232 research outputs found
Under & Over: A randomised controlled study to develop an upper limb rehabilitation tool for people with Multiple Sclerosis.
BACKGROUND: Impairment of upper limb function is common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Rehabilitation remains a key strategy to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The Under & Over study assessed the effectiveness of a rehabilitation programme in people with advanced MS. OBJECTIVE: To determine if repeated use of Under & Over can improve upper limb function for people with MS. METHODS: One hundred and six (N = 106) people with MS participated in this 3-month study. The primary outcome measure was the cardboard 9-hole peg test (c9HPT), with secondary outcomes including the EuroQol-5Dimensions, 5-Level Questionnaire (EQ5D-5 L) questionnaire. There were three arms: Arm 1a, the 'Daily Group', engaged with the Under & Over tool daily for 30 min. Arm 1b, the 'Free Use Group', used the same tool without time constraints, with the added feature of a community sharing platform. Arm 2, the 'Delayed Start Group', initially completed the c9HPT for three months before switching to the 'Free Use' programme. RESULTS: 43/106 (41 %) of those randomised completed the primary end point. No significant difference between c9HPT at baseline and 3 months was seen in Arm 1a or 1b. Participants in Arm 2 who had been completing the c9HPT 5 days a week for 3 months showed a training effect in the dominant hand (mean speed at baseline 0.0455 (s-1), mean at 3 months 0.0341, difference 0.011; 95 % CI 0.0080 to 0.0148, p < 0.001). No significant difference was seen in c9HPT time following 3 months of active use of the Under & Over tool. The study faced significant limitations, notably in participant adherence, with fewer than half (43/106 (41 %)) completing the final assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates how a small, engaged, and motivated group were able to complete a remote rehabilitation programme. Future remote intervention studies could benefit from incorporating adaptive engagement strategies, such as personalised reminders and participant-tailored activity adjustments, to enhance adherence and capture a broader spectrum of patient experiences
Unconventional Josephson Effect in Hybrid Superconductor-Topological Insulator Devices
We report on transport properties of Josephson junctions in hybrid
superconducting-topological insulator devices, which show two striking
departures from the common Josephson junction behavior: a characteristic energy
that scales inversely with the width of the junction, and a low characteristic
magnetic field for suppressing supercurrent. To explain these effects, we
propose a phenomenological model which expands on the existing theory for
topological insulator Josephson junctions
Interplay of chiral and helical states in a Quantum Spin Hall Insulator lateral junction
We study the electronic transport across an electrostatically-gated lateral
junction in a HgTe quantum well, a canonical 2D topological insulator, with and
without applied magnetic field. We control carrier density inside and outside a
junction region independently and hence tune the number and nature of 1D edge
modes propagating in each of those regions. Outside the 2D gap, magnetic field
drives the system to the quantum Hall regime, and chiral states propagate at
the edge. In this regime, we observe fractional plateaus which reflect the
equilibration between 1D chiral modes across the junction. As carrier density
approaches zero in the central region and at moderate fields, we observe
oscillations in resistance that we attribute to Fabry-Perot interference in the
helical states, enabled by the broken time reversal symmetry. At higher fields,
those oscillations disappear, in agreement with the expected absence of helical
states when band inversion is lifted.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, supp. ma
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Oligonucleotide compound and method for treating nidovirus infections
A method and oligonucleotide compound for inhibiting replication of a nidovirus in virus-infected animal cells are disclosed. The compound (i) has a nuclease-resistant backbone, (ii) is capable of uptake by the infected cells, (iii) contains between 8-25 nucleotide bases, and (iv) has a sequence capable of disrupting base pairing between the transcriptional regulatory sequences in the 5′ leader region of the positive-strand viral genome and negative-strand 3′ subgenomic region. In practicing the method, infected cells are exposed to the compound in an amount effective to inhibit viral replication
Effect of increasing fruit and vegetable intake by dietary intervention on nutritional biomarkers and attitudes to dietary change : a randomised trial
This work was funded by The Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Sciences Division (RESAS) and supported by the Rank Prize Funds.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Toxicity of unsaturated fatty acids to the biohydrogenating ruminal bacterium, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Electron-nuclear interaction in 13C nanotube double quantum dots
For coherent electron spins, hyperfine coupling to nuclei in the host
material can either be a dominant source of unwanted spin decoherence or, if
controlled effectively, a resource allowing storage and retrieval of quantum
information. To investigate the effect of a controllable nuclear environment on
the evolution of confined electron spins, we have fabricated and measured
gate-defined double quantum dots with integrated charge sensors made from
single-walled carbon nanotubes with a variable concentration of 13C (nuclear
spin I=1/2) among the majority zero-nuclear-spin 12C atoms. Spin-sensitive
transport in double-dot devices grown using methane with the natural abundance
(~ 1%) of 13C is compared with similar devices grown using an enhanced (~99%)
concentration of 13C. We observe strong isotope effects in spin-blockaded
transport, and from the dependence on external magnetic field, estimate the
hyperfine coupling in 13C nanotubes to be on the order of 100 micro-eV, two
orders of magnitude larger than anticipated theoretically. 13C-enhanced
nanotubes are an interesting new system for spin-based quantum information
processing and memory, with nuclei that are strongly coupled to gate-controlled
electrons, differ from nuclei in the substrate, are naturally confined to one
dimension, lack quadrupolar coupling, and have a readily controllable
concentration from less than one to 10^5 per electron.Comment: supplementary discussion at http://marcuslab.harvard.edu/13CSupp.pd
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