PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New tool enhances view of muscles

2012-01-25
(Press-News.org) Simon Fraser University associate professor James Wakeling is adding to the arsenal of increasingly sophisticated medical imaging tools with a new signal-processing method for viewing muscle activation details that have never been seen before.

Fascinated with the mechanics of muscle movement in people and animals, Wakeling has developed a novel method using ultrasound imaging, 3D motion-capture technology and proprietary data-processing software to scan and capture 3D maps of the muscle structure — in just 90 seconds.

It's a medical-imaging breakthrough because previous methods took 15 minutes to do the job—far too long to ask people to hold a muscle contraction.

The key to the breakthrough is the way the software processes the data, says Wakeling, who teaches in SFU's department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology. He developed the software with graduate student Manku Rana.

"Now, we can get people to do muscle contractions and we can actually see how the internal structure of the muscle changes," he says.

Wakeling's goal is to improve the muscle models used in musculoskeletal simulation software that predicts how people move and the forces on their joints.

Current packages are missing important information about muscle contraction, such as how the muscle shape changes, how it bulges, or how the internal muscle fibres become more curved—all details that Wakeling's technology can capture.

Wakeling hopes his research will ultimately lead to new software programs for predicting the outcome of orthopaedic surgeries such as tendon-transfers for treating conditions like cerebral palsy in children.

"We're poised to start making new observations and insights," he says, "and to do new experiments that haven't been possible before."

### Photos: http://at.sfu.ca/NilEGt


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Van Andel research institute study provides new details of fundamental cellular process

2012-01-25
Grand Rapids, Mich. – A recent Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) study published in the journal Science investigating the molecular structure and function of an essential plant hormone could profoundly change our understanding of a key cell process, and might ultimately lead to the development of new drugs for a variety of diseases. The study builds on earlier work by the same team of investigators at VARI that was published in the journal Nature in 2009. That study shed light on how plants respond when they are under stress from extreme temperatures, drought and other ...

Metadynamics technique offers insight into mineral growth and dissolution

2012-01-25
By using a novel technique to better understand mineral growth and dissolution, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving predictions of mineral reactions and laying the groundwork for applications ranging from keeping oil pipes clear to sequestering radium. The mineral barite was examined to understand mineral growth and dissolution generally, but also because it is the dominant scale-forming mineral that precipitates in oil pipelines and reservoirs in the North Sea. Oil companies use a variety of compounds to inhibit scale ...

Powerful people feel taller than they are

2012-01-25
After the huge 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the chairman of BP referred to the victims of the spill as the "small people." He explained it as awkward word choice by a non-native speaker of English, but the authors of a new paper published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, wondered if there was something real behind it. In their study, they found that people who feel powerful tend to overestimate their own height—they feel physically larger than they actually are. "Maybe there's a physical experience that goes along ...

To 'think outside the box,' think outside the box

2012-01-25
Want to think outside the box? Try actually thinking outside of a box. In a study to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers had students think up solutions to problems while acting out various metaphors about creative thinking and found that the instructions actually worked. The authors of the new paper were inspired by metaphors about creativity found in boardrooms to movie studios to scientific laboratories around the world and previous linkages established between mind and body. ...

Cognac Wellerlane Attends the Latino Show

2012-01-25
Long Island Exchange Columnist Cognac Wellerlane attended the Latino Show, an event uniting fashion with members of New York City's Latino community. The one-of-a-kind gathering attracted many celebrities and influential members of the fashion industry, such as established designers and models. One of the main goals of the event was to bring together residents from Colombia, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. Another goal for the event was to welcome the launch of the new Latino Show Magazine. Among those who attended was the manager of Blue Star Jets luxury aircrafts, ...

Taking moments to enjoy life helps patients make better health decisions

2012-01-25
NEW YORK -- The experience of daily positive affect -- a mild, happy feeling -- and self-affirmation helps some patients with chronic diseases, including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and asthma, make better decisions about their health. These findings are detailed in three studies of 756 patients published online in the Jan. 23 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine -- the first large, randomized controlled trials to show that people can use positive affect and self-affirmation to help them make and sustain behavior change. The research was funded ...

Working moms: Looking for more than a paycheck

2012-01-25
Louisville, AZ—Working mothers may be busy, but they like it that way. A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn't have to, but they're also looking for new ways to negotiate the demands of mothering and the pressures to be an "ideal" employee. Unlike earlier research, the study – published today in the February issue of Gender & Society – finds that many employed mothers emphasize the benefits they, and their children, receive from their paid work. Both married and single mothers said they found more fulfillment (and gained self confidence) ...

Team finds new way to image brain tumors and predict recurrence

Team finds new way to image brain tumors and predict recurrence
2012-01-25
After people with low-grade glioma, a type of brain cancer, undergo neurosurgery to remove the tumors, they face variable odds of survival — depending largely on how rapidly the cancer recurs. Even though their doctors monitor the tumor closely with sophisticated imaging, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether cancer has returned in a more malignant state that requires aggressive treatment. Now a team from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has developed methods to reveal a molecular marker in tissue samples from brain tumors that has been ...

Stanford aero-engineers debut open-source fluid dynamics design application

2012-01-25
Each fall at technical universities across the world, a new crop of aeronautical and astronautical engineering graduate students settle in for the work that will consume them for the next several years. For many, their first experience in these early months is not with titanium or aluminum or advanced carbon-fiber materials that are the stuff of airplanes, but with computer code. Thanks to a team of engineers in the Aerospace Design Lab at Stanford University, however, those days of coding may soon go the way of the biplane. At a recent demonstration, the Stanford team ...

Climatic warming-induced change in timings of 24 seasonal divisions in China since 1960

Climatic warming-induced change in timings of 24 seasonal divisions in China since 1960
2012-01-25
The Twenty-four Solar Terms are ancient Chinese terms used for about 2000 years. They describe 24 stages or timings associated with seasonal changes in phenology and agricultural activity throughout a year. Qian et al. from the Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for East Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences, quantitatively defined the somewhat 'astronomic' term for the first time, based on modern temperature records. This facilitated an investigation of changes in the climatic Solar Terms under global warming over the past half-century. Their results were based ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study links wind-blown dust from receding Salton Sea to reduced lung function in area children

Multidisciplinary study finds estrogen could aid in therapies for progressive multiple sclerosis

Final day of scientific sessions reveals critical insights for clinical practice at AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting and OTO EXPO

Social adversity and triple-negative breast cancer incidence among black women

Rapid vs standard induction to injectable extended-release buprenorphine

Galvanizing blood vessel cells to expand for organ transplantation

Common hospice medications linked to higher risk of death in people with dementia

SNU researchers develop innovative heating and cooling technology using ‘a single material’ to stay cool in summer and warm in winter without electricity

SNU researchers outline a roadmap for next-generation 2D semiconductor 'gate stack' technology

The fundamental traditional Chinese medicine constitution theory serves as a crucial basis for the development and application of food and medicine homology products

Outfoxed: New research reveals Australia’s rapid red fox invasion

SwRI’s Dr. Chris Thomas named AIAA Associate Fellow

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) funding for research on academic advising experiences of Division I Black/African American student-athletes at minority serving institutions

Johri developing artificial intelligence literacy among undergraduate engineering and technology students

Boston Children’s receives a $35 million donation to accelerate development of therapeutic options for children with brain disorders through the Rosamund Stone Zander and Hansjoerg Wyss Translational

Quantum crystals offer a blueprint for the future of computing and chemistry

Looking beyond speech recognition to evaluate cochlear implants

Tracking infectious disease spread via commuting pattern data

Underweight children cost the NHS as much per child as children with obesity, Oxford study finds.

Wetland plant-fungus combo cleans up ‘forever chemicals’ in a pilot study

Traditional Chinese medicine combined with peginterferon α-2b in chronic hepatitis B

APS and SPR honor Dr. Wendy K. Chung with the 2026 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award

The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) has launched the Variant Workbench

Yeast survives Martian conditions

Calcium could be key to solving stability issues in sodium-ion batteries

Can smoother surfaces prevent hydrogen embrittlement?

Heart rate changes predict depression treatment success with magnetic brain stimulation

Genetics pioneer transforms global depression research through multi-omics discoveries

MDMA psychiatric applications synthesized: Comprehensive review examines PTSD treatment and emerging therapeutic indications

Psychedelics offer new therapeutic framework for stress-related psychiatric disorders

[Press-News.org] New tool enhances view of muscles