Effectiveness of Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Global, regional, and national burden of low back pain, 1990–2020, its attributable risk factors, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Low back pain is highly prevalent and the main cause of years lived with disability (YLDs). We present the most up-to-date global, regional, and national data on prevalence and YLDs for low back pain from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021. Methods Population-based studies from 1980 to 2019 identified in a systematic review, international surveys, US medical claims data, and dataset contributions by collaborators were used to estimate the prevalence and YLDs for low back pain from 1990 to 2020, for 204 countries and territories. Low back pain was defined as pain between the 12th ribs and the gluteal folds that lasted a day or more; input data using alternative definitions were adjusted in a network meta-regression analysis. Nested Bayesian meta-regression models were used to estimate prevalence and YLDs by age, sex, year, and location. Prevalence was projected to 2050 by running a regression on prevalence rates using Socio-demographic Index as a predictor, then multiplying them by projected population estimates. Findings In 2020, low back pain affected 619 million (95% uncertainty interval 554–694) people globally, with a projection of 843 million (759–933) prevalent cases by 2050. In 2020, the global age-standardised rate of YLDs was 832 per 100 000 (578–1070). Between 1990 and 2020, age-standardised rates of prevalence and YLDs decreased by 10·4% (10·9–10·0) and 10·5% (11·1–10·0), respectively. A total of 38·8% (28·7–47·0) of YLDs were attributed to occupational factors, smoking, and high BMI. Interpretation Low back pain remains the leading cause of YLDs globally, and in 2020, there were more than half a billion prevalent cases of low back pain worldwide. While age-standardised rates have decreased modestly over the past three decades, it is projected that globally in 2050, more than 800 million people will have low back pain. Challenges persist in obtaining primary country-level data on low back pain, and there is an urgent need for more high-quality, primary, country-level data on both prevalence and severity distributions to improve accuracy and monitor change. Funding Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Cost optimality and nZEB target in building renovation of Portuguese residential buildings

Promoting the improvement of the overall energy performance of buildings is a relevant part of the European climate action and the Roadmap for moving towards a competitive low carbon economy in 2050, with an expectation of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by around 90% when compared to 1990 values, in the area of the built environment. The recast of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduced the goal of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) for all new buildings from January 1st, 2021 and plans should be drawn to stimulate the transformation of existing buildings that are refurbished into the same concept. EPBD also requires that all European Member States must ensure that the minimum energy performance requirements for buildings are set to achieve optimal levels, i.e. the energy performance levels that lead to the minimum cost during the life cycle. Therefore, Cost Optimality and nZEB are two fundamental concepts within the current European Union policy related to the energy performance of buildings and consequently related to climate change mitigation and non-renewable resources consumption, with Cost Optimality mainly focused on costs and nZEB focused on low energy consumption levels and on site renewables harvesting. In this context, this paper, using two characteristic buildings of the Portuguese residential building stock, aims at presenting the results that emerged from the analysis and identification of the most cost-effective packages of renovation measures needed to adapt existing buildings to zero energy balance and comparing them with those resulting from the calculation of cost-optimal levels.The investigation of the trade-offs between a renovation towards zero energy balance and a cost optimal renovation without energy use restrictions is relevant to provide clues to the development of national plans for increasing the number of nZEB and to provide appropriate financing and other instruments to catalyze this transformation

Oxygen conditioning effect on an in vitro co-culture model of tendon-to-bone interface

Tendon-to-bone interface comprises a heterotypic cellular niche. The native interface is hypovascular, suggesting that the junction is physiologically hypoxic. As it bridges tendon and bone, which require different oxygen concentrations, a tight coordination of different oxygen concentrations along the junction must be considered when trying to mimic and understand biological events occurring within the tissue. Herein, an optimized in vitro co-culture model of tendon-derived cells (hTDCs) and pre-osteoblasts (pre-OBs) [1] was used to study the effect of a restricted oxygen environment on cell behavior.Hospital da Prelada (Porto, Portugal) for lipoaspirates and tendon samples; ERC Grant CoG MagTendon nr 772817, the Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000021, HORIZON 2020 under the TEAMING Grant agreement No 739572 - The Discoveries CTR and FCT - PhD grant of IC (PB/DB/128088/2016

Building inclusive preschool classrooms: How desirable and feasible is a set of strategies that facilitate teacher-child relationships?

Positive teacher-child relationships promote children’s engagement, as children feel more secure to explore and participate in free or oriented activities. For children with disabilities, a context wherein they can receive the support to maintain a positive engagement in different activities is even more relevant. A scarcity of research exists on how to promote ECEC quality, namely, how to facilitate teacher-child interactions in inclusive environments. This study aims to evaluate preschool teachers’ opinions about the desirability and feasibility of a set of empirically validated strategies to improve teacher-child interactions in ECEC classrooms, for the group and children with disabilities. The participants were 89 Portuguese preschool teachers. Based on a non-systematic literature review, a questionnaire composed of 22 strategies to facilitate teacher-child interactions (in 4 dimensions: emotionally responsive interactions, classroom management, attend to children’s perspectives, and scaffolding learning) was developed. Along with the questionnaire, a set of socio-demographic variables was also collected. ECEC teachers scored significantly higher in the desirability subscale compared with the feasibility subscale in all dimensions and at both the child and the group level. This gap between teachers’ perceived desirability and feasibility provides important insights regarding the dimensions which are important to reinforce in ECEC teachers’ education and professional development. The mean difference between the desirability and feasibility subscales registered a higher effect size at the child’s level than at the group’s level, confirming that the inclusion of children with disabilities in preschool settings remains a challenge. Moreover, the effect size was small to moderate in the Emotionally Responsive Interactions dimension for both child and group levels. These results are aligned with previous studies stating that among different self-identified dimensions for improvement, emotional support is the less evoked by ECEC teachers. Across all dimensions, the main reason teachers give for difficulty in feasibility, both at the group and child’s level, is lack of knowledge. Overall, understanding the reasons teachers attribute to the difference between the strategies’ desirability and feasibility informs the assessment of teacher education needs and might be operationalized as a new observation instrument.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optimization and establishment of a co-culture model to study cellular interactions in tendon-to-bone interface

