This study evaluated the short‐term recovery of function after an acute Achilles tendon rupture, measured by a single‐legged heel‐rise test, with main emphasis on the relation to the patient‐reported ...outcomes and fear of physical activity and movement (kinesiophobia). Eighty‐one patients treated surgically or non‐surgically with early active rehabilitation after Achilles tendon rupture were included in the study. Patient's ability to perform a single‐legged heel‐rise, physical activity level, patient‐reported symptoms, general health, and kinesiophobia was evaluated 12 weeks after the injury. The heel‐rise test showed that 40 out of 81 (49%) patients were unable to perform a single heel‐rise 12 weeks after the injury. We found that patients who were able to perform a heel‐rise were significantly younger, more often of male gender, reported a lesser degree of symptoms, and also had a higher degree of physical activity at 12 weeks. There was also a significant negative correlation between kinesiophobia and all the patient‐reported outcomes and the physical activity level. The heel‐rise ability appears to be an important early achievement and reflects the general level of healing, which influences patient‐reported outcome and physical activity. Future treatment protocols focusing on regaining strength early after the injury therefore seem to be of great importance. Kinesiophobia needs to be addressed early during the rehabilitation process.
One of the major challenges facing 3D printing for construction is the technological suitability, ‘printability', of the materials used. These cement-based materials differ from those used in other ...sectors, which has a series of conditioning factors that are the object of the present analysis. This article first reviews the definition of the term ‘printability' and its constituent stages. Those stages condition the requirements to be met by cement-based materials, whether designed for other uses or developed ad hoc, and therefore the tests applicable to determine their aptitude for use in additive manufacturing for construction. That is followed by a review of the standardised tests presently in place for mortars and concretes that can be used to verify a material's compliance with such requirements. The paper concludes with a recommendation on the advisability of developing a standard test or suite of tests to ascertain printability.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate calf muscle endurance in a seated position 3 months after an Achilles tendon rupture and to evaluate how the ability to perform standardized seated ...heel‐rises correlated to the single‐leg standing heel‐rise test and to patient‐reported symptoms evaluated with the Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS) 3 and 6 months after the injury. Ninety‐three patients were included from a cohort of 101 patients participating in a prospective, randomized controlled trial comparing surgical and nonsurgical treatment after Achilles tendon rupture. Forty‐seven patients were treated surgically and 46 nonsurgically. Ninety‐one patients out of 93 (98%) could perform the standardized seated heel‐rises. At the 3‐month follow‐up, there was a significant difference (P < 0.001) between the injured and the healthy side performing standardized seated heel‐rises. There were also significant correlations (r = 0.29–0.37, P = < 0.05) between the standardized seated heel‐rises and ATRS 3 and 6 months after injury in the group who could not perform single‐leg standing heel‐rises. There were no significant differences between the surgical and nonsurgical treatment groups. The evaluation of standardized seated heel‐rises appears to be a useful tool to quantify progress and predict future functional performance and patient‐reported symptoms.
Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA), anti-nuclear associated anti-neutrophil antibodies (NANA) and antibodies to exocrine pancreas (PAB), are serological tools for discriminating Crohn's ...disease (CrD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Like CrD, coeliac disease (CoD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) associated with (auto) antibodies. Performing a multicenter study we primarily aimed to determine the performance of ASCA, NANA and PAB tests for IBD diagnosis in children and adults, and secondarily to evaluate the prevalence of these markers in CoD.
Sera of 109 patients with CrD, 78 with UC, 45 with CoD and 50 healthy blood donors were retrospectively included. ASCA, NANA and PAB were detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF).
ASCA+/NANA- profile displayed a positive predictive value of 94.2% for CrD. Detection of ASCA was correlated with a more severe clinical profile of CrD and treatment of the disease did not influence their serum levels. ASCA positivity was found in 37.9% of active CoD. PAB were found in 36.7% CrD and 13.3% CoD patients and were not correlated with clinical features of CrD, except with an early onset of the disease. Fifteen CrD patients were ASCA negative and PAB positive.
ASCA and PAB detected by IIF are specific markers for CrD although their presence does not rule out a possible active CoD. The combination of ASCA, NANA and PAB tests improves the sensitivity of immunological markers for CrD. Repeating ASCA, NANA, and PAB testing during the course of CrD has no clinical value.
