Feasibility of a kinect-based system in assessing physical function of the elderly for home-based care.

Background: With concerns about accurate diagnosis through telehealth, the Kinect sensor offers a reliable solution for movement analysis. However, there is a lack of practical research investigating the suitability of a Kinect-based system as a functional fitness assessment tool in homecare settings. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a Kinect-based system to assess physical function changes in the elderly.

Feasibility of Aerobic Exercise Training to Mitigate Cardiotoxicity of Breast Cancer Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Current anticancer treatments for breast cancer (BC) may cause cardiotoxicity. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of aerobic exercise in mitigating cardiotoxicity caused by BC therapy.

Materials And Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database were searched until February 7, 2023.

Stretch-Induced Healing of Injured Muscles Is Associated With Myogenesis and Decreased Fibrosis.

Background: Alghouth therapeutic stretching exercise has been applied to accelerate the healing of injured skeletal muscles, mechanisms behind the mechanical stretch-induced muscle recovery remain unclear.

Purpose: To examine stretch-associated antifibrotic and myogenic responses in injured muscles and to evaluate the feasibility of the ultrasonic Nakagami parametric index (NPI) in assessing muscle morphology during recovery.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Low-Frequency Vibration Facilitates Post-Exercise Cardiovascular Autonomic Recovery.

It is important to use short breaks to accelerate post-exercise recovery in sports. Previous studies have revealed that vibration can reduce post-exercise muscle soreness. However, there is still high heterogeneity in the effects of vibration on cardiovascular autonomic activities, and most studies to date have focused on high-frequency vibration.

Application of stepper in cardiopulmonary exercise test for patients with hemiplegia.

A method to perform exercise testing for patients with hemiplegia is unavailable though over half of them have cardio-pulmonary disorders. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of using a stepper in cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in this population.14 stroke patients with hemiplegia who failed to ride the stationary bike were included.

Increased serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor with high-intensity interval training in stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Physiological adaptations of stroke patients after high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) remain unclear.

Objective: This study determined the HIIT and MICT effects on aerobic capacity, cerebral oxygenation, peak cardiac output (CO), and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in stroke patients.

Methods: We included 23 stroke patients with age about 55 years and stroke duration>24 months; participants completed 36 sessions of exercise training for 30min; 13 were randomly assigned to perform MICT at 60% of peak oxygen consumption (VO) and 10 to perform HIIT at alternating 80% (3min) and 40% (3min) VO.

Involvement of swallowing therapy is associated with improved long-term survival in patients with post-stroke dysphagia.

Background: The effects of swallowing therapy (ST) on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with post-stroke dysphagia (PSD) remain unclear.

Aim: This study explores the effect of ST, initiated within 6 months of the stroke onset, on long-term pneumonia-free and overall survival rates in PSD patients.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Fatigue changes neck muscle control and deteriorates postural stability during arm movement perturbations in patients with chronic neck pain.

Background Context: Multisensory afferent inputs to the cervical spine affect the generation of neck muscle control. Chronic neck pain (CNP) and muscle fatigue are factors that disturb somatosensory function. Whether they affect postural control under self-initiated perturbation in daily activities is still unclear.

Integration of Brain Tissue Saturation Monitoring in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Patients with Heart Failure.

Cerebral hypo-oxygenation during rest or exercise negatively impacts the exercise capacity of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HF). However, in clinical cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), cerebral hemodynamics is not assessed. NIRS is used to measure cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (SctO2) in the frontal lobe.

Longitudinal follow-up of muscle echotexture in infants with congenital muscular torticollis.

Unilateral fibrous contracture of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle is the major pathophysiology in infants with congenital muscular torticollis (CMT). Physical examination is not always sufficient to detect minimal muscle fibrosis in involved SCM muscles.A prospective study for SCM muscle fibrosis in CMT infants by quantifying echotexture and muscle thickness during the course of treatment is highlighted in the study.

Negative pressure induces p120-catenin-dependent adherens junction disassembly in keratinocytes during wound healing.

A negative-pressure of 125mmHg (NP) has been widely used to treat chronic wounds in modern medicine. Keratinocytes under NP treatment have shown accelerated cell movement and decreased E-cadherin expression. However, the molecular mechanism of E-cadherin regulation under NP remains incompletely understood.

Effects of transthyretin on thyroxine and β-amyloid removal from cerebrospinal fluid in mice.

Transthyretin (TTR) is a binding protein for the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4 ), retinol and β-amyloid peptide. TTR aids the transfer of T4 from the blood to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but also prevents T4 loss from the blood-CSF barrier. It is, however, unclear whether TTR affects the clearance of β-amyloid from the CSF.

Quantifying cell behaviors in negative-pressure induced monolayer cell movement.

Background: Negative-pressure of 125 mmHg (NP) has been shown to accelerate wound healing. Effects of NP on human keratinocyte behaviors during wound healing process were highlighted in this study.

Methods: An NP incubator incorporating the electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technique has been built to quantify monolayer keratinocytes movement in serum-free media at the ambient pressure (AP) and NP for 12 h.

Investigation of the Differential Contributions of Superficial and Deep Muscles on Cervical Spinal Loads with Changing Head Postures.

Cervical spinal loads are predominately influenced by activities of cervical muscles. However, the coordination between deep and superficial muscles and their influence on the spinal loads is not well understood. This study aims to document the changes of cervical spinal loads and the differential contributions of superficial and deep muscles with varying head postures.

Reduction of plantar pressures in leprosy patients by using custom made shoes and total contact insoles.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to observe whether our custom made shoes and total contact insoles can effectively increase the plantar contact areas and reduce peak pressures in patients with leprosy.

Design: In the rehabilitation laboratory of a tertiary medical center. Six male and two female leprosy patients were recruited in this study.

Nineteen reasons why physiatrists should do musculoskeletal ultrasound: EURO-MUSCULUS/USPRM recommendations.

This article is an eventual consensus of experts from the European Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Study Group (EURO-MUSCULUS) and the Ultrasound Study Group in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (USPRM) pertaining to the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound in physical and rehabilitation medicine. Nineteen important reasons (as regards general advantages, specific conditions in physical and rehabilitation medicine, as well as comparisons with other imaging tools) have been highlighted to consolidate the scenario of how/why the probe of ultrasound needs to become the stethoscope, the extended hand, and the pen of physiatrists.

Transglutaminase 2 expression is increased as a function of malignancy grade and negatively regulates cell growth in meningioma.

Most meningiomas are benign, but some clinical-aggressive tumors exhibit brain invasion and cannot be resected without significant complications. To identify molecular markers for these clinically-aggressive meningiomas, we performed microarray analyses on 24 primary cultures from 21 meningiomas and 3 arachnoid membranes. Using this approach, increased transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) expression was observed, which was subsequently validated in an independent set of 82 meningiomas by immunohistochemistry.

Altered Co-contraction of Cervical Muscles in Young Adults with Chronic Neck Pain during Voluntary Neck Motions.

[Purpose] Muscle co-contraction is important in stabilizing the spine. The aim of this study was to compare cervical muscle co-contraction in adults with and without chronic neck pain during voluntary movements. [Subjects and Methods] Surface electromyography of three paired cervical muscles was measured in fifteen young healthy subjects and fifteen patients with chronic neck pain.

Changes of synovial fluid protein concentrations in supra-patellar bursitis patients after the injection of different molecular weights of hyaluronic acid.

Knee pain is commonly seen in orthopedic and rehabilitation outpatient clinical settings, and in the aging population. Bursitis of the knee joint, especially when the volume of the synovial fluid is large enough, can compress and distend the nearby soft tissues, causing pain in the knee joint. Out of all the bursae surrounding the knee joint, supra-patellar bursitis is most often associated with knee pain.

Global motion percept mediated through integration of barber poles presented in bilateral visual hemifields.

How is motion information that has been obtained through multiple viewing apertures integrated to form a global motion percept? We investigated the mechanisms of motion integration across apertures in two hemifields by presenting gratings through two rectangles (that form the dual barber poles) and recording the perceived direction of motion by human observers. To this end, we presented dual barber poles in conditions with various inter-component distances between the apertures and evaluated the degree to which the hemifield information was integrated by measuring the magnitude of the perceived barber pole illusion. Surprisingly, when the inter-component distance between the two apertures was short, the perceived direction of motion of the dual barber poles was similar to that of a single barber pole formed by the concatenation of the two component barber poles, indicating motion integration is achieved through a simple concatenation mechanism.

Negative pressure accelerated monolayer keratinocyte healing involves Cdc42 mediated cell podia formation.

Background: Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is developed to facilitate wound healing at controlled subatmospheric pressures in modern medicine. Molecular mechanism for this therapy is still undefined.

Objective: This study highlights the localization and time-course of the cell division control protein 42 (Cdc42) in the cell membrane at ambient pressure (AP) and negative pressures of 75mmHg (NP75), 125mmHg (NP125) and 175mmHg (NP175).