Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the fluid goniometer for measuring active knee flexion in painful knees; correlations do not mean agreement.

[Purpose] The fluid goniometer is an instrument for measuring range of motion. Reliability of the fluid goniometer has not been established for subjects with painful knee joints. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the fluid goniometer in measuring active knee flexion of painful knees and to test its agreement with the gold standard ruler goniometer.

Acute effect of a single high-fat meal on forearm blood flow, blood pressure and heart rate in healthy male Asians and Caucasians: a pilot study.

Research has shown that ingestion of a single high-fat (HF) meal causes postprandial lipemia and produces a reduced brachial artery blood flow response to vascular occlusion in Caucasians. However, the forearm BF response to occlusion in Caucasian and Asian populations after a single HF meal has not been compared. Eleven healthy male Asians, mean age 26.

The use of an isometric handgrip test to show autonomic damage in people with diabetes.

Background: Vascular endothelial and autonomic damage are hallmarks of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, while much has been published on impairment of the autonomic nervous system, much less has been published on the interrelationship between autonomic damage and exercise.

Study Design: The present investigation examined the change in heart rate, blood pressure, skin and limb blood flow, and sweat during non-fatiguing (10% and 25% maximum strength [maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)]) and a fatiguing isometric contraction (40% MVC) in people with type 2 diabetes compared to younger and older controls to see if a simple handgrip test could show the extent of autonomic damage in people with diabetes.