Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets for arterial embolization.

Embolization (utilizing embolic materials to block blood vessels) has been considered one of the most promising strategies for clinical disease treatments. However, the existing embolic materials have poor embolization effectiveness, posing a great challenge to highly efficient embolization. In this study, we construct Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets by programming the self-assembly of Janus particles at the lipiodol-water interface. As a result, we achieve highly efficient renal embolization in rabbits. The obtained structural lipiodol droplets exhibit excellent mechanical stability and viscoelasticity, enabling them to closely pack together to efficiently embolize the feeding artery. They also feature good viscoelastic deformation capacities and can travel distally to embolize finer vasculatures down to 40 µm. After 14 days post-embolization, the Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets achieve efficient embolization without evidence of recanalization or non-target embolization, exhibiting embolization effectiveness superior to the clinical lipiodol-based emulsion. Our strategy provides an alternative approach to large-scale fabricate embolic materials for highly efficient embolization and exhibits good potential for clinical applications.

The effect of Tai Chi exercise on postural time-to-contact in manual fitting task among older adults.

BACKGROUND: A fall would impact elderly population's quality of life, which associate with diminished physical and psychological function, and can even be life-threatening. Tai Chi has been used to improve age-related postural instability in locomotion. However, it does not fully explain the mechanism of a lower risk of falling among the Tai Chi population compared to other healthy older adults. RESEARCH QUESTION: The maintenance of postural stability is more complicated than minimizing postural movements. Postural time to contact is an important temporal measure of postural stability under fitting tasks, which might further clarify the benefits of long term Tai Chi exercise. METHODS: Participants were required to fit a block (90 × 90 mm) through two different openings (130 × 130 mm and 100 × 100 mm) at two different distances (arm's length or 130 % of arm's length). Kistler forceplate and Vicon system were used to collect center of pressure and kinematic data, respectively. Postural time to contact was used to assess instantaneous perturbation for postural system. RESULTS: Tai Chi group exhibited significant longer postural time to contact in quiet standing and shorter postural time to contact in fitting tasks, expecting for close-small condition, compared to the brisk walking and sedentary groups (p < .05). In addition, both large and small opening condition, Tai Chi group showed a shorter postural time to contact than brisk walking and sedentary groups (p < .0001). SIGNIFICANCE: Long term Tai Chi exercise would promote the regulation of posture and decrease the postural constrain to increase the overall stability when performing fitting tasks. Therefore, Tai Chi exercise can be considered as a feasible method to enhance postural control and stability in older adult.

Pretreatment of pig manure liquid digestate for microalgae cultivation via innovative flocculation-biological contact oxidation approach.

Liquid digestate with high concentration of organic matter and suspended solids cannot be directly used for microalgae cultivation. This study employed an innovative integrated approach, combining flocculation and biological contact oxidation (F-BCO), as a pretreatment to create a suitable environment for microalgae growth. The laboratory and pilot-scale experiments were both performed to verify operational performance. In F-BCO pretreatment, chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH3-N, and total phosphorus (TP) were reduced 55.0%, 46.1%, and 74.9%, respectively at pilot-scale in steady-state phase. It is further determined that the COD and TP removal were primarily attributed to flocculation, and NH3-N removal was mainly due to oxidation process (70%). The pretreated biogas slurry (BS) can be directly used for Chlorella cultivation, reaching a maximum accumulated biomass concentration of 3.3 g/L. The F-BCO process demonstrated a promising potential for pretreating BS to be a culture media for microalgae cultivation.

Acute effects of Kinesio taping on muscle strength and fatigue in the forearm of tennis players.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the immediate effects of Kinesio taping applied over the wrist extensors and flexors on muscle strength and endurance during isometric and isokinetic muscle actions. DESIGN: The study had a single-blinded, placebo control, and randomized design. METHODS: Fourteen trained male volunteers were required to complete 5s isometric maximal voluntary contractions and 50 consecutive maximal concentric wrist extension and flexion repetitions at each of two angular speeds (60°/s and 210°/s) in three taping conditions: Kinesio taping (KT), placebo taping (PT), and no taping (NT). RESULTS: KT did not improve peak moment, peak power, average power, and total work for wrist extensors and flexors in the isometric and isokinetic contractions. However, KT showed a 13% decrease in work fatigue of the wrist flexors compare to NT (p=0.014) at 60°/s. Furthermore, a 20% decrease was also observed in the rate of decline of moment (k) of the wrist flexors in KT compared to NT (p=0.007), and the k in PT was also significantly lower in magnitude compared to NT (p=0.035). Moreover, there was also a trend in terms of magnitudes for kKT

Tai Chi Can Improve Postural Stability as Measured by Resistance to Perturbation Related to Upper Limb Movement among Healthy Older Adults.

Purpose. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of Tai Chi (TC) training on postural control when upright standing was perturbed by upper limb movement. Methods. Three groups, TC, Brisk walk (BW), and sedentary (SE), of thirty-six participants aged from 65 to 75 years were recruited from local community centers. Participants performed static balance task (quiet standing for 30 s with eyes open and closed) and fitting task (two different reaching distances X three different opening sizes to fit objects through). During tasks, the COP data was recorded while standing on the force plate. Criteria measures calculated from COP data were the maximum displacement in anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions, the 95% confidence ellipse area (95% area), and the mean velocity. Results. No significant effect was observed in the static balance task. For fitting tasks, the group effect was observed in all directions on COP 95% area (p < 0.05) and the TC group showed reduced area. The tests of subject contrasts showed significant trends for reaching different distances and fitting different openings conditions in all directions, the 95% area, and the mean velocity (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Compared to the other two groups, long-term TC exercise helps in reducing the effects of upper body perturbation as measured by posture sway.