The prevention of injuries in contact flag football

American flag football is a non-tackle, contact sport with many moderate to severe contact-type injuries reported. A previous prospective injury surveillance study by the authors revealed a high incidence of injuries to the fingers, face, knee, shoulder and ankle. The objectives of the study were to conduct a pilot-prospective injury prevention study in an attempt to significantly reduce the incidence and the severity of injuries as compared to a historical cohort, as well as to provide recommendations for a future prospective injury prevention study. A prospective injury prevention study was conducted involving 724 amateur male (mean age: 20.0 +/- A 3.1 years) and 114 female (mean age: 21.2 +/- A 7.2 years) players. Four prevention measures were implemented: the no-pocket rule, self-fitting mouth guards, ankle braces (for those players with recurrent ankle sprains) and an injury treatment information brochure. An injury surveillance questionnaire was administered to record all time-loss injuries sustained in game sessions. There was a statistically significant reduction in the number of injured players, the number of finger/hand injuries, the incidence rate and the incidence proportion between the two cohorts (p < 0.05). This one-season pilot prevention study has provided preliminary evidence that finger/hand injuries can be significantly reduced in flag football. Prevention strategies for a longer, prospective, randomised-controlled injury prevention study should include the strict enforcement of the no-pocket rule, appropriate head gear, the use of comfortable-fitting ankle braces and mouth guards, and changing the blocking rules of the game

Liquid co-polymers as biodegradable surgical sealant

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SOURCES OF RESISTANCE OF SPRING BARLEY TO HARMFUL ORGANISMS IN COMBINATION WITH VALUE ECONOMIC FEATURES

During 2013-2016, resistance to biotic factors (head smut, barley blotches, corn flies) and valuable economic features (yield capacity, plant performance, 1000-grain weight, protein and starch contents) of 150 barley accessions of different geographic origin were determined on provocative background of frit flies and leaf diseases as well as on artificial infection of head smut. Sources of resistance to harmful organisms in combination with economic characteristics (yield capacity of 1 m2 – 64.8-95.0% related to the standard; plant performance – 80.1-136.4% related to the standard; 1000-grain weight- 40.8-56.3 g; protein content – 12.1-15.2%; starch content – 57.8-60.7%) were considered as valuable for breeding programs: in particular, 7 accessions with high resistance to head smut (resistance score 8 -9 points) – ‘Naran’, ‘Yasnyy’, ‘Shchedryy’, ‘Nemchinovskiy 36’, and ‘Buyan’ from Russia, ‘Statok’ from Ukraine and ‘AC Ranger’ from Canada; 1 accession with resistance to barley blotches (resistance score 5 points) - 08-696 from Ukraine; 3 accessions with group resistance (to head smut and barley blotches; resistance scores 9/8 and 6/5 points, respectively) – ‘CDC Mindon’, ‘Ascension’ and ‘Sedna’ from Canada; 1 accession with complex resistance (to head smut, barley blotches and frit flies; resistance score 9, 5 and 5, respectively) – ‘Skhidnyi’ from Ukrain

Development of the filamentous fungus Thermothelomyces heterothallica C1 into a next-generation production platform for human and animal vaccines

engineering. The thermophilic fungus Thermothelomyces heterothallica is a robust and versatile fungal expression system for the rapid production of proteins at very high levels. In the last 6 years, the C1 protein production platform has been further improved to become a safe and efficient expression system with the prime objective of speeding up the development and production of commercial scale human and animal vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, biosimilars, as well as other therapeutic proteins at larger quantities and lower cost. C1 is a very efficient platform to produce antigens, even to generate multicomponent vaccines. The production levels of engineered C1 strains are similar in terms of yield and purity, reaching in some cases more than 2.5 g/L (in 4-5 days). In contrast to other vaccine platforms, C1 has a higher safety profile, and production can be scaled up in a more cost-effective manner using standard microbial E. coli fermenters. Stable cell lines have been developed to produce different antigens as influenza, neuraminidase, west Nile, rabies, rift valley fever..etc. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

FOOT PRONATION AND STRESS FRACTURES OF THE FEMUR AND TIBIA: A PROSPECTIVE BIOMECHANICAL STUDY

The relation between foot pronation and stress fractures has been suggested. However, evidence based literature is lacking and contradictory. The purpose of this study was to examine whether dynamic parameters of foot pronation are related to the development of stress fractures of the femur and tibia. 2 weeks prior to beginning of 14 weeks of basic military training, 473 infantry recruits were inrolled into the study. 2D analysis was performed to measure foot pronation during treadmill walking. The soldiers were examined during the training course at two weeks intervals for stress fractures. The odds ratio was calculated for each dynamic pronation parameter in relation to the stress fractures. 10% of the 405 soldiers who finished the training were diagnosed with stress fractures of the femur and tibia. Longer pronation time was related to risk reduction for the development of stress fractures and may have a protective effect during an extended period of training

Preclinical Safety Evaluation in Rats of a Polymeric Matrix Containing an siRNA Drug Used as a Local and Prolonged Delivery System for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy

Conventional chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer are mainly palliative. RNA interference (RNAi)-based drugs present the potential for a new targeted treatment. LOcal Drug EluteR (LODERTM) is a novel biodegradable polymeric matrix that shields drugs against enzymatic degradation and releases small interfering RNA (siRNA) against G12D-mutated KRAS (siG12D). siG12D-LODER has successfully passed a phase 1/2a clinical trial. Such a formulation necessitates biocompatibility and safety studies. We describe the safety and toxicity studies with siG12D-LODER in 192 Hsd:Sprague Dawley rats, after repeated subcutaneous administrations (days 1, 14, and 28). Animals were sacrificed on days 29 and 42 (recovery phase). In all groups, no adverse effects were noted, and all animals showed favorable local and systemic tolerability. Histopathologically, LODER implantation resulted in the expected capsule formation, composed of a thin fibrotic tissue. On the interface between the cavity and the capsule, a single layer composed of macrophages and multinucleated giant cells was observed. No difference was noted between the placebo and siG12D-LODER groups. These findings provide valuable information for future preclinical studies with siRNA-bearing biodegradable polymers and for the safety aspects of RNAi-based drugs as a targeted therapy

Subchronic Pulmonary Pathology, Iron Overload, and Transcriptional Activity after Libby Amphibole Exposure in Rat Models of Cardiovascular Disease

Background: Surface-available iron (Fe) is proposed to contribute to asbestos-induced toxicity through the production of reactive oxygen species