The relationship between physical mobility and firefighter occupational task performance.

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(3): 1216-1227, 2023. Firefighters work in a dangerous profession with high injury rates. Mobility dysfunction in firefighters may impact performance and contribute to injury. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is commonly used to evaluate individuals for mobility dysfunction and compensatory movements. The purpose of this study was to identify if mobility is related to firefighters\u27 occupational task performance. This was a retrospective study assessing 29 career firefighters using FMS and occupational performance task scores. Statistical analyses consisted of a multiple linear regression assessing predictors on occupational task performance, and 21 point-biserial correlations ran to assess the relationship between each individual predictor and occupational task performance. Of the 21 point-biserial correlations, four were found to be significant, indicating a relationship between the FMS and occupational task performance. Inline Lunge L had a negative correlation with occupational task time and was statistically significant (rpb = -0.46, p = 0.012); Inline Lunge R had a negative correlation of moderate strength (rpb = -0.583, p = 0.001), Inline Lunge Combined had a negative correlation of moderate strength (rpb = -0.523, p = 0.004), and Shoulder Mobility L had a negative correlation of moderate strength (rpb = -0.445, p = 0.016). This study determined that the Inline Lunge component of the FMS may be a key element in occupational task performance

Science, Innovation, and Innovation in the Science of Pharmacy

Type: Invitatio

Upper Extremity Superficial Vein Thromboses Presenting as Acute Neck Pain in a Young and Healthy Male: A Case Report

# Background and Purpose Neck pain in the United States is pervasive and contributes to disability. While the majority of neck pain in young and healthy individuals is neuromusculoskeletal in nature, screening for red flags is necessary for ruling-out serious medical pathologies. The purpose of this case report is to describe a young and healthy male subject with a primary complaint of acute neck pain with multiple underlying upper extremity superficial vein thromboses (UESVTs). # Case Description The subject was a 27-year-old male active-duty Soldier referred to physical therapy by his primary care provider (PCP) for acute left-sided neck pain. Prior to physical therapy, the subject had been treated with cyclobenzaprine, oxycodone-acetaminophen, trigger point injection and had undergone a D-dimer to rule out a potential thrombus due to air travel and lower extremity immobilization. # Outcomes The subject underwent a D-dimer, Doppler ultrasound, pharmacological treatment of Rivaroxaban, and was referred to hematology/oncology to rule out systemic causes of SVTs. Evidence of subtle increases in blood pressure over the course of three months, a positive D-dimer, and symptoms incongruent with clinical presentation contributed to referral to a hematology/oncology specialist and a diagnosis of multiple UESVTs. The subject was able to return to his previous level of activity by six months and remained free of SVTs at two-year follow-up. # Discussion UESVT events are rare and can be challenging to identify. This case report describes a unique presentation of acute neck pain caused by underlying UESVTs in an otherwise healthy and active young male. # Level of Evidence Level

The use of gestures in the conversations of people with aphasia

Background: Gestures are spontaneous hand and arm movements that frequently accompany speech and play an important role in everyday communication. When communication is impaired by aphasia, gestures are affected as well. It is important to find out how people with aphasia (PWA) use gesture as an accompaniment to speech, as a compensatory modality, and during lexical retrieval. This novel study examined the use and functions of gesture in conversation and investigated parameters (i.e., conversation partner, topic, and participant factors) that could have an influence on gesture production. Methodology: Language and conversation data of 20 PWA and 21 neurologically healthy participants (NHP) were collected. Participants took part in conversations with two conversation partners (familiar and unfamiliar) and two conversation topics (narrative and procedural). Video samples were analysed for gesture production, speech production, and word-finding difficulties (WFD). Results: The two groups of participants produced a similar number of gestures (t (37) = -1.060, p = .296). Gesture type was not examined statistically but showed some marginal differences between groups. Unfamiliar conversation partners elicited significantly more gestures than familiar conversation partners (F (1, 37) = 24.358, p < .001). Additionally, participants produced significantly more gestures in procedural than in narrative topics (F (1, 37) =44.807, p < .001). While all participants experienced a similar number of WFD, there was a difference between PWA and NHP regarding gesture production and resolution of WFD: NHP resolved the majority of all WFD, independent of a co-occurring gesture. Nevertheless, for PWA and NHP, there was a significant relationship between gesture production and the resolution of the WFD (X2 (1) = 12.356, p < .01 for PWA and X2 (1) = 40.657, p < .01 for NHP), indicating that WFD that occurred with gestures were more likely to be resolved than WFD that occurred without gesture production. Participants used gestures with different functions, such as facilitative gestures to resolve WFD or augmentative gestures to supplement speech. For PWA, different participant factures, such as fluency of speech (rs (17) = .487, p = .035), lexical production skills (rs (17) = .584, p = .009), and cognition (rs (17) = .582, p = .009) were linked to gesture production. Conclusions: These findings shed light on gesture processing and the different functions gestures can serve within conversation. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of pragmatic influence, such as conversation topic and conversation partner on the production of gestures. The significant relationships between participant factors and gesture production in aphasia extend the understanding of relevant skills needed to successfully employ gestures in conversation. Next to language skills, such as speech fluency and lexical retrieval, cognitive skills affected gesture production as well

Lisfranc Injury in a West Point Cadet

Background: Lisfranc joint injuries are fairly uncommon; however, few injuries hold such an elevated potential for devastating chronic secondary pain and disability. It is imperative when evaluating an injury to the ankle or foot to have a high clinical index of suspicion for Lisfranc injury, as physical examination findings are often subtle. Case Description: An 18-year-old military cadet reported to a direct-access sports physical therapy clinic with foot pain. Despite negative radiographic findings, there was a high suspicion for Lisfranc injury based on the injury mechanism and physical examination. A computed tomography scan demonstrated an oblique fracture through the base of the third metatarsal, a small marginal fracture at the plantar base of the second metatarsal, and a subtle diastasis. Two days following his injury, he underwent an open reduction and internal fixation, completed subsequent rehabilitation, and returned to full activity approximately 1 year following injury. Conclusion: Early diagnosis of Lisfranc injuries is imperative for proper management and prevention of a poor functional outcome. If a strong clinical suspicion exists, negative radiographic findings are insufficient to rule out a Lisfranc injury, and therefore, advanced imaging is required. © 2013 The Author(s)

Isometric Shoulder Strength Reference Values for Physically Active Collegiate Males and Females

Background: It is common clinical practice to assess muscle strength during examination of patients following shoulder injury or surgery. Strength comparisons are often made between the patient\u27s injured and uninjured shoulders, with the uninjured side used as a reference without regard to upper extremity dominance. Despite the importance of strength measurements, little is known about expected normal baselines of the uninjured shoulder. The purpose of this study was to report normative values for isometric shoulder strength for physically active college-age men and women without history of shoulder injury. Methods: University students-546 males (18.8 ± 1.0 years, 75.3 ± 12.2 kg) and 73 females (18.7 ± 0.9 years, 62.6 ± 7.0 kg)-underwent thorough shoulder evaluations by an orthopaedic surgeon and completed bilateral isometric strength measurements with a handheld dynamometer. Variables measured included internal rotation, external rotation, abduction, supine internal rotation and external rotation at 45°, and prone flexion (lower trapezius). Results: Significant differences were found between the dominant and nondominant shoulder for internal rotation, internal rotation at 45°, abduction, and prone flexion in males and in internal rotation at 45° and prone flexion for females (P = 0.01). © 2013 The Author(s)

Schematic representation of design matrix construction.

<p>Here, the circles and hexagons correspond to different species. Bidirectional arrows represent orthology information and dotted arrows represent putative interactions between TFs and genes. Rectangles under “Data” represent TF × condition matrices of gene expression values in species 1 (top row) and species 2 (bottom row), colored in correspondence with the gene orthology diagram, with bidirectional arrows representing orthology between the two species. Rectangles under “Weights” represent gene regulatory interactions in each species, with lines linking coefficients that are fused due to the orthology information shown to the left. Networks associated with genes in each species can be solved independently unless there exist a fusion constraint constraining coefficients of each gene, or a path of such constraints. When a path does exist, these genes must be solved simultaneously. In this example, genes <i>B</i>, <i>C</i>, and <i>B</i>′ must be solved simultaneously; the lower right corner shows a representation of the design matrix necessary to solve the this fused regression problem.</p