Coordination and movement pathology: models of structure and function

Here we consider the role of abstract models in advancing our understanding of movement pathology. Models of movement coordination and control provide the frameworks necessary for the design and interpretation of studies of acquired and developmental disorders. These models do not however provide the resolution necessary to reveal the nature of the functional impairments that characterise specific movement pathologies. In addition, they do not provide a mapping between the structural bases of various pathologies and the associated disorders of movement. Current and prospective approaches to the study and treatment of movement disorders are discussed. It is argued that the appreciation of structure-function relationships, to which these approaches give rise, represents a challenge to current models of interlimb coordination, and a stimulus for their continued development. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of various pre-treatments for the dehydration of banana and selection of suitable drying models

The thin-layer drying behaviour of bananas in a beat pump dehumidifier dryer was examined. Four pre-treatments (blanching, chilling, freezing and combined blanching and freezing) were applied to the bananas, which were dried at 50 degreesC with an air velocity of 3.1 m s(-1) and with the relative humidity of the inlet air of 10-35%. Three drying models, the simple model, the two-term exponential model and the Page model were examined. All models were evaluated using three statistical measures, correlation coefficient, root means square error, and mean absolute percent error. Moisture diffusivity was calculated based on the diffusion equation for an infinite cylindrical shape using the slope method. The rate of drying was higher for the pre-treatments involving freezing. The sample which was blanched only did not show any improvement in drying rate. In fact, a longer drying time resulted due to water absorption during blanching. There was no change in the rate for the chilled sample compared with the control. While all models closely fitted the drying data, the simple model showed greatest deviation from the experimental results. The two-term exponential model was found to be the best model for describing the drying curves of bananas because its parameters represent better the physical characteristics of the drying process. Moisture diffusivities of bananas were in the range 4.3-13.2 x 10(-10) m(2)s(-1). (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Play Preferences and Behavior of Preschool Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in the Clinical Environment

The play of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a valuable medium for assessment and intervention, and its analysis has the potential to aid diagnosis. This study investigated spontaneous play behavior and play object preferences for 24 preschool children with ASD in a typical occupational therapy clinical environment. Play behavior was rated and choice of play object noted at 10-second intervals from a 15-minute video recording of unstructured play. Statistical analyses indicated that play behavior was consistent with descriptions in the literature. In addition, the children demonstrated clear preferences for play objects in the form of popular characters (e.g., Thomas the Tank Engine) and those with sensorimotor properties. We propose that the inclusion of preferred play objects in a clinical environment may increase intrinsic motivation to play, and thereby enhance assessment and intervention.

Cervicogenic headache: Locus of control and success of treatment

Background.-A number of extraneous factors have been implicated in the effectiveness of treatment of headache, including patient beliefs about aspects of the treatment or persons delivering the treatment. Objective.-The concept of external locus of control for headaches refers to patients with a high level of belief that headache and relief are influenced primarily by health care professionals. The aim of this study was to examine whether external locus of control is associated with a reduction in frequency of cervicogenic headaches among patients treated by a physiotherapist. Design.-A recent randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of physiotherapy among 200 patients with headache enabled a test of this relationship. Treatment consisted of manipulative therapy, therapeutic exercise, or a combination of the 2. Analysis of relative change in headache frequency was conducted after 6 weeks of treatment and at 3- and 12-month follow-up appointments. Results.-Results of the analysis indicated that participants with relatively high external Headache-Specific Locus of Control scores were more likely to achieve a reduction in headache frequency if they received the combined manipulative therapy and exercise therapy, compared with those who received no treatment. This was not determined for the group who received manipulative therapy, which is a treatment received passively by the patient. Conclusions.-The interpretation of these findings is considered in the context of nongeneralization to the other physiotherapy treatment groups and sustained reduction in headache frequency following withdrawal of treatment. The pattern of findings suggests that characteristics of the therapy were more pertinent than characteristics of the therapist.

