PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J R Carey

Publications and source records attributed to J R Carey.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Slowing of mortality rates at older ages in large medfly cohorts.

It is generally assumed for most species that mortality rates increase monotonically at advanced ages. Mortality rates were found to level off and decrease at older ages in a population of 1.2 million medflies maintained in cages of 7,200 and in a group of approximately 48,000 adults maintained in solitary confinement. Thus, life expectancy in older individuals increased rather than decreased with age. These results cast doubt on several central concepts in gerontology and the biology of aging: (i) that senescence can be characterized by an increase in age-specific mortality, (ii) that the basic pattern of mortality in nearly all species follows the same unitary pattern at older ages, and (iii) that species have absolute life-span limits.

Aging↗
PubMed1992

Normal range of motion of the cervical spine: an initial goniometric study.

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine normal values for cervical active range of motion (AROM) obtained with a "cervical-range-of-motion" (CROM) instrument on healthy subjects whose ages spanned 9 decades, (2) to determine whether age and gender affect six cervical AROMs, and (3) to examine the intratester and intertester reliability of measurements obtained. Measurements were made on 337 subjects (171 females and 166 males) whose ages ranged from 11 to 97 years. Measurements were taken by five physical therapists with 7 to 30 years of clinical and teaching experience. Among male and female subjects of the same age, females had a greater AROM than did males for all AROMs except neck flexion. Among both males and females, each of the six cervical AROMs decreased significantly with age. From two pilot studies separate from the acquisition of the normal database, we determined our intratester and intertester reliabilities for making neck AROM measurements with the CROM instrument. We concluded that AROM measurements on the cervical spine with the CROM instrument demonstrated good intratester and intertester reliability, because the intraclass correlation coefficients were generally greater than .80.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Establishment of the Mediterranean fruit fly in California.

Principles of invasion biology are brought to bear on the question of whether the medfly is established in California. Since its first discovery in 1975, the pest has been captured in the Los Angeles Basin in nine separate years including every year from 1986 through 1990. The trend has become distinct--the intervals between captures are decreasing, the numbers captured are increasing, and the area over which they are detected is expanding. In addition, appearances are seasonal and captures in recent years have occurred in many of the same cities and neighborhoods where medflies were found several years before. Evidence suggests that the medfly may be established in the Los Angeles area and that previous eradication programs did not eradicate the medfly from California. It follows that detection, exclusion, and eradication protocols may need to be reexamined.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Reliability of measurements of cervical spine range of motion--comparison of three methods.

To determine reliabilities within and between persons measuring cervical active range of motion (AROM) three methods were examined: use of a cervical-range-of-motion (CROM) instrument, use of a universal goniometer (UG), and visual estimation (VE). Measurements were made on 60 patients with orthopedic disorders of the cervical spine who were divided into three groups of 20 subjects each. All subjects were tested in a standardized seated position using operationally defined goniometric placements and nongoniometric estimation techniques. Cervical flexion and extension, lateral flexion, and rotation were measured. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to quantify within-tester and between-tester reliability. We found that goniometric measurements of AROM of the cervical spine made by the same physical therapist had ICCs greater than .80 when made with the CROM device or the UG. When different physical therapist measured the same patient's cervical AROM, the CROM device had ICCs greater than .80, whereas the UG and VE generally had ICCs less than .80.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Manual stretch: effect on finger movement control and force control in stroke subjects with spastic extrinsic finger flexor muscles.

This study evaluated the effects of manual stretch of extrinsic finger flexor muscles on finger extension movement control and force control in 16 spastic hemiparetic subjects. These subjects were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group. A group of able-bodied subjects also participated. A joint-movement tracking test (JMTT) quantified control of active finger extension movement at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger within the available range of active movement, and a force tracking test (FTT) quantified control of isometric finger extension force at the same joint within the subject's available force range. Electromyographic activity was monitored in the extensor digitorum and flexor digitorum superficialis muscles during both tracking tests. Manual stretch was applied to the extrinsic finger flexor muscles of the experimental group between the pretest and posttest tracking tests. The JMTT performances of both control (p less than .025) and experimental (p less than .05) groups were significantly subnormal on the pretest as were FTT performances of controls (p less than .01) and study subjects (p less than .03). The JMTT improvement on posttest was significantly greater (p less than .05) in subjects than in controls. However, the change in FTT performance was not significantly different between the two groups. Manual stretch treatment, properly applied to extrinsic finger flexor muscles, is an effective method of temporarily improving the control of finger extension movement in spastic hemiparetic subjects.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1989

