Centre of pressure characteristics in normal, planus and cavus feet

Background The aim of this study was to compare centre of pressure (COP) characteristics between healthy adults with normal, planus or cavus feet who were allocated to groups based on reliable foot posture measurement techniques. Methods Ninety-two healthy adult participants (aged 18 to 45) were recruited and classified as either normal (n = 35), pes planus (n = 31) or pes cavus (n = 26) based on Foot Posture Index, Arch Index and normalised navicular height truncated measurements. Barefoot walking trials were conducted using an emed®-x 400 plantar pressure system (Novel GmbH, Munich, Germany). Average, maximum, minimum and range (difference between maximum and minimum) values were calculated for COP velocity and lateral-medial force index during loading response, midstance, terminal stance and pre-swing phases of stance. The COP excursion index was also calculated. One-way analyses of variance were used to compare the three foot posture groups. Results The cavus foot exhibited the slowest average and minimum COP velocity during terminal stance, but this pattern was reversed during pre-swing, when the cavus foot exhibited the fastest maximum COP velocity. The planus foot exhibited the smallest lateral medial force index range during terminal stance. There were no differences between the groups for COP excursion index. Conclusion These findings indicate that there are differences in COP characteristics between foot postures, which may represent different mechanisms for generating force to facilitate forward progression of the body during the propulsive phases of gait

The impact of mental health recovery narratives on recipients experiencing mental health problems: Qualitative analysis and change model.

BACKGROUND: Mental health recovery narratives are stories of recovery from mental health problems. Narratives may impact in helpful and harmful ways on those who receive them. The objective of this paper is to develop a change model identifying the range of possible impacts and how they occur. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adults with experience of mental health problems and recovery (n = 77). Participants were asked to share a mental health recovery narrative and to describe the impact of other people's recovery narratives on their own recovery. A change model was generated through iterative thematic analysis of transcripts. RESULTS: Change is initiated when a recipient develops a connection to a narrator or to the events descripted in their narrative. Change is mediated by the recipient recognising experiences shared with the narrator, noticing the achievements or difficulties of the narrator, learning how recovery happens, or experiencing emotional release. Helpful outcomes of receiving recovery narratives are connectedness, validation, hope, empowerment, appreciation, reference shift and stigma reduction. Harmful outcomes are a sense of inadequacy, disconnection, pessimism and burden. Impact is positively moderated by the perceived authenticity of the narrative, and can be reduced if the recipient is experiencing a crisis. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that incorporate the use of recovery narratives, such as peer support, anti-stigma campaigns and bibliotherapy, can use the change model to maximise benefit and minimise harms from narratives. Interventions should incorporate a diverse range of narratives available through different mediums to enable a range of recipients to connect with and benefit from this material. Service providers using recovery narratives should preserve authenticity so as to maximise impact, for example by avoiding excessive editing

Lorentz violation, Gravity, Dissipation and Holography

We reconsider Lorentz Violation (LV) at the fundamental level. We show that Lorentz Violation is intimately connected with gravity and that LV couplings in QFT must always be fields in a gravitational sector. Diffeomorphism invariance must be intact and the LV couplings transform as tensors under coordinate/frame changes. Therefore searching for LV is one of the most sensitive ways of looking for new physics, either new interactions or modifications of known ones. Energy dissipation/Cerenkov radiation is shown to be a generic feature of LV in QFT. A general computation is done in strongly coupled theories with gravity duals. It is shown that in scale invariant regimes, the energy dissipation rate depends non-triviallly on two characteristic exponents, the Lifshitz exponent and the hyperscaling violation exponent.Comment: LateX, 51 pages, 9 figures. (v2) References and comments added. Misprints correcte

