Children with cerebral palsy living in a resource constrained community: the efficacy of a thumb opponens splint - a case study

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Johannesburg, June 2018.Cerebral Palsy is a common diagnosis in childhood and is often associated with upper limb impairments affecting hand function and participation in daily activities including personal management. A case study based research design was used with a sample of five children with spastic hemiplegic CP at Tambo Memorial Hospital to evaluate the efficacy of a thumb abductor splint for thumb in palm deformity in a resource constrained environment. The children involved in the study continued to receive their typical monthly occupational therapy service as well as any other therapy services they were involved in the time of the study. They were all splinted with a soft neoprene thumb abductor splint which they were advised to wear during participation in functional activities. A range of outcome measures were used to assess their hand function and functional performance before and after splint application over the three month data collection period including the Movement ABC and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Impairment scale. In spite of the small sample size and the limited clinically significant findings of the study - a potential benefit to wearing the splint during functional activity participation was highlighted in a resource constrained environment.LG201

Conclusions

Qu’est-ce que c’est, la tolérance des religions ? À l’époque moderne, la notion de tolérance est souvent évoquée : il s’agit alors de supporter l’autre, de supporter l’existence d’autres confessions ou religions, de supporter la diversité (religieuse). À quelles fins ? Au Moyen-Âge, la diversité religieuse est intolérable. Le catholicisme orthodoxe, l’unitas christianorum, est de rigueur. Ainsi, toute hérésie doit être extirpée, musulmans et juifs doi..

Der Krankheitsbegriff bei Christopher Boorse und bei Bernard Gert / Charles M. Culver / K. Danner Clouser:ein Vergleich zweier Krankheitstheorien und ihrer Anwendung auf konkrete Krankheitsbilder

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Krankheitsbegriff und diskutiert dabei zwei medizintheoretische Ansätze. Diese Arbeit umfasst die Analyse der beiden Ansätze und eine Diskussion über deren Anwendbarkeit auf klinische Krankheitsbilder. Christopher Boorse ist ein Verfechter des Naturalismus. Er verwendet den Begriff der „Natürlichkeit“ im Sinne von statistischer Normalität. Krankheit ist eine Fehlfunktion im Bereich der Natürlichkeit. Gesundheit definiert er als Abwesenheit von Krankheit. Die „Biostatistische Theorie“ ist ein schlüssiges philosophisches Konstrukt, erfüllt aber nicht die klinisch bedeutsamen Kriterien. K. Danner Clouser, Charles M. Culver und Bernard Gert definieren ebenfalls den Krankheitsbegriff. In ihrer Theorie spielt der Begriff des „Übels“, welcher in fünf Grundübel unterteilt wird, eine zentrale Rolle. Clouser, Culver und Gert führen hierzu den Begriff des „Leidens“ ein. Die Leidenstheorie ist in sich schlüssig und klinisch in den meisten Fällen anwendbar

Inbreeding alters the chemical phenotype and mating behaviour of a beetle

Müller T, Lachenicht L, Müller C. Inbreeding alters the chemical phenotype and mating behaviour of a beetle. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 2018;6:177.Mating between closely related individuals is often associated with fitness declines. However, less is known about consequences of inbreeding for (sexual) chemical signaling traits and for mate choice and acceptance. Thus, we investigated effects of inbreeding on the chemical phenotype, i.e., the profile and diversity of putative cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in the leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae Fabricius. Moreover, we tested mating probabilities in no choice bioassays with different combinations of outbred and inbred beetles. Finally, we tested male preferences and female aggression in a dual choice bioassay with one outbred male, one outbred and one inbred female. The chemical phenotype was altered in inbred females, which showed a male-like CHC profile. In no choice bioassays, inbred individuals had a decreased mating probability than outbred individuals. Changes in the chemical phenotype of inbred females might be involved in the negative inbreeding effects on mating acceptance. When having the choice, males did not show any preference between outbred and inbred females. However, inbred females were more aggressive in these situations, potentially to raise their chances to be mated, because due to inbreeding depression they have lower reproductive perspectives than outbred females. Overall, inbreeding effects on the chemical phenotype, mating acceptance and female aggression might have consequences for the population dynamics and development of the individuals. In conclusion, these results suggest that inbreeding events have the potential to affect sexual selection of chemical signaling traits and evolutionary processes underlying mating strategies

Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions

Whilst computer-mediated communication (CMC) can benefit users by providing quick and easy communication between those separated by time and space, it can also provide varying degrees of anonymity that may encourage a sense of impunity and freedom from being held accountable for inappropriate online behaviour. As such, CMC is a fertile ground for studying impoliteness, whether it occurs in response to perceived threat (flaming), or as an end in its own right (trolling). Currently, first and secondorder definitions of terms such as im/politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987; Bousfield 2008; Culpeper 2008; Terkourafi 2008), in-civility (Lakoff 2005), rudeness (Beebe 1995, Kienpointner 1997, 2008), and etiquette (Coulmas 1992), are subject to much discussion and debate, yet the CMC phenomenon of trolling is not adequately captured by any of these terms. Following Bousfield (in press), Culpeper (2010) and others, this paper suggests that a definition of trolling should be informed first and foremost by user discussions. Taking examples from a 172-million-word, asynchronous CMC corpus, four interrelated conditions of aggression, deception, disruption, and success are discussed. Finally, a working definition of trolling is presented

Approach to the diagnosis and management of snakebite envenomation in South Africa in humans

