Non-Modifiable Risk Factors for Stress Fractures in Military Personnel Undergoing Training: A Systematic Review

A fracture, being an acquired rupture or break of the bone, is a significant and debilitating injury commonly seen among athletes and military personnel. Stress fractures, which have a repetitive stress aetiology, are highly prevalent among military populations, especially those undergoing training. The primary aim of this review is to identify non-modifiable risk factors for stress fractures in military personnel undergoing training. A systematic search was conducted of three major databases to identify studies that explored risk factors for stress fractures in military trainees. Critical appraisal, data extraction, and a narrative synthesis were conducted. Sixteen articles met the eligibility criteria for the study. Key non-modifiable risk factors identified were prior stress fracture and menstrual dysfunction, while advancing age and race other than black race may be a risk factor. To reduce the incidence of stress fractures in military trainees, mitigating modifiable risk factors among individuals with non-modifiable risk factors (e.g., optimising conditioning for older trainees) or better accommodating non-modifiable factors (for example, extending training periods and reducing intensity to facilitate recovery and adaptation) are suggested, with focus on groups at increased risk identified in this review.

Does toxic stress impact paediatric dental procedures? An integrative review

Toxic stress is defined as strong, repetitive stress with prolonged activation, without the child having the support of an adult caregiver. It is plausible that invasive and complex paediatric interventions produce or contribute to the development of toxic stress. This article aims to evaluate, discuss and synthesize the association between toxic stress and paediatric dental clinical practice through an integrative review of studies published in several databases. The results of this study allow us to state that this subject is little explored in the dental literature and, therefore, that it is essential to encourage clinical studies and specific research. The expansion of these studies will provide health professionals with scientific evidence regarding the implementation of proper clinical practice, thus reducing or even eliminating the development of toxic stress.

Industrial Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Characterization: Paving the Way to New Standards for Benchmarking

Exoskeletons have been introduced in industrial environments to prevent overload or repetitive stress injuries in workers. However, due to the lack of public detailed information about most of the commercial exoskeletons, it is necessary to further assess their load capacity and evolution over time, as their performance may change with use. We present the design and construction of a controlled device to measure the torque of industrial exoskeletons, along with the results of static and dynamic testing of an exoskeleton model. A step motor in the test bench moves the exoskeleton arm in a pre-defined path at a prescribed speed. The force measured with a beam load cell located at the interface between the exoskeleton arm and the test bench is used to derive the torque. The proposed test bench can be easily modified to allow different exoskeleton models to be tested under the same conditions.

Text Neck Syndrome: The Pain of Modern Era

Introduction- The text neck syndrome is a repetitive stress injury induced by prolonged neck flexion at different angles and pain sustained from excessive watching or texting on handheld devices for long periods. It should be referred to as "Modern Era Pain" due to its direct association with the modern era's Gadgets. Aim - This study aimed to determine the prevalence of text neck syndrome and neck pain among college students and to find the effect of neck pain on their active daily lives. Methodology - A personalized questionnaire was designed in the Google Forms and distributed among the around college students by using Snowball sampling techniques. The questionnaire contained four parts: consent letter, sociodemographic details, NDI questionnaire, and fourth part of questionnaire contained vas scale and personalized question about how neck pain impact their active daily life. Result – Out of 283 responses, 36.5 percent of respondents reported mild text neck syndrome, 23.4 percent reported moderate, 2.1 percent reported severe and complete text neck syndrome, and 35.7 percent did not suffer text neck syndrome. And 73.4 % people reported mild to severe pain in neck and upper back region. Conclusion- Prevalence of text neck syndrome is found greater in study as compared to the findings of other previous studies. Key words: Neck pain, Pain of modern era, NDI, Upper back pain, Musculoskeletal disorder.

Comparison between the Effectiveness of Kinesio Taping and Stretching Exercise in Contemporary Dancers with Chronic Shin Splints

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of kinesio taping and stretching exercises in contemporary dancers with chronic shin splints. In the present study, purposively review the published evidence regarding risk factor associated with chronic shin splints in contemporary dancers, assess the effectiveness of kinesio taping, and stretching exercises, of the 45 citations identified, we emphasised results of the nine reports that compare the effect of kinesio taping method to prevent shin splints, twenty-three reports on the effect of shin splints in contemporary dancers, seventeen reports the effect of stretching exercises in shin splints, and two reports the effect of both kinesis taping and stretching exercises on contemporary dancers with repetitive stress and overused activities. The result of the kinesio taping and stretching exercises programs in contemporary dancers with chronic shin splints have undergone assessment of controlled trials. There is no strong support for any of these interventions, and each of four control trials is limited methodologically. The most encouraging evidence for effective prevention of chronic shin splints involves the use of stretching exercise programs. However, serious flaws in study design and implementation constraints the work in this field thus far. Keywords: Kinesio taping technique, Stretching exercise program, Chronic Shin Splints, Contemporary dancers.

