THE EFFECTS OF KINESIO TAPING ON MUSCULAR ENDURANCE OF DEEP NECK FLEXORS FOR SUBJECTS WITH FORWARD HEAD POSTURE?A PILOT STUDY

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on head posture and muscular endurance of deep neck flexors for subjects with forward head posture. The subjects were two males (mean age 19.0 ± 1.4 years, mean body height 172.0 ± 5.6 cm, mean body weight 72.0 ± 18.3 kg) and three females (mean age 19.7 ± 2.0 years, mean body height 162.0± 2.0 cm, mean body weight 55.3 ± 6.6 kg) who agreed to participate in this study. The forward head posture was measured by postural assessment system, meanwhile the muscular endurance of deep neck flexors was measured by using the neck strength measure instrument while two taping methods applied to the subjects. The placebo taping method resulted in more improvement on neck flexor muscles endurance and head posture than traditional taping method. Placebo taping method may be better than the traditional taping method for correcting forward head posture and improving muscular endurance of deep neck flexors

Defending Behavior of Peer Victimization in School and Cyber Context During Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-Analytic Review of Individual and Peer-Relational Characteristics

Adolescent defending of peer victimization in the school and cyber context has received increased attention in developmental science and is an important component of antibullying interventions. However, the overall prevalence, and individual characteristics that correlate with defending in adolescence, have not been systematically and statistically reviewed. Framed in Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological theory, this meta-analytic review included 172 reports out of 155 studies of defending including 150,978 children and adolescent participants from 4 continents (i.e., North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia) to analyze two aspects: (1) the average proportion of defenders in the population and (2) associations between defending and individual and peer-relational correlates of defending in school and cyber contexts. Using mixed-effects modeling, our results confirmed prior findings of gender differences (favoring girls) and age differences (favoring younger children) in defending. We found positive correlations between defending and affective empathy, cognitive empathy, experiences of peer victimization, self-efficacy, popularity, and acceptance, and a negative correlation between defending and moral disengagement. We also found substantial heterogeneity in these effect sizes. The reporter of defending consistently moderated all mean effect sizes. Implications for prevention efforts and future research are discussed

Population structure of Helicobacter pylori among ethnic groups in Malaysia: recent acquisition of the bacterium by the Malay population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Helicobacter pylori </it>is a major gastric bacterial pathogen. This pathogen has been shown to follow the routes of human migration by their geographical origin and currently the global <it>H. pylori </it>population has been divided into six ancestral populations, three from Africa, two from Asia and one from Europe. Malaysia is made up of three major ethnic populations, Malay, Chinese and Indian, providing a good population for studying recent <it>H. pylori </it>migration and admixture.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seventy eight <it>H. pylori </it>isolates, including 27 Chinese, 35 Indian and 16 Malay isolates from Malaysia were analysed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of seven housekeeping genes and compared with the global MLST data. STRUCTURE analysis assigned the isolates to previously identified <it>H. pylori </it>ancestral populations, hpEastAsia, hpAsia2 and hpEurope, and revealed a new subpopulation, hspIndia, within hpAsia2. Statistical analysis allowed us to identify population segregation sites that divide the <it>H. pylori </it>populations and the subpopulations. The majority of Malay isolates were found to be grouped together with Indian isolates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The majority of the Malay and Indian <it>H. pylori </it>isolates share the same origin while the Malaysian Chinese <it>H. pylori </it>is distinctive. The Malay population, known to have a low infection rate of <it>H. pylori</it>, was likely to be initially <it>H. pylori </it>free and gained the pathogen only recently from cross infection from other populations.</p

Effects of mycophenolate mofetil on cutaneous lupus erythematosus in (NZB × NZW) F1 mice

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have evaluated the effects and precise molecular mechanism of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the treatment of human cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). Our findings shed light on the therapeutic effects of MMF in a UVB-induced NZB × NZW (NZBW) F1 CLE mouse model.MethodsContinuous MMF treatment (60 mg/kg/day) was administered up to Day 50 from the beginning of UVB induction (Day 0; 20 weeks old), as the pathologic features of CLE are present after 50 days. The therapeutic effects of MMF treatment in NZBW lupus mice were examined by comparing histopathological changes, lupus band test (deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction) and colocalization of autoantibodies with a dermal autoantigen Dsg3, and by evaluating the associations of local matrix metalloprotease activities.ResultsMMF improved survival in the NZBW lupus mice from 35.7% to 81.8%. The proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen, and interleukin 6 levels were significantly reduced after MMF treatment. The dermal lymphocytic infiltration, deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction, colocalized autoantibodies with Dsg3, and epidermal matrix metalloprotease activity were also attenuated in MMF-treated NZBW F1 mice.ConclusionThe results confirmed that MMF could substantially attenuate skin damage due to CLE in the NZBW F1 mouse model

