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Given the high prevalence of sleep problems and fine motor deficits that have been reported in persons with Down syndrome (DS), this study was to investigate the effect of sleep-related problems occurring during the day on fine motor function (i.e. manual dexterity and handgrip strength) in persons with DS. We also tested the moderating role of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in the link between sleep-related problems occurring during the day and fine motor function. It was hypothesised that subtle sleep-related problems occurring during the day would significantly predict fine motor performance. Fifty-two persons with DS, aged 13–54, participated and caregivers completed a sleep questionnaire for their children with DS. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a greater frequency of sleep-related problems occurring during the day significantly predicted greater manual dexterity deficits. Results also suggested that OSA was the moderator for the association between sleep-related problems occurring during the day and manual dexterity. This study has highlighted the importance of exploring sleep problems that might impair fine motor performance for the DS population in their everyday lives. Additional studies are needed to develop effective interventions to promote sleep hygiene and fine motor development in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The necessity of promoting physical activity in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been emphasized for decades. One of the barriers to participate in physical activity for individuals with ASD is limited interest and motivation. Therefore, understanding the motivation to exercise in this population is important. The objective was to determine the effect of using contingent reinforcement in the form of watching a preferred DVD to increase duration of time pedalling on a stationary bicycle within their predetermined target heart rate zone (THRZ) in children with ASD. Using a crossover design, seven participants (11 2.7 years) who were diagnosed with ASD were randomly assigned to either Group A or B. Time spent pedalling on a bicycle within the THRZ was analysed using a linear mixed-effect model with Bonferroni adjustments. The results showed that the DVD intervention motivated children with ASD to exercise for more than 10 minutes in moderate to vigorous physical activity compared to when they were exercising without watching a DVD. This result is significant as number of studies have revealed that 10 minutes of exercise could bring improvements in activities of daily living such as behaviors and academic performance in school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, numbers of studies have indicated the important role of fine manual dexterity in typical and special populations. However, the relevant studies in Down's syndrome (DS) population is still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of manual dexterity in adolescents and young adults with DS. Thirty participants with DS (22 males, 8 females, aged 13–31) were screened by anthropometric variables (i.e. sex, chronological age, verbal intelligence, body mass index), levels of physical activity, and sleep disorders, and were administered the Purdue Pegboard Test and the Choice Reaction Time Test. Measures of correlation, t-test and multiple regression model were used for data analysis. It was indicated that sex and sleep-related disorders during the day explained 37.2% of the variance in the performance of the Purdue Pegboard Test. The additional of 9.7% can be explained the variance by adding reaction time test performance. Verbal intelligence had the negatively relation with the performance of non-Dominant Hand and Bimanual subtests of the Purdue Pegboard Test. This study suggested that sex, sleep disorder, and neuromotor function may be the important determinants of fine manual dexterity performance in adolescents and young adults with DS. In addition, the level of intelligence might also exert the effect on fine motor development in this population. In order to design effective interventions and optimize manual performance in individuals with DS, these possible determinants should be considered. Future research should be replicated with large sample size, different age groups, and validated measures of finger size, physical activity and sleep behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity initiatives targeting the participation of all members of a school's community are proposed as partial solutions to getting children physically active for 60 minutes each day. Integrating whole-school programs can be a daunting task; however, in this article, we share tips from physical activity leaders at three schools and found that combining resources is a way to manage this task. This article briefly describes the CSPAP and HSP programs and presents suggestions for the successful integration of school-wide physical activity from school personnel with first-hand experience attempting this type of school culture change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a revised geological map at the 1/50,000 scale of the Central Sivas Basin together with a synthetic stratigraphic chart and cross-sections. The map covers an area of approximately 9840 km² within the Eastern Anatolian orogen. The structure of the studied area is dominated by three major tectonic domains: (i) to the south, a north-verging thrust wedge involving Maastrichtian – Eocene sediments deposited onto an ophiolitic basement, (ii) in the center an Oligo-Miocene domain shaped by salt tectonics detached above the thrust wedge, along a late Eocene salt layer, and, (iii) to the north the Pliocene depocenter onlapping onto the Kırşehir basement. The central halokinetic domain exhibits two generations of minibasins (respectively, early Oligocene and late Oligocene to late Miocene), separated by an evaporite canopy. The map includes new stratigraphic correlations for the pre-salt stratigraphy and improve the comprehension of the southern fold-and-thrust-belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many observations and anecdotes have suggested that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) love music, specifically moving to music. The purpose of this study, with the assumption that the music makes people