Objects: To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of in-bed wearable elbow robot training for motor recovery in patients with early and late subacute stroke.Methods: Eleven in-patient stroke survivors received 15 sessions of training over about 4 weeks of hospital stay. During each hourly training, participants received passive stretching and active movement training with motivating games using a wearable elbow rehabilitation robot. Isometric maximum muscle strength of elbow flexors and extensors was evaluated using the robot at the beginning and end of (...) each training session. Clinical measures including Fugl-Meyer Assessment of upper extremity, Motricity Index for upper extremities, Modified Ashworth Scale were measured at baseline, after the 4-week training program, and at a 1-month follow-up. The muscle strength recovery curve over the training period was characterized as a logarithmic learning curve with three parameters.Results: At the baseline, participants had moderate to severe upper limb motor impairment {FMA-UE [median ]: 28 } and mild spasticity in elbow flexors {MAS [median ]: 0 }. After about 4 weeks of training, significant improvements were observed in FMA-UE and MI, and the improvements were sustained at the follow-up. The elbow flexors MVC significantly increased by 1.93 Nm and the elbow extensor MVC increased by 0.68 Nm. Muscle strength recovery curve showed that patients with severe upper limb motor impairment had a greater improvement rate in elbow flexor strength than those with moderate motor impairment.Conclusion: In-bed wearable elbow robotic rehabilitation is feasible and effective in improving biomechanical and clinical outcomes for early and late subacute stroke in-patients. Results from the pilot study suggested that patients with severe upper limb motor impairment may benefit more from the robot training compared to those with moderate impairment. (shrink)

In a paper where we tried to show in how many different meanings the term is chiefly used in the philosophy of Aristotle, we discussed the relation between and , but neglected the relation between and , which seems to be yet more important. The neglect, however, was purposeful; for to answer the question what the latter relation is requires a special research. This we are now going to carry out.

River water pollution by wastewater can cause significant negative impact on the aquatic sustainability. Hence, accurate modeling of this complicated system and its cost-effective treatment and reuse decision is very important because this optimization process is related to economic expenditure, societal health, and environmental deterioration. In order to optimize this complex system, we may consider three treatment or reuse options such as microscreening filtration, nitrification, and fertilization-oriented irrigation on top of two existing options such as settling and biological oxidation. The (...) objective of this environmental optimization is to minimize the economic expenditure of life cycle costs while satisfying the public health standard in terms of groundwater quality and the environmental standard in terms of river water quality. Particularly, this study improves existing optimization model by pinpointing the critical deficit location of dissolved oxygen sag curve by using analytic differentiation. Also, the proposed formulation considers more practical constraints such as maximal size of irrigation area and minimal amount of filtration treatment process. The results obtained by using an evolutionary algorithm, named a parameter-setting-free harmony search algorithm, show that the proposed model successfully finds optimal solutions while conveniently locating the critical deficit point. (shrink)

Every student of Plato will be inclined to admit that, among his dialogues, the Parmenides is one of the hardest to understand. The attempt to elucidate it has continued since ancient times, but even to-day we still lack a definitive interpretation. The first part of the dialogue is relatively simple; it is with the second that the great difficulty begins. Two questions are raised: firstly, how this part is to be understood, and, secondly, how it is related to the first (...) part. (shrink)

SignificanceElectrical burns can cause severe damage to the nervous system, resulting in autonomic dysfunction with reduced cerebral perfusion. However, few studies have investigated these consequences.AimTo elucidate changes in prefrontal cerebral hemodynamics using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the head-up tilt table test (HUT) for patients with electrical burns.ApproachWe recruited 17 patients with acute electrical burns within 1 week after their accidents and 10 healthy volunteers. The NIRS parameters acquired using an fNIRS device attached to the forehead were analyzed in five (...) distinct HUT phases.ResultsBased on their HUT response patterns, patients with electrical burns were classified into the group with abnormal HUT results (APG, n = 4) or normal HUT results (NPG, n = 13) and compared with the healthy control (HC, n = 10) participants. We found trends in hemodynamic changes during the HUT that distinguished HC, NPG, and APG. Reduced cerebral perfusion and decreased blood oxygenation during the HUT were found in both the NPG and APG groups. Patients with electrical burns had autonomic dysfunction compared to the HC participants.ConclusionsUsing fNIRS, we observed that acute-stage electrical burn injuries could affect cerebral perfusion. (shrink)

Previous studies have used various external variables and parameters as well as moderator variables such as emotional intelligence have been to understand emotional labor and its related problems. However, a comprehensive model to study such variables’ correlations with each other and their overall effect on emotional labor has not yet been established. This study used a structural equation model to understand the relationship between employees’ expression of emotional labor and perception of customer feedbacks. The study also looked at how the (...) perception of customer feedback affects emotional exhaustion in order to understand how emotional exhaustion affects job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Further, in order to fully understand the effects of emotion on emotional labor at the service contact points, this study developed and tested a model of emotional labor with 4 factors of emotional intelligence as moderating factors. 579 emotional labor workers in service industries in the U.S. were collected and 577 valid survey results have been analyzed. The result shows that there exists moderating effects of emotional intelligence on how employees’ Deep Acting and Surface Acting recognize customers’ reactions, both positive and negative, that would affect employees’ Emotional Exhaustion and Job Satisfaction, and hence, Turnover Intention. The result suggests that employees with better understanding of their own emotions, although they are more likely to recover from emotional exhaustion, experience a greater negative effect when there is a discrepancy between what they feel and how they should act. (shrink)