Evaluation of a new assistive technology: the StandBar.

Purpose: Evaluate the potential of a wheelchair assistive technology (StandBar) to promote power wheelchair users' ability to safely stand independently from their power wheelchair and determine the impact of the device use on psychological well-being for both power wheelchair users and their caregivers.

Materials And Methods: A convenience sample of 11 power wheelchair users and caregiver dyads provided study data. Participants included power wheelchair users who were existing StandBar users or currently in training with the StandBar as part of their rehabilitation.

Evaluation of Protective Properties of Commercially Available Medical Helmets: Are Medical Helmets Protective?

Objectives: The aims of the study were to evaluate and to compare protective properties of commercially available medical helmets for a set of standardized head injury risk measures.

Methods: Eleven helmet types were evaluated to represent the variety of commercially available medical helmet designs and manufacturers. A test mannequin and sensor apparatus were used to simulate a backward-standing fall.

EMG Pattern Recognition Control of the DEKA Arm: Impact on User Ratings of Satisfaction and Usability.

The DEKA Arm has multiple degrees of freedom which historically have been operated primarily by inertial measurement units (IMUs). However, the IMUs are not appropriate for all potential users; new control methods are needed. The purposes of this study were: 1) to describe usability and satisfaction of two controls methods-IMU and myoelectric pattern recognition (EMG-PR) controls-and 2) to compare ratings by control and amputation level.

DNA bacterial load in men with symptomatic and asymptomatic gonococcal urethritis.

Objective: Previous studies have quantified bacterial loads of in the pharynx and rectum of men but not the urethra. We quantified the bacterial load of in men with symptomatic and asymptomatic urethral gonorrhoea infections.

Methods: Consecutive men diagnosed with urethral gonorrhoea by Aptima Combo 2 testing of urine at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between March and July 2016 were eligible for the study: symptomatic men with purulent urethral discharge and asymptomatic men with no urethral symptoms.

Assessment and feasibility of the four landmarks of the aortic root in a cohort of very preterm infants.

Background: The diameter of the aortic root is used as a parameter to calculate blood flow in very preterm infants. There are considerable differences in diameter of the four anatomical landmarks of the aortic root in children and adults, but limited data are available for the very preterm population. The aim of this study was to obtain reference and reliability data on two-dimensional measurements of the aortic root in very preterm infants <30 weeks gestation.

Impacts of logging on density-dependent predation of dipterocarp seeds in a South East Asian rainforest.

Much of the forest remaining in South East Asia has been selectively logged. The processes promoting species coexistence may be the key to the recovery and maintenance of diversity in these forests. One such process is the Janzen-Connell mechanism, where specialized natural enemies such as seed predators maintain diversity by inhibiting regeneration near conspecifics.

Comparison of the Pentax AWS videolaryngoscope with the Macintosh laryngoscope in simulated difficult airway intubations by emergency physicians.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the Pentax AWS videolaryngoscope (PAV) in intubation of simulated difficult airways by emergency medical staff.

Methods: Emergency medical staff and students attempted to intubate a manikin using 3 difficult airways settings with both the PAV and a Macintosh (MAC) laryngoscope in a randomized order. The success of tracheal intubation, time required, number of attempts, airway adjunct use, grade of view obtained, and participant comments were recorded.