On the Efficacy of Isolating Shoulder and Elbow Movements with a Soft, Portable, and Wearable Robotic Device

Treatment intensity has a profound effect on motor recovery following neurological injury. The use of robotics has potential to automate these labor-intensive therapy procedures that are typically performed by physical therapists. Further, the use of wearable robotics offers an aspect of portability that may allow for rehabilitation outside the clinic. The authors have developed a soft, portable, lightweight upper extremity wearable robotic device to provide motor rehabilitation of patients with affected upper limbs due to traumatic brain injury (TBI). A key feature of the device demonstrated in this paper is the isolation of shoulder and elbow movements necessary for effective rehabilitation interventions. Herein is presented a feasibility study with one subject and demonstration of the device's ability to provide safe, comfortable, and controlled upper extremity movements. Moreover, it is shown that by decoupling shoulder and elbow motions, desired isolated joint actuation can be achieved

Polysorbate 80 Inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Formation and Its Cleavage by the Secreted Lipase LipA

Surface-associated bacterial communities known as biofilms are an important source of nosocomial infections. Microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa can colonize the abiotic surfaces of medical implants, leading to chronic infections that are difficult to eradicate. Our study demonstrates that polysorbate 80 (PS80), a surfactant commonly added to food and medicines, is able to inhibit biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa on a variety of surfaces, including contact lenses

Effect of dietary canola oil level on the growth performance and fatty acid composition of fingerlings of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study evaluated the suitability of canola oil as a source of supplemental dietary lipid for rainbow trout. Triplicate groups of the 30 fingerlings held under identical culture conditions were fed twice daily by iso-nitrogenous, iso-calorific and iso-lipidic diets for eight weeks. Experimental diets consisted of 30.3% protein, 18.7 kJg^-1 energy and 16.7% lipid from fish oil (FO), canola oil (CO) and 1:1 blend of the two oils (FCO). Moisture, ash, protein, lipid, final body weight, condition factor, feed conversion ratio, survival and hepatosomatic indices were not affected by treatments. Specific growth rate and weight gain of fish reared on fish oil diet (FOD) and canola oil diet (COD) were significantly higher than those fed with the fish and canola oils diet (FCOD). Protein efficiency ratio was highest in fish fed with the COD. Whole body fatty acid compositions mirrored those of diet treatments. The highest amounts of HUFAs were detected in fish fed with FOD, which was significantly different from other treatments. In all treatments PUFAs/SFAs and n-6/n-3 ratios were higher than 0.45 and lower than 4, respectively. Our results indicate the fingerlings can be reared on diets in which FO has been replaced with CO, with no significant effects on fish growth performance

Rehabilitation of hand function after spinal cord injury using a novel handgrip device: a pilot study

BackgroundActivity-based therapy (ABT) for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), which consists of repetitive use of muscles above and below the spinal lesion, improves locomotion and arm strength. Less data has been published regarding its effects on hand function. We sought to evaluate the effects of a weekly hand-focused therapy program using a novel handgrip device on grip strength and hand function in a SCI cohort.MethodsPatients with SCI were enrolled in a weekly program that involved activities with the MediSens (Los Angeles, CA) handgrip. These included maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and a tracking task that required each subject to adjust his/her grip strength according to a pattern displayed on a computer screen. For the latter, performance was measured as mean absolute accuracy (MAA). The Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) was used to measure each subject's independence prior to and after therapy.ResultsSeventeen patients completed the program with average participation duration of 21.3 weeks. The cohort included patients with American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) A (n = 12), AIS B (n = 1), AIS C (n = 2), and AIS D (n = 2) injuries. The average MVC for the cohort increased from 4.1 N to 21.2 N over 20 weeks, but did not reach statistical significance. The average MAA for the cohort increased from 9.01 to 21.7% at the end of the study (p = .02). The cohort's average SCIM at the end of the study was unchanged compared to baseline.ConclusionsA weekly handgrip-based ABT program is feasible and efficacious at increasing hand task performance in subjects with SCI

