A Pilot Study on the Effect of Outpatient Schroth Exercises on Thoracolumbar and Lumbar Curves in Adult Scoliosis Patients

Study design: This is a pilot prospective cohort study

Utilizing Consumer-Directed Care Among Older Adults: Identifying Barriers From Behavioral Economics Perspectives

Consumer-directed Care (CDC) empowers older people to flexibly arrange services and enhances their well-being. Prior studies have suggested that limited attention and hassle costs are major demand-side barriers to using CDC. However, many other psychosocial factors were unexplored. In this study, we explore associations between CDC utilization and a wider range of psychosocial factors based on behavioral economics theories. A cross-sectional telephone survey of older persons (or family members that represent them) was conducted in Guangzhou, China in 2021. We adopted a two-stage sampling method based on administrative records and analyzed the data using multivariate logistic models. Procedural literacy, hassle costs, and social norms regarding CDC were associated with using CDC. The findings reveal nuances in the decision-making process, and people are not unboundedly rational in making care-related decisions. Policymakers could employ cost-effective tools to facilitate CDC utilization and optimize resources to address the most crucial service barriers

Differentiation of ankle sprain motion and common sporting motion by ankle inversion velocity

This study investigated the ankle inversion and inversion velocity between various common motions in sports and simulated sprain motion, in order to provide a threshold for ankle sprain risk identification. The experiment was composed of two parts: Firstly, ten male subjects wore a pair of sport shoes and performed ten trials of running, cutting, jump-landing and stepping-down motions. Secondly, five subjects performed five trials of simulated sprain motion by a supination sprain simulator. The motions were analyzed by an eight-camera motion capture system at 120. Hz. A force plate was employed to record the vertical ground reaction force and locate the foot strike time for common sporting motions. Ankle inversion and inversion velocity were calculated by a standard lower extremity biomechanics calculation procedure. Profiles of vertical ground reaction force, ankle inversion angle and ankle inversion velocity were obtained. Results suggested that the ankle was kept in an everted position during the stance. The maximum ankle inversion velocity ranged from 22.5 to 85.1°/s and 114.0 to 202.5°/s for the four tested motions and simulated sprain motion respectively. Together with the ankle inversion velocity reported in the injury case (623°/s), a threshold of ankle inversion velocity of 300°/s was suggested for the identification of ankle sprain. The information obtained in this study can serve as a basis for the development of an active protection apparatus for reducing ankle sprain injury. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd

Taipei's Use of a Multi-Channel Mass Risk Communication Program to Rapidly Reverse an Epidemic of Highly Communicable Disease

BACKGROUND: In September 2007, an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) occurred in Keelung City and spread to Taipei City. In response to the epidemic, a new crisis management program was implemented and tested in Taipei. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Having noticed that transmission surged on weekends during the Keelung epidemic, Taipei City launched a multi-channel mass risk communications program that included short message service (SMS) messages sent directly to approximately 2.2 million Taipei residents on Friday, October 12th, 2007. The public was told to keep symptomatic students from schools and was provided guidelines for preventing the spread of the disease at home. Epidemiological characteristics of Taipei's outbreak were analyzed from 461 sampled AHC cases. Median time from exposure to onset of the disease was 1 day. This was significantly shorter for cases occurring in family clusters than in class clusters (mean+/-SD: 2.6+/-3.2 vs. 4.39+/-4.82 days, p = 0.03), as well as for cases occurring in larger family clusters as opposed to smaller ones (1.2+/-1.7 days vs. 3.9+/-4.0 days, p<0.01). Taipei's program had a significant impact on patient compliance. Home confinement of symptomatic children increased from 10% to 60% (p<0.05) and helped curb the spread of AHC. Taipei experienced a rapid decrease in AHC cases between the Friday of the SMS announcement and the following Monday, October 15, (0.70% vs. 0.36%). By October 26, AHC cases reduced to 0.01%. The success of this risk communication program in Taipei (as compared to Keelung) is further reflected through rapid improvements in three epidemic indicators: (1) significantly lower crude attack rates (1.95% vs. 14.92%, p<0.001), (2) a short epidemic period of AHC (13 vs. 34 days), and (3) a quick drop in risk level (1 approximately 2 weeks) in Taipei districts that border Keelung (the original domestic epicenter). CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: The timely launch of this systematic, communication-based intervention proved effective at preventing a dangerous spike in AHC and was able to bring this high-risk disease under control. We recommend that public health officials incorporate similar methods into existing guidelines for preventing pandemic influenza and other emerging infectious diseases

Radiographic joint space narrowing in osteoarthritis of the knee: relationship to meniscal tears and duration of pain

[[abstract]]Objective The objective of this study was to assess, with knee radiography, joint space narrowing (JSN) and its relationship to meniscal tears, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures, articular cartilage erosion, and duration of pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Materials and methods A total of 140 patients who had knee osteoarthritis and underwent primary total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, with unicompartmental medial tibiofemoral JSN (grade 1 or greater) and normal lateral compartments, were recruited. Polytomous logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between JSN and risk factors. Results All patients with JSN were categorized as grade 1 (n = 14, 10.0%), grade 2 (n = 64, 45.7%), or grade 3 (n = 62, 44.3%). Women presented with indications for a TKR at a younger age than men (mean age, 69 vs 73 years, P < 0.05). There were 123 (87.9%) meniscal tears and 58 (41.4%) partial (insufficient or attenuated ACL fibers) and 10 (7.1%) complete ACL ruptures; 115 of 134 (85.8%) patients had moderate to severe cartilage erosion. A higher grade of JSN was correlated with a higher frequency of meniscal tears [odds ratio (OR) 6.00, 95% CI 1.29–27.96 for grade 2 vs grade 1 JSN] and duration of knee pain (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.01–1.53 for grade 3 vs grade 1 JSN). A higher grade of JSN was not correlated with a higher frequency of ACL rupture or articular cartilage erosion. Conclusion A higher grade of JSN is associated with a higher frequency of meniscal tears and long duration of knee pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙

Inositol Phosphate Recycling Regulates Glycolytic and Lipid Metabolism That Drives Cancer Aggressiveness

Cancer cells possess fundamentally altered metabolism that supports their pathogenic features, which includes a heightened reliance on aerobic glycolysis to provide precursors for synthesis of biomass. We show here that inositol polyphosphate phosphatase 1 (INPP1) is highly expressed in aggressive human cancer cells and primary high-grade human tumors. Inactivation of INPP1 leads to a reduction in glycolytic intermediates that feed into the synthesis of the oncogenic signaling lipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), which in turn impairs LPA signaling and further attenuates glycolytic metabolism in a feed-forward mechanism to impair cancer cell motility, invasiveness, and tumorigenicity. Taken together these findings reveal a novel mode of glycolytic control in cancer cells that can serve to promote key oncogenic lipid signaling pathways that drive cancer pathogenicity