Rehab Centers: Using Mobile Phones for Activity Recognition in Parkinson’s Patients.

Using mobile phones for activity recognition in Parkinson’s patients.

Filed under: Rehab Centers

Front Neurol. 2012; 3: 158
Albert MV, Toledo S, Shapiro M, Kording K

Mobile phones with built-in accelerometers promise a convenient, objective way to quantify everyday movements and classify those movements into activities. Using accelerometer data we estimate the following activities of 18 healthy subjects and eight patients with Parkinson’s disease: walking, standing, sitting, holding, or not wearing the phone. We use standard machine learning classifiers (support vector machines, regularized logistic regression) to automatically select, weigh, and combine a large set of standard features for time series analysis. Using cross validation across all samples we are able to correctly identify 96.1% of the activities of healthy subjects and 92.2% of the activities of Parkinson’s patients. However, when applying the classification parameters derived from the set of healthy subjects to Parkinson’s patients, the percent correct lowers to 60.3%, due to different characteristics of movement. For a fairer comparison across populations we also applied subject-wise cross validation, identifying healthy subject activities with 86.0% accuracy and 75.1% accuracy for patients. We discuss the key differences between these populations, and why algorithms designed for and trained with healthy subject data are not reliable for activity recognition in populations with motor disabilities.
HubMed – rehab

Systematic review of parameters of stimulation, clinical trial design characteristics, and motor outcomes in non-invasive brain stimulation in stroke.

Filed under: Rehab Centers

Front Psychiatry. 2012; 3: 88
Adeyemo BO, Simis M, Macea DD, Fregni F

Introduction/Objectives: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation are two powerful non-invasive neuromodulatory therapies that have the potential to alter and evaluate the integrity of the corticospinal tract. Moreover, recent evidence has shown that brain stimulation might be beneficial in stroke recovery. Therefore, investigating and investing in innovative therapies that may improve neurorehabilitative stroke recovery are next steps in research and development. Participants/Materials and Methods: This article presents an up-to-date systematic review of the treatment effects of rTMS and tDCS on motor function. A literary search was conducted, utilizing search terms “stroke” and “transcranial stimulation.” Items were excluded if they failed to: (1) include stroke patients, (2) study motor outcomes, or (3) include rTMS/tDCS as treatments. Other exclusions included: (1) reviews, editorials, and letters, (2) animal or pediatric populations, (3) case reports or sample sizes ?2 patients, and (4) primary outcomes of dysphagia, dysarthria, neglect, or swallowing. Results: Investigation of PubMed English Database prior to 01/01/2012 produced 695 applicable results. Studies were excluded based on the aforementioned criteria, resulting in 50 remaining studies. They included 1314 participants (1282 stroke patients and 32 healthy subjects) evaluated by motor function pre- and post-tDCS or rTMS. Heterogeneity among studies’ motor assessments was high and could not be accounted for by individual comparison. Pooled effect sizes for the impact of post-treatment improvement revealed consistently demonstrable improvements after tDCS and rTMS therapeutic stimulation. Most studies provided limited follow-up for long-term effects. Conclusion: It is apparent from the available studies that non-invasive stimulation may enhance motor recovery and may lead to clinically meaningful functional improvements in the stroke population. Only mild to no adverse events have been reported. Though results have been positive results, the large heterogeneity across articles precludes firm conclusions.
HubMed – rehab

Discerning non-disjunction in Down syndrome patients by means of GluK1-(AGAT)(n) and D21S2055-(GATA)(n) microsatellites on chromosome 21.

Filed under: Rehab Centers

Indian J Hum Genet. 2012 May; 18(2): 204-16
Ghosh D, Sinha S, Chatterjee A, Nandagopal K

Down syndrome (DS), the leading genetic cause of mental retardation, stems from non-disjunction of chromosome 21.Our aim was to discern non-disjunction in DS patients by genotyping GluK1-(AGAT)(n) and D21S2055-(GATA)(n) microsatellites on chromosome 21 using a family-based study design.We have used a PCR and automated DNA sequencing followed by appropriate statistical analysis of genotype data for the present studyWe show that a high power of discrimination and a low probability of matching indicate that both markers may be used to distinguish between two unrelated individuals. That the D21S2055-(GATA)(n) allele distribution is evenly balanced, is indicated by a high power of exclusion [PE=0.280]. The estimated values of observed heterozygosity and polymorphism information content reveal that relative to GluK1-(AGAT)(n)[H(obs)=0.286], the D21S2055- (GATA)(n)[H(obs)=0.791] marker, is more informative. Though allele frequencies for both polymorphisms do not conform to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium proportions, we were able to discern the parental origin of non-disjunction and also garnered evidence for triallelic (1:1:1) inheritance. The estimated proportion of meiosis-I to meiosis-II errors is 2:1 in maternal and 4:1 in paternal cases for GluK1-(AGAT)(n), whereas for D21S2055-(GATA)(n), the ratio is 2:1 in both maternal and paternal cases. Results underscore a need to systematically evaluate additional chromosome 21-specific markers in the context of non-disjunction DS.
HubMed – rehab

A multicenter cross-sectional study of mental and physical health depression in MHD patients.

Filed under: Rehab Centers

Indian J Nephrol. 2012 Jul; 22(4): 251-6
Vettath RE, Reddy YN, Reddy YN, Dutta S, Singh Z, Mathew M, Abraham G

Depression is ranked fourth among the disabling diseases affecting people worldwide and is the most common psychological problem in patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The aim of this study is to assess the physical and emotional health status of renal dialysis patients, based on the SF-36 scale in relation to their economic status. Sixty maintenance hemodialysis patients, with a mean age of 40±13 years were included in this cross-sectional study using the SF-36 scale. It comprises 36 questions regarding physical and mental functions, body pain, vitality, etc. An SF-36 score of 50 or less was considered as moderate to severe depression and 51-100 as mild depression to good health. 56.81% of the patients who are below poverty line under dialysis had moderate to severe depression with regard to their health status. A physical health score of up to 50 was seen in 63.63% of patients below poverty line 63.63% (P= 0.16). A mental health score of 0-50 was observed in 61.63% of the cohort studied (P = 0.22). Among the patient with diabetes (28.33%) 55.56% had depression. Dialysis duration was directly associated with deteriorating physical health status and inversely proportional to their mental health status (P<0.05). There are problems in other regular activities due to depressed physical and mental health. The factors that were identified in this study that influence depression such as poverty status, increasing age, vintage and frequency of dialysis and treatment with erythropoietin dosage should be addressed and treated accordingly to improve the quality of life. Improving self-esteem with fruitful employment opportunities, concerted rehabilitation by professionals and easing of economic burden by private-public partnership is an achievable goal. HubMed – rehab

Women’s Drug Rehab Programs – Specialized Florida Rehabs by Ocean Breeze Recovery – Ocean Breeze Recovery 855.627.7700 Addiction treatment centers like Ocean Breeze Recovery provide specialized women’s drug rehab programs offering gender specific treatment modalities where women can grow and thrive in their recovery. Why did you create Ocean Breeze? My husband and I had talked about this and prayed about this for a very long time and to actually go ahead and make the decision to do this was we knew it was the right time to move forward with it. Why did you start working in this profession? Because I know how important it was in my life. I know how it changed my life. It was important for me to be able to give back what was given to me. How do you feel about your influence and impact on women in recovery here at Ocean Breeze? I don’t really look at that I have a big influence on them. I just know that I give from my heart and I know what I tell them I believe in. They are so broken and have a broken heart. The information i share with them comes from the experience I have and from my heart. If they’re really struggling it seems like those are the women I can work with the most and help the most. Does Ocean Breeze have gender sensitive approach in treating their women clients? Absolutely. We have primary which is all of the women separately with their individual primary counselors and I usually meet with all of the women once or twice a week to see where they’re at because a lot of them won’t open up in a mixed setting. This is where the real work starts …

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