RE: Reinterpreting the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Plantar Heel Pain Through an International Lens.

Author response to the Letter to the Editor-in-Chief "Reinterpreting the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Plantar Heel Pain Through an International Lens" .

Achilles Pain, Stiffness, and Muscle Power Deficits: Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy Revision - 2024.

The Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy (AOPT) has an ongoing effort to create evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for orthopaedic physical therapy management of patients with musculoskeletal impairments described in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). The 2024 Achilles Pain, Stiffness, and Muscle Power Deficit: Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) is a revision of the 2018 CPG and represents the third CPG from AOPT on this topic. The goals of the revision were to provide a concise summary of the contemporary evidence and to develop new recommendations or revise previously published recommendations to support evidence-based practice.

Impact of motor task conditions on end-point kinematics and trunk movements during goal-directed arm reach.

Task conditions significantly impact human motor control. We investigated how task type, difficulty, and constraints influence the kinematics of goal-directed arm reaching. Non-disabled young adults performed two distinct goal-directed arm reaching tasks: pointing and picking up an object with chopsticks.

Heel Pain - Plantar Fasciitis: Revision 2023.

The Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has an ongoing effort to create evidence-based practice guidelines for orthopaedic physical therapy management of patients with musculoskeletal impairments described in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). The purpose of these revised clinical practice guidelines is to review recent peer-reviewed literature and make recommendations related to nonarthritic heel pain. .

A Unit-Concentration Method to Quantify Source Contribution.

Solute migration is typically simulated to describe and estimate the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater. The unit-concentration approach is investigated here as a method to enable solute transport simulations to expand the capabilities of groundwater flow modeling. The unit-concentration method uses a concentration value of one to identify sources of water to be assessed and a concentration of zero for all other water sources.

Estimation of Aquifer Transmissivity From Analysis of Long-Term Monitoring With the Thiem Solution.

The application of the Thiem equation to support the interpretation of comprehensive long-term monitoring datasets, made possible through modern datalogging technology, is presented as an alternative to constant-rate aquifer testing to obtain representative transmissivity estimates in settings where controlled hydraulic testing may be impractical. Water levels logged at regular intervals can be readily converted to average water levels over time periods corresponding to periods of known pumping rates. By regressing average water levels during multiple time periods of known but variable withdrawal rates, steady-state conditions can be approximated and Thiem's solution applied to estimate transmissivity, without performance of a constant-rate aquifer test.

Accuracy and feasibility of a novel fine hand motor skill assessment using computer vision object tracking.

We developed a computer vision-based three-dimension (3D) motion capture system employing two action cameras to examine fine hand motor skill by tracking an object manipulated by a hand. This study aimed to examine the accuracy and feasibility of this approach for detecting changes in a fine hand motor skill. We conducted three distinct experiments to assess the system's accuracy and feasibility.

Feet/Footwear-Related Fall Risk Screening Tool for Older Adults: Development and Content Validation.

Background And Purpose: Screening for feet- and footwear-related influences on fall risk is an important component of multifactorial fall risk screenings, yet few evidence-based tools are available for this purpose. We developed the to support interprofessional health care providers in their efforts to screen for feet/footwear-related influences on fall risk among community-dwelling older adults identified at risk for falling.

Materials And Methods: The study consisted of two phases.

Are Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System scales responsive in patients attending physical therapy with foot and ankle diagnoses?

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have been used to provide insight into the patient experience while uncovering an opportunity to improve patient care. Current studies document responsiveness of outcomes using the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) for a variety of orthopedic problems but are not specific to a physical therapy interval of care.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to examine responsiveness of the PROMIS Physical Function (PF) and Pain Interference (PI) scales across an interval of care for physical therapy in patients with foot and ankle conditions.

Refinement of saliva microRNA biomarkers for sports-related concussion.

Background: Recognizing sport-related concussion (SRC) is challenging and relies heavily on subjective symptom reports. An objective, biological marker could improve recognition and understanding of SRC. There is emerging evidence that salivary micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) may serve as biomarkers of concussion; however, it remains unclear whether concussion-related miRNAs are impacted by exercise.

Validation of a Machine Learning Brain Electrical Activity-Based Index to Aid in Diagnosing Concussion Among Athletes.

Importance: An objective, reliable indicator of the presence and severity of concussive brain injury and of the readiness for the return to activity has the potential to reduce concussion-related disability.

Objective: To validate the classification accuracy of a previously derived, machine learning, multimodal, brain electrical activity-based Concussion Index in an independent cohort of athletes with concussion.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective diagnostic cohort study was conducted at 10 clinical sites (ie, US universities and high schools) between February 4, 2017, and March 20, 2019.

Diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury using saliva RNA compared to cognitive and balance testing.

Background: Early, accurate diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can improve clinical outcomes for patients, but mTBI remains difficult to diagnose because of reliance on subjective symptom reports. An objective biomarker could increase diagnostic accuracy and improve clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of salivary noncoding RNA (ncRNA) to serve as a diagnostic adjunct to current clinical tools.