Tracking ability of hemiparetic and healthy subjects.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate differences in tracking ability between the involved and uninvolved hands of hemiparetic (n = 10) and healthy (n = 10) subjects. The subjects tracked a sine-wave target pattern by flexing and extending their index finger metacarpophalangeal joints. The amplitudes of the target patterns were proportional to each subject's active range of motion. The root-mean-square (RMS) of the vertical distance between the target and response lines was expressed as a percentage of the RMS of the target pattern and subtracted from 100 to give an index of each subject's accuracy. The authors used t tests to compare the uninvolved and involved hands of the hemiparetic subjects (p greater than .05), the dominant and nondominant hands of the healthy subjects (p greater than .05), and the uninvolved hands of the hemiparetic subjects with the dominant hands of the healthy subjects (p less than .005). This study indicates that within the available active ROM, finger tracking ability is impaired bilaterally in hemiparetic subjects. The implication for physical therapists is that treatment strategies for improving motor control should be directed bilaterally.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Sensitivity and reliability of force tracking and joint-movement tracking scores in healthy subjects.

The purpose of this study was to examine the sensitivity and reliability of two tracking tests designed to measure control of handgrip force and finger movement. In one test, the subject exerts careful control of handgrip force on a dynamometer, which is interfaced with a computer, and attempts to guide a cursor as accurately as possible along a stationary target track displayed on the computer screen. In the second test, the subject attempts to trace a different target track by precise flexion-extension movement of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger to which an electrogoniometer is attached. For both tests, the computer quantifies the subject's performance with an accuracy index. Fourteen healthy subjects participated in the force tracking test (FTT), which involved three pretest tracking trials, a 20-minute inactivity period, and three posttest trials. Thirteen different healthy subjects participated in the joint-movement tracking test (JMTT) using the same testing format. One-tailed, paired t tests of the pretest-posttest tracking scores showed significant (p less than .01) improvement in tracking accuracy for both the FTT and the JMTT. Additionally, intraclass correlation coefficients for both the pretest and the posttest trials showed acceptable reliability in the FTT and the JMTT. We concluded, for healthy subjects, that 1) these tracking tests are sensitive to small changes in force control and joint-movement control, and 2) the tracking scores are reliable. We believe that these tests could be very useful in documenting objectively the effects of treatment applied to the hand.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Computer-based solution to a clinical education problem in a physical therapy course.

This article describes the solution to a logistical problem involving the assignment of multiple clinical experiences to students in an undergraduate physical therapy course. Physical therapy faculty members collaborated with a computer programmer to formulate a computer program that would satisfy the organizational needs imposed by this problem. We suggest that the skills of the physical therapist combined with those of a computer programmer can be used to generate effective, computer-based solutions to many other problems related to the organization of data and to decision making in physical therapy.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1983

Electromyographic study of muscular overflow during precision handgrip.

This study was designed to describe the "overflow" of muscular activity to muscles beyond the essential prime mover and synergists during a precision handgrip exercise. Five subjects performed a 10-minute isometric handgrip exercise consisting of one-second contractions alternated with one-second rests. Four different force levels were assigned: 5, 15, 25, and 40 percent of each subject's maximum handgrip force. All subjects demonstrated overflow activity at the 5-percent level, and three of the five subjects showed more overflow at the 5-percent level than at 15 percent. The greatest amount of overflow was shown at the 40-percent level. No striking interindividual or intraindividual consistency in recruitment order of overflow muscles was apparent. Two distinguishable types of overflow were observed: continuous overflow was the characteristic type at the lower force levels, whereas an interrupted pattern of overflow synchronized to the handgrip contraction was typical of the higher force levels. The possible effects of overflow on precision motor skills are discussed.

Adult↗