Purpose: Exercise improves the health and mental status of drug dependents. The way by which Tai Chi (TC) as a special exercise treatment affects executive functions (EFs) of methamphetamine (MA) dependents is yet to be established. This study aimed to explore the effects of TC on the EFs and physical fitness of MA dependents.Methods: A total of 76 female MA dependents were randomly assigned to the exercise and control groups. The exercise group underwent three 60-min sessions of TC training per week for 12 weeks. The control group was trained with conventional exercises including the 9th Guang Bo Ti Cao and square dance. Physical fitness and EF assessments that evaluated inhibitory control (IC, go/no-go task), working memory (3-back task) and cognitive flexibility (switching task) were performed at baseline and at 12 weeks. A repeated-measures ANOVA was applied to analyze the differences of group and time.Results: The exercise group showed decreased response time (RT) with a significant main effect of time on the go/no-go task [F(1, 68) = 9.6, p < 0.05]. The interaction effect between time and group was significant on accuracy [F(1, 61) = 4.73, p < 0.05], and the main effect of time was significant on RT [F(1, 61) = 4.66, p < 0.05] in the 3-back task of the exercise group. Significant changes in BMI [F(1, 68) = 19.57, p < 0.05], vital capacity [F(1, 68) = 6.00, p < 0.05], and systolic blood pressure [F(1, 68) = 6.11, p < 0.05] were observed in the exercise group.Conclusion: These findings showed that 3 months of TC training can improve the IC and maintain the working memory and cognitive flexibility of MA dependents. Other data implied that TC may improve the physical fitness of MA dependents.Clinical Trial Registration:http://www.chictr.org.cn/, ChiCTR1900022091.

Objectives:Clinical studies have shown that repairs of larger rotator cuff tears are less likely to re-tear than repairs of smaller and partial thickness tears. Clinical studies have also shown that rotator cuff repair with an arthroscopic tension band technique have a lower re-tear rate at six months and two years post-surgery compared to simple suture-anchor technique, probably due to higher compression at the tendon-bone interface (footprint). Advances in suture anchor systems have allowed a wider tape to be used for rotator cuff repairs. Therefore the aims of this study were 1) to determine if there is any biomechanical and/or clinical benefits of using fibertape versus #2 suture in arthroscopic repair of large full thickness rotator cuff tears.Methods:Rotator cuff tears of the infraspinatus tendon were created in 16 ovine shoulders. The tendons were re-attached to the footprint using a tension band repair technique with two different types of sutures: 1) #2 suture (Fiberwire, Arthrex) or 2) tape (FiberTape, Arthrex) with an inverted mattress single row configuration using the same knotless anchor (Swivel-lock, Arthrex) system. Following repair, footprint contact pressure was measured with 10, 20, 30 N applied to the repaired tendon and at -10deg, 0deg, 10deg of abduction. Repair strength was determined by a pull-to-failure test. A retrospective analysis of prospectively assessed consecutive patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with full thickness tears larger than 1.5cm x 1cm by a single surgeon. There were 50 patients in the tape repair group and 100 patients in the suture repair group. Patients ranked pain and functional scores, shoulder strength and range of motion were recorded pre and post-operatively at one, six, 12 and six months. Ultrasound was used to evaluate the repair integrity at six months post-surgery.Results:Rotator cuff repair using tape had higher footprint contact pressure (0.33MPa ± 0.03MPa vs 0.11MPa ± 0.3MPa, p<0.0001, mean ± SEM) compared to repair with #2 sutures at 0° abduction with a 30 N load applied across the repaired tendon. Ultimate failure load of tape repair was higher than suture repair (217 ± 28 N vs 144 ± 14 N, p < 0.05). Clinical data showed both group reported significantly lower frequency and magnitude of pain during overhead activity and sleep at six months compared to pre-surgery levels (p<0.001). At six months post-surgery the suture repair group had better internal rotation (+3 vertebral levels) and external rotation (+18deg) compared to the tape repair group (p<0.001). Both groups had similar shoulder strength at six months. The re-tear rate was similar between the tape group (16%) (8/ 50) and the suture group (17%) (17/100).Conclusion:The biomechanical study showed that rotator cuff tears repaired with inverted mattress knotless single row constructs with tape increased the tendon-bone footprint compression three fold and the construct strength 1.5 fold compared to repairs performed with suture. The biomechanical advantages of tape did not, howe...

Human Resource is the most critical, very significant assets in any business organizations but it is not incorporated in the statement of financial position. The study examined the factors