Villa Voortman : carte blanche or not?

Purpose - Influenced by evolutions in mental health, a meeting house, "Villa Voortman", was recently developed. It is based on an integration of therapeutic community (TC) and psychoanalytical Lacanian thinking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the position of Villa Voortman in the treatment continuum for dually diagnosed clients. Two research questions are addressed: how does Villa Voortman operate ? and how do clients perceive the Villa? Design/methodology/approach - The first question was tackled by a personal account of the founders of Villa Voortman. The second question was addressed by a qualitative study using video-material of 19 visitors' personal accounts. Findings - The visitors mentioned three themes: social inclusion, personal development and equality. These aspects are further refined into sub-themes including the provision of "asylum"; the instalment of a warm and welcoming atmosphere; the focus on real human encounter; a permissive, supportive and "waiting" environment; a minimal but "good enough" structure; the necessity of a place where persons can develop themselves; the striving for social inclusion and future perspectives; and the support in becoming inclusive citizens again. Originality/value - The value of the paper lies in disclosing the visitors' lived experience. This is an essential part of shedding light on the "active ingredients" of support, In reference to the title, visitors nor treatment staff have "carte blanche" with regard to how support develops, as this is driven by the dialectal course of everything that occurs during the support process

Cerebellar Activation During Simple and Complex Bimanual Coordination:an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) Meta-analysis

Bimanual coordination is an important part of everyday life and recruits a large neural network, including the cerebellum. The specific role of the cerebellum in bimanual coordination has not yet been studied in depth, although several studies indicate a differential role of the anterior and posterior cerebellum depending on the complexity of the coordination. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was used combining the data of several functional MRI studies involving bimanual coordination tasks with varying complexities to unravel the involvement of the different areas of the cerebellum in simple and complex bimanual coordination. This study confirms the general bimanual network as found by Puttemans et al. (Puttemans et al. in J Neurosci 25:4270-4278, 2005) and highlights the differences between preferred in-phase (simultaneous movements of homologous muscle groups) and anti-phase movement conditions (alternating movements of homologous muscle groups), and more complex, non-preferred bimanual movements (e.g., out-of-phase movements). Our results show a differential role for the anterior and posterior vermis in bimanual coordination, with a role for the anterior vermis in anti-phase and complex bimanual coordination, and an exclusive role for the posterior vermis in complex bimanual movements. In addition, the way complexity was manipulated also seems to play a role in the involvement of the anterior and posterior vermis. We hypothesize that the anterior vermis is involved in sequential/spatial control, while the posterior vermis is involved in temporal control of (bimanual) coordination, though other factors such as (visual) feedback and continuity of the movement also seem to have an impact. More studies are needed to unravel the specific role of the cerebellar vermis in bimanual coordination

Annual Report Town of Bowdoinham Maine 2013

Perceptual processes play an important role in motor learning. While it is evident that visual information greatly contributes to learning new movements, much less is known about provision of prescriptive proprioceptive information. Here, we investigated whether passive (proprioceptively-based) movement training was comparable to active training for learning a new bimanual task. Three groups practiced a bimanual coordination pattern with a 1∶2 frequency ratio and a 90° phase offset between both wrists with Lissajous feedback over the course of four days: 1) passive training; 2) active training; 3) no training (control). Retention findings revealed that passive as compared to active training resulted in equally successful acquisition of the frequency ratio but active training was more effective for acquisition of the new relative phasing between the limbs in the presence of augmented visual feedback. However, when this feedback was removed, performance of the new relative phase deteriorated in both groups whereas the frequency ratio was better preserved. The superiority of active over passive training in the presence of augmented feedback is hypothesized to result from active involvement in processes of error detection/correction and planning.status: publishe

Brain macrophages in human cortical contusions as indicator of survival period

The aim of this study was to establish a morphologic time scheme with which cases of cerebral contusion with unknown survival periods can be dated. Our study of 275 cases was limited to qualitative and quantitative changes in macrophages. The appearance of macrophages and their distribution as well as their content of neutral fat, esterified cholesterol, erythrocytes, siderin, hematoidin, and ceroid were correlated with the survival period. For each cytologic criterium, the observation period, distribution-free limits of tolerance, and relative frequency of identification in different survival periods were determined, and the limits of confidence calculated. The findings permit the dating of trauma in cases with unknown survival periods. Moreover, the probability of this dating was calculated

Recommandations pour l'éducation et l'accueil des jeunes enfants (EAJE) dans les trois Communautés de Belgique

Ce document, produit par le groupe OMEP Belgique (Organisation Mondiale d'Education Préscolaire), composé d'acteurs et actrices de l'accueil de la petite enfance, de l'école maternelle, de la formation et de la recherche des trois communautés linguistiques de Belgique propose six recommandations pour développer la qualité des services d'éducation et d'accueil des jeunes enfants en accord avec les recommandations internationales et les orientations à privilégier localement.Organisation Mondiale pour l’Education Préscolaire (OMEP) - Belgiqu

Repetitive afferent electrical stimulation of the lower-limb : effect on corticomotor excitability and implications for rehabilitation

Despite the extensive work published on the effects of electrical stimulation on corticomotor excitability, very few studies have focused on lower limb muscles. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of high-frequency afferent electrical stimulation of the anterior thigh area on the corticomotor excitability of lower limb muscles. Twenty-two healthy subjects (mean age 23 ± 7 yrs) participated in the study. Electrical stimulation was applied for 60 minutes on the anterior thigh area (frequency 100 Hz, pulse duration 60 µs, intensity below motor threshold). Motor evoked potentials (MEP) of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles were recorded before, and after the electrical stimulation paradigm with a Magstim 200 stimulator. Analyses revealed a significant modulation in MEP amplitude for the RF but not for the BF muscle. Specifically, there was a significant reduction in MEP amplitude for the RF muscle immediately, 15 minutes and 30 minutes after the end of electrical stimulation when compared with baseline. The present results indicate that a 60-minute high-frequency electrical stimulation protocol applied on the anterior thigh area decreases the corticomotor excitability of the RF muscle. Although the exact duration remains unknown, the pattern of modulation observed indicates that the inhibitory effect lasts for more than 30 minutes after the end of stimulation, giving enough time for clinicians to work on the desired motor task during rehabilitation

