Responsiveness of respiratory function in Parkinson's Disease to an integrative exercise programme: A prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Respiratory disorders are the most common cause of death in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Conflicting data exist on the aetiology of respiratory dysfunction in PD and few studies examine the effects of exercise-based interventions on respiratory measures. This study was conducted to better understand respiratory dysfunction in PD and to identify measures of dysfunction responsive to an integrative exercise programme.

Predicting Fall Counts Using Wearable Sensors: A Novel Digital Biomarker for Parkinson's Disease.

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience significant impairments to gait and balance; as a result, the rate of falls in people with Parkinson's disease is much greater than that of the general population. Falls can have a catastrophic impact on quality of life, often resulting in serious injury and even death. The number (or rate) of falls is often used as a primary outcome in clinical trials on PD.

The Feasibility of Equine Field-Based Postural Sway Analysis Using a Single Inertial Sensor.

(1) Background: Postural sway is frequently used to quantify human postural control, balance, injury, and neurological deficits. However, there is considerably less research investigating the value of the metric in horses. Much of the existing equine postural sway research uses force or pressure plates to examine the centre of pressure, inferring change at the centre of mass (COM).

Impact of Exercise Intervention in Parkinson's Disease can be Quantified Using Inertial Sensor Data and Clinical Tests.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) has the second-highest prevalence rate of all neurodegenerative disorders. It effects approximately 1% of the population over the age of 60, with this proportion rising further, in more elderly cohorts. PD manifests as several motor and non-motor disfunctions, which develop progressively over time.

Investigating normal day to day variations of postural control in a healthy young population using Wii balance boards.

The quantification of postural control (PC) provides the opportunity to understand the function and integration of the sensorimotor subsystems. The increased availability of portable sensing technology, such as Wii Balance Boards (WBB), has afforded the capacity to capture data pertaining to motor function, outside of the laboratory and clinical setting. However, prior to its use in long-term monitoring, it is crucial to understand natural daily PC variation.

Irish Equine Industry Stakeholder Perspectives of Objective Technology for Biomechanical Analyses in the Field.

Wearable sensing technologies are increasingly used in human and equine gait research to improve ecological validity of research findings. It is unclear how these tools have penetrated the equine industry or what perspectives industry stakeholders' hold in relation to these relatively new devices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Irish equine industry stakeholders to understand their perception of objective tools for biomechanical analysis in the field.

Effect of External Counterpulsation on Exercise Recovery in Team Sport Athletes.

External counterpulsation (ECP), an electrocardiogram-led sequential compression of lower limbs, has been recently proposed for sports recovery, but research is scant. This study examined the effects of an ECP session upon neuromuscular function (vertical jump and torque/velocity characteristics), biochemical responses (creatine kinase, cortisol, testosterone, alpha-amylase and immunoglobulin-A), and muscle soreness (visual analogue scale) following high-intensity exercise. Twenty-one male team sport athletes (age: 21.

Frontal-Plane Variability in Foot Orientation During Fatiguing Running Exercise in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability.

Context:   Researchers have reported increased variability in frontal-plane movement at the ankle during jumping in individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI), which may increase their risk of recurrent ankle sprain. It is not known if this behavior is present during running gait or how fatigue affects the amount of frontal-plane-movement variability in individuals with CAI.

Objective:   To investigate the amount of roll-angle variability at the foot during a fatiguing exercise protocol in participants with CAI.

Structural basis of divergent cyclin-dependent kinase activation by Spy1/RINGO proteins.

Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are principal drivers of cell division and are an important therapeutic target to inhibit aberrant proliferation. Cdk enzymatic activity is tightly controlled through cyclin interactions, posttranslational modifications, and binding of inhibitors such as the p27 tumor suppressor protein. Spy1/RINGO (Spy1) proteins bind and activate Cdk but are resistant to canonical regulatory mechanisms that establish cell-cycle checkpoints.

The relationship between the golf swing plane and ball impact characteristics using trajectory ellipse fitting.

The trajectory of the clubhead close to ball impact during the golf swing has previously been shown to be planar. However, the relationship between the plane orientation and the orientation characteristics of the clubhead at ball impact has yet to be defined. Fifty-two male golfers (27 high skilled, 25 intermediate skilled) hit 40 drives each in an indoor biomechanics laboratory.

A comparison of cross-sectional and prospective algorithms for falls risk assessment.

Falls are the most common cause of injury and hospitalization and one of the principal causes of death and disability in older adults worldwide. Accurate identification of patients at risk of falls could lead to timely medical intervention, reducing the incidence of falls related injuries along with associated costs. The current best practice for studies of falls and falls risk recommends the use of prospective follow-up data.

Stability of daily home-based measures of postural control over an 8-week period in highly functioning older adults.

Purpose: The focus of this study was to monitor daily objective measures of standing postural control over an 8-week period, recorded in a person's home, in a population of healthy older adults. Establishing natural patterns of variation in the day-to-day signal, occurring in the relative absence of functional decline or disease, would enable us to determine thresholds for changes in postural control from baseline that could be considered clinically important.

