Background:Aging is associated with a decrease in physical skills, sometimes accompanied by a change in quality of life (QOL). Long-term martial arts practice has been proposed as an avenue to counter these deleterious effects. The general purpose of this pilot study was to identify the effects of an adapted karate training program on QOL, depression, and motor skills in 50-year-old men.
Methods and design:Fifteen 50-year-old men were enrolled in a one-year prospective experiment. Participants practiced adapted karate training for 90 minutes three times a week. Testing sessions, involving completion of the MOS 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF36) and Beck Depression Inventory, as well as motor and effort evaluation, were done at baseline, and six and 12 months. Results: Compared with baseline, participants had better Beck Depression Inventory scores after one year of karate training (P , 0.01) and better perception of their physical health (P , 0.01), but not on the mental dimension (P , 0.49). They also improved their reaction time scores for the nondominant hand and sway parameters in the eyes-closed position (P , 0.01). Conclusion: Regular long-term karate practice had favorable effects on mood, perception of physical health confirmed by better postural control, and improved performance on objective physical testing. Adapted karate training would be an interesting option for maintaining physical activity in aging.
Teeth are a fundamental tool in forensic odontology for identification in a legal context of those individuals who cannot be identified visually or by other means. Dentine presents physiological exchanges of in trace elements after a period of mineralization and several factors can affect its concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of 25 trace elements in the coronal dentine according to sex and type of tooth to determine their relationship with age. A total of 25 trace elements were analyzed in 150 human coronal dentine. Teeth were classified into three age groups, sex and tooth type. The trace elements were grouped as potentially toxic or essential. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry and Atomic Emission Spectroscopy were used. The toxic and essential elements were detected in the following order of concentration: Al > Pb > Sn > Li > As > Cd and Ca > P > Mg > Na > S > K > Sr > Zn > Ba > Fe > B > Ti > Mn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Co > Se > V. Our findings show an increase in the concentration of toxic (Pb, Li and Sn) and essential (B, Ba, K, Sr, S and Mg) elements in coronal dentin related to the age of the teeth, regardless of sex. The concentrations of Pb and K in dentin of molars and premolars are the elements that best relate their variations with age. In view of our results, the analysis of these trace elements in dentin in combination with other types of techniques could be established as an element to consider in age dating studies in different forensic situations.
The motivations of participants recruited for research, especially from potentially vulnerable populations, have received increasing attention. The present investigation compares the motivations and willingness to participate in research of 134 psychiatric outpatients and 50 controls. The willingness to participate of both groups was similar. We found a higher proportion of psychiatric admissions and a higher degree of computer literacy among those willing to participate. Regardless of their decision concerning participation, the reasons given by the members of both groups were logical and concordant with the related literature. This suggests that negative views about the motivations of psychiatric patients to act as research participants are unfounded. Efforts should focus on the predictors of willingness to participate that we have identified for improving recruitment. The implications of these results for research are discussed.
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