Topographic heterogeneity triggers complementary cascades that enhance ecosystem multifunctionality.

Topographic heterogeneity sets the stage for community assembly, but its effects on ecosystem functioning remain poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that topographic heterogeneity underpins multiple cascading species interactions and functional pathways that indirectly control multifunctionality. To do so, we combined experimental manipulation of a form of topographic heterogeneity on rocky shores (holes of various sizes) with a comprehensive assessment of naturally assembled communities and multifunctionality. Structural equation modeling indicated that heterogeneity: (1) enhanced biodiversity by supporting filter feeder richness; (2) triggered a facilitation cascade via reef-forming (polychaete) and biomass-dominant (macroalga) foundation species, which in turn broadly supported functionally diverse epibiotic and understory assemblages; and (3) inhibited a key consumer (limpet). The model supported that these mechanisms exerted complementary positive effects on individual functions (e.g., water filtration, ecosystem metabolism, nutrient uptake) and, in turn, collectively enhanced multifunctionality. Topographic heterogeneity may therefore serve as a cornerstone physical attribute by initiating multiple cascades that propagate through ecological communities via foundation species, ultimately manifesting disproportionate effects on ecosystem multifunctionality.

Unraveling the multiple facilitative effects of consumers on marine primary producers.

The loss of consumers threatens the integrity of ecological systems, but the mechanisms underlying the effects on communities and ecosystems remain difficult to predict. This is, in part, due to the complex roles that consumers play in those systems. Here, we highlight this complexity by quantifying two mechanisms by which molluscan grazers-typically thought of as consumers of their algal resources-facilitate algae on rocky shores. Initial observations in high-zone tide pools revealed that both water-column ammonium concentrations and photosynthetic biomass were higher in pools containing higher densities of grazers, suggesting that local-scale nutrient recycling by the grazers could be enhancing algal biomass. We assessed this possibility by experimentally manipulating grazer abundances at the level of whole tide pools but controlling access of those grazers to experimental plots within each pool. Contrary to predictions that algal biomass inside grazer exclusions would increase as grazer abundances in the pools increased, we found that algal biomass inside grazer-exclusion fences was unaffected by grazer abundances. Instead, the consumptive effects of grazers that were evident at low grazer abundances transitioned to facilitative effects as experimentally manipulated grazer abundances increased. This finding suggested that these positive interactions were associated with the physical presence of grazers and not just grazers' effects on nutrient availability. Subsequent experiments highlighted the potential role of "slime"-the pedal mucous trails left behind as the mollusks crawl on the substratum-in promoting the recruitment of algae and thereby mediating a spatial subsidy of new organic matter into the system. Furthermore, different grazer groups contributed disproportionately to ammonium excretion (i.e., turban snails) versus slime production (i.e., littorine snails), suggesting a potential role for grazer diversity. Our work highlights the complex ways in which consumers affect their resources, including multiple, complementary mechanisms by which these grazers facilitate the algae they consume.

A competency framework for simulation facilitation in low-resource settings: a modified Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: Skilled facilitators are essential to drive effective simulation training in healthcare. Competency-based frameworks support the development of facilitation skills but, to our knowledge, there are no frameworks that specifically address context-sensitive priorities developed with practitioners working in low-resource settings. METHODS: We aimed to develop a core competency framework for healthcare simulation facilitation in low-resource settings using a modified Delphi process. We drew on the domain expertise of members of the Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training Community of Practice, with the study guided by a four-member steering group experienced in the conduct of simulation in low-resource settings. In survey round 1, participants (n = 54) were presented with an initial competency set derived from a previous qualitative study and co-created a set of 57 competencies for effective simulation facilitation in low-resource settings. In survey round 2, participants (n = 52) ranked competencies by relevance into three performance categories: techniques; artistry; and values. In survey round 3, participants (n = 50) ranked competencies on their importance. The steering group collated results and presented a draft core competency framework. In survey round 4, participants (n = 50) voted with 98% agreement that this framework represented the most relevant and important competencies for effective facilitation of simulation sessions in low-resource settings. RESULTS: The final 32-item framework encompasses core competencies found in existing standards and includes important new concepts such as demonstration of cultural sensitivity; humility; ability to recognise and respond to potential language barriers; facilitation team collaboration; awareness of logistics; and contingency planning. DISCUSSION: This competency-based framework highlights specific practices required for effective simulation facilitation in low-resource settings. Further work is required to refine and validate this tool to train simulation facilitators to deliver effective training to improve patient safety.

