PURPOSE: The aim was to evaluate the discriminating accuracy of anorectal manometry (ARM) between nonconstipated (NC) subjects and functionally constipated (FC) subjects, and between FC subjects with and without functional defecation disorder (FDD). METHODS: Among female patients who visited anorectal physiology unit, those who could be grouped to following categories were included; FC group with FDD (+FDD subgroup), or without FDD (−FDD subgroup) and NC group. ARM was performed and interpreted not only with absolute pressure values, but also pattern classification and quantification of pressure changes in the rectum and anus during attempted defecation. RESULTS: There were 76 subjects in NC group and 75 in FC group. Among FC group, 63 subjects were in −FDD subgroup and 12 in +FDD subgroup. In pattern classification of pressure changes, type 0, as ‘normal’ response, was only slightly more prevalent in NC group than in FC group. When all ‘abnormal’ types (types 1–5) were considered together as positive findings, the sensitivity and specificity of pattern classification in diagnosing FC among all subjects were 89.3% and 22.7%. Those values in diagnosing FDD among FC group were 91.7% and 11.1%. Manometric defecation index (MDI) as a quantification parameter was significantly different between −FDD and +FDD subgroups. Other conventional absolute pressures were mostly comparable between the groups. CONCLUSION: Among all parameters of ARM, MDI was useful to diagnose FDD in FC patients. Other parameters including the pattern classification were questionable in their ability to diagnose FDD.
Anal Canal ; Arm ; Classification ; Constipation ; Defecation* ; Female ; Humans ; Manometry* ; Physiology ; Rectum ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: There have been few reports on altered kinematics of the shoulder after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). We investigated differences in 3-dimensional (3D) scapular motions assessed using an optical tracking system between RTSA treated shoulders and asymptomatic contralateral shoulders during arm motion. METHODS: Thirteen patients who underwent RTSA were assessed for active arm elevation in 2 distinct elevation planes (sagittal plane flexion and scapular plane abduction). Their mean age was 72 years (range, 69 to 79 years) and the mean follow-up was 24.4 months (range, 13 to 48 months). The dominant side was the right side in all the 13 patients, and it was also the side treated with RTSA. Scapular kinematics was recorded with an optical tracking system. The scapular kinematics and the scapulohumeral rhythm (SHR) of the RTSA shoulders and asymptomatic contralateral shoulders were recorded and analyzed during arm elevation. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in internal/external rotation and anterior/posterior tilting of the scapula between shoulders during arm motion (p > 0.05). However, upward rotation of the scapula differed significantly during arm motion (p = 0.035 for sagittal plane flexion; p = 0.046 for scapular plane abduction). There were significant differences in the SHR between the two shoulders (p = 0.016 for sagittal plane flexion; p = 0.021 for scapular plane abduction). CONCLUSIONS: The shoulder kinematics after RTSA showed significant differences from the contralateral asymptomatic shoulders. Increased upward rotation and decreased SHR after RTSA indicate that RTSA shoulders use more scapulothoracic motion and less glenohumeral motion to elevate the arm.
Aged ; Arm/physiology ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Shoulder/*methods ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Fiducial Markers ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/*methods ; Male ; Range of Motion, Articular/*physiology ; Scapula/*physiology ; Shoulder Joint/*physiology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the exercise-induced fatigue in operators during pesticide spraying based on surface electromyography (sEMC) signals and heart rate.

METHODSThe sEMG signals were recorded from the right trapezius, biceps brachii, extensor digitorum, and flexor digitorum of 19 operators by portable electromyography units during pesticide spraying using 3WS-16 manual sprayers. Meanwhile, the heart rate of operators was measured by the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring system. The changes in median frequency and heart rate were analyzed.

RESULTSPesticide spraying was defined as low-intensity labor. The median frequency of the right trapezius, biceps brachii, extensor digitorum, and flexor digitorum decreased significantly as pesticide spraying went on (P < 0.05). The body remained in a state of slight fatigue from 8 min after pesticide spraying began to the end of the operation.

CONCLUSIONThe degree of exercise-induced fatigue of operators can be evaluated based on sEMG signals and heart rate during pesticide spraying.

Arm ; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory ; Electromyography ; Hand ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Muscle Fatigue ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Pesticides ; Physical Exertion

OBJECTIVETo assess the risk factors for upper extremity-work-related musculoskeletal disorders (UE-WMSD) on 13 production lines in an airbag factory using the threshold limit values-American conference of industrial hygienists- hand activity level (TLV-ACGIH-HAL) method and introduce the ergonomic improvement to reduce the repetitiveness and the peak force (Pf).

METHODSProfessional exposure level on 13 production lines in a automobile factory was measured using the TLV-ACGIH-HAL method and a further risk was assessed according to the ergonomic improvement.

RESULTSThe first assessment of 9 production lines showed that the professional exposure level was above the TLV or HAL limit. The second assessment showed that the professional exposure level was below the AL limit on all production lines except 1, in which the professional exposure level was between TLV and HAL.

CONCLUSIONThe assessment of UE-WMSD-related risk can identify the riskiest emplacements and evaluate the reduction of risk in professional exposure through interventions of structural- organizational type.

Arm Injuries ; prevention & control ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Humans ; Industry ; Occupational Health ; Risk Factors ; Task Performance and Analysis ; Upper Extremity ; physiology

OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare different methods for assessment of the limbs joints function and to discuss the rationality of the methods. METHODS: Eight hundred and six cases were collected from the Fujian Minzhong Forensic Appraisal Center from 2007 to 2010. These cases included injuries of large limbs joints with or without peripheral nerve injury. The loss of joint function was calculated according to the simple joint mobility method or the table method introduced in the book "Forensic Clinical Judicial Authentication Practice". The results of disability evaluation with different methods were analyzed and compared between different joints and injury patterns. RESULTS: In 642 cases of simple joint injuries without peripheral nerve injury, the results of disability evaluation based on simple joint mobility were the same as that based on the table. In 118 cases of joint injuries with peripheral nerve injury, all of them could be classified as disability, 33 cases (28.00%) had higher degree based on the table method than based on the simple joint mobility method. While 21 cases (17.80%) did not be evaluated as disabled based on the simple joint mobility method. CONCLUSION The evaluation for loss of limb function would be easier, more scientific and reasonable by the direct table method than the simple joint mobility method.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adult ; Arm Injuries/physiopathology* ; Disability Evaluation ; Extremities ; Female ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Humans ; Joints/physiopathology* ; Leg Injuries/physiopathology* ; Male ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/physiopathology* ; Range of Motion, Articular/physiology* ; Trauma Severity Indices

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the capability of C(N) and determinism% (DET%) together with the linear indices, we detected the surface electromyography (sEMG) signal changes during ramp contractions of biceps brachii.

METHODS5 seconds sEMG signals of 11 male volunteers were recorded to analyze its changes of the linear indices AEMG, mean power frequency(MPF), MF and the non-linear indices C (N), DET%.

RESULTSAverage electromyography (AEMG) inclined linearly from 112.14 microV to 1277.18 microV while DET% displayed an decrease from 74.95 to 46.7 during the 5 voluntary contractions. The spectrum parameters MPF/MF and C(N) leveled off with the increasing of the force.

CONCLUSIONThe linear index AEMG inclined linearly while MPF and MF leveled off with the increasing of the force. The non-linear index DET% declined while C(N) leveled off during the 5 seconds ramp contractions.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Arm ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Male ; Muscle Contraction ; physiology ; Muscle Fatigue ; physiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology ; Physical Endurance ; Young Adult

Female ; Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypothermia ; diagnosis ; Male ; Reference Standards ; Skin Temperature ; physiology ; Young Adult

Aiming at three kinds of tremor, including essential tremor (ET), Parkinsonian disease (PD) tremor and physiological tremor (PT), which are subjected to frequent clinical misdiagnosis, a new method based on singular value decomposition (SVD) of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and support vector machine (SVM) for the recognition of tremor is proposed in this paper. First, the hand acceleration signals of three different types of 40 tremor voluntary subjects were collected on the basis of informed consent, and the EMD method was used to decompose the signals into a number of stationary intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Then the preceding four IMFs which could describe signals were selected, and the initial feature vector matrixes were formed. After the application of SVD technique to the initial feature vector matrixes, the singular values were obtained and used as the feature vectors of tremor types to be put in the support vector machine classifier as well as in the identification of tremor types. The results of experiment have shown that the proposed diagnosis method based on SVD of EMD and SVM can extract tremor features effectively and identify tremor types accurately. It also provides a new assistant approach for clinical diagnosis of tremor.
Algorithms ; Arm ; physiopathology ; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Electromyography ; methods ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology ; Parkinson Disease ; diagnosis ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Software ; Support Vector Machine ; Tremor ; diagnosis

The superficial brachial artery (SBA), a branch of the axillary artery, is one of the most common arterial variations in this area. While it is more vulnerable to accidental arterial injection or injury, it could be useful for the nourishment of a medial arm skin free flap. To analyze the relationship between the SBA of axillary origin and segmental variation of the axillary artery, we dissected 304 arms of Korean cadavers. We found an SBA of axillary origin in 12.2% of cadaveric arms. Unilateral occurrence was detected in 16 cadavers and bilateral in 10. SBAs gave rise to radial and ulnar arteries in the cubital fossa (8.9%), continued in the forearm as the radial artery (2.3%), or ended in the upper arm (1.0%). The SBA ended as ulnar artery was not found in any of the cadavers. The bifurcation of the SBA into the radial and ulnar arteries, presence of an SBA that ends in the upper arm, and the lack of continuation as the ulnar artery are characteristics of SBAs in Korean cadavers.
Arm/*blood supply ; Axillary Artery/anatomy & histology ; Brachial Artery/*anatomy & histology/*physiology ; Cadaver ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Median Nerve/blood supply ; Models, Anatomic ; Radial Artery/anatomy & histology ; Ulnar Artery/anatomy & histology

By detection and analysis of neuro-information from amputee in experiments, a research on the correlations of three main nerves (median nerve, radial nerve and ulnar nerve), on the patterns for discharging information, and on the mechanics about how neuro-information dominates movements was performed. These researches would contribute to the development of neuroprosthesis.
Adult ; Amputation ; Amputees ; Arm ; Artificial Limbs ; Humans ; Male ; Median Nerve ; physiology ; Microelectrodes ; Movement ; physiology ; Radial Nerve ; physiology ; Ulnar Nerve ; physiology