The Effects of Velocity on Force Production of the Elbow Flexors during Eccentric Isokinetic Muscle Contraction

The traditional eccentric force-velocity curve illustrates a continuous increase in muscle force production as velocity increases. Recently, this curve has been scrutinized by some researchers who have found a plateau or decline in eccentric force production at the higher velocities. The purpose of this study was to examine the eccentric isokinetic force-velocity curve of the elbow flexor muscles over a broad range of velocities to observe whether it follows the traditional force-velocity curve. Fourteen healthy female and six healthy male volunteers were tested using. the Kinetic Communicator Dynamometer at velocities of 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, and 210 degrees per second. At each velocity, the subject performed three maximal voluntary eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors and the peak force measurement was used for statistical analysis. A repeated-measures analysis of variance found no significant difference in eccentric force production as test velocities increased for men or for women. A graphic display of the force-velocity relationship for each group did not demonstrate the characteristics of the traditional eccentric force-velocity curve. Therefore, this study does not support the traditional force-velocity relationship findings for elbow flexors under eccentric isokinetic conditions

Analysing the gender wage gap Empirical evidence from Germany and the United States

The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the potential sources of the gender wage gap in Germany and the United States. For that purpose, we employ high quality microdata sets from the German Socio-Economic panel (SOEP) and IPUMS CPS. We use cross-sectional data for the years 1989 and 2019 to study a representative sample of full-time employees between the age of 25 to 64. By employing the Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder (KOB) decomposition method (Kitagawa 1955; Oaxaca 1973; Blinder 1973) we estimate how much of the unadjusted gender wage gap in the countries is attributed gender differences in measured characteristics. Furthermore, by applying a Juhn, Murphy, and Pierce (JMP) (1991) decomposition we investigate how relative improvements in terms of characteristics and rising return to these characteristics affects the gender wage gap over time. The aim is to understand if increasing overall inequality counterbalances women’s progress in the labour market and has a widening effect on the gender wage gap. Lastly, Blau and Kahn (1996) find that countries with more compressed wage distributions have smaller gender wage gaps. We investigate this by a JMP decomposition of the U.S.-German difference in the gender wage gap to understand if differences in return to characteristics is the most important contributor to international differences in the gender wage gap. The results show that the gender wage gap declines in Germany and the United States between 1989 and 2019. The results from the KOB decomposition show that gender differences in observable characteristics in total no longer explain the gender wage gap for these countries in 2019. Gender differences in distribution by industry however continues to explain malefemale wage disparities over the period studied. The JMP results show that changes in the return to characteristics negates some of the progress made by female workers over the period. Lastly, the most important factor for explaining the U.S- German difference in the gender wage gap is the relative differences in return to characteristics. This effect was however stronger in 1989 and reflects that the wage distribution in Germany have become more dispersed over the period of study and is thus more similar to that observed in the United States.nhhma

From Offshore Operation to Onshore Simulator: Using Visualized Ethnographic Outcomes to Work with Systems Developers

This paper focuses on the process of translating insights from a Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)-based study, conducted on a vessel at sea, into a model that can assist systems developers working with simulators, which are used by vessel operators for training purposes on land. That is, the empirical study at sea brought about rich insights into cooperation, which is important for systems developers to know about and consider in their designs. In the paper, we establish a model that primarily consists of a ‘computational artifact’. The model is designed to support researchers working with systems developers. Drawing on marine examples, we focus on the translation process and investigate how the model serves to visualize work activities; how it addresses relations between technical and computational artifacts, as well as between functions in technical systems and functionalities in cooperative systems. In turn, we link design back to fieldwork studies

