Robotic hand with locking mechanism using TCP muscles for applications in prosthetic hand and humanoids

Science.gov (United States)

Saharan, Lokesh; Tadesse, Yonas

2016-04-01

This paper presents a biomimetic, lightweight, 3D printed and customizable robotic hand with locking mechanism consisting of Twisted and Coiled Polymer (TCP) muscles based on nylon precursor fibers as artificial muscles. Previously, we have presented a small-sized biomimetic hand using nylon based artificial muscles and fishing line muscles as actuators. The current study focuses on an adult-sized prosthetic hand with improved design and a position/force locking system. Energy efficiency is always a matter of concern to make compact, lightweight, durable and cost effective devices. In natural human hand, if we keep holding objects for long time, we get tired because of continuous use of energy for keeping the fingers in certain positions. Similarly, in prosthetic hands we also need to provide energy continuously to artificial muscles to hold the object for a certain period of time, which is certainly not energy efficient. In this work we, describe the design of the robotic hand and locking mechanism along with the experimental results on the performance of the locking mechanism.

Hand weakness in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease 1X.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Arthur-Farraj, P J

2012-07-01

There have been suggestions from previous studies that patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) have weaker dominant hand muscles. Since all studies to date have included a heterogeneous group of CMT patients we decided to analyse hand strength in 43 patients with CMT1X. We recorded handedness and the MRC scores for the first dorsal interosseous and abductor pollicis brevis muscles, median and ulnar nerve compound motor action potentials and conduction velocities in dominant and non-dominant hands. Twenty-two CMT1X patients (51%) had a weaker dominant hand; none had a stronger dominant hand. Mean MRC scores were significantly higher for first dorsal interosseous and abductor pollicis brevis in non-dominant hands compared to dominant hands. Median nerve compound motor action potentials were significantly reduced in dominant compared to non-dominant hands. We conclude that the dominant hand is weaker than the non-dominant hand in patients with CMT1X.

Hand1 overexpression inhibits medulloblastoma metastasis

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Asuthkar, Swapna; Guda, Maheedhara R. [Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Martin, Sarah E. [Department of Pathology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Antony, Reuben; Fernandez, Karen [Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Lin, Julian [Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Tsung, Andrew J. [Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Illinois Neurological Institute, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Velpula, Kiran K., E-mail: velpula@uic.edu [Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL 61656 (United States)

2016-08-19

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most frequent malignant pediatric brain tumor. Current treatment includes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. However, ongoing treatment in patients is further classified according to the presence or absence of metastasis. Since metastatic medulloblastoma are refractory to current treatments, there is need to identify novel biomarkers that could be used to reduce metastatic potential, and more importantly be targeted therapeutically. Previously, we showed that ionizing radiation-induced uPAR overexpression is associated with increased accumulation of β-catenin in the nucleus. We further demonstrated that uPAR protein act as cytoplasmic sequestration factor for a novel basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Hand1. Among the histological subtypes classical and desmoplastic subtypes account for the majority while large cell/anaplastic variant is most commonly associated with metastatic disease. In this present study using immunohistochemical approach and patient data mining for the first time, we demonstrated that Hand1 expression is observed to be downregulated in all the subtypes of medulloblastoma. Previously we showed that Hand1 overexpression regulated medulloblastoma angiogenesis and here we investigated the role of Hand1 in the context of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Moreover, UW228 and D283 cells overexpressing Hand1 demonstrated decreased-expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin, β-catenin and SOX2); metastatic marker (SMA); and increased expression of epithelial marker (E-cadherin). Strikingly, human pluripotent stem cell antibody array showed that Hand1 overexpression resulted in substantial decrease in pluripotency markers (Nanog, Oct3/4, Otx2, Flk1) suggesting that Hand1 expression may be essential to attenuate the EMT and our findings underscore a novel role for Hand1 in medulloblastoma metastasis. - Highlights: • Hand1 expression is downregulated in Medulloblastoma. • Hand1 over expression reduce

Hand1 overexpression inhibits medulloblastoma metastasis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asuthkar, Swapna; Guda, Maheedhara R.; Martin, Sarah E.; Antony, Reuben; Fernandez, Karen; Lin, Julian; Tsung, Andrew J.; Velpula, Kiran K.

2016-01-01

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most frequent malignant pediatric brain tumor. Current treatment includes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. However, ongoing treatment in patients is further classified according to the presence or absence of metastasis. Since metastatic medulloblastoma are refractory to current treatments, there is need to identify novel biomarkers that could be used to reduce metastatic potential, and more importantly be targeted therapeutically. Previously, we showed that ionizing radiation-induced uPAR overexpression is associated with increased accumulation of β-catenin in the nucleus. We further demonstrated that uPAR protein act as cytoplasmic sequestration factor for a novel basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Hand1. Among the histological subtypes classical and desmoplastic subtypes account for the majority while large cell/anaplastic variant is most commonly associated with metastatic disease. In this present study using immunohistochemical approach and patient data mining for the first time, we demonstrated that Hand1 expression is observed to be downregulated in all the subtypes of medulloblastoma. Previously we showed that Hand1 overexpression regulated medulloblastoma angiogenesis and here we investigated the role of Hand1 in the context of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Moreover, UW228 and D283 cells overexpressing Hand1 demonstrated decreased-expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin, β-catenin and SOX2); metastatic marker (SMA); and increased expression of epithelial marker (E-cadherin). Strikingly, human pluripotent stem cell antibody array showed that Hand1 overexpression resulted in substantial decrease in pluripotency markers (Nanog, Oct3/4, Otx2, Flk1) suggesting that Hand1 expression may be essential to attenuate the EMT and our findings underscore a novel role for Hand1 in medulloblastoma metastasis. - Highlights: • Hand1 expression is downregulated in Medulloblastoma. • Hand1 over expression reduce

A comparative study of hand hygiene and alcohol-based hand rub use among Irish nursing and medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kingston, Liz M; O'Connell, Nuala H; Dunne, Colum P

2018-04-01

In Ireland, the setting for this study, the national prevalence rate of health care-associated infection (HCAI) in acute-care facilities is 5.2%. Hand hygiene and in particular hand rubbing using alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) is highly efficacious in preventing HCAI transmission. Yet, compliance among healthcare professionals is sub-optimal. Less is known about the practices of nursing and medical students and no study comparing practices among these groups in Ireland was found. Hence, the aim of this study was to provide insight into the current hand hygiene and hand rubbing practices of nursing and medical students in Ireland and, by doing so, contribute to the broader understanding of this topic. This observational study employed a cross-sectional, self-reported design. An electronically administered questionnaire was sent to all nursing and medical students from one university. Data were analysed using appropriate software. The response rate was 37% (323/872). Higher compliance with the World Health Organisation 'my five moments for hand hygiene' model was reported among nursing students (NS) than medical students (MS), with scope for improvement in both disciplines identified. Hand hygiene compliance was highest after body fluid exposure (99.5% NS, 91% MS) and lowest after touching a patient's surroundings (61.5% NS, 57.5% MS). Attitudes towards hand rubbing were largely positive in both disciplines. 16% of NS were not aware of the clinical contraindications to ABHR use, compared to 45% of MS. 9% of NS did not know when to use soap and water and when to use ABHR, compared to 36% of MS. In contrast, more medical students (46%) than nursing students (22%) were routinely using alcohol-based hand rub for decontamination of hands as recommended. Results suggest scope to review current hand hygiene curricula focusing on the knowledge gaps, the practice deficits and the barriers to ABHR usage identified. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Grip Strength Survey Based on Hand Tool Usage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erman ÇAKIT

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Hand grip strength is broadly used for performing tasks involving equipment in production and processing activities. Most professionals in this field rely on grip strength to perform their tasks. There were three main aims of this study: i determining various hand grip strength measurements for the group of hand tool users, ii investigating the effects of height, weight, age, hand dominance, body mass index, previous Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD diagnosis, and hand tool usage experience on hand grip strength, and iii comparing the obtained results with existing data for other populations. The study groups comprised 71 healthy male facility workers. The values of subjects’ ages was observed between 26 and 74 years. The data were statistically analyzed to assess the normality of data and the percentile values of grip strength. The results of this study demonstrate that there were no significance differences noted between dominant and non-dominant hands. However, there were highly significant differences between the CTD group and the other group. Hand grip strength for the dominant hand was positively correlated to height, weight, and body mass index, and negatively correlated to age and tool usage experience. Hand dominance, height, weight, body mass index, age and tool usage experience should be considered when establishing normal values for grip strength.

Neuromarkers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a patient after bilateral hand amputation - ERP case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrapusta, Anna; Kropotov, Juri D; Pąchalska, Maria

2017-06-08

Introduction. There is a lack in the worldwide literature of reports on the Neuromarkers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in patients after bilateral hand amputation The aim of this study was to test a hypothesis regarding developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a patient after bilateral hand amputation with the use of Event Related Potentials (ERPs). On the basis of previous research, the amplitudes of P3 ERP components elicited in the cued GO/NOGO tasks have been chosen as candidates for neuromarkers of PTSD. Case study. A 24-year-old patient had undergone bilateral hand amputation 12 months previously. The patient was repeatedly operated on (he had undergone successful bilateral hand replantation) and despite the severity of the injuries, he recovered. However, the patient complained of flashbacks, anxiety and sleep difficulties. Specialist tests showed the presence of PTSD. The patient participated in the cued GO/NOGO task (Kropotov, 2009) with recording 19-channel EEG. P3 GO and NOGO waves in this task were found to be significantly smaller, in comparison to a group of healthy control subjects of the same age (N=23) taken from the HBI normative database (https://www.hbimed.com/). This observed pattern of ERP waves in the patient corresponds to the pattern found in PTSD patients. Conclusions. ERPs in a GO/NOGO task can be used in the assessment of the functional brain changes induced by chronic PTSD.

Estimation of hand hygiene opportunities on an adult medical ward using 24-hour camera surveillance: validation of the HOW2 Benchmark Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Diller, Thomas; Kelly, J William; Blackhurst, Dawn; Steed, Connie; Boeker, Sue; McElveen, Danielle C

2014-06-01

We previously published a formula to estimate the number of hand hygiene opportunities (HHOs) per patient-day using the World Health Organization's "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" methodology (HOW2 Benchmark Study). HHOs can be used as a denominator for calculating hand hygiene compliance rates when product utilization data are available. This study validates the previously derived HHO estimate using 24-hour video surveillance of health care worker hand hygiene activity. The validation study utilized 24-hour video surveillance recordings of 26 patients' hospital stays to measure the actual number of HHOs per patient-day on a medicine ward in a large teaching hospital. Statistical methods were used to compare these results to those obtained by episodic observation of patient activity in the original derivation study. Total hours of data collection were 81.3 and 1,510.8, resulting in 1,740 and 4,522 HHOs in the derivation and validation studies, respectively. Comparisons of the mean and median HHOs per 24-hour period did not differ significantly. HHOs were 71.6 (95% confidence interval: 64.9-78.3) and 73.9 (95% confidence interval: 69.1-84.1), respectively. This study validates the HOW2 Benchmark Study and confirms that expected numbers of HHOs can be estimated from the unit's patient census and patient-to-nurse ratio. These data can be used as denominators in calculations of hand hygiene compliance rates from electronic monitoring using the "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" methodology. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rubber hand illusion under delayed visual feedback.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotaro Shimada

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Rubber hand illusion (RHI is a subject's illusion of the self-ownership of a rubber hand that was touched synchronously with their own hand. Although previous studies have confirmed that this illusion disappears when the rubber hand was touched asynchronously with the subject's hand, the minimum temporal discrepancy of these two events for attenuation of RHI has not been examined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, various temporal discrepancies between visual and tactile stimulations were introduced by using a visual feedback delay experimental setup, and RHI effects in each temporal discrepancy condition were systematically tested. The results showed that subjects felt significantly greater RHI effects with temporal discrepancies of less than 300 ms compared with longer temporal discrepancies. The RHI effects on reaching performance (proprioceptive drift showed similar conditional differences. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results first demonstrated that a temporal discrepancy of less than 300 ms between visual stimulation of the rubber hand and tactile stimulation to the subject's own hand is preferable to induce strong sensation of RHI. We suggest that the time window of less than 300 ms is critical for multi-sensory integration processes constituting the self-body image.

Kinematic and kinetic differences between left-and right-handed professional baseball pitchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Diffendaffer, Alek Z; Fleisig, Glenn S; Ivey, Brett; Aune, Kyle T

2018-03-21

While 10% of the general population is left-handed, 27% of professional baseball pitchers are left-handed. Biomechanical differences between left- and right-handed college pitchers have been previously reported, but these differences have yet to be examined at the professional level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare pitching biomechanics between left- and right-handed professional pitchers. It was hypothesised that there would be significant kinematic and kinetic differences between these two groups. Pitching biomechanics were collected on 96 left-handed pitchers and a group of 96 right-handed pitchers matched for age, height, mass and ball velocity. Student t-tests were used to identify kinematic and kinetic differences (p different between the groups. Landing position of the stride foot, trunk separation at foot contact, maximum shoulder external rotation and trunk forward tilt at ball release were all significantly greater in right-handed pitchers. The magnitude of the statistical differences found were small and not consistent with differences in the two previous, smaller studies. Thus, the differences found may be of minimal practical significance and mechanics can be taught the same to all pitchers, regardless of throwing hand.

Hand surface area estimation formula using 3D anthropometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Yao-Wen; Yu, Chi-Yuang

2010-11-01

Hand surface area is an important reference in occupational hygiene and many other applications. This study derives a formula for the palm surface area (PSA) and hand surface area (HSA) based on three-dimensional (3D) scan data. Two-hundred and seventy subjects, 135 males and 135 females, were recruited for this study. The hand was measured using a high-resolution 3D hand scanner. Precision and accuracy of the scanner is within 0.67%. Both the PSA and HSA were computed using the triangular mesh summation method. A comparison between this study and previous textbook values (such as in the U.K. teaching text and Lund and Browder chart discussed in the article) was performed first to show that previous textbooks overestimated the PSA by 12.0% and HSA by 8.7% (for the male, PSA 8.5% and HSA 4.7%, and for the female, PSA 16.2% and HSA 13.4%). Six 1D measurements were then extracted semiautomatically for use as candidate estimators for the PSA and HSA estimation formula. Stepwise regressions on these six 1D measurements and variable dependency test were performed. Results show that a pair of measurements (hand length and hand breadth) were able to account for 96% of the HSA variance and up to 98% of the PSA variance. A test of the gender-specific formula indicated that gender is not a significant factor in either the PSA or HSA estimation.

Contact pressure measurement in hand tool evaluation studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijt-Evers, L.F.M.; Bosch, T.

2006-01-01

In hand tool evaluation studies, several objective measurements are used. Grip force distribution and grip force are important as they give feedback about the force which has to be performed with the hand on the handle. A measurement technique -which is related to grip force measurement- is contact

Earlier and greater hand pre-shaping in the elderly: a study based on kinematic analysis of reaching movements to grasp objects.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamaru, Yoshiki; Naito, Yasuo; Nishikawa, Takashi

2017-11-01

Elderly people are less able to manipulate objects skilfully than young adults. Although previous studies have examined age-related deterioration of hand movements with a focus on the phase after grasping objects, the changes in the reaching phase have not been studied thus far. We aimed to examine whether changes in hand shape patterns during the reaching phase of grasping movements differ between young adults and the elderly. Ten healthy elderly adults and 10 healthy young adults were examined using the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Functions and kinetic analysis of hand pre-shaping reach-to-grasp tasks. The results were then compared between the two groups. For kinetic analysis, we measured the time of peak tangential velocity of the wrist and the inter-fingertip distance (the distance between the tips of the thumb and index finger) at different time points. The results showed that the elderly group's performance on the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Functions was significantly lower than that of the young adult group, irrespective of whether the dominant or non-dominant hand was used, indicating deterioration of hand movement in the elderly. The peak tangential velocity of the wrist in either hand appeared significantly earlier in the elderly group than in the young adult group. The elderly group also showed larger inter-fingertip distances with arch-like fingertip trajectories compared to the young adult group for all object sizes. To perform accurate prehension, elderly people have an earlier peak tangential velocity point than young adults. This allows for a longer adjustment time for reaching and grasping movements and for reducing errors in object prehension by opening the hand and fingers wider. Elderly individuals gradually modify their strategy based on previous successes and failures during daily living to compensate for their decline in dexterity and operational capabilities. © 2017 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Left, right, left, right, eyes to the front! Müller-Lyer bias in grasping is not a function of hand used, hand preferred or visual hemifield, but foveation does matter.

OpenAIRE

van der Kamp, J.; de Wit, M.M.; Masters, R.S.W.

2012-01-01

We investigated whether the control of movement of the left hand is more likely to involve the use of allocentric information than movements performed with the right hand. Previous studies (Gonzalez et al. in J Neurophys 95:3496-3501, 2006; De Grave et al. in Exp Br Res 193:421-427, 2009) have reported contradictory findings in this respect. In the present study, right-handed participants (N = 12) and left-handed participants (N = 12) made right- and left-handed grasps to foveated objects and...

Comparative study of presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution versus traditional presurgical hand hygiene.

Science.gov (United States)

López Martín, M Beatriz; Erice Calvo-Sotelo, Alejo

To compare presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution following the WHO protocol with traditional presurgical hand hygiene. Cultures of the hands of surgeons and surgical nurses were performed before and after presurgical hand hygiene and after removing gloves at the end of surgery. Cultures were done in 2different days: the first day after traditional presurgical hand hygiene, and the second day after presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution following the WHO protocol. The duration of the traditional hand hygiene was measured and compared with the duration (3min) of the WHO protocol. The cost of the products used in the traditional technique was compared with the cost of the hydroalcoholic solution used. The variability of the traditional technique was determined by observation. Following presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution, colony-forming units (CFU) were detected in 5 (7.3%) subjects, whereas after traditional presurgical hand hygiene CFU were detected in 14 subjects (20.5%) (p < 0.05). After glove removal, the numbers of CFU were similar. The time employed in hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution (3min) was inferior to the time employed in the traditional technique (p < 0.05), its cost was less than half, and there was no variability. Compared with other techniques, presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution significantly decreases CFU, has similar latency time, a lower cost, and saves time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The hand of birds revealed by early ostrich embryos

Science.gov (United States)

Feduccia, Alan; Nowicki, Julie

2002-08-01

The problem of resolving the homology of the digits of the avian hand has been framed as a conflict between paleontological and embryological evidence, the former thought to support a hand composed of digits I, II, III, because of similarity of the phalangeal formulae of the earliest known bird Archaeopteryx to that of Mesozoic pentadactyl archosaurs, while embryological evidence has traditionally favored a II, III, IV avian hand. We have identified the critical developmental period for the major features of the avian skeleton in a primitive bird, the ostrich. Analysis of digit anlagen in the avian hand has revealed those for digits/metacarpals I and V, thus confirming previous embryological studies that indirectly suggested that the avian hand comprises digits II, III, IV, and was primitively pentadactyl.

Case-Cohort Studies: Design and Applicability to Hand Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Vojvodic, Miliana; Shafarenko, Mark; McCabe, Steven J

2018-04-24

Observational studies are common research strategies in hand surgery. The case-cohort design offers an efficient and resource-friendly method for risk assessment and outcomes analysis. Case-cohorts remain underrepresented in upper extremity research despite several practical and economic advantages over case-control studies. This report outlines the purpose, utility, and structure of the case-cohort design and offers a sample research question to demonstrate its value to risk estimation for adverse surgical outcomes. The application of well-designed case-cohort studies is advocated in an effort to improve the quality and quantity of observational research evidence in hand and upper extremity surgery. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hand Specific Representations in Language Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire eMoody-Triantis

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Theories of embodied cognition argue that language comprehension involves sensory-motor re-enactments of the actions described. However, the degree of specificity of these re-enactments as well as the relationship between action and language remains a matter of debate. Here we investigate these issues by examining how hand-specific information (left or right hand is recruited in language comprehension and action execution. An fMRI study tested right-handed participants in two separate tasks that were designed to be as similar as possible to increase sensitivity of the comparison across task: an action execution go/no-go task where participants performed right or left hand actions, and a language task where participants read sentences describing the same left or right handed actions as in the execution task. We found that language-induced activity did not match the hand-specific patterns of activity found for action execution in primary somatosensory and motor cortex, but it overlapped with pre-motor and parietal regions associated with action planning. Within these pre-motor regions, both right hand actions and sentences elicited stronger activity than left hand actions and sentences - a dominant hand effect -. Importantly, both dorsal and ventral sections of the left pre-central gyrus were recruited by both tasks, suggesting different action features being recruited. These results suggest that (a language comprehension elicits motor representations that are hand-specific and akin to multimodal action plans, rather than full action re-enactments; and (b language comprehension and action execution share schematic hand-specific representations that are richer for the dominant hand, and thus linked to previous motor experience.

Hand specific representations in language comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Moody-Triantis, Claire; Humphreys, Gina F; Gennari, Silvia P

2014-01-01

Theories of embodied cognition argue that language comprehension involves sensory-motor re-enactments of the actions described. However, the degree of specificity of these re-enactments as well as the relationship between action and language remains a matter of debate. Here we investigate these issues by examining how hand-specific information (left or right hand) is recruited in language comprehension and action execution. An fMRI study tested self-reported right-handed participants in two separate tasks that were designed to be as similar as possible to increase sensitivity of the comparison across task: an action execution go/no-go task where participants performed right or left hand actions, and a language task where participants read sentences describing the same left or right handed actions as in the execution task. We found that language-induced activity did not match the hand-specific patterns of activity found for action execution in primary somatosensory and motor cortex, but it overlapped with pre-motor and parietal regions associated with action planning. Within these pre-motor regions, both right hand actions and sentences elicited stronger activity than left hand actions and sentences-a dominant hand effect. Importantly, both dorsal and ventral sections of the left pre-central gyrus were recruited by both tasks, suggesting different action features being recruited. These results suggest that (a) language comprehension elicits motor representations that are hand-specific and akin to multimodal action plans, rather than full action re-enactments; and (b) language comprehension and action execution share schematic hand-specific representations that are richer for the dominant hand, and thus linked to previous motor experience.

Effects of hand orientation on motor imagery--event related potentials suggest kinesthetic motor imagery to solve the hand laterality judgment task.

Science.gov (United States)

Jongsma, Marijtje L A; Meulenbroek, Ruud G J; Okely, Judith; Baas, C Marjolein; van der Lubbe, Rob H J; Steenbergen, Bert

2013-01-01

Motor imagery (MI) refers to the process of imagining the execution of a specific motor action without actually producing an overt movement. Two forms of MI have been distinguished: visual MI and kinesthetic MI. To distinguish between these forms of MI we employed an event related potential (ERP) study to measure interference effects induced by hand orientation manipulations in a hand laterality judgement task. We hypothesized that this manipulation should only affect kinesthetic MI but not visual MI. The ERPs elicited by rotated hand stimuli contained the classic rotation related negativity (RRN) with respect to palm view stimuli. We observed that laterally rotated stimuli led to a more marked RRN than medially rotated stimuli. This RRN effect was observed when participants had their hands positioned in either a straight (control) or an inward rotated posture, but not when their hands were positioned in an outward rotated posture. Posture effects on the ERP-RRN have not previously been studied. Apparently, a congruent hand posture (hands positioned in an outward rotated fashion) facilitates the judgement of the otherwise more demanding laterally rotated hand stimuli. These ERP findings support a kinesthetic interpretation of MI involved in solving the hand laterality judgement task. The RRN may be used as a non-invasive marker for kinesthetic MI and seems useful in revealing the covert behavior of MI in e.g. rehabilitation programs.

Differential involvement of cortical and cerebellar areas using dominant and nondominant hands: An FMRI study

Science.gov (United States)

Pardini, Matteo; Samson, Rebecca S.; D'Angelo, Egidio; Friston, Karl J.; Toosy, Ahmed T.; Gandini Wheeler‐Kingshott, Claudia A.M.

2015-01-01

Abstract Motor fMRI studies, comparing dominant (DH) and nondominant (NDH) hand activations have reported mixed findings, especially for the extent of ipsilateral (IL) activations and their relationship with task complexity. To date, no study has directly compared DH and NDH activations using an event‐related visually guided dynamic power‐grip paradigm with parametric (three) forces (GF) in healthy right‐handed subjects. We implemented a hierarchical statistical approach aimed to: (i) identify the main effect networks engaged when using either hand; (ii) characterise DH/NDH responses at different GFs; (iii) assess contralateral (CL)/IL‐specific and hemisphere‐specific activations. Beyond confirming previously reported results, this study demonstrated that increasing GF has an effect on motor response that is contextualised also by the use of DH or NDH. Linear analysis revealed increased activations in sensorimotor areas, with additional increased recruitments of subcortical and cerebellar areas when using the NDH. When looking at CL/IL‐specific activations, CL sensorimotor areas and IL cerebellum were activated with both hands. When performing the task with the NDH, several areas were also recruited including the CL cerebellum. Finally, there were hand‐side‐independent activations of nonmotor‐specific areas in the right and left hemispheres, with the right hemisphere being involved more extensively in sensori‐motor integration through associative areas while the left hemisphere showing greater activation at higher GF. This study shows that the functional networks subtending DH/NDH power‐grip visuomotor functions are qualitatively and quantitatively distinct and this should be taken into consideration when performing fMRI studies, particularly when planning interventions in patients with specific impairments. Hum Brain Mapp 36:5079–5100, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26415818

Life-style factors and hand eczema.

Science.gov (United States)

Anveden Berglind, I; Alderling, M; Meding, B

2011-09-01

Previous knowledge of the impact of certain life-style factors on hand eczema is scanty. To investigate a possible association between hand eczema and life-style factors such as obesity, physical exercise, stress, smoking and alcohol consumption. In a cross-sectional public health survey in Stockholm, Sweden, 27,994 (58%) randomly chosen individuals aged 18-64 years completed a postal questionnaire regarding physical and mental health, social relations, economic status and work. Of these, 27,793 individuals responded to the question regarding hand eczema and were included in the present study. The association between life-style factors and hand eczema was analysed by prevalence proportion ratios (PPR), using a generalized linear model. Hand eczema was more common among individuals who reported high stress levels, PPR 1·326 (95% CI 1·303-1·350). There was also a positive dose-response relationship between hand eczema and stress. Hand eczema was less common among individuals reporting high physical exercise, and most apparent in women, PPR 0·781 (95% CI 0·770-0·792). Men who reported high alcohol intake reported hand eczema less often, PPR 0·958 (95% CI 0·930-0·987). Obese individuals reported hand eczema more commonly, PPR 1·204 (95% CI 1·174-1·234). There was a slight increase of hand eczema among smokers, PPR 1·025 (95% CI 1·006-1·044). Hand eczema was more common in individuals who reported stress, obesity and smoking. In individuals who reported high physical exercise levels hand eczema was less common. As there appears to be an association between life-style factors and hand eczema it is important to consider life-style factors in clinical practice. © 2011 The Authors. BJD © 2011 British Association of Dermatologists.

Impaired hand size estimation in CRPS.

Science.gov (United States)

Peltz, Elena; Seifert, Frank; Lanz, Stefan; Müller, Rüdiger; Maihöfner, Christian

2011-10-01

A triad of clinical symptoms, ie, autonomic, motor and sensory dysfunctions, characterizes complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS). Sensory dysfunction comprises sensory loss or spontaneous and stimulus-evoked pain. Furthermore, a disturbance in the body schema may occur. In the present study, patients with CRPS of the upper extremity and healthy controls estimated their hand sizes on the basis of expanded or compressed schematic drawings of hands. In patients with CRPS we found an impairment in accurate hand size estimation; patients estimated their own CRPS-affected hand to be larger than it actually was when measured objectively. Moreover, overestimation correlated significantly with disease duration, neglect score, and increase of two-point-discrimination-thresholds (TPDT) compared to the unaffected hand and to control subjects' estimations. In line with previous functional imaging studies in CRPS patients demonstrating changes in central somatotopic maps, we suggest an involvement of the central nervous system in this disruption of the body schema. Potential cortical areas may be the primary somatosensory and posterior parietal cortices, which have been proposed to play a critical role in integrating visuospatial information. CRPS patients perceive their affected hand to be bigger than it is. The magnitude of this overestimation correlates with disease duration, decreased tactile thresholds, and neglect-score. Suggesting a disrupted body schema as the source of this impairment, our findings corroborate the current assumption of a CNS involvement in CRPS. Copyright © 2011 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Getting Their Hands Dirty: Qualitative Study on Hands-on Learning for Architectural Students in Design-build Course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zunaibi B. Abdullah

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This qualitative study provides an in-depth perspective of hands-on learning through the observation and analysis of architectural students' views in a design-build program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the fall semester of 2008. Qualitative data was gathered from 14 participants involved in the construction of a low energy double-storey house in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. The study inventoried the requisite characteristics of a design-build course. Participants' views and activities were studied to ascribe the qualitative benefits of hands-on learning. In addition, students' motivation towards hands-on activities were evaluated in reference to student confidence and independence levels towards their future career as architects, designers or other design-build professionals. The findings showed the design-build course could offer a specific knowledge that link between theoretical subjects and the practical expect of building contractions.

Improving physician hand hygiene compliance using behavioural theories: a study protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Squires Janet E

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Healthcare-associated infections affect 10% of patients in Canadian acute-care hospitals and are significant and preventable causes of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. Hand hygiene is among the simplest and most effective preventive measures to reduce these infections. However, compliance with hand hygiene among healthcare workers, specifically among physicians, is consistently suboptimal. We aim to first identify the barriers and enablers to physician hand hygiene compliance, and then to develop and pilot a theory-based knowledge translation intervention to increase physicians’ compliance with best hand hygiene practice. Design The study consists of three phases. In Phase 1, we will identify barriers and enablers to hand hygiene compliance by physicians. This will include: key informant interviews with physicians and residents using a structured interview guide, informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework; nonparticipant observation of physician/resident hand hygiene audit sessions; and focus groups with hand hygiene experts. In Phase 2, we will conduct intervention mapping to develop a theory-based knowledge translation intervention to improve physician hand hygiene compliance. Finally, in Phase 3, we will pilot the knowledge translation intervention in four patient care units. Discussion In this study, we will use a behavioural theory approach to obtain a better understanding of the barriers and enablers to physician hand hygiene compliance. This will provide a comprehensive framework on which to develop knowledge translation interventions that may be more successful in improving hand hygiene practice. Upon completion of this study, we will refine the piloted knowledge translation intervention so it can be tested in a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial.

The incidence of hospital-treated occupational hand injuries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov, O

1994-01-01

Previous studies have shown that young men have the highest frequency of occupational hand injuries. This study investigated their incidence and severity in relation to age and sex. For occupational hand injuries in general the estimated incidence rate was 17.1 per 1,000 person years. The incidence...... was found to be higher among men than women in all age groups below 60 years. The incidence for minor injuries declines with increasing age, but the rates for significant injuries are independent of age. The higher incidence rate for minor injuries among young patients could be real, but it could also...

An elicitation study of critical care nurses' salient hand hygiene beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Piras, Susan E; Lauderdale, Jana; Minnick, Ann

2017-10-01

To describe critical care nurses' hand hygiene attitudinal, normative referent, and control beliefs. Hand hygiene is the primary strategy to prevent healthcare-associated infections. Social influence is an underdeveloped hand hygiene strategy. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 25 ICU nurses in the southeastern United States. Data were collected using the Nurses' Salient Belief Instrument. Thematic analysis generated four themes: Hand Hygiene is Protective; Nurses look to Nurses; Time-related Concerns; and Convenience is Essential. Nurses look to nurses as hand hygiene referents and believe hand hygiene is a protective behaviour that requires time and functional equipment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An fMRI study of the neural basis hand postures specific to tool use. Presidential award proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohgami, Yuko; Uchida, Nobuko; Matsuo, Kayako; Nakai, Toshiharu

2007-01-01

Patients with apraxia are often unable to mimic the use of a tool, even when it is presented visually. Such mimicking involves various cognitive and motor processes, including the visual perception of a tool and the manipulation of imagined tools. Although previous studies reported the involvement of several brain areas, including the left inferior parietal lobule, in such tool-use action, the details of each process have not been well understood. To clarify the neural basis of the process involved in forming hand postures for using tools, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in normal volunteers to investigate brain activation while they formed hand postures for tool manipulation. Three conditions were evaluated in separate block-designed fMRI series, formation of hand posture (A) using a tool, (B) imitating such a hand posture, and (C) to imitate the shape of a tool. Subjects formed their right hand in a manner specified according to the task conditions. Hand posturing for condition (A) induced activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45), left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), and the premotor area compared with the imitative posturing of condition (B). Activation in these areas might be related to processes shared by tool-use pantomime. On the other hand, comparison between conditions (A) and (C) demonstrated activation in the right superior parietal lobule (BA 7). This activation may reflect spatial regulation, in which the subject was prepared to hold and manipulate the tool. Formation of static hand postures to prepare for tool use may employ a neural network shared by various tool-use actions, such as pantomime. In addition, forming hand postures may require close coordination between the tool and hand. (author)

Referral of sensation to an advanced humanoid robotic hand prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosén, Birgitta; Ehrsson, H Henrik; Antfolk, Christian; Cipriani, Christian; Sebelius, Fredrik; Lundborg, Göran

2009-01-01

Hand prostheses that are currently available on the market are used by amputees to only a limited extent, partly because of lack of sensory feedback from the artificial hand. We report a pilot study that showed how amputees can experience a robot-like advanced hand prosthesis as part of their own body. We induced a perceptual illusion by which touch applied to the stump of the arm was experienced from the artificial hand. This illusion was elicited by applying synchronous tactile stimulation to the hidden amputation stump and the robotic hand prosthesis in full view. In five people who had had upper limb amputations this stimulation caused referral touch sensation from the stump to the artificial hand, and the prosthesis was experienced more like a real hand. We also showed that this illusion can work when the amputee controls the movements of the artificial hand by recordings of the arm muscle activity with electromyograms. These observations indicate that the previously described "rubber hand illusion" is also valid for an advanced hand prosthesis, even when it has a robotic-like appearance.

Relationship between sensitivity to visuotactile temporal discrepancy and the rubber hand illusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Sotaro; Suzuki, Tatsuya; Yoda, Naohiko; Hayashi, Tomoya

2014-08-01

The rubber-hand illusion (RHI) is that the subject feels the visually presented tactile stimulation of an artificial (rubber) hand as their own tactile sensation and is caused by stimulating the rubber and real hands synchronously. Our previous study showed that the RHI was greatly reduced as the visual feedback delay of the tactile stimulation of the hand became longer. In the present study, we investigate the relationship between the attenuation of the RHI and the detection of the delay in two experiments: (1) an RHI experiment and (2) a visuotactile asynchrony detection experiment, in which the subjects underwent tactile stimulation of their hand and judged whether visual feedback was consistent with the touch sensation. In line with our previous study, the RHI was significantly reduced as the delay lengthened. Interestingly, proprioceptive drift declined linearly as the delay increased, while the delay detection rate was better fitted by a non-linear (logistic) function. The illusion score showed the intermittent pattern. We suggest that proprioceptive drift is relevant to the processing of the body schema, whereas the delay detection and the subjective feeling of the RHI are more related to the body image processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Hand trauma: A prospective observational study reporting diagnostic concordance in emergency hand trauma which supports centralised service improvements.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, B H; Spilsbury, Z P; Rosala-Hallas, A; Cerovac, S

2016-10-01

Hand injuries are common, contributing up to 30% of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. The aim of this study was to prospectively analyse the pathological demographics of hand injuries in a level 1 trauma centre with a Hand Trauma Unit and direct A&E links, and compare clinical and intra-operative findings. The null hypothesis was that there would be no differences between clinical and intra-operative findings (100% diagnostic concordance). Data were prospectively collected for referrals during 2012. Referral diagnosis, additional pathologies found on clinical assessment and intra-operative findings were documented on a live database accessible from both the Hand Unit and associated operating theatres. Odds ratios were calculated using SAS. Injuries (1526) were identified in 1308 patients included in the study. Diagnostic concordance between Hand Unit clinical examination and intra-operative findings was 92.5% ± 2.85% (mean ± SEM); this was lower for flexor tendon injuries (56.3%) because a greater number of additional pathologies were found intra-operatively (2.25 ± 0.10). This 'trend' was noted across multiple referral pathologies including phalangeal fractures (1.28 ± 0.02; 82.9%), lacerations (1.33 ± 0.04; 79.1%), extensor tendon injuries (1.30 ± 0.05; 87.8%) and dislocations (1.18 ± 0.05; 87.8%). Odds ratio analysis indicated a relationship between primary referral diagnoses that were more or less likely to be associated with additional injuries (p management of hand trauma. Our findings, coupled with the presented relevant literature reports, lead us to advocate that A&E departments should move towards a system wherein links to specialist hand trauma services are in place; we hereby present useful data for hospitals implementing such services. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Custom-made silicone hand prosthesis: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nayak, S; Lenka, P K; Equebal, A; Biswas, A

2016-09-01

Up to now, a cosmetic glove was the most common method for managing transmetacarpal (TMC) and carpometacarpal (CMC) amputations, but it is devoid of markings and body color. At this amputation level, it is very difficult to fit a functional prosthesis because of the short available length, unsightly shape, grafted skin, contracture and lack of functional prosthetic options. A 30-year-old male came to our clinic with amputation at the 1st to 4th carpometacarpal level and a 5th metacarpal that was projected laterally and fused with the carpal bone. The stump had grafted skin, redness, and an unhealed suture line. He complained of pain projected over the metacarpal and suture area. The clinical team members decided to fabricate a custom-made silicone hand prosthesis to accommodate the stump, protect the grafted skin, improve the hand's appearance and provide some passive function. The custom silicone hand prosthesis was fabricated with modified flexible wires to provide passive interphalangeal movement. Basic training, care and maintenance instructions for the prosthesis were given to the patient. The silicone hand prosthesis was able to restore the appearance of the lost digits and provide some passive function. His pain (VAS score) was reduced. Improvement in activities of daily living was found in the DASH questionnaire and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function test. A silicone glove is a good option for more distal amputations, as it can accommodate any deformity, protect the skin, enhance the appearance and provide functional assistance. This case study provides a simple method to get passively movable fingers after proximal hand amputation. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

The validity and reliability study of Hand Hygiene Belief Scale and Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mevlude Karadag

2016-06-01

Conclusion: The adaptation of translated and ldquo;Hand Hygiene Belief Scale and Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory and rdquo; in Turkey is found to be reliable and valid to evaluate hand hygiene belief and practices. [Cukurova Med J 2016; 41(2.000: 271-284

Hand eczema in hairdressers: a Danish register-based study of the prevalence of hand eczema and its career consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Lysdal, Susan Hovmand; Søsted, Heidi; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Johansen, Jeanne Duus

2011-09-01

Occupational hand eczema is common in hairdressers, owing to wet work and hairdressing chemicals. To estimate the prevalence of hand eczema and its career consequences among hairdressers in Denmark. A register-based study was conducted, comprising all graduates from hairdressing vocational schools from 1985 to 2007 (n = 7840). The participants received a self-administered postal questionnaire including questions on hand eczema, atopic dermatitis, and career change. A response rate of 67.9% (n = 5324) was obtained. Of the respondents, 44.3% no longer worked as hairdressers and had worked for an average of 8.4 years in the profession before leaving it. Hand eczema was more common among ex-hairdressers (48.4%) than among current hairdressers (37.6%) (p reason for career change. In this group, logistic regression analysis showed that chronic hand eczema contributed the most to the decision to change career (odds ratio 50.12; 95% confidence interval 18.3-137). Hairdressers work an average of 8.4 years in the profession before leaving it, and hand eczema contributes significantly to this career change. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Iterative co-creation for improved hand hygiene and aseptic techniques in the operating room: experiences from the safe hands study.

Science.gov (United States)

Erichsen Andersson, Annette; Frödin, Maria; Dellenborg, Lisen; Wallin, Lars; Hök, Jesper; Gillespie, Brigid M; Wikström, Ewa

2018-01-04

Hand hygiene and aseptic techniques are essential preventives in combating hospital-acquired infections. However, implementation of these strategies in the operating room remains suboptimal. There is a paucity of intervention studies providing detailed information on effective methods for change. This study aimed to evaluate the process of implementing a theory-driven knowledge translation program for improved use of hand hygiene and aseptic techniques in the operating room. The study was set in an operating department of a university hospital. The intervention was underpinned by theories on organizational learning, culture and person centeredness. Qualitative process data were collected via participant observations and analyzed using a thematic approach. Doubts that hand-hygiene practices are effective in preventing hospital acquired infections, strong boundaries and distrust between professional groups and a lack of psychological safety were identified as barriers towards change. Facilitated interprofessional dialogue and learning in "safe spaces" worked as mechanisms for motivation and engagement. Allowing for the free expression of different opinions, doubts and viewing resistance as a natural part of any change was effective in engaging all professional categories in co-creation of clinical relevant solutions to improve hand hygiene. Enabling nurses and physicians to think and talk differently about hospital acquired infections and hand hygiene requires a shift from the concept of one-way directed compliance towards change and learning as the result of a participatory and meaning-making process. The present study is a part of the Safe Hands project, and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT02983136 ). Date of registration 2016/11/28, retrospectively registered.

Left, right, left, right, eyes to the front! Müller-Lyer bias in grasping is not a function of hand used, hand preferred or visual hemifield, but foveation does matter.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Kamp, J.; de Wit, M.M.; Masters, R.S.W.

2012-01-01

We investigated whether the control of movement of the left hand is more likely to involve the use of allocentric information than movements performed with the right hand. Previous studies (Gonzalez et al. in J Neurophys 95:3496-3501, 2006; De Grave et al. in Exp Br Res 193:421-427, 2009) have

Study of hand signs in Judeo-Christian art.

Science.gov (United States)

Ram, Ashwin N; Chung, Kevin C

2008-09-01

Hand gestures play a crucial role in religious art. An examination of Judeo-Christian art finds an ecclesiastical language that is concealed in metaphors and expressed by unique hand gestures. Many of these hand signs convey messages that are not familiar to most people admiring these paintings. Investigating the history and classifying some of the predominant hand signs found in Judeo-Christian art might serve to stimulate discussion concerning the many nuances of symbolic art. This presentation examines the meaning behind 8 common hand signs in Judeo-Christian art.

Comparative assessment of antimicrobial efficacy of different hand sanitizers: An in vitro study

OpenAIRE

Jain, Vardhaman Mulchand; Karibasappa, Gundabaktha Nagappa; Dodamani, Arun Suresh; Prashanth, Vishwakarma K.; Mali, Gaurao Vasant

2016-01-01

Background: To evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of four different hand sanitizers against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecalis as well as to assess and compare the antimicrobial effectiveness among four different hand sanitizers. Materials and Methods: The present study is an in vitro study to evaluate antimicrobial efficacy of Dettol, Lifebuoy, PureHands, and Sterillium hand sanitizers against clinical i...

[Study on an Exoskeleton Hand Function Training Device].

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xin; Zhang, Ying; Li, Jicai; Yi, Jinhua; Yu, Hongliu; He, Rongrong

2016-02-01

Based on the structure and motion bionic principle of the normal adult fingers, biological characteristics of human hands were analyzed, and a wearable exoskeleton hand function training device for the rehabilitation of stroke patients or patients with hand trauma was designed. This device includes the exoskeleton mechanical structure and the electromyography (EMG) control system. With adjustable mechanism, the device was capable to fit different finger lengths, and by capturing the EMG of the users' contralateral limb, the motion state of the exoskeleton hand was controlled. Then driven by the device, the user's fingers conducting adduction/abduction rehabilitation training was carried out. Finally, the mechanical properties and training effect of the exoskeleton hand were verified through mechanism simulation and the experiments on the experimental prototype of the wearable exoskeleton hand function training device.

Hand hygiene knowledge and perceptions among anesthesia providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Patrick G; Loftus, Randy W; Dodds, Thomas M; Koff, Matthew D; Reddy, Sundara; Heard, Stephen O; Beach, Michael L; Yeager, Mark P; Brown, Jeremiah R

2015-04-01

Health care worker compliance with hand hygiene guidelines is an important measure for health care-associated infection prevention, yet overall compliance across all health care arenas remains low. A correct answer to 4 of 4 structured questions pertaining to indications for hand decontamination (according to types of contact) has been associated with improved health care provider hand hygiene compliance when compared to those health care providers answering incorrectly for 1 or more questions. A better understanding of knowledge deficits among anesthesia providers may lead to hand hygiene improvement strategies. In this study, our primary aims were to characterize and identify predictors for hand hygiene knowledge deficits among anesthesia providers. We modified this previously tested survey instrument to measure anesthesia provider hand hygiene knowledge regarding the 5 moments of hand hygiene across national and multicenter groups. Complete knowledge was defined by correct answers to 5 questions addressing the 5 moments for hand hygiene and received a score of 1. Incomplete knowledge was defined by an incorrect answer to 1 or more of the 5 questions and received a score of 0. We used a multilevel random-effects XTMELOGIT logistic model clustering at the respondent and geographic location for insufficient knowledge and forward/backward stepwise logistic regression analysis to identify predictors for incomplete knowledge. The survey response rates were 55.8% and 18.2% for the multicenter and national survey study groups, respectively. One or more knowledge deficits occurred with 81.6% of survey respondents, with the mean number of correct answers 2.89 (95% confidence interval, 2.78- 2.99). Failure of providers to recognize prior contact with the environment and prior contact with the patient as hand hygiene opportunities contributed to the low mean. Several cognitive factors were associated with a reduced risk of incomplete knowledge including providers responding

Prevention of hand eczema among Danish hairdressing apprentices: an intervention study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bregnhøj, Anne; Menné, Torkil; Johansen, Jeanne Duus

2012-01-01

for this study and delivered by teachers specially trained in the prevention of hand eczema; the other half received normal training and served as a control group. All apprentices completed self-administered questionnaires including questions regarding hand eczema, use of gloves and degree of wet work, and were...... used gloves during wet work procedures and significantly fewer developed hand eczema compared with apprentices from the control group (p=0.04). A logistic regression model showed that atopic dermatitis had a significant influence on the development of hand eczema in the cohort irrespective...... of the intervention.ConclusionsWe were able to increase the use of gloves and reduce the incidence of hand eczema in hairdressing apprentices by implementing a training program in hairdressing schools....

Hand Robotic Therapy in Children with Hemiparesis: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Lauri; Gordon, Andrew M; Kim, Heakyung

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to understand the impact of training with a hand robotic device on hand paresis and function in a population of children with hemiparesis. Twelve children with hemiparesis (mean age, 9 [SD, 3.64] years) completed participation in this prospective, experimental, pilot study. Participants underwent clinical assessments at baseline and again 6 weeks later with instructions to not initiate new therapies. After these assessments, participants received 6 weeks of training with a hand robotic device, consisting of 1-hour sessions, 3 times weekly. Assessments were repeated on completion of training. Results showed significant improvements after training on the Assisting Hand Assessment (mean difference, 2.0 Assisting Hand Assessment units; P = 0.011) and on the upper-extremity component of the Fugl-Meyer scale (raw score mean difference, 4.334; P = 0.001). No significant improvements between pretest and posttest were noted on the Jebsen-Taylor Test of Hand Function, the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test, or the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory after intervention. Total active mobility of digits and grip strength also failed to demonstrate significant changes after training. Participants tolerated training with the hand robotic device, and significant improvements in bimanual hand use, as well as impairment-based scales, were noted. Improvements were carried over into bimanual skills during play. Complete the self-assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME CME OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (1) Understand key components of neuroplasticity; (2) Discuss the benefits of robotic therapy in the recovery of hand function in pediatric patients with hemiplegia; and (3) Appropriately incorporate robotic therapy into the treatment plan of pediatric patients with hemiplegia. Advanced ACCREDITATION: The Association of Academic Physiatrists is accredited by the

Evaluation of antibacterial activity of hand sanitizers – an in vitro study

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Hand hygiene, particularly hand sanitizing, is essential in reducing infectious disease transmission. The recent outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria both increased public awareness of the practice of hand sanitizing and resulted in the introduction of new products to the Nigerian market. This study set out to explore the actual ...

