The aims of the current study were to explore the pattern of the force-velocity (F-V) relationship of leg muscles, evaluate the reliability and concurrent validity of the obtained parameters, and explore the load associated changes in the muscle work and power output. Subjects performed maximum vertical countermovement jumps with a vest ranging 0-40% of their body mass. The ground reaction force and leg joint kinematics and kinetics were recorded. The data revealed a strong and approximately linear F-V relationship (individual correlation coefficients ranged from 0.78-0.93). The relationship slopes, F- and V-intercepts, and the calculated power were moderately to highly reliable (0.67 < ICC < 0.91), while the concurrent validity F- and V-intercepts, and power with respect to the directly measured values, was (on average) moderate. Despite that a load increase was associated with a decrease in both the countermovement depth and absolute power, the absolute work done increased, as well as the relative contribution of the knee work. The obtained findings generally suggest that the loaded vertical jumps could not only be developed into a routine method for testing the capacities of leg muscles, but also reveal the mechanisms of adaptation of multijoint movements to different loading conditions.

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Hypothesis Posterior positioning of medialization thyroplasty provides the best acoustic and aerodynamic outcomes. Study Design Ex vivo excised canine larynx. Methods Unilateral thyroplasty windows were cut in the thyroid cartilages of 10 excised canine larynges. Each larynx was mounted on an artificial lung and the vocal fold opposite the thyroid window was adducted by medializing its arytenoid cartilage. Then, medialization thyroplasty was simulated with a probe placed anterior, central, and posterior in the thyroid window. The glottal area, airway reduction, medialization force, phonation threshold pressure and flow, aerodynamic power, intensity, efficiency, jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were measured at each medialization position. Results Posterior medialization probe placement minimized the glottal area, provided the best voice as determined by perturbation measures and SNR, reduced the work of phonation, and increased efficiency. Anterior and middle probe placement minimized the work of phonation but provided only modest gains in sound quality and decreased sound intensity. Medializing the vocal fold with posterior probe placement required twice as much force as central and anterior probe placement. Conclusions The results suggest that posterior medialization provides the greatest improvement in acoustic parameters and efficiency in patients who can tolerate the airway reduction. Middle and anterior medialization can decrease work of phonation, but in this experiment objective improvement in sound quality was limited. Subtle changes in displacement shim contour, especially in middle and anterior locations, have a substantial impact on voice outcome, affirming the value of intraoperative voice assessment.

Compared with a continuous femoral nerve block, a continuous adductor canal block did not appreciably decrease the time to overall discharge readiness even though it did decrease the time until adequate mobilization, primarily because both groups experienced similar analgesia and intravenous opioid requirements that--in most cases--exceeded the time to mobilization.

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In view of some controversies still existing about the real efficacy of ergot derivatives in the management of dementia, a double-blind, randomized, parallel group trial extending up to 6 months was carried out to compare the effects of nicergoline, 60 mg daily, and placebo in 315 patients suffering from mild to moderate dementia. Clinical evaluation was performed by the SCAG scale. The trial, which included a 1-month placebo run-in period, showed that both placebo and nicergoline were associated with some degree of improvement. The effect of nicergoline, however, was significantly greater and more sustained, steadily increasing with time. In particular, the difference between nicergoline and placebo in mean total SCAG score was 5.5 at 3 months (95% confidence interval: 3.6-7.4) and increased to 9.8 at 6 months (95% confidence interval: 7.8-11.8). A comparison of nicergoline versus placebo in the frequencies of changes in each item of the SCAG showed also a significant difference at 6 months, the percent of patients displaying an improvement by at least 2 points ranging from 13.5 (bothersome) to 30.2 (disorientation) in nicergoline group, against 4.1 (self-care) to 14.3 (fatigue) in placebo group. The safety of nicergoline, as judged by hemodynamic changes and drug-related adverse reactions, was quite satisfactory.

Recent advancements in equipment for cPNB facilitate the usage in the ambulatory setting. Research-supported ambulatory cPNB indications have expanded to include pediatric subpopulations and major breast surgery, while further evidence mounts for its efficacy in patient populations with previously demonstrated benefits, such as foot, ankle and shoulder surgery.