Objectives:
Participation rates in women’s ice hockey is increasing in North America. Recent studies have demonstrated an increased prevalence of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in elite male ice ...hockey players, yet little is known about hip pathology of players in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). The primary purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of radiographic FAI in women’s professional ice hockey players. The secondary purpose was to analyze the relationship between the presence of radiographic cam deformity and hip ROM, clinical impingement signs and age of menarche.
Methods:
In this IRB-approved study, physical examination and demographic data were prospectively collected for 27 NWHL players. Alpha angles were measured on 45-degree Dunn views with an alpha angle >55° defined as cam-positive. Pearson correlations were performed to analyze the relationship between alpha angle and ROM measurements, clinical impingement signs and self-reported age of menarche. Players were grouped into those with and without cam impingement and group differences were assessed using the student’s t-test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results:
Twenty-seven athletes were included in the study. Nineteen of the 27 players (70%) had radiologic evidence of cam-type impingement with alpha angle >55 degrees; 14 players (52%) had bilateral cam deformity. The average age of menarche was 13.9±1.5 years. There was a significant association between age of menarche and right alpha angle (R=0.57, CI 0.16, 0.81, p=0.011), as well as age of menarche and left alpha angle (R=0.48, CI 0.03, 0.77, p=0.039). There was no statistically significant association between alpha angle and any ROM measurement. Additionally, there was no difference in the incidence of clinical impingement for players with or without an alpha angle >55°.
Conclusion:
This study suggests that elite female ice hockey players have a significantly higher prevalence of cam-type morphology than the general population. The clinical significance of this radiographic finding is uncertain as the majority of these deformities seem to be asymptomatic. Interestingly, the positive association between alpha angle and age of menarche lends support to the etiological hypothesis that cam lesions are a result of activity-related stress at the proximal femoral physis. This data suggests that players with earlier menarche (and therefore earlier physeal closure) seem to be less vulnerable to the development of cam deformity of the proximal femur.
Lew HL, Date ES, Pan SS, Wu P, Ware PF, Kingery WS. Sensitivity, specificity, and variability of nerve conduction velocity measurements in carpal tunnel syndrome.
To explore the diagnostic values of ...8 commonly used electrodiagnostic techniques for measuring median nerve conduction velocity (NCV) in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
Sensitivity and specificity analyses.
A hospital-based electrodiagnostic laboratory.
Forty-four normal hands and 136 symptomatic hands.
Not applicable.
(1) Long-segment studies: antidromic wrist-to-digit sensory NCV without subtraction, (2) short-segment studies: transcarpal palm-to-wrist mixed NCV without subtraction, and (3) 2 segment studies: antidromic transcarpal sensory NCV with subtraction (differential calculation from wrist-to-digit and palm-to-digit segments). Both onset and peak latency values were obtained for calculating the NCV. Sensitivity, specificity, and coefficient of variance were calculated for each NCV study.
The short-segment, onset latency-based transcarpal mixed NCV yielded the highest sensitivity (75%).
Results from measurement of a single, short-nerve segment tended to be superior to results obtained by either long-segment studies or differential subtraction between 2 segments of the same nerve in the electrodiagnosis of CTS. Explanations for our results are offered from both electrophysiologic and statistical perspectives.
Field and laboratory studies were conducted at Stoneville, MS, from 1996 to 1998 to determine the influence of subsoiling (SS) and conventional tillage (CT) of a Sharkey clay soil on microbial ...characteristics and herbicide degradation. Soil samples obtained from imazaquin-treated and nontreated plots from the soybean row and interrow position were analyzed. Because only the row position is actually disturbed by SS, a comparison of row and interrow position on the parameter was conducted. Imazaquin (preemergence, 140 g ai ha−1) had no effect on microbial populations, microbial enzyme activity (fluorescein diacetate FDA hydrolysis and triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride TTC dehydrogenase), and organic carbon content. Estimates of microbial activity based on FDA hydrolysis and TTC dehydrogenase activity indicated greater activity under CT; however, microbial biomass and organic carbon were not affected by tillage or row position. A laboratory study assessed the degradation of carboxyl- and ring-labeled 2,4-D as influenced by tillage and row position. Soils from CT plots had an initially higher mineralization rate of 14C carboxyl-labeled 2,4-D compared to soils from SS plots; however, no effect of tillage or row position was observed on the cumulative amount of 14CO2 evolved 14 d after treatment (DAT) in 1996 and 18 DAT in 1998. In studies with ring-labeled 2,4-D, a higher 14CO2 evolution was detected in soils obtained from SS plots, regardless of row position, whereas a greater amount of radioactivity was observed in the unextractable fraction from CT soils. Because differences in 2,4-D mineralization between tillage regimes were minimal, adoption of SS as a tillage practice for heavy clay soils in the Mississippi Delta may have a limited effect on microbial characteristics and biodegradation of soil-applied herbicides.