HEART TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH PREVIOUS OPEN HEART SURGERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sh. Saitgareev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Heart Transplantation (HTx to date remains the most effective and radical method of treatment of patients with end-stage heart failure. The defi cit of donor hearts is forcing to resort increasingly to the use of different longterm mechanical circulatory support systems, including as a «bridge» to the follow-up HTx. According to the ISHLT Registry the number of recipients underwent cardiopulmonary bypass surgery increased from 40% in the period from 2004 to 2008 to 49.6% for the period from 2009 to 2015. HTx performed in repeated patients, on the one hand, involves considerable technical diffi culties and high risks; on the other hand, there is often no alternative medical intervention to HTx, and if not dictated by absolute contradictions the denial of the surgery is equivalent to 100% mortality. This review summarizes the results of a number of published studies aimed at understanding the immediate and late results of HTx in patients, previously underwent open heart surgery. The effect of resternotomy during HTx and that of the specifi c features associated with its implementation in recipients previously operated on open heart, and its effects on the immediate and long-term survival were considered in this review. Results of studies analyzing the risk factors for perioperative complications in repeated recipients were also demonstrated. Separately, HTx risks after implantation of prolonged mechanical circulatory support systems were examined. The literature does not allow to clearly defi ning the impact factor of earlier performed open heart surgery on the course of perioperative period and on the prognosis of survival in recipients who underwent HTx. On the other hand, subject to the regular fl ow of HTx and the perioperative period the risks in this clinical situation are justifi ed as a long-term prognosis of recipients previously conducted open heart surgery and are comparable to those of patients who underwent primary HTx. Studies

On the Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nysangaliev, A.N.; Kuspangaliev, T.K.

1997-01-01

Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study is described. Some consideration about structure of productive formation, specific characteristic properties of petroleum-bearing collectors are presented. Recommendation on their detail study and using of experience on exploration and development of petroleum deposit which have analogy on most important geological and industrial parameters are given. (author)

Consistency of hand preference: predictions to intelligence and school achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kee, D W; Gottfried, A; Bathurst, K

1991-05-01

Gottfried and Bathurst (1983) reported that hand preference consistency measured over time during infancy and early childhood predicts intellectual precocity for females, but not for males. In the present study longitudinal assessments of children previously classified by Gottfried and Bathurst as consistent or nonconsistent in cross-time hand preference were conducted during middle childhood (ages 5 to 9). Findings show that (a) early measurement of hand preference consistency for females predicts school-age intellectual precocity, (b) the locus of the difference between consistent vs. nonconsistent females is in verbal intelligence, and (c) the precocity of the consistent females was also revealed on tests of school achievement, particularly tests of reading and mathematics.

Hand hygiene compliance in transplant and other special patient groups: an observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Graf, Karolin; Ott, Ella; Wolny, Michael; Tramp, Nadine; Vonberg, Ralf-Peter; Haverich, Axel; Chaberny, Iris Freya

2013-06-01

This study evaluates hand hygiene behavior of health care workers in a German university hospital stratified for treatment of special patient groups (eg, transplant patients). From 2008 to 2010, comprehensive education and training of all health care workers was implemented to improve hand hygiene compliance. Consumption rates of alcohol-based hand rub and gloves were collected and evaluated. Of the 5,647 opportunities of hand disinfection evaluated, 1,607 occurred during care for transplant patients. To our knowledge, this is the largest survey of hand hygiene compliance in special patient groups on intensive care units in a university hospital in Germany. Health care workers on surgical intensive care units showed lower hand hygiene compliance compared with health care workers on other types of intensive care units. Compliance toward hand hygiene was significantly higher on hemato-oncologic and pediatric wards. In general, hand disinfection was performed significantly more frequently after an intervention than before (P hand hygiene compliance when caring for transplant patients or other patients (odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval: 0.95-1.42). Nurse's and physician's hand hygiene compliance improved because of education. Hand hygiene compliance is not increased in the care for transplant patients (despite their predisposition for nosocomial infections) compared with other patients. Additional studies will be necessary to further investigate these findings. Copyright © 2013 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Surgical exploration of hand wounds in the emergency room: Preliminary study of 80 personal injury claims.

Science.gov (United States)

Mouton, J; Houdre, H; Beccari, R; Tarissi, N; Autran, M; Auquit-Auckbur, I

2016-12-01

The SHAM Insurance Company in Lyon, France, estimated that inadequate hand wound exploration in the emergency room (ER) accounted for 10% of all ER-related personal injury claims in 2013. The objective of this study was to conduct a critical analysis of 80 claims that were related to hand wound management in the ER and led to compensation by SHAM. Eighty claims filed between 2007 and 2010 were anonymised then included into the study. To be eligible, claims had to be filed with SHAM, related to the ER management of a hand wound in an adult, and closed at the time of the study. Claims related to surgery were excluded. For each claim, we recorded 104 items (e.g., epidemiology, treatments offered, and impact on social and occupational activities) and analysed. Of the 70 patients, 60% were manual workers. The advice of a surgeon was sought in 16% of cases. The most common wound sites were the thumb (33%) and index finger (17%). Among the missed lesions, most involved tendons (74%) or nerves (29%). Many patients had more than one reason for filing a claim. The main reasons were inadequate wound exploration (97%), stiffness (49%), and dysaesthesia (41%). One third of patients were unable to return to their previous job. Mean sick-leave duration was 148 days and mean time from discharge to best outcome was 4.19%. Most claims (79%) were settled directly with the insurance company, 16% after involvement of a public mediator, and 12% in court. The mean compensatory damages award was 4595Euros. Inadequate surgical exploration of hand wounds is common in the ER, carries a risk of lasting and sometimes severe residual impairment, and generates considerable societal costs. IV. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Inspections of Hand Washing Supplies and Hand Sanitizer in Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Mary M.; Blea, Mary; Trujillo, Rebecca; Greenberg, Cynthia

2010-01-01

Hand washing and hand antisepsis are proven infection control measures in the school setting, yet barriers such as lack of soap, paper towels, and hand sanitizer can hinder compliance. This pilot study measured the prevalence of hand cleaning supplies in public schools. Ten school districts (93 schools) participated in school nurse inspections. In…

One hand or the other? Effector selection biases in right and left handers.

Science.gov (United States)

Main, Julie C; Carey, David P

2014-11-01

Much debate in the handedness literature has centred on the relative merits of questionnaire-based measures assessing hand preference versus simple movement tasks such as peg moving or finger tapping, assessing hand performance. A third paradigm has grown in popularity, which assesses choices by participants when either hand could be used to execute movements. These newer measures may be useful in predicting possible "reversed" asymmetries in proportions of non-right handed ("adextral") people. In the current studies we examine hand choice in large samples of dextral (right handed) and adextral participants. Unlike in some previous experiments on choice, we found that left handers were as biased towards their dominant hand as were right handers, for grasping during a puzzle-making task (study 1). In a second study, participants had to point to either of two suddenly appearing targets with one hand or the other. In study 2, left handers were not significantly less one handed than their right-handed counterparts as in study 1. In a final study, we used random effects meta analysis to summarise the possible differences in hand choice between left handers and right handers across all hand choice studies published to date. The meta analysis suggests that right handers use their dominant hand 12.5% more than left handers favour their dominant hand (with 95% confidence that the real difference lies between 7% and 18%). These last results suggest that our two experiments reported here may represent statistical Type 2 errors. This mean difference may be related to greater left hemispheric language and praxic laterality in right handers. Nevertheless, more data are needed regarding the precise proportions of left and right handers who favour their preferred hands for different tasks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A person-oriented approach to hand hygiene behaviour: Emotional empathy fosters hand hygiene practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sassenrath, Claudia; Diefenbacher, Svenja; Siegel, André; Keller, Johannes

2016-01-01

Adopting a social-psychological approach, this research examines whether emotional empathy, an affective reaction regarding another's well-being, fosters hand hygiene as this affects other's health-related well-being extensively. Three studies tested this notion: (a) a cross-sectional study involving a sample of health care workers at a German hospital, (b) an experiment testing the causal effect of empathy on hand hygiene behaviour and (c) an 11-week prospective study testing whether an empathy induction affected disinfectant usage frequency in two different wards of a hospital. Self-reported hand hygiene behaviour based on day reconstruction method was measured in Study 1, actual hand sanitation behaviour was observed in Study 2 and disinfectant usage frequency in two different hospital wards was assessed in Study 3. Study 1 reveals an association of empathy with hand hygiene cross-sectionally, Study 2 documents the causal effect of empathy on increased hand sanitation. Study 3 shows an empathy induction increases hand sanitiser usage in the hospital. Increasing emotional empathy promotes hand hygiene behaviour, also in hospitals. Besides providing new impulses for the design of effective interventions, these findings bear theoretical significance as they document the explanatory power of empathy regarding a distal explanandum (hand hygiene).

The rubber hand illusion increases heat pain threshold.

Science.gov (United States)

Hegedüs, G; Darnai, G; Szolcsányi, T; Feldmann, Á; Janszky, J; Kállai, J

2014-09-01

Accumulating evidence shows that manipulations of cortical body representation, for example, by simply viewing one's own body, can relieve pain in healthy subjects. Despite the widespread use of the rubber hand illusion (RHI) as an effective experimental tool for the manipulation of bodily awareness, previous studies examining the analgesic effect of the RHI have produced conflicting results. We used noxious heat stimuli to induce finger pain in 29 healthy subjects, and we recorded the participants' pain thresholds and subjective pain ratings during the RHI and during the control conditions. Two control conditions were included in our experiment - a standard one with reduced illusion strength (asynchronous stroking control) and an additional one in which the participants viewed their own hand. Raw data showed that both the RHI and the vision of the own hand resulted in slightly higher pain thresholds than the asynchronous stroking control (illusion: 47.79 °C; own-hand: 47.99 °C; asynchronous: 47.52 °C). After logarithmic transformation to achieve normality, paired t-tests revealed that both increases in pain threshold were significant (illusion/asynchronous: p = 0.036; own-hand/asynchronous: p = 0.007). In contrast, there was no significant difference in pain threshold between the illusion and the own-hand conditions (p = 0.656). Pain rating scores were not log-normal, and Wilcoxon singed-rank tests found no significant differences in pain ratings between the study conditions. The RHI increases heat pain threshold and the analgesic effect of the RHI is comparable with that of seeing one's own hand. The latter finding may have clinical implications. © 2014 European Pain Federation - EFIC®

Development of an observational measure of healthcare worker hand-hygiene behaviour: the hand-hygiene observation tool (HHOT).

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McAteer, J; Stone, S; Fuller, C; Charlett, A; Cookson, B; Slade, R; Michie, S

2008-03-01

Previous observational measures of healthcare worker (HCW) hand-hygiene behaviour (HHB) fail to provide adequate standard operating procedures (SOPs), accounts of inter-rater agreement testing or evidence of sensitivity to change. This study reports the development of an observational tool in a way that addresses these deficiencies. Observational categories were developed systematically, guided by a clinical guideline, previous measures and pilot hand-hygiene behaviour observations (HHOs). The measure, a simpler version of the Geneva tool, consists of HHOs (before and after low-risk, high-risk or unobserved contact), HHBs (soap, alcohol hand rub, no action, unknown), and type of HCW. Inter-observer agreement for each category was assessed by observation of 298 HHOs and HHBs by two independent observers on acute elderly and intensive care units. Raw agreement (%) and Kappa were 77% and 0.68 for HHB; 83% and 0.77 for HHO; and 90% and 0.77 for HCW. Inter-observer agreement for overall compliance of a group of HCWs was assessed by observation of 1191 HHOs and HHBs by two pairs of independent observers. Overall agreement was good (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.79). Sensitivity to change was examined by autoregressive time-series modelling of longitudinal observations for 8 months on the intensive therapy unit during an Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak and subsequent strengthening of infection control measures. Sensitivity to change was demonstrated by a rise in compliance from 80 to 98% with an odds ratio of increased compliance of 7.00 (95% confidence interval: 4.02-12.2) P < 0.001.

Ground Robotic Hand Applications for the Space Program study (GRASP)

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Grissom, William A.; Rafla, Nader I. (Editor)

1992-01-01

This document reports on a NASA-STDP effort to address research interests of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through a study entitled, Ground Robotic-Hand Applications for the Space Program (GRASP). The primary objective of the GRASP study was to identify beneficial applications of specialized end-effectors and robotic hand devices for automating any ground operations which are performed at the Kennedy Space Center. Thus, operations for expendable vehicles, the Space Shuttle and its components, and all payloads were included in the study. Typical benefits of automating operations, or augmenting human operators performing physical tasks, include: reduced costs; enhanced safety and reliability; and reduced processing turnaround time.

Hand Hygiene With Alcohol-Based Hand Rub: How Long Is Long Enough?

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Pires, Daniela; Soule, Hervé; Bellissimo-Rodrigues, Fernando; Gayet-Ageron, Angèle; Pittet, Didier

2017-05-01

BACKGROUND Hand hygiene is the core element of infection prevention and control. The optimal hand-hygiene gesture, however, remains poorly defined. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the influence of hand-rubbing duration on the reduction of bacterial counts on the hands of healthcare personnel (HCP). METHODS We performed an experimental study based on the European Norm 1500. Hand rubbing was performed for 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, or 60 seconds, according to the WHO technique using 3 mL alcohol-based hand rub. Hand contamination with E. coli ATCC 10536 was followed by hand rubbing and sampling. A generalized linear mixed model with a random effect on the subject adjusted for hand size and gender was used to analyze the reduction in bacterial counts after each hand-rubbing action. In addition, hand-rubbing durations of 15 and 30 seconds were compared to assert non-inferiority (0.6 log10). RESULTS In total, 32 HCP performed 123 trials. All durations of hand rubbing led to significant reductions in bacterial counts (Phand rubbing were not significantly different from those obtained after 30 seconds. The mean bacterial reduction after 15 seconds of hand rubbing was 0.11 log10 lower (95% CI, -0.46 to 0.24) than after 30 seconds, demonstrating non-inferiority. CONCLUSIONS Hand rubbing for 15 seconds was not inferior to 30 seconds in reducing bacterial counts on hands under the described experimental conditions. There was no gain in reducing bacterial counts from hand rubbing longer than 30 seconds. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical significance of our findings. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:547-552.

Nurses’ Knowledge Regarding Hand Hygiene and Its Individual and Organizational Predictors

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Malihe Asadollahi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Based on recommendations from World Health Organization, hand hygiene is the most important way to control the hospital infections. Due to the critical role of nurses in patient care, they should have essential and updated information regarding hand hygiene. So this study aims at determining the knowledge of hand hygiene and its individual and organizational predictors among nurses in neonatal units. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in neonatal units in the hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The participants surveyed in this study were 150 nurses who were invited by census sampling method. A researcher prepared questionnaire that investigated the knowledge of participants about hand hygiene and was used after approving its validity and reliability. The quantitative analysis of this study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 13 by descriptive statistics and pearson correlation test, independent samples t-test, One-way ANOVA. For multivariable explanation of nurses’ knowledge based on independent variables multiple linear regressions was used. Results: Most of participants have an acceptable level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene. The highest score was for infection control domain and the lowest score was for definition of hand hygiene domain. Multivariable analysis showed that work experience and history of previous training were the most important predictors of participants’ knowledge about hand hygiene. Conclusion: It is recommended that infection control committees should revise their educational methods and give more emphasis on update guidelines regarding hand hygiene. Also, more experienced nurses should be employed in neonatal units.

Effect of hand sanitizer location on hand hygiene compliance.

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Cure, Laila; Van Enk, Richard

2015-09-01

Hand hygiene is the most important intervention to prevent infection in hospitals. Health care workers should clean their hands at least before and after contact with patients. Hand sanitizer dispensers are important to support hand hygiene because they can be made available throughout hospital units. The aim of this study was to determine whether the usability of sanitizer dispensers correlates with compliance of staff in using the sanitizer in a hospital. This study took place in a Midwest, 404-bed, private, nonprofit community hospital with 15 inpatient care units in addition to several ambulatory units. The usability and standardization of sanitizers in 12 participating inpatient units were evaluated. The hospital measured compliance of staff with hand hygiene as part of their quality improvement program. Data from 2010-2012 were analyzed to measure the relationship between compliance and usability using mixed-effects logistic regression models. The total usability score (P = .0046), visibility (P = .003), and accessibility of the sanitizer on entrance to the patient room (P = .00055) were statistically associated with higher observed compliance rates. Standardization alone showed no significant impact on observed compliance (P = .37). Hand hygiene compliance can be influenced by visibility and accessibility of dispensers. The sanitizer location should be part of multifaceted interventions to improve hand hygiene. Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of dominant versus non-dominant hand position during uninterrupted chest compression CPR by novice rescuers: a randomized double-blind crossover study.

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Nikandish, Reza; Shahbazi, Sharbanoo; Golabi, Sedigheh; Beygi, Najimeh

2008-02-01

Previous research has suggested improved quality of chest compressions when the dominant hand was in contact with the sternum. However, the study was in health care professionals and during conventional chest compression-ventilation CPR. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis, in null form, that the quality of external chest compressions (ECC) in novice rescuers during 5min of uninterrupted chest compression CPR (UCC-CPR) is independent of the hand in contact with the sternum. Confirmation of the hypothesis would allow the use of either hand by the novice rescuers during UCC-CPR. Fifty-nine first year public heath students participated in this randomised double-blind crossover study. After completion of a standard adult BLS course, they performed single rescuer adult UCC-CPR for 5 min on a recording Resusci Anne. One week later they changed the hand of contact with the sternum while performing ECC. The quality of ECC was recorded by the skill meter for the dominant and non-dominant hand during 5 min ECC. The total number of correct chest compressions in the dominant hand group (DH), mean 183+/-152, was not statistically different from the non-dominant hand group (NH), mean 152+/-135 (P=0.09). The number of ECC with inadequate depth in the DH group, mean 197+/-174 and NH group, mean 196+/-173 were comparable (P=0.1). The incidence of ECC exceeding the recommended depth in the DH group, mean 51+/-110 and NH group, mean 32+/-75 were comparable (P=0.1). Although there is a trend to increased incidence of correct chest compressions with positioning the dominant hand in contact with the sternum, it does not reach statistical significance during UCC-CPR by the novice rescuers for 5 min.

Postural Hand Synergies during Environmental Constraint Exploitation

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Cosimo Della Santina

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Humans are able to intuitively exploit the shape of an object and environmental constraints to achieve stable grasps and perform dexterous manipulations. In doing that, a vast range of kinematic strategies can be observed. However, in this work we formulate the hypothesis that such ability can be described in terms of a synergistic behavior in the generation of hand postures, i.e., using a reduced set of commonly used kinematic patterns. This is in analogy with previous studies showing the presence of such behavior in different tasks, such as grasping. We investigated this hypothesis in experiments performed by six subjects, who were asked to grasp objects from a flat surface. We quantitatively characterized hand posture behavior from a kinematic perspective, i.e., the hand joint angles, in both pre-shaping and during the interaction with the environment. To determine the role of tactile feedback, we repeated the same experiments but with subjects wearing a rigid shell on the fingertips to reduce cutaneous afferent inputs. Results show the persistence of at least two postural synergies in all the considered experimental conditions and phases. Tactile impairment does not alter significantly the first two synergies, and contact with the environment generates a change only for higher order Principal Components. A good match also arises between the first synergy found in our analysis and the first synergy of grasping as quantified by previous work. The present study is motivated by the interest of learning from the human example, extracting lessons that can be applied in robot design and control. Thus, we conclude with a discussion on implications for robotics of our findings.

Hand biometric recognition based on fused hand geometry and vascular patterns.

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Park, GiTae; Kim, Soowon

2013-02-28

A hand biometric authentication method based on measurements of the user's hand geometry and vascular pattern is proposed. To acquire the hand geometry, the thickness of the side view of the hand, the K-curvature with a hand-shaped chain code, the lengths and angles of the finger valleys, and the lengths and profiles of the fingers were used, and for the vascular pattern, the direction-based vascular-pattern extraction method was used, and thus, a new multimodal biometric approach is proposed. The proposed multimodal biometric system uses only one image to extract the feature points. This system can be configured for low-cost devices. Our multimodal biometric-approach hand-geometry (the side view of the hand and the back of hand) and vascular-pattern recognition method performs at the score level. The results of our study showed that the equal error rate of the proposed system was 0.06%.

A pilot study of robotic-assisted exercise for hand weakness after stroke.

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Stein, Joel; Bishop, Joel; Gillen, Glen; Helbok, Raimund

2011-01-01

Upper limb paresis is a major source of disability in stroke survivors, and robotic aided exercise therapy is a promising approach to enhance motor abilities. Few devices have been available to provide robotic therapy to the fingers and hand. We report an open-label pilot study of 12 individuals with chronic moderate hemiparesis after stroke who underwent a six-week training program using a hand robotic device. Participants received a total of 18 hours of robotic therapy. Improvements were found in multiple measures of motor performance, including the Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer, the Motor Activity Log, the Manual Ability Measure-36, and the Jebsen Hand Function Test. All subjects tolerated the treatment well and no complications were observed. We conclude that robotic therapy for hand paresis after stroke is safe and feasible, and that further studies of efficacy are justified by these preliminary results. © 2011 IEEE

Previous Employment and Job Satisfaction Conditions: The Case of Regional Administration

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Amalia, Myronaki; Nikolaos, Antonakas

2009-08-01

In the present work we study the different dimensions of satisfaction and the way of constitution of satisfaction of an important sample of the employees in the Regional administration of Crete and in their connection with the variable of the previous employment. We found statistically important differences for the components of satisfaction from the life, collaboration in and outside from the department, in the social satisfaction and the variable of the years in the service (labour group with satisfaction than the other previous employment groups. In the other hand the group with many years in the service presents bigger satisfaction than the other groups. Finally, is important to note that the sample present some interesting characteristics.

Are You Suggesting That's My Hand? The Relation Between Hypnotic Suggestibility and the Rubber Hand Illusion.

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Walsh, E; Guilmette, D N; Longo, M R; Moore, J W; Oakley, D A; Halligan, P W; Mehta, M A; Deeley, Q

2015-01-01

Hypnotic suggestibility (HS) is the ability to respond automatically to suggestions and to experience alterations in perception and behavior. Hypnotically suggestible participants are also better able to focus and sustain their attention on an experimental stimulus. The present study explores the relation between HS and susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Based on previous research with visual illusions, it was predicted that higher HS would lead to a stronger RHI. Two behavioral output measures of the RHI, an implicit (proprioceptive drift) and an explicit (RHI questionnaire) measure, were correlated against HS scores. Hypnotic suggestibility correlated positively with the implicit RHI measure contributing to 30% of the variation. However, there was no relation between HS and the explicit RHI questionnaire measure, or with compliance control items. High hypnotic suggestibility may facilitate, via attentional mechanisms, the multisensory integration of visuoproprioceptive inputs that leads to greater perceptual mislocalization of a participant's hand. These results may provide insight into the multisensory brain mechanisms involved in our sense of embodiment.

Comparative assessment of antimicrobial efficacy of different hand sanitizers: An in vitro study.

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Jain, Vardhaman Mulchand; Karibasappa, Gundabaktha Nagappa; Dodamani, Arun Suresh; Prashanth, Vishwakarma K; Mali, Gaurao Vasant

2016-09-01

To evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of four different hand sanitizers against Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus epidermidis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , and Enterococcus faecalis as well as to assess and compare the antimicrobial effectiveness among four different hand sanitizers. The present study is an in vitro study to evaluate antimicrobial efficacy of Dettol, Lifebuoy, PureHands, and Sterillium hand sanitizers against clinical isolates of the aforementioned test organisms. The well variant of agar disk diffusion test using Mueller-Hinton agar was used for evaluating the antimicrobial efficacy of hand sanitizers. McFarland 0.5 turbidity standard was taken as reference to adjust the turbidity of bacterial suspensions. Fifty microliters of the hand sanitizer was introduced into each of the 4 wells while the 5 th well incorporated with sterile water served as a control. This was done for all the test organisms and plates were incubated in an incubator for 24 h at 37΀C. After incubation, antimicrobial effectiveness was determined using digital caliper (mm) by measuring the zone of inhibition. The mean diameters of zones of inhibition (in mm) observed in Group A (Sterillium), Group B (PureHands), Group C (Lifebuoy), and Group D (Dettol) were 22 ± 6, 7.5 ± 0.5, 9.5 ± 1.5, and 8 ± 1, respectively. Maximum inhibition was found with Group A against all the tested organisms. Data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, followed by post hoc test for group-wise comparisons. The difference in the values of different sanitizers was statistically significant at P hand sanitizer to maintain the hand hygiene.

Embodied finger counting in children with different cultural backgrounds and hand dominance

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Liutsko L.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background. Embodied finger counting has been shown to have cross-cultural differences in previous studies (Lindemann, Alipour, & Fisher, 2011; Soto & Lalain, 2008. However, their results were contradictory in reference to Western populations with regard to the hand preferred: The first study showed that in Western countries — Europe and the United States — participants preferred to start with the left hand (whereas in the Middle East — Iran — they used the right hand; the second study showed that participants in France preferred the right hand. Objective. Our study aimed to observe these differences in two countries, Spain (Western Europe and Russia (Eastern Europe part, although taking into account the variety of cultural or ethnic groups who live there. Design. The observational/descriptive study, together with correlational analysis of the finger-counting pattern (from 1 to 10 used by children aged 10 to 12 who had not been taught to use their fingers for counting, considered factors of cultural origin and hand dominance. The possible effects of this action on cognition — in our case, math achievement — were considered also. Results and conclusion. The differences in the frequency of the finger-counting patterns might suggest cultural-individual differences in performance; however, the correlational analysis did not reveal that these differences were statistically significant, either for gender or for mark in math. However, hand dominance was a significant predictor of the preferred hand with which to start counting.

Hand Biometric Recognition Based on Fused Hand Geometry and Vascular Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Park, GiTae; Kim, Soowon

2013-01-01

A hand biometric authentication method based on measurements of the user's hand geometry and vascular pattern is proposed. To acquire the hand geometry, the thickness of the side view of the hand, the K-curvature with a hand-shaped chain code, the lengths and angles of the finger valleys, and the lengths and profiles of the fingers were used, and for the vascular pattern, the direction-based vascular-pattern extraction method was used, and thus, a new multimodal biometric approach is proposed. The proposed multimodal biometric system uses only one image to extract the feature points. This system can be configured for low-cost devices. Our multimodal biometric-approach hand-geometry (the side view of the hand and the back of hand) and vascular-pattern recognition method performs at the score level. The results of our study showed that the equal error rate of the proposed system was 0.06%. PMID:23449119

Eye-hand coupling during closed-loop drawing: evidence of shared motor planning?

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Reina, G Anthony; Schwartz, Andrew B

2003-04-01

Previous paradigms have used reaching movements to study coupling of eye-hand kinematics. In the present study, we investigated eye-hand kinematics as curved trajectories were drawn at normal speeds. Eye and hand movements were tracked as a monkey traced ellipses and circles with the hand in free space while viewing the hand's position on a computer monitor. The results demonstrate that the movement of the hand was smooth and obeyed the 2/3 power law. Eye position, however, was restricted to 2-3 clusters along the hand's trajectory and fixed approximately 80% of the time in one of these clusters. The eye remained stationary as the hand moved away from the fixation for up to 200 ms and saccaded ahead of the hand position to the next fixation along the trajectory. The movement from one fixation cluster to another consistently occurred just after the tangential hand velocity had reached a local minimum, but before the next segment of the hand's trajectory began. The next fixation point was close to an area of high curvature along the hand's trajectory even though the hand had not reached that point along the path. A visuo-motor illusion of hand movement demonstrated that the eye movement was influenced by hand movement and not simply by visual input. During the task, neural activity of pre-motor cortex (area F4) was recorded using extracellular electrodes and used to construct a population vector of the hand's trajectory. The results suggest that the saccade onset is correlated in time with maximum curvature in the population vector trajectory for the hand movement. We hypothesize that eye and arm movements may have common, or shared, information in forming their motor plans.

The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand: a functional NIRS study.

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Chang, Pyung-Hun; Lee, Seung-Hee; Gu, Gwang Min; Lee, Seung-Hyun; Jin, Sang-Hyun; Yeo, Sang Seok; Seo, Jeong Pyo; Jang, Sung Ho

2014-01-01

Clarification of the relationship between external stimuli and brain response has been an important topic in neuroscience and brain rehabilitation. In the current study, using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we attempted to investigate cortical activation patterns generated during execution of a rehabilitation robotic hand. Ten normal subjects were recruited for this study. Passive movements of the right fingers were performed using a rehabilitation robotic hand at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. We measured values of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO), deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) and total-hemoglobin (HbT) in five regions of interest: the primary sensory-motor cortex (SM1), hand somatotopy of the contralateral SM1, supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). HbO and HbT values indicated significant activation in the left SM1, left SMA, left PMC, and left PFC during execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand (uncorrected, p < 0.01). By contrast, HbR value indicated significant activation only in the hand somatotopic area of the left SM1 (uncorrected, p < 0.01). Our results appear to indicate that execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand could induce cortical activation.

Environmental factors and their association with emergency department hand hygiene compliance: an observational study.

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Carter, Eileen J; Wyer, Peter; Giglio, James; Jia, Haomiao; Nelson, Germaine; Kauari, Vepuka E; Larson, Elaine L

2016-05-01

Hand hygiene is effective in preventing healthcare-associated infections. Environmental conditions in the emergency department (ED), including crowding and the use of non-traditional patient care areas (ie, hallways), may pose barriers to hand hygiene compliance. We examined the relationship between these environmental conditions and proper hand hygiene. This was a single-site, observational study. From October 2013 to January 2014, trained observers recorded hand hygiene compliance among staff in the ED according to the World Health Organization 'My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene'. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyse the relationship between environmental conditions and hand hygiene compliance, while controlling for important covariates (eg, hand hygiene indication, glove use, shift, etc). A total of 1673 hand hygiene opportunities were observed. In multivariable analyses, hand hygiene compliance was significantly lower when the ED was at its highest level of crowding than when the ED was not crowded and lower among hallway care areas than semiprivate care areas (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.55; OR=0.73, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.97). Unique environmental conditions pose barriers to hand hygiene compliance in the ED setting and should be considered by ED hand hygiene improvement efforts. Further study is needed to evaluate the impact of these environmental conditions on actual rates of infection transmission. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

3D Visual Sensing of the Human Hand for the Remote Operation of a Robotic Hand

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Pablo Gil

2014-02-01

Full Text Available New low cost sensors and open free libraries for 3D image processing are making important advances in robot vision applications possible, such as three-dimensional object recognition, semantic mapping, navigation and localization of robots, human detection and/or gesture recognition for human-machine interaction. In this paper, a novel method for recognizing and tracking the fingers of a human hand is presented. This method is based on point clouds from range images captured by a RGBD sensor. It works in real time and it does not require visual marks, camera calibration or previous knowledge of the environment. Moreover, it works successfully even when multiple objects appear in the scene or when the ambient light is changed. Furthermore, this method was designed to develop a human interface to control domestic or industrial devices, remotely. In this paper, the method was tested by operating a robotic hand. Firstly, the human hand was recognized and the fingers were detected. Secondly, the movement of the fingers was analysed and mapped to be imitated by a robotic hand.

The efficacy of peloid therapy in management of hand osteoarthritis: a pilot study

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Kasapoğlu Aksoy, Meliha; Altan, Lale; Eröksüz, Rıza; Metin Ökmen, Burcu

2017-12-01

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with pain, reduced grip strength, loss of range of motion (ROM), and joint stiffness, leading to impaired hand function and difficulty in performance of daily living activities. Mud bath therapy has been reported to play a primary role in the prevention and management of OA. Thus, we planned to conduct a study aimed at investigating the effects of peloid therapy on pain, functional state, grip strength, and the quality of life and performing a comparative analysis of the outcomes of peloid therapy. In this randomized, controlled, single-blind, pilot study, patients ( n = 33) underwent peloid therapy over 2 weeks, 5 sessions a week, for a total of 10 sessions and home exercise program in group 1. Patients in group 2 (control, n = 30) received only the same home exercise program as in group 1. Patients were evaluated just before, and 2 and 6 weeks after the start of the study with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Australian/Canadian Hand Osteoarthritis Index (AUSCAN), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), hand grip strength (HGS), and pinch strength (PS). Statistically significant improvements were observed in all parameters assessed at week 2 and week 6 in the group 1 ( p management of symptomatic osteoarthritis of the hand and may provide effective pain control and improvements in the hand functions, quality of life, and grip strength.

Hand hygiene--evaluation of three disinfectant hand sanitizers in a community setting.

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Rita Babeluk

Full Text Available Hand hygiene is acknowledged as the single most important measure to prevent nosocomial infections in the healthcare setting. Similarly, in non-clinical settings, hand hygiene is recognised as a key element in helping prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of three different disinfectant hand sanitizers in reducing the burden of bacterial hand contamination in 60 healthy volunteers in a community setting, both before and after education about the correct use of hand sanitizers. The study is the first to evaluate the efficacy and ease of use of different formulations of hand rubs used by the general population. The products tested were: Sterillium (perfumed, liquid, desderman pure gel (odorless, gel and Lavit (perfumed, spray. Sterillium and desderman are EN1500 (hygienic hand rub certified products (available in pharmacy and Lavit is non EN1500 certified and available in supermarkets. The two EN1500 certified products were found to be significantly superior in terms of reducing bacterial load. desderman pure gel, Sterillium and Lavit reduced the bacterial count to 6.4%, 8.2% and 28.0% respectively. After education in the correct use of each hand rub, the bacterial load was reduced even further, demonstrating the value of education in improving hand hygiene. Information about the testers' perceptions of the three sanitizers, together with their expectations of a hand sanitizer was obtained through a questionnaire. Efficacy, followed by skin compatibility were found to be the two most important attributes of a hand disinfectant in our target group.

Nudging to improve hand hygiene.

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Caris, M G; Labuschagne, H A; Dekker, M; Kramer, M H H; van Agtmael, M A; Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C M J E

2018-04-01

Hand hygiene is paramount to prevent healthcare-associated infections, but improving compliance is challenging. When healthcare workers seldom encounter healthcare-associated infections, they will consider the odds of causing infections through poor hand hygiene negligible. Cognitive biases such as these may induce non-compliance. Nudging, 'a friendly push to encourage desired behaviour', could provide an easily implemented, inexpensive measure to address cognitive biases and thus support hand hygiene interventions. To investigate whether behavioural nudges, displayed as posters, can increase the use of alcohol-based hand rub. We developed nudges based on a systematic review of previously described cognitive biases, and tested these through a cross-sectional survey among the target audience. We then conducted a controlled before-after trial on two hospital wards, to assess the effect of these nudges on the use of alcohol-based hand rub, measured with electronic dispensers. Poisson regression analyses adjusted for workload showed that nudges displayed next to dispensers increased their overall use on one ward [poster 1: relative risk: 1.6 (95% confidence interval: 1.2-2.2); poster 2: 1.7 (1.2-2.5)] and during doctor's rounds on both wards [poster 1: ward A: 1.7 (1.1-2.6); ward B: 2.2 (1.3-3.8)]. Use of dispensers without adjacent nudges did not increase. Nudges based on cognitive biases that play a role in hand hygiene, and displayed as posters, could provide an easy, inexpensive measure to increase use of alcohol-based hand rub. When applying nudges to change behaviour, it is important to identify the right nudge for the right audience. Copyright © 2017 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extraosseous aneurysmal cyst in hand: a case report.

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Sahu, Ajay; Gujral, Sarabjeet S; Gaur, Sanjeev

2008-10-24

The presence of primary aneurysmal cyst in soft tissues is a extremely rare and its presence in the soft tissues of hand has never been reported in literature before. We report the first ever case of extraosseous aneurysmal cyst in hand. A twelve years old girl presented with a swelling in the thenar region on palmer aspect of right hand growing slowly since three months. On X ray, CT scan and excision biopsy the lesion was found to be separate from bone and located in the soft tissue. Its diagnosis was confirmed on histopatholgical examination. Previously few authors have reported extraosseous aneurysmal cyst in the soft tissues of shoulder, hip and pelvic girdle but nobody has reported its presence in the soft tissues of hand.

The art and science of photography in hand surgery.

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Wang, Keming; Kowalski, Evan J; Chung, Kevin C

2014-03-01

High-quality medical photography plays an important role in teaching and demonstrating the functional capacity of the hands as well as in medicolegal documentation. Obtaining standardized, high-quality photographs is now an essential component of many surgery practices. The importance of standardized photography in facial and cosmetic surgery has been well documented in previous studies, but no studies have thoroughly addressed the details of photography for hand surgery. In this paper, we provide a set of guidelines and basic camera concepts for different scenarios to help hand surgeons obtain appropriate and informative high-quality photographs. A camera used for medical photography should come equipped with a large sensor size and an optical zoom lens with a focal length ranging anywhere from 14 to 75 mm. In a clinic or office setting, we recommend 6 standardized views of the hand and 4 views for the wrist; additional views should be taken for tendon ruptures, nerve injuries, or other deformities of the hand. For intraoperative pictures, the camera operator should understand the procedure and pertinent anatomy in order to properly obtain high-quality photographs. When digital radiographs are not available and radiographic film must be photographed, it is recommended to reduce the exposure and change the color mode to black and white to obtain the best possible pictures. The goal of medical photography is to present the subject in an accurate and precise fashion. Copyright © 2014 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Left, right, left, right, eyes to the front! Müller-Lyer bias in grasping is not a function of hand used, hand preferred or visual hemifield, but foveation does matter.

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van der Kamp, John; de Wit, Matthieu M; Masters, Rich S W

2012-04-01

We investigated whether the control of movement of the left hand is more likely to involve the use of allocentric information than movements performed with the right hand. Previous studies (Gonzalez et al. in J Neurophys 95:3496-3501, 2006; De Grave et al. in Exp Br Res 193:421-427, 2009) have reported contradictory findings in this respect. In the present study, right-handed participants (N = 12) and left-handed participants (N = 12) made right- and left-handed grasps to foveated objects and peripheral, non-foveated objects that were located in the right or left visual hemifield and embedded within a Müller-Lyer illusion. They were also asked to judge the size of the object by matching their hand aperture to its length. Hand apertures did not show significant differences in illusory bias as a function of hand used, handedness or visual hemifield. However, the illusory effect was significantly larger for perception than for action, and for the non-foveated compared to foveated objects. No significant illusory biases were found for reach movement times. These findings are consistent with the two-visual system model that holds that the use of allocentric information is more prominent in perception than in movement control. We propose that the increased involvement of allocentric information in movements toward peripheral, non-foveated objects may be a consequence of more awkward, less automatized grasps of nonfoveated than foveated objects. The current study does not support the conjecture that the control of left-handed and right-handed grasps is predicated on different sources of information.

Predictors of hand hygiene practice among Saudi nursing students: A cross-sectional self-reported study.

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Cruz, Jonas P; Bashtawi, Meshrif A

2016-01-01

Hand hygiene is an important component of infection control, which is critical to ensuring patients' safety in hospitals. Nursing students are regarded as healthcare workers in training and can also be vehicles of cross-contamination within the hospital. Thus, this study aimed to identify the predictors of hand hygiene practice among Saudi nursing students. A descriptive, cross-sectional, self-reported study was conducted among 198 Saudi nursing students. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of hand hygiene were assessed using the WHO Hand Hygiene Knowledge Questionnaire for Health-Care Workers and its adopted scales. A regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of hand hygiene practice. The respondents demonstrated moderate knowledge of hand hygiene (mean 13.20±2.80). The majority displayed a moderate attitude toward hand hygiene (52.1%), while only a few reported a poor attitude (13.1%). Approximately 68.7%, 29.8%, and 1.5% of the respondents reported moderate, good, and poor practice of hand hygiene, respectively. Having a good attitude toward hand hygiene, being male, being aware that hand hygiene is an effective intervention in preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), attendance at hand hygiene trainings and seminars, and being in the lower academic level of nursing education were identified as predictors of better hand hygiene practice. The importance of ensuring a positive attitude toward hand hygiene and improving awareness of hand hygiene is emphasized, as are educational interventions. Educational interventions should be implemented to reinforce knowledge and instill a positive attitude toward hand hygiene. Copyright © 2015 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of speed and grade on wheelchair propulsion hand pattern.

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Slowik, Jonathan S; Requejo, Philip S; Mulroy, Sara J; Neptune, Richard R

2015-11-01

The hand pattern used during manual wheelchair propulsion (i.e., full-cycle hand path) can provide insight into an individual's propulsion technique. However, previous analyses of hand patterns have been limited by their focus on a single propulsion condition and reliance on subjective qualitative characterization methods. The purpose of this study was to develop a set of objective quantitative parameters to characterize hand patterns and determine the influence of propulsion speed and grade of incline on the patterns preferred by manual wheelchair users. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected from 170 experienced manual wheelchair users on an ergometer during three conditions: level propulsion at their self-selected speed, level propulsion at their fastest comfortable speed and graded propulsion (8%) at their level self-selected speed. Hand patterns were quantified using a set of objective parameters, and differences across conditions were identified. Increased propulsion speed resulted in a shift away from under-rim hand patterns. Increased grade of incline resulted in the hand remaining near the handrim throughout the cycle. Manual wheelchair users change their hand pattern based on task-specific constraints and goals. Further work is needed to investigate how differences between hand patterns influence upper extremity demand and potentially lead to the development of overuse injuries and pain. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A randomized, controlled trial of a multifaceted intervention including alcohol-based hand sanitizer and hand-hygiene education to reduce illness transmission in the home.

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Sandora, Thomas J; Taveras, Elsie M; Shih, Mei-Chiung; Resnick, Elissa A; Lee, Grace M; Ross-Degnan, Dennis; Goldmann, Donald A

2005-09-01

Good hand hygiene may reduce the spread of infections in families with children who are in out-of-home child care. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers rapidly kill viruses that are commonly associated with respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI) infections. The objective of this study was to determine whether a multifactorial campaign centered on increasing alcohol-based hand sanitizer use and hand-hygiene education reduces illness transmission in the home. A cluster randomized, controlled trial was conducted of homes of 292 families with children who were enrolled in out-of-home child care in 26 child care centers. Eligible families had > or =1 child who was 6 months to 5 years of age and in child care for > or =10 hours/week. Intervention families received a supply of hand sanitizer and biweekly hand-hygiene educational materials for 5 months; control families received only materials promoting good nutrition. Primary caregivers were phoned biweekly and reported respiratory and GI illnesses in family members. Respiratory and GI-illness-transmission rates (measured as secondary illnesses per susceptible person-month) were compared between groups, adjusting for demographic variables, hand-hygiene practices, and previous experience using hand sanitizers. Baseline demographics were similar in the 2 groups. A total of 1802 respiratory illnesses occurred during the study; 443 (25%) were secondary illnesses. A total of 252 GI illnesses occurred during the study; 28 (11%) were secondary illnesses. The secondary GI-illness rate was significantly lower in intervention families compared with control families (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.90). The overall rate of secondary respiratory illness was not significantly different between groups (IRR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.72-1.30). However, families with higher sanitizer usage had a marginally lower secondary respiratory illness rate than those with less usage (IRR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.65-1.09). A

Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care.

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Gould, Dinah J; Moralejo, Donna; Drey, Nicholas; Chudleigh, Jane H; Taljaard, Monica

2017-09-01

Health care-associated infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene is regarded as an effective preventive measure. This is an update of a previously published review. To assess the short- and long-term success of strategies to improve compliance to recommendations for hand hygiene, and to determine whether an increase in hand hygiene compliance can reduce rates of health care-associated infection. We conducted electronic searches of the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL. We conducted the searches from November 2009 to October 2016. We included randomised trials, non-randomised trials, controlled before-after studies, and interrupted time series analyses (ITS) that evaluated any intervention to improve compliance with hand hygiene using soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR), or both. Two review authors independently screened citations for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed risks of bias for each included study. Meta-analysis was not possible, as there was substantial heterogeneity across studies. We assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach and present the results narratively in a 'Summary of findings' table. This review includes 26 studies: 14 randomised trials, two non-randomised trials and 10 ITS studies. Most studies were conducted in hospitals or long-term care facilities in different countries, and collected data from a variety of healthcare workers. Fourteen studies assessed the success of different combinations of strategies recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygiene compliance. Strategies consisted of the following: increasing the availability of ABHR, different types of education for staff, reminders (written and verbal), different types of performance feedback, administrative support, and staff involvement. Six studies assessed different types of performance feedback, two studies evaluated education, three studies evaluated cues such

Does framing the hot hand belief change decision-making behavior in volleyball?

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Raab, Markus; MacMahon, Clare

2015-06-01

Previous discussions of the hot hand belief, wherein athletes believe that they have a greater chance of scoring after 2 or 3 hits (successes) compared with 2 or 3 misses, have focused on whether this is the case within game statistics. Researchers have argued that the perception of the hot hand in random sequences is a bias of the cognitive system. Yet most have failed to explore the impact of framing on the stability of the belief and the behavior based on it. The authors conducted 2 studies that manipulated the frame of a judgment task. In Study 1, framing was manipulated via instructions in a playmaker allocation paradigm in volleyball. In Study 2, the frame was manipulated by presenting videos for allocation decisions from either the actor or observer perspective. Both manipulations changed the hot hand belief and sequential choices. We found in both studies that the belief in continuation of positive or negative streaks is nonlinear and allocations to the same player after 3 successive hits are reduced. The authors argue that neither the hot hand belief nor hot hand behavior is stable, but rather, both are sensitive to decision frames. The results can inform coaches on the importance of how to provide information to athletes.

Faculty Workshops for Teaching Information Assurance through Hands-On Exercises and Case Studies

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Yuan, Xiaohong; Williams, Kenneth; Yu, Huiming; Rorrer, Audrey; Chu, Bei-Tseng; Yang, Li; Winters, Kathy; Kizza, Joseph

2017-01-01

Though many Information Assurance (IA) educators agree that hands-on exercises and case studies improve student learning, hands-on exercises and case studies are not widely adopted due to the time needed to develop them and integrate them into curricula. Under the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service program, we…

The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand : A functional NIRS study

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Pyung Hun eChang

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Clarification of the relationship between external stimuli and brain response has been an important topic in neuroscience and brain rehabilitation. In the current study, using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS, we attempted to investigate cortical activation patterns generated during execution of a rehabilitation robotic hand. Methods: Ten normal subjects were recruited for this study. Passive movements of the right fingers were performed using a rehabilitation robotic hand at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. We measured values of oxy-hemoglobin(HbO, deoxy-hemoglobin(HbR and total-hemoglobin(HbT in five regions of interest: the primary sensory-motor cortex (SM1, hand somatotopy of the contralateral SM1, supplementary motor area (SMA, premotor cortex (PMC, and prefrontal cortex (PFC. Results: HbO and HbT values indicated significant activation in the left SM1, left SMA, left PMC, and left PFC during execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand(uncorrected, pConclusions: Our results appear to indicate that execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand could induce cortical activation.

Hand safety for specialty crop production workers: a pilot study investigating frequencies of minor open-wound hand injuries and presence of pathogenic bacteria.

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Pate, M L; Nummer, B

2013-10-01

The purpose of this study was to quantify the presence of minor open-wound hand injuries in addition to Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, coliforms, and Escherichia coli on the hands of farm workers who hand-harvest fruit crops in Utah. Data collection was conducted on four farms without USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification and on two farms with GAP certification. This study identified essential safety issues that need to be addressed for improving the effectiveness of safety training for migrant farm workers. Farms that have a food safety audit program in place are less likely to have farm workers exposed to pathogenic bacteria and open-wound injuries to their hands. High frequency of S. aureus may indicate a potentially higher risk for wound infection within this worker population. This could lead to infections that are resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections, resulting in greater work loss time and medical expenses for these workers. Higher frequencies of bacterial presence on workers' hands on non-certified farms indicate a need to identify essential practices to improve worker hygiene habits and on-farm management practices to promote healthy hygiene. Open-wound injuries to migrant farm workers during hand-harvesting could create additional health problems with the possibility of infection and the spread of diseases. Continued research is needed to understand workers' acceptance of these injuries and barriers to personal protection.

