Comparing the Effectiveness of Physical Exercise Intervention and Melatonin Supplement in Improving Sleep Quality in Children with ASD.

Purpose: Previous studies have demonstrated that physical exercise can modulate the endogenous melatonin level in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and improve their sleep quality. However, it remains unclear whether physical exercise or melatonin supplement, or a combination of both, is more effective in improving sleep quality in this population. The purpose of this study is to answer this research question by comparing the effectiveness of three types of interventions (physical exercise vs.

Association between time spent on smartphones and digital eye strain: A 1-year prospective observational study among Hong Kong children and adolescents.

Prolonged electronic screen use can cause digital eye strain. It can be difficult to rectify due to increasing smartphone reliance, potentially leading to serious public health problems. To investigate the association between time spent on smartphones and digital eye strain (DES) among Hong Kong Chinese school-aged children.

Improving Executive Function of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through Cycling Skill Acquisition.

Purpose: Executive dysfunction has been widely reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although studies have clearly documented the cognitive benefits of physical exercise on cognition in children, similar studies in children with ASD are scarce. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of cognitively engaging exercise and noncognitively engaging exercise on executive function in children with ASD.

Bedtime smart device usage and accelerometer-measured sleep outcomes in children and adolescents.

Purpose: We analyzed the association between bedtime smart device usage habits and accelerometer-measured sleep outcomes (total sleeping time, sleep efficiency, and wake after sleep onset) in Hong Kong children and adolescents aged 8-14.

Methods: A total of 467 students in Hong Kong participated in this study from 2016 to 2017. They self-reported their bedtime smart device usage habits.

Validation of Self-Reported Smartphone Usage Against Objectively-Measured Smartphone Usage in Hong Kong Chinese Adolescents and Young Adults.

Objective: This study evaluated the validity of self-reported smartphone usage data against objectively-measured smartphone usage data by directly tracking the activities in the participants' smartphone among Chinese adolescents and young adults in Hong Kong.

Methods: A total of 187 participants were recruited (mean age 19.4, 71.

Association between Time Spent on Smart Devices and Change in Refractive Error: A 1-Year Prospective Observational Study among Hong Kong Children and Adolescents.

This study examined the association between smart device usage and the 1-year change in refractive error among a representative sample of Hong Kong children and adolescents aged 8-14 years. A total of 1597 participants (49.9% male, mean age 10.

Temporal association between objectively measured smartphone usage, sleep quality and physical activity among Chinese adolescents and young adults.

We studied the association between objectively measured smartphone usage and objectively measured sleep quality and physical activity for seven consecutive days among Hong Kong adolescents and young adults aged 11-25 years (n = 357, 67% female). We installed an app that tracked the subjects' smartphone usage and had them wear an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer on their wrist to measure their sleep quality and physical activity level. Smartphone usage data were successfully obtained from 187 participants (52.

Investigating the Matching Relationship between Physical Exercise and Stereotypic Behavior in Children with Autism.

Purpose: Physical exercise has been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypic behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. One possible mechanism concerns the matching hypothesis between exercise and behavior. The present study sought to examine this matching exercise-behavior relationship.

Brief Report: Impact of a Physical Exercise Intervention on Emotion Regulation and Behavioral Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Problems with emotion regulation and behavior are often reported in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This pilot study examined the effect of physical exercise on emotion regulation and behavioral functioning in children with ASD. Twenty-seven children aged 8-12 years were randomized into either an exercise intervention group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 12).

Psychometric Properties and Demographic Correlates of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version Among Chinese Children and Adolescents in Hong Kong.

Nearly all children and teens in Hong Kong own a smartphone. There is currently no validated instrument that measures whether they use their phone too much. This study tested the psychometric properties of a translated Chinese version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) and examined the demographic correlates of smartphone addiction among Hong Kong children and adolescents.

The role of attentional focus on walking efficiency among older fallers and non-fallers.

Background: This study evaluated the effect of attentional focus instructions on movement efficiency during a level-ground walking task in older adults with and without a history of falls.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-four community-dwelling older adults were categorised into older fallers (OF) (n = 37) and older non-fallers (ONF) (n = 97). Each participant was instructed to walk at a self-selected pace along a 6 m walkway under three attentional focus conditions (i.

Application of Analogy in Learning Badminton Among Older Adults: Implications for Rehabilitation.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of applying analogy instruction for older adults in learning the badminton high serve. It was hypothesized that acquiring this motor skill by analogy instruction would bring the benefits of more robust and durable motor performance under stress and over time. A group of older adults learned badminton high serves by either a set of explicit instructions or an analogy instruction that represented the biomechanical metaphor of the badminton high serve.

