The Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI): validity, reliability, and responsiveness retested with a Swedish translation

Background and purpose The WOSI score questionnaire is a tool designed for self-assessment of shoulder function for patients with instability problems. We made a translation into Swedish and retested the score by analyzing the psychometric properties validity, reliability, and responsiveness

Muscle strength, gait, and balance in 20 patients with hip osteoarthritis followed for 2 years after THA

Background Patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) have muscular weakness, impaired balance, and limp. Deficits in the different limb muscles and their recovery courses are largely unknown, however. We hypothesized that there is persisting muscular weakness in lower limb muscles and an impaired balance and gait 2 years after THA

Intra-articular hyaluronan injections in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee : A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled multicentre trial

Objective - To assess the effects of intraarticular injections of hyaluronan on symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods - Two hundred and forty patients with symptomatic, radiological knee OA were randomly assigned to treatment with weekly injections for five weeks with either 25 mg of high molecular weight hyaluronan or vehicle. Results were evaluated at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, and 20 by visual analogue scales (pain, function, motion, activity), algofunctional index, and global evaluation by patient and investigator. Analysis was by 'intention to treat', 'per protocol), and area under the curve principles on unstratified patient groups and for patients stratified into four groups of equal size by age and baseline algofunctional index. Results - No serious side effects were reported. At 20 weeks both treatment groups were improved compared with baseline, with no difference between unstratified groups treated with placebo or hyaluronan. Comparison of treatment-groups stratified by age and baseline algofunctional index revealed a significant-difference in favour of hyaluronan over placebo (pain, activity, algofunctional index, global evaluations by patient-and investigator) for patients older than 60 years and with a baseline algofunctional index greater than 10. There was no clinically relevant difference between the two treatments for the other three stratified subgroups of younger age or fewer symptoms. Similar results were obtained by area under the curve, intention to treat, and per protocol analysis. Conclusions-Patients older than 60 years with knee osteoarthritis and with significant symptoms corresponding to an index of severity of knee disease of 10 or more, comprise the group most likely to benefit from treatment with intra-articular hyaluronan injections

Moose genomes reveal past glacial demography and the origin of modern lineages

Numerous megafauna species from northern latitudes went extinct during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition as a result of climate-induced habitat changes. However, several ungulate species managed to successfully track their habitats during this period to eventually flourish and recolonise the holarctic regions. So far, the genomic impacts of these climate fluctuations on ungulates from high latitudes have been little explored. Here, we assemble a de-novo genome for the European moose (Alces alces) and analyse it together with re-sequenced nuclear genomes and ancient and modern mitogenomes from across the moose range in Eurasia and North America

Moose genomes reveal past glacial demography and the origin of modern lineages

Abstract Background: Numerous megafauna species from northern latitudes went extinct during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition as a result of climate-induced habitat changes. However, several ungulate species managed to successfully track their habitats during this period to eventually flourish and recolonise the holarctic regions. So far, the genomic impacts of these climate fluctuations on ungulates from high latitudes have been little explored. Here, we assemble a de-novo genome for the European moose (Alces alces) and analyse it together with re-sequenced nuclear genomes and ancient and modern mitogenomes from across the moose range in Eurasia and North America. Results: We found that moose demographic history was greatly influenced by glacial cycles, with demographic responses to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition similar to other temperate ungulates. Our results further support that modern moose lineages trace their origin back to populations that inhabited distinct glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Finally, we found that present day moose in Europe and North America show low to moderate inbreeding levels resulting from post-glacial bottlenecks and founder effects, but no evidence for recent inbreeding resulting from human-induced population declines. Conclusions: Taken together, our results highlight the dynamic recent evolutionary history of the moose and provide an important resource for further genomic studies

Genetic landscape with sharp discontinuities shaped by complex demographic history in moose (Alces alces)

The moose (Alces alces) is the most intensely managed game species in Fennoscandia; approximately one-third of the population, ca. 160,000 animals, is harvested annually. Despite the species' biological and socioeconomic importance, there are knowledge gaps with respect to its intraspecific diversity and genetic structure. Recent studies of moose in neighboring countries report 2 genetic groups in Finland, 3 in Norway with one of them suggested to be of ancient origin, and no indications of bottlenecks. To delineate the spatial genetic landscape of the Swedish moose, we used allozyme variability from over 20,000 georeferenced moose collected all over Sweden in combination with 12 microsatellites (n = 1,200) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (n = 44). We combined individual-based and traditional statistical approaches with coalescence-based simulations. The results indicate a complex history with bottlenecks and recent expansions that is consistent with historical records. Swedish moose are separated into 2 major genetic groups, a northern and a southern one, where the southern group is further divided into 3 subgroups. The 2 main subpopulations are moderately differentiated (F-ST = 0.1; R-ST = 0.07) and separated by sharp genetic discontinuities occurring over a relatively narrow transition zone in central Sweden that coincides with a similar, previously reported transition zone in Norway. This differentiation is not reflected in mtDNA variation, where no significant divergence was observed. Together with the F-ST andR(ST) similarities, this suggests that the 2 major subpopulations in Sweden reflect divergence shaped after the postglacial recolonization of Scandinavia. Neighborhood size assessments indicate that gene flow is relatively restricted with an estimated average dispersal distance of 3.5-11.1 km, and spatial autocorrelograms suggest that genetic similarity decreases almost linearly over space resulting in continuous genetic clines within major subgroups. Management areas largely coincide with genetic clusters, simplifying the integration of genetic information into management

Common variation near CDKN1A, POLD3 and SHROOM2 influences colorectal cancer risk

We performed a meta-analysis of five genome-wide association studies to identify common variants influencing colorectal cancer (CRC) risk comprising 8,682 cases and 9,649 controls. Replication analysis was performed in case-control sets totaling 21,096 cases and 19,555 controls. We identified three new CRC risk loci at 6p21 (rs1321311, near CDKN1A; P = 1.14 × 10 -10), 11q13.4 (rs3824999, intronic to POLD3; P = 3.65 × 10 -10) and Xp22.2 (rs5934683, near SHROOM2; P = 7.30 × 10 -10) This brings the number of independent loci associated with CRC risk to 20 and provides further insight into the genetic architecture of inherited susceptibility to CRC.</p