Coordination exercise and postural stability in elderly people: effect of Tai Chi Chuan

Objective: To evaluate the effects of coordination exercise on postural stability in older individuals by Chinese shadow boxing, Tai Chi Chuan (TCC). Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Research project in a hospital-based biomechanical laboratory. Participants: The TCC group (n ϭ 25) had been practicing TCC regularly for 2 to 35 years. The control group (n ϭ 14) included healthy and active older subjects. Intervention Results: In static postural control, the results showed no differences between the TCC or control group in the more simple conditions, but in the more complicated SOT (eyes closed with sway surface, sway vision with sway surface), the TCC group had significantly better results than the control group. The TCC group also had significantly better results in the rhythmic forward-backward weight-shifting test. Duration of practice did not seem to affect the stability of elder people. Conclusion: The elderly people who regularly practiced TCC showed better postural stability in the more challenged conditions than those who do not (eg, the condition with simultaneous disturbance of vision and proprioception). TCC as a coordination exercise may reduce the risk of a fall through maintaining the ability of posture control. Key Words: Balance; Elderly; Exercise; Posture; Rehabilitation; T'ai Chi. © by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation P REVENTIVE CARE for the elderly has received increased attention because of the rapid increase in the elderly population and their disproportionately high medical expenses. 1 Falls are a major cause of morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality among older people. 2-4 Approximately 30% of those over 65 years of age sustain a fall, with about half of them having multiple events. About 10% to 15% of falls result in serious injuries and in soft tissue injuries. Many studies show that impaired balance and decreased lower extremity strength are important risk factors in the loss of physical functioning and the occurrence of falls in older adults. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is a traditional Chinese conditioning exercis

AAEM Position Paper TISSUE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR AND STROKE: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE FOR THE CLINICIAN

, Abstract-Background: Alteplase (tPA) is a United States (US) Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke, though there are significant barriers to thrombolytic use, including Emergency Physicians' (EPs') concern for level of supporting evidence. Study Objectives: To review the medical literature on the topic of acute cerebrovascular accident (CVA) management and to offer EPs evidence-based recommendations for patients who present to the Emergency Department with an acute CVA. Methods: A MEDLINE literature search from 1990 to 2011 and limited to human studies written in English for articles with keywords of: CVA AND (thromboly* OR alteplase). Guideline statements and non-systematic reviews were excluded. Studies targeting differences between specific populations (males vs. females) were excluded. Studies identified then underwent a structured review from which results could be evaluated. Results: There were 407 papers on thrombolytic use screened, and 15 appropriate articles were rigorously reviewed and recommendations given. Conclusions: tPA is an effective treatment for stroke when given in prepared stroke centers; EPs and hospitals treating stroke patients with tPA need to have the necessary resources in place and a specific plan for timely care of patients with acute stroke.

Effect of Co catalyst on PECVD growth of carbon nanotubes for NEMS applications

In this paper the effect of cobalt (Co) catalyst on the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was studied. CNTs were vertically grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method (PECVD) at 700°C with various sputtered Co catalyst thicknesses. Experimental results shows that for carbon nanotube growth duration of 20 minutes, growth was only achieved with thinner catalyst layers but when the growth duration was doubled, high density of CNTS were also observed with thicker catalyst layers with taller nanotubes formed. The nucleation of the catalyst with various thicknesses was also studied as the absorption of the carbon feedstock is dependent on the initial size of the catalyst island

Preconditioning of primary human endothelial cells with inflammatory mediators alters the “set point” of the cell

