scholarly journals Early effects of surgery and radiotherapy on activity levels in patients with brain tumours: preliminary data from the BrainWear trial

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. iv12-iv12
Author(s):  
Seem Dadhania ◽  
James Wei Wang ◽  
Boyu Yu ◽  
Waqar Saleem ◽  
Catherine Blake ◽  
...  

Abstract Background BrainWear is a phase II observational clinical trial which collects data on patient activity levels, fatigue, Quality of Life (QoL) and imaging in patients with brain tumours Methods Newly diagnosed patients were offered wrist worn accelerometers (Axivity AX3) to be worn continuously throughout their treatment (surgery, chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy) to monitor physical activity. We collected standardised measures of QoL, fatigue, MRI imaging data and disease progression. Here, we report early results on activity data 5 days before and after treatment. Results Of 23 patients recruited, we report complete pre and post treatment data in 4 patients (2 HGG, 2 metastatic) who underwent craniotomy (2), fractionated radiotherapy (1) and SRS (1). Both craniotomy patients experienced an immediate 60 – 70% reduction in activity, and were successfully discharged at day 2 post-op even though their activity was still significantly reduced. Both patients recovered another 10% in their activity levels following discharge. Radiotherapy patients experienced no early change within 5 days of starting treatment. Conclusion As expected craniotomy results in much larger changes in activity levels than SRS and radical radiotherapy. Activity levels recover post craniotomy, but this takes > 5 days. Using wearable activity monitors in brain tumour patients is feasible, although there are multiple practical problems. Interpreting such data will require consideration of inpatient vs. outpatient settings.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Li Xue

Objective.To investigate the MRI findings of acute sports injury of the gastrocnemius muscle and to provide evidence for clinical diagnosis. Methods. The MRI imaging data of 16 cases of gastrocnemius muscle group sports injury were compared, analyzed, and collated. In this paper, the variation of MRI image entropy before and after gastrocnemius muscle injury was studied by using the texture characteristics of the muscle image. Results. The experiment demonstrated that the entropy of MRI images before and after fatigue showed a decrease after muscle tissue was raised; that is, after muscle tissue underwent centrifugal and centripetal contraction. This result is more effective and convenient for nondestructive prediction of the gastrocnemius muscle injury state. Conclusion. MRI can show the site and pathological changes of acute gastrocnemius injury.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 479c-479
Author(s):  
L. Kozeko ◽  
V. Troyan ◽  
L. Musatenko

In orthodox seeds the cell division within the embryo meristems arrests during maturation at embryo moisture content (MC) 65% to 47%, and the maturation completion and transition of seeds to quiescent state occurs at MC about 10%. The arrest of cycling happens asynchronously in different meristematic tissues during desiccation: first in shoot and then in root. The aim of this work was to define a mitotic activity dynamics in recalcitrant seeds with the high MC at maturation end and the absence of quiescent state characteristic of it. The object was seeds of Acer saccharinum, using widely for planting of greenery in Kiev city. The mitotic activity was determined in 0.5 mm of the embryo root pole (RP) and 0.5 mm of the shoot pole with embryo leaves (SP). The A. sachharinum seeds completed them maturation at MC 53% (FW basis). During maturation the mitotic index (MI) in RP decreased from 3.2% in immature seeds (at embryos MC 80%) to 0 in mature seeds and in SP–from 5.4% to 3.3%, respectively. Cell division in SP arrested by dehydration of mature embryos to MC 46% by PEG 6000 (30%). The seeds lost viability by desiccation to MC 34%. The mature seeds were able to germinate immediately after abscission. During seed germination the cell division reactived in RP and increased in SP already before root protrusion. In plantlets 10–15 mm long the MI increased to 8% in RP and 12% in SP. Thus, the strategy of immediate germination of recalcitrant A. sachharinum seeds includes a preservation of cell division in SP of mature embryos, in contrast with orthodox seeds, and high mitotic activity levels in meristems of germinating embryos before and after root protrusion.


Author(s):  
Aliki Peletidi ◽  
Reem Kayyali

Abstract Aims The primary aim of the programme was a minimum of a 5% weight reduction of the initial weight, while the secondary outcomes were a reduction in participants’ body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), AUDIT-C score and an increase in the Mediterranean diet (MD) score and an improvement in physical activity levels. Methods This 'before and after' study was a 10-week weight management (WM) programme and it was developed and delivered in community pharmacies in Patras chosen for convenience, thus consisting the first service of its type in Greece. The sample size was calculated (n = 96) based on the mean BMI for a Greek male and female individual, and the standard deviation (SD) of weight at baseline of 14 kg. Results Nearly every participant enrolled in the 20 participating pharmacies, 97.4% (n = 114/117), achieved the programme’s aim, losing at least 5% of their initial weight. The mean percentage of total weight loss of the 117 participants at the 10th week was 8.97% (SD 2.65), and the t-test showed statistically significant results (P-value < 0.001; 95% CI [8.48, 9.45]). A significant reduction in the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) was observed in both male (P-value = 0.004) and female (P-value < 0.001) participants. The participants’ BP and AUDIT-C score and physical activity levels significantly improved (P-value < 0.001), as well as their MD score. Conclusion This study provides the first evidence that Greek pharmacists have the potential to play an important role within primary healthcare and that after training they are able to provide public health services for both the public’s benefit and their clinical role enhancement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zekun Xu ◽  
Eric Laber ◽  
Ana-Maria Staicu ◽  
B. Duncan X. Lascelles

AbstractOsteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic condition often associated with pain, affecting approximately fourteen percent of the population, and increasing in prevalence. A globally aging population have made treating OA-associated pain as well as maintaining mobility and activity a public health priority. OA affects all mammals, and the use of spontaneous animal models is one promising approach for improving translational pain research and the development of effective treatment strategies. Accelerometers are a common tool for collecting high-frequency activity data on animals to study the effects of treatment on pain related activity patterns. There has recently been increasing interest in their use to understand treatment effects in human pain conditions. However, activity patterns vary widely across subjects; furthermore, the effects of treatment may manifest in higher or lower activity counts or in subtler ways like changes in the frequency of certain types of activities. We use a zero inflated Poisson hidden semi-Markov model to characterize activity patterns and subsequently derive estimators of the treatment effect in terms of changes in activity levels or frequency of activity type. We demonstrate the application of our model, and its advance over traditional analysis methods, using data from a naturally occurring feline OA-associated pain model.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 922-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
LLA Price ◽  
A Lyachev

Performance characterisations were carried out before and after a modification to the optics of the Condor Instruments’ ActTrust light and activity data loggers to improve the spectral performance for measuring melanopic-weighted irradiance in non-visual studies. The results confirm the intended improvement, so that the device provides the best-known single-sensor match to the melanopic response. In addition, the device includes a separate sensor which remained well-matched for illuminance logging.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A Brusseau

AbstractUnderstanding the physical activity patterns of youth is an essential step in preparing programming and interventions needed to change behavior. To date, little is known about the intricacies of youth physical activity across various physical activity segments (i.e. in school, out of school, recess, classroom physical activity, physical education, weekends, etc.). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the physical activity patterns of elementary school children across various segments and during two seasons. A total of 287 fourth and fifth graders from the Southwest US wore the Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 pedometer for 7 consecutive days during the Fall and Spring seasons. Children were prompted to record their step counts when arriving and leaving school, before and after physical education and recess, as well as on the weekends. Means and standard deviations were calculated and ANOVAs and t tests were utilized to examine difference by sex, season, and segment. Youth were more active outside of school and on weekdays (p<0.05). Boys were generally more active than girls and all youth were more active during the milder Spring season. There is a clear need for Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programming and weekend physical activity opportunities. Furthermore, greater emphasis is needed on PE and across other activity segments for girls to increase their physical activity levels.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quyen G To ◽  
Mitch J Duncan ◽  
Anetta Van Itallie ◽  
Corneel Vandelanotte

BACKGROUND Physical activity is an important health behavior, due to its association with many physical and mental health conditions. During distressing events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concern that physical activity levels may be negatively impacted. However, recent studies have shown inconsistent results. Additionally, there is a lack of studies in Australia on this topic. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate changes in physical activity reported through the 10,000 Steps program and changes in engagement with the program during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Data between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020, from registered members of the 10,000 Steps program, which included 3,548,825 days with step data, were used. The number of daily steps were logged manually by the members or synced automatically from their activity trackers connected to the program. Measures on program usage were the number of new registered members per day, the number of newly registered organizations per day, the number of steps logged per day, and the number of step entries per day. Key dates used for comparison were as follows: the first case with symptoms in Wuhan, China; the first case reported in Australia; the implementation of a 14-day ban for noncitizens arriving in Australia from China; the start of the lockdown in Australia; and the relaxing of restrictions by the Australian Government. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to test for significant differences in number of steps between subgroups, between engagement measures in 2019 versus 2020, and before and after an event. RESULTS A decrease in steps was observed after the first case in Australia was reported (1.5%; <i>P</i>=.02) and after the start of the lockdown (3.4%; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). At the time that the relaxing of restrictions started, the steps had already recovered from the lockdown. Additionally, the trends were consistent across genders and age groups. New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria had the greatest step reductions, with decreases of 7.0% (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), 6.2% (<i>P</i>=.02), and 4.7% (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), respectively. During the lockdown, the use of the program increased steeply. On the peak day, there were more than 9000 step entries per day, with nearly 100 million steps logged per day; in addition, more than 450 new users and more than 15 new organizations registered per day, although the numbers decreased quickly when restrictions were relaxed. On average per day, there were about 55 new registered users (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), 2 new organizations (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), 25.6 million steps (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), and 2672 log entries (<i>P</i>&lt;.001) more in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. CONCLUSIONS The pandemic has had negative effects on steps among Australians across age groups and genders. However, the effect was relatively small, with steps recovering quickly after the lockdown. There was a large increase in program usage during the pandemic, which might help minimize the health impact of the lockdown and confirms the important role of physical activity programs during times of distress and lockdowns.


Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Yang ◽  
Rwitajit Majumdar ◽  
Huiyong Li ◽  
Gökhan Akçapinar ◽  
Brendan Flanagan ◽  
...  

AbstractSelf-direction skill is considered a vital skill for twenty-first-century learners in both the learning context and physical activity context. Analysis skill for self-directed activities requires the students to analyze their own activity data for understanding their status in that activity. It is an important phase that determines whether an appropriate plan can be set or not. This research presents a framework designed to foster students’ analysis skill in self-directed activities, which aims (1) to build a technology-enabled learning system allowing students to practice analyzing data from their own daily contexts, (2) to propose an approach to model student’s analysis skill acquisition level and process, and (3) to provide automated support and feedback for analysis skill development tasks. The analysis module based on the proposed framework was implemented in the GOAL system which synchronized data from learners’ physical and reading activities. A study was conducted with 51 undergraduate students to find reliable indicators for the model to then measure students’ analysis skills. By further analyzing students’ actual usage of the GOAL system, we found the actual activity levels and their preferences regarding analysis varied for the chosen contexts (learning and physical activity). The different context preference groups were almost equal, highlighting the utility of a system that integrates data from multiple contexts. Such a system can potentially respond to students’ individual preferences to execute and acquire self-direction skill.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Sugemi Sugemi

Physical education is basically an integral part of the education system as a whole which aims to develop aspects of health, physical fitness, critical thinking skills, emotional stability, social skills, reasoning and moral action through physical activities and sports. The purpose of this study was to improve learning outcomes for grade V SD Negeri Balongwono, Trowulan District, Mojokerto Regency through the assistance of peer tutors. The research was conducted at SD Negeri Balongwono, Trowulan District, Mojokerto Regency in the first semester of the 2018/2019 academic year, from March 2019 to April 2019. The subjects of this study were GRADE V SD Negeri Balongwono, Mojokerto Regency in the 2018/2019 academic year, namely 26 people who above: 16 boys and 10 girls. Sources of data used in Graderoom Action Research (PTK) are as follows: 1. Data on learning outcomes above, obtained from students; 2. Teacher activity data, obtained from events during the teaching and learning activities in progress; 3. Student activity data, obtained from events during the teaching and learning activities; 4. Data on the implementation of teaching and learning activities with the help of peer tutors, obtained from events during the teaching and learning activities. The data analyzed included quantitative data (by presenting numbers as a measure of achievement), and qualitative data (presenting numbers as a comparison). Data analysis was carried out in a descriptive comparative manner which aims to compare the conditions before and after the learning corrective action was taken. The stages in the action of analyzing data include data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Based on the data analysis of the basic technique of passing on mini volleyball for Grade V students of SD Negeri Balongwono, Trowulan District, Mojokerto Regency, 2018/2019 academic year, the following results can be obtained: 1. In the pre-action of 26 students, there were 11 students (42%) who completed learning. 2. At the end of the first cycle of 26 students, there were 19 students (73%) who had finished learning. 3. At the end of the second cycle of 26 students, 23 students (88%) have completed learning. Thus it can be concluded that the application of the peer tutor assistance method can improve the basic techniques of fitting for the V-grade mini volleyball of the V-grade students of SD Negeri Balongwono, Trowulan District, Mojokerto Regency, 2018/2019 Academic Year.


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