Sit-stand workstations and impact on low back discomfort: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Sit-stand workstations are proposed solutions to reduce sedentary time at work. Numerous companies are using them to mitigate health concerns such as musculoskeletal discomfort. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on sit-stand workstations and low back discomfort. METHOD: We conducted a meta-analysis on literature published before 17 November 2016 that addressed the relationship between sit-stand workstations and musculoskeletal discomfort, focusing on the low back. RESULTS: Twelve articles were identified and eight that presented results in means (SD) were included. Among a pain-free population, the standardised mean difference was -0.230 for low back discomfort with use of sit-stand workstations. When applying the SMD to studies using the 10-point pain scale, the effect estimates ranged between -0.30 and -0.51. CONCLUSION: sit-stand workstations may reduce low back pain among workers. Further research is needed to help quantify dosage parameters and other health outcomes. Practitioner Summary: In a sedentary population, changing posture may reduce the chance of developing low back pain. The literature lacks studies on specific populations such as those who have pre-existing low back pain and also does not adequately address the dosage of sit-stand time required to help reduce pain.

Is pyloric gland metaplasia in ileal pouch biopsies a marker for Crohn's disease?

BACKGROUND: Approximately 5-10 % of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients who undergo ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) will develop postoperative complications such as refractory pouchitis or a change in diagnosis to Crohn's disease (CD). Serological markers and histologic aspects of the pouch such as pyloric gland metaplasia (PGM) have been associated with a risk for these complications. METHODS: Twenty-eight IPAA patients with either CD of the pouch or chronic pouchitis (cases) and 36 IPAA controls who experienced a normal postoperative course were originally consented. Of these 64 subjects, 22 cases and 17 controls had histopathologic and serologic data available and were subsequently enrolled. Demographic and clinical data were entered into a database, blood analyzed for serological markers (Prometheus Labs, San Diego, CA) and biopsies of the pouch and the afferent limb reviewed by two GI pathologists. RESULTS: Of the cases, 55 % (12/22) had evidence of PGM in their pouch and/or small bowel biopsies, as compared to 12 % (2/17) of the controls (p = 0.006). Of 13 subjects with CD, 77 % (10/13) were found to have PGM versus subjects with chronic pouchitis in which 22 % (2/9) were found to have PGM (p = 0.03). There was a trend of ASCA positivity (both IgG and IgA, p = 0.20) and of higher ASCA titer levels (p = 0.07) with postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the presence of ileal pouch PGM is associated with postoperative complications and favors a diagnosis of CD over UC with chronic pouchitis.

Abnormally invasive placenta: changing trends in diagnosis and management.

Trends in patient profile, clinical presentation, diagnosis, management options and outcome of abnormally invasive placenta (AIP) were retrospectively evaluated at a tertiary care centre from 2001 to 2010. AIP was diagnosed when confirmed by ultrasound or MRI, when complete manual removal of placenta was not possible or when histological confirmation was achieved in a hysterectomy specimen. The first and second halves of the time period were compared. The total number of cases was 56 and the incidence increased significantly in the second half. Main risk factors were placenta previa and previous cesarean section. Antenatal diagnosis by ultrasound was made in 72% in the second half, compared with 35% in the first half (p = 0.009). Maternal mortality was 29% in the first half and 21% in the second half. Hysterectomy was the mainstay in management; elective procedures being significantly higher in the second half.

Acute kidney injury in obstetrics: Hospital-based cohort study.

Obstetric acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious unsolved global health-care problem and is a significant contributor to the overall burden of AKI resulting in devastating maternal and foetal outcomes. We studied the characteristics of obstetric AKI and the factors related to its unfavourable outcome. A total of 110 patients developed AKI among 10,138 admission giving a frequency of 1.08%. The commonest risk factor was pre-eclampsia followed by haemorrhage and sepsis. Complete recovery of renal function occurred in 40.9%. However, 9.1% were left with end-stage renal disease. AKI due to sepsis, delayed referral and deranged renal function on admission was associated with unfavourable outcome. AKI in pregnancy merits special attention because it involves risk to two lives, mother and foetus. Early identification of risk factors coupled with timely and efficient management will result in reducing obstetric AKI and associated maternal morbidity and mortality.

Multiplex spectral surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) sensor based on the polarization control scheme.

