Three dimensional musculoskeletal modelling of the abdominal crunch resistance training exercise

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits and limitations of using three dimensional (3D) musculoskeletal modelling (LifeModeler^TM) in assessing the safety and efficacy of exercising on an abdominal crunch resistance training machine. Three anthropometric cases were studied, representing a 5^th percentile female, and 50^th percentile and 95^th percentile male. Results indicated that the LifeModeler^TM default model was capable of solving the forward dynamics simulations without adjustments. The modelling was able to indicate high risk for back injury when performing the abdominal crunch exercise as a result of the unacceptable intervertebral joint loading that occurs during the exercise. Individuals with small anthropometric dimensions such as some females and children cannot be accommodated suitably on the abdominal crunch machine which negatively impacts exercise posture and technique. Hip flexor muscle contribution in the execution of the exercise for the 5^th percentile female was substantial thus reducing the efficacy of the exercise in isolating the abdominal muscles.     

Internationale Konferenz für Berufserziehung Rom,April 1957

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Ability and Achievement Characteristics of Australian University Students with Self-Reported Specific Learning Disabilities

There is a lack of empirical data on the ability and achievement characteristics of Australian university students seeking accommodation under the Disability Discrimination Act because of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). A series of 30 self-referred students was assessed individually using an extensive test battery (WJ-R) based on a modern, comprehensive model of intelligence and achievement. Comparisons with known characteristics of North American students with and without SLD are reported as well as individual profile patterns relevant to definitions of SLD. Intra-cognitive weaknesses were found in cognitive processing speed, memory, auditory and visual intelligence. Contrary to expectation, reading was not an area of weakness. As expected, basic writing skills were poor for many students (18 out of 30). The variability of profile patterns requires an individualised approach to assessment, careful translation into recommendations, and ongoing evaluation of learning outcomes.     

Interkulturelles Lernen — Zur Grundlegung eines didaktischen Prinzips interkultureller Begegnungen

In the Federal Republic of Germany there have in recent years been many varied encounters between Germans and representatives of other cultures, particularly those from Third World countries. These have increasingly been organized with an awareness of global interdependence and have as a result opened the door to the influence of foreign cultures and to an unmistakeable movement in the direction of a multicultural society. An intercultural pedagogical approach and didactic theory are faced with the task of resolving the consequent problems related to education and training. The author firstly attempts to systematize as a typology the practice of learning as it occurs in intercultural encounters in so far as this relates to the Federal Republic of Germany. He suggests that ‘intercultural learning’ should be seen as the didactic principle underlying the organization of learning in such encounters. Through a detailed discussion of his central concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘learning’ and of the issue of ‘interculturalism’, and by sketching a theoretical model of the stages and goals of the learning taking place, he then makes plain the necessary enlargement of the German concept of ‘Kultur’ and the process of differentiation which the concept of learning will have to engage in if it is to be applicable to educational activity in international or intercultural contexts.     

Femoral indicator injection for transpulmonary thermodilution using the EV1000/VolumeView®: do the same criteria apply as for the PiCCO®?

Objective

Comparison of global end-diastolic volume index (GEDVI) obtained by femoral and jugular transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) indicator injections using the EV1000/VolumnView® device (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, USA).

Methods

In an 87-year-old woman with hypovolemic shock and equipped with both jugular and femoral vein access and monitored with the EV1000/VolumeView® device, we recorded 10 datasets, each comprising duplicate TPTD via femoral access and duplicate TPTD (20 ml cold saline) via jugular access.

Results

Mean femoral GEDVI ((674.6±52.3) ml/m²) was significantly higher than jugular GEDVI ((552.3±69.7) ml/m²), with P=0.003. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a bias of (+122±61) ml/m², limits of agreement of ?16 and +260 ml/m², and a percentage error of 22%. Use of the correction-formula recently suggested for the PiCCO® device significantly reduced bias and percentage error. Similarly, mean values of parameters derived from GEDVI such as pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI; 1.244±0.101 vs. 1.522±0.139; P<0.001) and global ejection fraction (GEF; (24.7±1.6)% vs. (28.1±1.8)%; P<0.001) were significantly different in the case of femoral compared to jugular indicator injection. Furthermore, the mean cardiac index derived from femoral indicator injection ((4.50±0.36) L/(min·m²)) was significantly higher (P=0.02) than that derived from jugular indicator injection ((4.12±0.44) L/(min·m²)), resulting in a bias of (+0.38±0.37) L/(min·m²) and a percentage error of 19.4%.

Conclusions

Femoral access for indicator injection results in markedly altered values provided by the EV1000/VolumeView®, particularly for GEDVI, PVPI, and GEF.

     

Reflexive Individualisierung als Mythologem p?dagogischer Zeitdiagnostik

Zusammenfassung Seit den 1980er-Jahren werden in sozialwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen sehr breit gef?chert die Ursachen und Folgen eines radikalisierten Individualisierungsprozesses er?rtert. Der Beitrag analysiert die p?dagogische Nachfrage dieser Zeitdiagnose. Er geht dem quantitativen Ausma? der Diskussionen nach, erschlie?t historische Bezüge und analysiert im Hauptteil auf der Basis empirischer Befunde die Tragf?higkeit der Annahme. Es wird argumentiert, dass die These, es habe nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg einen Individualisierungsschub gegeben, empirisch nicht best?tigt werden kann. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden Konsequenzen für die Problematik p?dagogischer Zeitdiagnostik vorgestellt. Es scheint notwendig, eine ‘Kultur der Skepsis’ gegenüber Gegenwartsdeutungen zu etablieren, die zwar vordergründig plausibel und p?dagogisch anschlussf?hig sind, die einer zufriedenstellenden Fundierung allerdings entbehren.