Muscle activation patterns in shoulder impingement patients

Introduction: Shoulder impingement is one of the most common presentations of shoulder joint problems 1. It appears to be caused by a reduction in the sub-acromial space as the humerus abducts between 60o -120o – the 'painful arc'. Structures between the humeral head and the acromion are thus pinched causing pain and further pathology 2. Shoulder muscle activity can influence this joint space but it is unclear whether this is a cause or effect in impingement patients. This study aimed to observe muscle activation patterns in normal and impingement shoulder patients and determine if there were any significant differences. Method: 19 adult subjects were asked to perform shoulder abduction in their symptomatic arm and non-symptomatic. 10 of these subjects (age 47.9 ± 11.2) were screened for shoulder impingement, and 9 subjects (age 38.9 ± 14.3) had no history of shoulder pathology. Surface EMG was used to collect data for 6 shoulder muscles (Upper, middle and lower trapezius, serratus anterior, infraspinatus, middle deltoids) which was then filtered and fully rectified. Subjects performed 3 smooth unilateral abduction movements at a cadence of 16 beats of a metronome set at 60bpm, and the mean of their results was recorded. T-tests were used to indicate any statistical significance in the data sets. Significance was set at P<0.05. Results: There was a significant difference in muscle activation with serratus anterior in particular showing a very low level of activation throughout the range when compared to normal shoulder activation patterns (<30%). Middle deltoid recruitment was significantly reduced between 60-90o in the impingement group (30:58%).Trends were noted in other muscles with upper trapezius and infraspinatus activating more rapidly and erratically (63:25%; 60:27% respectively), and lower trapezius with less recruitment (13:30%) in the patient group, although these did not quite reach significance. Conclusion: There appears to be some interesting alterations in muscle recruitment patterns in impingement shoulder patients when compared against their own unaffected shoulders and the control group. In particular changes in scapula control (serratus anterior and trapezius) and lateral rotation (infraspinatus), which have direct influence on the sub-acromial space, should be noted. It is still not clear whether these alterations are causative or reactionary, but this finding gives a clear indication to the importance of addressing muscle reeducation as part of a rehabilitation programme in shoulder impingement patients

A multistakeholder perspective on human interactions with the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Crystal River, Florida, U.S.A

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-137).Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.Wildlife tourism can be problematic as managers are faced with the dual responsibility of developing products and programs for visitors while simultaneously protecting the resource. This study focused on encounters with the endangered West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Crystal River, Florida. The primary goal was to explore stakeholder perspectives on balancing the use of manatees as a recreational resource with their protection. Specific objectives were to (1) provide a descriptive account of the physical, social, and managerial setting; (2) understand the context in which decisions regarding harassment and negative impacts are made as well as their influence on the acceptability of manatee encounters; and (3) identify agreement, divergence and the resulting implications. Stakeholder perspectives on manatee encounters varied based on the benefits of allowing encounters (e.g., increased manatee protection constituency), the costs of potential negative impacts, and scientific evidence for negative impacts. These perspectives corresponded with each group's interpretation of formal policy prohibiting harassment. Groups with stricter interpretations tended to perceive physical contact as harassing, whereas other groups interpreted harassment as direct harm to the animal. The management of manatee encounters can be characterized as a "wicked problem." The problematization of encounters is not the result of scientific evidence; rather, it is an issue of divergent values. Consequently, there is no technical or "right" solution. The relationship between the Crystal River business community and the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was one of coexistence but is currently moving through the early stages of the conflict process. In order to move toward a symbiotic relationship, where both needs are satisfied, two conditions must be met: (1) the business community must willingly invest in manatee protection, and (2) management decisions on manatee encounters must incorporate stakeholder input. Planning processes, which have been successfully implemented to balance use and recreation in other settings (e.g., the Limits of Acceptable Change in wilderness areas), provide a proactive consensus-based management framework that can be tailored for decision-making regarding manatee encounters as well as other wildlife encounter settings