Improving Human Plateaued Motor Skill with Somatic Stimulation

Procedural motor learning includes a period when no substantial gain in performance improvement is obtained even with repeated, daily practice. Prompted by the potential benefit of high-frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation, we examined if the stimulation to the hand reduces redundant motor activity that likely exists in an acquired hand motor skill, so as to further upgrade stable motor performance. Healthy participants were trained until their motor performance of continuously rotating two balls in the palm of their right hand became stable. In the series of experiments, they repeated a trial performing this cyclic rotation as many times as possible in 15 s. In trials where we applied the stimulation to the relaxed thumb before they initiated the task, most reported that their movements became smoother and they could perform the movements at a higher cycle compared to the control trials. This was not possible when the dorsal side of the wrist was stimulated. The performance improvement was associated with reduction of amplitude of finger displacement, which was consistently observed irrespective of the task demands. Importantly, this kinematic change occurred without being noticed by the participants, and their intentional changes of motor strategies (reducing amplitude of finger displacement) never improved the performance. Moreover, the performance never spontaneously improved during one-week training without stimulation, whereas the improvement in association with stimulation was consistently observed across days during training on another week combined with the stimulation. The improved effect obtained in stimulation trials on one day partially carried over to the next day, thereby promoting daily improvement of plateaued performance, which could not be unlocked by the first-week intensive training. This study demonstrated the possibility of effectively improving a plateaued motor skill, and pre-movement somatic stimulation driving this behavioral change

Penrose limit, Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and Holography in PP-Wave Background

We argue that the gauge theory dual to the Type IIB string theory in ten-dimensional pp-wave background can be thought to `live' on an {\it Euclidean} subspace spanning four of the eight transverse coordinates. We then show that light-cone time evolution of the string is identifiable as the RG flow of the gauge theory -- a relation facilitating `holography' of the pp-wave background. The `holography' reorganizes the dual gauge theory into theories defined over Hilbert subspaces of fixed R-charge. The reorganization breaks the SO(4,2)$\times$SO(6) symmetry to a maximal subgroup SO(4)$\times$ SO(4) spontaneously. We argue that the low-energy string modes may be regarded as Goldstone modes resulting from such symmetry breaking pattern.Comment: LateX 24 pages; v2 : new subsection added about relation to usual Yang-Mills, references adde

Testing Multiple Coordination Constraints with a Novel Bimanual Visuomotor Task

The acquisition of a new bimanual skill depends on several motor coordination constraints. To date, coordination constraints have often been tested relatively independently of one another, particularly with respect to isofrequency and multifrequency rhythms. Here, we used a new paradigm to test the interaction of multiple coordination constraints. Coordination constraints that were tested included temporal complexity, directionality, muscle grouping, and hand dominance. Twenty-two healthy young adults performed a bimanual dial rotation task that required left and right hand coordination to track a moving target on a computer monitor. Two groups were compared, either with or without four days of practice with augmented visual feedback. Four directional patterns were tested such that both hands moved either rightward (clockwise), leftward (counterclockwise), inward or outward relative to each other. Seven frequency ratios (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2, 1∶1, 2∶3. 1∶2, 1∶3) between the left and right hand were introduced. As expected, isofrequency patterns (1∶1) were performed more successfully than multifrequency patterns (non 1∶1). In addition, performance was more accurate when participants were required to move faster with the dominant right hand (1∶3, 1∶2 and 2∶3) than with the non-dominant left hand (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2). Interestingly, performance deteriorated as the relative angular velocity between the two hands increased, regardless of whether the required frequency ratio was an integer or non-integer. This contrasted with previous finger tapping research where the integer ratios generally led to less error than the non-integer ratios. We suggest that this is due to the different movement topologies that are required of each paradigm. Overall, we found that this visuomotor task was useful for testing the interaction of multiple coordination constraints as well as the release from these constraints with practice in the presence of augmented visual feedback

Dual practice in the health sector: review of the evidence

This paper reports on income generation practices among civil servants in the health sector, with a particular emphasis on dual practice. It first approaches the subject of public–private overlap. Thereafter it focuses on coping strategies in general and then on dual practice in particular. To compensate for unrealistically low salaries, health workers rely on individual coping strategies. Many clinicians combine salaried, public-sector clinical work with a fee-for-service private clientele. This dual practice is often a means by which health workers try to meet their survival needs, reflecting the inability of health ministries to ensure adequate salaries and working conditions. Dual practice may be considered present in most countries, if not all. Nevertheless, there is surprisingly little hard evidence about the extent to which health workers resort to dual practice, about the balance of economic and other motives for doing so, or about the consequences for the proper use of the scarce public resources dedicated to health. In this paper dual practice is approached from six different perspectives: (1) conceptual, regarding what is meant by dual practice; (2) descriptive, trying to develop a typology of dual practices; (3) quantitative, trying to determine its prevalence; (4) impact on personal income, the health care system and health status; (5) qualitative, looking at the reasons why practitioners so frequently remain in public practice while also working in the private sector and at contextual, personal life, institutional and professional factors that make it easier or more difficult to have dual practices; and (6) possible interventions to deal with dual practice