The behaviour change techniques used by Australian physiotherapists to promote non-treatment physical activity to patients with musculoskeletal conditions

Objectives

To determine: (i) the behaviour change techniques used by a sample of Australian physiotherapists to promote non-treatment physical activity; and (ii) whether those behaviour change techniques are different to the techniques used to encourage adherence to rehabilitation exercises.

Blur adaptation: clinical and refractive considerations

The human visual system is amenable to a number of adaptive processes; one such process, or collection of processes, is the adaptation to blur. Blur adaptation can be observed as an improvement in vision under degraded conditions, and these changes occur relatively rapidly following exposure to blur. The potential important future directions of this research area and the clinical implications of blur adaptation are discussed.     

A model-based detector of vertex waves and K complexes in sleep electroencephalogram.

A model of sleep phasic events such as vertex waves, K complexes, delta waves and sleep spindles is proposed. It consists of feedback loops that are driven by white noise (simulating tonic delta and sigma activity) and by isolated random impulses, simulating vertex waves or K complexes, depending on the background tonic activity. A model-based method for the detection of sleep phasic events was implemented in a personal computer. Its performance was investigated using simulated and real whole-night EEG signals. The method was able to detect K complexes and vertex waves in a reliable way in spite of their variable shapes and in the presence of a variety of background activities. The detector appears to have superior performance to those so far reported in the literature. The performance of the detector was also compared to that of an electroencephalographer using normal sleep EEG records of 8 h duration from 6 subjects. The performance was satisfactory both in terms of accuracy and reliability. The problem of detecting K complexes in stages 3 and 4 of sleep is discussed.     

The pharmacological properties of the imidazobenzodiazepine, FG 8205, a novel partial agonist at the benzodiazepine receptor

1. The pharmacological properties of the benzodiazepine receptor ligand, FG 8205 (7-chloro-5,6-dihydro-5-methyl-6-oxo-3-(5-isopropyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol++ +-3-yl)-4H- imidazol[1,5a][1,4]benzodiazepine) have been examined. 2. FG 8205 potently displaced [3H]-flumazenil binding in rat cortical membranes with a Ki of 3.3 nM, but was inactive at 13 neurotransmitter recognition sites. 3. Consistent with a partial agonist profile, the affinity of FG 8205 for the benzodiazepine recognition site was increased in the presence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA, 300 microM) by a degree (-log [IC50 in the presence of GABA/IC50 alone] = 0.34) significantly less than found for diazepam (0.46). FG 8205 also potentiated the inhibitory potency of the GABAA-receptor agonist, isoguvacine, on the hippocampal CA1 population spike and, again, the maximum shift (-log dose-ratio = 0.2) was significantly less than that seen with diazepam (0.4). 4. In anticonvulsant studies, the ED50 doses of FG 8205 and diazepam needed to antagonize seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) or by sound in audiogenic seizure prone mice were similar with values of 0.2-0.3 mg kg-1, i.p. However, even high doses of FG 8205 (50 mg kg-1) did not protect against seizures induced by electroshock. 5. FG 8205 released responding suppressed by footshock in a rat operant conditioned emotional response task over the dose range 0.5-50 mg kg-1 (i.p.). Similar doses of FG 8205 had a marked taming effect in cynomolgus monkeys.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of chronic infusions of alpha-trinositol on regional and cardiac haemodynamics in conscious rats.

1. Male, Long Evans rats (350-450 g) were chronically instrumented for the measurement of renal, mesenteric and hindquarters haemodynamics, and were given three consecutive, 24 h infusions of vehicle (sterile saline at 0.3 ml h-1, n = 8) or alpha-trinositol (D-myo-inositol-1,2,6-triphosphate) at 5, 20 and 80 mg kg-1 h-1 (0.3 ml h-1; n = 9). During infusion of alpha-trinositol at 5 or 20 mg kg-1 h-1, cardiovascular changes were little different from those seen during saline infusion. However, during infusion of alpha-trinositol at 80 mg kg-1 h-1 there were increases in hindquarters vascular conductance, renal flow and vascular conductance, that were all significantly different from the changes seen in the saline group. Infusion of alpha-trinositol at the high dose in naive rats (n = 8) had even more marked vasodilator effects. 2. Two groups of rats (n = 8 in each), chronically instrumented for the measurement of cardiac haemodynamics, were given 48 h infusions of saline (0.3 ml h-1) or alpha-trinositol (2 mg kg-1 bolus, 80 mg kg-1 h-1 infusion at 0.3 ml h-1). During the infusion of saline, there were slight reductions in heart rate, cardiac index, peak aortic flow, dF/dtmax and central venous pressure. In the animals receiving alpha-trinositol, with the exception of central venous pressure, all the above variables, together with total peripheral conductance, increased. 3. These results, collectively, indicate that incremental infusions of alpha-trinositol do not reveal its full vasodilator potential, possibly due to concurrent activation of counter-regulatory vasoconstrictor mechanisms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Diagnosing abuse: a systematic review of torn frenum and other intra-oral injuries.

INTRODUCTION: A torn labial frenum is widely regarded as pathognomonic of abuse. METHODS: We systematically reviewed the evidence for this, and to define other intra-oral injuries found in physical abuse. Nine studies documented abusive torn labial frena in 27 children and 24 [corrected] were fatally abused: 22 were less than 5 years old. Only a direct blow to the face was substantiated as a mechanism of injury. RESULTS: Two studies noted accidentally torn labial frena, both from intubation. Abusive intra-oral injuries were widely distributed to the lips, gums, tongue and palate and included fractures, intrusion and extraction of the dentition, bites and contusions. CONCLUSIONS: Current literature does not support the diagnosis of abuse based on a torn labial frenum in isolation. The intra-oral hard and soft tissue should be examined in all suspected abuse cases, and a dental opinion sought where abnormalities are found.     

Group B streptococcal endocarditis mimicking mitral valve myxoma

A patient with group B streptococcal endocarditis and large vegetations resembling mitral valve myxoma is described. Group B streptococcal endocarditis and the differential diagnosis of vegetations and cardiac tumors are briefly reviewed.     

Human C-reactive protein increases cerebral infarct size after middle cerebral artery occlusion in adult rats.

Human C-reactive protein (CRP), the classic acute phase plasma protein, increases in concentration after myocardial infarction and stroke. Human CRP binds to ligands exposed in damaged tissue and can then activate complement and its proinflammatory functions. In contrast, rat CRP, which binds to similar ligands, does not activate complement. In the present study, systemic complement depletion with cobra venom factor in adult rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion did not affect cerebral infarct size, indicating that circulating complement does not contribute to injury in this model. However, we have previously reported that administration of human CRP to rats undergoing coronary artery ligation caused a marked increase in size of the resulting myocardial infarction, associated with codeposition of human CRP and rat complement in the infarcts. In the present study, we show that adult rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and then treated with human CRP similarly developed significantly larger cerebral infarcts compared with control subjects receiving human serum albumin. Human CRP can thus contribute to ischemic tissue damage in the brain as well as in the heart, and inhibition of CRP binding may therefore be a promising target for tissue protective acute therapeutic intervention in stroke as well as in myocardial infarction.