Emerging methods for measuring physical activity using accelerometry in children and adolescents with neuromotor disorders: a narrative review.

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents with neuromotor disorders need regular physical activity to maintain optimal health and functional independence throughout their development. To this end, reliable measures of physical activity are integral to both assessing habitual physical activity and testing the efficacy of the many interventions designed to increase physical activity in these children. Wearable accelerometers have been used for children with neuromotor disorders for decades; however, studies most often use disorder-specific cut points to categorize physical activity intensity, which lack generalizability to a free-living environment. No reviews of accelerometer data processing methods have discussed the novel use of machine learning techniques for monitoring physical activity in children with neuromotor disorders. METHODS: In this narrative review, we discuss traditional measures of physical activity (including questionnaires and objective accelerometry measures), the limitations of standard analysis for accelerometry in this unique population, and the potential benefits of applying machine learning approaches. We also provide recommendations for using machine learning approaches to monitor physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: While wearable accelerometers provided a much-needed method to quantify physical activity, standard cut point analyses have limitations in children with neuromotor disorders. Machine learning models are a more robust method of analyzing accelerometer data in pediatric neuromotor disorders and using these methods over disorder-specific cut points is likely to improve accuracy of classifying both type and intensity of physical activity. Notably, there remains a critical need for further development of classifiers for children with more severe motor impairments, preschool aged children, and children in hospital settings.

[Congestive heart failure: Treatment with ultrafiltration]. / Insuffisance cardiaque congestive : place de l'ultrafiltration.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence rate of congestive heart failure is approximately 2% in high-income countries. The aim of this study was to assess the overall benefit of ultrafiltration therapy in patients with acute or persistent congestive heart failure. METHODS: We conducted a health technology assessment following the EUnetHTA guidelines, with systematic literature review from bibliographic medical databases, independent experts and manufacturer interviews. RESULTS: Thirteen clinical trials and five meta-analyses were examined. In the most recent one, 608 patients were included, of which 304 received ultrafiltration therapy and 304 received intravenous loop diuretics. Ultrafiltration therapy seems to be more beneficial regarding the fluid removal and the body weight reduction, (mean difference respectively 1.44kg, IC95% [0.29; 2.59], P-value=0.01 and 1.28L [0.43; 2.12], P-value=0.003). No difference has been showed in overall mortality, renal function, hospital readmission or safety. Medico-economic studies are incomplete and contradictory. CONCLUSION: Ultrafiltration therapy seems to be effective, most likely for patients ineligible or resistant to intravenous diuretics. But most topics remain uncertain, mainly impact on overall mortality, safety and cost-effectiveness. Given these knowledge-gaps, the generalization of ultrafiltration therapy should be examined cautiously, and conditional upon a large-scale systematic evaluation.

Resonant third harmonic generation of KrF laser in Ar gas.

Investigations of emission of harmonics from argon gas jet irradiated by 700 fs, 5 mJ pulses from a KrF laser are presented. Harmonics conversion was optimized by varying the experimental geometry and the nozzle size. For the collection of the harmonic radiation silicon and solar-blind diamond semiconductor detectors equipped with charge preamplifiers were applied. The possibility of using a single-crystal CVD diamond detector for separate measurement of the 3rd harmonic in the presence of a strong pumping radiation was explored. Our experiments show that the earlier suggested 0.7% conversion efficiency can really be obtained, but only in the case when phase matching is optimized with an elongated gas target length corresponding to the length of coherence.

Endometrial polyps in the bitch: a retrospective study of 21 cases.

Endometrial polyps (EPs) are tumour-like lesions reported frequently in domestic carnivores. The present report describes the clinical and pathological features of EPs in 21 bitches. Most affected bitches had a regular reproductive history. Five bitches had no clinical signs and eleven showed clinical signs of pyometra. Four bitches had a large EP which resulted in compression of the abdominal viscera. One bitch had an acute uterine torsion. A clinical diagnosis of EPs was only made when the lesions were large and identified by abdominal palpation or ultrasound. Grossly, the EPs were 5-25 cm in diameter and were single, sessile or pedunculated. They were often associated with cystic endometrial hyperplasia. Microscopically, the EPs were fibroglandular with the stroma sometimes being haemorrhagic and infiltrated by inflammatory cells. In one case, there were areas of stromal smooth muscle and epithelial squamous metaplasia, which may have been consistent with preneoplastic change.

Ion mixing at 20 keV: a comparison of the effects of Ga+, Ar+ and CF4+ ion irradiation.

