Significant Results Research Articles

The Impact of College English Examination Reform on Students' Perceptions of the Importance of English

The reform of China's college English examination has yielded significant results since the inception of the reform and opening-up era, particularly in the formulation of examination syllabi and the development of examination systems. However, with the ongoing evolution of China's economy, society, and the gradual refinement of the English education system, persistent issues remain in the college English examination system. For example, problems like overly rigid examination content, insufficient coverage of knowledge, and a lingering trend towards exam-oriented approaches still exist in the modern examination system. Therefore, this article employs interviews to investigate the influence of college English examination reform on students' perceptions of the importance of English. Building upon the discussion and analysis of the interview data, the article proposes recommendations for optimizing the transformation of the orientation of English examination reform, harnessing the positive impact of examinations on students, and shifting the focus of examination reform towards practicality. These suggestions aim to provide strategic measures for furthering the depth of examination reform.

Heat and mass transport of an advection-diffusion viscous fluid past a magnetized multi-physical curved stretching sheet with chemical reaction

ABSTRACT Analysis of 2D magnetohydrodynamic flow of viscous fluid over a magnetized multi-physical curved mechanism is numerically conducted. The flow equations consist of a magnetic field transport, Maxwell’s equations, energy equation and concentration equation. Governing model is generated and establishes the boundary layer equations. Numerical computation by the Keller-Box shooting method is implemented with Jacobi’s iterative technique. The flow behaviours are anticipated against most interesting parameters. The novelty of this study focuses on the mathematical development of the flow problem with significant results. These results are applicable in manufacturing of stretchable materials.

Comparison of collateral status in anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke on single-phase and multiphase CT angiography in prediction of clinical and radiological outcome

Objectives Various collateral scoring systems are used to assess the collateral status on single or multiphase CT angiography (CTA) to forecast outcomes in anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke patients. Our study aimed to compare the predictive ability of these collateral scoring systems in determining clinical and radiological outcomes in patients with anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke. Material and Methods In this observational prospective study, data was obtained from December 2020 to June 2022 in consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients referred to our department for neuroimaging. The collateral scores were assessed using Tan and Menon scoring systems described for single and multiphase CTA, respectively. The correlations between various collateral scores, the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and final infarct volume were studied. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to assess the predictive ability of scoring systems for clinical and radiological outcomes Results A total of 32 patients met the inclusion criteria. Both single- and multiphase collateral scores showed statistically significant negative correlations with clinical and radiological outcomes. Spearman correlation coefficient and p-value for the radiological outcome being -Tan score (r- -0.73, p- < 0.001), single-phase Menon score (r- -0.81, p- < 0.001), and multiphase Menon score (r- -0.79, p- < 0.001). ROC curve analysis revealed that the multiphase Menon score performed slightly better than the single-phase Menon score (area under the curve [AUC], 0.815 vs 0.810) in predicting a favorable 90-day modified Rankin scale score. Conclusion Our study concluded that collateral status on both multiphase CTA (mCT) and conventional (Single phase arterial CTA) showed statistically significant results in the prediction of clinical and radiological outcomes.

STUDY ON THE USE OF DATA MINING TECHNOLOGY FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGNS IN INDONESIA

Indonesia adheres to democracy with a presidential government format. From the beginning of the reform era in Indonesia, the system of electing government representatives in the realm of council members, regional heads, and heads of state was carried out by looking for direct elections. Direct elections are carried out with several stages starting from registration, campaigning, elections, to the decision to recapitulate the winner's vote. One of the ways that candidates for election participants do is to campaign massively to the public. This campaign is expected to introduce the candidate to be the top choice of the community. The biggest challenge of this massive campaign is how much it costs compared to the reach of socialization to the community. Campaigns in conventional forms such as banners and social assistance do not necessarily make the election participants win an election, especially when the campaign funds have been enlarged to exceed the competitor who won the election. With the existence of social media, which is developing quite rapidly today such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (x), TikTok, and so on, election participants have used social media as an alternative and even the main campaign media. The next challenge is how the use of social media can produce significant results in the campaign of election participants. One of the sciences in the world of technology is data mining. Data mining helps in processing data to provide decision references that are in accordance with the sampling conditions of the conditions taken from the data. The purpose of this journal is about the utilization of data mining technology in helping election campaigns with social media to the factors involved in this in the current era of Indonesian democracy.

