No efficacy of biofield therapy in the treatment of warts of the hands and feet in adults: a randomized controlled trial.

Although biofield therapy is unexplained by scientific evidence, it has been practised for many years in numerous cultures for a variety of medical conditions. This study aimed to determine whether one session of biofield therapy with an experienced practitioner could treat warts on the hands and feet in adults. A single-blind, assessor-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was performed between April 2016 and November 2018. The enrolled participants had at least one wart on the hand or foot that had been present for at least 90 days and they were not using any other therapy for the wart. The primary outcome of this trial was the disappearance of the original wart 3 weeks after session of proximal nontouch biofield therapy vs. a sham session. No original wart had disappeared 3 weeks after intervention (0/64), which made the study impossible to conclude on the primary objective. There were no significant differences between the two groups concerning wart disappearance 3 weeks (P = 0.49) or 6 weeks (P = 0.40) after the intervention. Reduction in wart size at Week 3 tended towards a better result for biofield therapy but this was not significant (P = 0.27). No related adverse effects were observed. The major limitation of this trial was the short follow-up time for measurement of clinical outcome, which did not allow verification of the hypothesis. However, this study shows that 3 weeks after a session of proximal nontouch biofield therapy is an insufficient length of time to assess biofield therapy in comparison with a sham session. Based on this study, biofield therapy cannot be recommended to treat warts within 3 weeks.

Single-Molecule Insight Into Target Recognition by CRISPR-Cas Complexes.

Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes from CRISPR-Cas systems have attracted enormous interest since they can be easily and flexibly reprogrammed to target any desired locus for genome engineering and gene regulation applications. Basis for the programmability is a short RNA (crRNA) inside these complexes that recognizes the target nucleic acid by base pairing. For CRISPR-Cas systems that target double-stranded DNA this results in local DNA unwinding and formation of a so-called R-loop structure. Here we provide an overview how this target recognition mechanism can be dissected in great detail at the level of a single molecule. Specifically, we demonstrate how magnetic tweezers are applied to measure the local DNA unwinding at the target in real time. To this end we introduce the technique and the measurement principle. By studying modifications of the consensus target sequence, we show how different sequence elements contribute to the target recognition mechanism. From these data, a unified target recognition mechanism can be concluded for the RNPs Cascade and Cas9 from types I and II CRISPR-Cas systems. R-loop formation is hereby initiated on the target at an upstream element, called protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), from which the R-loop structure zips directionally toward the PAM-distal end of the target. At mismatch positions, the R-loop propagation stalls and further propagation competes with collapse of the structure. Upon full R-loop zipping conformational changes within the RNPs trigger degradation of the DNA target. This represents a shared labor mechanism in which zipping between nucleic acid strands is the actual target recognition mechanism while sensing of the R-loop arrival at the PAM-distal end just verifies the success of the full zipping.

[Alveolar injuries in the upper incisor region in the child]. / A propos des traumatismes alvéolaires de la région incisive supérieure de l'enfant.

The authors studied a series of 50 children. They found that the sequelae can only be assessed at a late stage. The repair technique is always delicate and the damages awarded by the Courts are currently insufficient.