Saliva microRNA Biomarkers of Cumulative Concussion.

Recurrent concussions increase risk for persistent post-concussion symptoms, and may lead to chronic neurocognitive deficits. Little is known about the molecular pathways that contribute to persistent concussion symptoms. We hypothesized that salivary measurement of microribonucleic acids (miRNAs), a class of epitranscriptional molecules implicated in concussion pathophysiology, would provide insights about the molecular cascade resulting from recurrent concussions.

Pediatric bladder augmentation - Panacea or Pandora's box?

Introduction: Bladder augmentation is a surgery that can increase bladder capacity and compliance. The objective of this study was to provide a longitudinal review of pediatric bladder augmentation at a tertiary Canadian center.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent bladder augmentation at a tertiary pediatric hospital between 1986 and 2014.

Lower-Limb Factors Associated with Balance and Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Clinical Synthesis.

Background: Despite sufficient evidence to suggest that lower-limb-related factors may contribute to fall risk in older adults, lower-limb and footwear influences on fall risk have not been systematically summarized for readers and clinicians. The purpose of this study was to systematically review and synethesize the literature related to lower-limb, foot, and footwear factors that may increase the risk of falling among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and AgeLine.

The oral microbiome of early stage Parkinson's disease and its relationship with functional measures of motor and non-motor function.

Changes in the function and microbiome of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract have been documented in Parkinson's disease (PD), although most studies have examined merely fecal microbiome profiles and patients with advanced disease states. In the present study we sought to identify sensitive and specific biomarkers of changes in the oral microbiome of early stage PD through shotgun metatranscriptomic profiling. We recruited 48 PD subjects and 36 age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Containment of Sources of Groundwater Contamination: Analysis of Mass Fluxes.

Cutoff walls and liners are used frequently as barriers to isolate contaminants at both controlled and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Neville and Andrews (2006) presented a containment criterion for contaminant isolation by a barrier. The analysis of Neville and Andrews (2006) yields the inward Darcy flux that balances the diffusive mass flux from the source so that the net mass flux is zero.

Development and initial validation of a digital divided-attention neurocognitive test for use in concussion assessment.

Computerized neurocognitive tests are commonly used after a concussion injury. The use of reliable and valid tests that utilize a divided-attention task may improve assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test a digital divided-attention neurocognitive test for test-retest reliability, practise effects, and initial validity.

Comparison of serum and saliva miRNAs for identification and characterization of mTBI in adult mixed martial arts fighters.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, with mild TBI (mTBI) accounting for 85% of cases. mTBI is also implicated in serious long-term sequelae including second impact syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. mTBI often goes undiagnosed due to delayed symptom onset and limited sensitivity of conventional assessment measures compared with severe TBI.

Analysis of Solute Transport from a Source with Finite Leachable Mass.

A general approach is developed for the analysis of solute transport from a source with a finite initial mass. The approach uses an effective retardation factor to assign the initial mass that can be leached from the source. Demonstration analyses are presented to illustrate the approach with the numerical simulator MT3DMS.

Acute Sport-Related Concussion Screening for Collegiate Athletes Using an Instrumented Balance Assessment.

Context:   Without a true criterion standard assessment, the sport-related concussion (SRC) diagnosis remains subjective. Inertial balance sensors have been proposed to improve acute SRC assessment, but few researchers have studied their clinical utility.

Objective:   To determine if group differences exist when using objective measures of balance in a sample of collegiate athletes with recent SRCs and participants serving as the control group and to calculate sensitivity and specificity to determine the diagnostic utility of the inertial balance sensor for acute SRC injuries.

An Ankle-Foot Orthosis With a Lateral Extension Reduces Forefoot Abduction in Subjects With Stage II Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory, repeated measures.

Background: Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction is a common musculoskeletal problem that includes tendon degeneration and collapse of the medial arch of the foot (flatfoot deformity). Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) typically are used to correct flatfoot deformity.

Measuring postural stability with an inertial sensor: validity and sensitivity.

Introduction/purpose: To examine the concurrent validity, and sensitivity, of an inertial sensor for use in the assessment of postural sway.

Methods: This was a laboratory-based, repeated-measures design with ten healthy participants. Concurrent validity was tested between an inertial sensor, forceplate, and rigid-body kinematics across three commonly used balance tests.

Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Orthosis Augmented by Either Stretching or Stretching and Strengthening for Stage II Tibialis Posterior Tendon Dysfunction.

Background: The value of strengthening and stretching exercises combined with orthosis treatment in a home-based program has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of augmenting orthosis treatment with either stretching or a combination of stretching and strengthening in participants with stage II tibialis posterior tendon dysfunction (TPTD).

Methods: Participants included 39 patients with stage II TPTD who were recruited from a medical center and then randomly assigned to a strengthening or stretching treatment group.