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With the advances of IMU-based human motion tracking, joint angle tracking in an home environment has become a realistic goal. Achieving it, could enable novel applications in rehabilitation and sports medicine. However, in existing systems the process of aligning the mounted sensors with the body coordinate system is either not robust enough or to complicated for fully unsupervised usage. In this publication the performance of a promising existing algorithm is evaluated with a range of different calibration motions. Further, an extension to this implementation is proposed, aiming to improve its stability when only non-ideal calibration data is available. It could be validated that the modification of the algorithm can increase the stability and reduce the dependency of the calibration on specific calibration motions. Based on these results, we recommend the proposed extension of the algorithm as a drop-in replacement for the existing implementation.

Stroke is one of the most frequent diseases among the elderly and often leads to an ongoing failure of functions in the central nervous system. Due to the plasticity of the brain affected may regain lost motor function by repetitive training. Robotic devices can be an approach to accelerate the rehabilitation process by maximizing patients’ training intensity. End-effector based robotic systems are particularly suitable for this purpose and often an advantage over exoskeletons since the proximal part of the upper limb remains under the control of the patient. Furthermore, the integration of the assistas- needed principle (AAN) into these devices enables individualized, adaptable robotic support to patients during therapy. In this study an end-effector based robotic rehabilitation device based on the Robot Operating System (ROS) framework is introduced. The system allows patients to perform 3- dimensional movements without a therapist’s assistance. With regard to the AAN, focus was based on impedance control and an additional real-time adaption of the impedance control parameters by using a feedback loop. 10 healthy subjects took part in this study to evaluate the overall concept with regard to usability and quality of the supported movement. Hence, the three most promising adaption models of AAN (without adaption, adaption according to position and time, adaption according to velocity) under three different levels of movement support (0%, 50%, 100%) were investigated by administering a self-designed questionnaire and the robot kinematics. The results showed no significant differences between the three different adaption models of AAN. However, the subjective assessment of the movements was in keeping with robot kinematics and the control approaches as well as the overall system have experienced remarkable support.

Abstract Background Motor proteins have extensively been studied in the past and consist of large superfamilies. They are involved in diverse processes like cell division, cellular transport, neuronal transport processes, or muscle contraction, to name a few. Vertebrates contain up to 60 myosins and about the same number of kinesins that are spread over more than a dozen distinct classes. Results Here, we present the comparative genomic analysis of the motor protein repertoire of 21 completely sequenced arthropod species using the owl limpet Lottia gigantea as outgroup. Arthropods contain up to 17 myosins grouped into 13 classes. The myosins are in almost all cases clear paralogs, and thus the evolution of the arthropod myosin inventory is mainly determined by gene losses. Arthropod species contain up to 29 kinesins spread over 13 classes. In contrast to the myosins, the evolution of the arthropod kinesin inventory is not only determined by gene losses but also by many subtaxon-specific and species-specific gene duplications. All arthropods contain each of the subunits of the cytoplasmic dynein/dynactin complex. Except for the dynein light chains and the p150 dynactin subunit they contain single gene copies of the other subunits. Especially the roadblock light chain repertoire is very species-specific. Conclusion All 21 completely sequenced arthropods, including the twelve sequenced Drosophila species, contain a species-specific set of motor proteins. The phylogenetic analysis of all genes as well as the protein repertoire placed Daphnia pulex closest to the root of the Arthropoda. The louse Pediculus humanus corporis is the closest relative to Daphnia followed by the group of the honeybee Apis mellifera and the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis. After this group the rust-red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and the silkworm Bombyx mori diverged very closely from the lineage leading to the Drosophila species.

In male goats, self-enurination (SE) is the downward turning of the head and shoulders while urinating onto the face and front legs. Although it provides important chemical cues to females, other males, and even self, it is a costly behavior that can create a range of problems including erythema, irritation, hair loss, and compromised skin. It was hypothesized that the extent of integument damage from SE on bucks' faces and front legs would be increased by housing bucks near females. Four bucks were housed with fence-line contact to females ("Near" bucks), and four bucks were housed without fence-line contact to females ("Far" bucks). Each buck was photographed every other week over an 18-wk period during the breeding season. During each imaging session, seven different photographic views were captured, and burn areas were quantified for each buck. Overall, more Near bucks had urine burn than Far bucks, and Near bucks developed urine burn earlier in the breeding season than did Far bucks. Housing bucks close to females increases the extent of integument damage from SE. These findings may help goat breeders develop management practices to improve animal well-being by minimizing urine burn injury to bucks., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

