Variants in the Late Cornified Envelope Gene Locus Are Associated With Elevated T-helper 17 Responses in Patients With Postinfectious Lyme Arthritis.

Background: Postinfectious Lyme arthritis (LA) is associated with dysregulated immunity and autoreactive T- and B-cell responses in joints. Here we explored the role of host genetic variation in this outcome.

Methods: The frequency of 253 702 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was determined in 147 patients with LA (87 with postinfectious LA and 60 with antibiotic-responsive LA), and for comparison in 90 patients with erythema migrans or the general population (n = 2504).

Hamstring and knee injuries are associated with isometric hip and trunk muscle strength in elite Australian Rules and Rugby League players.

Objectives: This study investigated relationships between isometric trunk and hip extensor strength, lumbar muscle morphology, and the risk of hamstring and knee ligament injuries in Australian Football League and National Rugby League players.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Trunk and hip extensor strength, multifidus and quadratus lumborum cross-sectional area were measured during the 2020 pre-season.

Neuraminidase-induced externalization of phosphatidylserine activates ADAM17 and impairs insulin signaling in endothelial cells.

Endothelial insulin resistance represents a causal factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and vascular disease, thus the need to identify molecular mechanisms underlying defects in endothelial insulin signaling. We previously have shown that a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17 (ADAM17) is increased while insulin receptor α-subunit (IRα) is decreased in the vasculature of patients with T2D, leading to impaired insulin-induced vasodilation. We have also demonstrated that ADAM17 sheddase activity targets IRα; however, the mechanisms driving endothelial ADAM17 activity in T2D are largely unknown.

Hamstring Strain Injury Risk Factors in Australian Football Change over the Course of the Season.

Background/aim: This study aimed to determine which factors were most predictive of hamstring strain injury (HSI) during different stages of the competition in professional Australian Football.

Methods: Across two competitive seasons, eccentric knee flexor strength and biceps femoris long head architecture of 311 Australian Football players (455 player seasons) were assessed at the start and end of preseason and in the middle of the competitive season. Details of any prospective HSI were collated by medical staff of participating teams.

Establishing the Role of Inflammatory Markers in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Hand Infections in the Pediatric Population.

Introduction: Distinguishing the severity of the diagnosis and an appropriate treatment plan in pediatric hand infections can be complex due to the variable amount of information available at the presentation. Inflammatory blood markers, including white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein are reported to aid in determining the severity of infection and response to treatment in adult hand infections. The purpose of this study was to identify the relevance of inflammatory marker levels in pediatric patients with hand and wrist infections and to determine their utility in diagnosis and treatment.

Police Force Size and Civilian Race.

We report novel empirical estimates of the race-specific effects of larger police forces in the United States. Each additional police officer abates approximately 0.1 homicides.

Evolving radon diffusion through earthen barriers at uranium waste disposal sites.

Field measurements of Rn-222 fluxes from the tops and bottoms of compacted clay radon barriers were used to calculate effective Rn diffusion coefficients (D) at four uranium waste disposal sites in the western United States to assess cover performance after more than 20 years of service. Values of D ranged from 7.4 × 10 to 6.

Identification of potential risk factors for lower limb injuries in female team-sport athletes: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to assess the associations between lower limb injuries in female team-sport athletes and a number of factors. The potential risk factors explored included (1) lower limb strength, (2) history of life-event stress, (3) family history of ACL injuries, (4) menstrual history, and (5) history of oral contraception use.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-five female athletes aged between 14 and 31 years (mean: 18.

Tracing fluid infiltration into oceanic crust up to ultra-high-pressure conditions.

Unlabelled: Fluid-rock interaction within the altered oceanic crust and across the slab-mantle boundary during subduction facilitates element transfer, but the dynamics of fluid transport and fluid-rock exchange during upward fluid migration are still unclear. A study of metamorphic fluid-rock interaction within a section of subducted oceanic crust was carried out on eclogites and metasediments of the ultra-high-pressure Lago di Cignana Unit (NW Italian Alps). The - modeling of a quartzschist shows that garnet grew during the prograde and sporadically during the retrograde path and that phengite mainly records the peak to retrograde conditions.

Kidney Pathology of Tropical and Nontropical Infectious Diseases in the Pediatric Population.

Objectives: To review kidney pathology of tropical and nontropical infectious diseases in the pediatric population.

Methods: We review 4 tropical and 2 nontropical infectious diseases that affect the kidneys of children in terms of their direct and indirect pathogenetic mechanism in inducing kidney damage.

Results: We demonstrate clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, kidney pathology, and laboratory diagnostic methods for (1) renal cryptococcosis, which represents involvement of a pure direct pathway; (2) schistosomiasis and dengue fever as examples of dual direct and indirect pathways; and (3) congenital syphilis, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease, which represent indirect pathways.

Explosive hamstrings strength asymmetry persists despite maximal hamstring strength recovery following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring tendon autografts.

Purpose: To investigate the differences in maximal (isometric and concentric peak torque) and explosive (rate of torque development (RTD)) hamstring and quadriceps strength symmetry between males and females during early- and late-phase rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) using hamstring tendon (HT) autografts and to determine the interaction of time and sex on maximal and explosive strength symmetry.

Methods: A total of 38 female and 51 male participants were assessed during early (3-6 months post-operative) and late (7-12 months post-operative) phases of rehabilitation following ACLR. Maximal (concentric and isometric peak torque) and explosive (isometric RTD) hamstring and quadriceps strength were assessed and presented as limb symmetry index (LSI).

Early introduction of high-intensity eccentric loading into hamstring strain injury rehabilitation.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the number of days following hamstring strain injury (HSI) taken to introduce high-intensity eccentric loading (HIEL) into rehabilitation based on exercise-specific progression criteria, and whether pain resolution during isometric knee flexion strength testing occurred before or after this milestone.

