METHODS: A validated, bilingual, self-administered questionnaire comprising fifteen questions across the domains of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice was used and responses were assessed with 3 responses; one correct, one incorrect and one reflecting uncertainty. 507 patients from five orthodontic centres participated in this study. Data was analysed using SPSS. Continuous data was summarised as mean and standard deviation or median and inter-quartile range, as appropriate. Categorical data was summarised as frequency and percentage, then univariable analysis was carried out with Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.

RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 22.5 years (SD ± 2.8). A majority of respondents were female (64.1%) and from the lowest income bracket or B40 group (71%). Overall, for the knowledge domain, a majority of the respondents got all questions correct. 69.4% of patients were aware that incomplete treatment could lead to worsening of their malocclusion. 80.9% of respondents were aware of the need for a retainer upon completion of their orthodontic treatment. For the attitude section, 64.7% felt that they had to wait a very long time to see the orthodontist. In the Practice domain, the majority only got two of the five questions correct. Only 39.8% of respondents made an effort to alter dietary habits all of the time. In general, females and those with tertiary education fared better for all three domains.

METHOD: This study employed a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) design. It involved 54 male basketball players aged 18 to 24 from three universities. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control group (CG), mental fatigue group (MFG), and mental fatigue-mindfulness group (MF-MG). Players in the MFG and MF-MG underwent a 30-minute Stroop task to induce MF. Subsequently, players in the MF-MG engaged in a 30-minute audio mindfulness intervention. Basketball tactical performance was assessed in the small side games (SSG).

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in total tactics observed across groups and over time. However, when examining specific tactical sub-variables, significant differences were found in ball reversal, dribble penetration into the key area, and off-ball screen between the CG and MFG in the post-test. Furthermore, significant differences were noted in ball reversal, dribble penetration into the key area, on-ball screen, and off-ball screen between the MFG and MF-MG in the post-test.

METHODS: Twenty young men were selected to measure the natural gait EMG of 14 muscles of the lower limb using VICON and NORAXON devices. Gait was classified into two categories according to the Niyogi S A classification, integral EMG differences were compared, and principal component analysis was performed on the differing muscles to calculate Cohen's d values for significant differences and ΔIEMG values for non-significant differences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Neural induction was carried out with a small molecule cocktail based two-step culture protocol, over a total duration of 14 days. At the 8 and 14 day timepoints, the cells were analyzed for expression of neural markers with immunocytochemistry, qRT-PCR and Western Blot. The Fluo 4-AM calcium flux assay was also performed after a further 14 days of neural maturation.

RESULTS: More pronounced morphological changes characteristic of the neural lineage (i.e. neuritogenesis) were observed in all three cell types treated with small molecules, as compared to the untreated controls. This was corroborated by the immunocytochemistry, qRT-PCR and western blot data, which showed upregulated expression of several early and mature neural markers in all three cell types treated with small molecules, versus the corresponding untreated controls. Finally, the Fluo-4 AM calcium flux assay showed consistently higher calcium transient (F/Fo) peaks for the small molecule-treated versus untreated control groups.