Snakebites occur in the community, not in the Emergency Unit. As such it is important to understand the first-aid concepts and pre-hospital emergency care aspects of this neglected disease. This article will highlight the concepts for emergency care within the context of the current pre-hospital arena and in light of the recent South African Snakebite Symposium consensus meeting held in July 2022, where wilderness rescue, emergency medical services and other medical participants agreed through evidence review and consensus debate on the current best approaches to care of the snakebite victim outside the hospital environment

Sprachmeister. Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte eines prekären Berufsstands

Vor der Institutionalisierung des fremdsprachlichen Unterrichts an öffentlichen Schulen im ausgehenden 18. und 19. Jahrhundert waren die Rechtsstellung und die materiellen Lebensumstände von Fremdsprachenlehrern oft prekär. Obwohl in den höheren gesellschaftlichen Ständen – im Adel, dem Patriziat, der Kaufmannschaft, dem Offiziersstand und der höheren Beamtenschaft – eine starke Nachfrage nach Kenntnissen lebender Fremdsprachen bestand, fehlten der Vermittlung dieser Kenntnisse zentrale Merkmale eines ehrbaren Gewerbes. Es gab keine geregelte Ausbildung, keine verbindlichen Eintrittsqualifikationen in den Berufsstand und nur vereinzelte korporative Zusammenschlüsse. Entsprechend vielfältig war die Gruppe der Lehrenden: Sie umfasste Glaubensflüchtlinge, abgedankte Soldaten, ehemalige Kleriker, verarmte Adelige, arbeitslose Mediziner und Juristen sowie Handwerker, die sich auf der Wanderschaft Sprachkenntnisse angeeignet hatten. Viele Sprachmeisterkarrieren sind durch hohe geographische Mobilität und biographische Brüche – Glaubenswechsel, Flucht und Vertreibung, berufliche Sackgassen, Delinquenz, Verschuldung, gescheiterte Ehen – geprägt; nur einer Minderheit gelang die dauerhafte Integration in den städtischen Bürgerverband. Auf der anderen Seite boten Fürstenhöfe und Universitäten Sprachmeistern neue Karrierechancen. Zumindest einigen dieser im höfischen und akademischen Milieu tätigen Fremdsprachenlehrer sowie einzelnen besonders beliebten und angesehenen Sprachmeistern in großen Städten gelang es, den prekären Lebensumständen zu entkommen, in welchen die meisten ihrer Kollegen und Kolleginnen stecken blieben. Der vorliegende Sammelband untersucht die Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte dieses heterogenen Berufsstandes in mehreren europäischen Ländern (Frankreich, Deutschland, Polen, Ungarn, Lettland) und geht auch auf die Lehrtätigkeit von Frauen und Angehörigen religiöser Minderheiten in der Frühen Neuzeit ein.Before the teaching of foreign languages was institutionalized in public schools in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the legal and material circumstances of language teachers were often precarious. Despite a strong demand for linguistic skills in the higher echelons of early modern society – among the nobility, urban patricians, merchants, officers and high-ranking public officials – the teaching of modern languages lacked central elements of an honorable trade: formal training, mandatory qualifications for entering the profession and corporate organizations. The profession was correspondingly multi-faceted: It included religious refugees, discharged soldiers, former clergymen, impoverished noblemen, jobless doctors and lawyers as well as artisans who had acquired language skills during their journeymen years in foreign countries. The careers of many language teachers were marked by high geographic mobility and personal crises such as religious conversion, flight and expulsion, abortive professional careers, delinquency, indebtedness and failed marriages. Only a minority were able to integrate themselves into the privileged group of urban citizens. On the other hand, princely courts and universities offered new career options to language teachers. At least some language teachers in courtly and academic settings as well as individuals who acquired exceptional popularity and status in larger cities managed to escape the precarious circumstances which characterized the lives of most of their colleagues. This collection of essays examines the social and cultural history of this heterogeneous profession in several European countries – France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Latvia – and also addresses the teaching activities of women and members of religious minority groups

The effects of temperature and body mass on jump performance of the locust Locusta migratoria

Locusts jump by rapidly releasing energy from cuticular springs built into the hind femur that deform when the femur muscle contracts. This study is the first to examine the effect of temperature on jump energy at each life stage of any orthopteran. Ballistics and high-speed cinematography were used to quantify the energy, distance, and take-off angle of the jump at 15, 25, and 35°C in the locust Locusta migratoria. Allometric analysis across the five juvenile stages at 35°C reveals that jump distance (D; m) scales with body mass (M; g) according to the power equation D = 0.35M0.17±0.08 (95% CI), jump take-off angle (A; degrees) scales as A = 52.5M0.00±0.06, and jump energy (E; mJ per jump) scales as E = 1.91M1.14±0.09. Temperature has no significant effect on the exponent of these relationships, and only a modest effect on the elevation, with an overall Q10 of 1.08 for jump distance and 1.09 for jump energy. On average, adults jump 87% farther and with 74% more energy than predicted based on juvenile scaling data. The positive allometric scaling of jump distance and jump energy across the juvenile life stages is likely facilitated by the concomitant relative increase in the total length (Lf+t; mm) of the femur and tibia of the hind leg, Lf+t = 34.9M0.37±0.02. The weak temperature-dependence of jump performance can be traced to the maximum tension of the hind femur muscle and the energy storage capacity of the femur's cuticular springs. The disproportionately greater jump energy and jump distance of adults is associated with relatively longer (12%) legs and a relatively larger (11%) femur muscle cross-sectional area, which could allow more strain loading into the femur's cuticular springs. Augmented jump performance in volant adult locusts achieves the take-off velocity required to initiate flight.Edward P. Snelling, Christie L. Becker, Roger S. Seymou