ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Impaired upper limb function in stroke survivors is characterized by muscle weakness, increased muscle tone, contracture, or impaired motor control. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Kinesio-taping application for functional recovery on the affected arm and forearm during rehabilitation. METHODS: Forty-one patients eligible for this study were randomly assigned to either the Kinesio-taping group (nâ=â21), receiving Kinesio-taping intervention and conventional therapy, or control group (nâ=â20), receiving sham Kinesio-taping intervention and conventional therapy. The whole intervention lasted for 3 weeks. Fugl-Meyer assessment of the upper extremity, Barthel Index, the Stroke Impact Scale, and modified Ashworth scale were measured at 3 time points: baseline, post-treatment (3rd week), and follow-up (6th week). RESULTS: In the Kinesio-taping group, there were significant differences in the upper extremity (pâ=â0.003), wrist (pâ=â0.000) and hand (pâ=â0.000) parts of the Fugl-Meyer assessment of the upper extremity between the three assessment times. On the other hand, the Barthel Index showed significant differences in both groups after therapy. CONCLUSION: Combining conventional rehabilitation with Kinesio-taping intervention may improve functional motor performance of both the proximal and distal parts of the affected upper extremity in stroke survivors, with potential benefits for activity of daily living.
Subject(s)
Activities of Daily Living , Recovery of Function , Stroke Rehabilitation , Stroke , Upper Extremity , Humans , Female , Male , Middle Aged , Stroke Rehabilitation/methods , Upper Extremity/physiopathology , Stroke/physiopathology , Aged , Recovery of Function/physiology , Athletic Tape , Treatment Outcome , Survivors , Adult , Chronic DiseaseABSTRACT
Background: We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP), and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and analyze the antimicrobial resistance and proportion of hypervirluent strains of the microbial isolates. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on patients with pneumonia caused by K. pneumoniae at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan between January 2014 and December 2016. To analyze the clinical characteristics of these patients, data was extracted from their medical records. K. pneumoniae strains were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, capsular genotyping and detection of the rmpA and rmpA2 genes to identify hypervirulent strains. Results: We identified 276 patients with pneumonia caused by K. pneumoniae, of which 68 (24.6%), 74 (26.8%), and 134 (48.6%) presented with CAP, HCAP, and HAP, respectively. The 28-day mortality was highest in the HAP group (39.6%), followed by the HCAP (29.7%) and CAP (27.9%) groups. The HAP group also featured the highest proportion of multi-drug resistant strains (49.3%), followed by the HCAP (36.5%) and CAP groups (10.3%), while the CAP group had the highest proportion of hypervirulent strains (79.4%), followed by the HCAP (55.4%) and HAP groups (41.0%). Conclusion: Pneumonia caused by K. pneumoniae was associated with a high mortality. Importantly, multi-drug resistant strains were also detected in patients with CAP. Hypervirulent strains were prevalent in all 3 groups of pneumonia patients, even in those with HAP.
Subject(s)
Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology , Cross Infection/microbiology , Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial , Klebsiella Infections/epidemiology , Klebsiella pneumoniae/isolation & purification , Virulence Factors/genetics , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Community-Acquired Infections/epidemiology , Community-Acquired Infections/mortality , Cross Infection/epidemiology , Cross Infection/mortality , Female , Hospitals, General , Hospitals, Veterans , Humans , Klebsiella Infections/mortality , Klebsiella pneumoniae/drug effects , Klebsiella pneumoniae/genetics , Klebsiella pneumoniae/pathogenicity , Male , Middle Aged , Mortality , Retrospective Studies , Taiwan/epidemiology , Transcription Factors/geneticsABSTRACT
A novel, simple and low-temperature ultrasonic spray method was developed to fabricate the multi-walled carbon-nanotubes (MWCNTs) based extended-gate field-effect transistors (EGFETs) as the pH sensor. With an acid-treated process, the chemically functionalized two-dimensional MWCNT network could provide plenty of functional groups which exhibit hydrophilic property and serve as hydrogen sensing sites. For the first time, the EGFET using a MWCNT structure could achieve a wide sensing rage from pH = 1 to pH = 13. Furthermore, the pH sensitivity and linearity values of the CNT pH-EGFET devices were enhanced to 51.74 mV/pH and 0.9948 from pH = 1 to pH = 13 while the sprayed deposition reached 50 times. The sensing properties of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions show significantly dependent on the sprayed deposition times, morphologies, crystalline and chemical bonding of acid-treated MWCNT. These results demonstrate that the MWCNT-EGFETs are very promising for the applications in the pH and biomedical sensors.
