Quantifying upper limb movements among wheelchair users using wheelchair propulsion monitoring devices

Wheelchair users face the challenge of using their arms to mobilize their bodies instead of their legs—resulting in pain and injury. Development of tools to measure motions occurring during wheelchair propulsion presents the opportunity to study patterns and activities of wheelchair users to help prevent pain and injury. This study combined measurement tools including accelerometers and a wheel rotation data logger to collect data on activities performed by manual wheelchair users. Twenty-six participants with spinal cord injury completed lab visits of data collection. A model was created from lab data to classify data as propulsion, rest, activities of daily living (ADLs), or being pushed. The best percent accuracies of the classifying model for each activity are as follows: 84.5% for propulsion, 85.6% for rest, 84.6% for ADLs, and 79.9% for being pushed. When applied to data from a user’s natural environment, this model can provide information on average time spent per day in each activity. With future work, the wheelchair propulsion monitoring devices of this study could quantify movement in manual wheelchair users’ natural environments

Changing children’s intergroup attitudes towards refugees: Testing different models of extended contact

The present research evaluated an intervention, derived from the "extended contact hypothesis," which aimed to change children's intergroup attitudes toward refugees. The study (n=253) tested 3 models of extended contact among 5- to 11-year-old children: dual identity, common ingroup identity, and decategorization. Children read friendship stories based upon these models featuring in- and outgroup members. Outgroup attitudes were significantly more positive in the extended contact conditions, compared with the control, and this was mediated by "inclusion of other in self." The dual identity intervention was the most effective extended contact model at improving outgroup attitudes. The effect of condition on outgroup intended behavior was moderated by subgroup identity. Implications for theoretically based prejudice-reduction interventions among children are discussed

Ursus Americanus

This essay collection examines my experience as the single mother of a biracial child and uses it as impetus for posing larger questions about race and class in America. The piece Good Hair outlines my first attempt at explaining my son\u27s racial origins to him, Peacocks examines my choice to become a single mother by juxtaposing it with our culture\u27s mythology about spinsters and brides, and Ursus Americanus uses the initiating incident of a bear roosting in a city tree to examine the causes and consequences of human cultural and class migrations in Rochester, NY. Although grounded in the personal, these essays use techniques of accumulation, juxtaposition and non-linear chronology to reveal the fundamental misunderstandings that lead to White America\u27s problematic constructions of Black and Brown

Is Green Tea an Effective Aid in Weight Reduction?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to determine whether or not green tea extract is effective in aiding in weight reduction

Gender and school-level differences in students' moderate and vigorous physical activity levels when taught basketball through the tactical games model

The Tactical Games Model (TGM) prefaces the cognitive components of physical education (PE), which has implications for physical activity (PA) accumulation. PA recommendations suggest students reach 50% moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, this criterion does not indicate the contribution from vigorous physical activity (VPA). Consequently, this study investigated: a) the effects of TGM delivery on MVPA/VPA and, b) gender/school level differences. Participants were 78 seventh and 96 fourth/fifth grade coeducational PE students from two different schools. Two teachers taught 24 (middle) and 30 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Students wore Actigraph GT3× triaxial accelerometers. Data were analyzed using four one-way ANOVAs. Middle school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (34.04/22.37%) than girls (25.14/15.47%). Elementary school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (29.73/18.33%) than girls (23.03/14.33%). While TGM lessons provide a context where students can accumulate VPA consistent with national PA recommendations, teachers need to modify lesson activities to enable equitable PA participation

An Algorithm for Cellular Reprogramming

The day we understand the time evolution of subcellular elements at a level of detail comparable to physical systems governed by Newton's laws of motion seems far away. Even so, quantitative approaches to cellular dynamics add to our understanding of cell biology, providing data-guided frameworks that allow us to develop better predictions about and methods for control over specific biological processes and system-wide cell behavior. In this paper we describe an approach to optimizing the use of transcription factors in the context of cellular reprogramming. We construct an approximate model for the natural evolution of a synchronized population of fibroblasts, based on data obtained by sampling the expression of some 22,083 genes at several times along the cell cycle. (These data are based on a colony of cells that have been cell cycle synchronized) In order to arrive at a model of moderate complexity, we cluster gene expression based on the division of the genome into topologically associating domains (TADs) and then model the dynamics of the expression levels of the TADs. Based on this dynamical model and known bioinformatics, we develop a methodology for identifying the transcription factors that are the most likely to be effective toward a specific cellular reprogramming task. The approach used is based on a device commonly used in optimal control. From this data-guided methodology, we identify a number of validated transcription factors used in reprogramming and/or natural differentiation. Our findings highlight the immense potential of dynamical models models, mathematics, and data guided methodologies for improving methods for control over biological processes