Height, Push-Off Angle, Explosive Power: Do they Correlate with Volleyball Athlete Jumping Performance?

Background and Study Aim: Jump performance is the main asset in attacking volleyball. Jump performance is influenced by various factors that affect this indicator, such as body balance, upper and lower body coordination, as well as explosive power. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between height, push-off angle, explosive power, and jumping performance in volleyball student athletes. Material and Methods: The method used was a correlational, 7 male volleyball student athletes as samples (age = 21.00 ± 1.732 years, height = 167.86 ± 1.864 cm). Sampling technique used is purposive sampling, Shapiro-Wilk and Levene's test to determine normality and homogeneity. Data calculations were processed using the help of IBM SPSS version 26.0., with decision making p < 0.05. Results: Variable Push-Off Angle and Explosive Power show significant results (p < 0.05). The Pearson correlation value for Push-Off Angle is -0.781, while the correlation value for Explosive Power is 0.908. Conversely, the variable Height does not show significant results (p > 0.05), with a Pearson Correlation value of -0.334. The findings indicate that the aspect of Explosive Power provides a significant contribution with a positive relationship. This is followed by the aspect of Push-Off Angle, but the results show that this aspect provides a moderate contribution with a negative relationship. Additionally, the aspect of Height shows a negative relationship and a low contribution value. Conclusions: The Study’s findings conclude that Push-Off Angle and Explosive Power have a significant correlation and play a crucial role in enhancing Jump Performance. However, Body Height does not exhibit a significant correlation with Jump Performance. These findings also conclude that the aspect that plays a crucial role in jump performance is explosive power.

Effects of manual therapy in addition to stretching and strengthening exercises to improve scapular range of motion, functional capacity and pain in patients with shoulder impingement syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe current study aimed to measure the effectiveness of manual therapy in addition to stretching and strengthening exercises in patients with shoulder impingement syndrome to improve functional capacity, pain, and scapular range of motion.MethodsThis is a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Thirty-two participants with chronic shoulder impingement syndrome were randomly allocated into two groups. Both groups received stretching and strengthening exercises while the treatment group was given manual therapy additionally. Treatment was started after the patients signed an informed consent form. The data were collected from the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital between March 2022 and December 2022. The study aimed to measure pain using a numeric pain rating scale, functional capacity was assessed by the disability of the arm and shoulder, and goniometry was used for scapular ranges, i.e., scapular protraction and upward rotation. Each treatment session lasted 45 min for the treatment group and 30 min for the control group. The treatment comprised five days a week for four weeks, after which post-intervention measurements were taken.ResultsThirty-two participants were enrolled in the study, and 16 were divided into each group. The mean age of the participants in the treatment group was 38.19 ± 7.31 while the comparison group was 35.69 ± 7.98. An independent sample t-test was run on the data with a 95% confidence interval, statistically significant results were obtained, i.e., p-value < 0.05, post-intervention in the treatment group. Both groups have significantly improved functional capacity and scapular protraction (p < 0.005), however, pain and scapular upward rotation were not found statistically significant in the control group (p > 0.05).ConclusionThe addition of manual therapy along with exercise therapy showed clinical and statistical significant results for pain, functional capacity, and scapular range of motion. It demonstrated superior effects than exercise therapy alone for the chronic condition of SIS.Trial RegistrationThe trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (https://www.irct.ir/) with the registration number: IRCT20230526058291N1, (Date: 12/08/2023).

