User:Tatri Mukherjee/sandbox

WWW: Writing, Wikipedia, and Wizardry in Scientific Communication is a course in the Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy PhD program at the University of Southern California. The goal of the course is to introduce students to fundamentals of scientific writing, in the practical context of developing scientific content for Wikipedia that enhances consolidation and accessibility of important results in the field of Kinesiology.

Introduction
Literature survey reveals that spinal stenosis is characterized by narrowing of the spinal canal, nerve root canal and/or intervertebral foramina resulting in neural tissue compression. The symptoms may include lower back pain, groin and leg weakness or numbness. Neurogenic claudication is a symptom that is not reported by all patients. This when present, is experienced as pain, paresthesia or cramping of one or both legs. Standing and walking aggravates symptoms while sitting relieves symptoms. The impact of above symptoms varies depending on the individual and may potentially guide treatment to operative or non-operative intervention. The selection of treatment grossly depends on patients’ symptoms as there is still insufficient evidence to compare non-surgical and surgical treatments. The goals of the treatment are pain relief and improvement in daily activities. Non-operative treatment is generally accepted to be the first step for the treatment of lumbar stenosis. Insufficient data is available for treatment in the public domain to support an evidence-based rehabilitation strategy. In addition, the available studies do not describe adequately the employed protocols. According to Atlas and Delitto the reason for that is not lack of research, but the unclear therapeutic protocols in the available studies. Furthermore, methodological weaknesses prevent research studies. Still, recommendations in non-operative treatment are based on expert opinion rather than primary research .With the above background, the objective of the study was to confirm the effectiveness of medications, flexion exercises, custom made belt, lumbar traction and minor life style modifications in subjects with lumbar stenosis.

Subject characteristics
In a study duration of one month and sample size of eight ;subjects were selected randomly in AMRI clinic, Department of Physical Medicine and rehabilitation. The materials used were lumbar belt, lumbar traction and Visual Analogue Scale.Inclusion criteria were subjects of either gender with lumbar stenosis and age ≥ 18 yrs.Exclusion criteria were traumatic spinal cord injuries,severe and highly irritable pain presentations,history of infections /malignancies/ polyarthritis and history of myelopathies (bowel and bladder involvement). The outcomes measures were VAS and number of steps walked

Procedure
A questionnaire was prepared comprising following parameters:- a)	Name, age , weight , sex , address , phone number, occupation , lifestyle b)	Primary complain , aggravating factor , relieving factor, clinical features including (Inspection , palpation , spinal range of motion and examination of motor  , sensory , reflex,  radiological  and assessment of pain , ROM , SLR, radicular symptoms , distance walked after which pain starts . All these were recorded for the participants. c)	The above were done by the renowned Practitioner of Physical Medicine Dr Kamal Sinha of AMRI Hospital Kolkata. d)	They were assessed on their first day of visit to AMRI clinic. The clinical features and other clinical assessments were noted from Dr Kamal Sinha’s prescription. e)	 Pain as graded according to VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) and distance walked after which pain starts were noted down separately pre treatment and 1 month post treatment. f)	 In this period of 1 month, participants were given home based treatment which included medications, flexion spinal exercises, traction if required, custom made belt and slight lifestyle modification after which pain and distance walked after which pain starts were noted again at 1 month.

Results
This study was to investigate the combined effect of medication, custom-made lumbar brace, flexion spinal exercise and traction in subjects with low back aches with lumbar stenosis. The result of the study (with 8 subjects who responded) clearly indicated the following:- 1.	90% of the subjects improved on the number of steps walked(7 out of 8) 2.	50% of the subjects reported improvement in pain (4 out of 8) 3.	25% of the subjects reported complete reduction of radicular symptom. For others there was suggestions of improvement but not complete reduction

Conclusions
With above background it is concluded that the above treatment is very effective.Scope of further studies: though the above conclusion is established based on convenient sampling method. In order to establish the conclusions with a level of confidence the study can be taken forward with more samples size say at least 30)

Background
My name is Tatri mukherjee. I am from India. I have completed my Bachelors of Physiotherapy from Manipal College of Allied Health Science, India. It is a four and a half years course, including a six months compulsory rotatory internship in Kasturba Hospital, Manipal , India.

Research interest
I have just joined USC for MS in Biokinesiology and will be exploring all the labs, which will eventually help me understand my area of research interests. So for the time being my approach is pretty general and I am open to any new idea or concept in Biokinesiology that comes my way.

Goals for the course
My goal is to learn how research is conducted, so that in future during my clinical practice if I have any doubts or questions regarding a particular condition or treatment method, which science doesn't have an answer for, I can conduct my own research and share it with other professionals.It is easy said than done because conducting research is a skill and an art which needs to be learnt over a period of time. I feel conducting systematic and quality research will help me become a better professional and allow me to do justice to my clients in the hospital,in future.

ASSIGNMENT 2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Topic: Assistive device - clinical practice

Pages of interest: Mobility aids,Orthosis,Prosthesis,Wheelchairs,Spinal cord injury,Multiple Sclerosis,Cerebral palsy,Pressure sore,iBOT

Assistive devices are commonly used in clinical practice and rehabilitation, to enable individuals with disabilities to perform their Activities of Daily Living/ADL efficiently and independently. Assistive devices include mobility aids(canes, crutches, walkers etc). orthosis,prosthesis,wheelchairs etc. It is commonly used by individuals suffering from Spinal cord injury,multiple sclerosis,cerebral palsy.With advanced technology, simple assistive device are being replaced by more complex ones. For example, a manual wheelchair by a powered wheel chair. A powered wheelchair increases the efficiency and decreases the energy expenditure of patients,thereby reducing fatigue. Also certain powered wheelchair allow pressure shifting,thereby reducing chances of pressure sores .iBOT is a specialized powered wheelchair which helps individuals to ascend and descend stairs by grasping the railing or using minimal assistance. It also helps in maintaining balance during various maneuver's as it's custom software uses sensors and gyroscope to receive data.It can also rise up to a certain height from the ground. Individuals can use the iBOT in different terrains which includes water up to 3 inch deep, gravel, sand and snow

ASSIGNMENT 3
My topic of research is spinal cord injury which was given to us based on our area of interest by Dr Kutch. I started my research process by first going to Web of Knowledge through USC library.Here I typed in spinal cord injuries as my search topic. There were a total of 41920 articles available. But there was no citation report. So I started analyzing my data. Web of knowledge also allows users to refine their search, depending on their area of interest. But I didn't want to refine my data analysis as I wanted to learn about the diversity of research happening in spinal cord injury. All the data analysis in this site come with record count, percentage of total research papers, bar charts and an option to save the data and analyze them by constructing charts.

I first analyzed the data available in the field of research area.I sorted them by research field option, for the top 25 countries. On clicking the analyze option, I noticed that neuroscience neurology topped the list with a record count of 21660( 51.67% ) .Neuroscience neurology was followed by rehabilitation and surgery with record count of 6275( 14.969% ) and 3994( 9.528% ).When research field area was sorted by selected areas, General Internal Medicine topped the list with a record count of 3323(7.927%). This was followed by Biochemistry molecular biology( 4.635% ), Cell Biology( 4.229% ), Engineering( 3.624% )and Anesthesiology( 3.275% ). After research fields, I analyzed the trend of publications per year.Articles published in the past 25 years showed a gradual increase from 198 records ( 0.472% ) in 1987 to 3417 records( 8.151% ) in 2012. I also noticed that 50 years back, approximately 12 articles were published each year, until early 1970s, after which there was a significant increase in the number of research articles published per years. Though more than 50 countries have been involved in spinal cord injures, United States has topped the list with 46% research articles published on spinal cord injuries.US is followed by Canada( 8% ), Japan( 6.55% ) and England( 6.481% ). About 97.741% of the research papers have been published in English.Papers have been published in other languages also for example: German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish, but their record count have been low. The main funding agency until 2012 was NIH, providing 1.505% of the total funds and a record count of 631 research papers. NIH is followed by National Institute of Health Science with record count of 582( 1.388% ) and Canadian Institute of Health Science Research with record count of 389( 0.928% ).Among organizations involved with spinal cord injuries research, University of Toronto topped the list with a a record count of 807( 1.925% ). Interestingly, for spinal cord injuries, USC has a record count of 239 ( 0.575% ) research articles published in spinal cord injuries. Also, the most common source title, when data was sorted by research area is Spinal Cord Archives of Physical Medicine and when sorted by selected field, 11th European Congress of Neurology was the most common title.

