Use of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in the Treatment of Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy: A Literature Review

Background: The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of current literature on the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for restoring motion and function in neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP). Method: A database search was conducted for NMES articles published between 1947 and 2015. Pre and posttreatment data were extracted for muscle power, active range of motion (AROM), and morphometric measurements. Results: An initial search yielded 2,721 articles. A further title/abstract review produced 27 articles; of these, four met the inclusion criteria. Treatment protocols varied. There were no changes in average Medical Research Council (MRC) scores following treatment for elbow flexion, shoulder abduction, or wrist extension. Shoulder flexion increased from MRC 1 to 4. AROM improved following treatment. Conclusions: Evidence for improved muscle strength after NMES is mixed. Improvement in AROM is more consistent. Due to variations in treatment modalities, patient profiles, and adjunct treatment, a clinical trial to isolate the effects of NMES in NBPP is required. Since improved motion and function has been reported, NMES in NBPP therapy remains reasonable

Home Exercise DVD Promotes Exercise Accuracy by Caregivers of Children and Adolescents With Brachial Plexus Palsy

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147221/1/pmr2924.pd

Colour vision deficiencies in Alzheimer's disease

Objective: visual disorders are among the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It is, however, still controversial as to whether Alzheimer's disease impairs colour vision. In this study, colour vision of Alzheimer's disease patients was tested using the Ishihara test and the PV‐16 choice test. The latter test, primarily designed for children, was chosen in order to avoid problems due to cognitive decline. Methods: 26 patients with mild to severe Alzheimer's disease (M:F=5:21; mean age: 80±9 years, range: 53-95 years) and 25 controls (M:F=5:20; mean age 80±10 years, range: 56-100 years) were rated after undergoing complete neuro‐ophthalmologic examination. Results: the Alzheimer's disease patients made significantly more unspecific errors in the Ishihara test (P=0.02) and in the PV‐16 choice test (P=0.0008) than the controls. No relation between test performance and severity of Alzheimer's disease was found. Conclusions: Alzheimer's disease patients have an unspecific colour vision deficiency independent of the severity of the diseas

Citizen participation in news

The process of producing news has changed significantly due to the advent of the Web, which has enabled the increasing involvement of citizens in news production. This trend has been given many names, including participatory journalism, produsage, and crowd-sourced journalism, but these terms are ambiguous and have been applied inconsistently, making comparison of news systems difficult. In particular, it is problematic to distinguish the levels of citizen involvement, and therefore the extent to which news production has genuinely been opened up. In this paper we perform an analysis of 32 online news systems, comparing them in terms of how much power they give to citizens at each stage of the news production process. Our analysis reveals a diverse landscape of news systems and shows that they defy simplistic categorisation, but it also provides the means to compare different approaches in a systematic and meaningful way. We combine this with four case studies of individual stories to explore the ways that news stories can move and evolve across this landscape. Our conclusions are that online news systems are complex and interdependent, and that most do not involve citizens to the extent that the terms used to describe them imply

Sport in a youth prison: male young offenders' experiences of a sporting intervention

The numbers of children under the age of 18 being incarcerated in England and Wales has decreased of late, with official figures indicating that the current population of just over 1500 has halved during the last decade. But levels of reoffending among children released from prison remain the highest, with three out of four young people being reconvicted within one year of release from juvenile custody. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of community-based sports projects target children and young people, when it comes to incarcerated populations, sporting initiatives are less prevalent. Where sport has become well established as a useful social cohesion/inclusion strategy in community settings, some of these approaches have been translated into custodial settings. Resulting research has often proclaimed sporting pursuits as a modern-day panacea in terms of their social, psychological and emotional benefits, yet few studies have explored the nuances of sports-based interventions within secure settings. This paper comprises a small-scale, qualitative study of one such intervention in a Young Offender Institution in the South of England. Placing respondent accounts at the centre of the analysis, the paper sheds light on the practicalities of programme delivery by uncovering the motivating factors behind participant engagement whilst exploring broader notions of personal development. The paper concludes by highlighting that sport/physical activity can confer significant psychosocial benefits and promote the rehabilitation of young people leaving custody, particularly when integrated into wider programmes of support and provision

Prevalence of Posterior Shoulder Subluxation in Children With Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy After Early Full Passive Range of Motion Exercises

