Search results for "BALANCE"
showing 10 items of 1379 documents
Aiming strategy affects performance‐related factors in biathlon standing shooting
2020
This study focused on investigating differences in shooting performance and performance-related factors between two different aiming strategies (HOLD, low radial velocity during the approach 0.4-0.2 seconds before triggering, and TIMING, high radial velocity) in biathlon standing shooting. A total of 23 biathletes fired 8 × 5 standing shots at rest (REST) and 2 × 5 shots during a race simulation (RACE). Shooting performance (hit point distance from the center of the target), aiming point trajectory and postural balance were measured from each shot. Shooting performance was similar both at REST (HOLD 33 ± 5 mm vs TIMING 38 ± 8 mm, P = .111) and in RACE (40 ± 11 mm vs 47 ± 12 mm, P = .194). B…
Tri-dimensional and triphasic muscle organization of whole-body pointing movements.
2010
Previous kinematic and kinetic studies revealed that, when accomplishing a whole-body pointing task beyond arm's length, a modular and flexible organization could represent a robust solution to control simultaneously target pointing and equilibrium maintenance. Here, we investigated the underlying mechanisms that produce such a coordinative kinematic structure. We monitored the activity of a large number of muscles spread throughout subjects' bodies while they performed pointing movements beyond arm's length, either with or without imposition of postural or pointing constraints. Analyses revealed that muscle signals lied on a tri-dimensional hyper-plane and were temporally organized accordi…
Short-term Effects of the Flavour of Drinks on Ingestive Behaviours in Man
1998
To examine the influence of the oro-sensory properties of different beverages on spontaneous intake of drinks, and the consequence of the volume of fluid ingested on subsequent food intake, 24 subjects (12 men, 12 women), slightly dehydrated, had access ad libitum, during four different experimental sessions in a cross-over design, to one of four commercial beverages without any other drink. The four beverages differed in flavour and caloric content: mineral water; the same mineral water flavoured with orange and unsweetened; the same mineral water flavoured with orange and sweetened with 100 g/l sucrose; or equally sweetened with 50 mg/l aspartame. Ad libitum: lunch was served 15 min after…
Pathological implications of Th1/Th2 cytokine genetic variants in Behçet's disease: Data from a pilot study in a Sicilian population
2013
Cytokines act as pleiotropic polypeptides able to regulate inflammatory/immune responses and to provide important signals in physiological and pathological processes. Several cytokines (Th1, Th2, and Th17) seem to be involved in the pathophysiology of Behçet's disease, a chronic immune-mediated disease characterized by oral and genital lesions and ocular inflammation. Its individual susceptibility seems to be modulated by genetic variants in genes codifying these cytokines. Th1 and Th17 seem to be involved in the disease's active phases, and Th2 seems to affect the development or severity of the disease; however, contrasting data are reported. In this study, some genetic variants of the Th1…
Measures of Physical Functioning Predict Self-Reported Performance in Self-Care, Mobility, and Domestic Life in Ambulatory Persons With Multiple Scle…
2007
Abstract Paltamaa J, Sarasoja T, Leskinen E, Wikstrom J, Malkia E. Measures of physical functioning predict self-reported performance in self-care, mobility, and domestic life in ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis. Objective To determine the associations between clinically measured physical functioning variables and self-reported performance in mobility, self-care, and domestic life in ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework. Design Survey study. Setting Community setting in Finland. Participants A population-based sample of 120 ambulatory persons with MS (30 men, 90 women) wit…
Health benefits of different sport disciplines for adults: systematic review of observational and intervention studies with meta-analysis
2015
The aim was to assess the quality and strength of evidence for the health benefits of specific sport disciplines. Electronic search yielded 2194 records and the selection resulted in 69 eligible studies (47 cross-sectional, 9 cohort, 13 intervention studies). 105 comparisons between participation and non-participation groups in 26 different sport disciplines were reported. Moderately strong evidence showed that both running and football improve aerobic fitness and cardiovascular function at rest, and football reduces adiposity. Conditional evidence showed that running benefits metabolic fitness, adiposity and postural balance, and football improves metabolic fitness, muscular performance, p…
Modular Control of Pointing beyond Arm's Length
2009
Hand reaching and bipedal equilibrium are two important functions of the human motor behavior. However, how the brain plans goal-oriented actions combining target reaching with equilibrium regulation is not yet clearly understood. An important question is whether postural control and reaching are integrated in one single module or controlled separately. Here, we show that postural control and reaching motor commands are processed by means of a modular and flexible organization. Principal component and correlation analyses between pairs of angles were used to extract global and local coupling during a whole-body pointing beyond arm's length. A low-dimensional organization of the redundant ki…
Preparedness for landing after a self-initiated fall.
2012
A startling auditory stimulus (SAS) causes a faster execution of voluntary actions when applied together with the imperative signal in reaction time tasks (the StartReact effect). However, speeding up reaction time may not be the best strategy in all tasks. After a self-initiated fall, the program for landing has to be time-locked to foot contact to avoid damage, and therefore advanced execution of the program would not be convenient. We examined the effects of SAS on the landing motor program in 8 healthy subjects that were requested to let themselves fall from platforms either 50 or 80 cm high at the perception of a visual imperative signal and land on specific targets. In trials at rand…
Overcommitment as a predictor of effort-reward imbalance: evidence from an 8-year follow-up study.
2016
Objective The effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model includes the personal characteristic of overcommitment (OC) and the job-related characteristics of effort, reward, and ERI, all of which are assumed to play a role in an employee’s health and well-being at work. The aim of the present longitudinal study was to shed more light on the dynamics of the ERI model by investigating the basic hypotheses related to the role of OC in the model, ie, to establish whether an employee’s OC could be a risk factor for an increased experience of high effort, low reward, and high ERI at work. Methods The study was based on 5-wave, 8-year follow-up data collected among Finnish professionals in 2006 (T1, N=747)…
Analysis of visually guided eye movements in subjects after whiplash injury
2011
Abstract Objective The aims of present research were to analyze the visually guided eye movements of subjects suffering from the consequences of whiplash injury and the possibility to differentiate patients from feigning subject. We analyzed the role of video-nystagmography for clinical and forensic aspects. Methods It was a prospective case–control study. Detailed history was taken and patients were thoroughly investigated. Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements were assessed in 33 patients affected by imbalance following a whiplash injury. A control group of 20 subjects was also evaluated. All tests were executed in neutral neck position and after left and right trunk rotation. Results…