Measuring movement fluency during the sit-to-walk task

Restoring movement fluency is a key focus for physical rehabilitation; it's measurement, however, lacks objectivity. The purpose of this study was to find whether measurable movement fluency variables differed between groups of adults with different movement abilities whilst performing the sit-to-walk (STW) movement. The movement fluency variables were: (1) hesitation during movement (reduction in forward velocity of the centre of mass; CoM), (2) coordination (percentage of temporal overlap of joint rotations) and (3) smoothness (number of inflections in the CoM jerk signal)

Hydrology and Water Resources of Saskatchewan

© Centre for Hydrology, 117 Science Place University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan February 2005There is little in the natural environment, economy and society of Saskatchewan that is not intimately tied to and sustained by the flow and storage of water. Nowhere else in Canada does the lack or excess of water cause such widespread concern, nor are there many Canadian environments subject to greater seasonal change in precipitation and surface-water storage. Most major landforms of Saskatchewan were created by the deposition and erosion of sediments and rock by water and ice during the glacial and immediate postglacial periods. Saskatchewan’s contemporary hydrology determines the type and location of natural vegetation, soils, agriculture, communities and commerce. However, the scarcity, seasonality and unpredictability of the province’s water resources have proved critical impediments to the productivity of natural ecosystems and to sustainable settlement and economic activity. The hydrology of Saskatchewan is marked by several distinctive characteristics that govern the behaviour of water as a resource in the province (Gray, 1970): i) The extreme variability of precipitation and runoff results in frequent water shortages and excesses with respect to natural and human storage capacities and demand. ii) The seasonality of water supply is manifest in fall and winter by the storage of water as snow, and lake and ground ice, in early spring by rapid snowmelt resulting in most runoff, and in late spring and early summer by much of the annual rainfall. iii) The aridity and gentle topography result in poorly developed, disconnected and sparse drainage systems, and surface runoff that is both infrequent and spatially restricted. iv) The land cover and soils exert an inordinate control on hydrological processes because of small precipitation inputs and limited energy for evaporation and snowmelt. v) The flows in the major rivers of the southern half of the province are largely derived from the foothills and mountains in Alberta. In dry years, arable agriculture can fail over large parts of the province, whilst in wet years, flooding has caused widespread damage to rural and urban infrastructure. Climate change may increase the incidence of both drought and flooding, with earlier spring thaws and increased interannual and interseasonal variability of temperature and precipitation (Covich et al., 1997; Cutforth et al., 1999, Herrington et al., 1997). Changes to the seasonal timing of precipitation can have very severe effects on agriculture and ecosystems; runoff to water bodies and replenishment of groundwater are primarily supplied by spring snowmelt, growth of cereal grains is related to the quantity of rainfall falling between May and early July, maturing and timely harvesting of crops are dependent upon warm dry weather in mid to late summer, and spring runoff is governed by soil moisture reserves in the preceding fall and snowfall the preceding winter (de Jong and Kachanoski, 1987). Saskatchewan’s water resources are vulnerable, as there is little local runoff to the single greatest water resource of the southern prairies, the South Saskatchewan River, which derives overwhelmingly from the Rocky Mountains. Water supplies in the Alberta portion of the South Saskatchewan River system are approaching full apportionment in dry years and the uncertainty imposed by climate change impacts on runoff generation in the mountains makes managing the river increasing difficult. Local water bodies (streams, sloughs, dugouts) are fed by groundwater or small surface drainages, and little runoff is provided by most land surfaces within the ‘topographic catchment’. The effect of soils and vegetation on Saskatchewan hydrology is profound because of the interaction of snow, evaporation and vegetation. In the southern Prairies, water applied from rain or snowmelt to summer-fallowed fields contributes inordinately to runoff, whereas continuously cropped fields, grasses and trees undergo greater infiltration to soils and hence greater evaporation. In the North, evergreen forest canopy and root structures promote infiltration of rainfall or snowmelt to soils and subsequent evaporation. There is much greater runoff and streamflow in boreal forest drainage basins with large cleared areas. This chapter will discuss the key physical aspects of Saskatchewan’s hydrology and water resources, focussing on its drainage basins and the contribution of runoff to streams and lakes within them, its major rivers and their flows, water supply pipelines and river diversions, prairie hydrology, boreal forest hydrology, groundwater and an assessment of the future. Because of its sub-humid, cold region hydrology and low population, water quality concerns in Saskatchewan are primarily related to algal growth in dugouts, and a few cases of contaminated groundwater or immediate downstream effects from sewage outflows, rather than widespread diffuse-source pollution; this chapter will therefore focus on water quantity rather than quality

