Impact of Yoga on Low Back Pain and Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

An estimated 70% of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, and recurrence rates can be as high as 85%. Recent studies suggest that yoga – a widely practiced physical/mental discipline – may relieve back pain and reduce functional disability. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing research on the effects of yoga on chronic low back pain and function. Our literature search began April 2011 and continued through October 2011. Cochrane, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Google Scholar, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched electronically. The search terms used were: yoga AND back pain. A total of 58 relevant studies were originally identified through the database searches. Of those, 45 were excluded on the basis of the title and/or review of the abstract. The 13 remaining studies were fully evaluated via a careful review of the full text. On the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 6 studies were excluded, leaving a total of 7 studies to be included in the meta-analyses of the impact of yoga on low back pain and function. Effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference and meta-analyses were completed using a random-effects model. Overall, yoga was found to result in a medium, beneficial effect on chronic low back pain [overall effect size (ES) = 0.58, p\u3c0.001], indicating that subjects practicing yoga reported significantly less pain than control subjects. Yoga subjects also reported significantly less functional disability after the intervention (overall ES = 0.53, p\u3c0.001). Moreover, the improvements in pain and function for yoga subjects remained statistically significant 12-24 weeks after the end of the intervention (overall ES = 0.44-0.54, p≤0.002). In conclusion, yoga practice can significantly reduce pain and increase functional ability in chronic low back pain patients

Comparing and Combining Lexicase Selection and Novelty Search

Lexicase selection and novelty search, two parent selection methods used in evolutionary computation, emphasize exploring widely in the search space more than traditional methods such as tournament selection. However, lexicase selection is not explicitly driven to select for novelty in the population, and novelty search suffers from lack of direction toward a goal, especially in unconstrained, highly-dimensional spaces. We combine the strengths of lexicase selection and novelty search by creating a novelty score for each test case, and adding those novelty scores to the normal error values used in lexicase selection. We use this new novelty-lexicase selection to solve automatic program synthesis problems, and find it significantly outperforms both novelty search and lexicase selection. Additionally, we find that novelty search has very little success in the problem domain of program synthesis. We explore the effects of each of these methods on population diversity and long-term problem solving performance, and give evidence to support the hypothesis that novelty-lexicase selection resists converging to local optima better than lexicase selection

A Versatile, Portable Intravital Microscopy Platform for Studying Beta-cell Biology In Vivo

The pancreatic islet is a complex micro-organ containing numerous cell types, including endocrine, immune, and endothelial cells. The communication of these systems is lost upon isolation of the islets, and therefore the pathogenesis of diabetes can only be fully understood by studying this organized, multicellular environment in vivo. We have developed several adaptable tools to create a versatile platform to interrogate β-cell function in vivo. Specifically, we developed β-cell-selective virally-encoded fluorescent protein biosensors that can be rapidly and easily introduced into any mouse. We then coupled the use of these biosensors with intravital microscopy, a powerful tool that can be used to collect cellular and subcellular data from living tissues. Together, these approaches allowed the observation of in vivo β-cell-specific ROS dynamics using the Grx1-roGFP2 biosensor and calcium signaling using the GcAMP6s biosensor. Next, we utilized abdominal imaging windows (AIW) to extend our in vivo observations beyond single-point terminal measurements to collect longitudinal physiological and biosensor data through repeated imaging of the same mice over time. This platform represents a significant advancement in our ability to study β-cell structure and signaling in vivo, and its portability for use in virtually any mouse model will enable meaningful studies of β-cell physiology in the endogenous islet niche

Spatiotemporal Imaging of Zinc Ions in Zebrafish Live Brain Tissue Enabled by Fluorescent Bionanoprobes

