Overload in a Rat In Vivo Model of Synergist Ablation Induces Tendon Multiscale Structural and Functional Degeneration.

Tendon degeneration is typically described as an overuse injury with little distinction made between magnitude of load (overload) and number of cycles (overuse). Further, in vivo, animal models of tendon degeneration are mostly overuse models, where tendon damage is caused by a high number of load cycles. As a result, there is a lack of knowledge of how isolated overload leads to degeneration in tendons.

Development and Validation of the Patient/Caregiver Reported Hydroxyurea Evaluation of Adherence for Life (HEAL) Scale.

Introduction: Hydroxyurea reduces the incidence of vaso-occlusive episodes, stroke, and respiratory, cardiac, and renal damage in sickle cell disease by increasing fetal hemoglobin. However, because suboptimal adherence to hydroxyurea limits its effectiveness, understanding patient-specific barriers to hydroxyurea adherence could help improve adherence and health outcomes in patients with sickle cell disease. The aim of this single-site, prospective, IRB-approved study was to validate a 24-item patient- and caregiver-reported hydroxyurea treatment adherence questionnaire, the Hydroxyurea Evaluation of Adherence for Life (HEAL) scale.

Stress deprivation of tendon explants or Tpm3.1 inhibition in tendon cells reduces F-actin to promote a tendinosis-like phenotype.

Actin is a central mediator between mechanical force and cellular phenotype. In tendons, it is speculated that mechanical stress deprivation regulates gene expression by reducing filamentous (F)-actin. However, the mechanisms regulating tenocyte F-actin remain unclear.

No child left behind: Building a comprehensive sickle cell disease care oasis in the Lake County, Indiana care desert.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) leads to end-organ damage and shortened life expectancy. The second highest incidence of SCD in Indiana is in Lake County, but until 2017, there was no SCD expert within 65 miles. The Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center (IHTC) developed the Sickle Care coordination OutReach and Education (SCORE) program in 2017 to bring high-quality, guideline-based care to children with SCD.

Ring the Bell for Sickle Cell: Encouraging Advocacy in an Underserved Community.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) was once a disease of childhood because of a limited life expectancy. Due to medical advances, it is now common for people with SCD to live into adulthood. Funding and resources for adults with SCD, however, remain limited.

Tuning the Structure of Nylon 6,6 Electrospun Bundles to Mimic the Mechanical Performance of Tendon Fascicles.

Tendon and ligament injuries are triggered by mechanical loading, but the specific mechanisms are not yet clearly identified. It is well established however, that the inflection and transition points in tendon stress-strain curves represent thresholds that may signal the onset of irreversible fibrillar sliding. This phenomenon often results in a progressive macroscopic failure of these tissues.

Tendon Multiscale Structure, Mechanics, and Damage Are Affected by Osmolarity of Bath Solution.

One of the most common bath solutions used in musculoskeletal mechanical testing is phosphate buffered saline (PBS). In tendon, swelling induced by physiological PBS results in decreased tendon modulus and induces microstructural changes. It is critical to evaluate the multiscale mechanical behavior of tendon under swelling to interpret prior work and provide information to design future studies.

Evaluation of transverse poroelastic mechanics of tendon using osmotic loading and biphasic mixture finite element modeling.

Tendon's viscoelastic behaviors are important to the tissue mechanical function and cellular mechanobiology. When loaded in longitudinal tension, tendons often have a large Poisson's ratio (ν>2) that exceeds the limit of incompressibility for isotropic material (ν=0.5), indicating that tendon experiences volume loss, inducing poroelastic fluid exudation in the transverse direction.

An inter-species computational analysis of vibrotactile sensitivity in Pacinian and Herbst corpuscles.

Vibration sensing is ubiquitous among vertebrates, with the sensory end organ generally being a multilayered ellipsoidal structure. There is, however, a wide range of sizes and structural arrangements across species. In this work, we applied our earlier computational model of the Pacinian corpuscle to predict the sensory response of different species to various stimulus frequencies, and based on the results, we identified the optimal frequency for vibration sensing and the bandwidth over which frequencies should be most detectable.

Adherence to Quality of Care Indicators and Location of Sickle Cell Care Within Indiana.

Newborn screening (NBS) follow-up programs for infants with sickle cell disease (SCD) are highly variable among states. Initiated in 2009, Sickle SAFE, the NBS follow-up program for infants with SCD in Indiana, follows infants through home visits and phone contact. The current study assessed the attainment rates for recently published quality indicators of pediatric SCD care for Sickle SAFE participants.

Micropipette aspiration of the Pacinian corpuscle.

The Pacinian corpuscle (PC) is a cutaneous mechanoreceptor sensitive to high-frequency vibrations (20-1000Hz). The PC is of importance due to its integral role in somatosensation and the critical need to understand PC function for haptic feedback system development. Previous theoretical and computational studies have modeled the physiological response of the PC to sustained or vibrating mechanical stimuli, but they have used estimates of the receptor's mechanical properties, which remain largely unmeasured.

A validated measure of adherence to antibiotic prophylaxis in children with sickle cell disease.

Background: Antibiotic prophylaxis is a mainstay in sickle cell disease management. However, adherence is estimated at only 66%. This study aimed to develop and validate a Sickle Cell Antibiotic Adherence Level Evaluation (SCAALE) to promote systematic and detailed adherence evaluation.