FunctionalLinkNeuralNetwork(FLNN)hasemergedasanimportanttoolforsolvingnon-linear classificationproblemandhasbeensuccessfullyappliedinmanyengineeringandscientificproblems. TheFLNNstructureismuchmoremodestthanordinaryfeedforwardnetworkliketheMultilayer Perceptron (MLP)due to its flat network architecturewhich employs less tuneableweights for...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) includes species with high resistance rates among mycobacterial pathogens. In fact, MABC infections may not respond to clarithromycin treatment, which has historically been very effective against MABC infection. Molecular markers have been proposed to detect both acquired (rrl polymorphisms) and inducible (erm(41) polymorphisms) clarithromycin r...

This paper presents an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for structural optimization of planar and space trusses under stress, displacement and buckling constraints. In order to improve the performance of the classic ABC algorithm, modifications in neighborhood searching method, onlooker phase, and scout phase are proposed. Optimization of different typical truss structures is performed usi...

OBJECTIVE To identify perinatal and neonatal risk factors associated with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in very low birthweight children (VLBW: <1250 g). DESIGN Retrospective design with prospectively collected cohort. SETTING Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Vancouver, Canada. PATIENTS 157 VLBW children assessed at 4-5 years who were free of cerebral palsy or major neurological im...

BACKGROUND: With the exception of specifi c clinical methods, no widely used diagnostic tool for motor development assessment of children exists in the Czech Republic. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children – second edition (MABC-2) seems to be one the most developed instruments for childrenʼs motor coordination assessment. However, to use it in the Czech population of children in educati...

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) often experience difficulties in handwriting. The current study examined the relationships between three motor assessments and the spatial and temporal consistency of handwriting. Twelve children with probable DCD and 29 children from 7 to 12 years who were typically developing wrote the lowercase letters "e" and "l" in cursive and printed...

This cross-sectional and exploratory study aimed to compare motor performance and electroencephalographic (EEG) attention levels in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and those with typical development, and determine the relationship between motor performance and the real-time EEG attention level in children with DCD.Eighty-six children with DCD [DCD: n = 57; DCD and attent...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the nature of the host immune response to Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) infection. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether alterations in serum immunomolecule levels after treating MABC lung disease patients with antibiotics can reflect the disease-associated characteristics. METHODS A total of 22 immunomolecules in 24 MABC lung diseas...

Background The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-second edition (MABC-2) Age Band 1 is widely used to identify preschoolers with motor difficulties. Despite unsatisfactory construct validity of the original three-factor model, MABC-2 (manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance), previous research has not considered possible age and gender differences throughout the entire prescho...

BACKGROUND To study motor ability at seven years of age in children treated for idiopathic clubfoot and its relation to clubfoot laterality, foot status and the amount of surgery performed. METHODS Twenty children (mean age 7.5 years, SD 3.2 months) from a consecutive birth cohort from our hospital catchments area (300.000 inhabitants from southern Sweden) were assessed with the Movement Asse...