Background
The objective was to compare and correlate disability, pain intensity, the impact of headache on daily life and the fear of movement between subgroups of patients with chronic ...temporomandibular disorder (TMD).
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients diagnosed with chronic painful TMD. Patients were divided into: 1) joint pain (JP); 2) muscle pain (MP); and 3) mixed pain. The following measures were included: Craniomandibular pain and disability (Craniofacial pain and disability inventory), neck disability (Neck Dsiability Index), pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale), impact of headache (Headache Impact Test 6) and kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11).
Results
A total of 154 patients were recruited. The mixed pain group showed significant differences compared with the JP group or MP group in neck disability (
p
< 0.001,
d
= 1.99; and
p
< 0.001,
d
= 1.17), craniomandibular pain and disability (
p
< 0.001,
d
= 1.34; and
p
< 0.001,
d
= 0.9, respectively), and impact of headache (
p
< 0.001,
d
= 1.91; and
p
< 0.001,
d
= 0.91, respectively). In addition, significant differences were observed between JP group and MP group for impact of headache (
p
< 0.001,
d
= 1.08). Neck disability was a significant covariate (37 % of variance) of craniomandibular pain and disability for the MP group (β = 0.62;
p
< 0.001). In the mixed chronic pain group, neck disability (β = 0.40;
p
< 0.001) and kinesiophobia (β = 0.30;
p
= 0.03) were significant covariate (33 % of variance) of craniomandibular pain and disability.
Conclusion
Mixed chronic pain patients show greater craniomandibular and neck disability than patients diagnosed with chronic JP or MP. Neck disability predicted the variance of craniofacial pain and disability for patients with MP. Neck disability and kinesiophobia predicted the variance of craniofacial pain and disability for those with chronic mixed pain.
Symbiotic bacteria on animal hosts can prevent pathogenic bacterial infections by several mechanisms. Among them, symbiotic bacteria can indirectly enhance host's immune responses or, directly, ...produce antimicrobial substances against pathogens. Due to differences in life-style, different host species are under different risks of microbial infections. Consequently, if symbiotic bacteria are somewhat selected by genetically determined host characteristics, we would expect the antimicrobial properties of bacterial symbionts to vary among host species and to be distributed according to risk of infection. Here we have tested this hypothesis by measuring the antimicrobial ability of the bacterial strains isolated from the uropygial-gland skin of 19 bird species differing in nesting habits, and, therefore, in risk of microbial infection. In accordance with our predictions, intensity and range of antimicrobial effects against the indicator strains assayed varied among bird species, with hole-and open-nesters showing the highest and the lowest values, respectively. Since it is broadly accepted that hole-nesters have higher risks of microbial infection than open nesters, our results suggest that the risk of infection is a strong driver of natural selection to enhance immunocompetence of animals through selecting for antibiotic-producing symbionts. Future research should focus on characterizing symbiotic bacterial communities and detecting coevolutionary processes with particular antibiotic-producing bacteria within-host species.
Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal problem among adults. It has been observed that patients with chronic pain have maladaptive neuroplastic changes and difficulty in ...imagination processes.
To assess the ability of patients with chronic LBP (CLBP) to generate kinesthetic and visual motor images and the time they spent on this mental task compared with asymptomatic participants.
A prospective, cross-sectional study.
Primary health care center in Madrid, Spain.
A total of 200 participants were classified into 2 groups: asymptomatic participants (n = 100) and patients with CLBP (n = 100).
After consenting to participate, all recruited participants received a sociodemographic questionnaire, a set of self-report measures and completed the Revised Movement Imagery Questionnaire.
Visual and Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Ability using the Revised Movement Imagery Questionnaire. A mental chronometry using a stopwatch and psychosocial variables using self-reported questionnaires.
Our results indicated that patients with CLBP had difficulty generating kinesthetic and visual motor images and also took a longer time to imagine them. A regression analysis indicated that in the CLBP group, the predictor variable for fear of activity and coping symptom self-efficacy was visual motor imagery (explaining 16.2% of the variance); however, the predictor variable for LBP disability and pain management self-efficacy was kinesthetic motor imagery (explaining 17.8% of the variance).
It appears that patients with CLBP have greater difficulty generating visual and kinesthetic motor images compared with asymptomatic participants, and they also need more time to perform these mental tasks.
II.
Many enzymes or fluorescent proteins produced in Escherichia coli are enzymatically active or fluorescent respectively when deposited as inclusion bodies. The occurrence of insoluble but functional ...protein species with native-like secondary structure indicates that solubility and conformational quality of recombinant proteins are not coincident parameters, and suggests that both properties can be engineered independently. We have here proven this principle by producing elevated yields of a highly fluorescent but insoluble green fluorescent protein (GFP) in a DnaK⁻ background, and further enhancing its solubility through adjusting the growth temperature and GFP gene expression rate. The success of such a two-step approach confirms the independent control of solubility and conformational quality, advocates for new routes towards high quality protein production and intriguingly, proves that high protein yields dramatically compromise the conformational quality of soluble versions. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 1353-1358.
Abstract
Misfolding-prone proteins produced in bacteria usually fail to adopt their native conformation and aggregate. In cells producing folding-reluctant protein species, folding modulators are ...supposed to be limiting, a fact that enhances protein deposition. Therefore, coproducing DnaK or other main chaperones along with the target protein has been a common approach to gain solubility, although with very inconsistent and often discouraging results. In an attempt to understand the reason for this inconsistency, the impact of exogenous DnaK (encoded in an accompanying plasmid) on two protein features observed as indicators of protein quality, namely solubility and functionality, has been analysed here through the specific fluorescence emission of a reporter Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). Intriguingly, GFP solubility is strongly dependent on its own yield but poorly affected by DnaK levels. On the contrary, the specific fluorescence of both soluble and insoluble GFP populations is simultaneously modulated by the availability of DnaK, with a profile that is clearly dissimilar to that shown by protein solubility. Therefore, solubility, not being coincident with the biological activity of the target protein, might not be a robust indicator of protein quality.
Some parasites use olfactory cues to detect their hosts and, since bacterial symbionts are partially responsible for animal odours, they could influence host parasitism. By autoclaving nest materials ...of hoopoe (Upupa epops) nests before reproduction started, we explored the hypothetical links between host-associated bacteria, volatiles and parasitism. During the nestling stage, we (i) estimated the level of ectoparasitism by chewing lice (Suborder Mallophaga) in adult hoopoe females and by Carnus haemapterus flies in nestlings, and (ii) characterized microbial communities and volatile profiles of nest environments (nest material and nest cavity, respectively) and uropygial secretions.
Experimental nests had less diverse bacterial communities and more diverse volatile profiles than control nests, while occupants experienced lower intensity of parasitism in experimental than in control nests. The experiment also affected beta diversity of the microbial communities of nest material and of the volatiles of the nestling uropygial secretions. Moreover, microbial communities of uropygial secretions and of nest materials covaried with their volatile profiles, while the volatile profile of the bird secretions explained nest volatile profile. Finally, a subset of the volatiles and bacteria detected in the nest material and uropygial secretions were associated with the ectoparasitism intensity of both adult females and nestlings, and with fledging success.
These results show that a component of animal odours is linked with the microbial communities of the host and its reproductive environment, and emphasize that the associations between bacteria, ectoparasitism and reproductive success are partially mediated by volatiles of bacterial origin. Future work should focus on mechanisms underlying the detected patterns.
•Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications are increasing in safety management.•The literature review shows that the adoption of BIM in design stage may reduce accidents.•The identification of ...tasks and working areas and its hazards with BIM, could improve safety in construction.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in building construction remains a worldwide problem in terms of workplace injury, illness and fatality statistics. Construction Safety requires care and planning throughout the project life-cycle, from the design phase to maintenance. Initial attempts to improve OHS consider the safety aspects in the design phase and the development of manual safety processes in the execution phase. The application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is currently experiencing rapid growth in construction operations, planning and management, as well as in Safety Management. Thanks to the use of this new tool, we can expect to see a change in the way that safety is addressed, as seen in the literature review, based on the large number of contributions in recent years.
