Self-management Interventions for Pain and Physical Symptoms Among People Living With HIV:A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Introduction: Pain and symptoms still persist among people living with HIV/AIDS. Evidence-based self-management interventions have the potential to help people with HIV/AIDS to successfully manage pain and symptoms. We aimed to identify and appraise the evidence regarding the effectiveness of self-management interventions for pain and/or physical symptoms in people living with HIV/AIDS. Methods: We searched for controlled intervention studies in Amed, Assian, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science data bases, from 1984 to February 2017. Two reviewers screened and extracted data, assessed risk of bias (using Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal checklist for randomized and nonrandomized trials), and rated the quality of evidence (GRADE tool). Results: We identified 22 original papers reporting 19 different studies. Of these, 17 used randomized controlled trial designs. Three studies reported data on pain severity, and 2 studies reported data on pain interference outcomes with one study reporting positive effect on both outcomes. Outcomes for physical symptoms were reported in 13 studies with 6 studies reporting positive effect. The quality of evidence was moderate for pain outcomes. For physical symptoms, one study was rated as moderate; the rest were rated as low n = 8 and very low n = 4 quality. Conclusions: There is some evidence to suggest that self-management interventions delivered either online, face-to-face, or group-based consisting of booklet, leaflet, or manuals are effective in improving pain and physical symptoms. Findings suggest the need for theoretically plausible high-quality clinical trials of pain and physical symptom self-management among culturally diverse people with HIV

Are Kinesiologists Ready to Communicate? Merits of a Practicum Course on Plain Language Communication

The submitted presentation material summarizes a project presented at the 2021 American College of Sports Medicine Virtual Annual Meeting and World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®. The project which the presentation is based on is titled, “Towards Knowledge Translation in Kinesiology: Investigating Barriers and Identifying Opportunities - Part 1.” The uploaded documents consist of the following material: (a) the presentation abstract, and (b) a copy of the e-poster presented at the virtual event. Please follow the social media profiles of Dr. Jafrā Thomas, for timely project updates (e.g., ResearchGate dot net and GoogleScholar dot com). You may find related work from this lab group published to Cal Poly Digital Commons under the Kinesiology and Public Health section (see URL): https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/kinesp/ . Finally, the e-poster contains several interactive prompts that are great learning activities. Using the presentation material in educational settings is encouraged

Understanding Cultivar-Specificity and Soil Determinants of the <i>Cannabis</i> Microbiome

Understanding microbial partnerships with the medicinally and economically important crop Cannabis has the potential to affect agricultural practice by improving plant fitness and production yield. Furthermore, Cannabis presents an interesting model to explore plant-microbiome interactions as it produces numerous secondary metabolic compounds. Here we present the first description of the endorhiza-, rhizosphere-, and bulk soil-associated microbiome of five distinct Cannabis cultivars. Bacterial communities of the endorhiza showed significant cultivar-specificity. When controlling cultivar and soil type the microbial community structure was significantly different between plant cultivars, soil types, and between the endorhiza, rhizosphere and soil. The influence of soil type, plant cultivar and sample type differentiation on the microbial community structure provides support for a previously published two-tier selection model, whereby community composition across sample types is determined mainly by soil type, while community structure within endorhiza samples is determined mainly by host cultivar.</p

GamerFit-ASD beta test: adapting an evidence-based exergaming and telehealth coaching intervention for autistic youth

