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Reviews the computer software Goniometry: An Interactive Tutorial.

Presents an abstract of the article `The Extended Role of a Physiotherapist in an Out-patient Orthopaedic Clinic,' by J. Hockin and G. Bannister that appeared in the `Physiotherapy' periodical. Assessment of effectiveness of the physical therapist; Measurement of outcome on conclusion of treatment.

Presents an abstract of the article `A Randomised Controlled Study of the Outcome of Hydrotherapy for Subjects With Low Back or Back and Leg Pain,' by B. Mcllveen and V.J. Robertson, adapted from the periodical `Physiotherapy,' which investigated the effectiveness of group hydrotherapy for patients with chronic low back pain and back and leg pain.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a portable belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry (HHD) set-up for measuring knee extension force and to compare the magnitude and reliability of forces obtained with the set-up to those obtained without belt-stabilization. Measures for single-limb knee extension force were obtained via HHD from 16 young participants by 2 testers of substantially different strength. Measurements were obtained during 2 sessions 1 week apart. Testing was performed with participants in a bariatric chair - with and without HHD belt-stabilization. Data from the first session were used to compare the magnitude of knee extension forces. Data from both sessions were used to examine reliability via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots. Forces measured with belt-stabilization were significantly (p< 0.001) higher than those measured without belt-stabilization. The differences were greater for male participants (p=0.006) and the female tester (p=0.001). Intertester reliability was poor for measurements obtained without belt-stabilization (ICC=0.17) but good for measurements obtained with belt-stabilization (ICC =0.84). Differences between testers increased with the magnitude of force measured when no belt-stabilization was provided but not when belt-stabilization was used. Test-retest reliability was good when belt-stabilization was employed (ICC=0.87 and 0.92). When belt-stabilization was not used, the test-retest reliability was acceptable for the male tester (ICC=0.77) but not the female tester (ICC =0.50). In conclusion, the set-up examined is affordable, portable and easy to assemble. It allows for rapid testing of knee extension strength. With HHD belt-stabilization, the set-up can be recommended for clinicians and researchers requiring objective measures of knee extension strength in diverse settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The responsiveness of measurements obtained by hand-held dynamometry (HHD) is largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE: A secondary analysis of data from a clinical cohort of patients (N=55) admitted for inpatient rehabilitation following acute stroke was completed to determine the responsiveness of measures of lower extremity muscle strength. METHOD: The isometric strength of hip flexion, knee extension, and ankle dorsiflexion was measured bilaterally in 55 patients using HHD. Independence in bed-to-chair transfers, level ground gait, and stair negotiation was determined using an ordinal mobility scale. All measures were obtained at admission and discharge.RESULTS: Over the course of rehabilitation muscle strength increased significantly (p&les; 0.002) in all 3 lower limb muscle actions of both the weaker and stronger sides. Effect sizes (0.19-0.43) and standardized response means (0.45-0.79) were mostly small to moderate but tended to be greater on the weaker side than the stronger side. The minimum detectable change (95%) values ranged from 33.2 to 87.5 N and were higher on the stronger than on the weaker side. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for identifying minimal clinically important differences revealed cut-points between -12.9 and 52.9 Newtons for strength increases differentiating patients who did and did not demonstrate improved mobility. CONCLUSION: HHD is capable of detecting changes in lower limb strength after stroke but the responsiveness, as indicated by effect size, standardized response mean, minimum detectable change and minimal clinically importance is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One group of 10 male albino rats was given partial reinforcement while the other 10 rats received continuous reinforcement in a straight alley. Subjects then experienced five consecutive stages of Extinction 1, Continuous Reinforcement 1, Extinction 2, Continuous Reinforcement 2, and finally, Extinction 3. Analysis showed the partial reinforcement effect in extinction was sustained over two stages of extinction and two stages of continuous reinforcement, since subjects receiving partial reinforcement ran faster than rats given continuous reinforcement throughout all three of the extinction periods. The results seem to support those of Amsel's (1967) and Capaldi's (1967) theoretical formulations of the partial reinforcement effect in extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A quantitative LAMP method for identification of EEDV has been developed. • Analytical sensitivity of the qLAMP is as low as 78 pg extracted DNA from tissue. • The method is highly specific for EEDV. • The EEDV qLAMP method was evaluated against the qPCR method. Abstract Epizootic Epitheliotropic