The diagnostic and prognostic utility of the dual-task tandem gait test for pediatric concussion

Background:The tandem gait test has gained interest recently for assessment of concussion recovery.The purpose of our study was to determine the prognostic and diagnostic use of the single-and dual-task tandem gait test,alongside other clinical measures,within 10 days of pediatric concussion.Methods:We assessed 126 patients post-concussion(6.3§2.3 days post-injury,mean§SD)at a pediatric sports medicine clinic and compared them to 58 healthy controls(age:15.6§1.3 years;43%female).We also compared the 31 patients with concussion who developed persistent post-concussion symptoms(PPCS)(age=14.9§2.0 years;48%female)to the 81 patients with concussion who did not develop PPCS following the initial assessment(age:14.1§3.0 years;41%female).All subjects completed a test battery,and concussion patients were monitored until they experienced concussion-symptom resolution.The test battery included tandem gait(single-task,dual-task(performing tandem gait while concurrently completing a cognitive test)conditions),modified Balance Error Scoring System(mBESS),and concussion symptom assessment(Health and Behavior Inventory).We defined PPCS as symptom resolution time>28 days post-concussion for the concussion group.Measurement outcomes included tandem gait time(single-and dual-task),dual-task cognitive accuracy,mBESS errors(single/double/tandem stances),and symptom severity.Results:The concussion group completed the single-task(mean difference=9.1 s,95%confidential interval(95%CI):6.1-12.1)and dual-task(mean difference=12.7 s,95%CI:8.7
16.8)tandem gait test more slowly than the control group.Compared to those who recovered within 28 days of concussion,the PPCS group had slower dual-task tandem gait test times(mean difference=7.9 s,95%CI:2.0-13.9),made more tandem-stance mBESS errors(mean difference=1.3 errors,95%CI:0.2-2.3),and reported more severe symptoms(mean difference=26.6 Health and Behavior Inventory rating,95%CI:21.1-32.6).Conclusion:Worse dual-task tandem gait test time and mBESS tandem stance performance predicted PPCS in pediatric patients evaluated within 10 days of concussion.Tandem gait assessments may provide valuable information augmenting common clinical practices for concussion management.     

An instrument for measuring short intervals of time

This paper describes a meter for measuring short intervals of time. Full scale deflections of 0.001, 0.1 and 1.0 second can be obtained by the use of a selector switch. This meter will indicate the length of time a contact remains closed, or the interval of time between the closing of one circuit and the opening of another. The device has a linear acale for any chosem range. It measures time by the charge which flows to a condenser during the interval. The charge is found by reading the potential difference 0n the condenser with a sensitive vacuum-tube voltmeter.The theory of the circuit and its advantage over other devices for the same purpose are discussed.     

Fāṭimid Alexandria as an Entrepôt in the East–West Exchange of Islamic Scholarship

Abstract

The arrival in Alexandria of al-?ur?ūshī from Spain and al-Silafī from Iran and the settling there of both early in the sixth/twelfth century created a nucleus of Sunni learning that grew into a full-blown renaissance. Many additional scholars participated, either as students and colleagues of these two, or on their own. As one result, the city itself became, over the first half of that century, a noted entrepôt for the east–west exchange of scholarship in the Muslim world, and all this despite the core Shi‘ism of the Fā?imid dynasty that controlled Egypt, including Alexandria. This renaissance in fact continued to flourish until the Fā?imids were finally supplanted in 567/1171 by the Ayyūbids, a full two decades into the second half of the same century, at which time Cairo became once again a major centre of Sunnism.     

The library's role in countering infodemics

Internet and communication technologies enable the creation of tremendous amounts of textual, graphic, and pictorial information. User-generated content published through personal web pages, blogs, and social media platforms has not only increased the amount of information available, but also expanded its reach. However, this ubiquity of information and empowerment of its creators leads to potentially controversial, futile, and inaccurate content circulating throughout the world. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, this can create false hope, fear, anxiety, harm, and confusion amongst information stakeholders. The World Health Organization recently applied the term “infodemic” to the COVID-19 pandemic. This commentary briefly discusses the current infodemic, its potential consequences, and the role of libraries—specifically health sciences, biomedical, and medical libraries—to help counter the COVID-19 infodemic. The discussion also has relevance for infodemics relating to other health and non-health affairs.     

A Cross-Sectional Test of Sign Creation by Children in the Gesture and Vocal Modalities

Naturalistic studies show that children can create language-like communication systems in the absence of conventional language. However, experimental evidence is mixed. We address this discrepancy using an experimental paradigm that simulates naturalistic sign creation. Specifically, we tested if a sample of 6- to 12-year-old children (52 girls and 56 boys drawn from an urban, predominantly white population in Western Australia) can comprehend and create novel gestural and vocal signs. Experiment 1 tested children’s ability to comprehend novel signs. Experiment 2 tested children’s ability to create novel signs. Results show that children can comprehend and create gestural and vocal signs, that communication is more successful in the gesture modality, and that older children outperform younger children.     

The Reliability of a 5km Run Test on a Motorized Treadmill

The purpose of the present study was to determine the reliability of a 5km run test on a motorized treadmill. Over three consecutive weeks, 12 well-trained runners completed three 5km time trials on a treadmill following a standardized warm-up. Runners were partially-blinded to their running speed and distance covered. Total time to complete the run was recorded for analysis of reliability. The highest intraclass correlation coefficient between trials for 5km time trial (TT) time was .99 (90% confidence intervals [CI]; .96–1.00, very high), which occurred between trials 2 and 3. The lowest typical error of measurement (expressed as a coefficient of variation percentage [CV%] and as an absolute value in seconds) also occurred between trials 2 and 3, and was 1.0% and 10.9 seconds, respectively. The testing protocol performed on a motorized treadmill in the current study is reproducible in well-trained runners following a single trial, making it a reliable method for monitoring running performance.     

An Example of the Informative Potential of Polar Coordinate Analysis: Sprint Tactics in Elite 1,500-m Track Events

Polar coordinate analysis is a powerful data reduction technique based on the Zsum statistic, which is calculated from adjusted residuals obtained by lag sequential analysis. Its use has been greatly simplified since the addition of a module in the free software program HOISAN for performing the necessary computations and producing easy-to-interpret results in the form of polar coordinate maps. In this study, we provide a simple and practical example of how this technique can be used to analyze tactical behaviors in sport and physical exercise. We studied 158 performances by 82 male runners in thirteen 1,500-m finals held at the Olympic Games, the World Championships in Athletics, and the European Athletics Championships between 2000 and 2012 to investigate associations between the initiation of sprints by race winners and other runners (focal behaviors) and the lap and zone of the track in which the sprints were initiated (conditional behaviors). The significant prospective/retrospective activating/inhibitory relationships shown in the polar coordinate maps confirm the decision to start a sprint is a tactical one and are consistent with a winning strategy consisting of avoiding giving rivals the benefit of the slipstream while conserving sufficient energy for a final winning burst. Polar coordinate analysis is a powerful technique for studying tactical behaviors in the field of sport.     

“Sharenting,” parent blogging,and the boundaries of the digital self

ABSTRACT

This article asks whether “sharenting” (sharing representations of one’s parenting or children online) is a form of digital self-representation. Drawing on interviews with 17 parent bloggers, we explore how parents define the borders of their digital selves and justify what is their “story to tell.” We find that bloggers grapple with profound ethical dilemmas, as representing their identities as parents inevitably makes public aspects of their children’s lives, introducing risks that they are, paradoxically, responsible for safeguarding against. Parents thus evaluate what to share by juggling multiple obligations—to themselves, their children in the present and imagined into the future, and to their physical and virtual communities. The digital practices of representing the relational self are impeded more than eased by the individualistic notion of identity instantiated by digital platforms, thereby intensifying the ambivalence of both parents and the wider society in judging emerging genres of blogging the self.     

Responding to Hong Kong’s political crisis: moralist activism amongst youth

ABSTRACT

Discourses of morality are prevalent in contemporary Hong Kong youth activism. This paper suggests that this moralist disposition is the product of youth frustrations towards Hong Kong’s political crisis, whereby the power gap between civil society and the government renders the former incapable of exerting substantial influence over the governance of the city. Rather than ascribe the cause of this power imbalance solely to government policies, this paper reveals that civil society also contributed towards the making of this political crisis. By reviewing the citizen-led pro-democracy movement throughout the decades, it is shown that civil society has been ineffective in implementing political reforms because its actors and organisations harbour a political subjectivity that prioritises economic considerations over democratic aspirations, and are thus inclined to compromise with the government to preserve economic stability than to demand for political reforms. As a result, contemporary youth activists describe Hong Kong civil society as “uncaring” and lacking in moral commitment towards realising democratic reforms that will facilitate the development of a just society. Seeking to reconfigure such political attitudes that currently prevail in civil society, youth activists refashion themselves into political actors embodying a form of moral personhood that embraces notions of responsibility and of wanting to do good for the city, to show that another way of being politically engaged in Hong Kong is possible.