Treadmill training more effective than Bobath training in improving walking following stroke

QuestionAfter recent stroke, does six weeks of aerobic treadmill training increase maximum walking speed and capacity more than Bobath walking training?DesignRandomised, controlled trial with concealed allocation.SettingRehabilitation unit.PatientsFifty patients were recruited within six weeks of their first supratentorial stroke. Eligibility criteria included ability to walk 12 m with intermittent help or stand-by, 50 to 75 years of age, a Barthel Index of 50 to 80, and participation in a 12-week rehabilitation program. Twenty-five patients were randomised to the treatment group and 25 to the control group.InterventionsEach patient received 60 min of individual physiotherapy time per week day for six weeks. For patients in the treatment group, therapy consisted of 30 min of treadmill training and 30 min of Bobath walking training. During treadmill training, patients wore a harness to prevent falls and exercised at 60% of their heart rate reserve. Patients in the control group received 60 min of Bobath walking training. Other aspects of the rehabilitation programme were maintained in both groups according to individual needs.OutcomesThe primary outcomes were walking speed and capacity, measured at the end of the six week program and 12 weeks later. Speed was taken as the average of two trials of walking 10 m at maximum speed. Capacity was assessed using the six minute walk test. Secondary outcomes included gross motor functions and walking quality.ResultsFrom baseline to six weeks, speed increased 0.15 m/sec (95% CI 0.12 to 0.18) and capacity increased 34.9 m (95% CI 14.8 to 55) more in the treatment group than in the control group. From baseline to 12 weeks post-program, speed increased 0.22 m/sec (95% CI 0.12 to 0.32) and capacity increased 54.3 m (95% CI 29.8 to 78.2) more in the treatment group than in the control group. Secondary outcomes did not differ significantly at any time between groups.ConclusionTreadmill training induces greater improvements in walking speed and distance than Bobath walking training in patients with moderate physical disability due to recent first stroke

A MIXED-INTEGER PROGRAMMING ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE OF A FLORIDA-BASED CATTLE FEEDING INDUSTRY

Florida is typical of many southeastern states in that it exports feeder cattle and imports carcass and boxed beef. The objective of this paper is to estimate the cost of retaining feeder cattle in Florida, feeding these cattle to slaughter weights, slaughtering them, and distributing the meat to retail outlets. A mixed integer programming model is developed. The optimal number and location of feedlots and slaughter plants are determined. The results indicate that at production levels exceeding 600,000 head, the cost of producing carcass beef in the State is comparable to the average for the United States.Livestock Production/Industries,

Quantum Secrecy in Thermal States

We propose to perform quantum key distribution using quantum correlations occurring within thermal states produced by low power sources such as LED's. These correlations are exploited through the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect. We build an optical central broadcast protocol using a superluminescent diode which allows switching between laser and thermal regimes, enabling us to provide experimental key rates in both regimes. We provide a theoretical analysis and show that quantum secrecy is possible, even in high noise situations.Comment: This version includes revisions prompted by referees comments, and some other small editorial comment

An inquiry into the development of intercultural learning in primary schools using applied scriptural reasoning principles

This thesis explores the possibility of applying Scriptural Reasoning (SR) principles for promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in primary schools. It used storytelling and interfaith dialogue to encourage pupils to exercise these competences in classroom settings. It takes its philosophical position from the work of Ricoeur and combines a phenomenological and interpretive approach to Religious Education (RE) to develop pupils’ understanding of both the “other” and the “self.” From this theoretical position, an age-appropriate intervention was developed based on the principles of Scriptural Reasoning in collaboration with the Cambridge Interfaith Program (CIP). The resulting “Story Tent” themed day built on the established work of Julia Ipgrave’s dialogic and Esther Reed’s narrative approach to religious education. The underpinning work utilised Action Research (AR) methodology through a cyclical approach which took place over two iterative cycles in three different schools, each with its own distinctively-different religious ethos and demographic make-up. It was unusual in combining the contributions not only of teachers and researcher but also faith representatives from local communities. Data was collected through pupil self-assessments, group work, and research team interviews during the Story Tent Intervention day. Follow-up interviews were completed with a selection of pupils using a semi-structured interview – The Autobiography of Intercultural Encounter (AIE). The data was combined to produce pupil case study portfolios. ATLAS.ti was used to support the coding process and analysis of the data. The initial primary findings suggest that the genre of story; the pedagogic style of drama; and the process of interreligious dialogue were particularly effective approaches which provided an environment where pupils and adults could explore and exercise intercultural communication. The secondary findings indicate that the skills and attitudinal competences outlined by Michael Byram seemed to lie within a hierarchy, both cognitively and interactionally. There was evidence which suggested that pupils with a strong sense of identity and were also able to tolerate ambiguity demonstrated a range of intercultural competences including critical cultural awareness. Finally, the personal religious identity of the pupils also had an impact on the pupils’ responses to the encounters, which (in combination with other factors) could be associated with particularly positive or negative outcomes

AWAY FOR THE DAY: Railway excursions and excursionists in the industrial areas of Oldham and Saddleworth ca 1830 - 1915

The study examines working class railway excursions in the setting of Oldham and Saddleworth; a relatively small area close to Manchester that sits Janus-like between industrial East Lancashire and West Yorkshire, with the Pennines and open moorland forming a natural border. To put the work into context, it concentrates on the evolution of excursions as a social institution in the area, from a point when railways were established in 1830 until 1915 by which time such journeys were diminishing with the advent of alternative modes of travel and destinations. All of which encouraged many working class people to look further afield for their leisure activities. These two ostensibly different areas were linked by the trans-Pennine railways that connected parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire from 1842 onwards. The study uses research criteria into the complex interaction between availability, accessibility and affordability in the evaluation of railway excursions. Availability comes in the form of the establishment of rail links to and from the area that offered opportunities for a new type of travel and to experience new spaces. Accessibility considers the time constraints placed on workers as they moved from a home based economy to that of industrialization with a restriction on their leisure time and subsequent progress on how they were overcome. Affordability briefly considers the economics of excursions and excursionists that ensured the development of this type of leisure. The study also acknowledges the continuity and change of some forms of leisure activities from ca1830 although their developments are by no means exclusive to one-day journeys by rail

Timing and causes of North African wet phases during the last glacial period and implications for modern human migration

We present the first speleothem-derived central North Africa rainfall record for the last glacial period. The record reveals three main wet periods at 65-61 ka, 52.5-50.5 ka and 37.5-33 ka that lead obliquity maxima and precession minima. We find additional minor wet episodes that are synchronous with Greenland interstadials. Our results demonstrate that sub-tropical hydrology is forced by both orbital cyclicity and North Atlantic moisture sources. The record shows that after the end of a Saharan wet phase around 70 ka ago, North Africa continued to intermittently receive substantially more rainfall than today, resulting in favourable environmental conditions for modern human expansion. The encounter and subsequent mixture of Neanderthals and modern humans – which, on genetic evidence, is considered to have occurred between 60 and 50 ka – occurred synchronously with the wet phase between 52.5 and 50.5 ka. Based on genetic evidence the dispersal of modern humans into Eurasia started less than 55 ka ago. This may have been initiated by dry conditions that prevailed in North Africa after 50.5 ka. The timing of a migration reversal of modern humans from Eurasia into North Africa is suggested to be coincident with the wet period between 37.5 and 33 ka