Comparison of total ankle replacement and ankle arthrodesis in patients with haemophilia using gait analysis : two case reports

BACKGROUND: Severe hemophilia is an inherited, lifelong bleeding disorder characterized by spontaneous bleeding, which results in painful joint deformities. Currently two surgical treatments are available to treat haemophilia-related ankle joint destruction: ankle arthrodesis and total ankle replacement. The aim of the present study was to compare these two surgical procedures in haemophiliac subjects. CASE PRESENTATION: Kinematic and dynamic parameters were quantified using a three-dimensional gait-analysis system in two similar clinical cases. In Caucasian case 1, ankle arthrodesis was chosen because of a kinematic ankle flexion defect and lack of dynamic power regeneration. The defect in energy absorption was compensated for by the contralateral side. Total ankle replacement in Caucasian case 2 allowed sparing the ipsilateral knee (maximum 0.27 preoperatively vs. 0.71 W/kg postoperatively) and hip joints powers (maximum 0.43 preoperatively vs. 1.25 W/kg postoperatively) because of the small ankle dorsiflexion motion. CONCLUSIONS: Total ankle replacement is recommended for haemophiliac patients who present with a preserved ankle range of motion

Use of kinematic algorithms to distinguish people with chronic non-specific low back pain from asymptomatic subjects: A validation study

Objective: To determine whether kinematic algorithms can distinguish subjects with chronic non-specific low back pain from asymptomatic subjects and subjects simulating low back pain, during trunk motion tasks.Design: Comparative cohort study.Subjects: A total of 90 subjects composed 3 groups; 45 chronic non-specific low back pain patients in the CLBP group; 45 asymptomatic controls people in the asymptomatic controls group. 20/45 subjects from the asymptomatic controls group composed the CLBP simulators group as well. Method: During performance of 7 standardized trunk motion tasks 6 spinal segments from the kinematic spine model were recorded by 8 infrared cameras. Two logit scores, for range of motion and speed, were used to investigate differences between the groups. Group allocation based on logit scores was also calculated, allowing the assessment of sensitivity and specificity of the algorithms. Results: For the 90 subjects (pooled data), the logit scores for range of motion and speed demonstrated highly significant differences between groups (p<0.001). The logit score means and standard deviation (SD) values in the asymptomatic group (n = 45) and chronic non-specific low back pain group (n = 45), respectively, were -1.6 (SD 2.6) and 2.8 (SD 2.8) for range of motion and -2.6 (SD 2.5) and 1.2 (SD 1.9) for speed. The sensitivity and specificity (n = 90) for logit score for range of motion were 0.80/0.82 and for logit score for speed were 0.80/0.87, respectively. Conclusion: These results support the validity of using 2 movement algorithms, range of motion and speed, to discriminate asymptomatic subjects from those with low back pain. However, people simulating low back pain cannot be distinguished from those with real low back pain using this method

Poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(vinyl alcohol) Anchored Maghemite Nanoparticles Designed for Multi-stimuli Triggered Drug Release

peer reviewe

Glucose- and pH-responsive Nanogels Crosslinked by Functional Superparamagnetic Maghemite Nanoparticles as Innovative Drug Delivery Systems

peer reviewe

Defective adaptive thermogenesis contributes to metabolic syndrome and liver steatosis in obese mice

Abstract Fatty liver diseases are complications of the metabolic syndrome associated with obesity, insulin resistance and low grade inflammation. Our aim was to uncover mechanisms contributing to hepatic complications in this setting. We used foz/foz mice prone to obesity, insulin resistance and progressive fibrosing non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Foz/foz mice are hyperphagic but wild-type (WT)-matched calorie intake failed to protect against obesity, adipose inflammation and glucose intolerance. Obese foz/foz mice had similar physical activity level but reduced energy expenditure. Thermogenic adaptation to high-fat diet (HFD) or to cold exposure was severely impaired in foz/foz mice compared with HFD-fed WT littermates due to lower sympathetic tone in their brown adipose tissue (BAT). Intermittent cold exposure (ICE) restored BAT function and thereby improved glucose tolerance, decreased fat mass and liver steatosis. We conclude that failure of BAT adaptation drives the metabolic complications of obesity in foz/foz mice, including development of liver steatosis. Induction of endogenous BAT function had a significant therapeutic impact on obesity, glucose tolerance and liver complications and is a potential new avenue for therapy of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Tuning ligand electronics and peripheral substitution on cobalt salen complexes: Structure and polymerisation activity

A series of cobalt salen complexes, where salen represents an N2O2 bis-Schiff-base bis-phenolate framework, are prepared, characterised and investigated for reversible-termination organometallic mediated radical polymerisation (RT-OMRP). The salen ligands contain a cyclohexane diimine bridge and systematically altered para-substituted phenoxide moieties as a method to examine the electronic impact of the ligand on complex structure and reactivity. The complexes are characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and computational methods. Structural studies all support a tailorable metal centre reactivity altered by the electron-donating ability of the salen ligand. RT-OMRP of styrene, methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate is reported and suggests that cobalt–carbon bond strength varies with the ligand substitution. Competing β-hydrogen abstraction affords long-chain olefin-terminated polymer chains and well controlled vinyl acetate polymerisations, contrasting with the lower temperature associative exchange mechanism of degenerative transfer OMRP