BackgroundHealth disparities faced by autistic youth are exacerbated by inadequate physical activity (PA) and sleep, whereas healthy PA and sleep may improve mood and function. Adaptive Game Squad (AGS) is an evidence-based telehealth coaching and exergaming intervention to improve PA and sleep for adolescents with diverse neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions. This study aimed to adapt AGS for autistic youth ages 10–15 years; beta-test the modified intervention for feasibility, accessibility, and engagement; and further refine the intervention for a larger planned demonstration pilot.MethodsInterdisciplinary experts adapted AGS to create GamerFit-ASD, a 12-week intervention that included a progressive exergame schedule, Fitbit step-tracking, weekly health coaching, and health tip/exercise videos. For beta testing, the intervention was shortened to a 4-week trial with 5 parent/child dyads. Children completed exit surveys and parents and children were interviewed about intervention feasibility, accessibility, and engagement. Exit survey data were summarized with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed using a modified grounded-theory approach.ResultsAll participants (n = 5; ages 10–14 years) attended all 4 planned coaching sessions and completed an average of 9 of 12 planned exergame challenges for a weekly average of 50 min. All participants reported enjoying coaching sessions, 4 of 5 reported enjoying exergames, and 3 of 5 reported enjoying on-demand exercise videos. In interviews, children generally reported finding participation feasible, exergaming challenges active and fun, and coaches friendly and helpful. Parents reported high feasibility of supporting their children's involvement and valued child goal-setting and intervention flexibility; however, some found telehealth sessions overly scripted. Several adaptations to coaching scripts, coach training, and parent materials were made for the larger demonstration pilot, including changes to reduce scriptedness of coaching sessions, to provide parents with more information specific to autism, and to make video content more appropriate to children's needs/preferences.DiscussionA telehealth coaching and exergaming intervention appears feasible, accessible, and engaging for autistic youth aged 10–15. Future studies with larger, more diverse samples, longer study durations and/or follow-up periods, and more rigorous study designs are needed to advance understanding of the appropriateness and effectiveness of this type of intervention for this population

Pain in people living with HIV and its association with healthcare resource use, well-being and functional status

Objective: We describe the prevalence of pain and its associations with healthcare resource utilisation and quality-of-life. Design: The POPPY Study recruited three cohorts: older PLWH (≥50 years, n = 699), younger demographically/lifestyle similar PLWH (<50 years, n = 374) and older demographically/lifestyle similar HIV-negative (≥50 years, n = 304) people from April 2013-February 2016. Methods: Current pain and pain-related healthcare use was collected via a self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression assessed between-group differences in the prevalence of pain in the past month and current pain after controlling for potential confounders. Associations between current pain and healthcare resource use, reported joint problems, depressive symptoms, quality-of-life and functional status were assessed in PLWH using Mann-Whitney U and Chi-squared tests. Results: Pain in the past month was reported by 473/676 (70.0%) older PLWH, 224/357 (62.7%) younger PLWH and 188/295 (63.7%) older HIV-negative controls (p = 0.03), with current pain reported in 330 (48.8%), 134 (37.5%) and 116 (39.3%), respectively (p = 0.0007). Older PLWH were more likely to experience current pain, even after adjustment for confounders. Of those with pain in the past month, 56/412 (13.6%) had missed days of work or study due to pain, and 520 (59%) had seen a doctor about their pain. PLWH experiencing current painhad more depressive symptoms, poorer quality-of-life on all domains, and greater functional impairment, regardless of age group. Conclusions: Even in the effective ART era, pain remains common in PLWH and has a major impact on quality-of-life and associated healthcare and societal costs. Interventions are required to assist clinicians and PLWH to proactively manage pain

Living on the edge: stress and activation of stress responses promote lifespan extension

Oxidative stress constitutes the basis of physio-pathological situations such as neurodegenerative diseases and aging. However, sublethal exposure to toxic molecules such as reactive oxygen species can induce cellular responses that result in stress fitness. Studies in Schizosaccharomyces pombe have recently showed that the Sty1 MAP kinase, known to be activated by hydrogen peroxide and other cellular stressors, plays a pivotal role in promoting fitness and longevity when it becomes activated by calorie restriction, a situation which induces oxidative metabolism and reactive oxygen species production. Activation of the MAP kinase by calorie restriction during logarithmic growth induces a transcriptional anti-stress response including genes essential to promote lifespan extension. Importantly enough, the lifespan promotion exerted by deletion of the pka1 or sck2 genes, inactivating the two main nutrient-responsive pathways, is dependent on the presence of a functional Sty1 stress pathway, since double mutants also lacking Sty1 or its main substrate Atf1 do not display extended viability. In this Research Perspective, we review these findings in relation to previous reports and extend important aspects of the original study. We propose that moderate stress levels that are not harmful for cells can make them stronger

