Intervention

Background: Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal condition that can impact a person's ability to walk and move comfortably. Pronated foot posture has been suggested as a potential contributor to low back pain, and this study examines its impact on muscle activity during gait in individuals with low back pain. Aim: This study aimed to investigate whether pronated foot alters the activity timing of trunk and lower limb muscles during gait in low back pain patients. Materials and Methods: The sample of this study included 32 men with low back pain and pronated foot. Participants were divided into control (n=15, with foot pronated only) and experimental (n=17, with both low back pain and foot pronated) groups. The experimental group did resistance training with Thera-band for 12 weeks, 3 sessions per week. A wireless electromyography system with 9 pairs of bipolar surface electrodes was used to record the electromyography activity timing of back and lower limb muscles (sample rate: 2000 Hz). Two-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results: Significant between-group differences were found at baseline onset of EMG activity timing for gastrocnemious medialis ( P <0.001), gluteus medius ( P <0.001) and erector spinae at 3rd lumbar vertebral level ( P =0.001) muscles. Results indicated significant main effects of “Time” for erector spinae at 3rd lumbar vertebral level offset ( P =0.023), significant main effects of “group” for tibialis anterior offset ( P = 0.039) and for erector spinae at 3rd lumbar vertebral level offset ( P = 0.010). Conclusion: The selected training program changed the timing of erector spinae at 3rd lumbar vertebral level in older adults with both low back pain and pronated feet during walking.

Technology-mediated instructional activities have received increasing attention in second language acquisition (SLA) studies. Yet, research on the role of technology in language learners’ emotional intelligence has been limited. More specifically, the role of data-driven learning (DDL) using concordancing, as a technology-mediated approach to learning English, in developing emotional intelligence has been left unattended. Through a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design within a quasi-experimental comparison group pretest-posttest design, the present study examined if DDL statistically significantly influenced the English learners’ trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and its attributes, including emotionality, self-control, well-being, and sociability. The results of questionnaires, open-ended surveys, and semi-structured interviews with 92 female undergraduate English learners indicated that DDL did not statistically significantly influence their TEI and its attributes. However, in terms of well-being, learners in the experimental group were slightly higher than learners in the control group. Finally, analysis of the qualitative data pointed to an increase in the learners’ TEI through enhancing self-confidence, stress management, and emotional perception.