Freezing of gait shapes the postural control of individuals with Parkinson's disease: Effect of visual information and medication states.

Background: Several measures of the center of pressure have been used to describe magnitude and structure of the postural sway in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to examine whether both the magnitude and structure of the center of pressure trajectory can differentiate PD individuals with and without freezing of gait in both On- and Off-medication states and with eyes open and closed.

Methods: Twenty-four individuals with PD (14 without and 10 with freezing of gait) were tested.

Synergic control of the minimum toe clearance in young and older adults during foot swing on treadmill walking in different speeds.

Background: The vertical toe position at minimum toe clearance (MTC) in the swing phase is critical for walking safety. Consequently, the joints involved should be strictly controlled and coordinated to stabilize the foot at MTC. The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis framework has been used to determine the existence of synergies that stabilize relevant performance variables during walking.

A Single Bout of High Heels Dancing Causes an Increase in Circulating Markers of Muscle Tissue Degradation and MMP-3 in Young Healthy Women.

Prolonged wearing of high heels can cause chronic injury and inflammation. Herein, we investigated the presence of muscle injury, inflammation, and neutrophil function in young women after a single bout of stiletto dance class. Sixteen volunteers (23.

Fish Oil Supplementation Improves the Repeated-Bout Effect and Redox Balance in 20-30-Year-Old Men Submitted to Strength Training.

Herein, we investigated the effect of fish oil supplementation combined with a strength-training protocol, for 6 weeks, on muscle damage induced by a single bout of strength exercise in untrained young men. Sixteen men were divided into two groups, supplemented or not with fish oil, and they were evaluated at the pre-training period and post-training period. We investigated changes before and 0, 24, and 48 h after a single hypertrophic exercise session.

Biofortification of Kidney Bean ( L.) Crops Applying Zinc Sulfate and Ferric Sulfate: Pilot Crop in Colombia.

Agriculture is one of the economic activities with the most potential in Colombia, given its climatic and geographical conditions. Bean cultivation is classified as climbing, which grows in a branched way, and bushy, whose growth occurs up to 70 cm. The objective of this research was to study zinc and iron sulfates in different concentrations as fertilizers capable of increasing the nutritional value of kidney beans ( L.

Understanding the risk of developing weight-related complications associated with different body mass index categories: a systematic review.

Background: Obesity and overweight are major risk factors for several chronic diseases. There is limited systematic evaluation of risk equations that predict the likelihood of developing an obesity or overweight associated complication. Predicting future risk is essential for health economic modelling.

Synergic control in asymptomatic welders during multi-finger force exertion and load releasing while standing.

Motor synergies, i.e., neural mechanisms that organize multiple motor elements to ensure stability of actions, are affected by several neurological condition.

Exploring the ability of strength and dexterity tests to detect hand function impairment in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) can affect hand function since the beginning of the motor symptoms.

Objective: To compare the ability of different hand function tests to: 1) distinguish individuals with PD from healthy controls; 2) differentiate stages of the disease; and 3) indicate changes over time due to disease progression.

Methods: Twenty-four individuals with PD (Hoehn and Yahr: I-III) and 24 age- and sex-matched controls performed the Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT), the Nine-Hole Peg Test (9HPT), and the maximum grip and the maximum pinch strength tests using their right and left hands.

Marine invertebrates associated with rhodoliths/maërl beds from northeast Brazil (State of Paraíba).

Background: This study investigates the marine macroinvertebrate fauna of rhodolith beds (non-geniculated red corallinaceaous algae) in northeast Brazilian. A total of 57 species were identified, belonging to six phyla (Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Sipuncula, Mollusca, Arthropoda and Echinodermata), of which 50 are considered here as new records for the Paraíba State. Annelids (Class Polychaeta) were the most representative taxa in Miramar and Seixas Beaches, while molluscs were dominant in Maceió Beach.

Misoplegia and dementia: a case study.

Brain-damaged patients can develop abnormal attitudes towards their deficits. Misoplegia is one such example, involving exaggerated aversion to an impaired limb, sometimes associated with hatred of paresis and verbal or physical abuse directed at the paretic limb. Few studies or reports on this disorder are available in the literature, prompting the present case report of a patient with misoplegia and vascular dementia.

Grip and load force control and coordination in individuals with diabetes in different manipulation tasks.

The study aimed to investigate the control and coordination of grip force (normal component) and load force (tangential component) in three different manipulation tasks in individuals with diabetes with and with no diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and healthy controls. Twenty-four individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 12 with no (nDPN) and 12 with DPN (wDPN), and 12 healthy controls performed three manipulation tasks (static holding, lifting and holding, and oscillation) with the dominant hand, using an instrumented handle. Relative safety margin (% of GF exerted above the minimum GF needed to hold the object) was measured in all tasks.

Immunocytochemical assessment of cell differentiation of podoplanin-positive osteoblasts into osteocytes in murine bone.

In this study, we examined the immunolocalization of podoplanin/E11, CD44, actin filaments, and phosphorylated ezrin in the osteoblasts on the verge of differentiating into osteocytes in murine femora and tibiae. When observing under stimulated emission depletion microscopy, unlike podoplanin-negative osteoblasts, podoplanin-positive osteoblasts showed a rearranged assembly of actin filaments along the cell membranes which resembled that of embedded osteocytes. In the metaphysis, i.

Synergic control of action in levodopa-naïve Parkinson's disease patients: II. Multi-muscle synergies stabilizing vertical posture.

