Community exercise programing and its potential influence on quality of life and functional reach for individuals with spinal cord injury.

Context/Objective: After an individual with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) participates in the initial rehabilitation process, they often experience limited access to physical therapy services and other fitness activities. The purpose of this study was to examine previously collected data for changes in quality of life (QoL) and functional reach in individuals with SCI following an 8-week community exercise program.Design: Secondary analysis of previously collected data.Setting: Community-based exercise program.Participants: Twenty-two participants with an average of 9 years post-SCI, both complete and incomplete injuries, and injury levels ranging from C2 to L5.Interventions: Participants completed an 8-week program, once per week for 4 hours that included a four-station circuit of resistance training, aerobic exercise, trunk stability, and education.Outcome Measures: Physical function was measured using the modified Functional Reach Test (mFRT). QoL was measured with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire-9 (LiSAT-9).Results: The mFRT improved by 2 inches (±7.04) P < 0.001 and QoL improved as well, P < 0.001.Conclusion: The findings of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that a supervised post-rehabilitation community exercise program, like Spinal Mobility, may positively impact the QoL and functional reach in individuals with SCI.

Microeukaryote community patterns along an O2/H2S gradient in a supersulfidic anoxic fjord (Framvaren, Norway).

To resolve the fine-scale architecture of anoxic protistan communities, we conducted a cultivation-independent 18S rRNA survey in the superanoxic Framvaren Fjord in Norway. We generated three clone libraries along the steep O(2)/H(2)S gradient, using the multiple-primer approach. Of 1,100 clones analyzed, 753 proved to be high-quality protistan target sequences. These sequences were grouped into 92 phylotypes, which displayed high protistan diversity in the fjord (17 major eukaryotic phyla). Only a few were closely related to known taxa. Several sequences were dissimilar to all previously described sequences and occupied a basal position in the inferred phylogenies, suggesting that the sequences recovered were derived from novel, deeply divergent eukaryotes. We detected sequence clades with evolutionary importance (for example, clades in the euglenozoa) and clades that seem to be specifically adapted to anoxic environments, challenging the hypothesis that the global dispersal of protists is uniform. Moreover, with the detection of clones affiliated with jakobid flagellates, we present evidence that primitive descendants of early eukaryotes are present in this anoxic environment. To estimate sample coverage and phylotype richness, we used parametric and nonparametric statistical methods. The results show that although our data set is one of the largest published inventories, our sample missed a substantial proportion of the protistan diversity. Nevertheless, statistical and phylogenetic analyses of the three libraries revealed the fine-scale architecture of anoxic protistan communities, which may exhibit adaptation to different environmental conditions along the O(2)/H(2)S gradient.