Self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities in adults with cerebral palsy

Aim: To explore the self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities in individuals with cerebral palsy between the ages of 16 and 40 years with a view to develop potential self management strategies. Literature background: Previous research has been inconclusive regarding potential deterioration of physical functional abilities in adults with cerebral palsy. One contributing factor is the use of different tools in the assessment of physical functional abilities, which can be broadly categorised as those assessing self-perceived abilities and actual abilities. This study was designed to explore the self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities in such individuals. Method: Mixed methodology approach was utilised. Phase one involved a quantitative investigation of the relationship between self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities in adults with cerebral palsy. Phase two of the study utilised qualitative approach to critically explore the possible reasons for and means to reduce the differences between self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities. The findings from both these approaches was utilised to develop guidelines for potential long term management strategies for such individuals. Findings: Seventeen participants participated in the phase one. Statistical analysis revealed that there are discrepancies between self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities, also there was correlation between selfreported Barthel Index and Barthel Index; self-reported Short-Form 36 version 2: physical component summary correlated with the Barthel Index. No correlation was found between the self-perceived abilities and Rivermead Mobility Index. Three participants were interviewed for phase two and four key themes emerged, namely coping strategy, self management, support and identity. Conclusion: The study revealed that there are discrepancies between the self-perceived and actual physical functional abilities and it is essential for the health professionals to address these discrepancies. Adults with cerebral palsy are concerned regarding the changes in their physical functioning and would like to have appropriate specialist support. It is recommended that this is incorporated in the clinical guidance document and a national register is established to record the physical functioning in adults with cerebral palsy

Rate prioritized power adaptation: A throughput maximizing power conservation algorithm for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Algorithm and Hardware Design of Discrete-Time Spiking Neural Networks Based on Back Propagation with Binary Activations

We present a new back propagation based training algorithm for discrete-time spiking neural networks (SNN). Inspired by recent deep learning algorithms on binarized neural networks, binary activation with a straight-through gradient estimator is used to model the leaky integrate-fire spiking neuron, overcoming the difficulty in training SNNs using back propagation. Two SNN training algorithms are proposed: (1) SNN with discontinuous integration, which is suitable for rate-coded input spikes, and (2) SNN with continuous integration, which is more general and can handle input spikes with temporal information. Neuromorphic hardware designed in 40nm CMOS exploits the spike sparsity and demonstrates high classification accuracy (>98% on MNIST) and low energy (48.4-773 nJ/image).Comment: 2017 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS

Probing strong field ionization of solids with a Thomson parabola spectrometer

Intense ultrashort laser pulses are known to generate high-density, high-temperature plasma from any substrate. Copious emission of hot electrons, from a solid substrate, results in strong electrostatic field that accelerates the ions with energies ranging from a few eV to MeV. Ion spectrometry from laser–plasma is convolved with multiple atomic systems, several charge states and a broad energy spread. Conventional mass spectrometric techniques have serious limitations to probe this ionization dynamics. We have developed an imaging ion spectrometer that measures charge/mass-resolved ion kinetic energies over the entire range. Microchannel Plate (MCP) is used as the position-sensitive detector to perform online and single shot measurements. The well-resolved spectrum even for the low-energy ions, demonstrates that the spectral width is limited by the space-charge repulsion for the ions generated in the hot dense plasma

Effectiveness and scaling trends of leakage control techniques for sub-130nm CMOS technologies

This paper compares the effectiveness of different leakage control techniques in deep submicron (DSM) bulk CMOS technologies. Simulations show that the 3-5x increase in IOFF/µm per generation is offsetting the savings in switching energy obtained from technology scaling. We compare both the transistor IOFF reduction and ION degradation due to each technique for the 130nm-70nm technologies. Our results indicate that the effectiveness of leakage control techniques and the associated energy vs. delay tradeoffs depend on the ratio of switching to leakage energies for a given technology. We use our findings to design a 70nm low power word line driver scheme for a 256 entry, 64-bit register file (RF). As a result, the leakage (total) energy of the word line drivers is reduced by 3x(2.5x) and for the RF by up to 35%(25%) respectively

Compatibility of 9Cr–1Mo steel exposed to thermally convective Pb–17Li

AbstractCorrosion behavior of 9Cr–1Mo steel (P91) with flowing Pb–17Li has been studied in a thermal convection loop at a thermal gradient of 100K between the hot and cold legs and a flow velocity of 6cm/s. After 1000h of operation, samples of P91 from both hot and cold legs were analyzed with the help of weight change measurements, Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA). The results showed preferential dissolution of constituent elements like Fe and Cr from the hot leg samples leading to weight loss, though penetration of Pb–17Li into the inner matrix was not observed. No corrosion was found in the cold leg and the sample surface was found to contain deposits of the elements dissolved from hot leg

Plasma engineering of graphene

Recently, there have been enormous efforts to tailor the properties of graphene. These improved properties extend the prospect of graphene for a broad range of applications. Plasmas find applications in various fields including materials science and have been emerging in the field of nanotechnology. This review focuses on different plasma functionalization processes of graphene and its oxide counterpart. The review aims at the advantages of plasma functionalization over the conventional doping techniques. Selectivity and controllability of the plasma techniques opens up future pathways for large scale, rapid functionalization of graphene for advanced applications. We also emphasize on atmospheric pressure plasma jet as the future prospect of plasma based functionalization processes

Natural Rubber Based Fuel Rich Propellant for Ramjet Rocket

Development of fuel rich propellants for air-breathing propulsion is one of the frontier areas of research. This carries less oxidiser than the normal propellants, uses ram air for complete combustion and is heavily metallised. Studies were conducted at VSSC for the development of hydroxyl-terminated natural rubber (HTNR)-based Mg and Mg-Al alloy-filled polyurethane systems. The HTNR prepolymer was modified to make it free of acid functionality so as to avoid reaction with the metals and was then reacted with calculated amount of propylene oxide in the presence of tertiary amine catalyst at room temperature. Various levels of Mg and Mg-Al alloy were used in different compositions and the effect on propellant characteristics was studied. TMP and butane diol were used for higher crosslinking, chain extension, etc and their effects were evaluated. Propellant compositions using 30-35 per cent by weight of Mg/Mg-Al alloy with the modified prepolymer have been developed. They exhibit good processibility and mechanical properties. The feasibility of room temperature curing was attempted. Motors weighing 2 kg with 100 mm OD and 200 mm length were successfully static-tested in the primary mode for performance evaluation

Efficacy of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge for inactivating airborne pathogens

Atmospheric pressure plasmas have gained attention in recent years for several environmental applications. This technology could potentially be used to deactivate airborne microorganisms, surface-bound microorganisms, and biofilms. In this work, the authors explore the efficacy of the atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to inactivate airborne Staphylococcus epidermidis and Aspergillus niger that are opportunistic pathogens associated with nosocomial infections. This technology uses air as the source of gas and does not require any process gas such as helium, argon, nitrogen, or hydrogen. The effect of DBD was studied on aerosolized S. epidermidis and aerosolized A. niger spores via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The morphology observed on the SEM micrographs showed deformations in the cellular structure of both microor- ganisms. Cell structure damage upon interaction with the DBD suggests leakage of vital cellular materials, which is a key mechanism for microbial inactivation. The chemical structure of the cell surface of S. epidermidis was also analyzed by near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectros- copy before and after DBD exposure. Results from surface analysis revealed that reactive oxygen species from the DBD discharge contributed to alterations on the chemistry of the cell membrane/ cell wall of S. epidermidis