Human Movement Studies Research Articles

Labanotation and the Study of Human Movement in Anthropology

This paper discusses the ways in which Labanotation contributes to the analysis of human movement in anthropology. It is based on the experience of the authors, who, as graduate students in anthropology, were involved in research projects where they used Labanotation for the collection and analysis of data. We argue that the ability of Labanotation to accurately represent body movements and gestures, as well as the spatial relationships between moving agents, makes it useful for analyzing different dimensions of social life as enacted by moving bodies. It also records action from the moving person's point of view, which conforms to the ethnographic practice of taking into account local meanings attached to particular kinds of social action. As such, it can be used at different stages of ethnographic research and for different analytical purposes. To illustrate, we present topically diverse ethnographic projects where Labanotation was used: (1) documentation of the New Year ritual of the Lahu Na Shehleh from Northern Thailand for the purpose of preserving the dance and teaching it to younger members of the community, (2) understanding local meanings of ballet dancing in the Philippines, and (3) identifying tacit learning of social norms among children in Ayacucho, Peru.

Kinesiogenomics: The Genomic Era In Kinesiology

The application of genomics research in kinesiology may be characterized as kinesiogenomics or sport genetics. Therefore, kinesiogenomcs is generally known as the study of genetics in the various discipline of kinesiology which refer to the study of human movement. In the research field of Kinesiogenomics, the scientific goal is to clarify the role of genes in sport performance, identification of various genes with their different alleles that affect to the response and adaptation of the body systems and metabolism . By thelp of the these genetic research studies in various disciplines of kinesiology, it will be possible to use genetic testing to predict sport performance or to individualize exercise prescription with the potential for genetic therapy. It is supposed to enhance the sport performance because of that reason that the Interindividual variation of kinesiogenomic-related trait such as maximal oxygen consumption, muscle fibre composition and trainability has a strong genetic basis. Genetic research has a large potential for developing the area of kinesiology with the contribution of genetic factors for various phenotypes related to sport performance including aerobic and anaerobic performance, muscular endurance and strength, motor performance, and some determinant of performance such as morphological, cardiac and skeletal muscle characteristic. In the area of kinesiology, up till now kinesiogenomics research studies have moved into a new era utilizing well-phenotyped, large cohort and genomewide technologies. The main aim of this review is to summarize the most recent and significant genetic finding in the various discipline of kinesiology and to predict the future expectation and possibilities for kinesiogenomics.

Inter-limb generalization of visuomotor adaptation is more automatic when the perturbation is aligned in extrinsic and joint-based coordinates

Event Abstract Back to Event Inter-limb generalization of visuomotor adaptation is more automatic when the perturbation is aligned in extrinsic and joint-based coordinates Timothy Carroll1*, Eugene Poh1, Tania Duarte Ferreira1 and Aymar De Rugy1, 2 1 The University of Queensland, School of Human Movement Studies, Australia 2 Université Bordeaux Segalen, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, France Many questions remain regarding how and why new visuomotor maps obtained with one limb can benefit the other. In an isometric aiming context, we recently found strong, immediate transfer of adaptation between limbs for a sagittal plane workspace where the visuomotor distortion had identical effects in eye- and joint-based coordinates bilaterally, but no transfer in a frontal plane workspace where an identical visual distortion had opposite effects for the two limbs in joint-based coordinates. This suggests that mixed transfer results reported previously for reaching tasks in the horizontal plane might be explained by coordinate frame conflicts associated with the mirror symmetry of the limbs. Here we compared cross-limb transfer of adaptation to visuomotor rotation (45 deg) in a planar reaching task (16 targets) when the limb and visual feedback were oriented in the sagittal (n=8) or the horizontal plane (n=8). Each person completed two sessions in counterbalanced order; one to assess transfer from the right arm to the left and another from left to right. There was significant transfer of feedforward performance to the untrained limb in both horizontal and sagittal conditions (angular error at 20% of target distance: Sagittal = 45%, Horizontal = 18%), but transfer of overall reach performance was significantly greater for the Sagittal than Horizontal group (total path length to target: Sagittal = 58%, Horizontal = 30%. Moreover, reaction times were significantly higher during the first trials in the transfer phase for horizontal than sagittal groups (497 ms versus 380 ms), suggesting a greater cognitive component to horizontal plane error reduction. The results contrast markedly with previous data for isometric force aiming and reaching with veridical, virtual reality feedback, which suggests that the location of the visual display relative to the physical workspace critically influences transfer of new visuomotor maps to the opposite limb. Keywords: reaching, motor learning, visuomotor rotation, Sensorimotor adaptation, Hemispheric asymmetries, Inter-limb Transfer Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Motor Behaviour Citation: Carroll T, Poh E, Duarte Ferreira T and De Rugy A (2015). Inter-limb generalization of visuomotor adaptation is more automatic when the perturbation is aligned in extrinsic and joint-based coordinates. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00072 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Prof. Timothy Carroll, The University of Queensland, School of Human Movement Studies, Brisbane, Australia, timothy.carroll@uq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Timothy Carroll Eugene Poh Tania Duarte Ferreira Aymar De Rugy Google Timothy Carroll Eugene Poh Tania Duarte Ferreira Aymar De Rugy Google Scholar Timothy Carroll Eugene Poh Tania Duarte Ferreira Aymar De Rugy PubMed Timothy Carroll Eugene Poh Tania Duarte Ferreira Aymar De Rugy Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Visuomotor adaptation generalizes partially according to an eye-centred coordinate frame

Event Abstract Back to Event Visuomotor adaptation generalizes partially according to an eye-centred coordinate frame Eugene Poh1, Guy Wallis1, Stephan Riek1, Aymar De Rugy1, 2 and Timothy Carroll1* 1 The University of Queensland, Centre for Sensorimotor Neuroscience, School of Human Movement Studies, Australia 2 Université Bordeaux Segalen, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, France The nature of the internal maps between vision and motor commands can be inferred from the generalization of learned distortions between visual target direction and direction of hand motion. Previous reports of generalization across different limb postures appear consistent with a stored representation of the distortion defined in extrinsic coordinates. However, because manipulation of limb posture does not dissociate external space relative to the body from location in the visual field, it is possible that new visuomotor maps are partly represented in eye-centred coordinates. We investigated this possibility by measuring generalization between different head positions during an isometric aiming task. Subjects adapted to a 30º visual rotation (120 trials) while aiming to a single target direction that aligned with the sagittal axis of the head when the head was rolled 35º from midline. Generalization was assessed to seven targets with no feedback (every 30? from 0-180?) in the adapted head position, and also in a test position with the head rolled by 70? in the opposite direction. In the test head position, the location of the trained target differed in eye and body-centred coordinates by 60?. Thus, if visuomotor maps are represented in eye-centred coordinates, generalization should have shifted with the head (i.e. by 60? in Cartesian coordinates relative to the body). In contrast, if visuomotor maps are represented in body-centred coordinates, generalization should remain constant in Cartesian space irrespective of head position. We measured a 17.7º (p<0.05) shift in generalization away from the Cartesian training direction and toward the new orientation of the head in the test position. This partial shift of the generalization in eye-based coordinates indicates that visuomotor maps are encoded in neural circuits associated with both eye- and body-centred movement representations. Keywords: adaptation, motor learning, generalization, Coordinate frames, visuomotor rotation Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Motor Behaviour Citation: Poh E, Wallis G, Riek S, De Rugy A and Carroll T (2015). Visuomotor adaptation generalizes partially according to an eye-centred coordinate frame. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00317 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Timothy Carroll, The University of Queensland, Centre for Sensorimotor Neuroscience, School of Human Movement Studies, Brisbane, Australia, timothy.carroll@uq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Eugene Poh Guy Wallis Stephan Riek Aymar De Rugy Timothy Carroll Google Eugene Poh Guy Wallis Stephan Riek Aymar De Rugy Timothy Carroll Google Scholar Eugene Poh Guy Wallis Stephan Riek Aymar De Rugy Timothy Carroll PubMed Eugene Poh Guy Wallis Stephan Riek Aymar De Rugy Timothy Carroll Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Spatial Attention Influences Plasticity Induction in the Motor Cortex

Event Abstract Back to Event Spatial Attention Influences Plasticity Induction in the Motor Cortex Marc Kamke1*, Alexander Ryan2, Martin Sale1, Megan Campbell1, Stephan Riek3, Timothy Carroll3 and Jason Mattingley4 1 The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia 2 The University of Queensland, The School of Psychology, Australia 3 The University of Queensland, School of Human Movement Studies, Australia 4 The University of Queensland , Queensland Brain Institute and School of Psychology, Australia It is widely accepted that alterations in the strength of communication between neurons, or 'Hebbian' (synaptic) plasticity, plays a major role in the capacity of the adult brain to adapt. Such plasticity is critical for responding to changes in sensory input, learning new skills and behaviours, and recovering from injury to the nervous system. Numerous physiological influences on synaptic plasticity have now been identified, but little is known about how plasticity is affected by cognitive processes. Here, we investigated the influence of visual spatial attention on plasticity induced by external stimulation of the motor cortex. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and a paired associative stimulation (PAS) procedure were used to alter functional responses in the thumb area of the primary motor cortex. In different experiments PAS was used to induce either an increase or a decrease in cortical excitability, as indexed by the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials. These PAS-induced effects reflect, respectively, long-term potentiation (LTP)-like and long-term depression (LTD)-like synaptic plasticity. During the induction of plasticity, participants focused their attention on one of two visual stimulus streams located adjacent to each hand. When participants attended to visual stimuli located near the left thumb, which was targeted by the plasticity procedure, LTP-like increases in excitability were enhanced relative to when they attended instead to stimuli located near the right thumb. In contrast, LTD-like decreases in excitability were reduced when attention was directed toward the visual stimuli located near the left, relative to the right, thumb. These findings suggest that voluntary attention can exert an important influence on the functional organisation of the human cortex by both enhancing LTP-like plasticity and suppressing LTD-like effects. Keywords: Attention, Motor Cortex, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, plasticity, spatial attention, Paired associative stimulation Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Attention Citation: Kamke M, Ryan A, Sale M, Campbell M, Riek S, Carroll T and Mattingley J (2015). Spatial Attention Influences Plasticity Induction in the Motor Cortex. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00258 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Marc Kamke, The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, Australia, m.kamke@uq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Marc Kamke Alexander Ryan Martin Sale Megan Campbell Stephan Riek Timothy Carroll Jason Mattingley Google Marc Kamke Alexander Ryan Martin Sale Megan Campbell Stephan Riek Timothy Carroll Jason Mattingley Google Scholar Marc Kamke Alexander Ryan Martin Sale Megan Campbell Stephan Riek Timothy Carroll Jason Mattingley PubMed Marc Kamke Alexander Ryan Martin Sale Megan Campbell Stephan Riek Timothy Carroll Jason Mattingley Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Coming to know about the body in Human Movement Studies programmes

This paper explores how a group of undergraduate Human Movement Studies (HMS) students learnt to know about the body during their four-year academic programme at an Australian university. When students begin an undergraduate programme in HMS they bring with them particular constructions, ideas and beliefs about their own bodies and about the body in general. Those ideas and beliefs are often challenged, disrupted or reinforced according to discourses and practices to which students are exposed and which they experience throughout their programme of study. The courses that these students take in their in HMS degree programme present to them different perspectives about health and the body. Some perspectives take the status of taken-for-granted truths and others are dismissed or ignored. Taking a Foucauldian perspective, this paper explores the dominant discourses and practices to which this group of students was exposed during their four years of academic formation, and the influences that this exposure might have upon their construction of the body and their formation as pre-service Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers. The participants in this study were 14 students, 11 females and 3 males, aged between 18 and 26 at the time of the first interview. The data used for this paper were taken from a larger study and were analysed using a content analysis approach. Results suggest that some students may be heavily influenced by certain practices and discourses during their programme of studies, and that they embody dominant discourses of health. Furthermore, a possible change of thinking may occur across their academic programme, as a consequence of their engagement with a few alternative discourses presented during their academic programme, disrupting some of their previous beliefs and knowledge.

