Low back pain in healthy postmenopausal women and the effect of physical activity: A secondary analysis in a randomized trial.

Epidemiological studies on the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain have consistently shown that this is a relevant health problem, with non-specific low back pain (LBP) being the most commonly reported in adult females. Conflicting data on the association between LBP symptoms and physical activity (PA) have been reported. Here, we investigated the prevalence of LBP and the effect of a 24-month non-specific PA intervention on changes in LBP prevalence in a series of Italian healthy postmenopausal women. We performed a secondary analysis in the frame of the DAMA trial, a factorial randomized intervention trial aimed to evaluate the ability of a 24-month intervention, based on moderate-intensity PA, and/or dietary modification, in reducing mammographic breast density in healthy postmenopausal women. The PA intervention included at least 1 hour/day of moderate PA and a more strenuous weekly activity, collective walks and theoretical group sessions. A self-administered pain questionnaire was administered at baseline and at the end of the intervention. The questionnaire was specifically structured to investigate the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain, the body localization, intensity and duration of the pain. Two hundred and ten women (102 randomized to PA intervention, 108 not receiving the PA intervention) filled out the questionnaires. At baseline LBP was present in 32.9% of the participants. Among women randomized to the PA intervention, LBP prevalence at follow up (21.6%) was lower than at baseline (33.3%) (p = 0.02), while in women who did not receive the PA intervention the LBP prevalence at baseline and follow up were 32.4% and 25.9%, respectively (p = 0.30). Overall, there was no significant between-group effect of PA intervention on LBP. Further studies are needed to understand the role of non-specific PA intervention, aimed to improve overall fitness, on LBP prevalence

Musculoskeletal pain in women from DAMA Trial: role of a physical activity intervention

Epidemiological studies showed that prevalence of musculoskeletal pain is higher in women than in men (Bracci et al. 2007; Salaffi et al. 2005) and low back pain is the most commonly reported whereas conflicting evidence exists for the association between physical activity and low back pain symptoms (Heneweer et al. 2011; Sitthipornvorakul et al. 2011). In this study, we investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and the role of a non-specific physical activity (PA) intervention in prevention/reduction of pain in the frame of the DAMA Trial. DAMA (n° ISRCTN28492718, funded by Istituto Toscano Tumori and Ministry of Health ) is a 24-month factorial randomized trial in post-menopausal women with high-Mammographic Breast Density (MBD), a risk factor for breast cancer (Masala et al. 2006), aimed to evaluate the ability of a structured intervention based on a moderate-intensity physical exercise and/or specific dietary modification, to reduce MBD. Participants were post-menopausal women, 50-69 yrs, with MBD>50%. Exclusion criteria were: current/recent HRT; current smokers; diabetes and/or other co-morbidities contraindicating dietary and PA intervention. After the baseline visit in which blood and urine samples, anthropometry, dietary and lifestyle information were collected, participants (234 women) were randomized by age- and BMI-stratified blocks, to one of the four arms: dietary intervention, PA intervention, dietary+PA intervention or control. The PA intervention included one hour/week exercise program carried out by exercise specialist, individual and group sessions to explain PA benefits, group walks and at least 1 hour/day of individual moderate PA (i.e. walking, biking, home exercise). The control arm received general advice on healthy diet and PA. To evaluate physical fitness of all participants, at baseline and follow-up (FU), specific visits were performed and a specific questionnaire on pain was self-administered to investigate body site of pain, pain intensity and duration. Baseline and FU pain questionnaires were completed by 210 women (102 randomised to PA intervention*, 108 to control arm§). At baseline pain was reported by 154 women (73%), among them 75% reported back, 29% shoulder and 29% leg pain. After the 24-month intervention a significant effect emerged for low back pain in women randomised to PA intervention, in term of reduced prevalence of women with pain and prevention of new cases (p=0.02 in PA arm, 0.30 in control arm) suggesting also a beneficial effect of non-specific PA

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

Video1_Non-invasive cardiac activation mapping and identification of severity of epicardial substrate in Brugada Syndrome: a case report.mp4

