RISK FACTORS RELATED TO ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY OF FEMALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS DURING STEPPING MOVEMENTS

The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical factors related to anterior cruciate ligament injury during unanticipated movements after landing and immediately applied in stepping movements. Four healthy female basketball players were recruited in this study. All subjects were asked to perform five successful trials at each stepping movements after jump landing. Results of the current study showed that different step movements may result in different biomechanical factors to cause different ACL injury risk levels. Future studies should focus on investigating the best jump landing and stepping strategy, and analyzing better ways to coordinate lower extremity joints to reduce noncontact ACL injury risks

Entropy-Adaptive Filtering

This publication describes an entropy-adaptive filtering, which reduces compression artifacts for videos of any given complexity and at any given video-encoding bit-rate. Unlike other video filtering designs, the entropy-adaptive filtering minimizes the likelihood of compression artifacts by reducing the entropy level of the input video

Revisiting the Antecedents of Social Entrepreneurial Intentions in Hong Kong

This study examined how empathy, moral obligation, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived social support, and prior experience with social problems are associated with social entrepreneurial intentions. Through a survey, a sample of 252 Hong Kong students was used for analyses. Factor analyses supported that the antecedents of social entrepreneurial intentions could be divided into dimensions of empathy, moral obligation, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived social support, and prior experience with social problems. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that perceived social support was the most prominent antecedent of social entrepreneurial intentions, followed by moral obligation, empathy, and prior experience with social problems. Notably, moral obligation was revealed to be negatively associated with social entrepreneurial intentions.

Clinical Evaluation of Acupuncture as Treatment for Complications of Cerebrovascular Accidents: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Subject- and Assessor-Blind Trial

Background and Purpose. The effect of acupuncture as treatment for poststroke complications is questionable. We performed a randomized, sham-controlled double-blind study to investigate it. Methods. Patients with first-time acute stroke were randomized to receive 24 sessions of either real or sham acupuncture during an eight-week period. The primary outcome measure was change in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Secondary outcome measures included changes in Barthel Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain scores. Results. Of the 52 patients who were randomized to receive acupuncture (n=28) or placebo (n=24), 10 patients in the acupuncture group and 9 patients in the placebo group failed to complete the treatment. In total, 18 patients in the acupuncture group and 15 patients in the control group completed the treatment course. Reduction in pain was significantly greater in the acupuncture group than in the control group (p value = 0.04). There were no significant differences in the other measures between the two groups. Conclusions. Acupuncture provided more effective poststroke pain relief than sham acupuncture treatment. However, acupuncture had no better effect on neurological, functional, and psychological improvement

Differentiating impacts of non‐pharmaceutical interventions on non‐coronavirus disease‐2019 respiratory viral infections: Hospital‐based retrospective observational study in Taiwan

Background Physical distancing and facemask use are worldwide recognized as effective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Since January 2020, Taiwan has introduced both NPIs but their effectiveness on non-COVID-19 respiratory viruses (NCRVs) remain underexplored. Methods This retrospective observational study examined electronic records at a tertiary hospital in northern Taiwan from pre-COVID (January–December 2019) to post-COVID period (January–May 2020). Patients with respiratory syndromes were tested for both enveloped (eg, influenza virus and seasonal coronavirus) and non-enveloped RVs (eg, enterovirus and rhinovirus) using multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Monthly positivity rates of NCRVs among adult and pediatric patients were analyzed with comparison between pre- and post-COVID periods. Results A total of 9693 patients underwent 12 127 multiplex RT-PCR tests. The average positivity rate of NCRVs reduced by 11.2% (25.6% to 14.4%) after nationwide PHIs. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the most commonly identified enveloped and non-enveloped viruses were influenza virus and enterovirus/rhinovirus, respectively. Observed reduction in NCRV incidence was predominantly contributed by enveloped NCRVs including influenza viruses. We did not observe epidemiological impacts of NPIs on non-enveloped viruses but an increasing trend in enterovirus/rhinovirus test positivity rate among pediatric patients. Our data were validated using Taiwan's national notification database. Conclusions Our frontline investigation suggests that the current NPIs in Taiwan might not effectively control the transmission of non-enveloped respiratory viruses, despite their protective effects against influenza and seasonal coronavirus. Health authorities may consider using hydrogen peroxide or chloride-based disinfectants as additional preventative strategies against non-enveloped respiratory viruses in the post-COVID-19 era

Thermal Recovery of the Electrochemically Degraded LiCoO₂/Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂:Al,Ta Interface in an All-Solid-State Lithium Battery

All-solid-state lithium batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems. Their performance critically depends on the capacity and cycling stability of the cathodic layer. Cells with a garnet Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) electrolyte can show high areal storage capacity. However, they commonly suffer from performance degradation during cycling. For fully inorganic cells based on LiCoO2 (LCO) as cathode active material and LLZO, the electrochemically induced interface amorphization has been identified as an origin of the performance degradation. This study shows that the amorphized interface can be recrystallized by thermal recovery (annealing) with nearly full restoration of the cell performance. The structural and chemical changes at the LCO/LLZO heterointerface associated with degradation and recovery were analyzed in detail and justified by thermodynamic modeling. Based on this comprehensive understanding, this work demonstrates a facile way to recover more than 80% of the initial storage capacity through a thermal recovery (annealing) step. The thermal recovery can be potentially used for cost-efficient recycling of ceramic all-solid-state batteries.</p

Clinical Evaluation of Acupuncture as Treatment for Complications of Cerebrovascular Accidents: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Subject-and Assessor-Blind Trial

Background and Purpose. The effect of acupuncture as treatment for poststroke complications is questionable. We performed a randomized, sham-controlled double-blind study to investigate it. Methods. Patients with first-time acute stroke were randomized to receive 24 sessions of either real or sham acupuncture during an eight-week period. The primary outcome measure was change in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Secondary outcome measures included changes in Barthel Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain scores. Results. Of the 52 patients who were randomized to receive acupuncture ( = 28) or placebo ( = 24), 10 patients in the acupuncture group and 9 patients in the placebo group failed to complete the treatment. In total, 18 patients in the acupuncture group and 15 patients in the control group completed the treatment course. Reduction in pain was significantly greater in the acupuncture group than in the control group ( value = 0.04). There were no significant differences in the other measures between the two groups. Conclusions. Acupuncture provided more effective poststroke pain relief than sham acupuncture treatment. However, acupuncture had no better effect on neurological, functional, and psychological improvement