Active Movement Research Articles

Effect of Closed Kinetic Chain Exercise to Reduce Pain and Increase Functional Ability in Patient with Osteoarthritis Genu

Background: Osteoarthritis genu is a degenerative disease with symptoms of chronic inflammation of the joint cartilage which causes pain, limited movement and function. Closed kinetic chain exercise is an active movement that involves many joints and muscle groups simultaneously. This study aims to analyze the effect of closed kinetic chain exercise on reducing pain and increasing functional ability in osteoarthritis genu.
 Subjects and Method: Quasi experimental research with a research approach in the form of pretest and posttest with control group design. This study was conducted at RST dr. Soedjono Magelang in May-June 2023. A total of 20 osteoarthritis genu patients were divided into two groups: (1) The intervention group was given closed kinetic chain exercise and (2) The control group was given conventional physiotherapy. Pain level was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Functional ability was measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Mean differences between the closed kinetic chain exercise group and the conventional physiotherapy group were analyzed using the independent t-test.
 Results: Providing closed kinetic chain exercise is effective in reducing the level of silent pain (Effect Size = 1.20; p= 0.014), movement pain (Effect Size= 0.99; p= 0.004), movement pain (Effect Size= 1.37; p= 0.023), and increasing functional ability in osteoarthritis genu patients (Effect Size = 0.10; p= 0.023).
 Conclusion: Providing closed kinetic chain exercise can reduce pain and increase functional ability in osteoarthritis genu.
 Keywords: Closed Kinetic Chain Exercise; Painful; Functional Capabilities; Osteoarthritis Genu
 Correspondence: Siti Fadhilah, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia. Perumahan Koperasi Putri Tujuh Blok D17 RT 026 Bagan Besar Dumai Riau. Email: j120221270@student.ums.ac.id. Mobile: 081267705503

UnBand- Perioprotect palatal connector

The field of orthodontics demands versatility in appliances for faster and efficient treatment process. One such versatile auxiliary used is the Transpalatal arch for anchorage and for active tooth movements such as for correcting molar rotation and up righting, stabilization of posterior transverse dimensions during treatment, and maintenance of leeway spaces during the transition of the dentition.The process of insertion of the Transpalatal arch is cumbersome. To address these limitations, alternative methods for using the Transpalatal arch has been innovated where design experimented does not demand laborious procedures and can be done inhouse and is cost effective.There are three methods custom made Custom made Transpalatal arch is fabricated. Lingual/ Palatal surface of the molar is etched and bonding agent applied and cured. The stub of the TPA is then adapted to the tooth surface and flowable resin is applied and then cured. Preformed mesh is cut and welded onto the lingual sheath thereby converting a weldable lingual sheath into a bondable sheath. Mesh is then adapted onto the prepared tooth surface and then cured with composite. The mesh provides mechanical retention which is helpful for bonding. The custom made Transpalatal arch is now inserted. Vertical and horizontal grooves are made on the posterior side of the lingual sheath using bur. The sheath is then sandblasted to create a rough surface which provides a micromechanical retention area. This sheath is then bonded directly onto the tooth surface and Transpalatal arch inserted. The results suggest that orthodontic appliances without bands are preferable. Bonded TPA’s are less invasive and also requires less chairside time.Bonded TPA’s can overcome these issues and assist both the clinician and the patient in achieving faster orthodontic treatment and reducing discomfort. Therefore, through these innovations, a clinician can judiciously choose based on requirements and employ it effectively in orthodontic treatment.

Subcutaneous dirofilariasis in a 25-year-old male patient in Belgium on ultrasonography: a case report

BackgroundSubcutaneous dirofilariasis is a parasitic zoonosis commonly described in Canidae but rarely seen in humans. Most physicians are unfamiliar with this disease, especially in nonendemic areas, which can lead to medication error and diagnostic and treatment delay. To the best of our knowledge, no previous case of subcutaneous dirofilariasis preoperatively diagnosed on ultrasound has been described in Western Europe.Case presentationA 25-year-old Belgian male patient presented with a subcutaneous nodule in the epigastric region. Ultrasound investigation showed a typical cystic lesion with an internal serpiginous structure with echogenic lines, and there was active twirling movement of this serpentine structure during investigation, pathognomonic for subcutaneous dirofilariasis. Surgical extirpation was performed, and the diagnosis was histopathologically confirmed.ConclusionSubcutaneous dirofilariasis has a characteristic appearance on ultrasound but is not well known in nonendemic areas, often leading to diagnostic delay and initial incorrect treatment. More knowledge of this disease and of its characteristic ultrasound appearance will hopefully lead to better patient care.

