Technical Aids Research Articles

Vestibular animal models: contributions to understanding physiology and disease.

Our knowledge of the vestibular sensory system, its functional significance for gaze and posture stabilization, and its capability to ensure accurate spatial orientation perception and spatial navigation has greatly benefitted from experimental approaches using a variety of vertebrate species. This review summarizes the attempts to establish the roles of semicircular canal and otolith endorgans in these functions followed by an overview of the most relevant fields of vestibular research including major findings that have advanced our understanding of how this system exerts its influence on reflexive and cognitive challenges encountered during daily life. In particular, we highlight the contributions of different animal models and the advantage of using a comparative research approach. Cross-species comparisons have established that the morpho-physiological properties underlying vestibular signal processing are evolutionarily inherent, thereby disclosing general principles. Based on the documented success of this approach, we suggest that future research employing a balanced spectrum of standard animal models such as fish/frog, mouse and primate will optimize our progress in understanding vestibular processing in health and disease. Moreover, we propose that this should be further supplemented by research employing more “exotic” species that offer unique experimental access and/or have specific vestibular adaptations due to unusual locomotor capabilities or lifestyles. Taken together this strategy will expedite our understanding of the basic principles underlying vestibular computations to reveal relevant translational aspects. Accordingly, studies employing animal models are indispensible and even mandatory for the development of new treatments, medication and technical aids (implants) for patients with vestibular pathologies.

Summary

What is the relation between modal logic and modal metaphysics? As a technical discipline, modal logic is in effect a branch of applied mathematics that studies extensions of standard formal languages by additional sentence operators, independently of any particular interpretation of those operators. Modal metaphysics studies the nature and extent of possibility and necessity, where those terms are understood in a strong non-epistemic ‘metaphysical’ sense: something is necessary just in case it would have obtained no matter what, and possible just in case it does not necessarily not obtain. Informally, metaphysicians can read the operators □ and ◊ of modal logic as expressing such necessity and possibility, although that reading plays no official role in the technical development. When the modal language also contains quantifiers, metaphysicians will naturally read them as unrestricted. That metaphysical reading of the modal operators and quantifiers will be assumed in what follows. Metaphysicians want to know which formulas of the modal language are metaphysically universal , in the sense of being true on every interpretation of the non-logical constants and free variables in them. The metaphysically universal formulas, whichever they are, constitute the core metaphysical theory of the most general structure of modal reality. We can use modal logic as a technical aid in studying that theory.

Should Human Rights Law Play a Role in Development?

Many human rights advocates believe that development agencies—agencies that define their mission as providing economic and technical aid to impoverished countries—should be required to respect and promote human rights law. This style of human rights imperialism should be resisted. While development agencies should obviously comply with domestic law and try to promote good rather than bad outcomes, there is no benefit in holding them to human rights law. Human rights law was designed for states, not for NGOs, and how it would be applied to NGOs is far from obvious. Because of the ambiguity and vast scope of human rights law, the practical effect of these proposals would be to add another layer of bureaucracy to development projects while subjecting those projects to scrutiny by lawyers with little to guide them but their intuitive notions of right and wrong.

Development and psychometric properties of ECPICID-AVC to measure informal caregivers' skills when caring for older stroke survivors at home.

Informal caregivers provide a significant part of the total care needed by dependent older people poststroke. Although informal care is often the preferred option of those who provide and those who receive informal care, informal caregivers often report lack of preparation to take care of older dependent people. This article outlines the development and psychometric testing of informal caregivers' skills when providing care to older people after a stroke - ECPICID-AVC. Prospective psychometric instrument validation study. Eleven experts participated in a focus group in order to delineate, develop and validate the instrument. Data were gathered among adult informal caregivers (n = 186) living in the community in Northern Portugal from August 2013 to January 2014. The 32-item scale describes several aspects of informal caregiver's skills. The scale has eight factors: skill to feed/hydrate by nasogastric feeding, skill to assist the person in personal hygiene, skill to assist the person for transferring, skill to assist the person for positioning, skill to provide technical aids, skill to assist the person to use the toilet, skill to feed/hydrate and skill to provide technical aids for dressing/undressing. Analysis demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83) and good temporal stability 0.988 (0.984-0.991). The psychometric properties of the measurement tool showed acceptable results allowing its implementation in clinical practice by the nursing community staff for evaluating practical skills in informal caregivers when providing care to older stroke survivors living at home.

