Normative values of spinal and peripheral proprioception in position sense among healthy adolescents and young adults.

Establishing normative values and understanding how proprioception varies among body parts is crucial. However, the variability across individuals, especially adolescents, makes it difficult to establish norms. This prevents further investigation into classifying patients with abnormal proprioception.

Patient-perceived factors on treatment satisfaction in early onset scoliosis treated surgically with a minimum of ten years.

Background: The prognosis of surgically treated subjects with early onset scoliosis (EOS) into adulthood has been lacking. We aimed to investigate the patients' perspectives on satisfaction with surgical treatment.

Methodology: We included all surgical candidates with EOS who had undergone index spinal surgery for scoliosis correction between 2009 and 2013.

Incidence of back pain from initial presentation to 3 years of follow-up in subjects with untreated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Background: Although back pain may be present in subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), its natural history is unknown. Therefore, this study evaluated the incidence of back pain in scoliotic adolescents longitudinally.

Methods: This retrospective analysis examined prospectively collected pain subscale data of the Scoliosis Research Society questionnaire between the initial presentation and up to 3 years of follow-up.

Impact of mental health components on the development of back pain in young adults with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Background: Back pain occurs commonly in adults and is multifactorial in nature. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and intensity of back pain during young adulthood in subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), as well as factors that may be associated with its prognosis.

Methods: Subjects with AIS aged 20-39 treated conservatively were included in this study.

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of medically tailored meals compared to usual care among individuals with type 2 diabetes in Australia.

Background: 'Food is medicine' strategies aim to integrate food-based nutrition interventions into healthcare systems and are of growing interest to healthcare providers and policy makers. 'Medically Tailored Meals' (MTM) is one such intervention, which involves the 'prescription' by healthcare providers of subsidized, pre-prepared meals for individuals to prevent or manage chronic conditions, combined with nutrition education.

Objective: This study will test the efficacy of an MTM program in Australia among participants with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hyperglycemia, who experience difficulties accessing and eating nutritious food.

Proprioception-related gene mutations in relation to the aetiopathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis: A scoping review.

Since idiopathic scoliosis is a multifactorial disorder, the proprioceptive defect is considered one of its etiological factors. Genetic studies have separately revealed this relationship, yet it remains indeterminate which specific genes that related to proprioception contributed to the initiation, progression, pathology, and treatment outcomes of the curvature. A systematic search was conducted on four online databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Academic search complete.

A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of the Food Environment at an Australian University Campus.

University food environments have a strong influence on the dietary choices of students and staff. The aim of this study was to assess the food environment at a large university in Sydney, Australia. Data were collected between March and July 2022 from 27 fixed food outlets and 24 vending machines.

Development of the Menu Assessment Scoring Tool (MAST) to Assess the Nutritional Quality of Food Service Menus.

Preventing the rise in obesity is a global public health priority. Neighbourhood environments can help or undermine people's efforts to manage their weight, depending on availability of nutritious and nutrient-poor 'discretionary' foods. The proportion of household food budgets spent on eating outside the home is increasing.

Quantitative physical performance tests can effectively detect Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: This review aimed to identify effective physical performance tests (PPT) as clinical outcome indicators for detecting and monitoring degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM).

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed on seven electronic databases on the effectiveness in detection and monitoring of DCM by PPT. All included studies were reviewed and undergone quality assessments on the risk-of-bias by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and were pooled by random-effect analysis with level of significance at 0.

Reliability of a three-dimensional spinal proprioception assessment for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Purpose: Although it is evident that some patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) have proprioceptive deficit in peripheral joints, knowledge on the proprioceptive function of the deformed spine is limited. Nonetheless, spinal proprioception in AIS may be affected three-dimensionally, prior studies only focussed on evaluating peripheral proprioception in single plane. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a novel spinal proprioception assessment using three-dimensional motion analysis in patients with AIS.

The Nutritional Quality of Kids' Menus from Cafés and Restaurants: An Australian Cross-Sectional Study.

Australian families increasingly rely on eating foods from outside the home, which increases intake of energy-dense nutrient-poor foods. 'Kids' Menus' are designed to appeal to families and typically lack healthy options. However, the nutritional quality of Kids' Menus from cafes and full-service restaurants (as opposed to fast-food outlets) has not been investigated in Australia.

Timely Revisit of Proprioceptive Deficits in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: The present review aimed to summarize the evidence regarding differences in proprioception between children with and without adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched from their inception to April 10, 2021.

Cross-cultural adaptation of Cantonese (Hong Kong) Oswestry Disability Index version 2.1b.

Purpose: Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was established by Fairbank in 1989 to assess functional disabilities in low back pain (LBP). It was last updated in 2019 as ODI version 2.1b (ODI AU_2.

