A comparison of training methods to increase neck muscle strength

Objective To compare two neck strength training modalities. Background Neck injury in pilots flying high performance aircraft is a concern in aviation medicine. Strength training may be an effective means to strengthen the neck and decrease injury risk. Methods The cohort consisted of 32 age-height-weight matched participants, divided into two experimental groups; the Multi-Cervical Unit (MCU) and Thera-Band tubing groups (THER), and a control (CTRL) group. Ten weeks of training were undertaken and pre-and post isometric strength testing for all groups was performed on the MCU. Comparisons between the three groups were made using a Kruskal-Wallis test and effect sizes between the MCU and the THER groups and the THER and CTRL groups were also calculated. Results The MCU group displayed the greatest increase in isometric strength (flexion 64.4%, extension 62.9%, left lateral flexion 53.3%, right lateral flexion 49.1%) and differences were only statistically significant (p<0.05) when compared to the CTRL group. Increases in neck strength for the THER group were lower than that shown in the MCU group (flexion 42.0%, extension 29.9%, left lateral flexion 26.7%, right lateral flexion 24.1%). Moderate to large effect sizes were found between the MCU and THER as well as the THER and CTRL groups. Conclusions This study demonstrated that the MCU was the most effective training modality to increase isometric cervical muscle strength. Thera-Band tubing did however, produce moderate gains in isometric neck strength

Cognitive deficits and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test performance among patients with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, characterized especially by myelin and axon damage. Cognitive impairment in MS is common but difficult to detect without a neuropsychological examination. Valid and reliable methods are needed in clinical practice and research to detect deficits, follow their natural evolution, and verify treatment effects. The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) is a measure of sustained and divided attention, working memory, and information processing speed, and it is widely used in MS patients neuropsychological evaluation. Additionally, the PASAT is the sole cognitive measure in an assessment tool primarly designed for MS clinical trials, the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). The aims of the present study were to determine a) the frequency, characteristics, and evolution of cognitive impairment among relapsing-remitting MS patients, and b) the validity and reliability of the PASAT in measuring cognitive performance in MS patients. The subjects were 45 relapsing-remitting MS patients from Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Department of Neurology and 48 healthy controls. Both groups underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessments, including the PASAT, twice in a one-year follow-up, and additionally a sample of 10 patients and controls were evaluated with the PASAT in serial assessments five times in one month. The frequency of cognitive dysfunction among relapsing-remitting MS patients in the present study was 42%. Impairments were characterized especially by slowed information processing speed and memory deficits. During the one-year follow-up, the cognitive performance was relatively stable among MS patients on a group level. However, the practice effects in cognitive tests were less pronounced among MS patients than healthy controls. At an individual level the spectrum of MS patients cognitive deficits was wide in regards to their characteristics, severity, and evolution. The PASAT was moderately accurate in detecting MS-associated cognitive impairment, and 69% of patients were correctly classified as cognitively impaired or unimpaired when comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was used as a "gold standard". Self-reported nervousness and poor arithmetical skills seemed to explain misclassifications. MS-related fatigue was objectively demonstrated as fading performance towards the end of the test. Despite the observed practice effect, the reliability of the PASAT was excellent, and it was sensitive to the cognitive decline taking place during the follow-up in a subgroup of patients. The PASAT can be recommended for use in the neuropsychological assessment of MS patients. The test is fairly sensitive, but less specific; consequently, the reasons for low scores have to be carefully identified before interpreting them as clinically significant.

Evaluation of an intervention for patients with alcohol-related injuries: results of a mixed methods study

Objective: To explore the effect of education and training on the delivery of alcohol screening and brief intervention and referral to high-risk patients in a hospital setting. Main outcome measures included; delivery of training; practice change in relation to staff performing alcohol screening, brief intervention and referrals. Methods: Observational study design using mixed methods set in a tertiary referral hospital. Pre-post assessment of medical records and semi-structured interviews with key informants. Results: Routine screening for substance misuse (9% pre / 71.4% post) and wellbeing concerns (6.6% pre / 15 % post) was more frequent following the introduction of resources and staff participation in educational workshops. There was no evidence of a concomitant increase in delivery of brief intervention or referrals to services. Implementation challenges, including time constraints and staff attitudes, and enablers such as collaboration and visible pathways, were identified. Conclusion: Rates of patient screening increased, however barriers to delivery of brief intervention and referrals remained. Implementation strategies targeting specific barriers and enablers to introducing interventions are both required to improve the application of secondary prevention for patients in acute settings. Implications: Educational training, formalised liaison between services, systematised early intervention protocols, and continuous quality improvement processes will progress service delivery in this area.

