Structural interaction between bone and implants due to arthroplasty of the first metatarsophalangeal joint

Background: Currently, the metatarsophalangeal joint replacement through a restorative arthroplasty, where implants are used, is a viable invasive surgical medical procedure in the treatment of severe cases of osteoarthritis in this joint, better known as hallux rigidus. However, few things are known about the postoperative complications that implants can cause on the joint, like Swanson and Tornier implants.Research in this field can provide a valuable information that would help the specialist surgeon in the decision-making during the selection of the more suitable joint implant in each patient, as well as the redesign of the devices, to make them more efficient, durable and biocompatible with the human body. Methods: The aim of this work is to perform a structural biomechanical analysis of a restorative arthroplasty of the first metatarsophalangeal joint, and to analyze the interaction between bone and medical grade silicone implants. For that, a simulation of a foot with Swanson and Tornier joint implants were performed to evaluate the stress/strain distribution during a critical stage (toe-off). Results and conclusions: Principal stresses obtained for the first metatarsal with both implants suggest that failure is induced in this bone because, values exceed (up to 136.84% for Swanson model) the tensile strength reported for phalange trabecular bone, which may be related to osteolysis. Stress and strain values obtained in this work suggest that arthroplasty surgery with Swanson implant is more likely to cause postoperative complications versus Tornier implant

Winograd technique. About one case

Una de las técnicas quirúrgicas de elección para las onicocriptosis severas es el Winograd. En el presente artículo presentamos el caso de un varón de 17 años, afecto de onicocriptosis severa, con los rodetes ungueales hipertróficos al que sometimos a cirugía ungueal con resultados satisfactorios tanto para él como para los profesionales que llevamos a cabo la intervención.One of the surgical techniques of election for the severe onicocriptosis is the Winograd. In the present article we presents the clinical case of a man of 17 years old, affected of severe onicocriptosis, with the nails fols hypertrophied who underwent to nail surgery with satisfactory results for him as for the professionals as much who we carried out the intervention

Patterns of Chemical Diversity in the Mediterranean Sponge Spongia lamella

The intra-specific diversity in secondary metabolites can provide crucial information for understanding species ecology and evolution but has received limited attention in marine chemical ecology. The complex nature of diversity is partially responsible for the lack of studies, which often target a narrow number of major compounds. Here, we investigated the intra-specific chemical diversity of the Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. The chemical profiles of seven populations spreading over 1200 km in the Western Mediterranean were obtained by a straightforward SPE-HPLC-DAD-ELSD process whereas the identity of compounds was assessed by comparison between HPLC-MS spectra and literature data. Chemical diversity calculated by richness and Shannon indexes differed significantly between sponge populations but not at a larger regional scale. We used factor analysis, analysis of variance, and regression analysis to examine the chemical variability of this sponge at local and regional scales, to establish general patterns of variation in chemical diversity. The abundance of some metabolites varied significantly between sponge populations. Despite these significant differences between populations, we found a clear pattern of increasing chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance. Additional large spatial scale studies on the chemical diversity of marine organisms will validate the universality or exclusivity of this pattern

POWERbreathe® Inspiratory Muscle Training in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Inspiratory muscle training may benefit respiratory function, cardiocirculatory parameters, quality of life and functionality in neuromuscular diseases. This pilot study aimed to demonstrate the POWERbreathe® inspiratory muscle training effects on maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax), heart rate (HR) and HR variability, as well as the quality of life impairment and functionality in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A pilot single-blinded, non-randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out. A total of 20T ALS patients were enrolled and divided into experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. The experimental group received POWERbreathe® inspiratory muscle training in conjunction with usual care, and the control group received only usual care for 8 weeks. PImax (measured by POWERbreathe® KH1), HR and HR variability (evaluated by Polar H7), quality of life impairment [measured by the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire—40 items (ALSAQ-40)] and functionality [assessed by the ALS Functional Rating Scale Revised (ALSFRS-R)] were collected at baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention. We detected statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) with an effect size ranging from medium to large (Cohen’s d = 0.72–1.37); relative to the control group, the experimental group had an increased PImax (mean difference = 10.80 cm H2O; 95% CI = 3.42–18.17) and ALSFRS-R score (mean difference = 5.30 points; 95% CI = −0.03–10.63) and reduced HR (mean difference = −8.80 beats-per-minute; 95% CI = −20.27–2.67) and R-R interval (mean difference = 78.30 ms; 95% CI = 2.89–153.70). POWERbreathe® inspiratory muscle training, in addition to usual care, may improve inspiratory strength and heart rate in patients with ALS. These results encourage larger and longer trials investigating potential clinically relevant benefits of inspiratory muscle training to these patients over the disease course.post-print6421 K

Impact of footwear and foot deformities in patients with Parkinson?s disease: A case-series study

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common and complex neurological problem. Gait abnormalities are frequent in PD patients, and this increases the risk of falls. However, little is known about foot deformities and footwear in this vulnerable population. Here we investigate whether patients with PD use an appropriate shoe size and know if they have foot deformities or alterations. Methodology: A study of a series of observational descriptive cases in a convenience sample (n = 53 patients) diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. One trained investigator evaluated foot and ankle health. The footwear and foot measurements were obtained using a Brannock device. Results: The podiatric examination and footwear examination detected a high presence of podiatric pathologies and inappropriate footwear. This has a negative impact on the quality of life of these patients. Conclusions: This research detected an elevated number of people with foot deformities or alterations. Moreover, a high proportion of participants with PD wear inadequate footwear (in length, width, or both)

Biochemical Trade-Offs: Evidence for Ecologically Linked Secondary Metabolism of the Sponge Oscarella balibaloi

Secondary metabolite production is assumed to be costly and therefore the resource allocation to their production should be optimized with respect to primary biological functions such as growth or reproduction. Sponges are known to produce a great diversity of secondary metabolites with powerful biological activities that may explain their domination in some hard substrate communities both in terms of diversity and biomass. Oscarella balibaloi (Homoscleromorpha) is a recently described, highly dynamic species, which often overgrows other sessile marine invertebrates. Bioactivity measurements (standardized Microtox assay) and metabolic fingerprints were used as indicators of the baseline variations of the O. balibaloi secondary metabolism, and related to the sponge reproductive effort over two years. The bioactivity showed a significant seasonal variation with the lowest values at the end of spring and in early summer followed by the highest bioactivity in the late summer and autumn. An effect of the seawater temperature was detected, with a significantly higher bioactivity in warm conditions. There was also a tendency of a higher bioactivity when O. balibaloi was found overgrowing other sponge species. Metabolic fingerprints revealed the existence of three principal metabolic phenotypes: phenotype 1 exhibited by a majority of low bioactive, female individuals, whereas phenotypes 2 and 3 correspond to a majority of highly bioactive, non-reproductive individuals. The bioactivity was negatively correlated to the reproductive effort, minimal bioactivities coinciding with the period of embryogenesis and larval development. Our results fit the Optimal Defense Theory with an investment in the reproduction mainly shaping the secondary metabolism variability, and a less pronounced influence of other biotic (species interaction) and abiotic (temperature) factors

Neue linguistische Methoden und arbeitstechnische Verfahren in der Erschliessung der ägyptischen Grammatik

15 páginas, 1 tabla, 6 figuras.Does diversity beget diversity? Diversity includes a diversity of concepts because it is linked to variability in and of life and can be applied to multiple levels. The connections between multiple levels of diversity are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationships between genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity of the endangered Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. These levels of diversity are intrinsically related to sponge evolution and could have strong conservation implications. We used microsatellite markers, denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and high performance liquid chromatography to quantify genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity of nine sponge populations. We then used correlations to test whether these diversity levels covaried. We found that sponge populations differed significantly in genetic, bacterial, and chemical diversity. We also found a strong geographic pattern of increasing genetic, bacterial, and chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance between populations. However, we failed to detect significant correlations between the three levels of diversity investigated in our study. Our results suggest that diversity fails to beget diversity within a single species and indicates that a diversity of factors regulates a diversity of diversities, which highlights the complex nature of the mechanisms behind diversityResearch funded by grants from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ECIMAR), from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology SOLID (CTM2010-17755) and Benthomics (CTM2010-22218-C02-01) and the BIOCAPITAL project (MRTN-CT-2004-512301) of the European Union. This is a contribution of the Consolidated Research Group ‘‘Grupo de Ecologı´a Bento´nica,’’ SGR2009-655.Peer reviewe