Duration of Electrically Induced Muscle Cramp Increased by Increasing Stimulation Frequency

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin C. Miller ◽  
Kenneth L. Knight ◽  
Steven R. Wilding ◽  
Marcus B. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Stimulation Frequency ◽  
Muscle Cramp ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Muscle Cramps ◽  
Clinical Criteria ◽  
History Of ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Cramp Threshold

Context:Electrically induced muscle cramps (EIMC) do not last long enough to study many cramp treatments. Increasing stimulation frequency lengthens cramp duration; it is unknown which frequency elicits the longest EIMC.Objective:To determine which stimulation frequency elicits the longest EIMC and whether cramp duration and stimulation frequency are correlated.Design:Randomized, crossover.Setting:Laboratory.Participants:20 participants (12 male, 8 female; age 20.7 ± 0.6 y; height 174.9 ± 1.9 cm; mass 76.6 ± 2.2 kg) with a self-reported history of muscle cramps in their lower extremities within the 6 mo before the study.Interventions:The dominant leg’s tibial nerve was percutaneously stimulated with 2-s-duration electrical stimuli trains starting at a frequency of 4 Hz. After 1 min of rest, stimulation frequency increased in 2-Hz increments until a cramp occurred in the flexor hallucis brevis. The stimulation frequency at which a cramp occurred was termed cramp threshold frequency (TF). Cramp duration was determined using strict clinical criteria (loss of hallux rigidity and return of hallux neutral). On the next 4 consecutive days, participants were stimulated at 5, 10, 15, or 20 Hz above TF, and cramp duration was reassessed.Main Outcome Measures:Cramp TF and duration.Results:Cramp TF was 16.9 ± 5.1 Hz. Cramp duration was longer at 15 and 20 Hz above TF (77.9 ± 37.6 s and 69.5 ± 36.9 s, respectively) than at TF (40.8 ± 34.0 s; P < .05). Cramp duration and TF were highly correlated (r = .90). Conclusions: Stimulating at 15 and 20 Hz above cramp TF produces the longest-lasting EIMC.

Electrical Emissions in Gymnotus Carapo and Their Relation To Social Behavior

Behaviour ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 37 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Valone
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Postural Responses ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Electrical Stimuli

Abstract1. The relation between the social behavior and the electrical emissions of Gymnotus carapo is examined. 2. Members of the species Gymnotus carapo approach certain sources of electrical stimuli and, in a statistically significant number of instances, assume a stance parallel to the plane from which the stimuli originate. 3. The approach and postural responses elicited by electrical cues resemble those observed when two fish, placed in the same tank, interact socially. 4. Electrical cues therefore appear to facilitate certain social interactions in Gymnotus carapo. 5. The character of electrical emission in Gymnotus carapo appears to change as a function of certain social interaction: a. Interaction resembling aggression is accompanied by brief increases in the frequency of emission. b. The increases in frequency appear to be linked to thrusting movements. c. Fish interacting with one another appear to lock into a common frequency more often than fish that are not in physical contact with one another. d. During social interaction, one of the two fish is occasionally observed to halt emissions altogether. 6. The exact significance of the social behavior observed in the context of the life history of Gymnotus carapo is unknown.

Differences in Joint-Position Sense and Vibratory Threshold in Runners With and Without a History of Overuse Injury

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Switlick ◽  
Thomas W. Kernozek ◽  
Stacey Meardon
Keyword(s):  
Postural Control ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Overuse Injury ◽  
Position Sense ◽  
Joint Position Sense ◽  
Sensory Threshold ◽  
Sensorimotor Function ◽  
Joint Position ◽  
Ankle Eversion ◽  
History Of

Context:A relationship between altered postural control and injury has been reported in sports. Sensorimotor function serves a fundamental role in postural control and is not often studied in runners. Persons who sustain running injury may have altered sensorimotor function contributing to risk of injury or reinjury.Objectives:To determine if differences in knee and ankle proprioception or plantar sensation exist between injured and noninjured runners.Design:Retrospective case-control study.Setting:University campus.Participants:Twenty runners with a history of lower-extremity overuse injury and 20 noninjured runners were examined. Injured runners were subcategorized into 2 groups based on site of injury: foot/ankle and knee/hip.Main Outcome Measures:Active absolute joint-repositioning error of the ankle at 20° inversion and 10° eversion and the knee at 15° and 40° flexion was assessed using an isokinetic dynamometer. Vibratory threshold at the calcaneus, arch, and great toe was determined for each subject using a handheld electric sensory threshold instrument.Results:Runners in the injured-foot/ankle group had increased absolute error during ankle-eversion repositioning (6.55° ± 3.58°) compared with those in the noninjured (4.04° ± 1.78°, P = .01) and the hip/knee (3.63° ± 2.2°, P = .01) groups. Runners in the injured group, as a whole, had greater sensitivity in the arch of the plantar surface (2.94 ± 0.52 V) than noninjured runners (2.38 ± 0.53 V, P = .02).Conclusions:Differences in ankle-eversion proprioception between runners with a history of ankle and foot injuries and noninjured runners were observed. Runners with a history of injury also displayed an increased vibratory threshold in the arch region compared with noninjured runners. Poor ankle-joint-position sense and increased plantar sensitivity suggest altered sensorimotor function after injury. These factors may influence underlying postural control and contribute to altered loading responses commonly observed in injured runners.

