Effects of occupational therapy on improvements in the handwriting ability of the adult non-dominant hand: An exploratory randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Occupational therapy often involves handwriting acquisition practices that include the non-dominant hand when improvements in the dominant hand function are not possible because of trauma or stroke. This study explored whether character tracing and using a pegboard can effectively improve the handwriting of the non-dominant hand.

Methods: A randomised controlled trial involving 60 healthy university students aged ≥18 years was conducted.

Algicidal diterpenes from the brown alga Dictyota dichotoma.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of an ethanol extract of the brown alga, Dictyota dichotoma, led to the isolation of a novel chlorine-containing perhydroazulene diterpene together with two known diterpenes, dictyolactone and sanadaol. The structure of the novel compound, named dictyol J, was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic information. Dictyolactone showed the highest algicidal activity against red-tide phytoplanktons among the three isolated compounds.