The zebrafish is a powerful model organism to study the mechanisms governing transition metal ions within whole brain tissue. Zinc is one of the most abundant metal ions in the brain, playing a critical pathophysiological role in neurodegenerative diseases. The homeostasis of free, ionic zinc (Zn2+) is a key intersection point in many of these diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. A Zn2+ imbalance can eventuate several disturbances that may lead to the development of neurodegenerative changes. Therefore, compact, reliable approaches that allow the optical detection of Zn2+ across the whole brain would contribute to our current understanding of the mechanisms that underlie neurological disease pathology. We developed an engineered fluorescence protein-based nanoprobe that can spatially and temporally resolve Zn2+ in living zebrafish brain tissue. The self-assembled engineered fluorescence protein on gold nanoparticles was shown to be confined to defined locations within the brain tissue, enabling site specific studies, compared to fluorescent protein-based molecular tools, which diffuse throughout the brain tissue. Two-photon excitation microscopy confirmed the physical and photometrical stability of these nanoprobes in living zebrafish (Danio rerio) brain tissue, while the addition of Zn2+ quenched the nanoprobe fluorescence. Combining orthogonal sensing methods with our engineered nanoprobes will enable the study of imbalances in homeostatic Zn2+ regulation. The proposed bionanoprobe system offers a versatile platform to couple metal ion specific linkers and contribute to the understanding of neurological diseases

Relation Between Age and Unplanned Readmissions After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (Findings from the Nationwide Readmission Database))

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and the HCUP Data Partners for providing the data used in the analysis. List of Supports/Grants Information: The study was supported by a grant from the Research and Development Department at the Royal Stoke Hospital. This work is conducted as a part of PhD for CSK which is supported by Biosensors International.Peer reviewedPostprin

Treatment experiences of Latinas after diagnosis of breast cancer

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138310/1/cncr30702.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138310/2/cncr30702_am.pd

Optimization of dynamic soaring in a flap-gliding seabird affects its large-scale distribution at sea

Dynamic soaring harvests energy from a spatiotemporal wind gradient, allowing albatrosses to glide over vast distances. However, its use is challenging to demonstrate empirically and has yet to be confirmed in other seabirds. Here, we investigate how flap-gliding Manx shearwaters optimize their flight for dynamic soaring. We do so by deriving a new metric, the horizontal wind effectiveness, that quantifies how effectively flight harvests energy from a shear layer. We evaluate this metric empirically for fine-scale trajectories reconstructed from bird-borne video data using a simplified flight dynamics model. We find that the birds’ undulations are phased with their horizontal turning to optimize energy harvesting. We also assess the opportunity for energy harvesting in long-range, GPS-logged foraging trajectories and find that Manx shearwaters optimize their flight to increase the opportunity for dynamic soaring during favorable wind conditions. Our results show how small-scale dynamic soaring affects large-scale Manx shearwater distribution at sea.publishedVersio

Optimization of dynamic soaring in a flap-gliding seabird affects its large-scale distribution at sea

Funding: This work was supported by the University of Oxford Christopher Welch Scholarship (to J.A.K.); ASAB Undergraduate Project Scholarship (to J.A.K.); UKRI BBSRC scholarship grant number BB/M011224/1 (to J.W. and N.G.); The Queen’s College, University of Oxford (to A.L.F.); Junior Research Fellowship at St. John’s College, University of Oxford (to O.P.); Merton College, University of Oxford (to T.G.); Mary Griffiths Award (to T.G.); BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship grant numbers BB/G023913/1 and BB/ G023913/2 (to C.R.); and Jesus College, University of Oxford (to G.K.T.). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 682501) (to G.K.T.)Dynamic soaring harvests energy from a spatiotemporal wind gradient, allowing albatrosses to glide over vast distances. However, its use is challenging to demonstrate empirically and has yet to be confirmed in other seabirds. Here, we investigate how flap-gliding Manx shearwaters optimize their flight for dynamic soaring. We do so by deriving a new metric, the horizontal wind effectiveness, that quantifies how effectively flight harvests energy from a shear layer. We evaluate this metric empirically for fine-scale trajectories reconstructed from bird-borne video data using a simplified flight dynamics model. We find that the birds' undulations are phased with their horizontal turning to optimize energy harvesting. We also assess the opportunity for energy harvesting in long-range, GPS-logged foraging trajectories and find that Manx shearwaters optimize their flight to increase the opportunity for dynamic soaring during favorable wind conditions. Our results show how small-scale dynamic soaring affects large-scale Manx shearwater distribution at sea.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe