Search

Copyright of Journal of Silk is the property of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Magazines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The number of wheelchair tennis players is rising internationally, yet from a scientific perspective little is known about wheelchair tennis performance. Wheelchair tennis is more complex compared to other wheelchair court sports, due to the wheelchair/racket interaction. The purpose of this narrative review was to gain insight into the influence of wheelchair configuration, i.e., the individual set-up of a wheelchair, on wheelchair tennis performance, more specifically on wheelchair mobility performance and propulsion technique. Wheelchair propulsion while holding a racket has had little attention in both the wheelchair mobility performance and wheelchair propulsion technique area. It is shown that the propulsion technique and wheelchair mobility performance are negatively affected by the racket. Based on the current literature, the influence of wheelchair configuration on wheeling performance in wheelchair tennis can mainly be described from a broader wheelchair court sport perspective, due to the lack of specific publications about wheelchair tennis. In the future more research should be conducted on wheeling performance and wheelchair configuration in wheelchair tennis, to attain a more proper scientific foundation for optimising wheelchair tennis performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The association between specific motor capacity variables obtained in a laboratory and parameters of daily-life mobility performance (MP) obtained via wearables is still unclear. The Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) test is a widely used motor capacity tests available either as traditional hand-stopped TUG or as instrumented TUG (iTUG), providing specific information about its subphases. This study aimed to: (1) estimate the association between the TUG and specific parameters reflecting average and maximum daily-life MP, (2) estimate the benefits of the iTUG in terms of explaining MP in daily life compared to the TUG. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional analysis using baseline data of 294 older persons (mean age: 76.7 ± 5.3 years). Univariate linear regression analysis was performed to delineate the coefficient of determination between TUG time and participants' MP. MP variables containing mean cadence (MCA) to represent average performance and the 95th percentile of mean cadence of walks with more than three steps (p95>3stepsMCA) to represent maximum performance. To determine whether the iTUG variables give more information about MP, a stepwise multivariate regression analysis between iTUG variables and the p95>3stepsMCA variable to represent maximum performance was conducted. Results: The univariate regression models revealed associations of the TUG with MCA (adjusted R2 = 0.078, p < 0.001) and p95>3stepsMCA (adjusted R2 = 0.199, p < 0.001). The multivariate stepwise regression models revealed a total explanation of maximum daily-life MP (p95>3stepsMCA) of the TUG (adjusted R2 = 0.199, p < 0.001) versus iTUG (adjusted R2 = 0.278, p < 0.010). Discussion/Conclusion: This study shows that the TUG better reflects maximum daily-life MP than average daily-life MP. Moreover, we demonstrate the added value of the iTUG for a more accurate estimation of daily MP compared to the traditional TUG. The iTUG is recommended to estimate maximum daily-life MP in fall-prone older adults. The study is a step toward a specific assessment paradigm using capacity variables from the iTUG to estimate maximum daily-life MP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: One of the problems of the elderly is a decrease in balance and quality of life of senior citizens. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the effect of fatigue on balance, motor function, lower limb strength, and quality of life of the two groups of elderly people at home and in a nursing home. Material & Methods: The present study was conducted based on a prospective quasiexperimental design. For this purpose, 35 elderly women at home and 35 elderly women in nursing homes in Miyaneh were selected via available sampling. To carry out the fatigue protocol, the subjects performed sitting and standing movements with their hands on their chests. Subjects were administered the relevant tests under normal conditions and without fatigue. In the second session, which was held 48 hours later, the subjects performed the fatigue protocol and then performed balance, motor function (TUG), and lower limb strength tests (number of takeoff and landing chairs). The quality of life in both groups was assessed using the Leipad Elderly Quality of Life questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24) using independent and dependent t-tests. Results: The results demonstrated a significant difference (P=0.001) between the two groups of elderly women in nursing homes and those living at home in terms of motor function, strength, and quality of life. Nonetheless, there was no significant difference (P=0.127) in the balance of the two elderly groups. Discussion & Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of this study, the quality of life of the elderly in nursing homes was lower than that of the elderly at home, and fatigue can exert a more marked effect on the motor function and strength of these people. Therefore, it is recommended to prioritize the design of exercise interventions with the approach of increasing the fatigue threshold to improve the parameters related to the quality of life of the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Concern about falling is a prevalent worry among community-dwelling older adults and may contribute to a decline in physical and mental health. This study aimed to examine the association between mobility performance and concern about falling. Methods: Older adults aged 65 years and older, with Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥24, and ambulatory (with or without the assistive device) were included. Concern about falling was evaluated with Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) scores. Participants with high concern about falling were identified using the cutoff of FES-I ≥23. Participants' motor capacity was assessed in standardized walking tests under single- and dual-task conditions. Participants' mobility performance was measured based on a 48-h trunk accelerometry signal from a wearable pendant sensor. Results: No significant differences were observed at participant characteristics across groups with different levels of concern about falling (low: N = 64, age = 76.3 ± 7.2 years, female = 46%; high: N = 59, age = 79.3 ± 9.1 years, female = 47%), after propensity matching with BMI, age, depression, and cognition. With adjustment of motor capacity (stride velocity and stride length under single- and dual-task walking conditions), participants with high concern about falling had significantly poorer mobility performance than those with low concern about falling, including lower walking quantity (walking bouts, steps and time per day, and walking bout average, walking bout variability, and longest walking bout, p ≤ 0.013), and poorer daily-life gait (stride velocity and gait variability, p ≤ 0.023), and poorer walking quality (frontal gait symmetry, and trunk acceleration and velocity intensity, p ≤ 0.041). The selected mobility performance metrics (daily steps and frontal gait symmetry) could significantly contribute to identifying older adults with high concern about falling (p ≤ 0.042), having better model performance (p = 0.036) than only walking quantity (daily steps) with adjustment of confounding effects from the motor capacity (stride length under dual-task walking condition). Conclusion: There is an association between mobility performance and concern about falling in older adults. Mobility performance metrics can serve as predictors to identify older adults with high concern about falling, potentially providing digital biomarkers for clinicians to remotely track older adults' change of concern about falling via applications of remote patient monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative transmission is an effective approach for vehicular communications to improve wireless transmission capacity and reliability in fifth-generation (5G) small-cell networks. Based on distances between the vehicle and cooperative small-cell base stations (BSs), the cooperative probability and the coverage probability have been derived for 5G cooperative small-cell networks where small-cell BSs follow Poisson point process distributions. Furthermore, the vehicular handoff rate and the vehicular overhead ratio have been proposed to evaluate the vehicular mobility performance in 5G cooperative small-cell networks. To balance the vehicular communication capacity and the vehicular handoff ratio, an optimal vehicular overhead ratio can be achieved by adjusting the cooperative threshold of 5G cooperative small-cell networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: To develop a suitable mobility course for the assessment of mobility performance as part of a user evaluation of Electronic Mobility Aids (EMA) aimed at obstacle detection and orientation. Method: A review of the literature led to a list of critical factors for the assessment of mobility performance of persons who are visually impaired. Based upon that list, method, test situations, and determining elements were selected and presented to Dutch orientation and mobility experts. Due to expert advice and a pilot study, minor changes were made and the final version was used for the evaluation of two EMA by eight persons who are visually impaired. Results: The results of the literature study are summarized in an overview of critical factors for the assessment of the mobility performance of persons who are visually impaired. Applied to the requirements of the above mentioned user evaluation a replicable indoor mobility course has been described in detail and tested. Conclusion: Based upon evidence from literature an indoor mobility course has been developed, which was sensitive to assess differences in mobility incidents and obstacle detection when using an EMA compared to the regular mobility aid. Experts' opinion confirmed its face and content validity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigated the mobility performance of legally blind patients with age-related maculopathy (ARM) as assessed by their ability to visually detect hazards in their travel path. The three types of hazards were: drop-offs (a curb), obstacle on the travel surface (a small wastebasket), and a head-height obstacle (a piece of foam insulation projecting across the travel path at head height). We also recorded the patient's logMAR visual acuity and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity. Three distinct daylight assessments were made in a naturalistic outdoor environment: an initial assessment of distance to visually detect each of the three types of hazards; an assessment designed to assess the subject's maximum potential visual detection distance: and a final assessment following training and fitting with filters to reduce glare to determine the increase, if any, in