IMPROVEMENT OF METHODS OF TECHNICAL DIAGNOSIS OF PASSENGER RAILWAY CARS

Extension of the service life of a particular passenger railway car can be considered fully justified only if it is justified by the results of scientific and experimental research and approved by the relevant administrative documents of Ukrzaliznytsia the service life limit for wagons of this type. The existing method of technical diagnostics of passenger railway cars does not allow to fully assess the probability of extension of the service life of the car, because it does not take into account the peculiarities of damage to structural elements during operation. In the article the sequence of research of stresses in elements of a frame of a body of the passenger car of construction of KVN on the basis of standard tests is considered. The task of the study is to determine the sequence of calculation of stresses in the frame elements of the passenger car body of KСР (Kryukiv Carriage Plant) with a service life exceeding 41 years from the date of manufacture to assess strength and fatigue resistance by technical diagnostics and standard tests. It is concluded that the condition of the load-bearing metal structures of cars after long operation does not approach the limit. The residual resource was set at one of the minimum calculated values. If the results of calculations show that the resource is exhausted, the residual service life is determined by the results of bench tests for fatigue. The obtained practical and theoretical results make it possible to extend the service life of cars beyond that set by the manufacturer.

Bilateral actigraphic quantification of upper extremity movement in hemiparetic children with perinatal stroke: a case control study

Background Hemiparetic cerebral palsy impacts millions of people worldwide. Assessment of bilateral motor function in real life remains a major challenge. We evaluated quantification of upper extremity movement in hemiparetic children using bilateral actigraphy. We hypothesized that movement asymmetry correlates with standard motor outcome measures. Methods Hemiparetic and control participants wore bilateral wrist Actiwatch2 (Philips) for 48 h with movement counts recorded in 15-s intervals. The primary outcome was a novel statistic of movement asymmetry, the Actigraphic Movement Asymmetry Index (AMAI). Relationships between AMAI and standard motor outcomes (Assisting Hand Assessment, Melbourne Assessment, and Box and Block Test [BB]) were explored with Pearson or Spearman correlation. Results 30 stroke (mean 11 years 2 months (3 years 10 months); 13 female, 17 male) and 23 control (mean 11 years 1 month (4 years 5 months); 8 female, 15 male) were enrolled. Stroke participants demonstrated higher asymmetry. Correlations between AMAI and standard tests were moderate and strongest during sleep (BB: r = 0.68, p < 0.01). Conclusions Standard tests may not reflect the extent of movement asymmetry during daily life in hemiparetic children. Bilateral actigraphy may be a valuable complementary tool for measuring arm movement, potentially enabling improved evaluation of therapies with a focus on child participation.

Emotional, cognitive, and motor development in youth orchestras

Does being part of an orchestra from an early age have an impact on cognitive and emotional capacities? Researchers from the University of Geneva (Unige), Switzerland, the University of Genoa (Unige-IT), and the Institute of Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music (IRCAM) in Paris investigated this question in the context of the Demos orchestras organized by the Philharmonie de Paris-Cité. This two-year study evaluated the development and evolution of the cognitive, emotional, and motor skills of 255 children engaged in two Demos orchestras, aged 7 to 13 years living in education priority zones (ZEPs) in France. The results showed that after two years of playing music as part of a group, the working memory, cognitive flexibility, and emotion understanding skills of the children improved at a higher rate than the published measurements on standard tests. Important improvements were also shown in movement synchronization.

The Influence of Hydrated Lime and Cellulose Ether Admixture on Water Retention, Rheology and Application Properties of Cement Plastering Mortars

In this article, the effect of hydrated lime and cellulose ether on the water retention, rheology, and application properties of plasters was studied. For mortars, the consistency, bulk density, and water retention were tested. Rheological measurements of pastes included yield stress and plastic viscosity. In addition to standard tests of mortars and examining the rheological properties of the pastes, a proprietary method for testing the application properties was proposed. The obtained research results made it possible to evaluate the performance of the tested plasters. An attempt was also made to correlate the rheological properties of pastes (plastic viscosity) to the water retention value. The influence of hydrated lime and cellulose ether on selected properties of pastes and plasters was also presented using the statistical Box–Behnken method. The subjective rating of an expert plasterer confirmed the necessity of the modification of plastering mortars with hydrated lime and cellulose ether. As shown, modification of cement plastering mortar with hydrated lime and cellulose ether at the same time allows obtaining a material with favorable technical and technological properties, especially mortars applied by machine.