This study reviews the existing literature surrounding BIM and Construction Safety in order to explore both useful findings and the gaps in knowledge for future research. The main result shows that the growing implementation of BIM in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is changing the way safety can be approached. Potential safety hazards can be automatically identified and corresponding prevention methods can be applied using an automated approach.
Abstract
Objective
To compare the effectiveness of a biobehavioral approach with and without orthopedic manual physical therapy on the intensity and frequency of pain in patients diagnosed with ...nonspecific chronic low back pain.
Methods
A single-blind randomized controlled trial. Fifty patients were randomly allocated into two groups: one group received biobehavioral therapy with orthopedic manual physical therapy, and the other group received only biobehavioral therapy. Both groups completed a total of eight sessions, with a frequency of two sessions per week. The somatosensory, physical, and psychological variables were recorded at baseline and during the first and third month after initiation of treatment.
Results
In both groups, the treatment was effective, presenting significant differences for all the variables in the time factor. There were no significant differences between groups in intensity or frequency of pain, with a large effect size (>0.80), but there were intragroup differences for both intervention groups at one- and three-month follow-up. There were also no significant differences between groups in the secondary variables during the same follow-up period.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that orthopedic manual physical therapy does not increase the effects of a treatment based on biobehavioral therapy in the short or medium term, but these results should be interpreted with caution.
•Ordinary Concrete (OC) and Heavy Concrete (HC) have been optimized and designed for IFMIF-DONES based on ITER reference.•Technical properties (density, compressive and flexural strength) are ...superior in comparison to ITER reference.•Neutron shielding efficiency of HC is higher – thermal neutron absorption for HC is more than 8 times higher than for OC.•Neutron shielding efficiency of optimized concrete is better than for ITER reference concrete – both in case of OC and HC.•Calculation methods of neutron shielding efficiency are effective for comparison – experimental verification ongoing.
The aim of this study was to optimize and evaluate structural and shielding concrete for the IFMIF-DONES building. An ordinary concrete of lime-dolomite aggregate from local sources has been chosen for structural concrete and magnetite aggregate was chosen for heavy-weight radiation shielding. The reference for concrete materials design was the one used in the ITER project. After investigations of raw materials, a group of prebatches were prepared and technical properties – density of compressive strength, were measured. Finally, two compositions have been elaborated – one for structural concrete of density 2.5 g/cm3 and the second for radiation shielding concrete of density 3.9 g/cm3. Then a set of 50 × 50 × 5 cm3 slabs were prepared and sent to the Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS in the Czech Republic for shielding mock-up experiments. Also the other technical properties like E-modulus, bending strength etc. have been determined. Additionally, radiation shielding efficiency has been calculated based on atomic composition.
Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal problem, which implies a high rate of chronicity. The chronicity of symptoms can lead to pain expansion. The main objective of this study was ...to assess whether there were differences between patients with nonspecific chronic LBP (CLBP) who sought healthcare compared to those who did not in terms of pain expansion.
Ninety individuals participated in the study and were divided into three groups: 30 patients who sought care; 30 patients who did not seek care; and 30 asymptomatic individuals. The primary variable analyzed was pain expansion. Secondary physical and psychological variables were assessed later, and a regression analysis was performed.
Patients who sought help showed significant differences in pain expansion and pain intensity compared with the group who did not seek help, with a medium effect size (0.50-0.79). The regression model for the care-seeking group showed that dynamic balance with the left leg and depression were predictors of percentage pain surface area (34.6%). The combination of dynamic balance, range of movement in flexoextension and depression were predictors of widespread pain (48.5%).
Patients who soughtcare presented greater pain expansion than patients whodidnot. A combination of functional and psychological variables can significantly predict pain expansion in patients with nonspecific CLBP who seek help.
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