ObjectiveTo explore the effect of 12 weeks of Tai Chi on neuromuscular responses and postural control in elderly patients with sarcopenia.MethodsOne hundred and twenty-four elderly patients with sarcopenia from ZheJiang Hospital and surrounding communities were selected, however, 64 were later disqualified. Sixty elderly patients with sarcopenia were randomly assigned to the Tai Chi group (n = 30) and the control group (n = 30). Both groups received 45-min health education sessions once every 2 weeks for 12 weeks, and the Tai Chi group engaged in 40-min simplified eight-style Tai Chi exercise sessions 3 times per week for 12 weeks. Two assessors who had received professional training and were unaware of the intervention allocation assessed the subjects within 3 days prior to the intervention and within 3 days after completion of the intervention. They chose the unstable platform provided by the dynamic stability test module in ProKin 254 to evaluate the patient’s postural control ability. Meanwhile, surface EMG was utilized to assess the neuromuscular response during this period.ResultsAfter 12 weeks of intervention, the Tai Chi group showed a significant decrease in neuromuscular response times of the rectus femoris, semitendinosus, anterior tibialis, and gastrocnemius and overall stability index (OSI) compared to before the intervention (p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in the control group for these indicators before and after intervention (p > 0.05). In addition, these indicators in the Tai Chi group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The changes in neuromuscular response times of the rectus femoris, semitendinosus, anterior tibialis, and gastrocnemius were positively correlated with the changes in OSI (p < 0.05) in the Tai Chi group, but there were no significant correlations between changes in neuromuscular response times of the aforementioned muscles and changes in OSI in the control group (p < 0.05).ConclusionTwelve-weeks of Tai Chi exercise can improve the neuromuscular response of the lower extremities in elderly patients with sarcopenia, shorten their neuromuscular response time when balance is endangered, enhance their dynamic posture control ability, and ultimately reduce the risk of falls.

IntroductionBrain tissue damage caused by ischemic stroke can trigger changes in the body’s metabolic response, and understanding the changes in the metabolic response of the gut after stroke can contribute to research on poststroke brain function recovery. Despite the increase in international research on poststroke metabolic mechanisms and the availability of powerful research tools in recent years, there is still an urgent need for poststroke metabolic studies. Metabolomic examination of feces from a cerebral ischemia–reperfusion rat model can provide new insights into poststroke metabolism and identify key metabolic pathways, which will help reveal diagnostic and therapeutic targets as well as inspire pathophysiological studies after stroke.MethodsWe randomly divided 16 healthy adult pathogen-free male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats into the normal group and the study group, which received middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R). Ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLCMS/MS) was used to determine the identities and concentrations of metabolites across all groups, and filtered high-quality data were analyzed for differential screening and differential metabolite functional analysis.ResultsAfter 1 and 14 days of modeling, compared to the normal group, rats in the study group showed significant neurological deficits (p < 0.001) and significantly increased infarct volume (day 1: p < 0.001; day 14: p = 0.001). Mass spectra identified 1,044 and 635 differential metabolites in rat feces in positive and negative ion modes, respectively, which differed significantly between the normal and study groups. The metabolites with increased levels identified in the study group were involved in tryptophan metabolism (p = 0.036678, p < 0.05), arachidonic acid metabolism (p = 0.15695), cysteine and methionine metabolism (p = 0.24705), and pyrimidine metabolism (p = 0.3413), whereas the metabolites with decreased levels were involved in arginine and proline metabolism (p = 0.15695) and starch and sucrose metabolism (p = 0.52256).DiscussionWe determined that UPLC–MS/MS could be employed for untargeted metabolomics research. Moreover, tryptophan metabolic pathways may have been disordered in the study group. Alterations in the tryptophan metabolome may provide additional theoretical and data support for elucidating stroke pathogenesis and selecting pathways for intervention.

Background Prone position (PP) ventilation has become an effective and simple treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19; however, prolonged prone position not only leads to patient discomfort, but also reduces patient compliance, and is prone to causing adverse events such as pressure injuries, pain, and dizziness. We aim to explore the effects of modular new prone positioning tools in patients with ARDS due to COVID-19. Methods 168 patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 were selected; however, 92 were later disqualified. 76 patients were randomly assigned to the observation group (n = 38) and the control group (n = 38). The observation group used modular new prone positioning tools to implement prone ventilation therapy while the control group used soft pillows to implement prone ventilation therapy. Comfort indicators (including time spent implementing PP, duration of PP, number of postural adjustments during PP, and duration time when first needing to adjust position), adverse events (including artificial airway kinking, shortness of breath, dizziness, and stress injury), and efficacy indicators (including intubation and mortality) were collected. The feeling of comfort, the occurrence of adverse events, and the efficacy of two groups of patients were also evaluated. Results The observation group had shorter time spent implementing PP(2.74 ± 0.86 vs. 4.64 ± 1.02, P < 0.001), longer duration of PP (14.02 ± 1.01 vs. 13.03 ± 0.66, P < 0.001), duration time when first needing to adjust position (59.89 ± 12.73 vs. 36.57 ± 8.69, P < 0.001), and lower number of postural adjustments during PP (11.03 ± 2.67 vs. 17.95 ± 2.58, P < 0.001) in comparison with the control group. No significant differences in intubation (9 vs. 11, P = 0.602) and mortality (4 vs. 6, P = 0.602) were found in both groups. However, in terms of adverse events, the observation group showed lower artificial airway kinking (5 vs. 23, P < 0.001), pain (7 vs. 21, P = 0.001), shortness of breath (2 vs. 9, P = 0.022), dizziness (0 vs. 5, P = 0.021), and stress injury (7 vs. 26, P < 0.001) than the control group. Conclusion Utilizing modular new prone position tools to implement prone ventilation therapy not only improves the efficiency of prone position execution and patient comfort, but also reduces the incidence of adverse events. However, it cannot change the intubation rate and mortality rate of patients.