Increase in ACC GABA+ levels correlate with decrease in migraine frequency, intensity and disability over time

Background An imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory neurometabolites has been implicated in chronic pain. Prior work identified elevated levels of Gamma-aminobutyric acid + macromolecules (“GABA+”) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in people with migraine. What is not understood is whether this increase in GABA+ is a cause, or consequence of living with, chronic migraine. Therefore, to further elucidate the nature of the elevated GABA+ levels reported in migraine, this study aimed to observe how GABA+ levels change in response to changes in the clinical characteristics of migraine over time. Methods We observed people with chronic migraine (ICHD-3) over 3-months as their treatment was escalated in line with the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Participants underwent an MRS scan and completed questionnaires regarding migraine frequency, intensity (HIT-6) and disability (WHODAS) at baseline and following the routine 3 months treatment escalation to provide the potential for some participants to recover. We were therefore able to monitor changes in brain neurochemistry as clinical characteristics potentially changed over time. Results The results, from 18 participants who completed both baseline and follow-up measures, demonstrated that improvements in migraine frequency, intensity and disability were associated with an increase in GABA+ levels in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); migraine frequency (r = − 0.51, p = 0.03), intensity (r = − 0.51, p = 0.03) and disability (r = − 0.53, p = 0.02). However, this was not seen in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG). An incidental observation found those who happened to have their treatment escalated with CGRP-monoclonal antibodies (CGRP-mAbs) (n = 10) had a greater increase in ACC GABA+ levels (mean difference 0.54 IU IQR [0.02 to 1.05], p = 0.05) and reduction in migraine frequency (mean difference 10.3 IQR [2.52 to 18.07], p = 0.01) compared to those who did not (n = 8). Conclusion The correlation between an increase in ACC GABA+ levels with improvement in clinical characteristics of migraine, suggest previously reported elevated GABA+ levels may not be a cause of migraine, but a protective mechanism attempting to suppress further migraine attacks.

Detecting Electromagnetic Geographical Environment Changes Based on the Frequency-Intensity Curve

Electromagnetic geographic environment is closely related to human life. With continuous popularization of public infrastructures and daily electronic instruments, such as electric power communication systems and household appliances, electromagnetic radiation sources have increased sharply in the geographic environment, which leads to increasingly serious electromagnetic radiation pollution. Thus, it is significant to monitor, evaluate, and analyze the electromagnetic radiation condition and explore its changing law in the environment. However, the traditional monitoring method can only detect anomalies within certain frequencies in the fixed stations. To fill this gap, this research first develops a vehicle-mounted electromagnetic environment monitoring system to collect both spatial positioning data and electromagnetic data of the whole frequency range. The acquired data are then used to construct the location-based frequency-intensity curve to reflect the variation of electromagnetic radiation at different frequency ranges. On this basis, a curve similarity measurement method is introduced to analyze the similarity of different curves, which is effective to diagnose time-varying sources from both global and local perspectives. This research provides a real-time mobile monitoring method, which is significant to know the dynamic variation of local electromagnetic environment and promotes subsequent comprehensive geographic analyses.

Improving Body Immunity by Sporting Activities During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Covid-19 has changed the way people take care of their health, many people do sports activities to help increase their immune systems. Some sports criteria are good for maintaining or even increasing the body's immune system. The chosen sport needs to pay attention to its frequency, duration, consistency, and type. A strong immune system will help protect the body from viruses and diseases. Objectives: To find out the types of sports that are of interest to increase immunity. Results: The survey results show that 91% of respondents have a habit of exercising and the remaining 9% do not exercise. The types of exercise are 42% choose cycling, 25% morning run, 15% gymnastics, 5% brisk walking, and the remaining 4% mountain climbing, yoga, and swimming. Conclusion: The type of sports activity that Leuwiliang Hospital employees are interested in maintaining health is cycling, but it is necessary to pay attention to the duration, frequency, intensity, type, and consistency Suggestion: It is recommended for the public to do sports regularly by paying attention to the type of sports activity selection, duration, frequency, intensity to obtain the perfect conditions to increase the body's immunity, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Refugee Related Political Violence in Asia and Africa

This work focuses on the analysis of one of the most discussed phenomenon of recent years, the reception of refugees. The authors of this work examine refugee-related political violence, a phenomenon that has not been explored in the last twenty years. The aim is to describe the occurrence of this phenomenon in cases from Asia and Africa. The individual incidents are categorised into six categories of political violence. The authors describe the type of political violence involving refugees for the last 15 years. They also analyse which type of violence is most common. At the same time, they devote to the analysis and description of frequency, intensity and persistence. They compare their findings with similar work that was published in 1998, and they explain why and what changes have occurred in the field of refugee-related political violence over the last 15 years.