While the early Christian Church demonstrates a deep desire to relieve physical suffering, the Greco-Roman world in which it developed lacked the same impetus to respond to human need, especially in the context of epidemic or communicable disease. Christianity's dedication to health care, and its belief that assisting the sick constituted an absolute obligation, distinguished early Christianity from its contemporary cultural milieu which regularly ignored and excluded the sick. The novelty of the Christian approach to healing can be traced to the early church's unique recognition of human need. This vision of human need, which ultimately replaced the secular Greco-Roman emphasis on reciprocal philanthropy and providing assistance only to the worthy, is clearly exemplified in the life of Christ, in responses to plague and in the writings of John Chrysostom and the Cappadocian Fathers Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. An analysis of these sources demonstrates that the early Christian Church viewed the sick not only as persons to be assisted insofar as they shared a common human nature but also individuals necessary for the salvation of the broader community as a whole. The early church's emphasis on reciprocal interdependence between healthy and sick eliminated the boundaries traditionally established between these two groups and transformed long-standing notions of contagious disease. Ultimately, the development of these attitudes toward the sick originates in a deeper truth which underlies the Christian healthcare tradition both in the ancient world and in the modern era: humanity's profound and mutual need of God, before whom all are spiritually ill., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© Catholic Medical Association 2020.)

The behavioral and endocrine activation of sexual behaviors exhibited by male goats, especially self-enurination (SE), is poorly understood. In the first experiment, to assess the influence of socio-sexual context on SE in bucks, the effects of distance from does, the presence of estrous versus non-estrous does and the presence of another buck on SE and courtship frequencies of intact male goats (bucks; n = 12) were tested using a unique behavior test apparatus. For experiments 2 and 3, to test the relative contributions of sex steroid hormones and socio-sexual context on SE, castrated male goats (wethers; n = 20) were randomly divided into five groups and injected for seven weeks with one of the following: 25 mg testosterone propionate (T), 25 mg dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHT), 100 μg estradiol benzoate (E), 100 μg E and 25 mg DHT (E + DHT), or oil (CON). The effects of these treatments on frequency of SE and courtship were assessed using the behavior test apparatus (social scenarios) adapted from the findings in experiment 1. In one scenario, a wether could observe (from 4.6 m) a buck and estrous female (doe) together in a wire mesh holding pen. In a different scenario, the wether could observe (from the same distance) a buck that could only court the estrous doe through a wire mesh barrier. Finally, to observe the effects of steroid treatment on mounting and ejaculation frequencies, in addition to SE and courtship, each wether was placed in a pen with an estrous doe for 10 min. After a five-week, treatment-washout period, wethers were randomly assigned to different treatment groups and retested. In experiment 1, bucks that were distanced from females displayed more SEs than those with fence-line contact, while those with fence-line contact displayed more bouts of courtship (P < 0.05). In experiments 2 and 3, courtship frequencies displayed in all three scenarios were greater than CON only for groups exposed to estrogen directly or via aromatization (T, E + DHT, E; P < 0.05). Frequencies of SE exhibited during behavior tests in which the wether was watching were greater than CON only for androgen-treated groups (T, E + DHT, DHT; P < 0.05). In contrast, when the wether was free to interact with the female, only the DHT group displayed SE at a higher frequency than CON (P < 0.05). Treatment had no effect on mount frequencies in this test scenario, however ejaculation frequencies were highest for T and E + DHT (P < 0.05). These studies suggest that the courtship behaviors of the male goat are estrogen-dependent. However, SE appears to be activated by androgens. It was also demonstrated that social context contributes as much to behavior expression as steroid treatment, as in social scenario 2 some sexual behaviors were displayed in similar frequencies across groups, despite differing sex steroid treatments., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Heredity hemochromatosis (HH) is an underdiagnosed genetic disease that can lead to life-threatening multisystem organ failure. Identifying and treating HH early can prevent the progression of the disease., Case Presentation: For a 60-year-old white patient without obvious symptoms, it was a revelation to discover that he had HH. This patient, although receiving evidence-based care, ultimately required a liver transplant. As his condition deteriorated, the plan for this patient and his family involved working within an interdisciplinary team that included nurse practitioners and intensive care unit nurses., Discussion: The uniqueness of this case illustrates the crucial role of a health care team that persisted in differentiating the patient's diagnosis and continued to sustain both physical and emotional care throughout his hospitalization despite a poor prognosis. The patient felt support from this team during the course of his illness, from requiring life-supporting care in intensive care unit to returning home and resuming his normal activities of daily living.

