Background: The ability to walk is crucial for maintaining independence and a high quality of life among older adults. Although gait characteristics have been extensively studied in older adults, most studies have investigated muscle activity in the joints of the trunk or the lower limbs without assessing their coordinated interactions. Thus, the causes of altered trunk and lower limb coordination patterns and gait changes among older adults remain unknown. Therefore, this study compared the joint kinematic parameters of both the trunk and lower limbs of young versus older adults to identified key factors leading to changes in gait among older adults. Methods: In total, 64 older (32 males, aged 68.34 ± 7.38 years; 32 females, aged 67.16 ± 6.66 years) and 64 young (32 males, aged 19.44 ± 0.84 years; 32 females, aged 19.69 ± 0.86 years) healthy adults participated in this study. The range of motion (ROM) of the thorax, pelvis, and trunk in the horizontal plane and of the hip, knee, and ankle joints of the lower limbs in the sagittal plane were measured using a motion capture system with wearable sensors. Two-way analysis of variance assessed differences in ROM by age, sex, and basic gait parameters; Pearson correlation analysis assessed the coordinated patterns of the trunk and lower limbs, identifying key factors leading to gait changes in older adults. Results: Gait length, speed, and stride in young adults were greater (p < 0.001) than those in older adults, but older women displayed the fastest stride speed (p < 0.05). ROM values for the pelvis, thorax, trunk, knee joint, and ankle joint of young adults were greater (p < 0.05) than those in older adults. However, hip ROM in older adults was significantly greater than that in young adults (p < 0.05). Conclusion: With increasing age, ROM of the lower limbs, especially the ankle joint, decreased significantly, resulting in a significant decrease in gait speed. As ROM of the pelvis decreased, stride decreased significantly in older adults, who compensate through thoracic rotation. Thus, older adults should enhance muscle strength and increase ROM to improve gait patterns and quality of life.

Aim The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the influence of long-term participating in amateur sports on body posture of school students. Methods A survey on sport participation was conducted on 1,658 volunteer students aged from 6 to 17 years in two primary schools and one meddle school in Tianjin city. The PA200LE body posture evaluation system and a SpineScanSH-115 electronic spine measuring instrument were used to assess the participants’ body posture. According to the survey results and against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 1,124 eligible participants were divided into seven sport participation groups and seven age-matched control groups for statistical comparisons. Results Compared with the age-matched controls, the natural standing thoracic kyphosis angle of the swimming group (35.0 ± 9.5 VS 31.2 ± 8.5; t =  − 2.560; p = 0.011) and the football group (34.6 ± 7.2 VS 31.9 ± 7.5; t =  − 2.754; p = 0.006) were found to be significantly larger; the natural standing lumbar lordosis angle (−23.0 ± 11.0 VS −27.0 ± 11.1; t = 0.344; p = 0.024) and the upright sitting lumbar lordosis angle (−11.7 ± 8.4 VS −15.2 ± 12.3; t = 5.738; p = 0.030) of the swimming group was significantly smaller; the upright sitting thoracic kyphosis angle of the running group (25.1 ± 9.3 VS 22.6 ± 9.9; t =  − 1.970; p = 0.050) was significantly larger; the upright sitting thoracic kyphosis angle (23.9 ± 8.9 VS 27.0 ± 7.6; t = 2.096; p = 0.038), the learning position thoracic kyphosis angle (31.0 ± 8.6 VS 37.1 ± 8.9; t = 3.076; p = 0.003), the shoulder level (−1.3 ± 2.1 VS 0.0 ± 2.5; t = 2.389; p = 0.019) and waist level (−1.2 ± 1.7 VS −0.3 ± 1.7; t = 2.511; p = 0.013) of the table tennis group were significantly smaller. Conclusions The results showed that long-term participation in recreational sports training had an impact on the physical posture of adolescents.

Background Postural rehabilitation plays an important role in the treatment of non-specific low back pain. Although pelvic inclination has been widely used to improve lumbar lordosis, the effect of cervical anterior inclination on lumbar lordosis in young and older adults, in sitting and standing posture is still unclear. This preliminary study was designed to examine the influence of changing the cervical anterior angle on the lumbar lordosis angle, through alterations of the head position under the natural sitting and standing conditions, aiming to provide a basis for establishing a new postural rehabilitation strategy.Methods Thirty-eight older (68.4 ± 5.9 years old) and 36 young (24.0 ± 2.2 years old) healthy adults participated in this study. The four spinal regional angles - cervical anterior angle, thoracic kyphosis angle, lumbar lordosis angle, and pelvic foreword inclination angle were measured in standing and relaxed sitting postures to determine the effects of a postural cueing, “inclining head backward and performing chin tuck”, for the head and neck posture on lumbar lordosis angle.Results In the standing posture, the pelvic foreword inclination angle in the older group was significantly smaller (P <0.001) than that in the young group, and increased significantly (P <0.001) post the postural cueing. In addition, the thoracic kyphosis angle in the standing (P = 0.001) and sitting (P = 0.003) positions was significantly reduced post the postural cueing. However, the lumbar lordosis angle post postural cueing increased significantly in both the standing position (P <0.001) and sitting position (P <0.001).Conclusion The results suggest that increasing the cervical anterior angle can indeed increase the lumbar lordosis angle, and the cervical anterior inclination can be used as an alternative to pelvic foreward inclination to improve the lumbar lordosis angle. Furthermore, the change of head and neck posture can reduce the thoracic kyphosis angle, making it possible to establish a new non-invasive body posture rehabilitation strategy.(approval number TJUS2019032)

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In the early growing season in northern China, suboptimal low root-zone temperatures is a common abiotic stress that impairs root function and leaf development in fruit trees. In this study, we investigate the physiological role of leaves in jasmonate metabolism and the capacity of scavenging reactive oxygen species in Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. roots under suboptimal low root-zone temperatures. In the presence of intact leaves, suboptimal low root-zone temperatures significantly increased allene oxide synthase (AOS), jasmonate-resistant 1 (JAR), and jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase (JMT) activities and transcription in jasmonate biosynthesis. Meanwhile, elevated endogenous jasmonic acid (JA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and jasmonate-isoleucine (JA-Ile) contents were also observed, as were significantly decreased glutathione reductase and dehydroascorbate reductase activities and AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG ratios. Conversely, leaf removal substantially reduced AOS, JMT, and JAR activities and transcription at most time points and JA (6–24 h), MeJA (1–24 h), and JA-Ile (1–24 h) levels in roots, affecting key enzymes in the AsA–GSH cycle and the AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG ratios in response to low-temperature treatment, as a result of a significant increase in malondialdehyde content. Thus, leaves are crucial for jasmonate metabolism in roots under suboptimal low root-zone temperatures, with leaf removal exacerbating root oxidative stress by altering JA signaling and AsA–GSH cycle activity.