Staging Arthur

In 2019, the author of this essay directed a rehearsed, script-in-hand performance of Thomas Hughes’s The Misfortunes of Arthur in Gray's Inn Chapel. This essay records the rehearsal process, staging, and design. It explains the choice of this play for revival and how text-cutting shaped the way the story was to be told. The author also discusses the play’s language, including echoes of it in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and asks what staging this play tells us about the relationship between Inns of Court drama and the wider world of English professional theatre and, more generally, European theatre of the time.

Mouth-to-mouth ventilation through cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is there any other way?

Objective: to provide and explore possibility of new idea that perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: stage one was establishing the ventilation technique using cola bottles, stage two was measuring the tidal volume when different sized cola bottles were used. Result: the smallest sized cola bottle (500 ml) could also make obvious thorax rise in manikin CPR model. The tidal volume was 174.5 ± 9.1 ml, 220 ± 7.6 ml and 447 ± 15.9 ml respectively for 500 ml, 600 ml and 1.25 L cola bottles when using single hand performance. There were statistical differences (0.001) in tidal volume of different sized cola bottle by using one hand performance and two hands. Conclusion: Larger sized cola bottles (600 ml, 1.25 L) could be used as substitute ventilation technique for mouth-to-mouth ventilation in special circumnutates.

Dissociating experience-dependent and maturational changes in fine motor function during adolescence

Adolescence is a sensitive period in motor development but little is known about how long-term learning dependent processes shape hand function in tasks of different complexity. We mapped two fundamental aspects of hand function: simple repetitive and complex sequential finger movements, as a function of the length of musical instrumental training. We controlled maturational factors such as chronological and biological age of adolescent female participants (11 to 15 years of age, n=114). We demonstrated that experience improves performance as a function of task complexity, the more complex task being more susceptible for experience driven performance changes. Overall, these results suggest that fine motor skills involving cognitive control and relying on long-range functional brain networks are substantially shaped by experience. On the other hand, performance in a simple repetitive task that explains fine motor speed is primarily shaped by white matter development driven by maturational factors.

Recognition capability of one’s own skilled movement is dissociated from acquisition of motor skill memory

When we have rehearsed a movement using an object, we can reproduce the movement without holding the object. However, the reproduced movement sometimes differs from the movement holding a real object, likely because movement recognition is inaccurate. In the present study, we tested whether the recognition capability was dissociated from the acquisition of motor skill memory. Twelve novices were asked to rotate two balls with their right hand as quickly as possible; they practiced the task for 29 days. To evaluate recognition capability, we calculated the difference in coordination pattern of all five digits between the ball-rotation movement and the reproduced movement without holding balls. The recognition capability did not change within the first day, but improved after one week of practice. On the other hand, performance of the ball rotation significantly improved within the first day. Since improvement of performance is likely associated with acquisition of motor skill memory, we suggest that recognition capability, which reflects the capability to cognitively access motor skill memory, was dissociated from the acquisition of motor skill memory. Therefore, recognition of one’s own skilled movement would rely on a hierarchical structure of acquisition of motor skill memory and cognitive access to that memory.

Deficits in Performance on a Mechanically Coupled Asymmetrical Bilateral Task in Chronic Stroke Survivors with Mild Unilateral Paresis

Typical upper limb-mediated activities of daily living involve coordination of both arms, often requiring distributed contributions to mechanically coupled tasks, such as stabilizing a loaf of bread with one hand while slicing with the other. We sought to examine whether mild paresis in one arm results in deficits in performance on a bilateral mechanically coupled task. We designed a virtual reality-based task requiring one hand to stabilize against a spring load that varies with displacement of the other arm. We recruited 15 chronic stroke survivors with mild hemiparesis and 7 age-matched neurologically intact adults. We found that stroke survivors produced less linear reaching movements and larger initial direction errors compared to controls (p < 0.05), and that contralesional hand performance was less linear than that of ipsilesional hand. We found a hand × group interaction (p < 0.05) for peak acceleration of the stabilizing hand, such that the dominant right hand of controls stabilized less effectively than the nondominant left hand while stroke survivors showed no differences between the hands. Our results indicate that chronic stroke survivors with mild hemiparesis show significant deficits in reaching aspects of bilateral coordination, but no deficits in stabilizing against a movement-dependent spring load in this task.

Hand Performance and Strength Evaluation in Smartphone users in the Healthy Population: A Study Protocol

Introduction: This study investigated the interactive effects between the levels of smartphone use on hand-grip strength and functional hand performance in young people. High levels of smartphone use diminished hand-grip strengths as well as and hand function that results in a reduction of handgrip strength of dominant hands in smartphone users. To create a self-diagnostic scale that could tell the difference between smartphone addicts and non-addicts. The smartphone addiction scale short version (SAS-SV) was shown to be reliable and accurate. The qDASH (Questionnaire for Disorders of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand) is an automatic management region-specific outcome device designed to assess upper-extremity impairment along with symptoms. The key component of the qDASH is an 11-item disability/symptom scale.Method: The observational cross-sectional study will be including 70 participants aged between 16 to 29 years from Ravi Nair College of Physiotherapy, India for study as per exclusion and inclusion criteria. Intervention, the span of the duration of analysis of the study will be 6 months. The Hand Dynamometer will be used, SAS-SV and qDASH questionnaire will be used to evaluate the smartphone addiction and assess the upper extremity functional independency.Discussion: The Study will evaluate the hand performance and strength of smartphone in healthy participants. There was a link between smartphone addiction and hand-grip strength and upper-limb disability. There is a dismissive impact on youthful participants during the overuse of smartphone on their hand functions.The Institutional Ethical Clearance reference number for this study is RNPC/IEC/2020-21/0013.

mouth-to-mouth ventilation through cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is there any other way?

Abstractobjectiveto provide and explore possibility of new idea that perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation through cardiopulmonary resuscitation.Methodsstage one is establishing the ventilation technique using cola bottle, stage two is measuring the tidal volume when different sized cola bottles were used.Resultthe smallest sized cola bottle(500ml) can also make obvious thorax rise in manikin CPR model. The tidal volume is 174.5+9.1ml, 220+7.6ml and 447+15.9ml respectively for 500ml, 600ml and 1.25L cola bottles when using single hand performance. There are statistical differences (0.001) in tidal volume of different sized cola bottle by using one hand performance and two hands.Conclusionlarger sized cola bottles(600ml,1.25L) could be used as substitute ventilation technique for mouth-to-mouth ventilation in special circumnutates.

Nondominant hand computer mouse training and the bilateral transfer effect to the dominant hand

This study explored the effects of training computer mouse use in the nondominant hand on clicking performance of the dominant and nondominant hands. Computer mouse use is a daily operation in the workplace and requires minute hand and wrist movements developed and refined through practice and training for many years. Our study had eleven right-handed computer mouse users train their nondominant hand for 15 min a day, five days per week, for six weeks. This study found improved performance with the computer mouse in the dominant hand following nondominant hand training because of the bilateral transfer effect of training. Additionally, our study showed that the nondominant hand is capable of learning the complex movements that our dominant hand has trained for many years. Last, our research showed that nondominant hand performance decreases when the skill is not trained for over a year, but the performance is significantly higher than that prior to the original training and can be rapidly relearned. Overall, training the nondominant hand on the computer mouse will allow for improved performance in industry while allowing safer, sustainable, and more achievable work in a multitude of economies.

Grooved pegboard test performance before and after cerebrospinal fluid tap test in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

Introduction Motor impairment in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) can extend beyond gait and include deficits in upper extremity functions and psychomotor speed. Evaluation of upper extremity function will be helpful for iNPH patients who are unable to ambulate (e.g., wheelchair-bound patients) and may not be able to comply with the gait evaluation. Our study aimed to explore the use of the grooved pegboard test (GPT) to assess responsiveness to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tap test (TT) in iNPH patients. Methods Sixty-five possible NPH patients were enrolled retrospectively and all underwent detailed neuropsychological and walking assessments, CSF TTs, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. The GPT results before and after the CSF TT were compared and correlated with the other clinical assessments. In diffusion tensor imaging analysis, the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values of periventricular white matter were measured by the region of interest method and were correlated with pegboard test performance. Results Compared with 0-hour GPT-dominant and nondominant hand performance, GPT-dominant hand and nondominant hand performance on the 24-hour and 72-hour CSF TT were significantly improved (all P < 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between 24-hour and 72-hour dominant hand GPT performance. The improvement ratios in the complex visual motor speed index (i.e., the GPT performance combined with the symbol-digit modalities test score) were significantly different between the CSF TT responder and nonresponder groups. The baseline GPT performance correlated with walking test, cognitive function, and functional scores. The diffusion tensor imaging analysis of eighteen patients showed that bilateral GPT performance was significantly correlated with FA values in right periventricular lesions (both P < 0.05). Conclusion GPT could measure the change of upper extremity motor function after TT and correlated the lower extremity motor function. It was worth further investigation to its application for iNPH patients unable to comply with the gait evaluation.