An extended multisensory temporal binding window in autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) form a continuum of neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by deficits in communication and reciprocal social interaction, as well as by repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Sensory disturbances are also frequently reported in clinical and autobiographical accounts. However, surprisingly few empirical studies have characterized the fundamental features of sensory and multisensory processing in ASD. The current study is structured to test for potential differences in multisensory temporal function in ASD by making use of a temporally dependent, low-level multisensory illusion. In this illusion, the presentation of a single flash of light accompanied by multiple sounds often results in the illusory perception of multiple flashes. By systematically varying the temporal structure of the audiovisual stimuli, a “temporal window” within which these stimuli are likely to be bound into a single perceptual entity can be defined. The results of this study revealed that children with ASD report the flash-beep illusion over an extended range of stimulus onset asynchronies relative to children with typical development, suggesting that children with ASD have altered multisensory temporal function. These findings provide valuable new insights into our understanding of sensory processing in ASD and may hold promise for the development of more sensitive diagnostic measures and improved remediation strategies

Clonal driver neoantigen loss under EGFR TKI and immune selection pressures

Neoantigen vaccines are under investigation for various cancers, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-driven lung cancers1,2. We tracked the phylogenetic history of an EGFR mutant lung cancer treated with erlotinib, osimertinib, radiotherapy and a personalized neopeptide vaccine (NPV) targeting ten somatic mutations, including EGFR exon 19 deletion (ex19del). The ex19del mutation was clonal, but is likely to have appeared after a whole-genome doubling (WGD) event. Following osimertinib and NPV treatment, loss of the ex19del mutation was identified in a progressing small-cell-transformed liver metastasis. Circulating tumour DNA analyses tracking 467 somatic variants revealed the presence of this EGFR wild-type clone before vaccination and its expansion during osimertinib/NPV therapy. Despite systemic T cell reactivity to the vaccine-targeted ex19del neoantigen, the NPV failed to halt disease progression. The liver metastasis lost vaccine-targeted neoantigens through chromosomal instability and exhibited a hostile microenvironment, characterized by limited immune infiltration, low CXCL9 and elevated M2 macrophage levels. Neoantigens arising post-WGD were more likely to be absent in the progressing liver metastasis than those occurring pre-WGD, suggesting that prioritizing pre-WGD neoantigens may improve vaccine design. Data from the TRACERx 421 cohort3 provide evidence that pre-WGD mutations better represent clonal variants, and owing to their presence at multiple copy numbers, are less likely to be lost in metastatic transition. These data highlight the power of phylogenetic disease tracking and functional T cell profiling to understand mechanisms of immune escape during combination therapies.</p

A new FEM procedure for transverse and longitudinal vibration analysis of thin rectangular plates subjected to a variable velocity moving load along an arbitrary trajectory

A combined plate element is presented for the analysis of transverse and longitudinal vibrations of a thin plate which carries a load moving along an arbitrary trajectory with variable velocity. Depending on the acceleration of the point load on its trajectory on the plate surface, the combined element, which is a combination of the 24 DOF plate element and an equivalent mass element, represents transverse (z) inertia, Coriolis and centripetal and longitudinal (x, y) inertia effects of the moving load. In order to obtain the combined element, mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the equivalent mass element representing the mass are first derived by using the relations between nodal forces, nodal deflections and deflection-shape functions of the plate element and the inertia and other forces of the moving mass according to the global coordinates on the plate and local coordinates on the plate element. Then, the obtained property matrices of the equivalent mass element and property matrices of the plate element were added together in order to obtain the combined plate element. For verification, the suggested technique was applied on a simply supported beam-plate under a moving load, and agreements were obtained with existing literature. In addition, intensive analysis and simulations were conducted at different dimensionless mass rates (mass of the load/mass of the plate) and angular velocities for a circular motion on a CCCC plate, and the results are provided. Furthermore, analysis results are provided for moving force condition which neglects the inertia, Coriolis and centripetal effects of the load, and it was shown that the moving mass assumption generated very different results with moving load assumption especially at high mass ratio and velocity values. Analysis results made it clear that the dynamic behaviour of the plate was differently affected by an orbiting mass depending on its mass ratio, orbiting radius and angular velocitySabriyaman Inc. (Manufacturer of wood working machineries in Istanbul, Turkey)The author acknowledges Sabriyaman Inc. (Manufacturer of wood working machineries in Istanbul, Turkey) for all supports to the present research