Static stretching of the hamstring muscle for injury prevention in football codes: a systematic review

Purpose: Hamstring injuries are common among football players. There is still disagreement regarding prevention. The aim of this review is to determine whether static stretching reduces hamstring injuries in football codes. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on the online databases PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bisp and Clinical Trial register. Study results were presented descriptively and the quality of the studies assessed were based on Cochrane’s ‘risk of bias’ tool. Results: The review identified 35 studies, including four analysis studies. These studies show deficiencies in the quality of study designs. Conclusion: The study protocols are varied in terms of the length of intervention and follow-up. No RCT studies are available, however, RCT studies should be conducted in the near future

Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Noncommutative Spacetime

We study the effects of spacetime noncommutativity on the nonequilibrium dynamics of particles in a thermal bath. We show that the noncommutative thermal bath does not suffer from any further IR/UV mixing problem in the sense that all the finite-temperature non-planar quantities are free from infrared singularities. We also point out that the combined effect of finite temperature and noncommutative geometry has a distinct effect on the nonequilibrium dynamics of particles propagating in a thermal bath: depending on the momentum of the mode of concern, noncommutative geometry may switch on or switch off their decay and thermalization. This momentum dependent alternation of the decay and thermalization rates could have significant impacts on the nonequilibrium phenomena in the early universe at which spacetime noncommutativity may be present. Our results suggest a re-examination of some of the important processes in the early universe such as reheating after inflation, baryogenesis and the freeze-out of superheavy dark matter candidates.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

Urticaria and angioedema

Urticaria (hives) is a common disorder that often presents with angioedema (swelling that occurs beneath the skin). It is generally classified as acute, chronic or physical. Second-generation, non-sedating H1-receptor antihistamines represent the mainstay of therapy for both acute and chronic urticaria. Angioedema can occur in the absence of urticaria, with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-induced angioedema and idiopathic angioedema being the more common causes. Rarer causes are hereditary angioedema (HAE) or acquired angioedema (AAE). Although the angioedema associated with these disorders is often self-limited, laryngeal involvement can lead to fatal asphyxiation in some cases. The management of HAE and AAE involves both prophylactic strategies to prevent attacks of angioedema (i.e., trigger avoidance, attenuated androgens, tranexamic acid, and plasma-derived C1 inhibitor replacement therapy) as well as pharmacological interventions for the treatment of acute attacks (i.e., C1 inhibitor replacement therapy, ecallantide and icatibant). In this article, the authors review the causes, diagnosis and management of urticaria (with or without angioedema) as well as the work-up and management of isolated angioedema, which vary considerably from that of angioedema that occurs in the presence of urticaria

Effective Lagrangian approach to neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino masses

Neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay can in general produce electrons of either chirality, in contrast with the minimal Standard Model (SM) extension with only the addition of the Weinberg operator, which predicts two left-handed electrons in the final state. We classify the lepton number violating (LNV) effective operators with two leptons of either chirality but no quarks, ordered according to the magnitude of their contribution to \znbb decay. We point out that, for each of the three chirality assignments, $e_Le_L, e_Le_R$ and $e_Re_R$, there is only one LNV operator of the corresponding type to lowest order, and these have dimensions 5, 7 and 9, respectively. Neutrino masses are always induced by these extra operators but can be delayed to one or two loops, depending on the number of RH leptons entering in the operator. Then, the comparison of the $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay rate and neutrino masses should indicate the effective scenario at work, which confronted with the LHC searches should also eventually decide on the specific model elected by nature. We also list the SM additions generating these operators upon integration of the heavy modes, and discuss simple realistic examples of renormalizable theories for each case.Comment: Accepted for publication. Few misprints corrected and new references adde

Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity

Anthropogenic trade and development have broken down dispersal barriers, facilitating the spread of diseases that threaten Earth's biodiversity. We present a global, quantitative assessment of the amphibian chytridiomycosis panzootic, one of the most impactful examples of disease spread, and demonstrate its role in the decline of at least 501 amphibian species over the past half-century, including 90 presumed extinctions. The effects of chytridiomycosis have been greatest in large-bodied, range-restricted anurans in wet climates in the Americas and Australia. Declines peaked in the 1980s, and only 12% of declined species show signs of recovery, whereas 39% are experiencing ongoing decline. There is risk of further chytridiomycosis outbreaks in new areas. The chytridiomycosis panzootic represents the greatest recorded loss of biodiversity attributable to a disease

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel.In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime: we compute the two-point correlation functions for the linearized Einstein tensor and for the metric perturbations. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a quasi-static black hole.Comment: 75 pages, no figures, submitted to Living Reviews in Relativit

Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications

Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise kernel. In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime, compute the two-point correlation functions of these perturbations and prove that Minkowski spacetime is a stable solution of semiclassical gravity. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a black hole and describe the metric fluctuations near the event horizon of an evaporating black holeComment: 100 pages, no figures; an update of the 2003 review in Living Reviews in Relativity gr-qc/0307032 ; it includes new sections on the Validity of Semiclassical Gravity, the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, and the Metric Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hol

Randomized Controlled Trial of Fish Oil and Montelukast and Their Combination on Airway Inflammation and Hyperpnea-Induced Bronchoconstriction

Both fish oil and montelukast have been shown to reduce the severity of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB). The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of fish oil and montelukast, alone and in combination, on airway inflammation and bronchoconstriction induced by eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) in asthmatics. In this model of EIB, twenty asthmatic subjects with documented hyperpnea-induced bronchoconstriction (HIB) entered a randomized double-blind trial. All subjects entered on their usual diet (pre-treatment, n = 20) and then were randomly assigned to receive either one active 10 mg montelukast tablet and 10 placebo fish oil capsules (n = 10) or one placebo montelukast tablet and 10 active fish oil capsules totaling 3.2 g EPA and 2.0 g DHA (n = 10) taken daily for 3-wk. Thereafter, all subjects (combination treatment; n = 20) underwent another 3-wk treatment period consisting of a 10 mg active montelukast tablet or 10 active fish oil capsules taken daily. While HIB was significantly inhibited (p0.017) between treatment groups; percent fall in forced expiratory volume in 1-sec was −18.4±2.1%, −9.3±2.8%, −11.6±2.8% and −10.8±1.7% on usual diet (pre-treatment), fish oil, montelukast and combination treatment respectively. All three treatments were associated with a significant reduction (p0.017) in these biomarkers between treatments. While fish oil and montelukast are both effective in attenuating airway inflammation and HIB, combining fish oil with montelukast did not confer a greater protective effect than either intervention alone. Fish oil supplementation should be considered as an alternative treatment for EIB

VIP Enhances Phagocytosis of Fibrillar Beta-Amyloid by Microglia and Attenuates Amyloid Deposition in the Brain of APP/PS1 Mice

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a multifunctional neuropeptide with demonstrated immunosuppressive and neuroprotective activities. It has been shown to inhibit Amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurodegeneration by indirectly suppressing the production and release of a variety of inflammatory and neurotoxic factors by activated microglia. We demonstrated that VIP markedly increased microglial phagocytosis of fibrillar Aβ42 and that this enhanced phagocytotic activity depended on activation of the Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway. In addition, VIP suppressed the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide(NO) from microglia activated by combined treatment with fibrillar Aβ42 and low dose interferon-γ (IFN-γ). We utilized an adenovirus-mediated gene delivery method to overexpress VIP constitutively in the hippocampus of APPswPS1 transgenic mice. The Aβ load was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of this animal model of Alzheimer's disease, possibly due to the accumulation and activation of cd11b-immunoactive microglial cells. The modulation of microglial activation, phagocytosis, and secretion by VIP is a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease(AD)