Practice schedule and cognitive style interaction in learning a maze task

In the present study the effects of contextual interference on the retention and transfer performance of reflectives and impulsives on a maze task were studied. Forty-seven subjects were randomly assigned to either a high contextual interference group or to a low contextual interference group. Within the two groups subjects were further classified according to their preferred modes of responding. Retention and transfer were measured immediately following practice and after a 4-week delay. The dependent variables were tracing time and errors. Reflectives made fewer errors and moved more quickly after practising under conditions of high contextual interference. Impulsives tended to have fewer errors after practising under conditions of high contextual interference but moved more slowly. Based on these results it was suggested that trainers consider individual differences in reflectivity-impulsivity before designing particular practice schedules

Motor Development in Children Living within Resource Poor Areas of the Western Cape

Introduction: In 1986, Irwin-Carruthers tested 681 Black African babies from the Western Cape and concluded that the South African sample was in advance of the Denver sample both in fine and gross motor behaviour. This study was to determine whether the motor development of isiXhosa speaking children from the same area was still advanced compared to their North American counterparts. Method: The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II were administered to 86 children attending well baby clinics, between the ages of 1-36 months. Results: The mean motor developmental quotient was 92 (SD=15). Twenty eight percent of the sample was either significantly or mildly delayed. No socio-economic or maternal characteristics were associated with this score. Conclusion: The reasons for the decrease in performance are not clear. The socio-economic situation of the mothers was poor and there were a large number of single mothers whose sole source of income was government child support grants. It is likely that the cause of the decrease is multi-factorial. The mothers are clearly in need of emotional and financial support. It is suggested that the introduction of stimulation programmes might be useful in reducing the long term impact of this delayed development

How do Zimbabweans value health states?

Background Quality of life weights based on valuations of health states are often used in cost utility analysis and population health measures. This paper reports on an attempt to develop quality of life weights within the Zimbabwe context. Methods 2,384 residents in randomly selected small residential plots of land in a high-density suburb of Harare valued descriptors of 38 health states based on different combinations of the five domains of the EQ-5D (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort and anxiety or depression). The English version of the EQ-5D was used. The time trade-off method was used to determine the values, and 19,020 individual preferences for health states were analysed. A residual maximum likelihood linear mixed model was used to estimate a function for predicting the values of all possible combinations of levels on the five domains. The model was fit to a random subset of two-thirds of the observations, with the remaining observations reserved for analysis of predictive validity. The results were compared to a similar study undertaken in the United Kingdom. Results A credible model was developed to predict the values of states that were not valued directly. In the subset of observations reserved for validation, the mean absolute difference between predicted and observed values was 0.045. All domains of the EQ-5D were found to contribute significantly to the model, both at the moderate and severe levels. Severe pain was found to have the largest negative coefficient, followed by the inability to wash and dress oneself. Conclusion Despite a generally lower education level than their European counterparts, urban Zimbabweans appear to value health states in a consistent manner, and the determination of a global method of establishing quality of life weights may be feasible and valid. However, as the relative weightings of the different domains, although correlated, differed from the standard set of weights recommended by the EuroQol Group, the locally determined coefficients should be used within the Zimbabwean context

Does the South African physiotherapy journal fulfill the needs of its constituency? a retrospective article review

Professional journals are used to disseminate the knowledge of scholars in the profession and to provide clinicians with guidance for best practice. This article aimed to retrospectively review the role of the South African Journal of Physiotherapy and its contribution to the profession. An archival research design was used to collect information from the archives of the South African Society of Physiotherapy website. The information was retrieved using a data capture sheet and descriptive statistics were used throughout to establish frequencies for the relevant information. During the identified period, 170 articles were published. The greatest number of papers originated in South Africa (81%), 8% from the rest of Africa and 11% written by international authors. Authors with a Masters degree contributed almost 50% of the papers and those with doctorates were responsible for at least 25% of the papers. Most of the papers presented original research (81%) with secondary research such as reviews and scholarly papers accounting for 19% of the total. The most common speciality area addressed through research was linked to musculoskeletal conditions. The journal appears to have provided an important platform for South African academics and emerging researchers to publish their findings. It is suggested that the journal should give preference to papers that deal with issues that are unique to South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, as these are the least likely to be published elsewhere. In addition, the journal should emphasise papers that will advance the profession.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Archaean and Proterozoic diamond growth from contrasting styles of large-scale magmatism

Precise dating of diamond growth is required to understand the interior workings of the early Earth and the deep carbon cycle. Here we report Sm-Nd isotope data from 26 individual garnet inclusions from 26 harzburgitic diamonds from Venetia, South Africa. Garnet inclusions and host diamonds comprise two compositional suites formed under markedly different conditions and define two isochrons, one Archaean (2.95 Ga) and one Proterozoic (1.15 Ga). The Archaean diamond suite formed from relatively cool fluid-dominated metasomatism during rifting of the southern shelf of the Zimbabwe Craton. The 1.8 billion years younger Proterozoic diamond suite formed by melt-dominated metasomatism related to the 1.1 Ga Umkondo Large Igneous Province. The results demonstrate that resolving the time of diamond growth events requires dating of individual inclusions, and that there was a major change in the magmatic processes responsible for harzburgitic diamond formation beneath Venetia from the Archaean to the Proterozoic

Making the user more efficient: Design for sustainable behaviour

User behaviour is a significant determinant of a product’s environmental impact; while engineering advances permit increased efficiency of product operation, the user’s decisions and habits ultimately have a major effect on the energy or other resources used by the product. There is thus a need to change users’ behaviour. A range of design techniques developed in diverse contexts suggest opportunities for engineers, designers and other stakeholders working in the field of sustainable innovation to affect users’ behaviour at the point of interaction with the product or system, in effect ‘making the user more efficient’. Approaches to changing users’ behaviour from a number of fields are reviewed and discussed, including: strategic design of affordances and behaviour-shaping constraints to control or affect energyor other resource-using interactions; the use of different kinds of feedback and persuasive technology techniques to encourage or guide users to reduce their environmental impact; and context-based systems which use feedback to adjust their behaviour to run at optimum efficiency and reduce the opportunity for user-affected inefficiency. Example implementations in the sustainable engineering and ecodesign field are suggested and discussed

