Effects of Different External Supports on Plantar Pressure-Time Integral and Contact Area in Flexible Flatfoot

Background Flexible flatfoot disturbs the load distribution of the foot. Various external supports are used to prevent abnormal plantar loading in flexible flatfoot. However, few studies have compared the effects of different external supports on plantar loading in flexible flatfoot. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of elastic taping, nonelastic taping, and custom-made foot orthoses on plantar pressure-time integral and contact area in flexible flatfoot. Methods Twenty-seven participants with flexible flatfoot underwent dynamic pedobarographic analysis while barefoot and with elastic tape, nonelastic tape, and custom-made foot orthoses. Results Pressure-time integral percentage was higher with foot orthoses than in the barefoot and taping conditions in the midfoot (P < .001) and was lower with foot orthoses than in barefoot in the right forefoot (P < .05). Pressure-time integral values were lower with foot orthoses in the second, third, and fourth metatarsals and the lateral heel (P < .05). With foot orthoses, contact area values were higher in the toes; second, third, and fourth metatarsi; midfoot; and heel compared with the other conditions (P < .05). Pressure-time integral in the right lateral heel and contact area in the left fourth metatarsal increased with nonelastic taping versus barefoot (P < .05). Conclusions Foot orthoses are more effective in providing dynamic pressure redistribution in flexible flatfoot. Although nonelastic taping has some effects, taping methods may be insufficient in altering the measured pedobarographic values in this condition.

Self-Identification of the character in the modernist novel by Lena Etlang «Pobeg kumaniki»

Lena Eltangs novel Pobeg kumaniki (Escape (Sprout) of the Brambles) is interpreted as a modern modernist prose that inherits the principles of the poetics of the stream of consciousness literature. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the work of A.A. Zhitenev, Ya.V. Soldatkina, N.T. Rymar, T.L. Rybalchenko.The self-identification of the main character in the novel by Lena Etlang Pobeg Kumaniki is complicated because of the absence of external supports of existence (home, communication with relatives, the name given to him at birth is not mentioned). Moras defines himself as a guest and a ubiquist, that is, a person who can exist in different conditions, but this does not answer the question Who am I?. The second thing that complicates self-identification is the inability to relate yourself to any particular Other (both in culture and in the environment), since situationally there are contradictory auto-associations with a variety of images from mythology and literature. The third challenge is the desire to combine not only different, but opposite (male and female, and depraved innocent, naive and wise, etc.). Pragmatism and the multidimensionality of identity, the desire to realize in my life more options (which gives the writing, creation of the text itself as others) that make the process of identity complex and unfinished. Another reason for the difficulty of identifying oneself is the limited epistemological possibilities and the inability of a person to take a position of non-necessity in order to see himself holistically. Eltang uses the Eastern parable of the cart, which illustrates the inability of a person to describe anything holistically, authentic to the essence of the described phenomenon. The main artistic principle of image-building in the novel is ambivalence, and the basic ideas are the multiplicity of consciousness and the incompleteness of a persons self-identification in the course of life.

Supporting Persons With Severe Dementia in Communicating Their Preferences

Government mandates require US nursing homes to provide preference-based, person-centered care. Persons with dementia (PWD) are less likely to have a role in preference assessments (PAs) used for care planning due to communication challenges associated with the disease. Thus, PWD are at risk of receiving de-personalized treatments. External supports (photograph and text cues) are known to improve communication in PWD. Yet these cues have never been studied with widely used PAs, such as the MDS 3.0 Section F and Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI). This study examined the effect of two PA conditions (externally supported; standard verbal) on preference consistency and response types (off-topic, clarification requests, elaboration) of residents with severe dementia (N=21) (BIMS < 7) when assessed twice, one-week apart. PA questions were derived from the MDS 3.0 Section F and PELI. As a social validity measure, naïve judges (N=10) listened to interviews and rated residents’ communication clarity and their confidence understanding residents’ preferences. Results showed that neither condition promoted significantly greater levels of consistency over time. Residents’ ‘clarification requests’ were significantly fewer with use of external supports. Other response types were not significantly different across conditions. Judges’ ratings were not significantly different across conditions; however, they rated residents’ communication as clear and understandable overall. This study addresses a gap in current research and holds important implications for helping providers meet government mandates and enhance care plan participation by residents with severe dementia and other communication challenges.

Autonomous line follower robot with fuzzy based hybrid controller

The autonomous navigation problem is currently a popular research topic encountered in many different areas, from smart cars to automated warehouse operations. Autonomous navigation of robotic systems is examined in two basic areas, with and without external supports. Even if the robot uses external supports (like GPS, road signs, ground surface lines, barcodes etc.) or positioning itself with internal sensors (like gyro, IMU, etc.), it independently needs a control method to follow the desired route. When the widely used control approaches in the literature are examined, PID and fuzzy-based approaches are frequently encountered. They both offer advantages and disadvantages. Within the scope of this study, the positive aspects of both of control approaches are utilized and the hybrid control approach for a robot that can autonomously follow the ground line presented as an external reference is mentioned. The success of the approach was tested comparatively on an exemplary mobile platform. The applied results obtained experimentally showed that a more efficient fuzzy logic-based hybrid control method could be developed. In addition, the effect of the number of conditions in the rule table on the success of the hybrid control technique is shown in the study. It has also been experimentally demonstrated that the success of hybrid control approach with a limited low power consuming ARM based processor that is suitable to control most of lightweight mobile platforms.