The release of B-endorphins during adjustment and mobilisation of cervical spine

M.Tech. (Chiropractic)The study evaluated any changes in serum p-endorphin levels before and after a chiropractic adjustment and mobilisation ofthe cervical spine. Three groups of male and female subjects were randomly assigned; the chiropractic group, mobilisation group and detuned ultrasound (control group). Each group consisted of 10 subjects, aged between 18 to 35 with equal numbers of males and females. All subjects were mentally and physically healthy, and were instructed to refrain from nicotine and caffeine intake at least one hour prior to the experiment, as these substances are stimulants and may influence the results. The research protocol involved having blood taken five minutes before the treatment, and repeated five minutes after the treatment. The experimental group received bilateral cervical spine adjustments. The mobilisation group under-went cervical spine mobilisation with oscillatory motion, but no thrust was included. The control group had detuned ultrasound applied to their posterior cervical and trapezius muscles. Blood samples were taken by venipuncture and the p-endorphin levels were analysed using immunoenzymometric assay technique. The results of this study demonstrated that a decrease in p-endorphin levels occurred post intervention in the spinal adjustment group. The mobilisation and detuned ultrasound groups both experienced an increase in p-endorphin levels, but the increase was not statistically significant. This finding allows us to hypothesize that the pain-relieving effects of the chiropractic adjustment, may not be due to a release of p-endorphins, but may be due to the analgesic effect of another system that is not opiate mediated

Movement Lawyering: Rebuilding Community Power & Decentering Law

On Thursday, February 16, 2023, the Human Rights Brief held its annual symposium entitled Movement Lawyering: Rebuilding Community Power and Decentering Law. It was organized by Angela Altieri, Madison Sharp, Naima Muminiy, Sami Schramm, Destiny Staten, Angel Gardner, Leila Hamouie, Fabian Kopp, Marnie Leonard, and Thea Cabrera Montejo. Together, the team curated a day full of empowering keynotes, inspiring panels, and an insightful workshop. The team also created a resource to document the event

A review of published analyses of case-cohort studies and recommendations for future reporting.

The case-cohort study design combines the advantages of a cohort study with the efficiency of a nested case-control study. However, unlike more standard observational study designs, there are currently no guidelines for reporting results from case-cohort studies. Our aim was to review recent practice in reporting these studies, and develop recommendations for the future. By searching papers published in 24 major medical and epidemiological journals between January 2010 and March 2013 using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Knowledge, we identified 32 papers reporting case-cohort studies. The median subcohort sampling fraction was 4.1% (interquartile range 3.7% to 9.1%). The papers varied in their approaches to describing the numbers of individuals in the original cohort and the subcohort, presenting descriptive data, and in the level of detail provided about the statistical methods used, so it was not always possible to be sure that appropriate analyses had been conducted. Based on the findings of our review, we make recommendations about reporting of the study design, subcohort definition, numbers of participants, descriptive information and statistical methods, which could be used alongside existing STROBE guidelines for reporting observational studies.SJS was supported by the Medical Research Council www.mrc.ac.uk [Unit Programme number MC_UU_12015/1]. IRW was supported by the Medical Research Council www.mrc.ac.uk [Unit Programme number U105260558]. MP, SGT and AMW were supported by the British Heart Foundation www.bhf.org.uk [grant number CH/12/2/29428].This is the final published version distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which can also be viewed on the publisher's website at: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.010117

Impact of Protein Supplements on Muscle Recovery After Exercise-induced Muscle Soreness

The intent of this study was to determine whether nutritional supplements [protein (0.4 g·kg−1) vs. carbohydrate (0.4 g·kg−1) vs. placebo] would affect muscle recovery differently after eccentric exercise-induced muscle soreness in untrained healthy young men (n = 21) aged 20-28 years. During this double-blind randomized block study design, each subject completed three, 3-day trials (separated by = 2 weeks), identical except for treatment, with each subject serving as his own control. Trials began with a bout of right-leg eccentric exercise (Biodex), followed directly by treatment. At 0 (baseline), 24 and 48 hours, data were collected: creatine phosphokinase from pre-exercise blood samples, subjective muscle soreness questions, and strength tests (power, torque, work). ANOVA indicated that exercise caused mild muscle damage, as evidenced by an overall day effect (p = 0.0001) for muscle soreness, with the lowest median values (0-10 scale) on day 1 (0.7), increasing (p = 0.0001) on day 2 (3.2), and remaining elevated on day 3 (3.4). We also noted an overall day effect (p = 0.0001) for creatine phosphokinase, with the lowest median values on day 1 (136 U·L-1), increasing (p = 0.0001) on day 2 (235 U·L-1), and remaining elevated on day 3 (189 U·L-1). ANOVA revealed no significant treatment effect on indicators of soreness or damage during recovery. Our results indicated that protein or carbohydrate supplement after exercise that caused mild muscle damage did not facilitate muscle recovery in adequately nourished, healthy young men

