Altering prosthetic alignment does not affect hip and low back joint loading during sit-to-stand in people with a transtibial amputation.

People with a transtibial amputation (TTA) have greater prevalence of low back and hip joint pain compared to the general population. Altered movement, loading patterns, and neuromuscular activation during daily tasks like sit-to-stand likely contribute to these high rates of pain. In addition, muscle activation, ground reaction forces, and trunk range of motion can be affected by prosthetic alignment during sit-to-stand.

Enantiopure -Chiral Secondary Phosphines (P*HRR') from the Catalytic Asymmetric Hydrogenation of P═C Bonds.

We report the first bottleable enantiopure -chiral secondary phosphines from the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of phosphaalkenes. Catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation, a reaction of broad academic and industrial importance for C═C, N═C, and O═C bonds, has not previously been reported for the P═C bond. The hydrogenation of ArP═CR (Ar = Mes, -Xyl and TMOP; R = Ph, 4-CHF) affords four unprecedented -stereogenic secondary phosphines in 76%-90% isolated yields with 91%-97% enantiomeric excess (ee).

Perspectives on the comparative benefits of body-powered and myoelectric upper limb prostheses.

Background: Patient access to body-powered and myoelectric upper limb prostheses in the United States is often restricted by a healthcare system that prioritizes prosthesis prescription based on cost and perceived value. Although this system operates on an underlying assumption that design differences between these prostheses leads to relative advantages and disadvantages of each device, there is limited empirical evidence to support this view.

Main Text: This commentary article will review a series of studies conducted by our research team with the goal of differentiating how prosthesis design might impact user performance on a variety of interrelated domains.

Comparison of inter-joint coordination strategies during activities of daily living with prosthetic and anatomical limbs.

While healthy individuals have redundant degrees of freedom of the joints, they coordinate their multi-joint movements such that the redundancy is effectively reduced. Achieving high inter-joint coordination may be difficult for upper limb prosthesis users due to the lack of proprioceptive feedback and limited motion of the terminal device. This study compared inter-joint coordination between prosthesis users and individuals without limb loss during different upper limb activities of daily living (ADLs).

A high-throughput screening platform for discovering bacterial species and small molecules that modify animal physiology.

The gut microbiome has been proposed to influence many aspects of animal development and physiology. However, both the specific bacterial species and the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria exert these effects are unknown in most cases. Here, we established a high throughput screening platform using the model animal for identifying bacterial species and mechanisms that influence animal development and physiology.

Topical drug delivery by Sepineo P600 emulgel: Relationship between rheology, physical stability, and formulation performance.

The objective of this present work was to develop and optimize oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion-based gels, namely emulgels that allow maximum topical drug delivery while having desired microstructure and acceptable physical stability. Emulgels containing 2.0 wt% lidocaine were prepared using various concentrations (0.

Oocyte mitochondria link maternal environment to offspring phenotype.

During maturation oocytes undergo a recently discovered mitochondrial proteome remodeling event in flies, frogs, and humans. This oocyte mitochondrial remodeling, which includes substantial changes in electron transport chain (ETC) subunit abundance, is regulated by maternal insulin signaling. Why oocytes undergo mitochondrial remodeling is unknown, with some speculating that it might be an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to protect oocytes from genotoxic damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Sustainable Alternatives to Petroleum-Derived Excipients in Pharmaceutical Oil-in-Water Creams.

Recently, vast efforts towards sustainability have been made in the pharmaceutical industry. In conventional oil-in-water (O/W) cream formulations, various petroleum-based excipients, namely mineral oil and petrolatum, are commonly used. Natural or synthetic excipients, derived from vegetable sources, were explored as alternatives to petroleum-based excipients in prototype topical creams, with 1% (w/w) lidocaine.

Development and large-scale production of human milk fat analog by fermentation of microalgae.

Background: Human milk contains a complex mixture of triacylglycerols (TAG), making it challenging to recreate using common ingredients.

Objective: The study aimed to develop an innovative fermentation technique to produce essential human milk TAG, effectively tackling a significant hurdle in infant nutrition.

Method: An in-depth analysis of the literature has been conducted to identify the specific TAG to be targeted.

Development and validation of the coffee task: a novel functional assessment for prosthetic grip selection.

Background: Lack of standardized assessments that explicitly quantify performance during prosthetic grip selection poses difficulty determining whether efforts to improve the design of multi-grip hands and their control approaches are successful. In this study, we developed and validated a novel assessment of multi-grip prosthetic performance: The Coffee Task.

Methods: Individuals without limb loss completed the Box and Block Test and two versions of the Coffee Task - Continuous and Segmented - with a myoelectric prosthetic emulator.

Electrical Stimulation of Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces (RPNIs) Induces Referred Sensations in People With Upper Limb Loss.

Individuals with upper limb loss lack sensation of the missing hand, which can negatively impact their daily function. Several groups have attempted to restore this sensation through electrical stimulation of residual nerves. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces (RPNIs) in eliciting referred sensation.

