Pre-rehabilitation interventions for patients with head and neck cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of pre-rehabilitation interventions such as nutrition and exercise for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). METHODS: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases were searched up to December 2022. Quality of life, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, change in body mass index or muscle mass, and functional assessments were the primary outcomes. PRISMA guidelines were adhered to, and the study was registered on PROSPERO. The Cochrane Collaboration tool and Newcastle Ottawa scale assessed the quality of included studies. Pooled data are presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Analysis was conducted using RevMan5.4. RESULTS: A total of 31 articles were included for quantitative analysis and 15 for qualitative synthesis. Nutrition alone resulted in significant weight retention (2.60; 2.32, 2.88, p < 0.00001), length of stay (-4.00; -6.87, -1.13), p = 0.0006) and complications (0.64; 0.49, 0.83, p = 0.0009). Nutrition and psychoeducation resulted in a significant reduction in mortality rate (0.70; 0.49, 1.00, p = 0.05 and 0.60; 0.48, 0.74, p < 0.00001), and exercise resulted in a significant reduction in dysphagia (0.55; 0.35, 0.87, p = 0.01). Exercise with nutrition resulted in significant improvements in weight loss, length of stay, complications, and dysphagia. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) had a moderate risk of bias and cohort studies were of fair to good quality. CONCLUSION: Prehabilitation programs based on exercise, nutrition, or psychoeducation demonstrated improved post-interventional outcomes in HNC, such as quality of life, and mortality and morbidity. Studies with longer follow-ups and larger sample sizes, and investigations comparing nutritional supplements with exercise programs are needed.

Recent insights into the world of dual-function bacterial sRNAs.

Dual-function sRNAs refer to a small subgroup of small regulatory RNAs that merges base-pairing properties of antisense RNAs with peptide-encoding properties of mRNA. Both functions can be part of either same or in another metabolic pathway. Here, we want to update the knowledge of to the already known dual-function sRNAs and review the six new sRNAs found since 2017 regarding their structure, functional mechanisms, evolutionary conservation, and role in the regulation of distinct biological/physiological processes. The increasing identification of dual-function sRNAs through bioinformatics approaches, RNomics and RNA-sequencing and the associated increase in regulatory understanding will likely continue to increase at the same rate in the future. This may improve our understanding of the physiology, virulence and resistance of bacteria, as well as enable their use in technical applications. This article is categorized under: Regulatory RNAs/RNAi/Riboswitches > Regulatory RNAs.

Percepción de la accesibilidad de paratletas chilenos rumbo a Santiago 2023 / Percepção dos paratletas chilenos, rumo a Santiago 2023, sobre acessibilidade / Accessibility perception of chilean para-athletes, road to santiago 2023

Resumen El objetivo de esta investigación es triple: 1) comprender las percepciones de los paratletas sobre la accesibilidad respecto a las futuras sedes de los Juegos Parapanamericanos Santiago 2023; 2) establecer diferencias en la percepción debidas al origen de la discapacidad y 3) documentar la percepción de paratletas con grandes necesidades de apoyo (AHSN, por sus siglas en inglés). Esta investigación es cuantitativa transversal que, en su primera etapa, desarrolló el instrumento denominado Encuesta de Percepción de Accesibilidad de Para-atletas (PPA-D, por sus siglas en inglés) y, en una segunda etapa, se aplicó a 96 paratletas chilenos (77.8% hombres, edad promedio = 31.0 ± 11.6 años). Para la prueba, se obtuvo un coeficiente de validación = .96. Respecto a las características de la muestra, 16.6% correspondió a participantes con discapacidad visual; un 35.1% era AHSN; el 51.5% estaba vinculado a la alta competencia y el 59.3% se trasladaba por su cuenta a sus entrenamientos. Se identificó una percepción negativa de la accesibilidad, principalmente en cuanto al transporte en microbús, en los elevadores y en los espacios de baños, afectando principalmente a AHSN con discapacidad visual (F1,101 = 14.01, p = .0003). Se concluye que es importante abordar las brechas de género, origen de discapacidad y AHSN para garantizar una participación equitativa bajo un marco de derecho.

