Dominant wave energy and sediment movement on intertidal beaches in Freshwater Bay, Washington, U.S.A.

Freshwater Bay (FWB), Washington did not undergo significant erosion of its shoreline after the construction of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams, unlike the shoreline east of Angeles Point (the Elwha River’s lobate delta). In this paper I compare the wave energy density in the western and eastern ends of the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the wave energy density at the Elwha River delta. This indicates seasonal high- and low-energy regimes in the energy density data. I group multi-year surveys of four cross-shore transects in FWB along this seasonal divide and search for seasonal trends in profile on the foreshore. After documenting changes in elevation at specific datums on the foreshore, I compare digital images of one datum to determine the particle sizes that are transported during deposition and scour events on this section of the FWB foreshore. Repeat surveys of four cross-shore transects over a five-year period indicate a highly mobile slope break between the upper foreshore and the low-tide delta. Post-2011, profiles in eastern FWB record deposition in the landward portion of the low-tide terrace and also in the upper intertidal. Western FWB experiences transient deposition on the low-tide terrace and high intra-annual variability in beach profile. Profile elevation at the slope break in western FWB can vary 0.5 m in the course of weeks. Changes in surface sediment that range from sand to cobble are co-incident with these changes in elevation. High sediment mobility and profile variation are inconsistent with shoreline stability and decreased sediment from the presumed source on the Elwha River delta.

Guidelines for filming digital camera video clips for the assessment of gait and movement disorders by teleneurology

Digital still cameras capable of filming short video clips are readily available, but the quality of these recordings for telemedicine has not been reported. We performed a blinded study using four commonly available digital cameras. A simulated patient with a hemiplegic gait pattern was filmed by the same videographer in an identical, brightly lit indoor setting. Six neurologists viewed the blinded video clips on their PC and comparisons were made between cameras, between video clips recorded with and without a tripod, and between video clips filmed on high- or low-quality settings. Use of a tripod had a smaller effect than expected, while images taken on a high-quality setting were strongly preferred to those taken on a low-quality setting. Although there was some variability in video quality between selected cameras, all were of sufficient quality to identify physical signs such as gait and tremor. Adequate-quality video clips of movement disorders can be produced with low-cost cameras and transmitted by email for teleneurology purposes.

Reduced variability of postural strategy prevents normalization of motor changes induced by back pain: A risk factor for chronic trouble?

Variability is fundamental to biological systems and is important in posturomotor learning and control. Pain induces a protective postural strategy, although variability is normally preserved. If variability is lost, does the normal postural strategy return when pain stops? Sixteen subjects performed arm movements during control trials, when the movement evoked back pain and then when it did not. Variability in the postural strategy of the abdominal muscles and pain-related cognitions were evaluated. Only those subjects for whom pain induced a reduction in variability of the postural strategy failed to return to a normal strategy when pain stopped. They were also characterized by their pain-related cognitions. Ongoing perception of threat to the back may exert tighter evaluative control over variability of the postural strategy.

Examining links between cognitive markers, movement initiation and change, and pedestrian safety in older adults

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which mobility indices (such as walking speed and postural sway), motor initiation, and cognitive function, specifically executive functions, including spatial planning, visual attention, and within participant variability, differentially predicted collisions in the near and far sides of the road with increasing age. Methods: Adults aged over 45 years participated in cognitive tests measuring executive function and visual attention (using Useful Field of View; UFoV®), mobility assessments (walking speed, sit-to-stand, self-reported mobility, and postural sway assessed using motion capture cameras), and gave road crossing choices in a two-way filmed real traffic pedestrian simulation. Results: A stepwise regression model of walking speed, start-up delay variability, and processing speed) explained 49.4% of the variance in near-side crossing errors. Walking speed, start-up delay measures (average & variability), and spatial planning explained 54.8% of the variance in far-side unsafe crossing errors. Start-up delay was predicted by walking speed only (explained 30.5%). Conclusion: Walking speed and start-up delay measures were consistent predictors of unsafe crossing behaviours. Cognitive measures, however, differentially predicted near-side errors (processing speed), and far-side errors (spatial planning). These findings offer potential contributions for identifying and rehabilitating at-risk older pedestrians.

