Electromyographic Analysis in Elite Swimmers with Shoulder Pain during a Functional Task

The purpose of study was to determine and compare electromyographic activity of selected shoulder girdle muscles in elite swimmers with and without shoulder pain. Twelve professional swimmers with shoulder pain (mean age: 18.55±3.16 years, body mass: 74.33±2.91 kg, and height: 179.00±5.29cm) and twelve swimmers without pain (mean age: 18.11±1.61 years, body weight: 73.33±6.06 kg, height: 178.33±5.07cm) were recruited. Surface electromyography signals were collected from seven upper limb muscles during a task: participants were instructed to mark points with a pen within each of the 3 circles counterclockwise. The normalised root-mean-square value was used to determine the muscular activation. Swimmers with shoulder pain demonstrated greater activation of the upper trapezius (pain group mean: 28.04±10.37, control group mean: 13.40±06.04; p=0.002, partial eta square: 0.455), serratus anterior (pain group mean: 30.78±20.09, control group mean: 13.30±5.52; p=0.023, partial eta square: 0.283) and latissimus dorsi (pain group mean: 27.05±17.87, control group mean: 4.99±3.90; p=0.002, partial eta square: 0.450) muscles. There was no difference (p>0.05) in the activation of the middle and lower trapezius, middle deltoid and sternocleidomastoid. The altered muscle activation patterns may contribute to the painful shoulder in elite swimmers and need to be considered within the rehabilitation interventions

Parametric design optimisation of proximal humerus plates based on finite element method

Optimal treatment of proximal humerus fractures remains controversial. Locking plates offer theoretical advantages but are associated with complications in the clinic. This study aimed to perform parametric design optimisation of proximal humerus plates to enhance their mechanical performance. A finite element (FE) model was developed that simulated a two-part proximal humerus fracture that had been treated with a Spatial Subchondral Support (S3) plate and subjected to varus bending. The FE model was validated against in vitro biomechanical test results. The predicted load required to apply 5 mm cantilever varus bending was only 0.728% lower. The FE model was then used to conduct a parametric optimisation study to determine the orientations of inferomedial plate screws that would yield minimum fracture gap change (i.e. optimal stability). The feasible design space was automatically identified by imposing clinically relevant constraints, and the creation process of each FE model for the design optimisation was automated. Consequently, 538 FE models were generated, from which the obtained optimal model had 4.686% lower fracture gap change (0.156 mm) than that of the manufacturer’s standard plate. Whereas its screws were oriented towards the inferomedial region and within the range of neck-shaft angle of a healthy subject. The methodology presented in this study promises future applications in patient-specific design optimisation of implants for other regions of the human body

Computational Models of Classical Conditioning guest editors’ introduction

In the present special issue, the performance of current computational models of classical conditioning was evaluated under three requirements: (1) Models were to be tested against a list of previously agreed-upon phenomena; (2) the parameters were fixed across simulations; and (3) the simulations used to test the models had to be made available. These requirements resulted in three major products: (a) a list of fundamental classical-conditioning results for which there is a consensus about their reliability; (b) the necessary information to evaluate each of the models on the basis of its ordinal successes in accounting for the experimental data; and (c) a repository of computational models ready to generate simulations. We believe that the contents of this issue represent the 2012 state of the art in computational modeling of classical conditioning and provide a way to find promising avenues for future model development

A scoping review and thematic analysis of social and behavioural research among HIV-serodiscordant couples in high-income settings.

CAPRISA, 2015.Abstract available in pdf