Yoga-Based Interventions in Low-Income Populations: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: The popularity of yoga has surged in recent years; however, yoga practitioners have remained a largely homogenous population. Research reflects that most practitioners are of a higher socioeconomic status. There are access barriers to yoga for lower income individuals, likely due to factors such as financial constraints and logistical challenges. The primary goal of this review was to synthesize literature on yoga research among low-income populations and better understand the feasibility and acceptability of such interventions. A secondary goal was to assess the consistency of metrics for reporting feasibility and acceptability across such studies using the CheckList Standardizing the Reporting of Interventions for Yoga (CLARIFY) guidelines as a framework. Third, the authors sought to propose additional standardized CLARIFY guidelines that may enhance reporting on the diversity of yoga research populations, adherence, and retention. Methods: The electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar were searched in May 2022 using a prespecified search string. Articles assessing a yoga intervention in predominantly low-income adult populations were deemed eligible for inclusion. Results: The search resulted in 512 potential articles. Eleven were deemed eligible for inclusion. The included studies reported mostly positive effects of yoga on the target outcome (i.e., pain/disability, quality of life/wellness, and psychiatric symptoms). Recruitment and retention data showed generally good attendance and high study completion rates. Common study design components included recruitment embedded within preexisting medical settings, proximal yoga locations, and mitigation of yoga-related costs. Finally, the authors noted inconsistency in the reporting of adherence, retention, and other sociodemographic characteristics of participants and yoga instructors (e.g., race, ethnicity, and income). Discussion: Yoga may promote physical and mental health for low-income individuals. Important facilitators to access are noted, such as proximal study settings, as well as barriers such as the need for childcare that can be addressed in future research. In addition, several study design considerations could help address the specific needs of low-income participants in yoga research, such as compensating participants, recruiting within existing medical settings, and providing yoga-related equipment at no cost. Finally, the authors suggest specific ways to enhance reporting of study metrics related to socioeconomic diversity, by adding to the preexisting CLARIFY guidelines.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Community-Delivered Heated Hatha Yoga for Moderate-to-Severe Depression.

Objective: To evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of heated yoga to treat moderate-to-severe depression.Design: An 8-week randomized controlled trial (RCT) of heated yoga versus waitlist control was conducted from March 2017 to August 2019.Methods: Participants in the yoga condition were asked to attend heated yoga classes at 2 community heated yoga studios at least twice weekly. We assessed acceptability and feasibility using exit interview and attendance data, respectively. The primary intervention efficacy outcome variable was change in the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Clinician Rated (IDS-CR) score from baseline to post-intervention (week 8).Results: We randomized 80 participants and included 65 (mean [± SD] age 32.7 [± 11.7] years; 81.5% female) in the analyses (yoga n = 33, waitlist n = 32). The mean IDS-CR score at baseline was 35.6 (± 7.9) for the full sample, 36.9 (± 8.8) for yoga participants, and 34.4 (± 6.7) for waitlist participants. Participants attended an average of 10.3 (± 7.1) total classes over the 8-week intervention period. Yoga participants had a significantly greater pre- to post-intervention reduction in IDS-CR scores than waitlist participants (Cohen d = 1.04, P < .001). More yoga participants (59.3%; n = 16) than waitlist participants (6.3%; n = 2) evidenced larger treatment responses (IDS-CR ≥ 50% decrease in symptoms). Participants rated the heated yoga and its aftereffects positively in exit interviews.Conclusions: Approximately 1 heated yoga session per week (mean of 10.3 classes over 8 weeks) was associated with significantly greater reduction in depression symptoms than a waitlist control. Participants rated heated yoga positively. Taken together, results suggest feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy for patients with depression and warrant further research using active control conditions.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02607514.

Wireless 3D Surgical Navigation and Tracking System With 100µm Accuracy Using Magnetic-Field Gradient-Based Localization.

This paper describes a high-resolution 3D navigation and tracking system using magnetic field gradients, that can replace X-Ray fluoroscopy in high-precision surgeries. Monotonically varying magnetic fields in X, Y and Z directions are created in the field-of-view (FOV) to produce magnetic field gradients, which encode each spatial point uniquely. Highly miniaturized, wireless and battery-less devices, capable of measuring their local magnetic field, are designed to sense the gradient field. One such device can be attached to an implant inside the body and another to a surgical tool, such that both can simultaneously measure and communicate the magnetic field at their respective locations to an external receiver. The relative location of the two devices on a real-time display can enable precise surgical navigation without using X-Rays. A prototype device is designed consisting of a micro-chip fabricated in 65nm CMOS technology, a 3D magnetic sensor and an inductor-coil. Planar electromagnetic coils are designed for creating the 3D magnetic field gradients in a 20×20×10 cm3 of scalable FOV. Unambiguous and orientation-independent spatial encoding is achieved by: (i) using the gradient in the total field magnitude instead of only the Z-component; and (ii) using a combination of the gradient fields to correct for the non-linearity and non-monotonicity in X and Y gradients. The resultant X and Y FOV yield ≥90% utilization of their respective coil-span. The system is tested in vitro to demonstrate a localization accuracy of m in 3D, the highest reported to the best of our knowledge.