Resumo O objetivo desta pesquisa é triplo: 1) compreender as percepções dos paratletas sobre acessibilidade com relação às futuras sedes dos Jogos Parapan-Americanos de Santiago 2023; 2) estabelecer diferenças de percepção devido à origem da deficiência portada e 3) documentar a percepção de paratletas com altas necessidades de apoio (AHSN, por suas siglas em inglês). Esta pesquisa é quantitativa transversal que, em sua primeira etapa, desenvolveu o instrumento denominado Enquete de Percepção de Acessibilidade de Paratletas (PPA-D, por suas siglas em inglês) e, em uma segunda etapa, foi aplicada a 96 paratletas chilenos (77,8% homens, idade média = 31,0 ± 11,6 anos). Para o teste, obteve-se um coeficiente de validação = 0,96. Em relação às características da amostra, 16,6% corresponderam a participantes com deficiência visual; 35,1% eram AHSN; 51,5% estavam ligados à alta competência e 59,3% se deslocaram por conta própria para o treinamento. Identificou-se uma percepção negativa de acessibilidade, principalmente com relação ao transporte por micro-ônibus, elevadores e banheiros, afetando principalmente os AHSN com deficiência visual (F1.101 = 14,01, p = 0,0003). Conclui-se que é importante abordar as lacunas de gênero, origem da deficiência e AHSN para garantir uma participação equitativa ao abrigo de um quadro jurídico.

Abstract Accessibility perception of chilean para-athletes, road to Santiago 2023. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 20(2), 1-18. The objective of this research is three-fold: 1) to understand Para-athletes' perceptions on accessibility regarding Santiago 2023 Parapan American games' future venues, 2) to establish differences in perception due to the origin of the disability, and 3) document alignment, if any, with athletes with high support needs (AHSN). This research is a two-phased quantitative cross-sectional study, which at the first stage developed the "Para-athletes Perception on Accessibility Survey" (PPA-D) and, at the second stage, the survey was applied to 96 Chilean Para-athletes (77.8% men, mean age = 31.0 ± 11.6 years old). The test obtained a validation coefficient of = 0.96. Regarding the sample characteristics, 16.6% corresponded to participants with visual impairment, 35.1% were AHSN, 51.5% were linked to high-level competition, and 59.3% travelled on their own to their training sessions. A negative perception of accessibility was found, mainly concerning minibuses, elevators, and restroom spaces, affecting mostly AHSN with visual impairment (F1.101 = 14.01, p = .0003). We conclude that it is important to address gender, disability, and AHSN gaps to guarantee equitable participation under a framework of the law and social rights.

Discovery and Visualization of Age-Dependent Patterns in the Diurnal Transcriptome of Drosophila.

Many critical life processes are regulated by input from 24-hour external light/dark cycles, such as metabolism, cellular homeostasis, and detoxification. The circadian clock, which helps coordinate the response to these diurnal light/dark cycles, remains rhythmic across lifespan; however, rhythmic transcript expression is altered during normal aging. To better understand how aging impacts diurnal expression, we present an improved Fourier-based method for detecting and visualizing rhythmicity that is based on the relative power of the 24-hour period compared to other periods (RP24). We apply RP24 to transcript-level expression profiles from the heads of young (5-day) and old (55-day) Drosophila melanogaster, and reveal novel age-dependent rhythmicity changes that may be masked at the gene level. We show that core clock transcripts phase advance during aging, while most rhythmic transcripts phase delay. Transcripts rhythmic only in young flies tend to peak before lights on, while transcripts only rhythmic in old peak after lights on. We show that several pathways, including glutathione metabolism, gain or lose coordinated rhythmic expression with age, providing insight into possible mechanisms of age-onset neurodegeneration. Remarkably, we find that many pathways show very robust coordinated rhythms across lifespan, highlighting their putative roles in promoting neural health. We investigate statistically enriched transcription factor binding site motifs that may be involved in these rhythmicity changes.

