Search

The construction of the Diama dam on the Senegal river, the Manantali dam on the Bafing river, Mali and the ensuing ecological changes have led to a massive outbreak of Schistosoma mansoni in Northern Senegal, associated with high intensity of infections, due to intense transmission, and the creation of new foci of S. haematobium. Data on the vectorial capacity of Biomphalaria pfeifferi from Ndombo, near Richard Toll, Senegal are presented with sympatric and allopatric (Cameroon) S. mansoni. Comparisons are made on infectivity, cercarial production, chronobiology of cercarial emergence and longevity of infected snails. Recent data on the intermediate host specificity of different isolates of S. haematobium from the Lower and Middle Valley of the Senegal river basin (SRB) demonstrate the existence of at least two strains of S. haematobium. The role of Bulinus truncatus in the transmission of S. haematobium in the Lower and Middle Valleys of the SRB is reviewed. Both S. haematobium and S. mansoni are transmitted in the same foci in some areas of the SRB.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term effectiveness of a spine care education programme conducted in 9- to 11-year-old schoolchildren. The study sample included 96 intervention subjects and 98 controls (9- to 11-year-olds at baseline). Intervention consisted of a 6-week school-based back education programme (predominantly biomechanically oriented) and was implemented by a physical therapist. Self-reported outcomes on back care knowledge, spinal care behaviour, self-efficacy towards favourable back care behaviour, prevalence of back and neck pain during the week and fear-avoidance beliefs were evaluated by the use of questionnaires. Post-tests were performed within 1 week after programme completion, after 1 year and after 8 years. Whereas the educational back care programme resulted in increased back care knowledge up to adulthood (P < 0.001), intervention did not change spinal care behaviour or self-efficacy. Pain prevalence figures increased less in the experimental group compared to the controls over the 8-year time span, yet statistical significance was not reached. Dropout analysis revealed spinal pain prevalence rates to be different in both groups throughout the study, including at baseline. Back education at young age did not reinforce fear-avoidance beliefs up to adulthood. Predominantly biomechanical oriented back education in elementary schoolchildren is effective in improving the cognitive aspect of back care up to adulthood, yet not in changing actual behaviour or self-efficacy. The current study does not provide evidence that educational back care programmes have any impact on spinal pain in adulthood. The true long-term impact of school-based spinal health interventions on clinically relevant outcome measures merits further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine if patients with chronic ankle instability or a history of ankle sprains without chronic instability have worse proprioception or less invertor and evertor muscle strength.Design and Setting: We assessed proprioception and muscle strength on the Biodex isokinetic dynamometer in the laboratory of the Department of Sports Medicine, University Hospital Ghent.Subjects: Subjects included 87 physical education students (44 men, 43 women, age = 18.33 +/- 1.25 years, mass = 66.09 +/- 8.11 kg, height = 174.11 +/- 8.57 cm) at the University of Ghent in Belgium. Their ankles were divided into 4 groups: a symptom-free control group, subjects with chronic ankle instability, subjects who had sustained an ankle sprain in the last 2 years without instability, and subjects who sustained an ankle sprain 3 to 5 years earlier without instability.Measurements: Active and passive joint-position sense was assessed at the ankle, and isokinetic peak torque was determined for concentric and eccentric eversion and inversion movements at the ankle.Results: Statistical analysis indicated significantly less accurate active position sense for the instability group compared with the control group at a position close to maximal inversion. The instability group also showed a significantly lower relative eversion muscle strength (% body weight). No significant differences were observed between the control group and the groups with past sprains without instability.Conclusions: We suggest that the possible cause of chronic ankle instability is a combination of diminished proprioception and evertor muscle weakness. Therefore, we emphasize proprioception and strength training in the rehabilitation program for ankle instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coverage of ChatGPT-style large language models (LLMs) in the media has focused on their eye-catching achievements, including solving advanced mathematical problems and reaching expert proficiency in medical examinations. But the gradual adoption of LLMs in agriculture, an industry which touches every human life, has received much less public scrutiny. In this short perspective, we examine risks and opportunities related to more widespread adoption of language models in food production systems. While LLMs can potentially enhance agricultural efficiency, drive innovation, and inform better policies, challenges like agricultural misinformation, collection of vast amounts of farmer data, and threats to agricultural jobs are important concerns. The rapid evolution of the LLM landscape underscores the need for agricultural policymakers to think carefully about frameworks and guidelines that ensure the responsible use of LLMs in food production before these technologies become so ingrained that policy intervention becomes challenging., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 De Clercq, Nehring, Mayne and Mahdi.)