Widespread fracture movements during a volcano-tectonic unrest: the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, from 2019–2021 TerraSAR-X interferometry

Tectonic controls on dyke emplacements, eruption dynamics and locations have been observed in multiple volcanic areas worldwide. Mapping of active structures is therefore key for assessing potential tectonic and volcanic hazards in active regions. We used wrapped interferograms from the TerraSAR-X satellite to map active fracture movements over a 2-year period of a volcano-tectonic unrest at the onshore Reykjanes Peninsula plate boundary in SW Iceland. As of 1 December 2023, the unrest has included at least six inflation events and five dyke injections resulting in three eruptions of the Fagradalsfjall volcanic segment. In addition to the deformation associated with the 2019–2021 inflation events and intrusions, the interferograms reveal fracture movements over a wide area surrounding the active plate boundary segment. This first-order mapping of active fractures complements previously mapped structures, as InSAR allows for the detection of subtle ground movements, even in areas where young lava flows cover older structures. Our fracture data therefore fill in some of the apparent voids in previous fracture and fault maps of SW Iceland. Furthermore, our investigation reveals aseismic movement on previously unknown fractures directly beneath the town of Grindavík, as well as a N45∘\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^\\circ $$\\end{document} E striking fracture co-located with the longest lasting volcanic vent of the subsequent 2021 eruption. The mapping method we present in this study is relevant for active volcano-tectonic regions where InSAR can be applied to detect small-scale fracture movements to advance understanding of ongoing unrest and volcano-tectonic hazards.

Chronic post-surgical pain after knee arthroplasty: a role of peripheral nerve blocks.

Peripheral nerve blocks are an efficient method of pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but there is no report of their impact on chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP). This prospective observational study aimed to assess adductor canal block (ACB) and IPACK block (blocks vs. no blocks) on opioid consumption, postoperative pain score, chronic post-surgical pain 2 years after TKA. 166 patients (82 vs. 84) were analyzed. Opioid consumption was less in the group with blocks (9.74 ± 3.87 mg vs. 30.63 ± 11.52 mg) (p < 0.001). CPSP was present in 20.24% of patients in the group without blocks and 6.1% of patients with blocks (p = 0.011). Predictor variables of CPSP included pain before surgery (cut-off of 5.5), pain at rest (cut-off of 2.35), pain during active movement (cut-off: 2.5), and opioid consumption (cut-off: 8 mg). Peripheral nerve blocks provide adequate analgesia, significantly decrease opioid consumption, improve functional outcomes, and reduce CPSP 2 years after surgery.

Экологическая миграция: добровольный переезд или вынужденная мера — конституционно-правовые аспекты

The purpose of the article is that it is devoted to environmental migration as one of the factors in the well-being of citizens' lives. The author identifies problems associated with forced migration of the population due to ongoing natural disasters. The study offers the author's definitions of voluntary and forced migration. A comparison is made of economic, social, and political factors that have both a positive and negative impact on migration flows. This phenomenon, caused by numerous factors, contributes to the active movement of citizens both within a particular state and moving to others. The legal nature of environmental migration indicates its versatility, but despite this, today there is no specific definition of what should be understood by it. The definitions of researchers of the problem we have identified boil down to the fact that people leaving their places of residence voluntarily/forcedly focus on expected or already occurring natural disasters (droughts, floods, earthquakes, etc.). It is concluded that the definition of environmental migration is not fully formed in the doctrine of environmental law, which today causes legal uncertainty.

