Genome-Wide Network Analysis of DRG-Sciatic Nerve Network-Inferred Cellular Senescence and Senescence Phenotype in Peripheral Sensory Neurons.

Accumulation of senescent neurons in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is an important tissue phenotype that causes age-related degeneration of peripheral sensory nerves. Senescent neurons are neurons with arrested cell cycle that have undergone cellular senescence but remain in the tissue and play various biological roles. To understand the accumulation of senescent neurons in the DRG during aging, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism that induces cellular senescence in DRG neurons and the role of senescent DRG neurons.

Lower limb biomechanics and control of center of mass during turning phases in daily gait.

This study aims to elucidate the biomechanical characteristics of turning in daily life by analyzing the three-step process of approach, turn, and departure phases. The research involved ten healthy young individuals performing straight walking and 90° turns, categorized into Side-Step (SS) and Cross-Step (CS) turns. Using a 17-camera motion capture system and force plates, the study measured joint angles, moments, and center of mass (COM) variations.

Estimating three-dimensional foot bone kinematics from skin markers using a deep learning neural network model.

The human foot is a complex structure comprising 26 bones, whose coordinated movements facilitate proper deformation of the foot, ensuring stable and efficient locomotion. Despite their critical role, the kinematics of foot bones during movement remain largely unexplored, primarily due to the absence of non-invasive methods for measuring foot bone kinematics. This study addresses this gap by proposing a neural network model for estimating foot bone movements using surface markers.

Effect of Residual Pain After Posterior Fusion Surgery for Lumbar Degenerative Disorders on Health-Related Quality of Life: A Two-Year Follow-Up Using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.

Study Design: This is a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of residual pain after fusion surgery for lumbar degenerative diseases on quality of life (QOL).

Overview Of Literature: Residual symptoms after spinal surgery often restrict patients' activities of daily living and reduce their QOL.

Speed-dependent modulations of muscle modules in the gait of people with radiographical and asymptomatic knee osteoarthritis and elderly controls: Case-control pilot study.

This study investigates the muscle modules involved in the increase of walking speed in radiographical and asymptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients using tensor decomposition. The human body possesses redundancy, which is the property to achieve desired movements with more degrees of freedom than necessary. The muscle module hypothesis is a proposed solution to this redundancy.

Effect of repeated sciatic nerve crush on the conditioning lesion response: Generating an experimental animal model to prolong the denervation period while maintaining peripheral nerve continuity.

Peripheral nerves exhibit long-term residual motor dysfunction following injury. The length of the denervation period before nerve and muscle reconnection is an important factor in motor function recovery. We aimed to investigate whether repeated nerve crush injuries to the same site every 7 days would preserve the conditioning lesion (CL) response and to determine the number of nerve crush injuries required to create an experimental animal model that would prolong the denervation period while maintaining peripheral nerve continuity.

Feature analysis of joint motion in paralyzed and non-paralyzed upper limbs while reaching the occiput: A cross-sectional study in patients with mild hemiplegia.

The reaching motion to the back of the head with the hand is an important movement for daily living. The scores of upper limb function tests used in clinical practice alone are difficult to use as a reference when planning exercises for movement improvements. This cross-sectional study aimed to clarify in patients with mild hemiplegia the kinematic characteristics of paralyzed and non-paralyzed upper limbs reaching the occiput.

Changes in caregiving risk and motor function among older adults participating in community gatherings in Koshigaya city.

[Purpose] This study investigated the changes in caregiving risk and motor function among older adults participating in community gatherings ("Kayoinoba") in Koshigaya. [Participants and Methods] A total of 257 older participants who engaged in the Kayoinoba program for 6 months from its inception were included in the analysis. Caregiving risk and motor function were assessed twice-once at the beginning of the Kayoinoba (first assessment) and again 6 months later (second assessment).

The infrapatellar fat pad contributes to spontaneous healing after complete anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries have a very low healing capacity but have recently been shown to heal spontaneously with conservative treatment. This study examined the mechanism of spontaneous ACL healing by focusing on the intra-articular tissues of the knee joint. Skeletally mature Wistar rats ( = 70) were randomly assigned to two groups: the controlled abnormal movement (CAM) and anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) groups.

The effect of orthosis management on joint instability in knee joint disease: A systematic review.

Introduction: Joint instability is a common finding of clinical importance in patients with knee disease. This literature review aimed to examine the evidence regarding the effect of orthosis management on joint instability in knee joint disease.

Methods: The detailed protocol for this study was published in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews in the field of health and social welfare (CRD 42022335360).

Sex differences in the kinematics and kinetics of the foot and plantar aponeurosis during drop-jump.

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in runners and jumpers, with a higher incidence in females. However, mechanisms underlying sex-associated differences in its incidence remain unclear. This study investigated the possible differences in landing and jumping kinematics and kinetics of the foot between sexes during drop-jump activities.

Mild treadmill exercise inhibits cartilage degeneration via macrophages in an osteoarthritis mouse model.

