Comparative effects of EMG-driven robot-assisted therapy versus task-oriented training on motor and daily function in patients with stroke: a randomized cross-over trial

Background Robot-assisted hand training has shown positive effects on promoting neuromuscular control. Since both robot-assisted therapy and task-oriented training are often used in post-stroke rehabilitation, we raised the question of whether two interventions engender differential effects in different domains. Methods The study was conducted using a randomized, two-period crossover design. Twenty-four chronic stroke survivors received a 12-session robot-assisted intervention followed by a 12-session task-oriented intervention or vice versa. A 1-month washout period between each intervention was implemented. Outcome measures were evaluated before the intervention, after the first 12-session intervention, and after the second 12-session intervention. Clinical assessments included Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity, Wolf Motor Function Test, Action Research Arm Test and Motor Activity Log. Results Our findings suggested that EMG-driven robot-assisted therapy was as effective as task-oriented training in terms of improving upper limbs functional performance in activity domain, and robot-assisted therapy was more effective in improving movement duration during functional tasks. Task-oriented training showed better improvement in body function domain and activity and participation domain, especially in improving spontaneous use of affected arm during daily activities. Conclusions Both intervention protocol had their own advantages in different domains, and robot-assisted therapy may save manpower and be considered as an alternative intervention to task-oriented training. Combining the two approaches could yield results greater than either alone, which awaits further study. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03624153. Registered on 9th August 2018, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03624153.

Emotional intelligence and coping with stress in foster parents

Although much research on emotional intelligence (EI) and coping with stress has been performed in recent years, little is known about these dimensions of individual differences in both foster and biological parents. The main purpose of this study is to examine emotional intelligence and coping styles in foster parents in comparison to biological parents. The study included 124 individual participants aged between 30 and 64 years old (M = 45.18, SD = 8.72), including foster parents (n = 63, 50.81%) and biological parents (n = 61, 49.19%). The cross-sectional survey study was conducted using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). In comparison to biological parents, foster parents demonstrated significantly higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI), more frequently used task-oriented coping styles, and less often pursued emotional and avoidant coping strategies to deal with stress. EI was positively correlated with task-oriented coping and negatively so with emotional coping. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that EI was a strong predictor of task-oriented coping. Training focused on the enhancement of both EI and coping with stress should be considered as an effective way to improve parents’ competence.

Collaborative learning in creative writing: A teacher’s perspective

This study aims to determine how the impact of collaborative classes on creative writing and how these classes improve students' abilities in achieving learning outcomes. The research question that exposed is how do teachers perceive teaching creative writing through collaborative project. Collaborative learning offers a number of opportunities for students to learn interpersonal skills and character and teamwork by participating in task-oriented learning groups, so that although the content or learning materials continue to develop, collaborative groups are still able to develop various skills that can prepare students to pursue career. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. The primary data in this study were taken from interviews with lecturers in creative writing courses. From the analysis it can be seen that collaborative learning engages all students from diverse backgrounds personally and actively, inviting each individual to contribute knowledge and perspectives to the world of education from their own unique lives and also from their academic and vocational experiences.

Effects of Game-Based Task-Oriented Circuit Training on Physical Functions of Stroke Survivors: A Pilot Study in A State Hospital in Kelantan, Malaysia

Despite being increasingly popular and commonly used in rehabilitation, both game-based exercise training and task-oriented circuit training have never been combined to provide a new training experience for stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation. Past studies have assessed the effectiveness of these exercise approaches separately and reported positive outcomes. Combining the two training programs may create a more enriched environment and yield favorable outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of game-based task-oriented circuit training on the physical functions of stroke survivors. This research was a pretest-posttest experimental pilot trial involving 30 participants at post-acute and chronic stage post-stroke (mean age and standard deviation = 58.9 ± 6.6 years; mean Montreal Cognitive Assessment scoring = 23.4 ± 7.1) conducted at a state hospital in Kelantan, Malaysia between August 2019 to February 2020. All participants received game-based task-oriented circuit training using a “Checkercise Board” for 45 minutes, twice per week for 8 weeks. The outcome of the training was measured with regard to lower limb strength, functional stability and aerobic capacity, with the use of the 30-second chair rise test, Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and 6-minute walk test, respectively. Analysis was done by the ‘intention-to-treat’ approach, using paired samples t-test to determine the differences between pre and post-training outcomes scores. All data was analyzed using the Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23.0. The significance level was set at p < 0.05 and Cohen’s (d) was used to determine the effect size. Post-training, participants’ mean 30-second chair rise test, DGI and 6-minute walk test scores increased by 9%, 7% and 23% respectively compared to pre-treatment (p < 0.05), with medium effect size of 0.5 to 0.6. Game-based task-oriented circuit training effectively improves lower limb strength, functional stability and aerobic capacity of stroke survivors, and may be used as a therapy option for this population. A future study is needed to confirm these study finding.