Accessibility perception of chilean para-athletes, road to santiago 2023 / Percepción de atletas chilenos, rumbo a Santiago 2023, sobre la accesibilidad

Contreras-Jofré, N. F., Pinochet-Gilli, J. I., Aguayo-Carrasco, E. A., Binimelis-Hermosilla, M., Pérez-Núñez, S. B., Vergara-Ortúzar, R. C. & Muñoz-Hinrichsen, F. (2022). Accessibility perception of chilean para-athletes, road to Santiago 2023. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 20(2), 1-18. The objective of this research is three-fold: 1) to understand Para-athletes' perceptions on accessibility regarding Santiago 2023 Parapan American games' future venues, 2) to establish differences in perception due to the origin of the disability, and 3) document alignment, if any, with athletes with high support needs (AHSN). This research is a two-phased quantitative cross-sectional study, which at the first stage developed the ''Para-athletes Perception on Accessibility Survey" (PPA-D) and, at the second stage, the survey was applied to 96 Chilean Para-athletes (77.8% men, mean age = 31.0 ± 11.6 years old). The test obtained a validation coefficient of = 0.96. Regarding the sample characteristics, 16.6% corresponded to participants with visual impairment, 35.1% were AHSN, 51.5% were linked to high-level competition, and 59.3% travelled on their own to their training sessions. A negative perception of accessibility was found, mainly concerning minibuses, elevators, and restroom spaces, affecting mostly AHSN with visual impairment (F1.101 = 14.01, p = .0003). We conclude that it is important to address gender, disability, and AHSN gaps to guarantee equitable participation under a framework of the law and social rights.

Contreras-Jofré, N. F., Pinochet-Gilli, J. I., Aguayo-Carrasco, E. A., Binimelis-Hermosilla, M., Pérez-Núñez, S. B., Vergara-Ortúzar, R. C. & Muñoz-Hinrichsen, F. (2022). Percepción de para atletas chilenos, rumbo a Santiago 2023, sobre la accesibilidad. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 20(2), 1-18. El objetivo de esta investigación es triple: 1) comprender las percepciones de los paratletas sobre la accesibilidad respecto a las futuras sedes de los Juegos Parapanamericanos Santiago 2023; 2) establecer diferencias en la percepción debidas al origen de la discapacidad y 3) documentar la percepción de paratletas con grandes necesidades de apoyo (AHSN, por sus siglas en inglés). Esta investigación es cuantitativa transversal que, en su primera etapa, desarrolló el instrumento denominado Encuesta de Percepción de Accesibilidad de Para-atletas (PPA-D, por sus siglas en inglés) y, en una segunda etapa, se aplicó a 96 paratletas chilenos (77.8% hombres, edad promedio = 31.0 ± 11.6 años). Para la prueba, se obtuvo un coeficiente de validación = .96. Respecto a las características de la muestra, 16.6% correspondió a participantes con discapacidad visual; un 35.1% era AHSN; el 51.5% estaba vinculado a la alta competencia y el 59.3% se trasladaba por su cuenta a sus entrenamientos. Se identificó una percepción negativa de la accesibilidad, principalmente en cuanto al transporte en microbús, en los elevadores y en los espacios de baños, afectando principalmente a AHSN con discapacidad visual (F1,101 = 14.01, p = .0003). Se concluye que es importante abordar las brechas de género, origen de discapacidad y AHSN para garantizar una participación equitativa bajo un marco de derecho.

