This study investigated the ability of 17 variables measured pretransplant to predict gait speed post transplant. Twenty-one renal transplant patients participated. Their age, height, weight, gender, diabetic status, knee extension force, grip force, sit to stand performance, standing balance, and gait speed (comfortable and maximum) were documented before transplant. Gait speed was measured again six months post transplant. Ten of the pretransplant variables were correlated significantly with both comfortable and maximum gait speed six months post transplant. Four additional pretransplant variables were correlated significantly with maximum gait speed six months post transplant. The highest correlations with the six month gait speeds were the same gait speeds pretransplant. Regression analysis showed, however, that pretransplant normalized knee extension strength added significantly to the explanation of both comfortable and maximum gait speed six months post transplant. Diabetic status added significantly to the explanation of comfortable gait speed six months post transplant. The findings of this study support the predictive validity of preoperative knee extension strength measures in kidney transplant patients.

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To develop an index of gait instability from electromyographic information, we made observations on infants from the time they first began to walk independently at about one year of age until around three years of age. From our findings we obtained the following criteria. (1) Very unstable gait: As seen in a child within the first month of learning to walk the vastus medialis is active in the latter half of swing phase, the tibialis anterior and rectus femoris are active during stance phase, and activity of the vastus medialis is continuous. These electromyographic characteristics are not usually seen in subsequent childhood gait or in adult gait, and they serve as markers of very unstable gait. (2) Unstable gait: Activity of the gastrocnemius in the latter half of swing phase is generally noted only within the first three months after a child learns to walk, and that activity is interpreted as a sign of unstable gait. (3) Slightly unstable gait: Activity of the gastrocnemius in the first half of stance phase and continuous activities of the biceps femoris and gluteus maximus from initial contact with the floor until push off are found in children until three years of age. These activities are considered electromyographic markers of slightly unstable gait.

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The aim of this study was to elucidate whether an intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of oxytocin would affect the somatosensory system in anesthetized rats or not. The effect was evaluated by recording cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. The effect was also compared with that of morphine. The SEPs were recorded from the primary sensory cortex with skull screw electrodes. The electrical stimulation of the forelimb elicited four components, a primary positive wave (P1), a primary negative wave (N1), a secondary positive wave (P2) and a secondary negative wave (N2) in the contralateral sensory cortex. The icv administration of oxytocin (0.05-5 μg) had no effect on the peak latency of the P1, N1, P2 or N2 wave, or on the peak-to-peak amplitudes of P1N1 and P2N2. In contrast, the icv administration of morphine (5 μg) prolonged the peak latencies of all four components and reduced the amplitudes of both P1N1 and P2N2. These actions of morphine were antagonized by a subsequent icv administration of naloxone (5 μg). The present results suggest that oxytocin does not influence the somatosensory system in anesthetized rats, while morphine inhibits the system via opioid receptors.

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The object of this study was to estimate changes in pressure on the tibial plateau as a person stands up from being seated in a chair. Eight young men and eight young women performed this task while being photographed by a video camera from the left side in such a way that movements of individual segments of the body in the sagittal plane could easily be determined. All subjects used the same chair, which had a seat height of 40 cm. Myoelectric activity was recorded from the left rectus femoris during the task as well. Pressure on the tibial plateau was calculated on the basis of a rigid-body link model and of published data on area of contact between the femur and the tibia at different angles of knee flexion. Pressure estimated in this manner was highest at the onset of the task and decreased in a fairly uniform fashion over angular displacement of the knee into full extension. Because the peak pressure was at the very beginning of the task, adjusting height of the chair to height of the subject became a more critical variable than we had originally anticipated. Also, because we used the same values for area of joint contact for all subjects, we found that adjusting the magnitude of the area of contact to the size the subject was another consideration worthy of further investigation.

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Objectives—A pilot project to investigate somatotype, strength and flexibility as risk factors for injury amongst female competitive gymnasts. Methods—Fifteen subjects (ranging in age from 8 to 18 years) volunteered to participate in the present study. An ex-post facto study design using independent samples was employed. Injury history was established through use of a questionnaire. From this information, each individual’s injury status was categorised as either “high” or “low” using a previously designed and validated scoring system. Somatotype ratings were determined, followed by a battery of tests to assess muscular endurance and strength, and flexibility. Results—A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that there was no significant difference between groups of low and high injury rates and the dependent variables selected. However, univariate analysis suggested trends indicating that the low injury subjects were more flexible (back extension & ankle dorsiflexion) than those who had reported more injuries (both P=0.013). Independent t-tests revealed that between groups of low and high injury rates there were significant differences in age (P=0.002), stature (P=0.006), body mass (P=0.001), and years of gymnastics training (P=0.016). Conclusions—In the present study, strength and somatotype proved not to be good indicators of an individual’s susceptibility to injury. However, there were trends suggesting that low levels of flexibility may predispose a gymnast to injury. The incidence of injury may also be related to the number of years an individual has participated in competitive gymnastics. In addition, older, taller and heavier gymnasts may be at greater risk of incurring injuries. It is concluded that training methods should be adapted to suit the needs of each individual, depending on their age, stature and body mass. It is also recommended that coaches become aware of which individuals may be more predisposed to injury by carrying out a physical assessment prior to participation.

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Healthy 30 persons, 15 males and 15 females, were subjected to study the movement of the hip-joint, pelvis and trunk during standing trunk flexion using a digital camera. The movement of the hip joint linearly increased in correlation with the scale of standing trunk flexion. The trunk movement was exponentially inclined and then remained stable with the trunk flexion of the finger-floor distance less than 10 cm. Thus, while the anterior trunk flexion was much more involved at the initial stage of standing trunk flexion, the movement of the hip joint played more important role at a later half of flexion. In females the range of motion of the hip joint played a greater role than in males. Standing trunk flexion was considered to be highly influenced by the anterior inclination of hip joints or pelvis.

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