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Frontiers in Psychology 2024There are increasing demands for Participatory Arts-Based (PAB) programs involved in health research to better evidence outcomes using robust quantitative evaluation...
There are increasing demands for Participatory Arts-Based (PAB) programs involved in health research to better evidence outcomes using robust quantitative evaluation methodologies taken from science, such as standardized questionnaires, to inform commissioning and scale-up decisions. However, for PAB researchers trying to do this, barriers arise from fundamental interdisciplinary differences in values and contexts. Researchers are required to navigate the tensions between the practice-based evidence produced by the arts and the evidence-based practice sought by psychologists. Consequently, there is a need for interdisciplinary arts-science collaborations to produce alternative methods of evaluation that are better aligned to PAB approaches, and which combine systematic rigor with a sensitivity to the values, contexts and strengths of this approach. The current article centers on the development of an alternative transdisciplinary analytic tool, the Participatory arts Play Framework (PP-Framework), undertaken as part of an arts-psychology collaboration for a UK AHRC-funded PAB research project: Playing A/Part: Investigating the identities and experiences of autistic girls. We present details of three stages in the development of the PP-Framework: 1. preliminary emergence of the framework from initial video analysis of observational data from participatory music and sound workshops run for 6 adolescent autistic girls (aged 11-16); 2. identification and application of modes of engagement; and 3. further testing of the framework as an evaluation tool for use in a real-world setting, involving professional musicians engaged in delivery of a creative music project at a center for homeless people. The PP-Framework maps types of participation in terms of performative behaviors and qualities of experience, understood as modes of play. It functions as a vehicle for analyzing participant engagement, providing a tool predicated on the processes of working in creative participatory contexts while also being sensitive to the esthetic qualities of what is produced and capable of capturing beneficial changes in engagement. It offers a conceptual approach for researchers to undertake observation of participatory arts practices, taking account of embodied engagement and interaction processes. It is informed by understandings of autistic performativity and masking in conjunction with an ecological understanding of sense making as being shaped by environments, social relations and sensing subjectivity. The framework has the potential to be a bi-directional tool, with application for both practitioners and participants.
PubMed: 38957882
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1324036 -
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 2024Previous research has demonstrated that stretching can enhance athletic performance and induce cardiovascular adaptations. This study aims to assess whether a 4-week...
Previous research has demonstrated that stretching can enhance athletic performance and induce cardiovascular adaptations. This study aims to assess whether a 4-week preventative stretching routine can enhance heart rate variability and heart rate recovery, faster blood lactate clearance, and improve performance following submaximal strength exercises. Twenty-four healthy adults were recruited and randomly allocated to either the experimental group or the control group. Both groups engaged in submaximal strength exercises (5 sets to voluntary failure at 60% of 1RM) comprising bench press and back squat exercises under baseline conditions and after stretching protocol. The experimental group followed the Stretching Protocol, while the control group adhered to their regular training routine. ANOVA analysis revealed a significant pre-post interaction effect between groups in the variable of squat repetitions, although no notable pre- or post-differences were observed in heart rate variability, heart rate recovery, blood lactate concentration, or bench repetitions in either group. A 4-week preventative stretching program does not appear adequate to enhance lactate clearance and cardiovascular adaptation after submaximal strength exercises in resistance-trained individuals compared to the control group. However, it is plausible that such a stretching routine may mitigate muscle fatigue, though further investigation is warranted to substantiate this hypothesis.
PubMed: 38957877
DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1424756 -
Frontiers in Nutrition 2024The term emotional eating (EE) describes the tendency to eat as an automatic response to negative emotions and has been linked to anxiety and depression, common symptoms...
INTRODUCTION
The term emotional eating (EE) describes the tendency to eat as an automatic response to negative emotions and has been linked to anxiety and depression, common symptoms among the university population. The EE tendencies have also been associated with excessive internet use and an increase in alcohol intake among young university students.
