Tai Chi Exercise on Muscle Strength and Physical Function in Peripheral Neuropathy Patients

This poster was presented at the American College of Sports Medicine\u27s (ACSM) 63rd Annual Meeting and World Congresses, Boston, MA.https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/fac_posters/1016/thumbnail.jp

Effect of Tai Chi on Vascular Function Among Patients with Peripheral Neuropathy

Foot pain due to Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) is one of the factors affecting walking ability. It has been reported that diminished vascular function contributes to a decrease in physical function in individuals with PN. Microvascular disturbances have been reported in humans with neuropathic pain. Tai Chi, a Chinese conditioning exercise, has been associated with enhanced endothelial function. However, the effect of Tai Chi training on microvascular function in patients with PN has not been studied. This study aimed to assess the effects of Tai Chi on vascular function (i.e., vascular reactivity) and functional exercise capacity among patients with PN. Thirty-seven participants (men = 21, women = 16) were randomly assigned to either Tai Chi exercise (Ex, n = 20, age: 71 ± 9.50 years) or control group (Con, n = 17, age: 75 ± 9.02 years). Exercise training consisted of 12-week progressive Tai Chi (i.e., Yang Style), offered 3 times per week, 60 minutes sessions. The Con group did not participate in any exercise activity. Before and after training, vascular function [finger tip digital thermal monitoring of vascular reactivity] and functional exercise capacity [Six-Minute Walk test (6MW)] were evaluated. The Ex group experienced a significant 25% increase in vascular reactivity index from baseline [1.93 ± 0.43 to 2.41 ± 0.47, (P \u3c 0.05)]. In addition, the 6MW test increased significantly in the Ex group by 28% [pre = 392 ± 93; post = 503 ± 105 m, (P \u3c 0.05)]. In the control group no significant changes were observed in either vascular function [1.83 ± 0.43 to 1.81 ± 0.37] or in the 6MW test [393 ± 142 to 398 ± 149 m]. Participants experienced no complications and/or falls as a result of the intervention. These findings demonstrated that in patients with PN, a 12-week progressive Tai Chi exercise program was capable of increasing not only vascular function, specifically vascular reactivity index, but also of increasing the distance covered during the 6MW test. Clearly, this study underlies the importance of Tai Chi as an effective and safe exercise intervention suitable for patients with PN

The inclusive teacher educator: spaces for civic engagement

This paper is concerned with the teacher educator who is aspiring to be inclusive. It considers the obligations which arise within Higher Education Institutions and the extent to which these contribute to a loss of civic engagement and a lack of capacity to pursue inclusion, social justice and equity. The paper argues that this need not be the case and a reorientation for teacher educators is offered which affords teacher educators opportunities to, in Bourdieu’s (1998) terms, ‘play seriously’. This reorientation is in relation to three significant spaces – the ontological, the aesthetic and the epiphanic – and it is argued that operating within these spaces could enable new practices of inclusive teacher education to emerge

What is psychiatry? Co-producing complexity in mental health

What is psychiatry? Such a question is increasingly important to engage with in light of the development of new diagnostic frameworks that have wide-ranging and international clinical and societal implications. I suggest in this reflective essay that ‘psychiatry' is not a singular entity that enjoins consistent forms of critique along familiar axes; rather, it is a heterogeneous assemblage of interacting material and symbolic elements (some of which endure, and some of which are subject to innovation). In underscoring the diversity of psychiatry, I seek to move towards further sociological purchase on what remains a contested and influential set of discourses and practices. This approach foregrounds the relationships between scientific knowledge, biomedical institutions, social action and subjective experience; these articulations co-produce both psychiatry and each other. One corollary of this emphasis on multiplicity and incoherence within psychiatric theory, research and practice, is that critiques which elide this complexity are rendered problematic. Engagements with psychiatry are, I argue, best furthered by recognising its multifaceted nature

Civil society leadership in the struggle for AIDS treatment in South Africa and Uganda

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis is an attempt to theorise and operationalise empirically the notion of ‘civil society leadership’ in Sub-Saharan Africa. ‘AIDS leadership,’ which is associated with the intergovernmental institutions charged with coordinating the global response to HIV/AIDS, is both under-theorised and highly context-specific. In this study I therefore opt for an inclusive framework that draws on a range of approaches, including the literature on ‘leadership’, institutions, social movements and the ‘network’ perspective on civil society mobilisation. This framework is employed in rich and detailed empirical descriptions (‘thick description’) of civil society mobilisation around AIDS, including contentious AIDS activism, in the key case studies of South Africa and Uganda. South Africa and Uganda are widely considered key examples of poor and good leadership (from national political leaders) respectively, while the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) are both seen as highly effective civil society movements. These descriptions emphasise ‘transnational networks of influence’ in which civil society leaders participated (and at times actively constructed) in order to mobilise both symbolic and material resources aimed at exerting influence at the transnational, national and local levels

Cystic fibrosis pathogens survive for extended periods within cough-generated droplet nuclei

The airborne route is a potential pathway in the person-to-person transmission of bacterial strains among cystic fibrosis (CF) populations. In this cross-sectional study, we investigate the physical properties and survival of common non-CF pathogens generated during coughing. We conclude that Gram-negative bacteria andare aerosolised during coughing, can travel up to 4 m and remain viable within droplet nuclei for up to 45 min. These results suggest that airborne person-to-person transmission is plausible for the CF pathogens we measured

Impact of Tai Chi on Peripheral Neuropathy Revisited: A Mixed-Methods Study

Exercise may be beneficial to older persons living with peripheral neuropathy (PN), but maintaining an exercise program is challenging. After participating in a 12-week tai chi (TC) study, 12 participants requested classes continue. A mixed-methods design was used to explore long-term engagement of older persons with bilateral PN enrolled in a TC class for 18 months beyond the original 3-month study. Pre- and posttest measures of functional status and quality of life (QOL) were conducted. Focus groups were held after 18 months of twice-weekly classes. Psychosocial support was critical to participants’ long-term commitment to exercise. Participants reported, and objective assessments confirmed, increased strength, balance, and stamina beyond that experienced in the original 12-week study. Changes in QOL scores were nonsignificant; however, qualitative data supported clinical significance across QOL domains. Results from this study support psychosocial and physical benefits of TC to older persons