Six Months Guided Exercise Therapy Improves Motor Abilities and White Matter Connectivity in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Background: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides the state of putative connectivity from lesioned areas to other brain areas and is potentially beneficial to monitor intervention outcomes. This study assessed the effect of a 6 months guided exercise therapy on motor abilities and white matter diffusivity in the brains of cerebral palsy (CP) children.

Methods: This is a single arm pre-and post-test research design involving 10 spastic CP children, aged 8-18 years and whose Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised (GMFCS-E & R) at least Level 21 with the ability to ambulate independently.

The Effects of Wet Cupping Therapy on Fasting Blood Sugar, Renal Function Parameters, and Endothelial Function: A Single-arm Intervention Study.

Objectives: Despite being recognized worldwide as an alternative therapy in treating various chronic diseases and pain, the mechanism of wet cupping is still not well understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate fasting blood sugar (FBS), renal function parameters, and endothelial function changes following wet cupping in healthy individuals.

Methods: We conducted a single-arm intervention study at the Clinical Lab of Community Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and included 31 healthy individuals aged between 30 and 60 years old.

Characterisation of the Corticospinal Tract Using Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Unilateral and Bilateral Cerebral Palsy Patients.

Background: Neuroimaging is increasingly used to locate the lesion that causes cerebral palsy (CP) and its extent in the brains of CP patients. Conventional structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not indicate the connectional pattern of white matter; however, with the help of diffusion MRI, fibre tracking of white matter can be done.

Methods: We used diffusion MRI and probabilistic tractography to identify the putative white matter connectivity in the brains of 10 CP patients.

Physiological strains of wearing aluminized and non-aluminized firefighters' protective clothing during exercise in radiant heat.

This study examined the influences of aluminized (Type A) and non-aluminized firefighters' protective clothing (Type B, C, D and CON) on physiological and subjective responses in radiant heat. Total clothing weight was 6.24, 6.

Seasonal effects of sleep deprivation on thermoregulatory responses in a hot environment.

Effects of sleep deprivation and season on thermoregulation during 60 min. of leg-bathing (water temperature of 42 degrees C, air temperature of 30 degrees C, and relative humidity of 70%) were studied in eight men who completed all 4 experiments for normal sleep and sleep deprivation in summer and winter. Rectal temperature (T(re)), skin temperature, total body sweating rate (M(sw-t)), local sweating rate on the back (M(sw-back)) and forearm (M(sw-forearm)), and skin blood flow on the back (SBF(back)) and forearm (SBF(forearm)) were measured.