Comprehensive analysis of the association of seasonal variability with maternal and neonatal nutrition in lowland Nepal.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a comprehensive seasonal analysis of pregnant mothers' eating behaviour and maternal/newborn nutritional status in an undernourished population from lowland rural Nepal, where weather patterns, agricultural labour, food availability and disease prevalence vary seasonally. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of cluster-randomised Low Birth Weight South Asia Trial data, applying cosinor analysis to predict seasonal patterns. OUTCOMES: Maternal mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), BMI, dietary diversity, meals per day, eating down and food aversion in pregnancy (≥31 weeks' gestation) and neonatal z-scores of length-for-age (LAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) and head circumference-for-age (HCAZ) and weight-for-length (WLZ). SETTING: Rural areas of Dhanusha and Mahottari districts in plains of Nepal. PARTICIPANTS: 2831 mothers aged 13-50 and 3330 neonates. RESULTS: We found seasonal patterns in newborn anthropometry and pregnant mothers' anthropometry, meal frequency, dietary diversity, food aversion and eating down. Seasonality in intake varied by food group. Offspring anthropometry broadly tracked mothers'. Annual amplitudes in mothers' MUAC and BMI were 0·27 kg/m2 and 0·22 cm, with peaks post-harvest and nadirs in October when food insecurity peaked. Annual LAZ, WAZ and WLZ amplitudes were 0·125, 0·159 and 0·411 z-scores, respectively. Neonates were the shortest but least thin (higher WLZ) in winter (December/January). In the hot season, WLZ was the lowest (May/June) while LAZ was the highest (March and August). HCAZ did not vary significantly. Food aversion and eating down peaked pre-monsoon (April/May). CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses revealed complex seasonal patterns in maternal nutrition and neonatal size. Seasonality should be accounted for when designing and evaluating public heath nutrition interventions.Leverhulme Trust, DFID South Asia Hub

Variation in innate immunity in relation to ectoparasite load, age and season : a field experiment in great tits (Parus major)

It remains largely unknown which factors affect the innate immune responses of free-living birds. Nevertheless, the degree of innate immunity may play a crucial role in an individual's survival as it procures the first defence against pathogens. We manipulated the ectoparasite load of great tit (Parus major) nests by infesting them with hen fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae) before egg laying. We subsequently quantified natural antibody (NAb) concentration and complement activation in nestlings and adult females during breeding and post-breeding periods. NAb concentrations increased in nestlings and adult females breeding in flea-infested nest boxes during the nestling provisioning period, but not in breeding females during incubation. In contrast, parasite abundance did not affect levels of complement activity in females. NAb levels of nestlings were already fully developed at the end of the nestling stage, but complement activation was only observed post-fledging. Concentrations of NAbs and complement activation of adult females were significantly lower during the breeding season compared with post-breeding levels, but did not differ between incubation and chick rearing. Further experimental studies in species that vary in life-history strategies will allow us to unravel the mechanisms underlying the observed variation in innate immune defences

Functional Strength Training and Movement Performance Therapy for upper limb recovery early post-stroke – efficacy, neural correlates, predictive markers and cost-effectiveness: FAST-INdiCATE trial

