231 research outputs found
The role of cranial and thoracic EMG within diagnostic criteria for ALS.
INTRODUCTION: The contribution of cranial and thoracic region electromyography (EMG) to diagnostic criteria for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has not been evaluated.
METHODS: Clinical and EMG data from each craniospinal region were retrospectively assessed in 470 patients; 214 had ALS. Changes to diagnostic classification in Awaji-Shima and revised El Escorial criteria following withdrawal of cranial/thoracic EMG data were ascertained.
RESULTS: Sensitivity for lower motor neuron involvement in ALS was highest in cervical/lumbar regions; specificity was highest in cranial/thoracic regions. Cranial EMG contributed to definite/probable Awaji-Shima categorization in 1.4% of patients. Thoracic EMG made no contribution. For revised El Escorial criteria, cranial and thoracic data reclassified 1% and 5% of patients, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Cranial EMG data make small contributions to both criteria, thoracic data contribute only to the revised El Escorial criteria. However, cranial and thoracic region abnormalities are specific in ALS. Consideration should be given to allowing greater diagnostic contribution from thoracic EMG
Assessment of bovine hoof conformation and its association with lameness, animal factors and management practices on small-scale dairy farms in Kiambu district, Kenya
Digital health and conformation were assessed in 216 dairy cattle on 78 randomly selected small-scale
farms. For each cow, gait was assessed and the digits examined in detail. Hoof measurements
(angle and length of the dorsal hoof wall, heel depth and hoof-base area) were also made.
Hoof measurements varied most between individual cattle. Dorsal angle was correlated with heel
depth (r = 0,53; P = 0,001) and dorsal length (r = -0,40; P = 0,001). The hoof-base area was correlated
with the dorsal length (r = 0,41; P = 0,001). There were significant breed differences in dorsal
angle (P = 0,03) and dorsal length (P < 0,01). The dorsal angle was correlated with parity and body
condition, while the dorsal length, heel depth and the hoof-base area were correlated with the heart
girth (P< 0,01).
Hoof conformation was associated with both clinical lameness and hoof lesions. A 1cm increase in
the dorsal length increased the odds of lameness by 16,9, heel erosion by 1,8, underrunning by 5,4
and overgrowth by 40 (P < 0,01).The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi.
Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format
Classtalk: A Classroom Communication System for Active Learning
This pdf file is an article describing the advantages of using Classtalk technology in the classroom to enhance classroom communication. Classtalk technology cab facilitate the presentation of questions for small group work, collec the student answers and then display histograms showing how the class answered. This new communication technology can help instructors create a more interactive, student centered classroom, especially when teaching large courses. The article describes Classtalk as a very useful tool not only for engaging students in active learning, but also for enhancing the overall communication within the classroom. This article is a selection from the electronic Journal for Computing in Higher Education. Educational levels: Graduate or professional
Growing Environmental Activists: Developing Environmental Agency and Engagement Through Children’s Fiction.
We explore how story has the potential to encourage environmental engagement and a sense of agency provided that critical discussion takes place. We illuminate this with reference to the philosophies of John Macmurray on personal agency and social relations; of John Dewey on the primacy of experience for philosophy; and of Paul Ricoeur on hermeneutics, dialogue, dialectics and narrative. We view the use of fiction for environmental understanding as hermeneutic, a form of conceptualising place which interprets experience and perception. The four writers for young people discussed are Ernest Thompson Seton, Kenneth Grahame, Michelle Paver and Philip Pullman. We develop the concept of critical dialogue, and link this to Crick's demand for active democratic citizenship. We illustrate the educational potential for environmental discussions based on literature leading to deeper understanding of place and environment, encouraging the belief in young people that they can be and become agents for change. We develop from Zimbardo the key concept of heroic resister to encourage young people to overcome peer pressure. We conclude with a call to develop a greater awareness of the potential of fiction for learning, and for writers to produce more focused stories engaging with environmental responsibility and activism
Features of dog ecology relevant to rabies spread in Machakos District, Kenya
A random sample of households in Machakos District of Kenya was surveyed using personal interviews to determine features of dog ecology relevant to the spread of rabies. A mean of 1,35 dogs/household, a dog to person ratio of 1:9,6 and a mean of 10,4 dogs/km² were estimated. The male to female ratio was 1:0,67 with 26% of the dog population being less than three months old. The dogs had a mean age of 1,8 years. The proportion of the dogs which fed on household leftovers and waste was 94,7%. Dogs were restricted in 19,4% of the households, while 69% of the dogs spent all of their time free outdoors. One-third of the dog population over three months old had been vaccinated against rabies. Considering the endemic status of rabies in Machakos District, methods which could be devised to control the disease are discussed.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi.
Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201
Relativistic corrections in (gamma,N) knockout reactions
We develop a fully relativistic DWIA model for photonuclear reactions using
the relativistic mean field theory for the bound state and the Pauli reduction
of the scattering state which is calculated from a relativistic optical
potential. Results for the 12C(gamma,p) and 16O(gamma,p) differential cross
sections and photon asymmetries are displayed in a photon energy range between
60 and 257 MeV, and compared with nonrelativistic DWIA calculations. The
effects of the spinor distortion and of the effective momentum approximation
for the scattering state are discussed. The sensitivity of the model to
different prescriptions for the one-body current operator is investigated. The
off-shell ambiguities are large in (gamma,p) calculations, and even larger in
(gamma,n) knockout.Comment: LaTeX2e, 18 pages, and 6 figure
Measurement of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function
Production of D*+/-(2010) mesons in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has
been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of
82 pb^{-1}. Diffractive events were identified by the presence of a large
rapidity gap in the final state. Differential cross sections have been measured
in the kinematic region 1.5 < Q^2 < 200 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, x_{IP} < 0.035,
beta 1.5 GeV and |\eta(D*+/-)| < 1.5. The measured cross
sections are compared to theoretical predictions. The results are presented in
terms of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure
function. The data demonstrate a strong sensitivity to the diffractive parton
densities.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 table
Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV
Peer reviewe
Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV
Peer reviewe
Measurements of differential production cross sections for a Z boson in association with jets in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV
Peer reviewe
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