Energy requirements for patients in convalescent rehabilitation using motor scores as in the Functional Independent Measure.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although appropriate nutrition management could improve rehabilitation outcomes, more than 40 % of patients in a convalescent rehabilitation ward (CRW) suffer from malnutrition. The study was undertaken to investigate whether adequate nutrition for each patient in a CRW could be estimated based on motor scores on the Functional Independence Measure (FIM-M). METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: In 218 patients in our CRW, both basal energy expenditure (BEE) on admission and average energy intake (EI) for 2 weeks were calculated, and EI was divided by BEE to estimate the activity index (e-AI). The patients were classified according to FIM-M to investigate the relationship between the FIM-M and the e-AI. RESULTS: The e-AI tended to increase in proportion to the FIM-M. In the N group, where the increase-decrease rate for body weight was within 2%, the e-AI induced by a FIM-M greater than 60 was significantly higher than that induced by a FIM-M up to 60 (1.3 vs 1.1, p<0.01). Compared to the N group, altering the e-AI caused the same tendency of body weight change in patients with FIM-M greater than 60 and up to 60. CONCLUSIONS: The FIM-M could provide a criterial activity index for patients in a CRW when their energy requirement is appropriately estimated, considering the intensity of their physical activity.

Local thermal elevation probing of metal nanostructures during laser illumination utilizing surface-enhanced Raman scattering from a single-walled carbon nanotube.

Localized laser-induced heating of an individual Au nano-dimer was quantitatively evaluated by measuring the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from an isolated single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) supported above the nano-gap between the two metal centres of the dimer. The SERS measurement showed an apparent wavenumber shift in the G-band of the Raman spectra with an increase in the power of the illuminated laser light, indicating the laser-induced local thermal elevation of the Au nano-dimer. In addition, it was found that the effect of the laser illumination on the thermal elevation in air was larger than that in aqueous solution, indicating that the localized laser-heating effect is strongly influenced by the surrounding environment. The present technique provides a measure of the highly localized heating effect of plasmonic metal nanostructures under photo-illumination.