Objective: We previously reported how treadmill exercise can suppress cartilage degeneration. Here, we examined the changes in macrophage dynamics in knee osteoarthritis (OA) during treadmill exercise and the effect of macrophage depletion.

Design: OA mouse model, generated via anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT), was subjected to treadmill exercise of different intensities to investigate the effects on cartilage and synovium.

Muscle co-activation in the elderly contributes to control of hip and knee joint torque and endpoint force.

We investigated the coordinated activity patterns of muscles based on cosine tuning in the elderly during an isometric force exertion task. We also clarified whether these coordinated activity patterns contribute to the control of hip and knee joint torque and endpoint force as co-activation. Preferred direction (PD) of activity for each muscle in 10 young and 8 older males was calculated from the lower limb muscle activity during isometric force exertion task in various directions.

Clinical utility of markerless motion capture for kinematic evaluation of sit-to-stand during 30 s-CST at one year post total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective study.

Background: Although the importance of kinematic evaluation of the sit-to-stand (STS) test of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients is clear, there have been no reports analyzing STS during the 30-s chair sit-up test (30 s-CST) with a focus on kinematic characteristics. This study aimed to demonstrate the clinical utility of kinematic analysis of STS during the 30 s-CST by classifying STS into subgroups based on kinematic parameters, and to determine whether differences in movement strategies are expressed as differences in clinical outcomes.

Methods: The subjects were all patients who underwent unilateral TKA due to osteoarthritis of the knee and were followed up for one year postoperatively.

The Effects of Downhill Running and Maturation on Histological and Morphological Properties of Tendon and Enthesis in Mice.

To date, it remains unclear how overuse affects the tendons and entheses at different stages of maturation. Therefore, we evaluated histological and morphological changes in the tendons and entheses in adolescent (4-week-old) and adult mice (8-week-old) by performing flat-land and downhill running exercises. The mice were divided into the Sedentary, High Flat (flat-land high-speed running; concentric-contraction exercise), Low Down (downhill low-speed running; eccentric-contraction exercise), and High Down (downhill high-speed running; eccentric-contraction exercise) groups.

Exploring the modification factors of exercise therapy on biomechanical load in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to clarify the effect of exercise therapy on the first peak knee adduction moment (KAM), as well as other biomechanical loads in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and identify physical characteristics that influence differences in biomechanical load after exercise therapy. The data sources are PubMed, PEDro, and CINAHL, from study inception to May 2021. The eligibility criteria include studies evaluating the first peak (KAM), peak knee flexion moment (KFM), maximal knee joint compression force (KCF), or co-contraction during walking before and after exercise therapy in patients with knee OA.

The investigation of an analysis method for co-activation of knee osteoarthritis utilizing normalization of peak dynamic method.

Background: Assessing co-activation characteristics in knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) using method of quantification of the activity ratio (such as the co-contraction index (CCI) or the directed co-activation ratios (DCAR)) for surface electromyography (EMG) has been reported. However, no studies have discussed the differences in results between non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF) and the DCAR.

Research Question: Does DCAR or NNMF reflect the characteristic co-activation pattern of knee OA while using EMG normalized by the peak dynamic method?

Methods: Ten elderly control participants (EC) and ten knee OA patients (KOA) volunteered to participate in this study.

Ankle instability as a prognostic factor associated with the recurrence of ankle sprain: A systematic review.

Design: Systematic review using PRISMA guidelines.

Purpose: To explore Relationship between ankle instability and ankle sprain recurrence in preventing recurrence of ankle sprains and to provide appropriate treatment.

Methods: MEDLINE (the Cochrane Library) and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) were explored using key words related to ankle instability and ankle sprains in for April 2022.

Compensatory relationship of mechanical energy in paretic limb during sit-to-stand motion of stroke survivors.

The sit-to-stand motion is a prerequisite for walking and is therefore frequently performed in daily life. Diseases such as stroke often make performing it challenging. Even the stroke survivors who can stand up, the number of sit-to-stand motions they perform each day is lower than that of healthy adults.

Eccentric contraction-dominant exercise leads to molecular biological changes in enthesis and enthesopathy-like morphological changes.

Entheses, which are tendon-to-bone attachment sites in the musculoskeletal system, play important roles in optimizing the mechanical stress and force transmitted from the muscle to the bone. Sports-related enthesopathy shows pathological features, including hyperplasia of the fibrocartilage (FC) region in the enthesis. The amount of exercise and type of muscle contraction during movement is involved in the pathogenesis of sports-related enthesopathy; however, the details of this condition are unclear.

EEG Oscillations in Specific Frequency Bands Are Differently Coupled with Angular Joint Angle Kinematics during Rhythmic Passive Elbow Movement.

Rhythmic passive movements are often used during rehabilitation to improve physical functions. Previous studies have explored oscillatory activities in the sensorimotor cortex during active movements; however, the relationship between movement rhythms and oscillatory activities during passive movements has not been substantially tested. