Expectations about recovery from acute non-specific low back pain predict absence from usual work due to chronic low back pain:a systematic review

Question: Do negative expectations in patients after the onset of acute low back pain increase the odds of absence from usual work due to progression to chronic low back pain? Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis of prospective inception cohort studies. Participants: Adults with acute or subacute non-specific low back pain. Outcome measure: Absence from usual work at a given time point greater than 12 weeks after the onset of pain due to ongoing pain. Results: Ten studies involving 4683 participants were included in the review. Participants with acute or subacute pain and negative expectations about their recovery had significantly greater odds of being absent from usual work at a given time point more than 12 weeks after the onset of pain: OR 2.17 (95% CI 1.61 to 2.91). The exclusion of five studies with the greatest risk of bias showed that the result was similar when more rigorous quality criteria were applied: OR 2.52 (95% CI 1.47 to 4.31). Conclusion: The odds that adults with acute or subacute non-specific low back pain and negative recovery expectations will remain absent from work due to progression to chronic low back pain are two times greater than for those with more positive expectations. These results were consistent across the included studies despite variations in the risk of bias. [Hallegraeff JM, Krijnen WP, van der Schans CP, de Greet MHG (2012) Expectations about recovery from acute non-specific low back pain predict absence from usual work due to chronic low back pain: a systematic review. Journal of Physiotherapy 58:165-172]

Phenotypic flexibility as key factor in the human nutrition and health relationship

Analytical BioScience

Identification of an urinary metabolite profile associated with osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common diseases among the elderly. The main characteristic is the progressive destruction of articular cartilage. We lack quantitative and sensitive biomarkers for OA to detect changes in the joints in an early stage of the disease. In this study, we investigated whether a urinary metabolite profile could be found that could serve as a diagnostic biomarker for OA in humans. We also compared the profile we obtained previously in the guinea pig spontaneous OA model. METHODS: Urine samples of 92 participants (47 non-OA controls and 45 individuals with radiographic OA of the knees or hips) were selected from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project (North Carolina, USA). Participants ranged in age from 60 to 84 years. Samples were measured by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) with subsequent principal component discriminant analysis and partial least squares regression analysis. RESULTS: Differences were observed between urine NMR spectra of OA cases and controls (P<0.001 for both male and female subjects). A metabolite profile could be determined which was strongly associated with OA. This profile largely resembled the profile previously identified for guinea pigs with OA (approximately 40 out of the approximately 125 signals of the human profile were present in the guinea pig profile as well). A correlation was found between the metabolite profile and radiographic OA severity (R2 = 0.82 (male); R2 = 0.93 (female)). CONCLUSION: This study showed that a urine metabolite profile may serve as a novel discriminating biomarker of OA

Onderzoek naar groepshuisvesting van voedsters in parken binnen de PPS duurzame konijnenhouderij

This report describes an experiment that was conducted to study if rabbit does can be grouphoused in parks that are normally used for meat rabbits

DNA storage in thermoresponsive microcapsules for repeated random multiplexed data access

In support of the publication "DNA storage in thermoresponsive microcapsules for repeated random multiplexed data access" we share the following datasets and code: AutoCAD drawing of the microfluidic trapping device. Sequences of the DNA used to encode the 25 files used in the current study. FASTQ-files of the sequencing experiments of Figures 5b and d. Python scripts that allow for the reproduction of our sequencing data analysis. The code has been tested on MacOS 13.0.1, Python 3.7.13, samtools 1.16.1 and BWA 0.7.17

Engineering cytokine therapeutics

Cytokines have pivotal roles in immunity, making them attractive as therapeutics for a variety of immune-related disorders. However, the widespread clinical use of cytokines has been limited by their short blood half-lives and severe side effects caused by low specificity and unfavourable biodistribution. Innovations in bioengineering have aided in advancing our knowledge of cytokine biology and yielded new technologies for cytokine engineering. In this Review, we discuss how the development of bioanalytical methods, such as sequencing and high-resolution imaging combined with genetic techniques, have facilitated a better understanding of cytokine biology. We then present an overview of therapeutics arising from cytokine re-engineering, targeting and delivery, mRNA therapeutics and cell therapy. We also highlight the application of these strategies to adjust the immunological imbalance in different immune-mediated disorders, including cancer, infection and autoimmune diseases. Finally, we look ahead to the hurdles that must be overcome before cytokine therapeutics can live up to their full potential

Exploring the Inflammatory Metabolomic Profile to Predict Response to TNF-alpha Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Analytical BioScience

Screening for distant metastases in patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence: the impact of different imaging modalities on distant recurrence-free interval

Purpose In patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), the detection of distant disease determines whether the intention of the treatment is curative or palliative. Therefore, adequate preoperative staging is imperative for optimal treatment planning. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of conventional imaging techniques, including chest X-ray and/or CT thorax-(abdomen), liver ultrasonography(US), and skeletal scintigraphy, on the distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI) in patients with IBTR, and to compare conventional imaging with 18F-FDG PET-CT or no imaging at all. Methods This study was exclusively based on the information available at time of diagnoses of IBTR. To adjust for differences in baseline characteristics between the three imaging groups, a propensity score (PS) weighted method was used. Results Of the 495 patients included in the study, 229 (46.3%) were staged with conventional imaging, 89 patients (19.8%) were staged with 18F-FDG PET-CT, and in 168 of the patients (33.9%) no imaging was used (N=168). After a follow-up of approximately 5 years, 14.5% of all patients developed a distant recurrence as frst event after IBTR. After adjusting for the PS weights, the Cox regression analyses showed that the diferent staging methods had no signifcant impact on the DRFI. Conclusions This study showed a wide variation in the use of imaging modalities for staging IBTR patients in the Netherlands. After using PS weighting, no statistically signifcant impact of the diferent imaging modalities on DRFI was shown. Based on these results, it is not possible to recommend staging for distant metastases using 18F-FDG PET-CT over conventional imaging technique