Short-duration, high-intensity bouts of physical therapy to increase self-efficacy, confidence, and function in an individual with incomplete spinal cord injury: A case report.

High intensity and frequency of task-specific practice is required to produce functional change in individuals with neurologic conditions. Self-efficacy is an important predictor of engagement in physical activity in individuals with spinal cord injury. Combining these two rehabilitation concepts has the potential for lasting functional improvement.

Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change.

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates.

Strengthening and optimal movements for painful shoulders (STOMPS) in chronic spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Shoulder pain is a common problem after spinal cord injury (SCI), with negative effects on daily activities and quality of life (QOL).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an exercise program and instruction to optimize performance of upper-extremity tasks on shoulder pain in people with paraplegia from SCI.

Methods: Design Eighty individuals with paraplegia from SCI and shoulder pain were randomly assigned to receive either an exercise/movement optimization intervention or an attention control intervention.

Effect of AFO design on walking after stroke: impact of ankle plantar flexion contracture.

This study was conducted to compare the effects of three ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) designs on walking after stroke and determine whether an ankle plantar flexion contracture impacts response to the AFOs. A total of 30 individuals, ranging from 6-215 months post-stroke, were tested in four conditions: shoes only (SH), dorsi-assist/dorsi-stop AFO (DA-DS), plantar stop/free dorsiflexion AFO (PS), and rigid AFO (Rigid). Kinematics, kinetics, and electromyographic (EMG) activity were recorded from the hemiparetic lower extremity while participants walked at a self-selected pace.

Comparison of shoulder muscle electromyographic activity during standard manual wheelchair and push-rim activated power assisted wheelchair propulsion in persons with complete tetraplegia.

Objectives: To compare spatio-temporal propulsion characteristics and shoulder muscle electromyographic activity in persons with cervical spinal cord injury propelling a standard pushrim wheelchair (WC) and a commercially available pushrim-activated power assisted wheelchair (PAPAW) design on a stationary ergometer.

Design: Repeated measures.

Setting: Motion analysis laboratory within a rehabilitation hospital.