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Arm Movements (arm + movement)
Selected AbstractsReliability of the V-scope system in the measurement of arm movement in children with obstetric brachial plexus palsyDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 11 2006Andrea E Bialocerkowski PhD BApp Sc (Physio) MApp Sc (Physio) This study reports on a novel methodology using the V-scope to quantify elbow and shoulder movement in young children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP), and the intra-and interreliability of this method. The V-scope, a portable, inexpensive movement analysis system, was configured in an L-shape, with two transmitting towers placed on the floor and one 1.35m off the ground. These towers received ultrasonic pulses from buttons that were placed over standardized landmarks of the child's trunk, chest, and upper limb. Two physiotherapists (a paediatric and a generalist) facilitated the maximum range of active elbow flexion/extension and shoulder abduction/flexion in 30 children with OBPP (18 females, 12 males; age range 6mo-4y 7mo; mean age 2y 6mo [SD 1y 2mo]). Assessments were conducted on two occasions, one week apart. The V-scope was found to be feasible to use by a specialist and a generalist physiotherapist, demonstrating moderate to high reliability coefficients, small measurement errors, and lack of missing data. The pediatric physiotherapist was more reliable in measuring elbow and shoulder movement compared with the generalist physiotherapist, which suggests that the same experienced, pediatric physiotherapist should assess elbow and shoulder movement across all occasions of testing. [source] The effects of ageing and cognitive impairment on on-line and off-line motor learningAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Jin H. Yan Skilled performance is a collective function of practice-related experiences (online learning) and post-practice memory consolidation during sleep (offline learning). This study examines the effects of ageing and cognitive impairment on the on- and offline learning of a point-to-point arm movement. In a 3-day experiment, older adults (cognitively normal or impaired) and young adults (YAs) were randomly assigned to practice or no-practice conditions. Changes in the dependent measures of movement time and timing error were analysed within and between conditions across days. The findings suggest that both age and cognitive function affect skill learning. YAs improved performance via both on- and offline learning whereas older adults with normal cognitive capacities appeared to learn the movement skill primarily in an online mode. Cognitive impairments were found to hinder both types of skill learning. Implications for motor skill acquisition and rehabilitation are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Individual Differences in Approach and Avoidance Movements: How the Avoidance Motive Influences Response ForceJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2006Rosa Maria Puca ABSTRACT The present research is based on the assumption that people differ in their responsiveness to incentives and threats. In two experiments we examined whether the trait corresponding to the responsiveness to threats (avoidance motive) and the trait corresponding to the responsiveness to incentives (approach motive) influence voluntary motor behavior toward or away from stimuli. In Experiment 1, stimuli consisted of positive and negative words within a lexical decision task. Participants moved their arms backward in order to withdraw from the stimuli or forward in order to approach them. In Experiment 2, participants responded with forward or backward arm movements to neutral sounds coming from behind or in front of them. The main dependent variable was the strength of the approach and avoidance movements. In both experiments this variable was related to participants' avoidance-motive disposition but not to their approach-motive disposition. Avoidance-motivated individuals generally showed more forceful avoidance movements than approach movements. There was no effect of stimulus valence on the strength of the movements in Experiment 1. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 2 suggest that it is not the physical direction (forward or backward) but rather the movement's effect of distance reduction (approach) or distance increase (avoidance) in regard to the stimulus that defines a movement as an approach or an avoidance movement. [source] Use of pectoralis major perforators for local "free-style" perforator flap in axillary reconstruction: A case reportMICROSURGERY, Issue 2 2010Damir Kosutic M.D. Axillary scar contracture in a previously poly-traumatized present a challenging task for a reconstructive surgeon from the functional and esthetic standpoint. While harvest of local myocutaneous flaps will obviously contribute to further limitation of arm movements in already functionally impaired shoulder, pedicled perforator flaps from the lateral and posterior thoracic region may not be available due to extensive scarring after high-energy trauma with soft-tissue loss. We present a new perforator pedicled flap, designed, and harvested exclusively on the basis of "free style perforator flap" concept, based on the perforators coming from the pectoral region. The operative technique and outcome are discussed in this report. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2010. [source] Subthalamic nucleus stimulation for Parkinson's disease preferentially improves akinesia of proximal arm movements compared to finger movementsMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 10 2003Roland Wenzelburger MD Abstract Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) reduces akinesia in Parkinson's disease but its impact on fine motor functions was unknown. We assessed the effects of DBS and a levodopa (L -dopa) test on the timing of the precision grip in 18 patients. Improvement on UPDRS-items reflecting hand functions and the shortening of the first phases of the precision grip were more distinct in the L -dopa test than in the pure STN-DBS condition. Other akinesia items and the time for build-up of lifting force were equally improved in both conditions. This suggests that routine STN-DBS might not be equally effective on all aspects of fine motor functions. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society [source] Overcoming Abnormal Joint Torque Patterns in Paretic Upper Extremities Using Triceps StimulationARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 3 2005Thierry Keller Abstract:, The goal of this research project was to quantitatively assess whether transcutaneous triceps stimulation can overcome the expression of abnormal torque patterns in the paretic upper limb of subjects with hemiparetic stroke. Abnormal torque patterns consist of strong coupling between shoulder abduction (SAB) and elbow flexion (EF) or between elbow extension (EE) and shoulder adduction (SAD) torques. Both patterns reduce the active range of motion during arm movements. Eight chronic stroke subjects with moderate to severe (Fugl-Meyer assessment scores of 21/66,36/66) upper limb motor impairment participated in this study. Shoulder and elbow joint torques were measured with a 6-degrees-of-freedom load cell under isometric conditions, while the triceps muscle was stimulated to generate EE torques. At the same time the subjects were asked to lift up their arm to generate different SAB torque levels. The obtained isometric results showed that electrical stimulation can overcome abnormal torque patterns in chronic stroke subjects while generating SAB. This is likely to have potential benefits to increase the, reaching, workspace, of, the, paretic, arm. [source] Prospective evaluation of the morbidity of axillary clearance for breast cancerBRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY (NOW INCLUDES EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY), Issue 1 2001M. Duff Background: Axillary clearance, despite its morbidity, retains an essential role in the management of patients with breast cancer. The aim of this prospective study was to document the development of arm swelling and limitation of shoulder movement following complete axillary clearance. Methods: One hundred patients who had axillary clearance to level III, for treatment of breast cancer, were followed prospectively for over 1 year. Arm volumes were measured using an optoelectronic volometer and shoulder movements with a goniometer. Results: Ten patients had significant arm swelling at 1 year. The swelling was mild in eight and moderate in two. No patient developed severe swelling. Reduced arm movements were noted in the first week after operation but had returned to normal at 6 months. Conclusion: This study provided accurate documentation of the morbidity associated with axillary clearance, together with a reproducible method of arm volume measurement. © 2001 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd [source] Unexplained infant crying: an evolutionary perspective,ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 5 2002MA Hofer The absence of adverse health outcomes later in development and the similarity of defining features of "colic" across cultures suggest that an evolutionary perspective may give us some insight into the nature of this puzzling condition. Evidence suggests that the larynx evolved first as a protective valve and later as a means to stabilize the upper thorax momentarily for precision upper arm movements. Recently, we found another physiological role for the larynx in regulating respiratory function to promote the recovery of young rats from severe hypothermia. In the process, bursts of calling were emitted by unconscious pups, which were nevertheless effective in eliciting maternal search and retrieval. These unexpected findings reveal how infant calling may have evolved as a communicative signal derived from more primitive physiological functions of the larynx. Repetitive calling in the normal young rat when isolated from its littermates and mother is regulated by multiple sensory cues present in the infant's social interactions, and in the paper it is described how this sensory input projects to central neuromodulatory systems known to be active in the control of anxiety behaviors in adult rats and humans. Conclusion: This broad range of functions for infant calling in other mammals suggests several new ways to approach the further study and treatment of unexplained crying in human infants. [source] Versatile Self-Complexing Compounds Based on Covalently Linked Donor,Acceptor CyclophanesCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005Yi Liu Dr. Abstract A range of covalently linked donor,acceptor compounds which contain 1) a hydroquinone (HQ) unit, 2) a 1,5-dioxynaphthalene (DNP) ring system, or 3) a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit as the ,-donor, and 4) cyclobis(paraquat- p -phenylene) (CBPQT4+) as the ,-accepting tetracationic cyclophane were prepared and shown to operate as simple molecular machines. The ,-donating arms can be included inside the cyclophane in an intramolecular fashion by virtue of stabilizing noncovalent bonding interactions. What amounts to self-complexing/decomplexing equilibria were shown to be highly temperature dependent when the ,-donating arm contains either an HQ or DNP moiety. The thermodynamic parameters associated with the equilibria have been unraveled by using variable-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy. The negative ,H° and ,S° values account for the fact that the "uncomplexed" conformation becomes the dominant species, since the entropy gain associated with the decomplexation process overcomes the enthalpy loss resulting from the breaking of the donor,acceptor interactions. The arm's in-and-out movements with respect to the linked cyclophanes can be arrested by installing a bulky substituent at the end of the arm. In the case of compounds carrying a DNP ring system in their side arm, two diastereoisomeric, self-complexing conformations are observed below 272 K in hexadeuterioacetone. By contrast, control over the TTF-containing arm's movement is more or less ineffective through the thermally sensitive equilibrium although it can be realized by chemical and electrochemical ways as a result of TTF's excellent redox properties. Such self-complexing compounds could find applications as thermo- and electroswitches. In addition, the thermochromism associated with the arm's movement could lead to some of the compounds finding uses as imaging and sensing materials. [source] | |||||||||||||