Can Winter Road De-Icing Affect Mortality of Organisms in Aquatic Ecosystems? An Experimental Approach

Road maintenance in winter using de-icing agents, which is widely used in Eastern Europe, is the cause of water salinization in neighbouring environments, which might lead to biodiversity loss in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we investigated NaCl toxicity to test young organisms: Daphnia magna and Poecilla reticulata (standard tests organisms). The salinity of NaCl was measured by electrolytic conductivity (EC). It was statistically demonstrated that the test solutions should be prepared using natural water. For D. magna the NOEC was 7.17 mS/cm and the LC50 9.76 mS/cm. Poecilla reticulata showed resistance to salinity up to a conductivity of 25.2 mS/cm, and no lethal effects were recorded for any individual in the test population. The study showed that winter salinities recorded in inland waters (without emergencies such as sudden influx of pollutants due to industrial accidents) are unlikely to affect fish but may be hazardous to small plankton. However, the high dare of D. magna may result in a reduction of planktivorous fish.

OS07.5A Diagnostic Instrument for Mild Aphasia (DIMA): sensitive and valuable addition to standard language assessment in glioma patients

BACKGROUND Low-grade glioma (LGG) patients typically suffer from mild aphasia that often cannot be detected with standard aphasia tests. The Diagnostic Instrument for Mild Aphasia (DIMA) is the first standardized test-battery to assess mild language disorders. We investigate pre- and postoperative linguistic abilities of LGG and high-grade glioma (HGG) patients with the DIMA. METHODS The DIMA consists of subtests that tap phonology (word, compound, non-word, sentence repetition), semantics (odd-picture-out), and syntax (sentence completion). Additionally, we administered the Boston Naming Test, Category- and Letter Fluency, and the Token Test. Patients were assessed before awake surgery (T1, N=98), three-months (T2, N=69), and one-year (T3, N=30) postoperatively. DIMA performance was compared to healthy controls (N=214). Group differences were examined with parametric (t-test) and nonparametric (Mann-Whitney-U, Wilcoxon) tests. RESULTS DIMA: Preoperatively, patients deviated on sentence repetition and sentence completion (p&lt;0.05). HGG patients performed worse than LGG on word, non-word, and sentence repetition (p&lt;0.05). There was no effect of hemispheric tumor localization. At T2, compound repetition and odd-picture-out also became impaired (p&lt;0.05) and there was a decline compared to T1 on all repetition tasks (p&lt;0.05). At T3, only sentence completion remained impaired (p&lt;0.01) with a deterioration compared to T1 (p&lt;0.01). Standard tests: At T1, patients were impaired on BNT, Category- and Letter Fluency (p&lt;0.01). HGG patients performed worse than LGG patients on BNT and TT (p&lt;0.01). Patients with left-hemispheric tumors performed worse on BNT and Letter Fluency compared to right-hemispheric tumors (p&lt;0.05). At T2, TT also became impaired (p&lt;0.05) and patients declined compared to T1 on Verbal Fluency tests (p&lt;0.01). At T3, only BNT and Category Fluency remained impaired (p&lt;0.05), with no significant declines compared to T1. CONCLUSION The DIMA is the first test-battery to detect peri-operative impairments at different linguistic levels (phonology, semantics, syntax) in patients with left- or right-hemispheric gliomas. It even appeared more sensitive to detect surgical effects than standard tests: all phonological DIMA subtests captured short-term decline (T1-T2), in line with earlier evidence for the value of (non-)word repetition. DIMA sentence completion detected long-term decline (T1-T3), reflecting earlier spontaneous speech analyses. As expected, Verbal Fluency was also sensitive to short-term postoperative decline. Left-hemispheric tumor localization only affected standard test performance. HGG patients had more severe impairments than LGG on DIMA repetition and standard tests (BNT and TT). We advise adding the DIMA to standard language evaluation of glioma patients, as it allows for more detailed counseling about language outcome.

Using Smiles, Frowns, and Gaze to Attribute Conscious States to Others: Testing Part of the Attention Schema Theory

In the attention schema theory, people attribute the property of consciousness to themselves and others because it serves as a schematic model of attention. Most of the existing literature on monitoring the attention of others assumes that people primarily use the gaze direction of others. In that assumption, attention is not represented by a deeper model, but instead limited mainly to a single, externally visible parameter. Here we presented subjects with two cues about the attentional state of a face: direction of gaze and emotional expression. We tested whether people relied predominantly on one cue, the other, or both when deciding if the face was conscious of a nearby object. If the traditional view is correct, then the gaze cue should dominate. Instead, some people relied on gaze, some on expression, and some on an integration of cues, suggesting that a variety of surface strategies could inform a deeper model. We also assessed people’s social cognitive ability using two, independent, standard tests. If the traditional view of attention monitoring is correct, then the degree to which people use gaze to judge attention should correlate best with their social cognitive ability. Instead, social cognitive ability correlated best with the degree to which people successfully integrated the cues together. The results strongly suggest that when people attribute a specific state of consciousness to another, rather than simply tracking gaze, they construct a model of attention, or an attention schema, that is informed by a combination of surface cues.

Personalized Cancer Medicine in the Media: Sensationalism or Realistic Reporting?

Background: Given that media coverage can shape healthcare expectations, it is essential that we understand how the media frames “personalized medicine” (PM) in oncology, and whether information about unproven technologies is widely disseminated. Methods: We conducted a content analysis of 396 news reports related to cancer and PM published between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2011. Two coders independently coded all the reports using a pre-defined framework. Determination of coverage of “standard” and “non-standard” therapies and tests was made by comparing the media print/broadcast date to the date of Federal Drug Administration approval or incorporation into clinical guidelines. Results: Although the term “personalized medicine” appeared in all reports, it was clearly defined only 27% of the time. Stories more frequently reported PM benefits than challenges (96% vs. 48%, p < 0.001). Commonly reported benefits included improved treatment (89%), prediction of side effects (30%), disease risk prediction (33%), and lower cost (19%). Commonly reported challenges included high cost (28%), potential for discrimination (29%), and concerns over privacy and regulation (21%). Coverage of inherited DNA testing was more common than coverage of tumor testing (79% vs. 25%, p < 0.001). Media reports of standard tests and treatments were common; however, 8% included information about non-standard technologies, such as experimental medications and gene therapy. Conclusion: Confusion about personalized cancer medicine may be exacerbated by media reports that fail to clearly define the term. While most media stories reported on standard tests and treatments, an emphasis on the benefits of PM may lead to unrealistic expectations for cancer genomic care.

Presence of Cheek Dimples and Absence of Palmaris Longus - An Anatomical Correlation from Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka

BACKGROUND Palmaris longus (PL) tendon agenesis varies from 5 % to 30 % in different ethnic groups worldwide. Its agenesis is associated with decreased wrist grip, pinch grip, presence of cheek dimples, difference of prevalence of agenesis with gender and handedness and with flexor carpi superficialis tendon. Student and general population surveys done in previous studies shows the association between these variables. The purpose of this study was to find out the association between the presence of cheek dimples with absence of palmaris long tendon. METHODS We examined 1200 medical and allied health students (600 males, 600 females) aged 18 - 24 years to assess the incidence of palmaris longus absence and the presence of cheek and chin dimples. The presence or absence of palmaris longus was assessed by clinical inspection using standard tests. The effectiveness of these’ standard tests’ is also tested along with wrist strength and pinch strength. RESULTS 163 students had PL agenesis. One hundred and twenty-one subjects had unilateral absence of palmaris longus (13.5 %). The tendon was absent bilaterally in 42 subjects (3.5) 77 students had either unilateral or bilateral cheek dimples out of 163 PL agenesis. The Mishra’s test is found to be most effective for properly defining the PL at wrist. CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of absence of palmaris longus is around 13.5 %. Unilateral agenesis of PL is 10 %. Absence of palmaris longus has strong association to presence of cheek dimples. Up to 45 % of PL agenesis will show either unilateral or bilateral cheek dimples. Studies on cheek dimples, panniculus carnosus are very scanty in literature; more studies might reveal interesting correlation. The grip strength of the wrist is unaffected due to palmaris longus agenesis; however, the pinch grip of 4th finger with thumb appears to be certainly decreased. Mishra’s test proves to be the best in demonstrating the PL. A radiant smile displaying the cheek dimples, has 50 % possibility of absence of PL. KEYWORDS Palmaris Longus Agenesis, Cheek Dimples, Bifid Zygomaticus Major, Panniculus Carnosus, Chin Dimples