Effects of Constraining Postural Sway During Upper-Limb Precision Aiming Task Practice in Individuals with Stroke.

Individuals post-stroke commonly demonstrate alterations in motor behavior with regard to both task performance and the motor strategies used in pursuit of task goals. We evaluated whether constraining postural sway (motor strategy) during practice would affect upper-limb precision aiming performance (task performance) and postural control adaptations. Adults with stroke stood on a force plate while immersed in a virtual scene displaying an anterior target.

Nisin Inhibition of Gram-Negative Bacteria.

This study investigates the activity of the broad-spectrum bacteriocin nisin against a large panel of Gram-negative bacterial isolates, including relevant plant, animal, and human pathogens. The aim is to generate supportive evidence towards the use/inclusion of bacteriocin-based therapeutics and open avenues for their continued development. Nisin inhibitory activity was screened against a panel of 575 strains of Gram-negative bacteria, encompassing 17 genera.

Computational Drug Design of Novel Agonists of the μ -Opioid Receptor to Inhibit Pain Signaling.

Opioids such as Morphine, Codeine, Hydrocodone, and Oxycodone target the μ-opioid receptor, a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), blocking the transmission of nociceptive signals. In this study, four opioids were analyzed for ADMET properties and molecular interactions with a GPCR crystal structure (PDB ID: 8EF6). This aided in the computational design of two novel drug candidates with improved docking scores and ADMET properties when compared to Hydrocodone.

Precision aiming performance with the paretic upper limb is associated with center of pressure patterns in individuals with chronic stroke.

Background: Individuals with stroke commonly demonstrate upper-limb sensorimotor impairments. Upper-limb tasks occur against a background level of postural control and thus require a flexible postural control system to facilitate performance. Anterior precision aiming tasks, for example, benefit from lower medial-lateral (ML) center of pressure (COP) fluctuations (where increased fluctuations erode performance) relative to anterior-posterior (AP) fluctuations (where increased fluctuations do not strongly influence performance).

The effects of sports-related concussion history on female adolescent brain activity and connectivity for bilateral lower extremity knee motor control.

Sports-related concussions (SRCs) are associated with neuromuscular control deficits in athletes following return to play. However, the connection between SRC and potentially disrupted neural regulation of lower extremity motor control has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate brain activity and connectivity during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lower extremity motor control task (bilateral leg press) in female adolescent athletes with a history of SRC.

A Qualitative Analysis of Clinician Perspectives of Ultrasound Biofeedback for Speech Sound Disorders.

Purpose: Ultrasound biofeedback therapy (UBT) is a relatively new type of technology-assisted speech-language therapy and has shown promise in remediating speech sound disorders. However, there is a current lack of understanding of the barriers and benefits that may influence the usage behavior and clinical decision making for the implementation of UBT from a clinician perspective. In this qualitative study, we explore the perspectives of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who have used ultrasound biofeedback in programs of speech sound therapy using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model.

Differences in Lower Extremity Coordination Patterns as a Function of Sports Specialization.

The practice of early sport specialization, defined as intense year-round training in a single sport at the exclusion of others, is increasing in youth athletics. Despite potential benefits, sport specialization may be detrimental to the health of young athletes, as specialization may increase the risk of musculoskeletal injuries-particularly overuse injuries. However, there remains limited knowledge about how sports specialization uniquely alters underlying sports-related motor behavior.

Movement Regularity Differentiates Specialized and Nonspecialized Athletes in a Virtual Reality Soccer Header Task.

Background: Young athletes who specialize early in a single sport may subsequently be at increased risk of injury. While heightened injury risk has been theorized to be related to volume or length of exposure to a single sport, the development of unhealthy, homogenous movement patterns, and rigid neuromuscular control strategies may also be indicted. Unfortunately, traditional laboratory assessments have limited capability to expose such deficits due to the simplistic and constrained nature of laboratory measurement techniques and analyses.

A Dynamical Approach to the Uncontrolled Manifold: Predicting Performance Error During Steady-State Isometric Force Production.

The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) approach quantifies the presence of compensatory variability between musculoskeletal elements involved in a motor task. This approach has proved useful for identifying synergistic control strategies for a variety of everyday motor tasks and for investigating how control strategies are affected by motor pathology. However, the UCM approach is limited in its ability to relate compensatory motor variance directly to task performance because variability along the UCM is mathematically agnostic to performance.

Disinfection of Respirators with Ultraviolet Radiation.

Data for interpreting virus inactivation on N95 face filtering respirators (FFRs) by ultraviolet (UV) radiation are important in developing UV strategies for N95 FFR disinfection and reuse for any situation, whether it be everyday practices, contingency planning for expected shortages, or crisis planning for known shortages. Data regarding the integrity, form, fit, and function of N95 FFR materials following UV radiation exposure are equally important. This article provides these data for N95 FFRs following UV-C irradiation (200 nm to 280 nm) in a commercial UV-C enclosure.

Identifying more targeted antimicrobials active against selected bacterial phytopathogens.

Aims: Phytopathogens are a global threat to the world's food supply. The use of broad-spectrum bactericides and antibiotics to limit or eliminate bacterial infections is becoming less effective as levels of resistance increase, while concurrently becoming less desirable from an ecological perspective due to their collateral damage to beneficial members of plant and soil microbiomes. Bacteria produce numerous antimicrobials in addition to antibiotics, such as bacteriocins with their relatively narrow activity spectra, and inhibitory metabolic by-products, such as organic acids.

