Immediate effects of wearing knee length socks differing in compression level on postural regulation in community-dwelling, healthy, elderly men and women

Background: Stimulation of lower limbs’ cutaneous receptors and mechanoreceptors through compression garments could potentially increase somatosensory system efficiency and aid postural regulation in elderly individuals. Research question: This study examined immediate effects of wearing knee length socks (KLS) of various compression levels on somatosensory function in community-dwelling healthy elderly men and women during a double-limb standing, balancing task. Methods: A total of forty-six elderly participants (Male = 23), aged between 65 and 84 years old, randomly selected from the Singapore community-dwelling, healthy population. Three treatment interventions (wearing clinical compression socks; wearing non-clinical compression socks; wearing commercial socks) and one control condition (barefoot), in a counterbalanced order, were administered to participants while they performed a 30-s Romberg test, with four levels of performance difficulty: (1) standing on a stable surface with vision (SO); (2) a stable surface without vision (SC); (3) a foam surface with vision (FO); and (4), a foam surface without vision (FC). Results: Results showed that immediate effects of applying KLS of various compression levels significantly reduced sway area, trace length, velocity, and anterior-posterior (AP) sway as compared to barefoot condition (control) during the FO task condition. Significance: This finding indicates the positive immediate effects of garments on somatosensory system function and postural regulation in the elderly men and women, especially when standing on the unstable surface. Wearing compression KLS could be included as a viable intervention on top of other forms of balance training to reduce risk of falling in elderly people

An ecological dynamics approach to understanding human-environment interactions in the adventure sport context—implications for research and practice

The last few decades have witnessed a surge of interest in adventure sports, and has led to an emerging research focus on these activities. However, recent conceptual analyses and scientific reviews have highlighted a major, fundamental question that remains unresolved: what constitutes an adventure sport. Despite several proposals for definitions, the field still seems to lack a shared conceptualization. This deficit may be a serious limitation for research and practice, restricting the development of a more nuanced theoretical explanation of participation and practical implications within and across adventure sports. In this article, we address another crucial question, how can adventure sports be better understood for research and practice? We briefly summarize previous definitions to address evident confusion and a lack of conceptual clarity in the discourse. Alternatively, we propose how an ecological perspective of human behaviors, such as interactions with the environment, may provide an appropriate conceptualization to guide and enhance future research and practice, using examples from activities such as freeride skiing/snowboarding, white-water kayaking, climbing, mountaineering and the fields of sport science, psychology and avalanche research and education. We draw on ecological dynamics as a transdisciplinary approach to discuss how this holistic framework presents a more detailed, nuanced, and precise understanding of adventure sports

Effects of training on postural control and agility when wearing socks of different compression levels

Study aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of training while wearing socks differing in compression level (clinical, sub-clinical, regular) on performance of static and dynamic balancing and agility tasks in healthy, physically active people. We sought to understand whether socks with different compression properties supported postural regulation and agility task performance by enhancing somatosensory perception, unskewed by specific age range effects. Material and methods: Participants comprised 61 adults aged 18-75 years, divided into three groups (two experimental groups wearing clinical or sub-clinical level compression socks, and one control group wearing regular non-compression socks during training). An 8-week (2 × 1h per week) intervention programme was administered to train static and dynamic balance and postural control, leg strength and agility. Results: A mixed model ANOVA revealed no differences in static and dynamic balance and postural control and agility performance between clinical, sub-clinical, and control groups before and after training. All groups significantly improved their test performance, suggesting that training had some benefit on motor performance. Conclusions: These results raised interesting questions requiring further investigation to examine the effects of wearing socks (with and without different levels of compression) on motor behaviours in specific groups of elderly vs. young participants, in physically active vs. less physically active people, and in performance settings outside standardized laboratory tests to study applications in natural performance environments

Ring-Closure Mechanisms Mediated by Laccase to Synthesize Phenothiazines, Phenoxazines, and Phenazines

