A single blinded randomised controlled trial, to investigate the clinical effectiveness of pre-formed semi-rigid foot orthoses, on pain, quality of life and the dynamics of gait of patients diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)”.

Introduction - Currently there is limited evidence supporting podiatric treatment of children with JIA. The foot orthoses (FOs) prescribed to JIA children so far appeared to be very expensive and required long time to manufacture before the fitting. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to determine whether pre-formed FOs that can be prescribed at chair side, impacted on pain, quality of life (primary outcomes) and/or gait-parameters (secondary outcomes) in children affected by JIA. Methods - The study took place at the Gait Analysis laboratory at Queen Margaret University – Edinburgh and at the TORT Centre, Ninewells Hospital-Dundee. Children with JIA were diagnosed according to the ILAR criteria. Intervention was blinded to the patients. The trial group received Slimflex-plus FOs, with the addition of chair side corrections and the control FOs supplied were made with leather board (1mm thick) only. Both FOs had the same black EVA top cover. Primary outcomes were investigated using validated questionnaires (VAS, CHAQ and PedsQL). Tekscan™ equipment (F-Scan™ and HR Walkway®) measured secondary outcomes in-shoe pressure and force data with and without FOs intervention. Multiple foot strikes and repetitive gait patterns were compared pre and post-treatment. Primary and secondary outcome measures were recorded at baseline, 3rd and 6th month’s period. Results - Sixty children were recruited; 48.3% (n=29) control and 51.7% (n=31) active treatment group. Within the control group 20.7% (n=6) of patients were male. Within the active treatment group, 29% (n=9) subjects were male. Age ranged between 5 to 18 years, median age for the control group was 11 (range=12.90) and for the trial group were 11.50 (range=12.11). In order to attribute any effect solely on the FOs intervention, details of changes of medication and/or new joint injections were recorded during the trial. In the control group 65.5% (n=19) were considered to be prescribed with stable medications. Similarly, amongst children receiving active treatment 74.2% (n=23) were deemed to be taking stable medications. Overall, 99.4% (n=179/180) appointments were completed, only one subject did not attend the 6 month session. Significant improvement was identified in the primary outcomes favouring active treatment with regards to pain and quality of life measures: VAS (p<0.05); CHAQ (p<0.05); PedsQL paediatric-generic (p<0.05) Peds paediatric rheumatology (p<0.05); PedsQL parent-generic (p<0.05); PedsQL parent-rheumatology (p<0.05). In all these quality of life tools where p<0.05, clinical significance was also obtained. Significant differences were also identified between the groups for gait time, stance time, total plantar surface, heel contact, midfoot, 5th metatarsal head and distal phalanx. Discussion - The results strongly suggest that FOs are effective in improving pain, quality of life and most gait parameters in JIA children. FOs can be customised at chair-side so JIA children can receive immediate podiatric benefit from the same day of the biomechanical assessment. Compliancy rate proved to be extremely high confirming that the podiatric treatment is well accepted by JIA children. Conclusion - Primary and secondary outcome’s results, strongly support the use of FOs in the treatment of JIA children, which highlights the important role of the podiatrists within the multidisciplinary team in paediatric rheumatology.sub_podunpub1281_ethesesunpu

