Association of the body types and disease-related values of knee osteoarthritic patients

Different spa therapy courses are offered for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) in Estonian medical spas. They contain approximately six daily sessions of three different treatments: massages, thermotherapies, kinesitherapies etc. There are some disease related risk factors including weight and sex. All subjects in the current study were divided into five height-weight classes and they were evaluated before and after the spa therapy course and the follow-up after 10 weeks and six months. To assess the clinical status different questionnaires (HAQ-DI, VAS, Lequesne Index) were used. The results showed that the subjects who participated in the study were mainly females and overweight. In the female group, there were more big type persons, but males were more leptomorphic. Females reported greater knee pain values, but males felt much better after six months. Also, leptomorphs had significantly better changes in the follow-up study. Higher pain diminishing was found in overweight persons but not obese subjects. The subject’s functional ability to do usual activities was mild or moderate. Only leptomorphs had significant decrease in the follow-up study. The Lequesne Index related to the function of the knee and score stabilized after 10 weeks in the small and leptomorph group

Relation of some anthropometric parameters of children aged 13–16 years with their eating habits and physical activity

People’s lifespan is increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the high quality of life. Healthy lifestyle is related to healthy food and must include some physical activities. The aim of the study was to analyse how students’ (aged 13–16 years) eating habits and physical activity are related to the height-weight classes. They were administered a questionnaire that asked for information about the frequency of eating different food groups. Based on the 5 SD height-weight classification devised by the Centre for Physical Anthropology at the University of Tartu, the subjects were divided into five classes. Boys were more often overweight than girls. Most of the normal-weight boys and girls in the present study ate breakfast and had a school lunch. Their diet was sufficiently healthy, but included too many sweets and beverages with sugar. According to the heightweight classification, the group of leptomorphs was the largest – 27.8% of girls and 29.6% of boys. Pycnomorphs and large respondents did not like to eat in the morning but ate extra food at school. Although pycnomorphs were heavy, they were physically more active than others

Fundamentals of cell polarity and motility

Cell polarity is a fundamental characteristic regarding cell motility and division. In this work, first we analyze polarization from a biological vantage point, namely which are the molecules taking part on it and how it is experimentally observed. Then, we evaluate this mechanism by implementing a simple mathematical model, so that the fundamental concepts can be understood, and afterwards, a more complex modelization is analyzed, involving the kinetics of two proteins, so that we show how a simplified two-variable model can reproduce the symmetry breaking needed for polarity. Finally, the validity of this model is considered2021/202

A study on the lifestyle of school-aged children in Pärnu City and County

In 2013/2014, a study on students’ health behaviour was conducted in Estonia. In 2016, a school-aged children’s lifestyle study was carried out in Pärnu City and Pärnu County. The survey explored the students’ relations with their family and friends, family affluence, physical activity, use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. 2,512 respondents participated in the study, 48% of them were boys and 52% girls. The respondents mainly had a family with two biological parents and their family financial status was mostly “good”. About half of the respondents played computer games 0.5–3 hours a day, but those who were physically active spent less hours behind the computer and had higher family financial status. Respondents who were not physically very active met friends less frequently. In communication with friends, they used more social media. The questionnaire included several questions about risk behaviours. If the respondent had one bad habit, this was likely to lead to other bad habits, too

Relations between some anthropometric parameters of knee osteoarthritic patients and some indicators of the disease

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is related to the person’s gender, weight and age. However, associations between the body types and disease related values are not clear. All the subjects participated in the study of a new mud therapy course in Estonian medical spas and had knee OA. The mean age of the subjects was 61.7 years (62.0 years for women and 61.1 years for men). Based on the 5 SD heightweight classification, devised by the Centre for Physical Anthropology at the University of Tartu, the subjects were divided into five classes (1 – small height and weight; 2 – medium height and weight; 3 – big weight and height; 4 – big weight, small height; 5 – small weight, big height). The results showed that knee OA was more prevalent in women than men. 39.8% of the subjects were obese. Leptomorphic females and males prevailed among the subjects (28.5% and 26.8%, accordingly). Therefore, the height is also one factor which is associated with knee OA. Females had more problems with their knees than males. The group of small females had more problems with both knees, but pycnomorphic females complained more about knee pain in the last month before the study. Therefore, they used more analgesics. In both genders, the more problematic knee was the right knee. The class of medium males also had more problems with both knees. They had the highest values of the morning stiffness of the knee and knees crepitus in active motion

Reliability and validity of analytical construct in the case of virtual work

Social scientists are interested in understanding social reality as accurately as possible, trying to measure observable and indirectly measurable phenomena as well as the phenomena that still need to be constructed for measurement. Constructing social phenomena so that they can be measured is the everyday work of social scientists as the development of societies constantly brings forth new phenomena that attract authors’ interest to investigate and interpret them. Technology-enhanced telework as a research theme has become topical because of advances in information and communication technology and the fact that they have become widespread. The biggest obstacle to the investigation of technology-enhanced telework (also called virtual work) is the huge range of different definitions and approaches; virtual work mostly described rather than measured in surveys. The current article focuses on the reliability and validity of the analytical construct of virtual work previously developed by the author on the basis of service sector organisations. Reliability is quite simple to measure – Chronbach’s alpha is well known to measure it, but there are several approaches to the measurement validity beginning with the first authors Cronbach and Meehl [14] to Messick [32], Kane [29], Bornstein [7] and Slocum et al [48]. Every researcher adds a new point of view that makes understanding and using the methods of validity more complicated, but it is important to find a proper and suitable way to analyse the validity of construct of virtual work. In the article, the author will analyse the reliability and validity of two models which measure technology-enhanced telework

Wireless, battery-free optoelectronic systems as subdermal implants for local tissue oximetry

Monitoring regional tissue oxygenation in animal models and potentially in human subjects can yield insights into the underlying mechanisms of local O2-mediated physiological processes and provide diagnostic and therapeutic guidance for relevant disease states. Existing technologies for tissue oxygenation assessments involve some combination of disadvantages in requirements for physical tethers, anesthetics, and special apparatus, often with confounding effects on the natural behaviors of test subjects. This work introduces an entirely wireless and fully implantable platform incorporating (i) microscale optoelectronics for continuous sensing of local hemoglobin dynamics and (ii) advanced designs in continuous, wireless power delivery and data output for tether-free operation. These features support in vivo, highly localized tissue oximetry at sites of interest, including deep brain regions of mice, on untethered, awake animal models. The results create many opportunities for studying various O2-mediated processes in naturally behaving subjects, with implications in biomedical research and clinical practice.Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics at Northwestern University; Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF) [ECCS-1542205]; Materials Research Science and Engineering Center [DMR-1720139]; State of Illinois; Northwestern University; Developmental Therapeutics Core at Northwestern University; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center [NCI CA060553]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Expansion of HIV Laboratory Diagnostic Services in Chennai, India 2001–2006: Is the Growth Commensurate with the Need?

Objective: To describe the changes in HIV services provided and the patient population utilizing voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services at private testing laboratories in Chennai, India in 2001 and 2006. Methods: In 2001, a cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted to assess the services provided and client population of 1,031 private laboratories. A subset of labs (9%) that had been surveyed in 2001 were also studied in 2006. Results: In 2001, significantly more high volume labs (.10 HIV tests per month) offered HIV diagnostic tests than low volume labs (,10 HIV test per month) (p,0.001). More high volume labs (20.0%) provided pre-test counseling as part of HIV testing than low volume labs (11.1%) (p = 0.003). Between 2001 and 2006, the number of labs that provided HIV diagnostic tests significantly increased, including ELISA (87.8 % vs. 40.0%), Western Blot (84.4 % vs. 13.3%), and Tridot (98.9 % vs. 72.2%) (p,0.001). Also the number of labs that reported greater than 10 women seeking HIV testing per month significantly increased from 14.5 % to 79.0 % (p = 0.006). More labs provided pre-test counseling in 2006 (34.4%) than in 2001 (21.1%) (p = 0.046). Conclusions: Though HIV diagnostic testing services have increasingly become available, counseling services have not expanded commensurately. Further outreach and education is necessary to expand comprehensive HIV VCT services in bot