Wide Range Of Daily Activities Research Articles

Does chronic urticaria affect quality of sleep and quality of life?

Urticaria affects a wide range of daily activities and social relationships. It has a severe impact on quality of life (QOL) and causes psychological problems. was to assess the impact of chronic urticaria (CU) on quality of sleep, the levels of depression, anxiety, QOL and their interaction with each other and their relation to disease related factors. The study included 25 patients with CU and 25 healthy controls. Urticaria Activity Score (UAS) was used for objective evaluation of the intensity of urticaria. Patients completed a 10-cm visual analogue score (VAS) indicating the overall severity of their itching over the previous 2 weeks. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was used to evaluate patients' QOL. Patients were also assessed for anxiety and depression with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used for evaluation of sleep quality and sleep disturbances. In our CU patients the mean of UAS7 score was 39.72 ± 2.76 and the mean of VAS score was 28 ± 1.34. The mean of DLQI score was 24.8 ± 4.37 indicating severe impact of QOL. CU patients had higher total HADS score when compared to controls; 72% of the patients had depression and 92% had anxiety. By using PSQI, CU patients had significantly longer sleep latency onset, shorter total sleep duration, lower sleep efficiency and higher PSQI scores compared to controls. CU highly affects the QOL of patients and is associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression and poor sleep quality.

Tibiofemoral Slip Velocity in Total Knee Arthroplasty is Design-Invariant but Activity-Dependent

Tibiofemoral slip velocity is a key contributor to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) component wear, yet few studies have evaluated this quantity in vivo. The aim of the present study was to measure and compare tibiofemoral slip velocities in 3 TKA designs for a range of daily activities. Mobile biplane X-ray imaging was used to measure 6-degree-of-freedom tibiofemoral kinematics and the locations of articular contact in 75 patients implanted with a posterior-stabilized, cruciate-retaining, or medial-stabilized design while each patient performed level walking, step up, step down, sit-to-stand, and stand-to-sit. Using these data, tibiofemoral slip velocity was calculated for the duration of each activity for each TKA design. The pattern of tibiofemoral slip velocity was similar for all 3 TKA designs within each activity but markedly different across the 5 activities tested, with the magnitude of peak slip velocity being significantly higher in level walking (range: 158–211 mm/s) than in all other activities (range: 43–75 mm/s). The pattern of tibiofemoral slip velocity in both the medial and lateral compartments closely resembled the pattern of tibiofemoral (knee) flexion angular velocity, with a strong linear relationship observed between slip velocity and flexion angular velocity (r = 0.81–0.97). Tibiofemoral slip velocity was invariant to TKA design but was significantly affected by activity type. Our measurements of slip velocity and articular contact locations for a wide range of daily activities may be used as inputs in joint simulator testing protocols and computational models developed to estimate TKA component wear.

The benefits of physical exercise on glaucoma management: Evidence‐based recommendations for eye care providers

The only proven method to treat glaucoma is the reduction and stabilization of intraocular pressure (IOP). A wide range of daily activities have shown to affect the IOP behaviour, and eye care specialists should be aware of their effects for the prevention and treatment of glaucoma. Indeed, the impact of physical activity on IOP has gained attention in the last years, and exercise prescription has emerged as a promising adjuvant strategy for IOP control in glaucoma patients. Previous studies have demonstrated that the IOP response to physical exercise may be dependent on numerous factors such as exercise type (e.g., endurance, resistance), exercise intensity, subjects´ fitness level, body position (e.g., supine vs. standing) and breathing pattern adopted during exercise, underlying medical conditions, concomitant mental effort or caffeine intake before exercise among others. This talk will summarize the available scientific evidence on the positive and negative effects of physical exercise on IOP, and provides practical recommendations for exercise prescription in glaucoma patients or those at risk. It will permit to better understand the potential benefits of exercise prescription as a coadjuvant strategy for the prevention and management of glaucoma, which would be of great relevance due to the important health, economic and social burdens associated with this condition.

Complexity of spatio-temporal plantar pressure patterns during everyday behaviours.

The human foot sole is the primary interface with the external world during balance and walking, and also provides important tactile information on the state of contact. However, prior studies on plantar pressure have focused mostly on summary metrics such as overall force or centre of pressure under limited conditions. Here, we recorded spatio-temporal plantar pressure patterns with high spatial resolution while participants completed a wide range of daily activities, including balancing, locomotion and jumping tasks. Contact area differed across task categories, but was only moderately correlated with the overall force experienced by the foot sole. The centre of pressure was often located outside the contact area or in locations experiencing relatively low pressure, and therefore a result of disparate contact regions spread widely across the foot. Non-negative matrix factorization revealed low-dimensional spatial complexity that increased during interaction with unstable surfaces. Additionally, pressure patterns at the heel and metatarsals decomposed into separately located and robustly identifiable components, jointly capturing most variance in the signal. These results suggest optimal sensor placements to capture task-relevant spatial information and provide insight into how pressure varies spatially on the foot sole during a wide variety of natural behaviours.

Exploratory Analysis of Risk Management Process of UAE Police Department

Risk control and management are becoming increasingly important in many organisational operations. It goes beyond the business sector to include security organisations like police departments. The fact that police officers engage in a widerange of daily activities that expose them to a variety of potentially hazardous situations Police risk management includes both physical and financial aspects. Risk identification is the first step in the risk management process, followed by risk analysis, risk evaluation, and risk treatment. According to the literature, the Dubai Police Department has no framework in place to fully manage risks and evaluate the effectiveness of police operations. Early warning systems are critical for detecting potential severe RM because police departments must rely on them to manage risks and keep track of any potential new risks. As a result, the UAE police department's risk management strategy was investigated in this paper. It classified the data collection process using exploratory factor analysis, which wasa quantitative approach. A self-administered survey yielded 381 valid questionnaires from Dubai Police Department officers. The study's findings revealed that risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, and risk response are the four fundamental steps of effective risk management. The Crobach Alpha test was used to assess the consistency and reliability of the data, and the result was 0.814, indicating that the data is suitable for use. Only one of the twenty indicators, which were divided into four groups for risk management, was weak according to outliers and communalities tests. The risk management process was accurately described by another 20 factors. Total variance extraction yielded a rate of 57.130 percent, which was higher than the required 50%. As a result, the risk management procedure investigated in this study may be useful for effectively managing risks in the UAE police force.

Prevalence of Asthenopia and Its Relationship with Electronic Screen Usage During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Jazan, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PurposeTo assess the connection between the prevalence of asthenopia and the use of electronic devices in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Patients and MethodsAsthenopia prevalence and its connection to electronic screens during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated in an analytical, cross-sectional investigation among the Jazan population. The sample population included 784 participants. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a pre-tested, organized, and self-administered questionnaire was used as the study method. Social media invitations were used to contact the sample group.ResultsOf the 784 participants, 587 (74.96%) had asthenopia symptoms after using digital devices at the end of the day. A total of 56.30% used digital gadgets for > 6 hours each day, whereas 55.36% spent <2 hours per day reading papers or books or writing. Daily usage of digital gadgets did not significantly differ from asthenopia (p=0.46), as well as reading papers, books, or writing and asthenopia (p=0.098). A total of 45.92% of the study population maintained digital devices/books at a distance <25 cm, which was significantly associated with symptoms of asthenopia (p=0.048). Furthermore, 90.10% of the sample population used laptops, cellphones, and iPads before going to bed or after turning off lights. A total of 63.52% preferred using devices while lying in bed. There was no positive link between asthenopia symptoms and cellphone usage at bedtime or after turning off lights (p=0.028).ConclusionDigital technology is used by people of all ages for a wide range of daily activities, including education, employment, business, and recreation. We concluded that this group had a high prevalence of asthenopia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The high frequency of asthenopia emphasizes the significance of conducting public awareness campaigns concerning asthenopia symptoms and prevention methods.

Dysfunctional Timing in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: Co-occurrence of Cognitive, Motor, and Perceptual Deficits.

Timing is an essential part of human cognition and of everyday life activities, such as walking or holding a conversation. Previous studies showed that traumatic brain injury (TBI) often affects cognitive functions such as processing speed and time-sensitive abilities, causing long-term sequelae as well as daily impairments. However, the existing evidence on timing capacities in TBI is mostly limited to perception and the processing of isolated intervals. It is therefore open whether the observed deficits extend to motor timing and to continuous dynamic tasks that more closely match daily life activities. The current study set out to answer these questions by assessing audio motor timing abilities and their relationship with cognitive functioning in a group of TBI patients (n = 15) and healthy matched controls. We employed a comprehensive set of tasks aiming at testing timing abilities across perception and production and from single intervals to continuous auditory sequences. In line with previous research, we report functional impairments in TBI patients concerning cognitive processing speed and perceptual timing. Critically, these deficits extended to motor timing: The ability to adjust to tempo changes in an auditory pacing sequence was impaired in TBI patients, and this motor timing deficit covaried with measures of processing speed. These findings confirm previous evidence on perceptual and cognitive timing deficits resulting from TBI and provide first evidence for comparable deficits in motor behavior. This suggests basic co-occurring perceptual and motor timing impairments that may factor into a wide range of daily activities. Our results thus place TBI into the wider range of pathologies with well-documented timing deficits (such as Parkinson’s disease) and encourage the search for novel timing-based therapeutic interventions (e.g., employing dynamic and/or musical stimuli) with high transfer potential to everyday life activities.

Working memory training in normal and pathological ageing: neurocognitive gains and their impact on daily-living activities.

Working memory is one of the cognitive functions that is the most sensitive to the effects of normal and pathological ageing. In older individuals with mild cognitive impairments, working memory deficits are frequent and can precede episodic memory impairments, in addition to having a strong prognostic value of evolution toward an Alzheimer-type dementia. Due to its involvement in numerous cognitive and cognitive-motor tasks, working memory is called upon in a wide range of daily activities. An impaired working memory therefore increases the risk of loss of autonomy. In this review, we present different working memory training programmes. We show how these training programmes are associated with specific effects, and near and far transfer effects on other cognitive functions in older adults without cognitive impairment or with mild cognitive impairment, as well as in patients with dementia. We show that the benefits are confirmed by neuronal modifications, suggesting an improvement in the neuronal efficiency of the processes that are trained or related to them. Finally, we consider the central question of the impact of the cognitive gains made by working memory training on activities of daily living.

Development of a Web-Based Supportive Care Program for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Patients undergoing radiation treatment for head and neck cancer experience significant side-effects that can impact a wide range of daily activities. Patients often report receiving insufficient information during and after treatment, which could impede rehabilitation efforts; they may also encounter practical and logistical barriers to receipt of supportive care. Thus, we developed a web-based program, My Journey Ahead, to provide information and strategies for managing symptom-focused concerns, which may be easily accessed from the patient’s home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient acceptability and satisfaction with the My Journey Ahead program. In Phase 1, five patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) reviewed the web-based program and provided initial feedback, which informed program modifications. In Phase 2, 55 patients were recruited to evaluate the program. Patient assessments were obtained prior to and after use of the web-based program, and included measures of psychological distress, self-efficacy in coping with cancer-related issues, and satisfaction with the website. Among the 55 patients enrolled, 44 logged in and viewed the web-based program. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the information received, and indicated that the website was interesting and easy to use. Older age and higher levels of self-efficacy in coping were each associated with higher levels of satisfaction with the website. In summary, the web-based program was well-received by patients, the majority of whom found it to be informative and useful. An easy-to-use web-based program, particularly for older patients who may have difficulty locating reliable evidence-based information on the internet, may be helpful in addressing survivors’ needs in symptom management and coping with cancer.Clinical Trial Registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT02442336

Estimated forces and moments experienced by osseointegrated endoprostheses for lower extremity amputees

BackgroundPercutaneous osseointegrated (OI) docking of prosthetic limbs returns loading directly to the residual bone of individuals with amputations. Lower limb diaphyseal biomechanics have not been studied during the wide range of daily activities performed by individuals with lower extremity amputations; therefore, little is known about the loads experienced at the bone-endoprosthetic interface of a percutaneous OI device. Research questionDoes residual limb length and/or gender influence loading magnitudes in the diaphysis of the femur or tibia during daily activities? MethodsThis observational study used motion capture data from 40 non-amputee volunteers performing nine activities ranging from low to high demand, to virtually simulate residual limbs of amputees. To simulate diaphyseal bone loading in individuals with lower limb amputations, virtual joints were defined during post-processing at 25, 50, and 75 % of residual limb length of both the femur and the tibia, representing six clinically relevant residual limb lengths for OI device placement. Peak axial distractive and compressive forces, torsional moments, and bending moments were calculated for each activity. Comparisons were made between genders and between different levels of the simulated residual limb. ResultsFor simulated above and below knee amputations, short residual limbs showed the highest average bending, torsion, and axial distractive loads, while axial compressive loads were highest for long residual limbs. Absolute maxima for all subjects showed this same trend, except in below knee torsion, where 75 % residual tibia length showed the maximum. The highest demand activities yielding peaks in all directions were cutting with right leg planted, jump, run, and fall. SignificanceOverall, individuals with shorter residual limbs experienced higher diaphyseal forces. This should be taken into consideration during surgical implantation of percutaneous OI devices where residual limb length can potentially be shortened, and during rehabilitation of percutaneous OI patients.

Life has become troublesome – my wrist bothers me around the clock: an interview study relating to daily life with a malunited distal radius fracture

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the everyday life experiences of people suffering from a symptomatic, malunited, distal radius fracture.Method: Qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty respondents, median age 59 [16–85] years. The interviews were subjected to qualitative content analysis.Results: The result, presented as one main theme with categories and subcategories, describes the impact of the injury. Everyday life was affected in all participants, very much in a few highly valued activities such as sports and work, whenever the hand was used, or even at rest. This study indicates that the injury has an impact on the ability to move around, other parts of the body, sleep, emotions, self-perception and relationships. It also shows that the patients used several strategies to manage the situation.Conclusion: The malunion of a distal radius fracture has a negative impact on a wide range of daily activities, as well as other aspects of daily life. There is a need for information between caregivers and patients, and clear routines, once a malunion has occurred.Implications for rehabilitationThe symptomatic malunion of a distal radius fracture should be acknowledged as a complex condition requiring comprehensive interventionsTechnical equipment, braces and new solutions on practical problems was necessary to manage everyday life and should be a focus of intervention for this patient groupThe consequences of the injury was not only restricted activity performance but also affected social relationships and emotionsInformation about fracture healing and how a malunion can occur, as well as information on how much the wrist can be loaded at different time points, is important to reduce anxiety

Effect of vamana in chronic autoimmune urticaria: A nonresponding case to steroids and cyclosporine

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a debilitating disease that considerably affects health-related quality of life. CU symptoms affect a wide range of daily activities, from personal care to sleep/rest, work performance, and social relationships. Physical and emotional functioning is subjectively impaired beyond the severity of the actual disease symptoms. Chronic autoimmune urticaria is caused by anti-FcεRI and less frequently, by anti-immunoglobulin E autoantibodies. Chronic autoimmune urticaria has been found to be associated with autoimmune thyroid disease. A 38-year-old woman having more severe and difficult-to-control urticaria which was a diagnosed case of autoimmune urticaria by AIIMS, New Delhi, underwent vamana (therapeutic emesis) therapy and got satisfactory results. Assessment was done on UAS7 score which reduced from 42 to 0 after 3 months medication. Similarly, CU-Q2oL score reduced from 110 to 24 and Dermatology Life Quality Index score from 30 to 1. This is important because it was a rare case which was not responding to parenteral steroids and cyclosporine.

