Infraspinatus scapular retraction test: a reliable and practical method to assess infraspinatus strength in overhead athletes with scapular dyskinesis

Background Alteration of normal scapulohumeral rhythm due to the fatigue of scapular-stabilizing muscles induces decrease of rotator cuff strength. In this study we analyzed the interobserver and intraobserver realibility of the infraspinatus strength test (IST) and infraspinatus scapular retraction test (ISRT) in 29 overhead athletes with scapular dykinesis, before and after 6 months of scapular musculature rehabilitation. Materials and methods Subjects with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of labral injuries (2 cases, 5%) and cuff tears (4 cases, 11%) were excluded. Scapular dyskinesis patterns were evaluated according to Kibler et al. (J Shoulder Elbow Surg 11:550-556, 2002). We found a type I dyskinesis in 24 cases (83%) and a type II in 5 cases (17%). Patients were tested by using IST and ISRT and the maximum infraspinatus strength (kg) was registered by a handheld dynamometer. Changes in shoulder IR were measured by using a standard goniometry. Rehabilitation continued for 6 months and was focused on the restoration of scapular muscular control and balance. We used a paired Student t test for the significance of the force values (alpha = 0.01). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error (SE) were applied to determine the realibility of repeated values collected within testers and between testers. Results Values of ICC close to 1 at baseline and at 6 months indicated a higher interexaminer and intraexaminer realibility. IST force values registered a significant increase at 6 months for both examiners (P<0.01). The mean difference between IST and ISRT values were not significant at 6 months (P>0.01). The increase of glenohumeral internal rotation was significant at 6 months (P<0.01). Conclusion The good realibility and the easy reproducibility make the ISRT an excellent test to assess patients with infraspinatus weakness due to scapular dyskinesis and address them toward an appropriate program of rehabilitation aimed to restore scapular musculature balance and control. \ua9 The Author(s) 2010

Psychosocial impact of the summer 2007 floods in England

Background The summer of 2007 was the wettest in the UK since records began in 1914 and resulted in severe flooding in several regions. We carried out a health impact assessment using population-based surveys to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for the psychosocial consequences of this flooding in the United Kingdom. Methods Surveys were conducted in two regions using postal, online, telephone questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Exposure variables included the presence of flood water in the home, evacuation and disruption to essential services (incident management variables), perceived impact of the floods on finances, house values and perceived health concerns. Validated tools were used to assess psychosocial outcome (mental health symptoms): psychological distress (GHQ-12), anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9) and probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD checklist-shortform). Multivariable logistic regression was used to describe the association between water level in the home, psychological exposure variables and incident management variables, and each mental health symptom, adjusted for age, sex, presence of an existing medical condition, employment status, area and data collection method. Results The prevalence of all mental health symptoms was two to five-fold higher among individuals affected by flood water in the home. People who perceived negative impact on finances were more likely to report psychological distress (OR 2.5, 1.8-3.4), probable anxiety (OR 1.8, 1.3-2.7) probable depression (OR 2.0, 1.3-2.9) and probable PTSD (OR 3.2, 2.0-5.2). Disruption to essential services increased adverse psychological outcomes by two to three-fold. Evacuation was associated with some increase in psychological distress but not significantly for the other three measures. Conclusion The psychosocial and mental health impact of flooding is a growing public health concern and improved strategies for minimising disruption to essential services and financial worries need to be built in to emergency preparedness and response systems. Public Health Agencies should address the underlying predictors of adverse psychosocial and mental health when providing information and advice to people who are or are likely to be affected by flooding

In vivo axial loading of the mouse tibia

Noninvasive methods to apply controlled, cyclic loads to the living skeleton are used as anabolic procedures to stimulate new bone formation in adults and enhance bone mass accrual in growing animals. These methods are also invaluable for understanding bone signaling pathways. Our focus here is on a particular loading model: in vivo axial compression of the mouse tibia. An advantage of loading the tibia is that changes are present in both the cancellous envelope of the proximal tibia and the cortical bone of the tibial diaphysis. To load the tibia of the mouse axially in vivo, a cyclic compressive load is applied up to five times a week to a single tibia per mouse for a duration lasting from 1 day to 6 weeks. With the contralateral limb as an internal control, the anabolic response of the skeleton to mechanical stimuli can be studied in a pairwise experimental design. Here, we describe the key parameters that must be considered before beginning an in vivo mouse tibial loading experiment, including methods for in vivo strain gauging of the tibial midshaft, and then we describe general methods for loading the mouse tibia for an experiment lasting multiple days

LED Arrays as Cost Effective and Efficient Light Sources for Widefield Microscopy