A Systematic Literature Review on Improving Quality of Master Programs through (re)Designing Teacher Training

Master’s education is dynamically evolving worldwide. As M-level programs play a crucial role in improving job prospects for university graduates, our review focused on how a well-designed master's program could train candidates to become proactive and goal-oriented learners as well as practitioner-teachers. The methodology employed in this study was a systematic literature review (SLR) of academic articles that centered on M-level programs. The literature search process involved several stages, including identifying relevant studies for thematic analysis, evaluating their quality, pinpointing patterns and significant results, and discussing the extent of consensus across the research questions posed. The total sample of this SLR comprised 81 studies. Three main typologies were prevalent: theoretical and qualitative studies (n=45), case studies or comparative case studies (n=18), empirical studies (n=14), and a mixed-method approach (n=4). The majority of articles suggested innovative perspectives on M-level program development and delivery (60.94%). Another significant portion of the studies (22.22%) presented experiences or comparative analyses of best practices in M-level programs. A smaller number (17.28%) involved presenting empirical data on the impact of master’s training on students’ satisfaction or their motivation to pursue a master’s program. Thematic analysis confirmed recurring themes on innovative approaches to (re)designing M-level programs and providing comprehensive data systematically, emphasizing the urgent need for universities to (re)design improved programs (also at the master's level) and services to meet the demands of the current and future labor market.

Превращение комбинированного сырья на цеолитсодержащих катализаторах

The article discusses the ways of rational use of hydrocarbon raw materials in order to obtain isoparaffin and aromatic hydrocarbons. The possibilities of joint processing of the 75-100°C fraction have been studied from gas condensate and propane-butane fraction (PBF) in an anhydrous environment and in the presence of a modified zeolite-containing catalyst. The regularities of the yield of aromatic and isoparaffinic hydrocarbons of the anhydrous process of catalytic conversion of combined hydrocarbon raw materials on a zeolite-containing Pt/Beta catalyst modified by 0.5% wt have been established platinum. So, when converting a fraction of 75-100°C. With a temperature range of 300-350°C, the content of isoparaffins in liquid products increases by more than 20% by weight. A further increase in temperature is accompanied to a greater extent by the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons. The total content of benzene, toluene, xylenes is about 20% by weight. Similar trends are observed when testing the propane-butane fraction. The greatest increase in isoparaffin hydrocarbons is also observed at a temperature of 300°C. Their content in liquid and gaseous products increases by an average of 10%. The main share in this process is accounted for by iso-butane. Accordingly, an increase in the reaction temperature by 100°C increases the formation of benzene and toluene by 11% by weight. More significant results were obtained during the joint transformation of the 75-100°C fraction and the propane-butane fraction. At a reaction temperature of 300°C, a high content of iso-butane is observed in gaseous products, which allows them to be involved in petrochemical processes. The content of isoparaffins in liquid products increases by 50% by weight, which makes them valuable as a high-octane component of motor fuels. Favorable temperatures for the production of aromatic hydrocarbons are 400°C and above.

Doping Induced Optical Band Gap Modification of Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate

Aim: Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) is an excellent nonlinear optical material that has many potential applications, such as laser frequency conversion, Qswitches, Pockels cells, 3-D optical data storage devices, etc. Doping enhances various optical parameters of KDP. Doping changes in the absorbance and dopants such as aspartic acid, succinic acid, glycine, and L-alanine improved the optical band gap of the sample. Background: KDP is a non-linear optic material that has many important applications. Many researchers all over the world are trying to improve its optical properties. Objective: To synthesise pure KDP and KDP doped with aspartic acid, succinic acid, glycine, and L-alanine. Also, to study the temperature stability of the grown samples using TGA, DTA, and DSC analysis, Method: Growth from solution at low temperatures is used for the growth of crystals. TGA, DTA, and DSC are used to analyse the stability of the samples against temperature variations. Results: KDP crystals of good quality were grown using the slow cooling solution growth technique. Determined their band gap using the Tauc Plot. Significant variations in the optical bandgap are noticed. Also, the TGA, DTA, and DSC characterizations were done. Conclusion: KDP solution and grown crystals of good quality were synthesized. The variation in the bandgap on doping is a significant result as the modifications in bandgap enable the sample to be used in a more enhanced applications. Also, the doped samples were stable for variations in temperature, like the pure KDP.

Pothole detection in bituminous road using convolutional neural network with transfer learning

&lt;p&gt;The challenges of road maintenance, particularly in detecting potholes and cracks, and the proposed method using transfer learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are significant advancements in this domain. Transfer learning is particularly beneficial, as it allows leverage pre-trained models to enhance the performance of the pothole detection system. CNNs, with their ability to capture spatial hierarchies in data, are well-suited for image-based tasks like pothole detection. The potential applications of the suggested method for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) services, such as alerting drivers about real-time potholes, demonstrate we research’s practical implications. This contributes to road safety and aligns with the broader goals of innovative city initiatives and infrastructure management. Achieving a 96% accuracy rate is a significant result, indicating the robustness of the proposed approach. Using this information to assess initial maintenance needs in a road management system is forward-thinking. Overall, we work is a valuable contribution to intelligent transportation and infrastructure management, showcasing the potential of advanced machine-learning techniques for addressing critical issues in road maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;

Effectiveness of Cadmium on Biochemical Shift of Pea Plant Treated with Mycorrhiza and Putrescine

Heavy metals like cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), bismuth (Bi), and arsenic (As) are potent and harmful poisonous sources that cause havoc on health conditions for the population of the world. However, the response of our crop species to these potent heavy metals-related toxicity is still left to be fully understood. It is a matter of great concern, as we are heavily dependent on crop species like rice, wheat, peas, etc. Our study here aims to learn about the defensive mechanism of Pisum sativum L. aided with putrescine and mycorrhiza against the stress created by Cd-related toxicity. We quantified physiological parameters such as the membrane-related injury and stability index. We further measured the total free proline content, lipid peroxidation content, and SOD activity. We executed our quantitative experiments on the stressed pea plants due to the exogenously applied Cd-toxicity in the presence and absence of mycorrhiza and putrescine. Insights of our significant results will improve the understanding of readers of the role of mycorrhiza and putrescine in improvising the tolerance level of a pea plant over Cd-related toxicity.

Evaluation and comparison of functional and esthetic outcomes of pectoralis major myocutaneous flap with or without removal of sternocleidomastoid muscle following neck dissection in patients being operated for oral squamous cell carcinoma

India comprising the burden of oral squamous cell carcinoma which grow locally and then spreads to the cervical lymph nodes. Neck dissection is a beneficial procedure for addressing metastases in the neck arising from head and neck cancers. This surgical technique aims to remove lymph nodes on one side of the neck where cancer cells may have spread. However, this procedure can significantly impact a patient's appearance and cause distortion in the cervical area, particularly when it involves the removal of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, leading to a flattening effect in the lateral neck area. Reconstructing tissue defects following extensive surgeries in the head and neck region presents a distinct challenge for surgeons. They have the option to use either pedicled or free tissue transfer for this purpose. We compared and evaluated functional and esthetics outcomes of pectoralis major myocutaneous flap with or without removal of sternocleidomastoid muscle following neck dissection. We concluded that lack of notable distinction between the MRND type II and III groups. Both groups exhibited restricted range of motion in flexion, abduction, and external rotation. Notably, there was a significant impact on neck circumference, while shoulder functionality demonstrated gradual improvement over time. Interestingly, no substantial variances were observed between the groups in terms of drainage and wound healing. The quality of life reported by participants was generally favorable, with composite scores, social-emotional sub-scores, and average physical function aligning with acceptable standards. It's important to note that achieving a more substantial sample size is imperative to obtain results of greater significance and reliability.