Disease Virus (EEDV; Salmonid Herpesvirus-3) causes a serious disease hatchery-reared lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), threatening restoration efforts of this species in North America. The current inability to replicate EEDV in vitro necessitates the search for a reproducible, sensitive, and specific assay that allows for its detection and quantitation in a time- and cost-effective manner. Herein, we describe a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay that was developed for the quantitative detection of EEDV in infected fish tissues. The newly developed LAMP reaction was optimized in the presence of calcein, and the best results were produced using 2 mM MgCl 2 , 1.8 mM dNTPs and at an incubation temperature of 67.1 °C. This method was highly specific to EEDV, as it showed no cross-reactivity with several fish viruses, including Salmonid Herpesvirus-1, -2, -4, and -5, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus, Spring Viremia of Carp Virus, Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus, Golden Shiner Reovirus, Fathead Minnow Nidovirus, and Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus. The analytical sensitivity of the EEDV-LAMP method was estimated to be as low as 16 copies of plasmid per reaction. When infected fish tissue was used, a positive reaction could be obtained when an infected gill tissue sample that contained 430 viral copies/μg was diluted up to five orders of magnitude. The sensitivity and specificity of the newly developed LAMP assay compared to the SYBR Green qPCR assay were 84.3% and 93.3%, respectively. The quantitative LAMP for EEDV had a correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.980), and did not differ significantly from the SYBR Green quantitative PCR assay (p > 0.05). Given its cost- and time-effectiveness, this quantitative LAMP assay is suitable for screening lake trout populations and for the initial diagnosis of clinical cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the United States, 5%-10% of breast cancer cases are due to genetic predisposition. Among this population, prophylactic mastectomy is viable risk-reducing option., Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the timing to prophylactic mastectomy in patients with genetic predisposition to breast cancer and uncover factors influencing this decision., Methods: This study is a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with genetic predisposition for breast cancer from 2010 to 2020., Results: In a cohort of 506 patients with genetic predisposition for breast cancer, 154 (30.4%) underwent prophylactic mastectomy, the remainder opted for surveillance alone. The median time from diagnosis to mastectomy was 1.1 years (IQR, 0.5-3.1 years). During the surveillance period, 118 patients (33.5%) underwent breast biopsy. Of the patients with benign or atypical findings, 35 (36.8%) pursued prophylactic mastectomy, a median of 0.5 years (IQR, 0.2-1.6 years) after their gene diagnosis. The most common factor impacting the decision to undergo prophylactic mastectomy was having a family member with cancer (54.7%) followed by a personal diagnosis of other cancer(s) (27.5%)., Conclusion: Understanding the factors influencing the decision to undergo prophylactic surgery will allow for more effective shared decision-making for primary care providers, breast surgeons, and reconstructive surgeons., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Surgical Oncology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Tissue expander-based breast reconstruction is associated with high rates of infectious complications, often leading to tissue expander explants and delays in receipt of definitive breast reconstruction and adjuvant therapy. In this study, we describe a single-stage technique where deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flaps are used to salvage actively infected tissue expanders among patients originally planning for free flap reconstruction., Methods: In this technique, patients with tissue expander infections without systemic illness are maintained on oral antibiotics until the day of their DIEP flap surgery, at which time tissue expander explant is performed in conjunction with aggressive attempt at total capsulectomy and immediate DIEP flap reconstruction. Patients are maintained on 1-2 weeks of oral antibiotics tailored to culture data. Patients undergoing this immediate salvage protocol were retrospectively reviewed, and complications and length of stay were assessed., Results: In a retrospective series, a total of six consecutive patients with culture-proven tissue expander infections underwent tissue expander removal and DIEP flap reconstruction in a single stage and were maintained on 7-14 days of oral antibiotics postoperatively. Within this cohort, no surgical site infections, microvascular complications, partial flap losses, reoperations, or returns to the operating room were noted within a 90-day period., Conclusions: Among a select cohort of patients, actively infected tissue expanders may be salvaged with free flap breast reconstruction in a single surgery with a low incidence of postoperative complications. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the influence of this treatment strategy on costs, number of surgeries, and dissatisfaction after staged breast reconstruction complicated by tissue expander infections., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)