A quantitative comparison between the mHand Adapt passive adjustable hand prosthesis and its predecessor, the Delft Self-Grasping Hand.

Introduction: The Delft Self-Grasping Hand (SGH) is an adjustable passive hand prosthesis that relies on wrist flexion to adjust the aperture of its grasp. The mechanism requires engagement of the contralateral hand meaning that hand is not available for other tasks. A commercialised version of this prosthesis, known as the mHand Adapt, includes a new release mechanism, which avoids the need to press a release button, and changes to the hand shape.

Design and evaluation of the pneumatic leg prosthesis ERiK to assist elderly amputees with sit-down and stand-up movements.

Standing up using one leg is a challenging task for those with a transfemoral amputation, particularly for elderly users with a low activity level. Active prostheses are generally not accessible to this group and available passive prostheses do not support standing up. This article presents the design and evaluation of the "Energy Restoring Intelligent Knee" (ERiK), which stores energy during sit-down in a pneumatic cylinder and returns it during stand-up.

3D-printing allows for fluid-controlled linear actuators with unconventional shapes.

Background: Pneumatic actuators are widely used in applications like (medical) robots, or prostheses. Pneumatic actuators require a complex manufacturing process and are produced in standardized dimensions to reduce costs. Over the last decade 3D-printing has emerged as a cost-effective and efficient production method in medical applications.

Estimation of the annual effective dose from exposure to radon in drinking water in Croatia.

Radon is known as the main source of radiation for the general public. Results of extensive measurements of radon in water samples collected from private wells, natural springs and public water supply in Croatia are presented and annual effective doses are estimated. Measurements were performed by two different methods: the emanometry method (by using the AlphaGUARD instrument with additional AquaKIT module) and/or the liquid scintillation method (by using LSC TriCarb 2900).

Resources and Habitat Requirements for Giraffes' () Diet Selection in the Northwestern Kalahari, South Africa.

Diet selection concerning browse availability of giraffes () was studied over 15 months in an arid environment in South Africa. A global positioning system collar was fitted to a giraffe individual to assess the specific areas, consisting of different vegetation types, that the population utilised during different seasons. Results are provided on diet selection in relation to browse availability between seasons and vegetation types, including tree densities and the amount of the total evapotranspiration tree equivalents.

Can Lactoferrin, a Natural Mammalian Milk Protein, Assist in the Battle against COVID-19?

Notwithstanding mass vaccination against specific SARS-CoV-2 variants, there is still a demand for complementary nutritional intervention strategies to fight COVID-19. The bovine milk protein lactoferrin (LF) has attracted interest of nutraceutical, food and dairy industries for its numerous properties-ranging from anti-viral and anti-microbial to immunological-making it a potential functional ingredient in a wide variety of food applications to maintain health. Importantly, bovine LF was found to exert anti-viral activities against several types of viruses, including certain SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Comparison of two cable configurations in 3D printed steerable instruments for minimally invasive surgery.

In laparoscopy, a small incision size improves the surgical outcome but increases at the same time the rigidity of the instrument, with consequent impairment of the surgeon's maneuverability. Such reduction introduces new challenges, such as the loss of wrist articulation or the impossibility of overcoming obstacles. A possible approach is using multi-steerable cable-driven instruments fully mechanical actuated, which allow great maneuverability while keeping the wound small.

Decreased Antibody Response After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccination in Patients With Down Syndrome.

Unlabelled: The risk of a severe course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in adults with Down syndrome is increased, resulting in an up to 10-fold increase in mortality, in particular in those >40 years of age. After primary SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, the higher risks remain. In this prospective observational cohort study, SARS-CoV-2 spike S1-specific antibody responses after routine SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (BNT162b2, messenger RNA [mRNA]-1273, or ChAdOx1) in adults with Down syndrome and healthy controls were compared.

State of the art of prosthesis simulators for the upper limb: A narrative review.

Background: Research into prosthesis training and design puts a burden on the small population of people with upper-limb absence who can participate in these studies. One solution is to use a prosthetic hand simulator, which allows for attaching a hand prosthesis to an intact limb. However, whether the results of prosthesis simulator studies can be translated to people with upper-limb absence using a hand prosthesis is unclear.

A Fully 3D-Printed Steerable Instrument for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

In the field of medical instruments, additive manufacturing allows for a drastic reduction in the number of components while improving the functionalities of the final design. In addition, modifications for users' needs or specific procedures become possible by enabling the production of single customized items. In this work, we present the design of a new fully 3D-printed handheld steerable instrument for laparoscopic surgery, which was mechanically actuated using cables.

Worldwide Vaccination Willingness for COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Countries across the globe are currently experiencing a third or fourth wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections; therefore, the need for effective vaccination campaigns is higher than ever. However, effectiveness of these campaigns in disease reduction is highly dependent on vaccination uptake and coverage in susceptible populations. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis estimated the vaccination intention and identified determinants of willingness and hesitancy.

The Stumblemeter: Design and Validation of a System That Detects and Classifies Stumbles during Gait.

Stumbling during gait is commonly encountered in patients who suffer from mild to serious walking problems, e.g., after stroke, in osteoarthritis, or amputees using a lower leg prosthesis.

