Landing Kinematics, Sports Performance, and Isokinetic Strength in Adolescent Male Volleyball Athletes: Influence of Core Training.

CONTEXT: Core control and strength are important for reducing the risk of lower-extremity injury. Current evidence on the effect of core training in male adolescent athletes is limited, and other investigations into the effects of core training often emphasized core strength only. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether core training emphasizing both control and strength of the trunk and hip would improve joint kinematics during landing, sports performance, and lower-extremity muscle strength in adolescent male volleyball athletes. DESIGN: Single group pretest and posttest design. SETTING: University laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen male participants (age: 13.4 [1] y, height: 167.8 [8.6] cm, mass: 58.6 [13.9] kg, and volleyball experience: 3.8 [1.5] y) from a Division I volleyball team at a junior high school. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Kinematics of the trunk and lower-extremity during box landing and spike jump landing tasks, volleyball-related sports performance, and isokinetic strength of hip and knee muscles were assessed before and after a 6-week core training program. RESULTS: After training, the participants demonstrated decreased trunk flexion angle (P = .01, Cohen's d = 0.78) during the box landing task and reduced the maximum knee internal rotation angle (P = .04, Cohen's d = 0.56) during the spike jump landing task. The average isokinetic strength of hip flexors and external rotators, and knee flexors and extensors also significantly increased (P = .001, Cohen's d = 0.98; P = .04, Cohen's d = 0.57; P = .02, Cohen's d = 0.66; P = .003, Cohen's d = 0.87, respectively); however, sports performance did not show significant changes. CONCLUSIONS: A more erect landing posture following training suggests that the core training program may be beneficial for improving core stability. The long-term effect of core training for knee injury prevention needs further investigation.

Subchronic Arsenic Exposure Induces Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Normal Mice and Enhances Depression-Like Behaviors in the Chemically Induced Mouse Model of Depression.

Accumulating evidence implicates that subchronic arsenic exposure causes cerebral neurodegeneration leading to behavioral disturbances relevant to psychiatric disorders. However, there is still little information regarding the influence of subchronic exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water on mood disorders and its underlying mechanisms in the cerebral prefrontal cortex. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of subchronic arsenic exposure (10 mg/LAs2O3 in drinking water) on the anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in normal mice and in the chemically induced mouse model of depression by reserpine pretreatment. Our findings demonstrated that 4 weeks of arsenic exposure enhance anxiety-like behaviors on elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test (OFT) in normal mice, and 8 weeks of arsenic exposure augment depression-like behaviors on tail suspension test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST) in the reserpine pretreated mice. In summary, in this present study, we demonstrated that subchronic arsenic exposure induces only the anxiety-like behaviors in normal mice and enhances the depression-like behaviors in the reserpine induced mouse model of depression, in which the cerebral prefrontal cortex BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway is involved. We also found that eight weeks of subchronic arsenic exposure are needed to enhance the depression-like behaviors in the mouse model of depression. These findings imply that arsenic could be an enhancer of depressive symptoms for those patients who already had the attribute of depression.

Outcomes for type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with diverse regimens.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the levels of self-care behaviour, social support and quality of life among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who underwent three regimens: taking medicine, taking-medicine-while dieting and taking-medicine-while-dieting-with exercise. BACKGROUND: Diabetes treatment is a critical concern worldwide. However, studies on self-care behaviour, social support and quality of life based on diabetes patients' diverse regimens are few. DESIGN: This study was a cross-sectional design. METHODS: We enrolled 127 outpatients aged over 40 years who visited a metabolism clinic at a medical centre in Southern Taiwan. The Self-care Behaviour Scale, Social Support Scale and Quality of Life Scale were used to collect data. RESULTS: The results indicated that patients with a combined regimen of taking-medicine-while-dieting-with-regular exercise had the highest score at the levels of social support, self-care behaviour and quality of life. CONCLUSION: The study results could offer evidence-based knowledge for healthcare professionals to guide and promote social support, self-care behaviour and quality of life for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: These findings will help healthcare professionals to establish appropriate nursing strategies for type 2 diabetes patients who need to exercise regularly as part of their daily care to enhance their self-care behaviour, social support and quality of life.

[Core values in nursing education enhances nursing competence: example of oxygen administration].

The goal of nursing education is to enhance the capabilities of nurses for the benefit of patients and their families. Training toward this goal should begin from the nursing school curriculum, with courses addressing professional knowledge, psychomotor skills, and appropriate attitudes. However, course design has traditionally focused largely on psychomotor skills only. The purpose of this study was to describe the core value infused teaching strategy for nursing competency using nasal cannula oxygen administration as an example. Oxygen therapy standard procedures comprise twenty-eight nursing care steps. Six main nursing behaviors enforced in the enhanced curricula covered cleansing and asepsis, physical comfort and safety, psychological well-being, interpersonal interaction, caring, and critical thinking and reasoning concepts. The teaching method covered teaching goals, content, strategies, and evaluation. Findings support the efficacy of improving student nursing competency using teaching courses infused with core nursing values and enhanced through simulation-based teaching.

A simple procedure for the prevention of ureteral injury in laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To introduce a surgical technique to minimize the chance of ureteral injury during laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH). DESIGN: Retrospective case review (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). SETTING: Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan. PATIENTS: Two thousand and six women who underwent LAVH between January 1992 and June 2001. INTERVENTION: A simple step of creating a "window" over the anterior and posterior broad ligaments to push inferolaterally the areolar tissue (in which the ureter is embedded) on the posterior broad ligament. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: No ureteral injury occurred in patients whose cases were reviewed. There were, however, five bladder injuries (0.25%) and three nerve pareses (0.15%). Other minor complications, including fever, abscess or hematoma of the vaginal cuff, subcutaneous emphysema, and delayed vaginal cuff bleeding, occurred in less than 5% of patients. CONCLUSION: The technique proposed is simple and very effective in preventing ureteral injury during LAVH.