Disk Evolution in OB Associations - Deep Spitzer/IRAC Observations of IC 1795

We present a deep Spitzer/IRAC survey of the OB association IC 1795 carried out to investigate the evolution of protoplanetary disks in regions of massive star formation. Combining Spitzer/IRAC data with Chandra/ACIS observations, we find 289 cluster members. An additional 340 sources with an infrared excess, but without X-ray counterpart, are classified as cluster member candidates. Both surveys are complete down to stellar masses of about 1 Msun. We present pre-main sequence isochrones computed for the first time in the Spitzer/IRAC colors. The age of the cluster, determined via the location of the Class III sources in the [3.6]-[4.5]/[3.6] color-magnitude diagram, is in the range of 3 - 5 Myr. As theoretically expected, we do not find any systematic variation in the spatial distribution of disks within 0.6 pc of either O-type star in the association. However, the disk fraction in IC 1795 does depend on the stellar mass: sources with masses >2 Msun have a disk fraction of ~20%, while lower mass objects (2-0.8 Msun) have a disk fraction of ~50%. This implies that disks around massive stars have a shorter dissipation timescale.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

A Spitzer Census of Transitional Protoplanetary Disks with AU-Scale Inner Holes

[abridged] Protoplanetary disks with AU-scale inner clearings, often referred to as transitional disks, provide a unique sample for understanding disk dissipation mechanisms and possible connections to planet formation. Observations of young stellar clusters with the Spitzer Space Telescope have amassed mid-infrared spectral energy distributions for thousands of star-disk systems from which transition disks can be identified. From a sample of 8 relatively nearby young regions (d <= 400 pc), we have identified about 20 such objects, which we term "classical" transition disks, spanning a wide range of stellar age and mass. We also identified two additional categories representing more ambiguous cases: "warm excess" objects with transition-like spectral energy distributions but moderate excess at 5.8 microns, and "weak excess" objects with smaller 24 micron excess that may be optically thin or exhibit advanced dust grain growth and settling. From existing Halpha emission measurements, we find evidence for different accretion activity among the three categories, with a majority of the classical and warm excess transition objects still accreting gas through their inner holes and onto the central stars, while a smaller fraction of the weak transition objects are accreting at detectable rates. We find a possible age dependence to the frequency of classical transition objects, with fractions relative to the total population of disks in a given region of a few percent at 1-2 Myr rising to 10-20% at 3-10 Myr. The trend is even stronger if the weak and warm excess objects are included. Classical transition disks appear to be less common, and weak transition disks more common, around lower-mass stars (M <= 0.3 Msun).Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures; accepted to Ap

Evolution of Susceptibility to Ingested Double-Stranded RNAs in Caenorhabditis Nematodes

International audienceBACKGROUND: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is able to take up external double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and mount an RNA interference response, leading to the inactivation of specific gene expression. The uptake of ingested dsRNAs into intestinal cells has been shown to require the SID-2 transmembrane protein in C. elegans. By contrast, C. briggsae was shown to be naturally insensitive to ingested dsRNAs, yet could be rendered sensitive by transgenesis with the C. elegans sid-2 gene. Here we aimed to elucidate the evolution of the susceptibility to external RNAi in the Caenorhabditis genus. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We study the sensitivity of many new species of Caenorhabditis to ingested dsRNAs matching a conserved actin gene sequence from the nematode Oscheius tipulae. We find ample variation in the Caenorhabditis genus in the ability to mount an RNAi response. We map this sensitivity onto a phylogenetic tree, and show that sensitivity or insensitivity have evolved convergently several times. We uncover several evolutionary losses in sensitivity, which may have occurred through distinct mechanisms. We could render C. remanei and C. briggsae sensitive to ingested dsRNAs by transgenesis of the Cel-sid-2 gene. We thus provide tools for RNA interference studies in these species. We also show that transgenesis by injection is possible in many Caenorhabditis species. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of animals to take up dsRNAs or to respond to them by gene inactivation is under rapid evolution in the Caenorhabditis genus. This study provides a framework and tools to use RNA interference and transgenesis in various Caenorhabditis species for further comparative and evolutionary studies