An efficient algorithm for the computation of average mutual information: Validation and implementation in Matlab

Average mutual information (AMI) measures the dependence between pairs of random variables. It has been used in many applications including blind source separation, data mining, neural synchronicity assessment, and state space reconstruction in human movement studies. Presently, several algorithms and computational code exist to estimate AMI. However, most are difficult to use and/or understand the manner by which AMI is calculated. We offer a straightforward and implementable function in Matlab (Mathworks, Inc.) for the computation of AMI in relatively modest sized data streams (N<∼15,000). Our algorithm incorporates some best practices for statistical estimation that improves accuracy over other readily available options. We present three validation tests: (i) recovery of a known theoretical expected mutual information in a bivariate Gaussian random variable, (ii) invariance with respect to marginal distribution characteristics, and (iii) optimum time-delay selection in state space reconstruction.

Erratum: Mahoney et al. (2014).

In the article "Mental Toughness in Sport: Motivational Antecedents and Associations With Performance and Psychological Health," by John W. Mahoney, Daniel F. Gucciardi, Nikos Ntoumanis, and Cliff J. Mallett, in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36(3), 281-292, http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2013-0260, the fourth author's surname was inadvertently misspelled twice on page 281. Under the article title, the correct spelling should be Mallett. Likewise, in the footnote, the first sentence should read "John W. Mahoney and Cliff J. Mallett are with the School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland."

Cerebral responses to innocuous somatic pressure stimulation following aerobic exercise rehabilitation in chronic pain patients: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this research was to assess the functional brain activity and perceptual rating of innocuous somatic pressure stimulation before and after exercise rehabilitation in patients with chronic pain.Materials and methodsEleven chronic pain patients and eight healthy pain-free controls completed 12 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise intervention. Perceptual rating of standardized somatic pressure stimulation (2 kg) on the right anterior mid-thigh and brain responses during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were assessed at pre- and postexercise rehabilitation.ResultsThere was a significant difference in the perceptual rating of innocuous somatic pressure stimulation between the chronic pain and control groups (P=0.02) but no difference following exercise rehabilitation. Whole brain voxel-wise analysis with correction for multiple comparisons revealed trends for differences in fMRI responses between the chronic pain and control groups in the superior temporal gyrus (chronic pain > control, corrected P=0.30), thalamus, and caudate (control > chronic, corrected P=0.23). Repeated measures of the regions of interest (5 mm radius) for blood oxygen level-dependent signal response revealed trend differences for superior temporal gyrus (P=0.06), thalamus (P=0.04), and caudate (P=0.21). Group-by-time interactions revealed trend differences in the caudate (P=0.10) and superior temporal gyrus (P=0.29).ConclusionAugmented perceptual and brain responses to innocuous somatic pressure stimulation were shown in the chronic pain group compared to the control group; however, 12-weeks of exercise rehabilitation did not significantly attenuate these responses.

Modelling and monitoring of passive control structures in human movement

Passive tissues, ligaments and cartilage are vital to human movement. Their contribution to stability, joint function and joint integrity is essential. The articulation of their functions and quantitative assessment of what they do in a healthy or injured state are important in athletics, orthopaedics, medicine and health. In this paper, the role of cartilage and ligaments in stability of natural contacts, connections and joints is articulated by including them in two very simple skeletal systems: one- and three-link rigid body systems. Based on the Newton–Euler equations, a state space presentation of the dynamics is discussed that allows inclusion of ligament and cartilage structures in the model, and allows for Lyapunov stability studies for the original and reduced systems. The connection constraints may be holonomic and non-holonomic depending on the structure of the passive elements. The development is pertinent to the eventual design of a computational framework for the study of human movement that involves computer models of all the relevant skeletal, neural and physiological elements of the central nervous system (CNS). Such a structure also permits testing of different hypotheses about the functional neuroanatomy of the CNS, and the study of the effects and dynamics of disease, deterioration, aging and injuries. The formulation here is applied to one- and three-link systems. Digital computer simulations of a two rigid body system are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach and the methods.