Heel raises versus prefabricated orthoses in the treatment of posterior heel pain associated with calcaneal apophysitis (Sever's Disease): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Posterior Heel pain can present in children of 8 to 14 years, associated with or clinically diagnosed as Sever's disease, or calcaneal apophysitis. Presently, there are no comparative randomised studies evaluating treatment options for posterior heel pain in children with the clinical diagnosis of calcaneal apophysitis or Sever's disease. This study seeks to compare the clinical efficacy of some currently employed treatment options for the relief of disability and pain associated with posterior heel pain in children.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Design: Factorial 2 × 2 randomised controlled trial with monthly follow-up for 3 months.</p> <p>Participants: Children with clinically diagnosed posterior heel pain possibly associated with calcaneal apophysitis/Sever's disease (n = 124).</p> <p>Interventions: Treatment factor 1 will be two types of shoe orthoses: a heel raise or prefabricated orthoses. Both of these interventions are widely available, mutually exclusive treatment approaches that are relatively low in cost. Treatment factor 2 will be a footwear prescription/replacement intervention involving a shoe with a firm heel counter, dual density EVA midsole and rear foot control. The alternate condition in this factor is no footwear prescription/replacement, with the participant wearing their current footwear.</p> <p>Outcomes: Oxford Foot and Ankle Questionnaire and the Faces pain scale.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This will be a randomised trial to compare the efficacy of various treatment options for posterior heel pain in children that may be associated with calcaneal apophysitis also known as Sever's disease.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Trial Number: ACTRN12609000696291</p> <p>Ethics Approval Southern Health: HREC Ref: 09271B</p

Bioassay studies support the potential for latrogenic transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease through dental procedures

Background: Evidence is required to quantify the potential risks of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob (vCJD) through dental procedures. Studies, using animal models relevant to vCJD, were performed to address two questions. Firstly, whether oral tissues could become infectious following dietary exposure to BSE? Secondly, would a vCJD-contaminated dental instrument be able to transmit disease to another patient? Methods: BSE-301V was used as a clinically relevant model for vCJD. VM-mice were challenged by injection of infected brain homogenate into the small intestine (Q1) or by five minute contact between a deliberately-contaminated dental file and the gingival margin (Q2). Ten tissues were collected from groups of challenged mice at three or four weekly intervals, respectively. Each tissue was pooled, homogenised and bioassayed in indicator mice. Findings: Challenge via the small intestine gave a transmission rate of 100% (mean incubation 157±17 days). Infectivity was found in both dental pulp and the gingival margin within 3 weeks of challenge and was observed in all tissues tested within the oral cavity before the appearance of clinical symptoms. Following exposure to deliberately contaminated dental files, 97% of mice developed clinical disease (mean incubation 234±33 days). Interpretation: Infectivity was higher than expected, in a wider range of oral tissues, than was allowed for in previous risk assessments. Disease was transmitted following transient exposure of the gingiva to a contaminated dental file. These observations provide evidence that dental procedures could be a route of cross-infection for vCJD and support the enforcement of single-use for certain dental instruments

Purification and Characterization of a Sperm Motility Inhibiting Factor from Caprine Epididymal Plasma

Several studies have been reported on the occurrence of sperm motility inhibiting factors in the male reproductive fluids of different mammalian species, but these proteins have not been adequately purified and characterized. A novel sperm motility inhibiting factor (MIF-II) has been purified from caprine epididymal plasma (EP) by Hydroxylapatite gel adsorption chromatography, DEAE-Cellulose ion-exchange chromatography and chromatofocusing. The MIF-II has been purified to apparent homogeneity and the molecular weight estimated by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration is 160 kDa. MIF-II is a dimeric protein, made up of two subunits each having a molecular mass of 80 kDa as shown by SDS-PAGE. The isoelectric point of MIF-II is 5.1 as determined by chromatofocusing and isoelectric focusing. It is a heat labile protein and maximal active at the pH 6.9 to 7.5. The sperm motility inhibiting protein factor at 2 µg/ml (12.5 nM) level showed maximal motility-inhibiting activity. The observation that the epididymal plasma factor lowered the intracellular cAMP level of spermatozoa in a concentration-dependent manner suggests that it may block the motility of caprine cauda spermatozoa by interfering the cAMP dependent motility function. The results revealed that the purified protein factor has the potential of sperm motility inhibition and may serve as a vaginal contraceptive. The antibody raised against the MIF-II has the potential for enhancement of forward motility of cauda-spermatozoa. This antibody may thus be useful for solving some of the problems of male infertility due to low sperm motility