Wild animals are used for research and management purposes in Sweden and throughout the world. Animals are often subjected to similar procedures and risks of compromised welfare from capture, ...anesthesia, handling, sampling, marking, and sometimes selective removal. The interpretation of the protection of animals used for scientific purposes in Sweden is based on the EU Directive 2010/63/EU. The purpose of animal use, irrespective if the animal is suffering or not, decides the classification as a research animal, according to Swedish legislation. In Sweden, like in several other European countries, the legislation differs between research and management. Whereas, animal research is generally well-defined and covered in the legislation, wildlife management is not. The protection of wild animals differs depending on the procedure they are subjected to, and how they are classified. In contrast to wildlife management activities, research projects have to implement the 3Rs and must undergo ethical reviews and official animal welfare controls. It is often difficult to define the dividing line between the two categories, e.g., when marking for identification purposes. This gray area creates uncertainty and problems beyond animal welfare, e.g., in Sweden, information that has been collected during management without ethical approval should not be published. The legislation therefore needs to be harmonized. To ensure consistent ethical and welfare assessments for wild animals at the hands of humans, and for the benefit of science and management, we suggest that both research and management procedures are assessed by one single Animal Ethics Committee with expertise in the 3Rs, animal welfare, wildlife population health and One Health. We emphasize the need for increased and improved official animal welfare control, facilitated by compatible legislation and a similar ethical authorization process for all wild animal procedures.
Fiber-optic communication systems using semiconductor laser amplifiers are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The noise and bit-error-rate characteristics of lightwave systems with ...optical amplifiers are calculated and the dependence of system performance on amplifier characteristics such as optical bandwidth, noise figure, gain, etc., is shown. Experimental results for both a 4-Gb/s optical preamplifier as well as coherent and direct detection systems with four inline amplifiers are presented.< >
Expression profiles of genes involved in cell wall metabolism and water transport were compared with changes in grape (
Vitis vinifera
L.) berry growth, basic chemical composition, and the shape, ...size, and wall thickness of cells within tissues of the berry pericarp. Expression of cell wall-modifying and aquaporin genes in berry pericarp tissues generally followed a bimodal expression profile with high levels of expression coinciding with the two periods of rapid berry growth, stages I and III, and low levels of expression corresponding to the slow-growth period, stage II. Cellular expansion was observed throughout all tissues during stage I, and only mesocarp cellular expansion was observed during stage III. Expansion of only exocarp cells was evident during transition between stages II and III. Cell wall-modifying and aquaporin gene expression profiles followed similar trends in exocarp and mesocarp tissues throughout berry development, with the exception of the up-regulation of pectin methylesterase, pectate lyase, two aquaporin genes (
AQ1
and
AQ2
), and two expansin genes (
EXP3
and
EXPL
) during stage II, which was delayed in the exocarp tissue compared with mesocarp tissue. Exocarp endo-(1→3)-β-glucanase and expansin-like gene expression was concurrent with increases in epidermal and hypodermal cell wall thickness. These results indicate a potential role of the grape berry skin in modulating grape berry growth.
Amplification of ultrashort optical pulses in semiconductor laser amplifiers is shown to result in considerable spectral broadening and distortion as a result of the nonlinear phenomenon of ...self-phase modulation (SPM). The physical mechanism behind SPM is gain saturation, which leads to intensity-dependent changes in the refractive index in response to variations in the carrier density. The effect of the shape and the initial frequency chirp of input pulses on the shape and the spectrum of amplified pulses is discussed in detail. Particular attention is paid to the case in which the input pulsewidth is comparable to the carrier lifetime so that the saturated gain has time to recover partially before the trailing edge of the pulse arrives. The experimental results, performed by using picosecond input pulses from a 1.52- mu m mode-locked semiconductor laser, are in agreement with the theory. When the amplified pulse is passed through a fiber, it is initially compressed because of the frequency chirp imposed on it by the amplifier. This feature can be used to compensate for fiber dispersion in optical communication systems.< >
Mast cells are known to accumulate at sites of inflammation, however, the chemotaxins involved remain largely undefined. Transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) isoforms regulate numerous cellular ...functions, including cell growth and differentiation, formation of extracellular matrix, and the immune response. In this study we have compared the potency of different members of the TGF‐β family as human mast cell chemotaxins, and analyzed the expression of TGF‐β binding proteins on human mast cells. We were able to demonstrate that the maximal chemotactic response was attained at approximately 40 fM for the three TGF‐β isoforms, with TGF‐β3 being more effective than TGF‐β1 and TGF‐β2 at this concentration. This effect was observed in both the HMC‐1 human mast cell line and in cultured primary mast cells. In addition, TGF‐β1, TGF‐β2, and less efficiently, TGF‐β3 inhibited the proliferation of HMC‐1 cells. The migratory response is probably mediated through interaction with the TGF‐β serine/threonine type I and II receptors that were found to be expressed on the cells. No expression of TGF‐β type III receptor, endoglin, or the endothelial TGF‐β type I receptor ALK‐1 could be detected. These results provide evidence that TGF‐β isoforms are highly potent chemotaxins for human mast cells and can play an important role in the recruitment of mast cells in inflammatory reactions. J. Leukoc. Biol. 67: 350–356; 2000.
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