Capillaroscopic Evidence of Microvascular Damage in Volleyball Players

Volleyball players experience repetitive stress that involves their hands and, in particular, their fingers. Literature reports that repetitive trauma can lead to local vascular abnormalities, such as reduced capillarization and lower resting blood flow. These anomalies could be related to the presence of dysfunctional endothelium. The aim of this study is to correlate the capillaroscopic findings by nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) to volleyball practice in order to early detect possible anomalies and perform an adequate follow-up to avoid damages that could negatively affect sport practice and the players’ health status. In this study, 38 subjects were enrolled, 19 volleyball players and 19 healthy non-players as a comparison group. In almost all the players, we found capillaroscopic alterations of the “aspecific pattern” type without substantial gender differences. We may assume that the repeated traumas involving players’ fingers can negatively modify their microcirculation. Based on these observations, it could be a desirable clinical practice to screen professional volleyball players with NVC in order to implement preventive strategies aimed at protecting the health of athletes.

THE HEGEMONY OF KEYBOARD DEFAULTS

No single tool is more fundamental to writing—and more unexamined—than the computer keyboard. Most of us in the West never consider that the standard QWERTY key layout, i.e. the staggered key design and the selection of keys available, is anything but the received, traditional means of text input. And as such, keyboard/device manufacturers wield a unique form of power: they dictate the kind of words we can create. They further decide, however unconsciously, the motions our fingers take when we write; the staggered layout was necessary for the proper functioning of mechanical typewriters, but has no necessity for computers (let alone mobile devices), yet continues to be replicated, despite the fact that it is responsible for repetitive stress injuries that could be eliminated or reduced with an improved ergonomic design. QWERTY may even shape the meaning of words that we type. Furthermore, considering the global reach of QWERTY against the backdrop of language diversity, and particularly the approximately 300 non-Latin scripts in existence, the hegemony of default QWERTY keyboards hints at the ongoing impacts of the colonial legacy within digital technologies. Thus, to make computing, and the Internet, more equitable and humane, we must reimagine our keyboard layouts, the characters they include, and our modes of human-computer interaction. Our paper presents this case, employing data analyses of hardware and software keyboard usage statistics.

A Study to Assess the Prevalence of Text Neck Syndrome and Quality of Sleep among Smartphone Users in Selected Colleges of District Ludhiana, Punjab

Background of Study: Text neck syndrome is an important health issues especially in developing Countries. Text Neck refers to repetitive stress injury resulted from excessive watching, texting or overusing hand held devices in a forward head posture for a long period of time. The prevalence of smartphone users worldwide will be around 2.5 billion by 2019. In 2019, the smartphone users in India are estimated to hit 340 million. However, the health effects of mobile phone usage were various on mental and physical health system, but the problem out of which cervical, neck pain and insomnia was most commonly reported. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of Text Neck Syndrome and Quality of Sleep among smartphone users in selected colleges of District Ludhiana, Punjab. Material and Methods: A descriptive research design was used. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 400 smartphone users. Data was gathered by using standardized tool for text neck syndrome i.e. Neck Disability Index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess quality of sleep. Data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results of study showed that nearly half of the smartphone users 151(37.8%) had mild neck disability and (53.75%) subjects had good sleep quality whereas (46.25%) poor sleep quality. There was a statistical significant association of the text neck syndrome with sociodemographic variable habitat of smart phone users and association of sleep quality with habitat, socioeconomic status and academic course. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that nearly 37.8% had mild neck disability and (53.75%) subjects had good sleep quality among smartphone users and was significantly associated with habitat. Key words: Text neck syndrome, Quality of Sleep, smartphone users, repetitive stress injury.

Development and Characterization of a Modular Soft Actuator Enabled Elbow Exoskeleton for Assistive Movements

Exoskeletons are poised to provide motion assistance to aid in rehabilitation and compensate for muscle weaknesses, augment human performance, and reduce repetitive stress injuries in healthcare, industry, and occupation settings, respectively. Soft actuator enabled systems are gaining widespread attention due to their mechanical simplicity, low weight, and compliance to the human body. Regardless of promises shown, the progress for these systems is slow due to a wide variety of actuator types and geometries, which complicate designs and model predictive performance to create application-specific systems. Learning from conventional hard robotic actuator approaches, this paper investigates a modular actuator concept that can be used for creating many exoskeletons and is easily customized for fitting different sized humans, joint types, and application scenarios. The preliminary investigation details the development of an elbow exoskeleton by implementing a modular corrugated diaphragm actuator arranged in a serial configuration. Numerical simulation and experimental evaluations were carried out to investigate the torque, load-bearing, and motion characteristics of the exoskeleton. Results confirmed the viability of the concept by showing that the exoskeleton can provide assistive motion to a forearm and hand of average weight. Additionally, the exoskeleton is able to apply continuous passive motion to an elbow joint, which can be used in rehabilitation settings.