2,650 research outputs found
Falls prevention in older People: Australian Falls Prevention 2nd Biennial Conference
No full textThis second biennial conference has again attracted strong interest from researchers and health workers dedicated to improving the health care of older people. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death and hospitalisation in persons aged 65 years and over and falls injury prevention has been identified as a Commonwealth and State health priority area. Reducing falls injury is a priority because, with the ageing of Australia's population, falls injuries and associated costs are expected to more than double between 2001 and 2051 unless effective falls prevention strategies can be identified and implemented. As many findings from the conference presentations have the potential for immediate application, there is real potential for this conference to facilitate effective changes in practice, with resultant heath care cost savings across Australia.\ud
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While the present conference follows on from the inaugural conference in Sydney in 2004, it has built on and complemented National and State-based Falls Prevention Meetings and Forums. It is also a direct outcome of the highly successful collaborations resulting from the National Health and Medical Research Council Injury Prevention Partnership, Prevention of Older People’s Injuries. With the support of so many delegates, sponsors and industries, the Australian Falls Prevention Conference will continue as a regular feature on the conference calendar.\ud
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The conference is also recognised as part of international efforts to prevent falls in at-risk groups. Many participants are connected to their professional bodies in other countries and participate in international forums that focus on falls in older people. There is a strong linkage with The Prevention of Falls Network Europe, which co-ordinates research across Europe into the prevention of falling amongst older people. These international connections are further evident in the delegates who are attending this conference, not only from all the Australian States and Territories, but also from the United Kingdom, Canada, China, New Zealand, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Japan and Singapore. Many national and international sponsors and exhibitors have also generously supported the conference.\ud
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Delegates from a broad range of professional disciplines are attending the conference. This provides excellent opportunities for researchers, exercise physiologists, medical practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, optometrists, health promotion workers and aged care providers to meet, learn from each other and exchange ideas.\ud
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The conference addresses the important current issues in falls and falls injury in older people. The topics include: understanding balance and the mechanisms of falls; falls epidemiology; falls risk assessment; risk factors for falls in older people and clinical groups; preventing falls in older people, hospital inpatients, aged care resident facility residents and at-risk groups; optimal exercise programs for preventing falls; the role of assistive devices including hip protectors; maximising compliance in falls interventions; falls prevention initiatives in health promotion and falls policy development. The conference includes keynote speakers from Australia and overseas, free papers, poster sessions, workshops, trade exhibitions and a lively group discussion to round off the conference. \ud
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I have great pleasure in welcoming you to the second biennial Australian Falls Prevention conference. I hope that you are stimulated by your time at the conference and enjoy the social events and your time in Brisbane.\ud
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Graham Kerr\ud
Convenor, Australian Falls Prevention 2nd Biennial Conferenc
Magneto–Optical Kerr Effect Microscopy Investigation on Permalloy Nanostructures
No full textThis thesis focuses on the investigation of magnetic domains in ultrasmall permalloy (Ni80Fe20) structures down to nanometre size. Magnetic domains and domain walls in nano objects are often observed using a very high resolution and high power microscope such as magnetic soft x-ray microscope, magnetic force microscopy imaging and photoemission electron microscopy. A reason for this is because the Kerr signal in nanostructures is very weak. However the results from this thesis demonstrate that magnetic domains in permalloy magnetic nanostructures can still be observed with very good contrast using a Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscope. The constructed Kerr microscope is a home-build wide field microscope and is able to produce magnetic domains image of permalloy nanowire as small as 245 nm, although the resolution limit of the microscope is 505 nm. For the first time, a magnetic domain in nanowire with width of 245 nm is observed using a wide-field microscope. The combination of hysteresis loops and magnetic domains observations for studying a magnetic sample provides a three-dimensional understanding of the magnetic characteristic of the sample. This is crucial in investigating nano samples as the theoretical arguments with the experimental results are always constrained by the experimental part. Three kinds of nanostructure sample were observed using the Kerr microscope; a cross nanowire, zigzag nanowire and a nanowire with notch and a nucleation pad at one end. It was found that a cross nanowire can form magnetic domains upon reversal and the junction forms a magnetisation vortex. Findings from zigzag nanowire demonstrate a complex, multiple magnetic domains formation upon magnetisation reversal. A weak domain wall pinning effect was observed in the nanowire, causing a multiple domains formation in the nanowire upon reversal. It can be confirmed that this effect was caused by the high coercivity of the nucleation pad. For the nanowire with notch, it was demonstrated that the coercivities were different at negative and positive field. But for such case, there is a relationship observed between the percentage notch depth and the coercivity at the junction
Proprioception and Stimulus-Response Compatibility
