Effectiveness of a Home-Based Eccentric-Exercise Program on the Torque-Angle Relationship of the Shoulder External Rotators: A Pilot Study

Context: The role of the rotator cuff is to provide dynamic stability to the glenohumeral joint. Human and animal studies have identified sarcomerogenesis as an outcome of eccentric training indicated by more torque generation with the muscle in a lengthened position. Objective: The authors hypothesized that a home-based eccentric-exercise program could increase the shoulder external rotators’ eccentric strength at terminal internal rotation (IR). Design: Prospective case series. Setting: Clinical laboratory and home exercising. Participants: 10 healthy subjects (age 30 ± 10 y). Intervention: All participants performed 2 eccentric exercises targeting the posterior shoulder for 6 wk using a home-based intervention program using side-lying external rotation (ER) and horizontal abduction. Main Outcome Measures: Dynamic eccentric shoulder strength measured at 60°/s through a 100° arc divided into 4 equal 25° arcs (ER 50–25°, ER 25–0°, IR 0–25°, IR 25–50°) to measure angular impulse to represent the work performed. In addition, isometric shoulder ER was measured at 5 points throughout the arc of motion (45° IR, 30° IR, 15° IR, 0°, and 15° ER). Comparison of isometric and dynamic strength from pre- to posttesting was evaluated with a repeated-measure ANOVA using time and arc or positions as within factors. Results: The isometric force measures revealed no significant differences between the 5 positions (P = .56). Analysis of the dynamic eccentric data revealed a significant difference between arcs (P = .02). The percentage-change score of the arc of IR 25–50° was found to be significantly greater than that of the arc of IR 0–25° (P = .007). Conclusion: After eccentric training the only arc of motion that had a positive improvement in the capacity to absorb eccentric loads was the arc of motion that represented eccentric contractions at the longest muscle length

Effectiveness of a Home-Based Eccentric-Exercise Program on the Torque-Angle Relationship of the Shoulder External Rotators: A Pilot Study

Context: The role of the rotator cuff is to provide dynamic stability to the glenohumeral joint. Human and animal studies have identified sarcomerogenesis as an outcome of eccentric training indicated by more torque generation with the muscle in a lengthened position. Objective: The authors hypothesized that a home-based eccentric-exercise program could increase the shoulder external rotators’ eccentric strength at terminal internal rotation (IR). Design: Prospective case series. Setting: Clinical laboratory and home exercising. Participants: 10 healthy subjects (age 30 ± 10 y). Intervention: All participants performed 2 eccentric exercises targeting the posterior shoulder for 6 wk using a home-based intervention program using side-lying external rotation (ER) and horizontal abduction. Main Outcome Measures: Dynamic eccentric shoulder strength measured at 60°/s through a 100° arc divided into 4 equal 25° arcs (ER 50–25°, ER 25–0°, IR 0–25°, IR 25–50°) to measure angular impulse to represent the work performed. In addition, isometric shoulder ER was measured at 5 points throughout the arc of motion (45° IR, 30° IR, 15° IR, 0°, and 15° ER). Comparison of isometric and dynamic strength from pre- to posttesting was evaluated with a repeated-measure ANOVA using time and arc or positions as within factors. Results: The isometric force measures revealed no significant differences between the 5 positions (P = .56). Analysis of the dynamic eccentric data revealed a significant difference between arcs (P = .02). The percentage-change score of the arc of IR 25–50° was found to be significantly greater than that of the arc of IR 0–25° (P = .007). Conclusion: After eccentric training the only arc of motion that had a positive improvement in the capacity to absorb eccentric loads was the arc of motion that represented eccentric contractions at the longest muscle length

Rischio trasfusionale per Trypanosoma cruzi: screening dei donatori presso il laboratorio di Parassitologia dell'Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana.

Introduzione La legge 219 del 21/10/2015 e le relative linee guida (4.10/2015/66 e 4.10/2015/71) stabiliscono che soggetti nati in Paesi dove la malattia di Chagas è endemica, o che sono stati trasfusi o hanno soggiornato in condizioni di rischio in tali Paesi, possono essere ammessi alla donazione di sangue solo in presenza di un test per anticorpi anti-Trypanosoma cruzi negativo. Materiali e metodi Il laboratorio di Parassitologia dell'U. O. di Microbiologia dell' Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana (AOUP) da Febbraio 2016 effettua il test di screening dei donatori che fanno capo ai centri trasfusionali dell’AOUP stessa e dell'Azienda USL Nord Ovest della Regione Toscana (Pisa, Livorno, Lucca, Massa Carrara, Pontedera e Viareggio), utilizzando la metodica dell'immunocromatografia (IC; Chagas Quick Test, Cypress Diagnostics) su campioni di siero. I campioni con risultato positivo sono stati ulteriormente testati tramite immunoblot (IB; Chagas IgG LineBlot, Novatec) e chemiluminescenza (CL; Architect Chagas, Abbott). Sono stati inoltre testati con le tre metodiche, in qualità di controlli, 10 sieri raccolti dal Centro Malattie Tropicali di Negrar (cortesia del Dott. Angheben). Risultati Nel periodo dal 15/02/2016 al 08/09/2016 sono stati testati 755 donatori. Quattro donatori (0.53%) sono risultati positivi al test ICT. Di questi, 3 sono risultati negativi al test IB e 4 al test CL. Tra i controlli, 8 sono risultati positivi a tutti i test, 1 è risultato negativo a tutti i test, e 1 è risultato negativo al test ICT, dubbio al test IB e debolmente positivo al test CL. Conclusioni Tra i 755 donatori di sangue afferenti all' Azienda USL Nord Ovest della Regione Toscana sottoposti a ricerca per anticorpi anti-Trypanosoma cruzi durante il periodo di studio sono risultati positivi al test ICT 4 soggetti, risultati però negativi al test CL, indicando una prevalenza di donatori sieropositivi dello 0%. I risultati del confronto tra i test ICT, IB e CL mostrano una buona concordanza, e suggeriscono di proseguire nell'utilizzo del test ICT come test di screening e del test CL come test di conferma, mentre l'IB potrà essere usato nel caso di discordanza dell'esito delle prime due metodiche, come suggerito dall'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanit

An over-the-distance wireless battery charger based on RF energy harvesting

An RF powered receiver silicon IC (integrated circuit) for RF energy harvesting is presented as wireless battery charger. This includes an RF-to-DC energy converter specifically designed with a sensitivity of -18.8 dBm and an energy conversion efficiency of \ue2\u88\ubc45% at 900 MHz with a transmitting power of 0.5 W in free space. Experimental results concerned with remotely battery charging using a complete prototype working in realistic scenarios will be shown

The mechanisms mediated by α7 acetylcholine nicotinic receptors may contribute to peripheral nerve regeneration

Due to the microenvironment created by Schwann cell (SC) activity, peripheral nerve fibers are able to regenerate. Inflammation is the first response to nerve damage and the removal of cellular and myelin debris is essential in preventing the persistence of the local inflammation that may negatively affect nerve regeneration. Acetylcholine (ACh) is one of the neurotransmitters involved in the modulation of inflammation through the activity of its receptors, belonging to both the muscarinic and nicotinic classes. In this report, we evaluated the expression of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in rat sciatic nerve, particularly in SCs, after peripheral nerve injury. α7 nAChRs are absent in sciatic nerve immediately after dissection, but their expression is significantly enhanced in SCs after 24 h in cultured sciatic nerve segments or in the presence of the proinflammatory neuropeptide Bradykinin (BK). Moreover, we found that activation of α7 nAChRs with the selective partial agonist ICH3 causes a decreased expression of c-Jun and an upregulation of uPA, MMP2 and MMP9 activity. In addition, ICH3 treatment inhibits IL-6 transcript level expression as well as the cytokine release. These results suggest that ACh, probably released from regenerating axons or by SC themselves, may actively promote through α7 nAChRs activation an anti-inflammatory microenvironment that contributes to better improving the peripheral nerve regeneration

New Alpha9 nAChR Ligands Based on a 5‑(Quinuclidin-3-ylmethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole Scaffold

Several lines of evidence have indicated that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) that contain α9 subunits, probably in combination with α10 subunits, may be valuable targets for the management of pain associated with inflammatory diseases through a cholinergic anti-inflammatory system (CAS), which has also been associated with α7 nAChR. Both α7- and α9-containing neuronal nAChR can be pharmacologically distinguished from the high-affinity nicotinic receptors of the brain by their sensitivity to α-bungarotoxin, but in other ways, they have quite distinct pharmacological profiles. The early association of α7 with CAS led to the development of numerous new ligands, variously characterized as α7 agonists, partial agonists, or silent agonists that desensitized α7 receptors without activation. Subsequent reinvestigation of one such family of α7 ligands based on an N,N-diethyl-N′-phenylpiperazine scaffold led to the identification of potent agonists and antagonists for α9. In this paper, we characterize the α9/α10 activity of a series of compounds based on a 5-(quinuclidin-3-ylmethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (QMO) scaffold and identify two new potent ligands of α9, QMO-28, an agonist, and QMO-17, an antagonist. We separated the stereoisomers of these compounds to identify the most potent agonist and discovered that only the 3R isomer of QMO-17 was an α9 antagonist, permitting an in silico model of α9 antagonism to be developed. The α9 activity of these compounds was confirmed to be potentially useful for CAS management of inflammatory pain in cell-based assays of cytokine release