Added forearm weights for gait pattern normalization in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Patients with Parkinson's Disease presented gait impairment. Applying additional weights to enhancing sensory input may improve gait impairment. We assumed that gait impairment could be improved when patients walked with additional forearm weights, and the gait improvement was associated with clinical characteristic of Parkinson's Disease. Thirty patients with Parkinson's Disease and 30 age-sex matched controls were recruited. Spatiotemporal and joint kinematics parameters were evaluated by a three-dimensional motion capture system in normal walking and walking with sandbags, respectively. The comparisons of spatiotemporal parameters were analyzed using t-test or nonparametric tests. The comparison of joint kinematic data was analyzed using statistical parametric mapping. The correlation between motor symptom and gait parameters changes was analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis. During normal walking, patients showed deteriorated gait compared with controls. After applying weights to forearms patients increased cadence (p = 0.004), speed (p < 0.001) and step length (p = 0.048), and decreased stride time (p = 0.003). The hip angles significantly increased during 5%-23% and 87%-100% of gait cycle, while knee angles during 9%-25% and 88%-98% of the gait cycle, and ankle angles in 92%-100% of gait cycle. The gait parameters of patients with forearm-loading showed no significant difference compared with healthy subjects walking normally. The change of gait parameters correlated positively with the axial and tremor severity while correlated negatively with the rigidity sub-score. Patients with tremor dominant subtype also showed greater improvement of speed and step time compared with patients with postural instability/gait difficulty subtype. Applying added weights bilaterally to the forearms of patients can normalize gait patterns. Notably, patients with higher scores on axial and tremor and lower rigidity scores gained more benefits.

KIF18A interacts with PPP1CA to promote the malignant development of glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM), which has poor prognosis and low 5-year survival rate, is the most common primary central nervous system malignant tumour in adults. Kinesin family member 18A (KIF18A) plays an important role in multiple tumours and is potential therapeutic target for GBM. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of KIF18A in GBM. The expression level and survival prognosis of KIF18A and protein phosphatase 1 catalytic subunit α (PPP1CA) in GBM patients were analysed using the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analysis were applied to measure the expression of KIF18A and PPP1CA in normal and GBM cell lines. KIF18A expression was inhibited through cell transfection with a KIF18A-targeting short hairpin RNA. Cell proliferation was detected with the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle changes. Transwell and wound healing assays were used to measure cell invasion and migration. Western blotting was utilized for the detection of invasion- and migration-related proteins MMP9 and MMP2. Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets and GeneMANIA databases were used to analyse the interaction between KIF18A and PPP1CA. The correlation between PPP1CA and KIF18A was examined using data from the CGGA database. Immunoprecipitation was used to demonstrate the binding relationship between KIF18A and PPP1CA. PPP1CA was overexpressed using cell transfection technology and its mechanism was further examined. The results demonstrated that KIF18A was upregulated in GBM cells compared with normal microglia HMC3. Compared with that in sh-NC group, silencing of KIF18A reduced cell proliferation, induced G2/M cycle arrest and inhibited the migration and the invasion of A172 GBM cells by interacting with PPP1CA. In conclusion, KIF18A interacted with PPP1CA to promote the proliferation, cycle arrest, migration and invasion of GBM cells.

Effects of different types of visual music on the prefrontal hemodynamics of children with autism spectrum disorder based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Background: Music therapy has been shown to improve communication in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but little is known about how different types of music and images affect hemodynamic changes in the frontal lobe of the brain in children with ASD. This study aims to use functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore the effects of different types of visual music on different brain regions of oxyhemoglobin (HbO) in the prefrontal lobe of children with ASD and children with typical development (TD), so as to provide evidence for better application of different types of visual music in the treatment of children with ASD. Methods: Seven children with ASD and nine matched children with TD were selected. Changes in HbO in their prefrontal lobes were determined by fNIRS after resting states and 12 different types of visual music tasks. Results: (I) Intra-group comparison: the influence of different types of light and music on ∆HbO in ROI (zone F) of ASD children is different, the activation degree shows that red light & positive music is less than green light & neutral music, red light & positive music is less than blue light & negative music, and there is no difference between green light & neutral music and blue light & negative music. (II) Comparison between groups: Visual musical tasks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 positively activated HbO in the prefrontal B and E regions of the brain in children with ASD and negatively activated HbO in TD children. Visual musical tasks 5, 9, 10, and 12 negatively activated HbO in the prefrontal F regions of the brain in children with ASD and positively activated HbO in TD children. Conclusions: When the two groups of children received the same visual music task, the changes of HbO in different regions of the prefrontal lobe were different; The effects of different types of visual music on the frontal lobe of the brain in children with ASD are inconsistent.