Design: Cohort study.

Methods: We included 42 men (mean ± sd; age = 26 ± 5 years; height = 181 ± 8 cm; mass = 86 ± 12 kg) with HSIs, who performed fully supervised rehabilitation twice per week until they met return to play clearance criteria.

Assessing isometric kicking force and post-match responses using the Kicker test.

This study examined the inter-session reliability of force output from a novel isometric strength assessment protocol (the Kicker); and its suitability to monitor soccer player's combined hip flexion and knee extension force capacity over 72-h post-competitive matches. Reliability (Part-A) testing was completed over three sessions on 20 individuals participating in various sports at a recreational level or higher. Post-match strength response (Part-B) data were collected for 72-h after a game (24-h (+24), 48-h (+48) and 72-h (+72) post-match) in 17 male academy soccer players.

Strength and Biomechanical Risk Factors for Noncontact ACL Injury in Elite Female Footballers: A Prospective Study.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if a preseason field-based test battery was prospectively associated with noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in elite female footballers.

Methods: In total, 322 elite senior and junior female Australian Rules Football and soccer players had their isometric hip adductor and abductor strength, eccentric knee flexor strength, countermovement jump (CMJ) kinetics, and single-leg hop kinematics assessed during the 2019 preseason. Demographic and injury history details were also collected.

Predicting Noncontact Lower Limb Injury Using Lumbar Morphology in Professional Australian Football and Rugby League Players.

Introduction: Noncontact lower limb injuries are common within the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). Smaller (<8.5 cm2) lumbar multifidus at the fifth vertebra (LM L5) and larger (>8.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Increases the Risk of Hamstring Strain Injury Across Football Codes in Australia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and recent (< 12 months) hamstring strain injury (HSI) on (1) future HSI risk, and (2) eccentric knee flexor strength and between-limb imbalance during the Nordic hamstring exercise. A secondary goal was to examine whether eccentric knee flexor strength was a risk factor for future HSI in athletes with prior ACLR and/or HSI.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 531 male athletes had preseason eccentric knee flexor strength tests.

Sprinting Biomechanics and Hamstring Injuries: Is There a Link? A Literature Review.

Hamstring strain injury (HSI) is a common and costly injury in many sports such as the various professional football codes. Most HSIs have been reported to occur during high intensity sprinting actions. This observation has led to the suggestion that a link between sprinting biomechanics and HSIs may exist.

Sprinting technique and hamstring strain injuries: A concept mapping study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore expert opinion to identify the components of sprinting technique they believed to be risk factors for hamstring strain injuries (HSI).

Design: Mixed-method research design.

Methods: The Concept Systems groupwisdom™ web platform was used to analyse and collect data.

Prediction of Hamstring Injuries in Australian Football Using Biceps Femoris Architectural Risk Factors Derived From Soccer.

Background: Hamstring strain injuries are the most common injuries in team sports. Biceps femoris long head architecture is associated with the risk of hamstring injury in soccer. To assess the overall predictive ability of architectural variables, risk factors need to be applied to and validated across different cohorts.

Screening Hamstring Injury Risk Factors Multiple Times in a Season Does Not Improve the Identification of Future Injury Risk.

Purpose: To determine if eccentric knee flexor strength and biceps femoris long head (BFlh) fascicle length were associated with prospective hamstring strain injury (HSI) in professional Australian Football players, and if more frequent assessments of these variables altered the association with injury risk.

Methods: Across two competitive seasons, 311 Australian Football players (455 player seasons) had their eccentric knee flexor strength during the Nordic hamstring exercise and BFlh architecture assessed at the start and end of preseason and in the middle of the competitive season. Player age and injury history were also collected in preseason.

Radon fluxes at four uranium mill tailings disposal sites after about 20 years of service.

To evaluate the properties of earthen covers over uranium mill tailings disposal cells after about 20 years of service, we measured Rn-222 fluxes and radon barrier properties at the Falls City, TX, Bluewater, NM, Shirley Basin South, WY, and Lakeview, OR disposal sites in western USA. A total of 115 in-service Rn fluxes were obtained at 26 test pit locations from the top surface of the exposed Rn barrier (i.e.

Field based lower limb strength tests provide insight into sprint and change of direction ability in academy footballers.

Conducting field-based strength assessments is embedded within football academy development processes. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how hip and groin strength assessments relate to vital game-based tasks such as sprinting and change of direction (COD) performance. Our aim was to explore field-based strength assessments and their relationships with both sprint and COD performance in male academy footballers.

Hamstring and gluteal activation during high-speed overground running: Impact of prior strain injury.

This study examined the spatial patterns of hamstring and gluteal muscle activation during high-speed overground running in limbs with and without aprior hamstring strain injury. Ten active males with arecent (<18 month) unilateral biceps femoris long head (BFLH) strain injury underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging before and immediately after arepeat-sprint running protocol. Transverse relaxation (T2) time, an index of muscle activation, of the BFLH and short head (BFSH), semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM), gluteus maximus (GMAX) and medius (GMED) was assessed pre-post exercise.

Strength development and non-contact lower limb injury in academy footballers across age groups.

Non-contact lower limb injuries are common in academy football. Yet, the impact these injuries have on strength development in academy footballers remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of non-contact lower limb injury on hip, groin, and knee flexor strength development in male academy youth footballers.

Match High-Speed Running Distances Are Often Suppressed After Return From Hamstring Strain Injury in Professional Footballers.

Background: High-speed running is commonly implicated in the genesis of hamstring injury. The success of hamstring injury management is typically quantified by the duration of time loss or reinjury rate. These metrics do not consider any loss in performance after returning to play from hamstring injury.