Body Segment Parameters of Young Chinese Men Determined with Magnetic Resonance Imaging

This study determines Chinese body segment parameters based on a magnetic resonance imaging method. Fifty young Chinese men (21.5 ± 1.52 yr) participated in this study. Magnetic resonance images were obtained using a GE magnetic resonance imaging 1.5-T scanner with 10-mm thickness. The magnetic resonance digital images were analyzed using medical imaging software. This study separated the human body into 14 segments, including the head and neck, trunk, upper arm, forearm, hand, thigh, shank, and foot to calculate the percentage of mass of total body mass (%M), center of mass location (%CM), and moments of inertia (I) for each segment. The study results showed %M and %CM of the head and neck (8.21 and 52.69), trunk (42.28 and 41.96), upper arm (3.25 and 47.16), forearm (1.36 and 40.98), hand (0.54 and 32.60), thigh (13.50 and 48.56), shanks (4.63 and 41.68), and foot (1.47 and 47.51). Compared with other cadaver-based and in vivo studies, our findings indicate a lower %M and %CM at the hand, forearm, and trunk but higher %M and %CM at the head. The differences may be due to the race, lifestyle, age, and level of participants. The discrepancies in segment boundaries and coordinate system may also contribute to these differences. Most previous studies have either used cadavers from older Caucasian men or drawn conclusions from a limited sample size. This study establishes a new model to provide thorough information of Chinese body segment parameters for enhanced ergonomic design and more accurate human movement studies.

Education: a space to survive and thrive?

The article presents our response to some ideas presented by David Kirk in his 2012 Scholar Lecture to the Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Special Interest Group of the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference in September 2012. We seek to present an alternate view to one aspect of Kirk's argument which supports a view that physical education pedagogues are marginalised in academia and that such a status is attributed at least in part to their professional positioning within the field of education and within schools or faculties of education. We argue that a career as a scholar in the university sector means understanding the goals and priorities of the particular university where you work and how your interests and capacities align. We argue that being a teacher educator or a sport pedagogy scholar in a College of Education or in a Department of Human Movement Studies is not the central defining characteristic in progressing your career. What matters is that the priorities of your department and the attitude of your colleagues to your teaching and research align with your capacities and interests. We reject what we read as the message that being involved in teacher education is not a good career move in the contemporary university. While we acknowledge challenges to teacher education in England and elsewhere, this is not a reason to abandon research on teaching/teacher education or careers in schools/departments of education.

