Pediatric Acupuncture: A Review of Clinical Research

Practiced in China for more than 2000 years, acupuncture has recently gained increased attention in the United States as an alternative treatment approach for a variety of medical conditions. Despite its growing prevalence and anecdotal reports of success among pediatric populations, few empirically based studies have assessed the efficacy of acupuncture for children and adolescents. This article presents a review of the current literature, including a systematic appraisal of the methodological value of each study and a discussion of potential benefits and adverse effects of acupuncture. While acupuncture holds great promise as a treatment modality for diverse pediatric conditions, a significant amount of additional research is necessary to establish an empirical basis for the incorporation of acupuncture into standard care

Effects Of Submental Surface Electrical Stimulation On Swallowing Kinematics In Healthy Adults: An Error-Based Learning Paradigm

Purpose: Hyoid bone and laryngeal approximation aid airway protection (laryngeal vestibule closure) while moving toward their peak superior and anterior positions during swallowing. Submental surface electrical stimulation (SES) is a therapeutic technique that targets the muscles that move the hyoid bone during swallowing. It is unknown whether submental SES only increases peak hyoid bone swallowing positions but not peak laryngeal swallowing positions, which could require faster or greater laryngeal movement to achieve adequate laryngeal vestibule closure. Method: We examined the effects of submental SES on hyo-laryngeal kinematics in 30 healthy adults who swallowed 50 times using an error-based learning paradigm. Results: Submental SES did not alter any hyo-laryngeal swallowing kinematic. However, submental SES significantly changed the starting position of the hyoid bone just prior to the swallow onset (more anterior; p = .003). On average, submental SES immediately prior to swallow onset can position the hyoid approximately 20% closer to its peak swallowing point. Conclusions: These findings indicate that electrical stimulation of the agonists for hyoid movement might not alter swallowing outcomes tested in this study. However, submental SES could have clinical utility by minimizing swallowing impairments related to reduced hyoid swallowing range of motion in individuals with dysphagia.Wo

Gráfico de controle de VMAX para o monitoramento da matriz de covariâncias The VMAX control chart for monitoring the covariance matrix

Neste artigo é proposto, para o monitoramento de processos normais bivariados, um gráfico de controle baseado nas variâncias amostrais de duas características de qualidade. Os pontos plotados no gráfico correspondem ao valor da maior variância amostral. O gráfico proposto, denominado gráfico de VMAX, tem um desempenho superior ao do gráfico da variância amostral generalizada |S| e, além disso, tem uma melhor capacidade de diagnóstico, ou seja, com ele é mais fácil identificar a variável que teve sua variabilidade alterada pela ocorrência da causa especial. Quando a amostragem dupla está em uso o gráfico proposto também tem um desempenho superior ao do gráfico de |S|, exceto em alguns casos em que o tamanho da segunda amostra é muito grande.<br>In this paper a control chart based on sample variances from two quality characteristics for monitoring bivariate normal processes is proposed. The points plotted on the chart are the maximum of the values of these two statistics. The proposed chart (VMAX chart) detects process disturbances faster than the generalized variance |S| chart and has a better diagnostic feature, that is, with the VMAX chart it is easier to relate an out-of-control signal to the variable whose variability has moved away from its in-control state. When the double sampling scheme is used the proposed chart has also a better performance, except in a few cases in which the size of the samples at the second stage is very large