No full textSixteen subjects pressed a left or right key in response to lateralised visual stimuli, in uncrossed (left index finger on left key, right finger on right key) and crossed conditions (left finger on right key and vice versa), with varying finger separations. Visual, tactile, or "efference copy" cues about relative finger positions were unavailable. Subjects had to press the key on the same side as (compatible group) or opposite side to the stimulus (incompatible group). Separate proprioceptive judgements of the relative finger positions were obtained. Findings of an overall reaction time (RT) advantage for compatible instructions and for uncrossed hands were replicated. With decreasing finger the RT advantage for compatible instructions decreased and the probability of responding with either hand increased. The compatibility effect disappeared completely at the six cm crossed position, not at the position that was hardest to judge proprioceptively. This suggests that two forms of neural activation are summed: automatic activation of the anatomically same-side limb, and an integrated, rule-based activation. The results further demonstrate that independent proprioceptive cues from each limb, unassociated with skin contact between the limbs, can mediate the determination of relative position for response selection in stimulus-response compatibility tasks
A meta-analysis of six prospective studies of falling in Parkinson's disease
No full textRecurrent falls are a disabling feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). We have estimated the incidence of falling over a prospective 3 month follow-up from a large sample size, identified predictors for falling for PD patients repeated this analysis for patients without prior falls, and examined the risk of falling with increasing disease severity. We pooled six prospective studies of falling in PD (n = 473), and examined the predictive power of variables that were common to most studies. The 3-month fall rate was 46% (95% confidence interval: 38-54%). Interestingly, even among subjects without prior falls, this fall rate was 21% (12-35%). The best predictor of falling was two or more falls in the previous year (sensitivity 68%; specificity 81%). The risk of falling rose as UPDRS increased, to about a 60% chance of falling for UPDRS values 25 to 35, but remained at this level thereafter with a tendency to taper off towards later disease stages. These results confirm the high frequency of falling in PD, as almost 50% of patients fell during a short period of only 3 months. The strongest predictor of falling was prior falls in the preceding year, but even subjects without any prior falls had a considerable risk of sustaining future falls. Disease severity was not a good predictor of falls, possibly due to the complex U-shaped relation with falls. Early identification of the very first fall therefore remains difficult, and new prediction methods must be developed
Balance in the older person : Effects of age and disease
No full textAn authoritative text by the international experts in the field which presents a comprehensive review of the medical aspects of sports in relationto the following specific groups of clients: children and adolescents/ women/ veterans (the over 30s!)/ and special groups (those with specific medical conditions and the disabled). This approach by client group rather than by sport of type of injury is unique
The end of capitalism (as we knew it) : a feminist critique of political economy
No full textWhy does the future (not to mention the present) seem to offer no hope of escape from capitalism? Ironically, the author argues, it is not the economic discourse of the right but primarily the socialist and Marxist traditions that have constituted capitalism as large, powerful, active, expansive, penetrating, systematic, self-reproducing, dynamic, victorious, and capable of conferring identity and meaning. What this has meant for left politics is the continual deferral of anticapitalist projects of social transformation and noncapitalist initiatives of economic innovation, since these presumably would have little chance of success in the face of a predominantly or exclusively capitalist economy. In this book J. K. Gibson-Graham explores the possibility of more enlivening modes of economic thought and action, outside and beyond the theory and practice of capitalist reproduction.
(From 1996 ed.
Bilateral tremor relations in Parkinson's disease: Effects of mechanical coupling and medication
No full textThe aim of the present study was to examine the dynamics of bilateral multiple segment resting and postural tremor in 12 young, older subjects and eight Parkinson’s (PD) patients in their different medication states. A second aim was to investigate whether bilateral independence of upper limb tremor was preserved for PD patients with amplified tremor under conditions where no upper limb segment was supported. Under these conditions, the likelihood for mechanical transmission between segments was increased. Tremor was recorded, bilaterally, from the hand and finger segments of all subjects. In addition to the PD subjects exhibiting greater tremor under both on/off medication states than the young/old control subjects, the tremor increase within limb from the hand to the finger was 2–3 times greater for the PD group in comparison to the healthy subjects. Despite this increased tremor, no differences were observed in the level of coupling between limbs across groups. Furthermore, the degree of coupling between limbs for the PD group was unaffected by their medication state. Overall, these results demonstrate that bilateral independence of tremor in PD participants is preserved despite conditions which maximised the chance of increased coupling
Velocity perception and proprioception
No full textProprioceptive information related to position and velocity reaches conscious perception and appears to be processed simultaneously via separate perceptual channels. Determining the fidelity of velocity perception is difficult, however, because of the interaction of distance and timing information in its derivation. There is also a complex relationship between receptor discharge and kinematic variables and thresholds for detection of Proprioceptive information are increased during movement. Experiments determined the discrimination thresholds for different movement velocities when i) movement distance remained constant and duration varied; ii) movement duration remained constant and distance varied; iii) movement distance and duration were randomly varied. Discrimination thresholds increased as movement velocity increased. Velocity perception was more accurate when distance and timing cues were available, particularly at higher velocities. These results indicate that all available cues are used to make judgments of movement velocity
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