Trigger finger: etiology, evaluation, and treatment

Trigger finger is a common finger aliment, thought to be caused by inflammation and subsequent narrowing of the A1 pulley, which causes pain, clicking, catching, and loss of motion of the affected finger. Although it can occur in anyone, it is seen more frequently in the diabetic population and in women, typically in the fifth to sixth decade of life. The diagnosis is usually fairly straightforward, as most patients complain of clicking or locking of the finger, but other pathological processes such as fracture, tumor, or other traumatic soft tissue injuries must be excluded. Treatment modalities, including splinting, corticosteroid injection, or surgical release, are very effective and are tailored to the severity and duration of symptoms

Self-confined polymer dynamics in miscible binary blends

The segmental dynamics of PVME within the single-phase state of poly(styrene)/poly(vinyl methyl ether) blends (PS/PVME) was examined by dielectric spectroscopy. A particular attention has been given to the high PS concentration regime. In this latter, rather localized, weakly cooperative motions of the PVME segments are detected at low temperatures, in addition of the secondary relaxation processes. This feature is attributed to confinement effects induced by the PS chains on the PVME

Segmental order and dynamics of polymer chains confined in block copolymer lamellar mesophases: NMR and dielectric relaxation studies

The PDMS lamellar sublayers of a poly(styrene)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) diblock (PS-PDMS) and PS-PDMS-PS triblocks are investigated by NMR and dielectric spectroscopy. Some segments of the confined PDMS chains display anisotropic orientational fluctuations along the interfaces with the PS glassy blocks, whereas the others display fluctuations rather parallel to the lamellae normal. This coexistence results from a competitive ordering effect induced by the glassy interfaces and the chain-end anchoring junctions. The distribution of PDMS relaxation times within the sublayers is also examined: in particular, a slowing down of the segmental motions, together with a broadening of this distribution, are detected

Validation and Feasibility of an Automated System for the Assessment of Vascular Structure and Mechanical Properties in the Digital Arteries: An Ultrahigh-Frequency Ultrasound Study

Ultrahigh-frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) allows sharp visualization of human small muscular arteries. This may help in elucidating some aspects of the pathophysiology of arterial aging, such as the stiffness gradient between large and small conduit arteries and its consequences on the microcirculation, as well as vascular diseases affecting medium-sized arteries. However, UHFUS use is still limited, partly because of the lack of validated tools to quantify vascular structure and mechanical properties of small muscular arteries. In this validation study, scans of digital arteries were obtained with UHFUS (VevoMD, Visualsonics-Fujifilm, Toronto, ON, Canada), analyzed using Carotid Studio software (Quipu, Pisa, Italy) and compared with the manual measurement. Agreement between the two techniques on measures of diameter, distension and intima-media thickness (IMT) was evaluated using Bland-Altman analyses; inter- and intra-operator reproducibility was evaluated using coefficients of variation (CVs). Overall, no trend or significant bias was observed between Carotid Studio and manual analysis. All limits of agreement were acceptable. The intra-observer CV of diastolic diameter and IMT were 4.1% and 4.2%, respectively. The inter-observer CV for diastolic diameter and IMT were 7.3% and 5.4%, respectively. Intra- and inter-observer CVs for distension were higher (25.7% and 26.7%, respectively). These results suggest that the Carotid Studio software is a valid and reproducible tool to study UHFUS scans of digital arteries, with potential utility both in rare vascular diseases of medium-sized arteries and in the study of the pathophysiology of arterial aging in general