Search

Purpose: The purposes of meta-analysis are to evaluate evidence about the effects of Rehabilitation Exercise Program on the balance of post-stroke patients, evaluated by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Methods: The search was conducted 'stroke,' 'rehabilitation,' 'dynamic balance,' 'Berg Balance Scale,' 'exercise' and 'randomized controlled trial'using MEDLINE (accessed by PubMed), Web of Science (WoS), ProQuest, and Google Scholar for journal studies published from January 2018 to October 2022. Two independent reviewers performed the article selection, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. The main outcome was dynamic balance assessed by the Berg Balance scale. Results: The review included 30 papers and a total of 540 patients. The overall effect size was 0.550, a medium effect size according to the Cohen's standard. It was observed that gender has moderate effect size in male (0.551), female (0.458) and higher in male. Exercise type results showed large effect sizes in balance training (0.966), and aquatic activities (0.830), moderate effect sizes in virtual reality (0.762), moderate effect sizes in physically active (0.581), gait training (0.541), dual-task (0.478), trunk control (0.284), and small effect sizes in resistance training (0.128). Conclusions: Exercise programs are effective in improving dynamic balance in stroke patients. Especially, the meta-analysis showed higher Effect Size for balance training and virtual reality than for other programs making this relevant interventions for future head to head superiority studies that compare different balance interventions in stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal symptoms in individuals engaged in strenuous exercise programs. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of wearable low-intensity continuous ultrasound on muscle biomechanical properties during DOMS. METHODS: Twenty volunteers were distributed into a wearable ultrasound stimulation group (WUG) (n = 10) and medical ultrasound stimulation group (MUG) (n = 10). All subjects performed wrist extensor muscle strength exercises to induce DOMS. At the site of pain, ultrasound of frequency 3 MHz was applied for 1 h or 5 min in each subject of the WUG or MUG, respectively. Before and after ultrasound stimulation, muscle biomechanical properties (tone, stiffness, elasticity, stress relaxation time, and creep) and body temperature were measured, and pain was evaluated. RESULTS: A significant decrease was found in the tone, stiffness, stress relaxation time, and creep in both groups after ultrasound stimulation (all p < 0.05). A significant decrease in the pain and increases in temperature were observed in both groups (all p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the groups in most evaluations. CONCLUSION: The stiffness and pain caused by DOMS were alleviated using a wearable ultrasound stimulator. Furthermore, the effects of the wearable ultrasound stimulator were like those of a medical ultrasound stimulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on computer-aided arrhythmia classification is actively conducted, but the limited generalization capacity constrains its applicability in practical clinical settings. One of the primary challenges in deploying such techniques in real-world scenarios is the inter-patient variability and the consequent performance degradation. In this study, we leverage our previous innovation, the n-beat-score map (n-BSM), to introduce an adversarial framework to mitigate the issue of poor performance in arrhythmia classification within the inter-patient paradigm. The n-BSM is a 2D representation of the ECG signal, capturing its constituent beat characteristics through beat-score vectors derived from a pre-trained beat classifier. We employ adversarial learning to eliminate patient-dependent features during the training of the beat classifier, thereby generating the patient-independent n-BSM (PI-BSM). This approach enables us to concentrate primarily on the learning characteristics associated with beat type rather than patient-specific features. Through a beat classifier pre-trained with adversarial learning, a series of beat-score vectors are generated for the beat segments that make up a given ECG signal. These vectors are then concatenated chronologically to form a PI-BSM. Utilizing PI-BSMs as the input, an arrhythmia classifier is trained to differentiate between distinct types of rhythms. This approach yields a 14.27% enhancement in the F1-score in the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and a 4.97% improvement in cross-database evaluation using the Chapman–Shaoxing 12-lead ECG database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellular senescence contributes to inflammatory kidney disease via the secretion of inflammatory and profibrotic factors. Protease‐activating receptor 2 (PAR2) is a key regulator of inflammation in kidney diseases. However, the relationship between PAR2 and cellular senescence in kidney disease has not yet been described. In this study, we found that PAR2‐mediated metabolic changes in renal tubular epithelial cells induced cellular senescence and increased inflammatory responses. Using an aging and renal injury model, PAR2 expression was shown to be associated with cellular senescence. Under in vitro conditions in