To investigate the intra- and inter-rater reliability of three measurements on painful and pain-free sides in participants with chronic low back pain (CLBP) at different ages.
 
  We recruited 60 participants with CLBP and divided them equally into a group of younger participants with chronic low back pain (18 ≤ age ≤ 35, Y-CLBP) and a group of older participants with chronic low back pain (36 ≤ age ≤ 65, O-CLBP). Participants were assessed by two testers within the same day (10 min interval), and one of the testers repeated the assessment program 24 h later. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess reliability. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between tactile acuity and age, waistline, and pain-related variables.
 
  In the Y-CLBP group, the intra-rater reliability of two-point discrimination (TPD), point-to-point test (PTP), and two-point estimation (TPE) on the painful and pain-free sides was good (ICC range 0.74-0.85), whereas the inter-rater relte-to-good intra- and inter-rater reliability on the painful and pain-free sides of the fifth lumbar vertebrae.Western medicine (WM) has certain limitations in terms of treating acute cerebral infarction (ACI), while tonic traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMIs) have been shown to have obvious clinical effects as an adjunct to WM for ACI. However, most randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to date have not performed direct comparisons of efficacy among tonic TCMIs. This study designed a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) to explore the therapeutic effect of tonic TCMIs on ACI. A comprehensive search of RCTs of TCMIs combined with WM for ACI was conducted using electronic databases for studies dated from the start date of each database until February 2020. Stata 13.0 and ADDIS 1.16.7 software were used to plot and analyze the data. Sixty-six RCTs with a total of 5,989 patients involving 7 kinds of tonic TCMIs were included. Among TCMIs, Shenfu injection (SFI) + WM ranked first in terms of improving clinical efficacy and the activities of daily living (ADLs) rating and reducing interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels. While Ciwujia injection (CI) + WM was the best choice for reducing neurological impairment and the high-cut viscosity of whole blood (HCV). Shenmai injection (SI) + WM had the greatest effects in terms of decreasing the levels of low-cut viscosity of whole blood (LCV), fibrinogen (FIB), and plasma viscosity (PV). Based on the cluster analysis of the clinical efficacy and the neurological impairment, CI + WM and Shenqifuzheng (SQI) + WM were the best options for treating ACI. With respect to adverse drug reactions (ADRs), 35 RCTs did not monitor ADRs during treatment. In conclusion, tonic TCMIs could assist WM in benefiting patients with ACI. However, due to the limitations of the current study, strict monitoring of ADRs and data from high-quality RCTs will be required in future to verify the advantage of TCMIs.The use of green tea and herbal tea for weight loss is increasing worldwide owing to the rising rates of obesity. There are concerns about the safety and quality of these herbal products owing to their increased consumption worldwide. In this study, we evaluated randomly collected samples of green tea and herbal tea and tested them for heavy metal and microbial contamination. Eighteen samples of green tea or herbal tea of widely used brands in Palestine were tested for heavy metal and microbial contamination. The results showed that 7 of the samples had toxic heavy metals such as chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb), and their concentrations were above the allowable limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, 6 of the samples that were tested had microbial contamination with high total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) and total yeast and mold count (TYMC). This could be due to improper handling and storage conditions of these herbal products. This study is the first of its kind in Palestine, and its results are forewarning to all the responsible authorities, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), to take immediate corrective actions such as quality control testing, auditing, and registration of marketed tea products.
  Manual therapy has been recommended to reduce and prevent musculoskeletal problems related to thoracic hyperkyphosis. With recent rapid technological developments, manual techniques can now be implemented by mechanical devices; hence, mechanical massage can manipulate the back muscles and mobilize the spine.
 
  Here, we aimed to 1) determine the effects of mechanical massage and manual therapy and 2) compare their effects on spinal posture, extension range of motion, trunk extensor electromyographic activity, and thoracic extension strength in individuals with thoracic hyperkyphosis.
 
  Participants with thoracic hyperkyphosis were randomly assigned to the manual therapy (
   = 16) or mechanical massage (
   = 19) group. Each intervention was applied for 8 weeks. The participants' spinal posture, extension range of motion, trunk extensor electromyographic activity, and thoracic extension strength were measured before and after intervention.
 
  Intergroup analyses revealed no significant differences in any variabracic extension range of motion, and thoracic extension strength.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/gsk963.html  Therefore, mechanical massage is an alternative intervention to manual therapy for improving thoracic kyphosis angle, thoracic extension range of motion, and thoracic extension strength in participants with hyperkyphosis. This trail is registered with KCT0004527.Moringa oleifera Lam. is an essential herb used for the treatment of inflammation, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other diseases. In this study, phenolic extracts of M. oleifera leaves were obtained and analyzed. The results showed that the main identifiable phenols were astragalin, chlorogenic acid, isoquercitrin, kaempferitrin, luteolin, quercetin, and rutin. The effects of M. oleifera polyphenol extract (MOPE) on experimental colitis induced by 3% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) were investigated. The results showed that oral administration of MOPE significantly alleviated the symptoms of DSS-induced colitis. MOPE significantly reduced weight loss, the disease activity index, colon shortening, and mucosal damage. In addition, MOPE attenuated the infiltration of CD3+ T cells, CD177+ neutrophils, and F4/80+ macrophages and significantly inhibited the secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α. After the MOPE administration, the expression of proteins associated with the NF-κB signaling pathway changed. Specifically, compared with that of the DSS group, the protein expression of NF-κB p65 and p-IκBα was downregulated, and the expression of IκBα was upregulated.