Asimetría fluctuante como un indicador de estrés ambiental en pequeños mamíferos

La estabilidad del desarrollo de un organismo se refleja en la capacidad que posee de producir una forma “ideal” bajo un conjunto particular de condiciones. Las estructuras bilaterales en organismos con simetría bilateral ofrecen una simetría precisa sobre la cual se pueden comparar desviaciones. La herramienta más utilizada para estimar la estabilidad del desarrollo es la asimetría fluctuante, la cual considera las pequeñas desviaciones aleatorias que ocurren entre los lados derecho e izquierdo de rasgos bilaterales, y es la única asimetría adecuada como indicador de estrés ambiental/genético. Resumimos cuatro décadas de estudios en donde la asimetría fluctuante fue utilizada para evaluar el efecto de estrés ambiental sobre pequeños mamíferos. Este grupo de especies ha sido ampliamente utilizado en estudios ecológicos para inferir perturbaciones ambientales debido a sus variadas características. Se seleccionaron 27 artículos compilados con Google Académico, utilizando “asimetría fluctuante” y “pequeños mamíferos” como palabras claves, escritas en inglés y con objetivos ecológicos. Centramos nuestro análisis en los enfoques utilizados para evaluar la asimetría fluctuante (medidas lineales o morfometría geométrica), el factor de estrés (natural o antropogénico), la región donde se desarrolló el estudio, el número de rasgos utilizado en los estudios y las fuentes de datos (muestras de pellets de lechuza, colecciones científicas y capturas directa de animales). La revisión muestra la importancia de incluir la asimetría fluctuante en estudios ecológicos como un indicador biológico confiable, económico y rápido del efecto del estrés ambiental sobre los mamíferos.The developmental stability of an organism is reflected in its ability to produce an ‘ideal’ form under a particular set of conditions. Bilateral structures in bilaterally symmetrical organisms offer a precise symmetry against which departures may be compared. The tool mostly used to estimate the development stability is fluctuating asymmetry, which considers small random deviations that occur between the left and right sides of a bilateral trait. Fluctuating asymmetry is considered as the only form of asymmetry that can serve as a useful indicator of environmental/genetic stress. We summarized four decades of studies where fluctuating asymmetry was used to assess the effects of environmental stress in small mammals. This group of species has been widely used in ecological studies to infer environmental disturbances because of its wide range of characteristics. We selected 27 articles that were compiled with Google Scholar (Mountain View, CA) using “fluctuating asymmetry” and “small mammals” as key words, written in English and with ecological objectives. We focused our analyses on the approaches used to evaluate fluctuating asymmetry (linear measurements or geometric morphometrics), the stress factor (natural or anthropogenic), the region where the study was developed, the number of traits used in the studies and the data sources, including measures obtained from samples of barn owl pellets, scientific collections and captured animals. The review shows the importance of including fluctuating asymmetry in ecological studies as a reliable, cheap and fast biological indicator of the effect of environmental stress on mammals.Fil: Coda, José Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Martínez, Juan José. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Steinmann, Andrea Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Priotto, Jose Waldemar. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Maria Daniela. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Confidence amongst multidisciplinary professionals in managing paediatric rheumatic disease in Australia

Objective. Interprofessional collaboration is a crucial component of care for children with rheumatic disease. Interprofessional care, when delivered appropriately, prevents disability and improves long-term prognosis in this vulnerable group. Methods. The aim of this survey was to explore allied health professionals’ and nurses’ confidence in treating paediatric rheumatology patients. Results. Overall, 117 participants were recruited, 77.9% of participants reported being “not confident at all,” “not confident,” or “neutral” in treating children with rheumatic diseases (RD) despite 65.1% of participants reporting having treated >1 paediatric rheumatology case in the past month. Furthermore, 67.2% of participants felt their undergraduate education in paediatric rheumatology was inadequate. “Journals” or “texts books” were used by 49.3% of participants as their primary source of continuing professional development (CPD) and 39.3% of participants indicated that they did not undertake any CPD related to paediatric rheumatology. Small group and online education were perceived to be potentially of “great benefit” for CPD. Conclusion. This paper highlights allied health professionals’ and nurses’ perceived inadequacy of their undergraduate education in paediatric RD and their low confidence in recognising and treating RD. Undergraduate and postgraduate education opportunities focusing on interprofessional collaboration should be developed to address this workforce deficiency

