Purpose: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of laterality discrimination training on neck joint position sense and cervical range of motion (ROM) in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (NSCNP).
Materials and methods: Forty-eight patients with NSCNP were randomly assigned to the neck group (NG) that observed neck images or the foot group (FG) that observed foot images. Response time, response accuracy, cervical ROM, and joint position error (JPE) were the main variables. The secondary outcome measures included psychosocial variables.
Results: Differences between groups in the cervical ROM for flexion (p?=?.043) were obtained, being NG group the one which obtained greater values. NG showed an improvement in right rotation (p?=?.018) and a decrease in flexion was found in the FG (p?=?.039). In JPE, differences between groups were obtained in the left rotation (p?=?.021) and significant changes were found in the NG for flexion, extension, and left rotation movements (p?<?.05). Moderate associations were found between left and right accuracy regarding to post-intervention flexion and right rotation (r?=?0.46, r?=?0.41; p?<?.05) in NG.
Conclusion: Improvements in cervical range of motion and joint position sense are obtained after the performance of the laterality discrimination task of images of the neck but not the feet. Visualization of images of the painful region presents moderate correlations with the accuracy and response time in the movements of flexion and right rotation. 相似文献
Using a polyphasic approach that included microscopy, cultivation and 16S rRNA-based cultivation-independent molecular fingerprinting, we compared the cyanobacterial composition of Solar Lake microbial mats and samples thereof transplanted and maintained in new settings for extended periods of time. Significant changes in community composition, with clear replacement of the dominant cyanobacterium, Microcoleus chthonoplastes, were detected in all cases. The most dramatic shifts occurred in a sample kept in the laboratory for 3 years, which resulted in dominance by an Oscillatoria -like cyanobacterium whose 16S rRNA closely matched that of a morphologically similar isolate from mats in Mexico. Transfer of Solar Lake mat to an artificial experimental pond with incubation under seminatural conditions resulted in an increase in cyanobacterial diversity. Judging from the molecular signatures, two novel, previously unrecognized and phylogenetically well-delimited cyanobacterial populations became dominant. Through cultivation, one population was shown to correspond to a filamentous, non-heterocystous group of Cyanobacteria with very narrow trichomes (≈ 0.75–1.5 μm). The most dominant novel molecular signature, however, could not be identified by cultivation efforts or correlation with microscopy and, upon phylogenetic analyses, its 16S rRNA genes showed no particular close association to known cyanobacterial groups. 相似文献
Parallel-stranded hairpins with a polypyrimidine sequence linked to a complementary purine carrying 8-aminopurines such as 8-aminoadenine, 8-aminoguanine and 8-aminohypoxanthine bind polypyrimidine sequences complementary (in an antiparallel sense) to the purine part by a triple helix. The relative stabilities of triplexes were assessed by UV-absorption melting experiments as a function of pH and salt concentration. Hairpins carrying 8-aminopurines give very stable triple helical structures even at neutral pH, as confirmed by gel-shift experiments, circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The modified hairpins may be redesigned to cope with small interruptions in the polypyrimidine target sequence. 相似文献
Chromosomal inversions are the most common type of genome rearrangement in the genus Drosophila. Although the potential of transposable elements (TEs) for generating inversions has been repeatedly demonstrated in the laboratory, little is known on their role in the generation of natural inversions, which are those effectively contributing to the adaptation and/or evolution of species. We have cloned and sequenced the two breakpoints of the polymorphic inversion 2q7 of D. buzzatii. The sequence analysis of the breakpoint regions revealed the presence in the inverted chromosomes of large insertions, formed by complex assemblies of transposons, that are absent from the chromosomes without the inversion. Among the transposons inserted, the Foldback-like element Galileo, that was previously found responsible of the generation of the widespread inversion 2j of D. buzzatii, is present at both 2q7 breakpoints and is the most likely inducer of the inversion. A detailed study of the nucleotide and structural variation in the breakpoint regions of six chromosomal lines with the 2q7 inversion detected no nucleotide differences between them, which suggests a monophyletic and recent origin. In contrast, a remarkable degree of structural variation was observed in the same six chromosomal lines. It thus appears that the two breakpoints of the inverted chromosomes have become genetically unstable hotspots, as was previously found for the 2j inversion breakpoints. The possibility that this instability is caused by structural properties of Foldback elements is discussed. 相似文献
To improve the efficiency of the ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis as a biological control agent against aphids, a flightless population was produced by feeding adults with a mutagen and selecting their progeny for non-flying but otherwise morphologically normal individuals. The inability to fly could result from a change in their flying behavior compared with control adults. Flight duration was very much shorter, wing beat frequency and more particularly the amplitude of the wing beats were clearly lower. More time was spent on the other components of flight behavior such as wing rotation, wing immobility and wing folding. The sequence of these patterns differed slightly mainly due to changes in their frequency. The locomotory behavior was not modified by the mutation, which only affected the wing muscles. The searching behavior of mutant adults differed from that of control adults only in that they took longer to encounter and ingest aphids. As this difference is not important, it should be possible to use this flightless population in biological control programs. 相似文献
The brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus) is a hystricomorph rodent, which frequents the forests of West and Central Africa. With an average weight of 3 kg, it is a favourite source of meat for urban and rural populations of Gabon, Nigeria, Cameroon or Congo. Hunted in large quantities, its price is often higher than that of other game or domestic animals. Although its current productivity in captivity is limited to a single young per birth and two to three births per year per female, this species could be a good candidate for minilivestock programmes in African forest areas if its current reproductive potential in captivity could be improved. Further research should be encouraged on its biology and reproduction since the current level of hunting for this species is probably not sustainable. Captive breeding programmes could play a role in assessing a better knowledge of the species' biology, and in reducing the effects of intensive hunting in areas where this activi ty is no longer sustainable. 相似文献
On the basis of photobiological, evolutionary, paleontological, paleoenvironmental and physiological arguments, a time course for the role of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR, wavelengths below 400 nm) in the ecology and evolution of cyanobacteria is proposed in which three main periods can be distinguished. An initial stage, before the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis, when high environmental fluxes of UVC (wavelengths below 280 nm) and UVB (280–320 nm) may have depressed the ability of protocyanobacteria to develop large populations or restricted them to UVR refuges. A second stage lasting between 500 and 1500 Ma (million years), started with the appearance of true oxygen-evolving cyanobacteria and the concomitant formation of oxygenated (micro)environments under an oxygen free-atmosphere. In this second stage, the age of UV, the overall importance of UVR must have increased substantially, since the incident fluxes of UVC and UVB remained virtually unchanged, but additionally the UVA portion of the spectrum (320–400 nm) suddenly became biologically injurious and extremely reactive oxygen species must have formed wherever oxygen and UVR spatially coincided. The last period began with the gradual oxygenation of the atmosphere and the formation of the stratospheric ozone shield. The physiological stress due to UVC all but disappeared and the effects of UVB were reduced to a large extent. Evidence in support of this dynamics is drawn from the phylogenetic distribution of biochemical UV-defense mechanisms among cyanobacteria and other microorganisms. The specific physical characteristics of UVR and oxygen exposure in planktonic, sedimentary and terrestrial habitats are used to explore the plausible impact of UVR in each of the periods on the ecological distribution of cyanobacteria. 相似文献