Vision-aided intelligent and adaptive vehicle pose estimation during GNSS outages

In this paper, a novel multi-information fusion methodology is proposed for vehicle pose estimation. The purpose is to improve the pose estimation accuracy during global navigation satellite system (GNSS) outages, mainly from two aspects: (1) extra observations of accurate velocities and angular rates without cumulative errors; (2) adaptive and intelligent fusion. Firstly, a multidimensional motion perception network (MMPN) is designed in order to estimate the velocities and angular rates. At the same time, the motion state is also output. The inputs of the network are two consecutive images. Thus, the estimated velocities and angular rates are not affected by cumulative errors. Besides, because the corresponding velocities and angular rates measured by high-quality inertial measurement unit (IMU) with low noise and drift are used as the training samples, the accuracy of the estimated velocities and angular rates are guaranteed. Further, an unscented Kalman filter with federal structure (UKF-F) with different motion models is designed for pose estimation. The local filters of UKF-F use the current probabilities of belonging to the motion patterns output by the MMPN as the information-sharing factors. Thus, the fusion is adaptive to the actual vehicle motion state. In addition, a gate recurrent unit (GRU)-based error compensation module is introduced to further reduce the position errors during GNSS outages. The GRU-based module is trained offline with the input of MMPN and IMU observations. Due to the advantages of time series forecasting, the GRU-based module can accurately predict the position error of IMU/MMPN integration online. The KITTI dataset with different driving scenarios is used to confirm the feasibility of the proposed methodology. The results of the experiments verify that the proposed methodology can achieve precise vehicle pose estimation during GNSS outages.

Short-term effects of foot surgery on walking-related pain, function, and satisfaction in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: a prospective cohort study.

Patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) often suffer from walking-related pain (WRP), muscle weakness, foot deformities, and reduced ankle dorsiflexion (DF), which affects their ability to walk and daily activities. Functional surgery (FS) can restore foot deviations, affecting the loading ability during gait. We assessed the short-term effects of FS in patients with CMT on WRP, foot and ankle structure, and function, along with patients' perceived improvement. This is a prospective cohort study on CMT patients who had undergone FS and rehabilitation. We analyzed the changes after 1 month, focusing on WRP, DF, the center of pressure progression (COPP) during walking, and measures of walking ability. The non-parametric Wilcoxon test was used. Ten patients were included. One month after FS, WRP reduced from 5.5 (IQR = 3.5) to 2 (IQR = 3.5), p = 0.063, with an effect size of 0.615. The highest decrease was found in patients with very high pre-surgical pain levels. DF almost reached 10° for both active and passive movements (p < 0.05), and COPP improved from 44 to 60% (p = 0.009) of foot length. Gait speed, lower limb functioning, and balance did not change. More than half of the sample felt improved or much improved after FS. FS can be effective in reducing WRP and restoring foot posture in CMT patients in the short-term, which allows them to wear shoes, and leads to a perceived improvement and satisfaction. Lack of improvement in functional skills may be due to muscle weakness typical of CMT. Studies with longer follow-ups may confirm these hypotheses.

Bilateral vs unilateral motor imagery training: effects on motor execution performance and ERD

Bilateral movement has been reported to enhance actual motor performance more than unilateral movement and increase motor cortex activation more than unilateral movement. We hypothesized that bilateral motor imagery would result in greater improvements in event-related desynchronization (ERD) amplitude and ball rotation performance than unilateral motor imagery. Forty healthy young adults participated in this study. The mental practice session was performed in the unilateral hand condition (right and left hands) and bilateral hand condition for four blocks. ERD in mental practice was calculated using electroencephalography (EEG). The ball rotations were compared between the pre-and post-tests of mental practice. The results showed a greater improvement in actual motor performance with unilateral motor imagery than with bilateral motor imagery. ERD analysis showed no significant differences in multiple comparisons. These results did not support this hypothesis. Nonetheless, the present study showed that unilateral movements resulted in greater performance gains than bilateral movements, suggesting that bilateral motor imagery may have additional control processes similar to actual movements.

