A randomised trial into the effect of an isolated hip abductor strengthening programme and a functional motor control programme on knee kinematics and hip muscle strength

Background: Dynamic knee valgus and internal femoral rotation are proposed to be contributory risk factors for patellofemoral pain and anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Multimodal interventions including hip abductor strengthening or functional motor control programmes have a positive impact of pain, however their effect on knee kinematics and muscle strength is less clear. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of isolated hip abductor strengthening and a functional motor control exercise on knee kinematics and hip abductor strength. Methods: This prospective, randomised, repeated measures design included 29 asymptomatic volunteers presenting with increase knee valgus and femoral internal rotation. Participants completed either isolated hip abductor strengthening or a functional motor control exercise for 5 weeks. Knee kinematics were measured using inertial sensors during 2 functional activities and hip abductor strength measured using a load cell during isometric hip abduction. Results: There were no significant differences in dynamic knee valgus and internal rotation following the isolated hip abductor or functional motor control intervention, and no significant differences between the groups for knee angles. Despite this, the actual magnitude of reduction in valgus was 10° and 5° for the functional motor control group and strengthening group respectively. The actual magnitude of reduction in internal rotation was 9° and 18° for the functional motor control group and strengthening group respectively. Therefore there was a tendency towards clinically significant improvements in knee kinematics in both exercise groups. A statistically significant improvement in hip abductor strength was evident for the functional motor control group (27% increase; p = 0.008) and strengthening group (35% increase; p = 0.009) with no significant difference between the groups being identified (p = 0.475). Conclusions: Isolated hip strengthening and functional motor control exercises resulted in non-statistically significant changes in knee kinematics, however there was a clear trend towards clinically meaningful reductions in valgus and internal rotation. Both groups demonstrated similar significant gains in hip abductor strength suggesting\ud either approach could be used to strengthen the hip abductors

Understanding catalytic biomass conversion through data mining

Catalytic conversion of biomass is a key challenge that we chemists face in the twenty-first century. Worldwide, research is conducted into obtaining bulk chemicals, polymers and fuels. Our project centres on glucose valorisation via furfural derivatives using catalytic hydrogenation. We present here new results for a set of 48 bimetallic catalysts supported on silica, and demonstrate the application of data mining tools to identify major trends in the data. These results are combined with a full factorial data set for the hydrogenation of 5-ethoxymethylfurfural over alumina-supported transition metal catalysts. All the catalysts in the combined datasets were synthesized and tested for performance under identical conditions. This, combined with the fact that no combinations of metals were left out, enables the use of advanced data mining tools. The paper describes the data and highlights the relevant trends from a chemist’s viewpoint

Protein-coding variants implicate novel genes related to lipid homeostasis contributing to body-fat distribution

Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF ≥5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF &lt;5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants.</p

Valorisation of Biowastes for the Production of Green Materials Using Chemical Methods

With crude oil reserves dwindling, the hunt for a sustainable alternative feedstock for fuels and materials for our society continues to expand. The biorefinery concept has enjoyed both a surge in popularity and also vocal opposition to the idea of diverting food-grade land and crops for this purpose. The idea of using the inevitable wastes arising from biomass processing, particularly farming and food production, is, therefore, gaining more attention as the feedstock for the biorefinery. For the three main components of biomass—carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins—there are long-established processes for using some of these by-products. However, the recent advances in chemical technologies are expanding both the feedstocks available for processing and the products that be obtained. Herein, this review presents some of the more recent developments in processing these molecules for green materials, as well as case studies that bring these technologies and materials together into final products for applied usage

Solubility of bio-sourced feedstocks in ‘green’ solvents

A group of 14 different bio-sourced, renewable feedstocks (homoserine, 1; glutamic acid, 2; aspartic acid, 3; 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, 4; fumaric acid, 5; oxalacetic acid, 6; tartaric acid, 7; malic acid, 8; succinic acid, 9; levulinic acid, 10; γ-hydroxybutyrolactone, 11; xylitol, 12; mannitol, 13; sorbitol, 14) have been examined for their solubility/miscibility in a variety of ‘green’ solvents, including water, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), and ionic liquids. Two other bio-based compounds 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 15, and D-xylose, 16, were studied in selected solvents. Trends in solubility have been assessed so that these data may be extrapolated to help predict solubilities of other related compounds. For example, 10, 11 and 15 all demonstrated appreciable solubility in scCO2, as they possess weak intermolecular interactions. The dicarboxylic acids studied (4–9) all proved soluble in modified scCO2 (by use of MeOH as a cosolvent). While the polyols (12–14) and 1 were insoluble in scCO2 but water of various pHs and ionic liquids proved adept at their dissolution. Some of the amino acids studied (2 and 3) were only soluble in water with an adjustment of pH

Hydrolysis of chitosan to yield levulinic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in water under microwave irradiation

A novel route has been developed that yields levulinic acid (4-oxopentanoic acid, LA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) from chitosan. Hydrolysis of chitosan was performed in the presence of a range of Lewis acids with SnCl4·5H2O providing the best results. All reactions were performed in sealed vessels under microwave irradiation at 200 °C for 30 min. Typical pressures achieved were 17 to 19 bar. 23.9 wt% LA was produced from 100 mg chitosan using 0.24 mmol SnCl4·5H2O and 4 mL water. Under more dilute conditions, 10.0 wt% 5-HMF was obtained using 0.12 mmol SnCl4·5H2O and 15 mL water. We propose that under more concentrated reaction conditions the 5-HMF formed reacts further to produce LA. When chitin is treated similarly, no 5-HMF is produced but up to 12.7 wt% LA can be obtained. For comparison, 32.0 wt% LA was produced from 100 mg glucosamine hydrochloride using 0.26 mmol SnCl4·5H2O and 20 mL water. This corresponds to a yield of 59.4%. The SnCl4 forms SnO2 and HCl in solution and under similar conditions using SnO2 and HCl, chitosan formed 27.4 wt% LA