English

Introduction Existing guidelines on nutrition support in patients with cancer cachexia state limited evidence for the beneficial effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on clinical outcome. In order to report on the latest evidence for n-3 PUFAs in cancer cachexia, we conducted a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparing the effects on clinical outcome parameters of oral or enteral supplementation of n-3 PUFAs in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or palliative care. Materials and methods In PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, search terms on cancer, n-3 PUFAs and clinical outcome parameters (nutritional status, morbidity, mortality and quality of life) were entered on 1 April 2013, using limits for adults, humans and English language. The quality and evidence of the retrieved publications were appraised by an expert team of Australian and Dutch dieticians and nutritionists, using the ADA grading system. Fifteen RCTs were retrieved. Results Nine RCTs were of positive quality, five of neutral quality and one of negative quality and were performed in patients with various types of cancer. Fair evidence shows that supplementation of n-3 PUFAs appears to be safe and may improve the quality of life and physical activity in patients with cancer. However, supplementation of n-3 PUFAs does not improve energy or protein intake, appetite or survival and does not reduce postoperative complications. The evidence for the effect on body weight, fatfree mass and performance status remains inconclusive. Conclusion Supplementation of n-3 PUFAs may have some positive effects in patients with cancer. Introduction Cancer cachexia, a complex metabolic syndrome associated with underlying illness, characterized by an increased inflammatory status and loss of muscle mass with or without loss of fat mass, is highly prevalent among patients with cancer1–7. This syndrome is a result of complex alterations in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism8,9, caused by inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and tumour-derived catabolic drivers10. Proteolysis-inducing factor (PIF) is produced by the tumour and induces protein catabolism11. As a result of the acute-phase response, the liver shows an increased protein turnover for the production of inflammatory mediators, using muscle mass to release amino acids9,10. Changes in lipid metabolism in cancer include a reduction of lipogenesis, with unchanged whole-body lipolysis and mobilization of fatty acids from fat tissue. Alterations in glucose metabolism are reflected by glucose intolerance and insulin resistance8,9,11. Thus far, conventional nutritional support has been limited in its ability to stabilize body weight and maintain fat-free mass in patients with cachexia. Pharmaceutical interventions sometimes improved appetite, body weight and quality of life, but weight gain mostly consisted of fat mass12–15. n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), seem to be promising agents to treat cancer cachexia. A dose of around 2 g of EPA per day (alone or combined with docosahexaenoic acid, DHA) appears to decrease the production of proinflammatory cytokines16,17 and PIF and is associated with stabilization of body weight and probably fat-free mass13,18. This has been shown in animal studies and in nonrandomized human trials in pancreatic cancer patients19,20. However, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) show contradictory results21–26. This may be due to issues related to study limitations, such as the disease severity, confounding factors and nonadherence with n-3 PUFA supplements. Also, study designs and outcome parameters differ in terms of supplementation dosage, * Corresponding author Email: b.vandermeij@vumc.nl 1 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2 Centre for Dietetics Research, School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 3 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia 4 Department of Nutrition and Dietetic Services, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia 5 Department of Surgery, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, the Netherlands

FROM BODY TO MAP & BACK. DRAWING BODY MAPS: ON SKIN, ON PAPER, ON BIT AND ON NEURONS. A CORE FOR RECENTLY ESTABLISHED ANTHROPOKINETICS

Man creates maps of land, of earth, of sky, of real or imaginary worlds, of micro- and macro-cosmos, of everything, including his own body. Maps are useful for knowledge and for practice, linking one another these two kind of relation with the mapped space. When we say “body maps” we can mean both “maps of body” (representing body) and “maps on body” (representing something else that is projected on body, even forced to be adapted for coinciding with body). Maps are not simply a double of a country or of a body. Mapping gives a different and further ontology to the represented objects by a cause-effect circle, by a dialectic relation between two extended territories (the concrete one and the mapped one). Human body has been mapped as a land to orient our own or other’s navigation. To do this we need marks, references, directional systems: polarities, oriented lines, preferential protocols. Marks may be based on existing anatomical features or on projection of conceptual/symbolic elements, transcending somatic concreteness, relatively heterogeneous to flesh. The anatomical features can regard soft or hard tissues, similarly to “ complexio ” and “ constitutio ” of ancient physiognomy. This navigation is aimed to find signs, to read text(s) that is/are written on its surfaces and in its deepness, to act on it. The body maps taxonomy can be based on supports: skin, paper or bit or to contexts/purposes: official medicine (that presents iconographic maps as 4D body imaging and not iconographic maps as DNA), alternative medicine, figurative arts, physiognomics, mantics, motion capture in cinema, erotic contexts (the ancient ars erotica and the modern scientia sexualis ) mystic cosmology and so on. A particular case of neuronal mapping is related to movements. This perspective leads us toward a precise direction, grounding the study of the human movement in a very interesting way. This study is still looking for its own center that can define its specificity, its epistemic identity. The term “anthropokinetcs” (from the Greek words anthropos and kinesis) seems to be fully capable of indicating this recently established (in Anglophonic world, but still not existing in Italy) disciplinary area. This term is obviously related to “anthroposomatics”, that indicates the field of the studies related to human body. We aim neither to erase the legitimacy of existing studies of many different sciences that are referred to moving human body nor to create a double of these studies. Instead, we would like to offer them an organic frame to organize their contents and their methods, in order to apply and to communicate them in the best way. This line of study has the purpose of understanding human action thanks to researches that are capable of integrating biomechanical approach with neuronal one (definable “neuro-mechanics”). First of all this approach originates a dialectic play be- tween these two areas (but many others must be involved, as robotics, semiotics, EEC, IIB) and shows that the Nervous System is a “black box” that, after motor learning, manages sensory-motor information as space-time derivatives and integrals. So the CNS is competent (it owns the necessary acquaintance) as an engineer, even if according to a different formalization, it is based on neuronal sources. Anyway it solves real time and with efficacy the interaction problems, managed as input-output patterns. Here we propose to follow and to empower the recent establishment of the anthropokinetics, a knowledge of human action that can be applied in many fields: ergonomics, therapy, motor techniques (in work, in sport, etc.), didactics and so on. Engineering can offer adequate and effective models for the study of the execution of human action. The connecting rod-crank mechanism and, generally, the mathematical-physical approach to moving bodies are meaningful examples. Writing the “ trait-d’union ” to link one another the biomechanical and the neuronal data means reaching the heart of the matter. When we speak about neural functionality we have to interpret this as the biological datum correlated with the abstract thinking and cultural elements. The natural location of this researches could be seen in the motor sciences academic departments.

