Electromyographic activity of m. longissimus and the kinematics of the vertebral column during level and downslope treadmill walking in cats

Electromyographic (EMG) burst patterns of m. longissimus and the kinematics of the vertebral column were assessed in cats during treadmill walking for six downslope grades (5 degrees-30 degrees). The EMG bursts during downslope walking were weak between 5 degrees and 20 degrees. At steeper grades (>20 degrees), EMG bursts were large. Bursts at T10 facilitated inward movements, and those at L1 decreased forward movements, while those at L5 decreased backward movements during downslope walking at steeper grades.     

Relationships of categorization on tests and daily tasks in patients with schizophrenia, post-stroke patients and healthy controls

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between performance on formal categorization-sorting tests and daily tasks that require sorting skills among individuals with schizophrenia compared with post-stroke and healthy control groups. Furthermore, the relationships among the performances of patients with schizophrenia on the various tests were studied. The study included 70 participants: 37 patients with schizophrenia treated at a community day center, 18 post-stroke patients, and 15 healthy controls. Subjects were evaluated on four different categorization tests (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Short Category Test (SCT), Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA), and Riska Object Classification (ROC); and five different functional daily tasks that require categorization abilities. Results showed significant differences between the performance of patients and control subjects on both tests and daily tasks. Spearman correlations within the schizophrenic group between test scores showed moderate significant correlations, and between tests and daily tasks showed low to moderate significant correlations. These findings suggest that weaker, yet significant relationships were found between performance on cognitive tests and daily tasks than between cognitive tests tapping the same or similar constructs. This type of difference would be expected; however, further research is needed to clarify the underlying components of categorization tests and their relations to daily task performance of individuals with schizophrenia.     

Inosiplex affects the spectra of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

In vivo magnetic resonance techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy have been some of the most useful tools for evaluation of neurologic diseases. In subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be an additional tool for evaluation of disease progression or the efficacy of the treatment, such as interferon or inosiplex, compared with MRI. Inosiplex is one of the effective drugs for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, but our in vivo and in vitro magnetic resonance spectroscopic study indicated that inosiplex affects the spectra, suggesting a possible failure of neurologic evaluation in a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis treated with inosiplex.     

Rhythm in the speech of a person with right hemisphere damage: Applying the pairwise variability index

Although several aspects of prosody have been studied in speakers with right hemisphere damage (RHD), rhythm remains largely uninvestigated. This study compares the rhythm of an Australian English speaker with right hemisphere damage (due to a stroke, but with no concomitant dysarthria) to that of a neurologically unimpaired individual. The speakers' rhythm is compared using the pairwise variability index (PVI) which allows for an acoustic characterization of rhythm by comparing the duration of successive vocalic and intervocalic intervals. A sample of speech from a structured interview between a speech and language therapist and each participant was analysed. Previous research has shown that speakers with RHD may have difficulties with intonation production, and therefore it was hypothesized that there may also be rhythmic disturbance. Results show that the neurologically normal control uses a similar rhythm to that reported for British English (there are no previous studies available for Australian English), whilst the speaker with RHD produces speech with a less strongly stress-timed rhythm. This finding was statistically significant for the intervocalic intervals measured (t(8) = 4.7, p < .01), and suggests that some aspects of prosody may be right lateralized for this speaker. The findings are discussed in relation to previous findings of dysprosody in RHD populations, and in relation to syllable-timed speech of people with other neurological conditions.     

A bioactive titanium foam scaffold for bone repair

While titanium has been clinically successful as an orthopedic or dental implant material, performance problems still persist related to implant-bone interfacial strength and mechanical modulus mismatch between titanium and tissue. We describe here the preparation of a titanium foam as a better mechanical match to tissue with surfaces attractive to bone cells through deposition of an organically-modified apatite layer (organoapatite). In a rotating bioreactor, these organoapatite-coated foams are successfully colonized by preosteoblastic cells. Finite element analyses suggest that ingrown tissue in these systems may improve both implant performance and tissue formation through load-sharing and stress distribution. The novel metal-ceramic-polymer hybrid materials described here hold great promise for bone tissue engineering.