Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Introducing the tactile speller: an ERP-based brain–computer interface for communication

In this study, a tactile speller was developed and compared with existing visual speller paradigms in terms of classification performance and elicited event-related potentials (ERPs). The fingertips of healthy participants were stimulated with short mechanical taps while electroencephalographic activity was measured. The letters of the alphabet were allocated to different fingers and subjects could select one of the fingers by silently counting the number of taps on that finger. The offline and online performance of the tactile speller was compared to the overt and covert attention visual matrix speller and the covert attention Hex-o-Spell speller. For the tactile speller, binary target versus non-target classification accuracy was 67% on average. Classification and decoding accuracies of the tactile speller were lower than the overt matrix speller, but higher than the covert matrix speller, and similar to Hex-o-Spell. The average maximum information transfer rate of the tactile speller was 7.8 bits min−1 (1.51 char min−1), with the best subject reaching a bit-rate of 27 bits min−1 (5.22 char min−1). An increased amplitude of the P300 ERP component was found in response to attended stimuli versus unattended stimuli in all speller types. In addition, the tactile and overt matrix spellers also used the N2 component for discriminating between targets and non-targets. Overall, this study shows that it is possible to use a tactile speller for communication. The tactile speller provides a useful alternative to the visual speller, especially for people whose eye gaze is impaired.
MR in hypertension

Hypertension is a common systemic disorder affecting the cardiovascular system and kidneys with important morbidity and mortality. However, hypertension is often thought of by radiologists as an “invisible” disease. The aim of this article is to first review hypertension first in terms of its diagnosis, epidemiology and clinical importance. Second, those causes of secondary hypertension that may be diagnosed with MRI techniques are described along with the effects of hypertension on the cardiovascular system and kidneys that are demonstrable with MRI with particular emphasis on renovascular disease. Lastly the use of integrated MRI protocols to evaluate the hypertensive patient and areas for future research are considered. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fish-like propulsion of an airship with planar membrane dielectric elastomer actuators

The goal of our project is to mimic fish-like movement in air, propelling an airship by undulating its hull and a caudal fin. The activation of the fish-like body in air is realized by dielectric elastomers. These actuators are quite unique for their soft light-weight membrane structure and they are therefore very appropriate to the application on inflated structures. The principles of biomimetics for the structural design and movement are discussed and the conception and design of the airship is described. Various development tests, including wind tunnel testing and flight trials, were performed and the results obtained are presented. It can be shown that an 8 m model airship can be propelled in a fish-like manner in air and that the propulsion can be drastically improved by undulating the body as well as the caudal fin contrary to propulsion with only the caudal fin.
Dialysis Adequacy (PD) Guidelines

(Suggestions are based on Level III and IV evidence) • Peritoneal dialysis (PD) adequacy should involve various measurements including clinical assessment of wellbeing, physical measurements, small solute clearance, fluid removal and the impact of treatment on the individual’s life. Small solute clearance measurements should be interpreted in the context of all the clinical and laboratory assessments of dialysis adequacy. Measured clearances that fall short of the recommended targets should not necessarily be interpreted as providing inadequate dialysis, and measured clearances in excess of recommended targets should not necessarily be viewed as representing adequate dialysis. • These recommendations need to be modified in patients with low body mass index (BMI) or excessive BMI. For patients with a BMI greater than 27.5 kg/m, normalized clearance values may be difficult to achieve (see discussion below). Adequacy needs to be interpreted in the context of the individual’s body size. • The impact of residual renal function (RRF) appears to be an important determinant of outcome. The contribution of a falling RRF to clearance targets needs to be assessed in the clinical context of the patient’s wellbeing, fluid status, nutritional status as well as tolerance of dialysis prescription.
Abortion: Law, Choice and Morality

This book reviews the medical, legal, and theological aspects of abortion as they exist in the various parts of the world. In a fourth section, entitled "Implementing a Social Position," Callahan reflects on the way a knowledge of these facts can help both the individual and her counsellor (and society as well) find a more satisfactory solution for unwanted pregnancies than that of abortion. In the medical section, the author reviews the biological and psychological problems leading to requests for abortion, citing the changing frequency and usage of these designations in support of the termination of pregnancy. He then traces the changing attitudes of society as reflected in the legal codes regulating abortion practice. It is of interest to note that several societies (Eastern Europe and Japan) which were the first to develop relatively unrestrictive laws have subsequently moved toward a more restricting position, partly on the basis of a
Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging of the foot and ankle

Foot and ankle procedures are commonly performed most often in the setting of trauma or for realignment such as hallux valgus or acquired adult flatfoot deformity correction. Complications of these procedures occur not infrequently and therefore diagnostic imaging of the postoperative foot and ankle is often needed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is ideal for imaging the postoperative foot and ankle, as it can evaluate both osseous and soft‐tissue pathology. Using tailored MR pulse sequences to reduce metal artifact helps to increase diagnostic yield and evaluation of the regional anatomic structures. This review discusses suggested MRI protocols for evaluating the postoperative foot and ankle as well as the MRI appearance of commonly performed procedures in the foot and ankle such as internal fixation for fractures, forefoot and flatfoot realignment surgeries, and cartilage restorative procedures, as well as some of the more commonly encountered postoperative complications. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;37:556–565. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The neonatal nurses' view of their role in emotional support of parents and its complexities.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore the nurses' views of their role both in the neonatal intensive care unit and in the provision of interacting with, and emotionally supporting, families. BACKGROUND The neonatal intensive care nurse has a large and complex clinical role and also a role of emotional supporter for parents in the neonatal intensive care unit. Identifying components of their role and recognising the elements within the nursery that obstruct or encourage this role can allow for modification of nurse education and peer support. DESIGN Qualitative study based on semistructured interviews. METHODS Nine neonatal nurses from a single neonatal intensive care unit were interviewed and the data analysed thematically using NVIVO version 10. RESULTS Participants viewed their role as an enjoyable yet difficult one, requiring seniority, training and experience. They provided support to parents by communicating, listening, providing individualised support and by encouraging parental involvement with their baby. Constructive elements that contributed to the provision of support included a positive neonatal intensive care unit environment and providing a parent support group. More obstructive elements were a lack of physical neonatal intensive care unit space, little time available for nurse-to-parent conversation and language and cultural barriers between nurses and parents. CONCLUSION The role of the neonatal nurse in providing emotional support is complex and requires a high level of ongoing support and education for staff, and minimisation of physical and staff-related obstructions. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The modern neonatal intensive care unit offers complex medical and nursing services and with this care comes higher needs from both babies and their parents. Neonatal intensive care unit nurses should be supported in their roles by having peer support available in the neonatal intensive care unit and education and training in emotional support and counselling skills. The nursing staff also require a comfortable and practical physical working space in which to assist parents to be with their baby.
Mechanisms of anguilliform locomotion in fishes studied using simple three-dimensional physical models

Physical models enable researchers to systematically examine complex and dynamic mechanisms of underwater locomotion in ways that would be challenging with freely swimming animals. Previous research on undulatory locomotion, for example, has used rectangular flexible panels that are effectively two-dimensional as proxies for the propulsive surfaces of swimming fishes, but these bear little resemblance to the bodies of elongate eel-like swimming animals. In this paper we use a polyurethane rod (round cross-section) and bar (square cross-section) to represent the body of a swimming Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii). We actuated the rod and bar in both heave and pitch using a mechanical controller to generate a propulsive wave at frequencies between 0.5 and 2.5 Hz. We present data on (1) how kinematic swimming patterns change with driving frequency in these elongate fish-like models, (2) the thrust-generating capability of these simple models, (3) how forces and work done during propulsion compare between cross-sectional shapes, (4) the wake flow patterns in these swimming models using particle image velocimetry. We also contrast kinematic and hydrodynamic patterns produced by bar and rod models to comparable new experimental data on kinematics and wake flow patterns from freely swimming hagfish. Increasing the driving frequency of bar and rod models reduced trailing edge amplitude and wavelength, and above 2 Hz a nodal point appeared in the kinematic wave. Above 1 Hz, both the rod and bar generated net thrust, with the work per cycle reaching a minimum at 1.5 Hz, and the bar always requiring more work per cycle than the rod. Wake flow patterns generated by the swimming rod and bar included clearly visible lateral jets, but not the caudolaterally directed flows seen in the wakes from freely swimming hagfish.
Human-like compliant locomotion: state of the art of robotic implementations

This review paper provides a synthetic yet critical overview of the key biomechanical principles of human bipedal walking and their current implementation in robotic platforms. We describe the functional role of human joints, addressing in particular the relevance of the compliant properties of the different degrees of freedom throughout the gait cycle. We focused on three basic functional units involved in locomotion, i.e. the ankle–foot complex, the knee, and the hip–pelvis complex, and their relevance to whole-body performance. We present an extensive review of the current implementations of these mechanisms into robotic platforms, discussing their potentialities and limitations from the functional and energetic perspectives. We specifically targeted humanoid robots, but also revised evidence from the field of lower-limb prosthetics, which presents innovative solutions still unexploited in the current humanoids. Finally, we identified the main critical aspects of the process of translating human principles into actual machines, providing a number of relevant challenges that should be addressed in future research.
Owl-inspired leading-edge serrations play a crucial role in aerodynamic force production and sound suppression

Owls are widely known for silent flight, achieving remarkably low noise gliding and flapping flights owing to their unique wing morphologies, which are normally characterized by leading-edge serrations, trailing-edge fringes and velvet-like surfaces. How these morphological features affect aerodynamic force production and sound suppression or noise reduction, however, is still not well known. Here we address an integrated study of owl-inspired single feather wing models with and without leading-edge serrations by combining large-eddy simulations (LES) with particle-image velocimetry (PIV) and force measurements in a low-speed wind tunnel. With velocity and pressure spectra analysis, we demonstrate that leading-edge serrations can passively control the laminar-turbulent transition over the upper wing surface, i.e. the suction surface at all angles of attack (0° < AoA < 20°), and hence play a crucial role in aerodynamic force and sound production. We find that there exists a tradeoff between force production and sound suppression: serrated leading-edges reduce aerodynamic performance at lower AoAs < 15° compared to clean leading-edges but are capable of achieving both noise reduction and aerodynamic performance at higher AoAs > 15° where owl wings often reach in flight. Our results indicate that the owl-inspired leading-edge serrations may be a useful device for aero-acoustic control in biomimetic rotor designs for wind turbines, aircrafts, multi-rotor drones as well as other fluid machinery.
Psychosocial Factors and Mammography Use

ABSTRACT Background and Methods: Although mammography is the most effective modality for detecting early breast cancer and reducing mortality caused by this disease, it is still underutilized. To learn more about the extent to which sociodemographic features; health behaviors; attitudes and beliefs about mammography; and certain psychological traits, such as anxiety and defensiveness, influence mammography use, we conducted a survey mailed in 1988 to women medical school employees ages 35–65 (N = 719). Results: Overall, 66% of women reported having had a previous mammogram. A health care provider's request to have mammography was the most important determinant of use (relative risk [RR] = 6.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1 to 9.8; p <.001). Controlling for age-related differences in measures of anxiety and defensiveness, no effect of these traits on mammography use was found. Among the other features assessed, only increasing age was independently associated with use (RR = 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.3). A .
Origami-based earthworm-like locomotion robots

Inspired by the morphology characteristics of the earthworms and the excellent deformability of origami structures, this research creates a novel earthworm-like locomotion robot through exploiting the origami techniques. In this innovation, appropriate actuation mechanisms are incorporated with origami ball structures into the earthworm-like robot ‘body’, and the earthworm’s locomotion mechanism is mimicked to develop a gait generator as the robot ‘centralized controller’. The origami ball, which is a periodic repetition of waterbomb units, could output significant bidirectional (axial and radial) deformations in an antagonistic way similar to the earthworm’s body segment. Such bidirectional deformability can be strategically programmed by designing the number of constituent units. Experiments also indicate that the origami ball possesses two outstanding mechanical properties that are beneficial to robot development: one is the structural multistability in the axil direction that could contribute to the robot control implementation; and the other is the structural compliance in the radial direction that would increase the robot robustness and applicability. To validate the origami-based innovation, this research designs and constructs three robot segments based on different axial actuators: DC-motor, shape-memory-alloy springs, and pneumatic balloon. Performance evaluations reveal their merits and limitations, and to prove the concept, the DC-motor actuation is selected for building a six-segment robot prototype. Learning from earthworms’ fundamental locomotion mechanism—retrograde peristalsis wave, seven gaits are automatically generated; controlled by which, the robot could achieve effective locomotion with qualitatively different modes and a wide range of average speeds. The outcomes of this research could lead to the development of origami locomotion robots with low fabrication costs, high customizability, light weight, good scalability, and excellent re-configurability.
Nursing psychotherapeutic interventions: a review of clinical studies.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To summarise current knowledge about nursing psychotherapeutic interventions in adults. BACKGROUND In Portugal, the provision of psychotherapeutic interventions is considered a competence of mental health nurses. However, literature is not totally clear about the differences between 'psychotherapy' and 'psychotherapeutic interventions' and about the specific characteristics that define a nursing psychotherapeutic intervention. DESIGN Narrative review. METHODS A literature review utilising MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, the Web of Science, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and MedicLatina computerised databases for the period from 2003-2013. A total of 151 eligible articles were identified. Relevant data were extracted, and findings were synthetised in a narrative synthesis. RESULTS Nursing psychotherapeutic interventions are frequently based on 'Cognitive-Behavioural' rationale. The usual length of these interventions varies between 5-16 weeks, in a total of 5-12 sessions of 45-60 minutes. The mechanisms of change are heterogeneous, but the therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the client seems to be the most important positive predictive factor of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions. Some of the most used outcome assessment measures include the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the CORE-OM. The effectiveness of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions has been widely demonstrated in many studies. However, the need of further studies to prove its cost effectiveness is evident. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to have a better understanding of nursing psychotherapeutic interventions, one that explains its conceptual limits, to improve mental health nursing knowledge and create suitable models of psychotherapeutic intervention in nursing. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The findings of this review can create awareness for some weaknesses of nursing knowledge about the psychotherapeutic intervention and for the need to produce knowledge, to nurture the nursing discipline in the area of psychotherapeutic intervention with even more theoretical and practical support.
MRI: From science to society

