Central pain mechanisms predict physical inactivity at 1-year in individuals with knee pain

Purpose: Pain is the primary clinical manifestation in individuals with osteoarthritis (OA). It is an unpleasant and distressing experience, particularly during weight-bearing activities, inhibiting activity, and reducing quality of life. Two groups of mechanisms cause OA pain: peripheral (local joint pain from joint pathology) and central (severely worsened pain due to brain and spinal cord processing of peripheral nociceptive inputs). Each contributes to varying extents at different times to an individual’s OA pain. Pain and physical inactivity are often treated by discrete interventions, but in reality are tightly integrated. Several traits linked to central pain processing, such as catastrophising, depression and fatigue, have been independently linked to physical inactivity. This study aimed to explore cross sectional and longitudinal associations between central pain mechanisms and physical inactivity in individuals with knee pain.Methods: This study is an analysis of the first 5,000 participants with validated questionnaire data, aged ≥40 who completed FRAIL in the Investigating Musculoskeletal Health and Wellbeing (IMH&W) cohort (n= >8,570), based in the East Midlands region of the UK. Participants completed a questionnaire at baseline and 1-year later, including participant characteristics and 0 to 10 numerical rating scale (NRS) of pain in the most troublesome joint in the past 4-weeks. Central pain Mechanisms Trait (CMT) was measured using the Central Aspects of Pain in the Knee (CAP-Knee) questionnaire, comprising 8-items addressing anxiety, depression, catastrophising, neuropathic-like pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain distribution and cognitive impact, giving a maximum total score of 16. Self-reported physical activity was measured using the FiND questionnaire item, through which participants report their level of physical activity as either regular (at least 2-4 hours a week) or none/mainly sedentary. Associations were explored using logistic regression models. Data are presented as median (interquartile range), odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals.Results: 2473 participants completed the FRAIL, of whom 722 participants reported knee as their most troublesome joint and an NRS pain ≥1, of whom 407 participants had self-reported physical activity data also at 1-year. The 722 participants had a median (IQR) age 72 (65-77), with a BMI of 28.08 (24.82-31.64), 55% were female, and 70% reported being regularly physically active at baseline. Median (IQR) CAP-Knee was 8 (5-11) and NRS pain was 6 (4-8). Individuals who did not complete follow-up data had significantly higher baseline NRS pain, CAP-Knee, lower BMI, and were more sedentary. For each unit increase in NRS pain or CAP-Knee at baseline, participants were more likely to be sedentary at baseline (NRS OR=1.25 (95%CI 1.16, 1.36), P<0.001; CAP-Knee OR=1.20 (95%CI 1.14, 1.26), P<0.001) and follow-up (NRS OR=1.17 (95%CI 1.05, 1.30), P=0.004; CAP-Knee OR=1.15 (95%CI 1.08, 0.93), P<0.001). When adjusted for potential confounders age, sex, BMI, knee replacement the association between baseline CAP-Knee and baseline physical activity remained significant (aOR=1.19 (95%CI 1.13, 1.25) P<0.001, Table 1), and significantly predicted 1-year physical inactivity (aOR=1.13, (95%CI 1.06, 1.21) P<0.001, Table 2). The depression item was the only CAP-Knee item significantly associated with physical activity levels in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Baseline fatigue was significantly associated with baseline physical activity.Conclusions: Higher scores for baseline central pain mechanisms were associated with lower baseline physical activity and predicted 1-year physical inactivity. Our data highlight the integration between pain and physical activity. The observed associations between central pain mechanisms and physical activity might indicate shared neurological mechanisms, and central pain mechanisms might also act as barriers to increasing activity. Specific central mechanisms, particularly depression and fatigue, might be important targets to help improve physical activity in people with knee pain