Methods: Eighteen community-dwelling older adults (3 M, 15 F, 72 ± 6 years) participated in a home-based trial where each day they were asked to complete a technology-enabled routine consisting of a short questionnaire, as well as a quiet standing balance trial.

The influence of auditory-motor coupling on fractal dynamics in human gait.

Humans exhibit an innate ability to synchronize their movements to music. The field of gait rehabilitation has sought to capitalize on this phenomenon by invoking patients to walk in time to rhythmic auditory cues with a view to improving pathological gait. However, the temporal structure of the auditory cue, and hence the temporal structure of the target behavior has not been sufficiently explored.

Cks confers specificity to phosphorylation-dependent CDK signaling pathways.

Cks is an evolutionarily conserved protein that regulates cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity. Clarifying the underlying mechanisms and cellular contexts of Cks function is critical because Cks is essential for proper cell growth, and its overexpression has been linked to cancer. We observe that budding-yeast Cks associates with select phosphorylated sequences in cell cycle-regulatory proteins.

Effects of a low-volume, vigorous intensity step exercise program on functional mobility in middle-aged adults.

Aging-related decline in functional mobility is associated with loss of independence. This decline may be mitigated through programs of physical activity. Despite reports of aging-related mobility impairment in middle-aged adults, this age group has been largely overlooked in terms of exercise programs that target functional mobility and the preservation of independence in older age.

Displacement of centre of mass during quiet standing assessed using accelerometry in older fallers and non-fallers.

Postural sway during quiet standing is associated with falls risk in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of a range of accelerometer-derived parameters of centre of mass (COM) displacement in identifying older adults at risk of falling. A series of instrumented standing balance trials were performed to investigate postural control in a group of older adults, categorised as fallers or non-fallers.

Taking balance measurement out of the laboratory and into the home: discriminatory capability of novel centre of pressure measurement in fallers and non-fallers.

We investigated three methods for estimating centre of pressure excursions, as measured using a portable pressure sensor matrix, in order to deploy similar technology into the homes of older adults for longitudinal monitoring of postural control and falls risk. We explored the utility of these three methods as markers of falls risk in a cohort of 120 community dwelling older adults with and without a history of falls (65 fallers, 55 non-fallers). A number of standard quantitative balance parameters were derived using each centre of pressure estimation method.

Quantitative falls risk estimation through multi-sensor assessment of standing balance.

Falls are the most common cause of injury and hospitalization and one of the principal causes of death and disability in older adults worldwide. Measures of postural stability have been associated with the incidence of falls in older adults. The aim of this study was to develop a model that accurately classifies fallers and non-fallers using novel multi-sensor quantitative balance metrics that can be easily deployed into a home or clinic setting.

The appropriate use of approximate entropy and sample entropy with short data sets.

Approximate entropy (ApEn) and sample entropy (SampEn) are mathematical algorithms created to measure the repeatability or predictability within a time series. Both algorithms are extremely sensitive to their input parameters: m (length of the data segment being compared), r (similarity criterion), and N (length of data). There is no established consensus on parameter selection in short data sets, especially for biological data.

Peripheral arterial disease affects the frequency response of ground reaction forces during walking.

Background: Walking is problematic for patients with peripheral arterial disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency domain of the ground reaction forces during walking to further elucidate the ambulatory impairment of these patients.

Methods: Nineteen bilateral peripheral arterial disease patients and nineteen controls were included in this study.

Gait variability is altered in older adults when listening to auditory stimuli with differing temporal structures.

Gait variability in the context of a deterministic dynamical system may be quantified using nonlinear time series analyses that characterize the complexity of the system. Pathological gait exhibits altered gait variability. It can be either too periodic and predictable, or too random and disordered, as is the case with aging.

Using a tri-axial accelerometer to detect technique breakdown due to fatigue in distance runners: a preliminary perspective.

Accelerometer technology is becoming increasingly smaller and cheaper to develop. As a direct result, such devices can potentially be easily integrated into footwear to capture data that provides information about the quality of a person's running technique in the later stages of a fatiguing run. The purpose of this study is to determine if it is possible to detect technique breakdown due to fatigue in a distance runner using shoe mounted accelerometers.

Body-worn sensor based surrogates of minimum ground clearance in elderly fallers and controls.

Falls in the elderly are a major problem worldwide with enormous associated economic and societal costs. Minimum ground clearance (MGC) is an important gait variable when considering trip-related falls risk. This study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of inertial sensor derived parameters, previously shown to be related to MGC.

Development and validation of a clinic based balance assessment technology.

Falls in the elderly are a major problem worldwide, with enormous associated societal costs. Deficits in balance and postural control have long been associated with falls risk in elderly adults. The gold standard for quantitative assessment of human balance in a clinical setting is the force plate which is highly expensive, non-portable and requires specialized personnel to operate.

Reliability of quantitative TUG measures of mobility for use in falls risk assessment.

Recent advances in body-worn sensor technology have increased the scope for harnessing quantitative information from the timed-up-and-go test (TUG), well beyond simply the time taken to perform the test. Previous research has shown that the quantitative TUG method can differentiate fallers from non-fallers with greater success than the manually timed TUG or the Berg Balance Test. In order to advance this paradigm of falls risk estimation it is necessary to investigate the robustness of the quantitative TUG variables.