Remote ischaemic conditioning combined with bimanual task training to enhance bimanual skill learning and corticospinal excitability in children with unilateral cerebral palsy: a study protocol of a single centre, phase II randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) have difficulty in bimanual coordination that restricts the child's independence in daily activities. Although several efficacious interventions to improve bimanual coordination exist, these interventions often require higher training doses and have modest effect sizes. Thus, there is a critical need to find an effective priming agent that, when paired with task-specific training, will facilitate neurobiological processes to enhance the magnitude of training effects and subsequently improve functional capabilities of children with UCP.

Tibiofemoral Load Magnitude and Distribution During Load Carriage.

Chronic exposure to high tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) contact forces can be detrimental to knee joint health. Load carriage increases TFJ contact forces, but it is unclear whether medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments respond similarly to incremental load carriage. The purpose of our study was to compare TFJ contact forces when walking with 15% and 30% added body weight.

Bimanual Movement Characteristics and Real-World Performance Following Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy.

The purpose of this study was to quantify characteristics of bimanual movement intensity during 30 h of hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) and bimanual performance (activities and participation) in real-world settings using accelerometers in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). Twenty-five children with UCP participated in a 30 h HABIT program. Data were collected from bilateral wrist-worn accelerometers during 30 h of HABIT to quantify the movement intensity and three days pre- and post-HABIT to assess real-world performance gains.

Differences in Muscle Demand and Joint Contact Forces Between Running and Skipping.

Skipping has been proposed as a viable cross-training exercise to running due to its lower knee contact forces and higher whole-body energy expenditure. However, how individual muscle forces, energy expenditure, and joint loading are affected by differences in running and skipping mechanics remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare individual muscle forces, energy expenditure, and lower extremity joint contact forces between running and skipping using musculoskeletal modeling and simulations of young adults (n = 5) performing running and skipping at 2.

Increased growth rates of stream salamanders following forest harvesting.

Timber harvesting can influence headwater streams by altering stream productivity, with cascading effects on the food web and predators within, including stream salamanders. Although studies have examined shifts in salamander occupancy or abundance following timber harvest, few examine sublethal effects such as changes in growth and demography. To examine the effect of upland harvesting on growth of the stream-associated Ouachita dusky salamander (), we used capture-mark-recapture over three years at three headwater streams embedded in intensely managed pine forests in west-central Arkansas.

Peak and Per-Step Tibial Bone Stress During Walking and Running in Female and Male Recreational Runners.

Background: Athletes, especially female athletes, experience high rates of tibial bone stress injuries (BSIs). Knowledge of tibial loads during walking and running is needed to understand injury mechanisms and design safe running progression programs.

Purpose: To examine tibial loads as a function of gait speed in male and female runners.

Timing of oviposition influences the effects of a non-native grass on amphibian development.

Land-use change can alter the energy dynamics in aquatic systems by changing the subsidies that form the nutrient base within them. However, experimental evaluations of subsidy change often fail to consider how effects, such as differences in individual growth and survival, may differ under varying ecological contexts experienced in the field. We used a mesocosm approach to investigate how litter (Native Prairie or Non-Native Tall-Fescue Grass) surrounding wetlands and timing of oviposition affected larval amphibian development.

Relationships of hip abductor strength, neuromuscular control, and hip width to femoral length ratio with peak hip adduction angle in healthy female runners.

A large peak hip adduction angle during running is a risk factor for several overuse injuries in women. The purpose of this study was to determine if female runners with a large peak hip adduction angle have differences in eccentric hip abductor muscle strength, hip neuromuscular control, and/or hip width to femoral length ratio (HW:FL) compared to those with a small angle. Hip adduction during running, hip strength, hip control, and HW:FL were measured in sixty healthy female runners (1.

Differential responses of amphibian and reptile assemblages to size of riparian buffers within managed forests.

Streamside management zones (i.e., riparian buffers; SMZs) are commonly implemented within managed forests to protect water quality but may also provide habitat for riparian-associated wildlife.

Parental Effects and Climate Change: Will Avian Incubation Behavior Shield Embryos from Increasing Environmental Temperatures?

A major driver of wildlife responses to climate change will include non-genomic effects, like those mediated through parental behavior and physiology (i.e., parental effects).

Effects of Load Carriage and Step Length Manipulation on Achilles Tendon and Knee Loads.

Introduction: Longer steps with load carriage is common in shorter Soldiers when matching pace with taller Soldiers whereas shorter steps are hypothesized to reduce risk of injury with load carriage. The effects of load carriage with and without step length manipulation on loading patterns of three commonly injured structures were determined: Achilles tendon, patellofemoral joint (PFJ) and medial tibiofemoral joint (mTFJ).

Materials And Methods: ROTC Cadets (n = 16; 20.

Tibiofemoral Joint Forces in Female Recreational Runners Vary with Step Frequency.

Purpose: Elevated tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) contact forces have been linked to the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis. The primary objective of this study was to determine the association between peak TFJ shear and compression forces during running at different self-selected step frequencies (SF) in female recreational runners.

