Does laser therapy improve pain or pinch strength for thumb carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis as an isolated treatment? A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic and prevalent joint disorder that greatly impacts quality of life and has a high economic burden on health resources. Although a number of conservative therapies have proven to be effective for the management of hand OA, only modest treatment effects were reported for most individual interventions. The aim of the proposed study is to assess the effect of laser therapy on pain and pinch strength in subjects with thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis (CMC OA) Materials and Methods: 43 patients, (mean ± SD age: 71 ±12 years; 57% female) with the diagnosis of CMC joint OA grade 1-2 were randomized to the control (n=21) or experimental (n=23) groups. The primary outcome measures were pain intensity [Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)], and the secondary outcome measure was key pinch strength (dynamometer). The experimental group received laser therapy and control group received a placebo treatment. All outcome measures were collected at baseline, immediately following the intervention at 4 weeks, and at 12 weeks following the intervention. Results: The experimental group evidenced a 2-point improvement VAS pain score following the treatment. There was a gain of 0.7 kg of pinch strength in the experimental group following the treatment. The effects of both pinch strength gains and pain reduction diminished by the 12 week follow up. Conclusions: High intensity laser therapy effectively decreases pain intensity when used as a isolated treatment for early CMC OA, but the effect of treatment decreases after 3 months.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Caminos de inclusión y procesos socio-económicos de los actores implícitos en el Post-acuerdo

LISTA DE TABLAS Entrevista semi estructurada Palabras o expresiones predominantes y reiterativas • No hay directrices del Gobierno Nacional • Estabilidad Socio-Económica • Política Pública para Población Victima • Vinculación Laboral • ARN (Agencia para la reincorporación y la normalización) • Proyectos Productivos • Limitación de recursos por parte del Gobierno Nacional • Reintegrados-Reincorporados • Oferta InstitucionalLa responsabilidad social adquirida por las entidades públicas frente a los horizontes de paz y postconflicto respecto de los sujetos que acogerá el tejido social colombiano (reinsertados) es un tema trascedente en la actualidad. Dentro de este marco se hace necesario establecer la ruta de inclusión de los actores armados que decidieron dejar las armas y retomar la vida civil e intentar aportar a la reconstrucción del territorio desde los contextos socio-político y cultural. Sin embargo, algunos puntos a tener en cuenta convergen en la viabilidad económica, psicológica y el trabajo articulado de las entidades púbicas del Meta para garantizar una verdadera inserción a la vida civil. Partiendo de esta premisa y enfocándonos en los efectos sociales que se desprenden luego de la firma del acuerdo resulta necesario entre otras cosas el respeto por los líderes sociales que acompañan estos procesos sociales, es decisiva la función de las entidades por las cuales nos preguntamos, ¿Hacia dónde apuntan, con que planes, estructuras y proyectos se impactara la sociedad en beneficio de todo el tejido social? De un departamento flagelado por décadas de conflicto. Teniendo como referente lo anteriormente dicho se hace necesario y principal la construcción de espacios simbólicos fundamentados en el post acuerdo, que tengan incidencia necesaria en las entidades públicas del Meta, logrando dilucidar caminos que promuevan La igualdad, inclusión y reconstrucción subjetiva siendo este último un concepto que nos lleva a horizontes de transformación a partir de sucesos coyunturales en donde las personas que vivieron el conflicto reconstruyen su subjetividad partiendo de experiencias vividas.The ignorance of the new policies and the baffled actions of the public entities of the Metense capital, facing the horizons of peace and postconflict with respect to the subjects that will receive the Colombian social fabric (reinserted) is a current issue. Within this framework it is necessary to establish the paths of inclusion of the subjects that decided to lay down their arms and resume civil life and try to contribute to the socio-political and cultural context. However, some points to highlight converge in the economic viability and work of the public entities of the Meta to guarantee a true demobilization and insertion into civil life.Starting from this premise and focusing on the whole conglomerate of land restitution and respect for the social leaders that accompany these social processes, the role of the entities for which we ask ourselves is decisive: Where do they aim, with what plans, structures and projects will society be impacted for the benefit of the entire social fabric? From a department flagellated by decades of conflict.In this order of ideas, it is necessary and essential to build pedagogies based on post conflict that have a necessary impact on the public entities of the Meta, managing to elucidate paths that promote equality, inclusion and subjective reconstruction of the people who lived through the conflict, reviewing profiles and adapting spaces conducive to the academic re-contextualization of the same for the sake of possible contributions to the context

