The Effect of Wrist Position on Finger Tendon Loads Following Pulley Sectioning and Operative Reconstruction

© 2019 The Authors Purpose: Postoperative rehabilitation is important for maximizing patient outcomes after surgical pulley reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal wrist position in which rehabilitation should be undertaken to decrease the load on surgically reconstructed pulleys. Methods: We tested 14 digits composed of the index, middle, and ring fingers from 5 cadaveric specimens in a novel in vitro finger motion simulator designed to achieve full finger flexion and extension actively. Servo-motors were used to generate motion through tendons under load or position control while measuring tendon forces, joint range of motion, and tendon excursion. Flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) and flexor digitorum superficialis loads were measured sequentially with native intact pulleys and A2 and A4 pulleys sectioned, and with reconstructed A2 and A4 pulleys. Each condition was tested with the wrist neutral and with 30° wrist flexion or extension. The effect of wrist position on FDP and flexor digitorum superficialis loads under each condition was analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: With pulleys reconstructed, the wrist position had a significant effect on tendon load. The flexed wrist position resulted in a 31% reduction of FDP load compared with the neutral wrist position. Wrist extension also produced an apparent reduction of 14%, although not statistically significant. Conclusions: After pulley repair, placing the wrist in 30° flexion decreased tension in the FDP tendon compared with a neutral wrist. Clinical relevance: This study suggests that rehabilitation should be carried out with the wrist flexed to reduce the load on pulley reconstructions

Profile and Predictors of Voluntary Civic Engagement at a Private University in Egypt

This study explored the characteristics and predictors of university student voluntary civic engagement. It was conducted at a private university in Egypt, a developing country where student volunteerism has the potential to significantly impact community development efforts. A total of 518 students responded to the study. Consistent with previous literature, students who chose to participate in community service clubs were more likely to be female and religious. They moreover reported greater commitment to civic service as well as pride and commitment to the university. Results suggested that volunteers fit an “Egyptianized” profile with characteristics including: Egyptian nationality, Muslim religion, attending a high-school located in a less privileged rural governorate, graduating from an Egyptian public school system, being more religious, and speaking more Arabic than English socially. Levels of depression did not differ between volunteers and non-volunteers; however, volunteers reported higher anxiety. Suggestions for future research are offered and findings are discussed in terms of their significance for community practice nationally, regionally and globally

Profile and Predictors of Voluntary Civic Engagement at a Private University in Egypt

This study explored the characteristics and predictors of university student voluntary civic engagement. It was conducted at a private university in Egypt, a developing country where student volunteerism has the potential to significantly impact community development efforts. A total of 518 students responded to the study. Consistent with previous literature, students who chose to participate in community service clubs were more likely to be female and religious. They moreover reported greater commitment to civic service as well as pride and commitment to the university. Results suggested that volunteers fit an “Egyptianized” profile with characteristics including: Egyptian nationality, Muslim religion, attending a high-school located in a less privileged rural governorate, graduating from an Egyptian public school system, being more religious, and speaking more Arabic than English socially. Levels of depression did not differ between volunteers and non-volunteers; however, volunteers reported higher anxiety. Suggestions for future research are offered and findings are discussed in terms of their significance for community practice nationally, regionally and globally

Simulation of boron diffusion during low-temperature annealing of implanted silicon

Modeling of ion-implanted boron redistribution in silicon crystals during low-temperature annealing with a small thermal budget has been carried out. It was shown that formation of "tails"' in the low-concentration region of impurity profiles occurs due to the long-range migration of boron interstitialsComment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Cellular composition characterizing postnatal development and maturation of the mouse brain and spinal cord

The process of development, maturation, and regression in the central nervous system (CNS) are genetically programmed and influenced by environment. Hitherto, most research efforts have focused on either the early development of the CNS or the late changes associated with aging, whereas an important period corresponding to adolescence has been overlooked. In this study, we searched for age-dependent changes in the number of cells that compose the CNS (divided into isocortex, hippocampus, olfactory bulb, cerebellum, ‘rest of the brain’, and spinal cord) and the pituitary gland in 4–40-week-old C57BL6 mice, using the isotropic fractionator method in combination with neuronal nuclear protein as a marker for neuronal cells. We found that all CNS structures, except for the isocortex, increased in mass in the period of 4–15 weeks. Over the same period, the absolute number of neurons significantly increased in the olfactory bulb and cerebellum while non-neuronal cell numbers increased in the ‘rest of the brain’ and isocortex. Along with the gain in body length and weight, the pituitary gland also increased in mass and cell number, the latter correlating well with changes of the brain and spinal cord mass. The majority of the age-dependent alterations (e.g., somatic parameters, relative brain mass, number of pituitary cells, and cellular composition of the cerebellum, isocortex, rest of the brain, and spinal cord) occur rapidly between the 4th and 11th postnatal weeks. This period includes murine adolescence, underscoring the significance of this stage in the postnatal development of the mouse CNS

The Confidence Database

Understanding how people rate their confidence is critical for the characterization of a wide range of perceptual, memory, motor and cognitive processes. To enable the continued exploration of these processes, we created a large database of confidence studies spanning a broad set of paradigms, participant populations and fields of study. The data from each study are structured in a common, easy-to-use format that can be easily imported and analysed using multiple software packages. Each dataset is accompanied by an explanation regarding the nature of the collected data. At the time of publication, the Confidence Database (which is available at https://osf.io/s46pr/) contained 145 datasets with data from more than 8,700 participants and almost 4 million trials. The database will remain open for new submissions indefinitely and is expected to continue to grow. Here we show the usefulness of this large collection of datasets in four different analyses that provide precise estimations of several foundational confidence-related effects

Experimental investigations into the roll damping characteristics of a warship hullform

This report presents the results of an experimental program carried out in the IMD Clearwater Towing Tank to investigate the roll damping characteristics of a 9m warship hull form.NRC publication: Ye