The effect of exergames on functional strength, anaerobic fitness, balance and agility in children with and without motor coordination difficulties living in low-income communities

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are physically less active, preferring more sedentary behavior and are at risk of developing health problems or becoming overweight. 18 children (age 6-10 years) with lower levels of motor coordination attending a primary school in a low-income community in South Africa (score on Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second edition equal to or below the 5th percentile) were selected to participate in the study and were age-matched with typically developing peers (TD). Both groups of children engaged in 20 min of active Nintendo Wii Fit gaming on the balance board, twice a week for a period of five weeks. All children were tested before and after the intervention using the lower limb items of the Functional Strength Measurement, the 5 x 10 meter sprint test, the 5 x 10 meter slalom sprint test, and the Balance, Running speed and Agility subtest of the Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2nd edition (BOT-2). After intervention, both groups of children improved in functional strength and anaerobic fitness. The magnitude of these changes was not related to participant's motor coordination level. However, differences in change between the TD and DCD group were apparent on the motor performance tests; children with DCD seemed to benefit more in balance skills of the BOT-2, while the TD children improved more in the Running speed and Agility component of the BOT-2. Compliance to the study protocol over 5 weeks was high and the effect,on physical functioning was shown on standardized measures of physical performance validated for children with and without DCD. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Movement Control Strategies in a Dynamic Balance Task in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Our study aimed to analyze movement control strategies using predefined criteria for amplitude and differences in these strategies between children with and without DCD. Children with (n = 28) and without DCD (n = 15) were included. A video-observation-tool was used to score the moving body parts during a Wii Fit slalom task over multiple time points. Two-step cluster analysis was used to extract distinct movement strategies. Two different movement strategies were identified that were independently validated by a measure of task performance and a subjective mark of quality of the movement. Initial differences between groups and changes over time toward the more successful strategy were found in both groups, albeit in a different percentage. This study shows that the more efficient movement strategy is seen in the majority of the TD children and only in a small number of children with DCD, even after practice

The impact of hospital-based and community based models of cerebral palsy rehabilitation: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Cerebral palsy requires appropriate on-going rehabilitation intervention which should effectively meet the needs of both children and parents/care-givers. The provision of effective support is a challenge, particularly in resource constrained settings. A quasi-experimental pragmatic research design was used to compare the impact of two models of rehabilitation service delivery currently offered in Harare, Zimbabwe, an outreach-based programme and the other institution-based. Method: Questionnaires were distributed to 46 caregivers of children with cerebral palsy at baseline and after three months. Twenty children received rehabilitation services in a community setting and 26 received services as outpatients at a central hospital. The Gross Motor Function Measurement was used to assess functional change. The burden of care was measured using the Caregiver Strain Index, satisfaction with physiotherapy was assessed using the modified Medrisk satisfaction with physiotherapy services questionnaire and compliance was measured as the proportion met of the scheduled appointments. Results: Children receiving outreach-based treatment were significantly older than children in the institution-based group. Regression analysis revealed that, once age and level of severity were controlled for, children in the outreach-based treatment group improved their motor function 6% more than children receiving institution-based services. There were no differences detected between the groups with regard to caregiver well-being and 51% of the caregivers reported signs consistent with clinical distress/depression. Most caregivers (83%) expressed that they were overwhelmed by the caregiving role and this increased with the chronicity of care. The financial burden of caregiver was predictive of caregiver strain. Caregivers in the outreach-based group reported greater satisfaction with services and were more compliant (p < .001) as compared to recipients of institution-based services. Conclusion: Long term caregiving leads to strain in caregivers and there is a need to design interventions to alleviate the burden. The study was a pragmatic, quasi-experimental study thus causality cannot be inferred. However findings from this study suggest that the provision of care within a community setting as part of a well-structured outreach programme may be preferable method of service delivery within a resource-constrained context. It was associated with a greater improvement in functioning, greater satisfaction with services and better compliance

Motor learning: an analysis of 100 trials of a ski slalom game in children with and without developmental coordination disorder

Objective Although Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is often characterized as a skill acquisition deficit disorder, few studies have addressed the process of motor learning. This study examined learning of a novel motor task; the Wii Fit ski slalom game. The main objectives were to determine: 1) whether learning occurs over 100 trial runs of the game, 2) if the learning curve is different between children with and without DCD, 3) if learning is different in an easier or harder version of the task, 4) if learning transfers to other balance tasks. Method 17 children with DCD (6-10 years) and a matched control group of 17 typically developing (TD) children engaged in 20 minutes of gaming, twice a week for five weeks. Each training session comprised of alternating trial runs, with five runs at an easy level and five runs at a difficult level. Wii scores, which combine speed and accuracy per run, were recorded. Standardized balance tasks were used to measure transfer. RESULTS: Significant differences in initial performance were found between groups on the Wii score and balance tasks. Both groups improved their Wii score over the five weeks. Improvement in the easy and in the hard task did not differ between groups. Retention in the time between training sessions was not different between TD and DCD groups either. The DCD group improved significantly on all balance tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this study give a fairly coherent picture of the learning process over a medium time scale (5 weeks) in children novice to active computer games; they learn, retain and there is evidence of transfer to other balance tasks. The rate of motor learning is similar for those with and without DCD. Our results raise a number of questions about motor learning that need to be addressed in future research