Feasibility study on a longer side-alternating vibration therapy protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with mild cerebral palsy

ObjectivePrevious studies on side-alternating vibration therapy (sVT) have usually used a 9 min intervention protocol. We performed a feasibility study aimed at assessing the safety, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).MethodsFifteen participants aged 5.2–17.4 years (median = 12.4 years) with CP GMFCS level II underwent 20 weeks of sVT consisting of 15 min sessions 4 days/week. Participants were assessed at baseline and after the intervention period, including mobility (six-minute walk-test; 6MWT), body composition (whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans), and muscle function (force plate).ResultsAdherence level to the 15 min VT protocol was 83% on average. There were no adverse events reported. After 20 weeks, there was some evidence for an increase in the walking distance covered in 6MWT (+43 m; p = 0.0018) and spine bone mineral density (+0.032 g/cm2; p = 0.012) compared to baseline.ConclusionsThe 15 min sVT protocol is feasible and well tolerated. The results also suggest potential benefits of this protocol to mobility and bone health. Randomized controlled trials are needed to reliably ascertain the potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol on physical function and body composition in young people with CP

Feasibility study on a longer side-alternating vibration therapy protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with mild cerebral palsy

Objective: Previous studies on side-alternating vibration therapy (sVT) have usually used a 9 min intervention protocol. We performed a feasibility study aimed at assessing the safety, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol (15 min per session) in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Fifteen participants aged 5.2-17.4 years (median = 12.4 years) with CP GMFCS level II underwent 20 weeks of sVT consisting of 15 min sessions 4 days/week. Participants were assessed at baseline and after the intervention period, including mobility (six-minute walk-test; 6MWT), body composition (whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans), and muscle function (force plate). Results: Adherence level to the 15 min VT protocol was 83% on average. There were no adverse events reported. After 20 weeks, there was some evidence for an increase in the walking distance covered in 6MWT (+43 m; p = 0.0018) and spine bone mineral density (+0.032 g/cm(2); p = 0.012) compared to baseline. Conclusions: The 15 min sVT protocol is feasible and well tolerated. The results also suggest potential benefits of this protocol to mobility and bone health. Randomized controlled trials are needed to reliably ascertain the potential effectiveness of a longer sVT protocol on physical function and body composition in young people with CP

Glacial carbonate compensation in the Pacific Ocean constrained from paired oxygen and carbonate system reconstructions

editorial reviewedThe tendency of CaCO_3 dissolution/burial to minimise changes in the carbonate ion concentration of the deep ocean following perturbations to the carbon cycle (‘carbonate compensation’) is thought to act as a first order control on atmospheric CO_2 on timescales of ~10^3 to 10^5 years. Although carbonate compensation could account for up to ~half of the glacial drawdown of CO_2, quantitative estimates of changes in ocean alkalinity are lacking. As such, the role of carbonate compensation in driving glacial-interglacial CO_2 variations remains poorly understood. Here, we combine paired reconstructions of dissolved oxygen from the infaunal-epifaunal benthic foraminiferal δ^13C proxy (Δδ^13C) and the carbonate system from boron proxies (B/Ca, δ^11B) in benthic foraminifera; this approach allows us to quantify both changes in deep ocean respired CO_2 storage, and the response of the carbonate system to this addition/removal of respired CO_2, providing the first quantitative estimates on the amount and timing of alkalinity changes in the deep Pacific during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and over deglaciation. Our results indicate an increase in deep ocean alkalinity during the LGM, and suggest the buffering of the deep ocean may occur substantially faster than the canonical timescale of ~5 kyr (Broecker and Peng, 1987). We present results from a series of sensitivity experiments and long-term simulations using the recently coupled iLOVECLIM-MEDUSA climate/carbon-cycle/sediment model, with implications for our understanding of carbonate compensation in both glacial times, and the long-term future

Moral Motivation Across Ethical Theories: What Can We Learn for Designing Corporate Ethics Programs?

moral motivation, moral imagination, corporate ethics programs, Kant, Aristotle, Mill,

Structural design of natural plant-based foods to promote nutritional quality

During traditional industrial processing of fruit and vegetable derived foods, consideration of the eventual retention, bio-accessibility or bio-availability of nutrients has hitherto been a secondary priority. Indeed standard processing of soups and sauces involves treating all ingredients in a similar way, usually by prolonged heat treatment and results in both lowered nutritional value and sensory quality of food products. Such products are typically structured using various additives including starches, gums and stabilizers, which consumers regard as unnatural, rather than exploiting the endogenous structuring potential of the fruit and vegetable ingredients as available at the farm gate. Recent studies undertaken within the EU sponsored 'Healthy Structuring' project have shown how to design an industrially manufactured product with good sensory qualities that is natural and nutritious. The strategy has been to use the inherent structural and nutritional properties of the raw material ingredients, on the one hand to ensure the textural quality of the final product without the use of artificial gums or stabilizers and, on the other hand to optimize the nutritional quality of the final product. This review briefly summarizes both the approach taken and the results obtained within the project

Further pharmacological and genetic evidence for the efficacy of PlGF inhibition in cancer and eye disease

Our findings that PlGF is a cancer target and anti-PlGF is useful for anticancer treatment have been challenged by Bais et al. Here we take advantage of carcinogen-induced and transgenic tumor models as well as ocular neovascularization to report further evidence in support of our original findings of PlGF as a promising target for anticancer therapies. We present evidence for the efficacy of additional anti-PlGF antibodies and their ability to phenocopy genetic deficiency or silencing of PlGF in cancer and ocular disease but also show that not all anti-PlGF antibodies are effective. We also provide additional evidence for the specificity of our anti-PlGF antibody and experiments to suggest that anti-PlGF treatment will not be effective for all tumors and why. Further, we show that PlGF blockage inhibits vessel abnormalization rather than density in certain tumors while enhancing VEGF-targeted inhibition in ocular disease. Our findings warrant further testing of anti-PlGF therapies

Further Pharmacological and Genetic Evidence for the Efficacy of PlGF Inhibition in Cancer and Eye Disease

Our findings that PlGF is a cancer target and anti-PlGF is useful for anticancer treatment have been challenged by Bais et al. Here we take advantage of carcinogen-induced and transgenic tumor models as well as ocular neovascularization to report further evidence in support of our original findings of PlGF as a promising target for anticancer therapies. We present evidence for the efficacy of additional anti-PlGF antibodies and their ability to phenocopy genetic deficiency or silencing of PlGF in cancer and ocular disease but also show that not all anti-PlGF antibodies are effective. We also provide additional evidence for the specificity of our anti-PlGF antibody and experiments to suggest that anti-PlGF treatment will not be effective for all tumors and why. Further, we show that PlGF blockage inhibits vessel abnormalization rather than density in certain tumors while enhancing VEGF-targeted inhibition in ocular disease. Our findings warrant further testing of anti-PlGF therapies.status: publishe