Nutrition and Athletic Performance

Exercise necessitates increased energy production to match the elevated demand of physical activity, the magnitude of which varies significantly by activity, sport, and/or athletic position. While long term nutritional habitus is known to impact exercise performance, short term or acute nutritional strategies may also prove beneficial, or detrimental, to athletic performance. Modifications to macro- or micro-nutrient intakes likely influence athletic capacity through the altered metabolic capacity, although cardiovascular, respiratory, or neurocognitive effects are not to be discounted as possibly being influenced by altering the nutritional approach. Similarly, dietary supplementation with factors such as probiotics or antioxidants, either acutely or chronically, is also a likely avenue in which to optimize athletic performance. Supplementation, or the timing of supplementation, diurnally or with activity, may help to bridge gaps between dietary intakes and needs, perhaps as a result of either an inadequate intake and/or high level of athletic demand via high intensity, frequency, volume, or a combination thereof. Altering nutritional strategy for athletic performance is a de facto approach employed by athletes, often occurring seemingly independent of knowledge or evidence for or against a particular strategy. Rigorous studies of nutritional manipulation, supplementation, or those exploring the temporal optimization of nutrition or supplementation are desperately needed in an ever-changing sports nutrition landscape with an increasingly larger audience

Running: anatomy of a middle-class obsession

This thesis explores recreational running as a social practice using the tools of Bourdeusian field analysis. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, it maps and describes the social terrain of running, and explores the ways in which forms of running – and running per se – can be understood as symbolically potent performances of social position. The research methods include a large-scale survey of runners (n=2,637) and a series of in-depth interviews with runners (n=21). Running is also placed in its broader context as one of a wide range of forms of active leisure through a secondary analysis of data collected by Sport England. This study deploys Bourdieusian tools in a new way, using them to explode the ostensibly monolithic category of ‘running’ into its constituent parts, revealing a cosmos of socially distinctive (and even antagonistic) forms of running within it - a field of positions associated with distinctive cultural meanings and values. In mapping and analysing social and cultural differences within running, this study paints a new, more nuanced and complete picture of running culture as a dynamic, uneven and contested space through which social inequalities are reinforced and even justified. Key findings centre on the roles of class and gender in shaping running engagement through the mediation of access to capital and variations in habitus relating to tastes around the ‘healthy lifestyle’, body-shape and fitness ideals, ‘authenticity’ seeking, perceptions of competence, competition and ‘mental toughness’

Do bacteria thrive when the ocean acidifies? Results from an off-­shore mesocosm study

Marine bacteria are the main consumers of the freshly produced organic matter. In order to meet their carbon demand, bacteria release hydrolytic extracellular enzymes that break down large polymers into small usable subunits. Accordingly, rates of enzymatic hydrolysis have a high potential to affect bacterial organic matter recycling and carbon turnover in the ocean. Many of these enzymatic processes were shown to be pH sensitive in previous studies. Due to the continuous rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration, seawater pH is presently decreasing at a rate unprecedented during the last 300 million years with so-far unknown consequences for microbial physiology, organic matter cycling and marine biogeochemistry. We studied the effects of elevated seawater pCO2 on a natural plankton community during a large-scale mesocosm study in a Norwegian fjord. Nine 25m-long Kiel Off-Shore Mesocosms for Future Ocean Simulations (KOSMOS) were adjusted to different pCO2 levels ranging from ca. 280 to 3000 µatm by stepwise addition of CO2 saturated seawater. After CO2 addition, samples were taken every second day for 34 days. The first phytoplankton bloom developed around day 5. On day 14, inorganic nutrients were added to the enclosed, nutrient-poor waters to stimulate a second phytoplankton bloom, which occurred around day 20. Our results indicate that marine bacteria benefit directly and indirectly from decreasing seawater pH. During both phytoplankton blooms, more transparent exopolymer particles were formed in the high pCO2 mesocosms. The total and cell-specific activities of the protein-degrading enzyme leucine aminopeptidase were elevated under low pH conditions. The combination of enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of organic matter and increased availability of gel particles as substrate supported higher bacterial abundance in the high pCO2 treatments. We conclude that ocean acidification has the potential to stimulate the bacterial community and facilitate the microbial recycling of freshly produced organic matter, thus strengthening the role of the microbial loop in the surface ocean