Probing Radical Addition to 1-Phosphabutadienes by Employing Muonium as a "Light Isotope" of Hydrogen.

Understanding free radical addition to multiple bonds is important to elucidating the mechanistic details of addition polymerization reactions, albeit the fleeting radical intermediates are very difficult to detect by conventional methodologies. Muon spin spectroscopy (μSR) is a highly sensitive method that can detect radical species at 10 spins (cf. EPR: 10 spins, NMR: 10 spins).

Cationic Phosphinidene as a Versatile P Building Block: [L-P] Transfer from Phosphonio-Phosphanides [L-P-PR] and Subsequent L Replacement Reactions (L = N-Heterocyclic Carbene).

Cationic imidazoliumyl(phosphonio)-phosphanides [L-P-PR] (, L = 4,5-dimethyl-1,3-diisopropylimidazolium-2-yl; R = alkyl, aryl) are obtained via the nucleophilic fragmentation of tetracationic tetraphosphetane [(L-P)][OTf] ([OTf]) with tertiary phosphanes. They act as [L-P] transfer reagents in phospha-Wittig-type reactions, when converted with various thiocarbonyls, giving unprecedented cationic phosphaalkenes [L-P═CR] ([OTf]) or phosphanides [L-P-CR(NR)] ([OTf]). Theoretical calculations suggest that three-membered cyclic thiophosphiranes are crucial intermediates of this reaction.

Long-term upper-extremity prosthetic control using regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces and implanted EMG electrodes.

Extracting signals directly from the motor system poses challenges in obtaining both high amplitude and sustainable signals for upper-limb neuroprosthetic control. To translate neural interfaces into the clinical space, these interfaces must provide consistent signals and prosthetic performance.Previously, we have demonstrated that the Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) is a biologically stable, bioamplifier of efferent motor action potentials.

Demographic and Clinical Predictors of Pharmacist-Administered Pediatric Influenza Immunization.

Pediatricians' offices are primary locations for pediatric influenza vaccination; however, pharmacists are also well-positioned as immunizers. Considering the current COVID-19 pandemic and Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, pharmacists' authority to vaccinate children has been recently expanded. We used the de-identified Optum Clinformatics Data Mart database to identify demographic and clinical predictors of pharmacist-administered pediatric influenza vaccination compared with influenza vaccination in pediatricians' offices.

Comparison of five different methodologies for evaluating ankle-foot orthosis stiffness.

Background: The mechanical properties of an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) play an important role in the gait mechanics of the end user. However, testing methodologies for evaluating these mechanical properties are not standardized. The purpose of this study was to compare five different evaluation frameworks to assess AFO stiffness.

Upper limb prostheses: bridging the sensory gap.

Replacing human hand function with prostheses goes far beyond only recreating muscle movement with feedforward motor control. Natural sensory feedback is pivotal for fine dexterous control and finding both engineering and surgical solutions to replace this complex biological function is imperative to achieve prosthetic hand function that matches the human hand. This review outlines the nature of the problems underlying sensory restitution, the engineering methods that attempt to address this deficit and the surgical techniques that have been developed to integrate advanced neural interfaces with biological systems.

Ambient Temperature Carbene-Mediated Depolymerization: Stoichiometric and Catalytic Reactions of -Heterocyclic- and Cyclic(Alkyl)Amino Carbenes with Poly(-Methylaminoborane) [MeNH-BH].

The reactions of the -heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) IDipp and IBu and the cyclic(alkyl)amino carbene (CAAC) CAAC with polyaminoborane [MeNH-BH] were investigated. Stoichiometric quantities of each carbene were found to cause rapid and complete depolymerization, with the major B-N-containing product identified as the NHC-aminoborane adduct, IDipp-BHNMeH (), cyclic borazane [MeNH-BH], or borazine [MeNBH] with IDipp, IBu, and CAAC, respectively. With substoichiometric quantities of IDipp and IBu (down to 10 and 2.

Use of regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces and intramuscular electrodes to improve prosthetic grasp selection: a case study.

Advanced myoelectric hands enable users to select from multiple functional grasps. Current methods for controlling these hands are unintuitive and require frequent recalibration. This case study assessed the performance of tasks involving grasp selection, object interaction, and dynamic postural changes using intramuscular electrodes with regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces (RPNIs) and residual muscles.

Temporal and spatial goal-directed reaching in upper limb prosthesis users.

Understanding the fundamental characteristics of prosthetic movement control is imperative in improving prosthesis design and training. This study quantified how using an upper limb prosthesis affected performance during goal-directed reaching tasks. Nine prosthesis users with unilateral transradial limb absence and nine healthy controls completed a series of goal-directed reaching movements with different goals: one spatial and three temporal with different goal frequencies.

Characterizing sensory thresholds and intensity sensitivity of Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces: A Case Study.

Current prosthetic limbs offer little to no sensory feedback. Developments in peripheral nerve interfaces provide opportunities to restore some level of tactile feedback that is referred to the prosthetic limb. One such method is a Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI), composed of a muscle graft wrapped around a free nerve ending.