RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Kinesio Tape® (KT) is an elastic therapeutic tape that is applied to the skin for treatment of sport-related injuries. Its application has been purported to facilitate the neuromuscular system, thus altering skeletal muscle activity to increase joint range of motion and improve performance. Due to its proposed therapeutic effect, KT may benefit individuals with excess foot pronation in order to decrease pain and improve function. Unfortunately, current research regarding the ability of KT to alter foot biomechanics is limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if the application of KT to the ankle and lower leg would alter static foot posture, plantar pressure, and foot motion during walking in individuals with foot pronation. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective Cohort Study. METHODS: Thirty participants (10M/20F) were recruited for this study. Each participant had their dorsal arch height and midfoot width measured prior to the application of the KT. In addition, their dynamic rearfoot eversion and plantar pressure was recorded during walking using an electrogoniometer and plantar pressure system. After these measurements were collected, KT was applied to their right foot and lower leg in order to attempt to facilitate activity in the posterior tibialis muscle. After applying the tape, the above measurements were repeated. RESULTS: None of the variables measured were statistically significantly different between the pre-test and post-test. CONCLUSION: Application of KT did not result in a change in static foot posture, plantar pressure, and frontal plane rearfoot motion during walking. As such, KT cannot be recommended as a treatment for reducing excessive foot pronation where such a goal would be beneficial. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.
RESUMO
For several decades, primatologists have been interested in understanding how sympatric primate species are able to coexist. Most of our understanding of primate community ecology derives from the assumption that these animals interact predominantly with other primates. In this study, we investigate to what extent multiple community assembly hypotheses consistent with this assumption are supported when tested with communities of primates in isolation versus with communities of primates, birds, bats, and squirrels together. We focus on vertebrate communities on the island of Borneo, where we examine the determinants of presence or absence of species, and how these communities are structured. We test for checkerboard distributions, guild proportionality, and Fox's assembly rule for favored states, and predict that statistical signals reflecting interactions between ecologically similar species will be stronger when nonprimate taxa are included in analyses. We found strong support for checkerboard distributions in several communities, particularly when taxonomic groups were combined, and after controlling for habitat effects. We found evidence of guild proportionality in some communities, but did not find significant support for Fox's assembly rule in any of the communities examined. These results demonstrate the presence of vertebrate community structure that is ecologically determined rather than randomly generated, which is a finding consistent with the interpretation that interactions within and between these taxonomic groups may have shaped species composition in these communities. This research highlights the importance of considering the broader vertebrate communities with which primates co-occur, and so we urge primatologists to explicitly consider nonprimate taxa in the study of primate ecology.