A two-dimensional (2D) spectral SPR sensor based on a polarization control scheme is reported in this paper. The polarization control configuration converts the phase difference between p- and s- polarization occurring at surface plasmon resonance (SPR) into corresponding color responses in spectral SPR images. A sensor resolution of 2.7 x 10(-6) RIU has been demonstrated, which corresponds to more than one order of magnitude resolution improvement (26 times) comparing to existing 2D spectral SPR sensors. Multiplex array detection has also been demonstrated with the spectral SPR imaging sensor. In a 8 x 4 sensor array, 32 samples with different refractive index values were monitored simultaneously. Detection on bovine serum albumin (BSA) antigen-antibody binding further demonstrated the multiplex detection capability of the 2D spectral SPR sensor for bio-molecular interactions. The detection limit is found to be 21 ng/ml, which is 36 times better than the detection limit previously reported by phase imaging SPR sensors. In light of the advantages of high sensitivity, 2D multiplex detection and real-time response, the spectral SPR imaging sensor can find promising applications in rapid, high throughput, non-labeling and multiplex detection of protein array for proteomics studies, biomarker screening, disease prognosis, and drug discovery.

Interfacing live cells with nanocarbon substrates.

Nanocarbon materials, including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene, promise various novel biomedical applications (e.g., nanoelectronic biosensing). In this Letter, we study the ability of SWCNT networks and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films in interfacing several types of cells, such as neuroendocrine PC12 cells, oligodendroglia cells, and osteoblasts. It was found that rGO is biocompatible with all these cell types, whereas the SWCNT network is inhibitory to the proliferation, viability, and neuritegenesis of PC12 cells, and the proliferation of osteoblasts. These observations could be attributed to the distinct nanotopographic features of these two kinds of nanocarbon substrates.

Study of Association of Fetal Cerebroplacental Ratio with Adverse Perinatal Outcome in Uncomplicated Term AGA Pregnancies.

BACKGROUND: The cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) is emerging as a predictor for adverse perinatal outcome in term pregnancies. Earlier, it has shown a role in small for gestational age (SGA) pregnancies, but a proportion of appropriate for gestational age foetuses (AGA) despite of good size have impaired growth velocity and are thereby at risk of adverse outcome. CPR has implication for assessment of well being of SGA and AGA foetuses close to term. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between foetal CPR and adverse perinatal outcome in uncomplicated term AGA pregnancies. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study done in Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, over a period of one year. Women > 37 week singleton pregnancy with no known risk factor who had Doppler USG done within a week of delivery were included. CPR was calculated by dividing the Doppler indices of middle cerebral artery (MCA) by umbilical artery (MCA PI/UA PI). CPR < 1 was taken as abnormal. These patients were followed up till delivery to look for various perinatal outcomes. Results Out of 127 low-risk AGA pregnancies who went for USG colour Doppler scan, 117 patients who met our inclusion criteria were analysed; out of 117 patients 23(i.e. 19.65 %) were having CPR < 1 and 94 patients (i.e. 80.34%) were having CPR>1. Among 23 patients with CPR < 1, 22 (91.30%) had adverse outcome as compared to only 20.21% patients with CPR > 1, and this is found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study found CPR measure to be a very promising tool for optimising the identification of at risk foetus in low-risk AGA pregnancies.

Surface immobilized cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) facilitates vesicle docking, trafficking and exocytosis.

The subunit B of cholera toxin (CTB), which specifically binds with ganglioside GM1 enriched in membrane lipid rafts, is known to interfere with multiple cell functions. However, the specific, stable and spatially defined membrane signaling induced by CTB binding is often difficult to investigate by applying CTB molecules in bulk solution due to quick internalization, elicited intracellular reactions, and homogeneous interaction with the entire cell membrane. Here, we interfaced the neuroendocrine PC12 cells with surface immobilized and patterned CTB molecules, and interrogated the effects of CTB binding on vesicular exocytosis using integrative single-cell study methods. It was discovered that CTB binding facilitates vesicle trafficking, docking and exocytosis in a cholesterol dependent manner. And these effects are probably attributable to the increased membrane GM1 and cholesterol, and enhanced Ca(2+) signaling.

Dynamic quantitative photothermal monitoring of cell death of individual human red blood cells upon glucose depletion.

Red blood cells (RBCs) have been found to undergo "programmed cell death," or eryptosis, and understanding this process can provide more information about apoptosis of nucleated cells. Photothermal (PT) response, a label-free photothermal noninvasive technique, is proposed as a tool to monitor the cell death process of living human RBCs upon glucose depletion. Since the physiological status of the dying cells is highly sensitive to photothermal parameters (e.g., thermal diffusivity, absorption, etc.), we applied linear PT response to continuously monitor the death mechanism of RBC when depleted of glucose. The kinetics of the assay where the cell's PT response transforms from linear to nonlinear regime is reported. In addition, quantitative monitoring was performed by extracting the relevant photothermal parameters from the PT response. Twofold increases in thermal diffusivity and size reduction were found in the linear PT response during cell death. Our results reveal that photothermal parameters change earlier than phosphatidylserine externalization (used for fluorescent studies), allowing us to detect the initial stage of eryptosis in a quantitative manner. Hence, the proposed tool, in addition to detection of eryptosis earlier than fluorescence, could also reveal physiological status of the cells through quantitative photothermal parameter extraction.