Ankle kinetics and plantarflexor morphology in older runners with different lifetime running exposures

Aging is associated with a decline in physical function, cardiovascular health and quality of life. Running promotes better cardiovascular health and has positive effects on the musculoskeletal system in older adults. However, older adults have lower ankle moments and positive powers during running, and exhibit changes in plantarflexor morphology than young adults. These age-related changes contribute to slower running speeds and reduced movement intensity that could influence cardiovascular health. Since older runners who run as much as younger runners exhibit youthful ankle mechanical outputs, running exposure may preserve the locomotor factors that mediate movement speed. The purpose of this study was to compare ankle mechanical output during running and plantarflexor morphological characteristics between older runners who have low or high lifetime running exposure. Twelve older runners with low lifetime running exposure and eight older runners with high lifetime running exposure performed over-ground running trials at 2.7m/s (?5%) while kinematic and ground reaction force (GRF) data were collected. Joint moments and powers were computed using kinematic and GRF data. Right medial gastrocnemius morphological characteristics were assessed using ultrasonography at rest and during isometric contractions. Ankle moments and powers, and plantarflexor morphology were compared between groups using independent t-tests and Coheńђةs d effect sizes. Older runners with different lifetime running exposures ran with similar ankle mechanical output (i.e. no effect of running exposure) (p\u3e0.05). However, older runners with high lifetime exposure ran with greater hip concentric power (p\u3c0.01, d=1.16), despite similar hip extension torques (p\u3c0.05). Plantarflexor morphological characteristics were similar between lifetime running exposure groups. The findings from this study demonstrate that lifetime running exposure does not influence ankle mechanical output or plantarflexor morphology in older runners but that high lifetime running exposure may lead to greater concentric hip joint involvement during running

Transformative Acts: Arab American Writing/Writing Arab America.

This dissertation explores Arab American writing and the intersections from which it originates, chronicling the emergence of Arab American literature throughout the twentieth and into the twenty first century, and situating this writing within the context of issues – in particular, race, ethnicity, politics, war, transnationalism, and feminist critique -- that have shaped both Arab American literature and Arab American identity. The dissertation questions formulations that would codify Arab American culture and experience on the basis of a linear trajectory from Arab to American, explores some of the ways in which this literature challenges and transforms the boundaries of ethnicity, and interrogates the possibilities of agency that emerge in contemporary Arab American writing. At the same time, through a series of interpolated creative and personal texts, it engages in an exploration of the kinds of narratives and poetics that result from the interface between “Arab” and “American,” offering a self-reflexive perspective on what it means to write as an Arab American. Chapters include: 1) Mapping the Terrain: Cultural Contexts, Literary Texts; 2) In Search of an Arab American Literature: Personal Explorations, Critical Questions; 3) Arab Americans and the Meanings of Race; 4) The Politics of Memory; 5) Locations, Coalitions and Cultural Negotiations; 6) Representation and Resistance: Etel Adnan’s Sitt Marie Rose and the Critical Dimensions of Voice; 7) Transfigurations: Home-space in Arab American Women’s Fiction; 8) Speaking Beyond Translation: Narratives and Interventions; 9) Geographies of Light: Poems and Possibilities; 10) Arab American Literature Today: The Road Forward.Ph.D.American CultureUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91383/1/lmajaj_1.pd

Midkine - A novel player in cardiovascular diseases

Midkine (MK) is a 13-kDa heparin-binding cytokine and growth factor with anti-apoptotic, pro-angiogenic, pro-inflammatory and anti-infective functions, that enable it to partake in a series of physiological and pathophysiological processes. In the past, research revolving around MK has concentrated on its roles in reproduction and development, tissue protection and repair as well as inflammatory and malignant processes. In the recent few years, MK's implication in a wide scope of cardiovascular diseases has been rigorously investigated. Nonetheless, there is still no broadly accepted consensus on whether MK exerts generally detrimental or favorable effects in cardiovascular diseases. The truth probably resides somewhere in-between and depends on the underlying physiological or pathophysiological condition. It is therefore crucial to thoroughly examine and appraise MK's participation in cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we introduce the MK gene and protein, its multiple receptors and signaling pathways along with its expression in the vascular system and its most substantial functions in cardiovascular biology. Further, we recapitulate the current evidence of MK's expression in cardiovascular diseases, addressing the various sources and modes of MK expression. Moreover, we summarize the most significant implications of MK in cardiovascular diseases with particular emphasis on MK's advantageous and injurious functions, highlighting its ample diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Also, we focus on conflicting roles of MK in a number of cardiovascular diseases and try to provide some clarity and guidance to MK's multifaceted roles. In summary, we aim to pave the way for MK-based diagnostics and therapies that could present promising tools in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases

The Neural Representation Benchmark and its Evaluation on Brain and Machine

A key requirement for the development of effective learning representations is their evaluation and comparison to representations we know to be effective. In natural sensory domains, the community has viewed the brain as a source of inspiration and as an implicit benchmark for success. However, it has not been possible to directly test representational learning algorithms directly against the representations contained in neural systems. Here, we propose a new benchmark for visual representations on which we have directly tested the neural representation in multiple visual cortical areas in macaque (utilizing data from [Majaj et al., 2012]), and on which any computer vision algorithm that produces a feature space can be tested. The benchmark measures the effectiveness of the neural or machine representation by computing the classification loss on the ordered eigendecomposition of a kernel matrix [Montavon et al., 2011]. In our analysis we find that the neural representation in visual area IT is superior to visual area V4. In our analysis of representational learning algorithms, we find that three-layer models approach the representational performance of V4 and the algorithm in [Le et al., 2012] surpasses the performance of V4. Impressively, we find that a recent supervised algorithm [Krizhevsky et al., 2012] achieves performance comparable to that of IT for an intermediate level of image variation difficulty, and surpasses IT at a higher difficulty level. We believe this result represents a major milestone: it is the first learning algorithm we have found that exceeds our current estimate of IT representation performance. We hope that this benchmark will assist the community in matching the representational performance of visual cortex and will serve as an initial rallying point for further correspondence between representations derived in brains and machines.Comment: The v1 version contained incorrectly computed kernel analysis curves and KA-AUC values for V4, IT, and the HT-L3 models. They have been corrected in this versio

“It’s not easy to acknowledge that I’m ill”: a qualitative investigation into the health seeking behavior of rural Palestinian women

Background: This qualitative study sets to fill a gap in knowledge by exploring the health seeking behaviour of rural women living in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The existing literature on the oPt has so far focused on unravelling the country’s epidemiological and health system profile, but has largely neglected the assessment of factors shaping people’s decisions on health care use. Methods: Based on a conceptual framework rooted in the Anderson behavioural model, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with purposely selected women and seven key informant interviews in three purposely selected villages in Ramallah district. Results: Our findings indicate that women delay seeking professional care, use self-prescribed medications and home treatment, and do not use preventive and educational health services. Their health seeking behaviour is the result of the interplay of several factors: their gendered socio-cultural role; their health beliefs; financial affordability and geographical accessibility; their perceptions of the quality of care; and their perceived health needs. Conclusions: Findings are discussed in the light of their policy implications, suggesting that adequate health policy planning ought to take into considerations socio-cultural dimensions beyond those directly pertinent to the health care system