Effects of Noise Electrical Stimulation on Proprioception, Force Control, and Corticomuscular Functional Connectivity

Sensory afferent inputs play an important role in neuromuscular functions. Subsensory level noise electrical stimulation enhances the sensitivity of peripheral sensory system and improves lower extremity motor function. The current study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of noise electrical stimulation on proprioceptive senses and grip force control, and whether there are associated neural activities in the central nervous system. Fourteen healthy adults participated in 2 experiments on 2 different days. In day 1, participants performed grip force and joint proprioceptive tasks with and without (sham) noise electrical stimulation. In day 2, participants performed grip force steady hold task before and after 30-min noise electrical stimulation. Noise stimulation was applied with surface electrodes secured along the course of the median nerve and proximal to the coronoid fossa EEG power spectrum density of bilateral sensorimotor cortex and coherence between EEG and finger flexor EMG were calculated and compared. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests were used to compare the differences of proprioception, force control, EEG power spectrum density and EEG-EMG coherence between noise electrical stimulation and sham conditions. The significance level (alpha) was set at 0.05. Our study found that noise stimulation with optimal intensity could improve both force and joint proprioceptive senses. Furthermore, individuals with higher gamma coherence showed better force proprioceptive sense improvement with 30-min noise electrical stimulation. These observations indicate the potential clinical benefits of noise stimulation on individuals with impaired proprioceptive senses and the characteristics of individuals who might benefit from noise stimulation

Extract of Antrodia camphorata

In this study, the neuroprotective effect of an extract of Antrodia camphorata (A. camphorata), a fungus commonly used in Chinese folk medicine for treatment of viral hepatitis and cancer, alone or in combination with aspirin was investigated in a rat embolic stroke model. An ischemic stroke was induced in rats by a selective occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) with whole blood clots and then orally treated with A. camphorata (0.25 and 0.75 g/kg/day) alone and combined with aspirin (5 mg/kg/day). Sixty days later, the brains were removed, sectioned, and stained with triphenyltetrazolium chloride and analysed by a commercial image processing software program. Brain infarct volume, neurobehavioral score, cerebral blood perfusion, and subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage incidence were perceived. In addition, potential bleeding side effect of the combinative therapy was assessed by measuring hemoglobin (Hb) content during intracerebral hemorrhage and gastric bleeding, prothrombin time (PT), and occlusion time (OT) after oral administration. Posttreatment with high dose A. camphorata significantly reduced infarct volume and improved neurobehavioral score (P < 0.05). Since A. camphorata alone or with aspirin did not alter the Hb level, this treatment is safe and does not cause hemorrhagic incident. Remarkably, the combination of A. camphorata and aspirin did not show a significant effect on the bleeding time, PT and OT increase suggesting that A. camphorata may have the neuroprotective effect without the prolongation of bleeding time or coagulation time. From these observations, we suggest that combinative therapy of A. camphorata and aspirin might offer enhanced neuroprotective efficacies without increasing side effects

Memory Impairment and Plasma BDNF Correlates of the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism in Patients With Bipolar II Disorder

Studies suggest that a functional polymorphism of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), polymorphism BDNF Val66Met affects cognitive functions, however, the effect is unclear in bipolar II (BD-II) disorder. We used the Wechsler Memory Scale-third edition (WMS-III), the presence of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and plasma concentrations of BDNF to investigate the association between memory impairment and BDNF in BD-II disorder. We assessed the memory functions of 228 BD-II patients and 135 healthy controls (HCs). BD-II patients had significantly lower scores on five of the eight WMS-III subscales. In addition to education, the BDNF polymorphism were associated with the following subscales of WMS-III, auditory delayed memory, auditory delayed recognition memory and general memory scores in BD-II patients, but not in HC. Moreover, BD-II patients with the Val-homozygote scored significantly higher on the visual immediate memory subscale than did those with the Met/Met and Val/Met polymorphisms. The significantly positive effect of the Val-homozygote did not have a significantly positive effect on memory in the HC group, however. We found no significant association between BDNF polymorphisms and plasma concentrations of BDNF. The plasma BDNF was more likely to be associated with clinical characteristics than it was with memory indices in the BD-II group. The impaired memory function in BD-II patients might be dependent upon the association between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and peripheral BDNF levels

Prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in different clinical stages before the national COVID-19 vaccination programme in Malaysia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

More than 1.75 million COVID-19 infections and 16 thousand associated deaths have been reported in Malaysia. A meta-analysis on the prevalence of COVID-19 in different clinical stages before the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Malaysia is still lacking. To address this, the disease severity of a total of 215 admitted COVID-19 patients was initially recorded in the early phase of this study, and the data were later pooled into a meta-analysis with the aim of providing insight into the prevalence of COVID-19 in 5 different clinical stages during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. We have conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and two preprint databases (bioRxiv and medRxiv) for relevant studies with specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality assessment for the included studies was performed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. The heterogeneity was examined with an I2 index and a Q-test. Funnel plots and Egger’s tests were performed to determine publication bias in this meta-analysis. Overall, 5 studies with 6375 patients were included, and the pooled prevalence rates in this meta-analysis were calculated using a random-effect model. The highest prevalence of COVID-19 in Malaysia was observed in Stage 2 cases (32.0%), followed by Stage 1 (27.8%), Stage 3 (17.1%), Stage 4 (7.6%), and Stage 5 (3.4%). About two-thirds of the number of cases have at least one morbidity, with the highest percentage of hypertension (66.7%), obesity (55.5%), or diabetes mellitus (33.3%) in Stage 5 patients. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested a high prevalence of COVID-19 occurred in Stage 2. The prevalence rate in Stage 5 appeared to be the lowest among COVID-19 patients before implementing the vaccination program in Malaysia. These meta-analysis data are critically useful for designing screening and vaccination programs and improving disease management in the country

Changes in health risk behaviors of elementary school students in northern Taiwan from 2001 to 2003: results from the child and adolescent behaviors in long-term evolution study

[[abstract]]Background: Previous research has indicated that children's behaviors have long-term effects on later life. Hence it is important to monitor the development of health risk behaviors in childhood. This study examined the changes in health risk behaviors in fourth- to sixth-grade students in northern Taiwan from 2001 to 2003. Methods: The Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-Term Evolution (CABLE) study collected data from 1,820 students from 2001 to 2003 (students were 9 or 10 years old in 2001). Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the aggregation of health risk behaviors. A linear growth curve model was used to determine whether health risk behaviors changed over time. Results: Of the 13 behaviors, staying up late and eating snacks late at night were the most prevalent (82.3% of subjects in 2001, 81.8% in 2002, 88.5% in 2003) and second most prevalent (68.7%, 67.4%, 71.6%) behaviors, respectively, from 2001 to 2003. The three least prevalent health risk behaviors were chewing betel nut (1.0%, 0.4%, 0.2%), smoking (1.4%, 1.0%, 0.8%), and drinking alcohol (8.5%, 6.0%, 5.2%). The frequencies of swearing and staying up late showed the greatest significant increases with time. On the other hand, suppressing urination and drinking alcohol decreased over time. Using exploratory factor analysis, we aggregated the health risk behaviors into three categories: unhealthy habits, aggressive behaviors, and substance use. Although students did not display high levels of aggressive behavior or experimentation with substances, the development of these behaviors in a small proportion of students should not be ignored. The results of the linear growth curve model indicated that unhealthy habits and aggressive behaviors increased over time. However, substance use slightly decreased over time. Conclusion: We found that some health risk behaviors increased with time while others did not. Unhealthy habits and aggressive behaviors increased, whereas substance use slightly decreased during this period. Educational professionals should pay attention to the different patterns of change in these behaviors in elementary school students

Mobile Cloud-Based Blood Pressure Healthcare for Education

Mercury, pneumatic, and electronic sphygmomanometers were widely used for traditional blood pressure (BP) measurement. Cloud BP database, and mobile information and communication technology (MICT) do not integrate to these BP measurement methods. Pen and papers were employed to record BP values for nurses and physicians, and recording errors are possible to occur. In the chapter, the cloud-based BP platform solution and advanced wireless hospital BP measurement technologies were studied. These cloud-based BT measurement technologies were used as teaching aids to train students of electrical and nursing fields for mobile BP healthcare and health promotion education, and hence interdisciplinary teaching and learning were conducted. The teachers include professors of electrical and nursing fields, physicians, hospital nurses, and the engineer and health management experts of Microlife. The interdisciplinary teaching and learning of mobile BP healthcare and health promotion for smart aging were conducted in the Department of Nursing Division, Chang Cung Memorial Hospital, Keelung Branch, Department of Nursing Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health, School of Nursing Chung Shan Medical University, and Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University. The students of electrical and nursing fields participated for joint interdisciplinary learning. The concepts of interdisciplinary mobile BP healthcare learning and teaching involve nursing and technology, healthy aging, BP health care for smart aging, telenursing, BP care for smart aging, community/home telecare, and MICT. The objective of teaching and learning is training the design and making electrical engineers to understand BP healthcare and health promotion, and nurses to understand mobile BP healthcare and health promotion system for smart aging