Directional preference of activation of abdominal and paraspinal muscles during position-control tasks in sitting

Controversy exists in the literature regarding antagonist activity of trunk muscles during different types of trunk loading, and the direction-specificity of activation of trunk muscles, particularly the deeper trunk muscles. This study aimed to systematically compare activation of a range of trunk muscles between directions of statically applied loads, and to consider the impact of breathing in this activation. In a semi-seated position, 13 healthy male participants resisted moderate inertial loads applied to the trunk in eight different directions. Intramuscular electromyography was recorded from eight abdominal and back muscles on the right side during 1s prior to peak inspiration/expiration. All muscles demonstrated a directional preference of activation. No muscle displayed antagonistic activation during loading conditions of an intensity that exceded that recorded in upright sitting without a load. During these moderate intensity sustained efforts, trunk muscle activation varied little between respiratory phases. Antagonistic muscle activation of amplitude equivalent to the activation recorded in upright sitting without load is sufficient to maintain control of the spine during predictable and sustained low load tasks

Nuovi scenari dell'agricoltura in provincia di Venezia

Background: Standardised patients are used in medical education to expose students to clinical contexts and facilitate transition to clinical practice, and this approach is gaining momentum in physiotherapy programs. Expense and availability of trained standardised patients are factors limiting widespread adoption, and accessing clinical visits with real patients can be challenging. This study addressed these issues by engaging senior students as standardised patients for junior students. It evaluated how this approach impacted self-reported constructs of both the junior and senior students

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AZAR GAT. War in Human Civilization. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp. xv, 822. $45.00 (us). Reviewed by William R. Thompson ROBIN WATERFIELD. Xenopkon's Retreat: Greece, Persia, and the End of the Golden Age. Cambridge, MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006. Pp. xiii, 248.$27.95 (us). Reviewed by Noreen Humble VICTOR H. MAIR, ed. Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2006. Pp. ix, 310. $57.00 (us). Reviewed by Paul D. Buell SERHII PLOKHY. The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xix, 379.$90.00 (us). Reviewed by Paul Bushkovitch NAOMI STANDEN. Unbounded Loyalty: Frontier Crossing in Liao China. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Pp. xiii, 279. $53.00 (us). Reviewed by Leo K. Shin CHRISTOPHER TYERMAN. God's War: A New History of the Crusades. 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