Assignment 5
I propose to contribute to the kinesiology page by learning and adding more information in the following two subsections- History and the various scientific and professional organizations of Kinesiology around the world. In the paragraphs below I have discussed about how I would want to contribute to these subsections.

Humans have been interested in diversity of movements before the development of science and technology. Since I am from India, I want to learn more about how ancient Indians began showing interest toward human movement. Dance, which is a combination of complex movements, has been an important part of Indian society since the Harappa and Mohenjadaro civilizations. These are some of the ancient civilizations in the world - ruins of which were excavated in India. Archaeologist have found many portraits and statues where dancers had attained a variety of interesting postures. It clearly shows that humans have been interested in complex movements since the early 26th century B.C.. Also, Yoga, which is the most common form of exercise and relaxation in the 21st century, originated in India. Yoga was developed by saints in ancient India. It is a form of exercise which involves complex movements. The purpose of yoga is to cure various ailments and provide peace of mind. Through yoga ancient India started studying the science of human movement. Interestingly Kung fu, Karate, Ju Jistshu and other martial art forms have evolved from yoga. I feel that research in this area will add value to the "History" subsection of the Kinesiology page.

In 21st century, with the development of science and technology, there has been an expansion in kinesiology research. I want to learn more about the various scientific and professional organizations associated with kinesiology. I am interested in these organizations because members of these groups are encouraging others to learn more about kinesiology through their research. Some of the well established kinesiology organizations around the world are American Kinesiology Association (USA), Australian Kinesiology Association (Australia), Ontoria Kinesiology Association (Canada)and UK Kinesiology Federation(UK). I feel it will be interesting to learn more about the number of universities offering courses in kinesiology, number of articles published per year in these countries, evolving research areas, available career options in the field of kinesiology, number of members in these associations, the events organized by these associations and their contributions to society. The data compiled during the research can be presented as a bar-graph, histogram, pie chart or simple line curve along x- and y-axes. In my opinion, sharing this information with people around the world will help better their understanding of the field of kinesiology.

Assignment 6
The 1980s and 1990s was a period defined by many “firsts” in the department, which are still reflected upon as important milestones to date. The first Ph.D. in Physical Therapy was awarded to Mary Beth Brown in 1984. In 1989, an independent faculty practice, USC Physical Therapy Associates, was established with Rob Landel as director. The department changed its name to the Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy in 1993 to reflect its expanding research mission. Eighty-four students were admitted to the first entry-level D.P.T class in 1995 and graduated three years later. In 1996, 15 graduates were awarded the first post-professional D.P.T. degrees from USC. After 23 years of service as department chair, Helen Hislop stepped down in 1998 and Sandra Howell was named acting Chair in her place. This same year, the inaugural class of two residents was admitted to the Orthopedic Physical Therapy residency program at USC, the first academically based residency in the U.S.

Assignment 7
See User:Sporozc09/sandbox Assignment #7

Assignment 8
User:Plin7/sandbox Exercise is a key principle of kinesiology that helps to improve fitness in athletes and health and wellness in clinical populations. Exercise is a simple and established intervention for musculoskeletal conditions due to the neuroplasticity of the brain (ref). Therapeutic exercise has been shown to change motor control and motor capabilities in both normal and pathological populations (ref).

There are many different types of exercise interventions that can be applied in kinesiology to athletic, normal, and clinical populations. Aerobic interventions help to improve cardiovascular endurance (ref). Anaerobic strength training programs can increase muscular strength, power, and lean body mass (ref). Decreased risk of falls and increased neuromuscular control can be attributed to balance intervention programs (ref). Flexibility programs can increases functional range of motion, which reduces the risk of injury (ref).

As a whole, these exercise programs can reduce symptoms of depression (ref) and risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (ref). Additionally, they can help to improve quality of life (ref), immune system function (ref), and body composition (ref).