1,272 research outputs found
Locomotor adaptations during RaceRunning in people with neurological motor disorders
The aim of this study was to examine strategies to absorb impact shock during
RaceRunning in participants with neurological motor disorders. For this purpose,
eight RaceRunning athletes (four males and four females) voluntarily took part in
this study. Each participant performed a series of 100-m sprints with a RaceRunning bike. Acceleration of the tibia and head was measured with two inertial
measurement units and used to calculate foot impact shock measures. Results
showed that RaceRunning pattern was characterized by a lack of impact peak in
footâground contact time and the existence of an active peak after foot contact.
Due to the ergonomic properties of the RaceRunning bike, shock is attenuated
throughout the stance phase. In conclusion, the resultsrevealed that RaceRunning
athletes with neurological motor disorders are capable of absorbing impact shock
during assisted RaceRunning using a strategy that mimics runners without
disabilitie
Effects of personal and task constraints on limb coordination during walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
In human behaviour, emergence of movement patterns is shaped by different, interacting constraints and consequently, individuals with motor disorders usually display distinctive lower limb coordination modes.
Objectives
To review existing evidence on the effects of motor disorders and different task constraints on emergent coordination patterns during walking, and to examine the clinical significance of task constraints on gait coordination in people with motor disorders.
Methods
The search included CINHAL Plus, MEDLINE, HSNAE, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, Pubmed and AMED. We included studies that compared intra-limb and inter-limb coordination during gait between individuals with a motor disorder and able-bodied individuals, and under different task constraints. Two reviewers independently examined the quality of studies by using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale-cohort study.
Findings
From the search results, we identified1416 articles that studied gait patterns and further analysis resulted in 33 articles for systematic review and 18 articles for meta-analysis-1, and 10 articles for meta-analysis-2. In total, the gait patterns of 539 patients and 358 able-bodied participants were analysed in the sampled studies. Results of the meta-analysis for group comparisons revealed a low effect size for group differences (ESâŻ=âŻâ0.24), and a moderate effect size for task interventions (ESâŻ=âŻâ0.53), on limb coordination during gait.
Interpretation
Findings demonstrated that motor disorders can be considered as an individual constraint, significantly altering gait patterns. These findings suggest that gait should be interpreted as functional adaptation to changing personal constraints, rather than as an abnormality. Results imply that designing gait interventions, through modifying locomotion tasks, can facilitate the emergent re-organisation of inter-limb coordination patterns during rehabilitation
Factors affecting medical tourism: A case study of Azeri tourists in Iran
Background: Health tourism is one of the effective factors in the economic prosperity of the countries, the beautiful nature and hot springs of Ardebil province makes it a good destination for health tourism. The aim of this study was to investigate demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of health tourists in Ardebil.
Methods: To investigate the viewpoint of health tourists coming to Ardebil province from Azerbaijan, a comprehensive Turkish language questionnaire was designed by the researcher and by visiting medical centers in Ardebil, pharmacies and restaurants, the questionnaires were completed.
Results: Out of 200 distributed questionnaires, 193 were completed. The average age of the participants was 26.2 years. They often had less than 1800 USD monthly income. 184 (95.4%) of participants were not covered by the general insurance of Azerbaijan. The cost of treatment and the total travel cost per person for participants was less than 120 USD. About the hospital services, one-third of respondents rated them as âwellâ. More than 95% of the tourist were from the near border provinces.
Conclusion: The lack of public insurance coverage in Azerbaijan and the higher value of the Azerbaijani Manat compared to Iranian rial attract health tourists to Ardebil, but the quality of services provided needs to be improved. Government planners need to focus more on health tourism issues, especially in Ardebil so as to improve the infrastructures and remove barriers, it is a step towards the prosperity of this lucrative industry
Effect of environmental constraints on multi-segment coordination patterns during the tennis service in expert performers
The aims of this study were to examine the effect of different environmental constraints on kinematic multi-segment coordination patterns during the service and its coordination with service time variability. Ten expert tennis players (Age: 34.1±5.3) volunteered to take part in this study. Participants served 30 times in 3 different conditions: control, target and opposition. The order of conditions was counterbalanced between participants. A wireless 3D motion capture system (STT Co, Spain) was used to measure 7 joint motions, with a 17 degrees of freedom biomechanical model created to capture the entire service action. Results of the principal component analysis showed that 4 synergies were created; however, their roles were changed relative to the perception of the environment. The results of repeated-measures analysis of variance did not show any significant difference on total variance and individual principal components between conditions; however, one synergy pattern significantly predicted the service time variability in both control and opposition conditions. In conclusion, the findings demonstrated that expert performers reduce the joint dimensionality by creating functional synergies in different phases of service and adapt the service action according to the perception of the environment
Stroke survivors exhibit stronger lower extremity synergies in more challenging walking conditions
The aim of this study was to examine how kinematic synergies are utilised as compensatory movements to stabilise foot
positions under different walking task constraints in people with stroke. Ten (Males = 6, Females = 4) hemiplegic chronic
stroke survivors volunteered to participate in this study, recruited from a rehabilitation centre. They completed a consent
form and participated in treadmill walking tasks; flat, uphill, and crossing over a moving obstacle. The uncontrolled manifold
method was used to quantify kinematic synergies in the paretic and non-paretic legs during their swing phase. The results of
this study showed the strength of synergies was significantly greater in the obstacle task than in the uphill walking tasks at
mid and terminal swing phases. In conclusion, the results suggest that walking in the challenging situations caused people
with stroke to control step stability with greater compensation between lower extremity joints. Participants adapted to the
increased challenge by increasing the amount of âgood variabilityâ, which could be a strategy to reduce the risks of falling
Effects of age and task difficulty on postural sway, variability and complexity
This study aimed to examine the effects of age and the task difficulty on postural sway, variability and complexity. The participants were 90 able-bodied individuals from children (n = 39; age: 5.89 ± 0.94 years), young adults (n = 30; age: 23.23 ± 1.61 years) and older adults (n = 21; age: 64.59 ± 5.24 years) that took part in different balance tasks that were had different levels of cognitive and physical challenges. The main dependent variables were postural sway area, postural variability and postural complexity. The participants stood on a standard force plate for 10 seconds in each task condition, and the centre of pressure displacement was collected at 100 sampling frequency. The results of this study showed that children and older adults, in the more difficult tasks, had greater sway area and complexity and less postural variability. In addition, there was a linear trend in the stability measures as the difficulty of the task was increased. In conclusion, special populations, such as children and older adults, were more sensitive to the balance changes and used active control mechanisms to minimise the risk of losing balance in more challenging conditions
Ultrafast Electronic Relaxation of Excited State of Biomimetic Metalloporphyrins in the Gas Phase
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