Elbow tendinopathy is a common pathology of the upper extremity that impacts both athletes and workers. Some research has examined the genetic component as a risk factor for tendinopathy, mainly in ...the lower limbs. A case-control study was designed to test for a relationship between certain collagen gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and elbow tendon pathology. A sample of 137 young adult athletes whose sports participation involves loading of the upper limb were examined for the presence of structural abnormalities indicative of pathology in the tendons of the lateral and medial elbow using ultrasound imaging and genotyped for the following SNPs: COL5A1 rs12722, COL11A1 rs3753841, COL11A1 rs1676486, and COL11A2 rs1799907. Anthropometric measurements and data on participants' elbow pain and dysfunction were collected using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand and the Mayo Clinic Performance Index for the Elbow questionnaires. Results showed that participants in the structural abnormality group had significantly higher scores in pain and dysfunction. A significant relationship between COL11A1 rs3753841 genotype and elbow tendon pathology was found (p = 0.024), with the CT variant associated with increased risk of pathology.
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El Grupo de Psoriasis de la Academia Española de Dermatología y Venereología (GPs) diseño en 2017 la medida Actividad Mínima de Enfermedad en Psoriasis (AME). Se presentan los ...resultados de un estudio observacional, transversal y multicéntrico de la aplicación de esta escala a nivel nacional.
Se realizó un muestreo no aleatorizado, estratificado para alcanzar representación autonómica y provincial, de pacientes consecutivos con psoriasis (Ps) vulgar sin artritis activa. Se incluyeron 830 pacientes: 493 eran varones (59,5%), con una edad media de 51,4 años (DE=14,2), de todas las autonomías del país (excepto Ceuta y Melilla) y 44 (88%) de las 50 provincias. Se obtuvo un cuestionario recogiendo datos demográficos, DLQI, valoración subjetiva en escalas de 0 a 10 de picor, eritema, descamación y visibilidad; y el PASI y el BSA del paciente.
Más de la mitad no cumplían criterio de AME (491; 59,2%), con diferencia significativa entre regiones, por el sexo y por la edad. También había diferencias según el tratamiento realizado (p<0,001). El uso de un medicamento biológico se asoció a un mayor cumplimiento AME frente al uso de otro tipo de medicamentos (59,4 vs. 23,3%). No se observaron diferencias entre los tratamientos biológicos.
El porcentaje global de cumplimiento AME es bajo, con diferencias por la localización geográfica, el sexo, la edad y el fármaco utilizado, si bien ninguno de esos factores por separado las justifica.
In 2017, the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Psoriasis Working Group (PWG) designed the Minimal Disease Activity (MDA) criteria to determine the level of disease activity. We hereby present the results of an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study of the nationwide application of these criteria.
We conducted a non-randomized sampling, stratified to achieve autonomic and provincial representation of consecutive patients with psoriasis (Ps) vulgaris without active arthritis. A total of 830 patients were included: 493 men (59.5%), with a mean age of 51.4 years (SD, 14.2), from all autonomous regions of Spain (except for Ceuta and Melilla) and 44 (88%) out of the 50 provinces. A questionnaire was obtained with demographic data, DLQI, subjective assessment—on a scale from 0 to 10—of itching, erythema, desquamation, visibility, and the patients’ PASI and BSA.
More than 50% failed to meet the MDA criteria (491; 59.2%), with significant differences being reported by region, sex, and age. Additionally, significant differences were reported based on the therapy used (P<.001). The use of biological therapies was associated with higher MDA compliance compared to other therapies (59.4% vs 23.3%). No differences were reported among various biological therapies.
The overall rate of MDA compliance is low, with differences being based on geographic location, sex, age, and drug used, yet none of these factors separately justify them.
Abstract This paper tackles the design of a graphical user interface (GUI) based on Matlab (MathWorks Inc., MA), a worldwide standard in the processing of biosignals, which allows the acquisition of ...muscular force signals and images from a ultrasound scanner simultaneously. Thus, it is possible to unify two key magnitudes for analyzing the evolution of muscular injuries: the force exerted by the muscle and section/length of the muscle when such force is exerted. This paper describes the modules developed to finally show its applicability with a case study to analyze the functioning capacity of the shoulder rotator cuff.
A simple stabilizing controller for the cart-pendulum system is designed in this paper. Our control strategy describes the underactuated system as a chain of integrators with a high-order smooth ...nonlinear perturbation and assumes initialization of the system in the upper half plane. The design procedure involves two sequentially associated control actions: one linear and one bounded quasilinear. The first control action brings the nonactuated coordinate near to the upright position and keeps it inside of a well-characterized small vicinity, whereas the second control action asymptotically brings the whole state of the system to the origin. The corresponding closed-loop stability analysis uses standard linear stability arguments as well as the traditional Lyapunov method and the LaSalle's theorem. Our proposed control law ensures global stability of the system in the upper half plane. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy via numerical simulations.
Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are a family of nuclear receptors that, upon activation with selective ligands, work as transcription factors. Recently, these have been related ...with the cardiovascular system. Our aim was to study PPARα-stimulation and its effects on blood pressure in rats with aortic coarctation, and to explore the role of the antioxidant system. Male Wistar rats (250–280
g) were distributed into the following groups: 1) sham; 2) aortic coarctated-vehicle-treated (AoCo-V), and 3) AoCo-clofibrate (100
mg/kg) treated (AoCo-C). Rats were treated for 1 or 21
days. Clofibrate lowered blood pressure in both 1- and 21-day treatments. Renal reactive oxygen species increased after 1
day in AoCo-V, while clofibrate prevented this effect. Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-1 expression increased 3.6-fold upon PPARα stimulation (1
day) and returned to normal values by day 21. SOD-1 activity increased slightly in response to clofibrate. Renal activity of catalase increased in AoCo-C (1
day) and returned to normal (21
days). eNOS expression was not modified acutely (1
day) but increased at 21
days of treatment with clofibrate. Angiotensin II AT
1-receptor expression as well as angiotensin II decreased in clofibrate-treated rats, while angiotensin II AT
2-receptor expression increased, in both treatment periods. Angiotensin-(1–7) increased at 21
days. Our results suggest that in the early development of AoCo-induced hypertension, stimulation of PPARα increases the antioxidant defenses, leading to improvement in endothelial factors while in the sub-chronic phase (21
days), eNOS and angiotensin II receptors appear to play major roles in controlling blood pressure.