BackgroundVariation in physiological deficits underlying upper limb paresis after stroke could influence how people recover and to which physical therapy they best respond.ObjectivesTo determine whether functional strength training (FST) improves upper limb recovery more than movement performance therapy (MPT). To identify: (a) neural correlates of response and (b) whether pre-intervention neural characteristics predict response.DesignExplanatory investigations within a randomised, controlled, observer-blind, and multicentre trial. Randomisation was computer-generated and concealed by an independent facility until baseline measures were completed. Primary time point was outcome, after the 6-week intervention phase. Follow-up was at 6 months after stroke.ParticipantsWith some voluntary muscle contraction in the paretic upper limb, not full dexterity, when recruited up to 60 days after an anterior cerebral circulation territory stroke.InterventionsConventional physical therapy (CPT) plus either MPT or FST for up to 90 min-a-day, 5 days-a-week for 6 weeks. FST was “hands-off” progressive resistive exercise cemented into functional task training. MPT was “hands-on” sensory/facilitation techniques for smooth and accurate movement.OutcomesThe primary efficacy measure was the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT). Neural measures: fractional anisotropy (FA) corpus callosum midline; asymmetry of corticospinal tracts FA; and resting motor threshold (RMT) of motor-evoked potentials.AnalysisCovariance models tested ARAT change from baseline. At outcome: correlation coefficients assessed relationship between change in ARAT and neural measures; an interaction term assessed whether baseline neural characteristics predicted response.Results288 Participants had: mean age of 72.2 (SD 12.5) years and mean ARAT 25.5 (18.2). For 240 participants with ARAT at baseline and outcome the mean change was 9.70 (11.72) for FST + CPT and 7.90 (9.18) for MPT + CPT, which did not differ statistically (p = 0.298). Correlations between ARAT change scores and baseline neural values were between 0.199, p = 0.320 for MPT + CPT RMT (n = 27) and −0.147, p = 0.385 for asymmetry of corticospinal tracts FA (n = 37). Interaction effects between neural values and ARAT change between baseline and outcome were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference in upper limb improvement between FST and MPT. Baseline neural measures did not correlate with upper limb recovery or predict therapy response.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials: ISRCT 19090862, http://www.controlled-trials.co

Comparative rates of natural osteological disorders in a collection of Paraguayan birds

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74983/1/j.1469-7998.1988.tb04994.x.pd

Bayesian hierarchical clustering for studying cancer gene expression data with unknown statistics

Clustering analysis is an important tool in studying gene expression data. The Bayesian hierarchical clustering (BHC) algorithm can automatically infer the number of clusters and uses Bayesian model selection to improve clustering quality. In this paper, we present an extension of the BHC algorithm. Our Gaussian BHC (GBHC) algorithm represents data as a mixture of Gaussian distributions. It uses normal-gamma distribution as a conjugate prior on the mean and precision of each of the Gaussian components. We tested GBHC over 11 cancer and 3 synthetic datasets. The results on cancer datasets show that in sample clustering, GBHC on average produces a clustering partition that is more concordant with the ground truth than those obtained from other commonly used algorithms. Furthermore, GBHC frequently infers the number of clusters that is often close to the ground truth. In gene clustering, GBHC also produces a clustering partition that is more biologically plausible than several other state-of-the-art methods. This suggests GBHC as an alternative tool for studying gene expression data. The implementation of GBHC is available at https://sites. google.com/site/gaussianbhc

Illegal Fishing and Fisheries Crime as a Transnational Organized Crime in Indonesia

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is increasingly drawing international attention and coastal states strengthen their efforts to address it as a matter of priority due to its severe implications for food, economic, environmental and social security. As the largest archipelagic country in the world, this is especially problematic for Indonesia. In this already complex geographical and security environment, the authors test the hypothesis that IUU fishing and fisheries crime(s) classify as transnational organized criminal activities. The article argues that IUU fishing is much more than simply a fisheries management issue, since it goes hand in hand with fisheries crime. As a result, although the two concepts are quite distinct, they are so closely interlinked and interrelated throughout the entire value chain of marine fisheries, that they can only be managed effectively collectively by understanding them both within the framework of transnational organized crime. To make this argument, the research utilizes qualitative and quantitative data collected from approximately two thousand trafficked fishers, rescued in 2015 from slavery conditions while stranded in two remote Indonesian locations: Benjina on Aru island and on Ambon island. The article’s findings also unveil new trends relating to the inner workings of the illegal fishing industry, in four different, yet interlinked categories: recruitment patterns and target groups; document forgery; forced labor and abuse; and fisheries violations. The paper concludes by confirming the hypothesis and highlights that IUU fishing provides the ideal (illegal) environment for fisheries crimes and other forms of transnational organized crimes to flourish

