Effects of photobiomodulation and deep water running in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial

Lasers in Medical Science - Photobiomodulation therapy (PBM) is often used to treat musculoskeletal disorders such as chronic non-specific low back pain (NSCLBP) as it can have positive effects on...     

Challenges in Bariatric Surgery: Outcomes in Patients Having Three or More Bariatric Procedures

Obesity Surgery - Over the last two decades, a progressive increase in failure rate of bariatric surgery (BS) has occurred in conjunction with an exponential increase in BS worldwide. Bariatric...     

Prevention of in vivo excitotoxicity by a family of trialkylglycines, a novel class of neuroprotectants

Excitotoxicity has been implicated in the etiology of ischemic stroke and chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, the development of novel neuroprotectant molecules that ameliorate excitotoxic brain damage is vigorously pursued. We used a neuroprotection-based cellular assay to screen a synthetic combinatorial library of N-alkylglycine trimers. Two compounds (6-1-2 and 6-1-10) that efficiently prevented excitotoxic neurodegeneration in vitro and in vivo were identified. Both molecules protected primary cultures of cerebellar neurons against glutamate-induced neuronal death with an efficiency equivalent to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. These trialkylglycines did not block appreciably the NMDA receptor channel, or attenuated glutamate-induced increase of Ca(2+), or affect the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway. Intraperitoneal injection of both peptoids in mice attenuated > or = 80% ammonia-induced, NMDA receptor-mediated animal death. Furthermore, these two molecules reduced by > or = 50% the neurodegeneration in striatum in a rat model of cerebral ischemia. Neuroprotection against ischemia was associated with decreased activation of caspase-3, reflecting prevention of apoptotic neuronal death. Collectively, the results reported indicate that these trialkylglycines are new neuroprotectant leads with important in vivo activity against excitotoxicity, and that they act on a novel, yet-unrecognized cellular target. These lead compounds may become tolerated drugs for the treatment of acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases with fewer side effects than NMDA receptor antagonists.     

Permanent Spacers Are a Reliable Solution for Peri-prosthetic Shoulder Infection: A Systematic Review

HSS Journal ® - Peri-prosthetic shoulder infection (PSI), a highly disabling complication of shoulder arthroplasty, often requires additional surgery and prolonged antibiotic therapy. Of...     

Stable impulsive zone model predictive control for type 1 diabetic patients based on a long-term model

In this work, the problem of regulating blood glucose (glycemia) in type I diabetic patients is studied by means of an impulsive zone model predictive control (iZMPC), which bases its predictions on a novel long-term glucose-insulin model. Taking advantage of the impulsive version of the model—which features real-life properties of diabetes patients that some other popular models do not—the given control guarantees the stability under moderate-to-severe plant-model mismatch and disturbances. Long-term scenarios—including meals and physiological parameter variations—are simulated and the results are satisfactory as every hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic episodes are suitably controlled.