Longitudinal changes in resting state fMRI brain self-similarity of asymptomatic high school American football athletes.

American football has become the focus of numerous studies highlighting a growing concern that cumulative exposure to repetitive, sports-related head acceleration events (HAEs) may have negative consequences for brain health, even in the absence of a diagnosed concussion. In this longitudinal study, brain functional connectivity was analyzed in a cohort of high school American football athletes over a single play season and compared against participants in non-collision high school sports. Football athletes underwent four resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions: once before (pre-season), twice during (in-season), and once 34-80 days after the contact activities play season ended (post-season).

Spatial assessment of femoral neck bone density and microstructure in hip osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is known to involve profound changes in bone density and microstructure near to, and even distal to, the joint. Critically, however, a full, spatial picture of these abnormalities has not been well documented in a quantitative fashion in hip OA. Here, micro-computed tomography (44.

Trabecular Architecture and Mechanical Heterogeneity Effects on Vertebral Body Strength.

Purpose Of Review: We aimed to synthesize the recent work on the intra-vertebral heterogeneity in density, trabecular architecture and mechanical properties, its implications for fracture risk, its association with degeneration of the intervertebral discs, and its implications for implant design.

Recent Findings: As compared to the peripheral regions of the centrum, the central region of the vertebral body exhibits lower density and more sparse microstructure. As compared to the anterior region, the posterior region shows higher density.