Increased Risk of Ischemic Stroke during Sleep in Apneic Patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:The literature indicates that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases the risk of ischemic stroke. However, the causal relationship between OSA and ischemic stroke is not well established. This study examined whether preexisting OSA symptoms affect the onset of acute ischemic stroke. METHODS:We investigated consecutive patients who were admitted with acute ischemic stroke, using a standardized protocol including the Berlin Questionnaire on symptoms of OSA prior to stroke. The collected stroke data included the time of the stroke onset, risk factors, and etiologic subtypes. The association between preceding OSA symptoms and wake-up stroke (WUS) was assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS:We identified 260 subjects with acute ischemic strokes with a definite onset time, of which 25.8% were WUS. The presence of preexisting witnessed or self-recognized sleep apnea was the only risk factor for WUS (adjusted odds ratio=2.055, 95% confidence interval=1.035-4.083, p=0.040). CONCLUSIONS:Preexisting symptoms suggestive of OSA were associated with the occurrence of WUS. This suggests that OSA contributes to ischemic stroke not only as a predisposing risk factor but also as a triggering factor. Treating OSA might therefore be beneficial in preventing stroke, particularly that occurring during sleep

Effects of Aquabike Exercise on Gait Ability, Cardiovascular and Fall-related Fitness in Older Women with Obesity

PURPOSE This study aimed to verify the effects of aquabike exercise on the gait ability and cardiorespiratory and fall-related fitness of older women with obesity. METHODS The participants were divided into 65–74 years old and 75–82 years old groups. Verified cardiorespiratory fitness and physical changes were compared between the groups. The aquabike exercise used in this study was a combination of water exercise and a fixed bicycle on the ground. A 50-min aquabike exercise was performed three times weekly for 12 weeks. RESULTS Our study's results revealed that cardiorespiratory fitness did not show any significant changes between the groups × period of forced expiratory volume, maximum 80% exercise duration, maximum heart rate, and pedals per minute. The number of revolutions increased significantly after the exercise. In relation to gait, there was no significant change between the group × period of time required for walking 6 m and the number of steps, whereas the time required and the number of steps required to walk for 6 m within the groups significantly decreased after exercise. There were no significant changes between the groups × period in 3-m round-trip, five chair-standing, 30-s chair-standing, and relative grip strength of fall-related physical variables; however, the time required to walk a 3-m round-trip and five chair-to-stand within the groups decreased after aquabike exercise. CONCLUSIONS Aquabike exercise is an effective mediation strategy for older women with obesity, as it is an exercise method that maintains a vibrant life in older age groups as well as walking ability by improving cardiopulmonary and fall-related physical strength

Negotiating Asian American Identities: Collaborative Self-Study of Korean Immigrant Scholars’ Reading Group on AsianCri

The purpose of this study is to understand how Korean immigrant women early career scholars in higher education in the United States explore their Asian American identities in the identity-based community space. The study considered qualitative data generated by five authors in a collaborative reading group learning more about AsianCrit literature. Our analysis revealed that AsianCrit was used as a tool for revisiting our racialized experiences, negotiating tensions around key constructs of AsianCrit informed by transnational perspectives, and embracing Asian American identities in pursuit of solidarity. The findings contribute to expanding the scholarship of AsianCrit by highlighting its utility and possibilities to support transnational or first-generation Asian immigrants’ identity exploration in higher education. Moreover, the findings signify the identity-informed peer mentoring as a way to build Asian solidarity. Includes Appendix A and Appendix B

MR Imaging of Medullary Streaks in Osteosclerosis: A Case Report

We present a case of medullary sclerosis of the appendicular skeleton in a patient with chronic renal insufficiency for whom MR imaging findings were characteristic. T1- and T2-weighted MR images showed multiple vertical lines (medullary streaks) of low signal intensity in the metaphyses and diaphyses of the distal femur and proximal tibia

Distinct neural networks associated with obsession and delusion: A connectome-wide association study

BACKGROUND: Obsession and delusion are theoretically distinct from each other in terms of reality testing. Despite such phenomenological distinction, no extant studies have examined the identification of common and distinct neural correlates of obsession and delusion by employing biologically grounded methods. Here, we investigated dimensional effects of obsession and delusion spanning across the traditional diagnostic boundaries reflected upon the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) using connectome-wide association studies (CWAS). METHODS: Our study sample comprised of 96 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, 75 patients with schizophrenia, and 65 healthy controls. A connectome-wide analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between obsession and delusion severity and RFSC using multivariate distance-based matrix regression. RESULTS: Obsession was associated with the supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, and superior parietal lobule, while delusion was associated with the precuneus. Follow-up seed-based RSFC and modularity analyses revealed that obsession was related to aberrant inter-network connectivity strength. Additional inter-network analyses demonstrated the association between obsession severity and inter-network connectivity between the frontoparietal control network and the dorsal attention network. CONCLUSIONS: Our CWAS study based on the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) provides novel evidence for the circuit-level functional dysconnectivity associated with obsession and delusion severity across diagnostic boundaries. Further refinement and accumulation of biomarkers from studies embedded within the RDoC framework would provide useful information in treating individuals who have some obsession or delusion symptoms but cannot be identified by the category of clinical symptoms alone

Physical properties and biological effects of mineral trioxide aggregate mixed with methylcellulose and calcium chloride

Objectives: Methylcellulose (MC) is a chemical compound derived from cellulose. MTA mixed with MC reduces setting time and increases plasticity. This study assessed the influence of MC as an anti-washout ingredient and CaCl2 as a setting time accelerator on the physical and biological properties of MTA. Material and Methods: Test materials were divided into 3 groups; Group 1(control): distilled water; Group 2: 1% MC/CaCl2; Group 3: 2% MC/CaCl2. Compressive strength, pH, flowability and cell viability were tested. The gene expression of bone sialoprotein (BSP) was detected by RT-PCR and real­ time PCR. The expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and mineralization behavior were evaluated using an ALP staining and an alizarin red staining. Results: Compressive strength, pH, and cell viability of MTA mixed with MC/CaCl2 were not significantly different compared to the control group. The flowability of MTA with MC/CaCI2 has decreased significantly when compared to the control (