The automated pegboard (APB 2000), which has been found to objectively quantify motor performance, was used to differentiate maximal motor performane among subjects with shoulder pain, healthy unimpaired subjects performing normally and also while feigning shoulder pain.  Six participants with shoulder pain and 15 healthy unimpaired individuals particdipated.  Individuals with shoulder pain were tested on the APB 2000 using their affected upper extremity.  Unimpaired participants were instructed to perform normally on the test with randomly selected upper extremity and to feign shoulder pain with the other upper extremity.  The two tests for the unimpaired participants were conducted 1 week apart.  There were significant differences in mean performance time for normal, patient, and feigned performance, with 80, 111 and 149 sec for the three groups respectively (p<0.0005).  There was also considerable overlap in the three distributions of performance times.  These preliminhary findings suggest that the APB 2000 is able to distinguish performance time between theses three groups.  Whether it can be used to distinguish between maximal performance and submaximal performance in individuals suspected of submaximal performance requires further study.

Background. Evidence that suggests a diet high in fruits and vegetables may be beneficial to bone health has sparked interest in the potential benefit of a vegetarian diet in this regard. However, other studies have raised a question regarding the adequacy of protein in such a diet Objective. The aim of this study was to take a whole foods approach in examining the effects of foods high in protein on the risk of a wrist fracture (WF) in a cohort with a significant proportion consuming a meat free diet. Design. A cohort of 1865 peri and postmenopausal women completed two lifestyle questionnaires 25 years apart. The first questionnaire contained 65 food frequency items. The second captured occurrence of low trauma fractures during the intervening 25 years. Results. Higher cheese consumption more than 3x/week was associated with a decreased risk of WF (hazard ratio (HR)=.43 (95% CI 0.18-.98) in multivariable adjusted analysis. There was also a significant interaction between meat consumption and foods high in vegetable protein. For subjects consuming a meat free diet, increasing levels of plant based high protein foods decreased risk of WF. For those consuming meat, the effect of increasing meat consumption was variable, depending on vegetable protein foods consumption. Conclusions. Among vegetarians increased intake of foods high in vegetable protein (beans, nuts, and vegetarian meat analogs) suggests the importance of adequate levels of high protein foods in the diet. The mechanism for the interaction between meat and vegetable protein foods is unknown and requires further research.

Background: Circulation plays a vital role in tissue healing. Increases in muscle fl exibility and strength, secretion of hormones important in the regeneration and repair process, blood fl ow, and strength of bone tissues has been attributed to whole body vibration (WBV) combined with exercise. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of short-duration, high-intensity, isometric weight bearing exercise (vibration exercise [VE]) and vibration only on skin blood fl ow (SBF). Material/Methods: Forty-fi ve subjects 18?43 years of age were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1 ? VE, Group 2 ? exercise only, and Group 3 ? vibration only. SBF was measured using a laser Doppler imager at three time intervals: 1) initial base line, 2) immediately following intervention, and 3) 10-minutes following intervention. Results: There was no signifi cant difference between the three groups? SBF prior to intervention. Immediately following the intervention a difference among groups was found. Post hoc testing revealed that Group 3 subjects? mean SBF was signifi cantly increased at both post-intervention time intervals. Conclusions: The study fi ndings suggest that short duration vibration alone signifi cantly increases SBF; doubling mean SBF for a minimum of 10 minutes following intervention. The emerging therapeutic modality of WBV as a passive intervention appears to increase SBF in individuals with healthy microcirculation

Abstract: Recent studies have suggested that a high level of recent physical activity increases the risk of a wrist fracture in postmenopausal women. The relationship of more distant past physical activity to wrist fracture is less clear, and most studies have relied on recall of physical activity much earlier in life. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of wrist fracture in a subset of women who had completed a recent questionnaire and also had participated in a cohort study 25 years earlier. 1865 women who were peri and postmenopausal women in 1976, completed the 1976 and 2002 Adventist Health Study lifestyle questionnaires. Data on risk factors including physical activity were collected from the 1976 survey. Subjects reported wrist fractures occurring since baseline, and the approximate time of fracture, in the 2002 questionnaire. Incidence of wrist fracture was 3.7/1000 person years of follow up. There was a dose response inverse relationship between level of physical activity and wrist fracture with a 37% reduction of risk for the highest level of physical activity with respect to the lowest level (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.45, 0.89). The effect of physical activity changed little in the final multivariable model (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.43, 0.87). In this cohort of women with relatively low incidence of wrist fracture, higher levels of physical activity at baseline was protective against risk of fracture over 25 years of follow-up.

Objectives: THe purpose of this study was to evaluate the immediate effect of soft tissue mobilization (STM) with proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) to increase glenohumeral external rotation at least 45 degrees of shoulder abduction and overhead reach. Methods and Measures: Twenty patients (10 males, 10 females; age range, 21-83 years) with limited glenohumeral external rotation and overhead reach of 1 year duration or less served as subjects. THe subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment group, which consisted of soft tissue mobilization to the subscapularis and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation to the shoulder rotators, or a control group. Goniometric measurements of glenohumeral external rotation at 45 degrees abduction and overhead reach were taken preintervention and immediately postintervention for the treatment group or at prerest and postrest periods for the control group. Results: The treatment group improved by a mean of 16.4 degrees (95% CI 12.5-203 degrees) of glenohumeral external rotation, as compared to less than a 1 degree gain (95% CI -.02-2.0 degrees) in the control group (p