Higher vertical jumping asymmetries and lower physical performance are indicators of increased injury incidence in youth team-sport athletes

To date, the literature looking at the association between injury-risk factors and actual injury incidence in young elite team-sports athletes is scarce. The main objective of the present study was to examine how modifiable factors may affect injury incidence. Eighty-one young elite team-sports athletes (age: u-14 to u-18) performed the countermovement jump (CMJ), a single leg CMJ (SLCMJ), the one-legged hop test (OLHT), a 30 m sprint test, the v-cut test, a repeated sprint ability and the 30-15 intermittent fitness test during the pre-season period. Inter-limb asymmetries were calculated for SLCMJ and OLHT. Injuries were recorded prospectively for the entirety of the 2017-2018 season. Comparison of injury and non-injury data was carried out using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results of the ANOVA according to injury showed significant differences in CMJ (p = 0.01), SLCMJ on the lowest performing limb (p = 0.03) and SLCMJ asymmetry (< 0.001). Sex*injury interaction was significant from CMJ (p = 0.018) and 30-15 IFT (p = < 0.001). In conclusion, the current study indicated that athletes with greater inter-limb asymmetries, less vertical jump capacity and lower intermittent aerobic fitness had a greater predisposition to injury. Therefore, monitoring CMJ, aerobic performance and inter-limb asymmetries is recommended given their sensitivity to detect significant differences between injured and healthy youth athletes

Comparative Analysis of Some Modal Reconstruction Methods of the Shape of the Cornea from Corneal Elevation Data

Purpose: A comparative study of the ability of some modal schemes to reproduce corneal shapes of varying complexity was performed, by using both standard radial polynomials and radial basis functions (RBFs). The hypothesis was that the correct approach in the case of highly irregular corneas should combine several bases. Methods: Standard approaches of reconstruction by Zernike and other types of radial polynomials were compared with the discrete least-squares fit (LSF) by the RBF in three theoretical surfaces, synthetically generated by computer algorithms in the absence of measurement noise. For the reconstruction by polynomials, the maximal radial order 6 was chosen, which corresponds to the first 28 Zernike polynomials or the first 49 Bhatia-Wolf polynomials. The fit with the RBF was performed by using a regular grid of centers. Results: The quality of fit was assessed by computing for each surface the mean square errors (MSEs) of the reconstruction by LSF, measured at the same nodes where the heights were collected. Another criterion of the fit quality used was the accuracy in recovery of the Zernike coefficients, especially in the case of incomplete data. Conclusions: The Zernike (and especially, the Bhatia-Wolf) polynomials constitute a reliable reconstruction method of a nonseverely aberrated surface with a small surface regularity index (SRI). However, they fail to capture small deformations of the anterior surface of a synthetic cornea. The most promising approach is a combined one that balances the robustness of the Zernike fit with the localization of the RBF

Procedimiento de reconstrucción de la topografía corneal a partir de datos altímetros o de curvatura

Número de publicación: ES2392619 A1 (12.12.2012) También publicado como: ES2392619 B1 (22.10.2013) Número de Solicitud: Consulta de Expedientes OEPM (C.E.O.) P201000842(08.06.2010)Procedimiento de reconstrucción de la topografía corneal a partir de datos altimétricos o de curvatura. La invención consiste en un método de reconstrucción de la superficie de la cara anterior de la córnea, a partir de los datos medidos en un conjunto discreto de puntos por medio de un topógrafo corneal o equipo equivalente. Se trata de un procedimiento que obtiene una expresión analítica de la superficie, combinando un ajuste por polinomios de Zernike o con esfera de mejor ajuste, con una reconstrucción por funciones de base radial gaussianas. Se logra obtener una descripción detallada de la superficie corneal, permitiendo un diagnóstico más fiable de patologías, o la implementación de tratamientos customizados. Este procedimiento es fácilmente implementable en cualquier topógrafo corneal, tomógrafo de coherencia óptica, equipos de lámpara de hendidura y equivalentes, de los existentes en el mercado, como sustituto del método estándar basado en polinomios de Zernike.Universidad de Almerí

An adaptive algorithm for the cornea modeling from keratometric data

In this paper we describe an adaptive and multi-scale algorithm for the parsimonious t of the corneal surface data that allows to adapt the number of functions used in the reconstruction to the conditions of each cornea. The method implements also a dynamical selection of the parameters and the management of noise. It can be used for the real-time reconstruction of both altimetric data and corneal power maps from the data collected by keratoscopes, such as the Placido rings based topographers, decisive for an early detection of corneal diseases such as keratoconus. Numerical experiments show that the algorithm exhibits a steady exponential error decay, independently of the level of aberration of the cornea. The complexity of each anisotropic gaussian basis functions in the functional representation is the same, but their parameters vary to fit the current scale. This scale is determined only by the residual errors and not by the number of the iteration. Finally, the position and clustering of their centers, as well as the size of the shape parameters, provides an additional spatial information about the regions of higher irregularity. These results are compared with the standard approximation procedures based on the Zernike polynomials expansions

Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of arcobacter spp. Recovered from aquatic environments

Arcobacter spp. are emerging waterborne and foodborne zoonotic pathogens responsible for gastroenteritis in humans. In this work, we evaluated the occurrence and the antimicrobial resistance profile of Arcobacter isolates recovered from different aquatic sources. Besides, we searched for Arcobacter spp. in seaweeds and the corresponding seawater samples. Bacteriological and molecular methods applied to 100 samples led to the isolation of 28 Arcobacter isolates from 27 samples. The highest prevalence was detected in rivers followed by artificial ponds, streams, well waters, and spring waters. Seaweeds contained a higher percentage of Arcobacter than the corresponding sea-water samples. The isolates were identified as Arcobacter butzleri (96.4%) and Arcobacter cryaerophilus (3.6%). All the isolates showed a multi-drug resistance profile, being resistant to at least three different classes of antibiotics. Molecular analysis of genetic determinants responsible for tetracycline resistance in nine randomly chosen isolates revealed the presence of tetO and/or tetW. This work confirms the occurrence and the continuous emergence of antibiotic-resistant Arcobacter strains in environmental samples; also, the presence of quinolone-resistant Arcobacter spp. in aquatic sources used for water supply and irrigation represents a potential risk for human health

Prognostic value of plasma pentraxin 3 levels in patients with septic shock admitted to intensive care

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of a new marker, pentraxin, as a prognostic marker in septic shock patients. Materials and methods: Single-centre prospective observational study that included all consecutive patients 18 years or older who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with septic shock. Serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT), C reactive protein (CRP) and pentraxin (PTX3) were measured on ICU admission. Results: Seventy-five septic shock patients were included in the study. The best predictors of inhospital mortality were the severity scores: SAPS II (AUC = 0.81), SOFA (AUC = 0.79) and APACHE II (AUC = 0.73). The ROC curve for PTX3 (ng/mL) yielded an AUC of 0.70, higher than the AUC for PCT (0.43) and CRP (0.48), but lower than lactate (0.79). Adding PTX3 to the logistic model increased the predictive capacity in relation to SAPS II, SOFA and APACHE II for in-hospital mortality (AUC 0.814, 0.795, and 0.741, respectively). In crude regression models, significant associations were found between in-hospital mortality and PTX3. This positive association increased after adjusting for age, sex and immunosuppression: adjusted OR T3 for PTX3 = 7.83, 95% CI 1.35?45.49, linear P trend = 0.024. Conclusion: Our results support the prognostic value of a single determination of plasma PTX3 as a predictor of hospital mortality in septic shock patients

Comparison of corneal morphologic parameters and high order aberrations in keratoconus and normal eyes

The aim of this study is evaluating the influence of corneal geometry in the optical system’s aberrations, and its usefulness as diagnostic criterion for keratoconus.159 normal eyes (normal group, mean age 37.8 ± 11.6 years) and 292 eyes with the diagnosis of keratoconus (keratoconus group, mean age 42.2 ± 17.6 years) were included in this study. All eyes received a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination. A virtual 3D model of each eye was made using CAD software and different anatomical parameters related with surface and volume were measured. Statistically significant differences were found for all anatomical parameters (all p < 0.001). AUROC analysis showed that all parameters reached values above 0.7, with the exception of the total corneal surface area (TCSAA-S). In conclusion, the methodology explained in this research, that bases in anatomical parameters obtained from a virtual corneal model, allow to analyze the diagnostic value of corneal geometry correlation with optical aberrations in keratoconus pathology.This publication has been carried out in the framework of the Thematic Network for Co-Operative Research in Health (RETICS), reference number RD16/0008/0012, financed by the Carlos III Health Institute–General Subdirection of Networks and Cooperative Investigation Centers (R&D&I National Plan 2013–2016) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)