guidance. MEASUREMENTS: Web-based questionnaires, interviews, attendance lists of education sessions, medication reviews and evaluation meetings, minutes, evaluation, and registration forms. RESULTS: Participation rates in education sessions (95%), medication reviews (95%), and evaluation meetings (82%) were high. The intervention's relevance and feasibility and applied implementation strategies were highly rated. However, the education sessions and conversations during medication reviews were too pharmacologically oriented for several nursing staff members. Identified barriers to implementation were required time, investment, planning issues, and high staff turnover; facilitators were the positive attitude of professionals toward the intervention, the support of higher management, and the appointment of a local implementation coordinator. CONCLUSION: Implementation was successful. The commitment of both higher management and professionals was an important factor. This may partly have been due to the subject being topical; Dutch long-term-care organizations are pressed to lower inappropriate psychotropic drug use