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- Hemmingsson, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Impact of social support intensity on walking in the severely obese : a randomized clinical trial
- 2008
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In: Obesity. - : Wiley. - 1930-7381 .- 1930-739X. ; 16:6, s. 1308-1313
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: There are few established methods for promoting physical activity (PA) in the severely obese. Because social support is a potential method for promoting PA, we compared mean steps/day during 18 weeks in severely obese outpatients receiving either standard support (SS) or added support (AS). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Eighty severely obese outpatients from an obesity clinic were invited; 66 provided written consent, 55 were randomized, and 42 were included in final analyses (9 men, 33 women; age 44.4 +/- 13.1 years; BMI 41.9 +/- 5.5 kg/m(2)). All participants received a pedometer and a walking promotion booklet. In addition to SS, the AS group received ten 2-h group counseling sessions aimed at increasing weekly accumulated steps, every second week during the study. Each participant was asked to complete a 7-day walking diary every second week (10 observations). RESULTS: Baseline steps/day was 6,912 for the AS group and 5,311 for the SS group (P = 0.023). Data at 18 weeks showed that the AS group recorded 10,136 steps/day and the SS group 6,118 steps/day (P = 0.024). There was no allocation x time interaction (P = 0.46). During the follow-up period as a whole, the AS group recorded 1,794 more steps/day than the SS group (P = 0.0074). DISCUSSION: The AS group recorded more steps/day than the SS group, reaching a mean level of approximately 10,000 steps/day. However, the nonsignificant interaction between allocation x time suggests that this difference was present already at baseline and did not increase during follow-up.
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| 2. |
- Holmefur, Marie, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Longitudinal development of hand function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy
- 2009
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In: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. - West Sussex, UK : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0012-1622 .- 1469-8749. ; 51:s5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background/Objectives: Studies of longitudinal development of hand function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) are sparse. For children with unilateral CP the ability to use the affected hand as an effective assist to the dominant hand in bimanual tasks may be the most important aspect of hand function in daily life. This ability can be assessed with the assisting hand assessment (AHA). The aim of this study was to describe how the usefulness of the hemiplegic hand develops in children with unilateral CP between 18 months and 8 years of age.Design: This was a study of prognosis with a prospective longitudinal cohort design. Participants and Setting: Forty-three children with unilateral cerebral palsy participated (22 male, 21 female). They were recruited at local rehabilitation centres and constituted a convenience sample. Inclusion age was 18 months–5 years 4 months (mean 2 years 8 months). Manual ability classification system (MACS) levels: I [n=7], II [n=25], III [n=11].Materials/Methods: The children were assessed with the AHA over a period of at least 3 years (mean 4.5 years), with 3–11 assessments per child. Children entered the study at different ages allowing evaluation of development from ages 18 months to 8 years. Estimated average motor development curves were fitted with a non-linear mixed effects model.Results: Individual differences in development were considerable. Children with a high AHA score at 18 months (over 40 raw scores) reached a significantly higher ability level and at a higher progression rate than the children with a low 18-month AHA score. The children with high 18-month AHA score reached 90% of their limit at average age 3 years whereas the children with a low 18-month AHA score reached 90% of their maximum level at a mean age of 7. Similarly, the maximum level of development differed between children in MACS level I–III. The rate of change was similar in levels I and II and significantly slower, in level III.Conclusions/Significance: This study shows that children with different ability levels all develop their way of using their hemiplegic hand during the preschool years. The AHA can be used to follow development over time and the AHA score at 18 months can be used for approximate prediction of development of assisting hand use.
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| 3. |
- Mandrika, Ilona, et al.
(author)
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Improving the affinity of antigens for mutated antibodies by use of statistical molecular design
- 2008
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In: Journal of Peptide Science. - : Wiley. - 1075-2617 .- 1099-1387. ; 14:7, s. 786-96
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate the use of statistical molecular design (SMD) in the selection of peptide libraries aimed to systematically investigate antigen-antibody binding spaces. Earlier, we derived two novel antibodies by mutating the complementarity-determining region of the anti-p24 (HIV-1) single chain Fv antibody, CB4-1 that had lost their affinity for a p24 epitope-homologous peptide by 8- and 60-fold. The present study was devoted to explore how peptide libraries can be designed under experimental design criteria for effective screening of peptide antigens. Several small peptide-antigen libraries were selected using SMD principles and their activities were evaluated by their binding to SPOT-synthesized peptide membranes and by fluorescence polarization (FP). The approach was able to reveal the most critical residues required for antigen binding, and finally to increase the binding activity by proper modifications of amino acids in the peptide antigen. A model of the active peptide binding pocket formed by the mutated scFv and the antigen was compatible with the information gained from the experimental data. Our results suggest that SMD approaches can be used to explore peptide antigen features essential for their interactions with antibodies.
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| 4. |
- Petersson, Ingela, et al.
(author)
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Longitudinal changes in everyday life after home modifications for people aging with disabilities
- 2009
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1103-8128 .- 1651-2014. ; 16:2, s. 78-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To investigate longitudinal impacts of home modifications on the difficulty of performing everyday life tasks for people aging with disabilities, and to investigate whether other factors had any additional impacts on difficulty in everyday life tasks for people receiving home modifications. Methods: The sample consisted of 103 persons aging with disabilities and in need of home modifications, divided into an intervention group and a comparison group. The data were first subjected to Rasch analysis and a random coefficient model was used. Results: Participants in the intervention group reported a significantly lower level of difficulty in everyday life tasks compared with those in the comparison group. One confounding factor, number of months waiting for home modification, had an impact on difficulty in everyday life. Conclusion: Home modifications are effective in decreasing difficulty in performing everyday life tasks up to six months after the installation. Furthermore, to be effective home modifications need to be installed in a timely fashion. For each consecutive month the person waited for their home modification the difficulty of performing everyday life tasks increased. Therefore, it is important that home modifications be installed as soon as possible after the need has been identified.
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