75079 research outputs found
Sort by
Predictors of the placebo response in a nutraceutical randomized controlled trial for depression
No full textObjective: The placebo response in depression studies is the change in symptoms amongst those who receive an inactive treatment. Many well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of depression have a high proportion of placebo responders, with little understanding as to why. The present study assesses characteristics associated with the placebo response in a nutraceutical trial with a large proportion of placebo responders. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a nutraceutical depression RCT which identified no overall treatment benefit relative to placebo (n = 69 in placebo group). We investigated participant characteristics such as socio-demographics, clinical features, and recruitment methods, and their association with the placebo response. Monoaminergic genetic polymorphisms were also assessed. Placebo response was measured based on change in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale score. The association of these hypothesis-driven variables of interest and the placebo response was examined using linear mixed effects models. Results: Greater levels of education, particularly pursuing post-high school education, better self-reported general health, marriage/de facto, greater improvement in the first trial week, and more failed antidepressant therapies in the current depressive episode were associated with greater placebo response. An increased placebo response was not found in those recruited via social media nor in those with concomitant antidepressant therapy. Single nucleotide polymorphisms from the tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) gene (A779C and A218C) were weakly associated with greater placebo response, although the evidence was attenuated after accounting for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: This is, to our knowledge, the first study within nutraceutical research for depression to assess the association between participant characteristics and variation in the placebo response. Several variables appeared to predict the placebo response. Such findings may encourage future trial designs which could dampen placebo response, improve assay sensitivity, and allow for treatment effects to be potentially more detectable
[In Press] The infected diabetic foot : analysis of diabetic and non-diabetic foot infections
No full textThe aim of this study was to compare outcomes of moderate and severe foot infections in people with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). We retrospectively evaluated 382 patients (77% with DM and 23% non-DM). We collected demographic data, co-morbidities and one-year outcomes including healing, surgical interventions, number of surgeries, length of stay, re-infection and re-hospitalisation. DM patients required more surgeries (2.3 +/- 2.2 vs. 1.7 +/- 1.3, p = 0.01), but did not have a longer hospital length of stay during the index hospitalisation (DM 10.9 days +/- 9.2 vs. non-DM = 8.8 days +/- 5.8, p = 0.43). After the index hospitalisation, DM patients had increased rates of re-hospitalisation for any reason (63.3% vs. 35.2%, CI 1.9-5.2, OR 3.2, p < 0.01), re-infection at the index wound infection site (48% vs. 30.7%, CI 1.3-3.5, OR 2.1, p < 0.01), re-hospitalisation for a foot pathology (47.3% vs. 29.5%, CI 1.3-3.6, OR 2.1, p < 0.01), and longer times to ulcer healing (151.8 days +/- 108.8 vs. 108.8 +/- 90.6 days, p = 0.04). Patients with DM admitted to hospital with foot infections have worse clinical outcomes during the index hospitalisation and are more likely to have re-infection and re-admission to hospital in the next year
Modeling the repetitions-in-reserve-velocity relationship : a valid method for resistance training monitoring and prescription, and fatigue management
No full textEstablishing a relationship between repetitions left in reserve and the mean absolute velocity (RIR-velocity relationship) during resistance training (RT) could allow for objective monitoring, prescription, and real-time adjustment of the training load and set-volume. Therefore, we examined the goodness of fit and prediction accuracy of general and individual RIR-velocity relationships in the free-weight back squat exercise. The effects of sex, training status and history, as well as personality traits, on the goodness of fit and the accuracy of these relationships were also investigated. Forty-six resistance-trained people (15 females and 31 males) performed a one-repetition maximum (1RM) test, and two repetitions to failure (RTF) tests 72 h apart. We found greater goodness of fit of individual RIR-velocity relationships compared to general RIR-velocity relationships. Individual, but not general RIR-velocity relationships established in the first testing session yielded acceptable prediction accuracy of RIR (mean error <2 repetitions) in the subsequent testing session, regardless of the load used. Similar results were obtained when both general and individual RIR-velocity relationships were averaged across the loads, suggesting that a single RIR-velocity relationship covering a range of loads can be used instead of traditional RT methods, potentially allowing for better fatigue management and more efficient adaptation
Supercritical fluid chromatography with fluorescence detection for tocochromanol profiling in oils and seed ethanol extracts : a comparative study with NPLC
No full textThis study focused on the development of a method designed to simultaneously separate four tocopherol (T), four tocotrienol (T3) homologues and plastochromanol-8 (PC-8) using supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) with fluorescence detection (FLD). We examined the selectivity and resolution behaviour of tocochromanols on eight different stationary phases and investigated the retention factor of PC-8 (kPC-8) as a function of mobile phase composition, as well as the injection volume's impact on peak shape. The final SFC-FLD method developed involved a separation with two amino (NH2) columns connected in series (4.6 mm ID; 3 μm dp, 150 mm and 250 mm in length, respectively), at a flow rate of 2.5 mL/min, thermostated at 40 °C and a back-pressure regulator value of 10.0 MPa, injection volume of 10 μL and a gradient comprising of A:CO2 and B:MeOH. The sensitivity of SFC-DAD, SFC-FLD, NPLC-DAD and NPLC-FLD were compared and found to be 58.6–160.9, 5.9–51.9, 19.7–63.5 and 0.42–4.3 pmol, respectively. The SFC-FLD method developed was successfully applied to the analysis of seed ethanol extracts and plant oils and found to be suitable for the routine analysis. Furthermore, the SFC approach serves as a sustainable alternative compared to NPLC, due to the reduced human and environmental exposure and consumption of hazardous solvents
Crip theory and the subject of abledness
No full textBuilding on the productive and transgressive aspects of crip theory, this article seeks to proliferate (and not appropriate) its insights, and particularly, with the abled (or nondisabled) subject in mind. My contribution is based on a contemplation of how crip theory can speak for or include the abled subject, particularly with the aim that abled subjects can embody and/or elaborate crip politics to build a more crip world. Crip worlds reject ableism and compulsory abledness and foreground the importance of interdependencies, accessible futures, and generative understandings of disability, and I am interested in imagining a space in which abled subjects can learn from and embody crip politics. The political ambition of this article is concerned with contemplating what kind of reckoning might unfold through an engagement between abled subjectivity and crip theory, and while this political association comes with risks, it also comes with possibilities that help to re/write the dis/abled body, proliferate antiableist politics, and imagine cripper worlds
Molecular basis and engineering strategies for transcription factor-mediated reproductive-stage heat tolerance in crop plants
No full textHeat stress (HS) is a major threat to crop productivity and is expected to be more frequent and severe due to climate change challenges. The predicted increase in global temperature requires us to understand the dimensions of HS experienced by plants, particularly during reproductive stages, as crop productivity is majorly dependent on the success of plant reproduction. The impact of HS on crop productivity is relatively less-studied than the other abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity. Plants have evolved diverse mechanisms to perceive, transduce, respond, and adapt to HS at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological levels. Unraveling these complex mechanisms underlying plant HS response and tolerance would facilitate designing well-informed and effective strategies to engineer HS tolerance in crop plants. In this review, we concisely discuss the molecular impact of HS on plant reproductive processes and yield, with major emphasis on transcription factors. Moreover, we offer vital strategies (encompassing omics studies, genetic engineering and more prominently gene editing techniques) that can be used to engineer transcription factors for enhancing heat tolerance. Further, we highlight critical shortcomings and knowledge gaps in HS tolerance research that should guide future research investigations. Judicious studies and a combination of these strategies could speed up the much-needed development of HS-resilient crop cultivars
Exploring the landscapes of extraction : colonial continuities, postcolonial assemblages of power, anti-colonial struggles