Self -Monitoring system for diabetic individuals based on 3 -axis accelerometer

In this study, we aim to develop a miniaturized stand-alone system that can detect a wide range of daily activities based on a single integrated consumer 3-axis accelerometer. A novel k-means based classification algorithm was constructed to interpret and translate signals from accelerometer into a recognizable cluster of pre-defined activities. The developed system has given encouraging results with a 100% success rate of classification of the three basic classes of activities based on resting, walking and running, and an 84% success rate for the lower level of different pace of walking and running. The potential extension towards self-monitoring systems for people suffering from diabetes mellitus has been considered by converting the activities into metabolic equivalents that will help predict the associated energy expenditure.

Do Bradykinesia and Tremor Interfere in Voluntary Movement of Essential Tremor Patients? Preliminary Findings.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine whether tremor and bradykinesia impacted a dexterous activity performed by patients with essential tremor (ET).MethodsCore bradykinesia was assessed in 27 controls and 15 patients with ET using a rapid alternating movement (RAM) task. Then, participants performed a “counting money” counting tasks while equipped with inertial measurement units to detect and quantify tremor during movement. The time required to perform subsections of the tasks and the rate of failure (errors) were compared between groups using Mann–Whitney U tests and a chi-square test, respectively.ResultsPatients with ET presented with significant bradykinesia during the RAM task and had more tremor during the counting money task. However, the time required to perform the task and rate of failure were similar between groups.DiscussionResults show that even though bradykinesia was detected during fast movements, and that tremor was present during a task requiring dexterity, both symptoms did not interfere with the performance of patients with ET. This pilot study suggests that there may be a threshold at which tremor will become problematic. Determining this threshold for a wide range of daily activities may help determine when it is appropriate to initiate treatment for patients with ET.

Clinical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase

▪IntroductionArtificial intelligence (AI) has been applied to a wide range of daily activities to assist in decision-making. Randomized clinical trials can compare the efficacy of treatment between patient groups. However, the best treatment decision for each individual patient, with their own clinical and biological features, and in the context of comparable treatment options, is more difficult to predict. The integrated consideration of various prognostic features can reach the point beyond human recognition. An AI-assisted approach may help with decision-making in complex clinical situations. The aim of this study is to introduce a prototype of AI to predict outcome such as achievement of major molecular response (MMR) within 1 year of the start of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).MethodsResponse data for 630 patients with newly diagnosed CML-CP in consecutive prospective clinical trials of frontline imatinib (n=73; NCT00048672), high-dose imatinib (n=208; NCT00038469 and NCT00050531), nilotinib (n=148; NCT00129740), dasatinib (n=150; NCT00254423), and ponatinib (n=51; NCT01570868) were analyzed. After multiple imputation for missing variables, neural network analysis with a multilayer perceptron model using the statistically significant variables by stepwise multivariate analysis was performed to predict the cumulative incidence of MMR within 1 year. The hyperbolic tangent and softmax activation function were used to create the architecture of hidden layers and output layers, respectively. Batch training with scaled conjugate gradient optimization algorithm with learning parameters (initial Lambda of 0.0000005, initial Sigma of 0.00005, interval center of 0, and interval offset of ±0.5) was used to train the neural network. To evaluate the accuracy of prediction, the entire cohort was randomly divided into training dataset (70%) and test dataset (30%). The correct prediction in the test dataset was repeatedly assessed 1,000 times to validate this approach. The whole cohort was subsequently used to create the AI model for MMR prediction, and was divided into two cohorts based on the prediction by the AI; AI-predicted response, and AI-predicted nonresponse. Hypothetical choice of TKI was assumed to rank the selection of TKI among imatinib 400 mg/day, imatinib 800 mg/day, dasatinib, nilotinib, and ponatinib to calculate the estimated percentage of MMR within 1 year for each patient. The Kaplan-Meier method with a log-rank test was used for failure-free survival (FFS), transformation-free survival (TFS), event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival (OS). To balance baseline patient characteristics between cohorts, propensity score matching after propensity score calculation by logistic regression was performed with nearest neighbor matching method with a caliper of 0.20. Exact matching was used for the type of cytogenetic, transcript, and TKI.ResultsOf 630 patients treated, 464 (74%) achieved MMR within 1 year. The stepwise multivariate analysis identified the selection of TKI, type of transcript, white blood cell count, albumin, and spleen size at diagnosis were the predictors for MMR within 1 year. Neural network analysis with a multilayer perceptron model is shown in figure 1. Through repeated random selection for training set (70%) and test set (30%), the mean correct prediction for MMR within 1 year was 77.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 74.2-80.5), and 76.9% (95% CI, 71.4-82.3), respectively. Of 630 patients, the neural network model predicted 539 patients (86%) as responders, and 91 patients (14%) as nonresponders (table 1). Before propensity score matching, the AI-response cohort had higher rates of CCyR, MMR, MR4, MR4.5, and CMR as well as FFS, TFS, EFS, and OS compared to those of the AI-nonresponse cohort (figure 2). After propensity score matching, 25 patients in each cohort were identified, and the baseline differences were minimized (table 1). The AI-response cohort had higher rates of MMR, MR4, and FFS than those of AI-non-response cohort (figure 2).ConclusionAI with a multilayer perceptron model can predict target outcome. Incorporation of additional clinical and biological variables may improve the prediction rates to suggest the best treatment option in each patient with CML-CP. Such strategy is ongoing. [Display omitted] [Display omitted] [Display omitted] DisclosuresKantarjian:ARIAD: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Pfizer Inc: Research Funding; Delta-Fly Pharma: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Jabbour:ARIAD: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy. Ravandi:BMS: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Konopleva:AbbVie: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding. Wierda:Novartis: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Acerta: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding. Daver:Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kiromic: Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; Otsuka: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sunesis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Honoraria, Research Funding; Ariad: Research Funding.

