Upper limb joint muscle/tendon injury and anthropometric adaptations in French competitive tennis players

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the upper limb anthropometric dimensions and a history of dominant upper limb injury in tennis players. Dominant and non-dominant wrist, forearm, elbow and arm circumferences, along with a history of dominant upper limb injuries, were assessed in 147 male and female players, assigned to four groups based on location of injury: wrist (n = 9), elbow (n = 25), shoulder (n = 14) and healthy players (n = 99). From anthropometric dimensions, bilateral differences in circumferences and in proportions were calculated. The wrist group presented a significant bilateral difference in arm circumference, and asymmetrical bilateral proportions between wrist and forearm, as well as between elbow and arm, compared to the healthy group (6.6 ± 3.1% vs. 4.9 ± 4.0%, P < 0.01; ?3.6 ± 3.0% vs. ?0.9 ± 2.9%, P < 0.05; and ?2.2 ± 2.2% vs. 0.1 ± 3.4%, P < 0.05, respectively). The elbow group displayed asymmetrical bilateral proportions between forearm and arm compared to the healthy group (?0.4 ± 4.3% vs. 1.5 ± 4.0%, P < 0.01). The shoulder group showed significant bilateral difference in elbow circumference, and asymmetrical bilateral proportions between forearm and elbow when compared to the healthy group (5.8 ± 4.7% vs. 3.1 ± 4.8%, P < 0.05 and ?1.7 ± 4.5% vs. 1.4 ± 4.3%, P < 0.01, respectively). These findings suggest that players with a history of injury at the upper limb joint present altered dominant upper limb proportions in comparison with the non-dominant side, and such asymmetrical proportions would appear to be specific to the location of injury. Further studies are needed to confirm the link between location of tennis injury and asymmetry in upper limb proportions using high-tech measurements in symptomatic tennis players.     

Document clustering using nonnegative matrix factorization

A methodology for automatically identifying and clustering semantic features or topics in a heterogeneous text collection is presented. Textual data is encoded using a low rank nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm to retain natural data nonnegativity, thereby eliminating the need to use subtractive basis vector and encoding calculations present in other techniques such as principal component analysis for semantic feature abstraction. Existing techniques for nonnegative matrix factorization are reviewed and a new hybrid technique for nonnegative matrix factorization is proposed. Performance evaluations of the proposed method are conducted on a few benchmark text collections used in standard topic detection studies.     

The effect of self-management empowerment model on the sense of coherence among elderly patients with cardiovascular disease

Abstract

To correct poor quality of life due to the elderly’s limitations and cardiovascular disorders requires the identification of supporting resources, adaptation, and enhancement of the sense of coherence. While having the little evidence available, this clinical trial was performed on 96 elderly people with cardiovascular disease. The goal was to determine the effect of education based on a self-management empowerment model on the sense of coherence. The results indicate the effect of a five-step educational intervention on a total sense of coherence score in the experimental group and on its dimensions. The results can provide a framework to design nursing education for the empowerment of the elderly.     

Commentary: Childbirth Education in Iran

With regard to childbirth, the role of every health-care system is to improve maternity care as well as the birth experience of women and their family members. Despite many efforts to improve maternity care in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the nation's childbirth care still faces a tremendous amount of unnecessary intervention and, consequently, a high rate of cesarean births. This article describes the strengths and weaknesses of Iran's maternity-care system and childbirth education in light of evidence-based practice.