Phenology mediates direct and indirect interactions among co-occurring invasive plant species.

Why nonnative invasive plant species commonly co-occur, despite their competitive superiority and propensity to displace native species, remains a paradox in invasion biology. Negative interactions among competitively dominant invaders are potentially alleviated by two understudied mechanisms: seasonal priority effects, where phenological separation weakens the effect of competition on species with early phenology; and indirect facilitation, where competition between two species is mitigated by a third species. Although phenological separation has been speculated as a mechanism for explaining co-occurrence patterns of invasive plants, it has never been directly tested. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested the effect of phenological separation on direct and indirect interactions between three co-occurring invasive plant species found in the riparian forests of North America. These species have distinct natural phenological separation with reproduction in early spring (Ficaria verna), mid-spring (Alliaria petiolata), and late summer (Microstegium vimineum). When phenology was experimentally synchronized, direct pairwise interactions among invasive species were overwhelmingly negative, asymmetric, and unlikely to promote co-occurrence. However, increasing phenological separation generated seasonal priority effects, which weakened the effect of competition on species with early phenology. Furthermore, the addition of a third species generated indirect facilitative effects, which balanced competitive outcomes among the two weakest competitors. Based on these findings, we conclude that phenological separation modulates the strength of both seasonal priority effects and indirect facilitation within species interaction networks and may promote the co-occurrence of three common invasive species within this study system. We articulate how future studies can test the external validity of these findings in more complex environmental conditions and with a larger range of invasive plants.

Disruptive compensatory mechanisms in fibromyalgia syndrome and their association with pharmacological agents.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disorder characterized commonly by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue, predominantly affecting women, with its complexity often leading to underdiagnosis and complicating treatment effectiveness. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) metrics are potential markers to optimize FMS treatments; however, evidence is limited. Our study aimed to explore the relationship between cortical excitability and inhibition, assessed through TMS markers, and clinical characteristics in patients with FMS. This presented cross-sectional study employed baseline data from a clinical trial with 108 FMS patients, mostly female (88.8%), and mean age of 47.3 years old (SD = 12.06). Our analysis showed that decreased short-intracortical inhibition (SICI) was associated with gabapentinoids use, nicotine history, and increased fatigue levels, suggesting its connection with compensatory mechanisms for non-painful FMS features. Increased motor intracortical facilitation (ICF) was linked with greater pain severity and shorter FMS duration, implying its relationship with a reorganization of sensorimotor pathways due to chronic pain. Additionally, higher resting motor threshold (rMT) was associated with less effective pain modulation (lower conditioned pain modulation [CPM]), indicating a disruption of pain compensatory mechanism. Given the role of SICI in indexing homeostatic brain mechanisms and its association with fatigue, a hallmark characteristic of FMS-induced behavioral changes, these results suggest that FMS likely has a deleterious effect on brain inhibitory function, thus providing a potential novel insight for FMS mechanisms. In addition, it seems that this compensatory mechanism's disruption is enhanced by pharmacological agents such as gabapentioids and nicotine.

A neural circuit from thalamic paraventricular nucleus via zona incerta to periaqueductal gray for the facilitation of neuropathic pain.

Top-down projections transmit a series of signals encoding pain sensation to the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), where they converge with various incoming projections to regulate pain. Clarifying the upstream regulatory hierarchy of vlPAG can enhance our understanding of the neural circuitry involved in pain modulation. Here, we show that a in a mouse model of spared nerve injury (SNI), activation of a circuit arising from posterior paraventricular thalamic nucleus CaMKIIα-positive neurons (PVPCaMKIIα) projects to gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons in the rostral zona incerta (ZIrGABA) to facilitate the development of pain hypersensitivity behaviors. In turn, these ZIrGABA neurons project to CaMKIIα-positive neurons in the vlPAG (vlPAGCaMKIIα), a well-known neuronal population involved in pain descending modulation. In vivo calcium signal recording and whole-cell electrophysiological recordings reveal that the PVPCaMKIIα→ZIrGABA→vlPAGCaMKIIα circuit is activated in SNI models of persistent pain. Inhibition of this circuit using chemogenetics or optogenetics can alleviate the mechanical pain behaviors. Our study indicates that the PVPCaMKIIα→ZIrGABA→vlPAGCaMKIIα circuit is involved in the facilitation of neuropathic pain. This previously unrecognized circuit could be explored as a potential target for neuropathic pain treatment.

Changing the conversation: impact of guidelines designed to optimize interprofessional facilitation of simulation-based team training.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional simulation-based team training (ISBTT) is commonly used to optimize interprofessional teamwork in healthcare. The literature documents the benefits of ISBTT, yet effective interprofessional collaboration continues to be challenged by complex hierarchies and power dynamics. Explicitly addressing these issues during ISBTT may help participants acquire skills to navigate such challenges, but guidelines on how to do this are limited. METHODS: We applied an educational design research approach to develop and pilot structured facilitator guidelines that explicitly address power and hierarchy with interprofessional teams. We conducted this work in a previously established ISBTT program at our institution, between September 2020 and December 2021. We first reviewed the literature to identify relevant educational theories and developed design principles. We subsequently designed, revised, and tested guidelines. We used qualitative thematic and content analysis of facilitator interviews and video-recording of IBSTT sessions to evaluate the effects of the guidelines on the pre- and debriefs. RESULTS: Qualitative content analysis showed that structured guidelines shifted debriefing participation and content. Debriefings changed from physician-led discussions with a strong focus on medical content to conversations with more equal participation by nurses and physicians and more emphasis on teamwork and communication. The thematic analysis further showed how the conversation during debriefing changed and how interprofessional learning improved after the implementation of the guidelines. While power and hierarchy were more frequently discussed, for many facilitators these topics remained challenging to address. CONCLUSION: We successfully created and implemented guidelines for ISBTT facilitators to explicitly address hierarchy and power. Future work will explore how this approach to ISBTT impacts interprofessional collaboration in clinical practice.

Factors influencing patient engagement in decision making for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: a cross-sectional survey.

AIMS: Patient engagement in decision making could improve healthcare quality and health outcome, which has been emphasized in atrial fibrillation (AF) management guidelines. However, patients report relatively low level of engagement in decision making for catheter ablation (CA). Therefore, this study aims to explore the influencing factors of AF patient engagement in decision making for CA. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 836 patients were recruited from six tertiary hospitals in Shanghai. Adapted version of the Control Preferences Scale, Chinese version of the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale, Chinese version of the Facilitation of Patient Involvement Scale and the Atrial Fibrillation Knowledge Questionnaire were used to measure patient engagement in decision making, health literacy, perception of physician facilitation and AF knowledge, respectively. Of the 750 patients who returned valid questionnaires, 20.2% of the patients reported active engagement in decision making, 39.5% reported collaborative engagement, and 40.3% reported passive engagement. Compared with patients perceiving passive engagement, those with collaborative or active engagement were more likely to be female, have higher income, moderate EHRA class (II and III), higher perception of physician facilitation, higher health literacy and higher AF knowledge (P＜0.05 for all). The collaborative engagement group exhibited a shorter AF duration. CONCLUSION: The degree of patient engagement in CA decision making varied, with most perceiving passive engagement. Patient engagement in decision making was influenced by gender, income, duration of AF, EHRA class, perception of physician facilitation, health literacy and AF knowledge.

Positive interactions and interdependence in communities.

Facilitative interactions play crucial roles in community organization, and the stress gradient hypothesis (SGH) provides a simple conceptual framework for the context-dependency of competitive and facilitative interactions. The idea is that positive interactions are more common under high physical and consumer stress, where species benefit from stress-tolerant neighbors, than in benign environments. We explore insights from the SGH into ecological generality, niche theory, community assembly, and diversity effects on ecosystem function and discuss how the SGH can inform our understanding of rapid evolution, mutualisms, exotic invasions, and facilitation cascades. We suggest that, with escalating global stresses, the SGH may provide a conceptual template for an interdependent perspective in ecology that can contribute to conservation and restoration efforts.

Medium-term biotic interactions in Olea europaea seedlings along an abiotic stress gradient.

