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Background. Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese medicine exercise used for improving neuromuscular function. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Tai Chi versus proprioception exercise program on neuromuscular function of the ankle in elderly people. Methods. Sixty elderly subjects were randomly allocated into three groups of 20 subjects per group. For 16 consecutive weeks, subjects participated in Tai Chi, proprioception exercise, or no structured exercise. Primary outcome measures included joint position sense and muscle strength of ankle. Subjects completed a satisfaction questionnaire upon study completion in Tai Chi and proprioception groups. Results. (1) Both Tai Chi group and proprioception exercise group were significantly better than control group in joint position sense of ankle, and there were no significant differences in joint position sense of ankle between TC group and PE group. (2) There were no significant differences in muscle strength of ankle among groups. (3) Subjects expressed more satisfaction with Tai Chi than with proprioception exercise program. Conclusions. None of the outcome measures on neuromuscular function at the ankle showed significant change posttraining in the two structured exercise groups. However, the subjects expressed more interest in and satisfaction with Tai Chi than proprioception exercise.

Background Mouth breathing is closely related to the facial skeletal development and malocclusion. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effect of mouth breathing on facial skeletal development and malocclusion in children. Methods An electronic search in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, EMBASE and Sigle through February 23rd, 2020, was conducted. Inclusion criteria were children under 18 years of age with maxillofacial deformities due to mouth breathing. The risk of bias in nonrandomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool for controlled clinical trials. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used for the quality assessment. The included indicators were SNA, SNB, ANB, SN-OP, SN-PP, PP-MP, SNGoGn, MP-H, 1-NA, 1. NA, 1. NB, 1-NB, Overjet, Overbite, SPAS, PAS, and C3-H. Data concerning the mean difference in mesial molar movement and extent of canine retraction were extracted for statistical analysis. The mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were analyzed for continuous data. Review Manager 5.3, was used to synthesize various parameters associated with the impact of mouth breathing on facial skeletal development and malocclusion. Results Following full-text evaluations for eligibility, 10 studies were included in the final quantitative synthesis. In Sagittal direction, SNA (MD: − 1.63, P < 0.0001), SNB (MD: − 1.96, P < 0.0001) in mouth-breathing children was lower than that in nasal-breathing children. ANB (MD: 0.90, P < 0.0001), 1. NA (MD: 1.96, P = 0.009), 1-NA (MD: 0.66, P = 0.004), and 1-NB (MD: 1.03, P < 0.0001) showed higher values in children with mouth breathing. In vertical direction, SN-PP (MD: 0.68, P = 0.0050), SN-OP (MD: 3.05, P < 0.0001), PP-MP (MD: 4.92, P < 0.0001) and SNGoGn (MD: 4.10, P < 0.0001) were higher in mouth-breathing individuals. In airway, SPAS (MD: − 3.48, P = 0.0009), PAS (MD: − 2.11, P < 0.0001), and C3-H (MD: − 1.34, P < 0.0001) were lower in mouth breathing group. Conclusions The results showed that the mandible and maxilla rotated backward and downward, and the occlusal plane was steep. In addition, mouth breathing presented a tendency of labial inclination of the upper anterior teeth. Airway stenosis was common in mouth-breathing children. Trial registration crd-register@york.ac.uk, registration number CRD42019129198.

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This study extends Zimmerman’s research on children’s music conservation to adult listeners, investigating participants’ ability to conserve melody under different harmonic conditions. Specifically, I investigated whether listeners in the study could identify melody when primary, diatonic, and secondary chords were added (Task 1) and when melody was harmonized differently (Task 2). Additionally, could they dissociate melody from harmony (Task 3)? Participants ( N = 80) listened to 34 pairs of examples and identified if the melody was the same or different in each pair. Results indicated that (a) listeners could conserve melody with addition of harmony regardless of harmonic conditions, (b) they could conserve melody when harmony was changed but were significantly better conserving melody when harmony was changed from primary to diatonic chords than from primary to secondary chords, and (c) they could dissociate melody from harmony but were significantly better with diatonic chords than secondary chords. As Task 3 was the reverse of Task 1, the finding that adult listeners conserved in one direction (Task 1) but not necessarily in the opposite direction (Task 3) and vice versa may suggest the existence of musical reversibility.

Using Fuller and Bown’s (1975) teacher concerns model as a framework, we examined precursor strategies to Fuller and Bown’s Stage 3 (concern with student impact). We examined preservice music teachers’ focus on teaching videos to determine (a) if participants focused on teacher or student, (b) if prompts to notice students resulted in more comments about students, (c) if focus on students maintained without instructions, and (d) if results differed based on prior teaching experience with school-aged students. Preservice music teachers (N = 114) viewed videos of music classes/rehearsals, specifying “what you notice” (control, n = 54) or “what did the students do” (focused observation, n = 60). As a posttest transfer, participants viewed the pretest video again without instructions. There were significant posttest differences, indicating the extent to which instructions influenced participant focus and the effects of small amounts of teaching experience. Specifically, results showed that the inexperienced teachers with guided instructions responded more like experienced ones. Implications for teacher preparation were discussed.