Long-term work retention after treatment for cancer:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: Almost half of people diagnosed with cancer are working age. Survivors have increased risk of unemployment, but little is known about long-term work retention. This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed work retention and associated factors in long-term cancer survivors. Methods: We searched Medline/Pubmed, Embase, PsychINFO, and CINAHL for studies published 01/01/2000–08/01/2019 reporting work retention in adult cancer survivors ≥ 2 years post-diagnosis. Survivors had to be in paid work at diagnosis. Pooled prevalence of long-term work retention was estimated. Factors associated with work retention from multivariate analysis were synthesized. Results: Twenty-nine articles, reporting 21 studies/datasets including 14,207 cancer survivors, were eligible. Work retention was assessed 2–14 years post-diagnosis. Fourteen studies were cross-sectional, five were prospective, and two contained both cross-sectional and prospective elements. No studies were scored as high quality. The pooled estimate of prevalence of long-term work retention in cancer survivors working at diagnosis was 0.73 (95%CI 0.69–0.77). The proportion working at 2–2.9 years was 0.72; at 3–3.9 years 0.80; at 4–4.9 years 0.75; at 5–5.9 years 0.74; and 6+ years 0.65. Pooled estimates did not differ by cancer site, geographical area, or study design. Seven studies assessed prognostic factors for work retention: older age, receiving chemotherapy, negative health outcomes, and lack of work adjustments were associated with not working. Conclusion: Almost three-quarters of long-term cancer survivors working at diagnosis retain work. Implications for Cancer Survivors: These findings are pertinent for guidelines on cancer survivorship care. Professionals could focus support on survivors most likely to have poor long-term work outcomes

Primary care Identification and Referral to Improve Safety of women experiencing domestic violence (IRIS): protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence, which may be psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional, is a major public health problem due to the long-term health consequences for women who have experienced it and for their children who witness it. In populations of women attending general practice, the prevalence of physical or sexual abuse in the past year from a partner or ex-partner ranges from 6 to 23%, and lifetime prevalence from 21 to 55%. Domestic violence is particularly important in general practice because women have many contacts with primary care clinicians and because women experiencing abuse identify doctors and nurses as professionals from whom they would like to get support. Yet health professionals rarely ask about domestic violence and have little or no training in how to respond to disclosure of abuse. METHODS/DESIGN: This protocol describes IRIS, a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial with the general practice as unit of randomisation. Our trial tests the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a training and support programme targeted at general practice teams. The primary outcome is referral of women to specialist domestic violence agencies. Forty-eight practices in two UK cities (Bristol and London) are randomly allocated, using minimisation, into intervention and control groups. The intervention, based on an adult learning model in an educational outreach framework, has been designed to address barriers to asking women about domestic violence and to encourage appropriate responses to disclosure and referral to specialist domestic violence agencies. Multidisciplinary training sessions are held with clinicians and administrative staff in each of the intervention practices, with periodic feedback of identification and referral data to practice teams. Intervention practices have a prompt to ask about abuse integrated in the electronic medical record system. Other components of the intervention include an IRIS champion in each practice and a direct referral pathway to a named domestic violence advocate. DISCUSSION: This is the first European randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the health care response to domestic violence. The findings will have the potential to inform training and service provision. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN74012786

Reporting guidelines used varying methodology to develop recommendations

Background and Objectives We investigated the developing methods of reporting guidelines in the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network's database. Methods In October 2018, we screened all records and excluded those not describing reporting guidelines from further investigation. Twelve researchers performed duplicate data extraction on bibliometrics, scope, development methods, presentation, and dissemination of all publications. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings. Results Of the 405 screened records, 262 described a reporting guidelines development. The number of reporting guidelines increased over the past 3 decades, from 5 in the 1990s and 63 in the 2000s to 157 in the 2010s. Development groups included 2–151 people. Literature appraisal was performed during the development of 56% of the reporting guidelines; 33% used surveys to gather external opinion on items to report; and 42% piloted or sought external feedback on their recommendations. Examples of good reporting for all reporting items were presented in 30% of the reporting guidelines. Eighteen percent of the reviewed publications included some level of spin. Conclusion Reporting guidelines have been developed with varying methodology. Reporting guideline developers should use existing guidance and take an evidence-based approach, rather than base their recommendations on expert opinion of limited groups of individuals

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: the growth rate of cosmic structure since redshift z=0.9

We present precise measurements of the growth rate of cosmic structure for the redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.9, using redshift-space distortions in the galaxy power spectrum of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. Our results, which have a precision of around 10% in four independent redshift bins, are well-fit by a flat LCDM cosmological model with matter density parameter Omega_m = 0.27. Our analysis hence indicates that this model provides a self-consistent description of the growth of cosmic structure through large-scale perturbations and the homogeneous cosmic expansion mapped by supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations. We achieve robust results by systematically comparing our data with several different models of the quasi-linear growth of structure including empirical models, fitting formulae calibrated to N-body simulations, and perturbation theory techniques. We extract the first measurements of the power spectrum of the velocity divergence field, P_vv(k), as a function of redshift (under the assumption that P_gv(k) = -sqrt[P_gg(k) P_vv(k)] where g is the galaxy overdensity field), and demonstrate that the WiggleZ galaxy-mass cross-correlation is consistent with a deterministic (rather than stochastic) scale-independent bias model for WiggleZ galaxies for scales k < 0.3 h/Mpc. Measurements of the cosmic growth rate from the WiggleZ Survey and other current and future observations offer a powerful test of the physical nature of dark energy that is complementary to distance-redshift measures such as supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

ACEP–SAEM response to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposal to simplify the review framework for research project grant applications

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