Plant-plant interactions are important drivers for the functioning and structuring of dryland plant communities. Stressful conditions, mainly related to water availability, determine whether plant interactions result in net facilitation or competition. Many studies have been conducted on the impacts of mature individuals, trees, shrubs or tussock grasses, on woody seedlings but little is known about the biotic interactions when they all are at the same developmental stage under field conditions. Here we present a spatially replicated study with Olea europaea as the target species and Pistacia lentiscus and Macrochloa tenacissima as neigbors. We also implemented field techniques to increase water availability and, hence, reproduce an abiotic gradient of stress. Wild olive performance was sensitive to neighbors, water availability and site. Improved microcatchments, which in addition to site recreated a gradient of water availability, improved wild olive performance as well as planted neighbors negatively impacted olive seedlings. We observed increasing negative interacting effects as conditions become less stressful. This is in line with the stress-gradient-hypothesis but also provides important knowledge regarding plant interactions in drylands at the same development stage.

The Relationship Between Facilitation of Patient Involvement and Self-Perceived Burden in Postoperative Lung Cancer Patients: The Mediating Role of Social Support.

Aim: Patients with lung cancer often experience a high level of self-perceived burden, which significantly affects their quality of life and psychological health. Social support is closely related to the self-perceived burden, yet there is scant research on the relationship between social support, facilitation of patient involvement, and self-perceived burden. This study aims to understand the current situation of self-perceived burden in postoperative lung cancer patients and to explore the mediating role of social support between facilitation of patient involvement and self-perceived burden. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used in this study. Using a convenience sampling method, a total of 331 lung cancer patients who were hospitalized for surgical treatment at a tertiary cancer hospital in Beijing, China, from August 2022 to May 2023, were selected to participate in this survey. The survey included a self-designed sociodemographic questionnaire, the Facilitation of Patient Involvement Scale (FPIS), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), and the Self-Perceived Burden Scale (SPBS). Data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 for statistical description and Pearson correlation analysis, while AMOS 24.0 was utilized to construct a structural equation model to examine the mediation effect. Results: The score of self-perceived burden in lung cancer patients was 26.42 ±8.23 points. Bot facilitation of patient involvement and social support was negatively correlated with self-perceived burden (r = -0.313, r = -0.332, P < 0.001). Social support plays a partially mediated role in the relationship between facilitation of patient involvement and self-perceived burden, accounting for 44.3% of the total effect. Conclusion: The self-perceived burden of patients after lung cancer surgery was at a moderate level, and social support partially mediates the relationship between facilitation of patient involvement and self-perceived burden. Medical staff should encourage patient participation in their own treatment decisions and alleviate the burden associated with lung cancer and surgical treatment by enhancing their social support.

A longitudinal mixed methods evaluation of a facilitation training intervention to build implementation capacity.

Background: There is a demand for facilitators who can ease the collaboration within a team or an organization in the implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and who are positioned to build the implementation capacity in an organization. This study aimed to evaluate the results the Building implementation capacity for facilitation (BIC-F) intervention had on the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to facilitate implementation and the normalization of a systematic implementation model into their work routines, and its use into their respective organizations. Methods: The BIC-F intervention was delivered to 37 facilitators in six workshops, which focused on teaching participants to apply a systematic implementation model and various facilitation tools and strategies. A longitudinal mixed methods design was used to evaluate the intervention. Data was collected pre- and post-intervention using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews grounded on the Normalization Process Theory (NPT). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive (mean, SD) and inferential (paired t-tests) methods. Qualitative data were analyzed using deductive content analysis according to NPT. Results: An increase in the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy was observed post-intervention. Normalization of the systematic implementation model in the participants' work routines was in an early phase, facilitated by high coherence, however, other NPT mechanisms were not sufficiently activated yet to contribute to full normalization. In the organizations where participants initiated the normalization process, they were still working towards achieving coherence and cognitive participation among relevant stakeholders. Conclusion: The intervention had positive results on the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy and these recognized the value of a systematic implementation model for their practice. However, further efforts are needed to apply it consistently as a part of their work routines and in the organization. Future interventions should provide long-term support for facilitators, and include methods to transfer training between organizational levels and to overcome contextual barriers.

Invasive plant species support each other's growth in low-nutrient conditions but compete when nutrients are abundant.