The importance of bicycle parking management

Encouraging cycling to make cities more liveable, healthy and sustainable has been very effective in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark (Pucher & Buehler, 2008). In these countries cycling is not limited to recreation or utilitarian purposes, but used for a wide range of daily activities (Pucher & Buehler, 2008). It is the opinion of the authors based on recent reports and articles in newspaper that this intensive use also has a backside: bike parking facilities are lacking or have too limited capacity, for example around (Dutch) train stations,11Berenschot (2010) Report “Fietsparkeren bij stations: Oplossingsrichtingen voor een systeemsprong” published 04/06/2010. shopping malls and sports centres and the consequences of lacking bike parking management are underestimated, for example in the city centres of Delft,22MKB Delft (2012) “Parkeren van fietsen in de binnenstad: chaotische toestanden in de huiskamer van Delft”. The Hague,33Centrum Fietsdiefstal (2013) “Haaglanden gaat strijd aan met fietsoverlast”, published 29/03/2013, http://www.centrumfietsdiefstal.nl/ (visited October 14, 2014). Utrecht44Gemeente Utrecht (2010) “Inspiratieboek fietsparkeren: een frisse kijk op fietsparkeren in de binnenstad van Utrecht”, Dolte Stedenbouw. and Copenhagen55Otzen, E. (2014) “Copenhagen's piles of bicycles”, BBC News, published 13/10/2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29601069 (visited October 14, 2014).. Many scholars have written on the aspects of improving bike ability, on biking policies, on mode choice, on route choice and on the perception and attitude of bikers. Bike parking is one of the core aspects for all of these subjects. Nevertheless, bike parking and the issues around stations, shopping malls and in city centres are hardly mentioned. This paper describes the issues raised in the Netherlands and Denmark recently.

Losing the Ability in Activities of Daily Living in the Oldest Old: A Hierarchic Disability Scale from the Newcastle 85+ Study

ObjectivesTo investigate the order in which 85 year olds develop difficulty in performing a wide range of daily activities covering basic personal care, household care and mobility.DesignCross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study.SettingNewcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside, UK.ParticipantsIndividuals born in 1921, registered with participating general practices.MeasurementsDetailed health assessment including 17 activities of daily living related to basic personal care, household care and mobility. Questions were of the form ‘Can you …’ rather than ‘Do you…’ Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to confirm a single underlying dimension for the items and Mokken Scaling was used to determine a subsequent hierarchy. Validity of the hierarchical scale was assessed by its associations with known predictors of disability.Results839 people within the Newcastle 85+ study for whom complete information was available on self-reported Activities of Daily Living (ADL). PCA confirmed a single underlying dimension; Mokken scaling confirmed a hierarchic scale where ‘Cutting toenails’ was the first item with which participants had difficulty and ‘feeding’ the last. The ordering of loss differed between men and women. Difficulty with ‘shopping’ and ‘heavy housework’ were reported earlier by women whilst men reported ‘walking 400 yards’ earlier. Items formed clusters corresponding to strength, balance, lower and upper body involvement and domains specifically required for balance and upper/lower limb functional integrity.ConclusionThis comprehensive investigation of ordering of ability in activities in 85 year olds will inform researchers and practitioners assessing older people for onset of disability and subsequent care needs.

Modulation of back geometry in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy via hippotherapy training

Background and purposeControlled hippotherapy environment provides a foundation for improved neurologic function and sensory processing. This foundation can be generalized to a wide range of daily activities, making the horse a valuable therapeutic tool for rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a once weekly, twelve-week hippotherapy program on back geometry in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. SubjectsThirty spastic diplegic children from both sexes, ranging in age from six to eight years represented the sample of this study. The degree of spasticity ranged from 1 to 1+ according to the modified Ashworth scale. They were divided randomly into two groups of equal number A (control) and B (Study). ProceduresEvaluation of back geometry parameters was conducted for each child of the two groups before and after three months of treatment via using Formetric instrument system. Group A received a designed exercise program, while group B received hippotherapy training in addition to the same exercise program given to group A. ResultsNo significant difference was noticed when comparing the pre-treatment results of the two groups, while significant improvement was observed in all the measuring variables of the two groups when comparing their pre and post-treatment mean values. Significant difference was also observed when comparing the post-treatment results of the two groups in favor of group B. Discussion and conclusionHippotherapy utilizes the movement of the horse to provide sensory feedback and may be used as a therapeutic intervention for improving back geometry in children with spastic diplegia.

Impact of coeliac disease on dietary habits and quality of life

Coeliac disease (CD) affects approximately 1% of the population in the UK and is managed by the life-long adherence to a strict gluten-free diet (GFD). Adhering to a GFD is practically difficult and not only affects dietary patterns, but also can affect many other aspects of daily life. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of CD and a GFD on dietary habits and quality of life of a cohort of adult biopsy diagnosed coeliac patients who reside in England. The cohort was composed of 146 adult biopsy-diagnosed CD patients, who were all members of the Coeliac UK charity. Participants responded to a self-administered questionnaire considering dietary habits and quality of life. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess dietary compliance. Generally, English CD patients reported to be in good physical and emotional health, although there were reports of anxiety and depression as a result of CD, most likely as a result of exclusion from social and leisure activities. The cohort reported high levels of dietary compliance (96%) which was supported by FFQ responses. However, there were reports of intentional gluten intake during social situations and when eating take-away foods. The FFQ revealed further examples of gluten ingestion, presumably unintentional, particularly through the consumption of breakfast cereals and starch-based sauces such as cheese sauce, custard and ketchup. The present study revealed that CD affects a wide range of daily activities and that gluten consumption may be more common than anticipated with possible consequences on health.

DOMESTIC SPACE IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Household organisation in Antiquity was flexible and several rooms were used for a wide range of daily activities, even though they were designed and decorated for one specific purpose. Hoards of household implements, often found away from houses themselves, frequently provide a better idea of house contents. Most evidence of late antique dining is obtained from iconographic and textual evidence describing or representing dining scenes in high society. Apart from textual sources, most evidence for the reception of guests is to be found in the large reception halls which were incorporated into the houses of the elite during Late Antiquity. An important ritual for women, especially the wealthy, associated with bathing in particular. Dress and personal objects (and jewellery) carried with an individual make up the most stable objects configurations in any person?s life. Keywords: household; Late Antiquity; reception; textual sources