An estimation method for dynamic vehicle turn center

The instantaneous vehicle turn center is of great significance in the design and analysis of vehicle steering and handling. Due to the influences of vehicle flexible components, the vehicle turn center is not intersected at one point and the traditional determination method for vehicle turn center is not applicable for multi-axle vehicles. In this paper, a novel instantaneous tire turn center (TTC) method is proposed to estimate the instantaneous vehicle turn center to provide a guidance for the design of vehicle steering and analysis of handling. The motivation of the tire turn center concept is introduced and the calculation method is developed. The instantaneous vehicle turn center is estimated based on the calculation of instantaneous TTC. The estimation results of the vehicle turn center of a two-axle vehicle and a three-axle off-road vehicle under different vehicle velocities and lateral accelerations during steering are presented based on the vehicle dynamics models built by ADAMS software. Since there is no simplifications of the vehicle in the proposed estimation method, the determined instantaneous vehicle turn center is more accurate and can reflect the actual vehicle motion better as compared to the traditional vehicle turn center in transient motion process. The estimated instantaneous vehicle turn center provides a guidance for design and optimization of vehicle steering as well as steering angles control strategies to make all tire turn centers controlled at the instantaneous vehicle turn center, thus reducing tire wears and improving the whole vehicle steering coordination performance.

Assessment of the effectiveness of the reconstraction of social-everyday skills on the hardware-training complex of audio-visual reconstruction of the environment of patients after acute cerebrovascular accident

BACKGROUND: Motor disorders as a result of аcute cerebrovascular accident are the most common cause of disability and not only significantly reduce the quality of life of patients, but also cause restriction of social and household independence of patients in a familiar environment.&#x0D; AIM: the evaluation of the effectiveness for restoring the social and domestic activity skill ― shopping in the supermarket in patients undergoing stroke in the right middle cerebral artery after course of the special apparat trainings with audio-visual reconstruction of the environment.&#x0D; MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 65 participants, they were divided into 3 groups, the first and the second group ― the patients who undergoing the stroke (main and control groups): the main group of patients received a base standard rehabilitation program (kinesiotherapy, mechanotherapy on cyclic apparatгs, massage) and additional the social and domestic trainings with audio-visual reconstruction of the environment. The control group ― a base standard rehabilitation program. The duration of the rehabilitation course was 21 days. The third comparison group are the healthy participants, who were necessary for defining "etalon" options for training of socially important skill.&#x0D; RESULTS: As a result of the study in both groups (main and control) as compared with the initial findings the lowering of the heaviness ischemic stroke outcome (NIHSS): 6.2±0.4 in the first group and 6.8±0.7 in the second group vs. 4.2±0.2 and 5.9±0.8 (р ≤0.05). By comparison the first and the second groups with the health participants were defined the statistically significant changes of the studing time options in the main group during making these skills: take the bag and sling it through the shoulder, open the pockets of the bag (2 pockets), take the jacket from the clothes hanger and put on. Although in patients of the first group after restoring threatment course with using method of functional spatially-oriented rehabilitation it was authentic lesser disturbance of everyday life activity: in estimating Bartel Index 61.3±4.9 vs. 43.75±5.1 (initial) (р ≤0.05), what was signuficantly higher be comparison with control group results. In estimating functional independence by Modified Scale FIM: 71.4±4.9 in the main group vs. 53.7±3.1 (initial) (р ≥0.05), what was although significantly higher in comparison with the second group. By HADS it was lowering of the anxiety symptoms in the first group from 13.02±1.9 till 10.12±1.2 (р ≤0.05) as compared with the control group where the level of anxiety was staying quietly high and was 12.6±0.6 by comparison the initial findings 13.14±1.5 (р ≥0.05).&#x0D; CONCLUSION: The obtained resalts point at the effectiveness of using functional spatially-oriented rehabilitation in restoring threatment programs for patient undergoing stroke for elevation of the independence level in real life terms. An additional point is that this kind training promote significantly positive influence on the patient’s motivation for actualization of active movement to improvement of the social and domestic adaptation.

