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How various types of muscle contraction during exercises affect bone formation remains unclear. This study aimed to determine how exercises with different muscle contraction types affect bone morphology. In total, 20 mice were used and divided into four groups Control, Level, Down Slow, and Down. Different types of muscle contraction were induced by changing the running angle of the treadmill. After the intervention, micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase/alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, and immunohistochemical staining were used to analyze the humerus head, tendon-to-bone attachment, and humerus diaphyseal region. Siponimod Micro-CT found that the volume ratio of the humeral head, the volume of the tendon-to-bone attachment region, and the area of the humeral diaphyseal region increased in the Down group. However, no difference was detected in bone morphology between the Level and Down Slow groups. In addition, histology showed activation of ALP in the subarticular subchondral region in the Down Slow and Down groups and the fibrocartilage region in the tendon-to-bone attachment. Moreover, Osterix increased predominantly in the Down Slow and Down groups.Overall bone morphological changes in the humerus occur only when overuse is added to EC-dominant activity. Furthermore, different type of muscle contractile activities might promote bone formation in a site-specific manner.Mental stress has been shown to induce cardiovascular events, likely due to its negative impact on vascular function. Flavanols, plant-derived polyphenolic compounds, improve endothelial function and blood pressure (BP) in humans, however their effects during stress are not known. This study examined the effects of acute intake of cocoa flavanols on stress-induced changes on vascular function. In a randomised, controlled, double-blind, cross-over intervention study, 30 healthy men ingested a cocoa flavanol beverage (high-flavanol 150 mg vs. low-flavanol less then 4 mg (-)-epicatechin) 1.5 h before an 8-min mental stress task). Forearm blood flow (FBF), BP, and cardiovascular activity were assessed pre- and post-intervention, both at rest and during stress. Endothelial function (brachial flow-mediated dilatation, FMD) and brachial BP were measured before the intervention and 30 and 90 min post-stress. FMD was impaired 30 min post-stress, yet high-flavanol cocoa attenuated this decline and remained significantly higher compared to low-flavanol cocoa at 90 min post-stress. High-flavanol cocoa increased FBF at rest and during stress. Stress-induced cardiovascular and BP responses were similar in both conditions. Flavanols are effective at counteracting mental stress-induced endothelial dysfunction and improving peripheral blood flow during stress. These findings suggest the use of flavanol-rich dietary strategies to protect vascular health during stress.

To report the early clinical outcomes of combining intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) in comparison with IMRT alone in treating oropharynx cancer (OPC) patients.

The medical records of 148 OPC patients who underwent definitive radiotherapy (RT) with concurrent systemic therapy, from January 2016 till December 2019 at Samsung Medical Center, were retrospectively reviewed. During the 5.5 weeks’ RT course, the initial 16 (or 18) fractions were delivered by IMRT in all patients, and the subsequent 12 (or 10) fractions were either by IMRT in 81 patients (IMRT only) or by IMPT in 67 (IMRT/IMPT combination), respectively, based on comparison of adaptive re-plan profiles and availability of equipment. Propensity-score matching (PSM) was done on 76 patients (38 from each group) for comparative analyses.

With the median follow-up of 24.7 months, there was no significant difference in overall survival and progression free survival between groups, both before ng IMRT/IMPT combination than IMRT alone.Psychotherapy is a comprehensive biological treatment modifying complex underlying cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and regulatory responses in the brain, leading patients with mental illness to a new interpretation of the sense of self and others. Psychotherapy is an art of science integrated with psychology and/or philosophy. Neurological sciences study the neurological basis of cognition, memory, and behavior as well as the impact of neurological damage and disease on these functions, and their treatment. Both psychotherapy and neurological sciences deal with the brain; nevertheless, they continue to stay polarized. Existential phenomenological psychotherapy (EPP) has been in the forefront of meaning-centered counseling for almost a century. The phenomenological approach in psychotherapy originated in the works of Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, and Viktor Frankl, and it has been committed to accounting for the existential possibilities and limitations of one’s life. EPP provides philosophically rich interpretations and empowers counseling techniques to assist mentally suffering individuals by finding meaning and purpose to life. The approach has proven to be effective in treating mood and anxiety disorders. This narrative review article demonstrates the development of EPP, the therapeutic methodology, evidence-based accounts of its curative techniques, current understanding of mood and anxiety disorders in neurological sciences, and a possible converging path to translate and integrate meaning-centered psychotherapy and neuroscience, concluding that the EPP may potentially play a synergistic role with the currently prevailing medication-based approaches for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.Whey protein pectin complexes can be applied to replace fat in food products, e.g., pudding and yogurt, contributing to creaminess while adding a source of protein and fiber. Production of these complexes is usually conducted on the laboratory scale in small batches. Recently, a process using a scraped-surface heat exchanger (SSHE) has been employed; however, dispersion preparation time, feasibility of using different whey protein sources and enrichment of the complexes for subsequent drying have not been assessed. Preparing whey protein pectin dispersions by solid mixing of pectin and whey protein powders resulted in larger complexes than powders dispersed separately and subsequently mixed after a hydration time. Dispersions without hydration of the mixed dispersions before thermomechanical treatment had the largest particle sizes. The targeted particle size of d90,3 less then 10 µm, an important predictor for creaminess, was obtained for five of the six tested whey protein sources. Dispersions of complexes prepared using whey protein powders had larger particles, with less particle volume in the submicron range, than those prepared using whey protein concentrates.