[Purpose] This study investigates how a task-oriented training and high-variability
practice program can affect the gross motor performance and activities of daily living for
children with spastic diplegia and provides an effective and reliable clinical database
for future improvement of motor performances skills. [Subjects and Methods] This study
randomly assigned seven children with spastic diplegia to each intervention group
including that of a control group, task-oriented training group, and a high-variability
practice group. The control group only received neurodevelopmental treatment for 40
minutes, while the other two intervention groups additionally implemented a task-oriented
training and high-variability practice program for 8 weeks (twice a week, 60 min per
session). To compare intra and inter-relationships of the three intervention groups, this
study measured gross motor performance measure (GMPM) and functional independence measure
for children (WeeFIM) before and after 8 weeks of training. [Results] There were
statistically significant differences in the amount of change before and after the
training among the three intervention groups for the gross motor performance measure and
functional independence measure. [Conclusion] Applying high-variability practice in a
task-oriented training course may be considered an efficient intervention method to
improve motor performance skills that can tune to movement necessary for daily livelihood
through motor experience and learning of new skills as well as change of tasks learned in
a complex environment or similar situations to high-variability practice.
[Purpose] To determine whether the Gross Motor Performance Measurement is useful in
predicting the future score of the Pediatric Balance Scale, this study examined the
correlation between the 2 measurement tools with respect to movement disorder in children
with cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 38 study subjects with cerebral
palsy were divided into 3 groups (spastic, dyskinetic, and ataxic) by means of systematic
proportional stratified sampling in accordance with the characteristics of their movement
disorders. [Results] The spastic Pediatric Balance Scale had an intermediate level of
positive correlation with dissociated movement (r=0.411), alignment (r=0.518), and weight
shift (r=0.461). The dyskinetic Pediatric Balance Scale had a strong positive correlation
with dissociated movement (r=0.905), coordination (r=0.882), alignment (r=0.930), and
stability (r=0.924). The ataxic Pediatric Balance Scale had an intermediate level of
positive correlation with the overall Gross Motor Performance Measurement (r=0.636), and a
strong positive correlation with dissociated movement (r=0.866), coordination (r=0.871)
and stability (r=0.984). [Conclusion] Gross Motor Performance Measurement is important in
evaluating the quality of movement, and can be considered an excellent supplementary tool
in predicting functional balance.
We recently reported that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) significantly reduced bacterial growth and brain injury in neonatal meningitis induced by Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection in newborn rats. As a next step, to verify whether the MSCs protect against brain injury in a paracrine manner, this study was designed to estimate the efficacy of MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) in E. coli meningitis in newborn rats. E. coli meningitis was induced without concomitant bacteremia by the intra-cerebroventricular injection of 5 × 102 colony-forming units of K1 (-) E. coli in rats, at postnatal day 11. MSC-EVs were intra-cerebroventricularly transplanted 6 h after the induction of meningitis, and antibiotics were administered for three consecutive days starting at 24 h after the induction of meningitis. The increase in bacterial growth in the cerebrospinal fluid measured at 24 h after the meningitis induction was not significantly reduced following MSC-EV transplantation. However, an increase in brain cell death, reactive gliosis, and inflammation following meningitis were significantly attenuated after MSC-EV transplantation. Taken together, our results indicate that MSCs show anti-apoptotic, anti-gliosis, and anti-inflammatory, but not antibacterial effects, in an EV-mediated paracrine manner in E. coli-induced neonatal meningitis.
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