Kinect-based rapid movement training to improve balance recovery for stroke fall prevention: a randomized controlled trial

Background Falls are more prevalent in stroke survivors than age-matched healthy older adults because of their functional impairment. Rapid balance recovery reaction with adequate range-of-motion and fast response and movement time are crucial to minimize fall risk and prevent serious injurious falls when postural disturbances occur. A Kinect-based Rapid Movement Training (RMT) program was developed to provide real-time feedback to promote faster and larger arm reaching and leg stepping distances toward targets in 22 different directions. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of the interactive RMT and Conventional Balance Training (CBT) on chronic stroke survivors’ overall balance and balance recovery reaction. Methods In this assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial, chronic stroke survivors were randomized to receive twenty training sessions (60-min each) of either RMT or CBT. Pre- and post-training assessments included clinical tests, as well as kinematic measurements and electromyography during simulated forward fall through a “lean-and-release” perturbation system. Results Thirty participants were recruited (RMT = 16, CBT = 14). RMT led to significant improvement in balance control (Berg Balance Scale: pre = 49.13, post = 52.75; P = .001), gait control (Timed-Up-and-Go Test: pre = 14.66 s, post = 12.62 s; P = .011), and motor functions (Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Motor Recovery: pre = 60.63, post = 65.19; P = .015), which matched the effectiveness of CBT. Both groups preferred to use their non-paretic leg to take the initial step to restore stability, and their stepping leg’s rectus femoris reacted significantly faster post-training (P = .036). Conclusion The RMT was as effective as conventional balance training to provide beneficial effects on chronic stroke survivors’ overall balance, motor function and improving balance recovery with faster muscle response. Trial registration: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03183635, NCT03183635) on 12 June 2017.

Mobility, Nostalgia, and Ethnic Identity: The Racalmutesi Experience in Canada, and Beyond

We are currently in an era characterized by rapid movement; movement of people, products, resources, and information both within and beyond national boundaries. In this paper, I examine the movement not only of Italians (and more specifically Racalmutesi) to Canada, but also of Canadian Italians to Italy and other locations. As part of this discussion, my aim is to explore the role of nostalgia in people’s conceptions of the interrelationships among movement, ethnic identity, and their sense of “home.”

Revisiting a classic hybrid zone: rapid movement of the northern flicker hybrid zone in contemporary times

Natural hybrid zones have provided important insights into the evolutionary process, and their geographic stability/instability over time can help to disentangle the underlying biological processes that maintain them. Here, we leverage replicated sampling of an identical transect across the hybrid zone between yellow-shafted and red-shafted flickers to assess its stability over ~60 years (1955-1957 to 2016-2018). Using a plumage scoring approach that we validate with independent multispectral photography, we identify a ~73 km westward shift in the hybrid zone center towards the range of the red-shafted flicker but no associated changes in width. By integrating previous work in the same geographic region, it appears likely that this movement has occurred rapidly in the years since the early 1980s, prior to which the hybrid zone had remained stable over the previous century. This recent, rapid movement may be related to changes in climate or land management in contemporary times.

Development of Disaster-Responding Special-Purpose Machinery: Results of Experiments

The frequent occurrence of disasters has prompted the development of efficient disaster-responding equipment. This study deals with the design of special-purpose machinery and its performance assessment. We defined scenarios through the environmental analysis of disaster situations and expert consulting. We also formulated a set of design specifications by analyzing the objectives of the tasks that must be performed at disaster sites, based on simulated scenarios and existing disaster response machinery. The disaster-responding special-purpose machinery was designed to perform various tasks and display rapid movement in disaster situations. And this paper presents the control structure configured to operate the developed machinery. The performance of the special-purpose machinery was assessed through different scenario tests.

Toxic and Microbiological Effects of Iron Oxide and Silver Nanoparticles as Additives on Extended Ram Semen

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of iron oxide (Fe) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) on ram semen. A skim milk extender without antibiotics was used as a diluent of 21 ejaculates (8 rams; 2–3 ejaculates/ram). The groups of control (C; semen without NPs), Fe NPs (3.072 mg Fe3O4/mL semen), and Ag NPs (2.048 mg Ag-Fe/mL semen) were incubated (15 °C; 30 min), and then a magnetic field was used for NPs’ removal. Standard microbiological procedures were performed for all groups. Post-treated samples were stored (15 °C) for 24 h, and sperm variables (kinetics by computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA); viability; morphology; HOST; DNA integrity) were evaluated at 6 and 24 h. Semen data were analyzed by a mixed model for repeated measures and microbiological data with Student’s t-test for paired samples. At 6 h of storage, VCL and rapid movement-spermatozoa, and at 24 h, total/progressive motility and amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) were significantly decreased in group Ag compared to control. In group Fe, progressive/rapid movement-spermatozoa were significantly lower compared to control after 24 h of storage. Only in group Ag was a significant reduction of total bacterial count revealed. In conclusion, the examined Fe NPs demonstrated slight antibacterial effect, while the examined Ag NPs provided higher antibacterial properties accompanied by cytotoxicity.