A threat to a virtual hand elicits motor cortex activation.

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González-Franco, Mar; Peck, Tabitha C; Rodríguez-Fornells, Antoni; Slater, Mel

2014-03-01

We report an experiment where participants observed an attack on their virtual body as experienced in an immersive virtual reality (IVR) system. Participants sat by a table with their right hand resting upon it. In IVR, they saw a virtual table that was registered with the real one, and they had a virtual body that substituted their real body seen from a first person perspective. The virtual right hand was collocated with their real right hand. Event-related brain potentials were recorded in two conditions, one where the participant's virtual hand was attacked with a knife and a control condition where the knife only struck the virtual table. Significantly greater P450 potentials were obtained in the attack condition confirming our expectations that participants had a strong illusion of the virtual hand being their own, which was also strongly supported by questionnaire responses. Higher levels of subjective virtual hand ownership correlated with larger P450 amplitudes. Mu-rhythm event-related desynchronization in the motor cortex and readiness potential (C3-C4) negativity were clearly observed when the virtual hand was threatened-as would be expected, if the real hand was threatened and the participant tried to avoid harm. Our results support the idea that event-related potentials may provide a promising non-subjective measure of virtual embodiment. They also support previous experiments on pain observation and are placed into context of similar experiments and studies of body perception and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience.

Human motion retrieval from hand-drawn sketch.

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Chao, Min-Wen; Lin, Chao-Hung; Assa, Jackie; Lee, Tong-Yee

2012-05-01

The rapid growth of motion capture data increases the importance of motion retrieval. The majority of the existing motion retrieval approaches are based on a labor-intensive step in which the user browses and selects a desired query motion clip from the large motion clip database. In this work, a novel sketching interface for defining the query is presented. This simple approach allows users to define the required motion by sketching several motion strokes over a drawn character, which requires less effort and extends the users’ expressiveness. To support the real-time interface, a specialized encoding of the motions and the hand-drawn query is required. Here, we introduce a novel hierarchical encoding scheme based on a set of orthonormal spherical harmonic (SH) basis functions, which provides a compact representation, and avoids the CPU/processing intensive stage of temporal alignment used by previous solutions. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can well retrieve the motions, and is capable of retrieve logically and numerically similar motions, which is superior to previous approaches. The user study shows that the proposed system can be a useful tool to input motion query if the users are familiar with it. Finally, an application of generating a 3D animation from a hand-drawn comics strip is demonstrated.

Hand Grip Strength: age and gender stratified normative data in a population-based study

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Taylor Anne W

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The North West Adelaide Health Study is a representative longitudinal cohort study of people originally aged 18 years and over. The aim of this study was to describe normative data for hand grip strength in a community-based Australian population. Secondary aims were to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI and hand grip strength, and to compare Australian data with international hand grip strength norms. Methods The sample was randomly selected and recruited by telephone interview. Overall, 3 206 (81% of those recruited participants returned to the clinic during the second stage (2004-2006 which specifically focused on the collection of information relating to musculoskeletal conditions. Results Following the exclusion of 435 participants who had hand pain and/or arthritis, 1366 men and 1312 women participants provided hand grip strength measurement. The study population was relatively young, with 41.5% under 40 years; and their mean BMI was 28.1 kg/m2 (SD 5.5. Higher hand grip strength was weakly related to higher BMI in adults under the age of 30 and over the age of 70, but inversely related to higher BMI between these ages. Australian norms from this sample had amongst the lowest of the hand grip strength of the internationally published norms, except those from underweight populations. Conclusions This population demonstrated higher BMI and lower grip strength in younger participants than much of the international published, population data. A complete exploration of the relationship between BMI and hand grip strength was not fully explored as there were very few participants with BMI in the underweight range. The age and gender grip strength values are lower in younger adults than those reported in international literature.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Study on Hand Hygiene Among Imam Hossein Hospital’s Residents in 2013

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Nabavi, Mahmoud; Alavi-Moghaddam, Mostafa; Gachkar, Latif; Moeinian, Mohammad

2015-01-01

Background: Hand hygiene is considered one of the most important infection control measures for preventing health care-associated infections. Although the techniques involved in hand hygiene are simple, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations is poor worldwide. Objectives: We sought to perform a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) study on hand hygiene among medical residents at Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional KAP study was conducted among medical residents in Imam Hossein hospital, Iran, 2013. All medical residents from different wards were invited to participate in this study (270 in total). The world health organization questionnaires and an observational checklist were used to collect data. The χ2 test and the Fisher exact test were utilized to analyze the qualitative variables. Since the quantitative variables had no normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskal-Wallis method were employed. A P value hand hygiene, and only 20.16% (n = 25) managed to identify the correct answer. Moreover, 3.1% (n = 8) of the residents adhered to the 8 standard steps, 12.1% (n = 31) washed their hands for 20 - 30 seconds, and only 2 residents observed the sequences of hand hygiene. Additionally, none of the residents performed hand washing with available means (water and hand-washing liquid) in the morning visit hours. Conclusions: Concerning hand hygiene, the residents had moderate knowledge but overall poor attitudes and practices. The present study underscores the need for further improvement in the existing training programs to address the gaps in KAP regarding hand hygiene. PMID:26568858

Children's hand hygiene behaviour and available facilities: an observational study in Dutch day care centres.

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van Beeck, A H Elise; Zomer, Tizza P; van Beeck, Eduard F; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Voeten, Helene A C M; Erasmus, Vicki

2016-04-01

Children attending day care centres are at increased risk of infectious diseases, in particular gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. Hand hygiene of both caregivers and children is an effective prevention measure. This study examined hand hygiene behaviour of children attending day care centres, and describes hygiene facilities at day care centres. Data were collected at 115 Dutch day care centres, among 2318 children cared for by 231 caregivers (August to October 2010). Children's hand hygiene behaviour was observed and data on hand hygiene facilities of the day care centres collected by direct unobtrusive observation. National guidelines indicate hand hygiene is required before eating, after toilet use and after playing outside. Among 1930 observed hand hygiene opportunities for children, overall adherence to hand hygiene guidelines was 31% (95% CI: 29-33%). Adherence after both toilet use and playing outside was 48%. Hands were less frequently washed before eating, where guideline adherence was 15%. In 38% of the playrooms there was no soap within reach of children and 17% had no towel facilities. In over 40% of the playrooms, appropriate hand hygiene facilities for children were lacking. Adequate hand washing facilities were available for children in only half of the participating day care centres in our study and children washed their hands in only 15-48% of the occasions defined by official guidelines. More attention is needed to hand hygiene of children attending day care centres in the prevention of infectious diseases. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Is the hand to speech what speech is to the hand?

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Mildner, V

2000-01-01

Interference between the manual and the verbal performance on two types of concurrent verbal-manual tasks was studied on a sample of 48 female right-handers. The more complex verbal task (storytelling) affected both hands significantly, the less complex (essentially phonemic) task affected only the right hand, with insignificant negative influence on the left-hand performance. No significant reciprocal effects of the motor task on verbalization were found.

Effects of prosthesis use on the capability to control myoelectric robotic prosthetic hands.

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Atzori, Manfredo; Hager, Anne-Gabrielle Mittaz; Elsig, Simone; Giatsidis, Giorgio; Bassetto, Franco; Muller, Henning

2015-08-01

The natural control of robotic prosthetic hands with non-invasive techniques is still a challenge: myoelectric prostheses currently give some control capabilities; the application of pattern recognition techniques is promising and recently started to be applied in practice but still many questions are open in the field. In particular, the effects of clinical factors on movement classification accuracy and the capability to control myoelectric prosthetic hands are analyzed in very few studies. The effect of regularly using prostheses on movement classification accuracy has been previously studied, showing differences between users of myoelectric and cosmetic prostheses. In this paper we compare users of myoelectric and body-powered prostheses and intact subjects. 36 machine-learning methods are applied on 6 amputees and 40 intact subjects performing 40 movements. Then, statistical analyses are performed in order to highlight significant differences between the groups of subjects. The statistical analyses do not show significant differences between the two groups of amputees, while significant differences are obtained between amputees and intact subjects. These results constitute new information in the field and suggest new interpretations to previous hypotheses, thus adding precious information towards natural control of robotic prosthetic hands.

Inexpensive and Time-Efficient Hand Hygiene Interventions Increase Elementary School Children's Hand Hygiene Rates

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Snow, Michelle; White, George L.; Kim, Han S.

2008-01-01

Routine hand hygiene has been cited by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a cost-effective and important hygiene measure in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Several studies have explored children's hand hygiene habits, effects of scheduled hand hygiene, hand hygiene environmental…

Hand hygiene instruction decreases illness-related absenteeism in elementary schools: a prospective cohort study

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Lau Claudia H

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Illness-related absences have been shown to lead to negative educational and economic outcomes. Both hand washing and hand sanitizer interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing illness-related absences. However, while the importance of hand hygiene in schools is clear, the role of instruction in use is less obvious. The purpose of this study was to compare absenteeism rates among elementary students given access to hand hygiene facilities versus students given both access and short repetitive instruction in use, particularly during influenza season when illness-related absences are at a peak. Methods A hand hygiene intervention was implemented from October to May during the 2009/2010 academic year, including peak flu season, in two Chicago Public Elementary Schools among students grades pre-kindergarten to eighth grade (ages 4–14. Classrooms were systematically assigned to an intervention or control group by grade (cluster design. Hand hygiene facilities (sanitizer and soap were made available to all students. Students in the intervention group also received short repetitive instruction in hand hygiene every 2 months. Only absences as a result of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness were used to establish illness-related absenteeism rates. Percent absent days were calculated and bivariate analyses were performed to compare percent absent days among students given access to hand hygiene facilities versus students given both access and instruction. Prior to the intervention, teachers’ perceptions of students’ hand hygiene were also evaluated. Teacher perceptions were analysed to describe attitudes and beliefs. Results Data were collected and analysed for 773 students reporting 1,886 absences during the study period (1.73% of total school days. Both the percent total absent days and percent illness-related absent days were significantly lower in the group receiving short instruction during flu season (P�

Robotic approaches for rehabilitation of hand function after stroke.

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Lum, Peter S; Godfrey, Sasha B; Brokaw, Elizabeth B; Holley, Rahsaan J; Nichols, Diane

2012-11-01

The goal of this review was to discuss the impairments in hand function after stroke and present previous work on robot-assisted approaches to movement neurorehabilitation. Robotic devices offer a unique training environment that may enhance outcomes beyond what is possible with conventional means. Robots apply forces to the hand, allowing completion of movements while preventing inappropriate movement patterns. Evidence from the literature is emerging that certain characteristics of the human-robot interaction are preferable. In light of this evidence, the robotic hand devices that have undergone clinical testing are reviewed, highlighting the authors' work in this area. Finally, suggestions for future work are offered. The ability to deliver therapy doses far higher than what has been previously tested is a potentially key advantage of robotic devices that needs further exploration. In particular, more efforts are needed to develop highly motivating home-based devices, which can increase access to high doses of assisted movement therapy.

Hand Hygiene – Evaluation of Three Disinfectant Hand Sanitizers in a Community Setting

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Babeluk, Rita; Jutz, Sabrina; Mertlitz, Sarah; Matiasek, Johannes; Klaus, Christoph

2014-01-01

Hand hygiene is acknowledged as the single most important measure to prevent nosocomial infections in the healthcare setting. Similarly, in non-clinical settings, hand hygiene is recognised as a key element in helping prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of three different disinfectant hand sanitizers in reducing the burden of bacterial hand contamination in 60 healthy volunteers in a community setting, both before and after education about the correct use of hand sanitizers. The study is the first to evaluate the efficacy and ease of use of different formulations of hand rubs used by the general population. The products tested were: Sterillium (perfumed, liquid), desderman pure gel (odorless, gel) and Lavit (perfumed, spray). Sterillium and desderman are EN1500 (hygienic hand rub) certified products (available in pharmacy) and Lavit is non EN1500 certified and available in supermarkets. The two EN1500 certified products were found to be significantly superior in terms of reducing bacterial load. desderman pure gel, Sterillium and Lavit reduced the bacterial count to 6.4%, 8.2% and 28.0% respectively. After education in the correct use of each hand rub, the bacterial load was reduced even further, demonstrating the value of education in improving hand hygiene. Information about the testers' perceptions of the three sanitizers, together with their expectations of a hand sanitizer was obtained through a questionnaire. Efficacy, followed by skin compatibility were found to be the two most important attributes of a hand disinfectant in our target group. PMID:25379773

Hand hygiene in reducing transient flora on the hands of healthcare workers: an educational intervention.

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Kapil, R; Bhavsar, H K; Madan, M

2015-01-01

Hand hygiene has now been recognised as one of the most effective intervention to control the transmission of infections in a hospital and education is an important tool to ensure its implementation. In order to convince the users and as a part of education, it is important to generate evidence on the role of hand hygiene in reducing the bacterial flora on their hands. The present study was undertaken in a tertiary care hospital to demonstrate the presence of bacterial flora on the hands of healthcare workers (HCW) in different categories, to teach them proper hand hygiene technique using alcohol-based hand rub and determine the outcome for reduction of bacteria. A total sample size of 60 subjects including resident doctors, medical students, nurses and hospital attendants were included in the study after obtaining informed consent. Each person was educated on the technique of hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub and hand impressions were cultured before and after hand hygiene. All the subjects were also given a questionnaire to assess their perception on hand hygiene. The WHO posters on proper hand hygiene were displayed in the appropriate areas of the hospital in addition, as an educational tool. Majority (42 out of 60) of the HCWs had bacterial count up to 100 colonies or more on both hands before the application of hand rub while working in the hospital. After use of alcohol hand rub with a proper hand hygiene technique, it was found that the percentage reduction was 95-99% among doctors and nurses, 70% among hospital attendants and 50% among sanitary attendants. Staphylococcus aureus was present on the hands of eight persons of which three were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The study demonstrates that transient bacteria are present on the hands of HCWs but majority could be removed by proper hand hygiene, which needs continuous education to be effective. It also shows that active education by demonstrating the proper hand hygiene technique

Hand Hygiene Adherence Among Health Care Workers at Japanese Hospitals: A Multicenter Observational Study in Japan.

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Sakihama, Tomoko; Honda, Hitoshi; Saint, Sanjay; Fowler, Karen E; Shimizu, Taro; Kamiya, Toru; Sato, Yumiko; Arakawa, Soichi; Lee, Jong Ja; Iwata, Kentaro; Mihashi, Mutsuko; Tokuda, Yasuharu

2016-03-01

Although proper hand hygiene among health care workers is an important component of efforts to prevent health care-associated infection, there are few data available on adherence to hand hygiene practices in Japan. The aim of this study was to examine hand hygiene adherence at teaching hospitals in Japan. An observational study was conducted from July to November 2011 in 4 units (internal medicine, surgery, intensive care, and/or emergency department) in 4 geographically diverse hospitals (1 university hospital and 3 community teaching hospitals) in Japan. Hand hygiene practice before patient contact was assessed by an external observer. In a total of 3545 health care worker-patient observations, appropriate hand hygiene practice was performed in 677 (overall adherence, 19%; 95% confidence interval, 18%-20%). Subgroup rates of hand hygiene adherence were 15% among physicians and 23% among nurses. The ranges of adherence were 11% to 25% between hospitals and 11% to 31% between units. Adherence of the nurses and the physicians to hand hygiene was correlated within each hospital. There was a trend toward higher hand hygiene adherence in hospitals with infection control nurses, compared with hospitals without them (29% versus 16%). The hand hygiene adherence in Japanese teaching hospitals in our sample was low, even lower than reported mean values from other international studies. Greater adherence to hand hygiene should be encouraged in Japan.

40 CFR 152.93 - Citation of a previously submitted valid study.

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2010-07-01

... Data Submitters' Rights § 152.93 Citation of a previously submitted valid study. An applicant may demonstrate compliance for a data requirement by citing a valid study previously submitted to the Agency. The... the original data submitter, the applicant may cite the study only in accordance with paragraphs (b...

Development of five-finger robotic hand using master-slave control for hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery.

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Yoshida, Koki; Yamada, Hiroshi; Kato, Ryu; Seki, Tatsuya; Yokoi, Hiroshi; Mukai, Masaya

2016-08-01

This study aims to develop a robotic hand as a substitute for a surgeon's hand in hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS). We determined the requirements for the proposed hand from a surgeon's motions in HALS. We identified four basic behaviors: "power grasp," "precision grasp," "open hand for exclusion," and "peace sign for extending peritoneum." The proposed hand had the minimum necessary DOFs for performing these behaviors, five fingers as in a human's hand, a palm that can be folded when a surgeon inserts the hand into the abdomen, and an arm for adjusting the hand's position. We evaluated the proposed hand based on a performance test and a physician's opinions, and we confirmed that it can grasp organs.

In a demanding task, three-handed manipulation is preferred to two-handed manipulation.

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Abdi, Elahe; Burdet, Etienne; Bouri, Mohamed; Himidan, Sharifa; Bleuler, Hannes

2016-02-25

Equipped with a third hand under their direct control, surgeons may be able to perform certain surgical interventions alone; this would reduce the need for a human assistant and related coordination difficulties. However, does human performance improve with three hands compared to two hands? To evaluate this possibility, we carried out a behavioural study on the performance of naive adults catching objects with three virtual hands controlled by their two hands and right foot. The subjects could successfully control the virtual hands in a few trials. With this control strategy, the workspace of the hands was inversely correlated with the task velocity. The comparison of performance between the three and two hands control revealed no significant difference of success in catching falling objects and in average effort during the tasks. Subjects preferred the three handed control strategy, found it easier, with less physical and mental burden. Although the coordination of the foot with the natural hands increased trial after trial, about two minutes of practice was not sufficient to develop a sense of ownership towards the third arm.

The experience of living with a traumatic hand injury in a rural and remote location: an interpretive phenomenological study.

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Kingston, Gail A; Judd, Dr Jenni; Gray, Marion A

2014-01-01

The aim of this research study was to gain an understanding of how rural and remote residents in North Queensland, Australia, engaged in work, activities of daily living tasks and social activities following a traumatic hand injury. Findings from a previous retrospective survey with these participants revealed that patients experienced difficulties such as pain for many years after their injury; however, because of the survey methodology, the voices of participants were not heard. This study contributes to a larger project that seeks to propose a model of service delivery to rural and remote residents who have sustained a traumatic injury. Utilising an interpretive phenomenological research design, data were gathered through in-depth, semistructured interviews. Fifteen participants were recruited into this study and questions were designed to explore the experience of having a traumatic hand injury in rural and remote areas of North Queensland. The thematic analysis indicated five major themes: injury and impairment, pain, occupation and activity, and resilience. Participants reported that having a hand injury often caused further injury due to the impairment. The pain experienced could be 'all consuming' yet participants reported 'pushing through' this pain to complete daily tasks. Participants reported that they would 'go mad' if they did not work and highlighted the importance of activity in their recovery. Participants felt grateful at having their hand and thought towards the future. Being self-reliant was important but they were willing to accept support from others when needed. Incorporating activity and occupation in rehabilitation programs as opposed to focusing on strict protocols is an important consideration in the recovery process of rural and remote residents. In particular, engaging in activity and occupation was an important part of managing the pain associated with the hand trauma. This research also found that participants demonstrated resilient

Performance Comparison Between FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand

OpenAIRE

Carbone, Giuseppe; Rossi, Cesare; Savino, Sergio

2015-01-01

This paper describes two robotic hands that have been\\ud developed at University Federico II of Naples and at the\\ud University of Cassino. FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand\\ud are described in terms of design and operational features.\\ud In particular, careful attention is paid to the differences\\ud between the above-mentioned hands in terms of transmission\\ud systems. FEDERICA Hand uses tendons and pulleys\\ud to drive phalanxes, while LARM Hand uses cross four-bar\\ud linkages. Results of experime...

MRSA Incidence and Antibiotic Trends in Urban Hand Infections: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kistler, Justin M; Thoder, Joseph J; Ilyas, Asif M

2018-01-01

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most reported pathogen in hand infections at urban medical centers throughout the country. Antibiotic sensitivity trends are not well known. The purposes of this study were to examine and determine the drug resistance trends for MRSA infections of the hand and to provide recommendations for empiric antibiotic treatment based on sensitivity profiles. A 10-year longitudinal, retrospective chart review was performed on all culture-positive hand infections encountered at a single urban medical center from 2005 to 2014. The proportions of all organisms were calculated for each year and collectively. MRSA infections were additionally subanalyzed for antibiotic sensitivity. A total of 815 culture-positive hand infections were identified. Overall, MRSA grew on culture in 46% of cases. A trend toward decreasing annual MRSA incidence was noted over the 10-year study period. There was a steady increase in polymicrobial infections during the same time. Resistance to clindamycin increased steadily during the 10-year study, starting at 4% in 2008 but growing to 31% by 2014. Similarly, levofloxacin resistance consistently increased throughout the study, reaching its peak at 56% in 2014. The annual incidence of MRSA in hand infections has declined overall but remains the most common pathogen. There has been an alternative increase in the number of polymicrobial infections. MRSA resistance to clindamycin and levofloxacin consistently increased during the study period. Empiric antibiotic therapy for hand infections should not only avoid penicillin and other beta-lactams but should also consider avoiding clindamycin and levofloxacin for empiric treatment.

Back to basics: hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Spruce, Lisa

2013-11-01

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant issue in the United States and throughout the world, but following proper hand hygiene practices is the most effective and least expensive way to prevent HAIs. Hand hygiene is inexpensive and protects patients and health care personnel alike. The four general types of hand hygiene that should be performed in the perioperative environment are washing hands that are visibly soiled, hand hygiene using alcohol-based products, surgical hand scrubs, and surgical hand scrubs using an alcohol-based surgical hand rub product. Barriers to proper hand hygiene may include not thinking about it, forgetting, skin irritation, a lack of role models, or a lack of a safety culture. One strategy for improving hand hygiene practices is monitoring hand hygiene as part of a quality improvement project, but the most important aspect for perioperative team members is to set an example for other team members by following proper hand hygiene practices and reminding each other to perform hand hygiene. Copyright © 2013 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of External Radiation Expose Dose on Hands of Nuclear Medicine Workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jun Chul; Pyo, Sung Jae

2012-01-01

The aims of this study are to assess external radiation exposed doses of body and hands of nuclear medicine workers who handle radiation sources, and to measure radiation exposed doses of the hands induced by a whole body bone scan with high frequency and handling a radioactive sources like 99m Tc-HDP and 18 F-FDG in the PET/CT examination. Skillful workers, who directly dispense and inject from radiation sources, were asked to wear a TLD on the chest and ring finger. Then, radiation exposed dose and duration exposed from daily radiation sources for each section were measured by using a pocket dosimeter for the accumulated external doses and the absorbed dose to the hands. In the survey of four medical institutions in Incheon Metropolitan City, only one of four institutions has a radiation dosimeter for local area like hands. Most of institutions uses radiation shielding devices for the purpose of protecting the body trunk, not local area. Even some institutions were revealed not to use such a shielding device. The exposed doses on the hands of nuclear medicine workers who directly handles radioactive sources were approximately twice as much as those on the body. The radiation exposure level for each section of the whole body bone scan with high frequency and that of the PET/CT examination showed that radiation doses were revealed in decreasing order of synthesis of radioactive medicine and installation to a dispensing container, dispensing, administering and transferring. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences of radiation exposure doses of the hands before and after wearing a syringe shielder in administration of a radioactive sources. In this study, although it did not reach the permissible effective dose for nuclear medicine, the occupational workers were exposed by relatively higher dose level than the non-occupational workers. Therefore, the workers, who closely exposed to radioactive sources should be in compliance with safety

Tingling/numbness in the hands of computer users: neurophysiological findings from the NUDATA study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Overgaard, E.; Brandt, L. P.; Ellemann, K.

2004-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether tingling/numbness of the hands and fingers among computer users is associated with elevated vibration threshold as a sign of early nerve compression. METHODS: Within the Danish NUDATA study, vibratory sensory testing with monitoring of the digital vibration...... once a week or daily within the last 3 months. Participants with more than slight muscular pain or disorders of the neck and upper extremities, excessive alcohol consumption, previous injuries of the upper extremities, or concurrent medical diseases were excluded. The two groups had a similar amount...... of work with mouse, keyboard, and computer. RESULTS: Seven of the 20 cases (35%) had elevated vibration thresholds, compared with 3 of the 20 controls (15%); this difference was not statistically significant (chi2=2.13, P=0.14). Compared with controls, cases had increased perception threshold for all...

New reflections on agency and body ownership: The moving rubber hand illusion in the mirror.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkinson, Paul M; Preston, Catherine

2015-05-01

No previous study has simultaneously examined body ownership and agency in healthy subjects during mirror self-observation. We used a moving rubber hand illusion to examine how both body ownership and agency are affected by seeing (i) the body moving in a mirror, compared with (ii) directly viewing the moving hand, and (iii) seeing a visually identical hand rotated by 180°. We elicited ownership of the hand using direct visual feedback, finding this effect was further enhanced when looking at the hand in a mirror, whereas rotating the hand 180° abolished ownership. Agency was similarly elicited using direct visual feedback, and equally so in the mirror, but again reduced for the 180° hand. We conclude that the reflected body in a mirror is treated as 'special' in the mind, and distinct from other external objects. This enables bodies and actions viewed in a mirror to be directly related to the self. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative Stimulus-Response Compatibility Observed with a Briefly Displayed Image of a Hand

Science.gov (United States)

Vainio, Lari

2011-01-01

Manual responses can be primed by viewing an image of a hand. The left-right identity of the viewed hand reflexively facilitates responses of the hand that corresponds to the identity. Previous research also suggests that when the response activation is triggered by an arrow, which is backward-masked and presented briefly, the activation manifests…

Stiff Hands

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Stiff Hands Email to a friend * required fields ...

Hand Infections

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Hand Infections Email to a friend * required fields ...

Verbal Prompting, Hand-over-Hand Instruction, and Passive Observation in Teaching Children with Developmental Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Biederman, G. B.; Fairhall, J. L.; Raven, K. A.; Davey, V. A.

1998-01-01

A study involving six children (ages 5-13) with mental retardation found that overall passive modeling was significantly more effective than hand-over-hand modeling in teaching skills, and that passive modeling was significantly more effective than hand-over-hand modeling with response-contingent verbal prompting. (Author/CR)

Common hand sanitizer may distort readings of breathalyzer tests in the absence of acute intoxication.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Syed S; Wilson, Michael P; Castillo, Edward M; Witucki, Peter; Simmons, Todd T; Vilke, Gary M

2013-02-01

The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers has recently become widespread. To the authors' knowledge, no previous study has examined whether application of ethanol-based hand sanitizers by the person operating a common breathalyzer machine will affect the accuracy of the readings. This was a prospective study investigating whether the use of hand sanitizer applied according to manufacturer's recommendations (Group I), applied improperly at standard doses (Group II), or applied improperly at high doses (Group III) had an effect on breathalyzer readings of individuals who had not ingested alcohol. The participants of the prospective study were divided into three groups to assess the effect of hand sanitizer on breathalyzer readings. Group I used one pump (1.5 mL) of hand sanitizer (Purell), allowing the hands to dry per manufacturer's recommendations; Group II used one pump (1.5 mL), without allowing the hands to dry; and Group III used two pumps (3 mL), without allowing the hands to dry. Breathalyzer measures for each group are presented as medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) and ranges. Differences between each sequential group (I vs. II and II vs. III) were assessed using a Mann-Whitney U-test (p hand sanitizer may cause false-positive readings with a standard hospital breathalyzer when the operator uses the hand sanitizer correctly. The breathalyzer readings are further elevated if more sanitizer is used or if it is not allowed to dry appropriately. © 2013 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Hand Movements and Braille Reading Efficiency: Data from the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Tessa; Wormsley, Diane P.; Kamei-Hannan, Cheryl

2009-01-01

Using a subset of data from the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study, researchers analyzed the patterns and characteristics of hand movements as predictors of reading performance. Statistically significant differences were found between one- and two-handed readers and between patterns of hand movements and reading rates. (Contains 6…

The neural correlates of biomechanical constraints in hand laterality judgment task performed from other person's perspective: A near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Shuang; Oi, Misato; Saito, Godai; Saito, Hirofumi

2017-01-01

Previous studies, mainly using a first-person perspective (1PP), have shown that the judgments of the hand laterality judgment (HLJ) task are dependent on biomechanical constraints (BC). Specifically, differing reaction times (RT) for hand pictures rotated medially or laterally around the mid sagittal plane are attributed to the BC effect on motor imagery. In contrast, we investigated whether the HLJ task is also subject to BC when performed from a third-person perspective (3PP) as well as 1PP using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure the brain activity of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in right-handed participants assigned to 1PP or 3PP groups. The 1PP group judged whether a presented hand was their own left or right hand, and the 3PP group whether it was the other's left or right hand. Using their HLJ task error rates, the 1PP and 3PP groups were subdivided into an Error Group (EG) and No Error Group (NEG). For the 1PP group, both EG and NEG showed a significant Hand Laterality × Orientation interaction for RT, indicating the BC effect on motor imagery. For the 3PP group, however, neither EG nor NEG showed the interaction, even though EG showed a significantly longer RT than NEG. These results suggest that the 3PP EG appropriately followed the 3PP task instruction, while the NEG might have taken 1PP. However, the 3PP EG NIRS profile of left PFC showed a significant Hand Laterality × Orientation interaction, while the 1PP EG did not. More noteworthy is that the left PFC activation of EG showed an interaction between the 1PP and 3PP groups when the left hand was presented. Furthermore, in the NEG, the PFC activation was not influenced by the BC in either the 1PP or 3PP condition. These results indicate that BC interferes with the HLJ task performed from the 1PP and 3PP.

The neural correlates of biomechanical constraints in hand laterality judgment task performed from other person's perspective: A near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuang Meng

Full Text Available Previous studies, mainly using a first-person perspective (1PP, have shown that the judgments of the hand laterality judgment (HLJ task are dependent on biomechanical constraints (BC. Specifically, differing reaction times (RT for hand pictures rotated medially or laterally around the mid sagittal plane are attributed to the BC effect on motor imagery. In contrast, we investigated whether the HLJ task is also subject to BC when performed from a third-person perspective (3PP as well as 1PP using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS to measure the brain activity of prefrontal cortex (PFC in right-handed participants assigned to 1PP or 3PP groups. The 1PP group judged whether a presented hand was their own left or right hand, and the 3PP group whether it was the other's left or right hand. Using their HLJ task error rates, the 1PP and 3PP groups were subdivided into an Error Group (EG and No Error Group (NEG. For the 1PP group, both EG and NEG showed a significant Hand Laterality × Orientation interaction for RT, indicating the BC effect on motor imagery. For the 3PP group, however, neither EG nor NEG showed the interaction, even though EG showed a significantly longer RT than NEG. These results suggest that the 3PP EG appropriately followed the 3PP task instruction, while the NEG might have taken 1PP. However, the 3PP EG NIRS profile of left PFC showed a significant Hand Laterality × Orientation interaction, while the 1PP EG did not. More noteworthy is that the left PFC activation of EG showed an interaction between the 1PP and 3PP groups when the left hand was presented. Furthermore, in the NEG, the PFC activation was not influenced by the BC in either the 1PP or 3PP condition. These results indicate that BC interferes with the HLJ task performed from the 1PP and 3PP.

Ability of Hand Hygiene Interventions Using Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers and Soap To Reduce Microbial Load on Farmworker Hands Soiled during Harvest.

Science.gov (United States)

de Aceituno, Anna Fabiszewski; Bartz, Faith E; Hodge, Domonique Watson; Shumaker, David J; Grubb, James E; Arbogast, James W; Dávila-Aviña, Jorgé; Venegas, Fabiola; Heredia, Norma; García, Santos; Leon, Juan S

2015-11-01

Effective hand hygiene is essential to prevent the spread of pathogens on produce farms and reduce foodborne illness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act Proposed Rule for Produce Safety recommends the use of soap and running water for hand hygiene of produce handlers. The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) may be an effective alternative hygiene intervention where access to water is limited. There are no published data on the efficacy of either soap or ABHS-based interventions to reduce microbial contamination in agricultural settings. The goal of this study was to assess the ability of two soap-based (traditional or pumice) and two ABHS-based (label-use or two-step) hygiene interventions to reduce microbes (coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus spp.) and soil (absorbance of hand rinsate at 600 nm [A600]) on farmworker hands after harvesting produce, compared with the results for a no-hand-hygiene control. With no hand hygiene, farmworker hands were soiled (median A600, 0.48) and had high concentrations of coliforms (geometric mean, 3.4 log CFU per hand) and Enterococcus spp. (geometric mean, 5.3 log CFU per hand) after 1 to 2 h of harvesting tomatoes. Differences in microbial loads in comparison to the loads in the control group varied by indicator organism and hygiene intervention (0 to 2.3 log CFU per hand). All interventions yielded lower concentrations of Enterococcus spp. and E. coli (P hands (P hand washing with soap at reducing indicator organisms on farmworker hands. Based on these results, ABHS is an efficacious hand hygiene solution for produce handlers, even on soiled hands.

Coordination of hand shape.

Science.gov (United States)

Pesyna, Colin; Pundi, Krishna; Flanders, Martha

2011-03-09

The neural control of hand movement involves coordination of the sensory, motor, and memory systems. Recent studies have documented the motor coordinates for hand shape, but less is known about the corresponding patterns of somatosensory activity. To initiate this line of investigation, the present study characterized the sense of hand shape by evaluating the influence of differences in the amount of grasping or twisting force, and differences in forearm orientation. Human subjects were asked to use the left hand to report the perceived shape of the right hand. In the first experiment, six commonly grasped items were arranged on the table in front of the subject: bottle, doorknob, egg, notebook, carton, and pan. With eyes closed, subjects used the right hand to lightly touch, forcefully support, or imagine holding each object, while 15 joint angles were measured in each hand with a pair of wired gloves. The forces introduced by supporting or twisting did not influence the perceptual report of hand shape, but for most objects, the report was distorted in a consistent manner by differences in forearm orientation. Subjects appeared to adjust the intrinsic joint angles of the left hand, as well as the left wrist posture, so as to maintain the imagined object in its proper spatial orientation. In a second experiment, this result was largely replicated with unfamiliar objects. Thus, somatosensory and motor information appear to be coordinated in an object-based, spatial-coordinate system, sensitive to orientation relative to gravitational forces, but invariant to grasp forcefulness.

Hand hygiene instruction decreases illness-related absenteeism in elementary schools: a prospective cohort study

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Illness-related absences have been shown to lead to negative educational and economic outcomes. Both hand washing and hand sanitizer interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing illness-related absences. However, while the importance of hand hygiene in schools is clear, the role of instruction in use is less obvious. The purpose of this study was to compare absenteeism rates among elementary students given access to hand hygiene facilities versus students given both access and short repetitive instruction in use, particularly during influenza season when illness-related absences are at a peak. Methods A hand hygiene intervention was implemented from October to May during the 2009/2010 academic year, including peak flu season, in two Chicago Public Elementary Schools among students grades pre-kindergarten to eighth grade (ages 4–14). Classrooms were systematically assigned to an intervention or control group by grade (cluster design). Hand hygiene facilities (sanitizer and soap) were made available to all students. Students in the intervention group also received short repetitive instruction in hand hygiene every 2 months. Only absences as a result of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness were used to establish illness-related absenteeism rates. Percent absent days were calculated and bivariate analyses were performed to compare percent absent days among students given access to hand hygiene facilities versus students given both access and instruction. Prior to the intervention, teachers’ perceptions of students’ hand hygiene were also evaluated. Teacher perceptions were analysed to describe attitudes and beliefs. Results Data were collected and analysed for 773 students reporting 1,886 absences during the study period (1.73% of total school days). Both the percent total absent days and percent illness-related absent days were significantly lower in the group receiving short instruction during flu season (P = 0.002, P�

The development of hand-centred visual representations in the primate brain: a computer modelling study using natural visual scenes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Manuel Galeazzi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Neurons that respond to visual targets in a hand-centred frame of reference have been found within various areas of the primate brain. We investigate how hand-centred visual representations may develop in a neural network model of the primate visual system called VisNet, when the model is trained on images of the hand seen against natural visual scenes. The simulations show how such neurons may develop through a biologically plausible process of unsupervised competitive learning and self-organisation. In an advance on our previous work, the visual scenes consisted of multiple targets presented simultaneously with respect to the hand. Three experiments are presented. First, VisNet was trained with computerized images consisting of a realistic image of a hand and and a variety of natural objects, presented in different textured backgrounds during training. The network was then tested with just one textured object near the hand in order to verify if the output cells were capable of building hand-centered representations with a single localised receptive field. We explain the underlying principles of the statistical decoupling that allows the output cells of the network to develop single localised receptive fields even when the network is trained with multiple objects. In a second simulation we examined how some of the cells with hand-centred receptive fields decreased their shape selectivity and started responding to a localised region of hand-centred space as the number of objects presented in overlapping locations during training increases. Lastly, we explored the same learning principles training the network with natural visual scenes collected by volunteers. These results provide an important step in showing how single, localised, hand-centered receptive fields could emerge under more ecologically realistic visual training conditions.

Body mass index and progressive hand osteoarthritis: data from the Oslo hand osteoarthritis cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Magnusson, K; Slatkowsky-Christensen, B; van der Heijde, D; Kvien, T K; Hagen, K B; Haugen, I K

2015-01-01

Few longitudinal studies have studied the association between body mass index (BMI) and hand osteoarthritis (OA). We aimed to explore the association between BMI and progressive hand OA in a longitudinal study of the Oslo hand OA cohort. Participants with existing hand OA had hand radiographs and BMI data taken at baseline and 7-year follow-up (n = 103). The radiographs were read according to the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scale. First, we examined the association between baseline BMI and incident OA (KL grade ≥ 2) in joints without OA at baseline (adjusted for age and sex) using generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses. Second, we examined whether changes in BMI from baseline to follow-up were associated with increasing KL sum score from baseline to follow-up using linear regression. We repeated the analyses using changes in number of joints with symptomatic OA and patient-reported pain and physical function as the outcome. The mean (SD) age at baseline was 61.6 (5.6) years and 91 (94%) of the cohort were women. The mean (SD) BMI was 25.7 (4.0) kg/m(2) at baseline and the mean (SD) BMI change was 1.1 (2.0) kg/m(2). There was no relationship between baseline BMI and development of more joints with OA during follow-up. Similarly, there was no association between change in BMI and hand OA progression, increasing hand pain or disability. In the Oslo hand OA cohort, higher BMI was not related to hand OA progression.

On the Other Hand : Nondominant Hand Use Increases Sense of Agency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damen, Tom G. E.; Dijksterhuis, Ap; van Baaren, Rick B.

In two studies, we investigated the influence of hand dominance on the sense of self-causation or agency. Participants alternately used their dominant or nondominant hand to cause the occurrence of an effect (a tone) in a task in which agency was made ambiguous. Participants were subsequently asked

Do right-handed monkeys use the right cheek pouch before the left?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madhur Mangalam

Full Text Available There can be several factors that are likely to have played a role in the evolution of hand preference in humans and non-human primates, which the existing theories do not consider. There exists a possibility that hand preference in non-human primates evolved from the pre-existing lateralities in more elementary brain functions and behavior, or alternatively, the two coevolved. A basic example can be a hand-mouth command system that could have evolved in the context of ingestion. In the present study, we examined the relationship between lateralities in prehension and mastication processes, that is, hand and cheek pouch usage, in free-ranging bonnet macaques, Macaca radiata. The macaques preferentially used one hand-the 'preferred' hand, to pick up the bananas lying on the ground. Lateralities in hand and cheek pouch usage (for both filling and emptying were positively related with each other, that is, the macaques used the cheek pouch corresponding to the preferred hand predominantly and before the other. Moreover, when the macaques used the non-preferred hand to pick up the bananas, the frequency of contralateral cheek pouch usage was higher than the frequency of ipsilateral cheek pouch usage, that is, the combined structure of hand, mouth, and food did not influence the relationship between laterality in hand usage and laterality in cheek pouch usage. These findings demonstrate laterality in a relatively more involuntary function than those explored previously in any non-human primate species (e.g., facial expressions and manual gestures.

A hard tissue cephalometric comparative study between hand tracing and computerized tracing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramachandra Prabhakar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aims: To analyze and compare the angular and linear hard tissue cephalometric measurements using hand-tracing and computerized tracings with Nemoceph and Dolphin software systems. Subjects and Methods: A total of 30 cephalograms were randomly chosen for study with the following criteria, cephalograms of patients with good contrast, no distortion, and minimal radiographic artifacts were considered using the digital method (Kodak 8000 C with 12 angular and nine linear parameters selected for the study. Comparisons were determined by post-hoc test using Tukey HSD method. The N-Par tests were performed using Kruskal-Walli′s method. Statistical Analysis Used: ANOVA and post-hoc. Results: The results of this study show that there is no significant difference in the angular and linear measurements recorded. The P values were significant at 0.05 levels for two parameters, Co-A and Co-Gn with the hand-tracing method. This was significant in ANOVA and post-hoc test by Tukey HSD method. Conclusions: This study of comparison provides support for transition from digital hand to computerized tracing methodology. In fact, digital computerized tracings were easier and less time consuming, with the same reliability irrespective of each method of tracing.

Efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands soiled with dirt and cooking oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, Amy J; Davis, Jennifer; Boehm, Alexandria B

2011-09-01

Handwashing education and promotion are well established as effective strategies to reduce diarrhea and respiratory illness in countries around the world. However, access to reliable water supplies has been identified as an important barrier to regular handwashing in low-income countries. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) is an effective hand hygiene method that does not require water, but its use is not currently recommended when hands are visibly soiled. This study evaluated the efficacy of ABHS on volunteers' hands artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli in the presence of dirt (soil from Tanzania) and cooking oil. ABHS reduced levels of E. coli by a mean of 2.33 log colony forming units (CFU) per clean hand, 2.32 log CFU per dirt-covered hand, and 2.13 log CFU per oil-coated hand. No significant difference in efficacy was detected between hands that were clean versus dirty or oily. ABHS may be an appropriate hand hygiene method for hands that are moderately soiled, and an attractive option for field settings in which access to water and soap is limited.

High-Pressure Injection Injuries to the Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davod Jafari

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background High-pressure injections into the hand, burden devastating and permanent functional impairments. Many materials including paint, paint thinner, gasoline, oil and grease are reported as the causative agents. These injuries need multiple procedures and reconstructions most of the time and 40% of the injuries may end with amputation of the injured part. Objectives The aim of this study was to report the treatment outcomes and methods of treatments of patients with high-pressure injection injuries of the hand. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records, imaging files and demographic data of patients, who were treated at our center due to the high-pressure injuries to their hands. We recorded the kind of the injected materials, time to the first treatment procedure, times of operation, and methods of their treatments. The outcomes of the injuries as well as the deficiency of the digital joints motion were also reported. Results Nine cases with high-pressure injury of the hand were enrolled in this study. All patients were male with mean age of 26.88 ± 7.52. Mean follow-up time was 28.55 ± 12.49 months. The dominant hand was the right side in seven patients and left in two patients. Injury was in the left hand of seven patients and right hand of two patients. Index finger was the most common involved part (five cases followed by the thumb (two cases. Injected material was grease in seven cases, water-base paint and water, each in one case.Mean time delay to the first treatment procedure was 29.16 ± 25.66 hours for seven patients. This was exceptionally long for two patients (seven days and 24 months. Type of treatment was debridement and skin graft for three cases, debridement and cross finger flap for two cases, debridement for two cases and nerve graft for one case. Amputation of the necrotic digit was performed for one case. Mean hospitalization time was 8.33 ± 3.64 days for all patients.Mean total active range of motion

The effect of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption on the prevalence of self-reported hand eczema: a cross-sectional population-based study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thyssen, J P; Linneberg, A; Menné, T

2010-01-01

heavy smokers (OR = 1.38; CI = 0.99-1.92) compared with never-smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco smoking was positively associated with hand eczema among adults from the general population in Denmark. Apparently, current light smokers (... were analysed with logistic regression analyses and associations were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The prevalence of hand eczema was higher among previous smokers (OR = 1.13; CI = 0.90-1.40), current light smokers (OR = 1.51; CI = 1.14-2.02) and current...... smokers (> 15 g daily) but this needs to be reconfirmed. Alcohol consumption was not associated with hand eczema....

Feasibility study of a hand guided robotic drill for cochleostomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Brett, Peter; Du, Xinli; Zoka-Assadi, Masoud; Coulson, Chris; Reid, Andrew; Proops, David

2014-01-01

The concept of a hand guided robotic drill has been inspired by an automated, arm supported robotic drill recently applied in clinical practice to produce cochleostomies without penetrating the endosteum ready for inserting cochlear electrodes. The smart tactile sensing scheme within the drill enables precise control of the state of interaction between tissues and tools in real-time. This paper reports development studies of the hand guided robotic drill where the same consistent outcomes, augmentation of surgeon control and skill, and similar reduction of induced disturbances on the hearing organ are achieved. The device operates with differing presentation of tissues resulting from variation in anatomy and demonstrates the ability to control or avoid penetration of tissue layers as required and to respond to intended rather than involuntary motion of the surgeon operator. The advantage of hand guided over an arm supported system is that it offers flexibility in adjusting the drilling trajectory. This can be important to initiate cutting on a hard convex tissue surface without slipping and then to proceed on the desired trajectory after cutting has commenced. The results for trials on phantoms show that drill unit compliance is an important factor in the design.

EthoHand: A dexterous robotic hand with ball-joint thumb enables complex in-hand object manipulation

OpenAIRE

Konnaris, C; Gavriel, C; Thomik, AAC; Aldo Faisal, A

2016-01-01

Our dexterous hand is a fundmanetal human feature that distinguishes us from other animals by enabling us to go beyond grasping to support sophisticated in-hand object manipulation. Our aim was the design of a dexterous anthropomorphic robotic hand that matches the human hand's 24 degrees of freedom, under-actuated by seven motors. With the ability to replicate human hand movements in a naturalistic manner including in-hand object manipulation. Therefore, we focused on the development of a no...

Prevalence and pattern of radiographic hand osteoarthritis and association with pain and disability (the Rotterdam study)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Dahaghin; S.M. Bierma-Zeinstra (Sita); A.Z. Ginai (Abida); H.A.P. Pols (Huib); J.M.W. Hazes (Mieke); B.W. Koes (Bart)

2005-01-01

textabstractOBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and pattern of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) of the hand joints and its association with self reported hand pain and disability. METHODS: Baseline data on a population based study (age >/=55 years) were used (n = 3906). Hand

Hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klokker, Louise; Terwee, Caroline B; Wæhrens, Eva Ejlersen

2016-01-01

as well as those items from the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) item bank that are relevant to patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Selection will be based on consensus among reviewers. Content validity of selected items will be established......INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus about what constitutes the most appropriate patient-reported outcome measurement (PROM) instrument for measuring physical function in patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Existing instruments lack psychometric testing and vary in feasibility...... and their psychometric qualities. We aim to develop a PROM instrument to assess hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will perform a systematic search to identify existing PROMs to rheumatic hand conditions, and select items relevant for hand-related physical function...

Hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klokker, Louise; Terwee, Caroline; Wæhrens, Eva Elisabet Ejlersen

2016-01-01

INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus about what constitutes the most appropriate patient-reported outcome measurement (PROM) instrument for measuring physical function in patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Existing instruments lack psychometric testing and vary in feasibility...... and their psychometric qualities. We aim to develop a PROM instrument to assess hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will perform a systematic search to identify existing PROMs to rheumatic hand conditions, and select items relevant for hand-related physical function...... as well as those items from the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) item bank that are relevant to patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Selection will be based on consensus among reviewers. Content validity of selected items will be established...

Effects of the restriction of hand gestures on disfluency.

OpenAIRE

Finlayson, Sheena; Forrest, Victoria; Lickley, Robin; Beck, Janet M

2003-01-01

This paper describes an experimental pilot study of disfluency and gesture rates in spontaneous speech where speakers perform a communication task in three conditions: hands free, one arm immobilized, both arms immobilized. Previous work suggests that the restriction of the ability to gesture can have an impact on the fluency of speech. In particular, it has been found that the inability to produce iconic gestures, which depict actions and objects, results in a higher rate of disfluency. Mode...

Hand hygiene in emergency medical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Teter, Jonathan; Millin, Michael G; Bissell, Rick

2015-01-01

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) affect millions of patients annually (World Health Organization. Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare. Geneva: WHO Press; 2009). Hand hygiene compliance of clinical staff has been identified by numerous studies as a major contributing factor to HAIs around the world. Infection control and hand hygiene in the prehospital environment can also contribute to patient harm and spread of infections. Emergency medical services (EMS) practitioners are not monitored as closely as hospital personnel in terms of hand hygiene training and compliance. Their ever-changing work environment is less favorable to traditional hospital-based aseptic techniques and education. This study aimed to determine the current state of hand hygiene practices among EMS providers and to provide recommendations for improving practices in the emergency health services environment. This study was a prospective, observational prevalence study and survey, conducted over a 2-month period. We selected participants from visits to three selected hospital emergency departments in the mid-Atlantic region. There were two data components to the study: a participant survey and hand swabs for pathogenic cultures. This study recruited a total sample of 62 participants. Overall, the study revealed that a significant number of EMS providers (77%) have a heavy bacterial load on their hands after patient care. All levels of providers had a similar distribution of bacterial load. Survey results revealed that few providers perform hand hygiene before (34%) or in between patients (24%), as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. This study demonstrates that EMS providers are potential vectors of microorganisms if proper hand hygiene is not performed properly. Since EMS providers treat a variety of patients and operate in a variety of environments, providers may be exposed to potentially pathogenic organisms, serving as vectors for the exposure of

challenges left-handed students face in kenyan girls' secondary

African Journals Online (AJOL)

IICBA01

Previous research on left-handedness has mainly taken place in developed countries. This ... participants were five left-handed science students and their respective subject teachers from a ... Qualitative data was collected through classroom.

Fragrance allergy in patients with hand eczema - a clinical study.

Science.gov (United States)

Heydorn, Siri; Johansen, Jeanne Duus; Andersen, Klaus E; Bruze, Magnus; Svedman, Cecilia; White, Ian R; Basketter, David A; Menné, Torkil

2003-06-01

Fragrance allergy and hand eczema are both common among dermatological patients. Fragrance mix (FM) and its constituents have a recognized relevance to exposure to fine fragrances and cosmetic products. Based on extensive chemical analysis and database search, a new selection of fragrances was established, including 14 known fragrance allergens present in products to which hand exposure would occur. A non-irritating patch-test concentration for some fragrances was established in 212 consecutive patients. 658 consecutive patients presenting with hand eczema were patch tested with the European standard series and the developed selection of fragrances. 67 (10.2%) of the 658 patients had a positive reaction to 1 or more of our selection of fragrance chemicals present in the new selection. The most common reactions to fragrances not included in the FM were to citral, Lyral (hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde) and oxidized l-limonene. A concomitant reaction to the FM identified potential fragrance allergy in less than (1/2) of these patients. Exposure assessment and a statistically significant association between a positive patch test to our selected fragrances and patients' history support the relevance of this selection of fragrances. Those with a positive reaction to our selected fragrances were significantly more likely to have 1 or more positive patch tests in the standard series. This observation is the basis for the hypothesis concerning cross-reactivity and the effect of simultaneous exposure. The study found that fragrance allergy could be a common problem in patients with eczema on the hands.

Patient-centered hand hygiene: the next step in infection prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Landers, Timothy; Abusalem, Said; Coty, Mary-Beth; Bingham, James

2012-05-01

Hand hygiene has been recognized as the most important means of preventing the transmission of infection, and great emphasis has been placed on ways to improve hand hygiene compliance by health care workers (HCWs). Despite increasing evidence that patients' flora and the hospital environment are the primary source of many infections, little effort has been directed toward involving patients in their own hand hygiene. Most previous work involving patients has included patients as monitors or auditors of hand hygiene practices by their HCWs. This article reviews the evidence on the benefits of including patients more directly in hand hygiene initiatives, and uses the framework of patient-centered safety initiatives to provide recommendations for the timing and implementation of patient hand hygiene protocols. It also addresses key areas for further research, practice guideline development, and implications for training of HCWs. Copyright © 2012 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

A mechatronics platform to study prosthetic hand control using EMG signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Geethanjali, P

2016-09-01

. This prototype facilitated the study of various issues of pattern recognition and identified an efficient classifier, along with a feature ensemble, in the implementation of EMG controlled prosthetic hands in a laboratory setting at low-cost. This platform may help to motivate and facilitate prosthetic hand research in developing countries.

HAND INJURIES IN VOLLEYBALL

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BHAIRO, NH; NIJSTEN, MWN; VANDALEN, KC; TENDUIS, HJ

We studied the long-term sequelae of hand injuries as a result of playing volleyball. In a retrospective study, 226 patients with injuries of the hand who were seen over a 5-year period at our Trauma Department, were investigated. Females accounted for 66 % of all injuries. The mean age was 26

Waterless Hand Rub Versus Traditional Hand Scrub Methods for Preventing the Surgical Site Infection in Orthopedic Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwakiri, Kentaro; Kobayashi, Akio; Seki, Masahiko; Ando, Yoshiyuki; Tsujio, Tadao; Hoshino, Masatoshi; Nakamura, Hiroaki

2017-11-15

MINI: Fourteen hundred consecutive patients were investigated for evaluating the utility of waterless hand rub before orthopaedic surgery. The risk in the surgical site infection incidence was the same, but costs of liquids used for hand hygiene were cheaper and the hand hygiene time was shorter for waterless protocol, compared with traditional hand scrub. A retrospective cohort study with prospectively collected data. The aim of this study was to compare SSI incidences, the cost of hand hygiene agents, and hand hygiene time between the traditional hand scrub and the waterless hand rub protocols before orthopedic surgery. Surgical site infections (SSI) prolong hospitalization and are a leading nosocomial cause of morbidity and a source of excess cost. Recently, a waterless hand rub protocol comprising alcohol based chlorhexidine gluconate for use before surgery was developed, but no studies have yet examined its utility in orthopedic surgery. Fourteen hundred consecutive patients who underwent orthopedic surgery (spine, joint replacement, hand, and trauma surgeries) in our hospital since April 1, 2012 were included. A total of 712 cases underwent following traditional hand scrub between April 1, 2012 and April 30, 2013 and 688 cases underwent following waterless hand rub between June 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014. We compared SSI incidences within all and each subcategory between two hand hygiene protocols. All patients were screened for SSI within 1 year after surgery. We compared the cost of hand hygiene agents and hand hygiene time between two groups. The SSI incidences were 1.3% (9 of 712) following the traditional protocol (2 deep and 7 superficial infections) and 1.1% (8 of 688) following the waterless protocol (all superficial infections). There were no significant differences between the two groups. The costs of liquids used for one hand hygiene were about $2 for traditional hand scrub and less than $1 for waterless hand rub. The mean hand hygiene time was 264

Brain Regions Associated to a Kinesthetic Illusion Evoked by Watching a Video of One's Own Moving Hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, Fuminari; Blanchard, Caroline; Lebar, Nicolas; Nazarian, Bruno; Kavounoudias, Anne; Romaiguère, Patricia

2015-01-01

It is well known that kinesthetic illusions can be induced by stimulation of several sensory systems (proprioception, touch, vision…). In this study we investigated the cerebral network underlying a kinesthetic illusion induced by visual stimulation by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans. Participants were instructed to keep their hand still while watching the video of their own moving hand (Self Hand) or that of someone else's moving hand (Other Hand). In the Self Hand condition they experienced an illusory sensation that their hand was moving whereas the Other Hand condition did not induce any kinesthetic illusion. The contrast between the Self Hand and Other Hand conditions showed significant activation in the left dorsal and ventral premotor cortices, in the left Superior and Inferior Parietal lobules, at the right Occipito-Temporal junction as well as in bilateral Insula and Putamen. Most strikingly, there was no activation in the primary motor and somatosensory cortices, whilst previous studies have reported significant activation in these regions for vibration-induced kinesthetic illusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study that indicates that humans can experience kinesthetic perception without activation in the primary motor and somatosensory areas. We conclude that under some conditions watching a video of one's own moving hand could lead to activation of a network that is usually involved in processing copies of efference, thus leading to the illusory perception that the real hand is indeed moving.

Brain Regions Associated to a Kinesthetic Illusion Evoked by Watching a Video of One's Own Moving Hand.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fuminari Kaneko

Full Text Available It is well known that kinesthetic illusions can be induced by stimulation of several sensory systems (proprioception, touch, vision…. In this study we investigated the cerebral network underlying a kinesthetic illusion induced by visual stimulation by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI in humans. Participants were instructed to keep their hand still while watching the video of their own moving hand (Self Hand or that of someone else's moving hand (Other Hand. In the Self Hand condition they experienced an illusory sensation that their hand was moving whereas the Other Hand condition did not induce any kinesthetic illusion. The contrast between the Self Hand and Other Hand conditions showed significant activation in the left dorsal and ventral premotor cortices, in the left Superior and Inferior Parietal lobules, at the right Occipito-Temporal junction as well as in bilateral Insula and Putamen. Most strikingly, there was no activation in the primary motor and somatosensory cortices, whilst previous studies have reported significant activation in these regions for vibration-induced kinesthetic illusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study that indicates that humans can experience kinesthetic perception without activation in the primary motor and somatosensory areas. We conclude that under some conditions watching a video of one's own moving hand could lead to activation of a network that is usually involved in processing copies of efference, thus leading to the illusory perception that the real hand is indeed moving.

Exploring the gap between hand washing knowledge and practices in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabbi, Sifat E; Dey, Nepal C

2013-01-30

Hand washing is considered as one of the most effective hygiene promotion activities for public health in developing countries. This study compared hand washing knowledge and practices in BRAC's water; sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme areas over time. This study is a cross-sectional comparative study between baseline (2006), midline (2009) and end-line (2011) surveys in 50 sub-districts from the first phase of the programme. Thirty thousand households from 50 sub-districts were selected in two steps: i) 30 villages were selected from each sub-district by cluster sampling, and ii) 20 households were chosen systematically from each village. The matched households were considered (26,404 in each survey) for analysis. Data were collected from households through face-to-face interview using a pre-tested questionnaire. Respondents were the adult female members of the same households, who had knowledge of day-to-day household activities related to water, sanitation and hygiene. A gap between perception and practice of proper hand washing practices with soap was identified in the study areas. Hand washing practice with soap before eating was much lower than after defecation. In baseline data, 8% reported to wash their hands with soap which significantly increased to 22% in end line. Hand washing knowledge and practices before cooking food, before serving food and while handling babies is considerably limited than other critical times. A multivariate analysis shows that socio-economic factors including education of household head and respondent, water availability and access to media have strong positive association with hand washing with soap. Gap between knowledge and practice still persists in hand washing practices. Long term and extensive initiatives can aware people about the effectiveness of hand washing.

Exploring the gap between hand washing knowledge and practices in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabbi Sifat E

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hand washing is considered as one of the most effective hygiene promotion activities for public health in developing countries. This study compared hand washing knowledge and practices in BRAC’s water; sanitation and hygiene (WASH programme areas over time. Methods This study is a cross-sectional comparative study between baseline (2006, midline (2009 and end-line (2011 surveys in 50 sub-districts from the first phase of the programme. Thirty thousand households from 50 sub-districts were selected in two steps: i 30 villages were selected from each sub-district by cluster sampling, and ii 20 households were chosen systematically from each village. The matched households were considered (26,404 in each survey for analysis. Data were collected from households through face-to-face interview using a pre-tested questionnaire. Respondents were the adult female members of the same households, who had knowledge of day-to-day household activities related to water, sanitation and hygiene. Results A gap between perception and practice of proper hand washing practices with soap was identified in the study areas. Hand washing practice with soap before eating was much lower than after defecation. In baseline data, 8% reported to wash their hands with soap which significantly increased to 22% in end line. Hand washing knowledge and practices before cooking food, before serving food and while handling babies is considerably limited than other critical times. A multivariate analysis shows that socio-economic factors including education of household head and respondent, water availability and access to media have strong positive association with hand washing with soap. Conclusion Gap between knowledge and practice still persists in hand washing practices. Long term and extensive initiatives can aware people about the effectiveness of hand washing.

In pursuit of our ancestors' hand laterality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bargalló, Amèlia; Mosquera, Marina; Lozano, Sergi

2017-10-01

The aim of this paper is to apply a previously published method (Bargalló and Mosquera, 2014) to the archaeological record, allowing us to identify the hand laterality of our ancestors and determine when and how this feature, which is exhibited most strongly in humans, appeared in our evolutionary history. The method focuses on identifying handedness by looking at the technical features of the flakes produced by a single knapper, and discovering how many flakes are required to ascertain their hand preference. This method can potentially be applied to the majority of archaeological sites, since flakes are the most abundant stone tools, and stone tools are the most widespread and widely-preserved remains from prehistory. For our study, we selected two Spanish sites: Gran Dolina-TD10.1 (Atapuerca) and Abric Romaní (Barcelona), which were occupied by pre-Neanderthal and Neanderthal populations, respectively. Our analyses indicate that a minimum number of eight flakes produced by the same knapper is required to ascertain their hand preference. Even though this figure is relatively low, it is quite difficult to obtain from many archaeological sites. In addition, there is no single technical feature that provides information about handedness, instead there is a combination of eight technical features, localised on the striking platforms and ventral surfaces. The raw material is not relevant where good quality rocks are used, in this case quartzite and flint, since most of them retain the technical features required for the analysis. Expertise is not an issue either, since the technical features analysed here only correlate with handedness (Bargalló and Mosquera, 2014). Our results allow us to tentatively identify one right-handed knapper among the pre-Neanderthals of level TD10.1 at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca), while four of the five Neanderthals analysed from Abric Romaní were right-handed. The hand preference of the fifth knapper from that location (AR5) remains unclear

Improved reliability in skeletal age assessment using a pediatric hand MR scanner with a 0.3T permanent magnet.

Science.gov (United States)

Terada, Yasuhiko; Kono, Saki; Uchiumi, Tomomi; Kose, Katsumi; Miyagi, Ryo; Yamabe, Eiko; Fujinaga, Yasunari; Yoshioka, Hiroshi

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to improve the reliability and validity of skeletal age assessment using an open and compact pediatric hand magnetic resonance (MR) imaging scanner. We used such a scanner with 0.3-tesla permanent magnet to image the left hands of 88 healthy children (aged 3.4 to 15.7 years, mean 8.8 years), and 3 raters (2 orthopedic specialists and a radiologist) assessed skeletal age using those images. We measured the strength of agreement in ratings by values of weighted Cohen's κ and the proportion of cases excluded from rating because of motion artifact and inappropriate positioning. We compared the current results with those of a previous study in which 93 healthy children (aged 4.1 to 16.4 years, mean 9.7 years) were examined with an adult hand scanner. The κ values between raters exceeded 0.80, which indicates almost perfect agreement, and most were higher than those of the previous study. The proportion of cases excluded from rating because of motion artifact or inappropriate positioning was also reduced. The results indicate that use of the compact pediatric hand scanner improved the reliability and validity of skeletal age assessments.

Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome

Science.gov (United States)

Leff, J.; Henley, J.; Tittl, J.; De Nardo, E.; Butler, M.; Griggs, R.; Fierer, N.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one’s own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples (P hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. PMID:28351915

Effect of gender and hand laterality on pain processing in human neonates.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozawa, Mio; Kanda, Katsuya; Hirata, Michio; Kusakawa, Isao; Suzuki, Chieko

2011-01-01

Previous studies in adults have reported that handedness and gender can affect pain perception. However, it is currently unclear when these differences emerge in human development. Therefore, we examined prefrontal responses to pain stimulation among newborns during their first acute pain experience after birth. Forty newborns at 4-6 days postnatal age were observed during clinically required blood sampling while prefrontal activation was measured with near infrared spectroscopy. Blood sampling in this study was the first experience of a procedure involving skin breaking for these infants. We divided subjects into a right-hand stimulation group (n=21) and a left-hand stimulation group (n=19), depending on whether blood was sampled from the right or the left hand. A three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the effects of several variables on the magnitude of the oxy-Hb value in response to pain stimulus, including stimulus side (right hand or left hand), gender (male or female), recording side (right prefrontal area or left prefrontal area) and interactions between these variables. The data revealed a significant effect of stimulus side (F (1, 72)=9.892, P=0.002), showing that the right-hand stimulation induced a greater prefrontal activation than the left-hand stimulation. No significant gender difference or interactions were found. Our findings suggest that hand laterality affects pain perception even in neonates. However, gender differences in pain perception did not appear to occur during the neonatal period. Further investigations using brain-imaging techniques are required to identify laterality- or gender-related differences in pain processing in humans. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perineal injury associated with hands on/hands poised and directed/undirected pushing: A retrospective cross-sectional study of non-operative vaginal births, 2011-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Nigel; Firmin, Meaghan; Gao, Yu; Kildea, Sue

2018-07-01

Clinicians hand position and advised pushing techniques may impact on rates of perineal injury. To assess the association of four techniques used in management of second stage with risk of moderate and severe perineal injury. Retrospective cross-sectional study. A metropolitan maternity hospital and a private maternity hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Term women with singleton, cephalic presentation experiencing a non-operative vaginal birth from January 2011 to December 2016. The research sites perinatal database recorded data on clinicians approach to instructing women during second stage and hand position at birth. Women were identified from matching the inclusion criteria (n = 26,393) then grouped based on combinations of hands-on, hand- poised, directed and undirected pushing. The associations with perineal injury were estimated using odds ratios obtained by multivariate analysis. Primary outcomes were the risk of moderate and severe perineal injury. The significance was set at 0.001. In Nulliparous women there was no difference in the risk of moderate or severe perineal injury between the different techniques. In multiparous women the use of a hands-on/directed approach was associated with a significant increase in the risk of moderate (AOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.10-1.27, p < 0.001) and severe perineal injury (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.20-1.88, p < 0.001) compared to hands-poised/undirected. A hands poised/undirected approach could be utilised in strategies for the prevention of moderate and severe perineal injury. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution of EF-hand calcium-modulated proteins. IV. Exon shuffling did not determine the domain compositions of EF-hand proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Kretsinger, R. H.; Nakayama, S.

1993-01-01

In the previous three reports in this series we demonstrated that the EF-hand family of proteins evolved by a complex pattern of gene duplication, transposition, and splicing. The dendrograms based on exon sequences are nearly identical to those based on protein sequences for troponin C, the essential light chain myosin, the regulatory light chain, and calpain. This validates both the computational methods and the dendrograms for these subfamilies. The proposal of congruence for calmodulin, troponin C, essential light chain, and regulatory light chain was confirmed. There are, however, significant differences in the calmodulin dendrograms computed from DNA and from protein sequences. In this study we find that introns are distributed throughout the EF-hand domain and the interdomain regions. Further, dendrograms based on intron type and distribution bear little resemblance to those based on protein or on DNA sequences. We conclude that introns are inserted, and probably deleted, with relatively high frequency. Further, in the EF-hand family exons do not correspond to structural domains and exon shuffling played little if any role in the evolution of this widely distributed homolog family. Calmodulin has had a turbulent evolution. Its dendrograms based on protein sequence, exon sequence, 3'-tail sequence, intron sequences, and intron positions all show significant differences.

Hand Fractures

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is ... Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy ... DESCRIPTION The bones of the hand serve as a framework. This framework supports the muscles that make the wrist and fingers move. When ...

Hand aperture patterns in prehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Bongers, Raoul M; Zaal, Frank T J M; Jeannerod, Marc

2012-06-01

Although variations in the standard prehensile pattern can be found in the literature, these alternative patterns have never been studied systematically. This was the goal of the current paper. Ten participants picked up objects with a pincer grip. Objects (3, 5, or 7cm in diameter) were placed at 30, 60, 90, or 120cm from the hands' starting location. Usually the hand was opened gradually to a maximum immediately followed by hand closing, called the standard hand opening pattern. In the alternative opening patterns the hand opening was bumpy, or the hand aperture stayed at a plateau before closing started. Two participants in particular delayed the start of grasping with respect to start of reaching, with the delay time increasing with object distance. For larger object distances and smaller object sizes, the bumpy and plateau hand opening patterns were used more often. We tentatively concluded that the alternative hand opening patterns extended the hand opening phase, to arrive at the appropriate hand aperture at the appropriate time to close the hand for grasping the object. Variations in hand opening patterns deserve attention because this might lead to new insights into the coordination of reaching and grasping. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hand fractures: A study of their site and type in childhood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajesh, Arumugam; Basu, Avi K.; Vaidhyanath, Ramachandran; Finlay, David

2001-01-01

AIM: The purpose of the study was to document the site and type of fractures of the hand in children up to 16 years of age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The radiographs of 280 children who were found to have a fracture in Accident and Emergency over a one-year period were reviewed. A total of 293 fractures of the hand and 3 distal interphalangeal joint dislocations without fracture were identified. There were 293 fractures as some children had more than one fracture. RESULTS: Distal tuft fractures were commonest in the 0 to 4-year age-group; fractures of distal phalanx (both transverse and tuft) in the 5 to 8-year age-group; transverse fractures of the proximal phalanx of little finger in the 9 to 12-year age-group and transverse fractures of neck of the fifth metacarpal in the 13 to 16-year age-groups. CONCLUSION: Hand fractures are more common in older children, with a male preponderance in most groups except in the 0-4 age-group. The site of injury is different in the various corresponding age-groups, reflecting the differing mechanisms of injury. The management of hand fractures rely on a correct diagnosis and a knowledge of their common site in each age-group should aid diagnosis. Rajesh, A. et al. (2001)

Role of parents in the promotion of hand hygiene in the paediatric setting: a systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellissimo-Rodrigues, F; Pires, D; Zingg, W; Pittet, D

2016-06-01

When a child is hospitalized, parents have to share their role to protect the child with the hospital, and establish a partnership with healthcare workers to deliver safe care to the child, including undertaking good hand hygiene practices. To review the scientific evidence about the participation of parents in the promotion of hand hygiene in paediatric settings. A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and SciELO databases was undertaken using the following terms: ('hand hygiene'[MeSH] OR 'hand hygiene' OR 'hand disinfection'[MeSH] OR hand disinf* OR hand wash* OR handwash* OR hand antisep*) AND (parent OR caregiver OR mother OR father OR family OR families OR relatives). The Integrated Quality Criteria for Review of Multiple Study Designs tool was used for quality assessment. The literature search yielded 1645 articles, and 11 studies met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis. Most studies were observational, and were based on questionnaires or interviews. Most parents had little knowledge about the indications to perform hand hygiene, but recognized hand hygiene as a relevant tool for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. Their willingness to remind healthcare workers about a failed opportunity to perform hand hygiene was variable and, overall, rather low. Parents felt more comfortable about reminding healthcare workers about hand hygiene if they had previously been invited to do so. Literature on the subject is scarce. The promotion of hand hygiene by parents should be further explored by research as a potential intervention for enhancing patient safety in paediatric settings. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Ownership and Agency of an Independent Supernumerary Hand Induced by an Imitation Brain-Computer Interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Bashford, Luke; Mehring, Carsten

2016-01-01

To study body ownership and control, illusions that elicit these feelings in non-body objects are widely used. Classically introduced with the Rubber Hand Illusion, these illusions have been replicated more recently in virtual reality and by using brain-computer interfaces. Traditionally these illusions investigate the replacement of a body part by an artificial counterpart, however as brain-computer interface research develops it offers us the possibility to explore the case where non-body objects are controlled in addition to movements of our own limbs. Therefore we propose a new illusion designed to test the feeling of ownership and control of an independent supernumerary hand. Subjects are under the impression they control a virtual reality hand via a brain-computer interface, but in reality there is no causal connection between brain activity and virtual hand movement but correct movements are observed with 80% probability. These imitation brain-computer interface trials are interspersed with movements in both the subjects' real hands, which are in view throughout the experiment. We show that subjects develop strong feelings of ownership and control over the third hand, despite only receiving visual feedback with no causal link to the actual brain signals. Our illusion is crucially different from previously reported studies as we demonstrate independent ownership and control of the third hand without loss of ownership in the real hands.

The beneficial effects of rehabilitation on hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krystyna Księżopolska-Orłowska

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The hand is one of the main elements of the rehabilitation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA due to deformities, which occur in approximately 90% of patients. It is a serious problem, both in the psychological and functional aspect, connected with muscle strength reduction, a limited range of motion and non-acceptance of the changes in the shape of the limb. The study aimed to assess the effect of rehabilitation on the function of the hand in rheumatoid arthritis. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 40 women with RA. The patients had been previously treated at the Rehabilitation Department of the National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation in Warsaw. The study group underwent 3 weeks of rehabilitation involving individual therapy, exercises with equipment, patient education and physical therapy. The control group included women without a diagnosis of RA, hands pain-free and fully mobile. In both groups the hand was assessed for grip value, grip quality and manipulative ability. In the study group the basis of pain intensity was noted. The measurements were performed twice – prior to the rehabilitation and after 3 weeks of rehabilitation in women with RA and once in women without hand problems. Results : The results obtained revealed marked limitation of hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment resulted in an improvement of all assessed parameters except cylindrical grip, in which only a part of the findings was statistically significant. Conclusions : The analysis of the study material showed that appropriately adjusted and conducted hand physiotherapy in women with rheumatoid arthritis contributed to the improvement of its function by pain reduction, improved value and quality of grip, and also increased manipulative ability.

Feasibility Study of a Hand Guided Robotic Drill for Cochleostomy

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Peter Brett

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of a hand guided robotic drill has been inspired by an automated, arm supported robotic drill recently applied in clinical practice to produce cochleostomies without penetrating the endosteum ready for inserting cochlear electrodes. The smart tactile sensing scheme within the drill enables precise control of the state of interaction between tissues and tools in real-time. This paper reports development studies of the hand guided robotic drill where the same consistent outcomes, augmentation of surgeon control and skill, and similar reduction of induced disturbances on the hearing organ are achieved. The device operates with differing presentation of tissues resulting from variation in anatomy and demonstrates the ability to control or avoid penetration of tissue layers as required and to respond to intended rather than involuntary motion of the surgeon operator. The advantage of hand guided over an arm supported system is that it offers flexibility in adjusting the drilling trajectory. This can be important to initiate cutting on a hard convex tissue surface without slipping and then to proceed on the desired trajectory after cutting has commenced. The results for trials on phantoms show that drill unit compliance is an important factor in the design.

Fragrance allergy in patients with hand eczema - a clinical study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heydorn, Siri; Johansen, Jeanne Duus; Andersen, Klaus E

2003-01-01

Fragrance allergy and hand eczema are both common among dermatological patients. Fragrance mix (FM) and its constituents have a recognized relevance to exposure to fine fragrances and cosmetic products. Based on extensive chemical analysis and database search, a new selection of fragrances...... was established, including 14 known fragrance allergens present in products to which hand exposure would occur. A non-irritating patch-test concentration for some fragrances was established in 212 consecutive patients. 658 consecutive patients presenting with hand eczema were patch tested with the European...

Surveillance of nosocomial infections: a preliminary study on hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers.

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Brunetti, L; Santoro, E; De Caro, F; Cavallo, P; Boccia, G; Capunzo, M; Motta, O

2006-06-01

The observance of hand hygiene compliance is important to reduce cross-infection by micro-organisms. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the level of hand hygiene in healthcare workers from different departments, with particular emphasis on transient flora. The study was conducted in three departments (Surgery, Intensive Care Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology) of a hospital in Campania, southern Italy. Over a six-month period, 50 healthcare workers were randomly tested. Imprints of palms and fingertips were taken monthly during the morning shift. The number of colonies per plate was counted and transient pathogens were identified. Risk factors for hand contamination were determined. Total flora was found in the following CFU means per palm and per five fingertips (95% CI): Obstetrics and Gynecology [palms 130 CFUs (95% CI 85-180); fingertips 125 CFUs (95% CI 92-160)]; ICU [palms 80 CFUs (95% CI 58-99); fingertips 62 CFUs (95% CI 45-82)]; Surgery [palms 75 CFUs (95% CI 41-120); fingertips 70 CFUs (95% CI 52-90)] Transient flora was found on 39% of healthcare workers' hands. The only factor associated with hand contamination by transient flora was the absence of gloving during healthcare procedure (P = 0.02).

SPONGE ROBOTIC HAND DESIGN FOR PROSTHESES

OpenAIRE

Mine Seçkin

2016-01-01

In this study robotic hands and fingers’ materials are investigated from past to present and a sponge robotic hand is designed for biomedical applications. Emergence and necessity of soft robotic technology are explained and description of soft robot is made. Because of the importance of hand in a person’s body, researchers have dealt with robotic hand prostheses for many centuries and developed many hand types. To mimic the best for the human limbs, softness of the hand is one of the importa...

Hand Matters: Left-Hand Gestures Enhance Metaphor Explanation

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Argyriou, Paraskevi; Mohr, Christine; Kita, Sotaro

2017-01-01

Research suggests that speech-accompanying gestures influence cognitive processes, but it is not clear whether the gestural benefit is specific to the gesturing hand. Two experiments tested the "(right/left) hand-specificity" hypothesis for self-oriented functions of gestures: gestures with a particular hand enhance cognitive processes…

[Disinfection efficacy of hand hygiene based on chlorhexidine gluconate content and usage of alcohol-based hand-rubbing solution].

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Tanaka, Ippei; Watanabe, Kiyoshi; Nakaminami, Hidemasa; Azuma, Chihiro; Noguchi, Norihisa

2014-01-01

Recently, the procedure for surgical hand hygiene has been switching to a two-stage method and hand-rubbing method from the traditional hand-scrubbing method. Both the two-stage and hand-rubbing methods use alcohol-based hand-rubbing after hand washing. The former requires 5 min of antiseptic hand washing, and the latter 1 min of nonantiseptic hand washing. For a prolonged bactericidal effect in terms of surgical hand hygiene, chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) has been noted due to its residual activity. However, no detailed study comparing the disinfection efficacy and prolonged effects according to different contents of CHG and the usage of alcohol-based hand-rubbing has been conducted. The glove juice method is able to evaluate disinfection efficacy and prolonged effects of the disinfectants more accurately because it can collect not only transitory bacteria but also normal inhabitants on hands. In the present study, we examined the disinfection efficacy and prolonged effects on alcohol-based hand-rubbing containing CHG by six hand-rubbing methods and three two-stage methods using the glove juice method. In both methods, 3 mL (one pump dispenser push volume) alcohol-based hand-rubbing solution containing 1% (w/v) CHG showed the highest disinfection efficacy and prolonged effects, and no significant difference was found between the hand-rubbing and two-stage methods. In the two methods of hand hygiene, the hand-rubbing method was able to save time and cost. Therefore, the data strongly suggest that the hand-rubbing method using a one pump dispenser push volume of alcohol-based hand-rubbing solution containing 1% (w/v) CHG is suitable for surgical hand hygiene.

[Hand osteoarthritis].

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Šenolt, Ladislav

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic disorder causing pain and limitation of mobility of affected joints. The prevalence of hand OA increases with age and more often affects females. Clinical signs obviously do not correlate with radiographic findings - symptomatic hand OA affects approximately 26 % of adult subjects, but radiographic changes can be found in up to two thirds of females and half of males older than 55 years.Disease course differ among individual patients. Hand OA is a heterogeneous disease. Nodal hand OA is the most common subtype affecting interphalangeal joints, thumb base OA affects first carpometacarpal joint. Erosive OA represents a specific subtype of hand OA, which is associated with joint inflammation, more pain, functional limitation and erosive findings on radiographs.Treatment of OA is limited. Analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the only agents reducing symptoms. New insights into the pathogenesis of disease should contribute to the development of novel effective treatment of hand OA.

Genetic influences on hand osteoarthritis in Finnish women--a replication study of candidate genes.

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Satu Hämäläinen

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Our aims were to replicate some previously reported associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in five genes (A2BP1, COG5, GDF5, HFE, ESR1 with hand osteoarthritis (OA, and to examine whether genes (BCAP29, DIO2, DUS4L, DVWA, HLA, PTGS2, PARD3B, TGFB1 and TRIB1 associated with OA at other joint sites were associated with hand OA among Finnish women. DESIGN: We examined the bilateral hand radiographs of 542 occupationally active Finnish female dentists and teachers aged 45 to 63 and classified them according to the presence of OA by using reference images. Data regarding finger joint pain and other risk factors were collected using a questionnaire. We defined two hand OA phenotypes: radiographic OA in at least three joints (ROA and symptomatic DIP OA. The genotypes were determined by PCR-based methods. In statistical analysis, we used SNPStats software, the chi-square test and logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the SNPs, rs716508 in A2BP1 was associated with ROA (OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9 and rs1800470 in TGFB1 with symptomatic DIP OA (1.8, 1.2-2.9. We found an interaction between ESR1 (rs9340799 and occupation: teachers with the minor allele were at an increased risk of symptomatic DIP OA (2.8, 1.3-6.5. We saw no association among the dentists. We also found that the carriage of the COG5 rs3757713 C allele increased the risk of ROA only among women with the BCAP29 rs10953541 CC genotype (2.6; 1.1-6.1. There was also a suggestive interaction between the HFE rs179945 and the ESR1 rs9340799, and the carriage of the minor allele of either of these SNPs was associated with an increased risk of symptomatic DIP OA (2.1, 1.3-2.5. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the earlier findings of A2BP1 and TBGF1 being OA susceptibility genes and provide evidence of a possible gene-gene interaction in the genetic influence on hand OA predisposition.

Male commuters in north and south England: risk factors for the presence of faecal bacteria on hands

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Donachie Peter

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A previous study found that the prevalence of contamination with bacteria of faecal-origin on the hands of men differed across UK cities, with a general trend of increased contamination in northern cities. The aim of this study was to (1 confirm the north-south trend (2 identify causes for the trend. Methods Hand swabs from commuters (n = 308 at train stations in 4 cities were tested for the presence of faecal bacteria. Results The prevalence of hand contamination with faecal bacteria was again higher in cities in the north compared to the south (5% in London, 4% in Birmingham, 10% in Liverpool and 19% in Newcastle. Contamination risk decreased with age and better personal hygiene (self-reported. Soil contact and shaking hands increased contamination with faecal bacteria. However, in multivariable analysis, none of these factors fully explained the variation in contamination across cities. Conclusion The study confirmed the north-south differences in faecal contamination of hands without finding a clear cause for the trend. Faecal contamination of hands was associated with personal hygiene indicators suggesting that microbiological testing may contribute to evaluating hygiene promotion campaigns.

An automated hand hygiene compliance system is associated with improved monitoring of hand hygiene.

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McCalla, Saungi; Reilly, Maggie; Thomas, Rowena; McSpedon-Rai, Dawn

2017-05-01

Consistent hand hygiene is key to reducing health care-associated infections (HAIs) and assessing compliance with hand hygiene protocols is vital for hospital infection control staff. A new automated hand hygiene compliance system (HHCS) was trialed as an alternative to human observers in an intensive care unit and an intensive care stepdown unit at a hospital facility in the northeastern United States. Using a retrospective cohort design, researchers investigated whether implementation of the HHCS resulted in improved hand hygiene compliance and a reduction in common HAI rates. Pearson χ 2 tests were used to assess changes in compliance, and incidence rate ratios were used to test for significant differences in infection rates. During the study period, the HHCS collected many more hand hygiene events compared with human observers (632,404 vs 480) and ensured that the hospital met its compliance goals (95%+). Although decreases in multidrug-resistant organisms, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates were observed, they represented nonsignificant differences. Human hand hygiene observers may not report accurate measures of compliance. The HHCS is a promising new tool for fine-grained assessment of hand hygiene compliance. Further study is needed to examine the association between the HHCS and HAI rate reduction. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design, data, and theory regarding a digital hand inclinometer: a portable device for studying slant perception.

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Li, Zhi; Durgin, Frank H

2011-06-01

Palm boards are often used as a nonverbal measure in human slant perception studies. It was recently found that palm boards are biased and relatively insensitive measures, and that an unrestricted hand gesture provides a more sensitive response (Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, & Stigliani, Acta Psychologica, 134, 182-197, 2010a). In this article, we describe an original design for a portable lightweight digital device for measuring hand orientation. This device is microcontroller-based and uses a micro inclinometer chip as its inclination sensor. The parts are fairly inexpensive. This device, used to measure hand orientation, provides a sensitive nonverbal method for studying slant perception, which can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments. We present data comparing the use of a free hand to palm-board and verbal measures for surfaces within reach and explain how to interpret free-hand measures for outdoor hills.

Denmark: HAND in HAND Policy Questionnaire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Hilmar Dyrborg; Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2018-01-01

Som del af det internationale EU finansierede projekt Hand in Hand, der fokuserer på de såkaldte SEI-kompetencer (Social, Emotional, Intercultural), er dansk policy i relation til elevernes sociale, emotionelle og interkulturelle læring kortlagt i denne rapport. Der refereres bl.a. til "elevernes...

2D Hand Tracking Based on Flocking with Obstacle Avoidance

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Zihong Chen

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Hand gesture-based interaction provides a natural and powerful means for human-computer interaction. It is also a good interface for human-robot interaction. However, most of the existing proposals are likely to fail when they meet some skin-coloured objects, especially the face region. In this paper, we present a novel hand tracking method which can track the features of the hand based on the obstacle avoidance flocking behaviour model to overcome skin-coloured distractions. It allows features to be split into two groups under severe distractions and merge later. The experiment results show that our method can track the hand in a cluttered background or when passing the face, while the Flocking of Features (FoF and the Mean Shift Embedded Particle Filter (MSEPF methods may fail. These results suggest that our method has better performance in comparison with the previous methods. It may therefore be helpful to promote the use of the hand gesture-based human-robot interaction method.

Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome.

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Zapka, C; Leff, J; Henley, J; Tittl, J; De Nardo, E; Butler, M; Griggs, R; Fierer, N; Edmonds-Wilson, S

2017-03-28

Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one's own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples ( P hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. IMPORTANCE The hand microbiome is a critical area of research for diverse fields, such as public health and forensics. The suitability of culture-independent methods for assessing effects of hygiene products on microbiota has not been demonstrated. This is the first controlled laboratory clinical hand study to have compared traditional hand hygiene test methods with newer culture-independent characterization methods typically used by skin microbiologists. This study resulted in recommendations for hand hygiene product testing, development of methods, and future hand skin microbiome research. It also demonstrated the importance of inclusion of skin physiological metadata in

Towards the design of a prosthetic underactuated hand

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T. Laliberté

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents recent advances in the design of an underactuated hand for applications in prosthetics. First, the design of the fingers is addressed. Based on previous experiments with prototypes developed in the past, new tendon routings are proposed that lead to a more effective transmission of the forces. A novel elastic tendon routing is also proposed for the passive opening of the hand. A simplified static analysis of the fingers is proposed to support the results. Then, a new kinematic design of the thumb is presented. The thumb is designed to perform out-of-the-plane motions in order to broaden the variety of possible grasps. A mechanism for the implementation of underactuation between the fingers is proposed that alleviates the friction problems encountered in earlier hand designs. Finally, a prototype of the hand is briefly described and typical grasps are shown.

This paper was presented at the IFToMM/ASME International Workshop on Underactuated Grasping (UG2010, 19 August 2010, Montréal, Canada.

Studies on the Estimation of Stature from Hand and Foot Length of an Individual

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O. S. Saka

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Studies on the estimation of stature from hand and foot length of an individual are essential study in personal identification. Aim and Objectives: This study is to find out correlation between statures with hand and foot dimensions in both sexes and gender comparison from an individual in Lautech Staff College in Ogbomoso and College ogbomoso and College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Material and Methods: A sample of 140 students and staff; 70 male and 70 female Students and staff of Lautech Staff College in Ogbomoso and College ogbomoso and College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, between 16-35years were considered and measurements were taken for each of the parameters. Gender differences for the two parameters were determined using Student t-test. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r was used to examine the relationship between two anthropometric parameters and standing height (stature. All these measurements were done by using standard anthropometric instruments and standard anthropometric techniques. Results: The findings of the study indicated that the males mean values are not significantly difference when compared with females mean values in all measured parameters. The study showed significant (p<0.001 positive correlation between the stature with hand lengths and foot lengths. The hand and foot length provide accurate and reliable means in establishing the height of an individual. Conclusion: This study will be useful for forensic scientists and anthropologists as well as anatomists in ascertain medico-legal cases

Prevention of hand eczema

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fisker, Maja H; Ebbehøj, Niels E; Vejlstrup, Søren Grove

2018-01-01

Objective Occupational hand eczema has adverse health and socioeconomic impacts for the afflicted individuals and society. Prevention and treatment strategies are needed. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention on sickness absence, quality of life and severity...... of hand eczema. Methods PREVEX (PreVention of EXema) is an individually randomized, parallel-group superiority trial investigating the pros and cons of one-time, 2-hour, group-based education in skin-protective behavior versus treatment as usual among patients with newly notified occupational hand eczema...

Using environmental engineering to increase hand hygiene compliance: a cross-over study protocol.

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Schmidtke, Kelly Ann; Aujla, Navneet; Marshall, Tom; Hussain, Abid; Hodgkinson, Gerard P; Arheart, Kristopher; Marti, Joachim; Birnbach, David J; Vlaev, Ivo

2017-09-11

Compliance with hand hygiene recommendations in hospital is typically less than 50%. Such low compliance inevitably contributes to hospital-acquired infections that negatively affect patients' well-being and hospitals' finances. The design of the present study is predicated on the assumption that most people who fail to clean their hands are not doing so intentionally, they just forget. The present study will test whether psychological priming can be used to increase the number of people who clean their hands on entering a ward. Here, we present the protocol for this study. The study will use a randomised cross-over design. During the study, each of four wards will be observed during four conditions: olfactory prime, visual prime, both primes and neither prime. Each condition will be experienced for 42 days followed by a 7-day washout period (total duration of trial=189 days). We will record the number of people who enter each ward and whether they clean their hands during observation sessions, the amount of cleaning material used from the dispensers each week and the number of hospital-acquired infections that occur in each period. The outcomes will be compared using a regression analysis. Following the initial trail, the most effective priming condition will be rolled out for 3 months in all the wards. Research ethics approval was obtained from the South Central-Oxford C Research Ethics Committee (16/SC/0554), the Health Regulatory Authority and the sponsor. ISRCTN (15397624); Edge ID 86357. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Effects of lips and hands on auditory learning of second-language speech sounds.

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Hirata, Yukari; Kelly, Spencer D

2010-04-01

Previous research has found that auditory training helps native English speakers to perceive phonemic vowel length contrasts in Japanese, but their performance did not reach native levels after training. Given that multimodal information, such as lip movement and hand gesture, influences many aspects of native language processing, the authors examined whether multimodal input helps to improve native English speakers' ability to perceive Japanese vowel length contrasts. Sixty native English speakers participated in 1 of 4 types of training: (a) audio-only; (b) audio-mouth; (c) audio-hands; and (d) audio-mouth-hands. Before and after training, participants were given phoneme perception tests that measured their ability to identify short and long vowels in Japanese (e.g., /kato/ vs. /kato/). Although all 4 groups improved from pre- to posttest (replicating previous research), the participants in the audio-mouth condition improved more than those in the audio-only condition, whereas the 2 conditions involving hand gestures did not. Seeing lip movements during training significantly helps learners to perceive difficult second-language phonemic contrasts, but seeing hand gestures does not. The authors discuss possible benefits and limitations of using multimodal information in second-language phoneme learning.

Hand Surgery: Anesthesia

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Hand Surgery Anesthesia Email to a friend * required ...

Dynamic causal modeling of touch-evoked potentials in the rubber hand illusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeller, Daniel; Friston, Karl J; Classen, Joseph

2016-09-01

The neural substrate of bodily ownership can be disclosed by the rubber hand illusion (RHI); namely, the illusory self-attribution of an artificial hand that is induced by synchronous tactile stimulation of the subject's hand that is hidden from view. Previous studies have pointed to the premotor cortex (PMC) as a pivotal area in such illusions. To investigate the effective connectivity between - and within - sensory and premotor areas involved in bodily perceptions, we used dynamic causal modeling of touch-evoked responses in 13 healthy subjects. Each subject's right hand was stroked while viewing their own hand ("REAL"), or an artificial hand presented in an anatomically plausible ("CONGRUENT") or implausible ("INCONGRUENT") position. Bayesian model comparison revealed strong evidence for a differential involvement of the PMC in the generation of touch-evoked responses under the three conditions, confirming a crucial role of PMC in bodily self-attribution. In brief, the extrinsic (forward) connection from left occipital cortex to left PMC was stronger for CONGRUENT and INCONGRUENT as compared to REAL, reflecting the augmentation of bottom-up visual input when multisensory integration is challenged. Crucially, intrinsic connectivity in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) was attenuated in the CONGRUENT condition, during the illusory percept. These findings support predictive coding models of the functional architecture of multisensory integration (and attenuation) in bodily perceptual experience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robotically enhanced rubber hand illusion.

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Arata, Jumpei; Hattori, Masashi; Ichikawa, Shohei; Sakaguchi, Masamichi

2014-01-01

The rubber hand illusion is a well-known multisensory illusion. In brief, watching a rubber hand being stroked by a paintbrush while one's own unseen hand is synchronously stroked causes the rubber hand to be attributed to one's own body and to "feel like it's my hand." The rubber hand illusion is thought to be triggered by the synchronized tactile stimulation of both the subject's hand and the fake hand. To extend the conventional rubber hand illusion, we introduce robotic technology in the form of a master-slave telemanipulator. The developed one degree-of-freedom master-slave system consists of an exoskeleton master equipped with an optical encoder that is worn on the subject's index finger and a motor-actuated index finger on the rubber hand, which allows the subject to perform unilateral telemanipulation. The moving rubber hand illusion has been studied by several researchers in the past with mechanically connected rigs between the subject's body and the fake limb. The robotic instruments let us investigate the moving rubber hand illusion with less constraints, thus behaving closer to the classic rubber hand illusion. In addition, the temporal delay between the body and the fake limb can be precisely manipulated. The experimental results revealed that the robotic instruments significantly enhance the rubber hand illusion. The time delay is significantly correlated with the effect of the multisensory illusion, and the effect significantly decreased at time delays over 100 ms. These findings can potentially contribute to the investigations of neural mechanisms in the field of neuroscience and of master-slave systems in the field of robotics.

Hand Anatomy

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is ... Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons Anatomy The upper extremity is ...

Unimanual SNARC Effect: Hand Matters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianna eRiello

2011-12-01

Full Text Available A structural representation of the hand embedding information about the identity and relative position of fingers is necessary to counting routines. It may also support associations between numbers and allocentric spatial codes that predictably interact with other known numerical spatial representations, such as the mental number line. In this study, 48 Western participants whose typical counting routine proceeded from thumb-to-little on both hands performed magnitude and parity binary judgments. Response keys were pressed either with the right index and middle fingers or with the left index and middle fingers in separate blocks. 24 participants responded with either hands in prone posture (i.e. palm down and 24 participants responded with either hands in supine (i.e. palm up posture. When hands were in prone posture, the counting direction of the left hand conflicted with the direction of the left-right mental number line, whereas the counting direction of the right hand was consistent with it. When hands were in supine posture, the opposite was true. If systematic associations existed between relative number magnitude and an allocentric spatial representation of the finger series within each hand, as predicted on the basis of counting habits, interactions would be expected between hand posture and a unimanual version of the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC effect. Data revealed that with hands in prone posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the right hand, and with hands in supine posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the left hand. We propose that a posture-invariant body structural representation of the finger series provides a relevant frame of reference, a within-hand directional vector, that is associated to simple number processing. Such frame of reference can significantly interact with stimulus-response correspondence effects that have been attributed to the mapping of numbers on a mental

Readability of Patient Education Materials in Hand Surgery and Health Literacy Best Practices for Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadden, Kristie; Prince, Latrina Y; Schnaekel, Asa; Couch, Cory G; Stephenson, John M; Wyrick, Theresa O

2016-08-01

This study aimed to update a portion of a 2008 study of patient education materials from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Web site with new readability results, to compare the results to health literacy best practices, and to make recommendations to the field for improvement. A sample of 77 patient education documents were downloaded from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Web site, handcare.org, and assessed for readability using 4 readability tools. Mean readability grade-level scores were derived. Best practices for plain language for written health materials were compiled from 3 government agency sources. The mean readability of the 77 patient education documents in the study was 9.3 grade level. This reading level is reduced from the previous study in 2008 in which the overall mean was 10.6; however, the current sample grade level still exceeds recommended readability according to best practices. Despite a small body of literature on the readability of patient education materials related to hand surgery and other orthopedic issues over the last 7 years, readability was not dramatically improved in our current sample. Using health literacy as a framework, improvements in hand surgery patient education may result in better understanding and better outcomes for patients seeing hand surgeons. Improved understanding of patient education materials related to hand surgery may improve preventable negative outcomes that are clinically significant as well as contribute to improved quality of life for patients. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does Framing the Hot Hand Belief Change Decision-Making Behavior in Volleyball?

