Paolo Sanzo

Bio: Paolo Sanzo is an academic researcher from Lakehead University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ankle & Concussion. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 56 publications receiving 86 citations. Previous affiliations of Paolo Sanzo include Northern Ontario School of Medicine & University of Michigan.

The effect of patellar taping on lower extremity running kinematics in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Abstract: Purpose: To investigate the effects of patellar taping (Leukotape® (LT), Pinetown, South Africa, Kinesio Tape (KT), Dortmund, Germany, or no tape) on lower extremity kinematics in runners with and ...

Exploring the perspectives of 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old primary school students on physical activity engagement—“'Cause you can't just be sitting at a desk all the time!”

Abstract: Background Research indicates that 91% of Canadian children are not engaging in enough physical activity (PA) to achieve health benefits. Physical education (PE) classes have been identified as a way to improve child health by facilitating engagement in movement-based activities. The daily physical activity (DPA) initiative was created with similar intentions and requires that students participate in at least 20 min of PA daily via PE classes and/or during instructional time for other subjects. Despite recommendations that 150 min of exercise/play be incurred weekly through either avenue, nearly half of Canadian schools fail to achieve this goal. The disconnect between PA-related school policies and low reported participation rates suggests that additional research is warranted. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of primary students regarding the facilitators, barriers, and recommendations for PA engagement at their schools. Methods Researchers conducted nine group interviews with 53 children aged 10-12, representing six primary schools in Northwestern Ontario using a semi-structured interview format. Sessions were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results Participants discussed several facilitators of PA including enjoying activities (alleviating boredom and participating with others), accomplishment (skill building and enhanced self-image), and benefits in the classroom (thinking clearly and enhanced readiness to learn). Barriers to PA participation included school rules and culture (PA/PE restrictions, heavy workload, and "no work, no PA"), personal struggles (physical challenges and varied skill levels), and technology (being addictive and a replacement for being active). Recommendations for enhancing engagement that were outlined by the children centred around PE and daily physical activity (increase opportunities and involve students in planning/delivery) and recess-based themes (decrease focus on safety and make equipment more available). Conclusion These student perspectives and related recommendations may be beneficial for administrators and teachers in similar contexts who are seeking to enhance PA engagement among students with the goal of improving child health.

The Effect of Kinesio Taping on Vertical Jump Height and Muscle Electromyographic Activity of the Gastrocnemius and Soleus in Varsity Athletes

Abstract: Objective: To examine the effect of kinesio tape compared to no tape on vertical jump height and triceps surae electromyographic (EMG) muscle activity in healthy varsity athletes. Design: One group pre-test post-test design. Methods: Twenty healthy varsity athletes (15 females and 5 males) between the ages of 18 and 30 (20.45 years ± 1.36) participated in this study. Each participant was a member of a varsity university basketball, volleyball and/or track and field team. After consent was obtained, the participant completed a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire. The participant then completed a brief warm up and three practice trials of each jump technique. The jumping techniques included the countermovement vertical jump and static vertical jump. The skin at each sensor site was prepped and cleaned and a Delsys Trigno Wireless EMG System was attached to the lateral and medial gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles. After insuring that the EMG sensors were firmly attached, the individual performed a maximal vertical jump and the height of the vertical jump measured using a Vertec device. The participant performed three trials of a one-footed take off using only his/her dominant foot and a two-footed take off maximal countermovement vertical jump and static vertical jump. Each of these jumps were performed with a one footed take off using the dominant leg only, and then a two footed take off using both legs. Kinesio tape was then applied to the dominant leg using a combined taping technique (facilitatory and mechanical corrective). The maximal countermovement vertical jump and static vertical jump height was then re-tested. The mean rectified average EMG signal intensities and vertical jump heights were analyzed. A paired samples t-test was used to analyze the data comparing baseline to post-taping values with an alpha level set at p<.05. Results: There was a significant increase in mean vertical jump height (t(19)=-4.091, p=0.01) for the one legged static jump with the application of tape. The mean one legged static jump height without tape was 26.29 cm ± 9.12, while with tape it was 28.72 cm ± 7.37. There was no significant difference in the vertical jump height for the one legged static, one legged countermovement, or two legged countermovement jumps. There was also no significant difference in the EMG activity across the four jump types for the gastrocnemius or soleus muscles with and without tape. Conclusions: The findings of this study have shown that the application of an Achilles tendinopathy kinesio taping technique increased the vertical jump height during a one legged static vertical jump. A trend of minor improvement was evident in all of the vertical jumps that were performed with tape. It was found that kinesio tape had no effect on EMG activity of the gastrocnemius or soleus muscles. The improvement in vertical jump height demonstrates that the application of kinesio tape may provide an individual with an athletic advantage in sports such as volleyball and basketball where jump height may be advantageous in certain sport specific situations.

Implementing a structured exercise program for persistent concussion symptoms: a pilot study on the effects on salivary brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cognition, static balance, and symptom scores.

Abstract: Primary objective: Persistent concussion symptoms (PCS) affect 10–30% of individuals after sports-related concussion. This study evaluated the effect of exercise-based rehabilitation on symptom sco...

End-tidal carbon dioxide levels in patients with post-concussion syndrome during neurocognitive and physical tasks compared to a normative control group.

Abstract: Primary objective: Recent findings suggest breathing may negatively affect performance after concussion. The aim of the study was to examine group differences between individuals with and without p...

Effects of individualized Tai-Chi on balance and lower-limb strength in older adults.