Field studies were conducted at Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, MS, in 1996, 1997, and 1998 to assess the effect of tillage systems (conventional tillage and subsoiling) on the ...environmental fate of imazaquin in a Sharkey clay soil. Imazaquin was applied preemergence at 140 g ai ha−1. Subsoiling in the fall did not affect imazaquin dissipation, total volume of runoff, imazaquin concentration in runoff, or imazaquin concentration in soil, as determined by chemical extraction. A corn root bioassay revealed no differences due to tillage systems in plant-available imazaquin in soil. Imazaquin concentration measured by chemical extraction or bioassay diminished over time, with a half-life ranging from 8 to 25 d. A field bioassay utilizing cotton and corn was conducted in 1997 and 1998 using plots that had received imazaquin the previous year. In 1997, 2 wk after planting, cotton and corn injury ranged from 3 to 15%, whereas no injury was observed in 1998. Injury symptoms declined over time, with no injury 5 wk after planting in either year. Although early-season cotton stunting and slight discoloration of corn was apparent in 1997, imazaquin residues did not affect subsequent vegetative and reproductive growing patterns of cotton or corn. In 1998, corn and cotton height were significantly greater in subsoiled plots compared to conventional tillage.
Sorption and desorption of cyanazine with three Mississippi Delta soils (two silt loams and one silty clay) were studied under laboratory conditions. Cyanazine sorption calculated using the ...Freundlich equation was greatest for the Sharkey silty clay soil. Partition coefficients (K
d values) for cyanazine sorption ranged from 1.67 to 1.82, 1.92 to 2.15, and 3.65 to 3.96 ml g−1 for the Bosket silt loam, Dubbs silt loam, and Sharkey silty clay soils, respectively. Differences in sorption and K
d values were attributed to clay content. At a given initial cyanazine concentration, cyanazine was desorbed more readily from the silt loam soils than from the Sharkey clay after the first 4-h desorption cycle. Desorption from the Sharkey clay continued for a longer period than that from the silt loam soils, with up to 6% cyanazine desorption from the Sharkey clay after a 16-h desorption cycle compared with 0% for the silt loam soils. Cyanazine losses increased with decreasing clay content, Dubbs = Bosket > Sharkey. This implies a potential relationship between cyanazine desorption and surface runoff losses of cyanazine.
In certain forms of nerve injury and inflammation, noradrenaline augments pain via actions on up-regulated alpha 1-adrenoceptors ( alpha 1-ARs). The aim of this study was to use immunohistochemistry ...to examine alpha 1-AR expression on peripheral neurons, cutaneous blood vessels and keratinocytes after distal tibia fracture and cast immobilization, a model of complex regional pain syndrome type 1. We hypothesized that there would be increased alpha 1-AR expression on neurons and keratinocytes in the injured limb in comparison to the contralateral unaffected limb after distal tibia fracture, in association with inflammatory changes and pain. alpha 1-AR expression was increased on plantar keratinocytes, dermal blood vessels and peripheral nerve fibers at 16weeks after injury both in the fractured and contralateral uninjured limb. Similar changes were seen in controls whose limb had been immobilized in a cast for 4weeks but not fractured. Neurofilament 200 (NF200), a marker of myelinated neurons, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a neuropeptide involved in neuro-inflammatory signaling, decreased 4weeks after fracture and casting but then increased at the 16-week time point. As some of these changes were also detected in the contralateral hind limb, they probably were triggered by a systemic response to fracture and casting. Soon after the cast was removed, intraplantar injections of the alpha 1-AR antagonist prazosin released local vasoconstrictor tone but had no effect on pain behaviors. However, systemic injection of prazosin inhibited behavioral signs of pain, suggesting that fracture and/or casting triggered an up-regulation of alpha 1-ARs in central nociceptive pathways that augmented pain. Together, these findings indicate that alpha 1-AR expression increases in the hind limbs after distal tibia fracture and cast immobilization. However, these peripheral increases do not contribute directly to residual pain.