Fabrication d’un corset-siège pour patient atteint d’infirmité motrice cérébrale : quoi de neuf ?

For many years prosthetics companies have manufactured and delivered technical aids, specific of the sitting position, named sitting braces. In France, the specifications of these devices are defined in the interministerial price of health services registry; however, each manufacturer is free to contribute to their design. Over the years, stimulated by the experience and expectations of users and their families and the collaboration with other professionals, the services have changed in many ways.

Simulation for Airway Management in a Critical Care Set Up

The simulators have been used conventionally by pilot training wherein real time scenario and crisis situation is created for management. Similar concept has been recently extended in medical sciences for teaching and training and has found an important role in airway management as well. Simulators are inevitable for learning the technical skills and aids in learning and assessing psychomotor tasks, cognitive and affective skills [1,3,4,7,8]. Simulation practice ensures team dynamics along with application of algorithmic approach for holistic management. Traditionally airway management training was delivered by practicing skills like laryngoscopy, fiberscopic tracheal intubation individually. In real scenario, these individuals’ skills need to be choreographed into an systematic approach. We need to have primary approach for airway management, secondary approach, if it fails and also subsequent rescue approaches. This real time airway management may not be possible in airway trainers by learning individual skills. The algorithms have been proposed by various professional bodes for management of airway [1]. The stimulators would help to acquire the skills and judgment of the equipments and techniques required of the algorithm [1]. The simulators in airway management helps in improving psychomotor level (skill training), cognitive level (decision making) or affective level (interacting with peers/coworkers) [1] The simulators are an important tool for evaluation of efficacy of training and skill retention [1,2,9]. In view of ethical concerns and patient safety, simulator training would become essential prior to interacting with real patients as compared to training on real patients. The simulator available are either partial-task or whole-task trainers or may replicate real time conditions without compromising the patient safety [1]. Though the animal models were initially used for these concerns, but many aspects of real time situations were not feasible in such models [1]. The high-fidelity patient simulation reproduce real-life patient and a similar environment may be created as to be encountered by the learners. Such environment may be considered as sensitizer for the learners for real time stressful situations to handle difficult airway situations in critically ill patient. Unlike real patients, a high-fidelity airway simulator provides various opportunities for different type of airway difficulties and complications. This provides learners an opportunity to perform multiple times under different conditions.

R.T.B.F. « Entrée libre » au public

La Radio-Télévision belge a inauguré en 1975 un programme dans lequel elle permet à des groupes, même informels, de s’exprimer librement, en leur fournissant les moyens et l’aide technique, sans cependant intervenir sur le contenu du programme. Que s’est-il passé alors ? On constate pour l’essentiel beaucoup de mimétisme des émissions courantes de télévision de la part des soixante groupes qui ont eu l’occasion de se présenter devant le grand public. Si le produit s’est souvent avéré décevant, le travail préparatoire avec les groupes a par contre été passionnant dans l’effort de clarification de ses idées pour pouvoir les exprimer devant un public hétérogène et imprécis. Les meilleures émissions ont été celles produites par des groupes qui les utilisèrent dans le cadre d’une action, tout en les destinant à un public précis. L’émission n’était plus une activité annexe, mais un moment important de l’action.

A study of “Aware Wheelchair” with Sensor Networks for Avoiding “Two Meters Danger”

In this coming ageing society worldly, a wheelchair is very important technical aid for an independent life with aids of elderly people and impaired persons. However, the number of accidents reported by a wheelchair was the worst among all the technical aids (e.g., walking frame, bed, shower chair, etc.) in 2012 in Japan. We propose “Aware Wheelchair” with sensor networks that detect dangers within “Two meters” and distribute awareness and suggest suitable actions to both user and caregivers. The system could also accumulate sensor data in mobility knowledgebase servers. We found that quick warning methods and assist functions that could correspond to various personal types with different physical abilities. We also show the results of wheelchair user assist simulation by the aware wheelchair.

Overview of Didactic Methodical Organization of University Teaching by Bologna Concept of Higher Education

Reassessment of the existing didactic-methodological organization within the University lectures as well as the role of students and University lecturers is a result of the current process of higher education reforms. The advancement of pedagogical and didactic-methodological competences of university lecturers represents an imperative in reaching a high quality education. The results of this research may function as a starting point in the self-evaluation of University lecturers. The point of this work was to present didactic and methodical elements of contemporary university teaching, according to Bologna concept of higher education, and position of students. Taking into consideration the very definition and didactic methodological structure and legality of teaching, researches related to representation of individual didactic and methodical elements of contemporary university teaching are presented, which relate to forms of teaching, methods of teaching and application of teaching and technical aids. In the context of the current reform of the high education and considering the Bologna Declaration it could be concluded that contemporary university teaching is marked with cooperative interactive teaching in which the position of students and teachers is defined as partnership.

IBRC 2016

The Journal BIOPHILIA 2016 (2) The Proceedings of IBRC 2016 July 18-19, 2016 in Geneva, Swiss"Revolution of Hope on Re-acquirement of Ability by Rehabilitation Medicine Innovation" Hosted by; International Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy Co-Hosted by; Biophilia Rehabilitation Academy of Japan Supported by: Embassy of Japan in Switzerland Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Japanese National Foundation, Association for Technical Aids Conference Chair; Prof. Toshiyuki Tanaka Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology Keio University

Practice of Outpatient Rehabilitation of the Takizawa Method and Motivative Exercise

We studied the new Rehabilitation intervention technique (Takizawa method), which realized re-acquirement of walking from bedridden of 30% or more of the bedr1) idden elderly by the grant of Japanese National Foundation, Association for Technical Aids in 2000 . An increase in the elderly population, including the disabled, demands the expansion of social security-related expenditures, which confers an unbearable burden to the following generation. These “Aging Crises” would give rise to the collapse of the social system. The social security-related expenditures are enabled to reduce by getting knowledge of the way for disabled persons to live independently from to live with depending on caregivers. That elderly people live independently means the reduction of social security costs. It leads to preventing the collapse of the social system. Then, we studied “the formulation study of the community rehabilitation network by the advanced age disabled person oneself”. by the grant of the Incorporated Administrative Agency(IAA), Welfare And Medical Service Agency（WAM）. The purpose for us was to make everyday life of as much as disabled elderly become independent possible but care reliance2) . We clarified the significant difference on improvement in a degree of independent living degree . At this time, my facility was only one which has already introduced the Takizawa method from starting time but the facility in Fujisawa. Therefore, we made a video of our reality of rehabilitation enforcement and contributed it to the test implementation facility. We used it simultaneously as a report to the WAM of the research grant offer IAA. This video is created with two of information. One shows the everyday training situation of this institution and the other does it at home. All of the people who appears in the video are users of members in this facility and one is a patient of the Fujisawa one. All of them agreed with photography and televising. Please look at the video as an example of Takizawa method rehabilitation enforcement.

KEGIATAN MAHASISWA UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH PURWOICERTO PESERTA KKN TERPADU DI PERPUSTAKAAN SEKOLAH DI WILAYAH KABUPATEN BANYUMAS

This research is aimed to find out the kinds of students' contribution at some schools' libraries. This research was done Public Service Unit of Muhammadiyah University from March — May 2007. The method used in this research is by analysing the documents as the final report of Public Field Work Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the students' contributions can be both technical and financial aids. The technical aids, such as: room management, inventarization, classification, catalogue, making book card, making member card, putting the book label, giving the book cover, putting the data in computer, book shelfing, arranging the wall paper an doing the administration as well as circulation service. The financial aid was Rp. 3,134,850 used to buy the libraries' needs, including books, bookselves, paint and writing utensils.
 Key words: shoots' libraries.

Aspects fonctionnels et orthopédiques des dystrophinopathies

Although the clinical picture and the natural progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) differ, borderline forms exist. Classical orthopaedic treatment is based on self-rehabilitation (by the parents and the patient), physical therapy, posture alignment with orthotics, ergotherapy to set up technical aides, notably positioning in an electric wheelchair to provide more satisfactory autonomy. The functional aspect predominates over pure orthopaedics. Although surgical indications have evolved for the lower limbs, pelvic-spinal arthrodesis for treatment of scoliosis remains the reference treatment, but the methods have evolved since the advent of corticotherapy for DMD. Corticotherapy slows the progression of motor deficits, the age at which walking ability is lost is delayed (shifting from 10 years to 13-14 years depending on the studies), scoliosis progresses later, respiratory insufficiency is better controlled, and therefore survival is prolonged (between 20 and 40 years). However, although this functional aspect seems to respond better to the progress in overall treatment, it also results from a multidisciplinary approach to the disease. Nevertheless, assessment is required, not at a time t as reflected by the scales currently in use, but during daily activities as proposed by qualitative and quantitative monitoring seeking to model nyctohemeral functional motor skills. The principle is to characterize the type of activity (sitting, standing, lying down, walking), its duration, its intensity (walking speed), its frequency (number of activity changes, number of walking episodes), and their sequence (temporal sequence, organization of activity variation). The goal is to identify the variety of functional motor skills and their occurrence over time to determine whether treatment contributes a functional benefit and whether this benefit is put into practice daily.

Integrated roadmap for the rapid finding and tracking of people at large airports

This paper presents an integrated roadmap for the rapid finding and tracking of people at large airports. Business continuity at an airport is threatened by incidents such as left luggage and breaches of secure areas. These activities require rapid response because they are high frequency, high risk and high cost. For these reasons, live tracking and forensic searches of people are important tasks, for example, finding the owner of a left piece of luggage or tracking a trespasser. Finding and tracking people using surveillance cameras without technical aids is time consuming. The roadmap for the rapid finding and tracking of people at airports is based on discussions with end users, an assessment of the state-of-the-art and an integral assessment of work processes, human–machine interfaces, computer vision and the information and communications infrastructure. According to the roadmap, a major step forward can be achieved by integrating advancements in four areas: (i) increasing camera coverage; (ii) implementing computer vision for automated recognition and tracking; (iii) using contextual user interfaces; and (iv) adapting training and work processes to the tasks of finding and tracking people.

Altern und Wohngestaltung

The increase of life expectancy provides the unique opportunity to participate actively in social life many years after retirement and upbringing of children. In Germany, over 80 % of the population 60 years and older are living independently in the community, and approximately 95 % stay in their own homes. On the other hand, the probability to suffer from diseases, frailty and impaired activities of daily life activities also rises with higher age. However, only on rare occasions older people in need of nursing care do like to give up their home voluntarily. Next to innovative forms of dwelling, home replacement, technical aids and us of information and communication technology (ICT), efforts to strengthen the older persons' independence of maintaining mobility in their home environment (life space) is emphasised in this article. The particular focus is on the use of preventative strategies and to support geriatric network facilities.

Evaluating Web Accessibility of Educational Websites

Web accessibility concerns of building websites that are accessible by all people regardless of their ability or disability. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has been established to raise awareness of universal access. WAI develops guidelines which can help to ensure that Web pages are widely accessible. Assistive technology is used to increase, improve, and maintain capabilities of disabled persons to execute tasks that are sometimes difficult or impossible to do without technical aid. Also it helps them achieve their scholar, professional and social activities. This paper exposes an approach to investigate accessible contents of educational websites to ensure and measure its compliance with accessibility standards for visually impaired people. This study focuses on studying existing standards and investigating its applicability on educational institute websites. This will increase accessibility on e-learning materials that are provided by educational institutes. In this paper a sample of websites at selected universities in Jordan are evaluated in terms of accessibility in comparison to some universities websites in England and Arabic region. Results show that accessibility errors of universities websites in Jordan, and Arab region exceed the ones in UK by 13 times, and 5 times consequently.

Care in the (critical) making. Open prototyping, or the radicalisation of independent-living politics

In this paper, we reflect empirically on some collective attempts at intervening the ways in which care for and by disabled people is being devised and carried out in Spain in austerity times. We highlight the novelties and challenges of the way in which these projects seek to tackle the current crisis of care through different forms of self-fabrication of “open” and “low cost” technical aids. We analyse them as forms of “critical making” expanding the repertoire of independent-living and disabled people's rights politics to the experimentation with technological production. Through the deployment of an empirical example of the prototyping process by the Barcelona-based activist design collective En torno a la silla, we show how open prototyping constitutes a major challenge for the radicalisation of the independent-living movement's precepts of control and choice, displaying the matter of care arrangements and making available its transformation.

Who is the user of socio-health interventions and what are their needs?

Socio-health interventions include performance and care intended to attend to the needs of people who have suffered a decrease in their personal autonomy because of their age, illness or disability. Oriented towards achieving an improvement in the quality of life of people in that situation, they try to meet the requirements of people in an integrated way. To intervene in those situations involves providing technical aids and environmental, custom and social changes as well as personal care needed to improve their quality of life and enhance their skills and well-being. Scientific advances and demographic and social changes have determined a change in the profile of socio-health interventions' receivers, highlighting longevity, chronicity of processes and aging of the informal caregiver. The aim of this work is to characterize the person receiving the social-health interventions and to reflect on what their needs are. To do this we have conducted a biomedical studies' review through literature searches at ScienceDirect as well as a review of national institutional documentation related to people in dependent situations and their family caregivers. People who need socio-health help establish a heterogeneous population in respect of their needs. Both the person with disabilities and their informal caregiver need to be considered as an object of interest and attention.

The SCI Community Survey: Highlights related to met or unmet needs for services after return in community living

The SCI Community Survey is the largest consumer survey of its type ever undertaken in Canada ( n = 1549 participants including 412 with a non-traumatic lesion). The primary aim was to identify the most salient needs for services after returning to community living. Thirteen domains were identified as relevant for the Survey, including home accessibility, personal services, transportation, healthcare and job training. Data showed that expressed needs for services are higher in participants with traumatic lesion compared to non-traumatic lesion (ex.: technical aids and equipment, 93% vs. 82% short-distance transportation, 87% vs. 77%, housing accessibility 86% vs. 71) suggesting more incapacities in people with traumatic lesion. The percentage of participants with met needs (to a great extent or completely) exceeded 70% for needs related to transportation, housing accessibility, technical aids and equipment, general health care and personal services. However, less than 50% of participants considered needs related to emotional counselling, recreation and leisure, income support as fulfilled. These proportions do not differ between people with traumatic or non-traumatic lesion. Several environmental factors hindered the participants’ capacity to fulfil their needs for services, particularly the availability, the cost and the process to get the services and, to some instances, the lack of SCI knowledge of healthcare providers. The survey results allowed a better knowledge of met/unmet needs for services in people with spinal cord injury in Canada and the identification of potential improvement in healthcare service delivery in order to decrease the impact of incapacities after returning to community living.

Return to drive after acquired brain damage: What support provided after assessment step?

A consensus exists about the need of assessing effects of unprogressive acquired brain injury (stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain anoxia and encephalitis) on recovery of driving. It is a dynamic process in which the assessment is only one step. It should be completed in terms of conclusion by an individual support focused on the person. Identifying the place of rehabilitation, the accompanying terms, and the place of the person were concerns in context of the guidelines developed on behalf of the French Rehabilitation Medicine Society SOFMER, the French Higher Health Authority (HHA) and other groups of interest. With the aim of maintaining an optimal independence, to determine practical modalities of supporting people, whatever conclusions of the assessment (pass or fail). Seventy-seven studies from literature analyzed among 326 references allow the development of a preliminary draft by a multidisciplinary work group. A formal notice was based on a reading group's recommendations then submitted to HHA. In case of successful assessment : information on the administrative and financial procedures for the regularization of driving license. If technical aids are needed, it is necessary to learn these control facilities, and useful information for their implementation (choice, cost, financing…) are made. In case of failed assessment : the person must be informed of his clinical case and his possible evolution, especially further improvement of driving abilities, and possibilities of cognitive rehabilitation would be considered. Without anosognosia, an on-road retraining of driving may be proposed, but the efficacy cannot be guaranteed. It should not exceed 10 hours, and should be stopped, after few sessions without progress. In case of permanent inability of driving recovery, the person, still supported by a trusted person if possible, should be informed of available driving alternatives, also of financial help mobilized in order to maintain the mobility and the social involvement. The person's place is central. The role of the information is essential with oral and writing modalities of transmission, with criteria of progressivity, considering experiences and feelings.