Capillaries within compartments: Microvascular interpretation of dynamic positron emission tomography data

Measurement of exchange of substances between blood and tissue has been a long-lasting challenge to physiologists, and considerable theoretical and experimental accomplishments were achieved before the development of the positron emission tomography (PET). Today, when modeling data from modern PET scanners, little use is made of earlier microvascular research in the compartmental models, which have become the standard model by which the vast majority of dynamic PET data are analysed. However, modern PET scanners provide data with a sufficient temporal resolution and good counting statistics to allow estimation of parameters in models with more physiological realism. We explore the standard compartmental model and find that incorporation of blood flow leads to paradoxes, such as kinetic rate constants being time-dependent, and tracers being cleared from a capillary faster than they can be supplied by blood flow. The inability of the standard model to incorporate blood flow consequently raises a need for models that include more physiology, and we develop microvascular models which remove the inconsistencies. The microvascular models can be regarded as a revision of the input function. Whereas the standard model uses the organ inlet concentration as the concentration throughout the vascular compartment, we consider models that make use of spatial averaging of the concentrations in the capillary volume, which is what the PET scanner actually registers. The microvascular models are developed for both single- and multi-capillary systems and include effects of non-exchanging vessels. They are suitable for analysing dynamic PET data from any capillary bed using either intravascular or diffusible tracers, in terms of physiological parameters which include regional blood flow. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Classical approach to interpretation of the charge-dependence of peptide mobilities obtained by capillary zone electrophoresis

Published mobility measurements obtained by capillary zone electrophoresis of human growth hormone peptides are described reasonably well by the classical theoretical relationships for electrophoretic migration. This conformity between theory and experiment has rendered possible a more critical assessment of a commonly employed empirical relationship between mobility (u), net charge (z) and molecular mass (M) of peptides in capillary electrophoresis. The assumed linear dependence between u and z/M-2/3 is shown to be an approximate description of a shallow curvilinear dependence convex to the abscissa. An improved procedure for the calculation of peptide charge (valence) is also described. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Systematic characterization of mutations in yeast acetohydroxyacid synthase: Interpretation of herbicide-resistance data

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS, EC 4.1.3.18) catalyses the first step in branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis and is the target for sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides, which act as potent and specific inhibitors. Mutants of the enzyme have been identified that are resistant to particular herbicides. However, the selectivity of these mutants towards various sulfonylureas and imidazolinones has not been determined systematically. Now that the structure of the yeast enzyme is known, both in the absence and presence of a bound herbicide, a detailed understanding of the molecular interactions between the enzyme and its inhibitors becomes possible. Here we construct 10 active mutants of yeast AHAS, purify the enzymes and determine their sensitivity to six sulfonylureas and three imidazolinones. An additional three active mutants were constructed with a view to increasing imidazolinone sensitivity. These three variants were purified and tested for their sensitivity to the imidazolinones only. Substantial differences are observed in the sensitivity of the 13 mutants to the various inhibitors and these differences are interpreted in terms of the structure of the herbicide-binding site on the enzyme.

Decompositions of complete graphs into theta graphs with fewer than ten edges

A theta graph is a graph consisting of three pairwise internally disjoint paths with common end points. Methods for decomposing the complete graph K-nu into theta graphs with fewer than ten edges are given.

Balancing the number and size of sites: An economic approach to the optimal design of cluster samples

The design of randomized controlled trials entails decisions that have economic as well as statistical implications. In particular, the choice of an individual or cluster randomization design may affect the cost of achieving the desired level of power, other things being equal. Furthermore, if cluster randomization is chosen, the researcher must decide how to balance the number of clusters, or sites, and the size of each site. This article investigates these interrelated statistical and economic issues. Its principal purpose is to elucidate the statistical and economic trade-offs to assist researchers to employ randomized controlled trials that have desired economic, as well as statistical, properties. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identification and characterization of pptA: a gene involved in the phase-variable expression of phosphorylcholine on pili of Neisseria meningitidis

Pili of pathogenic Neisseria are major virulence factors associated with adhesion, cytotoxicity, twitching motility, autoaggregation, and DNA transformation. Pili are modified posttranslationally by the addition of phosphorylcholine. However, no genes involved in either the biosynthesis or the transfer of phosphorylcholine in Neisseria meningitidis have been identified. In this study, we identified five candidate open reading frames (ORFs) potentially involved in the biosynthesis or transfer of phosphorylcholine to pilin in N. meningitidis. Insertional mutants were constructed for each ORF in N. meningitidis strain C311#3 to determine their effect on phosphorylcholine expression. The effect of the mutant ORFs on the modification by phosphorylcholine was analyzed by Western analysis with phosphorylcholine-specific monoclonal antibody TEPC-15. Analysis of the mutants showed that ORF NMB0415, now defined as pptA (pilin phosphorylcholine transferase A), is involved in the addition of phosphorylcholine to pilin in N. meningitidis. Additionally, the phase variation (high frequency on-off switching of expression) of phosphorylcholine on pilin is due to changes in a homopolymeric guanosine tract in pptA.

Motivation and Benefits of Implementation and Certification according ISO 9001 – the Portuguese Experience

The aim of the research is to analyze the different aspects associated with the motivation and benefits of certified ISO 9001 companies in Portugal. A total of 426 certified Portuguese companies were surveyed. The response rate was equal to 61.03 percent. Our results suggest that the main motivation for certification were “improvement of quality”, “improvement of company image”, “marketing advantage”, “give empowerment to workers / capturing workers knowledge” and “cost reduction”. The main benefits that Portuguese companies have gained from the referred certification have been, among others, the improvement of “procedures”, beneficial effect on the “company’s image”, the improvement of quality products/services, increase of the “customer satisfaction”, improvement of “on-time delivery”; improvement the “morale” of workers’ increase in productivity and decrease of “production costs”, among others. The surveyed firms belong only to the Minho region of the north of Portugal. This paper aims to provide a contribution to the research related to the motivation and benefits associated to the quality management systems. The selection of the motives and benefits were validated through statistical analysis and the relationship between expected and perceived benefits was discussed.

The epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis mansoni where Biomphalaria tenagophila is the snail host

The epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis mansoni in the Municipality of Pedro de Toledo (State of S. Paulo, Brazil) since 1980, has been studied. In 1980 the prevalence evaluated by stool exams (Kato-Katz method) was 22.8% and no statistical difference at 5.0% level was observed between rural and urban zones. The intensity of infection was low (58.5 eggs/g of faeces); the highest prevalence and intensity of infection rates were observed within the group of from 5 to 29 years of age, respectively. The transmission of schistosomiasis usually occurred during leisure time. The majority of the carriers of the parasite were asymptomatic. Of the B. tenagophila examined only 0.4% were found to be infected. The control programme has been intensified from 1981 on resulting in a sharp decrease in the prevalence from 22.8% in 1980 to 6% at the present time. This result shows that, in spite of the control programme there is a residual human prevalence. A beginning has been made on the investigation into the possible causes of this residual prevalence (6.0% was maintained through out 1987).

The Interpretation of Verbal Probability Expressions Used in the IAS/IFRS: the auditors Rrgistered with the portuguese securities market commission

One of the main arguments in favour of the adoption and convergence with the international accounting standards published by the IASB (i.e. IAS/IFRS) is that these will allow comparability of financial reporting across countries. However, because these standards use verbal probability expressions (v.g. “probable”) when establishing the recognition and disclosure criteria for accounting elements, they require professional accountants to interpret and classify the probability of an outcome or event taking into account those terms and expressions and to best decide in terms of financial reporting. This paper reports part of a research we carried out on the interpretation of “in context” verbal probability expressions used in the IAS/IFRS by the auditors registered with the Portuguese Securities Market Commission, the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (CMVM). Our results provide support for the hypothesis that culture affects the CMVM registered auditors’ interpretation of verbal probability expressions through its influence on the accounting value (or attitude) of conservatism. Our results also suggest that there are significant differences in their interpretation of the term “probable”, which is consistent with literature in general. Since “probable” is the most frequent verbal probability expression used in the IAS/IFRS, this may have a negative impact on financial statements comparability.

Radiographic outcomes and evaluation of developmental dysplasia of the hip in children

The Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), also know as Congenital Dislocation of the Hip, is common in infants and children and may persist into adulthood. The radiographic interpretation is highly conditioned by appropriate patient positioning and image quality criteria. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the value of radiographic evaluation of DDH. Through the retrospective analysis of 65 radiographs of the hips, only 2 (3.1%) female patients with 1-2 years of age presented radiographic findings of DDH. The inappropriate field size and the improper placement and size of the gonadal shields, were the most common errors observed.

Interpretation of gravity data to delineate structural features connected to low-temperature geothermal resources at Northeastern Portugal

A great number of low-temperature geothermal fields occur in Northern-Portugal related to fractured rocks. The most important superficial manifestations of these hydrothermal systems appear in pull-apart tectonic basins and are strongly conditioned by the orientation of the main fault systems in the region. This work presents the interpretation of gravity gradient maps and 3D inversion model produced from a regional gravity survey. The horizontal gradients reveal a complex fault system. The obtained 3D model of density contrast puts into evidence the main fault zone in the region and the depth distribution of the granitic bodies. Their relationship with the hydrothermal systems supports the conceptual models elaborated from hydrochemical and isotopic water analyses. This work emphasizes the importance of the role of the gravity method and analysis to better understand the connection between hydrothermal systems and the fractured rock pattern and surrounding geology. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.