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Raab, Markus; MacMahon, Clare

2015-01-01

Purpose: Previous discussions of the hot hand belief, wherein athletes believe that they have a greater chance of scoring after 2 or 3 hits (successes) compared with 2 or 3 misses, have focused on whether this is the case within game statistics. Researchers have argued that the perception of the hot hand in random sequences is a bias of the…

Contact sensitisation in hand eczema patients-relation to subdiagnosis, severity and quality of life: a multi-centre study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agner, Tove; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Brandao, Francisco M

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Contact sensitisation has been identified as a factor associated with poor prognosis for patients with hand eczema. OBJECTIVES: To study implications of contact sensitisation with respect to severity, quality of life (QoL) and subdiagnosis of hand eczema. METHODS: The study was perfor......BACKGROUND: Contact sensitisation has been identified as a factor associated with poor prognosis for patients with hand eczema. OBJECTIVES: To study implications of contact sensitisation with respect to severity, quality of life (QoL) and subdiagnosis of hand eczema. METHODS: The study...... eczema and presence of contact sensitisation were independent risk factors for increased severity as measured by Hand Eczema Severity Index. Furthermore, the severity of hand eczema increased by the number of contact sensitisations detected (P = 0.023). High age and personal history of atopic eczema were...... independent risk factors for low QoL, as measured by Dermatology Life Quality Index, and atopic eczema as well as allergic contact dermatitis as subdiagnosis was associated with increased sick leave. CONCLUSION: Diagnostic subgroups were not found to be related to specific allergens. Contact sensitisation...

Studying hand grip strength development among students who have taken tennis and massage courses

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Erzeybek Mustafa Said

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, the finger and hand force developments of the students who have taken selective/applied Tennis and Massage courses at the University have been examined. From the students of the Department of Physical Education and Sport, 19 healthy females and 73 healthy males (age = 21.25 ± 1.55 years (average ± SD who have taken selective Tennis courses;51 healthy males (age = 22.00 ± 1.04 years (average ± SD who have taken Massage courses; and as the control group,16 healthy womenand50 healthy males(age = 21.72 ± 1.47 years (average ± SD have been participated to the study. The age, length, body weight, grip strength of both hands as well as the finger grip strength of the subjects have been recorded. The course schedule has been set as once a week four hours practice for both tennis and massage. Two weeks of the education and training program that takes twelve weeks in total were assigned for theoretical classes. The remaining period of ten weeks was for practice classes and the measurements were performed before and after this ten weeks period. The hand grip strength measurement has been carried out with a Takkei branded hand dynamometer whereas for the measurement of the finger grip strength, a Baseline branded pinch meter has been used. For both the pre-test and final test of the finger grip and hand grip strength measurements, the paired sample t test has been used in terms of in-group comparisons, whereas for the inter-group comparisons, one-way ANOVA has been used. For the significant F values, post hoc Tukey test has been used. The right hand and the left hand grip values of both test groups as well as the values of the control group have been significantly increased between the pre-test and final test. Particularly, preferring the exercises that improve the hand and finger grip strengths would enable a better racket handle grip as well as an improved shot efficiency for tennis. This would also enable masseurs/masseuses to apply

Thumb Reach of Indonesian Young Adult When Interacting with Touchscreen of Single-Handed Device: A Preliminary Study

Science.gov (United States)

Umami, M. K.

2018-01-01

This study is a preliminary survey on thumb reach of Indonesian population when interacting with single-handed device. This study was aimed to know the thumb reach envelope on the screen of mobile phone. The correlation between the thumb reach vs. the hand length and thumb length was also identified. Thirty young adults participated in the study. All participants had normal body stature and were right-handed person. In the observational phase, the participant was asked to colour the canvas area on the screen of the mobile phone by using his/her thumb. The participant had to complete the task by applying the single hand interaction. The participant should grab the mobile phone as he/she use it normally in his/her daily activities. The thumb reach envelope of participants was identified from the coloured area of the canvas. The results of this study found that participants with a large hand length and thumb length tend to have a large thumb reach. The results of this study also show the thumb reach area of the participants is forming an elliptical shape that runs from the northeast to southwest on the device screen.

Effectiveness of Hand Sanitizers with and without Organic Acids for Removal of Rhinovirus from Hands ▿

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Ronald B.; Fuls, Janice L.; Rodgers, Nancy D.

2010-01-01

These studies evaluated the effectiveness of ethanol hand sanitizers with or without organic acids to remove detectable rhinovirus from the hands and prevent experimental rhinovirus infection. Ethanol hand sanitizers were significantly more effective than hand washing with soap and water. The addition of organic acids to the ethanol provided residual virucidal activity that persisted for at least 4 h. Whether these treatments will reduce rhinovirus infection in the natural setting remains to be determined. PMID:20047916

Conceptual distortions of hand structure are robust to changes in stimulus information.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambroziak, Klaudia B; Tamè, Luigi; Longo, Matthew R

2018-05-01

Previous studies showed stereotyped distortions in hand representations. People judge their knuckles as farther forward in the hand than they actually are. The cause of this bias remains unclear. We tested whether both visual and tactile information contribute to the bias. In Experiment 1, participants judged the location of their knuckles by pointing to the location on their palm with: (1) a metal baton (using vision and touch), (2) a metal baton while blindfolded (using touch), or (3) a laser pointer (using vision). Distal mislocalisations were found in all conditions. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether judgments are influenced by visual landmarks such as creases. Participants localized their knuckles on either a photograph of their palm or a silhouette. Distal mislocalisations were apparent in both conditions. These results show that distal biases are resistant to changes in stimulus information, suggesting that such mislocalisations reflect a conceptual mis-representation of hand structure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES A radiological study of the rheumatoid hand in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nicky

There are only a few publications on rheumatoid involvement in black South Africans.1-3 These publications do not address wrist and hand involvement specifically in black patients. However, when treating black patients one gets the impression that the wrist is more severely affected than the rest of the hand. In his thesis ...

Robotic hand project

OpenAIRE

Karaçizmeli, Cengiz; Çakır, Gökçe; Tükel, Dilek

2014-01-01

In this work, the mechatronic based robotic hand is controlled by the position data taken from the glove which has flex sensors mounted to capture finger bending of the human hand. The angular movement of human hand’s fingers are perceived and processed by a microcontroller, and the robotic hand is controlled by actuating servo motors. It has seen that robotic hand can simulate the movement of the human hand that put on the glove, during tests have done. This robotic hand can be used not only...

Spacesuit Glove-Induced Hand Trauma and Analysis of Potentially Related Risk Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Charvat, Chacqueline M.; Norcross, Jason; Reid, Christopher R.; McFarland, Shane M.

2015-01-01

Injuries to the hands are common among astronauts who train for extravehicular activity (EVA). When the gloves are pressurized, they restrict movement and create pressure points during tasks, sometimes resulting in pain, muscle fatigue, abrasions, and occasionally more severe injuries such as onycholysis. Glove injuries, both anecdotal and recorded, have been reported during EVA training and flight persistently through NASA's history regardless of mission or glove model. Theories as to causation such as glove-hand fit are common but often lacking in supporting evidence. Previous statistical analysis has evaluated onycholysis in the context of crew anthropometry only. The purpose of this study was to analyze all injuries (as documented in the medical records) and available risk factor variables with the goal to determine engineering and operational controls that may reduce hand injuries due to the EVA glove in the future. A literature review and data mining study were conducted between 2012 and 2014. This study included 179 US NASA crew who trained or completed an EVA between 1981 and 2010 (crossing both Shuttle and ISS eras) and wore either the 4000 Series or Phase VI glove during Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit EVA training and flight. All injuries recorded in medical records were analyzed in their association to candidate risk factor variables. Those risk factor variables included demographic characteristics, hand anthropometry, glove fit characteristics, and training/EVA characteristics. Utilizing literature, medical records and anecdotal causation comments recorded in crewmember injury data, investigators were able to identify several risk factors associated with increased risk of glove related injuries. Prime among them were smaller hand anthropometry, duration of individual suited exposures, and improper glove-hand fit as calculated by the difference in the anthropometry middle finger length compared to the baseline EVA glove middle finger length.

Acupuncture in subjects with cold hands sensation: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Jung-Chul; Lee, Hyun-jong; Kwak, Min-Ah; Park, Sung-Hoon; Shin, ImHee; Yun, Woo-Sung; Park, Kihyuk

2014-09-04

Cold hands sensation is a common disorder within the Korean population. Many Korean family physicians believe that it is a mild early manifestation of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), or may be related to RP. RP is characterized by reversible digital vasospasm provoked by cold temperatures and/or emotional stress, and doctors often prescribe medications that are used in treatment of RP for subjects with cold hands. However, this has not shown a clear benefit, and these medications can cause unwanted side effects. It is also reported that traditional Korean medicine, including acupuncture, is widely used to treat cold hands, although the current level of evidence for this approach is also poor and to date, there have been no published randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for cold hands. We have therefore designed a pilot RCT to obtain information for the design of a further full-scale trial. The proposed study is a five-week pilot RCT. A total of 14 subjects will be recruited and randomly allocated to two groups: an acupuncture plus medication group (experimental group) and a medication-only group (control group). All subjects will take nifedipine (5 mg once daily) and beraprost (20 mg three times daily) for three weeks. The experimental group will receive additional treatment with three acupuncture sessions per week for three weeks (nine sessions total). The primary outcome will be measured using a visual analogue scale. Secondary outcomes will be measured by blood perfusion in laser Doppler perfusion imaging of the hands, frequency and duration of episodes of cold hands, and heart rate variability. Assessments will be made at baseline and at one, three, and five weeks thereafter. This study will provide an indication of the feasibility and a clinical foundation for a future large-scale trial. This study was registered at Korean Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) registry on 5 August 2013 with the

Clean Hands Count

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on May ... 34 How The Clean Hands - Safe Hands System Works - Duration: 3:38. Clean Hands-Safe Hands 5, ...

Eye tracking a self-moved target with complex hand-target dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Landelle, Caroline; Montagnini, Anna; Madelain, Laurent

2016-01-01

Previous work has shown that the ability to track with the eye a moving target is substantially improved when the target is self-moved by the subject's hand compared with when being externally moved. Here, we explored a situation in which the mapping between hand movement and target motion was perturbed by simulating an elastic relationship between the hand and target. Our objective was to determine whether the predictive mechanisms driving eye-hand coordination could be updated to accommodate this complex hand-target dynamics. To fully appreciate the behavioral effects of this perturbation, we compared eye tracking performance when self-moving a target with a rigid mapping (simple) and a spring mapping as well as when the subject tracked target trajectories that he/she had previously generated when using the rigid or spring mapping. Concerning the rigid mapping, our results confirmed that smooth pursuit was more accurate when the target was self-moved than externally moved. In contrast, with the spring mapping, eye tracking had initially similar low spatial accuracy (though shorter temporal lag) in the self versus externally moved conditions. However, within ∼5 min of practice, smooth pursuit improved in the self-moved spring condition, up to a level similar to the self-moved rigid condition. Subsequently, when the mapping unexpectedly switched from spring to rigid, the eye initially followed the expected target trajectory and not the real one, thereby suggesting that subjects used an internal representation of the new hand-target dynamics. Overall, these results emphasize the stunning adaptability of smooth pursuit when self-maneuvering objects with complex dynamics. PMID:27466129

Hand Shape Affects Access to Memories

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K. Dijkstra (Katinka); M.P. Kaschak; R.A. Zwaan (Rolf)

2008-01-01

textabstractThe present study examined the ways that body posture facilitated retrieval of autobiographical memories in more detail by focusing on two aspects of congruence in position of a specific body part: hand shape and hand orientation. Hand shape is important in the tactile perception and

Unimanual SNARC Effect: Hand Matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Riello, Marianna; Rusconi, Elena

2011-01-01

A structural representation of the hand embedding information about the identity and relative position of fingers is necessary to counting routines. It may also support associations between numbers and allocentric spatial codes that predictably interact with other known numerical spatial representations, such as the mental number line (MNL). In this study, 48 Western participants whose typical counting routine proceeded from thumb-to-little on both hands performed magnitude and parity binary judgments. Response keys were pressed either with the right index and middle fingers or with the left index and middle fingers in separate blocks. 24 participants responded with either hands in prone posture (i.e., palm down) and 24 participants responded with either hands in supine (i.e., palm up) posture. When hands were in prone posture, the counting direction of the left hand conflicted with the direction of the left-right MNL, whereas the counting direction of the right hand was consistent with it. When hands were in supine posture, the opposite was true. If systematic associations existed between relative number magnitude and an allocentric spatial representation of the finger series within each hand, as predicted on the basis of counting habits, interactions would be expected between hand posture and a unimanual version of the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect. Data revealed that with hands in prone posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the right hand, and with hands in supine posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the left hand. We propose that a posture-invariant body structural representation of the finger series provides a relevant frame of reference, a within-hand directional vector, that is associated to simple number processing. Such frame of reference can significantly interact with stimulus-response correspondence effects, like the SNARC, that have been typically attributed to the mapping of numbers on a left

Homozygous sequence variants in the WNT10B gene underlie split hand/foot malformation

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Asmat Ullah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHFM, also known as ectrodactyly is a rare genetic disorder. It is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of limb malformations characterized by absence/hypoplasia and/or median cleft of hands and/or feet. To date, seven genes underlying SHFM have been identified. This study described four consanguineous families (A-D segregating SHFM in an autosomal recessive manner. Linkage in the families was established to chromosome 12p11.1–q13.13 harboring WNT10B gene. Sequence analysis identified a novel homozygous nonsense variant (p.Gln154* in exon 4 of the WNT10B gene in two families (A and B. In the other two families (C and D, a previously reported variant (c.300_306dupAGGGCGG; p.Leu103Argfs*53 was detected. This study further expands the spectrum of the sequence variants reported in the WNT10B gene, which result in the split hand/foot malformation.

Hand sanitizer-dispensing door handles increase hand hygiene compliance: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Babiarz, Lukasz S; Savoie, Brent; McGuire, Mark; McConnell, Lauren; Nagy, Paul

2014-04-01

Improving rates of hand hygiene compliance (HHC) has been shown to reduce nosocomial disease. We compared the HHC for a traditional wall-mounted unit and a novel sanitizer-dispensing door handle device in a hospital inpatient ultrasound area. HHC increased 24.5%-77.1% (P sanitizer-dispensing door handle, whereas it remained unchanged for the other rooms. Technical improvements like a sanitizer-dispensing door handle can improve hospital HHC. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

COMPARISON THE NUMBER OF BACTERIA BETWEEN WASHING HANDS USING SOAP AND HAND SANITIZER AS A BACTERIOLOGY LEARNING RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS

OpenAIRE

Satya Darmayani; Askrening Askrening; Apita Ariyani

2017-01-01

Hands are the principal carriers of bacterial diseases, therefore very important to know that washing hands with soap or hand sanitizer is highly effective healthy behaviors to reduce bacteria in the palm. This study aimed to determine the total number of bacteria between washing hands with soap and hand sanitizer, also applying the results of these studies as a learning resource in bacteriology. The research design was the true experiment with pretest-posttest control group research design a...

An Efficient Solution for Hand Gesture Recognition from Video Sequence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PRODAN, R.-C.

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The paper describes a system of hand gesture recognition by image processing for human robot interaction. The recognition and interpretation of the hand postures acquired through a video camera allow the control of the robotic arm activity: motion - translation and rotation in 3D - and tightening/releasing the clamp. A gesture dictionary was defined and heuristic algorithms for recognition were developed and tested. The system can be used for academic and industrial purposes, especially for those activities where the movements of the robotic arm were not previously scheduled, for training the robot easier than using a remote control. Besides the gesture dictionary, the novelty of the paper consists in a new technique for detecting the relative positions of the fingers in order to recognize the various hand postures, and in the achievement of a robust system for controlling robots by postures of the hands.

Human left ventral premotor cortex mediates matching of hand posture to object use.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guy Vingerhoets

Full Text Available Visuomotor transformations for grasping have been associated with a fronto-parietal network in the monkey brain. The human homologue of the parietal monkey region (AIP has been identified as the anterior part of the intraparietal sulcus (aIPS, whereas the putative human equivalent of the monkey frontal region (F5 is located in the ventral part of the premotor cortex (vPMC. Results from animal studies suggest that monkey F5 is involved in the selection of appropriate hand postures relative to the constraints of the task. In humans, the functional roles of aIPS and vPMC appear to be more complex and the relative contribution of each region to grasp selection remains uncertain. The present study aimed to identify modulation in brain areas sensitive to the difficulty level of tool object - hand posture matching. Seventeen healthy right handed participants underwent fMRI while observing pictures of familiar tool objects followed by pictures of hand postures. The task was to decide whether the hand posture matched the functional use of the previously shown object. Conditions were manipulated for level of difficulty. Compared to a picture matching control task, the tool object - hand posture matching conditions conjointly showed increased modulation in several left hemispheric regions of the superior and inferior parietal lobules (including aIPS, the middle occipital gyrus, and the inferior temporal gyrus. Comparison of hard versus easy conditions selectively modulated the left inferior frontal gyrus with peak activity located in its opercular part (Brodmann area (BA 44. We suggest that in the human brain, vPMC/BA44 is involved in the matching of hand posture configurations in accordance with visual and functional demands.

Development and evaluation of a hand tracker using depth images captured from an overhead perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Czarnuch, Stephen; Mihailidis, Alex

2015-03-27

We present the development and evaluation of a robust hand tracker based on single overhead depth images for use in the COACH, an assistive technology for people with dementia. The new hand tracker was designed to overcome limitations experienced by the COACH in previous clinical trials. We train a random decision forest classifier using ∼5000 manually labeled, unbalanced, training images. Hand positions from the classifier are translated into task actions based on proximity to environmental objects. Tracker performance is evaluated using a large set of ∼24 000 manually labeled images captured from 41 participants in a fully-functional washroom, and compared to the system's previous colour-based hand tracker. Precision and recall were 0.994 and 0.938 for the depth tracker compared to 0.981 and 0.822 for the colour tracker with the current data, and 0.989 and 0.466 in the previous study. The improved tracking performance supports integration of the depth-based tracker into the COACH toward unsupervised, real-world trials. Implications for Rehabilitation The COACH is an intelligent assistive technology that can enable people with cognitive disabilities to stay at home longer, supporting the concept of aging-in-place. Automated prompting systems, a type of intelligent assistive technology, can help to support the independent completion of activities of daily living, increasing the independence of people with cognitive disabilities while reducing the burden of care experienced by caregivers. Robust motion tracking using depth imaging supports the development of intelligent assistive technologies like the COACH. Robust motion tracking also has application to other forms of assistive technologies including gaming, human-computer interaction and automated assessments.

Structural joint damage and hand bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lykke, Midtbøll Ørnbjerg

2018-03-01

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by pain, swelling and progressive destruction of the joints leading to loss of function and invalidity. The bone destruction in RA is characterised by two distinct features: structural joint damage and hand bone loss, and their prevention is an important treatment goal. Inhibitors of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-inhibitors) have markedly improved the treatment options in RA patients who fail treatment with conventional synthetic Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drugs (sDMARDS), but their effectiveness with regards to structural joint damage and hand bone loss, predictors thereof and the association with disease activity during treatment have mainly been investigated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with limited generalizability due to strict in- and exclusion criteria.
 The main aim of the PhD thesis was to assess and predict structural joint damage and hand bone loss in patients with early and established RA treated with sDMARDs and TNF-inhibitors. This was investigated in two cohorts: A) The "DANBIO X-ray study": an observational, nationwide, longitudinal cohort study of established RA patients treated in clinical practice who initiated TNF-inhibitor treatment after failure of sDMARDs and B) The "OPERA study": a randomized controlled trial of sDMARD-naïve patients with early RA treated with methotrexate (MTX) and intraarticular glucocorticoid injections in combination with adalimumab or placebo-adalimumab. Structural joint damage progression was assessed with the Sharp/van der Heijde radiographic method and hand bone loss was assessed with Digital X-ray Radiogrammetry. 
From the studies presented in the PhD thesis the following was concluded:
 Structural joint damage progression and hand bone loss were significantly lower during two years of TNF-inhibitor treatment compared to the previous two years of sDMARD-treatment in the DANBIO X-ray Study. The majority of patients had

"In Situ Vascular Nerve Graft" for Restoration of Intrinsic Hand Function: An Anatomical Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mozaffarian, Kamran; Zemoodeh, Hamid Reza; Zarenezhad, Mohammad; Owji, Mohammad

2018-06-01

In combined high median and ulnar nerve injury, transfer of the posterior interosseous nerve branches to the motor branch of the ulnar nerve (MUN) is previously described in order to restore intrinsic hand function. In this operation a segment of sural nerve graft is required to close the gap between the donor and recipient nerves. However the thenar muscles are not innervated by this nerve transfer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the superficial radial nerve (SRN) can be used as an "in situ vascular nerve graft" to connect the donor nerves to the MUN and the motor branch of median nerve (MMN) at the same time in order to address all denervated intrinsic and thenar muscles. Twenty fresh male cadavers were dissected in order to evaluate the feasibility of this modification of technique. The size of nerve branches, the number of axons and the tension at repair site were evaluated. This nerve transfer was technically feasible in all specimens. There was no significant size mismatch between the donor and recipient nerves Conclusions: The possible advantages of this modification include innervation of both median and ulnar nerve innervated intrinsic muscles, preservation of vascularity of the nerve graft which might accelerate the nerve regeneration, avoidance of leg incision and therefore the possibility of performing surgery under regional instead of general anesthesia. Briefly, this novel technique is a viable option which can be used instead of conventional nerve graft in some brachial plexus or combined high median and ulnar nerve injuries when restoration of intrinsic hand function by transfer of posterior interosseous nerve branches is attempted.

Hand eczema: An update

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chembolli Lakshmi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Eczema, the commonest disorders afflicting the hands, is also the commonest occupational skin disease (OSD. In the dermatology outpatient departments, only the severe cases are diagnosed since patients rarely report with early hand dermatitis. Mild forms are picked up only during occupational screening. Hand eczema (HE can evolve into a chronic condition with persistent disease even after avoiding contact with the incriminated allergen / irritant. The important risk factors for hand eczema are atopy (especially the presence of dermatitis, wet work, and contact allergy. The higher prevalence in women as compared to men in most studies is related to environmental factors and is mainly applicable to younger women in their twenties. Preventive measures play a very important role in therapy as they enable the affected individuals to retain their employment and livelihood. This article reviews established preventive and therapeutic options and newer drugs like alitretinoin in hand eczema with a mention on the etiology and morphology. Identifying the etiological factors is of paramount importance as avoiding or minimizing these factors play an important role in treatment.

Analysis of Information Remaining on Hand Held Devices Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andy Jones

2008-06-01

resellers.The study was carried out by the security research team at the BT IT Futures Centre in conjunction with Edith Cowan University in Australia and the University of Glamorgan in the UK. The basis of the research was to acquire a number of second hand held devices from a diverse range of sources and then determine whether they still contained information relating to a previous owner or whether the information had been effectively removed. The devices that were obtained for the research were supplied blind to the researchers through a third party. The ‘blind’ supply of the devices meant that the people undertaking the research were provided with no information about the device and that the source of the devices and any external markings were hidden from them. This process was put in place to ensure that any findings of the research were based solely on the information that could be recovered from the digital storage media that was contained within the device.The underlying methodology that was used in the research was based on the forensic imaging of the devices. A forensic image of a device is a copy of the digital media that has been created in a scientifically sound manner to a standard that is acceptable to the courts. This procedure was implemented to ensure that the evidential integrity of the devices was maintained, with the devices also then being stored in a secure manner.  All subsequent research was then conducted on the image of the device. This was considered to be a sensible precaution against the possibility that information discovered on a device might indicate criminal activity and require the involvement of law enforcement.  Following the forensic imaging of the devices, the images that were created were then analyzed to determine whether any information remained and whether it could be easily recovered using commonly available tools and techniques that anyone who had purchased the device could acquire.

Vascular changes of the hand in professional baseball players with emphasis on digital ischemia in catchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginn, T Adam; Smith, Adam M; Snyder, Jon R; Koman, L Andrew; Smith, Beth P; Rushing, Julia

2005-07-01

Repetitive trauma to the hand is a concern for baseball players. The present study investigated the effects of repetitive trauma and the prevalence of microvascular pathological changes in the hands of minor league professional baseball players. In contrast to previous investigators, we documented the presence of abnormalities in younger, asymptomatic individuals. Thirty-six baseball players on active minor league rosters underwent a history and physical examination of both hands as well as additional specialized tests, including Doppler ultrasound, a timed Allen test, determination of digital brachial pressure indices, and ring sizing of fingers. Data were compared between gloved hands and throwing hands, hitters and nonhitters, and players at four different positions (catcher [nine subjects], outfielder [seven subjects], infielder [five subjects], and pitcher [fifteen subjects]). Digital brachial indices in the ring fingers of the gloved (p healthy professional baseball players in all positions, with a significantly higher prevalence in catchers, prior to the development of clinically important ischemia. Repetitive trauma resulting from the impact of the baseball also leads to digital hypertrophy in the index finger of the gloved hand of catchers. Gloves currently used by professional catchers do not adequately protect the hand from repetitive trauma.

Hand rub consumption and hand hygiene compliance are not indicators of pathogen transmission in intensive care units.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eckmanns, T; Schwab, F; Bessert, J; Wettstein, R; Behnke, M; Grundmann, Hajo; Rüden, H; Gastmeier, P

2006-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate whether nosocomial infection (NI) rates, hand hygiene compliance rates and the amount of alcohol-based hand rub used for hand disinfection are useful indicators of pathogen transmission in intensive care units (ICUs), and whether they could be helpful

Implementation of directly observed patient hand hygiene for hospitalized patients by hand hygiene ambassadors in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Vincent C C; Tai, Josepha W M; Li, W S; Chau, P H; So, Simon Y C; Wong, Lisa M W; Ching, Radley H C; Ng, Modissa M L; Ho, Sara K Y; Lee, Doris W Y; Lee, W M; Wong, Sally C Y; Yuen, K Y

2016-06-01

The importance of compliance with hand hygiene by patients is increasingly recognized to prevent health care-associated infections. This descriptive study observed the effects of an education campaign, targeted to increase patients' self-initiated hand hygiene, and a hand hygiene ambassador-initiated directly observed hand hygiene program on patients' hand hygiene compliance in a university-affiliated hospital. The overall audited compliance of patients' self-initiated hand hygiene was only 37.5%, with a rate of 26.9% (112/416 episodes) before meals and medications, 27.5% (19/69 episodes) after using a urinal or bedpan, and 89.7% (87/97 episodes) after attending toilet facilities. Patients referred from a residential care home for older adults had significantly lower hand hygiene compliance (P = .007). Comparatively, the overall audited compliance of ambassador-initiated directly observed hand hygiene was 97.3% (428/440 episodes), which was significantly higher than patients' self-initiated hand hygiene via a patient education program (37.5%, 218/582 episodes, P hand hygiene can play an important role in improving compliance with hand hygiene by hospitalized patients. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neutrino mass, the right-handed interaction and the double beta decay, 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doi, Masaru; Kotani, Tsuneyuki; Nishiura, Hiroyuki; Okuda, Kazuko; Takasugi, Eiichi.

1981-01-01

In order to shed light on the important question whether neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles, the double β decay is investigated within a general form of weak interaction Hamiltonian. The systematic study is made on the 0 + → J + nuclear transitions for the two-neutrino and neutrinoless modes both in the two-nucleon- and N*-mechanism. It is shown that for the neutrinoless mode, only the 0 + → 0 + transition in the two-nucleon mechanism is allowed if there is no right-handed interaction. When the right-handed interaction gives a sizable contribution, the role of the 0 + → 2 + transition becomes as important as the 0 + → 0 + transition. The comparison of our results with the previous ones is also presented. (author)

Hand-assisted hybrid laparoscopic-robotic total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch--anal anastomosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Luca; Guadagni, Simone; Mariniello, Maria Donatella; Furbetta, Niccolò; Pisano, Roberta; D'Isidoro, Cristiano; Caprili, Giovanni; Marciano, Emanuele; Di Candio, Giulio; Boggi, Ugo; Mosca, Franco

2015-08-01

Few studies have reported minimally invasive total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) for ulcerative colitis (UC) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). We herein report a novel hand-assisted hybrid laparoscopic-robotic technique for patients with FAP and UC. Between February 2010 and March 2014, six patients underwent hand-assisted hybrid laparoscopic-robotic total proctocolectomy with IPAA. The abdominal colectomy was performed laparoscopically with hand assistance through a transverse suprapubic incision, also used to fashion the ileal pouch. The proctectomy was carried out with the da Vinci Surgical System. The IPAA was hand-sewn through a trans-anal approach. The procedure was complemented by a temporary diverting loop ileostomy. The mean hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) time was 154.6 (±12.8) min whereas the mean robotic time was 93.6 (±8.1) min. In all cases, a nerve-sparing proctectomy was performed, and no conversion to traditional laparotomy was required. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 13.2 (±7.4) days. No anastomotic leakage was observed. To date, no autonomic neurological disorders have been observed with a mean of 5.8 (±1.3) bowel movements per day. The hand-assisted hybrid laparoscopic-robotic approach to total proctocolectomy with IPAA has not been previously described. Our report shows the feasibility of this hybrid approach, which surpasses most of the limitations of pure laparoscopic and robotic techniques. Further experience is necessary to refine the technique and fully assess its potential advantages.

Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Tenosynovitis in the Hand: Two Case Reports with the MR Imaging Findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Hyun Jung; Kwon, Jong Won; Yoon, Young Cheol; Choi, Sang Hee

2011-01-01

Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections can cause destructive tenosynovitis of the hand. We report on and discuss the clinical course and distinctive radiologic findings of two patients with hand tenosynovitis secondary to M. marinum and intracellulare infection, which are different from those of the nontuberculous mycobacterial infections reported in the previous literature.

Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Tenosynovitis in the Hand: Two Case Reports with the MR Imaging Findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Hyun Jung; Kwon, Jong Won; Yoon, Young Cheol; Choi, Sang Hee [Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2011-11-15

Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections can cause destructive tenosynovitis of the hand. We report on and discuss the clinical course and distinctive radiologic findings of two patients with hand tenosynovitis secondary to M. marinum and intracellulare infection, which are different from those of the nontuberculous mycobacterial infections reported in the previous literature.

Study of functional-performance deficits in athletes with previous ankle sprains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

hamid Babaee

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Despite the importance of functional-performance deficits in athletes with history of ankle sprain few, studies have been carried out in this area. The aim of this research was to study relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in athletes. Materials and methods: The subjects were 40 professional athletes selected through random sampling among volunteer participants in soccer, basketball, volleyball and handball teams of Lorestan province. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: Injured group (athletes with previous ankle sprains and healthy group (athletes without previous ankle sprains. In this descriptive study we used Functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test to determine ankle deficits and limitations. They participated in figure 8 hop test including hopping in 8 shape course with the length of 5 meters and side hop test including 10 side hop repetitions in course with the length of 30 centimeters. Time were recorded via stopwatch. Results: After data gathering and assessing information distributions, Pearson correlation was used to assess relationships, and independent T test to assess differences between variables. Finally the results showed that there is a significant relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in the athletes. Conclusion: The athletes who had previous ankle sprains indicated functional-performance deficits more than healthy athletes in completion of mentioned functional-performance tests. The functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test are sensitive and suitable to assess and detect functional-performance deficits in athletes. Therefore we can use the figure 8 hop and side hop tests for goals such as prevention, assessment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains without spending too much money and time.

Predictive models to determine imagery strategies employed by children to judge hand laterality.

Science.gov (United States)

Spruijt, Steffie; Jongsma, Marijtje L A; van der Kamp, John; Steenbergen, Bert

2015-01-01

A commonly used paradigm to study motor imagery is the hand laterality judgment task. The present study aimed to determine which strategies young children employ to successfully perform this task. Children of 5 to 8 years old (N = 92) judged laterality of back and palm view hand pictures in different rotation angles. Response accuracy and response duration were registered. Response durations of the trials with a correct judgment were fitted to a-priori defined predictive sinusoid models, representing different strategies to successfully perform the hand laterality judgment task. The first model predicted systematic changes in response duration as a function of rotation angle of the displayed hand. The second model predicted that response durations are affected by biomechanical constraints of hand rotation. If observed data could be best described by the first model, this would argue for a mental imagery strategy that does not involve motor processes to solve the task. The second model reflects a motor imagery strategy to solve the task. In line with previous research, we showed an age-related increase in response accuracy and decrease in response duration in children. Observed data for both back and palm view showed that motor imagery strategies were used to perform hand laterality judgments, but that not all the children use these strategies (appropriately) at all times. A direct comparison of response duration patterns across age sheds new light on age-related differences in the strategies employed to solve the task. Importantly, the employment of the motor imagery strategy for successful task performance did not change with age.

Hand Osteoblastoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Farzan

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Osteoblastoma is one of the rarest primary bone tumors. Although, small bones of the hands and feet are the third most common location for this tumor, the hand involvement is very rare and few case observations were published in the English-language literature. Materials and Methods: In this study, we report five cases of benign osteoblastoma of the hand, 3 in metacarpals and two in phalanxes. The clinical feature is not specific. The severe nocturnal, salicylate-responsive pain is not present in patients with osteoblastoma. The pain is dull, persistent and less localized. The clinical course is usually long and there is often symptoms for months before medical attention are sought. Swelling is a more persistent finding in osteoblastoma of the hand that we found in all of our patients. The radiologic findings are indistinctive, so preoperative diagnosis based on X-ray appearance is difficult. In all of our 5 cases, we fail to consider osteoblastoma as primary diagnosis. Pathologically, osteoblastoma consisting of a well-vascularized connective tissue stroma in which there is active production of osteoid and primitive woven bone. Treatment depends on the stage and localization of the tumor. Curettage and bone grafting is sufficient in stage 1 or stage 2, but in stage 3 wide resection is necessary for prevention of recurrence. Osteosarcoma is the most important differential diagnosis that may lead to inappropriate operation.

Functional relationship between dominant and non-dominant hand in motor task - hand grip strength endurance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kljajić Dragana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the functional relationship between dominant and non-dominant hand in the strength endurance motor task - hand grip, in the referent population of healthy and young persons. For the purpose of the research we have implemented the method of isometric dynamometry and standardized hand grip test. The study included 48 participants, 23 of them being of female and 25 of male gender. The analysis of variance (ANOVA was used to determine the difference between the sets of variables in the function of gender and functional dimorphism, while the Bonferroni criterion was applied to determine the differences between pairs of individual variables. The difference between the maximum hand grip of dominant and non-dominant hand in female participants amounted to 9.28%, and in male ones 7.39% in favor of the dominant hand. There is no statistically significant difference between nondominant and dominant hand regarding the force endurance time aspect at 30%, 50% and 80% out of the maximum hand grip level, as well as at the absolute and relative force impulse indicators as an endurance measure. The value of gender dimorphism in relation to the absolute indicators of force momentum at 30%, 50% and 80% out of the maximum hand grip level in female participants is 0.9714, 0.9145, 0.9301, and in male participants 0.9515, 0.8264 and 0.8606. The force momentum indicators value at 30%, 50% and 80% out of the maximum hand grip level in female participants is ImpF30%=21167.58±6923.67 Ns, ImpF50%=10846.94±3800.56 Ns and ImpF80%=5438.46±1993.12 Ns, and in male participants ImpF30%=17734.03±6881.92 Ns, ImpF50%=13903.61±3437.76 Ns and ImpF80%=5117.53±1894.78 Ns. The obtained results can be used as the criteria for further research in special education and rehabilitation, medical and professional rehabilitation.

Another cause of occupational entrapment neuropathy: la main du cuisinier (the chef's hand).

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Krishnan, Arun V; Fulham, Michael J; Kiernan, Matthew C

2009-04-01

Recent studies have raised the possibility of a predisposition to mononeuropathies in a number of professions including musicians, cleaners, and industrial workers. There are, however, no previous reports of increased rates of mononeuropathies in the culinary arts. The authors report three cases of mononeuropathies occurring in professional chefs that presented over a 3-month period in the same outpatient clinic, with a case each of distal ulnar neuropathy, distal median motor neuropathy (thenar motor syndrome) and posterior interosseous neuropathy. There was no history of direct hand trauma in any of the patients. In all three patients, the injuries occurred exclusively in the dominant hand, further strengthening the argument for an occupational link.

The structure of Plasmodium vivax phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein suggests a functional motif containing a left-handed helix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arakaki, Tracy; Neely, Helen; Boni, Erica; Mueller, Natasha; Buckner, Frederick S.; Van Voorhis, Wesley C.; Lauricella, Angela; DeTitta, George; Luft, Joseph; Hol, Wim G. J.; Merritt, Ethan A.

2007-01-01

The crystal structure of a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein from P. vivax, a homolog of Raf-kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP), has been solved to a resolution of 1.3 Å. The inferred interaction surface near the anion-binding site is found to include a distinctive left-handed α-helix. The structure of a putative Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) homolog from the eukaryotic parasite Plasmodium vivax has been studied to a resolution of 1.3 Å using multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction at the Se K edge. This protozoan protein is topologically similar to previously studied members of the phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) sequence family, but exhibits a distinctive left-handed α-helical region at one side of the canonical phospholipid-binding site. Re-examination of previously determined PEBP structures suggests that the P. vivax protein and yeast carboxypeptidase Y inhibitor may represent a structurally distinct subfamily of the diverse PEBP-sequence family

OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations: Design and conduct of clinical trials for hand osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kloppenburg, M; Maheu, E; Kraus, V B; Cicuttini, F; Doherty, M; Dreiser, R-L; Henrotin, Y; Jiang, G-L; Mandl, L; Martel-Pelletier, J; Nelson, A E; Neogi, T; Pelletier, J-P; Punzi, L; Ramonda, R; Simon, L S; Wang, S

2015-05-01

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a very frequent disease, but yet understudied. However, a lot of works have been published in the past 10 years, and much has been done to better understand its clinical course and structural progression. Despite this new knowledge, few therapeutic trials have been conducted in hand OA. The last OARSI recommendations for the conduct of clinical trials in hand OA dates back to 2006. The present recommendations aimed at updating previous recommendations, by incorporating new data. The purpose of this expert opinion, consensus driven exercise is to provide evidence-based guidance on the design, execution and analysis of clinical trials in hand OA, where published evidence is available, supplemented by expert opinion, where evidence is lacking, to perform clinical trials in hand OA, both for symptom and for structure-modification. They indicate core outcome measurement sets for studies in hand OA, and list the methods and instruments that should be used to measure symptoms or structure. For both symptom- and structure-modification, at least pain, physical function, patient global assessment, HR-QoL, joint activity and hand strength should be assessed. In addition, for structure-modification trials, structural progression should be measured by radiographic changes. We also provide a research agenda listing many unsolved issues that seem to most urgently need to be addressed from the perspective of performing "good" clinical trials in hand OA. These updated OARSI recommendations should allow for better standardizing the conduct of clinical trials in hand OA in the next future. Copyright © 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for hand hygiene in hospital

OpenAIRE

Christina Sotnikova; Georgia Fasoi

2013-01-01

The appropriate compliance of rules regarding hand hygiene, have been and continue to be, one of the basic points of all prevention programs of nosocomial infections. Aim: The aim of the present study was the presentation of guidelines for hand hygiene by nurses. Method and material: Study of international and Greek literature from electronic databases Medline, PubMed and scientific journals, KEELPNO mainly from the last three years. The keywords used were: nosocomial infections, hand hygiene...

Personality disorders in previously detained adolescent females: a prospective study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krabbendam, A.; Colins, O.F.; Doreleijers, T.A.H.; van der Molen, E.; Beekman, A.T.F.; Vermeiren, R.R.J.M.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study investigated the predictive value of trauma and mental health problems for the development of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in previously detained women. The participants were 229 detained adolescent females who were assessed

Finger impedance evaluation by means of hand exoskeleton.

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Fiorilla, Angelo Emanuele; Nori, Francesco; Masia, Lorenzo; Sandini, Giulio

2011-12-01

Modulation of arm mechanical impedance is a fundamental aspect for interaction with the external environment and its regulation is essential for stability preservation during manipulation. Even though past research on human arm movements has suggested that models of human finger impedance would benefit the study of neural control mechanisms and the design of novel hand prostheses, relatively few studies have focused on finger and hand impedance. This article touches on the two main aspects of this research topic: first it introduces a mechanical refinement of a device that can be used to effectively measure finger impedance during manipulation tasks; then, it describes a pilot study aimed at identifying the inertia of the finger and the viscous and elastic properties of finger muscles. The proposed wearable exoskeleton, which has been designed to measure finger posture and impedance modulation while leaving the palm free, is capable of applying fast displacements while monitoring the interaction forces between the human finger and the robotic links. Moreover, due to the relatively small inertia of the fingers, it allows us to meet some stringent specifications, performing relatively large displacements (~45°) before the stretch reflex intervenes (~25 ms). The results of measurements on five subjects show that inertia, damping, and stiffness can be effectively identified and that the parameters obtained are comparable with values from previous studies.

Body ownership and the four-hand illusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wen-Yeo; Huang, Hsu-Chia; Lee, Yen-Tung; Liang, Caleb

2018-02-01

Recent studies of the rubber hand illusion (RHI) have shown that the sense of body ownership is constrained by several factors and yet is still very flexible. However, exactly how flexible is our sense of body ownership? In this study, we address this issue by investigating the following question: is it possible that one may have the illusory experience of owning four hands? Under visual manipulation, the participant adopted the experimenter's first-person perspective (1PP) as if it was his/her own. Sitting face to face, the participant saw four hands-the experimenter's two hands from the adopted 1PP together with the subject's own two hands from the adopted third-person perspective (3PP). We found that: (1) the four-hand illusion did not occur in the passive four-hand condition. (2) In the active four-hand condition, the participants tapped their index fingers, imitated by the experimenter. When tactile stimulations were not provided, the key illusion was not induced, either. (3) Strikingly, once all four hands began to act with the same pattern and received synchronous tactile stimulations at the same time, many participants felt as if they had two more hands. These results show that the sense of body ownership is much more flexible than most researchers have suggested.

Attitudes and practices of Irish hospital-based physicians towards hand hygiene and hand rubbing using alcohol-based hand rub: a comparison between 2007 and 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Kingston, L M; Slevin, B L; O'Connell, N H; Dunne, C P

2017-09-01

Hand hygiene is the cornerstone of infection prevention and control practices, and reduces healthcare-associated infections significantly. However, international evidence suggests that medical doctors demonstrate poor compliance. To explore and compare practices and attitudes towards hand hygiene, particularly hand rubbing using alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR), among hospital-based physicians in Ireland between 2007 and 2015. In 2007, a random sample of doctors in a large teaching hospital was invited to complete a postal survey using a validated questionnaire. In 2015, the study was replicated among all doctors employed in a university hospital group, including the setting of the original study, using an online survey. Data were analysed using SPSS and Survey Monkey. Predominately positive and improving attitudes and practices were found, with 86% of doctors compliant with hand hygiene before patient contact in 2015, compared with 58% in 2007. Ninety-one percent of doctors were compliant after patient contact in 2015, compared with 76% in 2007. In 2015, only 39% of respondents reported that they 'almost always' used ABHR for hand hygiene. However, this represents 13.5% more than in 2007. Stated barriers to use of ABHR included dermatological issues, poor acceptance, tolerance and poor availability of ABHR products. Greater awareness of hand hygiene guidelines and greater governance appear to have had a positive impact on practice. However, despite this, practice remains suboptimal and there is scope for substantial improvement. Continued and sustained efforts are required in order to build on progress achieved since the World Health Organization hand hygiene guidelines were published in 2009. Copyright © 2017 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hand in Hand - SEI Programmes for School Staff

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund; Réol, Lise Andersen; Laursen, Hilmar Dyrborg

2017-01-01

This catalogue of research in the field of SEI programmes for the school staff’s and teachers’ SEI competencies is based on a review performed by the main researchers Birgitte Lund Nielsen, Lise Andersen Réol and Hilmar Dyrborg Laursen, VIA University College, Denmark, but discussed by the entire...... team of Hand in Hand partner countries and researchers. The aim was to identify the central aspects and elements concerning successful implementation, and school staff’s development of professional competencies in the specific field of supporting students’ social, emotional and intercultural (SEI......) competencies. Abstract: Framed by the EU-project Hand in Hand focusing on Social, Emotional and Intercultural (SEI) competencies among students and school staff, the paper discusses implementation and professional competencies based on a research review. The following five topics were identified: 1...

Bare-Hand Volume Cracker for Raw Volume Data Analysis

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Bireswar Laha

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Analysis of raw volume data generated from different scanning technologies faces a variety of challenges, related to search, pattern recognition, spatial understanding, quantitative estimation, and shape description. In a previous study, we found that the Volume Cracker (VC 3D interaction (3DI technique mitigated some of these problems, but this result was from a tethered glove-based system with users analyzing simulated data. Here, we redesigned the VC by using untethered bare-hand interaction with real volume datasets, with a broader aim of adoption of this technique in research labs. We developed symmetric and asymmetric interfaces for the Bare-Hand Volume Cracker (BHVC through design iterations with a biomechanics scientist. We evaluated our asymmetric BHVC technique against standard 2D and widely used 3D interaction techniques with experts analyzing scanned beetle datasets. We found that our BHVC design significantly outperformed the other two techniques. This study contributes a practical 3DI design for scientists, documents lessons learned while redesigning for bare-hand trackers, and provides evidence suggesting that 3D interaction could improve volume data analysis for a variety of visual analysis tasks. Our contribution is in the realm of 3D user interfaces tightly integrated with visualization, for improving the effectiveness of visual analysis of volume datasets. Based on our experience, we also provide some insights into hardware-agnostic principles for design of effective interaction techniques.

Stationary Hand Gesture Authentication Using Edit Distance on Finger Pointing Direction Interval

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Alex Ming Hui Wong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the latest authentication methods is by discerning human gestures. Previous research has shown that different people can develop distinct gesture behaviours even when executing the same gesture. Hand gesture is one of the most commonly used gestures in both communication and authentication research since it requires less room to perform as compared to other bodily gestures. There are different types of hand gesture and they have been researched by many researchers, but stationary hand gesture has yet to be thoroughly explored. There are a number of disadvantages and flaws in general hand gesture authentication such as reliability, usability, and computational cost. Although stationary hand gesture is not able to solve all these problems, it still provides more benefits and advantages over other hand gesture authentication methods, such as making gesture into a motion flow instead of trivial image capturing, and requires less room to perform, less vision cue needed during performance, and so forth. In this paper, we introduce stationary hand gesture authentication by implementing edit distance on finger pointing direction interval (ED-FPDI from hand gesture to model behaviour-based authentication system. The accuracy rate of the proposed ED-FPDI shows promising results.

Effects of Hand Proximity and Movement Direction in Spatial and Temporal Gap Discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiemers, Michael; Fischer, Martin H

2016-01-01

Previous research on the interplay between static manual postures and visual attention revealed enhanced visual selection near the hands (near-hand effect). During active movements there is also superior visual performance when moving toward compared to away from the stimulus (direction effect). The "modulated visual pathways" hypothesis argues that differential involvement of magno- and parvocellular visual processing streams causes the near-hand effect. The key finding supporting this hypothesis is an increase in temporal and a reduction in spatial processing in near-hand space (Gozli et al., 2012). Since this hypothesis has, so far, only been tested with static hand postures, we provide a conceptual replication of Gozli et al.'s (2012) result with moving hands, thus also probing the generality of the direction effect. Participants performed temporal or spatial gap discriminations while their right hand was moving below the display. In contrast to Gozli et al. (2012), temporal gap discrimination was superior at intermediate and not near hand proximity. In spatial gap discrimination, a direction effect without hand proximity effect suggests that pragmatic attentional maps overshadowed temporal/spatial processing biases for far/near-hand space.

Pilot Study: The Role of the Hemispheric Lateralization in Mental Disorders by Use of the Limb (Eye, Hand, Foot) Dominance.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodarzi, Naser; Dabbaghi, Parviz; Valipour, Habib; Vafadari, Behnam

2015-04-01

Based on the previous studies, we know that the hemispheric lateralization defects, increase the probability of psychological disorders. We also know that dominant limb is controlled by dominant hemisphere and limb preference is used as an indicator for hemisphere dominance. In this study we attempted to explore the hemispheric dominance by the use of three limbs (hand, foot and eye). We performed this survey on two samples, psychiatric patients compared with normal population. For this purpose, knowing that the organ dominance is stabilized in adolescence, and age has no effect on the people above 15, we used 48 high school girls and 65 boys as the final samples of normal population. The patient group included 57 male and 26 female who were chronic psychiatric patients. The result shows that left-eye dominance is more in patients than the normal group (P=0.000) but the handedness and footedness differences are not significance. In psychotic, bipolar and depressive disorders, eye dominance had significant difference (P=0.018). But this is not true about hand and foot dominance. Our findings proved that generally in psychiatric patients, left-eye dominance is more common, left-eye dominance is also more in psychotic and depressive disorders. It is less common in bipolar disorders.

Cultural adaptation of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire in patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Turkish version study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilker Ilhanli

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: Cultural adaptations of the questionnaires are important for easy use. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Turkish Version of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire in patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Methods: To assess test-retest reliability, the Turkish “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” and “Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand” questionnaires were answered by patients and controls and were repeated a week later. For testing internal consistency, the Cronbach's alpha test was used. For testing validity, correlations between the subscales of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” and “Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand” questionnaire were measured in patient groups. One hundred patients with idiopathic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and 50 healthy participants were included in the study. Results: In test-retest reliability, intraclass correlations of the subscales of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” were high. Cronbach's alphas were found to be high in all subscales. There was no significant correlation between asthetics and pain scales. We found significant differences between patients and controls regarding all subscales of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire”. Correlations between subscales of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” and “Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand” questionnaire were significant. We found no difference between one-hand effected and two-hand effected patients, in terms of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire”, “Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand” questionnaire Function/Symptom and Work average scores. Conclusion: This study showed that the Turkish version of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” is reliable and valid and can be used in Turkish patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because it is comprehensible and practicable

Influencing factors on hand hygiene behavior of nursing students based on theory of planned behavior: A descriptive survey study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Sun Young; Kim, Kyung Mi

2016-01-01

Hand hygiene is the single most important measure to prevent transmission of infection, but the compliance rate of healthcare workers is relatively low. This study was conducted to identify the knowledge, beliefs, behavior, and affecting factors about hand hygiene among nursing students. A descriptive survey study. The study was carried out in two South Korean nursing schools. A total 208 nursing students participated in this study. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The percentage of correct answers in the survey section concerning hand hygiene knowledge was 68.1%. No significant difference in the knowledge, behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, or control beliefs data was found related to general characteristics. Behavioral beliefs correlated with normative beliefs (r=.25, phand hygiene behavior (r=.17, p=.017), and control beliefs correlated with hand hygiene behavior (r=.18, p=.010). The results suggest that knowledge is not enough to change the beliefs related to hand hygiene; positive behavioral beliefs and strong control beliefs are also needed to increase hand hygiene compliance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[A case with apraxia of tool use: selective inability to form a hand posture for a tool].

Science.gov (United States)

Hayakawa, Yuko; Fujii, Toshikatsu; Yamadori, Atsushi; Meguro, Kenichi; Suzuki, Kyoko

2015-03-01

Impaired tool use is recognized as a symptom of ideational apraxia. While many studies have focused on difficulties in producing gestures as a whole, using tools involves several steps; these include forming hand postures appropriate for the use of certain tool, selecting objects or body parts to act on, and producing gestures. In previously reported cases, both producing and recognizing hand postures were impaired. Here we report the first case showing a selective impairment of forming hand postures appropriate for tools with preserved recognition of the required hand postures. A 24-year-old, right-handed man was admitted to hospital because of sensory impairment of the right side of the body, mild aphasia, and impaired tool use due to left parietal subcortical hemorrhage. His ability to make symbolic gestures, copy finger postures, and orient his hand to pass a slit was well preserved. Semantic knowledge for tools and hand postures was also intact. He could flawlessly select the correct hand postures in recognition tasks. He only demonstrated difficulties in forming a hand posture appropriate for a tool. Once he properly grasped a tool by trial and error, he could use it without hesitation. These observations suggest that each step of tool use should be thoroughly examined in patients with ideational apraxia.

COMPARISON THE NUMBER OF BACTERIA BETWEEN WASHING HANDS USING SOAP AND HAND SANITIZER AS A BACTERIOLOGY LEARNING RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satya Darmayani

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Hands are the principal carriers of bacterial diseases, therefore very important to know that washing hands with soap or hand sanitizer is highly effective healthy behaviors to reduce bacteria in the palm. This study aimed to determine the total number of bacteria between washing hands with soap and hand sanitizer, also applying the results of these studies as a learning resource in bacteriology. The research design was the true experiment with pretest-posttest control group research design and laboratory examination. Analysis of data using paired t-test and independent sample t-test with α = 0.05. The result using paired t-test obtained t count= 2.48921> t 0.05 (14 = 2.14479 (with liquid soap, obtained t count= 2.32937> t 0.05 (14 = 2.14479 (with hand sanitizer. As for the comparison of the total number of bacteria include washing hands with soap and hand sanitizer using independent samples t-test obtained results there were differences in the total number of bacteria include washing hands with liquid soap and hand sanitizer with t count= 2.23755> t 0.05 ( 13 = 2.16037. That results showed hand sanitizer more effective to reduce the number of bacteria than the liquid soap, that was hand sanitizer 96% and liquid soap by 95%.

Guideline Implementation: Hand Hygiene.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Judith L

2017-02-01

Performing proper hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis is essential to reducing the rates of health care-associated infections, including surgical site infections. The updated AORN "Guideline for hand hygiene" provides guidance on hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis, the wearing of fingernail polish and artificial nails, proper skin care to prevent dermatitis, the wearing of jewelry, hand hygiene product selection, and quality assurance and performance improvement considerations. This article focuses on key points of the guideline to help perioperative personnel make informed decisions about hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis. The key points address the necessity of keeping fingernails and skin healthy, not wearing jewelry on the hands or wrists in the perioperative area, properly performing hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis, and involving patients and visitors in hand hygiene initiatives. Perioperative RNs should review the complete guideline for additional information and for guidance when writing and updating policies and procedures. Copyright © 2017 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Methodology for the Design of Robotic Hands with Multiple Fingers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Eduardo Parada Puig

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology that has been applied for a design process of anthropomorphic hands with multiple fingers. Biomechanical characteristics of human hand have been analysed so that ergonomic and anthropometric aspects have been used as fundamental references for obtaining grasping mechanisms. A kinematic analysis has been proposed to define the requirements for designing grasping functions. Selection of materials and actuators has been discussed too. This topic has been based on previous experiences with prototypes that have been developed at the Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM of the University of Cassino. An example of the application of the proposed method has been presented for the design of a first prototype of LARM Hand.

Operating room waste reduction in plastic and hand surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, Mark G; Rothkopf, Douglas M

2015-01-01

Operating rooms (ORs), combined with labour and delivery suites, account for approximately 70% of hospital waste. Previous studies have reported that recycling can have a considerable financial impact on a hospital-wide basis; however, its importance in the OR has not been demonstrated. To propose a method of decreasing cost through judicious selection of instruments and supplies, and initiation of recycling in plastic and hand surgery. The authors identified disposable supplies and instruments that are routinely opened and wasted in common plastic and hand surgery procedures, and calculated the savings that can result from eliminating extraneous items. A cost analysis was performed, which compared the expense of OR waste versus single-stream recycling and the benefit of recycling HIPAA documents and blue wrap. Fifteen total items were removed from disposable plastic packs and seven total items from hand packs. A total of US$17,381.05 could be saved per year from these changes alone. Since initiating single-stream recycling, the authors' institution has saved, on average, US$3,487 per month at the three campuses. After extrapolating at the current savings rate, one would expect to save a minimum of US$41,844 per year. OR waste reduction is an effective method of decreasing cost in the surgical setting. By revising the contents of current disposable packs and instrument sets designated for plastic and hand surgery, hospitals can reduce the amount of opened and unused material. Significant financial savings and environmental benefit can result from this judicious supply and instrument selection, as well as implementation of recycling.

Factors associated with combined hand and foot eczema

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agner, T; Aalto-Korte, K; Andersen, K E

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: As for hand eczema, the aetiology of foot eczema is multifactorial and not very well understood. The aim of the present study was to identify factors associated with foot eczema in a cohort of hand eczema patients being classified into different subgroups. METHODS: Associations between...... foot and hand eczema were studied in a cross-sectional design in a cohort of hand eczema patients. Consecutive patients were recruited from nine different European Centres during the period October 2011-September 2012. Data on demographic factors, presence of foot eczema, hand eczema duration...... and severity, and whether the hand eczema was work-related or not were available, as well as patch-test results. RESULTS: Of a total of 427 hand eczema patients identified, information on foot eczema was available in 419 patients who were included in the present study. A total of 125 patients (29.8%) had...

Die Sprache der Hande zu den Handen sprechen (Talking the Language of the Hands to the Hands). DB-LINK.

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Barbara

This paper examines the importance of hands for the person who is deafblind, reviews hand development, and identifies specific teaching skills that facilitate hand development and expressiveness in persons who are deafblind. It notes that the hands of a deafblind individual serve not only as tools but also as sense organs (to compensate for their…

Economic Evaluation of a Multifaceted Implementation Strategy for the Prevention of Hand Eczema Among Healthcare Workers in Comparison with a Control Group: The Hands4U Study.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meer, Esther W C; van Dongen, Johanna M; Boot, Cécile R L; van der Gulden, Joost W J; Bosmans, Judith E; Anema, Johannes R

2016-05-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy for the prevention of hand eczema in comparison with a control group among healthcare workers. A total of 48 departments (n=1,649) were randomly allocated to the implementation strategy or the control group. Data on hand eczema and costs were collected at baseline and every 3 months. Cost-effectiveness analyses were performed using linear multilevel analyses. The probability of the implementation strategy being cost-effective gradually increased with an increasing willingness-to-pay, to 0.84 at a ceiling ratio of €590,000 per person with hand eczema prevented (societal perspective). The implementation strategy appeared to be not cost-effective in comparison with the control group (societal perspective), nor was it cost-beneficial to the employer. However, this study had some methodological problems which should be taken into account when interpreting the results.

Hand hygiene strategies

OpenAIRE

Yazaji, Eskandar Alex

2011-01-01

Hand hygiene is one of the major players in preventing healthcare associated infections. However, healthcare workers compliance with hand hygiene continues to be a challenge. This article will address strategies to help improving hand hygiene compliance. Keywords: hand hygiene; healthcare associated infections; multidisciplinary program; system change; accountability; education; feedback(Published: 18 July 2011)Citation: Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives 2011, 1: 72...

Soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation and assistance: a narrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Chia-Ye; Patterson, Rita M

2018-02-17

The debilitating effects on hand function from a number of a neurologic disorders has given rise to the development of rehabilitative robotic devices aimed at restoring hand function in these patients. To combat the shortcomings of previous traditional robotics, soft robotics are rapidly emerging as an alternative due to their inherent safety, less complex designs, and increased potential for portability and efficacy. While several groups have begun designing devices, there are few devices that have progressed enough to provide clinical evidence of their design's therapeutic abilities. Therefore, a global review of devices that have been previously attempted could facilitate the development of new and improved devices in the next step towards obtaining clinical proof of the rehabilitative effects of soft robotics in hand dysfunction. A literature search was performed in SportDiscus, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles related to the design of soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation. A framework of the key design elements of the devices was developed to ease the comparison of the various approaches to building them. This framework includes an analysis of the trends in portability, safety features, user intent detection methods, actuation systems, total DOF, number of independent actuators, device weight, evaluation metrics, and modes of rehabilitation. In this study, a total of 62 articles representing 44 unique devices were identified and summarized according to the framework we developed to compare different design aspects. By far, the most common type of device was that which used a pneumatic actuator to guide finger flexion/extension. However, the remainder of our framework elements yielded more heterogeneous results. Consequently, those results are summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of many design choices as well as their rationales were highlighted. The past 3 years has seen a rapid increase in the development of soft robotic

The Role of Hand Dominance in Beginning Braille Readers

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Tessa

2009-01-01

In this article, the author examines the role of "hand dominance" in beginning braille readers. "Hand dominance" refers to whether an individual is "right handed" or "left handed." The data for these analyses were taken from the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study). The ABC Braille Study was a five-year nonrandomized…

The human hand as an inspiration for robot hand development

CERN Document Server

Santos, Veronica

2014-01-01

“The Human Hand as an Inspiration for Robot Hand Development” presents an edited collection of authoritative contributions in the area of robot hands. The results described in the volume are expected to lead to more robust, dependable, and inexpensive distributed systems such as those endowed with complex and advanced sensing, actuation, computation, and communication capabilities. The twenty-four chapters discuss the field of robotic grasping and manipulation viewed in light of the human hand’s capabilities and push the state-of-the-art in robot hand design and control. Topics discussed include human hand biomechanics, neural control, sensory feedback and perception, and robotic grasp and manipulation. This book will be useful for researchers from diverse areas such as robotics, biomechanics, neuroscience, and anthropologists.

Agent Orange Exposure and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance: An Operation Ranch Hand Veteran Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Landgren, Ola; Shim, Youn K; Michalek, Joel; Costello, Rene; Burton, Debra; Ketchum, Norma; Calvo, Katherine R; Caporaso, Neil; Raveche, Elizabeth; Middleton, Dan; Marti, Gerald; Vogt, Robert F

2015-11-01

Multiple myeloma has been classified as exhibiting "limited or suggestive evidence" of an association with exposure to herbicides in Vietnam War veterans. Occupational studies have shown that other pesticides (ie, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides) are associated with excess risk of multiple myeloma and its precursor state, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS); however, to our knowledge, no studies have uncovered such an association in Vietnam War veterans. To examine the relationship between MGUS and exposure to Agent Orange, including its contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), in Vietnam War veterans. This was a prospective cohort study conducted in 2013 to 2014, testing for MGUS in serum specimens collected and stored in 2002 by the Air Force Health Study (AFHS). The relevant exposure data collected by the AFHS was also used. We tested all specimens in 2013 without knowledge of the exposure status. The AFHS included former US Air Force personnel who participated in Operation Ranch Hand (Ranch Hand veterans) and other US Air Force personnel who had similar duties in Southeast Asia during the same time period (1962 to 1971) but were not involved in herbicide spray missions (comparison veterans). Agent Orange was used by the US Air Force personnel who conducted aerial spray missions of herbicides (Operation Ranch Hand) in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971. We included 479 Ranch Hand veterans and 479 comparison veterans who participated in the 2002 follow-up examination of AFHS. Agent Orange and TCDD. Serum TCDD levels were measured in 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2002. Risk of MGUS measured by prevalence, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% CIs. The 479 Ranch Hand veterans and 479 comparison veterans had similar demographic and lifestyle characteristics and medical histories. The crude prevalence of overall MGUS was 7.1% (34 of 479) in Ranch Hand veterans and 3.1% (15 of 479) in comparison veterans. This translated into a 2.4-fold increased risk

Entropic Movement Complexity Reflects Subjective Creativity Rankings of Visualized Hand Motion Trajectories

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Zhen; Braun, Daniel A.

2015-01-01

In a previous study we have shown that human motion trajectories can be characterized by translating continuous trajectories into symbol sequences with well-defined complexity measures. Here we test the hypothesis that the motion complexity individuals generate in their movements might be correlated to the degree of creativity assigned by a human observer to the visualized motion trajectories. We asked participants to generate 55 novel hand movement patterns in virtual reality, where each pattern had to be repeated 10 times in a row to ensure reproducibility. This allowed us to estimate a probability distribution over trajectories for each pattern. We assessed motion complexity not only by the previously proposed complexity measures on symbolic sequences, but we also propose two novel complexity measures that can be directly applied to the distributions over trajectories based on the frameworks of Gaussian Processes and Probabilistic Movement Primitives. In contrast to previous studies, these new methods allow computing complexities of individual motion patterns from very few sample trajectories. We compared the different complexity measures to how a group of independent jurors rank ordered the recorded motion trajectories according to their personal creativity judgment. We found three entropic complexity measures that correlate significantly with human creativity judgment and discuss differences between the measures. We also test whether these complexity measures correlate with individual creativity in divergent thinking tasks, but do not find any consistent correlation. Our results suggest that entropic complexity measures of hand motion may reveal domain-specific individual differences in kinesthetic creativity. PMID:26733896

Hands of early primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, Doug M; Yapuncich, Gabriel S; Chester, Stephen G B; Bloch, Jonathan I; Godinot, Marc

2013-12-01

Questions surrounding the origin and early evolution of primates continue to be the subject of debate. Though anatomy of the skull and inferred dietary shifts are often the focus, detailed studies of postcrania and inferred locomotor capabilities can also provide crucial data that advance understanding of transitions in early primate evolution. In particular, the hand skeleton includes characteristics thought to reflect foraging, locomotion, and posture. Here we review what is known about the early evolution of primate hands from a comparative perspective that incorporates data from the fossil record. Additionally, we provide new comparative data and documentation of skeletal morphology for Paleogene plesiadapiforms, notharctines, cercamoniines, adapines, and omomyiforms. Finally, we discuss implications of these data for understanding locomotor transitions during the origin and early evolutionary history of primates. Known plesiadapiform species cannot be differentiated from extant primates based on either intrinsic hand proportions or hand-to-body size proportions. Nonetheless, the presence of claws and a different metacarpophalangeal [corrected] joint form in plesiadapiforms indicate different grasping mechanics. Notharctines and cercamoniines have intrinsic hand proportions with extremely elongated proximal phalanges and digit rays relative to metacarpals, resembling tarsiers and galagos. But their hand-to-body size proportions are typical of many extant primates (unlike those of tarsiers, and possibly Teilhardina, which have extremely large hands). Non-adapine adapiforms and omomyids exhibit additional carpal features suggesting more limited dorsiflexion, greater ulnar deviation, and a more habitually divergent pollex than observed plesiadapiforms. Together, features differentiating adapiforms and omomyiforms from plesiadapiforms indicate increased reliance on vertical prehensile-clinging and grasp-leaping, possibly in combination with predatory behaviors in

Hand-to-hand coupling and strategies to minimize unintentional energy transfer during laparoscopic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Overbey, Douglas M; Hilton, Sarah A; Chapman, Brandon C; Townsend, Nicole T; Barnett, Carlton C; Robinson, Thomas N; Jones, Edward L

2017-11-01

Energy-based devices are used in nearly every laparoscopic operation. Radiofrequency energy can transfer to nearby instruments via antenna and capacitive coupling without direct contact. Previous studies have described inadvertent energy transfer through bundled cords and nonelectrically active wires. The purpose of this study was to describe a new mechanism of stray energy transfer from the monopolar instrument through the operating surgeon to the laparoscopic telescope and propose practical measures to decrease the risk of injury. Radiofrequency energy was delivered to a laparoscopic L-hook (monopolar "bovie"), an advanced bipolar device, and an ultrasonic device in a laparoscopic simulator. The tip of a 10-mm telescope was placed adjacent but not touching bovine liver in a standard four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy setup. Temperature increase was measured as tissue temperature from baseline nearest the tip of the telescope which was never in contact with the energy-based device after a 5-s open-air activation. The monopolar L-hook increased tissue temperature adjacent to the camera/telescope tip by 47 ± 8°C from baseline (P energy devices significantly reduced temperature change in comparison to the monopolar instrument (47 ± 8°C) for both the advanced bipolar (1.2 ± 0.5°C; P energy transfers from the monopolar "bovie" instrument through the operating surgeon to standard electrically inactive laparoscopic instruments. Hand-to-hand coupling describes a new form of capacitive coupling where the surgeon's body acts as an electrical conductor to transmit energy. Strategies to reduce stray energy transfer include avoiding the same surgeon holding the active electrode and laparoscopic camera or using alternative energy devices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Right-handed sneutrinos as curvatons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, John

2003-01-01

We consider the possibility that a right-handed sneutrino can serve as the source of energy density perturbations leading to structure formation in cosmology. The cosmological evolution of a coherently oscillating condensate of right-handed sneutrinos is studied for the case where reheating after inflation is due to perturbative inflaton decays. For the case of Dirac neutrinos, it is shown that some suppression of Planck scale-suppressed corrections to the right-handed neutrino superpotential is necessary in order to have sufficiently late decay of the right-handed sneutrinos. cH 2 corrections to the sneutrino mass squared term must also be suppressed during inflation (vertical bar c vertical bar 0) or red (if c 6 GeV is possible). For the case of Majorana neutrinos, a more severe suppression of Planck-suppressed superpotential corrections is required. In addition, the Majorana sneutrino condensate is likely to be thermalized before it can dominate the energy density, which would exclude the Majorana right-handed sneutrino as a curvaton

E-learning may improve adherence to alcohol-based hand rubbing: a cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laustsen, Sussie; Bibby, Bo Martin; Kristensen, Brian

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Since 2004, we have promoted alcohol-based hand rubbing (HR) with an e-learning program (ELP) among hospital staff. This study sought to determine whether an ELP improves adherence to correct HR. METHODS: This was a cohort study of staff members at Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, ...

Hand size and growth in untreated and IGF-I treated patients with Laron syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Konen, O; Silbergeld, A; Lilos, P; Kornreich, L; Laron, Z

2009-03-01

We have previously reported on the linear growth, growth of the head circumference and foot length in untreated and IGF-I treated patients with Laron syndrome (LS) (primary GH insensitivity). To assess the size and growth of the hands in patients with LS from early childhood to adult age. Ten IGF-I treated children with LS (4 M, 6 F) and 24 untreated patients (10 M, 14 F) were studied. Measurements of palm length were made on available standardized hand X-rays from infancy to adult age. The measurements were compared to normal references and SD values were calculated for each measurement. The growth of the hand was compared to the concomitant height of the body. Hand SDS in untreated patients with LS decreased with age, from a mean of -2.8 +/- 0.7 (age 1-3 years) to -7.3 +/- 0.8 (age 13-15 years) and to -9.0 +/- 3.9 (age 40-50 years). During 9 years of IGF-I treatment the hand size deficit SDS did not improve in contradistinction to the height SDS which decreased from -6.2 +/- 1.2 to -3.9 +/- 0.5. Congenital IGF-I deficiency, as in Laron syndrome, profoundly affects the size and growth of the hand as part of its growth retardation characteristics, resulting in acromicria.

Retrospective study of work related traumatic hand injuries

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Tamara Pereira de Oliveira

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The hand is an instrument extensively used in daily life activities- practical and professional; and it is, consequently, often injured, causing impact on productivity and on the country’s economy, also affecting the quality of life of individuals. When the lesion is work-related, it should be reported and referred by the service unit to Worker Health Reference Centre (CEREST. However, systems of records of occupational accidents are still little explored in Brazil. The aim of this work was to conduct a retrospective data survey on hand traumatic injuries of patients treated at CEREST in the municipality of Jundiaí, Sao Paulo state, in order to know the profile of these victims. Data were collected from the records of SINAN card - Severe Accident Research Sheet, in 2009. Of the 416 cases reported at SINAN, 45.2% were accidents involving the hand, which were reported mostly by private hospitals. 70.7% of the accidents reported occurred in the city (Jundiai and 88.3% of them took place within the premises of companies. Men aged between 19 and 39 years old were the most affected. Machine operators presented the highest accident incidence and fracture was the most frequent diagnosis. Temporary disability reached 80.3% of workers. 89.3% worked under formal contracts. Investment in record systems of labor accidents is essential because it would prevent underreporting and improve awareness of employees and public agencies regarding prevention and rehabilitation, thus avoiding inability of workers and damage to businesses and the government.

The Avocado Hand

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rahmani, G

2017-11-01

Accidental self-inflicted knife injuries to digits are a common cause of tendon and nerve injury requiring hand surgery. There has been an apparent increase in avocado related hand injuries. Classically, the patients hold the avocado in their non-dominant hand while using a knife to cut\\/peel the fruit with their dominant hand. The mechanism of injury is usually a stabbing injury to the non-dominant hand as the knife slips past the stone, through the soft avocado fruit. Despite their apparent increased incidence, we could not find any cases in the literature which describe the “avocado hand”. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman who sustained a significant hand injury while preparing an avocado. She required exploration and repair of a digital nerve under regional anaesthesia and has since made a full recovery.

Hand hygiene knowledge of college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, J Kyle; Basco, Roselyne; Zaied, Aya; Ward, Chelsea

2010-01-01

An observational study was conducted to evaluate hygiene habits of students with fields of study, gender, and understanding of hygiene at a university in Alabama. One hundred students were randomly observed in ten restrooms on campus to determine whether or not students washed their hands. The study was divided into an observational stage, a quiz to ascertain student's knowledge of hygiene and the spread of pathogens, and a survey of self-reported illness rates. Females had a tendency to wash their hands more often than males while visiting the bathroom (p = 0.02, chi2 = 11.6). Science majors were more likely to wash their hands than non-science majors (p < or = 0.001, chi2 = 5.2). Females (p < or = 0.0001, df = 98, F = 21.5) and science majors (p < or = 0.0001, df = 98, F = 81.4) scored significantly higher on the survey than males and nonscience majors, and that those observed not washing their hands reported being sick more often than those observed washing their hands (chi2 = 155.0, df= 3, p < 0.001, Fisher's exact p < 0.001).

Multiscale Convolutional Neural Networks for Hand Detection

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Shiyang Yan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Unconstrained hand detection in still images plays an important role in many hand-related vision problems, for example, hand tracking, gesture analysis, human action recognition and human-machine interaction, and sign language recognition. Although hand detection has been extensively studied for decades, it is still a challenging task with many problems to be tackled. The contributing factors for this complexity include heavy occlusion, low resolution, varying illumination conditions, different hand gestures, and the complex interactions between hands and objects or other hands. In this paper, we propose a multiscale deep learning model for unconstrained hand detection in still images. Deep learning models, and deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs in particular, have achieved state-of-the-art performances in many vision benchmarks. Developed from the region-based CNN (R-CNN model, we propose a hand detection scheme based on candidate regions generated by a generic region proposal algorithm, followed by multiscale information fusion from the popular VGG16 model. Two benchmark datasets were applied to validate the proposed method, namely, the Oxford Hand Detection Dataset and the VIVA Hand Detection Challenge. We achieved state-of-the-art results on the Oxford Hand Detection Dataset and had satisfactory performance in the VIVA Hand Detection Challenge.

Delay in medical attention to hand eczema: a follow-up study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, M; Agner, T; Blands, J

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Hand eczema often runs a chronic course but early medical intervention may be assumed to improve the prognosis. OBJECTIVES: To follow patients with hand eczema for 6 months after seeing a dermatologist to investigate if delay in medical attention would impair the prognosis. METHODS...... was associated with longer delay before medical attention....

Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Zapka

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one’s own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water. We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples (P < 0.001; we were unable to detect changes with glove-based samples. Bacterial cell counts significantly decreased with use of the ABHS (P < 0.05 and ethanol control (P < 0.05. Skin hydration at baseline correlated with bacterial abundances, bacterial community composition, pH, and redness across subjects. The importance of the method choice was substantial. These findings are important to ensure improvement of hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research.

Effectiveness of adaptive silverware on range of motion of the hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan S. McDonald

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background. Hand function is essential to a person’s self-efficacy and greatly affects quality of life. Adapted utensils with handles of increased diameters have historically been used to assist individuals with arthritis or other hand disabilities for feeding, and other related activities of daily living. To date, minimal research has examined the biomechanical effects of modified handles, or quantified the differences in ranges of motion (ROM when using a standard versus a modified handle. The aim of this study was to quantify the ranges of motion (ROM required for a healthy hand to use different adaptive spoons with electrogoniometry for the purpose of understanding the physiologic advantages that adapted spoons may provide patients with limited ROM. Methods. Hand measurements included the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP, proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP, and metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP for each finger and the interphalangeal (IP and MCP joint for the thumb. Participants were 34 females age 18–30 (mean age 20.38 ± 1.67 with no previous hand injuries or abnormalities. Participants grasped spoons with standard handles, and spoons with handle diameters of 3.18 cm (1.25 inch, and 4.45 cm (1.75 inch. ROM measurements were obtained with an electrogoniometer to record the angle at each joint for each of the spoon handle sizes. Results. A 3 × 3 × 4 repeated measures ANOVA (Spoon handle size by Joint by Finger found main effects on ROM of Joint (F(2, 33 = 318.68, Partial η2 = .95, p < .001, Spoon handle size (F(2, 33 = 598.73, Partial η2 = .97, p < .001, and Finger (F(3, 32 = 163.83, Partial η2 = .94, p < .001. As the spoon handle diameter size increased, the range of motion utilized to grasp the spoon handle decreased in all joints and all fingers (p < 0.01. Discussion. This study confirms the hypothesis that less range of motion is required to grip utensils with larger diameter handles, which in turn may reduce challenges for

The Effects of Industrial Protective Gloves and Hand Skin Temperatures on Hand Grip Strength and Discomfort Rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Mohamed Z

2017-12-04

Daily working activities and functions require a high contribution of hand and forearm muscles in executing grip force. To study the effects of wearing different gloves on grip strength, under a variety of hand skin temperatures, an assessment of the maximum grip strength was performed with 32 healthy male workers with a mean age (standard deviation) of 30.44 (5.35) years wearing five industrial gloves at three hand skin temperatures. Their ages and anthropometric characteristics including body mass index (BMI), hand length, hand width, hand depth, hand palm, and wrist circumference were measured. The hand was exposed to different bath temperatures (5 °C, 25 °C, and 45 °C) and hand grip strength was measured using a Jamar hydraulic hand dynamometer with and without wearing the gloves (chemical protection glove, rubber insulating glove, anti-vibration impact glove, cotton yarn knitted glove, and RY-WG002 working glove). The data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Tukey test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the within-subject design analysis. The results showed that wearing gloves significantly affected the maximum grip strength. Wearing the RY-WG002 working glove produced a greater reduction on the maximum grip when compared with the bare hand, while low temperatures (5 °C) had a significant influence on grip when compared to medium (25 °C) and high (45 °C) hand skin temperatures. In addition, participants felt more discomfort in both environmental extreme conditions. Furthermore, they reported more discomfort while wearing neoprene, rubber, and RY-WG002 working gloves.

Does transcranial direct current stimulation affect the learning of a fine sequential hand motor skill with motor imagery?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sobierajewicz, Jagna; Jaskowski, Wojciech; van der Lubbe, Robert Henricus Johannes

2017-01-01

Learning a fine sequential hand motor skill, comparable to playing the piano or learning to type, improves not only due to physical practice, but also due to motor imagery. Previous studies revealed that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and motor imagery independently affect motor

Regular use of a hand cream can attenuate skin dryness and roughness caused by frequent hand washing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kampf Günter

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Aim of the study was to determine the effect of the regular use of a hand cream after washing hands on skin hydration and skin roughness. Methods Twenty-five subjects washed hands and forearms with a neutral soap four times per day, for 2 minutes each time, for a total of two weeks. One part of them used a hand cream after each hand wash, the others did not (cross over design after a wash out period of two weeks. Skin roughness and skin hydration were determined on the forearms on days 2, 7, 9 and 14. For skin roughness, twelve silicon imprint per subject and time point were taken from the stratum corneum and assessed with a 3D skin analyzer for depth of the skin relief. For skin hydration, five measurements per subject and time point were taken with a corneometer. Results Washing hands lead to a gradual increase of skin roughness from 100 (baseline to a maximum of 108.5 after 9 days. Use of a hand cream after each hand wash entailed a decrease of skin roughness which the lowest means after 2 (94.5 and 14 days (94.8. Skin hydration was gradually decreased after washing hands from 79 (baseline to 65.5 after 14 days. The hand wash, followed by use of a hand cream, still decreased skin hydration after 2 days (76.1. Over the next 12 days, however, skin hydration did not change significantly (75.6 after 14 days. Conclusion Repetitive and frequent hand washing increases skin dryness and roughness. Use of a hand cream immediately after each hand wash can confine both skin dryness and skin roughness. Regular use of skin care preparations should therefore help to prevent both dry and rough skin among healthcare workers in clinical practice.

Hand Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

... from conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow , as well as from chronic problems such as ... Tools Advice from a Certified Hand Therapist on Tennis Elbow Advice from a Certified Hand Therapist: Living with( ...

Effectiveness of a nonrinse, alcohol-free antiseptic hand wash.

Science.gov (United States)

Moadab, A; Rupley, K F; Wadhams, P

2001-06-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a novel surfactant, allantoin, and benzalkonium chloride hand sanitizer using the US Food and Drug Administration's method for testing antiseptic hand washes that podiatric physicians and other health-care personnel use. The alcohol-free product, HandClens, was compared with an alcohol-based product, Purell. Independent researchers from the California College of Podiatric Medicine conducted the study using 40 volunteer students from the class of 2001. The results show that HandClens outperformed Purell and met the regulatory requirements for a hand sanitizer. Purell failed as an antimicrobial hand wash and was less effective than a control soap used in the study.

Randomized crossover study evaluating the effect of a hand sanitizer dispenser on the frequency of hand hygiene among anesthesiology staff in the operating room.

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz-Price, L Silvia; Patel, Zalak; Banks, Shawn; Arheart, Kristopher; Eber, Scott; Lubarsky, David A; Birnbach, David J

2014-06-01

Forty anesthesia providers were evaluated with and without hand sanitizer dispensers present on the anesthesia machine. Having a dispenser increased the frequency of hand hygiene only from 0.5 to 0.8 events per hour (P = .01). Other concomitant interventions are needed to further increase hand hygiene frequency among anesthesia providers.

A Study of Memory and Forgetting in The Sound of One Hand Clapping

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

杨炤宇

2011-01-01

The Sound of One Hand Clapping is a 1997 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan. Richard Flanagan was born in 1961 in Tasmania. He left school at 16, later winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, where he took a Master of Letters degree. He later worked as a labourer and river guide. The Sound of One Hand Clapping （1998） is his second novel which tells the story of Slovenian immigrants; Richard Flanagan also wrote and directed the film version of The Sound of One Hand Clapping, which was re- leased in 1998, and world premiered at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for Golden Bear for Best film. The novel, The Sound of One Hand Clapping （1998）, examines the Tasmanian immigrant experience. It asks us not to ignore the existence of the soul and the spirit, not to sublimate all to a blind rationality, Flanagan also suggests that healing is not only possible but that it should be looked for. Original, poetic and compelling, this novel comes highly recommended,？As the novel is formed largely by means of memory and forgetting. So the author of this paper intends to give a tentative study of memory as well as forgetting, Wing to figure out the reasons and influences that memory and forgetting brings on different characters.

Hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that depict action stem from a left hemispheric system of conceptualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmich, I; Lausberg, H

2014-10-01

The present study addresses the previously discussed controversy on the contribution of the right and left cerebral hemispheres to the production and conceptualization of spontaneous hand movements and gestures. Although it has been shown that each hemisphere contains the ability to produce hand movements, results of left hemispherically lateralized motor functions challenge the view of a contralateral hand movement production system. To examine hemispheric specialization in hand movement and gesture production, ten right-handed participants were tachistoscopically presented pictures of everyday life actions. The participants were asked to demonstrate with their hands, but without speaking what they had seen on the drawing. Two independent blind raters evaluated the videotaped hand movements and gestures employing the Neuropsychological Gesture Coding System. The results showed that the overall frequency of right- and left-hand movements is equal independent of stimulus lateralization. When hand movements were analyzed considering their Structure, the presentation of the action stimuli to the left hemisphere resulted in more hand movements with a phase structure than the presentation to the right hemisphere. Furthermore, the presentation to the left hemisphere resulted in more right and left-hand movements with a phase structure, whereas the presentation to the right hemisphere only increased contralateral left-hand movements with a phase structure as compared to hand movements without a phase structure. Gestures that depict action were primarily displayed in response to stimuli presented in the right visual field than in the left one. The present study shows that both hemispheres possess the faculty to produce hand movements in response to action stimuli. However, the left hemisphere dominates the production of hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that depict action. We therefore conclude that hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that

Congenital hand anomalies in Upper Egypt

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Tarek Abulezz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Congenital hand anomalies are numerous and markedly variant. Their significance is attributed to the frequent occurrence and their serious social, psychological and functional impacts on patient's life. Patients and Methods: This is a follow-up study of 64 patients with hand anomalies of variable severity. All patients were presented to Plastic Surgery Department of Sohag University Hospital in a period of 24 months. Results: This study revealed that failure of differentiation and duplication deformities were the most frequent, with polydactyly was the most common anomaly encountered. The mean age of presentation was 6 years and female to male ratio was 1.46:1. Hand anomalies were either isolated, associated with other anomalies or part of a syndrome. Conclusion: Incidence of congenital hand anomalies in Upper Egypt is difficult to be estimated due to social and cultural concepts, lack of education, poor registration and deficient medical survey. Management of hand anomalies should be individualised, carefully planned and started as early as possible to achieve the best outcome.

The Making of a 3D-Printed, Cable-Driven, Single-Model, Lightweight Humanoid Robotic Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Tian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Dexterity robotic hands can (Cummings, 1996 greatly enhance the functionality of humanoid robots, but the making of such hands with not only human-like appearance but also the capability of performing the natural movement of social robots is a challenging problem. The first challenge is to create the hand’s articulated structure and the second challenge is to actuate it to move like a human hand. A robotic hand for humanoid robot should look and behave human like. At the same time, it also needs to be light and cheap for widely used purposes. We start with studying the biomechanical features of a human hand and propose a simplified mechanical model of robotic hands, which can achieve the important local motions of the hand. Then, we use 3D modeling techniques to create a single interlocked hand model that integrates pin and ball joints to our hand model. Compared to other robotic hands, our design saves the time required for assembling and adjusting, which makes our robotic hand ready-to-use right after the 3D printing is completed. Finally, the actuation of the hand is realized by cables and motors. Based on this approach, we have designed a cost-effective, 3D printable, compact, and lightweight robotic hand. Our robotic hand weighs 150 g, has 15 joints, which are similar to a real human hand, and 6 Degree of Freedom (DOFs. It is actuated by only six small size actuators. The wrist connecting part is also integrated into the hand model and could be customized for different robots such as Nadine robot (Magnenat Thalmann et al., 2017. The compact servo bed can be hidden inside the Nadine robot’s sleeve and the whole robotic hand platform will not cause extra load to her arm as the total weight (150 g robotic hand and 162 g artificial skin is almost the same as her previous unarticulated robotic hand which is 348 g. The paper also shows our test results with and without silicon artificial hand skin, and on Nadine robot.

Hand eczema severity and quality of life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agner, Tove; Andersen, Klaus E; Brandao, Francisco M

2008-01-01

Background and Objectives: Hand eczema is a chronic disease with negative impact on quality of life (QoL). In this study, QoL in hand eczema patients is assessed and related to age, sex, severity, and diagnostic subgroups. Methods: A total of 416 patients with hand eczema from 10 European patch...

The Effects of Industrial Protective Gloves and Hand Skin Temperatures on Hand Grip Strength and Discomfort Rating

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Mohamed Z. Ramadan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Daily working activities and functions require a high contribution of hand and forearm muscles in executing grip force. To study the effects of wearing different gloves on grip strength, under a variety of hand skin temperatures, an assessment of the maximum grip strength was performed with 32 healthy male workers with a mean age (standard deviation of 30.44 (5.35 years wearing five industrial gloves at three hand skin temperatures. Their ages and anthropometric characteristics including body mass index (BMI, hand length, hand width, hand depth, hand palm, and wrist circumference were measured. The hand was exposed to different bath temperatures (5 °C, 25 °C, and 45 °C and hand grip strength was measured using a Jamar hydraulic hand dynamometer with and without wearing the gloves (chemical protection glove, rubber insulating glove, anti-vibration impact glove, cotton yarn knitted glove, and RY-WG002 working glove. The data were analyzed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Tukey test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA of the within-subject design analysis. The results showed that wearing gloves significantly affected the maximum grip strength. Wearing the RY-WG002 working glove produced a greater reduction on the maximum grip when compared with the bare hand, while low temperatures (5 °C had a significant influence on grip when compared to medium (25 °C and high (45 °C hand skin temperatures. In addition, participants felt more discomfort in both environmental extreme conditions. Furthermore, they reported more discomfort while wearing neoprene, rubber, and RY-WG002 working gloves.

Laterality in the rubber hand illusion.

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Ocklenburg, Sebastian; Rüther, Naima; Peterburs, Jutta; Pinnow, Marlies; Güntürkün, Onur

2011-03-01

In patient studies, impairments of sense of body ownership have repeatedly been linked to right-hemispheric brain damage. To test whether a right-hemispheric dominance for sense of body ownership could also be observed in healthy adults, the rubber hand illusion was elicited on both hands of 21 left-handers and 22 right-handers. In this illusion, a participant's real hand is stroked while hidden from view behind an occluder, and a nearby visible hand prosthesis is repeatedly stroked in synchrony. Most participants experience the illusionary perception of touch sensations arising from the prosthesis. The vividness of the illusion was measured by subjective self-reports as well as by skin conductance responses to watching the rubber hand being harmed. Handedness did not affect the vividness of the illusion, but a stronger skin conductance response was observed, when the illusion was elicited on the left hand. These findings suggest a right-hemispheric dominance for sense of body ownership in healthy adults.

The hot hand belief and framing effects.

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MacMahon, Clare; Köppen, Jörn; Raab, Markus

2014-09-01

Recent evidence of the hot hand in sport-where success breeds success in a positive recency of successful shots, for instance-indicates that this pattern does not actually exist. Yet the belief persists. We used 2 studies to explore the effects of framing on the hot hand belief in sport. We looked at the effect of sport experience and task on the perception of baseball pitch behavior as well as the hot hand belief and free-throw behavior in basketball. Study 1 asked participants to designate outcomes with different alternation rates as the result of baseball pitches or coin tosses. Study 2 examined basketball free-throw behavior and measured predicted success before each shot as well as general belief in the hot hand pattern. The results of Study 1 illustrate that experience and stimulus alternation rates influence the perception of chance in human performance tasks. Study 2 shows that physically performing an act and making judgments are related. Specifically, beliefs were related to overall performance, with more successful shooters showing greater belief in the hot hand and greater predicted success for upcoming shots. Both of these studies highlight that the hot hand belief is influenced by framing, which leads to instability and situational contingencies. We show the specific effects of framing using accumulated experience of the individual with the sport and knowledge of its structure and specific experience with sport actions (basketball shots) prior to judgments.

Force feedback delay affects perception of stiffness but not action, and the effect depends on the hand used but not on the handedness.

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Leib, Raz; Rubin, Inbar; Nisky, Ilana

2018-05-16

Interaction with an object often requires the estimation of its mechanical properties. We examined whether the hand that is used to interact with the object and their handedness affected people's estimation of these properties using stiffness estimation as a test case. We recorded participants' responses on a stiffness discrimination of a virtual elastic force field and the grip force applied on the robotic device during the interaction. In half of the trials, the robotic device delayed the participants' force feedback. Consistent with previous studies, delayed force feedback biased the perceived stiffness of the force field. Interestingly, in both left-handed and right-handed participants, for the delayed force field, there was even less perceived stiffness when participants used their left hand than their right hand. This result supports the idea that haptic processing is affected by laterality in the brain, not by handedness. Consistent with previous studies, participants adjusted their applied grip force according to the correct size and timing of the load force regardless of the hand that was used, the handedness, or the delay. This suggests that in all these conditions, participants were able to form an accurate internal representation of the anticipated trajectory of the load force (size and timing) and that this representation was used for accurate control of grip force independently of the perceptual bias. Thus, these results provide additional evidence for the dissociation between action and perception in the processing of delayed information.

"Like the palm of my hands": Motor imagery enhances implicit and explicit visual recognition of one's own hands.

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Conson, Massimiliano; Volpicella, Francesco; De Bellis, Francesco; Orefice, Agnese; Trojano, Luigi

2017-10-01

A key point in motor imagery literature is that judging hands in palm view recruits sensory-motor information to a higher extent than judging hands in back view, due to the greater biomechanical complexity implied in rotating hands depicted from palm than from back. We took advantage from this solid evidence to test the nature of a phenomenon known as self-advantage, i.e. the advantage in implicitly recognizing self vs. others' hand images. The self-advantage has been actually found when implicitly but not explicitly judging self-hands, likely due to dissociation between implicit and explicit body representations. However, such a finding might be related to the extent to which motor imagery is recruited during implicit and explicit processing of hand images. We tested this hypothesis in two behavioural experiments. In Experiment 1, right-handed participants judged laterality of either self or others' hands, whereas in Experiment 2, an explicit recognition of one's own hands was required. Crucially, in both experiments participants were randomly presented with hand images viewed from back or from palm. The main result of both experiments was the self-advantage when participants judged hands from palm view. This novel finding demonstrate that increasing the "motor imagery load" during processing of self vs. others' hands can elicit a self-advantage in explicit recognition tasks as well. Future studies testing the possible dissociation between implicit and explicit visual body representations should take into account the modulatory effect of motor imagery load on self-hand processing. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated joint space width quantification of hand and wrist joints: a proof of concept study.

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Huo, Yinghe; Veldhuizen, Renske D; van der Heijde, Desiree M; Besselink, Nick J; Jacobs, Johannes W G; van Laar, Jacob M; Viergever, Max A; Vincken, Koen L; Lafeber, Floris P; de Hair, Maria J H

2016-01-01

To compare as proof of concept the sensitivity to change of automated quantification of radiographic wrist and hand joint space width (JSW) with scoring JSW according to the Sharp/van der Heijde scoring method (SHS) in two strategy groups of a treat-to-target and tight-control early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) study. Digital radiographs were assessed for JSW changes of 134 patients of the 236 patients participating in the second Computer Assisted Management in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis trial, of whom both baseline and year 2 radiographs were available (year 1 radiographs n=125). Of those 134 patients, 70 started with methotrexate and prednisone (MTX+Pred) and 64 with MTX and placebo (MTX+Plac). JSW change over 1 and 2 years of the hands and wrists was assessed, applying both the joint space narrowing (JSN) subscore of the SHS by 2 readers and the automated assessment with the JSW quantification software 'JSQ'. For both methods, progression of JSW change of the hand and wrist was analysed using linear mixed modelling (dependent variable 'JSW', factor 'strategy group', covariate 'follow-up time in years', interaction term 'strategy group*follow-up time'; radiographs of baseline, year 1 and year 2 were used). For each method the standardised mean difference (SMD) for the change in JSW from baseline to year 2 between the treatment strategies was obtained using a non-parametric method. Patient characteristics of the current subpopulation were similar to those of the whole study population. JSN of the hand and wrist according to SHS at 2 years was present in 16 vs. 23% in the MTX+Pred group vs. the MTX+Plac group. The mean yearly progression rates of JSW change of the hands and wrists using JSQ were -0.00mm (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.01; 0.01) for MTX+Pred vs. -0.02mm (95%CI -0.03; -0.01) for MTX+Plac, p=0.045, and using SHS JSN they were 0.19 units (95%CI 0.09; 0.30) vs. 0.30 units (95%CI 0.14; 0.45) for MTX+Pred vs. MTX+Plac, p=0.271. The SMD for the change from

EMG Analysis and Sagittal Plane Kinematics of the Two-Handed and Single-Handed Kettlebell Swing: A Descriptive Study.

