Constrained action selection in children with developmental coordination disorder

The effect of advance (‘precue’) information on short aiming movements was explored in adults, high school children, and primary school children with and without developmental coordination disorder (n = 10, 14, 16, 10, respectively). Reaction times in the DCD group were longer than in the other groups and were more influenced by the extent to which the precue constrained the possible action space. In contrast, reaction time did not alter as a function of precue condition in adults. Children with DCD showed greater inaccuracy of response (despite the increased RT). We suggest that the different precue effects reflect differences in the relative benefits of priming an action prior to definitive information about the movement goal. The benefits are an interacting function of the task and the skill level of the individual. Our experiment shows that children with DCD gain a benefit from advance preparation in simple aiming movements, highlighting their low skill levels. This result suggests that goal-directed RTs may have diagnostic potential within the clinic

A new animal model of atrial flutter

A new, simple and reliable model of atrial flutter utilizing postpericardiotomy pericarditis was developed in the dog. Using a sterile technique, the pericardium was opened by way of a right thoracotomy, Teflon-coated, stainless steel wire electrodes were fixed to three selected sites on the atria and exteriorized, the atrial surfaces were generously dusted with talcum powder and a single layer of gauze was placed on the free left and right atrial walls. The dogs were allowed to recover. Subsequently, the inducibility of atrial flutter and selected electrophysiologic properties of the atria were determined by daily programmed atrial stimulation studies with the dogs in the conscious, nonsedated state.Atrial flutter could be induced in 23 of 25 dogs initially studied. It was sustained (that is, lasting ≥5 min) in 17 of the 23. Neither atrial excitability, Intraatrial conduction time nor atrial refractoriness determined by pacing and recording from the three fixed sites predicted the inducibility of atrial flutter. One hundred thirty-nine episodes of atrial flutter induced in these 23 dogs were analyzed. The mean sustained atrial flutter cycle length was 131 ± 20 ms (mean ± SD) (range 100 to 170); the atrial flutter cycle length was 150 ms or more in 23 episodes, between 120 and 150 ms in 64 episodes and 120 ms or less in 52 episodes.In five dogs, the stability of the atrial flutter cycle length during sustained atrial flutter was studied and shown to be remarkably stable in all five until interrupted by rapid atria) pacing 35 to 95 minutes after its induction. Seventeen dogs were submitted to reoperation for epicardial mapping purposes and atrial flutter could be induced in the open chest state in 12. In conclusion, this sterile pericarditis model of atrial flutter in the canine heart proved to be highly reliable, reproducible and easy to create

A study of constitutional psychopathic personalities and their community adjustments from the Metropolitan State Hospital

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universityhttps://archive.org/details/studyofconstitut00plu

Entanglement transition in rod packings

Random packings of stiff rods are self-supporting mechanical structures stabilized by long range interactions induced by contacts. To understand the geometrical and topological complexity of the packings, we deploy X-ray computerized tomography to unveil the structure of the packing. This allows us to define and directly visualize the spatial variations in the entanglement, a mesoscopic field that characterizes the local average crossing number, a measure of the topological complexity of the packing. We show that the entanglement field has information that is distinct from the density, orientational order, and contact distribution of the packing. We find that increasing the aspect ratio of the constituent rods in a packing leads to a proliferation of regions of strong entanglement that eventually percolate through the system, and this is correlated with a sharp transition in the mechanical response of the packing. We conclude with a tentative entanglement phase diagram for the mechanical response of dense rod packings that is likely relevant for a broad range of problems that goes beyond our specific study

Patient Activation with Knowledge, Self-Management, and Confidence in Chronic Kidney Disease

Background Chronic kidney disease is a growing health problem on a global scale. The increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease presents an urgent need to better understand the knowledge, confidence and engagement in self-managing the disease. Objectives This study examined group differences in patient activation and health-related quality of life, knowledge, self-management and confidence with managing chronic disease across all five stages of chronic kidney disease. Design The study employed a descriptive correlational design. Settings Participants were recruited from five primary care, three nephrology clinics and one dialysis centre in two Midwestern cities in the United States. Participants The convenience sample included 85 adults with hypertension, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, including kidney failure, who spoke English. Measurements Seven measurements were used to collect data via telephone interviews with participants not receiving haemodialysis, and face-to-face interviews with those receiving haemodialysis at the beginning of their treatment session. Results Analyses indicated that half the participants were female (50.58%), the mean age was 63.21 years (SD = 13.11), and participants with chronic kidney disease stage 3 were the most activated. Post hoc differences were significant in patient activation and blood pressure self-management and anxiety across chronic kidney disease stages, excluding stage 5. Conclusion Engaging patients in the self-management of their health care and enhancing patients’ ability to self-manage their blood pressure may work to preserve kidney health. Healthcare providers should collaborate with patients to develop strategies that will maintain patients’ health-related quality of life, like reducing anxiety as kidney disease progress