EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON ANKLE PROPRIOCEPTION DURING SIXTEEN WEEKS OF TRAINING AND EIGHT WEEKS OF DETRAINING IN OLDER ADULTS

This study evaluates the ankle proprioception in older adults. Sixty women (age 62.1±4.3yr) were randomly assigned to three groups to undergo a 16-week training (one group practice Tai Chi,one group practice brisk walking and one group reading) and 8-week detraining program. Proprioception of ankle plantarflexion (PF), dorsiflexion (DF) were measured, better proprioception is defined as being able to detect a smaller degree in joint angle. The results showed that degree PF and DF changes earlier and were smaller in TG than in BG in training; degree of PF and DF declined in all groups during the detraining, but TG exhibited a significant difference with pre-training data. So Tai Chi can more effectively improve and maintain ankle proprioception as well as prevent fall in old age. However, the extent of benefit depends on the regularity of training in older adults

Effects of a Dual-Task Paradigm and Gait Velocity on Dynamic Gait Stability during Stair Descent

Falls during stair negotiation have become one of the leading causes of accidental death. The effects of a concurrent cognitive or manual dual-task paradigm on dynamic gait stability remain uncertain. How much dynamic gait stability is influenced by gait velocity is also not clear. A total of 16 healthy young females descended a staircase under three different walking conditions: descend stairs only (single task), descend stairs while performing subtraction (cognitive dual-task), and descend stairs while carrying a glass of water (manual dual-task). An eight-camera Vicon motion analysis system and a Kistler force plate embedded into the third step of the staircase were used synchronously to collect kinematic and kinetic data. Gait velocity decreased and dynamic gait stability increased with both cognitive and manual dual-task conditions. The center of mass–center of pressure inclination angle increased with gait velocity but decreased with the manual dual-task condition compared to the single-task condition. Changes in gait velocity caused by the dual-task paradigm can partially explain the effects of dual-task dynamic gait stability. The influence of gait velocity should be considered in the assessment of dual-task effects

THE POTENTIAL INJURY RISK OF BACKPACK WEIGHT ON POSTURE AND GROUND REACTION FORCES OF OBESE CHILDREN DURING STAIR DESCENT

This study investigated the effects of backpack weight on posture, gait pattern, and ground reaction forces for children with obesity in an attempt to define a safe backpack weight limit for them. A total of 16 obese (11.19±0.66 years of age) and 21 normal body weight (11.13±0.69 years of age) school boys were recruited. Two force plates and two video cameras were used. Multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures was employed. Obese children showed increased trunk and head forward inclination angle, increased ground reaction force in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions when compared to male children with a normal body weight. The changes were observed even with an empty backpack in comparison with normal body weight children and a 15% increase in backpack weight led to further instability and damage on their already strained bodies

EFFECTS OF RUNNING BIOMECHANICS ON THE OCCURRENCE OF ILIOTIBIAL SYNDROME IN MALE RUNNERS — A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

This study aimed to determine the gait characteristics that easily induce ITBS and explore the gait changes after the occurrence of ITBS. 30 healthy male runners participated in our study, 15 in ITBS and control group respectively. All participants underwent two gait trials, namely, before the first day of their routine running and after 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of running, the ITBS group exhibited greater peak anterior pelvic tilt and hip flexion angle than the control group. The ITBS group showed increased peak trunk inclination angle, whereas the control group demonstrated lower peak hip flexion and peak hip adduction than those at the beginning of running. Decreased peak hip flexion and peak hip adduction angle was a gait adjustment strategy that could be used to avoid ITBS occurrence. Excessive trunk posture and pelvic activity during running are also ITBS risk factors

EFFECTS OF PNF INTERVENTION ON PAIN, JOINT PROPRIOCEPTION AND KNEE MOMENTS IN THE ELDERLY WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS DURING STAIR ASCENDING

In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of a 6-week proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) intervention on stair pain, joint proprioception, and external knee moment in the elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) during stair ascending. A total of 27 elderly patients with KOA participated in our study. Fourteen of the patients were included in the PNF group, and 13 were included in the control group. The WOMAC measures for specific pain and joint motion sense measures were used, and gait test were performed at weeks 0 and 6. After a 6-week PNF intervention, the PNF group showed a decreased “using stairs” pain score, decreased difficulty with “climbing stairs” score, decreased joint kinesthesia threshold, increased knee flexion moment (KFM), and decreased knee adduction moment (KAM) during climbing stairs. We suggest the use of PNF intervention, which relieves joint pain, enhances muscles strength and proprioception recovery, increases KFM, and decreases KAM, in the treatment of KOA in elderly patients