BackgroundChildren with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) are often prescribed shoulder range of motion (ROM) exercises; however, the extent and timing of exercise implementation remains controversial in the context of shoulder joint integrity. The association of ROM exercises to delayed posterior shoulder subluxation (PSS) is unknown.ObjectiveTo determine prevalence of PSS in children with NBPP who began full passive ROM exercises before 6 months of age, and characteristics associated with development or absence of PSS in children.DesignCrossâ sectional study.SettingTertiary care NBPP referral center.ParticipantsFortyâ six children with NBPP, aged 24â 57 months, who began full ROM exercises before 6 months of age.MethodsOne radiologist conducted bilateral shoulder ultrasound (US) on each child to evaluate for PSS. One occupational therapist evaluated each child clinically for PSS using defined parameters without knowledge of US results.Main Outcome MeasuresBy US, 20% of children had PSS; 46% had PSS by clinical examination. Shoulder active ROM limitations and history of shoulder surgery were associated with presence of PSS. Extent of NBPP was not associated with PSS.ResultsNine of 46 children (20%) met US criteria for PSS; α angle was 58° ± 21° (mean ± standard deviation [SD]). Twentyâ one children (46%) met clinical criteria. Mean age at examination was 35 ± 10 months. Shoulder active ROM (P â ¤ .004) was associated with PSS, whereas passive ROM was not (P â ¥ .08). History of secondary shoulder surgery and primary nerve graft repair were associated with PSS (P = .04). Extent of NBPP by Narakas classification was not associated with PSS (P = .48).ConclusionsEarly use of fullâ arc passive ROM home exercise program is not associated with increased prevalence of PSS in children with NBPP compared to prevalence of PSS in published literature. We suggest careful clinical examination, based on defined criteria, provides a reasonable screening examination for evaluating PSS that can be confirmed by noninvasive US.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147125/1/pmr21235.pd

Staff Perceptions of Risk for Prison Rape Perpetration and Victimization

Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications, http://tpj.sagepub.com Used by permission

The Big Society and the Conjunction of Crises: Justifying Welfare Reform and Undermining Social Housing

The idea of the “Big Society” can be seen as culmination of a long-standing debate about the regulation of welfare. Situating the concept within governance theory, the article considers how the UK coalition government has justified a radical restructuring of welfare provision, and considers its implications for housing provision. Although drawing on earlier modernization processes, the article contends that the genesis for welfare reform was based on an analysis that the government was forced to respond to a unique conjunction of crises: in morality, the state, ideology and economics. The government has therefore embarked upon a programme, which has served to undermine the legitimacy of the social housing sector (most notably in England), with detrimental consequences for residents and raising significant dilemmas for those working in the housing sector

Comparison of year-of-exam- and age-matched estimates of heritability in the Framingham Heart Study data

Several different approaches can be used to examine generational and temporal trends in family studies. The measurement of offspring and parents can be made over a short period of time with parents and offspring having quite different ages, or measurements can be made at the same ages but with decades between parent and offspring measures. A third approach, used in the Framingham Heart Study, has repeated examinations across a broad range of age and time, and provides a unique opportunity to compare these approaches. Parents and offspring were matched both on (year of exam) and on age. Heritability estimates for systolic blood pressure, body mass index, height, weight, cholesterol, and glucose were obtained by regressing offspring on midparent values with and without adjustment for age. Higher estimates of heritability were obtained for age-matched than for year-of-exam-matched data for all traits considered. For most traits, estimates of the heritability of the change over time (slope) of the trait were near zero. These results suggest that the optimal design to identify genetic effects in traits with large age-related effects may be to measure parents and offspring at similar ages and not to rely on age-adjustment or longitudinal measures to account for these temporal effects

Life-Expectancy Disparities Among Adults With HIV in the United States and Canada: The Impact of a Reduction in Drug- and Alcohol-Related Deaths Using the Lives Saved Simulation Model.

Improvements in life expectancy among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) receiving antiretroviral treatment in the United States and Canada might differ among key populations. Given the difference in substance use among key populations and the current opioid epidemic, drug- and alcohol-related deaths might be contributing to the disparities in life expectancy. We sought to estimate life expectancy at age 20 years in key populations (and their comparison groups) in 3 time periods (2004-2007, 2008-2011, and 2012-2015) and the potential increase in expected life expectancy with a simulated 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related deaths using the novel Lives Saved Simulation model. Among 92,289 PLWH, life expectancy increased in all key populations and comparison groups from 2004-2007 to 2012-2015. Disparities in survival of approximately a decade persisted among black versus white men who have sex with men and people with (vs. without) a history of injection drug use. A 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related mortality would have the greatest life-expectancy benefit for black men who have sex with men, white women, and people with a history of injection drug use. Our findings suggest that preventing drug- and alcohol-related deaths among PLWH could narrow disparities in life expectancy among some key populations, but other causes of death must be addressed to further narrow the disparities