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To investigate the impact of unilateral balance training on postural control of the trained and contralateral limb in healthy elderly. Fifty-one healthy old adults were randomly assigned into training group (TG) and control group (CG). Participants of the TG performed unilateral balance training (dominant (DOM) leg) over 4 weeks (4×/week). Centre of pressure analysis was performed at baseline, 5 weeks follow-up and 9 weeks follow-up under the following conditions: (1) one-leg stance without additional task, (2) one-leg stance with motor task and (3) one-leg stance with cognitive task. From baseline to 5 weeks follow-up, a mixed analysis of variance detected a significant time × group interaction for the DOM leg (P < 0.05), indicating higher improvement of the TG in comparison to CG. No significant interaction effect was found for the non-DOM leg. Within the TG, the non-DOM leg significantly improved in mean velocity (P = 0.001) and anterior-posterior range (P < 0.001). Unilateral balance training was effective to improve postural control of the trained leg. The effect on the contralateral leg was small and not significant within this study design. Improvements were retained after 4 weeks without training. A tendency is given that unilateral balance training might be beneficial to improve postural control of the contralateral leg.

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Gypsum crystals occur in Vertisols on the west coast of New Caledonia. These soils are derived from the weathering of basic rocks that contain no gypsum. The sulphur isotopic ratio 34S/32S was used as tracer to identify the origin of the gypsum. A total of 26 measurements of 1 3~~s were made on gypsum crystals from the Vertisols and compared to those of continental sulphates and to marine gypsum in tidal flats. The S34S value of the crystals located in New Caledonian Vertisols decreases with increasing distance from the coast. This suggests that the gypsum in the Vertisols comes from two sources: an oceanic source where the major part of the sulphur is introduced by atmospheric precipitation, and a continental source where sulphides disseminated in various subsurface deposits are oxidized. Gypsum from atmospheric precipitation penetrates the Vertisols through vertical cracks that probably formed in dry seasons during the last glacial period.