METHODS
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the tendency towards EE and other health-compromising behaviors, such as excessive internet use or high alcohol intake. Additionally, it aims to investigate the association of these risky behaviors with the participants' performance level in a virtual reality (VR) task that assesses their executive functioning, and to assess impulsivity and levels of anxiety and depression.
RESULTS
The results associate EE with excessive internet (r = 0.332; < 0.01). use but not with alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption was not associated with anxiety, depression, or impulsivity, but it was related to altered executive functions in the VR task: flexibility and working memory explained 24.5% of the variance. By contrast, EE and internet overuse were not related to executive function but were associated with impulsivity, depression, and anxiety. Impulsivity and depressive symptoms accounted for 45% of the variance in EE. Depression, trait anxiety and impulsivity explained 40.6% of the variance in internet overuse.
DISCUSSION
The results reveal distinct patterns of psychological and neuropsychological alterations associated with alcohol consumption compared to emotional eating (EE) and excessive internet use. These findings underscore significant differences in the contributing factors between addictions and other substance-free addictive behaviors. For a deeper understanding of the various contributing factors to EE in college students, further research is recommended.
PubMed: 38957869
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1400815 -
Frontiers in Nutrition 2024The relationship between dietary factors and hernias is currently unclear.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between dietary factors and hernias is currently unclear.
METHODS
The UK Biobank was used to extract dietary factors that were used as exposures, including intake of alcohol, non-oily fish, beef, fresh fruit, oily fish, salad/raw vegetables, dried fruit, coffee, cereal, salt, tea, water, cooked vegetables, cheese, Lamb/mutton, pork, poultry, processed meat, and bread. The FinnGen biobank was used to obtain GWAS data on hernias as outcomes. The main analysis of this study was performed using the weighted median, MR-Egger, and IVW methods. Cochran's Q test was utilized to assess heterogeneity. To find potential outliers, the MR-PRESSO method was used. Leave-one-out analysis was employed to assess the IVW method's robustness.
RESULTS
Alcoholic consumption per week (OR: 0.614; = 0.00614) reduced the risk of inguinal hernia. Alcohol intake frequency (OR: 1.309; = 0.0477) increased the risk of ventral hernia (mainly including incisional hernia and parastomal hernia). The intake of non-oily fish (OR: 2.945; = 0.0214) increased the risk of inguinal hernia. Salt added to food (OR: 1.841; = 0.00267) increased the risk of umbilical hernia. Cheese intake (OR: 0.434; = 0.000536) and dried fruit intake (OR: 0.322; = 0.00716) decreased the risk of ventral hernia, while cooked vegetable intake (OR: 4.475; = 0.0380) increased the risk of ventral hernia. No causal relationships were found with hernias from other dietary factors.
CONCLUSION
Inguinal, umbilical, and ventral hernias are all related to dietary factors.
PubMed: 38957866
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1265920 -
Health Science Reports Jul 2024One of the leading reasons that patients, particularly older persons, are brought to the orthopedic emergency room is a fracture at the end of the radius. In this study,...
BACKGROUND AND AIM
One of the leading reasons that patients, particularly older persons, are brought to the orthopedic emergency room is a fracture at the end of the radius. In this study, a new traction method for distal radius fractures was compared with manual reduction.
METHODS
The census method was used in this clinical trial to study 45 patients (46 hands) who were referred to Hamedan Besat Hospital in 2021. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups. The manual reduction (pressure and traction by an assistant and a doctor) method was implemented in Group A, and the new traction procedure (pressure and traction by hardware or a device) was performed in Group B. The radiographic results of reduction in both groups were investigated and compared immediately and in the first and 6 weeks after surgery.
RESULTS
The following results were observed in the new and manual groups in the sixth week after surgery: average volar tilt: 4.19 ± 3.79 and 4.08 ± 3.88 ( = 0.926), radial angulation: 2.18 ± 1.27 and 2.21 ± 1.35 ( = 0.934), radial shortening: 10.52 ± 0.65 and 10.56 ± 0.68 ( = 0.828), radial inclination: 22.52 ± 2.46 and 22.71 ± 2.01 ( = 0.787), dorsal angulation: -5.89 ± 0.33 and 5.22 ± -1.91 ( = 1.00), ulnar variance: 1.66 ± 0.90 and 1.67 ± 0.81 ( = 0.958), and average pain score: 2.40 ± 0.68 and 2.47 ± 0.73 ( = 0.737).
CONCLUSION
The new reduction procedure with hardware in patients with distal radius fractures showed the same effect as the traditional method based on pressure and traction by the assistant and doctor in terms of radiographic changes and pain score of the fracture site.
PubMed: 38957863
DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.2227 -
Health Science Reports Jul 2024After conducting a comprehensive literature search of two medical electronic databases, PubMed and Embase, as well as two citation databases, Web of Science Core...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
After conducting a comprehensive literature search of two medical electronic databases, PubMed and Embase, as well as two citation databases, Web of Science Core Collections (WoS) and Scopus, we aimed to conduct an Altmetric and Scientometric analysis of the History of Medicine literature in medical research.
METHODS
The following software tools were used for analyzing the retrieved records from PubMed and Embase databases and conducting a collaboration analysis to identify the countries involved in scientific medical papers, as well as clustering keywords to reveal the trend of History of Medicine research for the future. These software tools (VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Spss 16) allowed the researchers to visualize bibliometric networks, perform statistical analysis, and identify patterns and trends in the data.
RESULTS
Our analysis revealed 53,771 records from PubMed and 54,405 records from EMBASE databases retrieved in the field of History of Medicine by 105,286 contributed authors in WoS. We identified 157 countries that collaborated on scientific medical papers. By clustering 59,995 keywords, we were able to reveal the trend of History of Medicine research for the future. Our findings showed a positive association between traditional bibliometrics and social media metrics such as the Altmetric Attention Score in the History of Medicine literature ( < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Sharing research findings of articles in social scientific networks will increase the visibility of scientific works in History of Medicine research, which is one of the most important factors influencing the citation of articles. Additionally, our overview of the literature in the medical field allowed us to identify and examine gaps in the History of Medicine research.
PubMed: 38957859
DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.2186 -
Frontiers in Genetics 2024Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an autosomal dominant inherited cardiac condition characterized by a QT interval prolongation and risk of sudden death. There are 17 subtypes...
INTRODUCTION
Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an autosomal dominant inherited cardiac condition characterized by a QT interval prolongation and risk of sudden death. There are 17 subtypes of this syndrome associated with genetic variants in 11 genes. The second most common is type 2, caused by a mutation in the gene, which is part of the potassium channel and influences the final repolarization of the ventricular action potential. This case report presents an Ecuadorian teen with congenital Long QT Syndrome type 2 (OMIM ID: 613688), from a family without cardiac diseases or sudden cardiac death backgrounds.
CASE PRESENTATION
A 14-year-old girl with syncope, normal echocardiogram, and an irregular electrocardiogram was diagnosed with LQTS. Moreover, by performing Next-Generation Sequencing, a pathogenic variant in the gene p.(Ala614Val) (ClinVar ID: VCV000029777.14) associated with LQTS type 2, and two variants of uncertain significance in the p.(Arg1654GlyfsTer23) (rs779447911), and p. (Arg34653Cys) (ClinVar ID: VCV001475968.4) genes were identified. Furthermore, ancestry analysis showed a mainly Native American proportion.
CONCLUSION
Based on the genomic results, the patient was identified to have a high-risk profile, and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator was selected as the best treatment option, highlighting the importance of including both the clinical and genomics aspects for an integral diagnosis.
PubMed: 38957812
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1395012 -
Frontiers in Genetics 2024Observational studies have found a correlation between the consumption of tobacco and alcohol and the likelihood of developing renal cell carcinoma. However, whether...