High Pressure Processing of Dairy Foods

End of Project ReportThe term High Pressure Processing (HPP) is used to describe the technology whereby products are exposed to very high pressures in the region of 50 - 800 MPa (500 - 8000 Atmospheres). The potential application of HPP in the food industry has gained popularity in recent years, due to developments in the construction of HPP equipment which makes the technology more affordable. Applying HPP to food products results in modifications to interactions between individual components, rates of enzymatic reactions and inactivation of micro-organisms. The first commercial HPP products appeared on the market in 1991 in Japan, where HPP is now being used commercially for products such as jams, sauces, fruit juices, rice cakes and desserts. The pioneering research into the application of HPP to milk dates back to the end of the 19th century. Application of HPP to milk has been shown to modify its gel forming characteristics as well as reducing its microbial load. HPP offers the potential to induce similar effects to those generated by heat on milk protein. Recent reports have also indicated that HPP could accelerate the ripening of cheese. Much of the Irish cheese industry is based on the production of Cheddar cheese, the ripening time for which can vary from 4 - 12 months or more, depending on grade. A substantial portion of the cost associated with Cheddar manufacture is therefore attributed to storage under controlled conditions during ripening. Thus, any technology which may accelerate the ripening of Cheddar cheese while maintaining a balanced flavour and texture is of major economic significance. While food safety is a dominant concern, consumers are increasingly demanding foods that maintain their natural appearance and flavour, while free of chemical preservatives. HPP offers the food industry the possibility of achieving these twin goals as this technology can lead to reduced microbial loads without detrimentally effecting the nutritional or sensory qualities of the product. The development of food ingredients with novel functional properties offers the dairy industry an opportunity to revitalise existing markets and develop new ones. HPP can lead to modifications in the structure of milk components, in particular protein, which may provide interesting possibilities for the development of high value nutritional and functional ingredients. Hence these projects set out to investigate the potential of HPP in the dairy industry and to identify products and processes to which it could be applied.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Role of carbon dioxide and ion transport in the formation of sub-embryonic fluid by the blastoderm of the Japanese quail

1. The explanted blastoderm of the Japanese quail was used to explore the role of ions and carbon dioxide in determining the rate of sub-embryonic fluid (SEF) production between 54 and 72 h of incubation. 2. Amiloride, an inhibitor of Na+/H+ exchange, at concentrations of 10-3 to 10-6 M substantially decreased the rate of SEF production when added to the albumen culture medium. N-ethylmaleimide, an inhibitor of V type H+ ATPase, also decreased this rate but only to a small extent at the highest dose applied, 10-3 M. Both inhibitors had no effect on SEF production when added to the SEF. 3. The inhibitors of cellular bicarbonate and chloride exchange, 4-acetamido-4-'isothiocyano-2, 2-'disulphonic acid (SITS) and 4,4'diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2-'disulphonic acid (DIDS), had no effect upon SEF production. 4. Ouabain, an inhibitor of Na+/K+ ATPase, decreased SEF production substantially at all concentrations added to the SEF (10-3 to 10-6 M). Three sulphonamide inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase, acetazolamide, ethoxzolamide and benzolamide, decreased SEF production when added to the SEF at concentrations of 10-3 to 10-6 M. Benzolamide was by far the most potent. Neither ouabain nor the sulphonamides altered SEF production when added to the albumen culture medium. 5. Using a cobalt precipitation method, carbonic anhydrase activity was localised to the endodermal cells of the area vasculosa. The carbonic anhydrase activity was primarily associated with the lateral plasma membranes, which together with the potent inhibitory effect of benzolamide, suggests the carbonic anhydrase of these cells is the membrane-associated form, CA IV. 6. The changes in SEF composition produced by inhibitors were consistent with the production of SEF by local osmotic gradients. 7. It is concluded that a Na+/K+ ATPase is located on the basolateral membranes of the endodermal cells of the area vasculosa , and that a sodium ion/hydrogen ion exchanger is located on their apical surfaces. Protons for this exchanger would be provided by the hydration of CO2 catalysed by the membrane-associated carbonic anhydrase. Furthermore, it is proposed that the prime function of the endodermal cells of the area vasculosa is the production of SEF

Landscape‐mediated variation in diet is associated with egg size and maculation in a generalist forager

Human impacts alter landscapes with consequences for the distribution and availability of high‐quality food resources to populations inhabiting those landscapes, which may impact on the reproductive output of individuals in those populations. Sensitivity of wild populations to changes in food resources may vary among stages of the annual cycle. For example, in birds, effects are likely to be greater during costly stages such as egg production. Here we compare assimilated diet (from stable isotope analysis of chick feathers) and egg traits (egg size, shape, eggshell colour and maculation, using pattern‐analysis software) in Herring Gulls Larus argentatus, across seven colonies in southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland

Universal reporting of maternal mortality : an achievable goal?

Abstract This paper aims to highlight the importance of aspiring to achieve universal reporting of maternal deaths as a part of taking responsibility for these avoidable tragedies. The paper first discusses the reasons for reporting maternal deaths, distinguishing between individual case notification and aggregate statistics. This is followed by a summary of the status of reporting at national and international levels, as well as major barriers and facilitators to this process. A new framework is then proposed — the REPORT framework, designed to highlight six factors essential to universal reporting. Malaysia is used to illustrate the relevance of these factors. Finally, the paper makes a Call to Action by FIGO to promote REPORT and to encourage health professionals to play their part in improving the quality of reporting on all maternal deaths — not just those directly in their care.This invited paper was prepared under the auspices of the international research program IMMPACT (Initiative for Maternal Mortality Programme Assessment. See http://www/abdn.ac.uk/immpact), funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development, the European Commission, and USAID. The funders have no responsibility for the information provided or views expressed in this paper. The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors’. WG is funded by the University of Aberdeen and IMMPACT, and JH is funded by IMMPACT

High-contrast imaging constraints on gas giant planet formation - The Herbig Ae/Be star opportunity

Planet formation studies are often focused on solar-type stars, implicitly considering our Sun as reference point. This approach overlooks, however, that Herbig Ae/Be stars are in some sense much better targets to study planet formation processes empirically, with their disks generally being larger, brighter and simply easier to observe across a large wavelength range. In addition, massive gas giant planets have been found on wide orbits around early type stars, triggering the question if these objects did indeed form there and, if so, by what process. In the following I briefly review what we currently know about the occurrence rate of planets around intermediate mass stars, before discussing recent results from Herbig Ae/Be stars in the context of planet formation. The main emphasis is put on spatially resolved polarized light images of potentially planet forming disks and how these images - in combination with other data - can be used to empirically constrain (parts of) the planet formation process. Of particular interest are two objects, HD100546 and HD169142, where, in addition to intriguing morphological structures in the disks, direct observational evidence for (very) young planets has been reported. I conclude with an outlook, what further progress we can expect in the very near future with the next generation of high-contrast imagers at 8-m class telescopes and their synergies with ALMA.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Science as invited short review in special issue about Herbig Ae/Be stars; 12 pages incl. 5 figures, 2 tables and reference

Time-integrated luminosity recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider

This article is the Preprint version of the final published artcile which can be accessed at the link below.We describe a measurement of the time-integrated luminosity of the data collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the ϒ(4S), ϒ(3S), and ϒ(2S) resonances and in a continuum region below each resonance. We measure the time-integrated luminosity by counting e+e-→e+e- and (for the ϒ(4S) only) e+e-→μ+μ- candidate events, allowing additional photons in the final state. We use data-corrected simulation to determine the cross-sections and reconstruction efficiencies for these processes, as well as the major backgrounds. Due to the large cross-sections of e+e-→e+e- and e+e-→μ+μ-, the statistical uncertainties of the measurement are substantially smaller than the systematic uncertainties. The dominant systematic uncertainties are due to observed differences between data and simulation, as well as uncertainties on the cross-sections. For data collected on the ϒ(3S) and ϒ(2S) resonances, an additional uncertainty arises due to ϒ→e+e-X background. For data collected off the ϒ resonances, we estimate an additional uncertainty due to time dependent efficiency variations, which can affect the short off-resonance runs. The relative uncertainties on the luminosities of the on-resonance (off-resonance) samples are 0.43% (0.43%) for the ϒ(4S), 0.58% (0.72%) for the ϒ(3S), and 0.68% (0.88%) for the ϒ(2S).This work is supported by the US Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada), the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physiquedes Particules (France), the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany), the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Italy), the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (The Netherlands), the Research Council of Norway, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie IEF program (European Union) and the A.P. Sloan Foundation (USA)

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Study of the production of Λb0\Lambda_b^0 and B‾0\overline{B}^0 hadrons in pppp collisions and first measurement of the Λb0→J/ψpK−\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^- branching fraction

The product of the $\Lambda_b^0$ ($\overline{B}^0$) differential production cross-section and the branching fraction of the decay $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$ ($\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0$) is measured as a function of the beauty hadron transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, and rapidity, $y$. The kinematic region of the measurements is $p_{\rm T}<20~{\rm GeV}/c$ and $2.0<y<4.5$. The measurements use a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb detector in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}=7~{\rm TeV}$ in 2011 and $\sqrt{s}=8~{\rm TeV}$ in 2012. Based on previous LHCb results of the fragmentation fraction ratio, $f_{\Lambda_B^0}/f_d$, the branching fraction of the decay $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$ is measured to be \begin{equation*} \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-)= (3.17\pm0.04\pm0.07\pm0.34^{+0.45}_{-0.28})\times10^{-4}, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the branching fraction of the decay $\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0$, and the fourth is due to the knowledge of $f_{\Lambda_b^0}/f_d$. The sum of the asymmetries in the production and decay between $\Lambda_b^0$ and $\overline{\Lambda}_b^0$ is also measured as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ and $y$. The previously published branching fraction of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi p\pi^-$, relative to that of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$, is updated. The branching fractions of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow P_c^+(\rightarrow J/\psi p)K^-$ are determined.Comment: 29 pages, 19figures. All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-032.htm