Background: Traditional sedation for mechanically ventilated patients causes delirium, which increases the patients' length of stay while hospitalized. When extubation is attempted, these medications must be discontinued because of the side effect of respiratory depression, leaving patients anxious and agitated, delaying extubation and prolonging the need for mechanical ventilation. Dexmedetomidine is a safe alternative sedative that does not cause delirium or respiratory depression. During the weaning process, dexmedetomidine can be continued, allowing the patient to remain calm and successfully extubated., Objectives: The aim of this study is to decrease the length of stay for mechanically ventilated patients by implementing a dexmedetomidine protocol for difficult-to-extubate patients during the weaning process., Methods: A preintervention/postintervention design pilot study was done comparing the patient mean of length of stay on mechanical ventilation. A Mann-Whitney U test was used because of the small sample size., Results: Over the 3-month implementation period, 15 patients received dexmedetomidine. None of the patients experienced adverse reactions while on dexmedetomidine. There was a trend of decreasing mechanical ventilation length of stay but no significant difference was noted between the preimplementation and postimplementation groups., Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine was a safe alternative to traditional sedation for difficult-to-extubate patients when a bolus dose was not given.

Many large-scale surveys measure subjective well-being (SWB) through a single survey item. This paper takes advantages of response time data to explore the relation between time taken to answer a single SWB item and the reliability and validity of answers to this SWB item. We found that reliability and validity of answers to the SWB item are low for fast respondents aged 70 and above and slow respondents between the age of 50 and 70. The findings indicate that longer time spent answering the single SWB item is associated with data of lower quality for respondents aged between 50 and 70, but data of higher quality for respondents aged 70 and above. This paper speaks to the importance of capitalizing response times that are readily available from computerized interviews to evaluate answers provided by respondents and calls for survey researchers' attention to differences in time taken to answer a survey question across respondent subgroups.

The emergence of genome-integrated molecular cytogenetic resources allows for comprehensive comparative analysis of gross karyotype architecture across related species. The identification of evolutionarily conserved chromosome segment (ECCS) boundaries provides deeper insight into the process of chromosome evolution associated with speciation. We evaluated the genome-wide distribution and relative orientation of ECCSs in three wild canid species with diverse karyotypes (red fox, Chinese raccoon dog, and gray fox). Chromosome-specific panels of dog genome-integrated bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones spaced at ∼10-Mb intervals were used in fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis to construct integrated physical genome maps of these three species. Conserved evolutionary breakpoint regions (EBRs) shared between their karyotypes were refined across these and eight additional wild canid species using targeted BAC panels spaced at ∼1-Mb intervals. Our findings suggest that the EBRs associated with speciation in the Canidae are compatible with recent phylogenetic groupings and provide evidence that these breakpoints are also recurrently associated with spontaneous canine cancers. We identified several regions of domestic dog sequence that share homology with canid B chromosomes, including additional cancer-associated genes, suggesting that these supernumerary elements may represent more than inert passengers within the cell. We propose that the complex karyotype rearrangements associated with speciation of the Canidae reflect unstable chromosome regions described by the fragile breakage model.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL), comprising 2% of all leukemias, is a chronic disorder characterized by mononuclear cells with prominent cytoplasmic projections. For years, patients with HCL underwent splenectomies and then interferon alpha for treatment, which provided high response rates but low percentages of complete remission. More recent treatments with 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine result in 85%-90% complete remission, minimal toxicity, and lower rates of relapse using a single course of therapy. A second course of therapy can be administered if HCL continues to be resistant or recurs. New research using anti-CD22 recombinant immunotoxin BL22 is proving successful. With these latest chemotherapy options, patients' prognoses are optimistic.

