6,850 research outputs found
The Attitudes and Beliefs About Manual Therapy Held By Patients Experiencing Low Back Pain: A Scoping Review
Background
Manual therapy (MT) is commonly used to manage low back pain (LBP) and involves a complex interaction between the practitioner and patient. Attitudes and beliefs about MT may play a role in the outcomes seen in patients experiencing LBP. However, knowledge of patients’ attitudes and beliefs regarding MT is currently limited.
Objective
To map the existing published literature on the attitudes and beliefs about MT in patients experiencing LBP.
Design
Scoping Review.
Method
A systematic search was conducted across the PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. Study selection involved screening 1) title and abstracts and 2) full text articles. Data was analyzed to provide a descriptive summary of the studies and to develop themes of patients’ attitudes and beliefs about MT.
Results
A total of 767 records were identified from the initial search strategy. Following study selection, 14 articles were included for data analysis. Five themes related to patients’ attitudes and beliefs about MT were developed from the existing literature. Attitudes and beliefs about MT are explored and measured inconsistently with only one validated tool available.
Conclusion
MT is believed to be a preferential and effective treatment with accepted levels of post-treatment soreness. This review indicated that patients believe that MT has a biomedical mechanism of action and is suitable for biomedical causes of LBP. Several gaps in the literature are present that require further investigation
Findings from a pilot randomised trial of an asthma internet self-management intervention (RAISIN)
<b>Objective </b>To evaluate the feasibility of a phase 3
randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a website (Living
Well with Asthma) to support self-management.<p></p>
<b>Design and setting</b> Phase 2, parallel group, RCT,
participants recruited from 20 general practices across
Glasgow, UK. Randomisation through automated voice
response, after baseline data collection, to website
access for minimum 12 weeks or usual care.<p></p>
<b>Participants </b>Adults (age≥16 years) with physician
diagnosed, symptomatic asthma (Asthma Control
Questionnaire (ACQ) score ≥1). People with unstable
asthma or other lung disease were excluded.<p></p>
<b>Intervention</b> Living Well with Asthma’ is a desktop/
laptop compatible interactive website designed with
input from asthma/ behaviour change specialists, and
adults with asthma. It aims to support optimal
medication management, promote use of action plans,
encourage attendance at asthma reviews and increase
physical activity.<p></p>
<b>Outcome measures</b> Primary outcomes were
recruitment/retention, website use, ACQ and mini-
Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ).
Secondary outcomes included patient activation,
prescribing, adherence, spirometry, lung inflammation
and health service contacts after 12 weeks. Blinding
postrandomisation was not possible.<p></p>
<b>Results </b>Recruitment target met. 51 participants
randomised (25 intervention group). Age range
16–78 years; 75% female; 28% from most deprived
quintile. 45/51 (88%; 20 intervention group) followed
up. 19 (76% of the intervention group) used the
website, for a mean of 18 min (range 0–49). 17 went
beyond the 2 ‘core’ modules. Median number of logins
was 1 (IQR 1–2, range 0–7). No significant difference
in the prespecified primary efficacy measures of ACQ
scores (−0.36; 95% CI −0.96 to 0.23; p=0.225), and
mini-AQLQ scores (0.38; −0.13 to 0.89; p=0.136). No
adverse events.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b> Recruitment and retention confirmed
feasibility; trends to improved outcomes suggest use of
Living Well with Asthma may improve self-management
in adults with asthma and merits further development
followed by investigation in a phase 3 trial
Quantitative analysis of regulatory flexibility under changing environmental conditions
The circadian clock controls 24-h rhythms in many biological processes, allowing appropriate timing of biological rhythms relative to dawn and dusk. Known clock circuits include multiple, interlocked feedback loops. Theory suggested that multiple loops contribute the flexibility for molecular rhythms to track multiple phases of the external cycle. Clear dawn- and dusk-tracking rhythms illustrate the flexibility of timing in Ipomoea nil. Molecular clock components in Arabidopsis thaliana showed complex, photoperiod-dependent regulation, which was analysed by comparison with three contrasting models. A simple, quantitative measure, Dusk Sensitivity, was introduced to compare the behaviour of clock models with varying loop complexity. Evening-expressed clock genes showed photoperiod-dependent dusk sensitivity, as predicted by the three-loop model, whereas the one- and two-loop models tracked dawn and dusk, respectively. Output genes for starch degradation achieved dusk-tracking expression through light regulation, rather than a dusk-tracking rhythm. Model analysis predicted which biochemical processes could be manipulated to extend dusk tracking. Our results reveal how an operating principle of biological regulators applies specifically to the plant circadian clock
Preserving the palaeoenvironmental record in Drylands: Bioturbation and its significance for luminescence-derived chronologies
Luminescence (OSL) dating has revolutionised the understanding of Late Pleistocene dryland activity. However,
one of the key assumptions for this sort of palaeoenvironmental work is that sedimentary sequences have been
preserved intact, enabling their use as proxy indicators of past changes. This relies on stabilisation or burial
soon after deposition and a mechanism to prevent any subsequent re-mobilisation. As well as a dating
technique OSL, especially at the single grain level, can be used to gain an insight into post-depositional
processes that may distort or invalidate the palaeoenvironmental record of geological sediment sequences.