Type II beta-turn conformation of pivaloyl-L-prolyl-alpha-aminoisobutyryl-N-methylamide: Theoretical, spectroscopic, and X-ray studies

Pivaloyl-L-Pro-Aib-N-methylamide has been shown to possess one intramolecular hydrogen bond in (CD3)2SO solution, by 1H-nmr methods, suggesting the existence of beta -turns, with Pro-Aib as the corner residues. Theoretical conformational analysis suggests that Type II beta-turn conformations are about 2 kcal mol-1 more stable than Type III structures. A crystallographic study has established the Type II beta-turn in the solid state. The molecule crystallizes in the space group P21 with a = 5.865 Å, b = 11.421 Å, c = 12.966 Å, beta = 97.55°, and Z = 2. The structure has been refined to a final R value of 0.061. The Type II -turn conformation is stabilized by an intramolecular 4 1 hydrogen bond between the methylamide NH and the pivaloyl CO group. The conformational angles are Pro = -57.8°, Pro = 139.3°, Aib = 61.4°, and Aib = 25.1°. The Type II beta-turn conformation for Pro-Aib in this peptide is compared with the Type III structures observed for the same segment in larger peptides.

Hardness Methods for Testing Maize Kernels

Maize is a highly important crop to many countries around the world, through the sale of the maize crop to domestic processors and subsequent production of maize products and also provides a staple food to subsistance farms in undeveloped countries. In many countries, there have been long-term research efforts to develop a suitable hardness method that could assist the maize industry in improving efficiency in processing as well as possibly providing a quality specification for maize growers, which could attract a premium. This paper focuses specifically on hardness and reviews a number of methodologies as well as important biochemical aspects of maize that contribute to maize hardness used internationally. Numerous foods are produced from maize, and hardness has been described as having an impact on food quality. However, the basis of hardness and measurement of hardness are very general and would apply to any use of maize from any country. From the published literature, it would appear that one of the simpler methods used to measure hardness is a grinding step followed by a sieving step, using multiple sieve sizes. This would allow the range in hardness within a sample as well as average particle size and/or coarse/fine ratio to be calculated. Any of these parameters could easily be used as reference values for the development of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy calibrations. The development of precise NIR calibrations will provide an excellent tool for breeders, handlers, and processors to deliver specific cultivars in the case of growers and bulk loads in the case of handlers, thereby ensuring the most efficient use of maize by domestic and international processors. This paper also considers previous research describing the biochemical aspects of maize that have been related to maize hardness. Both starch and protein affect hardness, with most research focusing on the storage proteins (zeins). Both the content and composition of the zein fractions affect hardness. Genotypes and growing environment influence the final protein and starch content and. to a lesser extent, composition. However, hardness is a highly heritable trait and, hence, when a desirable level of hardness is finally agreed upon, the breeders will quickly be able to produce material with the hardness levels required by the industry.

Pole placement in multi-input systems via elementary transformations

This paper is concerned with the development of an algorithm for pole placement in multi-input dynamic systems. The algorithm which uses a series of elementary transformations is believed to be simpler, computationally more efficient and numerically stable when compared with earlier methods. In this paper two methods have been presented.

Hypoxic corneal changes following 8 hours of scleral contact lens wear

- Purpose To examine the change in corneal thickness and posterior curvature following 8 hours of miniscleral contact lens wear. - Methods Scheimpflug imaging (Pentacam HR, Oculus) was captured before, and immediately following, 8 hours of miniscleral contact lens wear for 15 young (mean age 22 ± 3 years), healthy participants with normal corneae. Natural diurnal variations were considered by measuring baseline corneal changes obtained on a separate control day without contact lens wear. - Results Over the central 6 mm of the cornea, a small, but highly statistically significant amount of edema was observed following 8 hours of miniscleral lens wear, after accounting for normal diurnal fluctuations (mean ± standard deviation percentage swelling 1.70 ± 0.98%, p < 0.0001). Posterior corneal topography remained stable following lens wear (-0.01 ± 0.07 mm steepening over the central 6 mm, p = 0.60). The magnitude of posterior corneal topographical changes following lens wear did not correlate with the extent of lens-related corneal edema (r = -0.16, p = 0.57). Similarly, the initial central corneal vault (maximum post-lens tear layer depth) was not associated with corneal swelling following lens removal (r = 0.27, p = 0.33). - Conclusions While a small amount of corneal swelling was induced following 8 hours of miniscleral lens wear (on average <2%), modern high Dk miniscleral contact lenses that vault the cornea do not induce clinically significant corneal edema or hypoxic related posterior corneal curvature changes during short-term wear. Longer-term studies of compromised eyes (e.g. corneal ectasia) are still required to inform the optimum lens and fitting characteristics for safe scleral lens wear to minimize corneal hypoxia.

On evolutionarily stable compositions of populations of interacting genotypes.

Consider an organism in which the genetic fitness of an individual depends to a large extent on its social interactions. Assuming the genotypes to differ only in the choice of strategies they adopt in social interactions, and equating the variation in genetic fitness to the mean payoff to an individual averaged over all possible encounters, we develop a dynamical model for the evolution of genotypic frequencies in such a population. Such a system is characterised by frequency dependent selection, and depending on the initial composition, the population evolves towards one of several possible compositions. We term as evolutionarily stable compositions (ESC) any such composition towards which a population can evolve and which is stable against small fluctuations in the frequencies of existing genotypes as well as to invasions by any other postulated genotype. We state the necessary and sufficient conditions for the identification of all possible ESC's for any number of interacting genotypes. Our results conform to those derived earlier in connection with the concept of evolutionarily stable strategies only in the case of two interacting genotypes; when more than two genotypes interact the conditions under which various ESC's exist become far richer. We consider interactions with mixed strategists and show that in a conflict with pure strategists the optimal mixed strategist will be the only one to ultimately survive. We illustrate our approach by considering the specific case of a primitively social wasp.

Self-Concept and School Achievement of Pupils with Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate or Both : A longitudinal study

The goal of this research was to survey the self-concept and school achievement of pupils with cleft lip, cleft palate or both from juvenile age to adolescence. Longitudinal researches of self-concept and school achievement among pupils with cleft lip, cleft palate or both are uncommon. This research was the first longitudinal research ever conducted in Finland among this population. This research can be considered to be a special educational study because of the target group involved. Self-concept consists of the person s entire personality. Personality is biological and deterministic. Self-concept includes concepts, attitudes and feelings that the person has about him or her qualities, abilities and relations to the environment. The individual associates experiences to this personality with earlier observations through the social interaction. The individual will have the consciousness of the person s existence and action. The target group in this study consisted of Finnish children with clefts, who were comprised of four different age groups. The questionnaire was sent to all subjects (N1 = 419) both times. A total of 74 % of children returned the questionnaire in 1988 (N2=305). 48 % of children returned the questionnaire in 1993 (N3=203). 42% of children returned the questionnaire both times (N4=175) . These 175 children formed the research subjects. The survey was conducted in 1988, and again in 1993. In 1988, the pupils surveyed were 9 to 12 years of age, while in 1993 they were between 14 and 17 years old. The data was collected through the use of a questionnaire, which consisted of common questions and a personality inventory test that was developed for Finnish students by professor Maija-Liisa Rauste-von Wright. Quantitative analysis methods were used to examine the structure of self-concept and school achievement. Structures found in this research were observed in relation to disorder, gender and maturation. According to these results, structures of self-concepts and school achievement are in fact stable. Basic self-concept elements are seen to be formed at an early age. The developmental aspects of self-concept following puberty are observed as the stability of self-concept and as the forming of a general self. The level of school achievement is stable, but the structure of school achievement changes. From these results, it is possible to state that the gender of the child has a statistical significance regarding self-concept and school achievement. However, the experienced disorder does not have statistical significance as regards to self-concept and school achievement. Results of self-concept support the research of self-concept conducted earlier in Finland.

An improved technique for estimating short-term survival of released line-caught fish, and an application comparing barotrauma-relief methods in red emperor (Lutjanus sebae Cuvier 1816).

Promotion of better procedures for releasing undersize fish, advocacy of catch-and-release angling, and changing minimum legal sizes are increasingly being used as tools for sustainable management of fish stocks. However without knowing the proportion of released fish that survive, the conservation value of any of these measures is uncertain. We developed a floating vertical enclosure to estimate short-term survival of released line-caught tropical and subtropical reef-associated species, and used it to compare the effectiveness of two barotrauma-relief procedures (venting and shotline releasing) on red emperor (Lutjanus sebae). Barotrauma signs varied with capture depth, but not with the size of the fish. Fish from the greatest depths (40-52 m) exhibited extreme signs less frequently than did those from intermediate depths (30-40 m), possibly as a result of swim bladder gas being vented externally through a rupture in the body wall. All but two fish survived the experiment, and as neither release technique significantly improved short-term survival of the red emperor over non-treatment we see little benefit in promoting either venting or shotline releasing for this comparatively resilient species. Floating vertical enclosures can improve short-term post-release mortality estimates as they overcome many problems encountered when constraining fish in submerged cages.