IntroductionIt has recently been shown that electrocardiographic imaging (ECGi) can be employed in individuals undergoing an ajmaline test who have Brugada Syndrome (BrS), to evaluate the extent of substrate-involved arrhythmia in the right ventricular overflow tract (RVOT). For the first time, we stratify the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in BrS during ajmaline testing using the dST-Tiso interval (a robust predictor of the inducibility of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in the presence of drug-induced BrS type-1 pattern) in combination with ECGi technology.Case presentationWe studied a 48-year-old man with BrS ECG type-2 pattern and presence of J-wave without a family history of SCD but with a previous syncope. Transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging were performed, showing normal results. The ECG was performed to assess the novel ECG marker “dST-Tiso interval.” The 3D epicardial mapping of the RVOT surface was performed with the support of a non-contact cardiac mapping system in sinus rhythm during ajmaline infusion. The examination of the propagation map unveiled the presence of multiple conduction blocks in this pathologic epicardial region, and the conduction blocks were identified within the central part and/or near the boundary separating the normal and slow conduction areas.ConclusionThe dST-Tiso interval, which lies between the onset and termination of the coved ST-segment elevation and serves as a robust predictor of VA inducibility in cases of drug-induced BrS type-1 pattern, was utilized in conjunction with ECGi technology (employed for the non-invasive confirmation and identification of the pathological substrate area). This combined approach was applied to stratify the risk of SCD in BrS during ajmaline testing, alongside clinical scores.</p

Multidisciplinary Analysis and Modelling of a River Embankment Affected by Piping

The paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis carried out for the characterization and monitoring of a levee in Bozen Province, North Italy. The study treats a small section of the Adige river embankments, interested in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to some subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. The data acquired with an Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) investigation and an optical fiber distributed temperature sensing (DTS) are compared to boreholes information, laboratory tests and piezometers measurements. They provided a multi-dimensional characterization of the levee and of the close subsoil water-meadows, possible piping preferential paths. Since the presence of more permeable lenses within the silty matrix characterizing the levee foundations, the subsequent 2D seepage analysis was carried out with the Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) method, which randomly generates lenses with specific rheological properties within a matrix with another set of parameters. The soil configurations that are more congruent with the monitoring data were selected within a pool of 360 simulations, providing information about the probable seepage mechanism within the levee and the reliability of the interventions

Mucoadhesive Rifampicin-Liposomes for the Treatment of Pulmonary Infection by Mycobacterium abscessus: Chitosan or ε-Poly-L-Lysine Decoration

: Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabs) is a dangerous non-tubercular mycobacterium responsible for severe pulmonary infections in immunologically vulnerable patients, due to its wide resistance to many different antibiotics which make its therapeutic management extremely difficult. Drug nanocarriers as liposomes may represent a promising delivery strategy against pulmonary Mabs infection, due to the possibility to be aerosolically administrated and to tune their properties in order to increase nebulization resistance and retainment of encapsulated drug. In fact, liposome surface can be modified by decoration with mucoadhesive polymers to enhance its stability, mucus penetration and prolong its residence time in the lung. The aim of this work is to employ Chitosan or ε-poly-L-lysine decoration for improving the properties of a novel liposomes composed by hydrogenated phosphatidyl-choline from soybean (HSPC) and anionic 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylglycerol sodium salt (DPPG) able to entrap Rifampicin. A deep physicochemical characterization of polymer-decorated liposomes shows that both polymers improve mucoadhesion without affecting liposome features and Rifampicin entrapment efficiency. Therapeutic activity on Mabs-infected macrophages demonstrates an effective antibacterial effect of ε-poly-L-lysine liposomes with respect to chitosan-decorated ones. Altogether, these results suggest a possible use of ε-PLL liposomes to improve antibiotic delivery in the lung

Prevalence and body localization of pain reported by study women at baseline, overall and according to physical activity (PA) intervention.

<p>Prevalence and body localization of pain reported by study women at baseline, overall and according to physical activity (PA) intervention.</p

Baseline prevalence (percentage) of different types of back pain in the 210 study women.

<p>Baseline prevalence (percentage) of different types of back pain in the 210 study women.</p