Wolbachia in guilds of Anastrepha fruit flies (Tephritidae) and parasitoid wasps (Braconidae).

The endosymbiont Wolbachia is efficiently transmitted from females to their progenies, but horizontal transmission between different taxa is also known to occur. Aiming to determine if horizontal transmission might have occurred between Anastrepha fruit flies and associated braconid wasps, infection by Wolbachia was screened by amplification of a fragment of the wsp gene. Eight species of the genus Anastrepha were analyzed, from which six species of associated parasitoid wasps were recovered. The endosymbiont was found in seven Anastrepha species and in five species of braconids. The WSP Typing methodology detected eight wsp alleles belonging to Wolbachia supergroup A. Three were already known and five were new ones, among which four were found to be putative recombinant haplotypes. Two samples of Anastrepha obliqua and one sample of Doryctobracon brasiliensis showed multiple infection. Single infection by Wolbachia was found in the majority of samples. The distribution of Wolbachia harboring distinct alleles differed significantly between fruit flies and wasps. However, in nine samples of fruit flies and associated wasps, Wolbachia harbored the same wsp allele. These congruences suggest that horizontal transfer of Wolbachia might have occurred in the communities of fruit flies and their braconid parasitoids.

Effectiveness of non-invasive therapies on pain, maximum grip strength, disability, and quality of life for lateral elbow tendinopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lateral elbow tendinopathy is a common musculoskeletal disorder. Effectiveness of non-invasive therapies for this health condition are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of non-invasive therapies on pain, maximum grip strength, disability, and quality of life for lateral elbow tendinopathy. METHODS: Searches were conducted on MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, AMED, PEDro, Cochrane Library, SPORTDiscus and PsycINFO without language or date restrictions up to May 3rd, 2023. Randomized trials investigating the effectiveness of any non-invasive therapy compared with control or other invasive interventions were included. Two independent reviewers screened eligible trials, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included trials and certainty of the evidence. RESULTS: Twenty-two different therapies investigated in 47 randomized trials were included in the quantitative analysis. Moderate certainty evidence showed that betamethasone valerate medicated plaster may reduce disability (mean difference -6.7; 95% CI -11.4, -2.0) in the short-term when compared with placebo. Low certainty evidence showed that acupuncture may reduce disability (MD -9.1; 95% CI -11.7, -6.4) in the short-term when compared with sham. Moderate to very low certainty of evidence also showed small to no effect of non-invasive therapies on pain intensity, maximum grip strength, and disability outcomes in the short-term compared to control or invasive interventions. Most therapies had only very low certainty of evidence to support their use. CONCLUSIONS: Decision-making processes for lateral elbow tendinopathy should be carefully evaluated, taking into consideration that most investigated interventions have very low certainty of evidence. There is an urgent call for larger high-quality trials.

Comparative efficacy and acceptability of non-pharmacological interventions in fibromyalgia: Protocol for a network meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Although several non-pharmacological interventions have been tested in the management of Fibromyalgia (FM), there is little consensus regarding the best options for the treatment of this health condition. The purpose of this network meta-analysis (NMA) is to investigate the comparative efficacy and acceptability of non-pharmacological interventions for FM, in order to assist clinical decision making through a ranking of interventions in relation to the most important clinical outcomes in these patients. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will perform a systematic search to identify randomised controlled trials of non-pharmacological interventions endorsed in guidelines and systematic reviews. Information sources searched will include major bibliographic databases without language or date restrictions (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, AMED, PsycINFO and PEDro). Our primary outcomes will be pain intensity, patient-reported quality of life (QoL), and acceptability of treatment will be our secondary outcome. Risk of bias of the included trials will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (RoB2). For each pairwise comparison between the different interventions, we will present mean differences (MDs) for pain intensity and QoL outcomes and Relative Risks (RRs) for acceptability, both with respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Initially, standard pairwise meta-analyses will be performed using a DerSimonian-Laird random effects model for all comparisons with at least two trials and then we will perform a frequentist NMA using the methodology of multivariate meta-analysis assuming a common heterogeneity parameter, using the mvmeta command and network suite in STATA. In the NMA, two different types of control group, such as placebo/sham and no intervention/waiting list will be combined as one node called "Control". The competing interventions will be ranked using the P-score, which is the frequentist analogue of surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) for the outcomes of interest at immediate- (intervention duration of up to 2 weeks), short- (over 2 weeks up to 12 weeks) and long-terms (over 12 weeks). The confidence in the results from NMA will be assessed using the Confidence in Network Meta-analysis (CINeMA) framework. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This work synthesises evidence from previously published studies and does not require ethics review or approval. A manuscript describing the findings will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. REGISTRATION: OSF (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/7MS25) and registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42020216374).

Effectiveness of conservative therapy on pain, disability and quality of life for low back pain in pregnancy: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Efficacy of conservative therapy for low back pain in pregnancy (PLBP) is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of conservative therapy on pain, disability, and quality of life in PLBP. METHODS: The protocol of this systematic review was prospectively registered at PROSPERO (CRD42020164640). Search strategy was conducted on six databases up to August 24 2020 without date or language restrictions. Minimal intervention (i.e., placebo, sham, waiting list or no intervention) was the comparator of interest. Selection of randomized controlled trials, data extraction and methodological quality assessment of included trials were conducted independently by two reviewers. The PEDro scale (0-10) was used to assess methodological quality. Effect sizes for specific therapies were pooled when possible, using random-effects models. The quality of the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment (GRADE) approach. RESULTS: Ten included trials provide uncertain evidence (low to very low quality) about the effects of auriculotherapy, education, exercise, exercise plus education, oil treatment, and osteopathy in pain, disability, and quality of life at short- and long-term. At short-term, mean differences (MDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) on a 0-10 points pain intensity scale were: for oil treatment, 2.8 points (2.6, 3.1) (n = one trial, 114 participants); for auriculotherapy, 1.6 points (1.2, 2.0) (n = one trial, 112 participants); for exercise, 2.2 points (-1.8, 6.2) (n = three trials, 297 participants). CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need for larger high-quality trials investigating effects of conservative therapy in pain, disability, and quality of life in this population.

Efficacy of conservative therapy in older people with nonspecific low back pain: A systematic review with meta-analysis and GRADE recommendations.

PURPOSE: This systematic review aimed to investigate the effectiveness of conservative therapy in older people with nonspecific low back pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Searches were conducted on Medline, Amed, Embase, Cochrane, Psycinfo and Pedro databases up to 2020. Risk of bias were assessed using the 0-10 PEDro scale. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) or mean differences (MDs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were reported for each conservative therapy, and strength of the current evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. RESULTS: Eleven original trials were included investigating effects on disability, pain, coping, quality of life, strength, balance, depression, falls, sleep quality, mobility, body mass index, percentage body fat, trunk muscle mass and waist-to-hip ratio. Moderate quality evidence showed short-term effects of trigger point acupuncture on disability (WMD = 5.0 points [95 % CI 3.5-6.4] on a 25-point scale) and pain (WMD = 35.9 points [95 % CI 22.2-49.7] on a 101-point scale), and of exercise on disability (WMD = 1.7 points [95 % CI 0.3-3.0]) when compared with control (placebo, sham, waiting list or no intervention). Moderate quality evidence showed no short-term effect of exercise on coping (95 % CI -5.0 to 14.6). Moreover, evidence for other important outcomes in older people is scarce and we did not find any trial investigating pharmacological therapies. CONCLUSION: Findings support partially exercise and trigger point acupuncture to improve disability and/or pain. Future trials with appropriate sample sizes are likely to impact on the estimates and need to clarify medium- and long-term effects.

Effects of medially wedged insoles on the biomechanics of the lower limbs of runners with excessive foot pronation and foot varus alignment.

BACKGROUND: Excessive foot pronation during running in individuals with foot varus alignment may be reduced by medially wedged insoles. RESEARCH QUESTION: This study investigated the effects of a medially wedged insole at the forefoot and at the rearfoot on the lower limbs angles and internal moments of runners with excessive foot pronation and foot varus alignment. METHODS: Kinematic and kinetic data of 19 runners (11 females and 8 males) were collected while they ran wearing flat (control condition) and medially wedged insoles (insole condition). Both insoles had arch support. We used principal component analysis for data reduction and dependent t-test to compare differences between conditions. RESULTS: The insole condition reduced ankle eversion (p = 0.003; effect size = 0.63); reduced knee range of motion in the transverse plane (p = 0.012; effect size = 0.55); increased knee range of motion in the frontal plane in early stance and had earlier knee adduction peak (p = 0.018; effect size = 0.52); reduced hip range of motion in the transverse plane (p = 0.031; effect size = 0.48); reduced hip adduction (p = 0.024; effect size = 0.50); reduced ankle inversion moment (p = 0.012; effect size = 0.55); and increased the difference between the knee internal rotation moment in early stance and midstance (p = 0.012; effect size = 0.55). SIGNIFICANCE: Insoles with 7˚ medial wedges at the forefoot and rearfoot are able to modify motion and moments patterns that are related to lower limb injuries in runners with increased foot pronation and foot varus alignment with some non-desired effects on the knee motion in the frontal plane.

The gene doublesex of the fruit fly Anastrepha obliqua (Diptera, Tephritidae).

The gene doublesex of Anastrepha obliqua is composed of four instead of the usual six exons. It is transcribed in both sexes and its primary transcript undergoes sex-specific splicing, producing female Dsx(F) and male Dsx(M) proteins, which have in common the amino-terminal region but which differ at the carboxyl-terminal region.

Occurrence of Wolbachia in Brazilian samples of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Wolbachia bacteria were detected by PCR followed by sequencing of a fragment of the 16S ribosomal gene, in a natural population sample and in two laboratory colonies of the medfly, C. capitata (Wied.), from Brazil. Sequencing revealed that the fragment was compatible with the Wolbachia type A group found in several insect species. This is the first description of a natural Wolbachia infection in C. capitata, since several other samples from different regions so far analyzed seemed to be free of infection.

Bactérias Wolbachia foram detectadas por PCR seguido de seqüenciamento de um segmento do gene ribossomal 16S em uma amostra de população natural e em duas colônias de laboratório de Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) do Brasil. O seqüenciamento do fragmento amplificado mostrou que este é compatível com os de Wolbachia tipo A, encontrada em numerosas espécies de insetos. Esta é a primeira descrição de uma infecção natural desse hospedeiro por Wolbachia desde que, em linhagens de C. capitata provenientes de outras regiões, não foram encontradas essas bactérias.