Analysis of Survival of Pediatric Patients with Leukemias and Lymphomas in the Oncological Context: Epidemiological Study in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, 2000-2022

Introduction: The time taken for screening, detection and initiation of treatment is a determining factor for therapeutic management in oncology. The availability of reliable data guides decisions for public policies and evaluates compliance with these policies. Objective: To analyze the survival and outcomes of pediatric patients with leukemia and lymphoma from 2000 to 2022. Method: Epidemiological, descriptive study, with data extracted from Fundação Oncocentro do Estado de São Paulo, according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC). The time elapsed between the first consultation and diagnosis was evaluated, between diagnosis and the start of oncological treatment, and the survival of these patients, calculated according to the Peto-Peto test. Results: 12,030 cases were analyzed, 6,994 in males and 7,292 with leukemia. The probability of the time between consultation and diagnosis exceeds 30 days was 49.29% for leukemias and 76.31 for lymphomas, a significant result for treatment and relapses (p &lt; 0.001) but not in relation to sex; the time between diagnosis and treatment exceeding 60 days was 38.04% for leukemias and 71.97% for lymphomas. Not undergoing treatment was significant (p &lt; 0.001) while waiting for diagnosis after consultation for patients with leukemia and lymphomas, except surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined. Conclusion: Despite the advances, a considerable percentage of patients wait longer than expected for diagnosis and initiation of treatment, impacting their survival rates.

Progression of e-ticketing implementation for state transportation agencies for asphalt materials

E-ticketing, which has been promoted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) “every day counts” (EDC) initiative, utilizes software applications to digitally track and store information regarding highway construction materials paid by state transportation agencies (STAs) by weight in unit bid contract structures. STAs often face implementation barriers such as institutional inertia, or the resistance by stakeholders to adopt changes from the status quo, including new technologies. The purpose of this paper is to determine the progression of STA e-ticketing policy adoption, specifically with a focus on asphalt paving operations, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To accomplish this research effort, previous FHWA data, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) data, and other literatures are reviewed to determine an implementation baseline. Additional data is collected from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Construction to gain current feedback from STAs and their highway contractor partners after the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, a case study featuring the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors (KAHC), and the Plantmix Asphalt Industry of Kentucky (PAIKY) is performed to provide more in-depth analysis. The major finding includes a statistically significant result indicating increased implementation of e-ticketing for asphalt operations within the last two years, along with noting benefits including employee safety, task loading, and project documentation along with concerns regarding cellular connectivity and procurement responsibilities. These findings indicate the importance of STAs investing in partnership with contractors to improve stakeholder buy-in before proceeding towards e-ticketing adoption.

A simple technical innovation to prevent needle stick injuries among dental professionals.

Dental healthcare personnel face the potential danger of being exposed to infectious patients while administering local anesthesia injections during dental operations. This could lead to unintentional transfer of infectious diseases from patients to physicians. Although safety measures such as the One-hand-scoop technique and the use of safety syringes, plastic needle cap holders, and needles with safety caps are in place, there have been instances of needle stick injuries reported in clinics. This might be due to the lack of adherence to conventional safety measures or the impracticality of safety techniques and safety syringes. This article aims to demonstrate the utilization of dental tweezers, specifically London College tweezers or dental forceps, for the secure recapping of needles, eliminating the requirement for extra equipment or devices. After obtaining ethical approval (Approval No.: 024-01-2024) from the College of Dentistry, Dar Al Uloom University, 67 dental professionals, with consent for participation in the study, were included. They were requested to use dental tweezers/London College tweezers and dental extraction forceps such as maxillary anterior, mandibular anterior, and maxillary bayonet root forceps individually to recap the local anesthetic needles. The efficacy of these techniques was evaluated against the one-hand scoop technique for its ease, convenience, and reliability in preventing needle stick injuries. The evaluation of dental professionals regarding the ease of using dental tweezers to recap needles, compared to the one-hand scoop technique (p=0.592), maxillary bayonet root forceps (p=0.746), mandibular anterior forceps (p=0.380), and maxillary anterior forceps (p=0.808), did not yield statistically significant results. The assessment of the procedural simplicity of the one-hand scoop technique showed a satisfaction rate of over 40%, whereas the application of dental tweezers resulted in a satisfaction rate of 30%. However, the use of dental tweezers for needle recapping resulted in a satisfaction rate of over 50%, compared to a satisfaction rate of 30% for the one-handed scoop technique. There is no statistically significant difference in the assessment of the efficacy of dental tweezers and the one-hand scoop technique, bayonet root forceps, mandibular anterior forceps, maxillary anterior forceps, and dental tweezers for the needle capping technique. Therefore, dental forceps can be used instead of the one-handed scoop approach. The needle recapping procedure outlined in our study, aimed at preventing needle stick injuries, is simple to implement, and all dental specialties have convenient access to the required instruments.

