Effect of motor control training on hip muscles in elite football players with and without low back pain

Objectives: Previous research has shown that motor control training improved size and function of trunk muscles in elite football players with and without low back pain (LBP). Imbalances in hip muscles have been found in athletes with LBP and it is not known if motor control training can change these muscles. This study investigated if a motor control intervention program affected hip muscle size in elite football players with and without LBP. Design: Panel-randomised intervention design. Methods: Forty-six players from one club in the Australian Football League (AFL) participated in a motor control training program delivered across the season as a stepped-wedge intervention design with 3 treatment arms: 15 weeks intervention, 8 weeks intervention and a wait-list control who received 7 weeks intervention toward the end of the playing season. Presence of LBP was assessed by interview and physical examination. Cross-sectional areas of iliacus, psoas, iliopsoas, sartorius, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius muscles were measured from magnetic resonance images taken at 3 time points during the season. Results: Iliopsoas, sartorius and gluteus medius muscle size increased for players who received intervention (p < 0.05). For players with current LBP, sartorius and gluteus medius muscle size increased for those who received motor control training (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Motor control training programs aimed at the lumbo-pelvic region also benefit the hip muscles. For players with current LBP, the intervention mitigated sartorius muscle atrophy and increased gluteus medius muscle size. These findings may help guide the management of LBP in elite football players

Turmeric and Ginger as Health Protective Food Sources - An Integrative Review

Most of the medicinal plants utilized in traditional medicine are spices. Majority of those spices are widely used for aroma, flavour and colour in cuisine though they behave as appetizers, digestives, preventives and aphrodisiacs. Their antimicrobial properties are in a broad spectrum that provides a considerable immunity development within the human body. This review summarizes the beneficial characteristics of major active constituents in turmeric and ginger and their presumed pharmacological potential to safeguard human health.Keywords: Turmeric, Ginger, Curcumin, Human health, Active Ingredients, Nanotechnolog

The relationship between the piriformis muscle, low back pain, lower limb injuries and motor control training among elite football players

Objectives: Australian Football League (AFL) players have a high incidence of back injuries. Motor control training to increase lumbopelvic neuromuscular control has been effective in reducing low back pain (LBP) and lower limb injuries in elite athletes. Control of pelvic and femoral alignment during functional activity involves the piriformis muscle. This study investigated (a) the effect of motor control training on piriformis muscle size in AFL players, with and without LBP, during the playing season, and (b) whether there is a relationship between lower limb injury and piriformis muscle size. Design: Stepped-wedge intervention. Methods: 46 AFL players participated in a motor control training programme consisting of two 30. min sessions per week over 7-8 weeks, delivered across the season as a randomised 3 group single-blinded stepped-wedge design. Assessment of piriformis muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) involved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 time points during the season. Assessment of LBP consisted of player interview and physical examination. Injury data were obtained from club records. Results: An interaction effect for Time, Intervention Group and LBP group (F=3.7, p=0.03) was found. Piriformis muscle CSA showed significant increases between Times 1 and 2 (F=4.24, p=0.046), and Times 2 and 3 (F=8.59, p=0.006). Players with a smaller increase in piriformis muscle CSA across the season had higher odds of sustaining an injury (OR. =1.08). Conclusions: Piriformis muscle size increases across the season in elite AFL players and is affected by the presence of LBP and lower limb injury. Motor control training positively affects piriformis muscle size in players with LBP

Discovery of Stable and Selective Antibody Mimetics from Combinatorial Libraries of Polyvalent, Loop-Functionalized Peptoid Nanosheets.