visual detection distance for the three types of hazards. The inter-rater and test/retest reliabilities of the assessment procedure were studied. The results indicated that many ARM patients are unable to visually detect some hazards at a safe distance, that their ability to improve can be predicted from the assessment, and that most subjects can improve their ability to visually detect obstacles if provided appropriate training and filters. The limitations of this study and their implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wearable inertial sensors can be used to monitor mobility in real-world settings over extended periods. Although these technologies are widely used in human movement research, they have not yet been qualified by drug regulatory agencies for their use in regulatory drug trials. This is because the first generation of these sensors was unreliable when used on slow-walking subjects. However, intense research in this area is now offering a new generation of algorithms to quantify Digital Mobility Outcomes so accurate they may be considered as biomarkers in regulatory drug trials. This perspective paper summarises the work in the Mobilise-D consortium around the regulatory qualification of the use of wearable sensors to quantify real-world mobility performance in patients affected by Parkinson's Disease. The paper describes the qualification strategy and both the technical and clinical validation plans, which have recently received highly supportive qualification advice from the European Medicines Agency. The scope is to provide detailed guidance for the preparation of similar qualification submissions to broaden the use of real-world mobility assessment in regulatory drug trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In older adults, the linkage between laboratory-assessed 'motor capacity' and 'mobility performance' during daily routine is controversial. Understanding factors moderating this relationship could help developing more valid assessment as well as intervention approaches. We investigated whether the association between capacity and performance becomes evident with transition into frailty, that is, whether frailty status moderates their association. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the observational (blinded for review) study in a community-dwelling cohort in (blinded for review). Participants were N = 112 older adults aged 65 years or older who were categorized as non-frail (n = 40), pre-frail (n = 53) or frail (n = 19) based on the Fried frailty index. Motor capacity was quantified as normal (NWS) and fast walking speed (FWS). Mobility performance was quantified as 1) cumulated physical activity (PA) time and 2) everyday walking performance (average steps per walking bout; maximal number of steps in one walking bout), measured by a motion sensor over a 48 h period. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate moderation effects. Results: Unlike in non-frail persons, the relationship between motor capacity and mobility performance was evident in pre-frail and frail persons, confirming our hypothesis. A moderating effect of frailty status was found for 1) the relationship between both NWS and FWS and maximal number of steps in one bout and 2) NWS and the average steps per bout. No moderation was found for the association between NWS and FWS with cumulated PA. Conclusion: In pre-frail and frail persons, motor capacity is associated with everyday walking performance, indicating that functional capacity seems to better represent mobility performance in this impaired population. The limited relationship found in non-frail persons suggests that other factors account for their mobility performance. Our findings may help to inform tailored assessment approaches and interventions taking into consideration a person's frailty status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catastrophic landslides and flowslides usually occur at large waste dumps. Compared to normal slopes, waste dumps have unique topographical conditions and material properties that cause considerable challenges associated with hazard prediction and mitigation. This paper describes one of the largest and highest waste dumps in China, the Zhujiabaobao waste dump, which covers an area of 4 km2 and has a volume of 30,000 × 104 m3 mine waste. A field investigation in April 2016 indicated that the waste dump was unstable. To assess the stability of the slope and predict its hazard scale, the authors use a 3D slope model based on a discrete element method to achieve it. The model is first constructed based on field investigations, including reconnaissance, as well as geomorphological analysis and laboratory experiments. Then, the strength reduction technique is used to calculate the safety factor of a slope. The results show that the safety factor of the slope is 2.3, and compared to the normal limit equilibrium method, the safety factor calculated by the DEM simulation is more accurate and approximately about 15% larger, because it considers more realistic boundary conditions and material properties. During the calculation of the safety factor, the corresponding run-out process can be presented as well. The simulation shows that sliding masses at different parts have different mobility performances, which the upper and front particles presenting the potential to move farther and faster during the run-out process due to force conditions. Additionally, the proposed method shows that topography is a crucial factor for mass movement that requires special attention for the prevention and prediction of landslide hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]