Effects of pitch and musical sounds on body-representations when moving with sound

The effects of music on bodily movement and feelings, such as when people are dancing or engaged in physical activity, are well-documented—people may move in response to the sound cues, feel powerful, less tired. How sounds and bodily movements relate to create such effects? Here we deconstruct the problem and investigate how different auditory features affect people’s body-representation and feelings even when paired with the same movement. In three experiments, participants executed a simple arm raise synchronised with changing pitch in simple tones (Experiment 1), rich musical sounds (Experiment 2) and within different frequency ranges (Experiment 3), while we recorded indirect and direct measures on their movement, body-representations and feelings. Changes in pitch influenced people’s general emotional state as well as the various bodily dimensions investigated—movement, proprioceptive awareness and feelings about one’s body and movement. Adding harmonic content amplified the differences between ascending and descending sounds, while shifting the absolute frequency range had a general effect on movement amplitude, bodily feelings and emotional state. These results provide new insights in the role of auditory and musical features in dance and exercise, and have implications for the design of sound-based applications supporting movement expression, physical activity, or rehabilitation

Effect of Dexamethasone on Tail Regeneration in the Electric Black Ghost Knifefish Apteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766)

The study was conducted to find out the impact of dexamethasone of different doses on tail regeneration in the electric black ghost knifefish Apteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766) after two weeks of amputation. Fish were distributed into five equal groups; Dexamethasone drug was applied at concentrations of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 mg.l-1. Water was exchanging every 48 hours with new prepared drug to ensure its stability in treatments. Concentrations 1, 2 and 3 mg.l-1 were not lethal , while the concentration 4 mg.l-1 was lethal, It was observed that fish were dead  after four days for concentration 4 mg.l-1.The study showed that the group of control was increased considerably (P < 0.05) (4.5mm± 0.866) in the tail after 14 days of amputation in comparing with treated groups. Treated groups (1, 2 and 3 mg.l-1) showed slowly increase with an average 2.83mm ±0.763, 2.50mm ±0.500, and 2.33mm ±0.577 respectively. The mean of relative gene expression of the junb was 1.109 in control group that is significant (P < 0.05) compared with treated groups that showed a decrease in junb expression (0.074 for 1 mg.l-1, 0.050 for 2 mg.l-1 and 0.006 for 3 mg.l-1). Current study concludes that dexamethasone inhibit tissues regeneration after amputation via suppress stem cells growth, and junb gene specific for stem cells enhancing and the drug reduced its expression.

Effect of Dexamethasone on Tail Regeneration in the Electric Black Ghost Knifefish Apteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766)

The study was conducted to find out the impact of dexamethasone of different doses on tail regeneration in the electric black ghost knifefish Apteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766) after two weeks of amputation. Fish were distributed into five equal groups; Dexamethasone drug was applied at concentrations of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 mg.l-1. Water was exchanging every 48 hours with new prepared drug to ensure its stability in treatments. Concentrations 1, 2 and 3 mg.l-1 were not lethal , while the concentration 4 mg.l-1 was lethal, It was observed that fish were dead  after four days for concentration 4 mg.l-1.The study showed that the group of control was increased considerably (P < 0.05) (4.5mm± 0.866) in the tail after 14 days of amputation in comparing with treated groups. Treated groups (1, 2 and 3 mg.l-1) showed slowly increase with an average 2.83mm ±0.763, 2.50mm ±0.500, and 2.33mm ±0.577 respectively. The mean of relative gene expression of the junb was 1.109 in control group that is significant (P < 0.05) compared with treated groups that showed a decrease in junb expression (0.074 for 1 mg.l-1, 0.050 for 2 mg.l-1 and 0.006 for 3 mg.l-1). Current study concludes that dexamethasone inhibit tissues regeneration after amputation via suppress stem cells growth, and junb gene specific for stem cells enhancing and the drug reduced its expression.

The effectiveness of manual stretching in the treatment of plantar heel pain: a systematic review

Background: Plantar heel pain is a commonly occurring foot complaint. Stretching is frequently utilised as a treatment, yet a systematic review focusing only on its effectiveness has not been published. This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of stretching on pain and function in people with plantar heel pain. Methods: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, and The Cochrane Library were searched from inception to July 2010. Studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were independently assessed, and their quality evaluated using the modified PEDro scale. Results: Six studies including 365 symptomatic participants were included. Two compared stretching with a control, one study compared stretching to an alternative intervention, one study compared stretching to both alternative and control interventions, and two compared different stretching techniques and durations. Quality rating on the modified Pedro scale varied from two to eight out of a maximum of ten points. The methodologies and interventions varied significantly between studies, making meta-analysis inappropriate. Most participants improved over the course of the studies, but when stretching was compared to alternative or control interventions, the changes only reached statistical significance in one study that used a combination of calf muscle stretches and plantar fascia stretches in their stretching programme. Another study comparing different stretching techniques, showed a statistically significant reduction in some aspects of pain in favour of plantar fascia stretching over calf stretches in the short term. Conclusions: There were too few studies to assess whether stretching is effective compared to control or other interventions, for either pain or function. However, there is some evidence that plantar fascia stretching may be more effective than Achilles tendon stretching alone in the short-term. Appropriately powered randomised controlled trials, utilizing validated outcome measures, blinded assessors and long-term follow up are needed to assess the efficacy of stretching

Measurement of tibial nerve excursion during ankle joint dorsiflexion in a weight-bearing position with ultrasound imaging

The ability of peripheral nerves to stretch and slide is thought to be of paramount importance to maintain ideal neural function. Excursion in peripheral nerves such as the tibial can be measured by analysis of ultrasound images. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of longitudinal tibial nerve excursion as the ankle moved from plantar flexion to dorsiflexion in a standardised weight-bearing position. The reliability of ultrasound imaging to measure tibial nerve excursion was also quantified

Association Between Advanced Maternal Age and Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study on a Spanish Population

Background and objective: Over recent decades, a progressive increase in the maternal age at childbirth has been observed in developed countries, posing a health risk for both women and infants. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between advanced maternal age (AMA) and maternal and neonatal morbidity. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study of 3,315 births was conducted in the north of Spain in 2014. We compared childbirth between women aged 35 years or older, with a reference group of women aged between 24 and 27 years. AMA was categorized based on ordinal ranking into 35-38 years, 39-42 years, and >42 years to estimate a dose-response pattern (the older the age, the greater the risk). As an association measure, crude and adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) were estimated by non-conditional logistic regression and 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI) were calculated. Results: Repeated abortions were more common among women of AMA in comparison to pregnant women aged 24-27 years (reference group): adjusted OR = 2.68; 95%CI (1.52-4.73). A higher prevalence of gestational diabetes was also observed among women of AMA, reaching statistical significance when restricted to first time mothers: adjusted OR = 8.55; 95%CI (1.12-65.43). In addition, the possibility of an instrumental delivery was multiplied by 1.6 and the possibility of a cesarean by 1.5 among women of AMA, with these results reaching statistical significance, and observing a dose-response pattern. Lastly, there were associations between preeclampsia, preterm birth (<37 weeks) and low birthweight, however without reaching statistical significance. Conclusion: Our results support the association between AMA and suffering repeated abortions. Likewise, being of AMA was associated with a greater risk of suffering from gestational diabetes, especially among primiparous women, as well as being associated with both instrumental deliveries and cesareans among both primiparous and multiparous women