Is lower intensity aquaculture a valuable means of producing food? An evaluation of its effects on near‐shore and inland waters

The effects of aquaculture on the environment have been the subject of much examination, but most of the focus has been on shrimp and salmon. These are not the most common species grown in aquaculture, nor the most common systems used. About 60% of production today uses lower intensity culture to produce organisms in natural systems such as ponds. This paper is an overview of the positive and negative environmental impacts of lower intensity aquaculture. The ranked positive impacts of lower intensity aquaculture include: conservation aquaculture that supplements reproduction in natural populations; improving the quality of natural waters through filtering or consuming wastes by cultured organisms; reducing pressure on wild stocks by providing alternative sources in the market; and replacing damaging employment with more sustainable aquaculture jobs. Negative impacts include: escapement of alien species that become invasive; eutrophication of receiving waters from pond effluents; release of parasites and diseases into natural communities; escapement of unique genotypes resulting in genetic alteration of native stocks; land degradation due to pond construction; release of antibiotics or other drugs into receiving waters; depletion of natural resources such as water; loss of benthic biodiversity from settling of sediments; and reductions in natural populations by collection of larval or juvenile fish. Some impacts, especially the use of fishmeal and the transmission of disease, are much less common in lower intensity aquaculture systems. Aquaculture has an important role in current and future food production, and in many cases lower intensity aquaculture provides a sustainable solution to increased aquaculture production.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94475/1/j.1753-5131.2012.01079.x.pd

Tribology and high temperature friction wear behavior of MCrAlY laser cladding coatings on stainless steel

Temperature can have a significant effect on the extent of wear damage of metallic components. Thermal barrier coatings can improve the high temperature tribological and friction wear behavior. In this work the dry friction and wear behavior at low and high temperature of NiCoCrAlY and CoNiCrAlY laser cladding coatings were evaluated, as well as for the austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 used as substrate. Dense coatings, with good bonding to the substrate was obtained by coaxial laser cladding tracks (40% overlapping), with previously optimized laser parameters. Tribological wear tests were performed by sliding wear at room temperature and 500 ºC, with an Al2O3 ball on disk configuration tribometer. The wear scar surface was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) microanalysis. The 3D topography of the wear track was determined by inductive contact profilometer which enabled the wear rate calculation. The microstructure of the coatings consists of γNi/β-NiAl or γCo/β-(Co,Ni)Al phases depending on the chemical composition of the alloy, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The wear test results show a reduction in wear rate at high temperature for all materials tested. For the NiCoCrAlY coating, the high temperature also reduces the friction coefficient, while it significantly increases the friction coefficient of CoNiCrAlY coating. The main damage mode is abrasion and adhesion, caused by the oxide and partially-oxidized particles in the contact surface. The coatings and substrate results were compared, resulting in an improved wear behavior.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain through research project MAT2011-28492-C03 and the Generalitat Valenciana through ACOMP/2013/114 support. Professor Juan Carlos Pereira Falcon thanks the University of Carabobo (Grant CD3997-2011) for the financial support to pursue his doctoral studies at the UPV. Furthermore, the authors thank Dr. Jose Luis Jorda for the XRD analysis.Pereira, JC.; Zambrano, J.; Licausi, M.; Tobar, M.; Amigó Borrás, V. (2015). Tribology and high temperature friction wear behavior of MCrAlY laser cladding coatings on stainless steel. Wear. 330:280-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.048S28028733