Coordination in climbing: effect of skill, practice and constraints manipulation

BACKGROUND: Climbing is a physical activity and sport involving many subdisciplines. Minimization of prolonged pauses, use of a relatively simple path through a route and smooth transitions between movements broadly define skilled coordination in climbing. OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the constraints on skilled coordination in climbing and to explore future directions in this emerging field. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted in 2014 and retrieved studies reporting perceptual and movement data during climbing tasks. To be eligible for the qualitative synthesis, studies were required to report perceptual or movement data during climbing tasks graded for difficulty. RESULTS: Qualitative synthesis of 42 studies was carried out, showing that skilled coordination in climbing is underpinned by superior perception of climbing opportunities; optimization of spatial-temporal features pertaining to body-to-wall coordination, the climb trajectory and hand-to-hold surface contact; and minimization of exploratory behaviour. Improvements in skilled coordination due to practice are related to task novelty and the difficulty of the climbing route relative to the individual's ability level. CONCLUSION: Perceptual and motor adaptations that improve skilled coordination are highly significant for improving the climbing ability level. Elite climbers exhibit advantages in detection and use of climbing opportunities when visually inspecting a route from the ground and when physically moving though a route. However, the need to provide clear guidelines on how to improve climbing skill arises from uncertainties regarding the impacts of different practice interventions on learning and transfer

Investigation of human herpesvirus 6 infections in kidney and bone marrow/stem cell transplant recipients [Böbrek ve kemi·k i·li·gi·/kök hücre alicilarinda i·nsan herpesvi·rus 6 enfeksi·yonunun araştirilmasi]

PubMed ID: 14593901In this study, active human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 infection were investigated in 39 renal and 9 bone marrow/stem cell transplant recipients. For this purpose, the presence of HHV-6 DNA in patients sera have been searched by nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). In addition, HHV-6 IgM and IgG antibodies were performed by micro-enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect seronegative patients before transplantation and IgM response in active or primary HHV-6 infection. Active infection with HHV-6 DNA positivity was detected in 5.3% of renal and 22.2% of bone marrow/stem cell transplant recipients. Active HHV-6 infection was found to be related with asemptomatic reactivation, graft disfunction and cytomegalovirus disease in renal transplant recipients, and, fever and graft versus host disease in bone marrow/stem cell transplant recipients. It has been concluded that, the investigation of HHV-6 DNA by nPCR in the transplant sera, was a practical and useful method for the laboratories, in order to diagnose active HHV-6 infection, while HHV-6 IgG antibody detection was also useful for the differentional diagnosis of primary infection or reactivation/reinfection, but HHV-6 IgM antibodies has low value to detect active HHV-6 infection

Frequency and outcomes of pregnancy on nocturnal home haemodialysis [Evde nokturnal hemodiyaliz ile gebelik sikligi ve sonuçlari]

Objective: Pregnancy in women of reproductive age on dialysis is rare and has a poor outcome. Several studies published in the 1990s revealed pregnancy rates of 0.3 to 0.5 per 100 patient-years, but not all pregnancies resulted in live births. More recent studies suggest that intensive haemodialysis increases fertility and successful pregnancies with live births. Our objectives were to evaluate whether nocturnal home haemodialysis (NHHD) three times a week supports successful pregnancies and live births in addition to the changes in clinical and biochemical parameters. MATER IAL and ME THODS: Descriptive cohort study analysing pregnancies and their outcomes in 60 women of reproductive age (14-44 years) who started NHHD between August 2010 and January 2015. RE SULTS: During a mean follow-up of 20±11 months on NHHD, four pregnancies were identified (4 per 100 patient-years). In these four patients, the mean age was 37.3±4.8 years and the mean NHHD duration 19±12 months at the beginning of pregnancy. Duration of the weekly haemodialysis session was increased from 23.8±1.8 at baseline to 36.6±0.5 hours at term; serum urea was maintained below 50 mg/dl, and haemoglobin over 10 g/dl with an increase in erythropoietin doses. Blood pressure was within the normal ranges and there was no need for antihypertensive drugs. Three women underwent a caesarean section at 38,35,38 weeks, delivering three healthy newborns without any maternal or fetal complications. Birth weights were 2.750, 2.550 and 3.100 g, respectively. The fourth patient (with a history of secondary amyloidosis and multiple spontaneous abortions) delivered at the 25th week, resulting in neonatal death on the second day. Conclusion: We observed that women of reproductive age on NHHD had high rates of conception and live birth