Eye movement analysis in congenital nystagmus:concise parameters estimation

Along with other diseases that can affect binocular vision, reducing the visual quality of a subject, Congenital Nystagmus (CN) is of peculiar interest. CN is an ocular-motor disorder characterized by involuntary, conjugated ocular oscillations and, while identified more than forty years ago, its pathogenesis is still under investigation. This kind of nystagmus is termed congenital (or infantile) since it could be present at birth or it can arise in the first months of life. The majority of CN patients show a considerable decrease of their visual acuity: image fixation on the retina is disturbed by nystagmus continuous oscillations, mainly horizontal. However, the image of a given target can still be stable during short periods in which eye velocity slows down while the target image is placed onto the fovea (called foveation intervals). To quantify the extent of nystagmus, eye movement recordings are routinely employed, allowing physicians to extract and analyze nystagmus main features such as waveform shape, amplitude and frequency. Use of eye movement recording, opportunely processed, allows computing "estimated visual acuity" predictors, which are analytical functions that estimate expected visual acuity using signal features such as foveation time and foveation position variability. Hence, it is fundamental to develop robust and accurate methods to measure both those parameters in order to obtain reliable values from the predictors. In this chapter the current methods to record eye movements in subjects with congenital nystagmus will be discussed and the present techniques to accurately compute foveation time and eye position will be presented. This study aims to disclose new methodologies in congenital nystagmus eye movements analysis, in order to identify nystagmus cycles and to evaluate foveation time, reducing the influence of repositioning saccades and data noise on the critical parameters of the estimation functions. Use of those functions extends the information acquired with typical visual acuity measurement (e.g., Landolt C test) and could be a support for treatment planning or therapy monitoring. © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterisation of baseline oscillation in congenital nystagmus eye movement recordings

Congenital nystagmus is an ocular-motor disorder that develops in the first few months of life; its pathogenesis is still unknown. Patients affected by congenital nystagmus show continuous, involuntary, rhythmical oscillations of the eyes. Monitoring eye movements, nystagmus main features such as shape, amplitude and frequency, can be extracted and analysed. Previous studies highlighted, in some cases, a much slower and smaller oscillation, which appears added up to the ordinary nystagmus waveform. This sort of baseline oscillation, or slow nystagmus, hinder precise cycle-to-cycle image placement onto the fovea. Such variability of the position may reduce patient visual acuity. This study aims to analyse more extensively eye movements recording including the baseline oscillation and investigate possible relationships between these slow oscillations and nystagmus. Almost 100 eye movement recordings (either infrared-oculographic or electrooculographic), relative to different gaze positions, belonging to 32 congenital nystagmus patients were analysed. The baseline oscillation was assumed sinusoidal; its amplitude and frequency were computed and compared with those of the nystagmus by means of a linear regression analysis. The results showed that baseline oscillations were characterised by an average frequency of 0.36 Hz (SD 0.11 Hz) and an average amplitude of 2.1° (SD 1.6°). It also resulted in a considerable correlation (R2 scored 0.78) between nystagmus amplitude and baseline oscillation amplitude; the latter, on average, resulted to be about one-half of the correspondent nystagmus amplitude. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular Genetic Variability Of Commercial And Wild Accessions Of Passion Fruit (passiflora Spp.) Targeting Ex Situ Conservation And Breeding.

Passiflora species are distributed throughout Latin America, and Brazil and Colombia serve as the centers of diversity for this genus. We performed cross-species amplification to evaluate 109 microsatellite loci in 14 Passiflora species and estimated the diversity and genetic structure of Passiflora cincinnata, Passiflora setaceae and Passiflora edulis. A total of 127 accessions, including 85 accessions of P. edulis, a commercial species, and 42 accessions of 13 wild species, were examined. The cross-species amplification was effective for obtaining microsatellite loci (average cross-amplification of 70%). The average number of alleles per locus (five) was relatively low, and the average diversity ranged from 0.52 in P. cincinnata to 0.32 in P. setacea. The Bayesian analyses indicated that the P. cincinnata and P. setacea accessions were distributed into two groups, and the P. edulis accessions were distributed into five groups. Private alleles were identified, and suggestions for core collections are presented. Further collections are necessary, and the information generated may be useful for breeding and conservation.

Variability Modeling Of Rainfall, Deforestation, And Incidence Of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis In Orán, Argentina, 1985-2007.

American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) is a disease transmitted to humans by the female sandflies of the genus Lutzomyia. Several factors are involved in the disease transmission cycle. In this work only rainfall and deforestation were considered to assess the variability in the incidence of ATL. In order to reach this goal, monthly recorded data of the incidence of ATL in Orán, Salta, Argentina, were used, in the period 1985-2007. The square root of the relative incidence of ATL and the corresponding variance were formulated as time series, and these data were smoothed by moving averages of 12 and 24 months, respectively. The same procedure was applied to the rainfall data. Typical months, which are April, August, and December, were found and allowed us to describe the dynamical behavior of ATL outbreaks. These results were tested at 95% confidence level. We concluded that the variability of rainfall would not be enough to justify the epidemic outbreaks of ATL in the period 1997-2000, but it consistently explains the situation observed in the years 2002 and 2004. Deforestation activities occurred in this region could explain epidemic peaks observed in both years and also during the entire time of observation except in 2005-2007.

Electrocardiogram, Heart Movement And Heart Rate In The Awake Gecko (hemidactylus Mabouia).

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is the simplest and most effective non-invasive method to assess the electrical activity of the heart and to obtain information on the heart rate (HR) and rhythm. Because information on the HR of very small reptiles (body mass <10 g) is still scarce in the literature, in the present work we describe a procedure for recording the ECG in non-anesthetized geckos (Hemidactylus mabouia, Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) under different conditions, namely manual restraint (MR), spontaneous tonic immobility (TI), and in the non-restrained condition (NR). In the gecko ECG, the P, QRS and T waves were clearly distinguishable. The HR was 2.83 ± 0.02 Hz under MR, which was significantly greater (p < 0.001) than the HR under the TI (1.65 ± 0.09 Hz) and NR (1.60 ± 0.10 Hz) conditions. Spontaneously beating isolated gecko hearts contracted at 0.84 ± 0.03 Hz. The in vitro beating rate was affected in a concentration-dependent fashion by adrenoceptor stimulation with noradrenaline, as well as by the muscarinic cholinergic agonist carbachol, which produced significant positive and negative chronotropic effects, respectively (p < 0.001). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the ECG morphology and HR values in geckos, particularly under TI. The methodology and instrumentation developed here are useful for non-invasive in vivo physiological and pharmacological studies in small reptiles without the need of physical restraint or anesthesia.

Linearization of Chains and Sideward Movement

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Phenotypic variability in a family with x-linked adrenoleukodystrophy caused by the p.Trp132Ter mutation

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is an inherited disease with clinical heterogeneity varying from presymptomatic individuals to rapidly progressive cerebral ALD forms. This disease is characterized by increased concentration of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) in plasma and in adrenal, testicular and nervous tissues. Affected individuals can be classified in different clinical settings, according to phenotypic expression and age at onset of initial symptoms. Molecular defects in X-ALD individuals usually result from ABCD1 gene mutations. In the present report we describe clinical data and the ABCD1 gene study in two boys affected with the childhood cerebral form that presented with different symptomatic manifestations at diagnosis. In addition, their maternal grandfather had been diagnosed with Addison's disease indicating phenotypic variation for X-ALD within this family. The mutation p.Trp132Ter was identified in both male patients; additionally, three females, out of eleven family members, were found to be heterozygous after screening for this mutation. In the present report, the molecular analysis was especially important since one of the heterozygous females was in first stages of pregnancy. Therefore, depending on the fetus outcome, if male and p.Trp132Ter carrier, storage of the umbilical cord blood should be recommended as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation could be considered as an option for treatment in the future.

Sistema de análise de movimento para avaliação da postura vertical durante a corrida no teste de esforço máximo incremental

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Analise de volumes parciais do tronco durante a respiração por videogrametria

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Variabilidade da frequência cardíaca após treinamento concorrente : comparação entre homens e mulheres de meia-idade = Heart rate variability after concurrent training : comparison between middle-aged men and women

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Calibração de câmeras para análises subaquáticas de movimentos = : Cameras calibration for underwater motion analysis

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física