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Because people frequently talk while engaged in other activities, and because Parkinson's disease (PD) is known to diminish multi-tasking performance, this study examined dual task interference between speaking and postural stability in nine individuals with PD, seven age-matched, and 10 healthy young controls. Participants repeated a target utterance and performed a rise to toes task in both single and dual task conditions. Diphthong transitions were measured from audio recordings and postural variables reflecting planning, coordination, and stability were derived from a multi-camera motion capture system and force plate recordings. Thus, sensitive measures of both speech and postural control were obtained. The group with PD performed more poorly than both control groups for the isolated postural task, but their single task speech measures did not differ from the controls, in spite of listener ratings which indicated mild-to-moderate dysarthria severity. The group with PD showed evidence of bidirectional dual task interference in that there were reduced diphthong extents and slopes along with smaller, slower, and less stable postural movements. These results indicate that concurrent performance of speech and a challenging postural control task impairs speech and postural stability in persons with PD and may result in greater risk during daily activities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Identify clinical situations in which hand sonography can result in the detection of partial extensor tendon tears. 2. Identify the limitations of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosing extensor tendon tears. 3. Understand the various postoperative therapeutic protocols for extensor tendon repair. 4. Choose the appropriate surgical repair and postoperative therapeutic protocol for a specific extensor tendon injury. 5. Identify the social and economic variables that may influence the availability and efficacy of the various postoperative therapeutic protocols. BACKGROUND This article describes how the application of radiographic imaging facilitates the earlier detection and differentiation of extensor tendon injuries. Furthermore, it defines the best surgical procedure and postoperative therapy for a specific injury. METHODS A literature review was performed of extensor tendon injury articles published since 1989. RESULTS High-resolution sonography was more accurate than physical examination and magnetic resonance imaging in detecting extensor tendon injuries. Traditional postoperative static splinting was equivalent to early motion protocols for all uncomplicated thumb injuries and zone 1 to 3 injuries of the second through fifth digits. The only definable benefit of early motion therapy compared with static splinting was a quicker return to final function for proximal zones of injury in the second through fifth digits. The results of early active and passive motion, measured at 6 months, were comparable to those from static splinting. A higher rupture rate for early active motion and greater cost for early active and passive motion were noted compared with static splinting. CONCLUSIONS High-resolution sonography allows identification of difficult to diagnose partial and complete extensor tendon injuries. Static splinting should remain the postoperative standard of care for extensor tendon injuries to the thumb and distal zones of injury for digits 2 through 5. The best therapy protocol for proximal zones of injury should be individualized based on social and economic variables.

Background and PurposeParkinson disease (PD) results in an increased frequency of falls relative to the frequency in neurologically healthy people. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of PD fall risk diagnosis based on one test with that based on the collective interpretation of multiple tests.ParticipantsSeventy people with PD (mean age=73.91 years) participated in this study.MethodClinical balance tests were conducted during the initial examinations of people with PD. Validity indices were calculated for individual tests and compared with validity indices calculated for a combination of multiple tests.ResultsThirty-six participants reported a fall history. Analysis of individual tests revealed broad variations in validity indices, whereas the collective interpretation of multiple tests improved sensitivity and negative likelihood ratios.Discussion and ConclusionCollective interpretation of clinical balance tests resulted in fewer false-negative results and more substantial adjustments to the posttest probability of being a “faller” than the interpretation of one test alone. These results should be confirmed in a prospective examination of fall risk in PD.

The type of computer and related equipment used by students, students’ network connection, students’ ability to download plug-ins required to run applications, and students’ ability and/or knowledg...

The cadaver continues to be the primary tool to teach human gross anatomy. However, cadavers are not available to students outside of the teaching laboratory. A solution is to make course content available through computer-assisted instruction (CAI). While CAI is commonly used as an ancillary teaching tool for anatomy, use of screen space, annotations that obscure the image, and restricted interactivity have limited the utility of such teaching tools. To address these limitations, we designed a Web-based CAI tool that optimizes use of screen space, uses annotations that do not decrease the clarity of the images, and incorporates interactivity across different operating systems and browsers. To assess the design and utility of our CAI tool, we conducted a prospective evaluation of 43 graduate students enrolled in neuroanatomy taught by the Divisions of Physical and Occupational Therapy at the University of Utah, College of Health. A questionnaire addressed navigation, clarity of the images, benefit of the CAI tool, and rating of the CAI tool compared to traditional learning tools. Results showed that 88% of the respondents strongly agreed that the CAI tool was easy to navigate and overall beneficial. Eighty-four percent strongly agreed that the CAI tool was educational in structure identification and had clear images. Furthermore, 95% of the respondents thought that the CAI tool was much to somewhat better than traditional learning tools. We conclude that the design of a CAI tool, with minimal limitations, provides a useful ancillary tool for human neuroanatomy instruction.

From the Publisher: Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming the enabling technology for man-machine communications. Besides entertainment and architectural walkthroughs, VR can be used in industry for better design evaluations, concurrent engineering, etc. This book gives a systematic overview of the fundamental aspects of VR technology and its industrial applications, based on up-to-date information provided by experts from research and industry. All the authors are leading VR researchers. Especially those from industry are pioneers of VR applications. The book contains their newest research results and concrete application examples with illustrations and color images.

The purpose of the study was to compare the effect of voluntary pelvic floor muscle (FFM) contraction and vaginal electrical stimulation on urethral pressure. Twelve women with genuine stress incontinence, mean age 49.4 years (range 33-66) participated in the study. The urethral and bladder pressures were recorded simultaneously through a double-lumen 8 Ch catheter. The patients first performed three voluntary PFM contractions. Then two electrical stimulators, Conmax and Medicon MS 105, 50 Hz, were used in random order. A visual analog scale was used to measure pain and discomfort. Pain was reported to mean 6.8, SEM 0.64 (range 0.7-9.9) and mean 6.1, SEM 0.81 (range 0-9.1) with Conmax and Medicon MS 105, respectively. The mean paired difference in favor of voluntary contraction with Conmax was -8.0, SD 6.7, P = 0.0067, and with Medicon MS 105 it was -12.2, SD 5.9, P = 0.0022. The results demonstrated that voluntary PFM contraction increased urethral pressure significantly more than did vaginal electrical stimulation.