The effect of voluntary arm abduction on balance recovery following multidirectional stance perturbations

The goal of this study was to investigate how voluntarily abducting one arm, 90° at onset of a rotational perturbation of the support surface, influences the recovery of upright stance. Young adults were tested under four stance conditions: abducting one arm to the horizontal only (AO); perturbation of stance using a support surface rotation only (PO); combined support surface rotation and abduction of the downhill arm, ipsilateral to tilt (IPS); and fourth abduction of the uphill, contralateral arm (CON). Simultaneous auditory and visual trigger cues were used for arm raising. Perturbations consisted of six directions of combined support surface roll and pitch rotation (7.5° and 60°/s). Outcome measures were whole body centre of mass (COM) movements and body segment angular displacements recorded with a motion analysis system, as well as leg, trunk, and arm EMG responses. Arm raises contralateral and ipsilateral to the direction of support surface roll were more rapid than in the AO condition and significantly reduced or increased, respectively, COM lateral displacements relative to the PO condition. The changes in COM displacements and velocities during combined CON arm raise and perturbation were greater than expected from the sum of displacements for AO and PO conditions alone, but less for the IPS condition. Arm raising increased trunk roll in a direction opposite arm raising was more than for the AO and PO conditions. Robust effects were also observed for hip abduction but not for leg flexion. Early balance correcting activity was enhanced on the side opposite arm raising and later stabilising activity reduced bilaterally in lower trunk muscles compared to summed activity for the AO and PO conditions. Similar effects were observed in gluteus medius muscles but effects were weak in ankle muscles. EMG onsets in muscles of the raised arm were earlier than in the AO conditions. We conclude that triggered arm abduction, contralateral to the direction of support surface rotation, had significant stabilization benefits for young adults and ipsilateral arm movements had destabilizing effects. The arm raises could be simultaneously executed with balance corrections. These results provide insights into the integration of balance corrections and voluntary commands into one automatic reaction that may be useful in training fall avoidanc

Well-being, Sustainability and Social Development

This open access book examines more than two centuries of societal development using novel historical and statistical approaches. It applies the well-being monitor developed by Statistics Netherlands that has been endorsed by a significant part of the international, statistical community. It features The Netherlands as a case study, which is an especially interesting example; although it was one of the world’s richest countries around 1850, extreme poverty and inequality were significant problems of well-being at the time. Monitors of 1850, 1910, 1970 and 2015 depict the changes in three dimensions of well-being: the quality of life 'here and now', 'later' and 'elsewhere'. The analysis of two centuries shows the solutions to the extreme poverty problem and the appearance of new sustainability problems, especially in domestic and foreign ecological systems. The study also reveals the importance of natural capital: soil, air, water and subsoil resources, showing their relation with the social structure of the ‘here and now´. Treatment and trade of natural resources also impacted on the quality of life ‘later’ and ‘elsewhere.’ Further, the book illustrates the role of natural capital by dividing the capital into three types of raw materials and concomitant material flows: bio-raw materials, mineral and fossil subsoil resources. Additionally, the analysis of the institutional context identifies the key roles of social groups in well-being development. The book ends with an assessment of the solutions and barriers offered by the historical anchoring of the well-being and sustainability issues. This unique analysis of well-being and sustainability and its institutional analysis appeals to historians, statisticians and policy makers. ; Examines over two centuries of societal development using a novel historical and statistical analysis Features The Netherlands as a case study -- a once rich country currently experiencing high levels of extreme poverty Shows that the way a society deals with natural capital shapes social structure and also has a great impact on quality of lif

Social Media Use and Prevention of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections among At-Risk College Students in the United States

The purpose of this study was to evaluate college students\u27 self-perceptions of HIV/STI risk, potential barriers to HIV/STI testing, use of social media, and technology-based HIV/STI health interventions. Surveys were administered to 97 US college students. Participants were categorized into three groups based on sexual behaviors: (1) men who have sex with men (MSM), (2) men who have sex with women (MSW), and (3) women who have sex with men (WSM). MSM (n=24) were significantly more likely MSW/WSM (n=72) to report being tested in the past year for HIV (p\u3c.01) and other STIs (p\u3c.01). Only 35% reported HIV testing and 24% reported STI testing in the past year. MSM were more likely than MSW to report having met a sexual partner through social media (p\u3c.01), while no WSM reported doing so. The average number of partners met online in the past year was 7.8 (range=1-20). Those who had met a partner online were more willing to receive e-mail or text message HIV/STI testing reminders (p\u3c.05)

Coping with global environmental change, disasters and security : threats, challenges, vulnerabilities and risks