Boundary-crossing situations and the use of deictic verbs in Finnish and Estonian expressions of non-actual motion

ABSTRACT This article discusses the specific use of deictic verbs for encoding boundary-crossing situations in descriptions of non-actual motion, i.e. dynamic depictions of static spatial configurations (e.g. The road comes from the tunnel). We analyse data elicited with visual stimuli from speakers of Finnish and Estonian to show that venitive (‘come’) and andative (‘go’) deictic verbs tend to appear in boundary-crossing contexts of entering and exiting. This pattern applies to both actual and non-actual motion descriptions produced by the same speakers, thus showing pervasiveness in the expression of both concrete and abstract meanings. We suggest that this tendency can be interpreted in terms of functional deixis: motion (actual or non-actual) encoded in relation to the speaker’s visual and interactive circle of attention. Considering the relevance of spatial boundaries for event perception, boundary-crossing situations can be expected to show specific encoding patterns not only in the verb-framed languages, in which the expression of these situations typically requires the use of Path verbs, but also in the satellite-framed languages of the Talmian typology. Extensive variation between participants in our study indicates that in Finnish and Estonian, the use of deictic verbs in boundary-crossing situations is an optional strategy instead of a constraint.

ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ДЛИНЫ ПЕРЕМЕЩЕНИЯ СТРУИ ЖИДКОГО НАВОЗА ПРИ ЕГО ПЕРЕМЕШИВАНИИ В НАВОЗОХРАНИЛИЩЕ

There on large livestock farms a nonbedding method of animals’ keeping is common. At such animals’ keeping, liquid and semiliquid manure is obtained. Such manure during storage into three fractions - upper, liquid and lower is stratified. The upper fraction surface contacts with the environment and therefore dries out and forms a crust. This manure heavier part, under the influence of gravity, settles to the manure storage’s bottom, forming a dense layer during prolonged storage. Thus, there in storage manure mass three fractions of different physical-and-mechanical properties are formed, for each of them extraction the different methods are used, by the corresponding machines implementing. As a result, the metal and energy consumption at manure extracting process by the manure storage is increased, and consequently, so as the agricultural products’ cost. The stored manure technological operation’s extracting can be reduced to an energy minimum by a homogeneous mass forming. This can be solved by the farm manure coming into the manure storage facility mixing. This operation can be implemented by the layers’ active movement by hydraulic or mechanical methods organizing. The hydraulic method only if liquid fractions without mechanical impurities presence at the pump entering by the impeller as working organ for they disable it at acting The most widespread mechanical method of manure fractions movement by a propeller agitator, forming a directional flow during rotation is carried out. These theoretical studies results concerning the liquid manure jet movement formed as a result the mixer agitator action in the medium of manure mass stored in a manure storage facility are presented. The relationship between the length of movement of the liquid manure jet, the angle of elevation of the blade’s helical line, this mixer diameter, its angular velocity and the mixer’s inclination in the relative to the horizontal plane has been established.

"As if it were my own hand": inducing the rubber hand illusion through virtual reality for motor imagery enhancement.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are widely used in the field of disability assistance and rehabilitation, and virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used for visual guidance of BCI-MI (motor imagery). Therefore, how to improve the quality of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for MI in VR has emerged as a critical issue. People can perform MI more easily when they visualize the hand used for visual guidance as their own, and the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) can increase people's ownership of the prosthetic hand. We proposed to induce RHI in VR to enhance participants' MI ability and designed five methods of inducing RHI, namely active movement, haptic stimulation, passive movement, active movement mixed with haptic stimulation, and passive movement mixed with haptic stimulation, respectively. We constructed a first-person training scenario to train participants' MI ability through the five induction methods. The experimental results showed that through the training, the participants' feeling of ownership of the virtual hand in VR was enhanced, and the MI ability was improved. Among them, the method of mixing active movement and tactile stimulation proved to have a good effect on enhancing MI. Finally, we developed a BCI system in VR utilizing the above training method, and the performance of the participants improved after the training. This also suggests that our proposed method is promising for future application in BCI rehabilitation systems.

