Objective measures of gait and balance which meet the criteria of reliability and validity are required as a basis for exercise regimens. We established reference values of clinically relevant locomotor and balance performances for geriatric patients. We are using these data for evaluating the effects of different therapeutic approaches to locomotor and balance disorders. Reference values for c...

During doubly-labelled water (DLW) experiments, blood collection by venous puncture may traumatize animals and consequently affect the animals' behaviour and energy budget. Recent studies have shown that blood-sucking bugs (Triatominae; Heteroptera) can be used instead of conventional needles to obtain blood from animals. In this paper, we validate the bug method in captive nectar-feeding bats,...

In recent years the clinical significance of the electrolyte balance of the blood has become increasingly realized, and was the subject of a leader in the Lancet. This has also been stressed by other workers (Baumann, 1952; Black, 1953; Graham, 1954; Wynn and Rob, 1954). The following investigation was carried out with a view to finding whether a rapid screening test could be of practical clini...

Body condition score (BCS), energy content (EC), cumulative effective energy balance (CEEB), and blood serum concentrations of glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) were measured throughout first lactation in 497 Holstein cows raised on a large commercial farm in northern Greece. All these traits are considered to be indicators of a cow's energy balance. An ...

BACKGROUND This systematic review was performed to summarize the current evidence for whole body vibration (WBV) interventions on postural control in elderly. METHODS English and German language papers in Medline, PEDro, Cinahl and the Cochrane databases were searched. Two reviewers extracted data on patients' characteristics, type of WBV intervention and outcomes. Two independent reviewers r...

BACKGROUND To assess balance in single-limb stance, center of pressure movements can be registered by stabilometry with force platforms. This can be used for evaluation of injuries to the lower extremities. It is important to ensure that the assessment tools we use in the clinical setting and in research have minimal measurement error. Previous studies have shown that the ability to maintain st...

In this paper, a color image watermarking algorithm based on Redundant Discrete Wavelet Transform (RDWT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is proposed. The new algorithm selects blue component of a color image to carry the watermark information since the Human Visual System (HVS) is least sensitive to it. To increase the robustness especially towards affine attacks, RDWT is adopted for its...