The association between running injuries and training parameters: A systematic review

ABSTRACT Objective: To synthesise the current evidence on the incidence of running-related injuries (RRI) and their association with training parameters (distance, duration, frequency, intensity), as well as recent changes in training parameters. Data sources: Searches were conducted in Medline/Ovid, CINAHL, Embase and SportDiscus up to July 7, 2020. Study selection: Included articles had to report prospective data on RRIs and training parameters, or any changes in parameters, and be published in English or French. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and full-texts. Data extraction: Data extraction and quality assessment (QualSyst) were performed by two independent raters. Data synthesis: Thirty-six articles totaling 23,047 runners were included. Overall, 6,043 runners (26.2%) sustained an RRI (incidence range: 8.8% to 91.3%). The incidence of RRI was 14.9% in novice runners (range: 9.4 to 94.9%), 26.1% in recreational runners (range: 17.9 to 79.3%) and 62.6% in competitive runners (range: 52.6 to 91.3%). The three most frequently injured body parts were the knee (25.8%), foot/ankle (24.4%) and lower leg (24.4%). Overall, there was conflicting evidence about the association between weekly running distance, duration, frequency, intensity or specific changes in training parameters and the onset of RRIs. Conclusions: Despite high rates of RRIs, current evidence does not consistently link RRIs with specific training parameters or recent changes in training parameters. Therefore, caution should be taken when recommending optimal parameters or progressions. Given the multifactorial nature of RRIs, future studies also need to consider the interaction between training parameters, as well as psychosocial, hormonal, lifestyle and recovery outcomes to better understand the onset of RRIs.

Antidepressant side effects and their impact on treatment outcome in people with major depressive disorder: an iSPOT-D report

Side effects to antidepressant medications are common and can impact the prognosis of successful treatment outcome in people with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, few studies have investigated the severity of side effects over the course of treatment and their association with treatment outcome. Here we assessed the severity of side effects and the impact of treatment type and anxiety symptoms over the course of treatment, as well as whether side effects were associated with treatment outcome. Participants were N = 1008 adults with a current diagnosis of single-episode or recurrent, nonpsychotic MDD. Participants were randomised to receive escitalopram, sertraline, or venlafaxine-extended release with equal probability and reassessed at 8 weeks regarding Hamilton Rating Scale Depression (HRSD17) and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16) remission and response. Severity of side effects were assessed using the Frequency, Intensity, and Burden of Side Effects Rating (FIBSER) scale and assessed at day 4 and weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8. Frequency, intensity, and burden of side effects were greatest at week 2, then only frequency and intensity of side effects gradually decreased up to week 6. Treatment type and anxiety symptoms did not impact the severity of side effects. A greater burden—but not frequency or intensity—of side effects was associated with poorer treatment outcome and as early as 4 days post-treatment. Together, this work provides an informative mapping of the progression of side effects throughout the treatment course and their association with treatment outcome. Importantly, the burden of side effects that are present as early as 4 days post-treatment predicts poorer treatment outcome and should be monitored closely. iSPOT-D: Registry name: ClinicalTrials.gov. Registration number: NCT00693849.

Quantitative and Qualitative Electroglottographic Wave Shape Differences in Children and Adults Using Voice Map–Based Analysis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which various measurements of contacting parameters differ between children and adults during habitual range and overlap vocal frequency/intensity, using voice map–based assessment of noninvasive electroglottography (EGG). Method EGG voice maps were analyzed from 26 adults (22–45 years) and 22 children (4–8 years) during connected speech and vowel /a/ over the habitual range and the overlap vocal frequency/intensity from the voice range profile task on the vowel /a/. Mean and standard deviations of contact quotient by integration, normalized contacting speed, quotient of speed by integration, and cycle-rate sample entropy were obtained. Group differences were evaluated using the linear mixed model analysis for the habitual range connected speech and the vowel, whereas analysis of covariance was conducted for the overlap vocal frequency/intensity from the voice range profile task. Presence of a “knee” on the EGG wave shape was determined by visual inspection of the presence of convexity along the decontacting slope of the EGG pulse and the presence of the second derivative zero-crossing. Results The contact quotient by integration, normalized contacting speed, quotient of speed by integration, and cycle-rate sample entropy were significantly different in children compared to (a) adult males for habitual range and (b) adult males and adult females for the overlap vocal frequency/intensity. None of the children had a “knee” on the decontacting slope of the EGG slope. Conclusion EGG parameters of contact quotient by integration, normalized contacting speed, quotient of speed by integration, cycle-rate sample entropy, and absence of a “knee” on the decontacting slope characterize the wave shape differences between children and adults, whereas the normalized contacting speed, quotient of speed by integration, cycle-rate sample entropy, and presence of a “knee” on the downward pulse slope characterize the wave shape differences between adult males and adult females. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15057345

Low-Intensity Continuous Ultrasound Therapies—A Systemic Review of Current State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives

Therapeutic ultrasound has been studied for over seven decades for different medical applications. The versatility of ultrasound applications are highly dependent on the frequency, intensity, duration, duty cycle, power, wavelength, and form. In this review article, we will focus on low-intensity continuous ultrasound (LICUS). LICUS has been well-studied for numerous clinical disorders, including tissue regeneration, pain management, neuromodulation, thrombosis, and cancer treatment. PubMed and Google Scholar databases were used to conduct a comprehensive review of all research studying the application of LICUS in pre-clinical and clinical studies. The review includes articles that specify intensity and duty cycle (continuous). Any studies that did not identify these parameters or used high-intensity and pulsed ultrasound were not included in the review. The literature review shows the vast implication of LICUS in many medical fields at the pre-clinical and clinical levels. Its applications depend on variables such as frequency, intensity, duration, and type of medical disorder. Overall, these studies show that LICUS has significant promise, but conflicting data remain regarding the parameters used, and further studies are required to fully realize the potential benefits of LICUS.