31 research outputs found
Pedobarographic and kinematic analysis in the functional evaluation of two post-operative forefoot offloading shoes
No full textBackground: Forefoot offloading shoes are special orthopaedic footwear designed to protect and unload the injured part of the foot after surgery and for conservative treatments. The offloading action is often achieved by transferring plantar load to the rearfoot via rocker shoes with reduced contact area between shoe and ground. While these shoes are intended to be worn only for short periods, a compromise must be found between functionality and the risk of alterations in gait patterns at the lower limb joints. In this study, the pedobarographic, kinematic and kinetic effects of a traditional half-shoe and a double-rocker full-outsole shoe were compared to those of a comfortable shoe (control). Methods: Ten healthy female participants (28.2±10.0 years) were asked to walk in three different footwear conditions for the left/right foot: control/half-shoe, control/full-outsole, and control/control. Full gait analysis was obtained in three walking trials for each participant in each condition. Simultaneously a sensor insole system recorded plantar pressure in different foot regions. Normalized root-mean-square error, coefficient of determination, and frame-by-frame statistical analysis were used to assess differences in time-histories of kinematic and kinetic parameters between shoes. Results: The half -shoe group showed the slowest walking speed and the shortest stride length. Forefoot plantar load was significantly reduced in the half-shoe (maximum force as % of Body Weight: half-shoe=62.1; full-outsole=86.9; control=93.5; p<0.001). At the rearfoot, mean pressure was the highest in the full-outsole shoe. At the ankle, sagittal-plane kinematics in the full-outsole shoe had a pattern more similar to control. Conclusions: The half-shoe appears significantly more effective in reducing plantar load at the forefoot than a double-rocker full-outsole shoe, which is designed to reduce forefoot loading by using an insole with a thicker profile anteriorly as to maintain the foot in slight dorsiflexion. However, the half-shoe is also associated with altered gait spatio-temporal parameters, more kinematic modifications at the proximal lower limb joints and reduced propulsion in late stance
Mediterranean Syllidae (Annelida : Polychaeta) revisited: biogeography, diversity and species fidelity to environmental features
No full textThe species diversity of Syllidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) on different coastlines within the Mediterranean Basin was analysed, including along the Salento Peninsula (Italy), which is thought to play a crucial role as a crossroads between different biogeographic areas. Analysis of biogeography, the assignment of species into 6 bioclimatic categories, a novel method to assess inter-matrix correlation significance and the correlation between species distribution, and some environmental variables provided relevant tools to investigate the influence of a suite of ecological and historical factors on syllid distribution. Data showed that Syllidae could be considered a useful taxon for biogeographic speculations, even though bioclimatic and environmental analyses appeared significantly more informative. The Salento Peninsula revealed an affinity with some eastern Mediterranean coastlines. Syllid distribution suggested the existence of an 'Atlantism' gradient, decreasing eastwards and possibly corresponding to a temperature gradient when bioclimatic categories were analysed. In contrast to previous results, the Eastern and Western Basins did not show great differences in species diversity. The observed differences could, in part, be due to an 'author effect', due to the differing taxonomic updating of the available faunistic lists. Syllidae were found to be effective faunistic and ecological indicators, able to characterize different areas inside the Mediterranean Sea; thus, the present results could be used to stimulate further research on different aspects of the famil
In shoe pressure measurements during different motor tasks while wearing safety shoes: The effect of custom made insoles vs. prefabricated and off-the-shelf
No full textHealth and safety regulations in many countries require workers at risk to wear safety shoes in a factory environment. These shoes are often heavy, rigid, and uncomfortable. Wearing safety shoes daily leads to foot problems, discomfort and fatigue, resulting also in the loss of numerous working days. Currently, knowledge of the biomechanical effects of insoles in safety shoes, during working activities, is very limited. Seventeen workers from a metalworking factory were selected and clinically examined for any foot conditions. Workers feet were 3D scanned, with regards to their plantar view, and the images used to design 34 custom-insoles, based on foot and safety shoe models. Three insoles were blind-tested by each worker: custom (CUS); prefabricated with the safety-shoe (PSS), and off-the-shelf (OTS). Foot-to-insole pressure distribution was measured in seven motor tasks replicating typical working activities: single and double-leg standing; weight lifting; stair ascending and descending; normal and fast walking. Wearing CUS within safety shoes resulted in a greater uniform pressure distribution across plantar regions for most of the working activities. Peak pressure at the forefoot during normal walking was the lowest in the custom insole (CUS 275.9 ± 55.3 kPa; OTS 332.7 ± 75.5 kPa; PSS 304.5 ± 54.2 kPa). Normal and fast walking were found to be the most demanding activities in terms of peak pressure. Wearing safety shoes results in high pedobarographic parameters in several foot regions. The use of custom insoles designed on the foot morphology helps decrease peak pressure and pressure-time integral compared to prefabricated featureless insoles
Pseudoaugeneriella spongicola Giangrande, Licciano & Gambi, 2007, sp. nov.
