Search

Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/ac19d3, Objective. Impaired trunk stability is frequent in spinal cord injury (SCI), but there is a lack of quantitative measures for assessing trunk function. Our objectives were to: (a) evaluate trunk muscle activity and movement patterns during a reaching task in SCI patients, (b) compare the impact of cervical (cSCI) and thoracic (tSCI) injuries in trunk function, and (c) investigate the effects of a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) in these patients. Approach. Electromyographic (EMG) and smartphone accelerometer data were recorded from 15 cSCI patients, nine tSCI patients, and 24 healthy controls, during a reaching task requiring trunk tilting. We calculated the response time (RespT) until pressing a target button, EMG onset latencies and amplitudes, and trunk tilt, lateral deviation, and other movement features from accelerometry. Statistical analysis was applied to analyze the effects of group (cSCI, tSCI, control) and condition (SAS, non-SAS) in each outcome measure. Main results. SCI patients, especially those with cSCI, presented significantly longer RespT and EMG onset latencies than controls. Moreover, in SCI patients, forward trunk tilt was accompanied by significant lateral deviation. RespT and EMG latencies were remarkably shortened by the SAS (the so-called StartReact effect) in tSCI patients and controls, but not in cSCI patients, who also showed higher variability. Significance. The combination of EMG and smartphone accelerometer data can provide quantitative measures for the assessment of trunk function in SCI. Our results show deficits in postural control and compensatory strategies employed by SCI patients, including delayed responses and higher lateral deviations, possibly to improve sitting balance. This is the first study investigating the StartReact responses in trunk muscles in SCI patients and shows that the SAS significantly accelerates RespT in tSCI, but not in cSCI, suggesting an increased cortical control exerted by these patients., This work was developed in the framework of the joint project 'Biomedical signal interpretation to study motor impairment, neurological disorders and novel personalised neurorehabilitation therapies', between the Fundación Institut Guttmann and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia. This work was supported in part by a fellowship from 'La Caixa' Foundation (ID 100010434) with fellowship code LCF/BQ/DE18/11670019, in part by the Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya under Grant GRC 2017 SGR 01770, in part by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the European Regional Development Fund under Grant RTI2018 098472-B-I00, in part by the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya, in part by H2020-ERA-NET Neuron under Grant AC16/00034, in part by La Marató de TV3 2017 under Grant 201713.31, and in part by Premi Beca 'Mike Lane' 2019—Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia. The authors declare no competing interests.

This study was aimed at comparing selected joint angles at the golf address stance by categorizing three different body types. 43 elite male golfers were selected and 9 of them turned out to be the ectoderm while 24 of them to be the mesoderm. The remaining 10 subjects were the endoderm. The measurement was carried out at the address stance with the number 7 iron and the driver. The result showed that the angle of trunk flexion did not different among body types. The trunk tilting angle became more inclined to the right side, which confirmed the guidelines from most of golf lesson books, for bigger people since they tended to put more weight on the right foot. The angle of both knees showed similar but the right knee was bent more than the left knee. The target direction and body alignment faced more to the left side than the target spot because of the influence of open stance and natural aiming position. It seems that pelvis and knees turned a little bit more to the right side than the target direction in order to maintain the parallel. Overall, significant differences among body types were found at the trunk tilting angle and pelvis-target alignment and golf address configuration can be differentiate by these factors.

This study aims to evaluate the postures of workers during the activities of milking and handling dairy cattle in the Community of Campo Mourão Municipalities, in Brazil. To identify the presence of musculoskeletal symptoms, the study was divided into two stages: first, we identified the demographic profile of the sample through a questionnaire and then obtained information about problems with pain and discomfort by applying the Standardised Nordic Questionnaire. The second stage consisted of an analysis of the activity of six farms to identify the natural ergonomic risk factors. To evaluate and record the postures, we used the REBA method (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) to correlate the prevalence of pain/discomfort with the positions adopted by workers in a production system. The study demonstrated that 87% of workers had pains and showed that the main postures throughout the workday are trunk tilting and bending, characterizing a job that requires awkward postures, with a high level of effort, in most activities, which may contribute to the development of musculoskeletal injuries for these workers. The REBA method also pointed out a high level of risk. During their routine, dairy farm workers adopt harmful positions that cause a high prevalence of pain/discomfort. Ergonomic recommendations are thus proposed to reduce these awkward postures of workers and consequently improve their quality of life at work.

From previous researches, studies on the forward fall had focused on the relationship between the joint loading and position of the forearm and elbow. Previous studies also stressed the importance of energy absorption by the shoulder and elbow during the forward fall. However, the effects of different tilting angles on joint loading of the upper extremity had not been presented. This study investigated the effects of different tilting angles on joint loading of the upper extremity during fall on an outstretched hand. The absorbed energy at Ts, T1, T2 and Te were analyzed. Ten healthy young males were selected in this study. Subjects were adjusted to different trunk tilting angles of 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°with a custom-made suspension system with an outstretched hand of 5 cm height above the ground. The expert vision motion system with 6 CCD cameras and one force plate were used to collect kinetics and kinematics data. The results showed that shoulder would absorb the most impact energy and followed by wrist and elbow. The time period at T2 to Te absorbed more energy in every joint.

Study of the growth layers of trees growing along the margins and below the terminus of a present day receding glacier reveals the minumum lapse of time in years since the glacier advanced beyond a given point, and the approximate rates at which recession has occurred. Study of cross sections of trees pushed part way over by ice pressure at the time of maximum glacier advance and left in a tilted position to continue growth until the present, discloses the exact year of the maximum advance. This is detected through a change in form of growth layers in the trunk cross section. Growth while the tree is erect is concentric about the growth center; that after trunk tilting is asymmetric. The non-conformity between concentric central growth and eccentric outer growth marks the year of the tilting. This technique and others described here may be used to date landslides, windstorms, and river floods as well as glacier fluctuations.