The green and environmentally friendly synthesis of highly valuable organic substances is one possibility for the utilization of laccases (EC 1.10.3.2). As reactants for the herein described syntheses, different o-substituted arylamines or arylthiols and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and its derivatives were used. In this way, the formation of phenothiazines, phenoxazines, and phenazines was achieved in aqueous solution mediated by the laccase of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus in the presence of oxygen. Two types of phenothiazines (3-hydroxy- and 3-oxo-phenothiazines) formed in one reaction assay were described for the first time. The cyclization reactions yielded C–N, C–S, or C–O bonds. The syntheses were investigated with regard to the substitution pattern of the reaction partners. Differences in C–S and C–N bond formations without cyclization are discussed

Acute effects of wearing compression knee-length socks on ankle joint position sense in community-dwelling older adults

Functional proprioceptive information is required to allow an individual to interact with the environment effectively for everyday activities such as locomotion and object manipulation. Specifically, research suggests that application of compression garments could improve proprioceptive regulation of action by enhancing sensorimotor system noise in individuals of different ages and capacities. However, limited research has been conducted with samples of elderly people thus far. This study aimed to examine acute effects of wearing knee-length socks (KLS) of various compression levels on ankle joint position sense in community-dwelling, older adults. A total of 26 participants (12 male and 14 female), aged between 65 and 84 years, were randomly recruited from local senior activity centres in Singapore. A repeated-measures design was used to determine effects on joint position awareness of three different treatments–wearing clinical compression socks (20–30 mmHg); wearing non-clinical compression socks (< 20 mmHg); wearing normal socks, and one control condition (barefoot). Participants were required to use the dominant foot to indicate 8 levels of steepness (2.5°, 5°, 7.5°, 10°, 12.5°, 15°, 17.5°, and 20°), while standing on a modified slope box, in a plantar flexion position. Findings showed that wearing clinical compression KLS significantly reduced the mean absolute errors compared to the barefoot condition. However, there were no significant differences observed between other KLS and barefoot conditions. Among the KLS of various compression levels, results suggested that only wearing clinical compression KLS (20–30 mmHg) improved the precision of estimation of ankle joint plantar flexion movement, by reducing absolute performance errors in elderly people. It is concluded that wearing clinical compression KLS could potentially provide an affordable strategy to ameliorate negative effects of ageing on the proprioception system to enhance balance and postural control in community-dwelling individuals

Effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Systematic reviews of balance control have tended to only focus on the effects of single lower-limb stimulation strategies, and a current limitation is the lack of comparison between different relevant stimulation strategies. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine evidence of effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation and stability. Moderate- to high- pooled effect sizes (Unbiased (Hedges’ g) standardized mean differences (SMD) = 0.31 – 0.66) were observed with the addition of noise in a Stochastic Resonance Stimulation Strategy (SRSS), in three populations (i.e., healthy young adults, older adults, and individuals with lower-limb injuries), and under different task constraints (i.e., unipedal, bipedal, and eyes open). A Textured Material Stimulation Strategy (TMSS) enhanced postural control in the most challenging condition – eyes-closed on a stable surface (SMD = 0.61), and in older adults (SMD = 0.30). The Wearable Garments Stimulation Strategy (WGSS) showed no or adverse effects (SMD = -0.68 – 0.05) under all task constraints and in all populations, except in individuals with lower-limb injuries (SMD = 0.20). Results of our systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that future research could consider combining two or more stimulation strategies in intervention treatments for postural regulation and balance problems, depending on individual need

