Guide-arm cane: a walking cane modification.
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Canes↗
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Contralateral v ipsilateral cane use. Effects on muscles crossing the knee joint.
Although using a cane contralaterally has been shown to reduce muscular activity across the hip joint, little is known about effects on the knee. We measured muscular activity around the knee in 10 able-bodied subjects. We simultaneously recorded integrated rectified surface electromyographic activity from the right quadriceps, medial and lateral hamstrings, gastrocnemius and hip abductors during various standing maneuvers: two-legged stance, unsupported one-legged stance and one-legged stance putting maximal, moderate (20% body weight) or minimal (10% body weight) force through an ipsilateral or contralateral cane. Electromyographic activity was expressed as the percentage of that recorded during unsupported one-legged stance in each muscle. Hip abductor activity was lowest when maximal weight was placed through a contralateral cane (66%) and highest with maximal weight ipsilaterally (424%). Medial hamstrings activity increased by 404% and 200%, respectively, when maximal and moderate force was applied to a contralateral cane, although there was no change with ipsilateral cane. Lateral hamstrings were also most active during contralateral cane use. Quadriceps activity decreased using a cane in either hand with moderate or minimal force (range 57 to 84%). Gastrocnemius activity decreased during contralateral (60 to 66%) and ipsilateral (75 to 96%) cane use. This data suggests that forces generated by muscular activity around the knee are not uniformly diminished by holding a cane in the contralateral hand and may even be increased.
Adult↗
Energy expenditure and physiological performance of Sudanese cane cutters.
The thermal and exercise tolerances of 165 Sudanese cane cutters were measured in the laboratory and related to work performance and productivity in the cane fields. The results showed that the amount of cane cut per minute in the field was significantly correlated with changes in body weight (r = +0-53) during the third hour of work, aerobic energy expenditure (r = + 0-43), and cardiac frequency during work. These variables in turn were associated with predicted maximal power output (VO2 max) measured in the laboratory. The average energy expenditure during cane cutting was 1-66 +/- 0-33 1/min-1 (34-9 kJ/min-1) which represents approximately 60% of the workers predicted VO2 max. This rate of energy expenditure was sustained in the cane fields for at least three hours without significant pauses for rest. The sweat losses measured in 32 cane cutters during the two and three hours of work averaged 637 +/- 221 and 770 +/- 282 g/h-1 respectively, while the mean urine temperature immediately on cessation of effort was 37-74 +/- 0-46 degrees C. Despite the additional environmental heat load of the tropics, it would seem that cane cutters performing a self-paced task demanding heavy physical effort, are able to sustain work levels well in excess of those recommended for most European factory workers without obvious signs of fatigue or heat stress.
Adult↗
Slipping cane and crutch tips. Part I--static performance of current devices.
A variety of commercially available cane and crutch tips were tested on surfaces of ice and soapy tile under varying axial (thrust) loads. The output measurement consisted of the angle between the vertical and the cane axis at which slip occurred. It was learned that: 1. From the viewpoint of a user, a minimal slip angle of roughly 25 deg is desirable. 2. On ice-rink ice, a number of cane tips approach the desired slip angle under conditions of low temperature; fewer appear safe at elevated air temperatures. Only one of the tested devices appears truly safe under any ice condition. 3. On rough tile flooded with soapy water, some cane tips offer adequate performance. However, no tested cane tip offers acceptable performance on slick tile flooded with soapy water. 4. There appears to be no simple relationship between the slip performance of a cane tip on ice-rink ice and that developed on soapy wet tiles. 5. No simple relationship between thrust load and slip angle emerged. Similarly, no simple relationship between contact area and slip appeared in the data.
Age Factors↗
Physiological performance and work capacity of Sudanese cane cutters with Schistosoma mansoni infection.
Physiological tests of work performance and measurement of field productivity were made in 194 Sudanese cane cutters in order to study the effect of Schistosoma mansoni infection. The cane cutters were selected from two age ranges (16-24 and 25-45 years) and subdivided into three clinical groups: not infected, infected with, and infected without clinical signs of hepatosplenomegaly. Men infected with Schistosoma haemotobium, malaria (blood film), or with hemoglobin levels less than 10 g/100 ml were excluded. There was a statistically significant (P less than 0.002) higher mean hemoglobin concentration in those not infected but the mean difference was less than 1 g/100 ml. Submaximal responses to exercise on a stationary bicycle ergometer, oxygen intake, ventilation, tidal volume, cardiac frequency and estimated maximal aerobic power output calculated both in absolute terms and relative to lean body mass and leg volume were similar in the six groups of cane cutters. No significant differences were found in physique, body composition or in thermoregulatory function tests. The cane cutters were found to have little natural acclimatization to heat in terms of sweating capacity when compared with a group of fully acclimatized Sudanese soldiers. The mean productivity (mean daily weight of cane cut per man) was significantly correlated with the individual's estimated maximum aerobic capacity determined in the laboratory, but not with the degree of S. mansoni infection. The noninfected group was less "efficient" (mean productivity:oxygen intake) during cutting than the infected groups but a larger proportion of the noninfected were in their first season of cutting. There was a positive correlation between the number of seasons' cutting experience and the individual's age, degree of infection and mean productivity. Cane cutters studied in this investigation were a relatively fit, active population from whom the more seriously ill were excluded. These results do not, therefore necessarily reflect the effects of S. mansoni on physiological work capacity and productivity of more static populations in areas of high endemicity.
Adolescent↗
Lack of reproductive photoresponsiveness and correlative failure to respond to melatonin in a tropical rodent, the cane mouse.
Cane mice (Zygodontomys brevicauda) are year-round breeders in Venezuela. As shown previously, these animals are not reproductively responsive to variation in photoperiod. In the present experiments, male cane mice were maintained on long or short day lengths (16L:8D or 8L:16D, respectively) and challenged with each of three experimental treatments known to "unmask" reproductive photoresponsiveness in laboratory rats: olfactory bulbectomy, prolonged food restriction, and exposure as neonates to a single injection of testosterone. Variation in photoperiod had no inhibitory effect on the responses of cane mice to any of these three treatments, as assessed by the weight of their testes and seminal vesicles. A fourth experiment demonstrated that cane mice are insensitive to 10 wk of continuous exposure to pharmacological levels of melatonin, again as assessed by reproductive organ weight. Likewise, a fifth experiment documented a lack of response to 10 wk of late-afternoon injections of massive amounts of melatonin. The cane mouse apparently is unique among the animals challenged so far in these ways in that it seems to have no vestige of reproductive photoresponsiveness.
Animals↗
Effect of cane on variables of gait for patients with hip disorders.
The purposes of this study were to determine the effect of a cane, used in the hand contralateral to the involved hip, on patients' floor reaction forces and on selected time and distance measurements of gait. An instrumented cane, force plate, dynograph recorder and footswitch were among the equipment items used. When the patients walked with a cane the stride length and swing times were increased, while the cadence and the vertical component of the floor reaction force were decreased. The average peak axial loading on the can was 11.6 kg and the average anterior bending moment on the cane was 67.3 kgcm.
Arthroplasty↗
Fungal protein enrichment of residual liquor from a sugar-cane waste Saccharum officinarum.
The use of residual liquor obtained from cane-thrash, a sugar-cane waste Saccharum officinarum, L. , as a protein source was studied. The cane-thrash was available in local sugar-mills and the fungus utilized, the Aspergillus niger IZ-9, was provided by the University of São Paulo and derived from a strain under the number NRRL-337. The liquor was previously hydrolyzed and physicochemical analyses were performed. Total nitrogen and amino acid contents were measured in the final product. The synthetic medium of Pontecorvo et al. modified by Christias et al., was used for growth, maintenance and storage of the strain. The analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical significance of all results. Mean values were compared by the Tukey's test. According to our data, the residual liquor from the prehydrolyzed cane-thrash can be used as a medium for biomass production from the A. niger IZ-9 and that the highest biomass production was obtained when the synthetic medium was substituted for 100% treated liquor added with balanced salts and carbon, and pH adjusted to 5.0. The highest amino acid values were detected in the A. Niger grown in the medium containing 40% treated liquor added with balanced salts and carbon, with pH adjustment to 5.0 with exception of methionine, this fungal protein seems to provide all essential amino acids in a diet, and could certainly be considered of good biological value.
Amino Acids↗
Aspects of occupational health in the sugar cane industry.
Workers in developing countries face as many, if not more, work-related health problems as their counterparts in industrialized nations. This paper concentrates on occupational health problems in the sugar industry, which exists in 40 countries, mostly in the Third World. Sugar cane workers have a high level of occupational accidents and are exposed to the high toxicity of pesticides. They may also have an increased risk of lung cancer, possibly mesothelioma. This may be related to the practice of burning foliage at the time of cane-cutting. Bagassosis is also a problem specific to the industry as it may follow exposure to bagasse (a by-product of sugar cane). The workers may also be affected by chronic infections which reduce their productivity. The legal framework for their protection is often inadequate. In conclusion, areas of future research are suggested.
Accidents, Occupational↗
A cross-sectional study on the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis among sugar cane cutters in Zimbabwe.
A schistosomiasis prevalence and intensity survey was carried out among sugar cane cutters of Hippo Valley and Triangle, the two largest irrigated sugar estates in Zimbabwe. Urine and stool specimens were collected for determination of schistosomiasis infection from 1995 cane cutters. A total of 315 (15.8pc) cutters were found to be infected with Schistosoma mansoni while 163 (8.2pc) were found to be positive for S. haematobium. The arithmetic mean egg count (AMEC) and geometric mean egg count (GMEC) for the different age groups into which the cane cutters were divided was calculated. The prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni increased with age while the opposite was true for S. haematobium. The factors contributing to this observation are discussed.
Adult↗
Locomotion assistance through cane impulse.
The extent of locomotion assistance gained through cane usage by those with hip disorders is assayed. Employing as a standard the propulsive impulse delivered by each lower limb of a healthy young male, the cane is shown to supply about one-fifth the equivalent impulse, aside from other possible benefits. Full test values are given for nine handicapped subjects.
Adult↗
[Walking with canes and forearm-crutches. I. Reduction of loads at the hip and proximal end of the femur by one sided use of cane/crutch (author's transl)].
The effect of one cane or forearm-crutch on some mechanical parameters at the contralateral hip were investigated. 5 healthy individuals were photographed on a walkway while using an instrumented cane/crutch. Geometric data from an original mathematical model were taken from these fotographs and an X-ray film of the pelvis and femur. The resultant force and pressure at the hip joint, shear force in the femoral neck and, in one case, the bending moment in the trochanteric region were computed and expressed as a function of the load applied to the walking-aid. All values decreased with an increase of this load. The reduction of force and pressure at the hip joint achieved by application of a load equal to 15% of bodyweight are superior to those resulting from common operative procedures done for the samp purpose. Differences between the effects of one sided cane and forearm-crutch are negligible.
Biomechanical Phenomena↗
Composition and properties of the actinomycete flora in a ferralitic tropical soil (oxisol)-sugar cane ecological system.
Streptomycetes constituted about 46--48 per cent of the total aerobic microflora in the cultivated horizon of the studied ferralitic tropical soil below sugar cane plantation. This streptomycete fraction of the soil microbial community was composed of 13 (or more) species of Streptomyces (S. chromofuscus, S. chromogenus, S. diastatochromogenes, S. flavochromogenes, S. griseolus, S. nigrescens, S. phaeofaciens, S. sterilis, S. violaceus, Streptomyces sp. I--III), and Streptoverticillium (Sv. aspergilloides). None of these organisms did occur, with detectable frequency of occurrence, in the root surface region of sugar cane. Here, in the rhizoplane, we found a numerically small population of streptomycetes (about 5 per cent of the total bacterial flora), composed of two species (Streptomyces sp. IV and S. griseorubiginosus) which were, however, not detected in soil samples.
Cuba↗
Morbidity due to Schistosoma mansoni among sugar-cane cutters in Zimbabwe.
Quantitative determination of Schistosoma mansoni infection was carried out on 1995 cane cutters of the Hippo Valley and Triangle Sugar Estates. A total of 315 cutters were chosen for the study on the basis of S. mansoni infection and lack of anti-schistosomal chemotherapy during the previous three years. Stool consistency and blood and mucus in stool were determined for all the infected cutters. Overt and occult blood in stool was detected in a significantly high number of infected people compared to the control subjects (chi 2 p less than 0.001). However, the blood loss was found to have no anaemia-producing effect as determined by haemoglobin and red blood cell counts. Watery stool was prevalent among people with egg output exceeding 500 eggs per gram of stool. Mucus in stool was found to be more prevalent among infected people compared to the control subjects but the difference was not significant (p greater than 0.05). Symmer's periportal fibrosis (PPF) of various degrees of severity was detected in 47% of the infected people and grade one liver fibrosis was found in 7.5% of the control subjects (p less than 0.0001). Some 54.5% of those infected complained of abdominal pains compared to 35% of uninfected controls (p less than 0.01). There was a significant difference in the rate of absenteeism from work due to abdominal pains and diarrhoea among the infected and uninfected cane cutters (p less than 0.02).
Absenteeism↗
Efficiency and daily work effort in sugar cane cutters.
Productivity (metric tons (tonnes)/day), efficiency (kg cane cut/litre Vo2), and effort (percent Vo2 max sustained during an 8-hour workday) have been measured in 54 Colombian sugar cane cutters. In workers who sustained less than 40% Vo2 max during the workday, the effort expended was related to productivity (4 = 0-71) but efficiency and productivity were not significantly correlated. In 16 workers sustaining a greater than 40% Vo2 max during the workday, productivity and effort were not related and efficiency was significantly reduced. Subjects using less than 40% Vo2 max were divided into good, average and poor producers and compared with the men with low efficiencies. In general, these inefficient men had the anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics of low productivity workers (smaller stature, weight and Vo2 max). However, the frequency of good, average, and poor cutters in the inefficient group did not differ from that of the men expending less than 40% of their maximum effort nor was their average productivity different. No obvious reasons for the differences in efficiency and effort of these men were found.
Adult↗
[Factors associated with acute malnutrition in migrating pre-school children from the sugar cane region of Jalisco].
The purpose of this study is to identify the association between socioeconomic, environmental, feeding and individual factors involved in the acute malnutrition of the migrating pre-schooler. A comparative, transversal, observational study was conducted in 511 children between the ages of 1 and 5 from child care centers in the Jalisco sugar cane area. Using anthropometric indicators, classified according to Waterlow, their nutritional state was evaluated. The prevalence of the malnutrition was 79.0 per 100 preschoolers (68.1% adapted, 21.5% acutely chronic and 10.4% acute). Those factors associated with acute malnutrition included: a family income of less than the established minimum wage (O.R. = 6.32, P = 0.00), a lesser amount with an acute pathology (O.R. = 3.34, P = 0.00) and being a year old (O.R. = 2.22, P = 0.01). Significant differences were found among children of parents who: did not have an education (P = 0.04) and who were sugar cane cutters (P = 0.05). The findings identify risk factors for acute malnutrition, probably modifiable using nutritional epidemiological surveillance strategies.
Acute Disease↗
Natural occurrence of Aspergillus fumigatus in cane sugar mills.
The environmental distribution of Aspergillus fumigatus in 2 cane-sugar mills and one paper factory in northern India is compared with 2 localities in Delhi. The preponderance of the species at the U.D. Sugar Mills, Shamli, was contrary to its low prevalence in the University of Delhi campus and at Subzimandi, the vegetable and fruit market of Delhi. Aspergillus fumigatus accounted for 42.5% of the total aerial fungal colony counts recorded in the Shamli Mills as against 2% in Delhi. The predominant aerial fungus at Subzimandi was A. niger whereas aspergilli were overshelmingly outnumbered by other fungi in the University of Delhi campus. Within the Shamli Mills, the bagasse-containing sites had a significantly higher aerial prevalence (50.3%) of A. fumigatus than the bagasse-free sites (13.5%). Furthermore, A. fumigatus was more prevalent in the operational (57.2%) than in the non-operational period (23.8%) of the mills. The high frequency of isolations of A. fumigatus from and its dense population in sugar-cane bagasse seemed to suggest a special association of the fungus with this substrate.
Aspergillus fumigatus↗
[Walking with canes and forearm-crutches (author's transl)].
Partial weight bearing is frequently prescribed but cannot be controlled adequately. In a previous paper the change of forces at the hip joint as effected by a one sided cane was determined by instrumentation of the cane and a mechanical analysis of gait on a walkway. In the present study we looked at the conditions for control of partial weightbearing when two forearm crutches are used. Instrumented crutches and a forceplate were used. In walking with two forearm crutches the total of the ground reaction forces and the force pattern differ from those in free walking. The total of two crutch forces plus the force at the leg with partial weightbearing exceeds that caused by body weight alone. This is due to mass accelerations in a changed gait pattern. When the maximal leg force is reduced from 100% body weight to zero, the additional dynamic forces exceed those caused by body weight alone by 4%-19%. Only 2% of the additional dynamic forces act on the controlateral crutch while the rest is transmitted through the ipsilateral crutch. The crutch force pattern on the ipsilateral side depends more on individual gait characteristics than does that on the controlateral side. Load reduction is more pronounced in the late stages of the stand phase than in the early ones.
Adult↗