Impaired motor control after sport-related concussion could increase risk for musculoskeletal injury: Implications for clinical management and rehabilitation

This review presents a conceptual framework and supporting evidence that links impaired motor control after sport-related concussion(SRC)to increased risk for musculoskeletal injury.Multiple studies have found that athletes who are post-SRC have higher risk for musculoskeletal injury compared to their counterparts.A small body of research suggests that impairments in motor control are associated with musculoskeletal injury risk.Motor control involves the perception and processing of sensory information and subsequent coordination of motor output within the central nervous system to perform a motor task.Motor control is inclusive of motor planning and motor learning.If sensory information is not accurately perceived or there is interference with sensory information processing and cognition,motor function will be altered,and an athlete may become vulnerable to injury during sport participation.Athletes with SRC show neuroanatomic and neurophysiological changes relevant to motor control even after meeting return to sport criteria,including a normal neurological examination,resolution of symptoms,and return to baseline function on traditional concussion testing.In conjunction,altered motor function is demonstrated after SRC in muscle activation and force production,movement patterns,balance/postural stability,and motor task performance,especially performance of a motor task paired with a cognitive task(i.e.,dual-task condition).The clinical implications of this conceptual framework include a need to intentionally address motor control impairments after SRC to mitigate musculoskeletal injury risk and to monitor motor control as the athlete progresses through the return to sport continuum.     

Health education for Somali Bantu refugees via home visits

Background: Somali Bantu refugees, with unique health information needs, created challenges for health and social service providers. Objectives: A service innovation was developed (i) to raise awareness, especially among local health and social service providers, about the Bantu refugees’ presence in the community, their culture, and their information needs and (ii) to deliver needed health information, emphasizing child health, to the Bantu mothers in their homes. Methods: The project consisted of: (i) a community conference targeting local health and social service providers, describing the refugees’ presence in the community, their culture, and information needs. (ii) Focus groups conducted with members of the Bantu population elicited additional information needs. (iii) Curriculum was developed based on identified needs, and (iv) the curriculum was delivered to the refugees in their homes. A clinical informationist and MP3 technology enhanced the project. Findings: Conference attendees’ evaluation responses indicated improved understanding of Bantu culture. Focus groups’ identification of health information needs provided a framework for the health education curriculum. A project website made educational materials available to other healthcare providers. Conclusions: The project raised awareness of the Bantus’ presence, culture, and information needs. Identification of other unmet needs demonstrated that additional support for refugees is required.     

Extending validity evidence for multidimensional measures of coaching competency

This study extended validity evidence for multidimensional measures of coaching competency derived from the Coaching Competency Scale (CCS; Myers, Feltz, Maier, Wolfe, & Reckase, 2006) by examining use of the original rating scale structure and testing how measures related to satisfaction with the head coach within teams and between teams. Motivation, game strategy, technique, and character building comprised the dimensions of coaching competency. Data were collected from athletes (N = 585) nested within intercollegiate men's (g = 8) and women's (g = 13) soccer and women's ice hockey (g = 11) teams (G = 32). Validity concerns were observed for the original rating scale structure and the predicted positive relationship between motivation competency and satisfaction with the coach between teams. Validity evidence was offered for a condensed post hoc rating scale and the predicted relationship between motivation competency and satisfaction with the coach within teams.     

The angiogenetic effect of intramuscular administration of b-FGF and a-FGF on cardiac muscle: the influence of exercise on muscle angiogenesis

Although angiogenetic therapy using recombinant growth factors holds much hope for the treatment of ischaemic diseases, there are still many unanswered questions, including the method of administration, the correct dose of these factors, and the duration of the therapeutic approach. Exercise has also been suggested to induce neovascularizaiton in muscles. We evaluated the angiogenetic effects of the intramuscular administration of basic-fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) and acidic-fibroblast growth factor (a-FGF) in rat heart, compared with rats who exercised daily. In conclusion, both the intramuscular administration of b-FGF and exercise increased significantly angiogenesis in the heart in contrast to the intramuscular administration of a-FGF, which was ineffective.     

Distributed-parameter optimal control via mathematical programming

In this paper a variety of optimal control (OC) problems for distributed- parameter (DP) systems are approached using mathematical programming (MP). First, the principal DP models in current use are given, a variety of DP objective functions is provided, and the OC problems based on them are formulated. Second, these models and objective functions are converted in algebraic form, as required by MP, and the solution procedure of the OC problems via MP is outlined. Third, a representative set of nonlinear programming results applied to DP systems is presented, and finally, a numvber of application examples is given.     

On metrics matched to the discrete memoryless channel

A sequence of metrics {D_N} is said to be additive and matched to a discrete memoryless channel (DMC) if D_N is the sum on its coordinates of N single letter metrics and if the maximum likelihood decoder for sequences of length N is a minimum D_N-distance decoder. Necessary and sufficient conditions on the transition probabilities of a DMC for the existence of a sequence of additive metrics matched to it are given. In the case of the binary channel these are shown to be equivalent to the channel being symmetric. Explicit transition probabilities are given for a large class of ternary DMCs with an associated sequence of additive matched metrics. The problem solved here may be considered a generalization of the problem of finding the DMCs matched to the Lee metric solved by Chiang and Wolf in 1971 (2).