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Zuzana Blahova,1 Janina Claudia Holm,1 Thomas Weiser,2 Erika Richter,2 Matthias Trampisch,2 Elena Akarachkova3 1Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Vienna, Austria; 2Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany; 3I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation Background/objective: Low back pain affects many patients and has a high socioeconomic impact. Topical capsaicinoids have been used for decades to treat musculoskeletal pain. This study investigated the effects of the fixed dose combination (FDC) of nonivamide (a capsaicinoid) and nicoboxil (a nicotinic acid ester) cream in the treatment of acute nonspecific low back pain.Materials and methods: This phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational, multi-center trial investigated efficacy, safety, and tolerability of topical nicoboxil 1.08%/nonivamide 0.17% (Finalgon® cream) in treatment of acute nonspecific low back pain with the endpoints: pain intensity (PI) difference between pre-dose baseline and 8 hours after first application and the end of treatment, mobility score, and efficacy score.Results: Patients (n=138), 21–65 years of age, were treated for up to 4 days with FDC or placebo cream. Mean baseline PI was 6.8 on a 0–10 point numerical rating scale. After 8 hours, pain was more reduced with the FDC than with placebo (adjusted means: 2.824 vs. 0.975 points; p

The objective was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health care, cannabis use, and behaviors that increase the risk of STIs among men living with or at high risk for HIV. Data were from mSTUDY - a cohort of men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, California. Participants who were 18 to 45 years and a half were HIV-positive. mSTUDY started in 2014, and at baseline and semiannual visits, information was collected on substance use, mental health, and sexual behaviors. We analyzed data from 737 study visits from March 2020 through August 2021. Compared to visits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant increases in depressive symptomatology (CES-D ≥ 16) and anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10). These increases were highest immediately following the start of the pandemic and reverted to pre-pandemic levels within 17 months. Interruptions in mental health care were associated with higher substance use (especially cannabis) for managing anxiety/depression related to the pandemic (50% vs. 31%; p-value

Despite widespread prevalence of lubricant use and rectal douching for receptive anal intercourse (RAI) among men who have sex with men (MSM), research evaluating the association of these behaviors with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is limited. This is an observational analysis of a longitudinal cohort of predominantly Black/Latino MSM in Los Angeles. Every six months from August 2014 to January 2018, participants received STI screening and surveys evaluating lubricant use, douching, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors. General estimating equations evaluated the association between consistent lubricant use and douching for RAI with positive rectal Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and/or syphilis (positive STI). Among 313 participants across 552 study visits, 16.5% (91/552) had positive STI. Consistent lubricant use was reported in 52.7% (243/552) and rectal douching in 57.6% (318/552) of study visits. Consistent lubricant use was associated with STI diagnosis (adjusted OR [AOR] 1.81; 95% CI 1.11-2.96; p = 0.018). Each episode of rectal douching before RAI was associated with 2% increased odds of positive STI (AOR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00-1.04; p = 0.041). Among this cohort of HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative MSM, lubricant use and douching was common and independently associated with an STI, suggesting the utility of prevention messaging around barrier methods/condoms for sexual encounters involving douching/lubricant use.

Carbon doped GaN grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy was investigated by photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy covering a broad range of carbon concentrations. Above bandgap excitation reveals typical transitions related to C N and C N − H i that decrease with increasing carbon concentration. Besides the formation of nonradiative defects, the formation of complexes containing more than one carbon atom is proposed to be responsible for this reduction. Below bandgap excitation reveals an intense emission band around 1.62 eV for [C] > --> 10 18 cm − 3 that is shown by photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy to be most efficiently excited at 2.7 eV. The 1.62 eV transition thermally quenches above 80 K. A configuration-coordinate diagram model is proposed to explain the observed emission, excitation, and thermal quenching behavior. Based on the simultaneous increase in the concentration of tri-carbon complexes, this band is tentatively attributed to a transition involving a deep tri-carbon-related charge state transition level in the GaN bandgap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon doping is used to obtain semi-insulating GaN crystals. If the carbon doping concentration exceeds 5 × 1017 cm−3, the carbon atoms increasingly form triatomic clusters. The tri-carbon defect structure is unambiguously proven by the isotope effect on the defects' local vibrational modes (LVMs) originally found in samples containing carbon of natural isotopic composition (∼99% 12C, ∼1% 13C) at 1679 cm−1 and 1718 cm−1. Number, spectral positions, and intensities of the LVMs for samples enriched with the 13C isotope (∼99% and ∼50%) are consistently interpreted on the basis of the harmonic oscillator model taking into account the probability of possible isotope combinations. Including the polarization dependence of the LVM absorption, we show that the tri-carbon defects form a triatomic molecule-like structure in two crystallographically different configurations: a basal configuration with the carbon bonds near the basal plane and an axial configuration with one of the carbon bonds along the c axis. Finally, the disappearance of the LVMs under additional below-bandgap illumination is interpreted as defect recharging, i.e., the tri-carbon defects possess at least one charge state transition level within the bandgap and contribute to optical absorption as well as to the electrical charge balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]