Physical Therapy Treatment Of A Patient With Chronic Low Back Pain And A Previous History Of A Substance Abuse Disorder: A Case Report

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that an estimated 27 million people in the United States have reported use of an illicit drug within the past month. Low back pain continues to be a major cause of disability in the United States, with an estimated 70 percent of adults experiencing low back pain at some point during their lifetime. Active exercise programs that include pain education and cognitive behavioral therapy demonstrated significant superior outcome at reducing pain intensity, anxiety/depression, disability, and fear-avoidance compared to therapeutic exercise and manual therapy alone for patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. With both illicit and prescription drug use rising in the US, it is likely clinicians will encounter patients with substance abuse disorders, as well as opiate induced hyperalgesia. The use of psychologically informed practice may be beneficial in this patient population. There is ample research on various approaches to treating low back pain, however there is limited research investigating the efficacy of treatment for patients with low back pain and a previous history of opioid dependency. The purpose of this case report was to describe the physical therapy treatment, including pain management strategies, for a patient with low back pain, a previous history of opioid dependency (oxycodone), and apparent opiate induced hyperalgesia.https://dune.une.edu/pt_studcrposter/1103/thumbnail.jp

Structural similarity in chiral-achiral multi-component crystals

YesThe creation of multi-component crystals between chiral and achiral components has gained increased interest in recent years. In many cases the overall crystal structure is similar with the creation of a pseudo-inversion centre in the enantiopure case. This allows for the formation of solid solutions between the two extremes, which may have applications within chiral resolution. Utilising a combination of database mining, computational prediction and experimental screening, the frequency of formation for such materials has been investigated showing that for co-crystals this occurs more frequently than for salts, though there is a limited number of samples to draw structural conclusions. Computational modelling indicates the prediction of such systems can be challenging due to the similarities in energy of many crystal structures, so development of tools to design such systems is required to fully utilise these concepts.The Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program

PCR array and protein array studies demonstrate that IL-1β (interleukin-1β) stimulates the expression and secretion of multiple cytokines and chemokines in human adipocytes

The role of IL-1β in regulating the expression and secretion of cytokines and chemokines by human adipocytes was examined. Adipocytes were incubated with human IL-1β for 4 or 24 h. The expression of a panel of 84 cytokine/chemokine genes was probed using PCR arrays. IL-1β stimulated the expression of >30 cytokine/chemokine genes on the arrays; 15 showed >100-fold increases in mRNA at 4 or 24 h including CSF3, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL12 and IL8. CSF3 exhibited a 10,000-fold increase in mRNA at 4 h. ADIPOQ was among the genes whose expression was inhibited. Protein arrays were used to examine the secretion of cytokines/chemokines from adipocytes. IL-1β stimulated the secretion of multiple cytokines/chemokines including MCP-1, IL-8, IP-10, MIP-1α and MCP-4. The most responsive was IP-10, which exhibited a 5,000-fold increase in secretion with IL-1β. IL-1β is likely to play a substantial role in stimulating the inflammatory response in human adipocytes in obesity

A Link Between Methylglyoxal and Heart Failure During HIV-1 Infection

Early-onset heart failure (HF) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1) infection (PLWH), yet the molecular causes for this remain poorly understood. Herein NOD.Cg- PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ humanized mice (Hu-mice), plasma from PLWH, and autopsied cardiac tissues from deceased HIV seropositive individuals were used to assess if there is a link between the glycolysis byproduct methylglyoxal (MG) and HF in the setting of HIV-1 infection. At five weeks post HIV infection, Hu-mice developed grade III-IV diastolic dysfunction (DD) with an associated two-fold increase in plasma MG. At sixteen-seventeen weeks post infection, cardiac ejection fraction and fractional shortening also declined by 26 and 35%, and plasma MG increased to four-fold higher than uninfected controls. Histopathological and biochemical analyses of cardiac tissues from Hu-mice 17 weeks post-infection affirmed MG increase with a concomitant decrease in expression of the MG-degrading enzyme glyoxalase-1 (Glo1). The endothelial cell marker CD31 was found to be lower, and coronary microvascular leakage and myocardial fibrosis were prominent. Increasing expression of Glo1 in Hu-mice five weeks post-infection using a single dose of an engineered AAV2/9 (1.7 × 1012 virion particles/kg), attenuated the increases in plasma and cardiac MG levels. Increasing Glo1 also blunted microvascular leakage, fibrosis, and HF seen at sixteen weeks post-infection, without changes in plasma viral loads. In plasma fromvirally suppressed PLWH,MG was also 3.7-fold higher. In autopsied cardiac tissues from seropositive, HIV individuals with low viral log, MG was 4.2-fold higher and Glo1 was 50% lower compared to uninfected controls. These data show for the first time a causal link between accumulation of MG and HF in the setting of HIV infection

Operating of Gasoline Engine Using Naphtha and Octane Boosters from Waste as Fuel Additives

Fuel quality is an important indicator for the suitability of alternative fuel for the utilization in internal combustion (IC) engines. In this paper, light naphtha and fusel oil have been introduced as fuel additives for local low octane gasoline to operate a spark ignition (SI) engine. Investigated fuel samples have been prepared based on volume and denoted as GN10 (90% local gasoline and 10% naphtha), GF10 (90% local gasoline and 10% fusel oil), and GN5F5 (90% local gasoline, 5% naphtha and 5% fusel oil) in addition to G100 (Pure local gasoline). Engine tests have been conducted to evaluate engine performance and exhaust emissions at increasing speed and constant wide throttle opening (WTO). The study results reveal varying engine performance obtained with GN10 and GF10 with increasing engine speed compared to local gasoline fuel (G). Moreover, GN5F5 shows higher brake power, lower brake specific fuel consumption, and higher brake thermal efficiency compared to other investigated fuel samples over the whole engine speed. The higher CO and CO2 emissions were obtained with GN10 and GF10, respectively, over the entire engine speed and the minimum CO emissions observed with GN5F5. Moreover, the higher NOx emission was observed with pure local gasoline while the lowest was observed with GF10. On the other hand, GN5F5 shows slightly higher NOx emissions than GF10, which is lower than GN10 and gasoline. Accordingly, GN5F5 shows better engine performance and exhaust emissions, which can enhance the local low gasoline fuel quality using the locally available fuel additives. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This project has been funded by King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under project number RSP‐2021/167

SPTBN5, Encoding the βV-Spectrin Protein, Leads to a Syndrome of Intellectual Disability, Developmental Delay, and Seizures

Whole exome sequencing has provided significant opportunities to discover novel candidate genes for intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. Variants in the spectrin genes SPTAN1, SPTBN1, SPTBN2, and SPTBN4 have been associated with neurological disorders; however, SPTBN5 gene-variants have not been associated with any human disorder. This is the first report that associates SPTBN5 gene variants (ENSG00000137877: c.266A>C; p.His89Pro, c.9784G>A; p.Glu3262Lys, c.933C>G; p.Tyr311Ter, and c.8809A>T; p.Asn2937Tyr) causing neurodevelopmental phenotypes in four different families. The SPTBN5-associated clinical traits in our patients include intellectual disability (mild to severe), aggressive tendencies, accompanied by variable features such as craniofacial and physical dysmorphisms, autistic behavior, and gastroesophageal reflux. We also provide a review of the existing literature related to other spectrin genes, which highlights clinical features partially overlapping with SPTBN5