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Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) Jun 2017Adequate static and dynamic balance performance is an important prerequisite during daily and sporting life. Various traditional and innovative balance training concepts... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Adequate static and dynamic balance performance is an important prerequisite during daily and sporting life. Various traditional and innovative balance training concepts have been suggested to improve postural control or neuromuscular fall risk profiles over recent years. Whether slackline training (balancing over narrow nylon ribbons) serves as an appropriate training strategy to improve static and dynamic balance performance is as yet unclear.
OBJECTIVE
The aim was to examine the occurrence and magnitude of effects of slackline training compared with an inactive control condition on static and dynamic balance performance parameters in children, adults and seniors.
DATA SOURCES
Five biomedical and psychological databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed, SPORTDiscus) were screened using the following search terms with Boolean conjunctions: (slacklin* OR slack-lin* OR tight rop* OR tightrop* OR Slackline-based OR line-based OR slackrop* OR slack-rop* OR floppy wir* OR rop* balanc* OR ropedanc* OR rope-danc*) STUDY SELECTION: Randomized and non-randomized controlled trials that applied slackline training as an exercise intervention compared with an inactive control condition focusing on static and dynamic balance performance (perturbed and non-perturbed single leg stance) in healthy children, adults and seniors were screened for eligibility.
DATA EXTRACTION
Eligibility and study quality [Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale] were independently assessed by two researchers. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) calculated as weighted Hedges' g served as main outcomes in order to compare slackline training versus inactive control on slackline standing as well as dynamic and static balance performance parameters. Statistical analyses were conducted using a random-effects, inverse-variance model.
RESULTS
Eight trials (mean PEDro score 6.5 ± 0.9) with 204 healthy participants were included. Of the included subjects, 35 % were children or adolescents, 39 % were adults and 26 % were seniors. Slackline training varied from 4 to 6 weeks with 16 ± 7 training sessions on average, ranging from 8 to 28 sessions. Mean overall slackline training covered 380 ± 128 min. Very large task-specific effects in favor of slackline training compared with the inactive control condition were found for slackline standing time {SMD 4.63 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.67-5.59], p < 0.001}. Small and moderate pooled transfer effects were observed for dynamic [SMD 0.52 (95 % CI 0.08-0.96), p = 0.02] and static [SMD 0.30 (95 % CI -0.03 to 0.64), p = 0.07] standing balance performance, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Slackline training mainly revealed meaningful task-specific training effects in balance performance tasks that are closely related to the training content, such as slackline standing time and dynamic standing balance. Transfer effects to static and dynamic standing balance performance tasks are limited. As a consequence, slackline devices should be embedded into a challenging and multimodal balance training program and not used as the sole form of training.
Topics: Athletic Performance; Humans; Movement; Nylons; Physical Conditioning, Human; Physical Education and Training; Postural Balance; Posture; Sports
PubMed: 27704483
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-016-0631-9 -
Qualitative Health Research May 2011In this article we explore the concept of balance in the context of health. We became interested in balance during a grounded theory study of lay conceptualizations of... (Review)
Review
In this article we explore the concept of balance in the context of health. We became interested in balance during a grounded theory study of lay conceptualizations of cancer risk in which participants were concerned with having a good life, which relied heavily on balancing processes. This led us to the qualitative literature about balance in the context of health, which was large and in need of synthesis. We identified 170 relevant studies and used Thomas and Harden's technique of thematic synthesis to identify key balance-related themes and develop these into more abstract analytic categories. We found that balance and balancing were salient to people in three health-related contexts: health maintenance, disease or disability management, and lay or professional caregiving. In each of these contexts, balance or imbalance could be a state or a process. In addition, those using the word balance had either an internally or externally focused orientation to the world around them. Clinicians and public health practitioners might benefit from using these insights in their research and communication.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Communication; Disease Management; Health Behavior; Health Status; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Postural Balance; Psychological Theory; Qualitative Research; Risk; Sensation Disorders; Social Support; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 21343435
DOI: 10.1177/1049732311399781 -
Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory... 2017Point-of-care testing (POCT) is the analysis of patient specimens outside the clinical laboratory, near or at the site of patient care, usually performed by clinical... (Review)
Review