The Poster Children of Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamal J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Female Age ◽  
History Of Religion ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Broad Framework ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Age Category

This chapter focuses on the visual representation of children in the religious poster arts of Pakistan. As in the previous chapter, it locates the representation of childhood within the history of religion and education in the society. The chapter provides a brief history of poster arts in Pakistan, contextualizing the importance of chromolithography in a broader South Asian context. It continues the analysis of cuteness undertaken in the previous chapter, locating it within a broad framework of beauty, which it then demonstrates is related to virtue and goodness in Islamic thought. Focusing on the differences between the ways in which girls and boys are represented, the chapter argues for important differences in the way the gender of children is conceptualized in Islamic societies, introducing a category called girl-women as an indeterminate female age category that lies between the undisputed girlhood of the child and adult womanhood, which is actualized through marriage and motherhood.

Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Ictalurus Punctatus ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Process Chemistry ◽  
Chemical Signatures ◽  
Spatial Differences ◽  
Pectoral Spine ◽  
History Of ◽  
Highly Correlated

<em>Abstract</em>.—Natural chemical markers in otoliths and fin rays have proven useful for retrospectively describing environmental history of fishes in a variety of environments. However, no studies have applied this technique to catfishes or evaluated catfish pectoral spine chemistry as a nonlethal alternative to otolith chemistry. We characterized relationships between water, otolith, and pectoral spine (articulating process) chemistry for channel catfish <em>Ictalurus punctatus</em>, flathead catfish <em>Pylodictis olivaris</em>, and blue catfish <em>I. furcatus</em> and determined the accuracy with which fish could be classified to their environment of capture using otolith and pectoral spine chemical signatures. Fish and water samples were collected from nine sites during 2009. Otolith, spine, and water samples were analyzed for Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca; otolith δ<sup>18</sup>O and δ<sup>13</sup>C and water δ<sup>18</sup>O were also measured. Water, otolith, and spine Sr:Ca were highly correlated, as were water and otolith δ<sup>18</sup>O. Relationships between water, otolith, and spine chemistry did not differ among species. Otolith Sr:Ca, δ<sup>18</sup>O, and δ<sup>13</sup>C and spine Sr:Ca differed among sites, reflecting geographic differences in water chemistry. Neither otolith nor spine Ba:Ca differed among sites despite intersite differences in water Ba:Ca. Both otolith Sr:Ca, δ<sup>18</sup>O, and δ<sup>13</sup>C and fin spine Sr:Ca classified fish to their environment of capture with a high degree of accuracy, except in the middle and lower Mississippi River where many recent immigrants appeared to be present. Natural chemical signatures in otoliths or pectoral spines will likely be effective for reconstructing environmental history of catfishes when spatial differences in water chemistry are present, enabling investigations of stock mixing and recruitment sources for these species.

Management of muscle cramps

1982 ◽  
Vol 20 (25) ◽  
pp. 97-98
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Muscle Group ◽  
Muscle Cramp ◽  
Muscle Pathology ◽  
Maximal Contraction ◽  
Muscle Cramps ◽  
Ionised Calcium

Muscle cramp is common.1 It can be defined as a sudden painful involuntary maximal contraction of a muscle or muscle group lasting up to ten minutes in a person with no other neurological or muscle pathology. Cramps should be distinguished from tetany due to low plasma concentrations of ionised calcium.

scholarly journals Etiological patterns of polyneuropathy in a tertiary level hospital of Bangladesh

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
Makhan Lal Paul ◽  
Monoj Sinha ◽  
Ahsan Habib ◽  
Lubna Khondker ◽  
Md Mahabubur Rahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Muscle Cramp ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Unknown Etiology ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Etiological Factors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical University