A retrospective cohort study of the impact of COVID-19 infection control measures on surgical site infections in an academic hospital setting.

Previous studies show that both the frequency of surgeries and incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs) have been lower during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study's purpose is to analyse the possible association of the COVID-19 epidemic-related increased health measures, such as protective equipment and products, increased hand hygiene and restrictions imposed, on the incidence of SSIs in an academic medical centre. We designed a single-centre, retrospective cohort study and collected data on the frequency of surgeries and the incidence of SSIs, among patients who had surgeries pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the intervention and outcome variable, we sought information on patient gender, surgery type, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and type II diabetes mellitus. We used Wald 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and the p values of the odds ratio (OR) to report results. Of the N = 24 098 surgeries performed in this hospital, there were 269 patients who reported post-surgical SSIs in this hospital between March 2019 and March 2021. The OR of developing a post-surgical SSI was 0.40 (95% CI: 0.33-0.57, p < 0.05; adjusted for confounders 0.39 [95% CI: 0.30-0.52, p < 0.05]) among patients who had surgery under post-pandemic infection control measures, as compared to patients who had surgery under pre-pandemic usual care infection control measures. Our significant results conclude that an association may exist between the enhanced infection control measures used during the COVID-19 pandemic and lower incidence of SSIs we observed during this period.

Optical–SAR Data Fusion Based on Simple Layer Stacking and the XGBoost Algorithm to Extract Urban Impervious Surfaces in Global Alpha Cities

This study proposes a fusion approach to enhancing urban remote sensing applications by integrating SAR (Sentinel-1) and optical (Landsat-8) satellite datasets. The fusion technique combines feature-based fusion and simple layer stacking (SLS) to improve the accuracy of urban impervious surface (UIS) extraction. SAR textures and modified indices are used for feature extraction, and classification is performed using the XGBoost machine learning algorithm in Python and Google Earth Engine. The study focuses on four global cities (New York, Paris, Tokyo, and London) with heterogeneous climatic zones and urban dynamics. The proposed method showed significant results. The accuracy assessment using random validation points shows an overall accuracy of 86% for UIS classification with the SLS method, outperforming single-data classification. The proposed approach achieves higher accuracy (86%) compared to three global products (ESA, ESRI, and Dynamic World). New York exhibits the highest overall accuracy at 88%. This fusion approach with the XGBoost classifier holds potential for new applications and insights into UIS mapping, with implications for environmental factors such as land surface temperature, the urban heat island effect, and urban pluvial flooding.

