scholarly journals The home is a challenging environment for rehabilitation technologies (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Rennick-Egglestone ◽  
Sue Mawson

BACKGROUND How to design digital technologies that support rehabilitation at home has been a topic of research for some time, and rehabilitation from stroke and other forms of brain injury has been a long-standing focus. If technology is to have a large-scale impact on rehabilitation practice, then we need to understand how to design and select technologies that are appropriate for the domestic environment, and for the needs and motivations of those living there. We also need to understand how to support their uptake and safe and effective use. OBJECTIVE To present knowledge which sensitizes those engaging in technology design, research or deployment work to a range of human factors which have not been considered in sufficient detail in the existing literature, and which might impact on the successful uptake of rehabilitation technologies. METHODS A corpus of mostly qualitative data providing insight into rehabilitation technologies and the home environment was collected through research activities conducted as part of “Motivating Mobility: Interactive Systems to promote Physical Activity and Leisure for people with limited mobility” (UK EPSRC: EP/F00382X/1). These included sensitizing studies, participatory design sessions and experimental deployments of prototype rehabilitation technologies. Working within an approach known as Research through Design, previously articulated by Zimmerman et al [1], and currently of interest to the health services research community, a set of five “sensitizing concepts” have been derived, and justified through a narrative presenting underpinning items of data. Our application of the term “sensitizing concept” draws on Blumer [2], which has been influential in the sociological literature. RESULTS We present, justify and discuss five sensitizing concepts, selected for their relevance to rehabilitation technology deployment: • Stroke can have a profound impact on emotional responses to the home • Finding an appropriate place for technology in the home can be difficult • Social interaction can profoundly shape experiences with rehabilitation technology • Stroke can disrupt domestic roles and organisation • Interventions from professionals may be necessary for patient safety CONCLUSIONS A better understanding of how to map the homes of brain injury survivors is needed. If brain injury rehabilitation technologies are to become part of the large scale practice, then we need to understand the required human competencies to deploy and support safe and effective usage CLINICALTRIAL Not Applicable

Author(s):  
Michael Domínguez

Emerging in the learning sciences field in the early 1990s, qualitative design-based research (DBR) is a relatively new methodological approach to social science and education research. As its name implies, DBR is focused on the design of educational innovations, and the testing of these innovations in the complex and interconnected venue of naturalistic settings. As such, DBR is an explicitly interventionist approach to conducting research, situating the researcher as a part of the complex ecology in which learning and educational innovation takes place. With this in mind, DBR is distinct from more traditional methodologies, including laboratory experiments, ethnographic research, and large-scale implementation. Rather, the goal of DBR is not to prove the merits of any particular intervention, or to reflect passively on a context in which learning occurs, but to examine the practical application of theories of learning themselves in specific, situated contexts. By designing purposeful, naturalistic, and sustainable educational ecologies, researchers can test, extend, or modify their theories and innovations based on their pragmatic viability. This process offers the prospect of generating theory-developing, contextualized knowledge claims that can complement the claims produced by other forms of research. Because of this interventionist, naturalistic stance, DBR has also been the subject of ongoing debate concerning the rigor of its methodology. In many ways, these debates obscure the varied ways DBR has been practiced, the varied types of questions being asked, and the theoretical breadth of researchers who practice DBR. With this in mind, DBR research may involve a diverse range of methods as researchers from a variety of intellectual traditions within the learning sciences and education research design pragmatic innovations based on their theories of learning, and document these complex ecologies using the methodologies and tools most applicable to their questions, focuses, and academic communities. DBR has gained increasing interest in recent years. While it remains a popular methodology for developmental and cognitive learning scientists seeking to explore theory in naturalistic settings, it has also grown in importance to cultural psychology and cultural studies researchers as a methodological approach that aligns in important ways with the participatory commitments of liberatory research. As such, internal tension within the DBR field has also emerged. Yet, though approaches vary, and have distinct genealogies and commitments, DBR might be seen as the broad methodological genre in which Change Laboratory, design-based implementation research (DBIR), social design-based experiments (SDBE), participatory design research (PDR), and research-practice partnerships might be categorized. These critically oriented iterations of DBR have important implications for educational research and educational innovation in historically marginalized settings and the Global South.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Rennick-Egglestone ◽  
Sue Mawson

UNSTRUCTURED The design of digital technologies that support poststroke rehabilitation at home has been a topic of research for some time. If technology is to have a large-scale impact on rehabilitation practice, then we need to understand how to create technologies that are appropriate for the domestic environment and for the needs and motivations of those living there. This paper reflects on the research conducted in the Motivating Mobility project (UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council: EP/F00382X/1). We conducted sensitizing studies to develop a foundational understanding of the homes of stroke survivors, participatory design sessions situated in the home, and experimental deployments of prototype rehabilitation technologies. We identified four challenges specific to the homes of stroke survivors and relevant to the deployment of rehabilitation technologies: identifying a location for rehabilitation technology, negotiating social relationships present in the home, avoiding additional stress in households at risk of existential stress, and providing for patient safety. We conclude that skilled workers may be needed to enable successful technology deployment, systematizing the mapping of the home may be beneficial, and education is a viable focus for rehabilitation technologies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 164-164
Author(s):  
Erika Lauren Tribett ◽  
Jordan Chavez ◽  
Alison Morris

164 Background: Palliative medicine (PM) is an essential component of survivorship care from point of diagnosis. While PM is philosophically committed to supporting patient and family survivorship goals, very few programs incorporate patient and family input into the formation of a patient-centered model of care for symptom management and quality of life. We utilized design theory to develop novel interventions for primary and specialist PM delivery. Methods: Baseline data collected in Fall 2014 revealed a need for assistance navigating support services as well as barriers to PM integration including branding, lack of primary palliative skills, and poor understanding of outcomes of PM integration. In February 2015, we convened a multidisciplinary group of 25 patients, family members, oncology clinicians and experts in patient experience and health services research, to evaluate current state data and formulate ideas for optimizing PM to support symptom management and quality of life. During a 1-day workshop, the group generated interventions for primary and specialist PM. Small teams were assigned to pilot projects based on these recommendations. Proposed solutions are being tested from July - October 2015. Results: The design team generated five focus areas for meeting patient needs and overcoming barriers: standard processes for access to PM, education on primary PM, rapid reporting of outcomes, relationship-building with referring clinicians, and improved access to primary and specialist palliative resources. Three interventions are being developed to address these: 1. A subspecialist “hub” that allows single referrals and streamlined access to supportive care, 2. a novel two-question probe about goals conducted by the oncologist, and 3. a peer support system between PM social work and nursing staff to proactively manage patients with complex needs. Conclusions: Patient and family-centered PM mandates a novel approach. Design theory allows for clear delineation of problem areas, generation of multiple solution sets, and rapid testing and refinement prior to large-scale adoption. A participatory design approach emphasizes user values and limitations and creates values-based solutions.


Author(s):  
Irina Gaus ◽  
Klaus Wieczorek ◽  
Juan Carlos Mayor ◽  
Thomas Trick ◽  
Jose´-Luis Garcia` Sin˜eriz ◽  
...  

The evolution of the engineered barrier system (EBS) of geological repositories for radioactive waste has been the subject of many research programmes during the last decade. The emphasis of the research activities was on the elaboration of a detailed understanding of the complex thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes, which are expected to evolve in the early post closure period in the near field. It is important to understand the coupled THM-C processes and their evolution occurring in the EBS during the early post-closure phase so it can be confirmed that the safety functions will be fulfilled. Especially, it needs to be ensured that interactions during the resaturation phase (heat pulse, gas generation, non-uniform water uptake from the host rock) do not affect the performance of the EBS in terms of its safety-relevant parameters (e.g. swelling pressure, hydraulic conductivity, diffusivity). The 7th Framework PEBS project (Long Term Performance of Engineered Barrier Systems) aims at providing in depth process understanding for constraining the conceptual and parametric uncertainties in the context of long-term safety assessment. As part of the PEBS project a series of laboratory and URL experiments are envisaged to describe the EBS behaviour after repository closure when resaturation is taking place. In this paper the very early post-closure period is targeted when the EBS is subjected to high temperatures and unsaturated conditions with a low but increasing moisture content. So far the detailed thermo-hydraulic behaviour of a bentonite EBS in a clay host rock has not been evaluated at a large scale in response to temperatures of up to 140°C at the canister surface, produced by HLW (and spent fuel), as anticipated in some of the designs considered. Furthermore, earlier THM experiments have shown that upscaling of thermal conductivity and its dependency on water content and/or humidity from the laboratory scale to a field scale needs further attention. This early post-closure thermal behaviour will be elucidated by the HE-E experiment, a 1:2 scale heating experiment setup at the Mont Terri rock laboratory, that started in June 2011. It will characterise in detail the thermal conductivity at a large scale in both pure bentonite as well as a bentonite-sand mixture, and in the Opalinus Clay host rock. The HE-E experiment is especially designed as a model validation experiment at the large scale and a modelling programme was launched in parallel to the different experimental steps. Scoping calculations were run to help the experimental design and prediction exercises taking the final design into account are foreseen. Calibration and prediction/validation will follow making use of the obtained THM dataset. This benchmarking of THM process models and codes should enhance confidence in the predictive capability of the recently developed numerical tools. It is the ultimate aim to be able to extrapolate the key parameters that might influence the fulfilment of the safety functions defined for the long term steady state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongfeng Tian

Abstract Traditionally strict language separation policies in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs reflect parallel monolingualism and have been criticized as failing to recognize the sociolinguistic realities of bilingual students (García, Ofelia & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2017. Translanguaging in bilingual education. In Ofelia García, Angel M. Y. Lin & Stephen May (eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education, 117–130. Cham: Springer International Publishing). To recognize the dynamic nature of bilingualism and leverage bilingual learners’ full semiotic and linguistic repertoire as a resource, this study looks at how to strategically and purposefully develop flexible and multilingual educational spaces in a third grade Chinese Language Arts (CLA) class in a Mandarin-English DLBE program in the New England area, U.S. Drawing upon Sánchez, María Teresa (Maite), Ofelia García & Cristian Solorza. 2018. Reframing language allocation policy in dual language bilingual education. Bilingual Research Journal 41(1). 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2017.1405098, translanguaging allocation policy framework, the researcher and the teacher co-designed and implemented translanguaging documentation, translanguaging rings, and translanguaging transformation spaces in the CLA class throughout the school year of 2018–19. Taking the form of participatory design research (Bang, Megan & Shirin Vossoughi. 2016. Participatory design research and educational justice: Studying learning and relations within social change making. Cognition and Instruction 34(3). 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2016.1181879), this collaborative inquiry demonstrates that translanguaging pedagogies could promote student engagement, contribute to their academic learning, and build home-school connections. It aims to provide authentic, sustainable knowledge for both researchers and practitioners to better serve bilingual learners in DLBE programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. eabe0207
Author(s):  
Charles-Francois V. Latchoumane ◽  
Martha I. Betancur ◽  
Gregory A. Simchick ◽  
Min Kyoung Sun ◽  
Rameen Forghani ◽  
...  

Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) survivors experience permanent functional disabilities due to significant volume loss and the brain’s poor capacity to regenerate. Chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans (CS-GAGs) are key regulators of growth factor signaling and neural stem cell homeostasis in the brain. However, the efficacy of engineered CS (eCS) matrices in mediating structural and functional recovery chronically after sTBI has not been investigated. We report that neurotrophic factor functionalized acellular eCS matrices implanted into the rat M1 region acutely after sTBI significantly enhanced cellular repair and gross motor function recovery when compared to controls 20 weeks after sTBI. Animals subjected to M2 region injuries followed by eCS matrix implantations demonstrated the significant recovery of “reach-to-grasp” function. This was attributed to enhanced volumetric vascularization, activity-regulated cytoskeleton (Arc) protein expression, and perilesional sensorimotor connectivity. These findings indicate that eCS matrices implanted acutely after sTBI can support complex cellular, vascular, and neuronal circuit repair chronically after sTBI.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghua Li ◽  
Jintao Liu ◽  
Shilang Xu

As one-dimensional (1D) nanofiber, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used to improve the performance of nanocomposites due to their high strength, small dimensions, and remarkable physical properties. Progress in the field of CNTs presents a potential opportunity to enhance cementitious composites at the nanoscale. In this review, current research activities and key advances on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) reinforced cementitious composites are summarized, including the effect of MWCNTs on modulus of elasticity, porosity, fracture, and mechanical and microstructure properties of cement-based composites. The issues about the improvement mechanisms, MWCNTs dispersion methods, and the major factors affecting the mechanical properties of composites are discussed. In addition, large-scale production methods of MWCNTs and the effects of CNTs on environment and health are also summarized.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (01) ◽  
pp. 188-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Dauchel ◽  
T. Lecroq

Summary Objective: To summarize excellent current research and propose a selection of best papers published in 2016 in the field of Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics with applications in the health domain and clinical care. Methods: We provide a synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2017, from which we attempt to derive a synthetic overview of current and future activities in the field. As in 2016, a first step of selection was performed by querying MEDLINE with a list of MeSH descriptors completed by a list of terms adapted to the section coverage. Each section editor evaluated separately the set of 951 articles returned and evaluation results were merged for retaining 15 candidate best papers for peer-review. Results: The selection and evaluation process of papers published in the Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics field yielded four excellent articles focusing this year on the secondary use and massive integration of multi-omics data for cancer genomics and non-cancer complex diseases. Papers present methods to study the functional impact of genetic variations, either at the level of the transcription or at the levels of pathway and network. Conclusions: Current research activities in Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics with applications in the health domain continue to explore new algorithms and statistical models to manage, integrate, and interpret large-scale genomic datasets. As addressed by some of the selected papers, future trends would include the question of the international collaborative sharing of clinical and omics data, and the implementation of intelligent systems to enhance routine medical genomics.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Li ◽  
Thomas Kempka ◽  
Erik Spangenberg ◽  
Judith Schicks

<p>Natural gas hydrates are considered as one of the most promising alternatives to conventional fossil energy sources, and are thus subject to world-wide research activities for decades. Hydrate formation from methane dissolved in brine is a geogenic process, resulting in the accumulation of gas hydrates in sedimentary formations below the seabed or overlain by permafrost. The LArge scale Reservoir Simulator (LARS) has been developed (Schicks et al., 2011, 2013; Spangenberg et al., 2015) to investigate the formation and dissociation of gas hydrates under simulated in-situ conditions of hydrate deposits. Experimental measurements of the temperatures and bulk saturation of methane hydrates by electrical resistivity tomography have been used to determine the key parameters, describing and characterising methane hydrate formation dynamics in LARS. In the present study, a framework of equations of state to simulate equilibrium methane hydrate formation in LARS has been developed and coupled with the TRANsport Simulation Environment (Kempka, 2020) to study the dynamics of methane hydrate formation and quantify changes in the porous medium properties in LARS. We present our model implementation, its validation against TOUGH-HYDRATE (Gamwo & Liu, 2010) and the findings of the model comparison against the hydrate formation experiments undertaken by Priegnitz et al. (2015). The latter demonstrates that our numerical model implementation is capable of reproducing the main processes of hydrate formation in LARS, and thus may be applied for experiment design as well as to investigate the process of hydrate formation at specific geological settings.</p><p>Key words: dissolved methane; hydrate formation; hydration; python; permeability.</p><p>References</p><p>Schicks, J. M., Spangenberg, E., Giese, R., Steinhauer, B., Klump, J., & Luzi, M. (2011). New approaches for the production of hydrocarbons from hydrate bearing sediments. Energies, 4(1), 151-172, https://doi.org/10.3390/en4010151</p><p>Schicks, J. M., Spangenberg, E., Giese, R., Luzi-Helbing, M., Priegnitz, M., & Beeskow-Strauch, B. (2013). A counter-current heat-exchange reactor for the thermal stimulation of hydrate-bearing sediments. Energies, 6(6), 3002-3016, https://doi.org/10.3390/en6063002</p><p>Spangenberg, E., Priegnitz, M., Heeschen, K., & Schicks, J. M. (2015). Are laboratory-formed hydrate-bearing systems analogous to those in nature?. Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, 60(2), 258-268, https://doi.org/10.1021/je5005609</p><p>Kempka, T. (2020) Verification of a Python-based TRANsport Simulation Environment for density-driven fluid flow and coupled transport of heat and chemical species. Adv. Geosci., 54, 67–77, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-54-67-2020</p><p>Gamwo, I. K., & Liu, Y. (2010). Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of methane production in a hydrate reservoir. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49(11), 5231-5245, https://doi.org/10.1021/ie901452v</p><p>Priegnitz, M., Thaler, J., Spangenberg, E., Schicks, J. M., Schrötter, J., & Abendroth, S. (2015). Characterizing electrical properties and permeability changes of hydrate bearing sediments using ERT data. Geophysical Journal International, 202(3), 1599-1612, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv245</p>


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