Retraining Research Articles

Feedback and neuroplasticity rehabilitation for brain damage

Neuroplasticity,also known as brain plasticity,refers to the brain tissue's ability to be repaired to reorganized and to create new connections among the nerve cells.It implies that the location of a given function in the brain (for example,certain area in the motor cortex) can displace to another area of the cortex.This transfer ability can be accomplished by sensory motor feedback training.In the case of cerebral palsy (CP) and stroke,neuroplasticity relates to unaffected nerve cells and new synaptogenesis process taking over the functions of damaged nerve cells and their connections.The aim of this overview is to explain how does neuroplasticity work and how intensive sensory motor feedback training can reorganize nerve cells.Although neurorehabilitation offers a series of therapies from the psychological to occupational,speech,teaching or re-training patients on mobility skills,this overview focuses on physical rehabilitation using a comprehensive feedback system to accelerate brain recovery. Key words: Brain plasticity ; Feedback ; Stroke ; CP ;

Application of clinical pathway in clinical teaching for on-the-job training nursing staff in neurosurgery department

Objective To explore the application effect of clinical pathway in clinical teaching for on -the-job training nursing staff in neurosurgery department .Methods Thirty-six nurses who accepted on-the-job training from March 2009 to December 2010 were selected as control group , and thirty-six nurses who accepted on-the-job training from March 2011 to December 2012 were selected as observation group .The traditional teaching method was used in the control group , and the teaching method of clinical pathway was used in the observation group .All nurses were trained for three months , who took the relevant exams on theory and operation at the end of each month , in order to evaluate their learning quality at each stage of learning .Nurse ’ s satisfaction with teaching was evaluated at the end of the on-the-job training .Results The score of theoretical knowledge, nursing operations and comprehensive quality ability was （93.51 ±177;4.61）, （93.46 ±177;2.94） and （91.57 ±177;3.71） in the observation group, respectively, and （91.07 ±177;3.88）, （91.29 ±177;2.87） and （88.44 ±177; 4.28） in the control group, respectively, and the differences were statistically significant （t=2.435, 3.173, 3.319, respectively;P＜0.05）.Nurse’s satisfaction with teaching was 100.00%（36/36） in the observation group and 83.33%（ 30/36 ） in the control group, with statistically significant difference （ P ＜0.05 ）. Conclusions Application of clinical pathway in clinical teaching for on-the-job training nursing staff can improve the quality of clinical teaching , mobilize the initiative and enthusiasm of teachers and nurses , and improve nurse ’ s satisfaction with teaching . Key words: Clinical pathway; Education,professional,retraining; Neurosurgery department; Nursing advanced education

Teachers' perception of evaluation and testing in Nigerian secondary school system

This study was aimed to find out from the teachers in Nigeria, their perception of the functionalism and their participation in the internal testing programme of secondary schools special reference to a state in southern Nigeria. A sample of 1,000 teachers was randomly stratified from the entire teachers’ population of 6,000 in government-own secondary schools. The percentages and chi-square (x2) statistical tools were used. The three hypotheses of the study were accepted at an alpha level of 0.05. There was no statistically significant relationships found between the teachers’ perception of the internal testing programme in their schools and their participation in the whole exercises viz: Their classroom instructional management functions; the guidance and counselling of their schools and the administration of their schools, respectively. The study recommends that the state start training and re-training programmes of the teachers in measurement and evaluation, principles practice methods and capabilities. Key words: Nigeria, evaluation, teachers, participation, testing.

Improving heart failure information extraction by domain adaptation.

Adapting an information extraction application to a new domain (e.g., new categories of narrative text) typically requires re-training the application with the new narratives. But could previous training from the original domain alleviate this adaptation? After having developed an NLP-based application to extract congestive heart failure treatment performance measures from echocardiogram reports (i.e., the source domain), we adapted it to a large variety of clinical documents (i.e., the target domain). We wanted to reuse the machine learning trained models from the source domain, and experimented with several popular domain adaptation approaches such as reusing the predictions from the source model, or applying a linear interpolation. As a result, we measured higher recall and precision (92.4% and 95.3% respectively) than when training with the target domain only.