Field and laboratory studies were conducted at Stoneville, MS, from 1996 to 1998 to determine the influence of subsoiling (SS) and conventional tillage (CT) of a Sharkey clay soil on microbial ...characteristics and herbicide degradation. Soil samples obtained from imazaquin-treated and nontreated plots from the soybean row and interrow position were analyzed. Because only the row position is actually disturbed by SS, a comparison of row and interrow position on the parameter was conducted. Imazaquin (preemergence, 140 g ai ha-1) had no effect on microbial populations, microbial enzyme activity (fluorescein diacetate FDA hydrolysis and triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride TTC dehydrogenase), and organic carbon content. Estimates of microbial activity based on FDA hydrolysis and TTC dehydrogenase activity indicated greater activity under CT; however, microbial biomass and organic carbon were not affected by tillage or row position. A laboratory study assessed the degradation of carboxyl- and ring-labeled 2,4-D as influenced by tillage and row position. Soils from CT plots had an initially higher mineralization rate of 14C carboxyl-labeled 2,4-D compared to soils from SS plots; however, no effect of tillage or row position was observed on the cumulative amount of 14CO2 evolved 14 d after treatment (DAT) in 1996 and 18 DAT in 1998. In studies with ring-labeled 2,4-D, a higher 14CO2 evolution was detected in soils obtained from SS plots, regardless of row position, whereas a greater amount of radioactivity was observed in the unextractable fraction from CT soils. Because differences in 2,4-D mineralization between tillage regimes were minimal, adoption of SS as a tillage practice for heavy clay soils in the Mississippi Delta may have a limited effect on microbial characteristics and biodegradation of soil-applied herbicides. Nomenclature: 2,4-D; 2,4-DCP, 2,4-dichlorophenol; imazaquin; FDA, fluorescein diacetate; TTC, triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.
Objective: This case-based, mixed-methods study was undertaken to understand the perspectives and mental health needs of rural children exposed to parental methamphetamine abuse. Method: Participants ...were 23 children involved with a state child protective agency because of parental methamphetamine abuse. A semistructured interview provided information on children's perspectives of their families. Information on children's mental health needs was obtained from the Child Behavior Checklist and Trauma Symptom Checklist. Case records and caseworker reports provided information on children's family experiences. Results: Children described emotional pain; few social resources for coping with emotions, problem solving, or talking about their experiences; and avoidant or passive coping skills. Sixty-five percent of children evidenced significant dissociative or posttraumatic symptoms on standardized assessments; 57% had other significant emotional and behavioral problems. Challenges to understanding children's perspectives included children's perceptions that talking about methamphetamine abuse was taboo and underreporting of significant symptoms on the Trauma Symptom Checklist. Conclusions: The high rate of mental health problems suggests the need for nontraditional strategies for services delivery in rural areas that are targeted toward these vulnerable children. Early identification and treatment of mental health problems should be a priority. Clinicians should be alert to the complexities in assessing children's mental health needs. (Contains 3 tables.)
We have addressed the role of the sympathetic nervous system in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. Using a new neuropathic mouse model, we examined the development of hyperalgesia ...in transgenic mice lacking functional alpha(2A) adrenoceptors and in sympathectomized wild-type mice, to determine if sympathetic-sensory coupling generates hyperalgesia. The development of neuropathic heat hyperalgesia required the presence of both the alpha(2A) adrenoceptor and the sympathetic postganglionic neuron (SPGN), but the development of mechanical hyperalgesia did not require either the alpha(2A) adrenoceptor or the SPGN, indicating different mechanisms of sensitization. These results suggest that the development of neuropathic heat hyperalgesia, but not mechanical hyperalgesia, requires sympathetic-sensory coupling in the peripheral nervous system. Nerve injury enhanced the analgesic efficacy of the alpha(2) adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine, and paradoxically also induced an analgesic response to alpha(2) adrenoceptor antagonists. The alpha(2) agonist-evoked analgesia to mechanical stimuli was mediated by activating central alpha(2A) adrenoceptors, possibly at the spinal level. The peripherally restricted alpha(2) antagonist L659,066 evoked analgesia for heat, but not for mechanical stimuli, findings which support the hypothesis that the peripheral alpha(2) adrenoceptor plays a role in both the development and the maintenance of neuropathic heat hyperalgesia. The alpha(2) antagonist-evoked analgesia for heat stimuli was mediated by blocking peripheral and probably central alpha(2) adrenoceptors, while the analgesia for mechanical stimuli was mediated by blocking central alpha(2A) adrenoceptors. Intradermal injections with an alpha(2) agonist or antagonist had no effect on nociceptive thresholds, indicating that sympathetic-sensory coupling at the level of the cutaneous nociceptor did not contribute to the maintenance of neuropathic hyperalgesia.
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