Decreasing Sedentary Time during Lessons Reduces Obesity in Primary School Children: The Active Movement Study

Introduction: School-based exercise interventions targeted at reducing obesity are often successful in the short term, but they are resource-heavy and do not always lead to long-lasting behaviour changes. This study investigated the effect of reducing sedentary time, rather than increasing exercise, on physical activity (PA) behaviours and obesity in primary school children. Methods: Thirty UK state primary schools participated in this cluster-controlled intervention study (IDACI score = 0.15 ± 0.07, free school meals = 26 ± 9%). Twenty-six intervention and 4 control schools (intervention = 3,529, control = 308 children) completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) in terms 1 and 3. Three intervention and 3 control schools (intervention = 219, control = 152 children) also measured waist-to-height ratio (WTHR). The Active Movement Intervention is a school-based programme which integrates non-sedentary behaviours such as standing and walking in the classroom. Data were analysed via ANCOVAs and multiple linear regressions. Results: WTHR was reduced by 8% in the intervention group only (F(2, 285) = 11.387, p < 0.001), and sport participation increased by 10% in the intervention group only (F(1, 232) = 6.982, p = 0.008). Other PAQ-C measures increased significantly in the intervention group, but there was no group*time interaction. Changes in PAQ-C did not predict reductions in WTHR. Instead, the amount of change in WTHR was predicted by intervention group and by baseline WTHR of the pupil, where children with higher baseline WTHR showed greater reductions (F(2, 365) = 77.21, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.30). Socio-economic status (SES), age, or gender did not mediate any of the changes in the PAQ-C or WTHR. Conclusion: Reducing sedentary behaviours during school time can be an effective obesity reduction strategy for primary school children who are overweight. The lack of demographic effects suggests that this method can be effective regardless of the school’s SES, pupil age, or gender.

Infectious diseases prevention and control with reduced energy consumption in an airport

The COVID-19 pandemic threatened the world. As an important transportation hub connecting countries and regions, airports have played a critical role in COVID-19 prevention and control. This study developed an infection risk-human comfort-energy consumption model to calculate the COVID-19 transmission and energy consumption for epidemic prevention and control in seven different functional areas of an airport during different seasons (winter, summer, and transition season) and actual passenger movement. When considering dynamic passenger flow, the energy consumption needed to prevent and control transmission of the epidemic in each area of the airport could be reduced by 71–85 %. The waiting, dining, and shopping areas were the areas with the highest energy consumption, accounting for 25–47 %, 15–32 %, and 11–38 % of the total energy consumption of epidemic prevention at the airport, respectively. The dining area had the highest energy consumption per square meter, reaching 14.2 kWh/m2 at its highest. After closing the dining area, energy consumption was reduced by 14–20 %. Compared with strict epidemic prevention and control, energy consumption in the airport was reduced by 70–85 % considering both optimized intervention and dynamic passenger flow. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for energy-saving and emission reduction in airports under an epidemic situation.

Integrated modeling method of the internal and external flow of helicopter/inlet

The internal and external integrated flow field modeling method of the helicopter/inlet system was studied. The boundary of internal flow field modeling was proposed. The internal and external integrated calculation model, including the helicopter fuselage, rotor, tail rotor, and other rotating components, as well as the internal flow field of the inlet, was established. On this basis, numerical calculation is carried out according to typical working conditions to analyze the flow field characteristics in the forward flight state and the influence of inlet back pressure on performance parameters. The results show that the integrated numerical calculation model established in this paper considers the internal and external interference of the actual rotor movement in the outflow field. The integrated flow field calculation in typical working conditions shows that the occlusion of the rotor blade and the fuselage will cause interference with the inlet flow field. The parameters of the left and right inlet ports will be different. With the decrease of inlet back pressure, the total pressure recovery decreases with the increase of flow rate and is obviously lower than that without rotor interference.

Exploring social media influences on vaccine decision-making in parents: a netnography.

Immunization is one of the most significant health initiatives of recent times. Despite this, vaccine hesitancy is increasing and was listed as one of the top 10 threats to global health by the World Health Organization in 2019. A major factor associated with vaccine hesitancy is thought to be the viral spread of misinformation by a small but active anti-vaccination movement. The purpose of this study was to explore the influences of social media on vaccine decision-making in parents. This study is part of a larger body of research that explored vaccine decision-making in parents. Other methods included were an online survey and semi-structured interviews. This study investigated the influence of cyberculture on parents in an online environment. This study employed netnography, a form of qualitative inquiry with its roots in ethnography as methodology and a purpose-designed Facebook page as the means of exploring a purpose-designed online community with a particular focus on the culture, belief systems and influences present. Both manual and computer-assisted thematic analyses were used to analyse the data obtained. Three key themes were identified in this study. These included vaccine safety concerns, the emotional debate and COVID-19-specific issues. The results indicated the presence of strong anti-vaccination sentiment combined with an 'infodemic' of conspiracy theories, misinformation and vitriol with the potential to negatively impact parents seeking immunization information. Given the popularity and accessibility of social media and the ready access to misinformation present online, it is evident that parental vaccine decision-making may be impacted adversely. Therefore, it is important that healthcare professionals are aware of this and provide adequate and timely education prior to parents seeking information on social media.

Impact of lower limb movements on iliac vein stenting in iliac vein compression syndrome patients: insights from computational modeling.

Purpose: Iliac vein stenting is the primary treatment for patients with iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS). However, post-stent placement, patients often experience in-stent restenosis and thrombosis. Despite this, the role of lower limb movements in the functioning of stents and veins in IVCS patients remains unclear. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap by developing a computational model using medical imaging techniques to simulate IVCS after stent placement. Methods: This research used a patient-specific model to analyze the effects of lower extremity exercises on hemodynamics post-stent placement. We conducted a comprehensive analysis to evaluate the impact of specific lower limb movements, including hip flexion, ankle movement and pneumatic compression on the hemo-dynamic characteristics within the treated vein. The analysis assessed parameters such as wall shear stress (WSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and residence time (RRT). Results: The results demonstrated that hip flexion significantly disrupts blood flow dynamics at the iliac vein bifurcation after stenting. Bilateral and left hip flexion were associated with pronounced regions of low WSS and high OSI at the iliac-vena junction and the stent segment. Additionally, active ankle exercise (AAE) and intermittent pump compression (IPC) therapy were found to enhance the occurrence of low WSS regions along the venous wall, potentially reducing the risk of thrombosis post-stent placement. Consequently, both active joint movements (hip and ankle) and passive movements have the potential to influence the local blood flow environment within the iliac vein after stenting. Conclusions: The exploration of the impact of lower limb movements on hemodynamics provides valuable insights for mitigating adverse effects associated with lower limb movements post iliac-stenting. Bilateral and left hip flexions negatively impacted blood flow, increasing thrombosis risk. However, active ankle exercise and intermittent pump compression therapies effectively improve the patency.

Heavy minerals of the aeolian sediments in the East Slovak Basin (Western Carpathians) – Implications for their origin, transport process and sedimentary history

Aeolian sediments usually indicate glacial or periglacial arid-climate conditions, and knowledge of their sedimentary character and mineral composition can reveal the locality’s palaeo-environment and palaeo-geographic history. Reconstruction is provided by heavy-mineral surface micro-textural and geochemical analysis, and this detected the source area, source rocks and transport conditions for the Würmian wind-blown sands which form several dune types in the East Slovak Basin. The heavy-mineral morphology, surface micro-textures and low mineral maturity of the aeolian sediments preserve traces of past sub-aquatic environments and local aeolian transport. The heavy-mineral geochemistry suggests initial detrital derivation from local sources. This was formed by re-worked and re-mobilised Magura Nappe flysch sandstones in the Western Carpathians, with likely contribution of the Pieniny Klippen Belt flysch sediments indicated in sporadic pyrope-rich garnet. The associated detrital pyroxene and amphibole geochemistry denotes primary andesite source rocks which dominate lithology in the surrounding Neogene volcanic mountain chains. These are the Slanské vrchy, Vihorlatské vrchy and Zemplínske vrchy Mountains. The further occurrence of detrital hydrogrossular indicates derivation from contact-metamorphic zones associated with the volcanic rocks. Although different garnet types in the distinct dune profile zones may have resulted from heavy mineral re-sorting during active dune movement, they suggest sources changed by local wind directions. Orientation of basic linear features of the dunes derived from the digital terrain model indicates (paleo)wind generally from the north.