Impact of psychological treatment in freezing of gait: A pilot study.

Unlabelled: One common gait issue associated with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) is freezing of gait (FoG). FoG impacts approximately half of people with PD and negatively impacts quality of life. Studies have suggested that anxiety may contribute to FoG.

A brief intervention decreases student distress.

Purpose Of The Article: Health professions graduate students have experienced substantial increases in stress and anxiety in recent years. This can result in decreased academic performance, poor retention, and burnout. Interventions to help students cope are therefore a critical need for academic institutions.

Structural insights into the activation of blood coagulation factor XI zymogen by thrombin: A computational molecular dynamics study.

Activation of human blood coagulation factor XI zymogen to factor XIa plays a significant role in the upstream coagulation pathway, in which factor XIa activates factor IX zymogen. The mechanistic details of the proteolytic activation of factor XI by the activating enzyme thrombin are not well-understood at atomic level. In this study, we employed a combination of molecular docking and microsecond time-scale molecular dynamics simulations to identify the key regions of interaction between fXI and thrombin.

The effect of a multi-modal boxing exercise program on cognitive locomotor tasks and gait in persons with Parkinson disease.

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease resulting in motor impairments, postural instability, and gait alterations which may result in self-care limitations and loss of mobility reducing quality of life.

Objective: This study's purpose was to determine the impact of a community-based boxing program on gait parameters, dual task and backwards walking in individuals with PD.

Methods: This study included 26 community dwelling individuals with PD who participated in 12-week boxing classes (1 hour, 2 times a week).

Biomechanical analysis of an unpowered hip flexion orthosis on individuals with and without multiple sclerosis.

Background: Gait impairment is a common complication of multiple sclerosis (MS). Gait limitations such as limited hip flexion, foot drop, and knee hyperextension often require external devices like crutches, canes, and orthoses. The effects of mobility-assistive technologies (MATs) prescribed to people with MS are not well understood, and current devices do not cater to the specific needs of these individuals.

Differences in predictors for gait speed and gait endurance in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Both gait speed and gait endurance directly impact independence and community engagement for individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, factors accounting for variability in gait speed and gait endurance performance are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether key factors associated with gait speed in individuals with PD also predicted gait endurance.

Plantarflexor strength, gait speed, and step length change in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease affects the ability to walk often resulting in decreased independence and low quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in plantarflexor strength (PFS), gait speed, and step length in persons with Parkinson's disease (PwP) and healthy peers using clinical measures. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between these gait components across disease severity.

Description of novel instrumented analysis of the Four Square Step Test with clinical application: A pilot study.

Background: Falls are a common problem for adults in the United States raising concerns about injuries and the resulting economic burden. As a result, it is critical to develop objective measures to assess dynamic balance and the track progress related to interventions or disease progression over time.

Research Question: Are there differences in balance between individuals in the community, individuals post-stroke, persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and individuals living with Parkinson's Disease (PD) as measured with a new instrumented Four Square Step Test (i-FSST)?

Methods: The i-FSST was utilized to assess dynamic balance in 41 individuals (11 community dwelling adults and 10 individuals in each group of persons post stroke, with PD, and with MS).

Dynamic neural network approach to targeted balance assessment of individuals with and without neurological disease during non-steady-state locomotion.

Background: Clinical balance assessments often rely on functional tasks as a proxy for balance (e.g., Timed Up and Go).

Immediate Postpartum Contraception: Intrauterine Device Insertion.

Insertion of an intrauterine device (IUD) in the immediate postpartum period is a safe, evidence-based form of contraception appropriate for most women. Despite the higher risk of expulsion as compared with interval insertion, the benefits of insertion in the immediate postpartum period are significant and include improved rates of contraception continuance and reduced instances of short interval birth. Through shared decision making, midwives and other clinicians can assist women in clarifying their reproductive goals and understanding of contraceptive options, including this method.

A machine learning approach to targeted balance rehabilitation in people with Parkinson's disease using a sparse sensor set.

Clinical Balance Assessments Often Rely On Functional Tasks As A Proxy For Balance (E.G., Timed Up And Go).

Treatment of infection with posaconazole delayed-release tablets.

Purpose: A pediatric patient with cystic fibrosis (CF) was successfully treated for infection with posaconazole delayed-release tablets.

