Assessment of gnostic and stereognostic functions in patients with liver cirrhosis: A comparative study with healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Individuals diagnosed with liver cirrhosis typically experience a variety of symptoms. Decompensation, a critical stage in the disease's progression, is characterized by the emergence of prominent clinical signs. These signs typically include ascites, bleeding tendencies, hepatic encephalopathy, and jaundice. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that regions in the sensorimotor cortex responsible for practical and gnostic functions are closely situated within the parieto-occipital part of the cortex. Liver cirrhosis may also have an impact on this aspect of human motor function. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of the study is to compare the gnostic function and stereognostic function in individuals with liver cirrhosis and those in a healthy population. METHODS: The patients included in our registry, known as RH7, were enrolled in our study. The first group consisted of 74 liver cirrhosis patients (including 25 women and 49 men). The control group consisted of a 63 healthy population (including 23 women and 40 and men). Both groups underwent both the Petrie and kinaesthesia tests. RESULTS: The results of the Petrie test, which compared healthy participants with those with liver cirrhosis, indicate that the healthy population achieved a significant difference in both right and left upper limb compared to those with liver cirrhosis patients (p< 0.05). The healthy population showed a significant difference compared to liver cirrhosis patients in the kinesthesia test (p< 0.05), except for the second attempt with the left upper limb (p= 0.267). According to the LFI, there was no significant difference in either upper limb during both the initial and second attempts of Petrie test (p> 0.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with liver cirrhosis exhibited significantly poorer gnostic functions compared to the healthy population. This condition also leads to notable impairments in motor functions, affecting both the precision and coordination of movements. Despite these deficits, frailty alone does not appear to be an indicator of worsened gnostic or stereognostic functions. Therefore, while liver cirrhosis has a clear negative impact on motor and cognitive abilities, the presence of frailty does not necessarily exacerbate these specific cognitive deficits. This distinction is crucial for clinical assessments and interventions targeting motor and cognitive rehabilitation in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Present but Ignored: Physical Condition and Health-Related Quality of Life in College-Aged Females with Generalized Joint Hypermobility.

BACKGROUND: Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) is prevalent among young adults, necessitating effective monitoring of musculoskeletal health, particularly among college-aged females. This study aimed to identify physical fitness and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) characteristics associated with GJH. METHODS: A total of 67 participants were assessed: 26 with GJH (mean age 20.06, SD 1.2 years), and 41 without (mean age 20.15, SD 2.2 years). Assessments included hypermobility, anthropometric data, foot posture, balance, flexibility, strength, and HR-QoL. We used the Mann-Whitney test for two independent samples, categorical variables were analyzed with Cramer's V test. The results indicated that participants with GJH exhibited inferior balance and back muscle static strength endurance but greater flexibility compared to those without GJH. Significant differences were observed in foot posture. However, handgrip strength, explosive strength, and abdominal muscle static strength endurance did not differ significantly between groups. No significant differences were observed in HR-QoL components between the two groups. In conclusion, there appears to be a link between GJH and increased flexibility, impaired balance, reduced back muscle static strength endurance, and altered posture of both feet.

Integrative Proposals of Sports Monitoring: Subjective Outperforms Objective Monitoring.

Current trends in sports monitoring are characterized by the massive collection of tech-based biomechanical, physiological and performance data, integrated through mathematical algorithms. However, the application of algorithms, predicated on mechanistic assumptions of how athletes operate, cannot capture, assess and adequately promote athletes' health and performance. The objective of this paper is to reorient the current integrative proposals of sports monitoring by re-conceptualizing athletes as complex adaptive systems (CAS). CAS contain higher-order perceptual units that provide continuous and multilevel integrated information about performer-environment interactions. Such integrative properties offer exceptional possibilities of subjective monitoring for outperforming any objective monitoring system. Future research should investigate how to enhance this human potential to contribute further to athletes' health and performance. This line of argument is not intended to advocate for the elimination of objective assessments, but to highlight the integrative possibilities of subjective monitoring.

Lessons learned from the Baltic countries' response to the first wave of COVID-19.

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania shared a similar response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the information available on the COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor platform, this article analyzed measures taken to prevent transmission, ensure capacity, provide essential services, finance the health system, and coordinate their governance approaches. All three countries used a highly centralized approach and implemented restrictive measures relatively early, with a state of emergency declared with fewer than 30 reported cases in each country. Due to initially low COVID-19 incidence, the countries built up their capacities for testing, contact tracing, and infrastructure, without a major stress test to the health system throughout the spring and summer of 2020, yet issues with accessing routine health care services had already started manifesting themselves. The countries in the Baltic region entered the pandemic with a precarious starting point, particularly due to smaller operational budgets and health workforce shortages, which may have contributed to their escalated response aiming to prevent transmission during the first wave. Subsequent waves, however, were much more damaging. This article focuses on early responses to the pandemic in the Baltic states highlighting measures taken to prevent virus transmission in the face of major uncertainties.

Always Pay Attention to Which Model of Motor Learning You Are Using.

This critical review considers the epistemological and historical background of the theoretical construct of motor learning for a more differentiated understanding. More than simply reflecting critically on the models that are used to solve problems-whether they are applied in therapy, physical education, or training practice-this review seeks to respond constructively to the recent discussion caused by the replication crisis in life sciences. To this end, an in-depth review of contemporary motor learning approaches is provided, with a pragmatism-oriented clarification of the researcher's intentions on fundamentals (what?), subjects (for whom?), time intervals (when?), and purpose (for what?). The complexity in which the processes of movement acquisition, learning, and refinement take place removes their predictable and linear character and therefore, from an applied point of view, invites a great deal of caution when trying to make generalization claims. Particularly when we attempt to understand and study these phenomena in unpredictable and dynamic contexts, it is recommended that scientists and practitioners seek to better understand the central role that the individual and their situatedness plays in the system. In this way, we will be closer to making a meaningful and authentic contribution to the advancement of knowledge, and not merely for the sake of renaming inventions.