Cultural Perspective on Parenting, Trait Emotional Intelligence and Mental Health in Taiwanese Children

The current study aims to clarify the associations as well as the pathways through which parenting and children's emotional intelligence (EI) may influence children's mental health with a cross-sectional sample of 675 school pupils (fourth grade, mean age = 10.4 years, 310 boy, 356 girls and 9 unidentified) in Taiwan. Hierarchical regression and path analyses were used to examine the relationships between parenting styles, children's trait EI, and their psychological symptoms, with children's psychological symptoms as the dependent variable. The results showed that authoritative parenting was positively associated with children‟s trait EI, which in turn had a negative effect on children‟s psychological symptoms, whereas authoritarian and Chinese-specific parenting styles had direct negative effect on children‟s psychological symptoms. These findings shed light on the pathways of the interrelations between different parenting styles, children's trait EI, and psychological symptoms, providing theoretical as well as practical implications for children's emotional development and mental health

Comparative genomics approaches accurately predict deleterious variants in plants

Recent advances in genome resequencing have led to increased interest in prediction of the functional consequences of genetic variants. Variants at phylogenetically conserved sites are of particular interest, because they are more likely than variants at phylogenetically variable sites to have deleterious effects on fitness and contribute to phenotypic variation. Numerous comparative genomic approaches have been developed to predict deleterious variants, but the approaches are nearly always assessed based on their ability to identify known disease-causing mutations in humans. Determining the accuracy of deleterious variant predictions in nonhuman species is important to understanding evolution, domestication, and potentially to improving crop quality and yield. To examine our ability to predict deleterious variants in plants we generated a curated database of 2,910 Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with known phenotypes. We evaluated seven approaches and found that while all performed well, their relative ranking differed from prior benchmarks in humans. We conclude that deleterious mutations can be reliably predicted in A. thaliana and likely other plant species, but that the relative performance of various approaches does not necessarily translate from one species to another

THE EFFECTS OF CORE STABILITY TRAINING ON THE FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SCREEN AND POSTURAL STABILITY IN COLLEGIATE STUDENTS

This study evaluated effects of core stability training (CST) on the functional movement screen (FMS) and postural stability (PS) in healthy young collegiate students. 28 healthy collegiate female students were assigned to an experimental (CST exercises twice a week for six weeks) or control group (equal time of warm-up and stretching exercises only). The CST combined Pilates and Swiss ball exercise for fifty minutes, twice per week, for six weeks. FMS scores were evaluated by a certified professional. The PS was evaluated by the 8-direction limits of stability (LOS) test using the Biodex Balance System. Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed the FMS and LOS performances in the experiment group were significantly improved after training. It was concluded that regular CST can improve the performance of FMS and dynamic postural stability in healthy young students

THE EFFECTS OF CORE STABILITY TRAINING ON DYNAMIC BALANCE IN HEALTHY YOUNG STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of core stability training (CST) on dynamic balance in healthy young students. 24 healthy collegiate female students volunteered and underwent a series of CST exercise. Dynamic balance was evaluated by the 8-direction limits of stability (LOS) test. The CST combined the Pilates mat and Swiss ball exercise, ninety minutes, twice per week, for six weeks. The LOS performance in right and backward-right directions at level 3 was significant improved in post-training than pre-training. Furthermore, The LOS performance in overall, forward, right, forward,left, backward-right, and backward-left directions at level 6 were significant improved in post-training than pre-training. It is concluded that regular CST can improve the dynamic postural stability in healthy young students

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SCREEN AND THE POSTURAL STABILITY IN COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a tool developed recently not only to aid in the prevention of injury by objectively measuring dysfunction and asymmetries within movement patterns, but also could be used as a baseline for further strength, conditioning, or athletic development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the scores of FMS in relation to the postural stability (PS) in collegiate athletes. A total of 30 male, basketball athletes volunteered to join this study. The PS were measured by the Biodex Balance System as the displacements of the center of foot pressure (COP) in the limits of stability. The score of FMS were evaluated by one certified professional experts. The results showed that the score of FMS has relation to the performance of the PS in a certain extent, especially in the FMS-shoulder mobility to the LOS overall level 6 (r=.26-.41), in the FMS-active straight leg raise to the LOS forward, backward, right, right-back level 6 (r=.30-.39), and in the FMS-trunk stability push-up to the LOS right, back, and right-forward. It was concluded that the score of FMS might be used to evaluate and/or predict the performance of the PS in young, collegiate athletes

THE EFFECTS OF WHOLE-BODY VIBRATION TRAINING ON DECUPLE JUMP PERFORMANCE IN HANDBALL ATHLETES

To evaluate the effects of whole-body vibration training (WBVT) on decuple jump performance in handball athletes. Sixteen collegiate Level I handball athletes volunteered and divided equally as control group and experimental group (EG). All athletes underwent the same handball specific training, but the EG received additional WBVT (amplitude: 2 mm, frequency: 20 - 40 Hz) three time per week for eight weeks. The decuple jump (DJ) performance was evaluated by the total distance covered in ten single leg long jumps. Single factor ANCOVA was used to examine the differences in each parameter between the groups after training with the pretest values as a covariate. The statistic significance was set at p < .05. Results showed that after 8 weeks WBVT, the EG had significantly improved the total distance of DJ (25.03 ± 1.83 m vs. 26.26 ± 1.65 m, F = 5.45, p < .05). It is concluded that 8 weeks of additional WBVT could improve the decuple jump performance in handball athletes

Internet Addiction: A Closer Look at Multidimensional Parenting Practices and Child Mental Health

This study aimed to examine how both psychosocial variables (authoritative, authoritarian, and shaming, and parent-child relationships) and psychological symptoms were associated with Internet addiction, while controlling for the sociodemographic variable (child gender). A national proportionately stratified random sample of 6,233 fourth-grade primary school students in Taiwan participated in the study. Hierarchical regression models were performed to test the research hypotheses. The results show that psychological symptoms, authoritarian parenting, and shaming were positively associated with Internet addiction, whereas authoritative parenting and positive parent-child relationship were negatively associated with Internet addiction. Girls had lower levels of Internet addiction than boys. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the direct effects of child mental health status, multidimensional parenting practices, and family relationship on Internet addiction in children, and the importance of early individual- and family-based prevention and intervention in addressing related public health concerns of Internet addiction in children. The cultural perspectives of parenting and implications of these findings are discussed

Use of capsule endoscopy in the emergency department as a triage of patients with GI bleeding

Background and Aims: Upper GI bleeding (UGIB) still constitutes one of the major hospital admissions through emergency departments (EDs). This feasibility study aims to test whether capsule endoscopy (CE) can reduce unnecessary hospital admissions in patients with suspected UGIB. Methods: This was a prospective randomized controlled trial in which patients who presented with symptoms or signs suggestive of UGIB were randomized to receive either the standard treatment (ST) of hospital management or receive CE, after which hospital admission was determined by the findings of CE. Patients were also graded by Glasgow Blatchford score (GBS) at the ED for assessment of need of hospital admission. Results: Seventy-one patients fulfilled the recruitment criteria, with 37 subjects enrolled into the CE group and 34 subjects into the ST group. Seven CE patients with active bleeding or significant endoscopic findings were admitted to the hospital compared with the ST group in which all 34 patients were admitted. There was no difference in the clinical outcome in terms of recurrent bleeding and 30-day mortality. Hospital admission was also greatly reduced if CE instead of GBS was used to triage patients in the ED. Conclusions: This feasibility study shows that CE offers a safe and effective method in triaging patients presenting with symptoms of UGIB that do not require hospital admission. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT02446678.

Human Metapneumovirus Detection in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

We used a combination approach of conventional virus isolation and molecular techniques to detect human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Of the 48 study patients, 25 (52.1%) were infected with HMPV; 6 of these 25 patients were also infected with coronavirus, and another 5 patients (10.4%) were infected with coronavirus alone. Using this combination approach, we found that human laryngeal carcinoma (HEp-2) cells were superior to rhesus monkey kidney (LLC-MK2) cells commonly used in previous studies for isolation of HMPV. These widely available HEp-2 cells should be included in conjunction with a molecular method for cell culture followup to detect HMPV, particularly in patients with SARS