Summary: A 13-year-old, 29-kg, Caucasian boy with CF was admitted to the hospital for a pulmonary exacerbation. The patient had a history of multiple hospital admissions and was colonized with methicillin-sensitive , and .

Computational analysis of Asp519 and Glu665 mutations of coagulation factor FVIIIa: Implications for enhanced binding affinity of A2-domain.

The A2-domain of blood coagulation factor VIIIa is non-covalently bound to the A1 and A3 domains via weak intermolecular interactions. Functional instability due to rapid dissociation of A2-domain from the active FVIII in blood presents a major hurdle for the therapeutic applications of FVIIIa to treat Hemophilia-A. To identify the ideal hot-spot residues at the interface of A2 and A1/A3 domains that could enhance the structural stability of FVIIIa, we performed a comprehensive computational mutagenesis study of two A2-domain residues, Asp519 and Glu665, that interface the A1 and A3-domains.

A Clinical Framework for Functional Recovery in a Person With Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study.

Background And Purpose: This case study describes a task-specific training program for gait walking and functional recovery in a young man with severe chronic traumatic brain injury.

Case Description: The individual was a 26-year-old man 4 years post-traumatic brain injury with severe motor impairments who had not walked outside of therapy since his injury. He had received extensive gait training prior to initiation of services.

Auditing the Physical Activity and Parkinson Disease Literature Using the Behavioral Epidemiologic Framework.

Unlabelled: Motor and nonmotor symptoms associated with Parkinson disease place individuals at greater risk of sedentary behaviors and comorbidities. Physical activity is one modifiable means of improving health and reducing the risk of morbidity. We applied a behavioral framework to classify existing research on physical activity and Parkinson disease to describe the current evolution and inform knowledge gaps in this area.

Kinship Care Placement and Children's Academic Performance.

Very little consideration has been given to the impact children's living situations can have on their educational performance. The relationship of family environment to the children's educational performance depends in part upon the experiences and intent of the mediating adults who frame, select, focus and interpret the experiences children have in ways that produce an appropriate attitude toward education. Because of changing family patterns, along with significant social and economic factors plaguing many families today, particularly African American families, a substantial number of children continue to grow up in circumstances that put them at risk for unstable family environments, low achievement, and school failure.

Parent-adolescent interaction: influence on the academic achievement of African American adolescent males.

As the achievement gap between African American and while students persists, an examination of factors outside the school setting are essential. Acknowledging the dynamics of family environment as perceived by African American adolescent males is apposite to understanding the relationship between family environment and academic achievement. Utilizing an ecological perspective, this study describes the characteristics of family process variables and analyzes the adolescents' perception of parent-adolescent interaction and its influence on their psychological well-being.

Inhibition of Ca2+-induced relaxation by oxidized tungsten wires and paratungstate.

Recent studies of rat mesenteric arteries using a wire myograph detected decreased Ca2+ and acetylcholine-induced relaxation responses. Preliminary experiments indicated the reduced responses were associated with the tungsten wire used in the myograph system. Compared with earlier observations, arteries mounted on aged 28-microm tungsten wire showed decreased maximal Ca2+-induced relaxation responses of arteries precontracted with phenylephrine (91.

Transesophageal echocardiographic spectrum of calcific mitral abnormalities in patients with end-stage renal disease.

This report provides a morphological description of atypical and unusual mitral and submitral calcifications in patients with end-stage renal disease. The use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) with enhanced image quality and resolution has made possible a detailed evaluation of the distribution and echocardiographic morphology of mitral calcification in end-stage renal disease. To our knowledge, there has been no such prior report with TEE.

Using noninvasive tests and thrombolytics for pulmonary embolism.

Obstructed pulmonary circulation from an embolism results in dilatation of the right ventricle, which becomes hypokinetic. The subsequent decline in forward cardiac output leads to diminished left ventricular preload. Combined with the reduction in the size of the left ventricular cavity from the flattening of the septum, there is a fall in total systemic cardiac output.

Uptake of 3-O-methyl-(14)C-D-glucose by a unicellular blue-green alga.

The uptake of 3-O-methyl-(14)C-D-glucose, a non-metabolizable sugar, by autotrophically grown Synechococcus cedrorum was studied at low sugar concentrations in the incubation medium (0.71-11.36 μM), in the light and in the dark.