Abstract: To investigate whether a simplified and personalized Tai-Chi program could be beneficial for practitioners. A prospective quasi-experimental observer-blinded controlled trial was done in Beitou District of Taipei City. Community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older without debilitating disease (N = 50) participated the study. Those who were willing to participate in exercise program were assigned to individualized Tai-Chi (iTC) group (n = 20), receiving iTC training for 8 weeks, and traditional Tai-Chi (tTC) group (n = 15), receiving tTC training for 8 weeks. Those who were not willing to participate in exercise training were included in the control group (n = 15). Functional balance tests, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), timed up-and-go (TUG) test, functional-reach test, and measurement of lower-extremity muscle strength were conducted before and 8 weeks after the intervention. Significant improvements were noted in all functional balance tests and strength assessments of 16 major lower-limb muscle groups in participants of the iTC group compared to the control group, whereas only BBS and muscle strength of hips and ankles were improved in the tTC group. Practitioners of iTC outperformed tTC in BBS and strength of two major muscles. Personalized Tai-Chi training designed based on an objective measurement and conducted according to graded intensity and complexity benefitted practitioners after a short period. Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03659396 , Unique Protocol ID: 1000087 Date of registration: 03/28/2017 The trial was registered retrospectively

Four meta-analyses across 164 studies on atypical footedness prevalence and its relation to handedness.

Abstract: Human lateral preferences, such as handedness and footedness, have interested researchers for decades due to their pronounced asymmetries at the population level. While there are good estimates on the prevalence of handedness in the population, there is no large-scale estimation on the prevalence of footedness. Furthermore, the relationship between footedness and handedness still remains elusive. Here, we conducted meta-analyses with four different classification systems for footedness on 145,135 individuals across 164 studies including new data from the ALSPAC cohort. The study aimed to determine a reliable point estimate of footedness, to study the association between footedness and handedness, and to investigate moderating factors influencing footedness. We showed that the prevalence of atypical footedness ranges between 12.10% using the most conservative criterion of left-footedness to 23.7% including all left- and mixed-footers as a single non-right category. As many as 60.1% of left-handers were left-footed whereas only 3.2% of right-handers were left-footed. Males were 4.1% more often non-right-footed compared to females. Individuals with psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders exhibited a higher prevalence of non-right-footedness. Furthermore, the presence of mixed-footedness was higher in children compared to adults and left-footedness was increased in athletes compared to the general population. Finally, we showed that footedness is only marginally influenced by cultural and social factors, which play a crucial role in the determination of handedness. Overall, this study provides new and useful reference data for laterality research. Furthermore, the data suggest that footedness is a valuable phenotype for the study of lateral motor biases, its underlying genetics and neurodevelopment.

A System Combining Force and Vision Sensing for Automated Screw Removal on Laptops

Abstract: This brief investigates the performance of an automated robotic system, which uses a combination of vision and force sensing to remove screws from the back of laptops. This robotic system uses two webcams, one that is fixed over the robot and the other mounted on the robot, as well as a sensor-equipped (SE) screwdriver. Experimental studies were conducted to test the performance of the SE screwdriver and vision system. The parameters that were varied included the internal brightness settings on the webcams, the method in which the workspace was illuminated, and color of the laptop case. A localized light source and higher brightness setting as the laptop’s case became darker produced the best results. In this brief, the SE screwdriver was able to successfully remove 96.5% of the screws. Note to Practitioners —The amount of discarded electronic waste (e-waste) is increasing rapidly, yet efficient, nondestructive, automated methods to handle the waste have not been developed. Many e-waste products such as laptops use fasteners that need to be removed. In this brief, we focus on removing screws from laptops in a nondestructive manner in order to not damage the laptop, so its parts can be recycled. Due to the vast amounts of laptop models, it is necessary to create a method that will automatically recognize the locations of these fasteners. This brief presents a prototype robotic system that integrates force and vision sensing to automatically locate and remove screws from various models of laptops. The methodology presented in this brief is applicable to other e-waste products with a casing attached by screws. A current limitation of this brief is the robotic system that has to investigate all potential hole locations found by the vision system, although some of these locations may not correspond to valid screw locations. This brief can be extended to include a memory feature that will remember the locations of the screws for cases with similar laptops that are handled by the system to improve the processing time.

The Effects of Tai Chi on Markers of Atherosclerosis, Lower-limb Physical Function, and Cognitive Ability in Adults Aged Over 60: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Tai Chi (TC) on arterial stiffness, physical function of lower-limb, and cognitive ability in adults aged over 60. Methods: This study was a prospective and randomized 12-week intervention trial with three repeated measurements (baseline, 6, and 12 weeks). Sixty healthy adults who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into three training conditions (TC-24, TC-42, and TC-56) matched by gender, with 20 participants (10 males, 10 females) in each of the three groups. We measured the following health outcomes, including markers of atherosclerosis, physical function (leg power, and static and dynamic balance) of lower-limb, and cognitive ability. Results: When all three TC groups (p < 0.05) have showed significant improvements on these outcomes but overall cognitive ability at 6 or 12 weeks training period, TC-56 appears to have superior effects on arterial stiffness and static/dynamic balance in the present study. Conclusions: Study results of the present study add to growing body of evidence regarding therapeutic TC for health promotion and disease prevention in aging population. Future studies should further determine whether TC-42 and TC-56 are beneficial for other non-Chinese populations, with rigorous research design and follow-up assessment.