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Biomedical subjects

A Blecher

Publications and source records attributed to A Blecher.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

Objective measurements of customary physical activity in elderly men and women before and after retirement.

An objective method for assessing customary physical activity has been described, based on heart rate and footfall signals recorded on magnetic tape using small body-borne recorders. Computer analyses were used to obtain indices of the intensity and duration of periods of physical activity using both biosignals. Threshold values were set for each individual at a heart rate related to a standard walking speed of 4.8 km . h-1 (3 miles per hour). Four activity indices were defined in terms of time spent above this threshold and the intensity of the heart rate elevation above it, applying criteria relating to the duration of periods of activity or the concurrent activation of the walking signal. The choice and validity of these indices are discussed, and results for several groups of subjects presented. Three groups of subjects aged over 60 years were studied before and after retirement: twenty-five were steel-workers and thirty-nine were factory-workers (men and women). Rather low levels of activity were recorded. After one year of retirement the female factory workers showed a significant decrease in activity. In men this was found only after several years of retirement had elapsed.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

An unsupervised "aerobics" physical training programme in middle-aged factory workers: feasibility, validation and response.

This paper describes a controlled study of the effects of an unsupervised walking-programme in 108 volunteers from among 580 middle-aged employees in a Nottingham light industrial company. Objective measurements of physical condition and of customary activity were made on four occasions at 12-week intervals. The subjects were randomly allocated to three groups and encouraged to follow a walking-programme in the first, second or third periods of the study: no activity was prescribed in the other periods. Compliance with the programme was estimated from log-cards and from a week's pedometer record. Although there were no significant differences between the changes seen in subjects following the walking-programme and those in control subjects, there were significant small improvements in physical condition and modest increases in customary activity in a) those subjects actually completing the programme, and b) the subjects measured before and after their programme, pooled without regard to the period of measurement. At least some of the increased activity is maintained for 12 weeks after the programme. The marginal changes suggest that the intensity of the training-programme as experienced by the subjects was close to the threshold for maintenance of physical condition in this age-group of workers.

Female↗
PubMed1980

A portable physiological data recording/decoding system.

Counting the number of heart beats and footsteps during successive minute periods permits assessment of the physical condition of a subject undertaking planned exercise. We describe the design, and assess the use, of a small, 4 channel, solid state recorder for storing these physiological signals and the rapid retrieval of this data using a portable decoder. The actual number of heart beats and footsteps are counted and stored after each successive minute period. One channel is used to code sequentially the subjects under test, and a further channel is used for event marking. Data are retrieved by linking the recorder to the decoder; entering the required subject's code onto a numeric key board initiates the presentation of data. A LED display and paper print-out provide visual and permanent records.

Electrocardiography↗