Scales Of Motion Research Articles

THE EFFECT OF STEM ACTIVITIES ON THE SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF STUDENTS

The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of Lego based STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) activities on the scientific creativity and academic success of middle-school 6th grade students. In the study, the semi experimental research method which is one of the experimental research methods was used. The study was carried out at a state middle-school in the spring semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. At the school in which the study was carried out, the students were applied the Scientific Creativity Scale (SCS) and the Academic Success Tests. A total of 85 students participated in the study. In the study group, 29 students were separated as the control group, 28 students as experimental group-1 and 28 students as experimental group-2 by the researcher. The application lasted for 7 weeks. In the experiment groups, the physical sciences lessons were taught together with the Lego based STEM activities. In the study, scientific creativity scale and Force and Motion Academic Success Test (FMAST), Properties of Matter Academic Success Test (CMAST), Animals Academic Success Test (AAST) and Sound Academic Success Test (SAST) were used. Whether the pretest-posttest difference related to the groups displayed normal distribution was checked with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In scales and tests in which it was not possible to achieve normalcy assumption, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and in those in which it was possible toachieve normalcy assumption, the Paired Samples T test was done. In the comparison of the groups’ posttests, the Single Factor Variance Analysis (ANOVA) was carried out. As a result of the study, a significance difference was found in favor of experiment group-1 in the originality dimensions related to SCS. In the analysis of the academic success tests, a significant difference was not found only in the posttest scores related to CMAST. In the posttest results of FMAST, AAST and SAST, a significant difference was found in favor of experiment group 1. In addition, in the analysis in which the posttest scores of the groups related AASTwere compared, a significant difference was found in favor of the experiment groups. As a result of the study, it was determined that the scientific creativity of the students in the experiment groups in which Lego based STEM activities were carried out developed and their academic success increased.

Enhancing the Toughness and Strength of Polymers Using Mechanically Interlocked Hydrogen Bonds.

The energy dissipative features of hydrogen bonds under conditions of mechanical strain have provided an ongoing incentive to explore hydrogen bonding units for the purpose of controlling and customizing the mechanical properties of polymeric materials. However, there remains a need for hydrogen bond units that (1) possess directionality, (2) provide selectivity, (3) dissipate energy effectively, and (4) can be incorporated readily into polymeric materials to regulate their mechanical properties. Here, we report mechanically interlocked hydrogen bond units that incorporate multiple hydrogen bonds within a [2]catenane structure. The conformational flexibility and associated spatial folding characteristics of the [2]catenane units allow for molecular scale motion under external stress, while the interlocked structure serves as a pivot that maintains the directionality and selectivity of the resultant hydrogen bonding units. When incorporated into polymers, these interlocked hydrogen bond motifs serve to strengthen and toughen the resulting materials. This study not only presents a novel hydrogen bond unit for creating polymeric materials with improved mechanical properties but also underscores the unique opportunities that mechanically interlocked hydrogen bond structures may provide across a diverse range of applications.

Robotic Microsurgery in Extremity Reconstruction - Experience With a Novel Robotic System.

Background: Robotic systems have successfully been introduced into other surgical fields in the past. First attempts with different setups are made in the field of microsurgery. The Symani® Surgical System, a flexible platform consisting of two robotic arms, features motion scaling with tremor filtration to address the demands and complexity of microsurgery. Symani's NanoWrist Instruments are the world's smallest, wristed surgical instruments, intended to improve a surgeon's range of motion beyond the capability of the human hand. This combination allows surgeons to scale their hand movements while seamlessly articulating the robotic micro instruments. Purpose: We report on our experience in extremity reconstruction with this novel system.Research Design: The Symani Surgical System® was used for 6 cases of extremity reconstruction. The surgeon controlled the manipulators along with the footswitch while either sitting away from the operating table relying on 3D visualization with an exoscope or sitting at the operating table using a standard microscope.Data Collection: Microsurgical anastomoses were performed in 4 patients (3 end-to-end arterial anastomoses and one end-to-side arterial anastomosis) and nerve grafting was performed in 2 patients.Results: Microvascular anastomoses were slower vs conventional microsurgery, but all anastomoses were patent. Epineural coaptation showed proper fascicle alignment and tissue manipulation could be kept to a minimum. The platform's motion scaling allows the surgeon to perform precise micro-movements with only minimal tissue manipulation and hard-to-reach anatomy becomes accessible more easily.Conclusions: Robotic microsurgery might gain importance in the nearer future but more data will need to be collected.

The effect of turbulent motions on particle spatial distribution in high-Reynolds-number particle-laden flows

The spatial relationship between turbulent and particle concentration structures is investigated based on the turbulent velocity and particle concentration data obtained synchronously at the Qingtu Lake Observation Array site. In addition to the observation of particle concentration structures that contain not only large-scale coherence but also significant energy in the high-Reynolds-number atmospheric surface layer (ASL), the scale of turbulent motions that have the most significant coherence with particle concentration is found to follow a 1/2 power scaling law with the local height and ASL thickness. Moreover, large-scale turbulent velocity fluctuations have a significant amplitude modulation effect on particle concentration fluctuations, but the modulating influence is different for small dust particles and large saltating particles. Based on the interphase amplitude modulation, there exists a particle–turbulence structure phase difference that varies with height, which further makes the structure inclination angle of the particle concentration larger than that of the turbulence. In this scenario, a conceptual model reflecting the relationship between the two is proposed, and a quantitative formulation is further derived and found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. These findings and the proposed model contribute insights into particle–turbulence interactions, thereby providing theoretical support for a unified model of turbulence dynamics and particle kinematics.

Permissible Scale Factors for Various Intensity Measures in Aftershock Ground Motion Scaling

This manuscript investigates the bias introduced by scaling aftershock ground motions when evaluating the performance of structures subjected to earthquake sequences. The study focuses on different hysteretic behaviors exhibited by structures and selects eight intensity measures as scale indicators. A benchmark database comprising 274 recorded mainshock–aftershock ground motions is utilized for analysis. The findings reveal that scaling aftershock records using intensity measures such as SI (seismic intensity), PGV (peak ground velocity), IC (Arias intensity), and Sa (spectral acceleration) relative to mainshock records effectively controls the mean bias within 30% throughout the entire period range, given a maximum scale factor of 10.0. However, it is observed that the additional damage in systems exhibiting un-degrading hysteretic behavior is more significantly affected by aftershock ground motion scaling compared to systems with degrading hysteretic behavior. Furthermore, scaling aftershock ground motions upwards using relative Sa tends to overestimate the additional damage incurred by structures. These results emphasize the importance of considering the specific hysteretic behavior of structures when applying aftershock ground motion scaling, as well as selecting appropriate intensity measures for accurate evaluation of structural performance.

Scaling of earthquake ground motions for tri-directional nonlinear response history analyses of reinforced concrete rectangular bridge piers

In performance-based earthquake design (PBED), both the capacity of the structure and the demand from earthquake ground shaking are required to establish the desired performance levels. A range of possible demands can be estimated through nonlinear response history analyses (NRHA), which requires a suite of earthquake ground motions appropriately scaled to the target earthquake intensity for which the structure's performance is to be evaluated. The scaling is usually done for a particular earthquake intensity measure (IM) to get the associated dispersion in the engineering demand parameter (EDP). Several scaling strategies are available for uni-directional (Uni-NRHA) and bi-directional nonlinear response history analyses (Bi-NRHA). However, for tri-directional nonlinear response history analysis (Tri-NRHA), one literature suggests using the same scale factor (SF) for the vertical component, which is estimated for the Bi-NRHA. Therefore, in this study, three well-known scaling strategies, which are usually used for Uni-NRHA, are employed with 16 different methods for application in Tri-NRHA of a reinforced concrete (RC) single-column bridge pier modelled as a single-mass three-degree-of-freedom (3DoF) system. The absolute maximum drift is taken as the EDP, and a total of 1920 Tri-NRHA of the pier are performed using two suites of 20 far-fault and 20 near-fault ground motions, which are scaled to three levels of target earthquake intensity. The sufficiency and efficiency of all the scaling methods are checked statistically under all three target intensities. The study reports the effects of (i) vertical components in calculating the SF, (ii) earthquake intensity and structural nonlinearity, and (iii) far-fault and near-fault ground motion characteristics on the dispersion of the EDP. Out of 16 scaling methods, one is found to be acceptably efficient than the others for application in Tri-NRHA under both far-fault and near-fault ground motions at all target intensities.

Dual scaling and the n-thirds law in grid turbulence

A dual scaling of the turbulent longitudinal velocity structure function $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n}$ , i.e. a scaling based on the Kolmogorov scales ( $u_K$ , $\eta$ ) and another based on ( $u'$ , $L$ ) representative of the large scale motion, is examined in the context of both the Kármán–Howarth equation and experimental grid turbulence data over a significant range of the Taylor microscale Reynolds number $Re_\lambda$ . As $Re_\lambda$ increases, the scaling based on ( $u'$ , $L$ ) extends to increasingly smaller values of $r/L$ while the scaling based on ( $u_K$ , $\eta$ ) extends to increasingly larger values of $r/\eta$ . The implication is that both scalings should eventually overlap in the so-called inertial range as $Re_\lambda$ continues to increase, thus leading to a power-law relation $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n} \sim r^{n/3}$ when the inertial range is rigorously established. The latter is likely to occur only when $Re_\lambda \to \infty$ . The use of an empirical model for $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n}$ , which complies with $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n} \sim r^{n/3}$ as $Re_\lambda \to \infty$ , shows that the finite Reynolds number effect may differ between even- and odd-orders of $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n}$ . This suggests that different values of $Re_\lambda$ may be required between even and odd values of $n$ for compliance with $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n} \sim r^{n/3}$ . The model describes adequately the dependence on $Re_\lambda$ of the available experimental data for $\overline {{(\delta u)}^n}$ and supports indirectly the extrapolation of these data to infinitely large $Re_\lambda$ .

Revealing petroleum-water-CO2 emulsion stability by NMR about oil recovery and carbon storage

CO2 injection can simultaneously enhance oil recovery and carbon storage, but the stability of petroleum-water-CO2 emulsion affcet the production process and carbon storage. Emulsion characteristics is typically assessed via Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). It is essential to develop a theory to unlock the mechanisms of experimentation for harnessing the full potential of NMR in assessing emulsion stability and comprehending complex multiphase systems. The theory integrates experiments and a “quasi-lattice wave” physical model to understand the microscale mechanisms in NMR measurements of crude oil emulsion properties, and uncover the “transfer-transition” mode of 1H quantum excited states, explaining T2 relaxation. This forms a theoretical basis for numerical simulation of CPMG (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill) experiments by random walk algorithms and the boundary annihilation hypothesis. A strong link between NMR T2 times and various character properties of Petroleum-Water-CO2 Emulsion samples is reflected, such as environmental scale, viscosity, CO2 adsorption, and molecular thermal motion. Additionally, parameter Θ was proposed to characterize emulsion stability, for penetrating the theory presented in this paper, and to provide a scientifically rigorous representation of crude oil emulsion stability. The experiments with CO2 treatment on crude oil emulsions were performed, demonstrating a highly effective theoretical correlation between interfacial tension in crude oil emulsions and CO2 pressure, with an exceptional fit to experimental data (R2 > 0.99). When the pressure of CO2 treatment exceeds a critical threshold (approximately 17 MPa in this study), there is a substantial reduction in viscosity. Furthermore, a comparative assessment of samples before and after CO2 treatment using the parameter Θ demonstrated its reliability as an indicator of emulsion stability. It revealed a significant reduction of over 50% in the linear fit residual variance of Θ before and after subjecting the sample to 10 MPa carbon dioxide treatment, highlighting improved fluctuation stability. The slope of the Θ linear regression function signifies temporal stability. In a sample with 20% water content, the time evolution of the water phase decreases by 3.04%, while the oil phase experiences a substantial 57.77% reduction. Simultaneously, the midpoint of the range of the Θ linear regression function represents the environmental scale. The water phase environment scale increases by 8.72%, while the oil phase environment scale decreases by 8.74%, highlighting spatial evolution patterns.