Book : vol 5 / hexagon series on human and environmental security and peac

Climate change adaptation in European river basins

This paper contains an assessment and standardized comparative analysis of the current water management regimes in four case-studies in three European river basins: the Hungarian part of the Upper Tisza, the Ukrainian part of the Upper Tisza (also called Zacarpathian Tisza), Alentejo Region (including the Alqueva Reservoir) in the Lower Guadiana in Portugal, and Rivierenland in the Netherlands. The analysis comprises several regime elements considered to be important in adaptive and integrated water management: agency, awareness raising and education, type of governance and cooperation structures, information management and—exchange, policy development and—implementation, risk management, and finances and cost recovery. This comparative analysis has an explorative character intended to identify general patterns in adaptive and integrated water management and to determine its role in coping with the impacts of climate change on floods and droughts. The results show that there is a strong interdependence of the elements within a water management regime, and as such this interdependence is a stabilizing factor in current management regimes. For example, this research provides evidence that a lack of joint/participative knowledge is an important obstacle for cooperation, or vice versa. We argue that there is a two-way relationship between information management and collaboration. Moreover, this research suggests that bottom-up governance is not a straightforward solution to water management problems in large-scale, complex, multiple-use systems, such as river basins. Instead, all the regimes being analyzed are in a process of finding a balance between bottom-up and top–down governance. Finally, this research shows that in a basin where one type of extreme is dominant—like droughts in the Alentejo (Portugal) and floods in Rivierenland (Netherlands)—the potential impacts of other extremes are somehow ignored or not perceived with the urgency they might deserv

Participatory Workshops are Not Enough to Prevent Policy Implementation Failures: An Example of a Policy Development Process Concerning the Drug Interferon-beta for Multiple Sclerosis

A possible explanation for policy implementation failure is that the views of the policy’s target groups are insufficiently taken into account during policy development. It has been argued that involving these groups in an interactive process of policy development could improve this. We analysed a project in which several target populations participated in workshops aimed to optimise the utilisation of an expensive novel drug (interferon beta) for patients with Multiple Sclerosis. All participants seemed to agree on the appropriateness of establishing a central registry of Multiple Sclerosis patients and developing guidelines. Nevertheless, these policy measures were not implemented. Possible explanations include (1) the subject no longer had high priority when the costs appeared lower than expected, (2) the organisers had paid insufficient attention to the perceived problems of parties involved, and (3) changes within the socio-political context. The workshops in which representatives of the policy’s target populations participated did not provide enough interactivity to prevent policy implementation failure

CMB-S4 Science Book, First Edition

This book lays out the scientific goals to be addressed by the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment, CMB-S4, envisioned to consist of dedicated telescopes at the South Pole, the high Chilean Atacama plateau and possibly a northern hemisphere site, all equipped with new superconducting cameras. CMB-S4 will dramatically advance cosmological studies by crossing critical thresholds in the search for the B-mode polarization signature of primordial gravitational waves, in the determination of the number and masses of the neutrinos, in the search for evidence of new light relics, in constraining the nature of dark energy, and in testing general relativity on large scales

Verdienmodellen natuurinclusieve landbouw

Deze brochure richt zich op agrarische ondernemers en hun adviseurs. Wilt u nieuwe ideeën opdoen voor verdienmodellen gericht op de combinatie van landbouw met natuur? Wilt u voorbeelden van wat natuur voor u kan betekenen en hoe u hierin stappen kunt zetten? Laat u dan inspireren door deze brochure. En ga samen met verschillende partijen om de tafel om een natuurinclusief verdienmodel samen te stellen

De winkelstraat als wereld: Samenwerken aan een toekomstbestendig evenwicht van Amsterdamse consumptieruimten: Bevindingen na vier jaar onderzoek RAAK-PRO: "Toekomstbestendig Evenwicht, Balanceren tussen divergerende belangen

Hoe zorg je in Amsterdam voor een aantrekkelijk en gevarieerd winkelgebied waar zowel bewoners, bezoekers en ondernemers zich thuis voelen? Hoe komen deze verschillende belanghebbenden tot een goed functionerend, gezamenlijk beheer van winkelgebieden als een gemeenschappelijke bron met verschillende functies? Wat vraagt dit van de gemeente, hoe is haar rol daarin veranderd en hoe zien we dit terug in beleid? Actuele vragen, die al geruime tijd de gemoederen in Amsterdam flink bezighouden, en die we beantwoorden in het rapport 'De Winkelstraat als wereld’. Dit rapport is uitkomst van het vierjarig praktijkonderzoek Toekomstbestendig Evenwicht: Balanceren tussen divergerende belangen (RAAK-PRO). In dit rapport geven we antwoord op de hoofdvraag: welke interventies, processen en structuren faciliteren 'urban commoning', om te komen tot een meer gebalanceerde ontwikkeling van stedelijke consumptieruimten? Urban commoning is een gedeelde praktijk waarbij belanghebbende rondom een gemeenschappelijke bron samen regels en afspraken ontwikkelen om zo'n plek duurzaam te benutten