Globally, numerous ecosystems have been co-invaded by multiple exotic plant species that can have competitive or facilitative interactions with each other and with native plants. Invaded ecosystems often exhibit spatial heterogeneity in soil moisture and nutrient levels, with some habitats having more nutrient-rich and moist soils than others. The stress-gradient hypothesis predicts that plants are likely to engage in facilitative interactions when growing in stressful environments, such as nutrient-deficient or water-deficient soils. In contrast, when resources are abundant, competitive interactions between plants should prevail. The invasional meltdown hypothesis proposes that facilitative interactions between invasive species can enhance their establishment and amplify their ecological impact. Considering both hypotheses can offer insights into the complex interactions among invasive and native plants across environmental gradients. However, experimental tests of the effects of soil moisture and nutrient co-limitation on interactions between invasive and native plants at both interspecific and intraspecific levels in light of these hypotheses are lacking. We performed a greenhouse pot experiment in which we cultivated individual focal plants from five congeneric pairs of invasive and native species. Each focal plant was subjected to one of three levels of plant-plant interactions: (1) intraspecific, in which the focal plant was grown with another individual of the same species; (2) interspecific, involving a native and an invasive plant; and (3) interspecific, involving two native or invasive individuals. These plant-plant interaction treatments were fully crossed with two levels of water availability (drought vs. well-watered) and two levels of nutrient supply (low vs. high). Consistent with the stress-gradient and invasional meltdown hypotheses, our findings show that under low-nutrient conditions, the biomass production of invasive focal plants was facilitated by invasive interspecific neighbors. However, under high-nutrient conditions, the biomass production of invasive focal plants was suppressed by invasive interspecific neighbors. When competing with native interspecific neighbors, high-nutrient conditions similarly enhanced the biomass production of both invasive and native focal plants. Invasive and native focal plants were neither competitively suppressed nor facilitated by conspecific neighbors. Taken together, these results suggest that co-occurring invasive exotic plant species may facilitate each other in low-nutrient habitats but compete in high-nutrient habitats.

Opportunities to Advance Equity Through Implementation Strategy Design.

Background: Implementation strategies are potential tools for advancing equity goals in healthcare. Implementation scientists have increased attention to the integration of equity considerations into implementation research, but limited concrete guidance is available for developing implementation strategies to improve equity. Main: In parallel to an active hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial in two large health systems, our research team explored potential inequities in implementation across four non-study clinics, developed equity focused audit and feedback procedures, examined the feasibility of our approach, and identified design insights that could be tested in future work to inform equitable program scale-up. Based on our experiences deploying these strategies in pilot format, our research team identified key complexities meriting further examination in future work. These considerations are vital given the dearth of guidance on delivering feedback to clinicians in efforts to improve equity. Key takeaways include the importance of understanding local data culture, engaging constituents in co-design for the full feedback cycle, leveraging feedback for shared discourse, and centering multi-level strategies as part of robust implementation approaches. Conclusion: Prioritizing health equity in implementation science requires that research teams probe, interrogate, and innovate - and in doing so, grapple with central conceptual and pragmatic considerations that arise in the design of implementation strategies. Our work emphasizes the value of bidirectional and continuous learning.

Dynamics of the perceptive field size in human adults.

The receptive field (RF) is the fundamental processing unit of human vision; both masking and crowding depend on its size. The RF has a psychophysical corresponding term, the perceptive field (PF); whereas the RF is measured physiologically, the PF is measured psychophysically (a perceptual response). We investigated how spatial (lateral interactions), temporal (the stimulus presentation time), and the procedure affect the PF size for both monocular and binocular viewing. The stimuli consisted of a central vertically oriented Gabor target and high-contrast Gabor flankers positioned in two configurations (orthogonal or collinear) with target-flanker separations of either 2 or 3 wavelengths (λ). We used two main methods to control the monocular and binocular vision: mono-optic glasses vs. stereo glasses. The presentation order was either mixed or non-mixed for the presentation time and the eye condition. We estimated the PF size for both monocular and binocular viewing at 4 different presentation times (40, 80,120, and 200 ms) with different orders of presentation in each experiment (mono-optic glasses vs. stereo glasses, utilizing the lateral masking paradigm). In each experiment we explored one variable: how changing one parameter would affect the PF size in both monocular and binocular viewing (the temporal duration, the testing order of conditions, and the spatial distance) while keeping the others constant. We found that both the monocular and binocular PF size were dynamic and were significantly affected by the presentation order, leading to reduced lateral suppression under the collinear 2λ condition. Hence, both the monocular and binocular PF size depended on the sequence of the stimulus presentation time and the testing order of the conditions. Furthermore, we found that the binocular PF size was significantly larger than the monocular PF size.