Does a multicomponent exercise program improve dual-task performance in amnestic mild cognitive impairment? A randomized controlled trial.

There has been much interest in exercise interventions as a primary behavioral prevention strategy against cognitive decline. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a multicomponent exercise program on physical and dual-task performances in community-dwelling older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Fifty older adults (23 women) with aMCI (mean age, 76 years) were randomized to an intervention (n=25) or a control group (n=25). The intervention group received a multicomponent exercise program for 90 minutes/day, 2 days/week, or 40 times over six months. The multicomponent exercises included aerobic exercise, muscle strength training and postural balance retraining, which was conducted under multi-task conditions to stimulate attention and memory. Participants in the control group attended two health promotion education classes within six months. Physical and dual-task performances were measured before randomization and after six months. Dual-task performances using reaction times with balance and cognitive demands were measured. The improvement effects on dual-task performances with both balance and cognitive demands were not statistically significant: reaction time with balance demand F1,45=3.3, p=0.07, and cognitive demand F1,45=2.6, p=0.12. However, there was a significant group-by-time interaction on maximal walking speed, which decreased significantly in the control group (F1,45=5.9, p=0.02). This six-month multicomponent exercise program improved maximal walking speed in older adults with aMCI; however, it did not improve dual-task performances assessed by reaction times.

Attributional retraining group therapy versus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: neurobiological effects

Objective To compare the effects on neurobiological factors of attributional retraining group therapy (ARGT) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) for major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorder (AD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods Outpatients with MDD, AD and OCD were divided into ARGT group (n=63) and SSRI group (n=66) according to the sequence of entering the study.MDD, AD and OCD patients were respectively measured with Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) before and after 8 weeks treatment.All subjects were detected of plasma serotonin, norepinephrine, cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone by radioimmunoassay before and after treatment. Results After treatment, HAMD scores of MDD patients were reduced significantly in both ARGT group (t=18.411, P=0.000) and SSRI group (t=20.092, P=0.000); HAMA scores of GAD patients were reduced significantly in both ARGT group (t=13.989, P=0.000) and SSRI group (t=15.815, P=0.000); Y-BOCS scores of OCD patients were reduced significantly in both ARGT group (t=5.465, P=0.000) and SSRI group (t=4.792, P=0.000). In ARGT group, MDD (t=3.145, P=0.006), AD(t=2.785, P=0.012)and OCD patients (t=2.877, P=0.011) decreased plasma cortisol concentrations significantly.In SSRI group, MDD (t=-2.923, P=0.010) and OCD patients (t=-2.301, P=0.035) improved plasma serotonin significantly and MDD patients (t=-2.333, P=0.033) improved plasma norepinephrine significantly. Conclusion ARGT can modulate plasma cortisol level.SSRI can up-modulate plasma serotonin level.The two therapies take effect by different biological ways. Key words: Attributional retraining group therapy; Psychotherapy; Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; Neurobiological effects; Serotonin

Distributional assumptions in educational assessments analysis: Normal distributions versus generalized beta distribution in modeling the phenomenon of learning

This study was aimed to find out from the teachers in Nigeria, their perception of the functionalism and their participation in the internal testing programme of secondary schools special reference to a state in southern Nigeria. A sample of 1,000 teachers was randomly stratified from the entire teachers’ population of 6,000 in government-own secondary schools. The percentages and chi-square (x2) statistical tools were used. The three hypotheses of the study were accepted at an alpha level of 0.05. There was no statistically significant relationships found between the teachers’ perception of the internal testing programme in their schools and their participation in the whole exercises viz: Their classroom instructional management functions; the guidance and counselling of their schools and the administration of their schools, respectively. The study recommends that the state start training and re-training programmes of the teachers in measurement and evaluation, principles practice methods and capabilities. Key words: Nigeria, evaluation, teachers, participation, testing.

