A kinematic analysis of walking and physical fitness testing in elderly women.

Walking ability and physical fitness were assessed in 57 elderly Japanese women. Self-selected walking velocity at normal and fast speeds decreased markedly after age 60. The older age groups exhibited significant reductions in the lower limb joint displacements, due particularly to decreased angles at toe-off. The angular velocity of ankle plantarflexion during the stance phase declined markedly with age. A decrease in toe elevation during the swing phase and an increase in stance time in the process of aging suggested an increasing risk of stumbling over obstacles. Reductions in walking parameters with age correlated significantly with aspects of physical fitness tested, especially with items related to neuromuscular functions.

The mechanics of walking in children.

The work done at each step, during level walking at a constant average speed, to lift the centre of mass of the body, to accelerate it forward, and to increase the sum of both gravitational potential and kinetic energies, has been measured at various speeds on children of 2-12 years of age, with the same technique used previously for adults (Cavagna, 1975; Cavagna, Thys & Zamboni, 1976). The pendulum-like transfer between potential and kinetic energies (Cavagna et al. 1976) reaches a maximum at the speed at which the weight-specific work to move the centre of mass a given distance is at a minimum ('optimal' speed). This speed is about 2 X 8 km/hr at 2 years of age and increases progressively with age up to 5 km/hr at 12 years of age and in adults. The speed freely chosen during steady walking at the different ages is similar to this 'optimal' speed. At the 'optimal' speed, the time of single contact (time of swing) is in good agreement with that predicted, for the same stature, by a ballistic walking model assuming a minimum of muscular work (Mochon & McMahon, 1980). Above the 'optimal' speed, the recovery of mechanical energy through the potential-kinetic energy transfer decreases. This decrease is greater the younger the subject. A reduction of this recovery implies a greater amount of work to be supplied by muscles: at 4 X 5 km/hr the weight-specific muscular power necessary to move the centre of mass is 2 X 3 times greater in a 2-year-old child than in an adult.

Ergometric evaluation of pathological gait.

At each step of walking, the center of gravity of the body moves up and down and accelerates and decelerates forward with a combined movement that allows an appreciable transfer (R) between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, as occurs in a pendulum. The positive work and power to lift the center of gravity, to accelerate it forward, and to maintain its motion in a sagittal plane, the amount of R, the maximal height reached during each step by the center of gravity, and the step length and frequency are all determined by a microcomputer a few minutes after a subject walks on a force platform. This method is applied to the analysis of pathological gait in the attempt to measure quantitatively the alteration of the normal locomotory movement of the center of gravity. The strides of the patient are compared with the strides of normal subjects; in addition, the movement of the center of gravity of the patient during the stance on the affected limb is compared with the movement of the center of gravity during the stance on the unaffected limb, thus giving an index of the asymmetry of locomotion.

Clinical study of niceritrol on serum lipids in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.

The effects of niceritrol, a nicotinic acid derivative, on the levels of HDL-cholesterol (HDL-Ch) and a mixture of VLDL- and LDL-Ch (VLDL- + LDL-Ch) were studied in hyperlipidemic patients. Serum total cholesterol (sTC) and serum triglyceride (sTG) were significantly reduced during niceritrol administration. Lipoprotein electrophoresis showed that niceritrol increased the alpha:beta ratio. HDL-Ch showed a significant increase of 12.5% by the 16th week of therapy. This increase was more marked in patients with lower pre-treatment HDL-Ch levels and significant in patients whose pre-treatment sTG levels were in excess of 200 mg/dl. Females displayed higher pre-treatment HDL-Ch levels (38.5 mg/dl) than males (30.6 mg/dl). However, niceritrol increased HDL-Ch significantly in both groups. At 16 weeks, the VLDL- + LDL-Ch level showed a significant decrease of 9.2%; the HDL-Ch:VLDL + LDL-Ch and HDL-CH:sTC ratios were significantly increased throughout niceritrol administration. Niceritrol is thought to be effective in preventing the development and progression of atherosclerosis because it raises the level of anti-atherogenic HDL-Ch and lowers the level of atherogenic VLDL- + LDL-Ch.

Pseudomyxoma peritonei of ovarian origin--an autopsy case.

The autopsy case of an 80-year-old female with pseudomyxoma peritonei arising in the left ovary is reported. The patient was admitted with complaints of anorexia, sense of fullness and abdominal distension of two months' duration, and died of intestinal obstruction four months later. The autopsy revealed extensive tumor dissemination over the entire peritoneal cavity without any visceral invasion or distant metastasis. A part of the sigmoid colon showed marked stenosis and perforation with abscess formation. Histologically, the tumor was composed of various sized multiple cysts which were completely or incompletely lined by a layer of mucin-producing columnar epithelial cells with moderate nuclear hyperchromatism, and of a papillary pattern in some parts, indicating low grade malignancy.