Large health disparities in cardiovascular death in men and women, by ethnicity and socioeconomic status in an urban based population cohort.

Background: Socioeconomic status and ethnicity are not incorporated as predictors in country-level cardiovascular risk charts on mainland Europe. The aim of this study was to quantify the sex-specific cardiovascular death rates stratified by ethnicity and socioeconomic factors in an urban population in a universal healthcare system.

Methods: Age-standardized death rates (ASDR) were estimated in a dynamic population, aged 45-75 in the city of The Hague, the Netherlands, over the period 2007-2018, using data of Statistics Netherlands.

An evaluation of contralateral hand involvement in the operation of the Delft Self-Grasping Hand, an adjustable passive prosthesis.

The Delft Self-Grasping Hand is an adjustable passive prosthesis operated using the concept of tenodesis (where opening and closing of the hand is mechanically linked to the flexion and extension of the wrist). As a purely mechanical device that does not require harnessing, the Self-Grasping Hand offers a promising alternative to current prostheses. However, the contralateral hand is almost always required to operate the mechanism to release a grasp and is sometimes also used to help form the grasp; hence limiting the time it is available for other purposes.

Mechanical evaluation of the "Hüfner hand" prosthesis.

Background: Current body-powered hands have very low acceptance rates. They also require high activation forces. In the past, a high acceptance rate was reported for the then-available Hüfner hand, a hand which could be controlled by relatively low activation forces.

Stabilizing interventional instruments in the cardiovascular system: A classification of mechanisms.

Positioning and stabilizing a catheter at the required location inside a vessel or the heart is a complicated task in interventional cardiology. In this review we provide a structured classification of catheter stabilization mechanisms to systematically assess their challenges during cardiac interventions. Commercially available, patented, and experimental prototypes of catheters were classified with respect to their stabilizing mechanisms.

Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton.

Wearable robots assist individuals with sensorimotor impairment in daily life, or support industrial workers in physically demanding tasks. In such scenarios, low mass and compact design are crucial factors for device acceptance. Remote actuation systems (RAS) have emerged as a popular approach in wearable robots to reduce perceived weight and increase usability.

Design of a 3D-printed hand prosthesis featuring articulated bio-inspired fingers.

Various upper-limb prostheses have been designed for 3D printing but only a few of them are based on bio-inspired design principles and many anatomical details are not typically incorporated even though 3D printing offers advantages that facilitate the application of such design principles. We therefore aimed to apply a bio-inspired approach to the design and fabrication of articulated fingers for a new type of 3D printed hand prosthesis that is body-powered and complies with basic user requirements. We first studied the biological structure of human fingers and their movement control mechanisms in order to devise the transmission and actuation system.

Functional evaluation of a non-assembly 3D-printed hand prosthesis.

In developing countries, the access of amputees to prosthetic devices is very limited. In a way to increase accessibility of prosthetic hands, we have recently developed a new approach for the design and 3D printing of non-assembly active hand prostheses using inexpensive 3D printers working on the basis of material extrusion technology. This article describes the design of our novel 3D-printed hand prosthesis and also shows the mechanical and functional evaluation in view of its future use in developing countries.

Mechanical Follow-the-Leader motion of a hyper-redundant surgical instrument: Proof-of-concept prototype and first tests.

One of the most prominent drivers in the development of surgical procedures is the will to reduce their invasiveness, attested by minimally invasive surgery being the gold standards in many surgical procedures and natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery gaining acceptance. A logical next step in this pursuit is the introduction of hyper-redundant instruments that can insert themselves along multi-curved paths referred to as Follow-the-Leader motion. In the current state of the art, two different types of Follow-the-Leader instruments can be distinguished.

The seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in Belgium anno 2002 and 2006: a comparative analysis with hepatitis A virus seroprevalence.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is endemic worldwide but its seroprevalence varies widely. The goal of this study was to estimate the age-specific seroprevalence of CMV infection in Belgium based on two cross-sectional serological datasets from 2002 and 2006. The seroprevalence was estimated relying on diagnostic test results based on cut-off values pre-specified by the manufacturers of the tests as well as relying on mixture models applied to continuous pathogen-specific immunoglobulin G antibody titre concentrations.

Sero-epidemiological status and risk factors of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in Northern Vietnam.

Background: In Vietnam, few studies have determined the epidemiological status of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women and no routine prenatal screening is in place. This study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of this zoonotic parasitic infection in pregnant women in Northern Vietnam and to assess the association with awareness, risk factors and congenital toxoplasmosis.

Methods: Approximately 800 pregnant women were included in the study from two hospitals, one in Hanoi and one in Thai Binh province, which is known to have a dense cat population.

Estimation of the worldwide seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection does not usually produce symptoms when it causes primary infection, reinfection, or reactivation because these three types of infection are all controlled by the normal immune system. However, CMV becomes an important pathogen in individuals whose immune system is immature or compromised, such as the unborn child. Several vaccines against CMV are currently in clinical trials that aim to induce immunity in seronegative individuals and/or to boost the immunity of those with prior natural infection (seropositives).

Correction to: Cheese consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: a meta‑analysis of prospective studies.

In the original publication, the funding and conflict of interest statements were not correct.