University of Hartford

About: University of Hartford is a education organization based out in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 1244 authors who have published 2481 publications receiving 48973 citations. The organization is also known as: UHart.

The central role of trunk control in the gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy: a retrospective cross‐sectional study

Abstract: AIM Improvement of gross motor function and mobility are primary goals of physical therapy in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between segmental control of the trunk and the corresponding gross motor function in children with CP. METHOD This retrospective cross-sectional study was based on 92 consecutive referrals of children with CP in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to V, 39 females, 53 males (median age 4y [range 1–14y]), and 77, 12, and 3 with spastic, dyskinetic, and ataxic CP respectively. The participants were tested using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), and the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo). RESULTS Linear regression analysis showed a positive relationship between the segmental level of trunk control and age, with both gross motor function and mobility. Segmental trunk control measured using the SATCo could explain between 38% and 40% of variation in GMFM and between 32% and 37% of variation in PEDI. INTERPRETATION This study suggests a strong association between segmental trunk postural control and gross motor function and mobility with significant clinical implications for the treatment of children with CP. One of the more recent and cited definitions of cerebral palsy (CP) includes the phrase ‘a group of permanent disorders of the development of movement and posture’. 1 This disorder in the development of movement and posture produces a corresponding reduction in mobility, selfcare, and social function 2 in children with CP. Training interventions aim at improving the child’s motor function in the hope that this will improve the child’s levels of activity and participation, thus enhancing the child’s quality of life. There are a great variety of training interventions used by therapists to improve motor function by identifying and modifying deficits in the child’s motor system. A number of studies have shown a significant relationship between motor function and various impairments such as spasticity, quality of movement, postural stability, distribution of involvement, strength, range of motion limitations, and reduced endurance. 3,4 A review of the assessment of postural control in children with CP concluded that a link between postural control and functionality was evident but that there was a lack of studies assessing postural control by means of scales and functional tests or during daily functional activities. 5 One recent study has addressed this link between trunk control in sitting and gait in children with spastic diplegia and concluded that trunk movements during gait were not solely compensatory, but could also reflect an underlying trunk control deficit. 6 Another study from the same group concluded that trunk control is impaired in children with CP, and that the impairment is dependent on the topography and severity of the motor impairment. 7

Women Are On, But Not In, the News: Gender Roles in Local Television News

Abstract: This investigation examined 580 news stories in the top three local television news programs in a Northeastern U.S. television market for a two-week period. Content analysis was used to determine whether or not there were gender differences in the prevalence of reporters and anchors and in the type of stories they reported. Analysis of newscasts revealed that female reporters were more likely to present human interest and health related stories, while males were more likely to present political stories. Analysis of news sources revealed that male experts were used significantly more often than were female experts as news sources. There was no relationship between time news stories were presented and gender of the reporters or anchors.

Humiliation, Manipulation, and Control: Evidence of Centrality in Domestic Violence Against an Adult Partner

Abstract: This paper describes two related studies. Study 1 is a literature review of existing adult partner domestic violence assessment scales. Results of the review revealed that the scales varied on the available amount of empirical evidence for validity and reliability. More importantly, results showed that the content of the scales focused most heavily on the physical abuse aspects of domestic violence. Study 2 is a factor analysis performed on the results of 64 items taken from the Artemis Intake Questionnaire, a clinically relevant tool constructed by treatment providers used in working with the victims of domestic violence. Results indicate that reported humiliation and blame of the victim accounted for the largest amount of variance, followed by controlling the victim, and then physical violence. Results of this factor analysis suggest that greater emphasis must be put on factors other than physical violence in the construction of future domestic violence scales.