New developments in fluorophores as well as in detection methods have fueled the rapid growth of optical imaging in the life sciences. Commercial widefield microscopes generally use arc lamps, excitation/emission filters and shutters for fluorescence imaging. These components can be expensive, difficult to maintain and preclude stable illumination. Here, we describe methods to construct inexpensive and easy-to-use light sources for optical microscopy using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We also provide examples of its applicability to biological fluorescence imaging

Hard-Object Feeding in Sooty Mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) and Interpretation of Early Hominin Feeding Ecology

Morphology of the dentofacial complex of early hominins has figured prominently in the inference of their dietary adaptations. Recent theoretical analysis of craniofacial morphology of Australopithecus africanus proposes that skull form in this taxon represents adaptation to feeding on large, hard objects. A modern analog for this specific dietary specialization is provided by the West African sooty mangabey, Cercocebus atys. This species habitually feeds on the large, exceptionally hard nuts of Sacoglottis gabonensis, stereotypically crushing the seed casings using their premolars and molars. This type of behavior has been inferred for A. africanus based on mathematical stress analysis and aspects of dental wear and morphology. While postcanine megadontia, premolar enlargement and thick molar enamel characterize both A. africanus and C. atys, these features are not universally associated with durophagy among living anthropoids. Occlusal microwear analysis reveals complex microwear textures in C. atys unlike those observed in A. africanus, but more closely resembling textures observed in Paranthropus robustus. Since sooty mangabeys process hard objects in a manner similar to that proposed for A. africanus, yet do so without the craniofacial buttressing characteristic of this hominin, it follows that derived features of the australopith skull are sufficient but not necessary for the consumption of large, hard objects. The adaptive significance of australopith craniofacial morphology may instead be related to the toughness, rather than the hardness, of ingested foods

A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws

A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust, bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero' relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies, whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling. For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to Springer: 07-June-201

The Main Belt Comets and ice in the Solar System

We review the evidence for buried ice in the asteroid belt; specifically the questions around the so-called Main Belt Comets (MBCs). We summarise the evidence for water throughout the Solar System, and describe the various methods for detecting it, including remote sensing from ultraviolet to radio wavelengths. We review progress in the first decade of study of MBCs, including observations, modelling of ice survival, and discussion on their origins. We then look at which methods will likely be most effective for further progress, including the key challenge of direct detection of (escaping) water in these bodies

First observations of separated atmospheric nu_mu and bar{nu-mu} events in the MINOS detector

The complete 5.4 kton MINOS far detector has been taking data since the beginning of August 2003 at a depth of 2070 meters water-equivalent in the Soudan mine, Minnesota. This paper presents the first MINOS observations of nuµ and [overline nu ]µ charged-current atmospheric neutrino interactions based on an exposure of 418 days. The ratio of upward- to downward-going events in the data is compared to the Monte Carlo expectation in the absence of neutrino oscillations, giving Rup/downdata/Rup/downMC=0.62-0.14+0.19(stat.)±0.02(sys.). An extended maximum likelihood analysis of the observed L/E distributions excludes the null hypothesis of no neutrino oscillations at the 98% confidence level. Using the curvature of the observed muons in the 1.3 T MINOS magnetic field nuµ and [overline nu ]µ interactions are separated. The ratio of [overline nu ]µ to nuµ events in the data is compared to the Monte Carlo expectation assuming neutrinos and antineutrinos oscillate in the same manner, giving R[overline nu ][sub mu]/nu[sub mu]data/R[overline nu ][sub mu]/nu[sub mu]MC=0.96-0.27+0.38(stat.)±0.15(sys.), where the errors are the statistical and systematic uncertainties. Although the statistics are limited, this is the first direct observation of atmospheric neutrino interactions separately for nuµ and [overline nu ]µ

A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Evidence for an excess of B -> D(*) Tau Nu decays

Based on the full BaBar data sample, we report improved measurements of the ratios R(D(*)) = B(B -> D(*) Tau Nu)/B(B -> D(*) l Nu), where l is either e or mu. These ratios are sensitive to new physics contributions in the form of a charged Higgs boson. We measure R(D) = 0.440 +- 0.058 +- 0.042 and R(D*) = 0.332 +- 0.024 +- 0.018, which exceed the Standard Model expectations by 2.0 sigma and 2.7 sigma, respectively. Taken together, our results disagree with these expectations at the 3.4 sigma level. This excess cannot be explained by a charged Higgs boson in the type II two-Higgs-doublet model. We also report the observation of the decay B -> D Tau Nu, with a significance of 6.8 sigma.Comment: Expanded section on systematics, text corrections, improved the format of Figure 2 and included the effect of the change of the Tau polarization due to the charged Higg