"Just So You Know, It Has Been Hard": Food Retailers' Perspectives of Implementing a Food and Nutrition Policy in Public Healthcare Settings.

Mandated policies to improve food environments in public settings are an important strategy for governments. Most Australian governments have mandated policies or voluntary standards for healthy food procurement in healthcare facilities, however, implementation and compliance are poor. A better understanding of the support required to successfully implement such policies is needed.

Extended dual antiplatelet therapy for Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome: expert recommendations.

Background: Recently, new evidence from large scale trials and updated guidelines have emerged on the risks and benefits of extended dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Aims: To discuss, clarify and advise on the application of the evidences and guidelines on individual patient selection for extended DAPT, with regard to balancing risk factors, particularly in Asian populations.

Methods: A total of 14 local cardiologists from Hong Kong with extensive experience in cardiology and cardiac interventions convened in a series of 3 advisory board meetings from October 2016 to September 2017, which included reviews of new evidence in the literature and discussions of the latest clinical trends, using an anonymous, electronic voting system for arriving at consensuses.

Prolonged non-survival in PICU: does a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order matter.

Background: Etiologies of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mortality are diverse. This study aimed to investigate the pattern of PICU mortality in a regional trauma center, and explore factors associated with prolonged non-survival.

Methods: Demographic data of all PICU deaths in a regional trauma center were analyzed.

Antagonistic and cooperative actions of Kif7 and Sufu define graded intracellular Gli activities in Hedgehog signaling.

Graded Hedgehog (Hh) signaling governs the balance of Gli transcriptional activators and repressors to specify diverse ventral cell fates in the spinal cord. It remains unclear how distinct intracellular Gli activity is generated. Here, we demonstrate that Sufu acts universally as a negative regulator of Hh signaling, whereas Kif7 inhibits Gli activity in cooperation with, and independent of, Sufu.

A multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain: a prospective study.

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain in Hong Kong, and to identify factors associated with work resumption.

Methods: 57 men and 8 women aged 20 to 56 (mean, 39) years who had a more than 3-month history of low back pain and were unresponsive to more than 6 months of conventional treatment participated in a 14-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme involving physical conditioning, work conditioning, and work readiness. Training protocols entailed flexibility and endurance training, hydrotherapy, weight lifting, and work stimulation.

Cilium-independent regulation of Gli protein function by Sufu in Hedgehog signaling is evolutionarily conserved.

A central question in Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is how evolutionarily conserved components of the pathway might use the primary cilium in mammals but not fly. We focus on Suppressor of fused (Sufu), a major Hh regulator in mammals, and reveal that Sufu controls protein levels of full-length Gli transcription factors, thus affecting the production of Gli activators and repressors essential for graded Hh responses. Surprisingly, despite ciliary localization of most Hh pathway components, regulation of Gli protein levels by Sufu is cilium-independent.

The kinesin protein Kif7 is a critical regulator of Gli transcription factors in mammalian hedgehog signaling.

From insects to humans, the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway has conserved roles in embryonic development and tissue homeostasis. However, it has been suggested that the lack of mammalian equivalents of Costal2 (Cos2) contributes to a divergence between the mechanism of Drosophila and mammalian Hh signal transduction. Here, we challenge this view by showing that the kinesin protein Kif7 is a critical regulator of Hh signaling in mice.

New insights into the predictors of left atrial stunning after successful direct-current cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and flutter.

Background: Direct-current cardioversion (DCCV) of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter commonly causes post-DCCV left atrial (LA) stunning (LAS), which may potentiate thromboembolic complications. Data on LAS determinants are inconclusive.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated LA and LA appendage function before and immediately after DCCV of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter in 59 consecutive patients undergoing transesophageal echocardiographically guided DCCV to determine predictors of post-DCCV LAS.

Image noise variance estimation using the mixed Lagrange time-delay autoregressive model.

The mixed Lagrange time-delay estimation autoregressive (MLTDEAR) model is proposed as a solution to estimate image noise variance. The only information available to the proposed estimator is a corrupted image and the nature of additive white noise. The image autocorrelation function is calculated and used to obtain the MLTDEAR model coefficients; the relationship between the MLTDEAR and linear prediction models is utilized to estimate the model coefficients.

The involvement of AMP-activated protein kinases in the anti-inflammatory effect of nicotine in vivo and in vitro.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is the downstream component of a kinase cascade that plays a pivotal role in energy homeostasis. AMPK has recently emerged as an attractive and novel target for inflammatory disorders. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the role of AMPKalpha in the anti-inflammatory effect of nicotine in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model and to evaluate the mechanism of nicotine-induced AMPKalpha phosphorylation in RAW 264.