Feasibility of an individualised, task-oriented, video-supported home exercise programme for arm function in patients in the subacute phase after stroke: protocol of a randomised controlled pilot study

IntroductionStroke rehabilitation guidelines suggest a high-frequency task-oriented training at high intensity. A targeted and self-paced daily training with intermittent supervision is recommended to improve patients’ self-management and functional output. So far, there is conflicting evidence concerning the most effective home-training delivery method.Methods and analysisThe purpose of this pilot study is to compare the feasibility and preliminary effects of task-oriented home-exercises in patients in the subacute stage after stroke. Twenty-four patients will be randomised (1:1) to a Video group (a) or Paper group (b) of an individualised, task-oriented home-training (50 min, 6×/week, for 4 weeks) based on Wulf and Lewthwaite’s Optimizing Performance Through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning theory of motor learning. Patient-relevant goals will be identified using Goal Attainment Scaling and exercises progressively adapted. Semistructured interviews and a logbook will be used to monitor adherence, arm use and acceptability. Primary outcome will be the feasibility of the methods and a full-scale trial employing predefined feasibility criteria (recruitment, retention and adherence rates, patients’ satisfaction with the home-exercise programme and their progress, affected hand use and acceptance of the intervention). Assessed at baseline, post intervention and 4-week follow-up, secondary outcomes include self-perceived hand and arm use, actual upper extremity function and dexterity, hand strength, independence in activities of daily living and health-related quality of life. Interview data will be analysed using qualitative content analysis. Medians (ranges) will be reported for ordinal data, means (SD) for continuous and frequency (percentage) for nominal data.Ethics and disseminationThis study follows the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials-Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Extension guideline. Ethical approval was received from the Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria (1304/2020). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants prior to data collection. Study results will be disseminated to participating patients, patient organisations, via the clinic’s homepage, relevant conferences and peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberDRKS-ID: DRKS00023395.Study protocol, second revision, 5 December 2021.

The Influence of Charismatic Leadership Communication Towards the Credibility of Public Organisation in Malaysia

The credibility of public organisation as the source of information often receives negative intuition and misinterpretation from the public at large. Since credibility of public organisation is very much related to public trust, scholars have focused on antecedents of organisational credibility such as leadership constructs to restore trust and confidence among the public. Yet not much research has investigated the role of charismatic leadership communication in building and establishing organisational credibility of the public organisation. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between charismatic leadership communication and the influence of its three dimensions (task oriented, enthusiasm and empathy) with organisational credibility of public organisation in Malaysia. This study employed a quantitative approach to measure participants' perception on their organisational leadership communication and credibility. A total of 368 public organisation employees which were selected through stratified random sampling participated in the survey. The hypothesis of this study was tested using Pearson correlation to examine the relationship between the constructs, whereas multiple regression was used to examine the variance of each dimension of charismatic leadership communication on organisational credibility. The finding reveals that there is a significant relationship between charismatic leadership communication and public organisation credibility, while task-oriented communication appears to be the most significant dimension influencing the credibility of Malaysia public organisation. The implication of the study suggested that public organisational credibility is influenced by the way the information was delivered by the organisation through its charismatic leaders. Theoretical and practical contributions were advanced in this study. Keywords: Charismatic leadership communication, empathy, enthusiasm, task-related communication, organizational credibility.

Challenges of Human Resources Management in Project-based Organizations

Organizations are constantly under the influence of the environment they are operating in. The Industrial Revolution necessitated the establishment of long-lasting organizations with an emphasis on the stability of activities. However, undermining this principle, today’s businesses and organizations have moved towards projectification. This has demoted permanent and long-lasting activities in task-oriented organizations and transformed the meaning of many concepts such as financial management, human resource management, and knowledge management. Human resources management (HRM) is one of the areas of management that has undergone major changes in project-based organizations (PBOs). Since this new nature of organizations and businesses has challenged the stability of HRM, PBOs must plan and develop alternative methods for HRM. This paper hence aims to introduce the concept of PBOs and different types of PBOs and then discuss how this new organizational structure affects and challenges HRM.

A Deep Learning Approach to Integrate Human-Level Understanding in a Chatbot

In recent times, a large number of people have been involved in establishing their own businesses. Unlike humans, chatbots can serve multiple customers at a time, are available 24/7 and reply in less than a fraction of a second. Though chatbots perform well in task-oriented activities, in most cases they fail to understand personalized opinions, statements or even queries which later impact the organization for poor service management. Lack of understanding capabilities in bots disinterest humans to continue conversations with them. Usually, chatbots give absurd responses when they are unable to interpret a user’s text accurately. Extracting the client reviews from conversations by using chatbots, organizations can reduce the major gap of understanding between the users and the chatbot and improve their quality of products and services.Thus, in our research we incorporated all the key elements that are necessary for a chatbot to analyse andunderstand an input text precisely and accurately. We performed sentiment analysis, emotion detection, intent classification and named-entity recognition using deep learning to develop chatbots with humanistic understanding and intelligence. The efficiency of our approach can be demonstrated accordingly by the detailed analysis.