EFFECT OF BALLET-EXPERIENCE OF 12-YEAR-OLD FEMALE CHILDREN ON THE LEARNING OF DYNAMIC BALANCE CONTROL

The purpose of this study was to examine whether previous regular experience in ballet enhance the learning balance task on the balance testing board. Eighteen healthy female children aged twelve including eight with more than three years ballet-experience and eight without the ballet-experience participated. Dynamic balance learning consisting of 3 sessions, which were pre-training and post-training with practices, and retention with no practice, were performed on the balance testing board. The interval between each session was one week. The stability was measured while the subject performed balance task on the same balance testing board placed on an AMTI force platform. The stability was defined as the sum of center of pressure (COP) and center of body mass (COM) mono directional displacements; and the variance of the end tip of the balance board displacement in vertical direction. Two way ANOVA for repeated-measures (2 groups 3 sessions) revealed statistically significant increases in postural stability for the test immediately following training and the retention test in both groups. Although interaction effect indicated greater improvement in non-experienced group, the stability of the group with experience in ballet far exceeded that of the group without experience, about all the variables of each session. Our results suggest that experience in ballet up to being twelve year old have positive influence on the learning dynamic balance control task

Synchrotron study of the garnet-type oxide Li6CaSm2Ta2O12

Hexalithium calcium disamarium(III) ditantalum(V) dodeca­oxide, Li6CaSm2Ta2O12, crystallizes in a cubic garnet-type structure. In the crystal structure, disordered Li atoms occupy two crystallographic sites. One Li has a tetra­hedral coordination environment in the oxide lattice, whereas the other Li atom occupies a significantly distorted octa­hedral site, with site occupancies for the two Li atoms of 0.26 (7) and 0.44 (2), respectively. Ca and Sm atoms are statistically distributed over the same crystallographic position with a occupancy of 2/3 for Sm and of 1/3 for Ca, and are eightfold coordinated by O atoms. The TaO6 octa­hedron is joined to six others via corner-sharing LiO4 tetra­hedra. One Li and the O atoms lie on general positions, while the other atoms are situated on special positions. The Sm/Ca position has 222, Ta has , and the tetra­hedrally coordinated Li atom has site symmetry

EFFECTS OF THREE PREPARATORY MOVEMENTS ON SIDEWARD PROPULSIVE MOVEMENT

This study investigated the effects of three preparatory movements (squat, countermovement and hopping) on the sideward propulsive movement. Seven subjects were analyzed in 3-D to determine how fast they reacted to external signals, using three techniques, to reacl1 an aIming spot. The hopping and the countermovement types were considered better than the squat type in the propulsion. The hopping particularly showed the shortest duration from the external signal to take-off and also recorded high extension moments due to the pre-stretch mechanism for the push-off phase

A KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF ELDERLY GAIT WHILE STEPPING OVER OBSTACLES OF VARYING HEIGHT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kinematics of elderly people who had experienced a fall stepping over obstacles of varying height. Six elderly non-fallers and six elderly fallers stepped over obstacles of height 0, 2.5, 5.1, 15.2cm. The longest stance duration was found in the highest obstacle 15.2cm, which might reflect relatively fast degrading gait function of the faller group. It was found that fallers took a longer time to cross the obstacles, which resulted in slower crossing speeds than when non-fallers stepped over the obstacles. We concluded that elderly persons who had experienced falling tend to step over obstacles conservatively as characterized

THE EFFECTS OF WHEELCHAIR CAMBER AND HANDRIM SIZE IN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL MOVEMENT

Improving the wheelchair design can be an important determinant of high performance in the wheelchair basketball. Researchers have focused on increasing the efficiency of the wheelchair, looking at the factors such as the seat position, handrim size, and wheel camber. Most handrim and wheel chamber studies, however, have focused only on the propulsive phase. Quick turn as well as fast propulsion is essential to the success in a wheelchair basketball game and the energy efficiency becomes particularly important in a prolonged wheelchair use. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wheelchair camber and handrim size on the linear propulsion, turn velocity, and efficiency

In Antimyosin Monoclonal Antibody in the Detection of Doxorubicin Cardiotoxicity: a Comparison with Histology and 99mTc Pyrophosphate

Recently, lllIn-antimyosin monoclonal antibidies (IllIn-AMAb) have been introduced for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using this agent for the early detection of cardiac damage induced by doxorubicin. The degree of drug induced change in the myocardium was evaluated histologically. 99mTc pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP), known to preferentially accumulate in Adriamycin caused lesions, was used as a control radiopharmaceutical. Myocardial uptake of 111In-AMAb and 99mTc-PYP was measured in 12 controls and 10 Adriamycin treated rabbits. The results indicated the following: 1) 111In-AMAb uptake in the heart correlated well with the degree of pathology (r=O.95); 2) 99mTc-PYP uptake was also correlated with cardiac damage (r=O.77); 3) The uptake ratio (expressed as percent injected dose per gram myocardial tissue) of Adriamycin treated animals vs. controls was 2.7: 1 for 111In-AMAb and 9.2 for 99mTc-PYP nt 24 and 2 hours after intravenous injection, respectively; 4) considerable non-specific 99mTc_PYP accumulation was measured in the lungs and kidneys and was significantly higher in drug treated animals compared to controls. 111In-AMAb accumulation remained unchanged in these organs. We conclude that 111In-AMAb accurately detects cardiac toxicity induced by Adriamycin but that 99mTc_PYP still remains an acceptable agent in part because, of its availability and higher tracer concentration in the cardiac lesions

Bilateral acromial stress fractures in a patient with a massive rotator cuff tear

Stress fractures of the acromion and scapular spine are well-known complications following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. However, these fractures in patients with massive rotator cuff tear or cuff tear arthropathy are extremely rare, and the pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of these fractures are poorly understood. We report a case of bilateral stress fracture of the posterior angle of the acromion in a patient with massive rotator cuff tear and discuss the pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, and treatment with a review of the literature