Predictors of functional outcome following femoral neck fractures treated with an arthroplasty: limitations of the Harris hip score

Introduction To study the association between potential prognostic factors and functional outcome at 1 and 5 year follow-up in patients with femoral neck fractures treated with an arthroplasty. To analyze the reliability of the Harris hip score (HHS). Materials and methods A multicenter analysis which included 252 patients who sustained a femoral neck fracture treated with an arthroplasty. Functional outcome after surgery was assessed using a modified HHS and was evaluated after 1 (HHS1) and 5 (HHS5) years. Several prognostic factors were analyzed and reliability of the HHS was assessed. Results After 1 year the presence of co-morbidities was a significant (p = 0.002) predictor for a poor functional outcome (mean HHS1 71.8 with co-morbidities, and 80.6 without co-morbidities). After 5 years none of the potential prognostic factors had significant influence on functional outcome. Internal consistency testing of the HHS showed that when pain and function of the HHS were analyzed together, the internal consistency was poor (HHS1 0.38 and HHS5 0.20). The internal consistency of the HHS solely in function (without pain) improved to 0.68 (HHS1) and 0.46 (HHS5). Analyzing the functional aspect exclusively, age and the existence of co-morbidities could be defined as predictors for functional outcome of femoral neck fractures after 1 and 5 years. Conclusion After using the HHS in a modification, age and the existence of pre-operative co-morbidities appeared to be predictors of the functional outcome after 1 and 5 years. The HHS, omitting pain, is a more reliable score to estimate the functional outcome, than HHS analyzing pain and function in one scoring syste

Citizen science breathes new life into participatory agricultural research : A review

Participatory research can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scope of research processes, and foster social inclusion, empowerment and sustainability. Yet despite four decades of agricultural research institutions exploring and developing methods for participatory research, it has never become mainstream in the agricultural technology development cycle. Citizen science promises an innovative approach to participation in research, using the unique facilities of new digital technologies, but its potential in agricultural research participation has not been systematically probed. To this end, we conducted a critical literature review. We found that citizen science opens up four opportunities for creatively reshaping research: i) new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration, ii) rethinking configurations of socio-computational systems, iii) research on democratization of science more broadly, and iv) new accountabilities. Citizen science also brings a fresh perspective on the barriers to institutionalizing participation in the agricultural sciences. Specifically, we show how citizen science can reconfigure cost-motivation-accountability combinations using digital tools, open up a larger conceptual space of experimentation, and stimulate new collaborations. With appropriate and persistent institutional support and investment, citizen science can therefore have a lasting impact on how agricultural science engages with farming communities and wider society, and more fully realize the promises of participation

Digital girl:Cyberfeminism and the emancipation potential of digital entrepreneurship in emerging economies

Digital entrepreneurship has been described as a “great leveler” in terms of equalizing the entrepreneurial playing field for women. However, little is known of the emancipatory possibilities offered by digital entrepreneurship for women constrained by social and cultural practices such as male guardianship of female relatives and legally enforced gender segregation. In order to address this research gap, this paper examines women’s engagement in digital entrepreneurship in emerging economies with restrictive social and cultural practices. In so doing, we draw upon the analytical frameworks provided by entrepreneurship as emancipation and cyberfeminism. Using empirical data from an exploratory investigation of entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia, we examine how women use digital technologies in the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities. Our findings reveal that women in Saudi Arabia use digital entrepreneurship to transform their embodied selves and lived realities rather than to escape gender embodiment as offered by the online environment