Protein-Engineering von Enzymen mit Alpha/Beta Hydrolasefaltung

Alpha/Beta-Hydrolasefaltungsenzyme wie Esterasen, Dehalogenasen oder Epoxidhydrolasen sind Enzyme, die unter anderem zur Detoxifizierung von Umweltschadstoffen und der Synthese von Feinchemikalien eingesetzt werden. In dieser Arbeit wurden die Alpha/Beta-Hydrolasefaltungsenzyme untersucht. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurde eine Dehalogenaseaktivität in der Esterase PFE I und der Epoxidhydrolase EchA erzeugt. Dabei wurden die katalytischen Loops und die Cap-Domäne ausgetauscht, sowie ein rationales Design durchgeführt. Mit dem Computerprogramm 3DM wurde des Weiteren die Konsensussequenz von Haloalkandehalogenasen ermittelt und diese in die Esterase PFE I integriert. Zur Untersuchung der geringen promiskuitiven Aktivitäten wurden sensitive Aktivitätsassays mit isothermaler Titrationskalorimetrie entwickelt. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurden zwei kontinuierlich gerichtete Evolutionen durchgeführt. Die benötigten in vivo Mutagenesemethoden und Selektionsassays wurden in dieser Arbeit etabliert. Im Anschluss wurden die Methoden eingesetzt um zum Ersten die Enantioselektivität von Esterasen zu verbessern und zum Zweiten eine Dehalogenaseaktivität in Esterasen und Epoxidhydrolasen zu generieren.Alpha/Beta-Hydrolase fold enzymes like esterases, dehalogenases or epoxide hydrolases are important for the detoxification of environmental pollutants or the synthesis of fine chemicals. In this work the Alpha/Beta-Hydrolase fold enzymes were investigated. In the first part an esterase respectively an expoxide hydrolase was turned to a dehalogenase. With the exchange of the catalytic loops, domains, rational designed enzymes or enzymes constructed in correlation with consensus sequence approaches, dehalogenase activity was obtained. In addition sensitive analytics were established to prove the small activity. In the second part, two continuously directed evolutions were executed. In vivo mutagenesis strategies as well as selectivity assays were established to make a continuous directed evolution to improve the enantioselectivity of esterases and to create a dehalogenase activity in epoxide hydrolases

How football team composition constrains emergent individual and collective tactical behaviours : Effects of player roles in creating different landscapes for shared affordances in small-sided and conditioned games

This study was conducted in the context of a teacher professional development programme that aimed to improve dialogic teaching in the classroom, and it describes the programme and examines the change in teachers' dialogic teaching practices and pupils' classroom engagement during the programme. Data on pupils' school engagement were collected using classroom video recordings and students' self-ratings at the end of the lesson including dialogic teaching practices. The participants comprised seven in-service teachers and their 140 pupils (10- to 15-year-olds) from two comprehensive schools. The findings indicated positive change in the use of dialogic teaching practices and in observed pupils' school engagement during the programme. Moreover, pupils' help-seeking during lessons increased over the course of the programme. The study suggests that a structured professional development programme utilising video recordings with teacher reflections provides beneficial tools for promoting teachers' employment of dialogic interaction and pupils' school engagement.peerReviewe

Falls, Cognitive Function, and Balance Profiles of Singapore Community-Dwelling Elderly Individuals : Key Risk Factors

Objective: This study compared occurrence of falls, cognitive function, and balance profiles across participants in elderly age categories, investigating associations between the 3 aspects in a sample of Singapore’s elderly population. Method: Communitydwelling elderly individuals (N ¼ 385) were randomly recruited and grouped into “young-old (65-74 years),” “medium-old (75-84 years),” and “oldest-old (above 85 years)” groups. The Fallproof Health and Activity questionnaire, adapted Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) tests were used to survey information related to falls, cognition, and balance profiles. Results: Findings revealed significant differences in MMSE and BBS scores across the age groups. Participants with mild cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR] ¼ 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] ¼ 1.08-3.25) and BBS score 40 (OR ¼ 0.25, 95% CI ¼ 0.14-0.46) were at the highest risk of falling. Conclusion: Community-dwelling elderly individuals with subtle cognitive impairment and BBS scores 40 displayed an increased risk of falling.peerReviewe