Preliminary Report on the Train the Brain Project, Part II: Neuroplasticity of Augmented Neuromuscular Training and Improved Injury-Risk Biomechanics.

Context: Neuromuscular training (NMT) facilitates the acquisition of new movement patterns that reduce the anterior cruciate ligament injury risk. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these changes are unknown.

Objective: To determine the relationship between brain activation and biomechanical changes after NMT with biofeedback.

Classification of accurate and misarticulated /r/ for ultrasound biofeedback using tongue part displacement trajectories.

Ultrasound biofeedback therapy (UBT), which incorporates real-time imaging of tongue articulation, has demonstrated generally positive speech remediation outcomes for individuals with residual speech sound disorder (RSSD). However, UBT requires high attentional demands and may therefore benefit from a simplified display of articulation targets that are easily interpretable and can be compared to real-time articulation. Identifying such targets requires automatic quantification and analysis of movement features relevant to accurate speech production.

Reciprocal Influence of Mobility and Speech-Language: Advancing Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy Cotreatment and Collaboration for Adults With Neurological Conditions.

Unlabelled: Mobility and speech-language impairments and limitations in adults with neurological conditions manifest not in isolated anatomical components but instead in the individual-environment system and are task-dependent. Optimization of function thus requires interprofessional care to promote participation in meaningful life areas within appropriate task and environmental contexts. Cotreatment guidelines (ie, the concurrent intervention of disciplines) were established by the physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language and hearing professional organizations nearly 2 decades ago to facilitate seamless interprofessional care.

Ecology of musical performance as a model for evaluation and treatment of a musician with a playing related musculoskeletal disorder: A case report.

Study Design: Case report BACKGROUND: Musicians with playing related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) require complex decision making to interpret examination findings and develop a holistic treatment approach that considers the unique interaction with their instrument. The Ecology of Musical Performance (EMP) model is a novel comprehensive clinical model designed to provide guidance for musician-centered evaluation, goal setting, and intervention planning for musicians with PRMD.

Purpose Of The Study: To describe the application of EMP in the evaluation and treatment of a pianist with PRMD.

Grip force anticipation of nonlinear, underactuated load force.

Feedforward internal model-based control enabled by efference copies of motor commands is the prevailing theoretical account of motor anticipation. Grip force control during object manipulation-a paradigmatic example of motor anticipation-is a key line of evidence for that account. However, the internal model approach has not addressed the computational challenges faced by the act of manipulating mechanically complex objects with nonlinear, underactuated degrees of freedom.

Postural control development from late childhood through young adulthood.

Background: The development of stable postural control is characterized by changes in sway variability and periods of rapid reorganization of motor system components.

Research Question: The current study examined whether changing biomechanical and perceptual demands influences the postural control behavior during development.

Method: The center of pressure (COP) was assessed via a cross-sectional design.

Anion Exchange Doping: Tuning Equilibrium to Increase Doping Efficiency in Semiconducting Polymers.

High electron affinity (EA) molecules p-type dope low ionization energy (IE) polymers, resulting in an equilibrium doping level based on the energetic driving force (IE-EA), reorganization energy, and dopant concentration. Anion exchange doping (AED) is a process whereby the dopant anion is exchanged with a stable ion from an electrolyte. We show that the AED level can be predicted using an isotherm equilibrium model.

Early learning differences between intra- and interpersonal interlimb coordination.

Intrinsic coordination patterns exist between limbs such that 1) coordination at these states is inherently stable, 2) any other pattern requires learning to produce, and 3) this learning is subject to interference from a systemic bias towards intrinsic patterns. The dynamics that govern intrapersonal interlimb coordination also govern interpersonal coordination. However, intrapersonal coordination exhibits greater coupling strength and thus more stable intrinsic dynamics than interpersonal coordination.

Linking Theory to Practice: Predicting Ballistic Performance from Mechanical Properties of Aged Body Armor.

It has long been a goal of the body armor testing community to establish an individualized, scientific-based protocol for predicting the ballistic performance end of life for fielded body armor. A major obstacle in achieving this goal is the test methods used to ascertain ballistic performance, which are destructive in nature and require large sample sizes. In this work, using both the Cunniff and Phoenix-Porwal models, we derived two separate but similar theoretical relationships between the observed degradation in mechanical properties of aged body armor and its decreased ballistic performance.

Children and adolescents with cerebral palsy flexibly adapt grip control in response to variable task demands.

Background: Children and adolescents with cerebral palsy demonstrate impairments in grip control with associated limitations in functional grasp. Previous work in cerebral palsy has focused on grip control using relatively predictable task demands, a feature which may limit generalizability of those study results in light of recent evidence in typically developing adults suggesting that grip control strategies are task-dependent. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how varying upper extremity task demands affect grip control in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Tongue Part Movement Trajectories for /r/ Using Ultrasound.

Purpose: Because it shows the movement of different parts of the tongue in real time, ultrasound biofeedback therapy is a promising technology for speech research and remediation. One limitation is the difficulty of interpreting real-time ultrasound images of tongue motion. Our image processing system, TonguePART, tracks the tongue surface and allows for the acquisition of quantitative tongue part trajectories.

A Technical Report on the Development of a Real-Time Visual Biofeedback System to Optimize Motor Learning and Movement Deficit Correction.

This technical report describes the design and implementation of a novel biofeedback system to reduce biomechanical risk factors associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. The system provided objective real-time biofeedback driven by biomechanical variables associated with increased ACL injury risk without the need of a present expert. Eleven adolescent female athletes (age = 16.