Postural change

BACKGROUND: People with plantar flexor weakness generate less ankle push-off work during walking, resulting in inefficient proximal joint compensations. To increase push-off work, spring-like ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) can be provided. However, whether and in which patients AFOs increase push-off work and reduce compensatory hip and knee work is unknown. METHODS: In 18 people with bilateral plantar flexor weakness, we performed a 3D gait analysis at comfortable walking speed with shoes-only and with AFOs of which the stiffness was optimized...

BACKGROUND: Hallux valgus is a common condition where the subluxation of the first metatarsophalangeal joint and lateral deviation of the hallux at the interphalangeal joint creates difficulty with footwear fit. Footwear and foot orthoses are commonly prescribed nonsurgical treatments for hallux valgus. RESEARCH QUESTION: Do extra-width footwear and foot orthoses influence peak pressure at the medial aspect of the metatarsophalangeal and interphalangeal joints in women with hallux valgus? METHODS: Community-dwelling women with symptomatic hallux valgus underwent gait testing when wearing their own shoes and when wearing extra-width footwear fitted with three-quarter length, arch-contouring prefabricated foot orthoses...

BACKGROUND: Obesity can cause structural changes and functional adjustments in growing children's feet. However, there is a lack of continuous observation of changes in feet in children with persistent obesity during important developmental periods. This makes it challenging to provide precise preventive measures. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of persistent obesity on gait patterns in children at an important stage in the formation of a robust foot arch...

Introduction  Lower cross syndrome, also known as pelvic crossed syndrome, occurs if there is inadequate muscle strength, leading to an imbalance in the lower extremities. This condition is characterized by the weakening and tightening of muscle groups on the anterior and posterior aspects of the body. Mostly, there is weakness in the abdominal muscles, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius, while there is tightness in the hip flexor muscle groups. There are various studies investigating musculoskeletal disorders across different professions, but there is no research on the prevalence of lower cross syndrome among housemaids...

Postural change from supine or sitting to standing up leads to displacement of 300 to 1000 milliliters of blood from the central parts of the body to the lower limb, which causes a decrease in venous return to the heart, hence decrease in cardiac output, causing a drop in blood pressure. This may lead to falling down, syncope, and in general reducing the quality of daily activities, especially in the elderly and anyone suffering from nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's or orthostatic hypotension (OH)...

INTRODUCTION: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and vestibular migraine (VM) share symptoms of visual vertigo and motion sickness that can be confusing for clinicians to distinguish. We compare the severity of these symptoms and dynamic subjective visual vertical (dSVV) in these two common vestibular conditions. METHOD: Twenty-nine patients with PPPD, 37 with VM, and 29 controls were surveyed for subjective symptoms using the visual vertigo analogue scale (VVAS) and motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire during childhood (MSA) and the past 10 years (MSB)...

BACKGROUND: Reduced ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) from hypotension and consistent OPP variability due to blood pressure (BP) fluctuations are predisposing factors for glaucoma. Low resting BP and orthostatic hypotension (OH) in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients may increase the risk of glaucoma post-injury. This study investigated BP, intraocular pressure (IOP), and OPP changes between supine and sitting positions in SCI and normal individuals. METHODS: Twenty SCI cases (high paraplegia, T1-T6 n  = 6; low paraplegia, T7-L3 n  = 14) and matched controls (1:1) were included...

INTRODUCTION: Center-of-pressure (COP) synchronization and symmetry can inform adaptations in balance control following one-sided sensorimotor impairments (e.g., stroke). As established force plates are impossible to transport, we aimed to criterion validate a portable pressure plate for obtaining reliable COP synchronization and symmetry measures, next to conventional postural stability measures. METHODS: Twenty healthy adults participated. In a single session, three 40-s eyes-open and eyes-closed quiet stance trials were performed per plate-type, randomly ordered...

[Purpose] To compare the effectiveness of ultrasound therapy in combination with neck retraction exercises and deep cervical flexor training on pain, forward head posture, and deep cervical flexor muscle strength in excessive screen time users. [Participants and Methods] This 4-week intervention study included 36 participants with forward head posture, categorized into three groups: 1) ultrasound therapy with neck retraction exercises 2) ultrasound therapy with deep cervical flexor training, and 3) a control group...

OBJECTIVE: Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common solution for patients with advanced knee osteoarthritis. Still, fall rates remain relatively high after surgery. TKR may alter pain and knee function, balance control, and proprioception. However, given the role of complex (dual-task) walking in fall prediction for older adults, it is unknown how TKR alters the attentional demand of walking in older adults. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of TKR on dual-task walking among older adults...

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mood disorder with different phases alternating between euthymia, manic or hypomanic episodes, and depressive episodes. While motor abnormalities are commonly seen during depressive or manic episodes, not much attention has been paid to postural abnormalities during periods of euthymia and their association with illness burden. We collected 24-hour posture data in 32 euthymic participants diagnosed with BD using a shirt-based wearable. We extracted a set of nine time-domain features, and performed unsupervised participant clustering...

Understanding the characteristics of shoulder joint stiffness can offer insights into how the shoulder joint contributes to arm stability and assists in various arm postures and movements. This study aims to characterize posture-dependent shoulder stiffness in a three-dimensional (3D) space and investigate its potential sex differences. A multi-degree-of-freedom, parallel-actuated shoulder exoskeleton robot was used' to perturb the participant's shoulder joint and measure the resulting torque responses while participants relaxed their shoulder muscles...

Center of mass (COM) mechanics, often used as an energetic proxy during locomotion, has primarily focused on level movement and hardly explores climbing scenarios. This study examines three-dimensional COM movements across five phylogenetically-distinct species (0.008 kg - 84 kg) to test theoretical expectations of climbing costs, explore how interspecific variation (different limb numbers, adhesion mechanisms, body masses, limb postures) affects COM mechanics, and determine the impact of out-of-plane COM movements on climbing costs...

How evolutionary changes in genes and neurons encode species variation in complex motor behaviors is largely unknown. Here, we develop genetic tools that permit a neural circuit comparison between the model species Drosophila melanogaster and the closely related species D. yakuba, which has undergone a lineage-specific loss of sine song, one of the two major types of male courtship song in Drosophila. Neuroanatomical comparison of song-patterning neurons called TN1 across the phylogeny demonstrates a link between the loss of sine song and a reduction both in the number of TN1 neurons and the neurites supporting the sine circuit connectivity...

Mammography is an x-ray-based imaging method to examine breast abnormalities. Since low-energy photons are used in mammography, doses to different organs would depend strongly on the phantom posture and anatomy. Until now, a few studies have been performed on doses delivered to different organs during mammography. However, in none of them, the correct posture of the patient has been considered. In the present study, the effect of accurate patient positioning, on doses to organs in the chest region were investigated through Monte Carlo simulations...

Postural adjustments (PA) occur to counteract predictable perturbations and can be impaired as a result of musculoskeletal and neurological dysfunctions. The most common way to detect PA is through electromyography measurements or center of pressure (COP) position measurements, where analysis in time domain and frequency domain are the most common. Aim of the research was to determine whether a new method of analyzing stabilographic measurements-the COP trend change analysis (TCI) of temporary posture corrections- can expand understanding of changes in balance strategy connected with PA...

BACKGROUND: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by psychomotor changes that can affect individuals across the lifespan. Although features of catatonia have been described in adults, the most common clinical symptoms among paediatric patients with catatonia are not well characterised. AIMS: The goal of this study was to characterise the symptoms of catatonia demonstrated by paediatric patients, and to explore demographic and diagnostic factors associated with greater catatonia severity...

Normal aging often results in an increase in physiological tremors and slowing of the movement of the hands, which can impair daily activities and quality of life. This study, using lightweight wearable non-invasive sensors, aimed to detect and identify age-related changes in wrist kinematics and response latency. Eighteen young (ages 18-20) and nine older (ages 49-57) adults performed two standard tasks with wearable inertial measurement units on their wrists. Frequency analysis revealed 5 kinematic variables distinguishing older from younger adults in a postural task, with best discrimination occurring in the 9-13 Hz range, agreeing with previously identified frequency range of age-related tremors, and achieving excellent classifier performance (0...

BACKGROUND: The ability to walk is a key issue for independent old age. Optimizing older peoples' opportunities for an autonomous and active life and reducing health disparities requires a better understanding of how to support independent mobility in older people. With increasing age, changes in gait parameters such as step length and cadence are common and have been shown to increase the risk of mobility decline. However, gait assessments are typically based on laboratory measures, even though walking in a laboratory environment may be significantly different from walking in outdoor environments...

The aim of this study was to determine how the aging-related changes of a beautiful woman were described in Japanese literature. A poem written by Ono no Komachi was reviewed. Images of her were also searched through Google search. Komachi's poem in Hyakunin Isshu reads: "How the color has faded from the flowers. As I gaze in reverie at the falling rain, I find my beauty, too, has fallen in this world's esteem." Tamatsukuri Komachiko's Death Book describes: "She became thin and looked tired. Her hair looks like a lotus with frost...