Growth of Aspergillus fumigatus in Biofilms in Comparison to Candida albicans

Biofilm formation during infections with the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can be very problematic in clinical settings, since it provides the fungal cells with a protective environment. Resistance against drug treatments, immune recognition as well as adaptation to the host environment allows fungal survival in the host. The exact molecular mechanisms behind most processes in the formation of biofilms are unclear. In general, the formation of biofilms can be categorized roughly in a few stages; adhesion, conidial germination and development of hyphae, biofilm maturation and cell dispersion. Fungi in biofilms can adapt to the in-host environment. These adaptations can occur on a level of phenotypic plasticity via gene regulation. However, also more substantial genetic changes of the genome can result in increased resistance and adaptation in the host, enhancing the survival chances of fungi in biofilms. Most research has focused on the development of biofilms. However, to tackle developing microbial resistance and adaptation in biofilms, more insight in mechanisms behind genetic adaptations is required to predict which defense mechanisms can be expected. This can be helpful in the development of novel and more targeted antifungal treatments to combat fungal infections

What Hubble really meant by late and early type: simply more or less complex in appearance

It is widely written and believed that Edwin Hubble introduced the terms `early' and `late types' to suggest an evolutionary sequence for galaxies. This is incorrect. Hubble took these terms from spectral classification of stars to signify a sequence related to complexity of appearance, albeit based on images rather than spectra. The temporal connotations of the terms had been abandoned prior to his 1926 paper on classification of galaxies.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, using MNRAS style file; to appear in different style in RAS journal Astronomy & Geophysics (A&G), scheduled for October 2008 issue, A&G journal page is at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1366-878

The relevance of market prices for the design of transfer programs in response to food insecurity

This paper focuses on the use of market prices as discriminatory factors for the selection of strategies in response to conditions of food insecurity according to the comparative efficiency of different strategies. A classical production model has been used to define the conditions of relative advantage of different response options and to capture the effect of some contextual variables on such conditions. This type of approach can be quite useful when trying to optimize response strategy through its geographical diversification or adjustment over time. While such analytical approach reflects mainly a static cost-efficiency perspective, it can be sharpened through the partial inclusion of an effectiveness perspective

Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are due to nuclei with charge $Z$, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies

Integrated plasma proteomic and single-cell immune signaling network signatures demarcate mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19

The biological determinants of the wide spectrum of COVID-19 clinical manifestations are not fully understood. Here, over 1400 plasma proteins and 2600 single-cell immune features comprising cell phenotype, basal signaling activity, and signaling responses to inflammatory ligands were assessed in peripheral blood from patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19, at the time of diagnosis. Using an integrated computational approach to analyze the combined plasma and single-cell proteomic data, we identified and independently validated a multivariate model classifying COVID-19 severity (multi-class AUCtraining = 0.799, p-value = 4.2e-6; multi-class AUCvalidation = 0.773, p-value = 7.7e-6). Features of this high-dimensional model recapitulated recent COVID-19 related observations of immune perturbations, and revealed novel biological signatures of severity, including the mobilization of elements of the renin-angiotensin system and primary hemostasis, as well as dysregulation of JAK/STAT, MAPK/mTOR, and NF-κB immune signaling networks. These results provide a set of early determinants of COVID-19 severity that may point to therapeutic targets for the prevention of COVID-19 progression

Bio-inspired geotechnical engineering: Principles, current work, opportunities and challenges

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Bio-inspired geotechnical engineering: principles, current work, opportunities and challenges

A broad diversity of biological organisms and systems interact with soil in ways that facilitate their growth and survival. These interactions are made possible by strategies that enable organisms to accomplish functions that can be analogous to those required in geotechnical engineering systems. Examples include anchorage in soft and weak ground, penetration into hard and stiff subsurface materials and movement in loose sand. Since the biological strategies have been ‘vetted’ by the process of natural selection, and the functions they accomplish are governed by the same physical laws in both the natural and engineered environments, they represent a unique source of principles and design ideas for addressing geotechnical challenges. Prior to implementation as engineering solutions, however, the differences in spatial and temporal scales and material properties between the biological environment and engineered system must be addressed. Current bio-inspired geotechnics research is addressing topics such as soil excavation and penetration, soil–structure interface shearing, load transfer between foundation and anchorage elements and soils, and mass and thermal transport, having gained inspiration from organisms such as worms, clams, ants, termites, fish, snakes and plant roots. This work highlights the potential benefits to both geotechnical engineering through new or improved solutions and biology through understanding of mechanisms as a result of cross-disciplinary interactions and collaborations