with DS dance showing more movement than general public's, is to observe the change in movement patterns of people with DS while they dance. Methods: The present study videotaped 10 individuals with DS and 10 mental age-matched (MA) participants dancing in response to five different types of music (e.g. rock fast, rock slow, classical, jazz, pop). Results: Our preliminary results suggest that individuals with DS had significantly more body sway than MA participants. In addition, individuals with DS were more active to the music than MA participants. However, no motor timing deficit was evident. Conclusions: This suggests that individuals with DS actively maintain their posture position in the challenging condition. Furthermore, they clearly enjoyed listening to the music and dancing. Based on our results, we suggest that more research need to be conducted examining the effects of dancing program on postural control, and timing in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the psychological affect of walking exercise as measured by electroencephalogram (EEG) resting frontal asymmetry in persons with ID. Methods: Resting EEG frontal asymmetry (F4-F3) was collected from twelve participants to represent affective responsiveness pre and post a 20-minute treadmill walking exercise at moderate intensity. Results: The association between frontal asymmetry and reported RPE is evident. In addition, the decreased frontal asymmetry from pre-exercise to post-exercise indicates their decreased affect to walking exercise. Conclusions: Resting EEG frontal asymmetry was reflective of affective repsonsivity to exercise in persons with ID. Our finding is not consistent with previous research in the typical population who showed increased frontal brain asymmetry after exercise. The decreased experience of affect pronounced after 20-minute brisk treadmill walking in persons with ID may explain their low motivation to exercise adherence. Therefore, extra motivating factors, such as music or challenging task maybe needed to accomplish exercise and its related benefits in persons with ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A novel exercise modality termed Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) has been used successfully in patients with Parkinson's disease, but its effects in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have not been investigated. Method The aim was to examine the acute effects of 2 modes of exercise on cognitive and motor functioning in adolescents with ASD. Participants (N = 10) randomly completed 3 interventions on nonconsecutive days. The interventions were (a) voluntary cycling (VC), in which participants cycled at their self-selected pedalling rate; (b) ACT, in which the participants’ voluntary pedalling rates were augmented with a motor to ensure the maintenance of 80 rpm; and (c) no cycling (NC), in which the participants sat and watched a video. Results Participants’ inhibition improved significantly and improvements in cognitive planning and set-switching approached significance after a single session of ACT; however, no improvements in inhibition, cognitive planning, or set-switching were observed following the VC or NC sessions. Exercise perception improved after the VC session but did not change after the ACT or NC sessions. Conclusions ACT appears to benefit cortical structures in adolescents with ASD, but a chronic intervention may be necessary to improve exercise perception and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: This purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between resting frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) brain activity and the interaction with the horse in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Resting frontal EEG alpha asymmetry was recorded from two young children with ASD and two young typical children matched for age and gender during a baseline and an interaction conditions with the horse. Results: Young children with ASD exhibited higher left frontal dominance during the baseline condition. While grooming the horse, young children with ASD exhibited the right frontal dominance. Conclusions: This change may be attributed to the interaction with the horse. It changed the attentional focus of young children with ASD. In addition, the calmness of the horse might be transformed to young children with ASD. Future studies with larger sample sizes and behavioural measures of social functioning may help explain the horse related benefits in children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between human cognitive development and motor functioning has been systematically examined in many typical and atypical populations; however, only a few studies focus on people with Down syndrome (DS). Twelve adolescents with DS participated and their cognitive control, measured by the Corsi-Block tapping test (e.g., visual working memory), the Auditory Memory span test (e.g., verbal working memory) and the Tower of London test (e.g., cognitive planning), and motor control, measured by the Purdue Pegboard (e.g., fine motor control), were measured in this study. Results indicate that if people with DS have better performance in fine manual dexterity, they will have better performance in cognitive planning and verbal working memory abilities. The co-activation hypothesis of the prefrontal area and the cerebellum may support this positive relationship. Hence, it is suggested people with DS will obtain benefits in cognitive control by participating in further motor intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current studies have indicated that people with Down syndrome (DS) have higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease than their typical peers. The high prevalence of cardiovascular disease is associated with their inactivity. However, it is a challenge to conduct effective exercise programmes because of their poor central executive processing and atypical cerebral specialization which causes a verbal-motor disadvantage. Heart rate (HR) is an index to estimate exercise intensity and Rated of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale has been found to have a high correlation between RPE and HR in typical and special populations. Thus, there is a need to develop an effective RPE scale to monitor exercise performance in people with DS in order to improve their health. This study recruited 19 participants with DS and required them to perform a progressive walking protocol on the treadmill for 24 minutes. A pictorial RPE scale was conducted during the duration of walking. Results indicated significant positive relations between HR and RPE in thirteen participants. Even though the results were variable (R2: 0·01-0·93), it revealed that persons with DS were able to perceive and report a subjective estimation of physical exertion, which was reflective of the change in HR. Thus, this modified RPE scale could be applied in training and educational settings to monitor exercise intensity in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors’ aim was to understand how persons with Down syndrome (DS) perform different tasks and to assess if there were any differences in performance based on the type of instructions. This is important because of neurological differences in persons with DS and neurological demands for performing different types of tasks. Twenty right-handed participants with DS, 20 chronological age–matched (CA), and 20 mental age–matched (MA) performed unimanual, bimanual, discrete, and continuous drumming following visual, auditory, and verbal instructions. Overall, discrete drumming was performed with shorter movement times than continuous drumming and unimanual drumming was performed with shorter movement amplitude than bimanual drumming. With respect to instructions, persons with DS performed with smaller amplitudes, thus more efficient movements, following the visual instructions than auditory and verbal instructions for all types of tasks, whereas CA performed similarly with all instructions and MA performed with smaller amplitudes with visual instructions than auditory instructions. These results suggest that visual instruction provides the best information for people with DS to aid in performance of many different types of movements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors examined the influence of different amounts of visual information when children 4 (CH4), 6 (CH6), and 8 (CH8) years of age, and adults (n = 12 in each group) performed a steady-state bimanual circle-drawing coordination task at self-selected speeds. All participants maintained in-phase coordination, but different strategies for maintaining the pattern emerged. A predictable relationship between variability and age was not observed, in that the CH8 group was not necessarily more consistent than the CH6 and CH4 groups. The authors conclude that children are transitioning from dependence on kinesthetic feedback to reliance on visual feedback around age 8, as suggested by L. Hay, C. Bard, M. Fleury, and N. Teasdale (1991; L. Hay, M. Fleury, C. Bard, & N. Teasdale, 1994; L. Hay & C. Redon, 1997), and that future studies are needed to further explore visual and kinesthetic feedback as potential control parameters during coordination tasks in developing children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination instability (e.g., weak coupling strength) in young children may cause them to control some aspects of coordination in a different manner than adults. This experiment investigated the influence of rate and amplitude on bimanual coordination stability across development (4-, 6-, and 8-year-olds, and adults). Participants traced circles of different amplitudes (5, 10, 15, and 20 cm) while increasing movement rate twice during the trial. The results revealed that 4- and 6-year-olds produced much larger amplitudes than required and increased the amplitude of their movements with increases in rate. Four- and 6-year-olds also produced higher standard deviation of relative phase at all rates than did adults. Discussion examines differences in movement control and the rate-amplitude relation as a consequence of weaker coupling strength in young children than in older children and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association of work attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement) with job analysis ratings. The relation between work attitudes and job analysis ratings was examined relative to rating scale type (frequency and importance) and task discretion (low vs. high discretion tasks). Hypotheses linking work attitudes and job analysis ratings were developed and tested on a sample of 365 travel agents. The results indicated that the work attitudes were significantly associated with job analysis ratings of task frequency and importance. All 3 work attitudes had significantly higher correlations with frequency ratings of tasks that allowed high levels of discretion than those with prescribed behaviors (low discretion tasks). Applied implications and future directions for research linking work attitudes and job analysis ratings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The HKB model (H. Haken, J. A. S. Kelso, & H. Bunz, 1985) of coordination has been predominantly applied to upper extremity stationary movements. It predicts increased variability of relative phase before a transition and a decrease after a transition. The authors of the present study extended the intralimb lower extremity locomotive research of F. J. Diedrich and W. H. Warren (1995) by conducting continuous treadmill walk-to-run and run-to-walk trials with 10 participants. Standard deviation of knee-ankle and hip-ankle relative phase did not increase before walk-to-run and run-to-walk transitions, and there was no decrease in knee-ankle relative phase variability after either transition. The results of this study did not provide strong support for application of the variability predictions of the HKB model of coordination to lower extremity intralimb coordination during gait transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements were made of the dynamics of the eye and head during an ‘element’ of visual search, defined as the coordinated sequence of movements beginning with the signal to refixate and ending with target discrimination and response. Independent variables wore target angle, 20 to 100 degrees, certainty in target location, target brightness, target information content, and alcohol stress. Dependent performance measures included reaction times of the eye and head, number of eye movements, maximum head velocity, time to acquire target, and response time, as well as qualitative descriptions of the movement patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]