Endothelial cells are highly sensitive to changes in the extracellular milieu. Sepsis results in activation of inflammatory and coagulation pathways. We hypothesized that sepsis-associated mediators may alter the response capacity (so-called “set point”) of endothelial cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were preincubated in the presence or absence of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), hypoxia, hyperthermia, and/or high glucose; treated with or without thrombin for 4 h; and then processed for RNase protection assays of selected activation markers. Priming with TNF-α and LPS significantly inhibited thrombin-mediated induction of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, tissue factor, and E-selectin, but not platelet-derived growth factor-A or CD44. In electrophoretic mobility shift assays, thrombin-treated HUVEC demonstrated inducible binding of p65 NF-κB, an effect that was significantly blunted by pretreatment of cells with TNF-α and LPS. Consistent with these results, TNF-α and LPS attenuated the effect of thrombin on IκB phosphorylation, total cytoplasmic IκB, and nuclear translocation of p65 NF-κB. The inhibitory effect of TNF-α on thrombin signaling persisted for up to 24 h following removal of the cytokine. Taken together, these data suggest that inflammatory mediators prime endothelial cells to modulate subsequent thrombin response

Identifying therapeutic targets from spontaneous beneficial brain lesions

Brain damage can occasionally result in paradoxical functional benefit, which could help identify therapeutic targets for neuromodulation. However, these beneficial lesions are rare and lesions in multiple different brain locations can improve the same symptom. Using a technique called lesion network mapping, we show that heterogeneous lesion locations resulting in tremor relief are all connected to common nodes in the cerebellum and thalamus, the latter of which is a proven deep brain stimulation target for tremor. These results suggest that lesion network mapping can identify the common substrate underlying therapeutic lesions and effective therapeutic targets. Ann Neurol 2018;83:153-15

Von Bezold assimilation effect reverses in stereoscopic conditions

Lightness contrast and lightness assimilation are opposite phenomena: in contrast, grey targets appear darker when bordering bright surfaces (inducers) rather than dark ones; in assimilation, the opposite occurs. The question is: which visual process favours the occurrence of one phenomenon over the other? Researchers provided three answers to this question. The first asserts that both phenomena are caused by peripheral processes; the second attributes their occurrence to central processes; and the third claims that contrast involves central processes, whilst assimilation involves peripheral ones. To test these hypotheses, an experiment on an IT system equipped with goggles for stereo vision was run. Observers were asked to evaluate the lightness of a grey target, and two variables were systematically manipulated: (i) the apparent distance of the inducers; and (ii) brightness of the inducers. The retinal stimulation was kept constant throughout, so that the peripheral processes remained the same. The results show that the lightness of the target depends on both variables. As the retinal stimulation was kept constant, we conclude that central mechanisms are involved in both lightness contrast and lightness assimilation

Prenatal origin of childhood AML occurs less frequently than in childhood ALL

Background While there is enough convincing evidence in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the data on the pre-natal origin in childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are less comprehensive. Our study aimed to screen Guthrie cards (neonatal blood spots) of non-infant childhood AML and ALL patients for the presence of their respective leukemic markers. Methods We analysed Guthrie cards of 12 ALL patients aged 2–6 years using immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements (n = 15) and/or intronic breakpoints of TEL/AML1 fusion gene (n = 3). In AML patients (n = 13, age 1–14 years) PML/RARalpha (n = 4), CBFbeta/MYH11 (n = 3), AML1/ETO (n = 2), MLL/AF6 (n = 1), MLL/AF9 (n = 1) and MLL/AF10 (n = 1) fusion genes and/or internal tandem duplication of FLT3 gene (FLT3/ITD) (n = 2) were used as clonotypic markers. Assay sensitivity determined using serial dilutions of patient DNA into the DNA of a healthy donor allowed us to detect the pre-leukemic clone in Guthrie card providing 1–3 positive cells were present in the neonatal blood spot. Results In 3 patients with ALL (25%) we reproducibly detected their leukemic markers (Ig/TCR n = 2; TEL/AML1 n = 1) in the Guthrie card. We did not find patient-specific molecular markers in any patient with AML. Conclusion In the largest cohort examined so far we used identical approach for the backtracking of non-infant childhood ALL and AML. Our data suggest that either the prenatal origin of AML is less frequent or the load of pre-leukemic cells is significantly lower at birth in AML compared to ALL cases