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- Brodin, N., et al.
(författare)
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Coaching patients with early rheumatoid arthritis to healthy physical activity : A multicenter, randomized, controlled study
- 2008
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - Hoboken, NJ : Wiley. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 59:3, s. 325-331
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective. To investigate the effect of a 1-year coaching program for healthy physical activity on perceived health status, body function, and activity limitation in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Methods. A total of 228 patients (169 women, 59 men, mean age 55 years, mean time since diagnosis 21 months) were randomized to 2 groups after assessments with the EuroQol visual analog scale (VAS), Grippit, Timed-Stands Test, Escola Paulista de Medicina Range of Motion scale, walking in a figure-of-8, a visual analog scale for pain, the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index, a self-reported physical activity questionnaire, and the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints. All patients were regularly seen by rheumatologists and underwent rehabilitation as prescribed. Those in the intervention group were further individually coached by a physical therapist to reach or maintain healthy physical activity (=30 minutes, moderately intensive activity, most days of the week). Results. The retention rates after 1 year were 82% in the intervention group and 85% in the control group. The percentages of individuals in the intervention and control groups fulfilling the requirements for healthy physical activity were similar before (47% versus 51%, P > 0.05) and after (54% versus 44%, P > 0.05) the intervention. Analyses of outcome variables indicated improvements in the intervention group over the control group in the EuroQol VAS (P = 0.025) and muscle strength (Timed-Stands Test, P = 0.000) (Grippit, P = 0.003), but not in any other variables assessed. Conclusion. A 1-year coaching program for healthy physical activity resulted in improved perceived health status and muscle strength, but the mechanisms remain unclear, as self-reported physical activity at healthy level did not change. © 2008, American College of Rheumatology.
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| 2. |
- Raj, Pushparani, et al.
(författare)
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Fabrication and characterisation of a silicon-borosilicate glass microfluidic device for synchrotron-based hard X-ray spectroscopy studies
- 2021
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - Cambridge : RSC Publishing. - 2046-2069. ; 11:47, s. 29859-29869
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some of the most fundamental chemical building blocks of life on Earth are the metal elements. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an element-specific technique that can analyse the local atomic and electronic structure of, for example, the active sites in catalysts and energy materials and allow the metal sites in biological samples to be identified and understood. A microfluidic device capable of withstanding the intense hard X-ray beams of a 4th generation synchrotron and harsh chemical sample conditions is presented in this work. The device is evaluated at the K-edges of iron and bromine and the L3-edge of lead, in both transmission and fluorescence mode detection and in a wide range of sample concentrations, as low as 0.001 M. The device is fabricated in silicon and glass with plasma etched microchannels defined in the silicon wafer before anodic bonding of the glass wafer into a complete device. The device is supported with a well-designed printed chip holder that made the microfluidic device portable and easy to handle. The chip holder plays a pivotal role in mounting the delicate microfluidic device on the beamline stage. Testing validated that the device was sufficiently robust to contain and flow through harsh acids and toxic samples. There was also no significant radiation damage to the device observed, despite focusing with intense X-ray beams for multiple hours. The quality of X-ray spectra collected is comparable to that from standard methods; hence we present a robust microfluidic device to analyse liquid samples using synchrotron XAS.
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