Life Sciences Commons^™

Running Biomechanics Differ During And After Pregnancy Compared To Females Who Have Never Been Pregnant, Jennifer J. Bagwell, Elizabeth Avila, Nicholas Reynolds, Jo Armour Smith, Kevin Valenzuela, Dimitrios Katsavelis

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Perinatal running participation has increased recently; however, pregnancy related symptoms can limit activity. Perinatal running biomechanics could inform interventions to help perinatal individuals maintain an active lifestyle.

Research question

Are perinatal running biomaechanics and muscle activation different compared to nulligravida females?

Methods

Sixteen pregnant participants completed self-selected velocity running during second trimester (2 T), third trimester (3 T), and postpartum (PP) and 16 matched controls completed these procedures once in this case control study. Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyography (EMG) data were collected using a motion capture system, force plates, and EMG electrodes. Peak trunk, pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle …

Classification Of Colorectal Cancer Using Resnet And Efficientnet Models, Abhishek Ranjan, Priyanshu Srivastva, B Prabadevi, R Sivakumar, Rahul Soangra, Shamala K. Subramaniam

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction:

Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases from children to elderly adults. This will be deadly if not detected at an earlier stage of the cancerous cell formation, thereby increasing the mortality rate. One such cancer is colorectal cancer, caused due to abnormal growth in the rectum or colon. Early screening of colorectal cancer helps to identify these abnormal growth and can exterminate them before they turn into cancerous cells.

Aim:

Therefore, this study aims to develop a robust and efficient classification system for colorectal cancer through Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) on histological images.

Methods:

Despite challenges in …

The Effect Of Spinal Muscle Fatigue And Psychosocial Factors On Pressure-Pain Threshold In Healthy Adults, Susan Mais, Jo Armour Smith

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective. Pain sensitivity decreases following isometric exercise. It is not clear whether this exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH) occurs to the same extent in men and women. It is also unclear if the effect is systemic or local to the exercised musculature. The aim of our study was to investigate whether fatiguing isometric exercise of the spinal and hip extensors would result in increased pressure pain threshold (PPT) at sites local to and remote from the exercised muscles in healthy men and women and whether there is a relationship between central sensitization, psychosocial factors, and PPT. Subjects. 35 healthy adults …

Beyond Efficiency: Surface Electromyography Enables Further Insights Into The Surgical Movements Of Urologists, Rahul Soangra, Pengbo Jiang, Daniel Haik, Perry Xu, Andrew Brevik, Akhil Peta, Shlomi Tapiero, Jaime Landman, Emmanuel John, Ralph V. Clayman

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction: Surgical skill evaluation while performing minimally invasive surgeries is a highly complex task. It is important to objectively assess an individual's technical skills throughout surgical training to monitor progress and to intervene when skills are not commensurate with the year of training. The miniaturization of wireless wearable platforms integrated with sensor technology has made it possible to noninvasively assess muscle activations and movement variability during performance of minimally invasive surgical tasks. Our objective was to use electromyography (EMG) to deconstruct the motions of a surgeon during robotic suturing (RS) and distinguish quantifiable movements that characterize the skill of an …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Gait Biomechanics And Muscle Activation In Pregnant Females With High And Low Scores For Low Back Or Pelvic Girdle Pain During And After Pregnancy, Jennifer J. Bagwell, Nicholas Reynolds, Jo Armour Smith, Michelle Walaszek, Hannah Runez, Kristina Lam, Julie Peterson, Dimitrios Katsavelis

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The purpose of this study was to compare gait kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation between pregnant females with high and low scores for low back and/or pelvic girdle pain during and after pregnancy.

Methods

Twenty participants tested during second trimester, third trimester, and again post-partum. At each session, motion capture, force plates, and surface electromyography data were captured during self-selected velocity over-ground walking. Participants completed the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and were assigned to high (QBPDS ≥15) or low pain groups (QBPDS

Findings

Nine participants met the high pain group criteria and 11 were low pain. During …

Reliability Of A Barre-Mounted Dynamometer-Stabilizing Device In Measuring Dance-Specific Muscle Performance, Melissa Strzelinksi, Lori Thein Brody, Jo Armour Smith, Shaw Bronner

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND: Hand-held dynamometry is considered an efficient, effective, and portable means of objectively measuring lower extremity strength; however, it has yet to be studied specific to dance-relevant muscle performance. Also, dynamometry is often criticized for variability in results based on tester strength and sex. Use of an external stabilizing device has been suggested to minimize differences in outcomes between male and female testers by reducing variability associated with tester strength limitations. Therefore, this study used a barre-mounted, portable dynamometer stabilizing device to improve consistency of results among different testers for assessing hip and lower extremity muscle performance in dance-relevant positions. …

The Motor Cortical Representation Of A Muscle Is Not Homogeneous In Brain Connectivity, Jo Armour Smith, Alaa Albishi, Sarine Babikian, Skulpan Asavasopon, Beth E. Fisher, Jason Kutch

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Functional connectivity patterns of the motor cortical representational area of single muscles have not been extensively mapped in humans, particularly for the axial musculature. Functional connectivity may provide a neural substrate for adaptation of muscle activity in axial muscles that have both voluntary and postural functions. The purpose of this study was to combine brain stimulation and neuroimaging to both map the cortical representation of the external oblique (EO) in primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA), and to establish the resting-state functional connectivity associated with this representation. Motor evoked potentials were elicited from the EO muscle in …

Alcohol-Induced Suppression Of Gluconeogenesis Is Greater In Ethanol Fed Female Rat Hepatocytes Than Males, Ken D. Sumida, Alma A. Cogger, Aleksey V. Matveyenko

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

The impact of alcohol-induced suppression on hepatic gluconeogenesis (HGN) after chronic ethanol consumption between males and females is unknown. To determine the effects of chronic alcohol consumption (8 weeks) on HGN, the isolated hepatocyte technique was used on 24 h fasted male and female Wistar rats. Livers were initially perfused with collagenase and the hepatocytes were isolated. Aliquots of the cell suspension were placed in Krebs-Henseleit buffer and incubated for 30 min with lactate, [U-C-14]lactate, and nine different concentrations of ethanol (EtOH). Dose-effect curves were generated for the determination of maximal and half-maximal alcohol-induced inhibition on HGN. There was no …