No full textPseudoaugeneriella spongicola sp. nov. Figure 3 Material examined. Type material: Holotype, found inside the sponge Ircinia cf strobilina from 1 m, West Bay of Twin Cays (sample CBC-KF 1008) collected November, 2005. MNCN catalog number 16.01 / 11019. Paratypes: 2 specimens from the same site USNM catalog number 1102754. 8 specimens from the same site at PCZL. Description. Holotype complete with 8 thoracic and 3 abdominal chaetigers. Branchial crown length 0.80 mm, body length 2 mm, maximum width 0.35 mm at chaetiger 4. Body slightly inflated in the mid part (Fig. 3 A). Branchial crown with 3 pairs of radioles, distal ends filamentous, same length as pinnules, all terminating slightly below level of radioles. Dorsal lip erect, broadly rounded, distinct from radioles (Fig. 3 C); ventral lip-like process present at base of proximalmost pinnules of ventral radioles (Fig. 3 C). Vascularized ventral filamentous appendages unbranched, shorter than radioles (about 0.20 mm), and wider than pinnules, surface slightly wrinkled and with large blood vessel inside (Fig. 3 A, B,C). Branchial hearts present. Anterior margin of anterior peristomial ring, low ridge dorsally and laterally. Collar developed as ventral quadrangular lobe, about twice as long as remainder of anterior ring (Fig. 3 A). Annulation visible only dorso-laterally. Middorsal medial lobe dorsal to mouth, high, triangular (Fig. 3 B). One pair of small reniform eyes in anterior half of posterior peristomial ring. Pygidium with one pair of large reniform eyes. Superior thoracic notochaetae elongate, narrowly hooded, 2 per fascicle; inferior thoracic notochaetae in chaetiger 2 and 7–8 also narrowly-hooded, but shorter, 2 present (Fig. 3 D). Chaetigers 3–6 with 2 pseudospathulate chaetae (Fig. 3 E). Abdominal neuropodia of chaetiger 9–11 with elongate, narrowly-hooded chaetae, 1–2 per fascicle (Fig. 3 H). Thoracic acicular uncini with single large tooth over main fang, followed by series of smaller teeth (Fig. 3 F); hood present, 6 per fascicle in irregular single row. Abdominal uncini with 6 rows of teeth in profile, 3–4 teeth per row, manubrium twice as long as dentate region (Fig, 3 G). Uncini in Remarks. The genus Pseudoaugeneriella was erected by Fitzhugh (1998), with the species P. unirama from Japan. The author pointed out that the genus is similar to Augeneriella Banse, 1957, and differs only in the unbranched nature of the ventral appendages. These filaments, however, in Augeneriella are initially unbranched in the ontogeny (see for example A. hummelincki Banse, 1957). Therefore P. u n i r a m a could be considered as the most plesiomorphic taxon within the genus Augeneriella, but in order to maintain its monophyly, Fitzhugh preferred to erect a new genus. Subsequently, another two species were described as belonging to this genus, P. brevirama Fitzhugh, 1999 and P. nigra (= Fabricia nigra) (Langerhans, 1880) from the Canary Islands. The difference among these species is mainly in the length of vascularized appendages, which are of the same length of radioles in P. unirama, about 50 % of the length of radioles in P. b re v i r a m a, and about 25 % in P. n i g r a (Bick, 2004). This latter author discussed the variability of the feature within P. nigra specimens, where the length ranges from the 18 % to 38 % of the length of radioles. This variability was also observed within the species here described, with the ventral filamentous appendage varying from 16 % to 25 % of the length of radioles, with a medium length of about of 20 %. This means that ventral filamentous appendages are relatively shorter in P. spongicola than in the other described species, including P. nigra. The new species can be distinguished from P. n i g r a also by the absence of pigmentation, and in the number of thoracic and abdominal uncini, which, however, Bick (2004) found to be size dependent within the same species. Pseudoaugeneriella spongicola differs from P. unirama and P. brevirama also in the shape of the ventral collar lobe and in the length of the manubrium of the abdominal uncini, which in this species is 1.5 times longer than the dentate region. Bick (2004) in his redescription of P. n i g r a, reports that the manubrium is twice as long as the dentate region, however he does not illustrate this. In contrast, Fitzhugh (1990), who examined Langerhans’ material of Fabricia nigra from Madeira, records the manubrium of abdominal uncini being as long as the dentate region. Lastly, it must be stressed that P. spongicola shows some similarities to Augeneriella hummelinki, especially in the shape of ventral collar lobe, but differing in the number of teeth of abdominal uncini, which are larger in A. hummelinki. As far as the nature of ventral filamentous appendages, it must be stressed that among the 11 P. spongicola specimens examined, some were large and ripe (including the holotype), but all, including the smaller ones, have unbranched appendages. The length of the unbranched appendages does not appear to be correlated to the size of the worms, and in addition some individuals are asymmetrical in their development, differing in length on the left and right hand side of the animal. Type locality: Carrie Bow Cay, Belize Etymology: The species was named after the habitat where it occurs.Published as part of Giangrande, Adriana, Licciano, Margherita & Gambi, Maria Cristina, 2007, A collection of Sabellidae (Polychaeta) from Carrie Bow Cay (Belize, western Caribbean Sea) with the description of two new species, pp. 41-53 in Zootaxa 1650 on pages 47-50, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17976
Quantitative–Qualitative Assessment of Dream Reports in Schizophrenia and Their Correlations with Illness Severity
No full textPositive symptoms of schizophrenia have been proposed to be an intrusion of dreaming in wakefulness; conversely, psychotic patients’ abnormal cognitive and behavioral features could overflow into sleep, so that their dreams would differ from those of healthy people. Here we assess this hypothesis by comparing dream features of 46 patients affected by schizophrenic spectrum disorders to those of 28 healthy controls. In patients, we also investigated correlations of dream variables with symptom severity and verbal fluency. Overall, patients reported fewer and shorter dreams, with a general impoverishment of content (including characters, settings, interactions) and higher spatiotemporal bizarreness. The number of emotions, mainly negative ones, was lower in patients’ reports and correlated inversely with symptom severity. Verbal fluency correlated positively with dream report length and negatively with perceptive bizarreness. In conclusion, our data show a significant impoverishment of dream reports in psychotic patients versus controls. Future research should investigate to what extent this profile of results depends on impaired verbal fluency or on impaired mechanisms of dream generation in this population. Moreover, in line with theories on the role of dreaming in emotion regulation, our data suggest that this function could be impaired in psychoses and related to symptom severity
A new species of sphaerosyllis (polychaeta, syllidae, exogoninae) from the coasts of italy and cyprus (eastern mediterranean sea)
No full textThe faunistic analysis of hard and soft benthic materials collected from the Marine Reserve of Porto Cesareo (Ionian Sea, Salento Peninsula, Italy) and the coast of northern Cyprus (Levant Sea) revealed a new species of Sphaerosyllis, S. boeroi sp. n. (Polychaeta, Syllidae, Exogoninae). This species is mainly characterized by having compound chaetae with discernable subdistal spine, a strong dorso-ventral gradation in size of blades throughout the body, elongated slender blades of superior compound chaetae on anterior and middle parapodia, parapodial glands with fibrillar material, and the distributional pattern of papillae on the body surface. Sphaerosyllis boeroi is described and compared to the other morphologically similar species, with emphasis on its ecological and reproductive patterns. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Two of the Authors (L.M. and A.G.) wish to thank Drs Caterina Longo, Mariella Mercurio and Carlotta Nonnis Marzano from the University of Bari, and Dr. Cataldo Pierri from the University of Lecce for their help during the sampling phase. The other Author (M.E.Ç.) also thanks the crews and scientific personnel of the R/V K. PIRI REIS for their help in obtaining benthic samples, and TUBITAK (NATO-B1 Programme) for the financial support that enabled him to visit some research stations in Italy to make this collaboration possible. -
De nuevo sobre los ‘remeros’ de Apolonio de Rodas
No full textIn this paper the author responds to a recent contribution by G. Giangrande (Minerva 8, 1994) on the controversial έρέτησιν in Apollonius Rhodius (11 467)
THE CARMINA ASISINATIA IN THE LIGHT OF HELLENISTIC POETRY
No full textIn this essay the author examines epigrams 1, 9, 7 and 3 published by M. Guarducci and discusses some controversial passages.In this essay the author examines epigrams 1, 9, 7 and 3 published by M. Guarducci and discusses some controversial passages
Spunti serio-comici nella lirica greca arcaica
No full textLawrence Giangrande (The Use of spoudaiogeloion in Greek and Roman Literature, The Hague-Paris 1972) ha dato una definizione di σπουδογέλοιον – poco convincente – che prevede la fondamentale presenza, nel serio-comico, della componente educativa. Inoltre Giangrande è portato a ignorare, nella sua analisi, Omero e la lirica arcaica, quasi del tutto trascurata. È evidente che la definizione di questa modalità narrativa deve essere in qualche maniera ‘elastica’, e mettere l’accento sulla compresenza di elementi seri e faceti, nelle rispettive proporzioni, senza dimenticare il fine dell’autore e il pubblico di riferimento. Senza dimenticare, nell’analisi, autori come Archiloco, Mimnermo, Semonide.Lawrence Giangrande (The Use of spoudaiogeloion in Greek and Roman Literature, The Hague-Paris 1972) gave a definition of σπουδογέλοιον – unconvincing – that provides the fundamental present, in the serio-comic, of the educational component. Giangrande has also led to ignore in its analysis, Homer and archaic poetry, almost entirely neglected. It is clear that the definition of this narrative modality has to be somewhat 'flexible', and emphasize the presence of serious and trivial elements in their proportions, not forgetting the aim of the author and the datum public. Not forgettimg, in the analysis, authors such as Archilocus, Mymnermus, Semonides
Simónides y Teócrito
No full textEl autor ofrece un análisis del adjetivo ἐπώνυμος usado por Simónides, en comparación con Teócrito.The author offers an analysis of the adjective ἐπώνυμος, used by Simonides, in comparison with Theocritus