Medium-energy (some tens of keV) ion irradiation is frequently used in various technologies. It is well known that during this irradiation serious alterations are introduced to the material, changing its structure, composition, etc. While there are studies on the amorphization, no results have been reported on the medium-energy ion beam-induced mixing, however. In this work, we present Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling measurements of Si/Cr multilayer samples, which were irradiated by various ions (Ga+, Ar+, CF4+) of 20 keV applying angles of incidence of 5 degrees (Ga+), 65 degrees (Ga+) and 75 degrees (Ar+, CF4+). The ion beam-induced mixing at the Si/Cr interface (the broadening of the interface) was measured as a function of the removed layer thickness. The weakest and strongest ion mixing (for a given removed layer thickness) were found for CF4+ and Ga+ 5 degrees irradiations, respectively. In the case of Ga+ irradiation, the larger the angle of incidence the weaker the ion mixing. The extent of mixing does not correlate with the corresponding projected range. Comparison of the experimentally measured ion mixed profiles with those given by dynamic TRIM simulations gave poor agreement for Ar+ and fails for Ga+ irradiations, respectively.

Comparison of the sensitivity of manual and automated immunomagnetic separation methods for detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk.

AIM: To determine the sensitivity of methods for detection of injured and uninjured Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157) in raw and pasteurized milk. METHODS AND RESULTS: Raw milk, pasteurized milk with 1.5% fat content and pasteurized milk with 3.5% fat content were spiked with E. coli O157 at low levels. The samples were enriched in modified tryptone soya broth with novobiocin (mTSBn) at 37 degrees C. Aliquots of the enriched culture were analysed either by manual immunomagnetic separation (MIMS) and culturing on sorbitol MacConkey agar with or without cefixime and potassium tellurite (SMACct or SMAC), or by automated immunomagnetic separation and integrated ELISA (EiaFosstrade mark). Uninjured E. coli O157 organisms were detected in milk by both methods at 1 cfu 10 ml-1 sample). Injured organisms were detected at levels of about 4 cfu 10 ml-1 sample. Direct enrichment in mTSBn (22 h incubation) showed better sensitivity for injured cells than enrichment in buffered peptone water (BPW, 22 h incubation), or in a two-step enrichment consisting of BPW (6 h, 37 degrees C) and mTSBn (16 h, 37 degrees C), successively. CONCLUSIONS: The methods showed equal sensitivity in that they were both able to detect 1 cfu 10 ml-1 milk sample. Injured organisms can be detected and isolated at a level almost as low as this. A resuscitation step is not recommended for the detection and isolation of injured and non-injured E. coli O157 from milk. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Due to the dilution of contamination in the bulk tank, analysis of milk for the presence of E. coli O157 requires a very sensitive method. Both methods described here are useful for such analysis.

Preparation of cross-sectional TEM samples for low-angle ion milling.

The ideal ion-milled transmission electron microscope (TEM) sample would contain large, thin areas in selected regions, minimal top and bottom surface amorphization, and minimal preferential etching of adjacent materials. This desire has led to studies of these effects and improvements in designs and techniques for ion mills. Minimizing the incident angle of the ion beam to the surface of the sample has been found to be one of the most effective techniques for fulfilling these requirements. A new generation of ion mills has recently been designed to allow low-angle ion milling for the production of very high quality cross-sectional TEM samples. To take advantage of the low-angle ion milling capabilities and high-powered ion sources in these mills, new sample preparation techniques are required. In this paper, a simple technique of mounting material in a specialized titanium grid for cross-sectional TEM sample preparation is presented. This technique is designed to take full advantage of the powerful capabilities of these new low-angle ion mills.

Simple method for the preparation of InP based samples for TEM investigation.

A novel, rapid, and simple method is described for the preparation of InP based samples for investigation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The key feature of the technique is Ar+ ion bombardment in an iodine ambient. Cross sectional micrographs of Au/InP samples are shown as an example. The technique developed produces a large area of transparent region.

Metabolic predictors of middle-distance swimming performance.

To evaluate the capacity of different metabolic indices to predict performance in middle distance swimming, 15 competitive swimmers performed a submaximal and a maximal 400 metres freestyle swimming event. Expired gases were collected in Douglas bags immediately after the events for the determination of VO2 max. Arterialized blood samples were collected for the determination of maximal blood lactate concentration and the velocity corresponding to blood lactate concentration of 4 mM. The results demonstrated (means +/- SD): maximal velocity of 1.44 +/- 0.05 m.s-1; velocity at 85 percent of VO2 max of 1.36 +/- 0.04 m.s-1; velocity at 4 mM of 1.32 +/- 0.04 m.s-1; VO2 max of 3.47 +/- 0.5 l.min-1; maximal blood lactate concentration of 11.8 +/- 2.5 mM. Multiple regression analysis relating metabolic indices and maximal velocity demonstrated that only velocity at 85 percent of VO2 max (r2 = 0.81) and velocity at 4 mM (r2 = 0.79) were significant predictors. Thus, 79 percent of the variance in the performance of 400 m freestyle can be accounted for the velocity at 85 percent of VO2 max or the velocity at 4 mM. The success in this event seems to depend on the swimmer's capacity to achieve higher velocities with lower blood lactate levels and/or utilizing a lower percentage of their VO2 max.