The range of motion of the cervical spine in children aged from 3 to 7 years - an electrogoniometric study

The aim of the study has been to evaluate the range of motion of the cervical spine in relation to the age of the participants, and to determine the dimorphic and asymmetrical differences in the range of motion in pre-determined age categories. The study involved 300 children (150 girls and 150 boys) aged from 3 to 7 years, and tensiometric electrogoniometry was used to evaluate the range of cervical spine motion. The highest amplitude of cervical spine motion could be observed in the transverse plane and this was followed by that of the sagittal plane, with frontal plane motion being the lowest. The dynamics of the cervical spine motion changes were characterised by the presence of two distinct periods of motion increase - between years 2 and 3 and between years 6 and 7; the other periods were characterised by a decrease in cervical spine motion. The dimorphic and asymmetrical differences proved statistically insignificant

Verification of selected anatomical landmarks used as reference points for universal goniometer positioning during elbow joint mobility range measurements

The paper presents the results of comparative studies on the range of active elbow joint motion based on data obtained from 50 physical education students. The measurements were made with both an electrogoniometer and a manual goniometer. An explanation of differences in measurement results has been provided based on an investigation by the photographic method of 3 elbow joints using cadaveric material

Metoda wydłużania w wariancie zrównoleglonym

Pokazano, że technika obcięcia zastosowana w metodzie wydłużania istotnie przyspiesza obliczenia kwantowo-chemiczne w formaliźmie Hartreego-Focka (HF). Metoda ta sprawdza się wyjątkowo dobrze w obliczeniach przeprowadzanych na wielu procesorach. W pracy porównano zarówno całkowity czas obliczeń, jak i jego najbardziej czasochłonnych części, z tradycyjnym schematem obliczeniowym metody HF.It is demonstrated that the elongation cutoff technique (ECT) substantially speeds up the quantum-chemical calculation at Hartree-Fock (HF) level of theory and is especially well suited for parallel performance. A comparison of ECT timings for water chains with the reference HF calculations is given. The analysis includes the overall CPU (central processing unit) time and its most time consuming steps

Aktywność sportowa osób z niepełnosprawnością w świadomości studentów fizjoterapii

Introduction: The role of rehabilitation therapists in treating people with disabilities undertaking sports activity should be significant. However, their training is realized by colleges providing various profiles of specialization education, which could result in inconsistent preparation of graduates in this field. The aim of this paper was to evaluate how aware physiotherapy students from different colleges are of sports and physical activity of people with disabilities as well as to establish students’ attitude towards the role of sport in rehabilitation process and the direction of its development. A hypothesis was posed concerning inconsistent attitudes, awareness and knowledge in student groups from various colleges as far as taking advantage of sport in rehabilitation process was concerned. Moreover, it was assumed that those indicators would to a greater extent predispose students from colleges of physical education. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 2011 and it included 134 female and male students graduating from Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz and the Academy of Physical Education in Poznań. The method of diagnostic poll (questionnaire) was used. Studied groups realized different curricula as far as adaptive motor activity and sports activity of people with disabilities is concerned. Collected data was differentiated according to sex and type of college of subjects; the significance of differences of multipartite variables was evaluated by Chi-squared test. Results: Similar sex, age and basic environmental conditions structure was observed in studied groups, as well as minor differences in views and attitudes in the studied male and female groups in Bydgoszcz. Differences in the studied indicators in groups from both colleges were established only concerning the evaluation of the possibility of sports competition among athletes without or with disabilities. It was ascertained that students from a medical college associated sports activity of people with disabilities with the Foundation of Active Rehabilitation, while students from the physical education college in Poznań associated it with the Polish Sport Association of People with Disabilities “Start”. Conclusions: This study allows a conclusion that the awareness and knowledge of physiotherapy students concerning the place of sport and motor activity in the rehabilitation process are shaped to a similar extent in colleges with different profiles of specialization education, therefore, self-identification of the college candidates and a calling for this profession are significant factors in this process  Wstęp: Rola rehabilitantów w podejmowaniu    aktywności sportowej przez osoby niepełnosprawne    powinna być znacząca. Ich kształcenie realizują jednak    uczelnie o różnych profilach kierunkowego kształcenia, co    może powodować nierówne przygotowanie absolwentów w    tym zakresie. Celem pracy uczyniono ocenę świadomości    studentów kierunku fizjoterapii z różnych uczelni, w zakresie    sportu i aktywności fizycznej osób niepełnosprawnych oraz    poznanie postaw studentów wobec roli sportu w procesie    rehabilitacji, a także kierunków jego rozwoju. Postawiono    hipotezę o nierównych postawach, świadomości i wiedzy, grup    studenckich z różnych uczelni, na temat wykorzystywania    sportu w procesie rehabilitacji oraz założono, że wyznaczniki    te w większym stopniu będą predysponowały młodzież    studiującą w uczelni wychowania fizycznego.    Materiał i metody: Badania zrealizowano w 2011    roku obejmując nimi młodzież kończącą studia fizjoterapii w    Collegium Medicum w Bydgoszczy i Akademii Wychowania    Fizycznego w Poznaniu. Zastosowano metodę sondażu    diagnostycznego wykorzystując technikę ankietową, co    pozwoliło na zbadanie 134 studentów i studentek. Badane    zespoły realizowały różniące się programy dydaktyczne z    zakresu aktywności ruchowej adaptacyjnej i sportu osób    niepełnosprawnych. Zebrany materiał zróżnicowano płcią    badanych osób i rodzajem uczelni, a do oceny istotności różnic    zmiennych wielodzielnych zastosowano test Chi-kwadrat.    Wyniki badań: Zaobserwowano podobną strukturę    płci, wieku i podstawowych uwarunkowań środowiskowych    badanych grup młodzieży oraz niewielkie różnice w poglądach    i postawach grup młodzieży męskiej i żeńskiej z uczelni    bydgoskiej. Różnice badanych wyznaczników zespołów    młodzieży obu uczelni stwierdzono jedynie w ocenie    możliwości rywalizacji sportowej sportowców sprawnych    i niepełnosprawnych. Ustalono, że młodzież z uczelni    medycznej aktywność sportową osób niepełnosprawnych    łączy z działalnością Fundacji Aktywnej Rehabilitacji, a    młodzież poznańskiej uczelni wychowania fizycznego z    Polskim Związkiem Sportu Osób Niepełnosprawnych „Start”.    Wnioski: Zrealizowane badania pozwalają    wnioskować, że świadomość oraz wiedza studentów    fizjoterapii o miejscu sportu i aktywności ruchowej w procesie    rehabilitacyjnym są w podobnym stopniu kształtowane w    uczelniach o różnych profilach kierunkowego kształcenia, a    tym samym samoidentyfikacja kandydatów do studiów oraz    powołanie do zawodu są istotnym elementem w tym procesie.  

Penetration Depth of a Soil Moisture Profile Probe Working in Time-Domain Transmission Mode

Soil moisture is one of the most important soil parameters. Knowledge of volumetric water content (VWC) of the root zone as well as the VWC dynamics in the soil profile is especially important for agriculture. Monitoring VWC at several depths in the soil profile can be performed using several soil moisture sensors placed at various depths. However, the use of a profile probe is more convenient, because the installation of a single probe is less disturbing to the soil, as well as less laborious and more cost-effective. The objective of the paper is to present the design and performance of a novel profile probe working in the time-domain transmission mode (P-TDT probe) with emphasis put on the penetration depth and sensitivity zone. The performance of the probe was assessed with the use of finite element method (FEM) simulations in the frequency domain, transient simulations in the time domain and laboratory experiments with the use of a vector network analyzer (VNA) working in the 10 MHz–10 GHz frequency range. It was concluded that the effective soil volume measured by the profile probe of a given geometry is equivalent to a soil thickness of about 20 mm around the tested probe. The internal part of the probe body had a negligible effect on the measurement results, as it does not change with soil moisture. Moreover, the transmitted signal amplitude was related to the soil electrical conductivity

Generic Isolated Horizons and their Applications

Boundary conditions defining a generic isolated horizon are introduced. They generalize the notion available in the existing literature by allowing the horizon to have distortion and angular momentum. Space-times containing a black hole, itself in equilibrium but possibly surrounded by radiation, satisfy these conditions. In spite of this generality, the conditions have rich consequences. They lead to a framework, somewhat analogous to null infinity, for extracting physical information, but now in the \textit{strong} field regions. The framework also generalizes the zeroth and first laws of black hole mechanics to more realistic situations and sheds new light on the `origin' of the first law. Finally, it provides a point of departure for black hole entropy calculations in non-perturbative quantum gravity.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX. Minor typos were corrected and the fact that, in contrast to Ref [4], isolated horizons are now allowed to have distortion and rotation was clarifie

Degenerate Sectors of the Ashtekar Gravity

This work completes the task of solving locally the Einstein-Ashtekar equations for degenerate data. The two remaining degenerate sectors of the classical 3+1 dimensional theory are considered. First, with all densitized triad vectors linearly dependent and second, with only two independent ones. It is shown how to solve the Einstein-Ashtekar equations completely by suitable gauge fixing and choice of coordinates. Remarkably, the Hamiltonian weakly Poisson commutes with the conditions defining the sectors. The summary of degenerate solutions is given in the Appendix.Comment: 19 pages, late

ELONGATION CUTOFF TECHNIQUE: PARALLEL PERFORMANCE

It is demonstrated that the elongation cutoff technique (ECT) substantially speeds up thequantum-chemical calculation at Hartree-Fock (HF) level of theory and is especially wellsuited for parallel performance. A comparison of ECT timings for water chains with thereference HF calculations is given. The analysis includes the overall CPU (central processingunit) time and its most time consuming steps