Contreras-Jofré, N. F., Pinochet-Gilli, J. I., Aguayo-Carrasco, E. A., Binimelis-Hermosilla, M., Pérez-Núñez, S. B., Vergara-Ortúzar, R. C. & Muñoz-Hinrichsen, F. (2022). Percepção dos paratletas chilenos, rumo a Santiago 2023, sobre acessibilidade. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 20(2), 1-18. O objetivo desta pesquisa é triplo: 1) compreender as percepções dos paratletas sobre acessibilidade com relação às futuras sedes dos Jogos Parapan-Americanos de Santiago 2023; 2) estabelecer diferenças de percepção devido à origem da deficiência portada e 3) documentar a percepção de paratletas com altas necessidades de apoio (AHSN, por suas siglas em inglês). Esta pesquisa é quantitativa transversal que, em sua primeira etapa, desenvolveu o instrumento denominado Enquete de Percepção de Acessibilidade de Paratletas (PPA-D, por suas siglas em inglês) e, em uma segunda etapa, foi aplicada a 96 paratletas chilenos (77,8% homens, idade média = 31,0 ± 11,6 anos). Para o teste, obteve-se um coeficiente de validação = 0,96. Em relação às características da amostra, 16,6% corresponderam a participantes com deficiência visual; 35,1% eram AHSN; 51,5% estavam ligados à alta competência e 59,3% se deslocaram por conta própria para o treinamento. Identificou-se uma percepção negativa de acessibilidade, principalmente com relação ao transporte por micro-ônibus, elevadores e banheiros, afetando principalmente os AHSN com deficiência visual (F1.101 = 14,01, p = 0,0003). Conclui-se que é importante abordar as lacunas de gênero, origem da deficiência e AHSN para garantir uma participação equitativa ao abrigo de um quadro jurídico.

Clear judgments based on unclear evidence: Person evaluation is strongly influenced by untrustworthy gossip.

Affective information about other people's social behavior may prejudice social interactions and bias person judgments. The trustworthiness of person-related information, however, can vary considerably, as in the case of gossip, rumors, lies, or "fake news." Here, we investigated how spontaneous person likability and explicit person judgments are influenced by trustworthiness, employing event-related potentials as indices of emotional brain responses. Social-emotional information about the (im)moral behavior of previously unknown persons was verbally presented as trustworthy fact (e.g., "He bullied his apprentice") or marked as untrustworthy gossip (by adding, e.g., allegedly), using verbal qualifiers that are frequently used in conversations, news, and social media to indicate the questionable trustworthiness of the information and as a precaution against wrong accusations. In Experiment 1, spontaneous likability, deliberate person judgments, and electrophysiological measures of emotional person evaluation were strongly influenced by negative information yet remarkably unaffected by the trustworthiness of the information. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and extended them to positive information. Our findings demonstrate a tendency for strong emotional evaluations and person judgments even when they are knowingly based on unclear evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Agonist-dependent development of delta opioid receptor tolerance in the colon.

The use of opioid analgesics is severely limited due to the development of intractable constipation, mediated through activation of mu opioid receptors (MOR) expressed by enteric neurons. The related delta opioid receptor (DOR) is an emerging therapeutic target for chronic pain, depression and anxiety. Whether DOR agonists also promote sustained inhibition of colonic transit is unknown. This study examined acute and chronic tolerance to SNC80 and ARM390, which were full and partial DOR agonists in neural pathways controlling colonic motility, respectively. Excitatory pathways developed acute and chronic tolerance to SNC80, whereas only chronic tolerance developed in inhibitory pathways. Both pathways remained functional after acute or chronic ARM390 exposure. Propagating colonic motor patterns were significantly reduced after acute or chronic SNC80 treatment, but not by ARM390 pre-treatment. These findings demonstrate that SNC80 has a prolonged inhibitory effect on propagating colonic motility. ARM390 had no effect on motor patterns and thus may have fewer gastrointestinal side-effects.

The closer they are, the more they interfere: Semantic similarity of word distractors increases competition in language production.

Heterogeneous effects of semantic distance in language production have sparked a debate on the central assumption of many language production models, namely that lexical selection is a competitive process. In the present ERP study, we manipulated semantic distance in the picture word interference (PWI) paradigm systematically within taxonomic hierarchies. Target-distractor pairs were either closely related members of the same basic level category, hence sharing many semantic features (e.g., orangutan and gorilla), or distantly related members of the same superordinate category, sharing fewer features (e.g., orangutan and horse). Across related conditions, broad category membership (e.g., animals) was kept constant. Naming times reflected a systematic increase of semantic interference as semantic distance decreased. Early and later ERP modulations related to the semantic distance manipulation were observed at posterior regions starting at 234 ms and with an additional fronto-central cluster starting at 346 ms. Early effects are interpreted as indexing lexical selection while the late effects may reflect an N400-like component. Taking the behavioral and ERP modulations together, these results are in line with models of lexical selection that include an early competitive lexical selection process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Inflammation-associated changes in DOR expression and function in the mouse colon.

Endogenous opioids activate opioid receptors (ORs) in the enteric nervous system to control intestinal motility and secretion. The µ-OR mediates the deleterious side effects of opioid analgesics, including constipation, respiratory depression, and addiction. Although the δ-OR (DOR) is a promising target for analgesia, the function and regulation of DOR in the colon are poorly understood. This study provides evidence that endogenous opioids activate DOR in myenteric neurons that may regulate colonic motility. The DOR agonists DADLE, deltorphin II, and SNC80 inhibited electrically evoked contractions and induced neurogenic contractions in the mouse colon. Electrical, chemical, and mechanical stimulation of the colon evoked the release of endogenous opioids, which stimulated endocytosis of DOR in the soma and proximal neurites of myenteric neurons of transgenic mice expressing DOR fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein. In contrast, DOR was not internalized in nerve fibers within the circular muscle. Administration of dextran sulfate sodium induced acute colitis, which was accompanied by DOR endocytosis and an increased density of DOR-positive nerve fibers within the circular muscle. The potency with which SNC80 inhibited neurogenic contractions was significantly enhanced in the inflamed colon. This study demonstrates that DOR-expressing neurons in the mouse colon can be activated by exogenous and endogenous opioids. Activated DOR traffics to endosomes and inhibits neurogenic motility of the colon. DOR signaling is enhanced during intestinal inflammation. This study demonstrates functional expression of DOR by myenteric neurons and supports the therapeutic targeting of DOR in the enteric nervous system. NEW & NOTEWORTHY DOR is activated during physiologically relevant reflex stimulation. Agonist-evoked DOR endocytosis is spatially and temporally regulated. A significant proportion of DOR is internalized in myenteric neurons during inflammation. The relative proportion of all myenteric neurons that expressed DOR and the overlap with the nNOS-positive population are increased in inflammation. DOR-specific innervation of the circular muscle is increased in inflammation, and this is consistent with enhanced responsiveness to the DOR agonist SNC80.

Cumulative semantic interference for associative relations in language production.

Associations between conceptual representations and thematic relations play an important role in the organization of semantic memory. However, language production research on semantic context effects shows that associative (e.g., dog and bone) and categorical relations (dog and horse) seem to diverge. While categorical contexts typically induce semantic interference that has traditionally been taken to reflect competitive lexical selection, evidence for comparable associative modulations is rare. In three experiments we tested whether thematic associations between objects induce cumulative interference in the continuous naming paradigm, assuming that this paradigm hampers lexical selection via the activation of highly active lexical cohorts steadily increasing in size. Indeed, naming times increased linearly with each newly named member of thematic contexts irrespective of the pre-activation of associations before the naming task (Experiment 1), and irrespective of whether categorical links were partially included (Experiments 1 and 2) or entirely absent (Experiment 3). These findings demonstrate that different types of semantic relations induce interference.

Listening to Puns Elicits the Co-Activation of Alternative Homophone Meanings during Language Production.

Recent evidence suggests that lexical-semantic activation spread during language production can be dynamically shaped by contextual factors. In this study we investigated whether semantic processing modes can also affect lexical-semantic activation during word production. Specifically, we tested whether the processing of linguistic ambiguities, presented in the form of puns, has an influence on the co-activation of unrelated meanings of homophones in a subsequent language production task. In a picture-word interference paradigm with word distractors that were semantically related or unrelated to the non-depicted meanings of homophones we found facilitation induced by related words only when participants listened to puns before object naming, but not when they heard jokes with unambiguous linguistic stimuli. This finding suggests that a semantic processing mode of ambiguity perception can induce the co-activation of alternative homophone meanings during speech planning.