An investigation into the effects of training programmes upon movement leading to dance with E.S.N.(S) children

The study is designed to test the capacity of E.S.N.(S) children to respond to and learn from programmes based on the teachings of Rudolf Laban. Some perceptual motor models have been selected and are discussed. The contribution of dance within the Physical Education Curriculum for E.S.N.(S) children is examined.

A pilot study was conducted in order to establish content and procedures. The experiment proper required the design of training programmes over an extended period. Thus, a pretest and post-test design were used, each child being used as his own control. The sample was drawn from an E.S.N. (S) Hospital School in Northern England. Tests were given to establish base lines in physical performance. Weekly training sessions were planned and executed over two years with 30 ambulant retarded boys and girls, ages 7 to 18 years in three groups. A combination of acknowledged physical education tests and tests for exercise and rhythmic body response were administered.

Characteristically this approach consists of an individual analysis of each child's movement behavior and the application of multiple base line operations. Executing these skills is a matter of using these rules in a certain order. This programme focuses on the process of learning rather than product.

The use of videotape aided the analysis of the movement behavior and demonstrated the individual development and the structure of the training sessions. Improvements of motor skills are identified as a result of mental practice, task familiarity and the maturation of the learner. There are individual differences in subjects' responses but these are not influenced significantly by age, verbal ability or sex variables. This study revealed that training programmes can lead to dance with E.S.N.(S) children.     

An investigation into the effects of breathing upon the aspiration efficiency of the human head

A mathematical investigation is undertaken into the effects of the breathing pattern upon the aspiration efficiency of the human head. It is assumed that all the fluid inhaled by the head is subsequently exhaled and that the two stages of the breathing pattern last for an equal length of time. The particles are taken to be spherical and are assumed to be suspended without sedimentation in an ideal fluid which is flowing towards the head. A model for the head is proposed and the case of breathing through the mouth is studied. An analytical approach is adopted to determine the behaviour of the particles near the mouth, and the sampling efficiency of the head is investigated. Results are obtained for various situations, and comparisons are made with existing experimental results. It is shown that, in many cases, the effect of the breathing pattern is insignificant but for normal human breathing rates, it becomes significant as the velocity of the flow increases.     

An investigation into the acute vascular effects of riveting.

Measurements were made on 46 pairs of riveters and matched control subjects before and after a morning's work. Before starting work, the mean resting finger systolic pressure was 112 (SEM 3.3) mm Hg in the riveters, similar to 117 (1.7) in the control subjects. After cooling the middle phalanx to 10 degrees C for five minutes, 16 riveters but only one control subject exhibited digital vasospasm and these numbers were unaltered after a morning's work. A subgroup of riveters whose role was always to provide counter pressure to the rivet gun showed a higher incidence (45%) of cold induced vasospasm than did riveters who invariably held the gun (10%) or rotated between both roles (27%). Plasma levels of three markers of vascular activity, endothelin-1 (ET-1), von Willebrand factor antigen (vWFAg), and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), were measured in non-smoking riveters and control subjects. Before work, ET-1 concentrations were slightly lower (p < 0.05) in the riveters, but vWFAg concentration and ACE activity were similar in riveters and control subjects. Riveting for a morning did not alter ET-1 concentration or ACE activity but did induce a small increase (p < 0.05) in vWFAg concentration, which may indicate damage to the endothelium. This type of vascular assessment may be helpful in assessing vasospastic complications in workers exposed to vibration.     

An investigation into the effects of structured music workshops with adults with mental handicap

This study investigated the effects of structured group workshops for a population with special needs. Twenty subjects, each with a mild or moderate mental handicap, attended a series of 10 weekly 1-hour music workshops on the structured group playing of a Javanese Gamelan. Twenty subjects formed a non-intervention control group. The experimental hypothesis was that participation in the experimental group would produce significant improvements in musical ability as measured by the Rossi test of musical ability, devised and validated for use in this study. Significant gains in communication skills as measured by the Communication Assessment Profile for Adults with a Mental Handicap (CASP) and self-esteem levels measured by the Khalid semantic differential technique were also postulated. It was also suggested that these gains would be significantly correlated. Results show significant gains in musical ability (instrumental rhythm production: t = 5.67, d.f. = 29, p < 0.01 and simple rhythm production: t = 8.42, d.f. = 29, p < 0.01) and communication skills (t = 4.69, d.f. = 29, p < 0.01). Moreover these results are significantly correlated (r = 0.59, p < 0.05, r = 0.75, p < 0.05, r = 0.56, p < 0.05). A ceiling effect was obtained in the measurement of self-esteem. It is suggested that these gains derive from certain aspects of the musical communicative environment at the workshops. Suggestions for future research involve examining the possible influences on these developments.     