Methods: Fifty-five healthy female recreational runners ran at 2.

Phylogeny and Classification of Novel Diversity in Sainouroidea (Cercozoa, Rhizaria) Sheds Light on a Highly Diverse and Divergent Clade.

Sainouroidea is a molecularly diverse clade of cercozoan flagellates and amoebae in the eukaryotic supergroup Rhizaria. Previous 18S rDNA environmental sequencing of globally collected fecal and soil samples revealed great diversity and high sequence divergence in the Sainouroidea. However, a very limited amount of this diversity has been observed or described.

Achilles tendon loading during weight bearing exercises.

Objective: Compare the estimated Achilles tendon (AT) loading using a musculoskeletal model during commonly performed weight bearing therapeutic exercises.

Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Setting: University biomechanics laboratory.

Walking velocity and step length adjustments affect knee joint contact forces in healthy weight and obese adults.

Knee osteoarthritis is a major public health problem and adults with obesity are particularly at risk. One approach to alleviating this problem is to reduce the mechanical load at the joint during daily activity. Adjusting temporospatial parameters of walking could mitigate cumulative knee joint mechanical loads.

Knee Frontal Plane Projection Angle: A Comparison Study Between Drop Vertical Jump and Step-Down Tests With Young Volleyball Athletes.

Study Design: Observational study.

Context: Altered frontal plane knee mechanics during dynamic tasks have been often associated with lower-extremity injuries. Strategies to decrease these risk factors and improve knee joint stability are often applied in rehabilitation and training environments.

Gait biomechanics of skipping are substantially different than those of running.

Unlabelled: The inherit injury risk associated with high-impact exercises calls for alternative ways to achieve the benefits of aerobic exercise while minimizing excessive stresses to body tissues. Skipping presents such an alternative, incorporating double support, flight, and single support phases. We used ground reaction forces (GRFs), lower extremity joint torques and powers to compare skipping and running in 20 healthy adults.

Sex-specific kinetic and kinematic indicators of medial tibiofemoral force during walking and running.

Background: Our aims were to (1) Evaluate sex-specific contributions of peak knee flexion moment (pKFM) and peak knee adduction moment (pKAM) in medial tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) force during walking and running; (2) identify kinematic variables to estimate peak medial TFJ force.

Methods: Eighty-seven runners participated (36 females, 51 males; age=23.0±3.

Reduced step length reduces knee joint contact forces during running following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction but does not alter inter-limb asymmetry.

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is associated with early onset knee osteoarthritis. Running is a typical activity following this surgery, but elevated knee joint contact forces are thought to contribute to osteoarthritis degenerative processes. It is therefore clinically relevant to identify interventions to reduce contact forces during running among individuals after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Elevated Knee Joint Kinetics and Reduced Ankle Kinetics Are Present During Jogging and Hopping After Achilles Tendon Ruptures.

Background: Deficits in plantarflexor function are common after an Achilles tendon rupture. These deficits may result in an altered distribution of joint loads during lower extremity tasks.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that, regardless of treatment, the Achilles tendon-ruptured limb would exhibit deficits in ankle kinematics and joint power while exhibiting elevated knee joint power and patellofemoral joint loads during walking, jogging, and hopping.

The effects of body-borne loads and cadence manipulation on patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint kinetics during running.

Understanding how body-borne mass influences knee loads during running and how to modulate these knee loads may assist efforts to reduce the high rate of knee injuries in military populations. We tested a) the extent a 15-kg body-borne load affects peak and cumulative patellofemoral (PFJ) and tibiofemoral (TFJ) contact forces during running and b) if a 7.5% increase in running cadence modulates these contact forces.

Independent effects of step length and foot strike pattern on tibiofemoral joint forces during running.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of step length and foot strike pattern along with their interaction on tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) and medial compartment TFJ kinetics during running. Nineteen participants ran with a rear foot strike pattern at their preferred speed using a short (-10%), preferred, and long (+10%) step length. These step length conditions were then repeated using a forefoot strike pattern.

Patellofemoral Joint and Achilles Tendon Loads During Overground and Treadmill Running.

Study Design Level 4, controlled laboratory study. Background Little is known regarding how the potential differences between treadmill and overground running may affect patellofemoral joint and Achilles tendon loading characteristics. Objectives To compare measures of loading of the patellofemoral joint and Achilles tendon across treadmill and overground running in healthy, uninjured runners.

Changes in tibiofemoral contact forces during running in response to in-field gait retraining.

We evaluated the efficacy of an in-field gait retraining programme using mobile biofeedback to reduce cumulative and peak tibiofemoral loads during running. Thirty runners were randomised to either a retraining group or control group. Retrainers were asked to increase their step rate by 7.

Sex differences in running mechanics and patellofemoral joint kinetics following an exhaustive run.

Patellofemoral joint pain (PFP) is a common running-related injury that is more prevalent in females and thought to be associated with altered running mechanics. Changes in running mechanics have been observed following an exhaustive run but have not been analyzed relative to the sex bias for PFP. The purpose of this study was to test if females demonstrate unique changes in running mechanics associated with PFP following an exhaustive run.