Postural instability is a major disabling feature in Parkinson's disease (PD). We quantified the organization of leg and trunk muscles into synergies stabilizing the center of pressure (COP) coordinate within the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis in levodopa-naïve patients with PD and age-matched control subjects. The main hypothesis was that changes in the synergic control of posture are present early in the PD process even before levodopa exposure.

Age- and Sex-Related Differences in the Maximum Muscle Performance and Rate of Force Development Scaling Factor of Precision Grip Muscles.

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of age and sex on the rate of force development scaling factor (RFD-SF) and maximum performance (i.e., maximum grip force [GFMax] and maximum rate of grip force development [RGFDMax]) of precision handgrip muscles.

Synergic control of action in levodopa-naïve Parkinson's disease patients: I. Multi-finger interaction and coordination.

We explored the origin of the impaired control of action stability in Parkinson's disease (PD) by testing levodopa-naïve PD patients to disambiguate effects of PD from possible effects of long-term exposure to levodopa. Thirteen levodopa-naïve PD patients and 13 controls performed single- and multi-finger force production tasks, including producing a self-paced quick force pulse into a target. A subgroup of patients (n = 10) was re-tested about 1 h after the first dose of levodopa.

Dance Training Improves Cytokine Secretion and Viability of Neutrophils in Diabetic Patients.

Background: Evidence suggests that exercise improves neutrophil function. The decreased functional longevity of neutrophils and their increased clearance from infectious sites contribute to the increased susceptibility to infection and severity of infection observed in patients with diabetes.

Objective: Herein, we investigated the effects of a dance program on neutrophil number, function, and death in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and healthy volunteers.

Rate of force development and relaxation scaling factors are highly sensitive to detect upper extremity motor impairments in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Clinical assessment of upper extremity in multiple sclerosis is mainly limited to 9-hole peg test (9-HPT), which is commonly criticized due to its limited sensitivity. There is a need for sensitive outcome measures for the assessment of motor symptoms in individuals with multiple sclerosis (iMS). We evaluated our recently developed brief force pulse protocol to simultaneously quantify the motor control of hand function and neuromuscular quickness in iMS.

Combined effects of the light touch and cognitive task affect the components of postural sway.

The light touch (LT) of the fingertip on a rigid surface and the performance of a cognitive task (CT) affect the postural control. The current study examined the mechanisms involved in the control of postural sway (i.e.

Influence of target uncertainty on reaching movements while standing in stroke.

Stroke individuals frequently have balance problems and impaired arm movements that affect their daily activities. We investigated the influence of target uncertainty and the side of the brain lesion on the performance of arm movements and postural adjustments during reaching in a standing position by stroke individuals. Participants stood on force plates and reached a target displayed on the center of a monitor screen under conditions differentiated by the prior knowledge of the target location at the beginning of the movement.

Salt acclimation in sorghum plants by exogenous proline: physiological and biochemical changes and regulation of proline metabolism.

Mitigation of deleterious effects of salinity promoted by exogenous proline can be partially explained by changes in proline enzymatic metabolism and expression of specific proline-related genes. Proline accumulation is a usual response to salinity. We studied the ability of exogenous proline to mitigate the salt harmful effects in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) leaves.

Hand Grip and Load Force Coordination of the Ipsilesional Hand of Chronic Stroke Individuals.

Object manipulation depends on a refined control of grip force (GF) and load force (LF). After a brain injury, the GF control is altered in the paretic hand but what happens with the non-paretic hand is still unclear. In this study, we compared the GF control and GF-LF coordination of the non-paretic hand of 10 stroke individuals who suffered right brain damage (RBD) and 10 who suffered left brain damage (LBD), with 20 healthy individuals during lifting and oscillation task, using an instrumented object.

Quantitative analysis of multi-element synergy stabilizing performance: comparison of three methods with respect to their use in clinical studies.

A number of analyses associated with the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis have been used recently to investigate stability of actions across populations. We explored whether some of those methods have an advantage for clinical studies because they require fewer trials to achieve consistent findings. We compared the number of trials needed for the analysis of inter-trial variance, analysis of motor equivalence, and analysis in the space of referent coordinates.

Histological Effects of the Combined Administration of Eldecalcitol and a Parathyroid Hormone in the Metaphyseal Trabeculae of Ovariectomized Rats.

Intermittent administration of human parathyroid hormone (1-34) (hPTH(1-34)) promotes anabolic action in bone by stimulating bone remodeling, while eldecalcitol, an analog of active vitamin D3, suppresses osteoclastic bone resorption, and forms new bone by minimodeling. We have examined the biological effects of combined administration of eldecalcitol and hPTH(1-34) on 9-week-old Wistar rats that underwent an ovariectomy (OVX) or Sham operation. They were divided into a Sham group, OVX with vehicle (OVX group), OVX with 10 µg/kg/day of hPTH(1-34) (PTH group), OVX with 20 ng/kg/day of eldecalcitol (eldecalcitol group) or OVX with 10 μg/kg/day of hPTH(1-34), and 20 ng/kg/day of eldecalcitol (combined group) for 4 or 8 weeks.

Individual preferences in motor coordination seen across the two hands: relations to movement stability and optimality.

The framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis was used to explore variables related to stability of task performance in the two hands of young healthy individuals. Fourteen young adults performed four-finger accurate constant force production tasks interrupted by a voluntary quick force pulse production and by an externally imposed displacement of all fingers. Three groups of variables were used to quantify stability of steady force production: (1) indices of the inter-trial variance were computed within the UCM and orthogonal to the UCM; (2) indices of motor equivalence were computed between steady-state intervals separated by the force pulse and by the finger-lifting episode; and (3) referent coordinate and apparent stiffness were computed using the data during the ascending phase of the finger-lifting episode.