Thermodynamics Evaluation and Verification of High-Sulfur Copper Slag Composite Agglomerate in Oxidation-Roasting-Separation-Leaching Process.

To solve situation of high-sulfur copper slag utilization, an innovative technology was proposed for oxidation roasting with composite agglomerates. The oxidation-roasting process was studied by factage7.3 software. The thermodynamics were calculated about sulfur removal, sulfur adsorption and decomposition. The adsorption of sulfur oxides and microstructure evolution were analyzed via an oxidation roasting experiment and SEM-EDS. The results show that the matte and AsxSy in the matrix could be effectively removed via oxidation roasting in an oxygen atmosphere; the sulfoxide was adsorbed to produce CaSO4. The Fe2SiO4 decomposition could be realized at suitable roasting temperature and in an oxygen atmosphere. This is helpful for the magnetic separation of iron and silicon. The thermodynamic and experimental results were preliminarily confirmed to be available in the innovative process.

The efficacy of 5 rehabilitation treatments after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of traditional rehabilitation, proprioceptive training, and neuromuscular training after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is also controversial. In order to help medical staff better choose the rehabilitation treatment plan after ACL reconstruction, we conducted this network meta-analysis. METHODS: Chinese and English databases such as Wanfang, Weipu, China Zhiwang, and PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase were retrieved. We collected clinical controlled trial papers on traditional rehabilitation therapy, proprioceptive training and neuromuscular training after ACL reconstruction for meta-analysis. RESULTS: In this meta-analysis, 12 studies were included, including 486 patients who received rehabilitation treatment after ACL reconstruction. Based on network meta-analysis, it was found that 4 groups of direct comparison and 6 groups of indirect comparison were formed for 5 rehabilitation treatment schemes after ACL reconstruction. The curative effect of traditional rehabilitation training combined with proprioception training is better than that of traditional rehabilitation training (mean difference value of traditional rehabilitation training combined with proprioception training vs traditional rehabilitation training was 8.00, 95% confidence interval: 2.61,13.39). The efficacy of proprioceptive training is better than that of traditional rehabilitation training (mean difference value of proprioceptive training vs traditional rehabilitation training is 11.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.62,21.39). There was no statistical significance between the other rehabilitation trainings. According to the surface under cumulative ranking curve, the therapeutic effects of the 5 rehabilitation treatment programs after ACL reconstruction were ranked as follows: proprioceptive training (72%) > traditional rehabilitation training combined with neuromuscular training (70.8%) > traditional rehabilitation training combined with proprioception training (57.1%) > neuromuscular training (45.5%) > traditional rehabilitation training (4.6%). No publication bias was found in the funnel plot. CONCLUSION: Combined with the results of meta-analysis and surface under cumulative ranking efficacy sequence diagram, it can be seen that traditional rehabilitation training combined with proprioceptive training and traditional rehabilitation training combined with neuromuscular training have significant efficacy. Due to the limitations of this study, the conclusions of this network meta-analysis still need to be further confirmed by a large sample size and well-designed randomized controlled trials.

Gentianella macrosperma, a new species of Gentianella (Gentianaceae) from Xinjiang, China.

Gentianella macrosperma Ma ex H.F. Cao, J.D. Ya & Q.R. Zhang, a new species of Gentianaceae from Xinjiang, Northwest China is described and illustrated. This new species is unique in having equal length of corolla lobe and corolla tube, nectaries located at the throat of the corolla tube and large seeds up to 1.6 mm in diameter. In addition, an updated identification key to the Chinese species of Gentianella is provided.