The placebo effect and its determinants in fibromyalgia: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The aims of this study were to determine whether placebo treatment in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is effective for fibromyalgia and to identify possible determinants of the magnitude of any such placebo effect. A systematic literature search was undertaken for RCTs in people with fibromyalgia that included a placebo and/or a no-treatment (observation only or waiting list) control group. Placebo effect size (ES) for pain and other outcomes was measured as the improvement of each outcome from baseline divided by the standard deviation of the change from baseline. This effect was compared with changes in the no-treatment control groups. Meta-analysis was undertaken to combine data from different studies. Subgroup analysis was conducted to identify possible determinants of the placebo ES. A total of 3912 studies were identified from the literature search. After scrutiny, 229 trials met the inclusion criteria. Participants who received placebo in the RCTs experienced significantly better improvements in pain, fatigue, sleep quality, physical function, and other main outcomes than those receiving no treatment. The ES of placebo for pain relief was clinically moderate (0.53, 95%CI 0.48 to 0.57). The ES increased with increasing strength of the active treatment, increasing participant age and higher baseline pain severity, but decreased in RCTS with more women and with longer duration of fibromyalgia. In addition, placebo treatment in RCTs is effective in fibromyalgia. A number of factors (expected strength of treatment, age, gender, disease duration) appear to influence the magnitude of the placebo effect in this condition

The effectiveness of e-& mHealth interventions to promote physical activity and healthy diets in developing countries: a systematic review

Background: Promoting physical activity and healthy eating is important to combat the unprecedented rise in NCDs in many developing countries. Using modern information-and communication technologies to deliver physical activity and diet interventions is particularly promising considering the increased proliferation of such technologies in many developing countries. The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of e-& mHealth interventions to promote physical activity and healthy diets in developing countries.Methods: Major databases and grey literature sources were searched to retrieve studies that quantitatively examined the effectiveness of e-& mHealth interventions on physical activity and diet outcomes in developing countries. Additional studies were retrieved through citation alerts and scientific social media allowing study inclusion until August 2016. The CONSORT checklist was used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies.Results: A total of 15 studies conducted in 13 developing countries in Europe, Africa, Latin-and South America and Asia were included in the review. The majority of studies enrolled adults who were healthy or at risk of diabetes or hypertension. The average intervention length was 6.4 months, and text messages and the Internet were the most frequently used intervention delivery channels. Risk of bias across the studies was moderate (55.7 % of the criteria fulfilled). Eleven studies reported significant positive effects of an e-& mHealth intervention on physical activity and/or diet behaviour. Respectively, 50 % and 70 % of the interventions were effective in promoting physical activity and healthy diets.Conclusions: The majority of studies demonstrated that e-& mHealth interventions were effective in promoting physical activity and healthy diets in developing countries. Future interventions should use more rigorous study designs, investigate the cost-effectiveness and reach of interventions, and focus on emerging technologies, such as smart phone apps and wearable activity trackers.Trial registration: The review protocol can be retrieved from the PROSPERO database (Registration ID: CRD42015029240)

An overview of the clinical applications of optical coherence tomography angiography

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has emerged as a novel, non-invasive imaging modality that allows the detailed study of flow within the vascular structures of the eye. Compared to conventional dye angiography, OCTA can produce more detailed, higher resolution images of the vasculature without the added risk of dye injection. In our review, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new technology in comparison to conventional dye angiography. We provide an overview of the current OCTA technology available, compare the various commercial OCTA machines technical specifications and discuss some future software improvements. An approach to the interpretation of OCTA images by correlating images to other multimodal imaging with attention to identifying potential artefacts will be outlined and may be useful to ophthalmologists, particularly those who are currently still unfamiliar with this new technology. This review is based on a search of peer-reviewed published papers relevant to OCTA according to our current knowledge, up to January 2017, available on the PubMed database. Currently, many of the published studies have focused on OCTA imaging of the retina, in particular, the use of OCTA in the diagnosis and management of common retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinal vascular diseases. In addition, we describe clinical applications for OCTA imaging in inflammatory diseases, optic nerve diseases and anterior segment diseases. This review is based on both the current literature and the clinical experience of our individual authors, with an emphasis on the clinical applications of this imaging technology.Eye advance online publication, 8 September 2017; doi:10.1038/eye.2017.181

Effects of spray-drying inlet temperature on the production of high-quality native rice starch

Rice starch is a common functional ingredient used in various food applications. The drying regime to obtain dry starch powder is an important processing step, which affects the functional properties of the starch. The application of extreme thermal treatment during the conventional drying process tends to elicit irreversible changes to the rice starch, resulting in the loss of desired functionalities. In a previous study, we reported the development of a novel low temperature spray-drying based process which efficiently dries waxy rice starch, while preserving its physicochemical properties and functionalities. This study, a follow-up to the previous report, evaluated the effect of different spray-drying inlet temperatures on the production yield, physicochemical properties, and functionalities of waxy rice starch. Increasing the inlet temperature from 40◦C to 100◦C resulted in an increase in the process yield from 74.83% to 88.66%, respectively. All spray dried waxy rice starches possessed a low moisture content of less than 15%, and a consistent particle size (median ~6.00 µm). Regardless of the inlet temperatures, the physicochemical functionalities, including the pasting characteristics and flowability, were similar to that of the native waxy rice starch. The molecular and A-type crystalline structure of the waxy rice starches were also conserved. An inlet temperature of 60◦C represented the optimum temperature for the spray-drying process, with a good yield (84.55 ± 1.77%) and a low moisture content (10.74 ± 1.08%), while retaining its native physicochemical functionalities and maximizing energy efficacy.fals

Swarming populations of Salmonella represent a unique physiological state coupled to multiple mechanisms of antibiotic resistance

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is capable of swarming over semi-solid surfaces. Although its swarming behavior shares many readily observable similarities with other swarming bacteria, the phenomenon remains somewhat of an enigma in this bacterium since some attributes skew away from the better characterized systems. Swarming is quite distinct from the classic swimming motility, as there is a prerequisite for cells to first undergo a morphological transformation into swarmer cells. In some organisms, swarming is controlled by quorum sensing, and in others, swarming has been shown to be coupled to increased expression of important virulence factors. Swarming in serovar Typhimurium is coupled to elevated resistance to a wide variety of structurally and functionally distinct classes of antimicrobial compounds. As serovar Typhimurium differentiates into swarm cells, the pmrHFIJKLM operon is up-regulated, resulting in a more positively charged LPS core. Furthermore, as swarm cells begin to de-differentiate, the pmr operon expression is down-regulated, rapidly reaching the levels observed in swim cells. This is one potential mechanism which confers swarm cells increased resistance to antibiotics such as the cationic antimicrobial peptides. However, additional mechanisms are likely associated with the cells in the swarm state that confer elevated resistance to such a broad spectrum of antimicrobial agents

COX inhibitors and breast cancer

There is considerable evidence to suggest that prostaglandins play an important role in the development and growth of cancer. The enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX) catalyses the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. In recent years, there has been interest in a possible role for COX inhibitors in the prevention and treatment of malignancy. Cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) is overexpressed in several epithelial tumours, including breast cancer. Preclinical evidence favours an antitumour role for COX inhibitors in breast cancer. However, the epidemiological evidence for an association is conflicting. Trials are being conducted to study the use of COX inhibitors alone and in combination with other agents in the chemoprevention of breast cancer, and in the neo-adjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic treatment settings. In evaluating the potential use of these agents particularly in cancer chemoprophylaxis, the safety profile is as important as their efficacy. Concern over the cardiovascular safety of both selective and nonselective COX-inhibitors has recently been highlighted

Effect of Fibrin Glue on the Biomechanical Properties of Human Descemet's Membrane

10.1371/journal.pone.0037456PLoS ONE75

Financial market development, global financial crisis and economic growth : evidence from developing nations

Emerging and frontier markets in Africa have witnessed various economic and financial reforms aimed at integrating the domestic markets into the global financial market to attract investment. Whether these reforms promote high economic growth remains inconclusive. The paper applies the pooled mean group estimation technique to empirically re-investigate the link between financial market development, global financial crisis, and economic growth in selected African economies. The results strongly support our hypotheses that stock market and banking sector development promotes economic growth in the selected countries. Moreover, financial crisis reduce the positive effects of both the stock market and banking sector developments on economic growth. The study suggests that both the banking sector and stock market are important to deliver the long-run economic growth that the African region desired. Moreover, effort should be made to enact policy measures that would ensure development of the stock market which has received inadequate attention.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio