Contributions of foot muscles and plantar fascia morphology to foot posture

Background: The plantar foot muscles and plantar fascia differ between different foot postures. However, how each individual plantar structure contribute to foot posture has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between static foot posture and morphology of plantar foot muscles and plantar fascia and thus the contributions of these structures to static foot posture. Methods: A total of 111 participants were recruited, 43 were classified as having pes planus and 68 as having normal foot posture using Foot Posture Index assessment tool. Images from the flexor digitorum longus (FDL), flexor hallucis longus (FHL), peroneus longus and brevis (PER), flexor hallucis brevis (FHB), flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) and abductor hallucis (AbH) muscles, and the calcaneal (PF1), middle (PF2) and metatarsal (PF3) regions of the plantar fascia were obtained using a Venue 40 ultrasound system with a 5–13 MHz transducer. Results: In order of decreasing contribution, PF3>FHB>FHL>PER>FDB were all associated with FPI and able to explain 69% of the change in FPI scores. PF3 was the highest contributor explaining 52% of increases in FPI score. Decreased thickness was associated with increased FPI score. Smaller cross sectional area (CSA) in FHB and PER muscles explained 20% and 8% of increase in FPI score. Larger CSA of FDB and FHL muscles explained 4% and 14% increase in FPI score respectively. Conclusion: The medial plantar structures and the plantar fascia appear to be the major contributors to static foot posture. Elucidating the individual contribution of multiple muscles of the foot could provide insight about their role in the foot posture

The Production and Decomposition Rate of Mangrove Litter in the Sungai Alam Village, Bengkalis Sub-district, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province

The research has been done on february 2014 in Sungai Alam Village, Bengkalis Subdistrict,Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province. A research aims to understand the Productionand Decomposition Rate of Mangrove Litter in Sungai Alam Village. There were 3 stationsand 3 plots in each station (station 1 in the mangrove conservation, station 2 in the goodmangrove forest and station 3 in the mangrove exploited wisely). In each plot, 1 net 1 x 1 m2were placed mangrove dominant. This net 2 meters above the mangrove forest floor. The bag(nets 20 cm x 10 cm) was filled with 10 grams litter and used for studying the litterdecomposition rate. The bag were placed in forest floor still be suffused of water. Sampel forlitter production, decomposition rate and water quality were taken once of 7 days (3 times).Results shown the highest litter production was ini St 2 (52,5 gr/m2/day) and thelowest was in the St 1 (25,151 gr/m2/day). Decomposition rate of the litter in each samplingpoints was relatively low in the 1st week and become faster in the 3st week. The highestdecomposition rate litter mangrove (lief, stick, flower or fruit) was in the St III, while thelowest was in the St 1

Strategi Peningkatan Kualitas Pelayanan Kesehatan Menggunakan Integrasi Metode Fuzzy Servqual (Studi Kasus: RSU Vina Estetica Medan)

Kualitas pelayanan dalam USAha jasa sangat penting bagi pelanggan.Jika kualitas layanan yang dirasakan sama atau melebihi kualitas layanan yangdiharapkan, maka layanan dikatakan berkualitas dan memuaskan. Demikian halnyadengan kualitas pelayanan kesehatan sangat dipengaruhi oleh interaksi antarapasien dengan rumah sakit. Perlu dilakukan pemahaman apa yang menjadi faktorutama pelanggan dalam menilai kualitas layanan kesehatan di rumah sakit. Dalampenelitian ini, tingkat kepuasan pasien diukur dengan menggunakan Fuzzy Servqual,untuk menentukan tingkat kesenjangan antara harapan dan persepsi pelanggan.Logika fuzzy digunakan sebagai USAha untuk mengurangi ketidakpastian respondendalam memberikan nilai ekspektasi dan persepsi dalam Servqual. Hasil penelitianmenunjukkan bahwa yang diprioritaskan untuk ditingkatkan adalah ketersediaanalat-alat modern dengan nilai gap tertinggi yaitu sebesar -0,983. Demikian halnyajuga untuk ketepatan jadwal kunjungan dokter, proses mencapai lokasi perawatanyang cepat, proses administrasi perawatan yang cepat, perhatian kepada pasien secaraindividual, dan perhatian atas keluhan keluarga pasien yang menjadi prioritasuntuk ditingkatkan kinerjanya

Regulatory T Cells Expanded from Hiv-1-Infected Individuals Maintain Phenotype, Tcr Repertoire and Suppressive Capacity

While modulation of regulatory T cell (Treg) function and adoptive Treg transfer are being explored as therapeutic modalities in the context of autoimmune diseases, transplantation and cancer, their role in HIV-1 pathogenesis remains less well defined. Controversy persists regarding their beneficial or detrimental effects in HIV-1 disease, which warrants further detailed exploration. Our objectives were to investigate if functional CD4+ Tregs can be isolated and expanded from HIV-1-infected individuals for experimental or potential future therapeutic use and to determine phenotype and suppressive capacity of expanded Tregs from HIV-1 positive blood and tissue. Tregs and conventional T cell controls were isolated from blood and gut-associated lymphoid tissue of individuals with HIV-1 infection and healthy donors using flow-based cell-sorting. The phenotype of expanded Tregs was assessed by flow-cytometry and quantitative PCR. T-cell receptor ß-chain (TCR-β) repertoire diversity was investigated by deep sequencing. Flow-based T-cell proliferation and chromium release cytotoxicity assays were used to determine Treg suppressive function. Tregs from HIV-1 positive individuals, including infants, were successfully expanded from PBMC and GALT. Expanded Tregs expressed high levels of FOXP3, CTLA4, CD39 and HELIOS and exhibited a highly demethylated TSDR (Treg-specific demethylated region), characteristic of Treg lineage. The TCRß repertoire was maintained following Treg expansion and expanded Tregs remained highly suppressive in vitro. Our data demonstrate that Tregs can be expanded from blood and tissue compartments of HIV-1+ donors with preservation of Treg phenotype, function and TCR repertoire. These results are highly relevant for the investigation of potential future therapeutic use, as currently investigated for other disease states and hold great promise for detailed studies on the role of Tregs in HIV-1 infection.Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (Pediatric HIV Vaccine Program Award MV-00-9-900-1429-0-00)Massachusetts General Hospital. Executive Committee on Research (MGH/ECOR Physician Scientist Development Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIAID (KO8 AI074405))National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIAID AI074405-03S1)Massachusetts General Hospital (William F. Milton Fund)Harvard University. Center for AIDS Research (CFAR Scholar Award)Massachusetts General Hospital. Center for the Study Inflammatory Bowel Disease (P30DK043351)Harvard University. Center for AIDS Research (NIH funded program (5P30AI060354-09

Deep learning-enabled technologies for bioimage analysis.

Deep learning (DL) is a subfield of machine learning (ML), which has recently demonstrated its potency to significantly improve the quantification and classification workflows in biomedical and clinical applications. Among the end applications profoundly benefitting from DL, cellular morphology quantification is one of the pioneers. Here, we first briefly explain fundamental concepts in DL and then we review some of the emerging DL-enabled applications in cell morphology quantification in the fields of embryology, point-of-care ovulation testing, as a predictive tool for fetal heart pregnancy, cancer diagnostics via classification of cancer histology images, autosomal polycystic kidney disease, and chronic kidney diseases

Information technology performance measurement and improvement recommendation in Indonesian retail company

Information technology should work according to the needs and provide added value to the business. If the application of information technology does not provide added value to the business, information technology will only become a burden for the company. Therefore, it is necessary to measure performance to see to what extent the application of IT can support business processes and provide added value. This paper provides measurements and recommendations on IT governance in one of leading retail company in Indonesia. This research used descriptive quantitative research methods and IT Balanced Scorecard method that can provide an overview of IT performance in an organization based on four perspectives, such as Corporate Contribution, Customer Orientation, Operational Improvement, and Future Orientation. Based on the results of the analysis and measurement, the overall IT performance score was 62.64% where the score is in the “Moderate†category. The company contribution perspective got a score of 68.50%, the user orientation perspective was 63.00%, the operational improvement perspective was 62.06%, and the future orientation perspective was 57.44%. Several recommendations were constructed based on the consideration of the KPI value that must be improved. This can be a guide for other retail companies in formulating policies related to IT governance and enriching research in the field of IT performance measurement

Movement of the human foot in 100 pain free individuals aged 18–45 : implications for understanding normal foot function

Background: Understanding motion in the normal healthy foot is a prerequisite for understanding the effects of pathology and thereafter setting targets for interventions. Quality foot kinematic data from healthy feet will also assist the development of high quality and research based clinical models of foot biomechanics. To address gaps in the current literature we aimed to describe 3D foot kinematics using a 5 segment foot model in a population of 100 pain free individuals. Methods: Kinematics of the leg, calcaneus, midfoot, medial and lateral forefoot and hallux were measured in 100 self reported healthy and pain free individuals during walking. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise foot movements. Contributions from different foot segments to the total motion in each plane were also derived to explore functional roles of different parts of the foot. Results: Foot segments demonstrated greatest motion in the sagittal plane, but large ranges of movement in all planes. All foot segments demonstrated movement throughout gait, though least motion was observed between the midfoot and calcaneus. There was inconsistent evidence of movement coupling between joints. There were clear differences in motion data compared to foot segment models reported in the literature. Conclusions: The data reveal the foot is a multiarticular structure, movements are complex, show incomplete evidence of coupling, and vary person to person. The data provide a useful reference data set against which future experimental data can be compared and may provide the basis for conceptual models of foot function based on data rather than anecdotal observations