DETRAINING EFFECTS OF TAI CHI ON STATIC BALANCE IN OLDER WOMEN

This study aimed to investigate the detraining effects of Tai Chi (TC) on balance ability in single leg stance (SLS). TC, brisk walking (BW), and control (C) groups completed a 16-week intervention and 8-week detraining program. Time and center of pressure trajectory in SLS was tested with pressure plate at baseline, 16th, 24th week. Primary outcome (Time) and secondary outcomes (Lng, Area, D-ap, D-ml) improved significantly at the 16th week in the TC and BW groups. Most outcomes increased significantly at the 24th week compared to the 16th week in the BW group. TC was effective to improve balance ability and maintaining intervention gains and is recommended as an appropriate exercise to prevent falls in the older adults

BIOMECHANICS AND INJURY RISK FACTORS DURING RACE WALKING

The purpose of this study is to describe the biomechanical characteristics during race walking and identify whether the race walking rules could cause potential injury risks. Fourteen elite race walkers participated in this study. Rs-scan plantar pressure plate and three digital cameras were used to collect data during race walking and normal walking. Paired t-tests were used to detect the differences. The results showed that during race walking, the peak pressures of the lateral heel and medial heel, the displacements of the center of pressure, ankle dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, knee extension, hip adduction, foot eversion, ankle angular velocity, and average horizontal velocity were significantly larger than those during normal walking. The greater heel peak pressure and more ankle eversion may be the injury risks caused by the rules of race walking

The RELIABILITY OF A NEW DEVICE FOR ASSESSING ANKLE JOINT PRORIOCEPTION IN HEALTHY ADULTS

The objective of this study is to evaluate the within-day and between-day reliability of a new device for assessing ankle joint prorioception. Eleven healthy adults, composed of seven males and four females, participated in the study. Each subject completed three sessions, two on the same day and the last one week later. In each session, three successful testing trials for ankle joint plantarflexion, dosiflexion, inversion, and eversion were performed. The mean values in one direction were calculated and analyzed. The within-day ICC values ranged from 0.808 to 0.973. The SEM for the device ranged from 0.118 ° to 0.448 °. The between-day ICC values ranged from 0.628 to 0.884. The SEM ranged from 0.287 °to 0.618 °. The measurements indicate good to excellent reliability of the device

Denatured-State Conformation As Regulator of Amyloid Assembly Pathways?

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Disease incidence of ginger bacterial wilt. Figure S2. The rarefaction curve of samples. Table S1. Soil Physicochemical Data. Table S2. The top ten Phyla of samples. Dataset S1. Discriminative taxa analyzed by LEfSe in all samples

Balancing sensory inputs: somatosensory reweighting from proprioception to tactile sensation in maintaining postural stability among older adults with sensory deficits

BackgroundSensory deficits increase the risk of falls among older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations of lower extremity muscle strength, proprioception, and tactile sensation to postural stability among older adults with and without sensory deficits, to understand the contribution of each factor to postural stability, and to explore sensory reweighting among the two populations.MethodsA total of 103 participants were recruited and divided into two older adult groups with (female = 24, male = 26, age = 69.1 ± 3.15 years, height = 162.72 ± 6.94 cm, body mass = 64.05 ± 9.82 kg) and without sensory deficits (female = 26, male = 27, age = 70.02 ± 4.9 years, height = 163.76 ± 7.60 cm, body mass = 65.83 ± 10.31 kg), based on whether a 5.07 Semmes–Weinstein monofilament could be detected at foot soles. Their Berg Balance Scale (BBS), lower extremity muscle strength, proprioception, and tactile sensation were tested and compared between the two groups. Pearson's or Spearman's correlations were used to explore the relationships between the BBS and each variable. Factor analysis and multivariate linear regression were used to verify the degrees of correlation between the generated factors and the postural stability.ResultsLow BBS (p = 0.003, η2 = 0.088) scores and higher proprioception thresholds (knee flexion: p = 0.015, η2 = 0.059; knee extension: p = 0.011, η2 = 0.065; ankle plantarflexion: p = 0.006, η2 = 0.075; ankle dorsiflexion: p = 0.001, η2 = 0.106) were detected among older adults with sensory deficits compared with those without sensory deficits. Lower extremity muscle strength (ankle plantarflexion: r = 0.342, p = 0.002; hip abduction: r = 0.303, p = 0.041) and proprioception (knee flexion: r = −0.419, p = 0.004; knee extension: r = −0.292, p = 0.049; ankle plantarflexion: r = −0.450, p = 0.002; ankle dorsiflexion: r = −0.441, p = 0.002) were correlated with BBS among older adults without sensory deficits, while lower extremity muscle strength (ankle plantarflexion: r = 0.501, p<0.001; hip abduction: r = 0.302, p = 0.041) and tactile sensation (great toe: r = −0.388, p = 0.008; 5th metatarsal: r = −0.301, p = 0.042) were correlated with BBS among older adults with sensory deficits.ConclusionOlder adults with sensory deficits have poorer proprioception and postural stability. Somatosensory reweighting occurs from proprioception to tactile sensation among older adults with sensory deficits in maintaining postural stability