Stock structure of Grey Mackerel, Scomberomorus semifasciatus (Pisces: Scombridae) across northern Australia, based on otolith stable isotope chemistry

The stable isotopes of delta O-18 and delta C-13 in sagittal otolith carbonates were used to determine the stock structure of Grey Mackerel, Scomberomorus semifasciatus. Otoliths were collected from Grey Mackerel at ten locations representing much of their distributional and fisheries range across northern Australia from 2005 to 2007. Across this broad range (similar to 6500 km), fish from four broad locations-Western Australia (S1), Northern Territory and Gulf of Carpentaria (S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7), Queensland east coast mid and north sites (S8, S9) and Queensland east coast south site (S10)-had stable isotope values that were significantly different indicating stock separation. Otolith stable isotopes differed more between locations than among years within a location, indicating temporal stability across years. The spatial separation of these populations indicates a complex stock structure across northern Australia. Stocks of S. semifasciatus appear to be associated with large coastal embayments. These results indicate that optimal fisheries management may require a review of the current spatial arrangements, particularly in relation to the evidence of shared stocks in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Furthermore, as the population of S. semifasciatus in Western Australia exhibited high spatial separation from those at all the other locations examined, further research activities should focus on investigating additional locations within Western Australia for an enhanced determination of stock delineation. From the issue entitled "Proceedings of the 4th International Otolith Symposium, 24-28 August 2009, Monterey, California"

Implementing music therapy on an adolescent inpatient unit: A mixed-methods evaluation of acceptability, experience of participation and perceived impact

Objective: We aimed to assess the feasibility of delivering a music therapy program on adolescent psychiatric wards. Method: We undertook a mixed-methods evaluation of a pilot program. Various active and receptive techniques were employed in group music therapy sessions delivered as part of a structured clinical program. Data collected in interviews with participants and staff and feedback questionnaires were thematically and descriptively analysed and triangulated. Results: Data from 62 questionnaires returned by 43 patients who took part in 16 music therapy sessions, and seven staff, evidenced strong support for music therapy. Patients typically reported experiencing sessions as relaxing, comforting, uplifting, and empowering; >90% would participate by choice and use music therapeutically in the future. Staff endorsed music therapy as valuable therapeutically, reporting that patients engaged enthusiastically and identified sessions as improving their own moods and ward milieu. Conclusions: Integration of music therapy in inpatient treatment of adolescents is feasible and acceptable, and is valued by staff and patients as a complement to ‘talking therapies’. Participation is enjoyed and associated with outcomes including improvement in mood, expression of feelings and social engagement consistent with recovery.

Controlled pollination methods for creating Corymbia hybrids.

Inter-specific Corymbia hybrids are of increasing interest to plantation forestry, yet there is little knowledge of the most suitable controlled pollination methods for this genus. Inter-specific crosses were made between C. torelliana [CT(maternal parent)] and C. citriodora subsp. variegata (CCV), C. henryi (CH) and C. citriodora subsp. citriodora (CCC) using conventional pollination, one-stop pollination (OSP) and artificially-induced protogyny on yellow buds (AIP Y) pollination methods. Additional treatments included AIP on green buds (AIP G) and the use of exclusion bags for the OSP and AIP methods. Inter-specific hybrids (CT x CCV, CT x CH and CT x CCC) were successfully created using all three pollination methods. The AIP Y treatment provided the highest seed yields and achieved time savings of >41% over the conventional and OSP methods, resulting in up to five-fold increases in operator productivity. However, the AIP Y treatment also had the highest C. torelliana contamination levels (9.3–13.2%). The use of exclusion bags with the AIP method had minimal effect on contamination rates, indicating a high proportion of selfpollen contamination. Contamination rates varied between maternal parents, suggesting variation in selfcompatibility for C. torelliana individuals. AIP using semi-ripe green buds was not effective at reducing selfing and had low operator productivity. The AIP method is suitable for use in a large-scale hybrid breeding program for C. torelliana. When self-pollination effects are managed, it could greatly reduce the costs associated with the production of seed of elite family crosses for commercial forestry deployment.