No full textThe current tumultuous transformations of the world order and disorder, and in particular the declining hegemony of the U.S., build the general framework of the analysis pursued in this chapter. At stake is the issue of decolonization, which is discussed with reference to the different theoretical approaches that have addressed it in recent years (through such notions as “neocolonialism,” “postcolonialism,” and “decoloniality”). The chapter focuses on the relations between the transformations of the global order, decolonization, and contemporary capitalism. Starting from a discussion of “neo-extractivism” in Latin America, an expanded notion of extraction is proposed to grasp crucial aspects of the operations of capital today. Moving across the boundaries between critique of political economy and postcolonial critique, the chapter ends with a reflection upon the need to rethink the notion and practice of internationalism
Optimising body weight in people with obesity prior to knee or hip arthroplasty : a feasibility study utilising a dietitian-led low inflammatory diet
No full textBackground: Weight loss is recommended for people with obesity prior to undergoing total knee or hip arthroplasty. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of implementing a dietitian-led low-inflammatory weight-loss diet for people with obesity awaiting arthroplasty. Secondary aims were to report weight change, patient-reported outcomes, diet compliance, surgery deferment and diet acceptability. Methods: Eligible participants were enrolled across two sequential periods; Usual Care (UC) was recruited, followed by an intervention period with a dietitian-led weight-loss programme (DT). Assessments occurred at baseline, 6-month and pre-surgery (11–12 months from baseline). Predefined diet feasibility outcomes included: (i) recruitment rate ≥60%, (ii) ≥60% of DT group reporting ≥10% improved compliance with low-inflammatory diet by pre-surgery, (iii) all DT participants attending ≥60% of dietitian consultations, (iv) proportion of DT group losing ≥5% weight double that of UC by pre-surgery. Results: Ninety-seven people participated (UC, n = 47, DT, n = 50). Baseline variables were similar between groups. None of the diet feasibility criteria were fulfilled: 52% of eligible people consented; 57% of DT group improved diet compliance; 72% of DT Group attended ≥60% of dietitian appointments; 31.4% of DT group lost ≥5% weight (compared to 20.6% of UC). Compared to UC group at pre-surgery, DT group demonstrated modest weight loss (−1.7 kg (95%CI -3.5,0.2) versus −0.4 kg (−2.5,1.6)), and decreased waist circumference (−4.8 cm (−6.9,-2.8) versus −2.2 cm (−5.2,0.7)). Three DT participants declined surgery due to improved symptoms. Conclusion: Utilisation of a dietitian-led low-inflammatory weight-loss diet was not feasible in this cohort. Suboptimal diet compliance likely explains the modest weight loss results
Radio spectral properties of star-forming galaxies between 150 and 5000 MHz in the ELAIS-N1 field
No full textBy combining high-sensitivity LOFAR 150 MHz, uGMRT 400 MHz and 1250 MHz, GMRT 610 MHz, and VLA 5 GHz data in the ELAIS-N1 field, we study the radio spectral properties of radio-detected star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at observer-frame frequencies of 150-5000 MHz. We select ∼3500 SFGs that have both LOFAR 150 MHz and GMRT 610 MHz detections, and obtain a median two-point spectral index of α150610 = −0.51 ± 0.01. The photometric redshift of these SFGs spans z = 0.01−6.21. We also measure the two-point radio spectral indices at 150-400-610-1250 MHz and 150-610-5000 MHz, respectively, for the GMRT 610-MHz-detected SFGs, and find that, on average, the radio spectrum of SFGs is flatter at low frequency than at high frequency. At observer-frame 150-5000 MHz, we find that the radio spectrum slightly steepens with increasing stellar mass. However, we only find that the radio spectrum flattens with increasing optical depth at V band at ν ≲ 1 GHz. We suggest that spectral ageing due to the energy loss of CR electrons and thermal free-free absorption could be among the possible main physical mechanisms that drive the above two correlations, respectively. In addition, both of these mechanisms could physically explain why the radio spectrum is flatter at low frequency than at high frequency
Beyond extraction : data strategies from the Global South
No full textThis article draws upon a desk-based review and expert interviews with practitioners in the Global South to understand the diverse forms of data mediation that have become increasingly visible in the wake of the global coronavirus disease-19 pandemic. In contrast to accounts that frame the Global South solely as a site for the extraction of data and cheap, unskilled digital labor, we explore alternative accounts of the ways in which individuals and organizations in the Global South are asserting their role as active mediators of data who carve out spaces for value creation that are meaningful in their local and national contexts. From data collection and “refining” to the analysis of data for local needs and markets, these forms of data mediation demonstrate some of the changing dynamics of data practices globally and reflect the necessity of more nuanced analyses of value and power within and across regions