4,450 Results Found

Locomotive syndrome (LS) predisposes older adults to falls and functional dependency. In older adults with LS, the validity of the Lower Quarter Y Balance Test (YBT-LQ)—a dynamic balance assessment tool—remains unclear. This cross-section...

Locomotive syndrome (LS) is defined based on the Loco-Check, 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25), 5-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-5), Stand-Up Test, Two-Step Test, or a total assessment (i.e., positive for o...

Background: Motor estimation error is an index of how accurately one’s body movement is recognized. This study determines whether motor estimation error distance is a Parkinson’s disease (PD)- or age-related disability using a two-step ta...

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection. Current practice for diagnosing CDI in the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust involves a three-step, laboratory testing strategy using glutamate dehydr...

The 2-Minute Step Test (2MST) is commonly scored by step count, which overlooks how the task is performed. This study tested whether a smartphone held to the thigh can be used to quantify thigh kinematics to determine 2MST outcome parameters, and whe...

Osteoporosis may increase fracture risk and reduce healthy quality of life in older adults. This study aimed to identify an assessment method using physical performance tests to screen for osteoporosis in community dwelling individuals. A total of 16...

In an aging society, preventing dysfunction and restoring function of the locomotive organs are necessary for long-term quality of life. Few interventional studies have investigated supplementation for locomotive syndrome. Additionally, very few inte...

Non-negative integer-valued time series are usually encountered in practice, and a variety of integer-valued autoregressive processes based on various thinning operators are commonly used to model these count data with temporal dependence. In this pa...

Impact loading on carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix (CFRP) composite laminates can result in a significant reduction in their residual properties, and the (ShAI) properties of the composite material are essential to obtain the material allowable...

The two-step thermal stress calculation method (TTSCM) is commonly used to predict the cracking temperature of asphalt mixture. The aim of this study is to improve TTSCM’s mathematical model so as to enhance its prediction accuracy. First, this...

This study determines if a modified two-step screening strategy with a glucose challenge test (GCT) ≥ 7.2 mmol/L and clinical risk factors improves the diagnostic accuracy for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), based on 2013 WHO criteria, while lim...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a two-step algorithm for the detection of Clostridium difficile infection. Setting and Design: A two-step testing algorithm was evaluated for testing stool samples from patients suspected of...

Technology-based outcomes have recently been proposed to complement the standard Four Square Step Test (FSST) by providing a decomposition of the sequences and information about the stepping pattern. A test-retest study and a randomized crossover des...

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major healthcare-associated infection that leads to a significant health economic burden in Japan. Using a decision tree model, we evaluated the budget impact of adopting a one-step nucleic acid amplifica...

A new double-chamber syringe (DUO Syringe) was developed for intravenous drug administration and catheter flushing. This study presents a protocol for pre-clinical usability tests to validate the golden prototype of this new device, performed in a hi...

Dynamic knee valgus (DKV) is a frontal plane knee kinematic alteration that has been associated with patellofemoral pain (PFP) in female runners. DKV is commonly assessed in clinical practice by measuring frontal plane knee projection angle (FPPA) du...

In empirical applications based on linear regression models, structural changes often occur in both the error variance and regression coefficients, possibly at different dates. A commonly applied method is to first test for changes in the coefficient...

Lyme disease (LD), caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne infection in many regions of Eurasia. Antibody detection is the most frequently used laboratory test, favoring a two-step serodiagnostic algorithm; immuno...

Continuously acquired biosignals from patient monitors contain significant amounts of unusable data. During the development of a decision support system based on continuously acquired biosignals, we developed machine and deep learning algorithms to a...

This paper delves into the problem of moving-target detection in partially homogeneous environments (PHE) with unknown Gaussian disturbance using a frequency diverse array multiple-input multiple-output (FDA-MIMO) radar. Using training data, we have...

The effect of multi-step austempering treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a novel medium carbon high silicon carbide-free bainitic steel was studied. Five different isothermal treatment processes were selected, including sin...

A current improved and electric field reduced double-gate (DG) polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistor with two-step source/drain (DGTSD-TFT) design is proposed and demonstrated in this study. The two-step source/drain (TSD) design, which consis...

A two-step bainitic treatment with a final isothermal temperature below M_S was adopted to obtain bainitic steel with abundant retained austenite (RA). Nanoindentation testing was used to investigate the stability of RA in bainite steel and clarify th...

This paper discusses the problem of detecting subspace signals in structured interference plus compound Gaussian sea clutter with persymmetric structure. The sea clutter is represented by a compound Gaussian process wherein the texture obeys the inve...

The two-step GMM estimators of Arellano and Bond (1991) and Blundell and Bond (1998) for dynamic panel data models have been widely used in empirical work; however, neither of them performs well in small samples with weak instruments. The continuous-...

High-throughput amplicon sequencing that primarily targets the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (for bacteria and archaea) and the Internal Transcribed Spacer rDNA (for fungi) have facilitated microbial community discovery across diverse environments. A thre...

Double pulse resistance spot welding process by applying a second step welding current is a new pathway to alter the mechanical properties for advanced high strength steels. Herein, the resistance spot welding (RSW) of hot stamped boron steel 15B22 b...

Soil degradation is a major threat for European soils and therefore, the European Commission recommends intensifying research on soil monitoring to capture changes over time and space. Imaging spectroscopy is a promising technique to create spatially...

Geopolymer-TiO₂ nanocomposites were prepared by two different techniques, namely the two-step acidification calcination treatment and one-step adding method. The potential photocatalytic activities of geopolymer-TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by the tw...

Spring viremia of carp (SVC) is a highly contagious disease that affects cyprinids, resulting in systemic hemorrhage, abdominal distension, exophthalmia, and high mortality in juveniles. This can lead to significant losses in the aquaculture industry...

Children with behavioral problems have a high risk of impaired motor performance. However, the characteristics of balance functions and their associations with behavioral traits are unclear in this population. This study aimed to evaluate balance fun...

The dilution method and ratio were tested to assess their effects on the Hu ram semen after cryopreservation. Experiment I aimed to explore the effect of various dilution ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4) of diluent I (Tris-based and egg yolk) under the co...

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the adhesive application method on the durability of the enamel bond and the thickness of the adhesive layer. A new-generation two-step universal adhesive system, G2-Bond Universal, and two conventional two-...

Children’s exercise habits have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine the physical function and physical activity of preadolescent children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study compared...

Functional metal organic framework (MOF) derivatives have attracted tremendous attention as promising catalysts for various reactions. The thermal decomposition strategies have a vital effect on the structures and physicochemical properties of functi...

The compressive sensing (CS) framework offers a cost-effective alternative to dense alias-free sampling. Designing seismic layouts based on the CS technique imposes the use of specific sampling patterns in addition to the logistical and geophysical r...

Hydrochar is a very interesting product from agricultural and food production residues. Unfortunately, severe conditions for complete conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is necessary, especially compared to the conversion of sugar compounds. The go...

The mechanical durability of a superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface is an important indicator of its practical use. Herein, we propose a strategy to prepare a superhydrophobic 2024 aluminum alloy surface with highly enhanced mechanical durability...

Therapy for aggressive metastatic breast cancer remains a great challenge for modern biomedicine. Biocompatible polymer nanoparticles have been successfully used in clinic and are seen as a potential solution. Specifically, researchers are exploring...

Currently, there is a varietal diversity decline in pear orchards of the Czech Republic. Thus, the safe storage of their gene pool collections is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the ultra-low temperature survival after two-step cryopreser...

Soil water content (SWC) monitoring is often used to optimize agricultural irrigation. Commonly, capacitance sensors are used for this task. However, the factory calibrations have been often criticized for their limited accuracy. The aim of this pape...

The present work evaluates a two-step pretreatment process based on steam explosion and extrusion technologies for the optimal fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass. Two-step pretreatment of barley straw resulted in overall glucan, hemicellulose a...

This manuscript presents a novel mechanism (at the physical layer) for authentication and transmitter identification in a body-centric nanoscale communication system operating in the terahertz (THz) band. The unique characteristics of the propagation...

To enhance the interfacial adhesion between poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fibers and a rubber matrix without damaging the fiber structures, aminated carbon nanotubes (NH₂-CNTs) were mildly deposited onto the fiber surface by combining the...

In substations, a localization system based on a wireless sensor network (WSN) is a challenge, because the propagation of the measured signal could be blocked by various devices. In other words, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation, where the signal...

Nitrogen explosive decompression pretreatment was tested on barley straw, aspen wood, and pine wood in a two-step pretreatment approach. The two-step approach aims to avoid the uncontrolled degradation of hemicellulose during pretreatment and to reco...

Background: The definitions and approaches used to diagnose gestational diabetes (GD) are varied. The two-step approach recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) combines the sensitivity of a glucose challenge test...

The geomagnetic field is as fundamental a constituent of passive navigation as Earth’s gravity. In cases where no other external attitude reference is available, for the direct heading angle estimation by a typical magnetic compass, a two-step...

Our aim was to determine changes in the incidence of CD infection (CDI) following the introduction of a two-step diagnostic algorithm and to analyze CDI cases diagnosed in the study period. We retrospectively studied CDI (January 2009 to July 2018) i...

Topology optimization is a powerful digital engineering tool for the development of lightweight products. Nevertheless, the transition of obtained design proposals into manufacturable parts is still a challenging task. In this article, the developmen...