Studies were conducted to compare continuous vs pulsatile i.v. infusion of GnRH on serum gonadotropin concentrations and ovulation in seasonally anestrous mares and in cycling mares. Anestrous mares (Exp. 1) received no treatment (control; n = 3), 2, or 20 micrograms of GnRH/h continuous infusion (CI) (n = 4 and n = 6, respectively), or 20 micrograms of GnRH/h pulsatile infusion (PI) (n = 5). After initiation of GnRH infusion, serum LH levels increased earlier, and to a greater extent, in the PI group than in other groups (P less than .05). In contrast, serum FSH concentrations did not differ among groups. The number of days to development of the first 35-mm follicle was not different among GnRH treatment groups; however, mares receiving PI ovulated on d 9.4 of treatment, 2.8 d earlier than those receiving 20 micrograms of GnRH/h CI (P less than .05). Mares given 2 micrograms of GnRH/h CI failed to ovulate spontaneously after 16 d of treatment, but each one ovulated within 2 to 4 d after injection of 2,000 IU of hCG on d 16. Control mares did not ovulate or show any significant follicular development throughout the experiment. Cycling mares (Exp. 2) received no treatment (control; n = 6), 20 micrograms of GnRH/h CI, or 20 micrograms of GnRH/h PI (n = 4) beginning on d 16 of an estrous cycle (d 0 = day of ovulation). Serum LH concentrations in all groups increased after initiation of treatment; however, on the day of ovulation LH concentrations were lower in the CI group than in the PI or control groups (P less than .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alveolar macrophages (AM phi) were examined for CR1 (C3b receptor, CD35), CR3 (iC3b receptor; CD11b/CD18), and CR4 (iC3b receptor; CD11c/CD18) by assays for binding of C3-opsonized sheep erythrocytes (EC3b or EC3bi) and uptake of specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In AM phi isolates from nine normal volunteers, 49% of cells bound EC3b and 71% bound EC3bi. Quantitation of receptors per cell with [125I]mAbs showed 8.5 x 10(4) CR4, 5.1 x 10(4) CR3, and 2.6 x 10(4) CR1. With most AM phi preparations, CR3 was the major receptor mediating attachment of EC3bi, despite the predominance of CR4 antigens. Anti-CR3 inhibited EC3bi rosettes by > or = 50%, whereas anti-CR4 blocked rosettes by < or = 18%. U937 cells differentiated with phorbol myristate acetate resembled AM phi in receptor expression but exhibited almost no CR4-dependent rosetting. Despite the relative inability of CR4 to mediate EC3bi attachment, AM phi ingestion of [51Cr]EC3bi was blocked by either anti-CR3 or anti-CR4. Two lines of evidence indicated that CR3 were more mobile within the membrane than were CR4. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated patching and occasional capping of CR3, whereas CR4 remained uniformly distributed. This patching and capping of CR3 required the actin cytoskeleton, as it was inhibited by cytochalasin D. Modulation experiments using surfaces coated with anti-CR3 or anti-CR4 also showed that CR3 was more mobile than was CR4. However, there was some variation among AM phi isolates from different donors. In seven isolates, no CR4 modulation was produced with anti-CR4, whereas in six other isolates, CR4 was modulated by 66%. Incubation of cells in cytochalasin D increased modulation of both CR3 and CR4 on mAb-coated surfaces. Cells exhibiting increased mobility of CR4 showed an increased ability to form CR4-dependent EC3bi rosettes. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that CR3 and CR4 exhibit a variable association with the cytoskeleton that regulates their mobility and function. A relatively mobile subset of CR3 and/or CR4 mediates EC3bi attachment, whereas a relatively immobile subset of CR3 and/or CR4 fails to mediate EC3bi attachment but functions to promote ingestion of EC3bi.

Four studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of several physiologic and pharmacologic agents on serum prolactin concentrations in the nonpregnant mare. An increase in prolactin measured in response to administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH; 50 micrograms, iv) was found not to vary (P = .20) in mares in estrus compared with mares in diestrus (5 to 10 d post-ovulation). Administration in the dopamine receptor blocker, metoclopramide (25 or 100 mg, im), rapidly increased serum prolactin, and the response was dependent on dose administered (total prolactin measured for 420 min was 3,362.7 +/- 182.1 ng for 25 mg, and 4,485.7 +/- 212.6 ng for 100 mg administered im; P less than .05), but not on route of injection (3,026.3 +/- 492.3 ng prolactin with 25 mg, iv; P less than .05). Similarly, sulpiride, a D-2 dopamine receptor blocker, induced an increase in serum prolactin, which appeared to be maximal at a dose of 25 mg (6,556.3 +/- 636.9 ng prolactin/420 min compared with 6,594.5 +/- 169.3 ng prolactin/420 min with 100 mg sulpiride; P less than .10). Finally, bromocriptine, a dopamine agonist, decreased serum prolactin compared with vehicle-injected controls, but the inhibitory effect was found only when basal levels of serum prolactin were highest (in May). These data suggest that mechanisms controlling prolactin secretion in the mare are similar to those described in other mammalian species, and that the seasonal decline in serum prolactin is not the result of increased sensitivity to the proposed prolactin-inhibiting factor, dopamine.

Standard bred mares that were cycling normally were treated beginning on Days 9 or 10 of the oestrous cycle with repeated pulses of GnRH (20 micrograms/h) and/or a single injection of prostaglandin (PG)F-2 alpha (alfaprostol, 3 mg), and were subsequently bled and palpated daily until the next ovulation. GnRH treatment increased serum concentrations of LH and progesterone at 4 days after the start of treatment compared to controls. The combination of PGF-2 alpha + GnRH treatment resulted in an immediate decline in serum progesterone values, and subsequently decreased the interval to next ovulation by 4.5 days compared to controls. Mean serum concentrations of FSH were not different among treatment groups 4 days after the start of treatment, and there was a consistent trend among all treatment groups for decreasing concentrations of FSH within the 6 days before ovulation. We conclude that, under our experimental conditions, pulsatile administration of GnRH provides a short-term luteotrophic stimulus, probably by the elevation in serum LH, but that this stimulus cannot indefinitely prevent the luteolytic effects of exogenously administered PGF-2 alpha. Although GnRH treatment combined with PGF-2 alpha injection hastened the impending ovulation, this regimen was no more effective than PGF-2 alpha treatment alone.