Treatment options for Achilles tendinopathy: a scoping review of preclinical studies.

Background: Achilles tendinopathy (AT) management can be difficult, given the paucity of effective treatment options and the degenerative nature of the condition. Innovative therapies for Achilles tendinopathy are therefore direly needed. New therapeutic developments predominantly begin with preclinical animal and in vitro studies to understand the effects at the molecular level and to evaluate toxicity.

Societal spirits in the silver streak: Unraveling complexity in drinking habits of the mature adult population.

Background: The complex interactions between an individual's drinking behavior and their social environment is crucial but understudied, particularly in mature adult populations. Our aim is to unravel these complexities by investigating how personal drinking patterns are related to those of one's social environment over time, and what the interplay is with personal factors such as occupational prestige and smoking behavior.

Method: The present study adopts an innovative graphical autoregressive (GVAR) panel network modeling approach to investigate the dynamics between personal drinking habits and social environmental factors, utilizing a comprehensive longitudinal dataset from the Framingham Heart Study with a large sample of predominantly mature adults (N = 1719-5718) connected within a social network.

Advancing the network theory of mental disorders: A computational model of panic disorder.

The network theory of psychopathology posits that mental disorders are systems of mutually reinforcing symptoms. This framework has proven highly generative but does not specify precisely how any specific mental disorder operates as such a system. Cognitive behavioral theories of mental disorders provide considerable insight into how these systems may operate.

Constant torque stretching in ankle contractures results in greater changes in range of motion than constant angle or dynamic stretching: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To investigate the acute (directly post-stretching) and long-term (≥1 week of treatment) effects of stretching type, duration, and intensity on joint range of motion (ROM) and stiffness in ankle contractures.

Data Sources: PubMed, Embase.com, Clarivate Analytics/Web of Science Core Collection, EBSCO/SPORTDiscus, and EBSCO/CINAHL were searched for studies published in English from inception until September 12, 2023.

The Effect of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Hamstring Muscle Activity Distribution During High-Speed Running Estimated Using Multichannel Electromyography: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of the Nordic hamstring exercise on normalized muscle activity and relative contribution of the biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus through multichannel electromyography in the late-swing phase of high-speed running.

Design: A pragmatic, 2-arm, single-center randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to a Nordic group or control group.

Perturbation graphs, invariant causal prediction and causal relations in psychology.

Networks (graphs) in psychology are often restricted to settings without interventions. Here we consider a framework borrowed from biology that involves multiple interventions from different contexts (observations and experiments) in a single analysis. The method is called perturbation graphs.

Investigations into the Geometric Calibration and Systematic Effects of a Micro-CT System.

Micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) systems are used for examining the internal structures of various objects, such as material samples, manufactured parts, and natural objects. Resolving fine details or performing accurate geometric measurements in the voxel data critically depends on the precise calibration of the µCT systems geometry. This paper presents a calibration method for µCT systems using projections of a calibration phantom, where the coordinates of the phantom are initially unknown.

The urban desirability paradox: U.K. urban-rural differences in well-being, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction.

As the majority of the global population resides in cities, it is imperative to understand urban well-being. While cities offer concentrated social and economic opportunities, the question arises whether these benefits translate to equitable levels of satisfaction in these domains. Using a robust and objective measure of urbanicity on a sample of 156,000 U.

Productive explanation: A framework for evaluating explanations in psychological science.

The explanation of psychological phenomena is a central aim of psychological science. However, the nature of explanation and the processes by which we evaluate whether a theory explains a phenomenon are often unclear. Consequently, it is often unknown whether a given psychological theory indeed explains a phenomenon.

Stroke-induced excess in capillarization relative to oxidative capacity in rats is muscle specific.

Stroke is not only associated with muscle weakness, but also associated with reduced muscle fatigue resistance and reduced desaturation during exercise that may be caused by a reduced oxidative capacity and/or microvasculature. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the effects of stroke on muscle mass, fiber size and shape, capillarization and oxidative capacity of the rat m. extensor carpi radialis (ECR) and m.

The clinical implications of using a low threshold for computed tomography scans in older patients presenting with a proximal femur fracture.

Purpose: Current guidelines recommend a low threshold for computerized tomography (CT) scanning in older patients presenting with low-energy trauma (LET). With the ageing of the population, this results in increased use of healthcare resources and costs. We aim to assess (1) the number of CT scans performed as part of the initial trauma screening, (2) their traumatic clinical implications, and (3) their non-traumatic clinical implications.

A Dynamical Systems View of Psychiatric Disorders-Practical Implications: A Review.

