Accuracy of weightbearing at three target levels during bilateral upright stance in patients with neuropathic feet and control subjects

The purposes of this study were to (1) describe errors in weightbearing at three target levels for patients with neuropathic feet and control subjects, (2) compare the absolute errors at the three target levels between groups, and (3) identify predictor variables of errors in weightbearing by the neuropathic group. The groups of 26 subjects were matched for age and height. Weightbearing was measured with digital scales while subjects attempted to adjust their weight through a designated lower extremity to each target level (25, 50, and 75% of body weight). Analysis of variance indicated no significant difference in the percentage weightbearing between groups at the three target levels. There was a significant difference in errors made in weightbearing by the groups at the three target levels. Mean errors ranged from 8.5 to 9.7% for the neuropathic group and from 2.4 to 6.6% for the control group. The findings cast doubt on the utility (in the absence of feedback) of requesting individuals, particularly those with neuropathic feet, to weightbear at specific target levels.     

Time use by inpatients receiving neurorehabilitation

Inpatients with stroke spend the vast majority of their time in non-therapeutic activities. Their engagement in more therapeutic time seems warranted on the basis of research on skill development and intensity of rehabilitation. Means of providing such time, although challenging, should be pursued and their benefits investigated.     

Dynamometer measurements of hand-grip strength predict multiple outcomes.

Hand-grip strength, which can be measured easily and objectively using a dynamometer, is predictive of multiple outcomes among a variety of subjects. Although the literature is not fully consistent, it tends to support grip strength as a predictor of postoperative complications, mortality, and functional decline. Hand-grip dynamometry may merit broader application as a screening procedure.     

The effects of verbal feedback and listener type on the speech of preschool children

The present study simultaneously assessed the relative contributions of feedback indicative of comprehension and the apparent age of the listener, either an adult or a doll which resembled a toddler, in a 2 (listeners) × 2 (types of feedback, C = comprehension, NC = noncomprehension) design. Two groups of children, a 3-year-old (N = 13, 7 boys, 6 girls) and a 5-year-old group (N = 12, 6 boys, 6 girls) were asked to tell stories to both the adult and doll in both C and NC conditions. The doll was constructed with an internal speaker such that it could actually carry on a conversation with the children. The conversations were taped, transcribed, and scored for mean length of utterance (MLU), transitional utterance length to each C and NC signal, and the proportion of child questions, exact self-repetitions, repetition and reductions, and rephrases/elaborations. The data analysis revealed that all children appropriately modified the length of their utterances (MLU) in the doll condition but not in the adult condition, indicating that they were sensitive to both the feedback and the nature of their listeners. Older children were more likely than younger children, and girls more likely than boys to adjust the length of their utterances appropriately to each type of feedback, slightly increasing the length of the subsequent utterance to a C signal and decreasing the length to an NC signal. The younger children were also more likely to respond with a simple repetition to NC cues from the adult.     

Influence of lateral motion transfer on sleep.

This study examined the effects of motion of an artificial bed partner on the sleep of a real subject on the same mattress. A 240-lb eight-sided cylindrical roller served as the artificial bed partner. The roller was placed on one side of a king-size mattress and a normal adult slept on the other half. On experimental nights, the roller intermittently rocked back and forth for brief periods of time which in aggregate represented approximately 13% of total sleep time. On control nights, the roller was stationary. After an adaptation night in the laboratory, subjects spent two more nights in the sleep laboratory. The order of Roller On and Roller Off nights was random. 24 subjects were randomly assigned to sleep on the three surfaces. The three mattresses used in the study had different construction designs and in turn variable properties of motion transfer. Sleep variables were measured objectively by nocturnal polysomnography and subjectively by a postsleep questionnaire. Analysis of the data indicated that motion transferred laterally across a mattress was associated with a significant increase in Stage 1 sleep, and a significant decrease in Stage 3/4 sleep. Over-all, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings, and wakefulness after sleep onset did not show significant changes from control to experimental nights. The amount of change in sleep architecture, however, was more notable on the mattresses which transferred more motion. An implication of these findings is that motion transferred across the surface of a mattress, by lightening the depth of the sleep and thereby decreasing the auditory arousal threshold, can increase the potential for sleep disruption from environmental stimuli such as noise.     

Right-ear advantage and delayed recall

Two studies were performed using monaural presentation of verbal material to test for a right-ear advantage (REA) in recall. It was hypothesized that a delayed recall task and examination of the serial position curve would be a more sensitive test for ear asymmetries than those used in previous studies. In Experiment 1, 30 right-handed male subjects were given lists of words to recall, presented to either the left or right ear, with language chatter, baroque music, or no stimulus concurrently presented to the opposite ear. Both immediate and delayed recall were assessed. The results indicated that the strongest REAs appeared in delayed recall. Moreover, the REAs occurred regardless of the stimulus conditions co-occurring in the other ear. Experiment 2 was done to test whether the REAs in the delayed recall were due to rehearsal biases. Twenty-four right-handed male subjects recalled lists of words with standard instructions and instructions to recall in the reverse order of input (limiting rehearsal). The results indicated that the backward instructions limited and controlled rehearsal and, hence, input to long-term storage; the REAs occurred in delayed recall under all instructional conditions.     

Hand-held dynamometry: adoption 1900-2005

The purpose of this brief report is to describe the adoption of hand-held dynamometry, a procedure for documenting muscle strength. Between the early 1900s and the end of 2005, 478 research articles were published that documented use of hand-held dynamometry. The adoption of the procedure for research is consistent with the S-shaped curve described by Rogers. The extent to which hand-held dynamometry is used in clinical practice remains to be delineated.     

The effects of expectation and feedback on speech to foreigners

The effects of speaker expectation of listener competence and the feedback indicative of the listener's comprehension were compared on their power to elicit simplifed speech. The experiment used 2×2 design and a “foreigner” accomplice as a listener in an interview situation. Expectation was varied by having the accomplice introduce herself using either highly accented, dysfluent English or slightly accented, fluent English. The verbal feedback was varied by having the accomplice signal comprehension success (yeah, Ok, or nods) or comprehension failure (what? huh? or frowns and quizzical looks). Forty adult subjects spoke to the accomplice in one of the four conditions. The interviews were taped, transcribed, and scored for measures of mean length of utterance (MLU), false starts/dysfluencies, repetitions/rephrasals, and questions. Analyses revealed that the subjects used shorter MLUs, more repetitions/rephrasals, and more questions when the accomplice signaled comprehension difficulty. When the subjects expected the listener to be linguistically incompetent, they tended to repeat and rephrase more often than when they expected listener competence. It was clear that regardless of the speaker's initial expectation of the listener's linguistic competence, verbal feedback during conversation will elicit simplified speech.     

Primary grade children's memory for parts of speech.

Developmental differences in elementary school (kindergarten, first and second grade) children's free recall for parts of speech were investigated using sentences with normal and scrambled word order. The children were presented four sentences with normal syntax and four sentences with scrambled word order. There were significant effects of age, syntax, and rate of presentation; these replicated previous research. The unusual finding was that the kindergarten children, when presented with scrambled word strings, recalled more verbs than either the first or second grade children. It was hypothesized that this occurred because either the kindergarten children failed to detect the scrambled nature of syntaxless strings, or there is a change in the comprehension strategies which de-emphasizes the role of the verb.     

Reference values for the five-repetition sit-to-stand test: a descriptive meta-analysis of data from elders

This meta-analysis was conducted to generate normative values for the 5-repetition sit-to-stand (STS) test suitable for application to individuals at least 60 years of age. A thorough review of the literature yielded 13 papers (14 studies) relevant to this purpose. After the exclusion of potentially unrepresentative data, meta-analysis of these 13 papers indicated that judgments about normal performance should be based on age. Analysis demonstrated that individuals with times for 5 repetitions of this test exceeding the following can be considered to have worse than average performance: 11.4 sec (60 to 69 years), 12.6 sec. (70 to 79 years), and 14.8 sec. (80 to 89 years).