Resistance Training Causes the Stretch-Induced Force Deficit-A Randomized Cross-Over Study.

Purpose: Stretch-induced force deficit suggests an acute stretch-specific strength capacity loss, which is commonly attributed to EMG reductions. Since those deficits could also be attributed to general fatigue induced by overloading the muscle, this study aimed to compare stretching with an exhausting calf raise programme to compare strength and stretching responses.

Method: This study included 16 participants with different, high-duration calf muscle stretching effects (10, 20, 30 min of stretching) with resistance training (RT) (3 × 12 repetitions) performed until muscle failure, by using a cross-over study design with pre-post comparisons.

Effects of Stretching or Strengthening Exercise on Spinal and Lumbopelvic Posture: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

Background: Abnormal posture (e.g. loss of lordosis) has been associated with the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain.

The effects of static and dynamic stretching on deep fascia stiffness: a randomized, controlled cross-over study.

Aim: Previous stretching studies mostly investigated effects on the skeletal muscle but comprehensive explorations regarding the role of the connective tissue are scarce. Since the deep fascia has been demonstrated to be sensitive to mechanical tension, it was hypothesized that the fascia would also respond to stretching, contributing to enhanced range of motion (ROM).

Methods: Forty (40) recreationally active participants (male: n = 25, female: n = 15) were included in the randomized controlled cross-over trial and allocated to different groups performing 5 min static (STAT) or dynamic (DYN) plantar flexor stretching or control condition (CC) in a random order.

Ganglionic Local Opioid Analgesia at the Superior Cervical Ganglion: MRI-Verified Solution Spread.

Introduction: Ganglionic local opioid analgesia (GLOA) at the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) is performed for pain control and is known to be an effective procedure. In this study, we evaluated the spread of the injectate in the area of the SCG. Our expectation was that there would be a correlation between the area and volume of the injectate spread and post-procedural outcome measures.

Effect of Prenatal Yoga versus Moderate-Intensity Walking on Cardiorespiratory Adaptation to Acute Psychological Stress: Insights from Non-Invasive Beat-to-Beat Monitoring.

We recently reported enhanced parasympathetic activation at rest throughout pregnancy associated with regular yoga practice. The present study presents a secondary analysis of data collected within a prospective cohort study of 33 pregnant women practicing yoga once weekly throughout pregnancy and 36 controls not involved in formal pregnancy exercise programs. The objective was to assess the impact of prenatal yoga on the autonomic nervous system stress response.

The magnitude of correlation between deadlift 1RM and jumping performance is sports dependent.

Introduction: Based on the assumption of maximal strength as a basic ability, several studies show a high influence of maximum strength on jumping performance in several sport athletes. However, there is a wide range of correlations from  = 0.17-0.

The knowledge of movement experts about stretching effects: Does the science reach practice?

Objective: Stretching is performed with numerous purposes in multiple settings such as prevention, rehabilitation, fitness training and sports. Its patterns of use substantially depend on the education and beliefs of health care and exercise professionals as they represent the multiplicators recommending and prescribing interventions to clients, patients and athletes. This study investigated movement experts' knowledge about the scientific evidence on stretching effects.

Influence of 8-weeks of supervised static stretching or resistance training of pectoral major muscles on maximal strength, muscle thickness and range of motion.

Objectives: Current research suggests static stretch-induced maximal strength increases and muscle hypertrophy with potential to substitute resistance-training routines. However, most studies investigated the plantar flexors. This study explored the effects of a static stretching program on maximal strength, hypertrophy and flexibility of the pectoralis major and compared the effects with those of traditional resistance training.

Effects of a Home-Based Stretching Program on Bench Press Maximum Strength and Shoulder Flexibility.

Recent research showed significant stretch-mediated maximum strength increases when performing stretching between 5 to 120 minutes per day with the calf muscle. However, since the practical applicability of these long stretching durations was questioned and studies exploring the transferability to the upper body are scarce, the aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using a home-based stretching program to induce significant increases in maximum strength and flexibility. Therefore, 31 recreationally active participants (intervention group: 18, control group: 13) stretched the pectoralis major for 15min/day for eight weeks, incorporating three different stretching exercises.

Physiology of Stretch-Mediated Hypertrophy and Strength Increases: A Narrative Review.

Increasing muscle strength and cross-sectional area is of crucial importance to improve or maintain physical function in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and sports performance. Decreases in muscular performance are experienced in phases of reduced physical activity or immobilization. These decrements highlight the need for alternative, easily accessible training regimens for a sedentary population to improve rehabilitation and injury prevention routines.

Determinants of quality of life improvements in anxiety and depressive disorders-A longitudinal study of inpatient psychotherapy.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is substantially impaired in patients with anxiety disorders (AD) and depressive disorders (DD) and improvements in symptom burden after psychotherapy are not always paralleled by similar improvements in QoL. So far, little is known about treatment outcome in terms of QoL and predictors of QoL improvements following inpatient psychotherapy with a focus on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between changes in symptoms and QoL across different life domains.

Perceived Criticism and Family Attitudes as Predictors of Recurrence in Bipolar Disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly recurrent psychiatric condition. While combined pharmacological and psychosocial treatments improve outcomes, not much is known about potential moderators that could affect these treatments. One potential moderator might be the quality of interpersonal relations in families, for example, familial attitudes and perceived criticism.

A Novel Zernike Moment-Based Real-Time Head Pose and Gaze Estimation Framework for Accuracy-Sensitive Applications.

A real-time head pose and gaze estimation (HPGE) algorithm has excellent potential for technological advancements either in human-machine or human-robot interactions. For example, in high-accuracy advent applications such as Driver's Assistance System (DAS), HPGE plays a crucial role in omitting accidents and road hazards. In this paper, the authors propose a new hybrid framework for improved estimation by combining both the appearance and geometric-based conventional methods to extract local and global features.

The development, reliability, and validity of the Facilitator Assessment Tool: An implementation fidelity measure used in Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children.

Background: The Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children (PLH-YC) programme aims to reduce violence against children and child behaviour problems among families in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although the programme has been tested in four randomised controlled trials and delivered in over 25 countries, there are gaps in understanding regarding the programme's implementation fidelity and, more generally, concerning the implementation fidelity of parenting programmes in LMICs.

Aims: This study aims to address these gaps by examining the psychometric properties of the PLH-YC-Facilitator Assessment Tool (FAT)-an observational tool used to measure the competent adherence of PLH-YC facilitators.

Effect of Prenatal Yoga on Heart Rate Variability and Cardio-Respiratory Synchronization: A Prospective Cohort Study.

The objective was to assess the effects of prenatal yoga on heart rate variability (HRV) and cardio-respiratory synchronization, used as proxies of autonomic nervous system activity. Sixty-nine healthy pregnant women were included; 33 in a yoga group attending at least one 90-min yoga class weekly throughout pregnancy, and 36 controls not involved in formal pregnancy exercise programs. Measurements of the time domain (SDNN, standard deviation of regular R-R intervals, and RMSSD, square root of mean squared differences of successive R-R intervals) and frequency domain (ln(LF/HF), natural logarithm of low-frequency to high-frequency power) HRV indices, as well as cardio-respiratory synchronization indexes were performed once per trimester before and after yoga or 30-min moderate-intensity walk.

A Smart Visual Sensing Concept Involving Deep Learning for a Robust Optical Character Recognition under Hard Real-World Conditions.

In this study, we propose a new model for optical character recognition (OCR) based on both CNNs (convolutional neural networks) and RNNs (recurrent neural networks). The distortions affecting the document image can take different forms, such as blur (focus blur, motion blur, etc.), shadow, bad contrast, etc.

Computed Tomography-Guided Coeliac Plexus Neurolysis in Palliative in-Patients with Intra-Abdominal Malignancy: Retrospective Evaluation of Neurolytic Solution Spread as a Predictive Factor.

Introduction: Computed tomography (CT)-guided coeliac plexus neurolysis (CPN) is considered effective at controlling pain in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies. The primary objective was to correlate pain outcomes with the spread of neurolytic solution in the coeliac area and to evaluate the predictive value for the spread of injectate for pain outcomes and side effects.

Methods: Blinded CT scans were reviewed.

Mentalizing Mediates the Association between Narcissism and Psychotherapeutic Treatment Outcome in a Mixed Clinical Sample.

Introduction: Pathological narcissism has been a challenge for the success of psychological treatment, whereas mentalizing has turned out to be an important mechanism of change in psychotherapy. This study focused on the classic narcissistic self (CNS) (i.e.

A Deep-Learning Based Visual Sensing Concept for a Robust Classification of Document Images under Real-World Hard Conditions.

This paper's core objective is to develop and validate a new neurocomputing model to classify document images in particularly demanding hard conditions such as image distortions, image size variance and scale, a huge number of classes, etc. Document classification is a special machine vision task in which document images are categorized according to their likelihood. Document classification is by itself an important topic for the digital office and it has several usages.

CT-Guided Coeliac Plexus Neurolysis in Patients with Intra-Abdominal Malignancy: A Retrospective Evaluation of 52 Palliative In-Patients.

Introduction: Prevalence rates of chronic abdominal pain (CAP) and breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) are high in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies. As part of a multimodal approach, CT-guided coeliac plexus blockade (CPB) and CT-guided coeliac plexus neurolysis (CPN) are commonly used pain management strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate pain outcomes among patients with intra-abdominal malignancies who underwent CPB and/or CPN.

Mentalization-based treatment for adolescents with conduct disorder (MBT-CD): protocol of a feasibility and pilot study.

Background: Conduct disorder (CD) is a complex mental disorder characterized by severe rule-breaking and aggressive behavior. While studies have shown that several therapeutic interventions are effective in treating CD symptoms, researchers call for treatments based on etiological knowledge and potential patho-mechanisms. Mentalization-based treatment (MBT) may represent such a treatment approach: Studies have shown that individuals with CD show mentalizing deficits and that mentalizing might represent a protective factor against the development of the disorder.

Interacting effects of frontal lobe neuroanatomy and working memory capacity to older listeners' speech recognition in noise.

Many older adults are struggling with understanding spoken language, particularly when background noise interferes with comprehension. In the present study, we investigated a potential interaction between two well-known factors associated with greater speech-in-noise (SiN) reception thresholds in older adults, namely a) lower working memory capacity and b) age-related structural decline of frontal lobe regions. In a sample of older adults (N = 25) and younger controls (N = 13) with normal pure-tone thresholds, SiN reception thresholds and working memory capacity were assessed.

From a Point Cloud to a Simulation Model-Bayesian Segmentation and Entropy Based Uncertainty Estimation for 3D Modelling.

The 3D modelling of indoor environments and the generation of process simulations play an important role in factory and assembly planning. In brownfield planning cases, existing data are often outdated and incomplete especially for older plants, which were mostly planned in 2D. Thus, current environment models cannot be generated directly on the basis of existing data and a holistic approach on how to build such a factory model in a highly automated fashion is mostly non-existent.

Contribution to Speeding-Up the Solving of Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations on Parallel/Multi-Core Platforms for Sensing Systems.

Solving ordinary differential equations (ODE) on heterogenous or multi-core/parallel embedded systems does significantly increase the operational capacity of many sensing systems in view of processing tasks such as self-calibration, model-based measurement and self-diagnostics. The main challenge is usually related to the complexity of the processing task at hand which costs/requires too much processing power, which may not be available, to ensure a real-time processing. Therefore, a distributed solving involving multiple cores or nodes is a good/precious option.

A Visual Sensing Concept for Robustly Classifying House Types through a Convolutional Neural Network Architecture Involving a Multi-Channel Features Extraction.

The core objective of this paper is to develop and validate a comprehensive visual sensing concept for robustly classifying house types. Previous studies regarding this type of classification show that this type of classification is not simple (i.e.