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Van Gelder, Leonard H; Hoogenboom, Barbara J; Alonzo, Bryan; Briggs, Dayna; Hatzel, Brian

2015-11-01

Kettlebell (KB) swing exercises have been proposed as a possible method to improve hip and spinal motor control as well as improve power, strength, and endurance. To describe electromyographic (EMG) and sagittal plane kinematics during two KB exercises: the two-handed KB swing (THKS) and the single-handed KB swing (SHKS). In addition, the authors sought to investigate whether or not hip flexor length related to the muscular activity or the kinematics of the exercise. Twenty-three healthy college age subjects participated in this study. Demographic information and passive hip flexor length were recorded for each subject. A maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of bilateral gluteus maximus (GMAX), gluteus medius (GMED), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles was recorded. EMG activity and sagittal plane video was recorded during both the THKS and SHKS in a randomized order. Normalized muscular activation of the three studied muscles was calculated from EMG data. During both SHKS and THKS, the average percent of peak MVIC for GMAX was 75.02% ± 55.38, GMED 55.47% ± 26.33, and BF 78.95% ± 53.29. Comparisons of the mean time to peak activation (TTP) for each muscle showed that the biceps femoris was the first muscle to activate during the swings. Statistically significant (p < .05), moderately positive correlations (r = .483 and .417) were found between passive hip flexor length and % MVIC for the GMax during the SHKS and THKS, respectively. The THKS and SHKS provide sufficient muscular recruitment for strengthening of all of the muscles explored. This is the first study to show significant correlations between passive hip flexor length and muscular activation of hip extensors, particularly the GMax. Finally, the BF consistently reached peak activity before the GMax and GMed during the SHKS. Level 3.

Hands as markers of fragmentation

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A. Barnard

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Margaret Atwood is an internationally read, translated, and critiqued writer whose novels have established her as one of the most esteemed authors in English (McCombs & Palmer, 1991:1. Critical studies of her work deal mainly with notions of identity from psychoanalytical perspectives. This study has identified a gap in current critical studies on Atwood’s works, namely the challenging of textual unity which is paralleled in the challenging of the traditional (single narrative voice. The challenging of textual unity and the single narrative voice brings about the fragmentation of both. This article will focus on the role that hands play as markers of fragmentation in “The Blind Assassin” (2000. In the novel, the writing hand destabilises the narrative voice, since it is not connected to the voice of a single author. If the author of the text – the final signified – is eliminated, the text becomes fragmentary and open, inviting the reader to contribute to the creation of meaning. Hands play a signficant role in foregrounding the narrator’s fragmented identity, and consequently, the fragmentation of the text. We will investigate this concept in the light of Roland Barthes’ notion of the scriptor, whose hand is metaphorically severed from his or her “voice”. Instead of the text being a unified entity, it becomes unstable and it displays the absence of hierarchical textual levels. Based mainly on Barthes’ writings, this article concludes that hands foreground the narrator’s fragmented identity, which is paralleled in the fragmented text.

A hand hygiene intervention to decrease infections among children attending day care centers: Design of a cluster randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T.P. Zomer (Tizza); V. Erasmus (Vicky); N. Vlaar (Nico); E.F. van Beeck (Ed); A. Tjon-A-Tsien (Aimée); J.H. Richardus (Jan Hendrik); H.A.C.M. Voeten (Hélène)

2013-01-01

textabstractBackground: Day care center attendance has been recognized as a risk factor for acquiring gastrointestinal and respiratory infections, which can be prevented with adequate hand hygiene (HH). Based on previous studies on environmental and sociocognitive determinants of caregivers'

Measuring hand hygiene compliance rates at hospital entrances.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaidotas, Marina; Yokota, Paula Kiyomi Onaga; Marra, Alexandre R; Camargo, Thiago Zinsly Sampaio; Victor, Elivane da Silva; Gysi, Deisy Morselli; Leal, Flavio; Santos, Oscar Fernando Pavão dos; Edmond, Michael B

2015-07-01

Despite the importance of hand hygiene in the health care setting, there are no studies evaluating hand hygiene compliance at hospital entrances. The study was prospectively performed over a 33-week period from March 30, 2014-November 15, 2014, to evaluate hand hygiene compliance in 2 hospital reception areas. We compared electronic handwash counters with the application of radiofrequency identification (GOJO SMARTLINK) (electronic observer) that counts each activation of alcohol gel dispensers to direct observation (human observer) via remote review of video surveillance. We found low hand hygiene compliance rates of 2.2% (99/4,412) and 1.7% (140/8,277), respectively, at reception areas A and D, detected by direct observation. Using the electronic observer, we measured rates of 17% (15,624/91,724) and 7.1% (51,605/730,357) at reception areas A and D, respectively. For the overall time period of simultaneous electronic and human observation, the human observer captured 1% of the hand hygiene episodes detected by the electronic observer. Our study showed very low hand hygiene compliance in hospital reception areas, and we found an electronic hand hygiene system to be a useful method to monitor hand hygiene compliance. Copyright © 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Sharks in Your Hands"--A Case Study on Effects of Teaching Strategies to Change Knowledge and Attitudes towards Sharks

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hung-Shan; Liu, Shiang-Yao; Yeh, Ting-Kuang

2016-01-01

This study was designed to exemplify how hands-on based teaching strategies enhanced students' knowledge and positive attitudes towards sharks. Hands-on activities for sharks' biological and morphological features were carried out. Eleven elementary school students from a remote area in Taiwan were recruited and assigned to the hands-on condition.…

Current rates of publication for podium and poster presentations at the american society for surgery of the hand annual meetings.

Science.gov (United States)

Abzug, Joshua M; Osterman, Meredith; Rivlin, Michael; Paryavi, Ebrahim; Osterman, A Lee

2014-09-01

Research projects are presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). It is unknown how many achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. We sought to determine current rates of publication of podium and poster presentations. All ASSH podium and poster presentations from 2000 to 2005 were reviewed, and an Internet-based search using PubMed and Google was conducted to determine whether the presented studies had been published. Times to publication and journal names were recorded. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Fisher's exact test was conducted to compare current trends with previous trends. Of 1127 podium and poster presentations reviewed, 46% were published in peer-reviewed journals. Forty-seven percent of published presentations (242 presentations) were in Journal of Hand Surgery, and 11% (59 presentations) were in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Forty-five percent of presentations were published within 2 years and 66% within 3 years. The publication rate for podium presentations was significantly higher than that previously reported for Journal of Hand Surgery, at 54% compared with 44% (P=0.004). Currently, fewer than half of the studies presented at Annual Meetings of the ASSH achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. Presentations are most likely to be published within 3 years, and almost half are published in Journal of Hand Surgery.

About Hand Surgery

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... Find a hand surgeon near you. © 2009 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Definition developed by ASSH Council. Other Links CME Mission Statement and Disclaimer Policies and Technical Requirements Exhibits and Partners ASSH 822 W. Washington Blvd. ... 2018 by American Society for Surgery of the Hand × Search Tips Tip ...

Perfection of technical and tactical preparation of sportsmen of hand-to-hand fight

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Serebryak V.V.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Essence of innovative hike is considered to upgrading preparation of sportsmen of hand-to-hand fight. 58 sportsmen of section of hand-to-hand fight took part in research. Age of sportsmen are from 17 to 22 years. Developed and approved the most effective technical and tactical charts of construction of duel with the opponents of different styles of single combats. It is well-proven that offered approach instrumental in development of operative thought and adaptation to sparring of hand-to-hand fight.

Rubber hand illusion affects joint angle perception.

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Martin V Butz

Full Text Available The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI is a well-established experimental paradigm. It has been shown that the RHI can affect hand location estimates, arm and hand motion towards goals, the subjective visual appearance of the own hand, and the feeling of body ownership. Several studies also indicate that the peri-hand space is partially remapped around the rubber hand. Nonetheless, the question remains if and to what extent the RHI can affect the perception of other body parts. In this study we ask if the RHI can alter the perception of the elbow joint. Participants had to adjust an angular representation on a screen according to their proprioceptive perception of their own elbow joint angle. The results show that the RHI does indeed alter the elbow joint estimation, increasing the agreement with the position and orientation of the artificial hand. Thus, the results show that the brain does not only adjust the perception of the hand in body-relative space, but it also modifies the perception of other body parts. In conclusion, we propose that the brain continuously strives to maintain a consistent internal body image and that this image can be influenced by the available sensory information sources, which are mediated and mapped onto each other by means of a postural, kinematic body model.

Osteoarthritis of the Hand

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... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Osteoarthritis Email to a friend * required fields From * ...

A quasi-experimental study to determine the effects of a multifaceted educational intervention on hand hygiene compliance in a radiography unit.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donoghue, Margaret; Ng, Suk-Hing; Suen, Lorna Kp; Boost, Maureen

2016-01-01

Whilst numerous studies have investigated nurses' compliance with hand hygiene and use of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR), limited attention has been paid to these issues in allied health staff. Reports have linked infections to breaches in infection control in the radiography unit (RU). With advances in medical imaging, a higher proportion of patients come into contact with RU staff increasing the need for good hand hygiene compliance. This study aimed to evaluate effectiveness on compliance of an intervention to improve awareness of hand hygiene in the RU of a district hospital. A quasi-experimental study design including questionnaires assessing knowledge and attitudes of hand hygiene and direct observation of participants was used to evaluate an educational programme on hand hygiene of the RU of a large district hospital. All healthcare workers (HCW), comprising 76 radiographers, 17 nurses, and nine healthcare assistants (HCA), agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 85 completed the initial and 76 the post-test anonymous questionnaire. The hand hygiene compliance of all 102 HCW was observed over a 3-week period prior to and after the intervention. The 2-month intervention consisted of talks on hand hygiene and benefits of ABHR, provision of visual aids, wall-mounted ABHR dispensers, and personal bottles of ABHR. Before the intervention, overall hand hygiene compliance was low (28.9 %). Post-intervention, compliance with hand hygiene increased to 51.4 %. This improvement was significant for radiographers and HCA. Additionally, knowledge and attitudes improved in particular, understanding that ABHR can largely replace handwashing and there is a need to perform hand hygiene after environmental contact. The increased use of ABHR allowed HCW to feel they had enough time to perform hand hygiene. The educational intervention led to increased awareness of hand hygiene opportunities and better acceptance of ABHR use. The reduced time needed to perform hand

A quasi-experimental study to determine the effects of a multifaceted educational intervention on hand hygiene compliance in a radiography unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret O’Donoghue

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Whilst numerous studies have investigated nurses’ compliance with hand hygiene and use of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR, limited attention has been paid to these issues in allied health staff. Reports have linked infections to breaches in infection control in the radiography unit (RU. With advances in medical imaging, a higher proportion of patients come into contact with RU staff increasing the need for good hand hygiene compliance. This study aimed to evaluate effectiveness on compliance of an intervention to improve awareness of hand hygiene in the RU of a district hospital. Methods A quasi-experimental study design including questionnaires assessing knowledge and attitudes of hand hygiene and direct observation of participants was used to evaluate an educational programme on hand hygiene of the RU of a large district hospital. All healthcare workers (HCW, comprising 76 radiographers, 17 nurses, and nine healthcare assistants (HCA, agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 85 completed the initial and 76 the post-test anonymous questionnaire. The hand hygiene compliance of all 102 HCW was observed over a 3-week period prior to and after the intervention. The 2-month intervention consisted of talks on hand hygiene and benefits of ABHR, provision of visual aids, wall-mounted ABHR dispensers, and personal bottles of ABHR. Results Before the intervention, overall hand hygiene compliance was low (28.9 %. Post-intervention, compliance with hand hygiene increased to 51.4 %. This improvement was significant for radiographers and HCA. Additionally, knowledge and attitudes improved in particular, understanding that ABHR can largely replace handwashing and there is a need to perform hand hygiene after environmental contact. The increased use of ABHR allowed HCW to feel they had enough time to perform hand hygiene. Conclusions The educational intervention led to increased awareness of hand hygiene opportunities and better

Influence of rub-in technique on required application time and hand coverage in hygienic hand disinfection

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Feil Yvonne

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent data indicate that full efficacy of a hand rub preparation for hygienic hand disinfection can be achieved within 15 seconds (s. However, the efficacy test used for the European Norm (EN 1500 samples only the fingertips. Therefore, we investigated hand coverage using sixteen different application variations. The hand rub was supplemented with a fluorescent dye, and hands were assessed under UV light by a blind test, before and after application. Fifteen non-healthcare workers were used as subjects for each application variation apart from one test which was done with a group of twenty healthcare workers. All tests apart from the reference procedure were performed using 3 mL of hand rub. The EN 1500 reference procedure, which consists of 6 specific rub-in steps performed twice with an aliquot of 3 ml each time, served as a control. In one part of this study, each of the six steps was performed from one to five times before proceeding to the next step. In another part of the study, the entire sequence of six steps was performed from one to five times. Finally, all subjects were instructed to cover both hands completely, irrespective of any specific steps ("responsible application". Each rub-in technique was evaluated for untreated skin areas. Results The reference procedure lasted on average 75 s and resulted in 53% of subjects with at least one untreated area on the hands. Five repetitions of the rub-in steps lasted on average 37 s with 67% of subjects having incompletely treated hands. One repetition lasted on average 17 s, and all subjects had at least one untreated area. Repeating the sequence of steps lasted longer, but did not yield a better result. "Responsible application" was quite fast, lasting 25 s among non-healthcare worker subjects and 28 s among healthcare workers. It was also effective, with 53% and 55% of hands being incompletely treated. New techniques were as fast and effective as "responsible

Hand-to-Hand Model for Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to Estimate Fat Free Mass in a Healthy Population

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Hsueh-Kuan Lu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to establish a hand-to-hand (HH model for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA fat free mass (FFM estimation by comparing with a standing position hand-to-foot (HF BIA model and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; we also verified the reliability of the newly developed model. A total of 704 healthy Chinese individuals (403 men and 301 women participated. FFM (FFMDXA reference variables were measured using DXA and segmental BIA. Further, regression analysis, Bland–Altman plots, and cross-validation (2/3 participants as the modeling group, 1/3 as the validation group; three turns were repeated for validation grouping were conducted to compare tests of agreement with FFMDXA reference variables. In male participants, the hand-to-hand BIA model estimation equation was calculated as follows: FFMmHH = 0.537 h2/ZHH − 0.126 year + 0.217 weight + 18.235 (r2 = 0.919, standard estimate of error (SEE = 2.164 kg, n = 269. The mean validated correlation coefficients and limits of agreement (LOAs of the Bland–Altman analysis of the calculated values for FFMmHH and FFMDXA were 0.958 and −4.369–4.343 kg, respectively, for hand-to-foot BIA model measurements for men; the FFM (FFMmHF and FFMDXA were 0.958 and −4.356–4.375 kg, respectively. The hand-to-hand BIA model estimating equation for female participants was FFMFHH = 0.615 h2/ZHH − 0.144 year + 0.132 weight + 16.507 (r2 = 0.870, SEE = 1.884 kg, n = 201; the three mean validated correlation coefficient and LOA for the hand-to-foot BIA model measurements for female participants (FFMFHH and FFMDXA were 0.929 and −3.880–3.886 kg, respectively. The FFMHF and FFMDXA were 0.942 and −3.511–3.489 kg, respectively. The results of both hand-to-hand and hand-to-foot BIA models demonstrated similar reliability, and the hand-to-hand BIA models are practical for assessing FFM.

Hand-to-Hand Model for Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to Estimate Fat Free Mass in a Healthy Population.

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Lu, Hsueh-Kuan; Chiang, Li-Ming; Chen, Yu-Yawn; Chuang, Chih-Lin; Chen, Kuen-Tsann; Dwyer, Gregory B; Hsu, Ying-Lin; Chen, Chun-Hao; Hsieh, Kuen-Chang

2016-10-21

This study aimed to establish a hand-to-hand (HH) model for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) fat free mass (FFM) estimation by comparing with a standing position hand-to-foot (HF) BIA model and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); we also verified the reliability of the newly developed model. A total of 704 healthy Chinese individuals (403 men and 301 women) participated. FFM (FFM DXA ) reference variables were measured using DXA and segmental BIA. Further, regression analysis, Bland-Altman plots, and cross-validation (2/3 participants as the modeling group, 1/3 as the validation group; three turns were repeated for validation grouping) were conducted to compare tests of agreement with FFM DXA reference variables. In male participants, the hand-to-hand BIA model estimation equation was calculated as follows: FFM m HH = 0.537 h²/Z HH - 0.126 year + 0.217 weight + 18.235 ( r ² = 0.919, standard estimate of error (SEE) = 2.164 kg, n = 269). The mean validated correlation coefficients and limits of agreement (LOAs) of the Bland-Altman analysis of the calculated values for FFM m HH and FFM DXA were 0.958 and -4.369-4.343 kg, respectively, for hand-to-foot BIA model measurements for men; the FFM (FFM m HF ) and FFM DXA were 0.958 and -4.356-4.375 kg, respectively. The hand-to-hand BIA model estimating equation for female participants was FFM F HH = 0.615 h²/Z HH - 0.144 year + 0.132 weight + 16.507 ( r ² = 0.870, SEE = 1.884 kg, n = 201); the three mean validated correlation coefficient and LOA for the hand-to-foot BIA model measurements for female participants (FFM F HH and FFM DXA ) were 0.929 and -3.880-3.886 kg, respectively. The FFM HF and FFM DXA were 0.942 and -3.511-3.489 kg, respectively. The results of both hand-to-hand and hand-to-foot BIA models demonstrated similar reliability, and the hand-to-hand BIA models are practical for assessing FFM.

The Plastic Surgery Hand Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvestre, Jason; Levin, L Scott; Serletti, Joseph M; Chang, Benjamin

2015-12-01

Designing an effective hand rotation for plastic surgery residents is difficult. The authors address this limitation by elucidating the critical components of the hand curriculum during plastic surgery residency. Hand questions on the Plastic Surgery In-Service Training Exam for six consecutive years (2008 to 2013) were characterized by presence of imaging, vignette setting, question taxonomy, answer domain, anatomy, and topic. Answer references were quantified by source and year of publication. Two hundred sixty-six questions were related to hand surgery (22.7 percent of all questions; 44.3 per year) and 61 were accompanied by an image (22.9 percent). Vignettes tended to be clinic- (50.0 percent) and emergency room-based (35.3 percent) (p < 0.001). Questions required decision-making (60.5 percent) over interpretation (25.9 percent) and recall skills (13.5 percent) (p < 0.001). Answers focused on interventions (57.5 percent) over anatomy/pathology (25.2 percent) and diagnoses (17.3 percent) (p < 0.001). Nearly half of the questions focused on the digits. The highest yield topics were trauma (35.3 percent), reconstruction (24.4 percent), and aesthetic and functional problems (14.2 percent). The Journal of Hand Surgery (American volume) (20.5 percent) and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (18.0 percent) were the most-cited journals, and the median publication lag was 7 years. Green's Operative Hand Surgery was the most-referenced textbook (41.8 percent). These results will enable trainees to study hand surgery topics with greater efficiency. Faculty can use these results to ensure that tested topics are covered during residency training. Thus, a benchmark is established to improve didactic, clinical, and operative experiences in hand surgery.

Predictors of stenosing tenosynovitis in the hand and hand-related activity limitations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ursum, J.; Horsten, N.C.; Hoeksma, A.F.; Dijkmans, B.A.; Knol, D.L.; Schaardenburg, D. van; Dekker, J.; Roorda, L.D.

2011-01-01

Objectives: To identify early predictors of stenosing tenosynovitis in the hand and hand-related activity limitations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Design: A longitudinal study of an inception cohort. Setting: A large outpatient clinic. Participants: Consecutive patients who attended

Patterns and Determinants of Treatment Seeking among Previously Untreated Psychotic Patients in Aceh Province, Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marthoenis Marthoenis

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Immediate treatment of first-episode psychosis is essential in order to achieve a positive outcome. However, Indonesian psychiatric patients often delay accessing health services, the reason for which is not yet fully understood. The current study aimed to understand patterns of treatment seeking and to reveal determinants of the delay in accessing psychiatric care among first-time user psychotic patients. Qualitative interviews were conducted with sixteen family members who accompanied the patients to a psychiatric hospital. Many families expressed beliefs that mental illness appertains to village sickness and not hospital sickness; therefore, they usually take the patients to traditional or religious healers before taking them to a health professional. They also identified various factors that potentially delay accessing psychiatric treatment: low literacy and beliefs about the cause of the illness, stigmatisation, the role of extended family, financial problems, and long distance to the psychiatric hospital. On the other hand, the family mentioned various factors related to timely help seeking, including being a well-educated family, living closer to health facilities, previous experience of successful psychotic therapy, and having more positive symptoms of psychosis. The findings call for mental health awareness campaigns in the community.

Hand dominance in orthopaedic surgeons.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Lui, Darren F

2012-08-01

Handedness is perhaps the most studied human asymmetry. Laterality is the preference shown for one side and it has been studied in many aspects of medicine. Studies have shown that some orthopaedic procedures had poorer outcomes and identified laterality as a contributing factor. We developed a questionnaire to assess laterality in orthopaedic surgery and compared this to an established scoring system. Sixty-two orthopaedic surgeons surveyed with the validated Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire (WHQ) were compared with the self developed Orthopaedic Handedness Questionnaire (OHQ). Fifty-eight were found to be right hand dominant (RHD) and 4 left hand dominant (LHD). In RHD surgeons, the average WHQ score was 44.9% and OHQ 15%. For LHD surgeons the WHQ score was 30.2% and OHQ 9.4%. This represents a significant amount of time using the non dominant hand but does not necessarily determine satisfactory or successful dexterity transferable to the operating room. Training may be required for the non dominant side.

Home-based hand rehabilitation with a robotic glove in hemiplegic patients after stroke: a pilot feasibility study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernocchi, Palmira; Mulè, Chiara; Vanoglio, Fabio; Taveggia, Giovanni; Luisa, Alberto; Scalvini, Simonetta

2018-03-01

To evaluate the feasibility and safety of home rehabilitation of the hand using a robotic glove, and, in addition, its effectiveness, in hemiplegic patients after stroke. In this non-randomized pilot study, 21 hemiplegic stroke patients (Ashworth spasticity index ≤ 3) were prescribed, after in-hospital rehabilitation, a 2-month home-program of intensive hand training using the Gloreha Lite glove that provides computer-controlled passive mobilization of the fingers. Feasibility was measured by: number of patients who completed the home-program, minutes of exercise and number of sessions/patient performed. Safety was assessed by: hand pain with a visual analog scale (VAS), Ashworth spasticity index for finger flexors, opponents of the thumb and wrist flexors, and hand edema (circumference of forearm, wrist and fingers), measured at start (T0) and end (T1) of rehabilitation. Hand motor function (Motricity Index, MI), fine manual dexterity (Nine Hole Peg Test, NHPT) and strength (Grip test) were also measured at T0 and T1. Patients performed, over a mean period 56 (49-63) days, a total of 1699 (1353-2045) min/patient of exercise with Gloreha Lite, 5.1 (4.3-5.8) days/week. Seventeen patients (81%) completed the full program. The mean VAS score of hand pain, Ashworth spasticity index and hand edema did not change significantly at T1 compared to T0. The MI, NHPT and Grip test improved significantly (p = 0.0020, 0.0156 and 0.0024, respectively) compared to baseline. Gloreha Lite is feasible and safe for use in home rehabilitation. The efficacy data show a therapeutic effect which need to be confirmed by a randomized controlled study.

Hand eczema

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ibler, K.S.; Jemec, G.B.E.; Flyvholm, M.-A.

2012-01-01

Background. Healthcare workers are at increased risk of developing hand eczema. Objectives. To investigate the prevalence and severity of self-reported hand eczema, and to relate the findings to demographic data, occupation, medical speciality, wards, shifts, and working hours. Patients/materials......Background. Healthcare workers are at increased risk of developing hand eczema. Objectives. To investigate the prevalence and severity of self-reported hand eczema, and to relate the findings to demographic data, occupation, medical speciality, wards, shifts, and working hours. Patients...... dermatitis, younger age, male sex (male doctors), and working hours. Eighty nine per cent of subjects reported mild/moderate lesions. Atopic dermatitis was the only factor significantly related to severity. Sick leave was reported by 8% of subjects, and notification to the authorities by 12%. Conclusions...... or severity, but cultural differences between professions with respect to coping with the eczema were significant. Atopic dermatitis was related to increased prevalence and severity, and preventive efforts should be made for healthcare workers with atopic dermatitis....

Stapled versus hand-sewn cervical esophagogastric anastomosis in patients undergoing esophagectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Pramod Kumar; Shah, Harsh; Gupta, Nikhil; Varshney, Vaibhav; Patil, Nilesh Sadashiv; Jain, Amit; Saluja, Sundeep Singh

2016-01-01

Introduction Anastomotic leak is one of the main causes of morbidity following esophageal resection for carcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. We compared hand sewn and stapled cervical esophagogastric anastomotic techniques in terms of postoperative complications. Methods All patients who underwent esophagectomy with cervical esophagogastric anastomosis at a single academic center from 2004 to 2014 were included in the study. Both early and late complications were analyzed. Results 153 patients underwent resection for carcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. Of these 140 patients had esophagectomy with cervical esophagogastric anastomosis. 66 patients underwent a hand sewn anastomosis and 74 patients had a side-to-side stapled anastomosis fashioned. Both groups were comparable with respect to preoperative characteristics. There was no difference in the operative blood loss and T and N stage of the disease. The overall morbidity and mortality was 32.8% and 6.4%, respectively. Overall leak rate was 17%. There was no difference in the leak rates among two groups (12 in the hand-sewn group & 12 in the Stapled stapled group; p = 0.82). The rate of anastomotic stricture was significantly higher for the hand sewn group (16.1% vs 4.3%; p = 0.03) at median follow up of 30 months. Conclusion Both hand sewn and stapled anastomotic techniques are equally effective way of performing a cervical esophagogastric anastomosis. However, patients having anastomotic leak develop anastomotic stricture more often in those having hand-sewn anastomosis compared to stapled anastomosis. PMID:27222711

Changes in arm-hand function and arm-hand skill performance in patients after stroke during and after rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Franck, Johan Anton; Smeets, Rob Johannes Elise Marie; Seelen, Henk Alexander Maria

2017-01-01

Arm-hand rehabilitation programs applied in stroke rehabilitation frequently target specific populations and thus are less applicable in heterogeneous patient populations. Besides, changes in arm-hand function (AHF) and arm-hand skill performance (AHSP) during and after a specific and well-described rehabilitation treatment are often not well evaluated. This single-armed prospective cohort study featured three subgroups of stroke patients with either a severely, moderately or mildly impaired AHF. Rehabilitation treatment consisted of a Concise_Arm_and_hand_ Rehabilitation_Approach_in_Stroke (CARAS). Measurements at function and activity level were performed at admission, clinical discharge, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after clinical discharge. Eighty-nine stroke patients (M/F:63/23; mean age:57.6yr (+/-10.6); post-stroke time:29.8 days (+/-20.1)) participated. All patients improved on AHF and arm-hand capacity during and after rehabilitation, except on grip strength in the severely affected subgroup. Largest gains occurred in patients with a moderately affected AHF. As to self-perceived AHSP, on average, all subgroups improved over time. A small percentage of patients declined regarding self-perceived AHSP post-rehabilitation. A majority of stroke patients across the whole arm-hand impairment severity spectrum significantly improved on AHF, arm-hand capacity and self-perceived AHSP. These were maintained up to one year post-rehabilitation. Results may serve as a control condition in future studies.

Quantification of Hand Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease: A Proof-of-Principle Study Using Inertial and Force Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Noort, Josien C; Verhagen, Rens; van Dijk, Kees J; Veltink, Peter H; Vos, Michelle C P M; de Bie, Rob M A; Bour, Lo J; Heida, Ciska T

2017-10-01

This proof-of-principle study describes the methodology and explores and demonstrates the applicability of a system, existing of miniature inertial sensors on the hand and a separate force sensor, to objectively quantify hand motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in a clinical setting (off- and on-medication condition). Four PD patients were measured in off- and on- dopaminergic medication condition. Finger tapping, rapid hand opening/closing, hand pro/supination, tremor during rest, mental task and kinetic task, and wrist rigidity movements were measured with the system (called the PowerGlove). To demonstrate applicability, various outcome parameters of measured hand motor symptoms of the patients in off- vs. on-medication condition are presented. The methodology described and results presented show applicability of the PowerGlove in a clinical research setting, to objectively quantify hand bradykinesia, tremor and rigidity in PD patients, using a single system. The PowerGlove measured a difference in off- vs. on-medication condition in all tasks in the presented patients with most of its outcome parameters. Further study into the validity and reliability of the outcome parameters is required in a larger cohort of patients, to arrive at an optimal set of parameters that can assist in clinical evaluation and decision-making.

Antimicrobial efficacy of alcohol-based hand gels.

Science.gov (United States)

Guilhermetti, M; Marques Wiirzler, L A; Castanheira Facio, B; da Silva Furlan, M; Campo Meschial, W; Bronharo Tognim, M C; Botelho Garcia, L; Luiz Cardoso, C

2010-03-01

In recent years, several commercial alcohol-based hand gels have appeared on the market to improve the hand-cleansing compliance of healthcare workers. Although the antimicrobial efficacy of these products has been reported in different countries, few studies have investigated this subject in Brazil. In this study, we assessed the antimicrobial efficacy of 12 alcohol-based hand gels produced in Brazil, containing 70% w/w or v/v ethyl alcohol as the active ingredient, according to the European Standard EN 1500 (EN 1500). The following alcohol gels were tested: Hand Gel, Voga Gel, Solumax Solugel, Doctor Clean, Rio Gel, Clear Gel, Sevengel, Hand CHC, Gel Bac, WBL-50 Gel, Sanigel and Soft Care Gel. In addition, 70% w/w ethyl alcohol and three alcohol-based hand rubs (Sterillium, Sterillium Gel, and Spitaderm), commonly used in Europe and effective according to EN 1500, were also tested. All the products tested, except for two, were approved by the EN 1500 test protocol with a 60s application. The results confirmed the antimicrobial efficacy of the majority of the alcohol gels produced in Brazil for hand hygiene of healthcare workers. Copyright 2009 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Antibacterial Formula Hand Cleaners on the Elimination of Microbes on Hands

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, J. R.

2002-05-01

: The purpose of this project is to find out which one of the antibacterial hand cleanser (antibacterial bar soap, antibacterial liquid hand soap, and liquid hand sanitizer) is more effective in eliminating microbes. If antibacterial- formula liquid hand soap is used on soiled hands, then it will be more effective in eliminating microbes. Germs are microorganisms that cause disease and can spread from person-to-person. Bacteria are a kind of microbe, an example of which is Transient Flora that is often found on hands. Hand washing prevents germs from spreading to others. During the procedure, swabs were used to take samples before and after the soiled hands had been washed with one of the antibacterial hand cleansers. Nutrient Easygel was poured into petri dishes to harden for 1 day, and then samples were swabbed on the gel. The Petri dishes were placed in an incubator for 24 hours, and then data was recorded accordingly. The antibacterial liquid hand soap was sufficient in eliminating the majority of bacteria. The hands had 65% of the bacteria on them, and after the liquid hand soap was used only 37% of the bacteria remained.

Functional Anatomy of Writing with the Dominant Hand

Science.gov (United States)

Najee-ullah, Muslimah ‘Ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand. PMID:23844132

Functional anatomy of writing with the dominant hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Horovitz, Silvina G; Gallea, Cecile; Najee-Ullah, Muslimah 'ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand.

Promoting a Hand Hygiene Program Using Social Media: An Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Sung-Ching; Sheng, Wang-Huei; Tien, Kuei-Lien; Chien, Kuang-Tse; Chen, Yee-Chun; Chang, Shawn-Chwen

2016-01-01

Hand hygiene is an important component in infection control to protect patient safety and reduce health care-associated infection. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of different social media on the promotion of a hand hygiene (HH) program. The observational study was conducted from May 5 to December 31, 2014, at a 2600-bed tertiary care hospital. A 3-minute video of an HH campaign in 8 languages was posted to YouTube. The Chinese version was promoted through three platforms: the hospital website, the hospital group email, and the Facebook site of a well-known Internet illustrator. The video traffic was analyzed via Google Analytics. HH compliance was measured in November 2013 and 2014. There were 5252 views of the video, mainly of the Chinese-language version (3509/5252, 66.81%). The NTUH website had 24,000 subscribers, and 151 of them viewed the video (connection rate was 151/24,000, 0.63%). There were 9967 users of the hospital email group and the connection rate was 0.91% (91/9967). The connection rate was 6.17% (807/13,080) from Facebook, significantly higher than the other 2 venues (both P<.001). HH compliance sustained from 83.7% (473/565) in 2013 to 86.7% (589/679) in 2014 (P=.13) among all HCWs. Facebook had the highest connection rate in the HH video campaign. The use of novel social media such as Facebook should be considered for future programs that promote hand hygiene and other healthy behaviors.

Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Dinah J; Moralejo, Donna; Drey, Nicholas; Chudleigh, Jane H

2010-09-08

Health care-associated infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene is regarded as an effective preventive measure. To update the review done in 2007, to assess the short and longer-term success of strategies to improve hand hygiene compliance and to determine whether a sustained increase in hand hygiene compliance can reduce rates of health care-associated infection. We conducted electronic searches of: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group specialised register of trials; MEDLINE; PubMed; EMBASE; CINAHL; and the BNI. Originally searched to July 2006, for the update databases were searched from August 2006 until November 2009. Randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series analyses meeting explicit entry and quality criteria used by the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group were eligible for inclusion. Studies reporting indicators of hand hygiene compliance and proxy indicators such as product use were considered. Self-reported data were not considered a valid measure of compliance. Studies to promote hand hygiene compliance as part of a care bundle approach were included, providing data relating specifically to hand hygiene were presented separately. Studies were excluded if hand hygiene was assessed in simulations, non-clinical settings or the operating theatre setting. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed data quality. Four studies met the criteria for the review: two from the original review and two from the update. Two studies evaluated simple education initiatives, one using a randomized clinical trial design and the other a controlled before and after design. Both measured hand hygiene compliance by direct observation. The other two studies were both interrupted times series studies. One study presented three separate interventions within the

Contact sensitisation in hand eczema patients-relation to subdiagnosis, severity and quality of life: a multi-centre study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agner, T.; Andersen, K.E.; Brandao, F.M.

2009-01-01

Background Contact sensitisation has been identified as a factor associated with poor prognosis for patients with hand eczema. Objectives To study implications of contact sensitisation with respect to severity, quality of life (QoL) and subdiagnosis of hand eczema. Methods The study was performed...... and presence of contact sensitisation were independent risk factors for increased severity as measured by Hand Eczema Severity Index. Furthermore, the severity of hand eczema increased by the number of contact sensitisations detected (P = 0.023). High age and personal history of atopic eczema were independent...... risk factors for low QoL, as measured by Dermatology Life Quality Index, and atopic eczema as well as allergic contact dermatitis as subdiagnosis was associated with increased sick leave. Conclusion Diagnostic subgroups were not found to be related to specific allergens. Contact sensitisation was found...

Matched cohort study of external cephalic version in women with previous cesarean delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Keepanasseril, Anish; Anand, Keerthana; Soundara Raghavan, Subrahmanian

2017-07-01

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of external cephalic version (ECV) among women with previous cesarean delivery. A retrospective study was conducted using data for women with previous cesarean delivery and breech presentation who underwent ECV at or after 36 weeks of pregnancy during 2011-2016. For every case, two multiparous women without previous cesarean delivery who underwent ECV and were matched for age and pregnancy duration were included. Characteristics and outcomes were compared between groups. ECV was successful for 32 (84.2%) of 38 women with previous cesarean delivery and 62 (81.6%) in the control group (P=0.728). Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that previous cesarean was not associated with ECV success (odds ratio 1.89, 95% confidence interval 0.19-18.47; P=0.244). Successful vaginal delivery after successful ECV was reported for 19 (59.4%) women in the previous cesarean delivery group and 52 (83.9%) in the control group (P<0.001). No ECV-associated complications occurred in women with previous cesarean delivery. To avoid a repeat cesarean delivery, ECV can be offered to women with breech presentation and previous cesarean delivery who are otherwise eligible for a trial of labor. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Study of left-handed characteristics of parallel microwires based metastructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olariu, C.S., E-mail: csolariu@phys-iasi.ro [National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, Iasi (Romania); Ababei, G.; Lupu, N.; Chiriac, H. [National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, Iasi (Romania)

2016-04-01

The aim of this work is to present a complex experimental and theoretical study of the ferromagnetic resonance frequencies and plasma behavior for CoFe-based, Co-based, Fe-based and FINEMET{sup TM} glass covered amorphous microwires (GCAWs), arranged in parallel configurations as free-standing systems, as well as combinations thereof, in order to obtain metastructures with tailored and enlarged left-handed frequency domain. The negative magnetic properties interval of the metastructures is expanded by alternating different types of GCAWs with close natural ferromagnetic resonance (NFMR) and natural antiferromagnetic resonance (NFMAR) domains, respectively.

The tropical diabetic hand syndrome: a surgical perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Nthumba, Peter; Cavadas, Pedro C; Landin, Luis

2013-01-01

Tropical diabetic hand syndrome (TDHS) is an aggressive type of hand sepsis that results in significant morbidity and mortality among patients with diabetes in the tropics. This study set out to establish a protocol for the holistic management of TDHS to improve digit/hand salvage and function at AIC Kijabe Hospital. This prospective study examined the following demographics of patients presenting to the authors institution between October 2009 and September 2010 with TDHS: their sex, age, comorbidities, length of in-hospital stay, surgical and medical treatment, total cost of treatment, and immediate postdischarge outcomes. A total of 10 patients (3 men and 7 women) were presented with TDHS during the study period. Surgical procedures included a thorough debridement of the hand at initial presentation, followed by procedures aimed at preserving length and hand function, with digit or hand amputation when there was no possibility of salvage. Three hands were salvaged, without the need for an amputation; 2 of these, however, developed severe stiffness with resultant poor function. Fifty percent of the patients developed considerable disability; 3 of these patients had disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand, (DASH) scores of >90 at 6 months after treatment. TDHS appears to be more aggressive in some patients than in others; a multidisciplinary approach, with early involvement of the surgical team, and a radical surgical debridement are essential to improved outcomes. Although the goal of medical treatment (ie, glycemic control) is simple and easily achieved, surgical goals (salvage of limb or life, preservation of hand function) are more complex, costly, and difficult to achieve. Educating health care workers, diabetic patients, and their relatives on hand care is an important preventive measure. Diligence in taking antidiabetic medicine, early presentation, and appropriate care of TDHS are required for meaningful improvement in outcomes of patients with

Interventions to improve patient hand hygiene: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Srigley, J A; Furness, C D; Gardam, M

2016-09-01

Nosocomial pathogens may be acquired by patients via their own unclean hands, but there has been relatively little emphasis on patient hand hygiene as a tool for preventing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). The aim of this systematic review was to determine the efficacy of patient hand hygiene interventions in reducing HCAIs and improving patient hand hygiene rates compared to usual care. Electronic databases and grey literature were searched to August 2014. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies were included if they evaluated a patient hand hygiene intervention conducted in an acute or chronic healthcare facility and included HCAI incidence and/or patient hand hygiene rates as an outcome. All steps were performed independently by two investigators. Ten studies were included, most of which were uncontrolled before-after studies (N=8). The majority of interventions (N=7) were multi-modal, with components similar to healthcare worker hand hygiene programmes, including education, reminders, audit and feedback, and provision of hand hygiene products. Six studies reported HCAI outcomes and four studies assessed patient hand hygiene rates; all demonstrated improvements but were at moderate to high risk of bias. In conclusion, interventions to improve patient hand hygiene may reduce the incidence of HCAIs and improve hand hygiene rates, but the quality of evidence is low. Future studies should use stronger designs and be more selective in their choice of outcomes. Copyright © 2016 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A behavioural change package to prevent hand dermatitis in nurses working in the national health service (the SCIN trial): study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Madan, Ira; Parsons, Vaughan; Cookson, Barry; English, John; Lavender, Tina; McCrone, Paul; Murphy, Caroline; Ntani, Georgia; Rushton, Lesley; Smedley, Julia; Williams, Hywel; Wright, Alison; Coggon, David

2016-03-17

Hand dermatitis can be a serious health problem in healthcare workers. While a range of skin care strategies and policy directives have been developed in recent years to minimise the risk, their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness remain unclear. Evidence now suggests that psychological theory can facilitate behaviour change with respect to improved hand care practices. Therefore, we will test the hypothesis that a behavioural change intervention to improve hand care, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and implementation intentions, coupled with provision of hand moisturisers, can produce a clinically useful reduction in the occurrence of hand dermatitis, when compared to standard care, among nurses working in the UK National Health Service (NHS) who are particularly at risk. Secondary aims will be to assess impacts on participants' beliefs and behaviour regarding hand care. In addition, we will assess the cost-effectiveness of the intervention in comparison with normal care. We will conduct a cluster randomised controlled trial at 35 NHS hospital trusts/health boards/universities, focussing on student nurses with a previous history of atopic disease or hand eczema and on nurses in intensive care units. Nurses at 'intervention-light' sites will be managed according to what would currently be regarded as best practice, with provision of an advice leaflet about optimal hand care to prevent hand dermatitis and encouragement to contact their occupational health (OH) department early if hand dermatitis occurs. Nurses at 'intervention-plus' sites will additionally receive a behavioural change programme (BCP) with on-going active reinforcement of its messages, and enhanced provision of moisturising cream. The impact of the interventions will be compared using information collected by questionnaires and through standardised photographs of the hands and wrists, collected at baseline and after 12 months follow-up. In addition, we will assemble relevant economic data

Right-handed fossil humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lozano, Marina; Estalrrich, Almudena; Bondioli, Luca; Fiore, Ivana; Bermúdez de Castro, José-Maria; Arsuaga, Juan Luis; Carbonell, Eudald; Rosas, Antonio; Frayer, David W

2017-11-01

Fossil hominids often processed material held between their upper and lower teeth. Pulling with one hand and cutting with the other, they occasionally left impact cut marks on the lip (labial) surface of their incisors and canines. From these actions, it possible to determine the dominant hand used. The frequency of these oblique striations in an array of fossil hominins documents the typically modern pattern of 9 right- to 1 left-hander. This ratio among living Homo sapiens differs from that among chimpanzees and bonobos and more distant primate relatives. Together, all studies of living people affirm that dominant right-handedness is a uniquely modern human trait. The same pattern extends deep into our past. Thus far, the majority of inferred right-handed fossils come from Europe, but a single maxilla from a Homo habilis, OH-65, shows a predominance of right oblique scratches, thus extending right-handedness into the early Pleistocene of Africa. Other studies show right-handedness in more recent African, Chinese, and Levantine fossils, but the sample compiled for non-European fossil specimens remains small. Fossil specimens from Sima del los Huesos and a variety of European Neandertal sites are predominately right-handed. We argue the 9:1 handedness ratio in Neandertals and the earlier inhabitants of Europe constitutes evidence for a modern pattern of handedness well before the appearance of modern Homo sapiens. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Determination of the relationship between cognitive function and hand dexterity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Soysal Tomruk, Melda; Ozalevli, Sevgi; Dizdar, Gorkem; Narin, Selnur; Kilinc, Oguz

2015-07-01

Hand dexterity is important for daily living activities and can be related to cognitive functions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive dysfunction and hand dexterity in patients with COPD. 35 COPD patients and 36 healthy individuals were assessed. The Minnesota Hand Dexterity Test and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used for assessment of cognitive function and hand dexterity. Hand dexterity test scores and cognitive function of COPD patients' were significantly lower than the healthy group (p COPD group (p COPD; however, hand dexterity did not alter according to hypoxemia severity. Hand dexterity which is important in daily living activities should be evaluated in greater detail with further studies in COPD patients.

Hand-arm vibration syndrome with distal brachial artery occlusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladyslava Bazylevska

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract             Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS is a complex disorder of the peripheral extremities that is associated with occupational or recreational exposure to hand-transmitted vibration. Digital artery occlusion in HAVS is a common finding; however, proximal involvement is less likely.  We present a case of HAVS with the initial presentation of acute limb ischemia and with thrombus burden extending from the distal brachial artery and into the ulnar and radial arteries. To our knowledge, no case of HAVS syndrome of similar severity has been previously described. This case emphasizes the potential dangers of HAVS and the necessity for proper prophylactic interventions at the workplace.

Understanding Healthcare Workers Self-Reported Practices, Knowledge and Attitude about Hand Hygiene in a Medical Setting in Rural India.

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Diwan, Vishal; Gustafsson, Charlotte; Rosales Klintz, Senia; Joshi, Sudhir Chandra; Joshi, Rita; Sharma, Megha; Shah, Harshada; Pathak, Ashish; Tamhankar, Ashok J; Stålsby Lundborg, Cecilia

2016-01-01

To describe self-reported practices and assess knowledge and attitudes regarding hand hygiene among healthcare workers in a rural Indian teaching hospital. A rural teaching hospital and its associated medical and nursing colleges in the district of Ujjain, India. The study population consisted of physicians, nurses, teaching staff, clinical instructors and nursing students. Self-administered questionnaires based on the World Health Organization Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare were used. Out of 489 healthcare workers, 259 participated in the study (response rate = 53%). The proportion of healthcare workers that reported to 'always' practice hand hygiene in the selected situations varied from 40-96% amongst categories. Reported barriers to maintaining good hand hygiene were mainly related to high workload, scarcity of resources, lack of scientific information and the perception that priority is not given to hand hygiene, either on an individual or institutional level. Previous training on the topic had a statistically significant association with self-reported practice (p = 0.001). Ninety three per cent of the respondents were willing to attend training on hand hygiene in the near future. Self-reported knowledge and adherence varied between situations, but hand hygiene practices have the potential to improve if the identified constraints could be reduced. Future training should focus on enhancing healthcare workers' knowledge and understanding regarding the importance of persistent practice in all situations.

Comparative study of state-of-the-art myoelectric controllers for multigrasp prosthetic hands.

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Segil, Jacob L; Controzzi, Marco; Weir, Richard F ff; Cipriani, Christian

2014-01-01

A myoelectric controller should provide an intuitive and effective human-machine interface that deciphers user intent in real-time and is robust enough to operate in daily life. Many myoelectric control architectures have been developed, including pattern recognition systems, finite state machines, and more recently, postural control schemes. Here, we present a comparative study of two types of finite state machines and a postural control scheme using both virtual and physical assessment procedures with seven nondisabled subjects. The Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) was used in order to compare the effectiveness of the controllers during activities of daily living using a multigrasp artificial hand. Also, a virtual hand posture matching task was used to compare the controllers when reproducing six target postures. The performance when using the postural control scheme was significantly better (p state machines during the physical assessment when comparing within-subject averages using the SHAP percent difference metric. The virtual assessment results described significantly greater completion rates (97% and 99%) for the finite state machines, but the movement time tended to be faster (2.7 s) for the postural control scheme. Our results substantiate that postural control schemes rival other state-of-the-art myoelectric controllers.

The effect of hand position on perceived finger orientation in left- and right-handers.

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Fraser, Lindsey E; Harris, Laurence R

2017-12-01

In the absence of visual feedback, the perceived orientation of the fingers is systematically biased. In right-handers these biases are asymmetrical between the left and right hands in the horizontal plane and may reflect common functional postures for the two hands. Here we compared finger orientation perception in right- and left-handed participants for both hands, across various hand positions in the horizontal plane. Participants rotated a white line on a screen optically superimposed over their hand to indicate the perceived position of the finger that was rotated to one of seven orientations with the hand either aligned with the body midline, aligned with the shoulder, or displaced by twice the shoulder-to-midline distance from the midline. We replicated the asymmetric pattern of biases previously reported in right-handed participants (left hand biased towards an orientation ~30° inward, right hand ~10° inward). However, no such asymmetry was found for left-handers, suggesting left-handers may use different strategies when mapping proprioception to body or space coordinates and/or have less specialization of function between the hands. Both groups' responses rotated further outward as distance of the hand from the body midline increased, consistent with other research showing spatial orientation estimates diverge outward in the periphery. Finally, for right-handers, precision of responses was best when the hand was aligned with the shoulder compared to the other two conditions. These results highlight the unique role of hand dominance and hand position in perception of finger orientation, and provide insight into the proprioceptive position sense of the upper limbs.

