movement and health

Commonly used risk indexes, such as the NIOSH Lifting Index, do not capture the effect of exoskeletons. This makes it difficult for Health and Safety professionals to rigorously assess the benefit of such devices. The community requires a simple method to assess the effectiveness of back-support exoskeleton's (BSE) in possibly reducing ergonomic risk. The method introduced in this work is termed "Equivalent Weight" (EqW) and it proposes an interpretation of the effect built on the benefit delivered through reduced activation of the erector spinae (ES)...

MicroRNAs (miRs, miRNAs) are known to have a part in various human illnesses, such as those related to the heart. One particular miRNA, miR-155, has been extensively studied and has been found to be involved in hematopoietic lineage differentiation, immunity, viral infections, inflammation, as well as vascular remodeling. These processes have all been connected to cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, diabetic heart disease, coronary artery disease, and abdominal aortic aneurysm. The impacts of miR-155 depend on the type of cell it is acting on and the specific target genes involved, resulting in different mechanisms of disease...

Depression is a public health issue in older adults. This study followed a participatory train-the-trainer approach to develop the Movement-based x 'Elderspirituality-Fu Le Man Xin' intervention. Additionally, a quasi-experimental design was followed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Data were collected from pre-and post-intervention assessments. A total of 135 older adults with depressive symptoms were recruited, 77 received the intervention and 58 received an active control intervention. Repeated measures ANCOVA showed that the 'Movement-based x 'Elderspirituality-Fu Le Man Xin' intervention significantly reduced depression in cognitively sound participants (F(1, 73) = 62...

The importance of religiousness in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) has been the subject of conflicting research. The impact of religiousness on quality of life and depressive symptoms has also been poorly studied in this population. This study investigated the correlation between religiousness and quality of life in patients with IPD. We evaluated 37 patients with IPD (according to the criteria of the Movement Disorders Society) who were from an outpatient clinic specializing in movement disorders in Brazil...

BACKGROUND: The deposition of Aβ42 has been regarded as one of the important pathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, drug development for Aβ42 toxicity has been progressed slowly. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to introduce the effect and related mechanism of trehalose on an Aβarc (arctic mutant Aβ42 ) Drosophila AD model. METHODS: The human Aβarc was expressed in Drosophila to construct the AD model...

BACKGROUND: Despite a long history of political discourse around refugee integration, it wasn't until 2016 that this issue emerged as a global political priority. Limited research has examined the evolution of policies of global actors around health service provision to refugees and how refugee integration into health systems came onto the global agenda. This study seeks to fill this gap. METHODS: Drawing on a document review of 20 peer-reviewed articles, 46 global policies and reports, and 18 semi-structured interviews with actors representing various bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental organizations involved with refugee health policy and funding, we analyze factors that have shaped the global policy priority of integration...

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity (PA) results in extensive physical, psychological, and social benefits. Despite primary care being a key point of influence for PA behaviours in the UK, research indicates poor application of PA interventions in this context. To address this, the Royal College of General Practitioners' (RCGP) developed and implemented the Active Practice Charter (APC). The aim of the study was to evaluate the perceived impact and acceptability of the APC initiative from the perspective of primary healthcare professionals (PHPs)...

BACKGROUND: As one of the most common congenital abnormalities in male births, cryptorchidism has been found to have a polygenic aetiology according to previous studies of common variants. However, little is known about genetic predisposition of rare variants for cryptorchidism, since rare variants have larger effective size on diseases than common variants. METHODS: In this study, a cohort of 115 Chinese probands with cryptorchidism was analysed using whole-genome sequencing, alongside 19 parental controls and 2136 unaffected men...

Myclobutanil (MYC), a typical broad-spectrum triazole fungicide, is often detected in surface water. This study aimed to explore the neurotoxicity of MYC and the underlying mechanisms in zebrafish and in PC12 cells. In this study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to 0, 0.5 and 1 mg/L of MYC from 4 to 96 hours post fertilization (hpf) and neurobehavior was evaluated. Our data showed that MYC decreased the survival rate, hatching rate and heart rate, but increased the malformation rate and spontaneous movement...

One prominent aspect of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the presence of elevated levels of free radicals, including reactive oxygen species (ROS). Syagrus coronata ( S. coronata) , a palm tree, exhibits antioxidant activity attributed to its phytochemical composition, containing fatty acids, polyphenols, and flavonoids. The aim of this investigation was to examine the potential neuroprotective effects of S. coronata fixed oil against rotenone-induced toxicity using Drosophila melanogaster . Young Drosophila specimens (3-4 d old) were exposed to a diet supplemented with rotenone (50 µM) for 7 d with and without the inclusion of S...

BACKGROUND: Interventions are needed to prevent and mitigate unhealthy commodity industry (UCI) influence on public health policy. Whilst literature on interventions is emerging, current conceptualisations remain incomplete as they lack considerations of the wider systemic complexities surrounding UCI influence, which may limit intervention effectiveness. This study applies systems thinking as a theoretical lens to help identify and explore how possible interventions relate to one another in the systems in which they are embedded...

Introduction  The early geneticist and psychiatrist Ernst Rüdin (1874-1952) became one of the key figures in the eugenics movement and in the German health system of the Nazi era. His connections in the international eugenics network have played an important role in the history of eugenics. Objective  To discuss the connections between Ernst Rüdin's scientific group in Munich and Otmar von Verschuer's group in Frankfurt during the Nazi era. Methods  Otorhinolaryngological materials from Ernst Rüdin's former private library are presented, and they show Rüdin's deep involvement in the international eugenics network...

A large proportion of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) identify as Black or African American (AA). Social bias and stigma in healthcare outcomes for children with SCD are impossible to explore without considering the impact of racial/cultural identity, socioeconomic status (SES), and geography. It is important to understand the current influences of social movements, expanded health insurance coverage, and telehealth on these variables when considering healthcare outcomes for patients with SCD. The objective of this study was to determine the roles of racial identity, SES, and geography in healthcare outcomes for the pediatric population of children with SCD in the United States (US)...

Constipation, which refers to difficulties in defecation and infrequent bowel movement in emptying the gastrointestinal system that ultimately produces hardened fecal matters, is a health concern in livestock and aging animals. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential effects of dairy-isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains to alleviate constipation as an alternative therapeutic intervention for constipation treatment in the aging model. Rats were aged via daily subcutaneous injection of D-galactose (600 mg/body weight [kg]), prior to induction of constipation via oral administration of loperamide hydrochloride (5 mg/body weight [kg])...

Hydrogel sensors have attracted a lot of attention due to their great significance for biosensors and human detection, especially their antibacterial properties when in direct contact with the human body. However, it is challenging to improve mechanical and antibacterial performance simultaneously. In this study, by using ultrasonic dispersion technology to attach zinc oxide to cellulose and adding sodium alginate, a multiple cross-linking network is generated, which effectively solves this problem. The proposed poly(vinyl alcohol)/sodium alginate/zinc oxide/hydrogel sensor exhibits not only excellent biocompatibility but also high tensile properties (strain above 2000%)...

Slow-wave sleep (SWS), characterized by slow oscillations (SO, <1Hz) of alternating active and silent states in the thalamocortical network, is a primary brain state during Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep. In the last two decades, the traditional view of SWS as a global and uniform whole-brain state has been challenged by a growing body of evidence indicating that sleep oscillations can be local and can coexist with wake-like activity. However, the understanding of how global and local SO emerges from micro-scale neuron dynamics and network connectivity remains unclear...

BACKGROUND: Visual acuity and image stability are crucial for daily activities, particularly during head motion. The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and its suppression (VORS) support stable fixation of objects of interest. The VOR drives a reflexive eye movement to counter retinal slip of a stable target during head motion. In contrast, VORS inhibits this countermovement when the target stimulus is in motion. The VORS allows for object fixation when it aligns with the direction of the head's movement, or when an object within or outside the peripheral vision needs to be focused upon...

Natural polymer-based hydrogels have been wildly used in electronic skin, health monitoring and human motion sensing. However, the construction of hydrogel with excellent mechanical strength and electrical conductivity totally using natural polymers still faces many challenges. In this paper, gelatin and oxidized sodium carboxymethylcellulose were used to synthesize a double-network hydrogel through the dynamic Schiff base bonds. Then, the mechanical strength of the hydrogel was further enhanced by immersing it in an ammonium sulfate solution based on the Hofmeister effect between gelatin and salt...

INTRODUCTION: Reliable assessment of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) is essential for providing adequate treatment. Clinical assessment is a complex and time-consuming task, especially for bradykinesia, since its evaluation can be influenced by the degree of experience of the examiner, patient collaboration and individual bias. Improvement of the clinical evaluation can be obtained by considering assessments from several professionals. However, this is only true when inter and intra-rater agreement are high...

BACKGROUND: Video-demonstrated action-observation-execution is an effective intervention for motor re-learning in stroke rehabilitation. But customization of video for each task repeatedly questions its feasibility within limited resources, particularly for daily routine practice and in community settings. Physiotherapist-demonstrated action-observation-execution is a practical intervention based on the principle of observation and consecutive repetitions of observed real, live movements...