Observational studies have found a correlation between the consumption of tobacco and alcohol and the likelihood of developing renal cell carcinoma. However, whether these associations indicate causal relationships is unclear. To establish if these connections indicate causal relationships, we performed a Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis using a two-sample approach. For the number of daily cigarettes, lifetime smoking index, smoking initiation, and weekly drinking, we employed 44, 108, 174, and 76 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables. Outcome data were obtained from the FinnGen Alliance, which included a combined total of 429,290 individuals. The MR analysis was conducted using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method to estimate causal effects. To address potential violations of MR assumptions due to directional pleiotropy, we performed MR-Egger regression and MR-PRESSO (Mendelian Randomization Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier) analysis. Genetically influenced smoking initiation was directly associated with the risk of developing renal cell carcinoma (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.04-2.33; = 0.03). No causal relationship was found between daily cigarette consumption and lifetime smoking index with the risk of renal cell cancer. Genetic predisposition for weekly alcohol consumption showed a reduced risk of renal cell cancer (OR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.26-0.81; = 0.007). Our study suggests a potential causal relationship between alcohol consumption and reduced risk of renal cell cancer, while no such association was observed with smoking. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
PubMed: 38957811
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1391542 -
Frontiers in Genetics 2024Osteosarcoma (OS) is highly malignant and prone to local infiltration and distant metastasis. Due to the poor outcomes of OS patients, the study aimed to identify...
BACKGROUND
Osteosarcoma (OS) is highly malignant and prone to local infiltration and distant metastasis. Due to the poor outcomes of OS patients, the study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in OS and explore their role in the carcinogenesis and progression of OS.
METHODS
RNA sequencing was performed to identify DEGs in OS. The functions of the DEGs in OS were investigated using bioinformatics analysis, and DEG expression was verified using RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The role of was evaluated using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and then investigated using functional assays in OS cells.
RESULTS
In all, 8353 DEGs were screened. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated these DEGs showed strong enrichment in the calcium signaling pathway and pathways in cancer. Moreover, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed ten hub genes were related to the outcomes of OS patients. Both transcript and protein expression were significantly reduced in OS, and GSEA suggested that was associated with cell cycle, apoptosis and inflammation. -overexpressing OS cells exhibited suppressed proliferation, migration, invasion and enhanced apoptosis.
CONCLUSION
was found to be significantly downregulated in OS patients, which was associated with poor prognosis. Modulation of expression levels may be beneficial in OS treatment.
PubMed: 38957810
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1410145 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2024Tuberculosis (TB) persists as a global health challenge, with its treatment hampered by the side effects of long-term combination drug therapies and the growing issue of...
BACKGROUND
Tuberculosis (TB) persists as a global health challenge, with its treatment hampered by the side effects of long-term combination drug therapies and the growing issue of drug resistance. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic strategies is critical. This study focuses on the role of immune checkpoint molecules (ICs) and functions of CD8+ T cells in the search for new potential targets against TB.
METHODS
We conducted differential expression genes analysis and CD8+ T cell functional gene analysis on 92 TB samples and 61 healthy individual (HI) samples from TB database GSE83456, which contains data on 34,603 genes. The GSE54992 dataset was used to validated the findings. Additionally, a cluster analysis on single-cell data from primates infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis and those vaccinated with BCG was performed.
RESULTS
The overexpression of LAG-3 gene was found as a potentially important characteristic of both pulmonary TB (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB). Further correlation analysis showed that LAG-3 gene was correlated with GZMB, perforin, IL-2 and IL-12. A significant temporal and spatial variation in LAG-3 expression was observed in T cells and macrophages during TB infection and after BCG vaccination.
CONCLUSION
LAG-3 was overexpressed in TB samples. Targeting LAG-3 may represent a potential therapeutic target for tuberculosis.
Topics: Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 Protein; Humans; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Tuberculosis; Animals; Antigens, CD; BCG Vaccine; Macrophages; Interleukin-2; Gene Expression Profiling; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary; Interleukin-12; Perforin; Male
PubMed: 38957797
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1410015