Point-of-care testing (POCT) is the analysis of patient specimens outside the clinical laboratory, near or at the site of patient care, usually performed by clinical staff without laboratory training, although it also encompasses patient self-monitoring. It is able to provide a rapid result near the patient and which can be acted upon immediately. The key driver is the concept that clinical decision making may be delayed when samples are sent to the clinical laboratory. Balanced against this are considerations of increased costs for purchase and maintenance of equipment, staff training, connectivity to the laboratory information system (LIS), quality control (QC) and external quality assurance (EQA) procedures, all required for accreditation under ISO 22870. The justification for POCT depends upon being able to demonstrate that a more timely result (shorter turnaround times (TATs)) is able to leverage a clinically important advantage in decision making compared with the central laboratory (CL). In the four decades since POCT was adapted for the self-monitoring of blood glucose levels by subjects with diabetes, numerous new POCT methodologies have become available, enabling the clinician to receive results and initiate treatment more rapidly. However, these instruments are often operated by staff not trained in laboratory medicine and hence are prone to errors in the analytical phase (as opposed to laboratory testing where the analytical phase has the least errors). In some environments, particularly remote rural settings, the CL may be at a considerable distance and timely availability of cardiac troponins and other analytes can triage referrals to the main centers, thus avoiding expensive unnecessary patient transportation costs. However, in the Emergency Department, availability of more rapid results with POCT does not always translate into shorter stays due to other barriers to implementation of care. In this review, we apply the principles of evidence-based laboratory medicine (EBLM) looking for high quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses, ideally underpinned by randomized controlled trials (RCTs), looking for evidence of whether POCT confers any advantage in clinical decision making in different scenarios.
Topics: Clinical Decision-Making; Evidence-Based Medicine; Humans; Point-of-Care Testing; Time Factors
PubMed: 29169287
DOI: 10.1080/10408363.2017.1399336 -
Journal of Research of the National... 2017
PubMed: 34877117
DOI: 10.6028/jres.122.010 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2022Numerous studies have sought to demonstrate the utility of digital measures of motor function in Parkinson’s disease. Frameworks, such as V3, document digital measure...
Numerous studies have sought to demonstrate the utility of digital measures of motor function in Parkinson’s disease. Frameworks, such as V3, document digital measure development: technical verification, analytical and clinical validation. We present the results of a study to (1) technically verify accelerometers in an Apple iPhone 8 Plus and ActiGraph GT9X versus an oscillating table and (2) analytically validate software tasks for walking and pronation/supination on the iPhone plus passively detect walking measures with the ActiGraph in healthy volunteers versus human raters. In technical verification, 99.4% of iPhone and 91% of ActiGraph tests show good or excellent agreement versus the oscillating table as the gold standard. For the iPhone software task and algorithms, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) > 0.75 are achieved versus the human raters for measures when walking distance is >10 s and pronation/supination when the arm is rotated more than two times. Passively detected walking start and end time was accurate to approx. 1 s and walking measures were accurate to one unit, e.g., one step. The results suggest that the Apple iPhone and ActiGraph GT9X accelerometers are fit for purpose and that task and passively collected measures are sufficiently analytically valid to assess usability and clinical validity in Parkinson’s patients.
Topics: Algorithms; Gait; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Pronation; Supination; Walking
PubMed: 36016036
DOI: 10.3390/s22166275 -
Annual Review of Marine Science Jan 2022The annual patterns of plankton succession in the ocean determine ecological and biogeochemical cycles. The temporally fluctuating interplay between photosynthetic... (Review)
Review
The annual patterns of plankton succession in the ocean determine ecological and biogeochemical cycles. The temporally fluctuating interplay between photosynthetic eukaryotes and the associated microbiota balances the composition of aquatic planktonic ecosystems. In addition to nutrients and abiotic factors, chemical signaling determines the outcome of interactions between phytoplankton and their associated microbiomes. Chemical mediators control essential processes, such as the development of key morphological, physiological, behavioral, and life-history traits during algal growth. These molecules thus impact species succession and community composition across time and space in processes that are highlighted in this review. We focus on spatial, seasonal, and physiological dynamics that occur during the early association of algae with bacteria, the exponential growth of a bloom, and its decline and recycling. We also discuss how patterns from field data and global surveys might be linked to the actions of metabolic markers in natural phytoplankton assemblages.
Topics: Bacteria; Ecosystem; Microbiota; Phytoplankton; Plankton
PubMed: 34437810
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-042021-012353 -
Nature Communications Mar 2020The biological fitness of microbes is largely determined by the rate with which they replicate their biomass composition. Mathematical models that maximize this balanced...
The biological fitness of microbes is largely determined by the rate with which they replicate their biomass composition. Mathematical models that maximize this balanced growth rate while accounting for mass conservation, reaction kinetics, and limits on dry mass per volume are inevitably non-linear. Here, we develop a general theory for such models, termed Growth Balance Analysis (GBA), which provides explicit expressions for protein concentrations, fluxes, and growth rates. These variables are functions of the concentrations of cellular components, for which we calculate marginal fitness costs and benefits that are related to metabolic control coefficients. At maximal growth rate, the net benefits of all concentrations are equal. Based solely on physicochemical constraints, GBA unveils fundamental quantitative principles of cellular resource allocation and growth; it accurately predicts the relationship between growth rates and ribosome concentrations in E. coli and yeast and between growth rate and dry mass density in E. coli.
Topics: Cell Proliferation; Computer Simulation; Escherichia coli; Kinetics; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Models, Biological; Ribosomes
PubMed: 32144263
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14751-w -
Analytica Chimica Acta Aug 2020Electromembrane extraction (EME) involves transfer of analyte ions from aqueous sample, through a supported liquid membrane (SLM), and into an aqueous acceptor solution...
Electromembrane extraction (EME) involves transfer of analyte ions from aqueous sample, through a supported liquid membrane (SLM), and into an aqueous acceptor solution under the influence of an external electrical field. In addition to target analyte ions, the sample also contains matrix ions, and both the sample and acceptor contains background buffer ions to control pH. The ratio between the total amount of ions in sample and acceptor defines the ion balance (χ). Previous publications have discussed the impact of ion balance, but conclusions are contradictory. Therefore, the current paper investigated the ion balance in more detail. From a theoretical point of view, low χ-values favor EME; buffer anions at high concentration in the acceptor migrate into the SLM, while target cations enters the SLM from the sample to maintain electroneutrality. A large number of experiments was performed in this paper to investigate the practical impact of ion balance. Twelve basic drugs were used as model analytes (0.0 < log P < 5.0), and 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) and NPOE + 5% di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) were used as SLM. With formate buffer pH 3.75 as sample and acceptor, the impact of χ in the range 0.01-10 was studied without bias from differences in pH. Here model analytes were unaffected by ion balance. Buffers containing propionic, butyric, and valeric acid were also tested. These buffer ions migrated more into the SLM, and affected recoveries in several cases. However, this was due to ion pairing rather than effects of ion balance. Similar behaviors from sodium chloride and urine samples were observed with different χ-values. Thus, in the systems tested, almost no impact of ion balance was found, and this was attributed to very low partition of background buffer and matrix ions into the SLM. On the other hand, extractions were in several cases influenced by ion pairing phenomena.
Topics: Electrochemical Techniques; Ethers; Kinetics; Liquid Phase Microextraction; Membranes, Artificial
PubMed: 32534665
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2020.05.039 -
European Radiology Apr 2022• Before a prostate biopsy, the likely benefits and the harms emanating from true and false test MRI results need to be balanced. Prioritizing patients' preferences...
• Before a prostate biopsy, the likely benefits and the harms emanating from true and false test MRI results need to be balanced. Prioritizing patients' preferences and their tolerance to potential harms are essential to assess.• The decision curve analysis method is an analytical framework where the net clinical benefit is plotted against a range of risk thresholds of having important cancers, helping patients and their physicians to decide between cancer averse (important cancers being detected) and biopsy averse (biopsies avoided) strategies.• The decision curve analysis method showed that the incorporation of clinical risk factors with MRI findings optimizes biopsy outcomes over a range of clinically relevant risk thresholds, compared to other biopsy strategies.
Topics: Biopsy; Humans; Image-Guided Biopsy; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Prostate; Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms
PubMed: 35103829
DOI: 10.1007/s00330-021-08535-z -
Philosophical Transactions. Series A,... Feb 2018This article is concerned with a new analytical description of nucleation and growth of crystals in a metastable mushy layer (supercooled liquid or supersaturated...
This article is concerned with a new analytical description of nucleation and growth of crystals in a metastable mushy layer (supercooled liquid or supersaturated solution) at the intermediate stage of phase transition. The model under consideration consisting of the non-stationary integro-differential system of governing equations for the distribution function and metastability level is analytically solved by means of the saddle-point technique for the Laplace-type integral in the case of arbitrary nucleation kinetics and time-dependent heat or mass sources in the balance equation. We demonstrate that the time-dependent distribution function approaches the stationary profile in course of time.This article is part of the theme issue 'From atomistic interfaces to dendritic patterns'.
PubMed: 29311216
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2017.0327