Concomitant open distal clavicle excision is associated with greater improvement in range of motion without increased risk of acromial stress fracture after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty: a retrospective cohort study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of concomitant open distal clavicle excision (DCE) on postoperative clinical outcomes and incidence of acromial and scapular stress fractures (ASFs) in patients with symptomatic acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis (ACJ OA) undergoing reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). A single-surgeon retrospective cohort study was conducted including patients who underwent primary elective RTSA with or without DCE from 2015 to 2019 with a minimum 6-month follow-up period. Shoulder active range of motion (AROM) and visual analog scale (VAS) pain were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively. ASFs and other adverse events were identified using postoperative notes and/or radiographs. Characteristics and outcomes were compared between the RTSA and RTSA-DCE groups. Forty-six RTSA patients (mean age, 67.9±8.7 years; 60.9% male; mean follow-up, 24.9±16.6 months) and 70 RTSA-DCE patients (mean age, 70.2±8.9 years; 20.0% male; mean follow-up, 22.7±12.9 months) were included. There were no significant intergroup differences in rates of ASF (RTSA, 0.0% vs. RTSA-DCE, 1.4%; P=1.00), stress reactions (RTSA, 8.7% vs. RTSA-DCE, 11.4%; P=0.76), reoperation, revision, or infection (all P>0.05), or in pre-to-postoperative reduction in VAS pain (P=0.17) at latest follow-up. However, the RTSA-DCE group had greater pre-to-postoperative improvement in flexion AROM (RTSA, 43.7°±38.5° vs. RTSA-DCE, 59.5°±33.4°; P=0.03) and internal rotation (IR) AROM (P=0.02) at latest follow-up. Concomitant DCE in RTSA improves shoulder flexion and IR AROM, alleviates shoulder pain, and does not increase the risk of ASFs. Level of evidence: III.

Effectiveness of Deep Cervical Fascial Manipulation® and Sequential Yoga Poses on Pain and Function in Individuals with Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of fascial manipulation (FM) of the deep cervical fascia (DCF) and sequential yoga poses (SYP) on pain and function in individuals with mechanical neck pain (MNP). Following the predefined criteria, ninety-nine individuals with MNP were recruited, randomised, and assigned to either the intervention group (IG) (n = 51) or the control group (CG) (n = 48). Individuals in the IG received FM (4 sessions in 4 weeks) and the home-based SYP (4 weeks). The CG participants received their usual care (cervical mobilisation and thoracic manipulation (4 sessions in 4 weeks) along with unsupervised therapeutic exercises (4 weeks). The participants underwent baseline and weekly follow-up measurements of pain using a numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and elbow extension range of motion (EEROM) during the upper limb neurodynamic test 1 (ULNT1). The baseline and the fourth session follow-up measurements of the patient-specific functional scale (PSFS) and fear-avoidance behavior Questionnaire (FABQ) were also taken. A repeated-measures ANOVA was performed. There were statistically significant differences between the IG and CG on the NPRS third and fourth sessions, with mean differences (MD) of -1.009 (p < 0.05) and -1.701 (p < 0.001), respectively. Regarding EEROM, there was a 20.120° difference (p < 0.001) in the fourth session between the groups. The MD in FABQ was -5.036 (p < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in PSFS between the groups during the follow-up. FM and SYP can aid in reducing pain and fear-avoidance behaviour and improve the function and extensibility of the upper quarter region.

Anomalous Dissipation and Lack of Selection in the Obukhov–Corrsin Theory of Scalar Turbulence

The Obukhov–Corrsin theory of scalar turbulence [21, 54] advances quantitative predictions on passive-scalar advection in a turbulent regime and can be regarded as the analogue for passive scalars of Kolmogorov’s K41 theory of fully developed turbulence [47]. The scaling analysis of Obukhov and Corrsin from 1949 to 1951 identifies a critical regularity threshold for the advection-diffusion equation and predicts anomalous dissipation in the limit of vanishing diffusivity in the supercritical regime. In this paper we provide a fully rigorous mathematical validation of this prediction by constructing a velocity field and an initial datum such that the unique bounded solution of the advection-diffusion equation is bounded uniformly-in-diffusivity within any fixed supercritical Obukhov-Corrsin regularity regime while also exhibiting anomalous dissipation. Our approach relies on a fine quantitative analysis of the interaction between the spatial scale of the solution and the scale of the Brownian motion which represents diffusion in a stochastic Lagrangian setting. This provides a direct Lagrangian approach to anomalous dissipation which is fundamental in order to get detailed insight on the behavior of the solution. Exploiting further this approach, we also show that for a velocity field in Cα\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C^\\alpha $$\\end{document} of space and time (for an arbitrary 0≤α<1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$0 \\le \\alpha < 1$$\\end{document}) neither vanishing diffusivity nor regularization by convolution provide a selection criterion for bounded solutions of the advection equation. This is motivated by the fundamental open problem of the selection of solutions of the Euler equations as vanishing-viscosity limit of solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations and provides a complete negative answer in the case of passive advection.

Turbulent transport mechanism in the roughness sublayers over idealized urban areas and its implication to street-level ventilation

Turbulence in the roughness sublayer (RSL) is inhomogeneous compared with that in the inertial sublayer (ISL) of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) over urban areas. Drag coefficient Cd, which measures aerodynamic roughness, is employed in this paper to examine how (idealized) urban morphology influences ASL dynamics and transport. Wind tunnel experiments are conducted to study the flows and turbulence in response to different configurations of (identical) roughness elements. Statistics, quadrant analysis, and tilt angle evidence the more efficient RSL transport over rougher surfaces even the winds are slower. Although the power spectra of streamwise u’’ and vertical w’’ fluctuating velocities are rather insensitive to Cd, their cospectrum shows a secondary peak at small motion scales λx (≤ 0.1δ where δ is the thickness of turbulent boundary layer) along with the primary peak at integral length scale Λx (≈ δ). It is thus suggested that, regardless of the turbulence intensity, RSL streamwise and vertical winds are more correlated, enhancing the transport. Amplitude (AM) and frequency (FM) modulations signify the positive correlation between RSL large and small motion scales which is amplified over rougher surfaces. Furthermore, RSL turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) production (entrainment) increases with decreasing (increasing) Cd, fostering the basic mechanism of street-level ventilation.

Alignment strategy for different types of varus knee with generic instruments: Mechanical alignment or kinematic alignment?

ObjectiveA thorough examination of the available approaches is crucial to comprehensively understand the variance among the alignment strategies employed in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In this study, we assessed the functional outcomes during the perioperative and postoperative periods of TKA in patients using generic instruments with varus knee to compare the mechanical alignment (MA) and kinematic alignment (KA) procedures.MethodsA total of 127 patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College who had undergone unilateral TKA between November 2019 and April 2021 were included. The patients with varus knee deformity were categorized into two groups [type I (n = 64) and type IV (n = 63)] based on the modified coronal plane alignment of the knee (mCPAK) classification. The type I and IV groups were further subdivided into MA (n = 30 and n = 32) and KA subgroups (n = 34 and n = 21), respectively. The clinical information collected included sex, surgical side, age, body mass index, and perioperative data [including operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification]. All patients were monitored for 12 months post-surgery to evaluate the recovery of knee joint function. During this period, the Knee Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score for Joint Replacement (KOOS JR) and the active range of motion (AROM) and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores were compared at different time points, i.e., before the operation and 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post-operation. Additionally, the patients’ subjective experiences were assessed at 6 and 12 months post-surgery using Forgotten Joint Score Knee (FJS-12 Knee), while complications were recorded throughout the monitoring period.ResultsNo significant variances were observed in ASA classification, operation duration, blood loss volume during surgery, and hospital stay length between the patients who underwent KA TKA and those who received MA TKA (P > 0.05). During the initial 6 weeks post-operation, the KA group exhibited a significantly reduced average VAS pain score (P < 0.05), with no such differences at 6 months and 1 year after the surgery (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the KA group had significantly higher scores on the KOOS JR at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year following the surgery (P < 0.05). Moreover, the AROM score of the KA group significantly improved only at 6 weeks after the surgery (P < 0.05); however, no prominent differences were found at 6 months and 1 year after the operation (P > 0.05). The KA cohort also exhibited a significant increase in FJS-12 Knee at 1 year following the operation (P < 0.05), whereas no such difference was detected at 6 months following the surgery (P > 0.05). Thus, compared to the MA method, the KA procedure provided pain relief and improved active motion range within 6 weeks after the surgery in patients undergoing TKA. Further, the KOOS JR exhibited significant increases at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year while the FJS-12 Knee demonstrated a significant increase at 1 year after the KA TKA procedure.ConclusionTherefore, our study results suggest that the KA approach can be considered in patients using generic instruments with varus alignment of the knee, particularly those with mCPAK type I and IV varus knees, to help improve patient satisfaction.

Evaluation the effect of amplitude scaling of real ground motions on seismic demands accounting different structural characteristics and soil classes

Evaluation the effect of amplitude scaling of real ground motions on seismic demands accounting different structural characteristics and soil classes

The Effect of Contrast Bath Therapy and Knee Pad Device on Pain, Range of Motion, and Functional Disability in Patients With Osteoarthritis Knee: A Randomized Control Trial.

Background and objective A degenerative joint condition mostly affecting the weight-bearing joints is osteoarthritis (OA). The majority of the time, it involves the knee joint. Pain and stiffness are common in grade 1 and 2 OA. And that's the main reason people ask for help. Physiotherapy treatment can be helpful for symptomatic management of early OA. Along with exercises, contrast bath therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic alternative to medication to alleviate pain and stiffness in OA. Many studies have been done using the traditional water immersion CBT. However, there is a paucity of studies on contrast therapy given using a device. This study intends to find the effect of a knee pad device(KPD) on pain, range of motion, and functional disability in knee OA patients when compared with CBT. Methods About 60 patients having unilateral knee OA were selected and randomly divided into two groups: group A received CBT for 20 minutes, and group B was treated with a KPD for 20 minutes and the Otago exercise programwas given in both groups for 30 minutes. Both groups received treatment for three sessions per week for two weeks.Outcome measures used for assessment at baseline and post-treatment were visual analog scale (VAS), knee range of motion, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) scale, and distance covered in a two-minute walk test. Results Both the groups showed significant improvement post-treatment (p < 0.05). Group B showed more significant improvement when compared with group A. The enhancement in VAS (2.39, p < 0.020), range of motion (2.11, p < 0.039), WOMAC (2.09, p < 0.04), and two-minute walk test (2.03, p < 0.046) showed improvement in functional ability. Conclusion The findings of this study showed that both groups showed improvementfollowing treatment, but that the use of a KPD in combination with strengthening and balance retraining is more efficient in reducing pain and enhancing quality of life in patients with grade 1 or 2 knee OA than conventional CBT.

Efficacy of ultrasound-guided subacromial bursa steroid injection for treating shoulder pain in post-stroke hemiparetic patients

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of ultrasound-guided subacromial bursa (SAB) steroid injection for treating hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) after stroke (CS), as well as its impact on joint mobility, and inflammatory mediators.Methods: Seventy-two (72) patients with CS-related HSP were divided into two groups: study and control groups. The study group received ultrasound-guided SAB injection of triamcinolone acetonide in addition to conventional treatment, while control group received only conventional rehabilitation. Both groups received 4 weeks of treatment and were assessed using pain visual analogue scale (VAS) and passive range of motion (PROM) indices before treatment and at 1, 4, and 12 weeks after treatment. Additionally, the Fugl-Meyer motor function (FMA-U) scale score, activities of daily living (ADL) score, modified Barthel index (MBI), serum IL-1β, IL-6, nitric oxide (NO) levels, and incidence of adverse reactions were assessed before and after 4 weeks of treatment.Results: The study group had a significantly higher total efficacy/effectiveness (86.11 %) compared to control group (53.89 %). Both groups showed initial decreases and subsequent increases in VAS and PROM from week 1 to week 12 after treatment. However, the study group had significantly lower VAS scores, angle of forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation at all time points compared to control group (p &lt; 0.05). At week 4, the study group had significantly higher FMA-U, ADL, and MBI scores, as well as significantly lower IL-1β, IL-6, and NO levels when compared to control group (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided SAB steroid injection improves the efficacy of HSP after CS, improves joint mobility, and reduces serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and NO. Further large-sample studies with increased sample sizes and longer investigation periods are needed to validate these findings.

STDM-transformer: Space-time dual multi-scale transformer network for skeleton-based action recognition

Transformer-based methods have currently demonstrated impressive results in the field of skeleton-based action recognition. Nevertheless, how to effectively model multi-scale features with transformers remains a challenging problem, which is crucial to distinguish various actions. In this paper, we propose a Space–time Dual Multi-scale transformer (STDM-transformer) to explore the multi-scale collaborative representation employing both fine and coarse scale motion information. In contrast to existing approaches which typically propagate information between scales in a single fusion manner, our Space–time Dual Multi-scale method stratifies the space–time multi-scale into dual levels. One level is to construct fine-grained local motion interactions. In detail, the space–time multi-scale partition strategy and the novel intra-inter space–time transformer module are proposed to extract and aggregate the feature in part scale and body scale, respectively. The other is aimed at modeling coarse-grained global motion contexts, in which the layer-wise multi-scale progressive fusion strategy is designed. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed STDM-transformer achieves the SOTA performance on large-scale datasets.

Changes in clinical outcomes and alignment of the ipsilateral knee and ankle after supramalleolar osteotomy in patients with varus osteoarthritis of the ankle: a short-term follow-up study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in clinical outcomes and alignment of the ipsilateral knee and ankle in patients with varus ankle osteoarthritis after supramalleolar osteotomy (SMO). We retrospectively reviewed 23 patients (24 ankles) with Takakura II, IIIa and IIIb ankle osteoarthritis treated with SMO between May 2017 and March 2022. The radiologic parameters of ankles contained medial distal tibial angle (TAS), tibiotalar angle (TT), tibial lateral surface (TLS), tibial plafond inclination (TPI) and talar inclination (TI). The radiologic parameters of knees contained medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), joint line convergence angle (JLCA), the knee joint line orientation relative to ground (G-KJLO) and WBL. Hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA) was also collected. The Takakura system was used for evaluating the ankle osteoarthritis and the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) system was used for evaluating the knee osteoarthritis. Clinical evaluation of the ankle joints contained American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS), range of motion (ROM) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Clinical evaluation of the knee joints contained Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores (JOA), ROM, VAS. The mean follow-up times were 20.3 ± 7.3months (range 12-38). According to the radiologic evaluation, the TAS increased from preoperative 84.7° ± 2.0° to 91.2° ± 1.8° at the last follow-up (P < 0.001). The TPI and TI decreased from 4.4° ± 4.2° and 11.0° ± 5.2° to 0.1° ± 4.7° and 4.1° ± 4.8° (P < 0.001 for both). The TT angel improved from 9.5° ± 4.1° to 4.9° ± 3.3° (P < 0.001). No significant differences were found regarding MPTA, JLCA, G-KJLO, knee WBL and HKA (P > 0.05 for all). The Takakura stage improved after SMO (P < 0.001) whilst the KL stage maintains the similar lever (P > 0.05). According to the clinical evaluation, the AOFAS significantly increased from 67.5 ± 10.6 to 88.5 ± 9.3 and the VAS of the ankle decreased from 4.7 ± 1.6 to 1.2 ± 1.1, whilst there were no changes on VAS and even the JOA and knee ROM after SMO (P > 0.05 for all). SMO can alleviate the symptoms of varus ankle osteoarthritis and delay the time for ankle replacement or arthrodesis by redistributing the abnormal stress of the ankle and restoring the congruence of the tibiotalar joint. In addition, it did not induce the clinical symptoms of knee without compromising lower limb alignment or knee joint line orientation in the short term. Level IV case series.

Gas–Particle Dynamics in High-Speed Flows

High-speed disperse multiphase flows are present in numerous environmental and engineering applications with complex interactions between turbulence, shock waves, and particles. Compared with its incompressible counterpart, compressible two-phase flows introduce new scales of motion that challenge simulations and experiments. This review focuses on gas–particle interactions spanning subsonic to supersonic flow conditions. An overview of existing Mach-number-dependent drag laws is presented, with origins from eighteenth-century cannon firings and new insights from particle-resolved numerical simulations. The equations of motion and phenomenology for a single particle are first reviewed. Multiparticle systems spanning dusty gases to dense suspensions are then discussed from numerical and experimental perspectives.

Three distinct scales dominate the role of eolian electric fields in dust turbulent transport

Although previous studies have shown that eolian electric fields significantly alter the lifting and dynamics of dust particles, they are limited to mean fields. The effects of eolian electric fields on the dust turbulent transport have not been reported before. Here, by combing the observational data and wavelet-based spectral analysis, we find that eolian electric fields enhance the vertical turbulent transport of dust particles in the near-surface layer and exhibit three distinct crucial scales. Specifically, the eolian electric fields exhibit a dominant promoting effect at the kilometer-sized synoptic scale, a secondary suppressive effect at the hectometer-sized very-large-scale motion scale, and a negligible effect at the decameter-sized turbulent integral scale. Such scale-dependent electrical effects can be explained by the fact that the linear coupling between vertical eolian electric field and dust concentration is strongest at the synoptic scale, followed by the very-large-scale motion scale, and is weakest at the turbulent integral scale.