Learning classifier to evaluate movement quality in unassisted pick-and-place exercises for post-stroke patients: A preliminary study.

The use of service robots is gaining increasing interest in stroke rehabilitation research. In autonomous robot therapy sessions, it is important to monitor the qualitative motor performance of the patient and to evaluate if therapeutically desirable movements are reinforced as per the therapist's instructions. Research on computational means to address this issue has received little attention, despite the acknowledged importance thereof. This paper poses the question of whether the subjective evaluation of the therapist on the qualitative motor performance of the individual patient can be modelled. In an attempt to answer this question, we frame it as a supervised machine learning problem and investigate if kinematic sensor readings to the subjective evaluation of the therapist can be correlated. We further examine if the personalized classifier trained with the data of the individual patient should be favored over the general classifier. Our preliminary results suggest that, given kinematic observation, trained classifiers may be able to imitate the evaluation of the therapist for the movement quality of the post-stroke patient. In our experiments, the general classifier outperformed the personalized classifiers, however, further investigation is necessary to generalize this finding.

Feasibility of using the RAPAEL Smart Glove in upper limb physical therapy for patients after stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

We aim to assess the feasibility of using the RAPAEL Smart Glove as an assistive tool for therapists in clinical rehabilitation therapy settings and to investigate if it can be used to improve the motor recovery rate of stroke survivors. Our randomized controlled study involved 13 post-stroke inpatients. An experimental treatment consisted of one 30-minute game-assisted therapy and one 30-minute conventional therapy per day while the control treatment consisted of two 30-minute conventional therapies. Each therapy block consisted of 15 days over a period of 3 weeks. The measured outcomes were the scores on the Wolf Motor Function Test and the active range of motion for the forearm and the wrist. The mean Wolf Motor Function Test score for the group that received game therapies as well as conventional therapies was significantly higher than that for the group who received only conventional therapies. The results suggest that the motor recovery rate of the clinical rehabilitation therapies can be improved when wearable sensors and therapeutic games are used by therapists in their routine therapy practice.

The Analysis of the Autoinducer Gene Expression Related Quorum Sensing Mechanism in Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection / 대한비뇨기과학회지

Purpose: Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) frequently occurs in the patients with an indwelling Foley catheter, and it can cause serious morbidity or mortality. However, there have been no reports about quorum sensing mechanisms in indwelling Foley catheter. It's our purpose to find out the quorum sensing mechanisms of isolated bacteria from biofilm in Foley catheters. Materials and Methods: Silicone Foley catheters were placed in 90 patients with neurogenic bladders. At the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th and 30th day after the catheters were placed, the catheters were removed and the biofilm formations were evaluated by routine culture and microscopy. The ygaG gene, which was reported to be an autoinducer synthase gene was carried out cloning in E. coli. The quantity of the mRNA expression of the ygaG gene was analyzed according to the time by competitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: 289 different types of bacteria were isolated by cultivation. The most common species were Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Serratia, Proteus and Escherichia species. The autoinducer synthase gene, such as the ygaG gene for Escherichia coli, was detected by RT-PCR. On competitive RT-PCR of the ygaG gene, the mRNA expression was 3.77x10(9)copies/microliter at the 3rd day, 5.94x10(7)copies/microliter at the 5th day, 8.07x10(7)copies/microliter at the 7th day, 2.51x10(6)copies/microliter at the 14th day and 6.81x10(8)copies/microliter at the 30th day. Therefore, the expression of the autoinducer synthase gene was observed at the early insertion period and it was then maintained. Conclusions: This is the first study to document the autoinducer synthase gene expression associated quorum sensing mechanism in CAUTI. The quorum sensing mechanism may be a new target for the management of CAUTI.

Long-term Effects of Antibiotic-coated Foley Catheter on Bacterial Biofilm Formations / 대한비뇨기과학회지

PURPOSE: A catheter-associated urinary tract infection, which frequently occurs in patients with an indwelling Foley catheter, can cause serious morbidity or mortality. Recently, antibiotic coated Foley catheters, to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections, have become commercially available. This study investigated the long-term effects of the use of antibiotic-coated Foley catheters on biofilm formations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Silicone Foley or antibiotic-coated Foley catheters were indwelled in 72 patients with a neurogenic bladder. Each catheter was removed 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 and 28 days after insertion. The cell densities of the biofilm bacteria were evaluated by counting the number of colonies on plate cultures. The biofilm formations on the catheters were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The inner surface morphology of the catheter was imaged by field emission scanning electron microscopy (Philips-XL20SFEG), at 10kV, following gold sputtering for electrical conductance. Six catheters were studied in each group, and the means calculated for comparisons. RESULTS: Thick bacterial biofilms were observed on both the antibiotic- coated and silicone Foley catheters 7 days after insertion. There were no significant differences in the cell densities of the biofilm bacteria between the two types of catheter during days 7-28 after insertion (p<0.05). Two to three species of bacteria were isolated from the catheters in each patient; the most common species were Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Serratia, Proteus species and Escherichia coli. CONCLUSIONS: The antibiotic-coated Foley catheters showed no preventive effects on the biofilm formations after 7 days of indwelling compared with the silicone Foley catheters. Our data suggest that the routine use of antibiotic-coated Foley catheters to prevent catheter-associated infection in patients with a neurogenic bladder is not reasonable. The emergence of resistance associated with antibiotic-coated catheters should be evaluated.

Chest radiographic findings of leptospirosis

1. A study on chest radiographic findings of 54 cases with pneumonia like symptoms was performed. Of 54 cases,8 cases were confirmed to be leptospirosis and 7 cases were leptospirosis combined with Korean hemorrhagic fever.2. Of 8 cases of leptospirosis, 4 cases showed abnormal chest radiographic findings: acinar nodular type 2,massive cofluent consolidation type 2. Of 7 cases of leptospirosis combined with Korean hemorrhagic fever: acinarnodular type 3, massive confluent consolidation type1, and increased interstitial markings type 1 respectively. 3.It was considered to be difficult to diagnose the leptospirosis on chest radiographic findings alone, especiallythe case combined with Korean hemorrhagic fever.