Biodegradability of carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposites under aerobic mixed culture conditions.

The properties and commercial viability of biodegradable polymers can be significantly enhanced by the incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The environmental impact and persistence of these carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposites (CNT/PNCs) after disposal will be strongly influenced by their microbial interactions, including their biodegradation rates. At the end of consumer use, CNT/PNCs will encounter diverse communities of microorganisms in landfills, surface waters, and wastewater treatment plants.

Mycophenolate for persistent complex regional pain syndrome, a parallel, open, randomised, proof of concept trial.

Background And Aims: Current therapies for persistent complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) are grossly inadequate. With accruing evidence to support an underlying immunological process and anecdotal evidence suggesting potential efficacy of mycophenolate, we wished to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of this treatment in patients with CRPS.

Methods: A randomised, open, parallel, proof of concept trial was conducted.

Walking gait asymmetries 6 months following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction predict 12-month patient-reported outcomes.

The study sought to determine the association between gait biomechanics (vertical ground reaction force [vGRF], vGRF loading rate [vGRF-LR]) collected 6 months following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with patient-reported outcomes at 12 months following ACLR. Walking gait biomechanics and all subsections of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcomes Score (KOOS) were collected at 6 and 12 months following ACLR, respectively, in 25 individuals with a unilateral ACLR. Peak vGRF and peak instantaneous vGRF-LR were extracted from the first 50% of the stance phase.

Early intensive rehabilitation after oral cancer treatment.

Purpose: The treatment of oral cancer requires an effective rehabilitation strategy such as an early intensive rehabilitation (EIR) program.

Materials And Methods: The medical records and data of 41 patients who participated in an EIR program and 20 control group patients were analyzed. These patients all underwent surgical resection of the primary tumor followed by microsurgical reconstruction using free flaps.

Alemtuzumab as rescue therapy in a cohort of 50 relapsing-remitting MS patients with breakthrough disease on fingolimod: a multi-center observational study.

Background: Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) requires efficient immunomodulatory treatment to reach "no evidence of disease activity" status at best. Alemtuzumab and fingolimod have proved to be efficient options in RRMS with active disease course. Yet, side effects and break-through disease may limit long-time treatment and necessitate switch of medication.

Alkaline Phosphatase Activity and Endotoxemia After Infant Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Objective: Infant cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) increases intestinal permeability leading to endotoxemia. Alkaline phosphatase (AP) reduces endotoxin toxicity in vitro but its effects on endotoxemia in human disease are poorly understood. We assessed the association between serum AP activity and endotoxemia in infants undergoing CPB and determined the effect of ex vivo addition of AP on endotoxemia.

Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Children.

Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), the syndrome of elevated pressure in the pulmonary arteries, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality for affected children. PH is associated with a wide variety of potential underlying causes, including cardiac, pulmonary, hematologic and rheumatologic abnormalities. Regardless of the cause, for many patients the natural history of PH involves progressive elevation in pulmonary arterial resistance and pressure, right ventricular dysfunction, and eventually heart failure.

Effect of electrical dyssynchrony on left and right ventricular mechanics in children with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Electrical and right ventricular (RV) mechanical dyssynchrony has been previously described in pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), but less is known about the relationship between electrical dyssynchrony and biventricular function. In this study we applied cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to evaluate biventricular size and function with a focus on left ventricular (LV) strain mechanics in pediatric PAH patients with and without electrical dyssynchrony.

Methods: Fifty-six children with PAH and comprehensive CMR evaluation were stratified based on QRS duration z-score, with electrical dyssynchrony defined as z-score ≥2.

Peak knee biomechanics and limb symmetry following unilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: Associations of walking gait and jump-landing outcomes.

Background: Aberrant walking-gait and jump-landing biomechanics may influence the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis and increase the risk of a second anterior cruciate ligament injury, respectively. It remains unknown if individuals who demonstrate altered walking-gait biomechanics demonstrate similar altered biomechanics during jump-landing. Our aim was to determine associations in peak knee biomechanics and limb-symmetry indices between walking-gait and jump-landing tasks in individuals with a unilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Defining spasticity: a new approach considering current movement disorders terminology and botulinum toxin therapy.

Spasticity is a symptom occurring in many neurological conditions including stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypoxic brain damage, traumatic brain injury, tumours and heredodegenerative diseases. It affects large numbers of patients and may cause major disability. So far, spasticity has merely been described as part of the upper motor neurone syndrome or defined in a narrowed neurophysiological sense.

Empathy by default: Correlates in the brain at rest.

Background: Empathy, defined as the ability to access and respond to the inner world of another person, is a multidimensional construct involving cognitive, emotional and self-regulatory mechanisms. Neuroimaging studies report that empathy recruits brain regions which are part of the social cognition network. Among the different resting state networks, the Default Mode Network (DMN) may be of particular interest for the study of empathy since it has been implicated in social cognition tasks.

Endothelin-1 activation in pediatric patients undergoing surgical coarctation of the aorta repair.

Aim: To determine endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentration before and after surgical coarctectomy and evaluate its association with left ventricular geometric change.

Methods: A prospective, cohort study of 24 patients aged 2 d to 10 years with coarctation of the aorta undergoing surgical repair. A sub-cohort of patients with age < 1 mo was classified as "neonates".

Feasibility of Using a Community-Supported Agriculture Program to Increase Access to and Intake of Vegetables among Federally Qualified Health Center Patients.

Objective: This study explored the feasibility of using a 23-week subsidized community-supported agriculture program to increase access to and intake of vegetables among Federally Qualified Health Center patients.

Methods: Outcomes were measured using pre-post intervention surveys (n = 9). Process data were collected in post-intervention surveys and focus groups (n = 15).

Biodegradation of Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Nanocomposites using a Monoculture.

The biodegradation rates of carbon nanotube (CNT)/ polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) containing poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) were investigated using Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a microorganism commonly found in the environment. CNT/PCL nanocomposite mass loss profiles revealed that the rate of PCL matrix biodegradation decreased systematically as the CNT loading increased from 0.1 to 10% w/w.

Effect of a Lower Extremity Preventive Training Program on Physical Performance Scores in Military Recruits.

Peck, KY, DiStefano, LJ, Marshall, SW, Padua, DA, Beutler, AI, de la Motte, SJ, Frank, BS, Martinez, JC, and Cameron, KL. Effect of a lower extremity preventive training program on physical performance scores in military recruits. J Strength Cond Res 31(11): 3146-3157, 2017-Exercise-based preventive training programs are designed to improve movement patterns associated with lower extremity injury risk; however, the impact of these programs on general physical fitness has not been evaluated.

Biomagnetic Pair Therapy and Typhoid Fever: A Pilot Study.

This pilot study examined the laboratory responses of patients with laboratory-documented typhoid fever who were treated with Biomagnetic Pair Therapy (BPT; medical biomagnetism), a specific application of pairs of magnets for various ailments that are infectious and otherwise. This study was an assessment of patients' response to treatment with only BPT for infections (typhoid fever) using standard conventional laboratory techniques. The research was conducted in an outpatient village clinic in Kenya.

Dissemination and Implementation Strategies of Lower Extremity Preventive Training Programs in Youth: A Clinical Review.

Context: Neuromuscular preventive training programs effectively reduce injury and improve performance in youth athletes. However, program effectiveness is directly linked to program compliance, fidelity, and dosage. Preventive training programs are not widely adopted by youth sport coaches.

Low-Dose Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment for Long-Standing Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Two small trials suggest that low-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) may improve the symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a rare posttraumatic pain condition.

Objective: To confirm the efficacy of low-dose IVIg compared with placebo in reducing pain during a 6-week period in adult patients who had CRPS from 1 to 5 years.

Design: 1:1 parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial for 6 weeks, with an optional 6-week open extension.

Imaging the Nonlinear Plasmoemission Dynamics of Electrons from Strong Plasmonic Fields.

We use subcycle time-resolved photoemission microscopy to unambiguously distinguish optically triggered electron emission (photoemission) from effects caused purely by the plasmonic field (termed "plasmoemission"). We find from time-resolved imaging that nonlinear plasmoemission is dominated by the transverse plasmon field component by utilizing a transient standing wave from two counter-propagating plasmon pulses of opposite transverse spin. From plasmonic foci on flat metal surfaces, we observe highly nonlinear plasmoemission up to the fifth power of intensity and quantized energy transfer, which reflects the quantum-mechanical nature of surface plasmons.

A theoretical and empirical modeling of anxiety integrated with RDoC and temporal dynamics.

The newly launched Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) emphasize specific mechanisms over diagnostic categories of psychopathology. In our view, RDoC provides a useful heuristic for mental health disorders, but does not capture the complexity of psychological data when proposed mechanisms are viewed as static entities. However, temporal and complex system dynamics may advance RDoC's utility.

Kinematic and neuromuscular relationships between lower extremity clinical movement assessments.

Lower extremity injuries have immediate and long-term consequences. Lower extremity movement assessments can assist with identifying individuals at greater injury risk and guide injury prevention interventions. Movement assessments identify similar movement characteristics and evidence suggests large magnitude kinematic relationships exist between movement patterns observed across assessments; however, the magnitude of the relationships for electromyographic (EMG) measures across movement assessments remains largely unknown.