The ability of antibodies to bind a wide variety of analytes with high specificity and high affinity makes them ideal candidates for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. However, the poor stability and high production cost of antibodies have prompted exploration of a variety of synthetic materials capable of specific molecular recognition. Unfortunately, it remains a fundamental challenge to create a chemically diverse population of protein-like, folded synthetic nanostructures with defined molecular conformations in water. Here we report the synthesis and screening of combinatorial libraries of sequence-defined peptoid polymers engineered to fold into ordered, supramolecular nanosheets displaying a high spatial density of diverse, conformationally constrained peptoid loops on their surface. These polyvalent, loop-functionalized nanosheets were screened using a homogeneous Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay for binding to a variety of protein targets. Peptoid sequences were identified that bound to the heptameric protein, anthrax protective antigen, with high avidity and selectivity. These nanosheets were shown to be resistant to proteolytic degradation, and the binding was shown to be dependent on the loop display density. This work demonstrates that key aspects of antibody structure and function-the creation of multivalent, combinatorial chemical diversity within a well-defined folded structure-can be realized with completely synthetic materials. This approach enables the rapid discovery of biomimetic affinity reagents that combine the durability of synthetic materials with the specificity of biomolecular materials

Mapping the cited evidence of ductal carcinoma in situ from the 5th edition of the World Health Organisation classification of tumours of the breast

Aims: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Classification of Tumours (WCT) as a non‐invasive neoplastic epithelial proliferation confined to the mammary ducts and lobules. This report categorises the references cited in the DCIS chapter of the 5th edition of the WCT (Breast Tumours) according to prevailing evidence levels for evidence‐based medicine and the Hierarchy of Evidence for Tumour Pathology (HETP), identifying potential gaps that can inform subsequent editions of the WCT for this tumour. Methods and results: We included all citations from the DCIS chapter of the WCT (Breast Tumours, 5th edition). Each citation was appraised according to its study design and evidence level. We developed our map of cited evidence, which is a graphical matrix of tumour type (column) and tumour descriptors (rows). Spheres were used to represent the evidence, with size and colour corresponding to their number and evidence level respectively. Thirty‐six publications were retrieved. The cited literature in the DCIS chapter comprised mainly case series and were regarded as low‐level. We found an unequal distribution of citations among tumour descriptors. ‘Pathogenesis’ and ‘prognosis and prediction’ contained the most references, while ‘clinical features’, ‘aetiology’ and ‘diagnostic molecular pathology’ had only a single citation each. ‘Prognosis and prediction’ had the greatest proportion of moderate‐ and high‐levels of evidence. Conclusion: Our findings align with the disposition for observational studies inherent in the field of pathology. Our map is a springboard for future efforts in mapping all available evidence on DCIS, potentially augmenting the editorial process and future editions of WCTs

Stochastic Study of the Effect of Ionic Strength on Noncovalent Interactions in Protein Pores

Salt plays a critical role in the physiological activities of cells. We show that ionic strength significantly affects the kinetics of noncovalent interactions in protein channels, as observed in stochastic studies of the transfer of various analytes through pores of wild-type and mutant α-hemolysin proteins. As the ionic strength increased, the association rate constant of electrostatic interactions was accelerated, whereas those of both hydrophobic and aromatic interactions were retarded. Dramatic decreases in the dissociation rate constants, and thus increases in the overall reaction formation constants, were observed for all noncovalent interactions studied. The results suggest that with the increase of salt concentration, the streaming potentials for all the protein pores decrease, whereas the preferential selectivities of the pores for either cations or anions drop. Furthermore, results also show that the salt effect on the rate of association of analytes to a pore differs significantly depending on the nature of the noncovalent interactions occurring in the protein channel. In addition to providing new insights into the nature of analyte-protein pore interactions, the salt-dependence of noncovalent interactions in protein pores observed provides a useful means to greatly enhance the sensitivity of the nanopore, which may find useful application in stochastic sensing

A prospective investigation of changes in the sensorimotor system following sports concussion. An exploratory study