Current status and training requirements for retraining program of general practitioner

The current status and training requirements for general practitioner (GP) were surveyed with questionnaires in 84 trainees from the first Beijing GP retraining program. Results showed that three most demanded skills of health service in community were electrocardiogram (98.8%), clinical lab results reading (96.4%), dressing change (90.5%). The services not provided but should be provided in community were aerosol rebreathing method (23.8%), resection of small superficial lumps (22.6%) and reading X-ray films (20.2%). The reasons for services not provided were insufficient resources (41.7%), lack of skilled personnel (35.7%) and staffing shortage (20.2%). The most required training skills were reading X-ray films (64.3%), electrocardiogram (54.8%) and laboratory results reading (51.2%). There were some skills inadequately trained including cricothyroid membrane puncture, suprapubic bladder puncture and resection of superficial small lumps. The results indicate that the required skills in community health service and individual demands of general practitioners should be the priority of the future training programs. Key words: Inservice training; Questionnaires; General practitioners

Most of us are biased

Let's move beyond denial, own up to our prejudices against women and retrain our brains to overcome them, says Jennifer Raymond.

Application of Online SVR in Very Short-Term Load Forecasting

Very short-term load forecasting (VSTLF) plays a very important role in an efficient planning and operation of power systems. In order to overcome the disadvantages of inefficiency in online settings existed in support vector machines, online SVR is first introduced into VSTLF and used to construct a 5-minute load forecasting model in this paper. The proposed method can efficiently update the trained forecasting model whenever a sample is added to or removed from the training set without retraining the whole training data from scratch every time. Moreover, it in fact forms a negative feedback with the use of the rolling window technique, which greatly improves the prediction accuracy. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by the simulation results on the real-world dataset obtained from NYISO website

Too Old to Work?: The Influence of Retraining on Employment Status for Older Immigrants to Canada

Research has established that immigrants who possess host-country human capital fare better on employment outcomes relative to those with foreign credentials. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of retraining on the employment status of older immigrants to Canada. Using the three waves of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC), cross-sectional and longitudinal logistic regression models are conducted to test whether the probability of being employed is significantly related to retraining, while controlling for gender, age at arrival, immigration category, visible minority status, marital status, dependents in the household, highest level of education obtained outside of Canada, language proficiency, recognition of foreign work experience, health, and social networks. The results reveal that retraining at wave 2 is significantly related to the probability of being employed at wave 2. Longitudinally, a different pattern emerged in which the probability of being employed at wave 3 is greatest among those who did not pursue retraining at wave 1. Gender does not moderate the association between retraining and employment status for any of the waves. Selon la recherche, les immigrés qui ont acquis dans leur pays-hôte des qualifications en termes de capital humain s’en tirent mieux dans le domaine de l’emploi que ceux qui n’ont que des titres de compétence étrangers. Le but de cet article est d’examiner les effets d’une nouvelle formation sur la situation professionnelle de personnes d’un certain âge qui immigrent au Canada. À partir des trois vagues de collecte de l’Enquête longitudinale des immigrants au Canada (ELIC), nous avons réalisé trois modèles de régression logistiques transversaux et longitudinaux pour tester dans quelle mesure la probabilité de trouver un emploi est liée de manière significative à un recyclage professionnel, ceci en tenant compte du genre, de l’âge au moment de l’arrivée au Canada, de la catégorie d’immigrant, du statut de minorité visible, de la situation maritale, des personnes dépendantes de la famille, du niveau le plus élevé d’éducation atteint hors frontières, des compétences linguistiques, de la reconnaissance de l’expérience professionnelle étrangère, de la santé et des réseaux sociaux. Les résultats révèlent que, lors de la vague 2, ceux qui ont acquis une formation ont eu significativement plus de chances de trouver un emploi. Longitudinalement, la tendance qui apparaît est différente : dans ce cas, ceux qui n’ont pas tenté de se recycler lors de la première vague ont eu plus de possibilités d’embauche lors de la troisième. Quant à l’association entre formation complémentaire et la situation professionnelle, le genre ne joue de rôle dans aucune des trois vagues.

The effects of robot-assisted walking compared with body weight supported treadmill training for retraining walking ability and improving the gait of hemiplegic patients after stroke

Objective To compare the effects of robot-assisted gait training with supported treadmill training (BWSTT) for hemiplegic patients after stroke.Methods A randomized,single-blind,controlled study was performed.Forty-eight hemiplegic patients were divided randomly into a BWSTT group and a robot group with 24 in each Both groups received routine rehabilitation training.The robot group also received robot-assisted gait training,while the BWSTT group received treadmill training in which their body weight was supported.Both groups trained 20-30 minutes daily,5 days a week for 8 weeks in addition to their normal rehabilitation sessions.Their lower extremity functions and walking ability were assessed with the simplified Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) and using functional ambulation categories (FACs).Average step length,percentage of loading time on each foot and 3 min walking distance were tested using a Biodex Gait Trainer.All the assessments were administered before and 8 weeks after treatment.Results Both groups showed significant improvements in terms of the FMA,FACs,average step length,loading time on each foot and 3 min walking distance.The robot group,on average,showed significantly better improvements in average step length,percentage of loading time on each foot and 3 min walking distance than the BWSTT group.There was no significant difference in lower extremity function or walking ability in terms of the FMA or FACs.Conclusions Robot-assisted training gives better results than BWSTT in terms of improving average step length,equalizing the loading time on each foot and 3 min walking distance. Key words: Lower-limb rehabilitation; Robots; Treadmill training; Walking ability; Gait

The training results and it's influence factors of the training rural health appropriate technology in Jiangsu

Objective To acquire the basic information of trainees and analyze the training results and it' s influence factors in the training of rural health appropriate technology in Jiangsu.Methods We used the questionnaire to collect data of the trainees' personal information and training results after training.Results A total of 2284 valid questionnaires were collected. There were 73.6％ trainees came from township hospitals,95.1 ％ of them under 45 years old,62.9％ for females,79.2％ have been working for 8 years,3％ with senior professional titles,only 0.4％ had acquire the master's degree or above.Multiple regression analysis showed that the different level of hospitals,the training needs, suitable degree,knowledge familiarity before the training,expert instruction and learning were the main influence factors for the master of the technology; The influence factors for the wish to be re-training were working age,education,the demand for training technology,ease of learning,expert instruction,grasp of this time,appliance of the technology.Conclusion long-term mechanism for trainning and continue education should be established,and medical workers in rural areas should be strengthen to take the technical training to further improve the rural medical services. Key words: Appropriate medical technology for rural area; medical workers; influence factors; promotion training

Echocardiographic study for the children with transposition of the great arteries with intact ventricular septum after neonatal period

Objective To identify the suitable echocardiographic predictor,the standard 2-demensional echocardiography and speckle tracking imaging (STI) techniques were applied for the late referred children with transposition of great arteries with intact ventricular septum (TGA-IVS) after neonatal period.Methods 22 children with TGA-IVS after neonatal period were enrolled.According to the intraoperative left ventricular (LV)/right ventricular systolic pressure ratio,they received pulmonary artery banding (PAB group,n =10) or arterial switch operation (ASO group,n =12).15 body surface area matched healthy children were served as control group,Echocardiography was performed before the operation.The dynamic images in basal and apical short axis view were collected respectively.Meanwhile,using the STI technique,the rotation curves at apex and base was analyzed.Results All the patients discharged eventually.A right to left bulging of the ventricular septum was observed in all the patients by the 2D short-axis view.There were no differences in wall thickness and ejection fraction between control,PAB and ASO group.Compared with the control group,the end diastolic diameter,end diastolic volume and indexed LV mass in PAB and ASO group were significantly reduced,however,no difference in the end diastolic diameter and volume and LV mass was observed between the PAB and ASO group.The hypoplasia of LV in PAB and ASO group was associated with an extended time to peak basal rotation and reduced basal rotation and global torsion.Furthermore,the shorter time to peak apical rotation and reduced apical rotation and global torsion were only observed in PAB group.Conclusions The standard echocardiography could be useful for the initial evaluation for regressed LV of the children with TGA-IVS.However,STI allows a much more precious approach to the assessment of LV regressing after neonatal period.The apical rotation and global torsion might be the better predictor to identify the borderline or regressed LV for the surgical management for the children with TGA-IVS. Key words: Echocardiography; Ventricular function,left; Heart defects,congenital; Transposition of the great arteries; Left ventricular retraining; Speckle tracking imaging

Increased Mastery of Learning Strategies Through Strategy Instruction and Attribution Retraining

Kajian ini menyelidik penguasaan kemahiran belajar di kalangan pelajar sebagaimana dipengaruhi oleh pengajaran strategi dan latihan semula atribusi. Seratus tiga puluh tiga orang pelajar dari sebuah sekolah terpilih mengambil bahagian dalam kajian ini. Pelajar-pelajar ini membentuk empat kumpulan persampelan rawak yang masing-masing menerima pengajaran strategi dan latihan semula atribusi, pengajaran strategi sahaja, latihan semula atribusi sahaja, dan tiada rawatan. Terdapat kesan utama kumpulan [F(3,87)=4.57, p=.005, η2=.14] dalam min kemahiran belajar selepas rawatan. Terdapat juga kesan interaksi kumpulan dengan tahap pencapaian, jantina, dan kumpulan etnik [F(2,87)=3.07, p=.052, η;2=.07]. Perbincangan dan implikasi kajian dilaporkan bersama. Kata kunci: Pengajaran Strategi, latihan semula atribusi Kajian ini menyelidik penguasaan kemahiran belajar di kalangan pelajar sebagaimana dipengaruhi oleh pengajaran strategi dan latihan semula atribusi. Seratus tiga puluh tiga orang pelajar dari sebuah sekolah terpilih mengambil bahagian dalam kajian ini. Pelajar-pelajar ini membentuk empat kumpulan persampelan rawak yang masing-masing menerima pengajaran strategi dan latihan semula atribusi, pengajaran strategi sahaja, latihan semula atribusi sahaja, dan tiada rawatan. Terdapat kesan utama kumpulan [F(3,87)=4.57, p=.005, η2=.14] dalam min kemahiran belajar selepas rawatan. Terdapat juga kesan interaksi kumpulan dengan tahap pencapaian, jantina, dan kumpulan etnik [F(2,87)=3.07, p=.052, η2=.07]. Perbincangan dan implikasi kajian dilaporkan bersama. Key words: Learning strategies, strategy instruction, attribution retraining

Exploration of the training form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation popularization among agricultural residence registration population in towns and villages

Objective To explore the short and long-term effect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for agricultural residence registration population with the language education and practice education,in order to establish a more effective method of first-aid training for agriculture population.Methods 989 agricultural residence registration people were divided into group A (721 people)and group B (268 people) randomly.Group A received CPR training with language education and group B adopted practice education.On the time before and after training immediatelythe 3rd and 6th month after training,we checked the training results and analyzed the data with statistical methods.Results The short- term effect of two methods was satisfying (accuracy more then 90％ ) and without statistical significance.The effect of group B was better than group A in the 3rd and 6th month after training.Two groups showed higher forgetting rate and some accuracy were less than 50％.Conclusions Agriculture population is in urgent need of first-aid.It may be a more effective method of first-aid training for agriculture population to transform gradually from language education to practice education.At the same time,we may use 4 hours as CPR practice education training time and 6 months as re-training period. Key words: Agriculture population; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; First-aid ability; Training form

Conflicts in science the classroom: Documentation and management through phenomenological methodology

The study investigated the nature of conflicts that are generated in the science classroom. Twenty video-recorded lessons taught by 10 randomly selected pre-service science teachers in teaching practice in a few Nigerian secondary schools were analyzed. Beside the expected goal attainment of the lessons a number of negative conflicts were documented. The analysis of the responses to the questionnaire administered to further sample of 220 serving science teachers presented in charts not only confirmed the occurrences of these negative instances but attributed them to students’ poor home background and upbringing, They attributed students’ success and good performance to teachers’ dedication and employment of good teaching methods, strategies and approaches. The subjects played down the contributions from government and parents. A number of remediation strategies meant to carry all students along in teaching-learning situation were made. These include adequately equipped laboratories, provision of appropriate incentive environment for teachers, retraining and counseling. The author sees these useful but predictable findings as part of a customary teacher’s narrative and rhetoric. For that reason, this study sought to adopt a phenomenological methodology by reconstituting these surface experiences afresh and at deep level perceptions. One suggestion is science excursions for students who for one reason or the other are prone to causing these conflicts. Such excursions can take the students to a science museum or science exhibition that offers hands-on involvement and can help change their attitudes towards learning science inside the more passive space of the classroom. Keywords: Science classroom, nature of conflicts, classroom management, phenomenological methodology.

Reliability assessment of WRPC gas turbine power station

The reliability indices of the turbines were analyzed based on a six-year failure database. Such reliability indices as failure rate (), repair rate () and mean time to repair () have been estimated. The analyses showed that gas turbine 1 (GT1) has maximum failure rate () of once in 100 h in 2007 with system availability () of 0.333 and minimum failure rate () of once in 1000 h in 2005 with of 0.983. While for gas turbine 2 (GT2), of once 100 h was obtained in 2007 with of 0.333 and of once in 1000 h in 2008 with of 0.0869. It was also showed that GT1 has a maximum repair rate () of once in 1.45 h in 2005 with of 0.983 and minimum repair rate () of once in 21.28 h in 2006 with of 0.513. In the other hand, GT2 has of once in 1.44 h in 2008 with of 0.869 and of once in 35.7 h in 2006 with of 0.513. GT1 has maximum mean time to repair () of 2133 h in 2006 with of 0.595 and minimum mean time to repair () of 72.5 h in 2005 with of 0.714. Similarly, GT2 has of 3552 h in 2006 with of 0.595 and of 144 h in 2008 with of 0.984. For the period under study, GT1 has of 0.333 in the year 2007 and of 0.983 in 2005 while GT2 has of 0.595 in 2006 and of 0.984 in 2008. Measures to improve the reliability () indices of the plant have been suggested such as training and retraining of technical personnel on the major equipment being used. Key words: Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) gas turbines, reliability indices, maintainability.

Effect of injection technique on clinical efficacy of insulin treatment of type 2 diabetes

Objective To explore the effect of injection technique on clinical efficacy of insulin treatment of type 2 diabetes. Methods 80 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly divided into two groupe,with 40 cases in each group. The control group received insulin hypodermic injection according to the text book,as well as education of insulin injection, practice guide, training and test. Thepatients were also required to fill in blood glucose document forms and were followed up once a week after discharge. The experimental group received insulin injection according to the evidence-based literatures. Moreover, the patients received insulin injection training and teat, and were discharged after passing the test. The follow-up was oncea week and contained re-training and re-test until the end of the research. One year later, the indexes of blood glucose metabolism and incidence of related complications were compared between the two groups. ResultsThe experimental group (5.93 ± 1.21 mmol/L) presented lower blood glucose level than the control group( 8.35 ±2.44 mmol/L), the difference was statistically significant ( t =1.851, P ＜ 0. 05 ), while the experimental group also exhibited lower indexes of blood glucose metabolism than the control group (P ＜0. 05 for all). There was significant difference of indexes of blood glucose metabolism of the experimental group before and after the intervention ( P ＜ 0. 05). The severity of complication symptoms in the control group was significantly higher than that in the experimental group( P ＜0.05 ). The treatment satisfaction of the control group was significantly lower while the pain degree was higher than the experimental group( P ＜ 0. 05 ). Conclusions Injection technique has an important impact on clinical efficacy of insulin treatment of diabetes. Key words: Evidence-based nursing; Injection technique; Diabetes; Relationship study

Conference supports schemes to get GPs back to work or to retrain

Conference supports schemes to get GPs back to work or to retrain