Does Deep Cervical Flexor Muscle Training Affect Pain Pressure Thresholds of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

© 2016 Pavlos Bobos et al. Background. We need to understand more about how DNF performs in different contexts and whether it affects the pain threshold over myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). Purpose. The objectives were to investigate the effect of neck muscles training on disability and pain and on pain threshold over MTrPs in people with chronic neck pain. Methods. Patients with chronic neck pain were eligible for participation with a Neck Disability Index (NDI) score of over 5/50 and having at least one MTrP on either levator scapulae, upper trapezoid, or splenius capitis muscle. Patients were randomly assigned into either DNF training, superficial neck muscle exercise, or advice group. Generalized linear model (GLM) was used to detect differences in treatment groups over time. Results. Out of 67 participants, 60 (47 females, mean age: 39.45 ± 12.67) completed the study. Neck disability and neck pain were improved over time between and within groups (p\u3c0.05). However, no differences were found within and between the therapeutic groups (p\u3c0.05) in the tested muscles\u27 PPTs and in cervicothoracic angle over a 7-week period. Conclusion. All three groups improved over time. This infers that the pain pathways involved in the neck pain relief are not those involved in pain threshold

Association of low back pain on physical, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors across a general population sample within Greece

All rights reserved. BACKGROUND: Although low back pain (LBP) is a debilitating problem internationally, there is not a lot of research on its impact on physical, psychosocial and lifestyle factors. Especially in mediterranean countries, such as Greece, it is not sufficiently explored whether physical (pain location, activity limitation etc.), sociodemographic (education, smoking etc.) or lifestyle factors (i.e. quality of life or anxiety) are influenced by LBP. OBJECTIVE: To estimate LBP prevalence in the Greek general population and explore its association with particular sociodemographic, physical and lifestyle factors. METHOD: A sample of 3125 people of the Greek adult population was randomly selected by stratified sampling encompassing rural and urban representation within the Greek mainland. An extended survey form was developed entailing three sections; personal (sociodemographic) information, questions on symptomatology and physical factors (i.e. pain characteristics, recurrence, physical disability etc.) and 3 self-administered questionnaires (including mostly lifestyle factors); Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale for anxiety and depression, SF-12 for quality of life (QoL) and Roland-Morris for disability. RESULTS: A total of 471 (15%) people reported LBP (210 males, mean age: 47.04 ' 15.03). Amongst them 60% reported sciatica, 76% suffered recurrent LBP and 70% received specialist care. Low disability levels, moderate to high pain intensity, gender differences and good self-reported QoL and psychosocial status were reported. Sociodemographic characteristics (income, smoking, marital status etc.) were not associated with LBP physical factors, apart from age which correlated with physical disability and wellness (r being 0.446 and 0.405, respectively, p < 0.001). Physical factors (particularly pain intensity and location) correlated with lifestyle factors (QoL) and disability (r ranging between 0.396 and 0.543, p < 0.001). Mental wellness, anxiety and depression (as lifestyle factors) were not associated with sociodemographic or physical factors. CONCLUSIONS: Physical parameters were amongst the most prevalent characteristics of the Greek sample, thus offering a direction towards a more targeted treatment and rehabilitation planning. Unlike previous literature, most sociodemographic characteristics were not correlated with any LBP physical or lifestyle factors, thus possibly indicating a different socioeconomic background and aetiology domain to that of the usual non-specific LBP spectrum

The Usability of E-learning Platforms in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

The use of e-learning in higher education has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to several studies being conducted to investigate the usability of the platforms that support it. A variety of different usability evaluation methods and attributes have been used, and it has therefore become important to start reviewing this work in a systematic way to determine how the field has developed in the last 15 years. This paper describes a systematic mapping study that performed searches on five electronic libraries to identify usability issues and methods that have been used to evaluate e-learning platforms. Sixty-one papers were selected and analysed, with the majority of studies using a simple research design reliant on questionnaires. The usability attributes measured were mostly related to effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, several research gaps have been identified and recommendations have been made for further work in the area of the usability of online learning

Assistant Tools for Teaching FOL to CF Conversion

Part 8: Multi Attribute DSSInternational audienceThe FOL to CF system is an interactive web-based system for learning to convert first order logic (FOL) formulas into Clause Form (CF). FOL to CF conversion is a fundamental part of using FOL for making inferences. In this paper, we present two tutor assistant tools integrated with that system. The first, called tutoring manager, helps the tutor to manage the teaching material and monitor the progress of students. It helps tutors to investigate students’ answers and errors made by providing useful statistics. Also, it gives a graphical view of them for an easier understanding of difficulties that students face. The second tool, the difficulty estimating expert system, aims at helping tutors in determining the difficulty level of a formula’s conversion process. This is based on the complexity of the FOL formula. Experimental results show that the difficulty estimating system is quite successful

Electrocardiographic Changes in Elderly Patients During Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

BACKGROUND: Cardiorespiratory complications may occur during gastrointestinal endoscopy, and elderly people seem to be more vulnerable to these complications during endoscopic procedures involving the manipulation of abdominal viscera. OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias, changes in oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) via Holter monitoring in elderly patients older than 70 years of age