Background It’s really important to measure the actual functional physical fitness of elderly independent living persons from different environments to know the level and rate of decrease may inform about the threat of loss of functional independence, hence the need to monitor and assess the senior’s motor realm and adapt to it the appropriate programs and treatments in the care for the elderly person. Methods The study involved 5367 people (mean age 69,63 ± 7,06), including 4164 women (mean age 69,55 ± 7,11) and 1203 men (mean age 69,91 ± 6,86) aged 60 to 93 years old. We have measured basic anthropometric features and physical fitness (by using Senior Fitness Test). Results The average values in individual SFT tests significantly decrease along with age. After age of 80 and 85 there were no sex differences in SFT. The largest deficits concern the dynamic balance and the decrease reaches 69% in men and 62% in women A significantly higher rate of decline in aerobic capacity concerns men (43%) than women (36.9%). A clearly lower rate of loss occurs in the muscular strength of the lower and upper body and does not exceed 30%. Conclusions The results are of great clinical importance for the development of effective prevention and gerontological education programs in terms of promoting active lifestyle and successful ageing, at the same time limiting the economic consequences of treatment and hospitalisation.

Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disease with a genetic background that involves almost 3% of the general population worldwide. Approximately, 70–90% of patients with psoriasis suffer from pruritus, an unpleasant sensation that provokes a desire to scratch. Despite the enormous progress in understanding the mechanisms that cause psoriasis, the pathogenesis of psoriasis-related pruritus still remains unclear. In order to improve patients’ quality of life, development of more effective and safer antipruritic therapies is necessary. In turn to make it possible, better understanding of complexed and multifactorial pathogenesis of this symptom is needed. In this article we have systematized the current knowledge about pruritus origin in psoriasis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of training experience in wrestling on postural control. Fourteen elite athletes with at least 8 years of wrestling training and competition experience participated in the study. The control group consisted of fifteen healthy adults who were not competitive athletes. The center of pressure (COP) trajectories were recorded with the use of an AMTI force plate at a sampling frequency of 50 Hz. The rambling-trembling decomposition method was used to analyze the COP trajectory data. The main finding was a significant effect of training experience on postural control in only the sagittal plane. Interestingly, significant differences in velocity were observed for the trembling component of the COP. All described variables were significantly higher in wrestlers. We hypothesized that balance training may lead to task-specific neural adaptations at the spinal and supraspinal levels. It was concluded that further research of high methodological quality is needed to determine the effect of training experience on balance control in elite athletes. Additionally, this effect should be observed in youth athletes, as it may be treated as a selection criteria in the training process.

The proprioceptive information received from mechanoreceptors is potentially responsible for controlling the joint position and force differentiation. However, it is unknown whether cryotherapy influences this complex mechanism. Previously reported results are not universally conclusive and sometimes even contradictory. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of local cryotherapy on knee joint position sense (JPS) and force production sense (FPS). The study group consisted of 55 healthy participants (age: 21 ± 2 years, body height: 171.2 ± 9 cm, body mass: 63.3 ± 12 kg, BMI: 21.5 ± 2.6). Local cooling was achieved with the use of gel-packs cooled to -2 ± 2.5°C and applied simultaneously over the knee joint and the quadriceps femoris muscle for 20 minutes. JPS and FPS were evaluated using the Biodex System 4 Pro apparatus. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any statistically significant changes of the JPS and FPS under application of cryotherapy for all analyzed variables: the JPS’s absolute error (p = 0.976), its relative error (p = 0.295), and its variable error (p = 0.489); the FPS’s absolute error (p = 0.688), its relative error (p = 0.193), and its variable error (p = 0.123). The results indicate that local cooling does not affect proprioceptive acuity of the healthy knee joint. They also suggest that local limited cooling before physical activity at low velocity did not present health or injury risk in this particular study group.

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We explored synergies between two legs and two subjects during preparation for a long jump into a target. Synergies were expected during one-person jumping. No such synergies were expected between two persons jumping in parallel without additional contact, while synergies were expected to emerge with haptic contact and become stronger with strong mechanical contact. Subjects performed jumps either alone (each foot standing on a separate force platform) or in dyads (parallel to each other, each person standing on a separate force platform) without any contact, with haptic contact, and with strong coupling. Strong negative correlations between pairs of force variables (strong synergies) were seen in the vertical force in one-person jumps and weaker synergies in two-person jumps with the strong contact. For other force variables, only weak synergies were present in one-person jumps and no negative correlations between pairs of force variable for two-person jumps. Pairs of moment variables from the two force platforms at steady state showed positive correlations, which were strong in one-person jumps and weaker, but still significant, in two-person jumps with the haptic and strong contact. Anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to action initiation were observed in one-person trials only. We interpret the different results for the force and moment variables at steady state as reflections of postural sway.

Background and Objectives: Some respiratory viruses demonstrate neurotropic capacities. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has recently taken over the globe, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on postural control in subjects who have recently recovered from the infection. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three convalescents who underwent COVID-19 within the preceding 2–4 weeks, and 35 healthy controls were enrolled. The ground reaction forces were registered with the use of a force platform during quiet standing. The analysis of the resultant center of foot pressure (COP) decomposed into rambling (RAMB) and trembling (TREMB) and sample entropy was conducted. Results: Range of TREMB was significantly increased in subjects who experienced anosmia/hyposmia during COVID-19 when the measurement was performed with closed eyes (p = 0.03). In addition, subjects who reported dyspnea during COVID-19 demonstrated significant increase of length and velocity of COP (p < 0.001), RAMB (p < 0.001), and TREMB (p < 0.001), indicating substantial changes in postural control. Conclusions: Subjects who had experienced olfactory dysfunction or respiratory distress during COVID-19 demonstrate symptoms of balance deficits after COVID-19 recovery, and the analysis using rambling-trembling decomposition method might point at less efficient peripheral control. Monitoring for neurological sequelae of COVID-19 should be considered.

As BDNF is one of the group of neurotrophins highly influencing the processes happening in the brain, such as the processes of learning and personality creation, we decided to look closer at its genetic variations in association with the personality of a group of athletes and their controls. The study group consisted of 305 volunteers: martial arts athletes (n = 153; mean age = 24.06) and healthy non-athletes as controls (n = 152; mean age = 22.23). Thirty-eight percent of the martial arts group achieved the championship level. Both the martial arts and control subjects were examined using the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scales. The results of the NEO-FFI and STAI inventories were given as sten scores. The conversion of the raw score to the sten scale was performed according to Polish norms for adults. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood leukocytes and then genotyped using a PCR method for the following polymorphisms: BDNF rs10767664 and BDNF rs2030323. We observed statistical significance for both polymorphisms when comparing martial arts athletes with the control group in relation to the conscientiousness and extraversion scales. However, since few extant articles consider this association, our results still require further analysis, probably by considering a larger group.