Validation of a novel, objective measure of occupational sitting

Validation of a Novel, Objective Measure of Occupational Sitting: Gemma C. RYDE, et al. St Lucia Campus, School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Australia-Objective: To test the validity of a sitting pad (SP) to measure desk based sitting time and transitions, against camera derived direct observation; and to compare the data with those from inclinometers in the ActivPAL(3) (AP) and ActiGraph GT3X+ (AG). Methods: Australian employees (n=13; 9 women; mean age 30 +/- 6.5 years) were provided with a SP, AG and AP in 2011. A camera recorded chair based transitions during a prescribed and a free living protocol. Mean sitting time and transitions were calculated for each device and intra-class correlations (ICCs) and mean differences between (a) the SP and the camera and (b) the AP, AG and camera, were compared. Results: During the prescribed protocol, the smallest mean differences compared with the camera were for the SP; sitting time 0.30 +/- 0.21 minutes, transitions -0.46 +/- 0.78. During free living, both the SP and AP (set to record events greater than 3 seconds) showed excellent levels of agreement with the camera for sitting time (0.999 and 0.990 respectively) and transitions (0.997 and 0.928 respectively). Agreement between the camera and the AG was poor for both sitting time and transitions (0.257 and 0.033 respectively). Conclusions: The SP is a highly accurate measure of desk based sitting time and transitions and provides novel measurement and intervention opportunities for research into occupational sitting. (J Occup Health 2012; 54: 383-386)

注視点分析を用いた犬の性格・行動評価の違い:―犬ハンドラーの経験差が及ぼす影響―

注視点分析を用いた犬の性格・行動評価の違い:―犬ハンドラーの経験差が及ぼす影響―

Validation of a Novel, Objective Measure of Occupational Sitting

To test the validity of a sitting pad (SP) to measure desk based sitting time and transitions, against camera derived direct observation; and to compare the data with those from inclinometers in the ActivPAL(3) (AP) and ActiGraph GT3X+ (AG). Australian employees (n=13; 9 women; mean age 30 ± 6.5 years) were provided with a SP, AG and AP in 2011. A camera recorded chair based transitions during a prescribed and a free living protocol. Mean sitting time and transitions were calculated for each device and intra-class correlations (ICCs) and mean differences between (a) the SP and the camera and (b) the AP, AG and camera, were compared. During the prescribed protocol, the smallest mean differences compared with the camera were for the SP; sitting time 0.30 ± 0.21 minutes, transitions -0.46 ± 0.78. During free living, both the SP and AP (set to record events greater than 3 seconds) showed excellent levels of agreement with the camera for sitting time (0.999 and 0.990 respectively) and transitions (0.997 and 0.928 respectively). Agreement between the camera and the AG was poor for both sitting time and transitions (0.257 and 0.033 respectively). The SP is a highly accurate measure of desk based sitting time and transitions and provides novel measurement and intervention opportunities for research into occupational sitting.

Changing the logic of practice: (re)drawing boundaries, (re)defining fields

Background: The relationship between sport and exercise science (SES) and health and physical education (HPE) has been of interest to those of us involved in the general field of human movement studies in higher education for at least the last four decades. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine how the proposed merging of the health and physical education teacher education practices within a university department of SES impacted on the teacher educators and then why they fought to retain their place in the Faculty of Education. Participants: The research participants included a group of five HPE teacher educators from a College of Education, the Dean and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, and the Director of Teacher Education. Research design: The research employed ethnographic case-study methods involving participant interviews and daily monitoring and journaling of the participants’ involvement and position-taking during the period of the research. Data gathering also included document analysis of all the related documentation available to the researcher relating to the research topic during the period of the investigation. Research themes were then analysed using Bourdieu's sociological lens, which is reported in this paper. Findings: Although the HPE teacher educators and sports scientists recognised the different ‘logics of practice’ underpinning their respective fields, the faculty leaders did not share their views. Consequently, while the teacher educators argued to retain the existing logics underpinning the two fields, the faculty leaders sought to redraw the boundaries seeking some degree of collaboration between the two fields. Conclusion: The relationship between HPE and SES is determined by the externally structured and internally embodied logics of practice underpinning the respective fields in higher education, and this in turn is important in determining how people engage in sport, physical activity, and physical education.

Recent developments in the study of rapid human movements with the kinematic theory: Applications to handwriting and signature synthesis

Human movement modeling can be of great interest for the design of pattern recognition systems relying on the understanding of the fine motor control (such as on-line handwriting recognition or signature verification) as well as for the development of intelligent systems involving in a way or another the processing of human movements. In this paper, we briefly list the different models that have been proposed in order to characterize the handwriting process and focus on a representation involving a vectorial summation of lognormal functions: the Sigma–lognormal model. Then, from a practical perspective, we describe a new stroke extraction algorithm suitable for the reverse engineering of handwriting signals. In the following section it is shown how the resulting representation can be used to study the writer and signer variability. We then report on two joint projects dealing with the automatic generation of synthetic specimens for the creation of large databases. The first application concerns the automatic generation of totally synthetic signature specimens for the training and evaluation of verification performances of automatic signature recognition systems. The second application deals with the synthesis of handwritten gestures for speeding up the learning process in customizable on-line recognition systems to be integrated in electronic pen pads.

Minimum acceleration with constraints of center of mass: a unified model for arm movements and object manipulation

Daily interaction with the environment consists of moving with or without objects. Increasing interest in both types of movements drove the creation of computational models to describe reaching movements and, later, to describe a simplified version of object manipulation. The previously suggested models for object manipulation rely on the same optimization criteria as models for reaching movements, yet there is no single model accounting for both tasks that does not require reminimization of the criterion for each environment. We suggest a unified model for both cases: minimum acceleration with constraints for the center of mass (MACM). For point-to-point reaching movement, the model predicts the typical rectilinear path and bell-shaped speed profile as previous criteria. We have derived the predicted trajectories for the case of manipulating a mass-on-spring and show that the predicted trajectories match the observations of a few independent previous experimental studies of human arm movement during a mass-on-spring manipulation. Moreover, the previously reported "unusual" trajectories are also well accounted for by the proposed MACM. We have tested the predictions of the MACM model in 3 experiments with 12 subjects, where we demonstrated that the MACM model is equal or better (Wilcoxon sign-rank test, P < 0.001) in accounting for the data than three other previously proposed models in the conditions tested. Altogether, the MACM model is currently the only model accounting for reaching movements with or without external degrees of freedom. Moreover, it provides predictions about the intermittent nature of the neural control of movements and about the dominant control variable.