The causes of polyneuropathy are many and it is important to identify them, as some of them, especially the inflammatory types are treatable. To explore the different etiological factors of polyneuropathy, this cross sectional study was carried out in the department of Neurology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka. Data were collected by taking medical history and clinical examination and subsequent laboratory investigations. A total of 60 subjects were included in this study and mean age of the entire patient was 42.25 year. Out of all respondents, 83.3% had muscle weakness, similar number had problems with object handling, 66.3% had muscle cramp, 63.3% had impaired standing or gait, 55.0% had distal paraesthesia, 41.7% had burning feet, 8.3% had restless legs and 5.0% had stiffness. Out of all patients of polyneuropathy, 33.3% had diabetic neuropathy, 11.7% had Guillain-Barré syndrome, 10.0% had chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, similar number had unknown etiology, 6.7% had charcot-marry-tooth disease disease, 6.7% had renal failure, 5.0% had leprosy, Vitamin B 12 deficiency and chronic liver disease of each, 3.3% had history of isoniazide drug intake and similar had systemic lupus erythromatosus. We conclude that, polyneuropathy has wide variety of etiological factors. Among them, diabetes is the most common factor. Further large controlled study is needed to establish the etiological pattern in the context of Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bmj.v43i1.21371 Bangladesh Med J. 2014 January; 43 (1): 17-20

scholarly journals Treatment of posttraumatic headache migraine phenotype with erenumab – An observational study

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205970021987829 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A Charles
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Impact Test ◽  
Head Impact ◽  
Posttraumatic Headache ◽  
Clinical Criteria ◽  
Migraine Headaches ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
Small Cohort

Objective To report the observed effect of erenumab in mild posttraumatic headache migraine phenotype with and without aura. Background There is no clinical algorithm of pharmacotherapy for migraine following posttraumatic headache. Most migraine preventatives that are typically used are either ineffective or not tolerated. Methods Seven patients who met the clinical criteria for migraine with or without aura following posttraumatic headache who failed or were intolerant of conventional migraine preventatives were treated with erenumab 140 mg subcutaneously. Most had no history of migraine. In those patients with a history of migraine, the posttraumatic headache migraine headaches were different than the past migraine experience. Descriptive headache intensity or disability using the Head Impact Test-6 and monthly headache days were recorded before and after treatment. All patients were debilitated on presentation and demonstrated no signs of spontaneous resolution. Results Patients responded with a 95% (SD 1.22, p < .001) reduction in headache days. All Head Impact Test-6 scores went from disabling to non-disabling without adverse effects. Most required only one dose of erenumab with no migraine recurrence. Onset of efficacy often became apparent within days to four weeks. Extended follow-up six months after treatment revealed no relapses. Conclusions Erenumab is effective in the treatment of posttraumatic headache with migraine phenotype in this small cohort. Large-scale studies are urgently required for this highly prevalent, disabling, condition which has no effective established treatment.

scholarly journals A-41 Exploring the Influence of Referral Source on State Anxiety Levels of Concussed Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 637-637
Author(s):  
K Stephenson ◽  
M N Womble ◽  
R J Elbin
Keyword(s):  
State Anxiety ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Urgent Care ◽  
Athletic Trainer ◽  
Referral Source ◽  
State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽  
Clinical Visit ◽  
History Of ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Objective To explore the influence of referral source on state anxiety in concussed athletes. Method One hundred thirty athletes (mean age = 16.46, SD = 1.93 yrs; 42% female) seeking care for a concussion at a specialty clinic within 30 days of injury (M = 8.83, SD = 6.12 days) were enrolled in the study. Demographic (e.g., age, sex, and history of anxiety) and referral source (e.g., emergency department/urgent care, primary care/pediatrician, and athletic trainer) information were collected, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was administered to all participants. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to compare STAI scores between referral groups, and a logistic regression (LR) was used to assess the relationship between referral sources and patients with and without clinical levels of state anxiety (STAI &gt; 40). Statistical significance for all analyses was (p &lt; .05). Results Approximately 25% (32/130) of patients reported a history of anxiety, and 46% (60/130) scored above clinical cutoffs for clinical anxiety. The referral groups did not differ on STAI scores (F(3, 130) = 1.12, p = .34), and the LR was not significant, (χ2(2, N = 130) = 3.75, p = 0.15). Conclusions History of anxiety was highly correlated with state anxiety at the first clinical visit; however, patients referred from different medical sources did not differ on clinical levels of anxiety at the first clinical visit following concussion.

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