In this 2012 ISMRM Lauterbur Lecture, my goal is to challenge the members of the ISMRM to think critically about how we approach our research. From the perspective of a leader of an academic health sciences center, which is also a health care delivery system, I address three specific questions: Are we developing great technologies? Are we advancing scientific knowledge? Are we advancing human health?
Ovipositor-inspired steerable needle: design and preliminary experimental evaluation

Flexible steerable needles have the potential to allow surgeons to reach deep targets inside the human body with higher accuracy than rigid needles do. Furthermore, by maneuvering around critical anatomical structures, steerable needles could limit the risk of tissue damage. However, the design of a thin needle (e.g. diameter under 2 mm) with a multi-direction steering mechanism is challenging. The goal of this paper is to outline the design and experimental evaluation of a biologically inspired needle with a diameter under 2 mm that advances through straight and curved trajectories in a soft substrate without being pushed, without buckling, and without the need of axial rotation. The needle design, inspired by the ovipositor of parasitoid wasps, consisted of seven nickel titanium wires and had a total diameter of 1.2 mm. The motion of the needle was tested in gelatin phantoms. Forward motion of the needle was evaluated based on the lag between the actual and the desired insertion depth of the needle. Steering was evaluated based on the radius of curvature of a circle fitted to the needle centerline and on the ratio of the needle deflection from the straight path to the insertion depth. The needle moved forward inside the gelatin with a lag of 0.21 (single wire actuation) and 0.34 (double wire actuation) and achieved a maximum curvature of 0.0184 cm−1and a deflection-to-insertion ratio of 0.0778. The proposed biologically inspired needle design is a relevant step towards the development of thin needles for percutaneous interventions.
A simple bipedal model for studying control of gait termination

We study the control of human gait termination with a simple bipedal locomotion model. Several control strategies have been proposed for gait termination. However, the relative importance of these strategies has not been evaluated in models of human gait. Here we extend the bipedal spring mass walking model in a least parameter fashion and study three explicit control strategies for gait termination, including the shortening of the final step, braking at the ankle, and extending the knee. Applying the strategies separately, we find that only braking at the ankle reduces the propulsive force enough to transition into quiet standing. In combination with the other two strategies, we observe that the range of control parameters suitable for gait termination increases, especially when the ankle control is applied intermittently by taking advantage of passive stabilizing dynamics. We further show the resulting model behavior is compatible with several experimental observations about the human center of mass dynamics and leg forces during gait termination, and discuss model improvements to correct mismatches. The proposed model may serve as a starting point for more advanced models that can provide a deeper understanding of human control strategies during gait termination.
Comparison of three types of treatment modalities on the outcome of fingertip injuries

BACKGROUND In this retrospective study, we analyzed the outcomes of different types of treatment of fingertip injuries and compared them after a mean follow-up of 4.5 years. METHODS A total of 53 patients (59 injuries) were included in this study. The fingertip injuries were classified according to Allen classification. The patients were categorized into three groups based on the treatment: reconstructive group, bone-shortening group, and conservative group. As objective assessments, strength, sensibility, and goniometry were measured; as subjective assessments, cold intolerance, nail deformation, and aesthetics were measured. RESULTS The mean reduction in strength, the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test, and the reduction in mobility for the injured fingers compared with those of the uninjured finger were not significantly different between the groups. Cold intolerance was reported in 50 (84.7%) of the 59 fingers, and in almost 90% of all the cases, there was some kind of nail distortion. For the cold intolerance and nail distortions, there was no difference between the groups. The aesthetic outcomes judged by patients and surgeon were comparable. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the outcome of treatment of Allen II, III, and IV fingertip injuries was irrespective of the treatment chosen. In an era where the enormous variety of surgical options suggests that treatment with a flap is the best, this outcome is at least surprising. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level IV.