Evaluating the Usability and Safety of Virtual Reality Application Combined with the SWalker for Functional Gait Rehabilitation.

This research evaluates from a usability point of view the combination of a developed fully immersive virtual reality (VR) solution with the SWalker robotic device. It aims to contribute to research in the exploration of immersive experiences overground with a functional gait recovery device. We evaluated the system in a pilot study with 20 healthy participants aged 85.

Functional mobility and physical fitness are improved through a multicomponent training program in institutionalized older adults.

Physical exercise has demonstrated its effectiveness in the management of the deleterious process of aging. However, it is less studied in institutionalized elderly people. This investigation aims to clarify the benefits of a multicomponent training program in institutionalized older adults.

Quantitative Ultrasound Changes in Echotexture and Functional Parameters after a Multicomponent Training Program in Pre-Frailty Individuals: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Currently, ultrasound imaging (USI) is considered a feasible tool in the evaluation of structural and textural muscle differences due to aging. The main aim of this study was to evaluate sonographic changes in muscular structure and function after a 12-week multicomponent training program in pre-frailty individuals. A prospective, randomized, clinical trial was carried out.

Ultrasonography Comparison of the Plantar Fascia and Tibialis Anterior in People With and Without Lateral Ankle Sprain: A Case-Control Study.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the thickness of the plantar fascia (PF) at the insertion of the calcaneus and the midfoot and forefoot fascial locations, in addition to the thickness of the tibialis anterior, by ultrasound imaging in individuals with and without lateral ankle sprain (LAS).

Methods: A sample of 44 participants was recruited and divided in 2 groups: 22 feet with a prior diagnosis of grade 1 or 2 LAS (case group) and 22 feet without this condition (healthy group). The thickness and cross-sectional area were evaluated by ultrasound imaging in both groups.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation: A New Therapeutic Option for Chronic Diseases Based on Contraction-Induced Myokine Secretion.

Myokines are peptides known to modulate brain neuroplasticity, adipocyte metabolism, bone mineralization, endothelium repair and cell growth arrest in colon and breast cancer, among other processes. Repeated skeletal muscle contraction induces the production and secretion of myokines, which have a wide range of functions in different tissues and organs. This new role of skeletal muscle as a secretory organ means skeletal muscle contraction could be a key player in the prevention and/or management of chronic disease.

Generalized CC-TDSCF and LCSA: The system-energy representation.

Typical (sub)system-bath quantum dynamical problems are often investigated by means of (approximate) reduced equations of motion. Wavepacket approaches to the dynamics of the whole system have gained momentum in recent years and there is hope that properly designed approximations to the wavefunction will allow one to correctly describe the subsystem evolution. The continuous-configuration time-dependent self-consistent field (CC-TDSCF) and local coherent-state approximation (LCSA) methods, for instance, use a simple Hartree product of bath single-particle-functions for each discrete variable representation (DVR) state introduced in the Hilbert space of the subsystem.

Analysis of the continuous-configuration time-dependent self-consistent field method applied to system-bath dynamics.

We have implemented and studied the continuous-configuration time-dependent self-consistent field scheme, a variation of the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, which aims to get around the latter's exponential scaling problem, especially with regard to system-bath dynamics. We present applications to quantum dissipative dynamics and an analysis of the computational effort. Namely, propagation times within this scheme scale linearly with the number of bath modes.

Potential energy surface and rovibrational states of the ground Ar-HI complex.

A potential energy surface for the ground electronic state of the Ar-HI van der Waals complex is calculated at the coupled-cluster with single and double excitations and a noniterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations [CCSD(T)] level of theory. Calculations are performed using for the iodine atom a correlation consistent triple-zeta valence basis set in conjunction with large-core Stuttgart-Dresden-Bonn relativistic pseudopotential, whereas specific augmented correlation consistent basis sets are employed for the H and Ar atoms supplemented with an additional set of bond functions. In agreement with previous studies, the equilibrium structure is found to be linear Ar-I-H, with a well depth of 205.

Quantum treatment of the Ar-HI photodissociation dynamics.

A wave packet simulation of the ultraviolet photolysis dynamics of Ar-HI(upsilon = 0) is reported. Cluster photodissociation is started from two different initial states, namely, the ground van der Waals (vdW) and the first excited vdW bending state, associated with the Ar-I-H and Ar-H-I isomeric forms of the system, respectively. Formation of Ar-I radical products is investigated over the energy range of the cluster absorption spectrum.