Repeatability and Reproducibility of the F-Scan System in Healthy Children

This study investigated the repeatability and reproducibility of the F-scan system with regards to Peak Pressure Values (PP) and Pressure Time Integral (PTI) in healthy children, ranging between 5 to 18 years of age. Participants took part in two non-invasive clinical assessments, at baseline and one week later. Standardized footwear was supplied and each child was fitted with the equivalent F-scan insole size. A total of 3 trials of 7 meters distance each were conducted. Plantar pressure analysis was carried out using a novel approach of masking the recordings into 10 different areas; both peak pressure (PP) and pressure time integrals (PTI) values were investigated. The PP and PTI were investigated for the left, right and both feet analysed together. Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) test was adopted for statistical analysis. Overall, 30 healthy children were recruited and 60 appointments were completed; 53.3% (n = 16) were female, mean age was 13.3 years (SD = 4.5). Results highlighted that overall the ICC for repeatability was &gt; 0.75 for 95.8% (no = 115) and between 0.5 and 0.75 for 4.2% (no = 5); the ICC for reproducibility was &gt; 0.75 for 85% (no = 51), and between 0.5 and 0.75 for 15% (no = 9). In conclusion, the F-Scan system can be utilised to record repeatable and reproducible data in paediatric gait analysis.sch_pod1. Ahroni JH, Boyko EJ, Forsberg R. Reliability of F-scan in-shoe measurements of plantar pressure. Foot Ankle Int. 1998;19(10):668-73. 2. Chen B, Bates B. Comparison of F-Scan in-sole and AMTI forceplate system in measuring vertical ground reaction force during gait. Physiotherapy Theory & Practice. 2000;16(1):43-53. doi:10.1080/095939800307601. 3. Joanne S Paton, Elizabeth A Stenhouse, Graham Bruce, Daniel Zahra, and Ray B Jones. A comparison of customised and prefabricated insoles to reduce risk factors for neuropathic diabetic foot ulceration: a participantblinded randomised controlled trial. J Foot Ankle Res. 2012; 5: 31. doi: 10.1186/1757-1146-5-31. 4. Luo ZP, Berglund LJ, An KN. Validation of F-Scan pressure sensor system: a technical note. J Rehabil Res Dev. 1998;35(2):186-91. 5. Randolph AL, Nelson M, Akkapeddi S, Levin A, Alexandrescu R. Reliability of measurements of pressures applied on the foot during walking by a computerized insole sensor system. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2000;81(5):573-8. 6. Quesada P, Rash G, Jarboe N. Assessment of pedar and F-Scan revisited. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 1997;12(3):S15. 7. Tekscan. F-scan user manual Tekscan; 2010. 8. SIGN. Management of Obesity, a national clinical guideline. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, Part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. 2010. 9. Bolton W. Instrumentation and measurement, 3rd ed. Newnes B-H, editor. 2000. p. 3-40. 10. Bircher A, DeBoer E, Agner T, Wahlberg J, Serup J. Guidelines for Measurement of cutaneous blood flow by laser Doppler flowmetry. Contact Dermatitis. 1994;30(2):65-72. 11. Portney LG, Watkins MP. Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall Health, Upper Saddle River; 2000. 12. Fleiss JL. The Design and Analysis of Clinical Experiments. 1st Ed. New York: Wyley; 1986. 13. Li Lu M, Nawar S. Reliability analysis: Calculate and Compare Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) in SAS. Epidemiology DoBa, editor. Hyattsville: The MedStar Research Institute; 2007. 14. Bland JM, Altman DG. Measurement error and correlation coefficients. BMJ. 1996;313(7048):41-2. 15. Menz H. Two feet, or one person? Problems associated with statistical analysis of paired data in foot and ankle medicine. The Foot. 2004;14(1):2-5. 16. Brostrom E, Haglund-Akerlind Y, Hagelberg S, Cresswell AG. Gait in children with juvenile chronic arthritis. Timing and force parameters. Scand J Rheumatol. 2002;31(6):317-23. 17. Dixon SJ, McNally K. Influence of orthotic devices prescribed using pressure data on lower extremity kinematics and pressures beneath the shoe during running. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2008;23(5):593-600. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2008.01.015. 18. Fairburn PS, Panagamuwa B, Falkonakis A, Osborne S, Palmer R, Johnson B, et al. The use of multidisciplinary assessment and scientific measurement in advanced juvenile idiopathic arthritis can categorise gait deviations to guide treatment. Arch Dis Child. 2002;87(2):160-5. 19. Hadfield MH, Snyder JW, Liacouras PC, Owen JR, Wayne JS, Adelaar RS. Effects of medializing calcaneal osteotomy on Achilles tendon lengthening and plantar foot pressures. Foot Ankle Int. 2003;24(7):523- 9. 20. Hendry GJ, Turner DE, McColl J, Lorgelly PK, Sturrock RD, Watt GF, et al. Protocol for the Foot in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis trial (FiJIA): a randomised controlled trial of an integrated foot care programme for foot problems in JIA. J Foot Ankle Res. 2009;2:21. doi: 10.1186/1757- 1146-2-21. 21. Gurney JK, Kersting UG, Rosenbaum D. Between-day reliability of repeated plantar pressure distribution measurements in a normal population. Gait Posture. 2008;27(4):706-9. 22. Castro M, Abreu S, Sousa H, Machado L, Santos R, Vilas-Boas JP. Ground reaction forces and plantar pressure distribution during occasional loaded gait. Appl Ergon. 2013;44(3):503-9. doi: 10.1016/j. apergo.2012.10.016. 23. Coda A, Carline T, Santos D. Repeatability and reproducibility of the Tekscan HR-Walkway system in healthy children. Foot (Edinb). 2014;24(2):49-55. doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2014.02.004.1pub4215pub