Importance: Dynamical systems theory is widely used to explain tipping points, cycles, and chaos in complex systems ranging from the climate to ecosystems. It has been suggested that the same theory may be used to explain the nature and dynamics of psychiatric disorders, which may come and go with symptoms changing over a lifetime. Here we review evidence for the practical applicability of this theory and its quantitative tools in psychiatry.

Alcohol consumption as a socially contagious phenomenon in the Framingham Heart Study social network.

We use longitudinal social network data from the Framingham Heart Study to examine the extent to which alcohol consumption is influenced by the network structure. We assess the spread of alcohol use in a three-state SIS-type model, classifying individuals as abstainers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers. We find that the use of three-states improves on the more canonical two-state classification, as the data show that all three states are highly stable and have different social dynamics.

Ultrahigh-speed imaging for high-impact concrete deformation analysis in pre- and post-cracking stages.

The evaluation of high-speed camera image sequence analysis results in concrete material testing under high-impact loading necessitates the consideration of the effect of the image quality on the measurement accuracy and thus on the potential of the geometric measurements derived from the image sequences. In this contribution, we evaluate the application potential of three ultrahigh-speed cameras with frame rates up to 10 Mfps to analyze the deformation of concrete specimens before and after main crack formation in bending and compression tests. Specifically, we evaluate the Kirana 7M and Shimadzu HPV-X2 cameras with ISIS sensor architecture, and the Phantom TMX 7510 camera with BSI CMOS sensor technology.

Stab lesion of the L4/L5 intervertebral disc in the rat causes acute changes in disc bending mechanics.

Low-back pain often coincides with altered neuromuscular control, possibly due to changes in spine stability resulting from injury or degeneration, or due to effects of nociception. The relative importance of these mechanisms, and their possible interaction, are unknown. In spine bending, the bulk of the load is borne by the IVD, yet the acute effects of intervertebral disc (IVD) injury on bending mechanics have not been investigated.

Creation of a decellularized vaginal matrix from healthy human vaginal tissue for potential vagina reconstruction: experimental studies.

Background: When a disorder causes the absence of a healthy, full-size vagina, various neovaginal creation methods are available. Sometimes dilation or stretching of the vaginal cavity is sufficient, but intestinal or dermal flap tissue is generally required. However, different inherent tissue properties cause complications.

Formalizing psychological interventions through network control theory.

Despite the growing deployment of network representation to comprehend psychological phenomena, the question of whether and how networks can effectively describe the effects of psychological interventions remains elusive. Network control theory, the engineering study of networked interventions, has recently emerged as a viable methodology to characterize and guide interventions. However, there is a scarcity of empirical studies testing the extent to which it can be useful within a psychological context.

The Effect of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on Muscle Activity: A Multichannel Electromyography Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a Nordic hamstring exercise intervention on biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus muscle's activity and relative contributions through multichannel electromyography. Twenty-four injury-free male basketball players (mean age 20 [3] y) were randomly assigned to a 12-week intervention (n = 13) or control group (n = 11). The primary outcome measures were normalized muscle activity (percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction, %MVIC) and relative contribution of hamstring muscles over 12 weeks.

Towards a general modeling framework of resource competition in cognitive development.

The current paper presents an integrated formal model of typical and atypical development based on the mechanisms of mutualism and resource competition. The mutualistic network model is extended with the dynamics of competition for limited resources, such as time and environmental factors. The proposed model generates patterns that resemble established phenomena in cognitive development: the positive manifold, developmental phases, developmental delays and lack of early indicators in atypical development, developmental regression, and "quasi-autism" caused by extreme environmental deprivation.

Camera-Aided Orientation of Mobile Lidar Point Clouds Acquired from an Uncrewed Water Vehicle.

This article presents a system for recording 3D point clouds of riverbanks with a mobile lidar mounted on an uncrewed water vehicle. The focus is on the orientation of the platform and the lidar sensor. Rivers are areas where the conditions for highly accurate GNSS can be sub-optimal due to multipath effects from the water and shadowing effects by bridges, steep valleys, trees, or other objects at the riverbanks.

Constant force muscle stretching induces greater acute deformations and changes in passive mechanical properties compared to constant length stretching.

Stretching is applied to lengthen shortened muscles in pathological conditions such as joint contractures. We investigated (i) the acute effects of different types of stretching, i.e.

Force transmission and interactions between synergistic muscles.

The classical view of muscles as independent motors has been challenged over the past decades. An alternative view has emerged in which muscles are not isolated but embedded in a three-dimensional connective tissue network that links them to adjacent muscles and other non-muscular structures in the body. Animal studies showing that the forces measured at the distal and proximal ends of a muscle are not equal have provided undisputable evidence that these connective tissue linkages are strong enough to serve as an extra pathway for muscular force transmission.