An investigation into the prevalence of dog bites to primary school children in Trinidad

Background  

To estimate the prevalence of dog bites to primary school children between the ages of 8–12 years using a semi-structured interview process. With the increase in the pet population and popularity of dangerous breeds of dog and a high stray dog population combined with a dearth of information on the risk of dog attacks to children in Trinidad, a semi-structured interview process was used to determine risk factors associated with dog attacks.     

An investigation into the impact of anatomical variation upon mean glandular dose produced within a standard breast.

By using the EGS4 Monte Carlo computer program the normalised mean glandular dose (MGD) was calculated for a breast model that is intended to reflect the composition of an "average" breast. The reliability of the calculation was established by comparing the predictions with previously published values for a breast model. The breast model used was then altered in order to reflect the possible extremes in glandular distribution that could occur within a compressed breast. These results show that the MGD could vary by up to a factor of four depending upon where the majority of glandular tissue is located within the breast. The impact of this variation in MGD upon risk assessment within mammography is then discussed.     

An investigation into the health of kapok workers.

Kapok is a cotton-like fibre obtained from the fruits of Ceiba pentandra, a tree surgeon in tropical countries. In Sri Lanka ginning of kapok is usually done by machine in poorly ventilated buildings where workers are exposed to a great deal of dust. Forty-one workers in five ginneries in Colombo were examined. Mill fever occurred in 28 (77-8%) of the 36 workers who were able to give a history. Chronic bronchitis, which is an uncommon condition in Sri Lanka, was detected to seven workers with an average of 20-9 years' service in the industry. It is suggested that chronic bronchitis is an occupational hazard of workers who are exposed to kapok dust for long periods. Byssinosis was not found in any of the workers studied.     

An investigation into the cyclical incidence of dengue fever.

The purpose of this research was to review the topic of dengue fever transmission and investigate the relationship between seasonal temperature fluctuations and cyclical dengue fever incidence. Data from Puerto Rico (1988-1992) were used to test the model proposed. Dengue fever is a viral disease caused by any one of four antigenically distinct serotypes. It is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and infects 80 million people per year. Currently, dengue is endemic in specific tropical and subtropical regions worldwide and epidemic dengue has been reported in the Americas, Asia and some Pacific Islands. Data for Puerto Rico were collected from the NCDC/NOAA and a study conducted by Perez et al. (1994). Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine if a relationship exists between the monthly mean temperature lagged and the monthly incidence of dengue fever in Puerto Rico. Statistical significance was achieved and a second-order model produced an R2 of 0.71. A residual analysis reveals positive autocorrelation, thus weakening the model's power to predict monthly dengue incidence. This suggests that other forces or factors related to the history of the herd immunity, the introduction of a new serotype, or demographic transitions are also influencing the cyclical transmission of dengue fever. Case clustering information, regional dengue distributions, and population density transformations must also be obtained in order to assess the forecasting ability of this model. Additional research is needed to avoid oversimplifying the problem. Without such attempts at establishing significant correlations, dengue prevention and control will remain a formidable task for many developing and developed countries.     

An investigation into the relationship between coal workers' pneumoconiosis and dust exposure in U.S. coal miners.

