A Physiological/Model Study on the Effects of Deep Breathing on the Respiration Rate, Oxygen Saturation, and Cerebral Oxygen Delivery in Humans

Effect of six-week short-duration deep breathing on young adults with chronic ankle instability-a pilot randomized control trial

BACKGROUND

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is the most common injury in youth sports, which leads to psychological stress from doubting their performance. Cost effective and easy to access tool to reduce the stress among this target group are desired. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of adding on intervention with short-duration deep breathing (SDDB) alongside with conventional physiotherapy (CP) among young adults with chronic ankle instability (CAI).

METHODS

Total of 30 CAI participants attended physiotherapy, who were randomly assigned into control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group received combined intervention (SDDB + CP), and the control group received CP for 6 weeks. The effectiveness of interventions was assessed at 3 intervals with a battery of questionnaires (Visual Analog Score, Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) at the end of week 3, week 6, and week 12 as follow-up. A two-way repeated measures of ANOVA was applied to report the statistical significance at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

The results showed a better improvement in pain, balance, happiness, and mindfulness attention among participants in the experimental group, with a significant improvement in mindful attention over the time point as compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide insight into incorporating SDDB additions to the existing CP for better CAI management. Breathing techniques that improve attention and happiness play a vital role in CAI, which recommends the biopsychosocial approach in chronic injury rehabilitation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Current Controlled Trials using Clinical Trials Registry under ID number NCT04812158 retrospectively registered on 23/03/2021.

Modeling of Heat Stress in Sows-Part 1: Establishment of the Prediction Model for the Equivalent Temperature Index of the Sows

Heat stress affects the estrus time and conception rate of sows. Compared with other life stages of pigs, sows are more susceptible to heat stress because of their increased heat production. Various indicators can be found in the literature assessing the level of heat stress in pigs. However, none of them is specific to assess the sows' thermal condition. Moreover, thermal indices are mainly developed by considering partial environment parameters, and there is no interaction between the index and the animal's physiological response. Therefore, this study aims to develop a thermal index specified for sows, called equivalent temperature index for sows (ETIS), which includes parameters of air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. Based on the heat transfer characteristics of sows, multiple regression analysis is used to combine air temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. Environmental data are used as independent variables, and physiological parameters are used as dependent variables. In 1029 sets of data, 70% of the data is used as the training set, and 30% of the data is used as the test set to create and develop a new thermal index. According to the correlation equation between ETIS and temperature-humidity index (THI), combined with the threshold of THI, ETIS was divided into thresholds. The results show that the ETIS heat stress threshold is classified as follows: suitable temperature ETIS < 33.1 °C, mild temperature 33.1 °C ≤ ETIS < 34.5 °C, moderate stress temperature 34.5 °C ≤ ETIS < 35.9 °C, and severe temperature ETIS ≥ 35.9 °C. The ETIS model can predict the sows' physiological response in a good manner. The correlation coefficients R of skin temperature was 0.82. Compared to early developed thermal indices, ETIS has the best predictive effect on skin temperature. This index could be a useful tool for assessing the thermal environment to ensure thermal comfort for sows.