Background Sports concussion is a risk for players involved in high impact, collision sports. Post-concussion, the majority of symptoms subside within 7–10 days, but can persist in 10–20% of athletes. Understanding the effects of sports concussion on sensorimotor systems could inform physiotherapy treatment. Objective To explore changes in sensorimotor function in the acute phase following sports concussion. Design Prospective cohort study. Methods Fifty-four players from elite rugby union and league teams were assessed at the start of the playing season. Players who sustained a concussion were assessed three to five days later. Measures included assessments of balance (sway velocity), vestibular system function (vestibular ocular reflex gain; right-left asymmetry), cervical proprioception (joint position error) and trunk muscle size and function. Results During the playing season, 14 post-concussion assessments were performed within 3–5 days of injury. Significantly decreased sway velocity and increased size/contraction of trunk muscles, were identified. Whilst not significant overall, large inter-individual variation of test results for cervical proprioception and the vestibular system was observed. Limitations The number of players who sustained a concussion was not large, but numbers were comparable with other studies in this field. There was missing baseline data for vestibular and cervical proprioception testing for some players. Conclusions Preliminary findings post-concussion suggest an altered balance strategy and trunk muscle control with splinting/over-holding requiring consideration as part of the development of appropriate physiotherapy management strategies

A New Hierarchy of Research Evidence for Tumor Pathology: A Delphi Study to Define Levels of Evidence in Tumor Pathology

The hierarchy of evidence is a fundamental concept in evidence-based medicine, but existing models can be challenging to apply in laboratory-based health care disciplines, such as pathology, where the types of evidence and contexts are significantly different from interventional medicine. This project aimed to define a comprehensive and complementary framework of new levels of evidence for evaluating research in tumor pathology-introducing a novel Hierarchy of Research Evidence for Tumor Pathology collaboratively designed by pathologists with help from epidemiologists, public health professionals, oncologists, and scientists, specifically tailored for use by pathologists-and to aid in the production of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors (WCT) evidence gap maps. To achieve this, we adopted a modified Delphi approach, encompassing iterative online surveys, expert oversight, and external peer review, to establish the criteria for evidence in tumor pathology, determine the optimal structure for the new hierarchy, and ascertain the levels of confidence for each type of evidence. Over a span of 4 months and 3 survey rounds, we collected 1104 survey responses, culminating in a 3-day hybrid meeting in 2023, where a new hierarchy was unanimously agreed upon. The hierarchy is organized into 5 research theme groupings closely aligned with the subheadings of the WCT, and it consists of 5 levels of evidence-level P1 representing evidence types that merit the greatest level of confidence and level P5 reflecting the greatest risk of bias. For the first time, an international collaboration of pathology experts, supported by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has successfully united to establish a standardized approach for evaluating evidence in tumor pathology. We intend to implement this novel Hierarchy of Research Evidence for Tumor Pathology to map the available evidence, thereby enriching and informing the WCT effectively.The overall project, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and beneficiaries (German Heart Centre Munich, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, and Instituto de Salud Carlos III) are funded by the European Commission (HORIZON grant no. 101057127). R.C. and F.C. are funded by UK Research and Innovation. S.H. has received research funding or honoraria from Roche, BMS, Merck, Sysmex, Thermo, Volition, Trillium, Medica, and Instand and is a founder of SFZ BioCoDE and CEBIO. P.H.T. has received honoraria from AstraZeneca.S

The 2019 WHO classification of tumours of the breast

The newly published World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumours of the breast features significant changes compared to earlier editions. In this review, we outline the major changes in this important reference source for those diagnosing tumours, or engaged in cancer research, and describe the significant changes. For breast cancer, the overview acknowledges the treatment-relevant subtypes of invasive carcinoma (based on ER and HER2 status) and new data is added to support the differences in pathogenesis, treatment response and prognosis of these clinically relevant groupings. The WHO Classification of Tumours is increasingly evidence-based, with a clear update cycle, improved quality of illustrations, as well as content, led by an editorial board comprising pathologists, but increasingly incorporating input from other disciplines. The advent of the new website allows the use of whole slide images, and hyperlinks to evidence or external bodies that produce guidance on staging or reporting.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe