BACKGROUND Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) compromises fine sensorimotor function during activities of daily living. Reach-to-pinch for a small object requires not only dexterity of the grasping digits, but also coordinated transport of the hand to the target. This study examined the effects of CTS on the kinematic performance of reach-to-pinch maneuver. METHODS Eleven CTS subjects and 11 able-b...

Although strength is one of the important characteristics of a normal hand, this factor is not given enough attention in reconstructive surgery as compared to other parameters of motion and sensibility. This paper presents the results of a study on strength in functional adaptations of the normal hand. A baseline of normal grip and pinch strength was obtained by testing a group of one hundred h...

Women may experience a decline in physical function during menopause. Whether this decline is due to aging or to changes in hormonal status is unknown. The authors performed a longitudinal data analysis on data collected between 1996 and 2001 to determine the effects of menopausal status, age, race, and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on 3-year changes in grip and pinch strength. Parti...

A long, smooth cylinder is dragged through a water surface to create a cavity with an initially cylindrical shape. This surface void then collapses due to the hydrostatic pressure, leading to a rapid and axisymmetric pinch-off in a single point. Surprisingly, the depth at which this pinch-off takes place does not follow the expected Froude(1/3) power law. Instead, it displays two distinct scali...

The Zeeman effect has been used for measurement of magnetic fields in low-temperature plasma, but the diagnostic technique is difficult to implement in a high-temperature plasma. This paper describes new instrumentation and methodology for simultaneous measurement of the entire Doppler-broadened left and right circularly polarized Zeeman spectra in high-temperature plasmas. Measurements are mad...

AIM To evaluate hand muscle weakness detected through dynamometry as an indicator for change in motor nerve function detected by Voluntary Muscle Testing (VMT) of ulnar and median nerves. DESIGN The research was carried out as part of the INFIR Cohort Study among 303 subjects newly diagnosed with MB leprosy in two centres in UP state, northern India. METHODS To assess grip strength, key pin...

BACKGROUND Aging is accompanied by a marked decline in muscle strength and ability to maintain steady submaximal force. Studies have shown that exercise programs can improve age-related regression of hand function in elderly individuals. The purpose of this study was to train elderly subjects to perform skilled finger movements and to evaluate the changes in hand function involving skillful use...

For the first time, a geometry has been developed to allow for an axial imaging system for wire-array Z-pinch experiments that produce high-resolution x-ray images. The new geometry required a significant redesign of the electrode hardware. Calibrated areal density measurements of the Z-pinch plasma including wire cores, coronal plasma, streaming plasma, and the precursor were obtained. The sys...