Tendon detachment from its bony insertion is one of the most frequent injuries occurring in the musculoskeletal interface, constituting an unmet challenge in orthopaedics. Tendon-to-bone integration occurs at the enthesis, which is characterized by a complex structure organized in a gradient of cells and microenvironments. Hence, the maintenance of a heterotypic cellular niche is critical for tissue functionality and homeostasis. Replicating this unique complexity constitutes a challenge when addressing tendon-to-bone regeneration and interfacial tissue engineering strategies. Currently, mechanisms presiding to tendon-to-bone interface healing are not yet fully understood, particularly the interactions between tendon and bone cells in the orchestration of interfacial repair versus regeneration. Therefore, this study focused on the hypothesis that interactions between human tendon-derived cells (hTDCs) and pre-osteoblasts (pre-OB) can initiate a cascade of events, potentially leading to interfacial regeneration. Thus, hTDCs and pre-OB (pre-differentiated human adipose-derived stem cells) were used. Herein, five different ratios between basal and osteogenic media (100:0,75:25,50:50,25:75,0:100) were assessed to estimate their influence on cell behaviour and identify the ideal parameters for simultaneously supporting tenogenic and osteogenic differentiation before establishing a co-culture. Tenogenic and osteogenic differentiation were assessed through the expression of tendon and bone markers, mineralization (alizarin red, AZ) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) quantification. Results showed that hTDCs exhibited osteogenic differentiation potential when cultured in the presence of osteogenic media, as demonstrated by an increase in ALP activity and mineralization. Pre-OB expressed osteogenic markers (OCN, OPN) in all media conditions confirming osteogenic commitment, which was simultaneously confirmed by ALP levels and AZ staining. Thus, three different conditions (100:0, 50:50, 0:100) were chosen for further studies in a direct contact co-culture system. Similarly to single cultures, a significant proliferation was observed in all conditions and mineralization was increased as soon as 7 days of culture. Additionally, osteogenic, tenogenic and interface-relevant markers will be assessed to study the effect of co-culture on phenotype maintenance. In summary, the present work addresses major limitations to clinical translation of cell-based therapies aiming at promoting interfacial regeneration. Particularly, we explored the influence of culture media on the maintenance of tenogenic and osteogenic niches, taking a basic and critical step towards the establishment of more complex cell-based systems. Acknowledgements Authors thank Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the framework of FCT-POPH-FSE, SFRH/BD/96593/2013 (RCA) and IF/00593/2015 (MEG); and to FCT/MCTES and the FSE/POCH, PD/59/2013 for PD/BD/128088/2016 (IC)Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the framework of FCT-POPH-FSE, SFRH/BD/96593/2013 (RCA) and IF/00593/2015(MEG); and to FCT/MCTES and the FSE/POCH, PD/59/2013 for PD/BD/128088/2016 (IC)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Solvent extraction of sodium chloride from codfish (Gadus morhua) salting processing wastewater

Codfish is worldwide mostly consumed salt-cured due to the highly appreciated sensory characteristics promoted by salt. During the salting process huge amounts of salted wastewater are generated – approximately 22% w/w of the codfish – carrying ca. 250 g/L of sodium chloride and ca. 10 g/L of organic compounds, namely proteins and free amino acids. In this study, the salt load of wastewater generated during the salting process of codfish (Gadus morhua) was successfully reduced by ethanol extraction. The effects of time, sample:ethanol ratio, pH and temperature on salt extraction by ethanol addition were assessed by a onevariable-at-a-time approach and then by performing a 32 fractional factorial design. The effects of pH were also assessed in absence of ethanol. The maximum amount of salt precipitated in the wastewater was ca. 33%, at a wastewater-ethanol ratio 1:1 (v/v), at a temperature of 0 °C and after 30 min. Proteins and free amino acids present in the wastewater significantly limited salt precipitation; in a blank solution (salt in water at ca. 250 g/L) a higher amount of salt, ca. 37%, was precipitated in the same conditions. Ethanol and temperature showed a linear effect on salt precipitation for both wastewater and blank solution however ethanol was the driving factor. Changes in pH did not result in salt precipitation either in absence or presence of ethanol. During salt extraction, no precipitation of free amino acids occurred in the wastewater while ca. 1.4% of protein fell into the precipitated phase along with the salt

Drugs for relief of pain in patients with sciatica: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of analgesic and adjuvant pain drugs typically administered in primary care for the management of patients with sciatica

Synthesis and characterization of new thienylpyrrolyl-benzothiazoles as efficient and thermally stable nonlinear optical chromophores

The synthesis and full characterization of new chromophores with second-order nonlinearities containing thienylpyrrolyl and benzothiazolyl moieties are reported. The solvatochromic behavior of the compounds was investigated. The hyperpolarizabilities _ of derivatives 4-6 were measured using hyper-Rayleigh scattering and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to evaluate their thermal stability. The experimental results indicate that good nonlinearity–thermal stability is well balanced specially for chromophores 6b-c, making them good candidates for NLO applications.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi