Regulatory Taking: A Contract Approach

This Article begins by defining the parameters of the fifth amendment\u27s taking clause. The Article then reviews the various tests used in determining whether governmental action constitutes a taking, and discusses the recent Supreme Court decisions within the framework of case law as it has evolved since the Court\u27s 1922 landmark decision, Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon. Finally, the Article suggests a formula based on well-established contract principles for analyzing the impact of land use regulation on private property interests

Children and adolescents with chronic pain: parental factors, functioning, and neurodevelopmental comorbidity

Background: Pediatric chronic pain affects between 11 and 38% of all children. Although pain may result from injury or disease, the cause of chronic pain is commonly unclear. The interaction between biological, psychological, and social aspects has been emphasized as key to the understanding of the chronic pain experience, as well as risk and resilience factors. Pediatric chronic pain may result in significant impairment affecting both child and family functioning, and addressing family factors such as parental distress and protective behaviors, are generally considered important to pediatric chronic pain management. However, there is still a need to identify resilience factors that can be targeted in parental support programs, and to develop and evaluate effective parent support interventions. The complexity of the pain experience in pediatric chronic pain is well known with a large number of patients suffering from co-occurring disorders such as depression or insomnia. However, despite a considerable number of clinical observations suggesting an elevated prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among children with chronic pain, and similarities in terms of clinical correlates, the empirical support has been scarce. More research on the co-occurrence of pediatric chronic pain, ADHD, and ASD, including relationships with functioning, is therefore warranted. Purpose and aims: The purpose of the present research project was to identify and assess parental and child factors of importance for functioning and treatment effects in pediatric chronic pain. More specifically, the aims of the project were to: validate an instrument for parental psychological flexibility (Study I); evaluate the effects of a brief parental ACTintervention on parent outcomes (Study II); assess the prevalence of clinically significant traits and symptoms of ASD and ADHD in children, and relations to pain- and demographic variables (Study III); and, to explore the relationships between traits and symptoms of ASD and ADHD, functioning, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (Study IV). Methods: In Study 1, utilizing a cross-sectional design, the Parent Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (PPFQ) was translated and psychometrically evaluated in a sample of parents (n=263) of children with chronic pain using principal component analysis (PCA), correlation and regression analyses, and analysis of internal consistency. In Study II, the effects of individual and group ACT-interventions for adolescents (n=48) with chronic pain, and a brief support program for their parents (n=28), were evaluated using a randomized (group/individual) uncontrolled pilot design and non-parametric analyses of differences between groups and over time. In Study III, the prevalence of clinically significant ASD-traits and ADHD-symptoms was evaluated in a descriptive cross-sectional study on children with chronic pain (n=146) and their parents (n=146). Differences in painand demographic variables between children below and above cutoff for clinically significant traits and symptoms of ADHD or ASD were also assessed. Study IV, using the same sample as Study III, examined the relationships between ASD-traits and ADHDsymptoms, functioning (depression and pain interference), and HRQoL in correlation- and regression analyses and with independent t-tests, and assessed the indirect effects of insomnia and psychological inflexibility on the relationships between ASD-traits or ADHD-symptoms as predictors and functioning and HRQoL as dependents. Results: In Study 1, results supported a three-factor solution for the PPFQ with 10 items (PPFQ-10), showing good internal consistency and explaining a significant amount of variance in the criteria variables anxiety (29%) and depression (35.6%). In Study II, significant improvements in parental pain reactivity and psychological flexibility were found with clinically significant changes in the direction of better functioning for 54-76% of parents, with no differences between individual and group formats. In Study III, 13.7% of the sample presented with clinically significant ASD-traits and 19.9% of the sample presented with clinically significant ADHD-symptoms. The combined prevalence of clinically significant ASD/ADHD-traits and symptoms was 26%. Children with clinically significant ASD-traits were more likely to be girls and clinically significant ADHDsymptoms showed no gender differences. In Study IV, children with clinically significant ASD-traits and ADHD-symptoms presented with significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and pain interference, and significantly lower HRQoL, compared to the rest of the sample. ASD-traits and ADHD-symptoms explained a significant amount of variance in pain interference and depressive symptoms, as well as in HRQoL. Psychological inflexibility was shown to mediate the influence of both ADHD-symptoms and ASD-traits, and insomnia the effect of ADHD-symptoms, on depression, pain interference, and HRQoL. Conclusions: Although tentative, the results suggests the utility of addressing parental psychological flexibility in relation to pediatric chronic pain. However, more research is warranted and future studies should e.g. evaluate the predictive utility of the PPFQ for child treatment outcomes, and evaluate if parental support programs that increase parental psychological flexibility also have positive effects on the children. Also, the results provide empirical support regarding elevated levels of clinically significant ADHD-symptoms and ASD-traits in pediatric chronic pain, and illustrate significant relationships between such traits and symptoms and functioning in children. Children with debilitating chronic pain, particularly girls, may be at risk for having a comorbid, and possibly undetected highfunctioning neurodevelopmental disorder. Results thus suggest the utility of screening for neurodevelopmental disorders in children with chronic pain, and may indicate insomnia, and psychological flexibility as potential treatment targets to improve functioning and HRQoL. The results also warrant further research to e.g. validate these findings in larger studies, evaluate the utility of tailored interventions, and examine the shared neuropathophysiology of chronic pain and neurodevelopmental disorders, including dopamine function and sensory abnormalities

The paradox of the binomial Ixodes ricinus activity and the observed unimodal Lyme borreliosis season in Hungary

The change of ambient temperature plays a key role in determining the run of the annual Lyme season. Our aim was to explain the apparent contradiction between the annual unimodal Lyme borreliosis incidence and the bimodal Ixodes ricinus tick activity run – both observed in Hungary – by distinguishing the temperaturedependent seasonal human and tick activity, the temperature-independent factors, and the multiplicative effect of human outdoor activity in summer holiday, using data from Hungary in the period of 1998–2012. This separation was verified by modeling the Lyme incidence based on the separated factors, and comparing the run of the observed and modeled incidence. We demonstrated the bimodality of tick season by using the originally unimodal Lyme incidence data. To model the outdoor human activity, the amount of camping guest nights was used, which showed an irregular run from mid-June to September. The human outdoor activity showed a similar exponential correlation with ambient temperature to that what the relative incidence did. It was proved that summer holiday has great influence on Lyme incidence

EFFECTS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON INDIVIDULAS WITH DOWN SYNDROME VIA TELEREHABILITATION

BACKGROUND: Most of the children and adolescents with Down’s syndrome (DS) have poor aerobic capacity, physical fitness and demonstrate diminished cognitive abilities. Recent studies suggest that increased physical activity may prove to be important for maintaining components of cognition, including memory along with physical fitness. In addition, there is interest among practitioners in determining the efficacy of virtual exercise classes, which can be more convenient for clients. However, it is unknown whether group exercise classes delivered over videoconferencing achieve desired outcomes—particularly in special populations such as those with DS. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise practiced over video conferencing on physical fitness and cognition in individuals with DS METHOD: A pilot study was carried out with 5 individuals having DS. 10 weeks of an aerobic exercise protocol of moderate intensity was delivered via videoconferencing. Before and after the 10-week intervention, VO2max was estimated using a previously established method, and cognitive ability was assessed using a 61-item questionnaire. RESULT: Following the 10-week intervention, significant increases were noted for both aerobic fitness as well as cognitive abilities CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercises will help to maintain or improve physical fitness in individuals with DS. Perhaps more importantly, it is also apparent that aerobic exercise positively affects cognitive function as well. Videoconferencing is an effective platform for delivering aerobic exercise prescriptions in cases where in-person practice is not possible. Future work is needed to determine whether these outcomes are achieved with a larger sample and across a broader population of those with DS

Herpesvirus-Associated Acute Urticaria: An Age Matched Case-Control Study

Background Acute and recurrent acute urticaria are often associated with multiple factors including infections and recent data suggest a role for herpesviruses. Objective To test the null hypothesis, that is, there is no association of herpesvirus infections with urticaria. Methods Thirty-seven patients between one month and 15 years of age were age matched to 37 controls who were healthy or had mild acute respiratory infections but without urticaria. Patients and controls were followed for 1 to 6 years. Diagnostic studies included DNA detection by real-time PCR for herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6). Tests for other infections included adenovirus, parvovirus B 19, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A, Group A streptococci, rotavirus, and parasites. Results Specific infections were diagnosed in 26 of 37 cases and among 9 of 37 control children (P=0.0002). Single or concomitant herpesvirus infections occurred in 24 cases and in 4 controls (65% vs 11 %, p=0.0003). Cases had 10 HHV-6 infections, 8 CMV infections, 5 EBV infections, and 4 HSV-1 infections. Conclusion Herpesvirus infections are associated with acute or recurrent acute urticaria

Contextual Interference During Adaptation To Asymmetric Split-Belt Treadmill Walking Results In Transfer Of Unique Gait Mechanics

When humans make errors in stepping during walking due to a perturbation, they may adapt their gait as a way to correct for discrepancies between predicted and actual sensory feedback. This study sought to determine if increased contextual interference during acquisition of a novel asymmetric gait pattern would change lower-limb mechanical strategies generalized to different walking contexts. Such knowledge could help to clarify the role of contextual interference in locomotor adaptation, and demonstrate potential use in future gait rehabilitation paradigms. One belt on a split-belt treadmill was driven at a constant velocity while the other was driven at changing velocities according to one of three practice paradigms: serial, random blocked, or random training. Subjects returned to complete one of two different transfer tests. Results indicate that during acquisition, random practice requires unique gait mechanics to adapt to a challenging walking environment. Also, results from one transfer test close to that of the acquisition experience did not seem to demonstrate any contextual interference effect. Finally, random blocked practice resulted in highly unique changes in step length symmetry on a second, more challenging, transfer test. This perhaps indicates that a moderate level of contextual interference causes unique locomotor generalization strategies.Biology Open 6, 1919-1948. (2017)2046-639

Make Reading Fun: Implications of Virtual Reality on Standing Balance and Control

The recent rapid expansion of virtual reality (VR) technology is driving a widespread number of new applications, including providing immersive environments for users to learn and read through commercially-available applications. However, recent research has shown that VR causes symptoms of dizziness and motion sickness, which could disrupt users gait and balance. Thus, it is important to understand how to best mitigate these effects before VR use becomes more widespread across the lay public. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the acute effect of VR use on gait and balance control following use, and whether aspects of virtual environment design can mitigate negative effects.. METHODS: 60 young, healthy participants read a short story for 45 minutes while immersed in VR.They were randomly assigned to read in one of three environments: 1) a cluttered library, 2) a bright snowy landscape and 3) a dark outer space scene. These environments were selected due to their differences in visual clutter and lighting–VR design considerations which have been shown in previous work to influence visual fatigue and motion sickness. Prior to and following VR use, participants completed three standing balance tasks(standing balance, eyes open; standing balance, eyes closed and single leg stance) and two gait tasks (tandem walking and regular gait). While completing these tasks, kinematic and ground reaction force data were collected from an 8-camera 3D motion capture system and two force plates in order to assess changes in gait and balance kinematics and kinetics. RESULTS: Preliminary results (n = 12) indicate that those who read in the dark outer space environment demonstrated diminished balance control, as evidenced in an increase in center of pressure velocity during single leg balance. CONCLUSION: This finding indicates that the type of virtual environment a person is immersed in can affect their sense of balance following use. Specific to the dark outer space environment, it is possible the lack of visual anchors (i.e., nothing for them to focus on) lead to visual fatigue and downstream balance effects. Additional data analysis will help to elucidate these findings, which could lend insight to the role of virtual environment design on the user experience

Parkinson’s Ambulation Cueing Expedition: The Effects of Vocalization on Parkinsonian Gait

Impaired gait is detrimental to the overall quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Characteristic shuffling and freezing gait patterns can be ameliorated through auditory cueing methods. Internal mental singing is more effective than external cueing methods such as singing aloud. The absence of small laryngeal vibrations could be the reasoning behind these improvements. PURPOSE: This feasibility study aimed to determine whether humming or whispering is a more effective cueing method for improving Parkinsonian gait and extrapolate the effects of the vocal cords on PD gait. METHODS: Participants walked 28m under four randomized cueing conditions: no cues, mental singing, humming, and whispering. Cued trials were performed to a 100bpm instrumental version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. Participants were equipped with IMUs to determine cadence, velocity, stride length, and gait variability. RESULTS: Preliminary results indicate that the mental singing condition elicited the fastest velocity and lowest variability in cadence stride length compared to all cueing conditions. Humming trials improved velocity and stride length more than whispering trials. On the contrary, whispering conditions elicited more consistent cadences than humming conditions. CONCLUSION: Singing out loud might be detrimental to Parkinsonian gait. The presence of laryngeal vibrations is conducive for more consistent velocity and stride length patterns in people with PD. Thus, humming as a cue might be preferable to whispering for improving PD gait. Future research should directly measure laryngeal vibrations. Understanding the effects of vocalization on Parkinsonian gait could help people with PD traverse the world more easily with free and accessible self-cueing