From DPSIR the DAPSI(W)R(M) Emerges… a Butterfly – ‘protecting the natural stuff and delivering the human stuff’

The complexity of interactions and feedbacks between human activities and ecosystems can make the analysis of such social-ecological systems intractable. In order to provide a common means to understand and analyse the links between social and ecological process within these systems, a range of analytical frameworks have been developed and adopted. Following decades of practical experience in implementation, the Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework has been adapted and re-developed to become the D(A)PSI(W)R(M). This paper describes in detail the D(A)PSI(W)R(M) and its development from the original DPSIR conceptual frame. Despite its diverse application and demonstrated utility, a number of inherent shortcomings are identified. In particular the DPSIR model family tend to be best suited to individual environmental pressures and human activities and their resulting environmental problems, having a limited focus on the supply and demand of benefits from nature. We present a derived framework, the “Butterfly”, a more holistic approach designed to expand the concept. The “Butterfly” model, moves away from the centralised accounting framework approach while more-fully incorporating the complexity of social and ecological systems, and the supply and demand of ecosystem services, which are central to human-environment interactions

Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services and Aquatic Biodiversity: Theory, Tools and Applications

The complexity of interactions and feedbacks between human activities and ecosystems can make the analysis of such social-ecological systems intractable. In order to provide a common means to understand and analyse the links between social and ecological process within these systems, a range of analytical frameworks have been developed and adopted. Following decades of practical experience in implementation, the Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework has been adapted and re-developed to become the D(A)PSI(W)R(M). This paper describes in detail the D(A)PSI(W)R(M) and its development from the original DPSIR conceptual frame. Despite its diverse application and demonstrated utility, a number of inherent shortcomings are identified. In particular the DPSIR model family tend to be best suited to individual environmental pressures and human activities and their resulting environmental problems, having a limited focus on the supply and demand of benefits from nature. We present a derived framework, the “Butterfly”, a more holistic approach designed to expand the concept. The “Butterfly” model, moves away from the centralised accounting framework approach while more-fully incorporating the complexity of social and ecological systems, and the supply and demand of ecosystem services, which are central to human-environment interactions

Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services and Aquatic Biodiversity: Theory, Tools and Applications

The complexity of interactions and feedbacks between human activities and ecosystems can make the analysis of such social-ecological systems intractable. In order to provide a common means to understand and analyse the links between social and ecological process within these systems, a range of analytical frameworks have been developed and adopted. Following decades of practical experience in implementation, the Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework has been adapted and re-developed to become the D(A)PSI(W)R(M). This paper describes in detail the D(A)PSI(W)R(M) and its development from the original DPSIR conceptual frame. Despite its diverse application and demonstrated utility, a number of inherent shortcomings are identified. In particular the DPSIR model family tend to be best suited to individual environmental pressures and human activities and their resulting environmental problems, having a limited focus on the supply and demand of benefits from nature. We present a derived framework, the “Butterfly”, a more holistic approach designed to expand the concept. The “Butterfly” model, moves away from the centralised accounting framework approach while more-fully incorporating the complexity of social and ecological systems, and the supply and demand of ecosystem services, which are central to human-environment interactions

Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services and Aquatic Biodiversity

Aquatic ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and home to a diverse array of species and habitats, providing a wide variety of benefits to human beings. Many of these valuable ecosystems are at risk of being irreversibly damaged by human activities and pressures, including pollution, contamination, invasive species, overfishing and climate change. Such pressures threaten the sustainability of these ecosystems, their provision of ecosystem services and ultimately human well-being. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is now widely considered the most promising paradigm for balancing sustainable development and biodiversity protection, and various international strategies and conventions have championed the EBM cause and the inclusion of ecosystem services in decision-making. This open access book introduces the essential concepts and principles required to implement ecosystem-based management, detailing tools and techniques, and describing the application of these concepts and tools to a broad range of aquatic ecosystems, from the shores of Lough Erne in Northern Ireland to the estuaries of the US Pacific Northwest and the tropical Mekong Delta