Quantity of ethanol absorption after excessive hand disinfection using three commercially available hand rubs is minimal and below toxic levels for humans

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Toma Cyril D

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite the increasing promotion of alcohol-based hand rubs and the worldwide use of ethanol-based hand rubs in hospitals only few studies have specifically addressed the issue of ethanol absorption when repeatedly applied to human skin. The aim of this study was to assess if ethanol absorption occurs during hygienic and surgical hand disinfection using three different alcohol-based hand-rubs, and to quantify absorption levels in humans. Methods Twelve volunteers applied three hand-rubs containing 95% (hand-rub A, 85% (hand-rub B and 55% ethanol (hand-rub C; all w/w. For hygienic hand disinfection, 4 mL were applied 20 times for 30 s, with 1 minute break between applications. For surgical hand disinfection, 20 mL of each hand rub was applied to hands and arms up to the level of the elbow 10 times for 3 minutes, with a break of 5 minutes between applications. Blood concentrations of ethanol and acetaldehyde were determined immediately prior and up to 90 minutes after application using head space gas chromatography. Results The median of absorbed ethanol after hygienic hand disinfection was 1365 mg (A, 630 mg (B, and 358 mg (C. The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 2.3% (A, 1.1% (B, and 0.9% (C. After surgical hand disinfection, the median of absorbed ethanol was 1067 mg (A, 1542 mg (B, and 477 mg (C. The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 0.7% (A, 1.1% (B, and 0.5% (C. The highest median acetaldehyde concentration after 20 hygienic hand disinfections was 0.57 mg/L (hand-rub C, after 30 min, after 10 surgical hand disinfections 3.99 mg/L (hand-rub A, after 20 minutes. Conclusion The overall dermal and pulmonary absorption of ethanol was below toxic levels in humans and allows the conclusion that the use of the evaluated ethanol-based hand-rubs is safe.

Hands in Systemic Disease

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... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is ... Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy ... hands, being composed of many types of tissue, including blood vessels, nerves, skin and skin-related tissues, bones, and muscles/tendons/ligaments, may show changes that reflect a ...

The right inhibition? Callosal correlates of hand performance in healthy children and adolescents callosal correlates of hand performance.

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Kurth, Florian; Mayer, Emeran A; Toga, Arthur W; Thompson, Paul M; Luders, Eileen

2013-09-01

Numerous studies suggest that interhemispheric inhibition-relayed via the corpus callosum-plays an important role in unilateral hand motions. Interestingly, transcallosal inhibition appears to be indicative of a strong laterality effect, where generally the dominant hemisphere exerts inhibition on the nondominant one. These effects have been largely identified through functional studies in adult populations, but links between motor performance and callosal structure (especially during sensitive periods of neurodevelopment) remain largely unknown. We therefore investigated correlations between Purdue Pegboard performance (a test of motor function) and local callosal thickness in 170 right-handed children and adolescents (mean age: 11.5 ± 3.4 years; range, 6-17 years). Better task performance with the right (dominant) hand was associated with greater callosal thickness in isthmus and posterior midbody. Task performance using both hands yielded smaller and less significant correlations in the same regions, while task performance using the left (nondominant) hand showed no significant correlations with callosal thickness. There were no significant interactions with age and sex. These links between motor performance and callosal structure may constitute the neural correlate of interhemispheric inhibition, which is thought to be necessary for fast and complex unilateral motions and to be biased towards the dominant hand. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., a Wiley company.

Hand function with touch screen technology in children with normal hand formation, congenital differences, and neuromuscular disease.

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Shin, David H; Bohn, Deborah K; Agel, Julie; Lindstrom, Katy A; Cronquist, Sara M; Van Heest, Ann E

2015-05-01

To measure and compare hand function for children with normal hand development, congenital hand differences (CHD), and neuromuscular disease (NMD) using a function test with touch screen technology designed as an iPhone application. We measured touch screen hand function in 201 children including 113 with normal hand formation, 43 with CHD, and 45 with NMD. The touch screen test was developed on the iOS platform using an Apple iPhone 4. We measured 4 tasks: touching dots on a 3 × 4 grid, dragging shapes, use of the touch screen camera, and typing a line of text. The test takes 60 to 120 seconds and includes a pretest to familiarize the subject with the format. Each task is timed independently and the overall time is recorded. Children with normal hand development took less time to complete all 4 subtests with increasing age. When comparing children with normal hand development with those with CHD or NMD, in children aged less than 5 years we saw minimal differences; those aged 5 to 6 years with CHD took significantly longer total time; those aged 7 to 8 years with NMD took significantly longer total time; those aged 9 to 11 years with CHD took significantly longer total time; and those aged 12 years and older with NMD took significantly longer total time. Touch screen technology has becoming increasingly relevant to hand function in modern society. This study provides standardized age norms and shows that our test discriminates between normal hand development and that in children with CHD or NMD. Diagnostic III. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Hand fine motor skills and use of both hand and arm in subjects after a stroke: a systematic review].

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Ostolaza, M; Abudarham, J; Dilascio, S; Drault-Boedo, E; Gallo, S; Garcete, A; Kramer, M; Maiaru, M; Mendelevich, A; Modica, M; Peralta, F; Sanchez-Correa, C

2017-04-01

In clinical practice it is important to be able to assess the function of the upper limb of the patient who has suffered a stroke. There is currently no systemic review that could identify assessment tools for the 'fine use of the hand' and 'use of both hand and arm'. Primary, to identify observational tools which can assess the fine use of the hand and the use of both hand and arm in patients with stroke sequels. Secondary, to analyze the bias risk in the included articles, describing and categorizing the clinical utility, validity and reliability. A search was carried in Medline, LILACS, SciELO and Open Grey, which included articles published until October 2015. Studies that validate assessing tools of the upper limb in subjects with a stroke sequel which evaluate the fine use of the hand and the use of both hand and arm were included. Eleven tools in evaluate observational haven been selected, which assess the fine use of the hand and the use of hand and arm. In every case both validity and reliability have been reported, but clinical utility has been less considered for assessment. The studies that researched these tools showed a high risk of bias in their development. ARAT-19 showed a lower bias risk, but when it has to do with applicability and the reference trial is taken into account, the level of concern is high.

Hand-held transendoscopic robotic manipulators: A transurethral laser prostate surgery case study.

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Hendrick, Richard J; Mitchell, Christopher R; Herrell, S Duke; Webster, Robert J

2015-11-01

Natural orifice endoscopic surgery can enable incisionless approaches, but a major challenge is the lack of small and dexterous instrumentation. Surgical robots have the potential to meet this need yet often disrupt the clinical workflow. Hand-held robots that combine thin manipulators and endoscopes have the potential to address this by integrating seamlessly into the clinical workflow and enhancing dexterity. As a case study illustrating the potential of this approach, we describe a hand-held robotic system that passes two concentric tube manipulators through a 5 mm port in a rigid endoscope for transurethral laser prostate surgery. This system is intended to catalyze the use of a clinically superior, yet rarely attempted, procedure for benign prostatic hyperplasia. This paper describes system design and experiments to evaluate the surgeon's functional workspace and accuracy using the robot. Phantom and cadaver experiments demonstrate successful completion of the target procedure via prostate lobe resection.

A multifaceted hospital-wide intervention increases hand hygiene compliance.

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Patel, B; Engelbrecht, H; McDonald, H; Morris, V; Smythe, W

2016-03-07

Hand hygiene is an important and basic practice that should be used by all healthcare staff to protect both themselves and their patients against infection. Unfortunately hand hygiene compliance remains poor. To show an improvement in hand hygiene compliance using a multifaceted approach. This was a quasiexperimental pre-post intervention study design with a number of standardised interventions to promote hand hygiene. The World Health Organization hand hygiene multimodal (five-step) intervention approach was used. The study ran from June 2015 to August 2015 in 11 selected wards of a 975-bed tertiary and quaternary care public hospital (Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa). The outcome was to assess improvement in hand hygiene compliance monthly over the 3 months, compared with non-intervention wards and compared with the wards' own performance measured in 2014. The study included both descriptive and analytical components. Post intervention, hand hygiene compliance showed a statistically significant improvement for before patient contact from 34% in 2014 to 76% in 2015 (p<0.05) and for after patient contact from 47% in 2014 to 82% in 2015 (p<0.05). The intervention improved hand hygiene compliance and can easily be replicated in other wards, resulting in sustaining a culture of hand hygiene improvement and behavioural change throughout the hospital.

Efficacy of long pulse Nd:YAG laser versus fractional Er:YAG laser in the treatment of hand wrinkles.

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Robati, Reza M; Asadi, Elmira; Shafiee, Anoosh; Namazi, Nastaran; Talebi, Atefeh

2018-04-01

There are different modalities for hand rejuvenation. Fractional Er:YAG laser and long pulse Nd:YAG laser were introduced for treating hand wrinkles. We plan to compare fractional Er:YAG laser and long pulse Nd:YAG laser in a randomized controlled double-blind design with multiple sessions and larger sample size in comparison with previous studies. Thirty-three participants with hand wrinkles entered this study. They were randomly allocated to undergo three monthly laser treatments on each hand, one with a fractional Er:YAG laser and the other with a long pulse Nd:YAG laser. The evaluations included assessment of clinical improvement determined by two independent dermatologists not enrolled in the treatment along with measuring skin biomechanical property of hands using a sensitive biometrologic device with the assessment of cutaneous resonance running time (CRRT). Moreover, potential side effects and patients' satisfaction have been documented at baseline, 1 month after each treatment, and 3 months after the final treatment session. Clinical evaluation revealed both modalities significantly reduce hand wrinkles (p value lasers. Mean CRRT values also decreased significantly after the laser treatment compared to those of the baseline in both laser groups. There was no serious persistent side effect after both laser treatments. Both fractional Er:YAG and long pulse Nd:YAG lasers show substantial clinical improvement of hand skin wrinkles with no serious side effects. However, combination treatment by these lasers along with the other modalities such as fat transfer could lead to better outcomes in hand rejuvenation. IRCT2016032020468N4.

"Puffy hand syndrome".

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Chouk, Mickaël; Vidon, Claire; Deveza, Elise; Verhoeven, Frank; Pelletier, Fabien; Prati, Clément; Wendling, Daniel

2017-01-01

Intravenous drug addiction is responsible for many complications, especially cutaneous and infectious. There is a syndrome, rarely observed in rheumatology, resulting in "puffy hands": the puffy hand syndrome. We report two cases of this condition from our rheumatologic consultation. Our two patients had intravenous drug addiction. They presented with an edema of the hands, bilateral, painless, no pitting, occurring in one of our patient during heroin intoxication, and in the other 2 years after stopping injections. In our two patients, additional investigations (biological, radiological, ultrasound) were unremarkable, which helped us, in the context, to put the diagnosis of puffy hand syndrome. The pathophysiology, still unclear, is based in part on a lymphatic toxicity of drugs and their excipients. There is no etiological treatment but elastic compression by night has improved edema of the hands in one of our patients. Copyright © 2016 Société française de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Gen-2 Hand-Held Optical Imager towards Cancer Imaging: Reflectance and Transillumination Phantom Studies

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Anuradha Godavarty

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Hand-held near-infrared (NIR optical imagers are developed by various researchers towards non-invasive clinical breast imaging. Unlike these existing imagers that can perform only reflectance imaging, a generation-2 (Gen-2 hand-held optical imager has been recently developed to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging. The unique forked design of the hand-held probe head(s allows for reflectance imaging (as in ultrasound and transillumination or compressed imaging (as in X-ray mammography. Phantom studies were performed to demonstrate two-dimensional (2D target detection via reflectance and transillumination imaging at various target depths (1–5 cm deep and using simultaneous multiple point illumination approach. It was observed that 0.45 cc targets were detected up to 5 cm deep during transillumination, but limited to 2.5 cm deep during reflectance imaging. Additionally, implementing appropriate data post-processing techniques along with a polynomial fitting approach, to plot 2D surface contours of the detected signal, yields distinct target detectability and localization. The ability of the gen-2 imager to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging allows its direct comparison to ultrasound and X-ray mammography results, respectively, in future clinical breast imaging studies.

Hand eczema classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diepgen, T L; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Brandao, F M

2008-01-01

of the disease is rarely evidence based, and a classification system for different subdiagnoses of hand eczema is not agreed upon. Randomized controlled trials investigating the treatment of hand eczema are called for. For this, as well as for clinical purposes, a generally accepted classification system...... A classification system for hand eczema is proposed. Conclusions It is suggested that this classification be used in clinical work and in clinical trials....

The Effect of Hand Dimensions, Hand Shape and Some Anthropometric Characteristics on Handgrip Strength in Male Grip Athletes and Non-Athletes

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Fallahi, Ali Asghar; Jadidian, Ali Akbar

2011-01-01

It has been suggested that athletes with longer fingers and larger hand surfaces enjoy stronger grip power. Therefore, some researchers have examined a number of factors and anthropometric variables that explain this issue. To our knowledge, the data is scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hand dimensions, hand shape and some anthropometric characteristics on handgrip strength in male grip athletes and non-athletes. 80 subjects aged between 19 and 29 participated in this study in two groups including: national and collegian grip athletes (n=40), and non-athletes (n=40). Body height and mass were measured to calculate body mass index. The shape of the dominant hand was drawn on a piece of paper with a thin marker so that finger spans, finger lengths, and perimeters of the hand could be measured. The hand shape was estimated as the ratio of the hand width to hand length. Handgrip strength was measured in the dominant and non-dominant hand using a standard dynamometer. Descriptive statistics were used for each variable and independent t test was used to analyze the differences between the two groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to evaluate the correlation between studied variables. Also, to predict important variables in handgrip strength, the linear trend was assessed using a linear regression analysis. There was a significant difference between the two groups in absolute handgrip strength (p0.05) were significantly different between the groups (ptalent identification in handgrip-related sports and in clinical settings as well. PMID:23486361

Delayed norovirus epidemic in the 2009-2010 season in Japan: potential relationship with intensive hand sanitizer use for pandemic influenza.

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Inaida, S; Shobugawa, Y; Matsuno, S; Saito, R; Suzuki, H

2016-09-01

Norovirus (NoV) epidemics normally peak in December in Japan; however, the peak in the 2009-2010 season was delayed until the fourth week of January 2010. We suspected intensive hand hygiene that was conducted for a previous pandemic influenza in 2009 as the cause of this delay. We analysed the NoV epidemic trend, based on national surveillance data, and its associations with monthly output data for hand hygiene products, including alcohol-based skin antiseptics and hand soap. The delayed peak in the NoV incidence in the 2009-2010 season had the lowest number of recorded cases of the five seasons studied (2006-2007 to 2010-2011). GII.4 was the most commonly occurring genotype. The monthly relative risk of NoV and monthly output of both alcohol-based skin antiseptics and hand soap were significantly and negatively correlated. Our findings suggest an association between hand hygiene using these products and prevention of NoV transmission.

Explicit knowledge about the availability of visual feedback affects grasping with the left but not the right hand.

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Tang, Rixin; Whitwell, Robert L; Goodale, Melvyn A

2014-01-01

Previous research (Whitwell et al. in Exp Brain Res 188:603-611, 2008; Whitwell and Goodale in Exp Brain Res 194:619-629, 2009) has shown that trial history, but not anticipatory knowledge about the presence or absence of visual feedback on an upcoming trial, plays a vital role in determining how that feedback is exploited when grasping with the right hand. Nothing is known about how the non-dominant left hand behaves under the same feedback regimens. In present study, therefore, we compared peak grip aperture (PGA) for left- and right-hand grasps executed with and without visual feedback (i.e., closed- vs. open-loop conditions) in right-handed individuals under three different trial schedules: the feedback conditions were blocked separately, they were randomly interleaved, or they were alternated. When feedback conditions were blocked, the PGA was much larger for open-loop trials as compared to closed-loop trials, although this difference was more pronounced for right-hand grasps than left-hand grasps. Like Whitwell et al., we found that mixing open- and closed-loop trials together, compared to blocking them separately, homogenized the PGA for open- and closed-loop grasping in the right hand (i.e., the PGAs became smaller on open-loop trials and larger on closed-loop trials). In addition, the PGAs for right-hand grasps were entirely determined by trial history and not by knowledge of whether or not visual feedback would be available on an upcoming trial. In contrast to grasps made with the right hand, grasps made by the left hand were affected both by trial history and by anticipatory knowledge of the upcoming visual feedback condition. But these effects were observed only on closed-loop trials, i.e., the PGAs of grasps made with the left hand on closed-loop trials were smaller when participants could anticipate the availability of feedback on an upcoming trial (alternating trials) than when they could not (randomized trials). In contrast, grasps made with the

Motor cortex hand area and speech: implications for the development of language.

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Meister, Ingo Gerrit; Boroojerdi, Babak; Foltys, Henrik; Sparing, Roland; Huber, Walter; Töpper, Rudolf

2003-01-01

Recently a growing body of evidence has suggested that a functional link exists between the hand motor area of the language dominant hemisphere and the regions subserving language processing. We examined the excitability of the hand motor area and the leg motor area during reading aloud and during non-verbal oral movements using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). During reading aloud, but not before or afterwards, excitability was increased in the hand motor area of the dominant hemisphere. This reading effect was found to be independent of the duration of speech. No such effect could be found in the contralateral hemisphere. The excitability of the leg area of the motor cortex remained unchanged during reading aloud. The excitability during non-verbal oral movements was slightly increased in both hemispheres. Our results are consistent with previous findings and may indicate a specific functional connection between the hand motor area and the cortical language network.

Human Hand Motion Analysis and Synthesis of Optimal Power Grasps for a Robotic Hand

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Francesca Cordella

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Biologically inspired robotic systems can find important applications in biomedical robotics, since studying and replicating human behaviour can provide new insights into motor recovery, functional substitution and human-robot interaction. The analysis of human hand motion is essential for collecting information about human hand movements useful for generalizing reaching and grasping actions on a robotic system. This paper focuses on the definition and extraction of quantitative indicators for describing optimal hand grasping postures and replicating them on an anthropomorphic robotic hand. A motion analysis has been carried out on six healthy human subjects performing a transverse volar grasp. The extracted indicators point to invariant grasping behaviours between the involved subjects, thus providing some constraints for identifying the optimal grasping configuration. Hence, an optimization algorithm based on the Nelder-Mead simplex method has been developed for determining the optimal grasp configuration of a robotic hand, grounded on the aforementioned constraints. It is characterized by a reduced computational cost. The grasp stability has been tested by introducing a quality index that satisfies the form-closure property. The grasping strategy has been validated by means of simulation tests and experimental trials on an arm-hand robotic system. The obtained results have shown the effectiveness of the extracted indicators to reduce the non-linear optimization problem complexity and lead to the synthesis of a grasping posture able to replicate the human behaviour while ensuring grasp stability. The experimental results have also highlighted the limitations of the adopted robotic platform (mainly due to the mechanical structure to achieve the optimal grasp configuration.

Hand Hygiene: When and How

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Hand Hygiene When and How August 2009 How to handrub? How to handwash? RUB HANDS FOR HAND HYGIENE! WASH HANDS WHEN VISIBLY SOILED Duration of the ... its use. When? YOUR 5 MOMENTS FOR HAND HYGIENE 1 BEFORETOUCHINGA PATIENT 2 B P ECFLOER R ...

Neural network based automated algorithm to identify joint locations on hand/wrist radiographs for arthritis assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duryea, J.; Zaim, S.; Wolfe, F.

2002-01-01

Arthritis is a significant and costly healthcare problem that requires objective and quantifiable methods to evaluate its progression. Here we describe software that can automatically determine the locations of seven joints in the proximal hand and wrist that demonstrate arthritic changes. These are the five carpometacarpal (CMC1, CMC2, CMC3, CMC4, CMC5), radiocarpal (RC), and the scaphocapitate (SC) joints. The algorithm was based on an artificial neural network (ANN) that was trained using independent sets of digitized hand radiographs and manually identified joint locations. The algorithm used landmarks determined automatically by software developed in our previous work as starting points. Other than requiring user input of the location of nonanatomical structures and the orientation of the hand on the film, the procedure was fully automated. The software was tested on two datasets: 50 digitized hand radiographs from patients participating in a large clinical study, and 60 from subjects participating in arthritis research studies and who had mild to moderate rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It was evaluated by a comparison to joint locations determined by a trained radiologist using manual tracing. The success rate for determining the CMC, RC, and SC joints was 87%-99%, for normal hands and 81%-99% for RA hands. This is a first step in performing an automated computer-aided assessment of wrist joints for arthritis progression. The software provides landmarks that will be used by subsequent image processing routines to analyze each joint individually for structural changes such as erosions and joint space narrowing

Job Burnout Reduces Hand Hygiene Compliance Among Nursing Staff.

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Manomenidis, Georgios; Panagopoulou, Efharis; Montgomery, Anthony

2017-10-13

Health professional burnout has been associated with suboptimal care and reduced patient safety. However, the extent to which burnout influences hand hygiene compliance among health professionals has yet to be explored. The aim of the study was to examine whether job burnout reduces hand washing compliance among nursing staff. A diary study was conducted. Forty registered nurses working in a general city hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, completed a questionnaire, while they were monitored for hand hygiene compliance following the World Health Organization protocol for hand hygiene assessment. Burnout was measured using validated items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Data were collected from September to October 2015. Multiple regression analysis showed that controlling for years in practice, burnout was negatively associated with hand hygiene compliance (R = 0.322, F(3,36) = 5.704, P compliance to hand hygiene among nurses. Given the crucial role of hand hygiene compliance for the prevention of in-hospital infections, this study highlights the need for interventions targeting the prevention of burnout among nursing staff.

Video observation of hand hygiene practices during routine companion animal appointments and the effect of a poster intervention on hand hygiene compliance

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Hand hygiene is considered one of the most important infection control measures in human healthcare settings, but there is little information available regarding hand hygiene frequency and technique used in veterinary clinics. The objectives of this study were to describe hand hygiene practices associated with routine appointments in companion animal clinics in Ontario, and the effectiveness of a poster campaign to improve hand hygiene compliance. Results Observation of hand hygiene practices was performed in 51 clinics for approximately 3 weeks each using 2 small wireless surveillance cameras: one in an exam room, and one in the most likely location for hand hygiene to be performed outside the exam room following an appointment. Data from 38 clinics were included in the final analysis, including 449 individuals, 1139 appointments before and after the poster intervention, and 10894 hand hygiene opportunities. Overall hand hygiene compliance was 14% (1473/10894), while before and after patient contact compliance was 3% (123/4377) and 26% (1145/4377), respectively. Soap and water was used for 87% (1182/1353) of observed hand hygiene attempts with a mean contact time of 4 s (median 2 s, range 1-49 s), while alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) was used for 7% (98/1353) of attempts with a mean contact time of 8 s (median 7 s, range 1-30 s). The presence of the posters had no significant effect on compliance, although some staff reported that they felt the posters did increase their personal awareness of the need to perform hand hygiene, and the posters had some effect on product contact times. Conclusions Overall hand hygiene compliance in veterinary clinics in this study was low, and contact time with hand hygiene products was frequently below current recommendations. Use of ABHR was low despite its advantages over hand washing and availability in the majority of clinics. The poster campaign had a limited effect on its own, but could still be used as a

Synaptic and functional linkages between spinal premotor interneurons and hand-muscle activity during precision grip

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Tomohiko eTakei

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Grasping is a highly complex movement that requires the coordination of a number of hand joints and muscles. Previous studies showed that spinal premotor interneurons (PreM-INs in the primate cervical spinal cord have divergent synaptic effects on hand motoneurons and that they might contribute to hand-muscle synergies. However, the extent to which these PreM-IN synaptic connections functionally contribute to modulating hand-muscle activity is not clear. In this paper, we explored the contribution of spinal PreM-INs to hand-muscle activation by quantifying the synaptic linkage (SL and functional linkage (FL of the PreM-INs with hand-muscle activities. The activity of 23 PreM-INs was recorded from the cervical spinal cord (C6–T1, with EMG signals measured simultaneously from hand and arm muscles in two macaque monkeys performing a precision grip task. Spike-triggered averages (STAs of rectified EMGs were compiled for 456 neuron–muscle pairs; 63 pairs showed significant post-spike effects (i.e., SL. Conversely, 231 of 456 pairs showed significant cross-correlations between the IN firing rate and rectified EMG (i.e., FL. Importantly, a greater proportion of the neuron–muscle pairs with SL showed FL (43/63 pairs, 68% compared with the pairs without SL (203/393, 52%, and the presence of SL was significantly associated with that of FL. However, a significant number of pairs had SL without FL (SL∩!FL, n = 20 or FL without SL (!SL∩FL, n = 203, and the proportions of these incongruities exceeded the number expected by chance. These results suggested that spinal PreM-INs function to significantly modulate hand-muscle activity during precision grip, but the contribution of other neural structures is also needed to recruit an adequate combination of hand-muscle motoneurons.

Current Rates of Publication for Podium and Poster Presentations at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meetings

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Joshua M. Abzug

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background:  Research projects are presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH. It is unknown how many achieve publication in peer-reviewed journals. We sought to determine current rates of publication of podium and poster presentations.   Methods:  All ASSH podium and poster presentations from 2000 to 2005 were reviewed, and an Internet-based search using PubMed and Google was conducted to determine whether the presented studies had been published. Times to publication and journal names were recorded. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Fisher’s exact test was conducted to compare current trends with previous trends. Results:  Of 1127 podium and poster presentations reviewed, 46% were published in peer-reviewed journals. Forty-seven percent of published presentations (242 presentations were in Journal of Hand Surgery , and 11% (59 entations were in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery . Forty-five percent of presentations were published within 2 years and 66% within 3 years. The publication rate for podium presentations was significantly higher than that previously reported for Journal of Hand Surgery, at 54% compared with 44% (P=0.004.  Conclusions:  Currently, fewer than half of the studies presented at Annual Meetings of the ASSH achieve publication in peer-eviewed journals. Presentations are most likely to be published within 3 years, and almost half are published in Journal of Hand Surgery .

Hand infections: a retrospective analysis

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Tolga Türker

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Hand infections are common, usually resulting from an untreated injury. In this retrospective study, we report on hand infection cases needing surgical drainage in order to assess patient demographics, causation of infection, clinical course, and clinical management.Methods. Medical records of patients presenting with hand infections, excluding post-surgical infections, treated with incision and debridement over a one-year period were reviewed. Patient demographics; past medical history; infection site(s and causation; intervals between onset of infection, hospital admission, surgical intervention and days of hospitalization; gram stains and cultures; choice of antibiotics; complications; and outcomes were reviewed.Results. Most infections were caused by laceration and the most common site of infection was the palm or dorsum of the hand. Mean length of hospitalization was 6 days. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, beta-hemolytic Streptococcus and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus were the most commonly cultured microorganisms. Cephalosporins, clindamycin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, penicillin, vancomycin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were major antibiotic choices. Amputations and contracture were the primary complications.Conclusions. Surgery along with medical management were key to treatment and most soft tissue infections resolved without further complications. With prompt and appropriate care, most hand infection patients can achieve full resolution of their infection.

Disturbances in Body Ownership in Schizophrenia: Evidence from the Rubber Hand Illusion and Case Study of a Spontaneous Out-of-Body Experience

OpenAIRE

Thakkar, Katharine N.; Nichols, Heathman S.; McIntosh, Lindsey G.; Park, Sohee

2011-01-01

Background A weakened sense of self may contribute to psychotic experiences. Body ownership, one component of self-awareness, can be studied with the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Watching a rubber hand being stroked while one's unseen hand is stroked synchronously can lead to a sense of ownership over the rubber hand, a shift in perceived position of the real hand, and a limb-specific drop in stimulated hand temperature. We aimed to assess the RHI in schizophrenia using quantifiable measures: ...

Kinetic study of human hand sodium using local in vivo neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen Boulakia, Francine.

1978-01-01

Using local 'in vivo' activation analysis, turnover of human hand sodium is studied in 14 subjects, 7 controls and 7 decalcified osteoporotics patients. The hand of each subject is irradiated with neutrons emitted by 52 Cf sources; the equivalent dose delivered is 8 cGy. The 24 Na activity variation is plotted as function of time and the experimental curve so obtained is fitted to two exponentials. Two compartements are identified: a rapidly exchangeable one, with a half life of 1 h; an other, with a very slow turnover, the half lifes varying from 79 h to 35 h as the calcium concentration becomes sub-normal. The ratios calcium to slowly exchangeable sodium and rapidly to slowly exchangeable sodium appear to be promising for the evaluation of bone disease [fr

Use of a patient hand hygiene protocol to reduce hospital-acquired infections and improve nurses' hand washing.

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Fox, Cherie; Wavra, Teresa; Drake, Diane Ash; Mulligan, Debbie; Bennett, Yvonne Pacheco; Nelson, Carla; Kirkwood, Peggy; Jones, Louise; Bader, Mary Kay

2015-05-01

Critically ill patients are at marked risk of hospital-acquired infections, which increase patients' morbidity and mortality. Registered nurses are the main health care providers of physical care, including hygiene to reduce and prevent hospital-acquired infections, for hospitalized critically ill patients. To investigate a new patient hand hygiene protocol designed to reduce hospital-acquired infection rates and improve nurses' hand-washing compliance in an intensive care unit. A preexperimental study design was used to compare 12-month rates of 2 common hospital-acquired infections, central catheter-associated bloodstream infection and catheter-associated urinary tract infection, and nurses' hand-washing compliance measured before and during use of the protocol. Reductions in 12-month infection rates were reported for both types of infections, but neither reduction was statistically significant. Mean 12-month nurse hand-washing compliance also improved, but not significantly. A hand hygiene protocol for patients in the intensive care unit was associated with reductions in hospital-acquired infections and improvements in nurses' hand-washing compliance. Prevention of such infections requires continuous quality improvement efforts to monitor lasting effectiveness as well as investigation of strategies to eliminate these infections. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Economic impact of hand and wrist injuries: Health-care costs and productivity costs in a population-based study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.E. de Putter (Dennis); R.W. Selles (Ruud); S. Polinder (Suzanne); M.J.M. Panneman (Martien); S.E.R. Hovius (Steven); E.F. van Beeck (Ed)

2012-01-01

textabstractBackground: Injuries to the hand and wrist account for approximately 20% of patient visits to emergency departments and may impose a large economic burden. The purpose of this study was to estimate the total health-care costs and productivity costs of injuries to the hand and wrist and

Elbow and wrist/hand symptoms among 6,943 computer operators: a 1-year follow-up study (the NUDATA study)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, C. F.; Mikkelsen, S.; Kryger, Ann Isabel

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine relations between computer work aspects and elbow and wrist/hand pain conditions and disorders. METHODS: In a 1-year follow-up study among 6,943 technical assistants and machine technicians self-reported active mouse and keyboard time, ergonomic...

Management of risk of microbial cross-contamination from uncooked frozen hamburgers by alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaffner, Donald W; Schaffner, Kristin M

2007-01-01

This research was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands contaminated with a nonpathogen surrogate for Escherichia coli O157:H7, where the source of the contamination was frozen hamburger patties. A nonpathogenic nalidixic acid-resistant food-grade strain of Enterobacter aerogenes was used to inoculate frozen hamburger patties composed of 76% lean beef and 24% fat. Thirty-two individuals participated to produce the data used in this study. Each participant handled nine patties at least three times, a sample for microbiological analysis was collected from the surface of one hand, the participant sanitized both hands, and a sample was collected from the other hand. Burger handling created perceptible and visible food debris on the hands of most participants. Computer simulations also were used to perform a variety of risk calculations. The average reduction in bacteria from the use of sanitizer on hands contaminated by frozen burgers containing E. aerogenes was 2.6 +/- 0.7 log CFU per hand. An experiment designed to simultaneously test the effect of sanitizer on E. aerogenes and E. coli O157:H7 also revealed no significant difference in sanitizer effectiveness against the two organisms. The results of the real-world risk estimation calculations (using the actual prevalence and concentration of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef) predict that once in 1 million trials, a single pathogen cell will be transferred to a single lettuce piece. The effectiveness of this sanitizer intervention was similar to that for hand washing and glove use previously reported. The person-to-person microbial reduction variability from sanitizer use is similar to published data for glove use and was less variable than published data on hand washing effectiveness.

Pathophysiology and Treatment of Alien Hand Syndrome

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Harini Sarva

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Alien hand syndrome (AHS is a disorder of involuntary, yet purposeful, hand movements that may be accompanied by agnosia, aphasia, weakness, or sensory loss. We herein review the most reported cases, current understanding of the pathophysiology, and treatments.Methods: We performed a PubMed search in July of 2014 using the phrases “alien hand syndrome,” “alien hand syndrome pathophysiology,” “alien hand syndrome treatment,” and “anarchic hand syndrome.” The search yielded 141 papers (reviews, case reports, case series, and clinical studies, of which we reviewed 109. Non‐English reports without English abstracts were excluded.Results: Accumulating evidence indicates that there are three AHS variants: frontal, callosal, and posterior. Patients may demonstrate symptoms of multiple types; there is a lack of correlation between phenomenology and neuroimaging findings. Most pathologic and functional imaging studies suggest network disruption causing loss of inhibition as the likely cause. Successful interventions include botulinum toxin injections, clonazepam, visuospatial coaching techniques, distracting the affected hand, and cognitive behavioral therapy.Discussion: The available literature suggests that overlap between AHS subtypes is common. The evidence for effective treatments remains anecdotal, and, given the rarity of AHS, the possibility of performing randomized, placebo‐controlled trials seems unlikely. As with many other interventions for movement disorders, identifying the specific functional impairments caused by AHS may provide the best guidance towards individualized supportive care.

Comparing Repetition Priming Effects in Words and Arithmetic Equations: Robust Priming Regardless of Color or Response Hand Change

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Ailsa Humphries

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that stimulus repetition can lead to reliable behavioral improvements. Although this repetition priming (RP effect has been reported in a number of paradigms using a variety of stimuli including words, objects, and faces, only a few studies have investigated mathematical cognition involving arithmetic computation, and no prior research has directly compared RP effects in a linguistic task with an arithmetic task. In two experiments, we used a within-subjects design to investigate and compare the magnitude of RP, and the effects of changing the color or the response hand for repeated, otherwise identical, stimuli in a word and an arithmetic categorization task. The results show that the magnitude of RP was comparable between the two tasks and that changing the color or the response hand had a negligible effect on priming in either task. These results extended previous findings in mathematical cognition. They also indicate that priming does not vary with stimulus domain. The implications of the results were discussed with reference to both facilitation of component processes and episodic memory retrieval of stimulus–response binding.

Comparing Repetition Priming Effects in Words and Arithmetic Equations: Robust Priming Regardless of Color or Response Hand Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Humphries, Ailsa; Chen, Zhe; Neumann, Ewald

2017-01-01

Previous studies have shown that stimulus repetition can lead to reliable behavioral improvements. Although this repetition priming (RP) effect has been reported in a number of paradigms using a variety of stimuli including words, objects, and faces, only a few studies have investigated mathematical cognition involving arithmetic computation, and no prior research has directly compared RP effects in a linguistic task with an arithmetic task. In two experiments, we used a within-subjects design to investigate and compare the magnitude of RP, and the effects of changing the color or the response hand for repeated, otherwise identical, stimuli in a word and an arithmetic categorization task. The results show that the magnitude of RP was comparable between the two tasks and that changing the color or the response hand had a negligible effect on priming in either task. These results extended previous findings in mathematical cognition. They also indicate that priming does not vary with stimulus domain. The implications of the results were discussed with reference to both facilitation of component processes and episodic memory retrieval of stimulus-response binding.

The SmartHand transradial prosthesis

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Carrozza Maria Chiara

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Prosthetic components and control interfaces for upper limb amputees have barely changed in the past 40 years. Many transradial prostheses have been developed in the past, nonetheless most of them would be inappropriate if/when a large bandwidth human-machine interface for control and perception would be available, due to either their limited (or inexistent sensorization or limited dexterity. SmartHand tackles this issue as is meant to be clinically experimented in amputees employing different neuro-interfaces, in order to investigate their effectiveness. This paper presents the design and on bench evaluation of the SmartHand. Methods SmartHand design was bio-inspired in terms of its physical appearance, kinematics, sensorization, and its multilevel control system. Underactuated fingers and differential mechanisms were designed and exploited in order to fit all mechatronic components in the size and weight of a natural human hand. Its sensory system was designed with the aim of delivering significant afferent information to the user through adequate interfaces. Results SmartHand is a five fingered self-contained robotic hand, with 16 degrees of freedom, actuated by 4 motors. It integrates a bio-inspired sensory system composed of 40 proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors and a customized embedded controller both employed for implementing automatic grasp control and for potentially delivering sensory feedback to the amputee. It is able to perform everyday grasps, count and independently point the index. The weight (530 g and speed (closing time: 1.5 seconds are comparable to actual commercial prostheses. It is able to lift a 10 kg suitcase; slippage tests showed that within particular friction and geometric conditions the hand is able to stably grasp up to 3.6 kg cylindrical objects. Conclusions Due to its unique embedded features and human-size, the SmartHand holds the promise to be experimentally fitted on transradial

Extracting attempted hand movements from EEGs in people with complete hand paralysis following stroke

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Abirami eMuralidharan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This study examines the feasibility of using electroencephalograms (EEGs to rapidly detect the intent to open one’s hand in individuals with complete hand paralysis following a subcortical ischemic stroke. If detectable, this motor planning activity could be used in real time to trigger a motorized hand exoskeleton or an electrical stimulation device that opens/closes the hand. While EEG-triggered movement-assist devices could restore function, they may also promote recovery by reinforcing the use of remaining cortical circuits. EEGs were recorded while participants were cued to either relax or attempt to extend their fingers. Linear discriminant analysis was used to detect onset of finger extension from the EEGs in a leave-one-trial-out cross-validation process. In each testing trial, the classifier was applied in pseudo real time starting from an initial hand-relaxed phase, through movement planning, and into the initial attempted finger extension phase (finger extension phase estimated from typical time-to-movement-onset measured in the unaffected hand. The classifiers detected attempted finger-extension at a significantly higher rate during both motor planning and early attempted execution compared to rest. To reduce inappropriate triggering of a movement-assist device during rest, the classification threshold could be adjusted to require more certainty about one’s intent to move before triggering a device. Additionally, a device could be set to activate only after multiple time samples in a row were classified as finger extension events. These options resulted in some sessions with no false triggers while the person was resting, but moderate-to-high true trigger rates during attempted movements.

Association between grip strength and hand and knee radiographic osteoarthritis in Korean adults: Data from the Dong-gu study.

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Lihui Wen

Full Text Available We assessed whether grip strength was related to various types of radiographic damage in Korean adults with osteoarthritis (OA.Data from 2,251 subjects enrolled in the Dong-gu study, who had no hand joint pain, were analyzed to investigate the relationship between grip strength and OA. Hand grip strength was measured using a hand-held dynamometer, and radiographs of the hand and knee were scored according to a semi-quantitative grading system. Multiple linear regressions were used to explore associations between grip strength and radiographic features of OA.Grip strength in men and women was negatively related to hand (both p < 0.001 and knee (men, p < 0.001; women, p = 0.010 OA after adjusting for confounders. Hand (men, p < 0.001; women, p = 0.001 and knee (both p < 0.001 joint space narrowing (JSN showed the strongest associations with low grip strength, regardless of gender. Moreover, the severity of hand osteophytes in women (p = 0.001, and subchondral cysts (men, p < 0.001 was correlated with low grip strength in both genders.Among subjects without hand joint pain, low grip strength was associated significantly with hand and knee radiographic OA, regardless of gender. Among all types of OA radiographic damage, low grip strength showed the strongest association with JSN.

The effects of compression gloves on hand symptoms and hand function in rheumatoid arthritis and hand osteoarthritis: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammond, Alison; Jones, Vivienne; Prior, Yeliz

2016-03-01

to evaluate the effects of compression gloves in adults with rheumatoid arthritis and hand osteoarthritis. Systematic review of randomized controlled trials identified from MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, PEDro, OT Seeker, The Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Science Direct and PubMed from their inceptions to January 2015. Methodological quality of identified trials was evaluated using the PEDro scale by three independent assessors. Effects were summarized descriptively. Four trials (n=8-24; total n=74), comparing night wear of full-length finger compression gloves with placebo gloves, were assessed. Three were of moderate (PEDro score 4-5) and one low (score 3) methodological quality. Effect sizes or standardized mean differences could not be calculated to compare trials due to poor data reporting. In rheumatoid arthritis, finger joint swelling was significantly reduced, but results for pain and stiffness were inconclusive and no differences in grip strength and dexterity were identified. One study reported similar effects in pain, stiffness and finger joint swelling from both compression and thermal placebo gloves. Only one study evaluated gloves in hand osteoarthritis (n=5) with no differences. All the trials identified were small with a high risk of Type I and II errors. Evidence for the effectiveness of compression gloves worn at night is inconclusive in rheumatoid arthritis and hand osteoarthritis. © The Author(s) 2015.

[Left- or right-handed: the effect of a preferential use of one hand or the other on dental hygiene].

Science.gov (United States)

Eleveld, C A; Schuller, A A

2016-02-01

A research project investigated the extent to which a preferential use of one hand or the other has an effect on dental hygiene on the left or right side of the mouth. The study made use of epidemiological dental-care data from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research and of data from a dental practice specifically collected for this project. The results revealed that among a population which is 85-90% right-handed, statistically significantly more dental plaque was found on the right side of the mouth than on the left. A separate study revealed the prevalence of statistically significantly more dental plaque on the right side than on the left among right-handed people and, among left-handed people, a non-statistically significant trend of more dental plaque on the left than the right. It is concluded that dental hygiene on the left side and the right side of the mouth is very likely to be dependent on the preferential use of one hand or the other. The differences between the left side of the mouth and right among left- and right-handed people are, however, so small that it is questionable whether these should be taken into consideration in giving instructions about dental hygiene.

Wash Your Hands

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... hand sanitizers might not remove harmful chemicals like pesticides and heavy metals from hands. Be cautious when ... Health Promotion Materials Fact Sheets Podcasts Posters Stickers Videos Web Features Training & Education Our Partners Publications, Data & ...

Self-reported hand eczema among dental workers in Japan - a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Minamoto, Keiko; Watanabe, Takeshi; Diepgen, Thomas L

2016-10-01

Dental workers are considered to have a high risk of developing occupational hand eczema. To estimate the prevalence of work-related hand eczema and associated risk factors in dental workers in Japan. A self-administered questionnaire was sent by mail to all dental clinics of Kumamoto City, Japan. In addition, patch testing with 24 dentistry-related allergens was offered. In total, 46.4% of dental workers (n = 528: response 31.4%, based on 97 clinics) reported a lifetime history of chronic hand eczema. The 1-year prevalence was 36.2%. According to logistic regression analysis, the most important risk factors for the 1-year prevalence were a personal history of atopic dermatitis [odds ratio (OR) 4.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.2-8.8], asthma and/or allergic rhinitis (OR 2.0, 95%CI: 1.3-3.0), dry skin (OR 1.7, 95%CI: 1.1-2.7), shorter duration of work (OR 2.0, 95%CI: 1.2-3.5 for up to 10 years versus >20 years), and washing hands >10 times per day (OR 1.6, 95%CI: 1.0-2.5). Fifty-four workers were patch tested. Rubber chemicals and acrylates were the most frequent occupationally relevant contact allergens. Dental workers in Japan have a high prevalence of hand eczema. Health education to prevent hand eczema and more frequent patch testing are needed. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Growth rates and energy intake of hand-reared cheetah cubs (Acinonyx jubatus) in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, K M; Rutherfurd, S M; Morton, R H

2012-04-01

Growth rate is an important factor in neonatal survival. The aim of this study was to determine growth rates in hand-reared cheetah cubs in South Africa fed a prescribed energy intake, calculated for growth in the domestic cat. Growth was then compared with previously published data from hand-reared cubs in North America and the relationship between growth and energy intake explored. Daily body weight (BW) gain, feed and energy intake data was collected from 18 hand-reared cheetah cubs up to 120 days of age. The average pre-weaning growth rate was 32 g/day, which is lower than reported in mother-reared cubs and hand-reared cubs in North American facilities. However, post-weaning growth increased to an average of 55 g/day. Growth was approximately linear prior to weaning, but over the entire age range it exhibited a sigmoidal shape with an asymptotic plateau averaging 57 kg. Energy intake associated with pre-weaning growth was 481 kJ ME/kg BW(0.75). Regression analysis described the relationship between metabolic BW, metabolisable energy (ME) intake, and hence daily weight gain. This relationship may be useful in predicting energy intake required to achieve growth rates in hand-reared cheetah cubs similar to those observed for their mother-reared counterparts. © 2011 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Reliability of a Malay-translated questionnaire for use in a hand-arm vibration syndrome study in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, T A; Hoe, V C W

2008-12-01

Validity and reliability of the information relating to hand-transmitted vibration exposure and vibration-related health outcome are very important for case finding in hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) studies. In a local HAVS study among a group of construction workers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a questionnaire translated into Malay was created based on the Hand-transmitted Vibration Health Surveillance--Initial Questionnaire and Clinical Assessment, from Vibration Injury Network. This study was conducted to determine the reliability of standardised questions in the questionnaire used in the study. 15 subjects were selected randomly from the sampling frame of the HAVS study. Test-retest reliability was conducted on all items contained in parts 1-6 of the questionnaire and clinical assessment form, with an interval of 13-14 days between the first and second administration. Kappa coefficient and percentage agreement were calculated for all standardised questions. The kappa coefficient and percentage agreement for all standardised questions varied from -0.174 to 1.000 and 66.7 to 100.0 percent, respectively. The kappa coefficient for important questions related to current vibratory tool usage, tingling, numbness and hand grip weakness were 0.714, 0.432, -0.077 and -0.120, respectively, while the percentage agreement for current vibratory tool usage, finger colour change, tingling, numbness and hand grip weakness were 85.7 percent, 92.8 percent, 79.5 percent, 85.7 percent and 71.4 percent, respectively. Intra-rater reliability on the extent of vibration exposure was good, with the intra-class correlation coefficient (95 percent confidence interval) ranging from 0.786 (0.334-0.931) to 0.975 (0.923-0.992). Critical questions on vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms of HAVS were found to be reliable. The history on the extent of vibration exposure revealed good reliability when explored by the investigator alone. This questionnaire is considered reliable

Hospital hand hygiene opportunities: where and when (HOW2)? The HOW2 Benchmark Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Steed, Connie; Kelly, J William; Blackhurst, Dawn; Boeker, Sue; Diller, Thomas; Alper, Paul; Larson, Elaine

2011-02-01

Measurement and monitoring of health care workers' hand hygiene compliance (i.e., actions/opportunities) is a key component of strategies to eliminate hospital-acquired infections. Little data exist on the expected number of hand hygiene opportunities (HHOs) in various hospital settings, however. The purpose of this study was to estimate HHOs in 2 types of hospitals--large teaching and small community--and 3 different clinical areas-medical-surgical intensive care units, general medical wards, and emergency departments. HHO data were collected through direct observations using the World Health Organization's monitoring methodology. Estimates of HHOs were developed for 12-hour AM/PM shifts and 24-hour time frames. During 436.7 hours of observation, 6,640 HHOs were identified. Estimates of HHOs ranged from 30 to 179 per patient-day on inpatient wards and from 1.84 to 5.03 per bed-hour in emergency departments. Significant differences in HHOs were found between the 2 hospital types and among the 3 clinical areas. This study is the first to use the World Health Organization's data collection methodology to estimate HHOs in general medical wards and emergency departments. These data can be used as denominator estimates to calculate hand hygiene compliance rates when product utilization data are available. Copyright © 2011 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands