Cycling induced by electrical stimulation improves muscle activation and symmetry during pedaling in hemiparetic patients

A randomized controlled trial, involving 35 post-acute hemiparetic patients, demonstrated that a four-week treatment of cycling induced by functional electrical stimulation (FES-cycling) promotes motor recovery. Analyzing additional data acquired during that study, the present work investigated whether these improvements were associated to changes in muscle strength and motor coordination. Participants were randomized to receive FES-cycling or placebo FES-cycling. Clinical outcome measures were: the Motricity Index (MI), the gait speed, the electromyography activation of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris, and the mechanical work produced by each leg during voluntary pedaling. To provide a comparison with normal values, healthy adults also carried out the pedaling test. Patients were evaluated before, after training, and at follow-up visits. A significant treatment effect in favor of FES-treated patients was found in terms of MI scores and unbalance in mechanical works, while differences in gait speed were not significant (ANCOVA). Significant improvements in the activation of the paretic muscles were highlighted in the FES group, while no significant change was found in the placebo group (Friedman test). Our findings suggested that improvements in motor functions induced by FES-cycling training were associated with a more symmetrical involvement of the two legs and an improved motor coordination.     

False memories in children and adults: Age, distinctiveness, and subjective experience.

This study investigated developmental trends associated with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott false-memory effect, the role of distinctive information in false-memory formation, and participants' subjective experience of true and false memories. Children (5- and 7-year-olds) and adults studied lists of semantically associated words. Half of the participants studied words alone, and half studied words accompanied by pictures. There were significant age differences in recall (5-year-olds evinced more false memories than did adults) but not in recognition of critical lures. Distinctive information reduced false memory for all age groups. Younger children provided with distinctive information, and older children and adults regardless of whether they viewed distinctive information, expressed higher levels of confidence in true than in false memories. Source attributions did not significantly differ between true and false memories. Implications for theories of false memory and memory development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studies on the catalytic dechlorination and abatement of chlorided VOC: the cases of 2-chloropropane, 1,2-dichloropropane and trichloroethylene

The conversion of monochloropropanes and dichloropropanes over acid catalysts has been investigated in the presence of oxygen. In the temperature range of 450–550 K, dehydrochlorination of monochloropropanes to propene and HCl occurs selectively over silica–alumina, while significant formation of chlorinated by-products is observed over ZSM5 zeolite catalyst even at higher temperatures. Dichloropropanes conversion over silica–alumina catalyst gives rise mainly to chloropropenes in the temperature range 500–700 K. CO_x are predominant products only at the highest reaction temperatures (just above 700 K). Water vapor in the feed only slightly affects conversions and selectivities. Deactivation processes occur upon dichloropropane conversion, mainly due to coke deposition.

The conversion of highly chlorinated compounds, such as trichloroethylene (TCE) has been tested over silica–alumina and over HY zeolite in the presence of water vapor in the so-called “steam reforming” conditions (HVOC:water=1:2). With diluted feed (1200 ppm) on HY, reaction occurs above 800 K and formation of chlorinated by-products is minimized, CO_x being the main reaction products. At higher HVOC concentrations conversion is obtained at even lower temperature (600 K), but no more negligible by-products formation has been detected. In our conditions zeolite catalyst is more effective in TCE total conversion than silica–alumina.     

Effect of mixed solvent on selective removal of lead (II) ions by dicyclohexano‐18‐crown‐6 from aqueous solutions containing heavy metals

The effect of the organic solvent on the transport of lead ions through a bulk liquid membrane containing dicyclohexano‐18‐crown‐6 (DC18C6) as carrier was studied. Chloroform, 1,2‐dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, nitrobenzene and their binary solutions were employed as solvents. SCN‐, NO₃‐, CI‐ and CH₃COO‐ were used as anions. The selectivity and the efficiency of lead transport from aqueous solutions containing other cations such as Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, and Zn²⁺ were also investigated.     

The influence of different modification processes on the polymorphous structure of PA 6 monofilament yarn

Polymide 6 (PA 6) molecules can form many different structural modifications depending on the polymer treatment conditions. α-modification is energetically the most stable, has the monoclinic symmetry and originates from the unstable γ*-hexagonal structure. There is still, however, confusion regarding the structure of the second γ modification, resulting from a special treatment with iodine. There are reports about hexagonal [1] and other about monoclinic [2, 3] and even orthorhombic [4, 5] forms of this structure. Given this situation we have applied several treatments to PA 6 monofilament yarn with the purpose of obtaining different structural modifications. Special attention has been given to the formation of the γ-crystalline form. The structural characteristics were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), density and X-ray scattering. We have found that the γ-structure obtained after special treatment in iodine solution has the hexagonal symmetry with hydrogen bridges between the parallel chains. Electronic Publication     

Restarts and exponential acceleration of the Davis-Putnam-Loveland-Logemann algorithm: A large deviation analysis of the generalized unit clause heuristic for random 3-SAT

An analysis of the hardness of resolution of random 3-SAT instances using the Davis–Putnam–Loveland–Logemann (DPLL) algorithm slightly below threshold is presented. While finding a solution for such instances demands exponential effort with high probability, we show that an exponentially small fraction of resolutions require a computation scaling linearly in the size of the instance only. We compute analytically this exponentially small probability of easy resolutions from a large deviation analysis of DPLL with the Generalized Unit Clause search heuristic, and show that the corresponding exponent is smaller (in absolute value) than the growth exponent of the typical resolution time. Our study therefore gives some quantitative basis to heuristic restart solving procedures, and suggests a natural cut-off cost (the size of the instance) for the restart.     

Big Data Processing for Renewable Energy Telemetry Using a Decentralized Cloud M2M System

Wireless Personal Communications - Hydro-, Aeolian and Solar energy show significant promise in helping to reduce pollutants and greenhouse gases, which is a primary focus in today’s...     

Erratum to: Big Data Processing for Renewable Energy Telemetry Using a Decentralized Cloud M2M System

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