The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes and radiological changes of 3- and 4-level anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion with stand-alone anchored spacers and with traditional anterior plates. A total of 51 consecutive patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy who underwent 3- or 4-level anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion were divided into 2 groups: group A (n=...

OBJECTIVE To explore the effectiveness of modified sit-to-stand training on balance function in hemiplegic stroke patients. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING Rehabilitation medical centre. PARTICIPANTS A total of 50 hemiplegic patients with stroke were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups (n = 25 for each group). INTERVENTIONS Patients in the control group ...

Purpose. In cases of traumatic thoracolumbar fractures, percutaneous vertebral augmentation can be used in addition to posterior stabilisation. The use of an augmentation technique with a bone-filled polyethylene mesh as a stand-alone treatment for traumatic vertebral fractures has not yet been investigated. Methods. In this retrospective study, 17 patients with acute type A3.1 fractures of the...

In this paper research results on control quality improvement by the use of particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) was described as an alternative for the classic PID tuning. For the problem of multi-rotor flying robot control, test studies were conducted using a specially for this purpose designed and performed measuring testbed. This solution allows to obtain the angle as a feedback in f...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of pallidotomy on postural reactions and other motor parkinsonian deficits. DESIGN Comparison of performance by patients before and after pallidotomy on tests of balance and function. SETTING A Parkinson disease Center of Excellence and Center for Human Performance Testing at a university hospital and research center. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-nine patients ...

Continuous Improvement is a consolidated concept in theory and practice, mainly in the context of stand-alone companies. However, the battlefield of competition is increasingly moving from the level of individual firms to that of organisational settings based on loose company boundaries and collaborative relations among different units, such as the Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EMEs). The...

In this paper I examine some of the factors influencing technology development and attempt to explain whether CLIA '88 enhances the opportunities or exacerbates the problems for U.S.-based technology development. The viewpoint I express is concentrated on the clinical chemistry segment of the diagnostics arena.

We have investigated whether control of balance is improved during stance and gait and sit-to-stand tasks after unilateral total hip replacement undertaken for osteoarthritis of the hip. We examined 25 patients with a mean age of 67 years (sd 6.2) before and at four and 12 months after surgery and compared the findings with those of 50 healthy age-matched control subjects. For all tasks, balanc...