Impact of ankle-foot strengthening therapy on motor function in children with cerebral palsy

Objective To investigate the changes of motor function in children with cerebral palsy undergoing ankle-foot strengthening therapy. Methods A total of 80 children with cerebral palsy were enrolled in this study，and divided into the control group（n = 40）and observation group（n = 40）. In the control group，children received regular trunk training based on motor control theory combined with neurodevelopmental therapy，and those in the observation group received ankle-foot strengthening therapy in addition to those interventions in the control group. Pre-and post-treatment assessments including the Gross Motor Function Measure（GMFM-88）scores for Sections D and E，the 6-minute walk test（6-MWT），the Timed Up and Go Test（TUGT），and the Pediatric Balance Scale（PBS）were recorded to compare clinical efficacy between two groups. Results Following corresponding interventions，significant improvement was observed in all observed indexes in two groups（all P < 0.05）. Notably，children in the observation group exhibited better post-treatment scores in GMFM Section E，6-MWT，TUGT，and PBS compared to their counterparts in the control group，with statistically significant differences（all P < 0.05）. Conclusion Ankle-foot strengthening therapy effectively promotes the recovery of motor function in children with cerebral palsy

Development of a Non-invasive Deep Brain Stimulator With Precise Positioning and Real-Time Monitoring of Bioimpedance

Methods by which to achieve non-invasive deep brain stimulation via temporally interfering with electric fields have been proposed, but the precision of the positioning of the stimulation and the reliability and stability of the outputs require improvement. In this study, a temporally interfering electrical stimulator was developed based on a neuromodulation technique using the interference modulation waveform produced by several high-frequency electrical stimuli to treat neurodegenerative diseases. The device and auxiliary software constitute a non-invasive neuromodulation system. The technical problems related to the multichannel high-precision output of the device were solved by an analog phase accumulator and a special driving circuit to reduce crosstalk. The function of measuring bioimpedance in real time was integrated into the stimulator to improve effectiveness. Finite element simulation and phantom measurements were performed to find the functional relations among the target coordinates, current ratio, and electrode position in the simplified model. Then, an appropriate approach was proposed to find electrode configurations for desired target locations in a detailed and realistic mouse model. A mouse validation experiment was carried out under the guidance of a simulation, and the reliability and positioning accuracy of temporally interfering electric stimulators were verified. Stimulator improvement and precision positioning solutions promise opportunities for further studies of temporally interfering electrical stimulation

Enhancing Working Memory Based on Mismatch Negativity Neurofeedback in Subjective Cognitive Decline Patients: A Preliminary Study

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is suitable for studies of preattentive auditory discriminability and the auditory memory trace. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is an ideal target for early therapeutic intervention because SCD occurs at preclinical stages many years before the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). According to a novel lifespan-based model of dementia risk, hearing loss is considered the greatest potentially modifiable risk factor of dementia among nine health and lifestyle factors, and hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline. Therefore, we propose a neurofeedback training based on MMN, which is an objective index of auditory discriminability, to regulate sensory ability and memory as a non-pharmacological intervention (NPI) in SCD patients. Seventeen subjects meeting the standardized clinical evaluations for SCD received neurofeedback training. The auditory frequency discrimination test, the visual digital N-back (1-, 2-, and 3-back), auditory digital N-back (1-, 2-, and 3-back), and auditory tone N-back (1-, 2-, and 3-back) tasks were used pre- and post-training in all SCD patients. The intervention schedule comprised five 60-min training sessions over 2 weeks. The results indicate that the subjects who received neurofeedback training had successfully improved the amplitude of MMN at the parietal electrode (Pz). A slight decrease in the threshold of auditory frequency discrimination was observed after neurofeedback training. Notably, after neurofeedback training, the working memory (WM) performance was significantly enhanced in the auditory tone 3-back test. Moreover, improvements in the accuracy of all WM tests relative to the baseline were observed, although the changes were not significant. To the best of our knowledge, our preliminary study is the first to investigate the effects of MMN neurofeedback training on WM in SCD patients, and our results suggest that MMN neurofeedback may represent an effective treatment for intervention in SCD patients and the elderly with aging memory decline

Identification of necroptosis-related genes in Parkinson’s disease by integrated bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation

BackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegeneration disease worldwide. Necroptosis, which is a new form of programmed cell death with high relationship with inflammation, plays a vital role in the progression of PD. However, the key necroptosis related genes in PD are not fully elucidated.PurposeIdentification of key necroptosis-related genes in PD.MethodThe PD associated datasets and necroptosis related genes were downloaded from the GEO Database and GeneCards platform, respectively. The DEGs associated with necroptosis in PD were obtained by gap analysis, and followed by cluster analysis, enrichment analysis and WGCNA analysis. Moreover, the key necroptosis related genes were generated by PPI network analysis and their relationship by spearman correlation analysis. Immune infiltration analysis was used for explore the immune state of PD brain accompanied with the expression levels of these genes in various types of immune cells. Finally, the gene expression levels of these key necroptosis related genes were validated by an external dataset, blood samples from PD patients and toxin-induced PD cell model using real-time PCR analysis.ResultTwelve key necroptosis-related genes including ASGR2, CCNA1, FGF10, FGF19, HJURP, NTF3, OIP5, RRM2, SLC22A1, SLC28A3, WNT1 and WNT10B were identified by integrated bioinformatics analysis of PD related dataset GSE7621. According to the correlation analysis of these genes, RRM2 and WNT1 were positively and negatively correlated with SLC22A1 respectively, while WNT10B was positively correlated with both OIF5 and FGF19. As the results from immune infiltration analysis, M2 macrophage was the highest population of immune cell in analyzed PD brain samples. Moreover, we found that 3 genes (CCNA1, OIP5 and WNT10B) and 9 genes (ASGR2, FGF10, FGF19, HJURP, NTF3, RRM2, SLC22A1, SLC28A3 and WNT1) were down- and up- regulated in an external dataset GSE20141, respectively. All the mRNA expression levels of these 12 genes were obviously upregulated in 6-OHDA-induced SH-SY5Y cell PD model while CCNA1 and OIP5 were up- and down- regulated, respectively, in peripheral blood lymphocytes of PD patients.ConclusionNecroptosis and its associated inflammation play fundamental roles in the progression of PD and these identified 12 key genes might be served as new diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for PD

The Correlation between Thyrotropin and Dyslipidemia in a Population-based Study

This study investigated the relationship between serum thyrotrophin levels and dyslipidemia in subclinical hypothyroid and euthyroid subjects. A total of 110 subjects with subclinical hypothyroidism and 1,240 euthyroid subjects enrolled in this study. Patients with subclinical hypothyroidism had significantly lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels than those who were euthyroid. The lipid profiles were each categorized and mean thyrotrophin levels were higher in subjects in the dyslipidemia subclasses than subjects in the normal subclasses. Thyrotrophin was positively associated with serum triglyceride and negatively associated with serum HDL-C in women. Thyrotrophin was also positively associated with total cholesterol (TC) in the overweight population along with TC and LDL-C in overweight women. In the euthyroid population, thyrotrophin was positively associated with TC in the overweight population. In conclusion, serum thyrotrophin was correlated with dyslipidemia in subclinical hypothyroid and euthyroid subjects; the correlation was independent of insulin sensitivity

Glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies are dominant but insufficient to identify most Chinese with adult-onset non-insulin requiring autoimmune diabetes: LADA China study 5.

AIMS: Adult-onset autoimmune diabetes is prevalent in China, in contrast to childhood-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus. Islet autoantibodies are the most important immune biomarkers to diagnose autoimmune diabetes. We assayed four different islet autoantibodies in recently diagnosed adult non-insulin-requiring diabetes Chinese subjects to investigate the best antibody assay strategy for the correct diagnosis of these subjects. METHODS: LADA China study is a nation-wide multicenter study conducted in diabetes patients from 46 university-affiliated hospitals in China. Non-insulin-treated newly diagnosed adult diabetes patients (n = 2388) were centrally assayed for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody (GADA), protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 autoantibody (IA-2A), and zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (ZnT8A) by radioligand assay and insulin autoantibody (IAA) by microtiter plate radioimmunoassay. Clinical data were determined locally. RESULTS: Two hundred and six (8.63 %) subjects were autoantibody positive, of which GADA identified 5.78 % (138/2388) of the total, but only 67 % (138/206) of the autoimmune cases. IA-2A, ZnT8A, and IAA were found in 1.51, 1.84, and 1.26 % of the total study subjects, respectively. When assaying three islet autoantibodies, the most effective strategy was the combination of GADA, ZnT8A, and IAA, which could identify 92.2 % (190/206) autoimmune diabetes patients. The clinical data showed that those subjects with positive GADA had lower random C-peptide than autoantibody negative subjects (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As with Europeans, GADA is the dominant autoantibody in this form of autoimmune diabetes in China, but in contrast to Europeans, screening should include other diabetes-associated autoantibodies

IL-33 ameliorates experimental colitis involving regulation of autophagy of macrophages in mice

Abstract Background Previously, we have demonstrated that IL-33 administration protecting TNBS-induced experimental colitis is associated with facilitation of Th2/Tregs responses in mice. However, whether IL-33 regulates autophagy to ameliorate experimental colitis is unclear. Results IL-33 administration (2 μg/day, intraperitoneal injection), while facilitating Th2/Tregs responses, also enhances the autophagy in mice with TNBS-induced colitis as well as macrophages. In the meantime, we observed that inhibition of the autophagy with 3-methyladenine (3-MA) (24 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection) in mice exacerbates TNBS-induced experimental colitis. On the contrary, administration of rapamycin (2 mg/kg,intragastric administration), an autophagy-enhancer, alleviates the colitis in mice. In vivo, Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that TNBS combined with IL-33 enhanced the autophagy of macrophages in the inflammatory gut tissue. In vitro, treatment with IL-33 promoted the autophagy of macrophages generated from bone marrow cells in dose-dependant manner. Furthermore, the effect of autophagy-enhancement by IL-33 is TLR4 signaling pathway dependant. Our notion was further confirmed by IL-33-deficient bone marrow-derived macrophages cells. Conclusions IL-33 regulates the autophagy is a new immunoregulatory property on TNBS-induced experimental colitis in mice

Analysis of Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Ambient Temperature Field in Buildings

To address the uneven distribution of the thermal environment in buildings and the temperature deviation between the end temperature sensing devices and the thermal environment of the work area, this paper presents a simulation and experimental study of the indoor temperature distribution characteristics and its influencing factors, taking an office in a northern area as the research object. Firstly, a three-dimensional model of the building is constructed based on ANSYS software to simulate the indoor temperature distribution characteristics in summer and winter under the influencing factors of outdoor environment, building orientation, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), and the form and arrangement of indoor terminals. Secondly, based on the simulation and experimental data, the effect of different influencing factors on indoor temperature is analysed, and a formula for fitting the WWRto indoor temperature and a formula for fitting the temperature deviation between the temperature sensor and the working area with the characteristics of influencing factors is proposed, laying a theoretical foundation for indoor temperature end control technology

Nutritional and antioxidant properties of non-centrifugal cane sugar derived from membrane clarified juice

Sugarcane is a very rich source of nutrients, phytocompounds, and unique flavor and aroma, so unrefined sugars (e.g., non-centrifugal sugar, NCS) produced from it contains high proportions of these compounds that are beneficial to human health. This study examined the nutritional and antioxidant properties of a sugar product obtained from sugarcane juice clarified with 50 nm ceramic membrane (M-NCS) and compares these properties with commercially available NCS products. M-NCS contains the potent antioxidants caffeic acid (313 mg/100 g) and gallic acids (508 mg/100 g), and the overall antioxidant properties based on α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity and reducing power are comparable to the commercial products. M-NCS’s stability and storage shelf-life (as reflected by the moisture content, water activity (aw), and reducing sugar content) are similar to those of NCS products. However, it contains 22-34% less essential amino acids, although comparable proportions of arginine, glutamine and leucine. As M-NCS has a lower turbidity, starch and amino acid contents than the NCS products, it would be a better choice for the beverage industry as it would significantly reduce the unpleasant haze formed in drink formulations. The study also compares the properties of M-NCS and NCS with granulated brown sugar (GBS)

Mentoring in China: Enhanced Understanding and Association with Occupational Stress

Purpose: Given the increased usage of mentoring programs in multi-cultural settings, including the Chinese workplace, the present study examined Chinese employees’ understanding of mentoring relationships and whether mentoring played a role in their occupational stress process. Methodology: Using open-ended questions, Phase 1 of the study investigated the understanding of mentoring relationships from 39 academic experts in relevant fields and 22 practitioners with management experiences. Using a survey approach, Phase 2 examined mentoring within a stressor–strain framework among a sample of employees in China, qualitatively (N = 207) and quantitatively (N = 1,281). Findings: Results from this study indicate that Chinese employees understood mentoring relationships in a way similar to Western employees. Although mentored Chinese employees reported a level of psychological strains similar to those not mentored, they demonstrated stronger positive relations between stressors (supervisory relationship concerns, career advancement concerns, and work-family conflict) and strains (depression and emotional exhaustion) than their unmentored counterparts. Implications: These findings supported the transferability of the mentoring concept and process from Western cultures to China, a Confucian culture. More importantly, the role of mentoring in the occupational stress process was shown to be complex and intriguing. Originality/Value: This research not only advances our understanding of mentoring outside Western cultures, but also identifies the need for future investigation of the complex role of mentoring relationships in employee and organizational stress management