This paper explores the possible impact of bioturbation (the movement of sediment by flora and fauna) on
luminescence derived chronologies from Quaternary sedimentary deposits in Texas and Florida (USA) which
have both independent radiocarbon chronologies and archaeological evidence. These sites clearly illustrate the
ability of bioturbation to rejuvenate ancient weathered sandy bedrock and/or to alter depositional stratigraphies
through the processes of exhumation and sub-surface mixing of sediment. The use of multiple OSL replicate
measurements is advocated as a strategy for checking for bioturbated sediment. Where significant OSL
heterogeneity is found, caution should be taken with the derived OSL ages and further measurements at the
single grain level are recommended. Observations from the linear dunes of the Kalahari show them to have no
bedding structure and to have OSL heterogeneity similar to that shown from the bioturbated Texan and Florida
sites. The Kalahari linear dunes could have therefore undergone hitherto undetected post-depositional sediment
disturbance which would have implications for the established OSL chronology for the region
3-D Printed Swimming Microtori for Cargo Transport and Flow Manipulation
Through billions of years of evolution, microorganisms mastered unique
swimming behaviors to thrive in complex fluid environments. Limitations in
nanofabrication have thus far hindered the ability to design and program
synthetic swimmers with the same abilities. Here we encode multi-behavioral
responses in artificial swimmers such as microscopic, self-propelled tori using
nanoscale 3D printing. We show experimentally and theoretically that the tori
continuously transition between two primary swimming modes in response to a
magnetic field. The tori also manipulate and transport other artificial
swimmers, bimetallic nanorods, as well as passive colloidal particles. In the
first behavioral mode, the tori accumulate and transport nanorods; in the
second mode, nanorods align along the tori's self-generated streamlines. Our
results indicate that such shape-programmed microswimmers have the potential to
manipulate biological active matter, e.g. bacteria or cells
'It's a Form of Freedom': The experiences of people with disabilities within equestrian sport
This paper explores the embodied, gendered experiences of disabled horse‐riders. Drawing on data from five in‐depth interviews with paradressage riders, the ways in which their involvement in elite disability sport impacts upon their sense of identity and confidence are explored, as well as the considerable health and social benefits that this involvement brings. Social models of disability are employed and the shortcomings of such models, when applied to disability sport, are highlighted. The data presented here demonstrates the necessity of seeing disability sport as an embodied experience and acknowledging the importance of impairment to the experiences of disabled athletes. Living within an impaired body is also a gendered experience and the implications of this when applied to elite disability sport are considered
Shape-programmed 3D printed swimming microtori for the transport of passive and active agents.
Through billions of years of evolution, microorganisms mastered unique swimming behaviors to thrive in complex fluid environments. Limitations in nanofabrication have thus far hindered the ability to design and program synthetic swimmers with the same abilities. Here we encode multi-behavioral responses in microscopic self-propelled tori using nanoscale 3D printing. We show experimentally and theoretically that the tori continuously transition between two primary swimming modes in response to a magnetic field. The tori also manipulated and transported other artificial swimmers, bimetallic nanorods, as well as passive colloidal particles. In the first behavioral mode, the tori accumulated and transported nanorods; in the second mode, nanorods aligned along the tori's self-generated streamlines. Our results indicate that such shape-programmed microswimmers have a potential to manipulate biological active matter, e.g. bacteria or cells
Comment on “Discovery of davemaoite, CaSiO₃-perovskite, as a mineral from the lower mantle”
Tschauner et al. (Reports, 11 November 2021, p. 891) present evidence that diamond GRR-1507 formed in the lower mantle. Instead, the data support a much shallower origin in cold, subcratonic lithospheric mantle. X-ray diffraction data are well matched to phases common in microinclusion-bearing lithospheric diamonds. The calculated bulk inclusion composition is too imprecise to uniquely confirm CaSiO₃ stoichiometry and is equally consistent with inclusions observed in other lithospheric diamonds
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