Tendon Cell Behavior and Matrix Remodeling in Degenerative Tendinopathy

Tendon injuries are common in human athletes [1-4]. Furthermore, such injuries are also prevalent in the ageing sedentary population [5-7]. In recent decades, the incidence of tendon injuries has risen due to both an increase in an elderly population and a rise in participation in recreational and competitive sporting activities. In the general population the lifetime cumulative incidence of Achilles tendinopathy is 5.9 % among sedentary people and 50 % among elite endurance athletes [2]. Despite the high frequency, there are still many unsolved questions and differences of opinion concerning pathology, etiology, and even terminology. Until several years ago the most often used word for tendon disease in the clinical practice of orthopaedic and sports medicine was ’tendonitis/ tendinitis’, literally meaning tendon inflammation, reflecting the general idea that overuse tendinopathies were due to inflammation. However, this common wisdom was challenged by that time, as the histopathological feature usually described in tendinopathies was a degenerative process and inflammation was not typically seen [8-11]. Therefore Nicola Maffulli suggested to use the term ‘tendinopathy’ as a general descriptor of the clinical conditions in and around tendons arising from overuse [12, 13]. In addition the term ‘tendinosis’, literally meaning tendon degeneration, should be used after histopathological examination. This nomenclature is gradually being integrated now in research communication and clinicial practice. The clinical presentation of tendinopathy is characterized by a combination of pain, swelling, and impaired performance. A variety of tendons in humans may be affected including the supraspinatus tendon in the shoulder, the forearm extensor and flexor muscle tendons in the elbow, and the Achilles tendon and the patellar tendon in the lower limb. The respons of tendinopathy to the currently available treatment options is often unsatisfactory requiring lengthy periods of rehabilitation or even surgical intervention [14, 15]

In search for the etiology of the complex regional pain syndrome

The complex regional pain syndrome is poorly elucidated. In line with this its diagnosis and clinical management have remained suboptimal. The multifaceted nature makes it a fascinating study topic for scientists with varying interests, but unraveling the etiology has been proven a laborious mission. The first notification of what could have been (what is currently named) complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) stems from 1634, when the surgeon Ambroise Pare described that King Charles IX suffered from persistent pain and contractures of his arm following a bloodletting procedure.1 The next remarks came from the military physician Scott Mitchell and date from the American Civil War: “…Long after the trace of the effect of a wound has gone neuralgic symptoms are apt to linger, and too many carry with them throughout long years this final reminder of the battle field...”.2 The first scientific publication on CRPS was issued in 1900 from a German surgeon named Paul Sudeck.3 His name became tied to the syndrome for long (Sudecks’ dystrophy)

Local and global pitch perception in L1 and L2 readers of Dutch

Prior research showed a relationship between reading skills and pitch perception, however the exact nature remained unclear. By means of reading tests and a pitch perception test, we examined the relation between reading abilities and local and global pitch perception for 92 native Dutch children (mean age = 9.47) and 61 non-native Dutch children (mean age = 9.61). Additionally, for the latter group we examined the role of working memory. In line with prior research with poor readers in a language with a rather transparent orthography by Ziegler, Pech-Georgel, George and Foxton (2012), a relationship is found between reading skills and the ability to detect local changes in pitch, rather than global changes in the melody. Additionally, at least for beginning readers of Dutch as a second language, there is a strong effect of working memory on the relation between reading skills and pitch perception