| 1. |
- Aasa, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
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Muscle strength assessment from functional performance tests : role of body size
- 2003
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Ingår i: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. - 1064-8011 .- 1533-4287. ; 17:4, s. 664-670
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that the body size plays an important role in assessment of muscle ability to exert force by standard functional performance tests. Twenty-one male students were tested on maximal isometric lift, one leg rising, vertical jump, and box lift tests, and the maximal isokinetic strength of hip and knee extensors was also recorded. When indices of the 4 functional performance tests were related to the strength of each of the 2 leg extensor muscle groups, only maximal isometric lift demonstrated positive correlation with knee extensors strength. When muscle strength was corrected for body mass, however, the aforementioned relationship became insignificant, but the 1 leg rising performance demonstrated a positive relationship with knee extensor strength. In addition, maximal isometric lift and 1 leg rising test performance provided positive and negative correlation, respectively, with body mass. The obtained findings were in line with the effects of scale applied on the tested performance. We generally conclude that the assessment of muscle capability to exert force based on some standard functional performance tests could be confounded by the body size effect.
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| 2. |
- Jaric, I, et al.
(författare)
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The rearing environment persistently modulates mouse phenotypes from the molecular to the behavioural level
- 2022
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Ingår i: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1545-7885. ; 20:10, s. e3001837-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between animal facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multicentre study, whereby inbred C57BL/6J mice from a single breeding cohort were allocated to and reared in 5 different animal facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of the rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that environmental variation among animal facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organisation. We detected changes in chromatin organisation in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between animal facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and thus argue that study designs should take environmental background into account to increase the robustness and replicability of findings.
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| 3. |
- Lennox, Robert J., et al.
(författare)
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Electronic tagging and tracking aquatic animals to understand a world increasingly shaped by a changing climate and extreme weather events
- 2024
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Ingår i: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. - 0706-652X .- 1205-7533. ; 81:3, s. 326-339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite great promise for understanding the impacts and extent of climate change and extreme weather events on aquatic animals, their species, and ecological communities, it is surprising that electronic tagging and tracking tools, like biotelemetry and biologging, have not been extensively used to understand climate change or develop and evaluate potential interventions that may help adapt to its impacts. In this review, we provide an overview of methodologies and study designs that leverage available electronic tracking tools to investigate aspects of climate change and extreme weather events in aquatic ecosystems. Key interventions to protect aquatic life from the impacts of climate change, including habitat restoration, protected areas, conservation translocations, mitigations against interactive effects of climate change, and simulation of future scenarios, can all be greatly facilitated by using electronic tagging and tracking. We anticipate that adopting animal tracking to identify phenotypes, species, or ecosystems that are vulnerable or resilient to climate change will help in applying management interventions such as fisheries management, habitat restoration, invasive species control, or enhancement measures that prevent extinction and strengthen the resilience of communities against the most damaging effects of climate change. Given the scalability and increasing accessibility of animal tracking tools for researchers, tracking individual organisms will hopefully also facilitate research into effective solutions and interventions against the most extreme and acute impacts on species, populations, and ecosystems.
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| 4. |
- Michaelson, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Vertical posture and head stability in patients with chronic neck pain.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. - : Medical Journals Sweden AB. - 1650-1977 .- 1651-2081. ; 35:5, s. 229-235
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To evaluate postural performance and head stabilization of patients with chronic neck pain. DESIGN: A single-blind comparative group study. SUBJECTS: Patients with work-related chronic neck pain (n = 9), with chronic whiplash associated disorders (n = 9) and healthy subjects (n = 16). METHODS: During quiet standing in different conditions (e.g. 1 and 2 feet standing, tandem standing, and open and closed eyes) the sway areas and the ability to maintain the postures were measured. The maximal peak-to-peak displacement of the centre of pressure and the head translation were analysed during predictable and unpredictable postural perturbations. RESULTS: Patients with chronic neck pain, in particular those with whiplash-associated disorders, showed larger sway areas and reduced ability to successfully execute more challenging balance tasks. They also displayed larger sway areas and reduced head stability during perturbations. CONCLUSION: The results show that disturbances of postural control in chronic neck pain are dependent on the aetiology, and that it is possible to quantify characteristic postural disturbances in different neck pain conditions. It is suggested that the dissimilarities in postural performance are a reflection of different degrees of disturbances of the proprioceptive input to the central nervous system and/or of the central processing of such input.
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| 5. |
- Sjölander, P, et al.
(författare)
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Sensorimotor disturbances in chronic neck pain - range of motion, peak velocity, smoothness of movement, and repositioning acuity.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Manual Therapy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1356-689X .- 1532-2769. ; 13:2, s. 122-131
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate sensorimotor functions in patients with chronic neck pain with objective and quantitative methods. A group of 16 patients with chronic idiopathic neck pain of insidious onset or whiplash associated disorders (WAD) was compared to an equally sized group of healthy subjects. Kinematics were investigated during voluntary head rotations by measuring range of motion, variability of range of motion (ROM-Variability), peak velocity, and smoothness of movement (jerk index). Repositioning acuity after cervical rotations was evaluated by analysing constant and variable error (VE). In comparison to the healthy subjects, the patients showed significantly larger jerk index, ROM-Variability and VE. No statistically significant differences were found between insidious neck pain and WAD. It is concluded that jerky and irregular cervical movements and poor position sense acuity are characteristic sensorimotor symptoms in chronic neck pain. The observed individuality in sensorimotor disturbances emphasizes the importance of developing specific rehabilitation programs for specific dysfunctions, and of using objective and quantitative methods for evaluation of rehabilitation.
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| 6. |
- Voelkl, Bernhard, et al.
(författare)
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Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Reviews Neuroscience. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1471-003X .- 1471-0048. ; 21, s. 384-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this Perspective, Hanno Wurbel and colleagues argue that a disregard for incorporating biological variation in study design is an important cause of poor reproducibility in animal research. They put the case for the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions in studies to improve reproducibility.Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms' responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.
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| 7. |
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