Mechanistic explanation and the integration between language and action.

Mechanistic explanations can contribute to strengthening embodied and grounded cognition, capturing the causal structure that produces phenomena. In the commentary, I propose two cases for which a mechanistic explanation would be extremely useful to advance research and understanding. The first, more specific case concerns the need for a mechanistic explanation of the contrasting interference and facilitation results of action-language integration. The second case is more general and regards the importance of providing mechanistic explanations that consider the critical role language, intended as a holistic experience, has in impacting bodily actions.

Same-Sex Sexual Behavior, Age-Class, and Coalitions in Male Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).

In the present study, relations between same-sex sexual behavior (SSB), age-class, and coalitional behavior in male rhesus macaques were examined in a re-analysis of data first analyzed and reported by Clive et al. (2023). Age-class as a focal variable was indicated in an extensive literature review, which showed that male non-adult (juvenile, adolescent) participation in SSB is extensive in this and related primate species and associated with various benefits. Clive et al. (2023) excluded juveniles from their analysis. In the re-analysis (n = 995 mounting events), it was found that non-adult involvement was substantial (51%). Most dyads contained at least one non-adult (76%). Young and prime adult mounters most often selected non-adults to mount. Mounters were often sexually motivated: most for adolescents (72%); equally for juveniles (57%) and adults (56%). Finally, the highest rate of SSB with coalitional context appeared in adolescent-adult dyads involved in multiple repeated mounts. SSB, age-class, special friendships, bonding, and coalitions were linked, as reported in some other primate species and human societies cross-culturally. Employing age-class in male SSB analysis improved description and explanation.

Facilitation of constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships: A concept analysis.

Background: The researcher's previous study indicated that couples in a relationship where one partner is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience intra- and inter-personal difficulties affecting interaction with self and others. Therefore, constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships are essential to facilitate the mental health of couples in a relationship where one partner is diagnosed with BPD. However, the concept has not been defined and applied in caring for such couples. Aim: The study aims to clarify its meaning by identifying and defining the central concept of 'facilitation of constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships'. Setting: The researcher used results from a previous study that explored the experiences of couples in a relationship where one partner is diagnosed with a mental illness to identify and define the central concept. Methods: The concept was examined using analysis, synthesis, and inductive reasoning strategies, which were applied in two phases. Results: The central concept of 'facilitation of constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships' for couples where one partner is diagnosed with BPD was identified and defined using a dictionary and subject definitions. Conclusion: Identifying and defining the central concept is essential to developing a model to facilitate constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships. Contribution: The concept 'facilitation of constructive intra- and inter-personal relationships' is unique in its form and valuable for developing a model that can be used as a guiding tool for psychiatric nurses to facilitate the mental health of such couples. Furthermore, the model could benefit other relationships experiencing intra- and inter-personal challenges.

Short-term intervention effect analysis of neuromuscular joint facilitation in patients who experienced stroke with shoulder subluxation: a clinical randomized controlled trial.

[Purpose] Shoulder subluxation is a common complication of acute stroke that affects clinical rehabilitation training and hinders the recovery of upper limb motor function. This study explored the short-term interventional effects of neuromuscular joint facilitation in patients who experienced stroke with shoulder subluxation. [Participants and Methods] We recruited 36 patients who experienced stroke with shoulder subluxation. All patients were randomly divided into two groups: the neuromuscular joint facilitation group (n=18) and the control group (n=18). The control group underwent routine rehabilitation treatment. The intervention in the neuromuscular joint facilitation group involved neuromuscular joint facilitation of the shoulder joint in four modes based on conventional rehabilitation treatment. Four different interventions were administered. The thickness of the supraspinatus muscle and the acromion-greater tuberosity distance were measured using ultrasound to observe the curative effect. [Results] In neuromuscular joint facilitation group, the thickness of supraspinatus muscle, acromion-greater tuberosity distance and acromion-greater tuberosity distance difference were significantly different before and after intervention. In the control group, there were no significant difference before and after intervention. [Conclusion] Neuromuscular joint facilitation intervention improved the thickness of the supraspinatus muscle, shortened the distance between the acromion and the greater tubercle, and improved shoulder subluxation in patients who experienced stroke.