What is Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander? How gender-specific conceptual frames affect financial participation and decision-making

We conduct a field experiment with elementary school children to go to the roots of the gender gap in financial participation and decision-making. We study the combined effects of two treatments designed to boost the attention span of participants in completing a basic financial task. We find that the use of gender-specific conceptual frames (competitiveness vs. cooperation) in the description of the task: a) raises girls’ interest and thus increases their number of coherent answers; b) makes the transmission of information on the utility of savings more effective in boosting the coherence of girls’ answers; c) does not increase girls’ level of impatience. This evidence supports our underlying hypothesis that the use of more gender-specific conceptual frames in presenting financial information to women may play a role in narrowing the gender gap in financial market participation and decision-making

Editorial: The Sustainability Challenge: New Perspectives on the Use of Microbial Approaches and Their Impact on Food and Feed

Non peer reviewe

Behavioral counter-strategies against infanticide in corn mouse females, Calomys musculinus

Contraestrategias comportamentales contra el infanticidio en hembras de C. musculinus. Bajo la hipótesis de que la territorialidad intra-sexual y el apareamiento múltiple por parte de las hembras de C. musculinus actúan como contra-estrategias para evitar el infanticidio cometido por hembras y machos respectivamente, nuestro objetivo fue probar las siguientes predicciones: 1) la agresión de la madre impide el infanticidio por hembras, 2) los apareamientos previos previenen el infanticidio por parte de machos. Estudiamos comportamientos relacionados al nido en 116 unidades madre-cría (Mc) agrupadas en tres tratamientos en relación a las características del intruso: 55 Mc alojadas con los padres de las crías; 27 Mc y 34 Mc alojadas con machos sin experiencia sexual con la madre y con hembras reproductivas, respectivamente. En cada tratamiento se calcularon las tasas de sobrevida Las madres fueron agresivas hacia las hembras. En presencia de los padres las madres permanecieron tranquilas en sus nidos. La menor tasa de sobrevida se registró en presencia del macho no padre; las mayores en presencia del padre y hembras reproductivas. La ausencia de agresividad y las altas tasas de defensa del nido exhibidas por las madres hacia los padres y los machos extraños respectivamente, apoyan la hipótesis que propone la promiscuidad como contraestrategia al infanticidio por machos. La respuesta altamente agresiva de las madres hacia las hembras intrusas sería una estrategia efectiva para la protección de sus crías.Fil: Coda, José Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Priotto, Jose Waldemar. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Steinmann, Andrea Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente; Argentin

Inter-Female Territorial Behavior In Pampean Grassland Mouse, Akodon Azarae (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae)

ABSTRACT. In order to study territorial behavior in Akodon azarae females we performed 15 resident-intruder tests between breeding females in 30 individual enclosures. Each enclosure was provided with water and food ad libitum, and shelter. Aggressive behavior infrequent and did not vary between residents and intruders. Resident and intruder spent most of the time exploring the environment, suggesting tolerant coexistence. Our results did not provide evidence of territorial behavior in females, and contradict inter-female spatial avoidance registered in previous studies. We propose future resident-intruder tests including the nest site as defendable resource and a longer previous permanence period in individual enclosures.RESUMEN. Comportamiento territorial entre hembras del ratón del pastizal pampeano, Akodon azarae (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae). Para estudiar territorialidad en hembras de Akodon azarae realizamos 15 enfrenta- mientos entre residentes e intrusas dentro de 30 clausuras individuales. Cada clausura contó con agua, alimento y refugio. El comportamiento agresivo fue muy poco observado y no varió entre residentes e intrusas. La mayor parte del tiempo las hembras exploraron el entorno, sugiriendo una convivencia tolerante entre ellas. Nuestros resultados no provén evidencias de territorialidad en hembras, contradiciendo la evitación espacial entre hembras registrada en estudios previos. Proponemos realizar pruebas entre hembras residentes-intrusas que incluyen al sitio de nidificación como recurso defendible, aumentando además el tiempo de residencia de las contrincantes.Fil: Bonatto, Maria Florencia. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquimicas y Naturales; Argentina;Fil: Coda, José Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquimicas y Naturales; Argentina;Fil: Priotto, Jose Waldemar. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquimicas y Naturales; Argentina;Fil: Steinmann, Andrea Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquimicas y Naturales; Argentina

Crystallographic Study of Mutant Lysl20Leu Xenopus laevis Cu,Zn Superoxide Dismutase

Theoretical calculations and experimental measurements on the Xenopus laevis Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (XSODB) wild-type protein and on some of its engineered mutants showed that the electrostatic arrangement around the active site channel plays a fundamental role in determining the catalytic properties of the en-zyme. Lysl20, which lies on the lip of the active site channel, about 11 Å from the catalytic copper ion, influences the enzyme electrostatic environment and binding selectivity. Neutralization of this residue has the effect of decreasing the activity of the enzyme versus the negatively charged substrate. In order to get precise information about the mutated residue and its effects on the structure of the engineered protein, the crystal structure of single site Lysl20Leu mutant XSODB was determined at 2.0 Å resolution, and refined to an R-factor value of 0.181. The structure of Lysl20Leu mutant XSODB is little affected by the amino-acid substitution, suggesting that the main effect of the mutation is perturbation of the electrostatic properties of the SOD catalytic center

Sclerosing alcohol injections for the management of intermetatarsal neuromas: a systematic review

An intermetatarsal neuroma is a plantar digital neuritis causing metatarsalgia of the affected inter-metatarsal space. At present the evidence to support the management of the condition is poor with only some quality evidence supporting the short-term management of intermetatarsal neuromas using steroid injections. Some authors have supported the use of alcohol sclerosing intra-lesional injections to treat intermetatarsal neuromas. Following a search of the evidence 11 articles were identified. The systematic review found that alcohol injections appear to be safe although some papers report a short-term side effect of a flogistic reaction and there are variances in the alcohol concentration used and guiding verses not guiding the injection using ultrasound imaging. Some of the evidence may suggest a sclerosing histological effect of the nerve. However, all the studies reviewed present a research design offering a low level of evidence that is open to methodological biases and interpretation. Thus, this review found insufficient high-quality research evidence to afford conclusions on the management of intermetatarsal neuromas with alcohol sclerosing agent injections.sch_pod35pub5134pu