The National Study of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis (NSCWP) is a large, continuing epidemiologic study of the respiratory health of U.S. coal miners. By using information from the study, prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) was related to indexes of dust exposure obtained from research and compliance sampling data. Clear relationships between prevalences of both simple CWP and progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) and estimated dust exposure were seen. Additional effects independently associated with coal rank (% carbon) and age were also seen. Logistic model fitting indicated that between 2% and 12% of miners exposed to a 2-mg/m3 dust environment in bituminous coal mines would be expected to have Category 2 or greater CWP after a 40-yr working life; PMF would be expected for between 1.3% and 6.7%. The risks for anthracite miners appeared to be greater. There was a suggestion of a background level of abnormality, not associated with dust exposure, but increasing with age. Although there are certain weaknesses in the data used to derive these exposure estimates, the results are in general agreement with, but somewhat greater than, some recent findings for British coal miners.     

Proceedings of the 2014 A.S.P.E.N. Research Workshop

The human and earth microbiomes are among the most important biological agents in understanding and preventing disease. Technology is advancing at a fast pace and allowing for high‐resolution analysis of the composition and function of our microbial partners across regions, space, and time. Bioinformaticists and biostatisticians are developing ever more elegant displays to understand the generated megadatasets. A virtual cyberinfrastructure of search engines to cross‐reference the rapidly developing data is emerging in line with technologic advances. Nutrition science will reap the benefits of this new field, and its role in preserving the earth and the humans who inhabit it will become evidently clear. In this report we highlight some of the topics of an A.S.P.E.N.‐sponsored symposium held during Clinical Nutrition Week in 2013 that address the importance of the human microbiome to human health and disease.     

An investigation into the effects of vacations on the health status in male white-collar workers

There are many stress factors in occupational settings, and the lack of vacations could be one of factors in the context of work stress. The authors have been studying the relationship between workload and employee health. This time, an investigation into the effects of leisure vacations on worker health status using male white-collar employees aged 20–60 years engaged in a manufacturing company was conducted. The subjects were questioned on work stress factors including vacations and modifiers in their occupational settings, and on psychological and physiological stress reactions; that is, how often they were able to take leisure vacations every year, their average working hours a day and work stress factors from the Demand-Control-Support model. The questions also examined other factors concerning the employees such as type-A behavior and lifestyles as modifiers, diseases of the employees, physical complaints, feelings about sleep, perceived stress, job and life satisfaction, and stress reactions as measured by physiological examination. Correlation and logistic regression analysis were conducted with the 551 eligible subjects. The results were as follows: Leisure vacation was decreasingly related to some of psychological stress reactions after adjustment was made for working hours and for modifiers. Less vacation was increasingly related to the workers’ diseases especially among the employees aged 20–34, though the association was not statistically significant. Vacations did not show obvious association with physiological measures. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness and possibility of leisure vacation in controlling fatigue and maintaining the health of workers. Vacation should always be taken into consideration as a stress factor in a survey of the health problems of white-collar workers.     

An investigation into the potential hazard to animal health of effluent sludge from dairy factories.

Sixty-three samples of the more solid material (sludge) separated from the effluent plants of dairy factories were examined for the presence of salmonellas and brucellas. Salmonellas were isolated from two samples (S. heidelberg. [1]; S. indiana [1]. No brucellas were isolated. None of the samples supported the growth of S. dublin. Salmonellas added to effluent sludge at a concentration of 10(6) organisms/ml. survived less than 70 days. The sludge from dairy factory effluent plants does not appear to be a source for the spread of salmonellosis or brucellosis.     

临床/口腔医学博士专业学位研究生科研训练现状分析

通过对北京大学医学部2013年入学的临床/口腔医学博士专业学位研究生进行问卷调查,从对科研训练的认识、用于科研训练的时间、科研训练的类型形式、指导情况以及科研训练的效果和遇到的困难等方面进行分析。建议以临床训练为主的同时注重科研能力训练,针对临床问题选题,强调进行临床科学研究,渗透“转化医学”理念,推广“科研脱产”方式,加强导师指导,确保科研训练的有序进展。     

Bilharzia and bladder cancer. An investigation of urinary -glucuronidase associated with S. haematobium infection

β-glucuronidase activity in the urine of subjects with chronic S. haematobium infection and in subjects suspected of infection but with no ova in their urine, has been measured and shown to be significantly greater than in the urine of uninfected controls. No difference was found between the amounts of enzyme inhibitory activity in the urine from infected patients and from controls.