Gender and Leg-dominance Differences in Shoe Properties and Foot Injuries in Badminton

Background: While the roles of injury prevention and performance enhancement have increasingly been investigated for badminton footwear, there is a lack of research on gender-specific badminton footwear. The purpose of this study was to examine the gender differences in footwear demands and foot injuries in badminton. Methods: A supervised questionnaire survey of 326 recreational badminton players was collected. The questionnaire was divided into four sections enquiring about the characteristics of (1) participant profiles, (2) importance of shoe properties (3) shoe complaints. (4) and pain or discomfort in different foot regions. The Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test were performed to determine the differences between genders and the differences between leg dominance, respectively. The significance level was set at 0.05.Results: Both males and females rated shoe fit as the most important features, followed by overall comfort, and injury protection. Females considered forefoot cushioning, comfort, breathability and color as the more important compared with other properties, which showed distinct pattern differences from males. The shoe problem results indicated that plantar pain of the non-dominant foot was considered the most commonly reported footwear problem by both males and females. The problem of excessive arch-support on the dominant and non-dominant sides of male participants was significantly higher than females (p < 0.05). Occasional pain or frequent pain were mainly distributed in the forefoot, followed by the rearfoot and midfoot regions.Conclusion: There were small differences in footwear demand between the dominant and non-dominant sides, but several differences existed between females and males. The results from gender differences suggested that female specific shoes prefer a specific better fit, rather than a modified version of male shoes. In the future, the design of badminton shoes should consider footwear demands and foot discomfort profiles in respective male and female badminton players.

Allicin protects against renal ischemia–reperfusion injury by attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis

Background Studies have demonstrated that allicin may play critical roles in the procession of ischemia–reperfusion(I/R) injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of allicin on renal I/R injury by attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis. Methods To establish a model of renal I/R, the right kidney underwent 12 h reperfusion after 45 min ischemia, allicin was administered intraperitoneally at concentrations of 40, 50 or 60 mg/kg. NRK-52E cells were treated with allicin at concentrations of 1, 3 or 5 μM in 24 h hypoxia/ 6 h reoxygenation(H/R) treatments. Indicators of HE, oxidative stress, apoptosis were measured to evaluate the effect of aliicin on renal I/R injury. Results Allicin protected renal I/R injury by ameliorating histological injury and decreasing the oxidative stress in renal tissues. Meanwhile, allicin significantly downregulated the expression of Bax and caspase-3, upregulated the expression of Bcl-2 in I/R renal tissues and H/R treated NRK-52E cells. Conclusions Allicin may exert anti-apoptotic and antioxidative effects to promote renal function recovery in I/R renal tissues and H/R treated NRK-52E cells. Taken together, allicin may be a potential novel therapy option for future renal injury protection.

Research on Occupational Injury Protection System for New Business Practitioners

This paper analyzes the necessity of establishing the occupational injury security system for new forms of business and summarizes the pilot areas of the current occupational injury security sy stem, and then analyzes the problems existing in the current occupational injury security for new forms of business, including the difficulty in identifying labor relations and the mismatch between supply and demand of occupational injury security. Finally, the specific conception of occupational injury protection system for employees in the new form of business is put forward, including open insured objects, appropriate payment base, flexible identification of occupational injury, etc.

Injury protection strategies for H63D syndrome patients suffering from cataplexy

Patients suffering from H63D syndrome have a significant incidence of narcolepsy with cataplexy as a symptom. Previous studies have shown that the presence of narcolepsy with cataplexy in the context of H63D syndrome is a surrogate marker for structural brain damage. Now, the aim was to clarify which measures best protect affected patients with cataplexy from injury.

Injury protection strategies for H63D syndrome patients suffering from cataplexy

Patients suffering from H63D syndrome have a significant incidence of narcolepsy with cataplexy as a symptom. Previous studies have shown that the presence of narcolepsy with cataplexy in the context of H63D syndrome is a surrogate marker for structural brain damage. Now, the aim was to clarify which measures best protect affected patients with cataplexy from injury.

Role for Mucin-5AC in Upper and Lower Airway Pathogenesis in Mice

Mucin-5AC (MUC5AC) is a major secreted mucin in pathogenic airways. To determine its role in mucus-related airway disorders, Muc5ac-deficient ( Muc5ac−/−) and wild-type ( Muc5ac+/+) mice were compared in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease, and ozone toxicity. Significantly greater inflammation and fibrosis by bleomycin were developed in Muc5ac−/− lungs compared to Muc5ac+/+ lungs. More severe mucous cell metaplasia in fibrotic Muc5ac−/− lungs coincided with bronchial Muc2, Muc4, and Muc5b overexpression. Airway RSV replication was higher in Muc5ac−/− than in Muc5ac+/+ during early infection. RSV-caused pulmonary epithelial death, bronchial smooth muscle thickening, and syncytia formation were more severe in Muc5ac−/− compared to Muc5ac+/+. Nasal septal damage and subepithelial mucoserous gland enrichment by RSV were greater in Muc5ac−/− than in Muc5ac+/+. Ozone exposure developed more severe nasal airway injury accompanying submucosal gland hyperplasia and pulmonary proliferation in Muc5ac−/− than in Muc5ac+/+. Ozone caused periodic acid-Schiff-positive secretion only in Muc5ac−/− nasal airways. Lung E-cadherin level was relatively lower in Muc5ac−/− than in Muc5ac+/+ basally and after bleomycin, RSV, and ozone exposure. Results indicate that MUC5AC is an essential mucosal component in acute phase airway injury protection. Subepithelial gland hyperplasia and adaptive increase of other epithelial mucins may compensate airway defense in Muc5ac−/− mice.

Evaluation of the Kinematic Biofidelity and Inter-Test Repeatability of Global Accelerations and Brain Parenchyma Pressure for a Head-Brain Physical Model

Head surrogates are used in biomechanical research and headgear assessment. They are designed to approximate the properties of the head and are instrumented to measure global head kinematics. Due to the recent interest in studying disruption to the brain, some head models include internal fluid layers and brain tissue, and instrumentation to measure head intracranial biomechanics. However, it is unknown whether such models exhibit realistic human responses. Therefore, this study aims to assess the biofidelity and repeatability of a head model, the Blast Injury Protection Evaluation Device (BIPED), that can measure both global head kinematics and intraparenchymal pressure (IPP) for application in blunt impact, a common loading scenario in civilian life. Drop tests were conducted with the BIPED and the widely used Hybrid III headform. BIPED measures were compared to the Hybrid III data and published cadaveric data, and the biofidelity level of the global linear acceleration was quantified using CORrelation and Analysis (CORA) ratings. The repeatability of the acceleration and IPP measurements in multiple impact scenarios was evaluated via the coefficient of variation (COV) of the magnitudes and pulse durations. BIPED acceleration peaks were generally not significantly different from cadaver and Hybrid III data. The CORA ratings for the BIPED and Hybrid III accelerations ranged from 0.50 to 0.61 and 0.51 to 0.77, respectively. The COVs of acceleration and IPP were generally below 10%. This study is an important step toward a biofidelic head surrogate measuring both global kinematics and IPP in blunt impact.

Sarcopenia and Cognitive Function: Role of Myokines in Muscle Brain Cross-Talk

Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome characterized by the progressive degeneration of muscle mass and function, and it is associated with severe complications, which are falls, functional decline, frailty, and mortality. Sarcopenia is associated with cognitive impairment, defined as a decline in one or more cognitive domains as language, memory, reasoning, social cognition, planning, making decisions, and solving problems. Although the exact mechanism relating to sarcopenia and cognitive function has not yet been defined, several studies have shown that skeletal muscle produces and secrete molecules, called myokines, that regulate brain functions, including mood, learning, locomotor activity, and neuronal injury protection, showing the existence of muscle-brain cross-talk. Moreover, studies conducted on physical exercise supported the existence of muscle-brain cross-talk, showing how physical activity, changing myokines' circulating levels, exerts beneficial effects on the brain. The review mainly focuses on describing the role of myokines on brain function and their involvement in cognitive impairment in sarcopenia.