BACKGROUND Several physiological and pathological conditions in daily life cause sustained static bending or torsion loads on the spine resulting in creep of spinal segments. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of creep and recovery on the range of motion, neutral zone, and neutral zone stiffness of thoracolumbar multi-level spinal segments in flexion, extension, lateral be...

It is increasingly clear that spinal reflex systems cannot be described in terms of simple and constant reflex actions. The extensive convergence of segmental and descending systems onto spinal interneurons suggests that spinal interneurons are not relay systems but rather form a crucial component in determining which muscles are activated during voluntary and reflex movements. The notion that ...

Reminding children to think about alternatives is a strategy adults often use to promote children's cognitive flexibility, as well as children's engagement in and enjoyment of the task. The current study investigated whether the impacts of reminders on kindergarten children's cognitive flexibility, intrinsic motivation, and mood are moderated by who provides the reminders. Eighty-three healthy ...

The present paper reports a pilot study which tested cognitive effects of mindfulness practice in a theory-driven approach. Thirty-four fifth graders received either a mindfulness training which was based on the mindfulness-based stress reduction approach (experimental group), a concentration training (active control group), or no treatment (passive control group). Based on the operational defi...

In 1964, Hayashi [8] defined and studied the notions of ?-dense in itself sets and ?-perfect subsets in ideal topological spaces. In 1999, Dontchev et al. [5] have studied the notion of Ideal resolvability through codense and completely codense ideal topological spaces. Recently, in the year 2004, Keskin, Noiri and Yuksel [12] have introduced and studied the concepts of fI -sets and fI -continu...

Locomotor control requires functional flexibility to support an animal's full behavioral repertoire. This flexibility is partly endowed by neuromodulators, allowing neural networks to generate a range of motor output configurations. In hatchling Xenopus tadpoles, before the onset of free-swimming behavior, the gaseous modulator nitric oxide (NO) inhibits locomotor output, shortening swim episod...

INTRODUCTION: The human spine is an extremely complex structure, whose principal function is to transfer loads from the upper body to the lower extremities while incorporating a certain amount of flexibility for locomotion. The balance between flexibility on one side and loading support on the other side is not well understood. This is in part due to the inherent limitations of studying the loa...

Objective: The effects of spinal rigidity correlate positively with low back pain. Although spine flexibility has also been considered important for preventing stress-related lumbar disorders, the effects of spinal rigidity on mechanical stress during lumbar motion have rarely been reported. Methods: A biomechanical investigation and finite element analysis were conducted to elucidate the effec...

This work concerns the stress-state identification, produced by loads or dislocations, of statically indeterminate structures. In particular, this paper deals with the case of pin-jointed trusses, since they are a combination of simplicity of the structural model with very interesting technical applications. We present an approach that follows the main guidelines of the flexibility method to re...

With increasing number of wireless devices like laptops, Wi-Fi Web Cams, network extenders, etc., a new kind of problems appeared, mostly related to poor Wi-Fi throughput or communication problems. In this paper an investigation on wireless networks and it’s saturation in Vilnius City and its surrounding is presented, covering the main problems of wireless saturation and network load during day...