Joint position reproduction and joint position discrimination at the ankle are not related

Abstract

Purpose: Limited data in current literature can be found on the relation between the two commonly-used active proprioception assessment methods –active joint position reproduction (JPR) and active movement extent discrimination assessment (AMEDA). The current study compared the two active methods, JPR and AMEDA, to investigate their interrelationship over two studies that differed in task difficulty, using active ankle inversion movements made in weight-bearing to maximise ecological validity.

Methods: 50 participants volunteered in this research, 20 of whom on a harder protocol and the other 30 on an easier protocol, were tested by both methods, JPR and AMEDA. Proprioceptive acuity was represented by absolute error (AE) and variable error (VE) for JPR and by AE and the area under the curve (AUC) for AMEDA.

Results: Proprioceptive acuity scores are found to be significantly correlated within test methods but not between methods for either hard or easy tasks, where JPR AE and VE scores were not correlated with either AMEDA AE or AUC. Further, proprioceptive acuity scores were significantly higher on the easy task when tested with the AMEDA method, but not with JPR method.

Conclusion: Scores obtained from the two active movement proprioception tests, movement extent discrimination and joint position reproduction, were not significantly correlated. Taken together with previous findings, these results show that for proprioception, scores from the three classical psychophysical methods for measuring sensitivity (adjustment, limits and constant stimuli) are not correlated with each other. This suggests that each proprioception measurement system assesses a different aspect of proprioception.     

Neanderthal Skeletal Structure and the Place of Homo neanderthalensis in European Hominid Phylogeny

Although the debate rages on over whether the Neanderthals merit their own species status or should be viewed as an odd variant of Homo sapiens, recent evidence has accumulated that overwhelmingly supports the former interpretation. Among this evidence is a recent full-body skeletal reconstruction that not only highlights the extreme differences between the highly apomorphic H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis in the construction of the thorax and pelvic girdle, but strongly suggests significant gait differences between the two species that add to the probability that the two kinds of hominid would not have recognized each other as breeding partners. This is hardly surprising since the two species possessed a relatively remote common ancestry, and it is indeed suggested here that Homo neanderthalensis was merely one species embedded within a diverse and endemic middle Pleistocene European hominid radiation. Clearly more than one lineage of hominids simultaneously occupied Europe during the middle Pleistocene.     

白环柄菇[Lepiota alba(Bresad.)Sacc]的生理学特性和栽培研究

白环柄菇是四川省菌物的一个新记录物种分类学地位为：担子菌亚门，层菌纲，伞菌目，伞菌科，环柄菇属。此菌无毒，可食。菌丝光锁状联合，形成大量菌核（Sclerotium），在伞菌目中是罕见的。详细报道了该菌的子实体、菌丝体的形态特征、生理特点和栽培技术。这是一种典型的高温性草菌。栽培出菇的培养料为草粉、牛粪、皮及食用菌栽培废料，瓶栽、袋栽、床栽均可，干菇生物学效率为4％-8％。     

Autecological investigations on marine diatoms. 4:Biddulphia aurita (Lyngb.) Brebisson et Godey—A succession of spring diatoms

Comparison of generation times ofBiddulphia aurita (Lyngb.) Brebisson and Godey with other diatoms indicated that the species can reach its best competitive position by growth from –1.5°C to about 6°C. The diatom demonstrates its optimum temperature at about 12°C. Yet, flowerings will occur at the lower temperatures only. Its presence in the early spring plankton is facilitated by its non-adhrence behaviour, that proved to be temperature dependent. At 0°C almost no adherence occurred, whereas at high temperaturesB. aurita adhered completely to the bottom of the glas vessels or pipettes. The importance ofB. aurita in the benthic community is discussed. The mutual differences in growth ofB. aurita, Chaetoceros debilis andThalassiosira nordenskioeldii resulted in a succession comparable with that found in nature.     

Exploration of wheat leaves byCoccinella septempunctata L. (Coleoptera,Coccinellidae) larvae

A new method for the quantification of insect movements on leaves is presented and applied to larvae of a wheat aphid predator, C. septempunctata. The method results from behavioral definition of positions adopted by this predator during its advance along the wheat leaf. Through a factor analysis of multiple correspondences, the method allowed specification of some aspects of predator movements on plants, especially the frequency of position associations, to give a new definition of local search and to describe some behavioral interactions with aphids. The consequences for predator efficiency are discussed.     

Sporichthya polymorpha represents a novel line of descent within the order Actinomycetales

Abstract The 16S rDNA of Sporichthya polymorpha was PCR amplified from genomic DNA and almost completely sequenced using the dideoxy dye-terminator sequencing approach and automated DNA analysis. The primary structure was compared to the homologous molecule from 160 representatives of 37 genera of the order Actinomycetales . No higher similarity than 91.7% was found and the phylogenetic tree shows this morphologically unique organism to from an individual line of descent outside the main radiation of spore- and mycelium-forming organisms.     

Cranial base and jaw relationship

The lateral skull radiographs of 124 boys aged approximately 10 years divided equally between the four angle classes were digitized in an effort to establish the relationship between cranial base size and shape and jaw relationship. Comparison of the means for occlusal groups showed a trend from class II to class III as cranial base dimensions and angle decreased. The condyle was also more distally positioned with respect to nasion, point A and the Pterygomaxillary vertical in the class II groups. Cranial base length correlated strongly with maxillary length but weakly with mandibular length. Nevertheless, the size of the maxilla did not influence its prognathism. The cranial base angle was strongly correlated (-0.7) with angle sella-nasion-point B. It is concluded that cranial base size and shape influence mandibular prognathism by determining the anteroposterior position of the condyle relative to the facial profile.