NRK52E cells, PAR2 activation induces tubular epithelial cell senescence and senescent cells showed defective fatty acid oxidation (FAO). Cpt1α inhibition showed similar senescent phenotype in the cells, implicating the important role of defective FAO in senescence. Finally, we subjected mice lacking PAR2 to aging and renal injury. PAR2‐deficient kidneys are protected from adenine‐ and cisplatin‐induced renal fibrosis and injury, respectively, by reducing senescence and inflammation. Moreover, kidneys lacking PAR2 exhibited reduced numbers of senescent cells and inflammation during aging. These findings offer fresh insights into the mechanisms underlying renal senescence and indicate that targeting PAR2 or FAO may be a promising therapeutic approach for managing kidney injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine how mothers' poverty differently affects young adult children's self-esteem over time. We consider how young adult children's income moderates the between-subject relationship and the within-subject relationship. This study used two data sets such as the NLSY79 and the NLSY79CY. We used six waves from 2004 to 2014. A total of 3975 mother–adult child dyads were chosen. The hybrid model was employed to explore both the between-subject and the within-subject relationship. There was a significant between-subject relationship regarding the effect of mothers' poverty and adult children's income on adult children's self-esteem. In the between-subjects relationship, an interaction effect was found, such that children's income moderated the between-subject relationship between mothers' poverty and children's self-esteem. Long-term anti-poverty programs should be provided to women with children even after they completely are away from poverty. Minimizing inequality in intergenerational economic mobility may be critical to enhance adult children's self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disposable sensors are inexpensive, user-friendly sensing tools designed for rapid single-point measurements of a target. Disposable sensors have become more and more essential as diagnostic tools due to the growing demand for quick, easy-to-access, and reliable information related to the target. Dopamine (DA), a prevalent catecholamine neurotransmitter in the human brain, is associated with central nervous system activities and directly promotes neuronal communication. For the sensitive and selective estimation of DA, an enzyme-free amperometric sensor based on polyaniline-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PANI-MWCNTs) drop-coated disposable screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) was fabricated. This PANI-MWCNTs-2/SPCE sensor boasts exceptional accuracy and sensitivity when working directly with ex vivo mouse brain homogenates. The sensor exhibited a detection limit of 0.05 μM (S/N = 3), and a wide linear range from 1.0 to 200 μM. The sensor's high selectivity to DA amidst other endogenous interferents was recognized. Since the constructed sensor is enzyme-free yet biocompatible, it exhibited high stability in DA detection using ex vivo mouse brain homogenates extracted from both Parkinson's disease and control mice models. This research thus presents new insights into understanding DA release dynamics at the tissue level in both of these models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parental depression is a significant problem that negatively affects parents' welfare and influences family dynamics, children's academic and health behaviors, and mental health. However, there is limited evidence regarding the impact of the parental depression into the children's' psychological and physical wellbeing on Asian cultures. This study examined the psychological burdens and health behaviors of adolescent children with parents with depression in the Republic of Korea. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) spanning 2013 to 2021 to compare health behaviors and mental health outcomes between 203 adolescent children with parents diagnosed with depression and 3,856 control adolescents aged 12–19 years. Results: Following multivariate adjustments, the risk of depressive mood for more than two weeks was significantly increased in boys with parental depression (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 2.05, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.91–3.52) and adolescents with parents with moderate-to-severe depression (aOR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.17–5.77). Adolescents with parental depression reported significantly worse subjective health status (aOR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.05–3.36) and higher stress levels (aOR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.33–2.76). Additionally, when parental depression was present and the time since depression diagnosis was more than five years, adolescents with parental depression exhibited even poorer subjective health status and higher stress levels. Conclusions: The study found that adolescents whose parents experienced depression had poorer mental health than those whose parents did not have mental health issues. These findings emphasize the importance of providing support for the mental health of adolescents in families affected by parental depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]