Cognitive approaches in the rehabilitation of upper limbs function in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the predominant cause of children disability. It is characterized by motor, sensory, and postural deficits due to a non-progressive injury to the developing central nervous system. In recent years, new rehabilitation techniques targeting the central representations of motor patterns have been introduced: the most used are action observation therapy (AOT), motor imagery (MI), and mirror therapy (MT). Aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of these cognitive strategies on the recovery of upper limb motor functions in children with CP. This study was designed as a systematic review and meta-analysis, registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023403794). For the report and methodological definitions of this study, the recommendations of the PRISMA protocol and the Cochrane collaboration, were followed. A total of 3 electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for relevant Randomized Control Trials (RCT) using the combinations of terms "cerebral palsy" AND "action observation" OR "motor imagery" OR "mirror therapy" OR "cognitive therapy." A meta-analysis was carried out to compare cognitive and conventional approaches and combine direct and indirect effects. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to derive pooled effect estimates. Out of 328 records, 12 RCTs were analyzed in this systematic review published from 2012 to 2022, and included 375 children, of whom 195 received cognitive therapies, and 180 underwent conventional rehabilitation. AOT was the most investigated (RCTs N.=7), and showed significant results in the recovery of upper limb motor functions, albeit the meta-analysis demonstrated a non-significant difference in Melbourne Unilateral Upper limb Scale (MUUL) (95% CI: -7.34, 12); in Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) (95% CI: -4.84, 10.74), and in AbilHand-Kids Questionnaire (95% CI: -1.12, 1.45). Five RCTs investigated MT showing significant improvements in grip and dexterity; none used MI as intervention therapy. Cognitive therapies provided with encouraging results in the recovery of upper limb motor functions, although not a clinical effect in bimanual or unimanual performance; they could represent a valid therapeutic solution integrated to conventional rehabilitation in the treatment of upper limb motor impairment in children with CP.

Optimization of RST Controller for Speed Control of Linear Induction Motor Using Genetic Algorithm

Background: In this study, a new model of linear induction motor, along with the impact of end-effect on motor performance, is proposed. Moreover, a new strategy of control approach based on the polynomial RST controller is suggested and investigated. Objective: The proposed approach can provide a robust control strategy and overcome the limitations imposed by the proportional-integral (PI) regulator in the FOC technique. RST controller has a two-degree of freedom structure and consists of three polynomials, namely R, S and T, which are determined by the pole placement method and resolving of a Diophantine equation. Despite this, the implementation of this method is usually difficult and becomes more complicated with the complexity of the controlled plants. Methods: This study proposes the genetic algorithm (GA) optimization strategy for tuning RST controller parameters (adjust the controller coefficients) in order to achieve an adequate response time by minimizing the different objective functions, such as steady-state error, settling time, and rise time. Results: The accuracy and control performance of the proposed technique are checked and validated using Matlab /Simulink environment software tool. Simulation results reported that the proposed method (RST-GA) could provide robust solutions with perfect reference tracking and efficient disturbance rejection. Conclusion: These significant results make the proposed approach a promising technique for the design of a high-performance controller, which is highly suitable for industrial and electrical applications.

Influence of the Use of Irrigation Solution Inhibitors in Improving Dentine Adhesion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review examined the effect of neutralizing agents on bond strength after irrigation with sodium hypochlorite and their existing protocols in literature. This present study adhered to the PRISMA guidelines and was registered at PROSPERO. Five electronic databases were searched (sept-2020/jan-2021) in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, without any restrictions on publication date. Cases reports, editorials and literature reviews were not included. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. From the initial 7,147 studies, 2,745 were removed as duplicates and 4,382 were excluded after a title/abstract screen. Seventeen in vitro studies were included. The results showed that the higher the concentration of sodium hypochlorite, the lower the bond strength at dentine/restoration interface (p⟨0.01). Among the studies, sodium ascorbate was the most widely used neutralizer and showed the most significant results in increasing bond strength (p⟨0.01). The bond strength values were found to increase with longer application time of the neutralizing substances (p⟨0.01). The use of sodium ascorbate as a neutralizing agent can reverse the negative effects of the sodium hypochlorite and improve the bond strength between dentine and resin cement, however, it isn't possible to determine the best protocol for use.