Anaesthesia for cesarean section in the dog – a litterature review

Kunnskap om anestesi ved keisersnitt hos hund er viktig, da keisersnitt ofte er en akutt prosedyre hvor tispe og valper kan være påkjente, tispas fysiologi er forandret, og legemidler krysser placenta og kan påvirke valpene negativt. Drektige tisper har et fysiologisk økt slagvolum og hjertefrekvens, som medfører en dårligere evne til å kompensere for kardiovaskulære forandringer under anestesien. Maternal hypotensjon leder til redusert perfusjon av placenta, og økt risiko for hypoksemi hos valpene. Drektige tisper har i tillegg økt oksygenforbruk, som gjør dem mer utsatt for hypoksemi og hyperkapni ved hypoventilering eller apné. Flere faktorer, som økt buktrykk, redusert tonus i det øsofageale sfinkteret og forsinket tømming av ventrikkelen, gjør drektige tisper mer utsatt for regurgitering og aspirasjonspneumoni. I tillegg har anestesimidler en smalere terapeutisk indeks hos drektige tipser, og de har behov for en dosereduksjon på ca. 30 – 60 %. Det er viktig å ta hensyn til disse fysiologiske forandringene ved å drive hensiktsmessig overvåkning og støttebehandling. Tispa og de ufødte valpene kan ha stor økonomisk og emosjonell verdi for oppdretteren, og komplikasjoner kan føre til konflikter mellom oppdretter og veterinær. I denne oppgaven er det gjennomgått dagens tilgjengelige studier som omhandler anestesi ved keisersnitt hos hund. Litteratursøket er gjort i søkemotoren PubMed, og det er brukt søkeordene ‘dog’ + ‘caesarean/cesarean’ og ‘bitch’ + ‘caesarean/cesarean’. Det ble til slutt inkludert 22 artikler. Ved gjennomgang av tilgjengelig litteratur er det funnet at gassanestesi gir gode resultater ved keisersnitt, og dataene tyder på at alfaksaloninduksjon gir bedre apgarscore hos valpene enn propofol. Hvis man ikke har tilgang på gassanestesi, kan det benyttes injeksjonsanestesi. Ketamin og barbiturater bør trolig unngås, da begge er vist å gi nedsatt vigør hos valpene, og barbiturater er assosiert med økt valpedødelighet. Det er behov for mer forskning på alfaksalon- og propofol-TIVA, men det som foreligger viser en negativ effekt på valpe- og tisperelaterte faktorer sammenlignet med gass- eller epiduralanestesi. Epiduralanestesi kan brukes alene eller i kombinasjon med generell anestesi, og har gitt gode resultater på valpevigør og -overlevelse. Derimot har man sett uheldige kardiovaskulære effekter hos tispa. Hvis det skal benyttes premedikasjon er det vanskelig å komme med klare anbefalinger, da det er gjort få gode studier på dette. Opioider er trolig et godt alternativ, og medetomidin og deksmedetomidin har gitt gode resultater i studier på hund, men ikke på andre dyrearter. Xylazin, fenotiaziner og benzodiazepiner bør trolig unngås.Caesarean section is a common surgical procedure in the bitch, and the need for knowledge regarding this surgery has become increasingly important. One must take into consideration the state of the bitch and puppies, in addition to the numerous physiological changes in the parturient patient. The parturient patient has a decreased ability to compensate for cardiovascular changes during anaesthesia, because of an increased heart rate and stroke volume, which causes a decreased cardiac reserve. If maternal hypotension occurs, perfusion of the maternal placenta is reduced, which makes the foetus more exposed to developing hypoxemia. Pregnant bitches also have an increased oxygen consumption, leading to a greater chance of developing hypercapnia and hypoxemia if hypoventilation or apnea should occur

Future Skills and Competence Needs

Repor

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Pedotransfer functions for predicting hydraulic properties of non-allophanic andosols and histosols in the páramo of Southern Ecuador

The páramo grasslands of southern Ecuador is a source of continuous clean water supply for downstream communities and ecosystems all the way to the Amazonian rainforests or the Pacific coast. Still, knowledge about environmental processes and interactions in the páramo is limited. The dominating soils covering the páramo of south Ecuador are extremely organic volcanic ash soils that are characterized by low density and a strong water retaining ability. A deep understanding of the unique hydraulic properties of these soils is necessary for reliable modelling of the páramo hydrology. However, measurement of soil hydraulic properties is time-consuming, costly and impractical for large-scale modelling, and simple estimation of the necessary variables using pedotransfer functions (PTFs) often gives a good enough approximation of field conditions. In this thesis, PTFs for predicting six water retention points, available water capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity were developed for Andosols and Histosols in the páramo of southern Ecuador. In addition, a selection of existing PTFs were evaluated on the dataset of this thesis. Two statistical approaches were used for the PTF development, ordinary least squares linear regression (OLS) and random forest (RF). Possible predictor variables were bulk density, organic matter, soil depth, slope, vegetation cover and soil type. Predictive performances of the resulting PTFs were overall satisfactory, and both the OLS and RF approach achieved test RMSEs below 0.05 in the low soil-water suction range. Predictions in the high suction range were less accurate, but test RMSEs were still below 0.08. The RF models predicted a little more accurately than the corresponding OLS models because of the ability of the RF approach at capturing complex interactions between variables, but the difference was not considerable. The test errors of the models predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity were not especially accurate, but they might be good enough as an alternative to field measurements. After testing the reliability of the functions on new data sets, the PTFs can become useful tools for hydrological modelling that helps us to get a better understanding of environmental processes in the páramo.M-MIN