The Role of Movement-Specific Reinvestment in Visuomotor Control of Walking by Older Adults.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the association between conscious monitoring and control of movements (i.e., movement-specific reinvestment) and visuomotor control during walking by older adults.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial examining the association between physical activity and sleep quality in children with autism spectrum disorder based on the melatonin-mediated mechanism model.

Introduction: Sleep disturbance is commonly observed in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Disturbed sleep may exacerbate the core symptoms of ASD. Behavioural interventions and supplemental melatonin medication are traditionally used to improve sleep quality, but poor sustainability of behavioural intervention effects and use of other medications that metabolise melatonin may degrade the effectiveness of these interventions.

Diagnosis checking of statistical analysis in RCTs indexed in PubMed.

Background: Statistical analysis is essential for reporting of the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), as well as evaluating their effectiveness. However, the validity of a statistical analysis also depends on whether the assumptions of that analysis are valid.

Objective: To review all RCTs published in journals indexed in PubMed during December 2014 to provide a complete picture of how RCTs handle assumptions of statistical analysis.

A new statistical model for the Day Reconstruction Method.

The Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) is a method to measure one's subjective affective status by soliciting information in a questionnaire about the previous day's activities. We developed a new model to examine the association of daily activities, the friendliness of interacting partners, and time-of-day on net affect scores among 10,377 adults participating in the World Health Organization's Study on global ageing and adult health (SAGE). A multilevel regression was fitted and the time-of-day effect was modeled by restricted cubic spline.

The quality of the reported sample size calculations in randomized controlled trials indexed in PubMed.

Background: There are limited data on the quality of reporting of information essential for replication of the calculation as well as the accuracy of the sample size calculation. We examine the current quality of reporting of the sample size calculation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in PubMed and to examine the variation in reporting across study design, study characteristics, and journal impact factor. We also reviewed the targeted sample size reported in trial registries.

Analogy motor learning by young children: a study of rope skipping.

Research in psychology suggests that provision of an instruction by analogy can enhance acquisition and understanding of knowledge. Limited research has been conducted to test this proposition in motor learning by children. The purpose of the present study was to examine the feasibility of analogy instructions in motor skill acquisition by children.

Effect of Low-intensity Exercise on Physical and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: a Systematic Review.

Background: It is well known that physical exercise is important to promote physical and cognitive health in older population. However, inconsistent research findings were shown regarding exercise intensity, particularly on whether low-intensity exercise (1.5 metabolic equivalent tasks (METs) to 3.

Effects of error experience when learning to simulate hypernasality.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of error experience on the acquisition of hypernasal speech.

Method: Twenty-eight healthy participants were asked to simulate hypernasality in either an errorless learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was limited) or an errorful learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was not limited). The nasality level of the participants' speech was measured with a nasometer and reflected by nasalance scores (in percentages).

Analogy instruction and speech performance under psychological stress.

To examine the efficacy of explicit and implicit forms of instruction for speech motor performance under conditions of psychological stress. In experiment 1, 20 participants were asked to deliver a formal presentation to validate the modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). In experiment 2, 40 participants were instructed explicitly by verbal explanation or implicitly by analogy to speak with minimum pitch variation and were subjected to psychological stress using the modified TSST.

Influence of analogy instruction for pitch variation on perceptual ratings of other speech parameters.

Purpose: Analogy is the similarity of different concepts on which a comparison can be based. Recently, an analogy of "waves at sea" was shown to be effective in modulating fundamental frequency (F0) variation. Perceptions of intonation were not examined, as the primary aim of the work was to determine whether analogy instruction had a negative impact on other parameters of the speech signal compared with explicit instruction.

The use of analogy in speech motor performance.

The acoustic correlates of pitch variation were examined in 40 participants who received analogy instructions or explicit instructions that required them to modulate their intonation during speech production. First, using focus group methodology, professional speech-language pathologists were asked to identify analogies that best described minimum pitch variation (monotone), moderate pitch variation (normal intonation), and maximum pitch variation (exaggerated intonation) in speech. The focus group established that an appropriate pitch variation metaphor may be related to imagery of "waves at sea", with minimum pitch variation represented by a flat calm sea, moderate pitch variation represented by a moderate sea, and maximum pitch variation represented by a choppy sea.