A bi-articular model for scapular-humeral rhythm reconstruction through data from wearable sensors

Patient-specific performance assessment of arm movements in daily life activities is fundamental for neurological rehabilitation therapy. In most applications, the shoulder movement is simplified through a socket-ball joint, neglecting the movement of the scapular-thoracic complex. This may lead to significant errors. We propose an innovative bi-articular model of the human shoulder for estimating the position of the hand in relation to the sternum. The model takes into account both the scapular-toracic and gleno-humeral movements and their ratio governed by the scapular-humeral rhythm, fusing the information of inertial and textile-based strain sensors

Drawings of very preterm-born children at 5 years of age: a first impression of cognitive and motor development?

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to examine differences in drawing skills between very preterm and term children, and to determine whether very preterm children's cognitive and motor development is reflected in the draw-a-person test (DAP) at age 5. Seventy-two very preterm children (birth weight <1,500 g and/or gestational age <32 weeks) and 60 term children at 5 years of age were compared on the DAP. Cognitive and motor skills of the very preterm children had been assessed four times, at 1/2, 1, 2, and 5 years of age. Very preterm children showed a developmental delay in drawing ability. Structural equation modeling revealed a positive relation between both cognitive as well as motor development and the DAP. CONCLUSION: The DAP could be a crude parameter for evaluating cognitive and motor deficits of very preterm children. A worrisome result should be followed by more standardized tests measuring cognitive and motor skill

Protein structure and evolution: are they constrained globally by a principle derived from information theory?

That the physicochemical properties of amino acids constrain the structure, function and evolution of proteins is not in doubt. However, principles derived from information theory may also set bounds on the structure (and thus also the evolution) of proteins. Here we analyze the global properties of the full set of proteins in release 13-11 of the SwissProt database, showing by experimental test of predictions from information theory that their collective structure exhibits properties that are consistent with their being guided by a conservation principle. This principle (Conservation of Information) defines the global properties of systems composed of discrete components each of which is in turn assembled from discrete smaller pieces. In the system of proteins, each protein is a component, and each protein is assembled from amino acids. Central to this principle is the inter-relationship of the unique amino acid count and total length of a protein and its implications for both average protein length and occurrence of proteins with specific unique amino acid counts. The unique amino acid count is simply the number of distinct amino acids (including those that are post-translationally modified) that occur in a protein, and is independent of the number of times that the particular amino acid occurs in the sequence. Conservation of Information does not operate at the local level (it is independent of the physicochemical properties of the amino acids) where the influences of natural selection are manifest in the variety of protein structure and function that is well understood. Rather, this analysis implies that Conservation of Information would define the global bounds within which the whole system of proteins is constrained; thus it appears to be acting to constrain evolution at a level different from natural selection, a conclusion that appears counter-intuitive but is supported by the studies described herein

Working Memory Underpins Cognitive Development, Learning, and Education

Working memory is the retention of a small amount of information in a readily accessible form. It facilitates planning, comprehension, reasoning, and problem-solving. I examine the historical roots and conceptual development of the concept and the theoretical and practical implications of current debates about working memory mechanisms. Then I explore the nature of cognitive developmental improvements in working memory, the role of working memory in learning, and some potential implications of working memory and its development for the education of children and adults. The use of working memory is quite ubiquitous in human thought, but the best way to improve education using what we know about working memory is still controversial. I hope to provide some directions for research and educational practice

Evaluating maternity care using national administrative health datasets: how are statistics affected by the quality of data on method of delivery?

BACKGROUND: Information on maternity services is increasingly derived from national administrative health data. We evaluated how statistics on maternity care in England were affected by the completeness and consistency of data on "method of delivery" in a national dataset. METHODS: Singleton deliveries occurring between April 2009 and March 2010 in English NHS trusts were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database. In HES, method of delivery can be entered twice: 1) as a procedure code in core fields, and 2) in supplementary maternity fields. We examined overall consistency of these data sources at a national level and among individual trusts. The impact of different analysis rules for handling inconsistent data was then examined using three maternity statistics: emergency caesarean section (CS) rate; third/fourth degree tear rate amongst instrumental deliveries, and elective CS rate for breech presentation. RESULTS: We identified 629,049 singleton deliveries. Method of delivery was not entered as a procedure or in the supplementary fields in 0.8% and 12.5% of records, respectively. In 545,594 records containing both data items, method of delivery was coded consistently in 96.3% (kappa = 0.93; p < 0.001). Eleven of 136 NHS trusts had comparatively poor consistency (<92%) suggesting systematic data entry errors. The different analysis rules had a small effect on the statistics at a national level but the effect could be substantial for individual NHS trusts. The elective CS rate for breech was most sensitive to the chosen analysis rule. CONCLUSIONS: Organisational maternity statistics are sensitive to inconsistencies in data on method of delivery, and publications of quality indicators should describe how such data were handled. Overall, method of delivery is coded consistently in English administrative health data