Fascia can become rigid and assume a fibrotic pattern due to inflammatory processes. Manipulation of the fascial system (MFS), manual technique targeting connective tissues, is commonly used in clinical practice in pain management. We aimed to verify MFS effects on the connective tissue inflammatory changes in mice. Swiss Mus musculus male mice (n = 44) were distributed into groups: carrageenan without treatment (Car, n = 11), carrageenan with MFS (Car + MFS, n = 12), saline without treatment (n = 10), and saline with MFS (saline + MFS, n = 11). Interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) levels were verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neutrophil (Ly-6G), macrophage (F4/80), and nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS-2) were identified using Western blot. The MFS protocol was applied from the first to the third day after inflammation of the connective tissue of the thoracolumbar region. There was a significant MFS effect on IL-4 (p = 0.02) and TGF-β1 (p = 0.04), without increasing MCP-1, TNF, and IL-6 levels (p > 0.05) on thoracolumbar region from Car + MFS, in comparison with saline. Ly-6G in Car + MFS presented lower levels when compared with saline (p = 0.003) or saline + MFS (0.003). NOS-2 levels were lower in Car + MFS than in saline + MFS (p = 0.0195) or saline (p = 0.003). MFS may have an anti-inflammatory effect, based on TGF-β1 and IL-4. IL-4 may have inhibited neutrophil migration. Lower levels of NOS-2 may be linked to the lack of macrophages, which are responsible for NOS-2 expression.

No abstract

Background: The traditional frontal plank exercise has a greater demand for biomechanical stability and has been widely prescribed and used in the practice of health professionals and, verifying the influence of the time of clinical practice can contribute positively in the clinical, scientific and social scope. Objective: To verify the influence of the physical therapist's clinical practice time on the perception of body stability of the traditional frontal plank exercise. Method: Individuals were selected in a non-probabilistic and intentional way, constituting a sample of young male adults, with a body mass index within the normal range, with a self-reported level of moderate to advanced physical activity and with at least six months of previous training experience. of resistance. The subjects were instructed to perform the frontal plank for 30 seconds, seeking to maintain all the items in the description of the technique. No verbal commands and encouragement were given during the exercise in order to direct only the influence of the different times of clinical practice of the evaluators. At the end of the exercise, the two evaluators self-reported their feedback through a control sheet prepared by the researchers. Results: The sample of this study consisted of 10 participants, with a mean age of 30.6 years (±4.03). All were male, white, and had no history of trauma/injury. The evaluator with six months of experience pointed out that eight subjects performed the frontal plank with high stability, while the evaluator with six years of experience observed only three subjects with high stability in the execution of the exercise. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that there is a tendency towards a difference in the proportions of perceptions of stability in the traditional frontal plank between physical therapists with six months and six years of clinical experience.

Background: It’s known that the frontal plank exercise presents a greater demand of the biomechanics stability and it is largely prescribed and used during the practice by the health professionals, known the verbal encouragement influence on corporal stability through the professional feedback can contribute positively in the clinical, social and scientific field. Objectives: Verify the verbal encouragement influences on corporal stability during the traditional frontal plank exercise in young health adults. Methods: Subjects were selected in an intentional non-probabilistic way, constituting a sample of young male adults, with normal body mass index, moderate to advanced self-reported physical activity level and with, at least, six months of previous resistance training experience. Participants were instructed to perform the traditional frontal plank for 30 seconds keeping all the items in the description of the technique, no command was given besides the following verbal incentives: “Contract, stabilize, force, maintain and force”. After the execution, the professional self-reported his perception of body stability, writing down his answers on the control form. Results: The sample consisted of 10 participants, with a mean age of 30.6 years (±4.03). All male, white and with no history of trauma/injury. For individuals with less than one time of weekly physical exercise, verbal encouragement showed a positive response in the perception of body stability. As for the remainder, who practiced physical exercise with greater recurrence, the evaluator's perception of high stability was given both with and without verbal encouragement. Conclusion: This pilot study showed that in individuals with less time of weekly physical exercise, verbal encouragement showed a positive response in body stability, changing from moderate to high. But, the individuals with more time of practice, the verbal encouragement showed no response in the perception of body stability.

People are able to perceive emotions in the eyes of others and can therefore see emotions when individuals wear face masks. Research has been hampered by the lack of a good test to measure basic emotions in the eyes. In two studies with 358 and 200 participants, we developed a test to see anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise in images of eyes. Each emotion was measured by 8 stimuli (4 male actors and 4 female actors), matched in terms of difficulty and item discrimination. Participants reliably differed in their performance on the Seeing Emotions in the Eyes test (SEE-48). The test correlated well not only with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), but also with the Situational Test of Emotion Understanding (STEU), indicating that the SEE-48 not only measures low-level perceptual skills, but also broader skills of emotion perception and emotional intelligence. The test is freely available for research and clinical purposes.