SEEKING REFUGE IN AL-NAS SURAH PHONOLOGICAL STUDY

General linguistics study (phonology, morphology, grammar, syntax, and semantics), as for our study, it dealt with that as a whole; Because we believe that it is useless to separate it in order to uncover the rhetoric of the text, starting with the effect of the sounds in the voice and rhythm in terms of their numbers, qualities, letters exits, and phonemic syllables, within the effect of abstract morphological formulas and augmenting their various connotations in harmony with the grammatical structures and methods, and ending with the meaning of used expressions instead of their synonyms in which the sounds and formulas change, Through the percentage of the qualities of the sounds and phonemes, and we showed their effect on the meaning and context, to come out with an unquestionable result: Every sound, every word, every form, and every combination was not arbitrarily mentioned in the surah. Because we found that none of them did not contradict the other, but supported it and increased its strength, and it is nice for the meaning to be drawn sometimes in the form of the mouth when uttering the sound, as in the whispered voice of (Seen) that is repetitively repeated in the breaks of the verses, it is a voice that a person cannot utter while he is open-mouthed Its repetition in the surah is in harmony with the whispered whispers with which the people of crimes and intrigues are afraid, and the low percentage of the strong voices expresses the removal of distress, worry and distress, and the extension of the wav sound in the word (I seek refuge) is proportional to the shape of the mouth when blowing after seeking refuge. As for the high or low percentage of phonemic syllables in harmony with meaning and context, it appears, for example, in the fourth and fifth verses, as for the decrease in the percentage of the open syllable in the fourth verse ("From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws) to (0%). So, it harmonizes with the lack of rapid movement, and depicts the whisperer with its dysfunction and its stillness with its movement, because the rapid movement does not correspond to the whisperer, this is supported purely by the use of the form of exaggeration (active), which depicts the exaggeration of the obsessive chicks. On the other hand, we see the increase in movement and its speed, with the increase in the percentage of open syllables in the fifth verse (Who whispers in the breasts of mankind) to (41.6%) with the use of the verb waswasah in the present tense that used to show repetition, so the percentage of open syllables in both short and long forms increased to (66.6%) and that is the highest proportion of these two sections in the surah. Because this movement is what is excluded from it.

A Navigation Probability Map in Pedestrian Dynamic Environment Based on Influencer Recognition Model

One of the challenging problems in robot navigation is efficient and safe planning in a highly dynamic environment, where the robot is required to understand pedestrian patterns in the environment, such as train station. The rapid movement of pedestrians makes the robot more difficult to solve the collision problem. In this paper, we propose a navigation probability map to solve the pedestrians’ rapid movement problem based on the influencer recognition model (IRM). The influencer recognition model (IRM) is a data-driven model to infer a distribution over possible causes of pedestrian’s turning. With this model, we can obtain a navigation probability map by analyzing the changes in the effective pedestrian trajectory. Finally, we combined navigation probability map and artificial potential field (APF) method to propose a robot navigation method and verified it on our data-set, which is an unobstructed, overlooked pedestrians’ data-set collected by us.

Reforms for Export-Led and Manufacturing-Fed Growth

The near absence of large enterprises in the manufacture of labor-intensive products and consequent failure of such products in export markets is the reason for the paucity of good jobs for those with limited skills in India. To change this, India needs a clear focus on export expansion. It must avoid falling into the import-substitution trap that kept the country poor for decades. The rupee must depreciate sufficiently to eliminate its current overvaluation. Tariffs must be lowered and rationalized. Particularly important is to eliminate duties on synthetic fabrics and fibers. All indirect taxes must be reimbursed to exporters. Free trade agreements must be forged with countries that have potentially large markets. Trade facilitation must allow rapid movement of goods within the country and at ports. Finally, markets for labor and land must be liberalized. It will be worthwhile, though politically challenging, to experiment with autonomous employment zones that provide flexible land and labor markets within large areas.

A LOW-DELAY AND ROBUST SOLUTION FOR RAPID MOVEMENT DETECTION USING UWB

The increasing applications for location-based services (LBS) and real-time location system (RTLS) promote the development of indoor positioning and navigation technology. However, the positioning methods based on traditional Radio Frequency (RF) signals are difficult to improve the accuracy and sensitivity for rapid movement detection with a low latency parameter. In order to solve those problems, this paper adopted ultra-wideband (UWB) chips as the wireless communication technology and designed a method of rapid movement detection with low delay. The method consists of a topology of combined two way ranging (C-TWR), a schedule of time division multiple access (TDMA), an non-light-of-sight (NLOS) handling mechanism and an adaptive extended Kalman filter (A-EKF). To examine the low delay performance, accuracy and robustness of the system, a specific electro-displacement actuator with programmable speed is applied to provide precise ground truth for real speed and distance, and a system test platform consisting of four anchors and four tags provides information of specific situation. The results show that the system can locate the rapid moving pedestrian with a maximal speed of approximately 5 m s−1 in real-time with a positioning accuracy of less than 0.5 m. There are profound implications for further studies in the range of human wearable tags.