OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether the inclusion of video games in the upper limb amputee rehabilitation protocol could have a beneficial impact for muscle preparation, coordination, and patient motivation among individuals who have undergone transradial upper limb amputation.
METHODS: Ten participants, including five amputee participants and five able-bodied participants, were enrolled in 10 1-hour sessions within a 4-week rehabilitation program. In order to investigate the effects of the rehabilitation protocol used in this study, virtual reality box and block tests and electromyography (EMG) assessments were performed. Maximum voluntary contraction was measured before, immediately after, and 2 days after interacting with four different EMG-controlled video games. Participant motivation was assessed with the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire and user evaluation survey.
RESULTS: Survey analysis showed that muscle strength and coordination increased at the end of training for all the participants. The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant positive association between the training period and the box and block test score (r8=0.95, P
METHODS: In this retrospective record review study, cervical cancer data obtained from Hospital UniversitiSains Malaysia (HUSM) was analysed. The data comprises of 120 patients who had been diagnosed as cervical cancer between 1(st) July 1995 and 30(th) June 2007, and obtained treatment from the hospital. The outcome variable was survival time (in months) from cervical cancer diagnosis to death. A stratified Weibull model was applied to study the effect of explanatory variable on survival time when there was time-dependent covariate in the model.
RESULTS: Stage of disease and metastases were important prognostic variables. However, metastasis had been stratified because this variable did not satisfy the proportional hazard assumption. In without metastasis stratum, patients who were diagnosed at stage III & IV are at 2.30 times the risk of death as those in stage I & II. Meanwhile, in with metastasis stratum, patients in stage III & IV group had 3.53 times the hazard faced by patients in stage I & II.
CONCLUSION: The prognosis of cervical cancer patients was dependent upon the stage at diagnosis, after the stratification of the metastasis variable. A poorer prognosis on survival was observed for patients in stage III & IV than those in stage I & II.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Epidemiological data for selfreported bone fractures were obtained through direct interviews using a validated questionnaire from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study.
RESULTS: Of 15,378 respondents, 6.63% (n=1019) reported bone fractures, with a higher proportion of men (65.8%, n=671) than women (34.2%, n=348). Higher odds of selfreporting bone fractures were seen in males (aOR, 2.12; 95%CI: 1.69, 2.65), those with a history of injury (aOR 5.01; 95%CI: 3.10, 6.32) and those who were obese (aOR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.89), highly active (aOR 1.25; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.53), smokers (aOR 1.35; 95%CI: 1.11, 1.65) and alcohol consumers (aOR 1.67; 95%CI: 1.20,2.32).
CONCLUSION: Adopting a healthier lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and moderate physical activity is critical for weight loss, increased muscle and bone mass and better stability, which reduces the likelihood of fractures following a fall.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: CML patients on tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy and on regular follow up at University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC) were selected. A comparative study was conducted between FISH and QRT-PCR for BCR-ABL transcripts at diagnosis and during follow-up.
RESULTS: There was good correlation between FISH and QRT-PCR for BCR-ABL. At 6th month of follow-up post diagnosis, FISH had a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 65.2% (k >0.339, p<0.033). At 12th month, the sensitivity of FISH was 83% and the specificity was 59.1% (k >0.286, p <0.065). Similarly, at the 24th month, FISH had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 68.8% (k >0.642, p<0.000).
DISCUSSION: Early achievement of major molecular response (MMR) and complete cytogenetic remission (CCyR) were reliable predictors of long-term maintenance of molecular remission.
OBJECTIVE: This study analyses the effect of estimating EGP for ICU patients with very low SI (severe insulin resistance) and its impact on identified, model-based insulin sensitivity identification, modeling accuracy, and model-based glycemic clinical control.
METHODS: Using clinical data from 717 STAR patients in 3 independent cohorts (Hungary, New Zealand, and Malaysia), insulin sensitivity, time of insulin resistance, and EGP values are analyzed. A method is presented to estimate EGP in the presence of non-physiologically low SI. Performance is assessed via model accuracy.
RESULTS: Results show 22%-62% of patients experience 1+ episodes of severe insulin resistance, representing 0.87%-9.00% of hours. Episodes primarily occur in the first 24 h, matching clinical expectations. The Malaysian cohort is most affected. In this subset of hours, constant model-based EGP values can bias identified SI and increase blood glucose (BG) fitting error. Using the EGP estimation method presented in these constrained hours significantly reduced BG fitting errors.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients early in ICU stay may have significantly increased EGP. Increasing modeled EGP in model-based glycemic control can improve control accuracy in these hours. The results provide new insight into the frequency and level of significantly increased EGP in critical illness.