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an injury prevention programme for Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students, consisting of an injury awareness module and implementing prevention strategies during intracurricular lessons. Participants from four PETE programmes formed the intervention group ( n  = 4 programme directors, n  = 38 sports lecturers, n  = 859 students), while those from four other programmes were the controls ( n  = 4 programme directors, n  = 34 sports lecturers, n  = 721 students). Programme directors and sports lecturers received a three-hour workshop on sports injury prevention. The feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention were evaluated following the RE-AIM Sports Setting Matrix. Reach, adoption, and implementation of the prevention strategies were high, but implementation of the awareness module was moderate, ranging from 25% to 75%. Maintenance in terms of intentions ranged from 25% to 75% for aspects of the awareness module and averaged 68% for the prevention strategies. Significantly more static stretching ( p =0.029), dynamic stabilisation ( p < 0.001), and core stability ( p =0.001) were implemented in the intervention group compared to the control group. Injury prevention behaviour and knowledge in students did not increase after the intervention. In conclusion, moderate feasibility of an injury prevention intervention for PETE students was found. Sports lecturers implemented prevention strategies in their lessons frequently, but future interventions should develop more dissemination initiatives., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Lennert Goossens et al.)

Purpose: Running with increased duty factors (DF) has been shown to effectively reduce external forces during running. In this study, we investigated whether running with increased DF (INCR) also reduces internal musculoskeletal loading measures, defined as peak muscle forces, muscle force impulses, and peak joint contact forces compared with a runners' preferred running pattern (PREF)., Method: Ten subjects were instructed to run with increased DF at 2.1 m·s -1 . Ground reaction forces and three-dimensional kinematics were simultaneously measured. A musculoskeletal model was used to estimate muscle forces based on a dynamic optimization approach, which in turn were used to calculate muscle force impulses and (resultant and three-dimensional) joint contact forces of the ankle, knee, and hip joint during stance., Results: Runners successfully increased their DF from 40.6% to 49.2% on average. This reduced peak muscle forces of muscles that contribute to support during running, i.e., the ankle plantar flexors (-19%), knee extensors (-18%), and hip extensors (-15%). As a consequence, peak joint contact forces of the ankle, knee, and hip joint reduced in the INCR condition. However, several hip flexors generated higher peak muscle forces near the end of stance., Conclusions: Running with increased DF lowers internal loading measures related to support during stance. Although some swing-related muscles generated higher forces near the end of stance, running with increased DF can be considered as a preventive strategy to reduce the occurrence of running-related injuries, especially in running populations that are prone to overuse injuries., (Copyright © 2022 by the American College of Sports Medicine.)

Background: An extraordinary long-term running performance may benefit from low dynamic loads and a high load-bearing tolerance. An extraordinary runner (age = 55 years, height = 1.81 m, mass = 92 kg) scheduled a marathon a day for 100 consecutive days. His running biomechanics and bone density were investigated to better understand successful long-term running in the master athlete., Methods: Overground running gait analysis and bone densitometry were conducted before the marathon-a-day challenge and near its completion. The case's running biomechanics were compared pre-challenge to 31 runners who were matched by a similar foot strike pattern., Results: The case's peak vertical loading rate (Δx̄ = -61.9 body weight (BW)/s or -57%), peak vertical ground reaction force (Δx̄ = -0.38 BW or -15%), and peak braking force (Δx̄ = -0.118 BW or -31%) were remarkably lower (p < 0.05) than the control group at ∼3.3 m/s. The relatively low loading-related magnitudes were attributed to a remarkably high duty factor (0.41) at the evaluated speed. The foot strike angle of the marathoner (29.5°) was greater than that of the control group, affecting the peak vertical loading rate. Muscle powers in the lower extremity were also remarkably low in the case vs. controls: peak power of knee absorption (Δx̄ = -9.16 watt/kg or -48%) and ankle generation (Δx̄ = -3.17 watt/kg or -30%). The bone mineral density increased to 1.245 g/cm² (+2.98%) near completion of the challenge, whereas the force characteristics showed no statistically significant change., Conclusion: The remarkable pattern of the high-mileage runner may be useful in developing or evaluating load-shifting strategies in distance running., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)