Direct visualization of protein adsorption to primary containers by gold nanoparticles.

Adsorption of proteins to primary containers can result in protein loss, protein denaturation, or aggregation. We report a simple and effective method to directly detect and visualize adsorption of proteins to container surfaces by staining adsorbed proteins with gold nanoparticles, which bind proteins nonspecifically. The gold nanoparticle staining method was applied to study adsorption to siliconized glass prefilled syringes (PFSs) of a therapeutic protein in a liquid formulation. The protein was found to preferentially adsorb to glass surfaces over siliconized surfaces in PFSs. The presence of adsorbed proteins on glass surfaces was confirmed by in situ Raman spectroscopy. Gold nanoparticle staining patterns revealed that adsorption of proteins to hydrophobic cyclic olefin polymer plastic vials was minimized compared with hydrophilic type I glass vials. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) also preferentially adsorbed to glass surfaces compared with siliconized surfaces as revealed by the gold staining patterns in PFS incubated with BSA, supporting the use of albumin to minimize loss of proteins in glass containers. The method is particularly valuable for high-concentration protein formulations in which adsorption of proteins to containers cannot be easily detected by other methods.

Sustainable construction--the role of environmental assessment tools.

Construction has been accused of causing environmental problems ranging from excessive consumption of global resources both in terms of construction and building operation to the pollution of the surrounding environment, and research on green building design and using building materials to minimise environmental impact is already underway. However, relying on the design of a project to achieve the goal of sustainable development, or to minimise impacts through appropriate management on site, is not sufficient to handle the current problem. The aim for sustainability assessment goes even further than at the design stage of a project to consider its importance at an early stage, before any detailed design or even before a commitment is made to go ahead with a development. However, little or no concern has been given to the importance of selecting more environmentally friendly designs during the project appraisal stage; the stage when environmental matters are best incorporated. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the development, role and limitations of current environmental building assessment methods in ascertaining building sustainability used in different countries which leads to discuss the concept of developing a. sustainability model for project appraisal based on a multi-dimensional approach, that will allow alternatives to be ranked is discussed in detail in the paper.

IgM binding to injured tissue precedes complement activation during skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion.

BACKGROUND: Skeletal muscle reperfusion injury is mediated by IgM natural antibodies and by complement activation, as shown by the attenuation of reperfusion injury seen in mice with no natural IgM [] and in mice deficient in complement C3 and C4 []. We postulate that tissue, when ischemic, expresses neoantigens to which preformed natural IgM antibodies bind, in turn producing harmful complement activation and reperfusion injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: C57Bl/6 mice were subjected to 2 h of tourniquet-induced hind limb ischemia followed by variable periods of reperfusion. Two hours of ischemia and 3 h of reperfusion produced severe muscle necrosis and edema. Deposition of IgM and C3 in tissue was assessed using immunohistochemistry on both frozen and Formalin-fixed tissue samples. RESULTS: IgM binding to the endothelium and muscle bundles of the hind limb began during the ischemic period and continued throughout reperfusion up to 6 h. C3 deposition was not present during ischemia and, in contrast, began to appear at 1 h of reperfusion and increased progressively thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that IgM binding to ischemic tissues precedes the damaging complement activation by a significant period of time. This has important therapeutic implications when considering anti-inflammatory therapy for reperfusion injury.

Reperfusion injury to skeletal muscle affects primarily type II muscle fibers.

INTRODUCTION: The injury caused by reperfusion of ischemic skeletal muscle is mediated by the membrane attack complex of complement (C) . This C activation results from local classical pathway activation after deposition of IgM in injured muscle, an event analogous to C deposition in the mucosa of the gut during reperfusion . Our past analysis has indicated that the injury is not uniform even within a single microscopic section. This study was performed to elucidate the exact site of IgM and C deposition on muscle injured by ischemia and reperfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: C57Bl/6 mice were subjected to 2 h of tourniquet-induced hindlimb ischemia followed by reperfusion for 0-6 h. Three muscle groups (vastus, gastrocnemius, and soleus) of varying fast-myosin content were compared for muscle fiber damage and C deposition. Adjacent paraffin-embedded cross-sections were immunostained to correlate C3 deposition with muscle fiber type as defined by monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: Muscle injury after ischemia and reperfusion is not uniform and not all fibers in the same microscopic field are affected. Damaged fibers are also those to which IgM and C bind. Immunostaining for slow-twitch (Type 1) or fast-twitch (Type 2) fibers reveals that injury and C3 deposition is confined to Type 2 fibers with lower myosin content. A correlation of Type 2 fiber content and degree of muscle injury showed that the predominantly fast-twitch vastus muscle had the greatest number of damaged fibers per x10 field (28.2 +/- 12.4) when compared to the mixed fiber-type gastrocnemius muscle (20.5 +/- 5.3) and the mixed, but slow-twitch enriched soleus muscle (17.3 +/- 11.8). CONCLUSION: Complement activation and skeletal muscle reperfusion injury occurs predominantly on Type 2 fibers with low myosin content. This suggests that attempts to control the post-reperfusion inflammation will likely produce substantial muscle recovery. Furthermore, the basis of IgM deposition and complement activation may be revealed in the comparison of the two muscle fiber types.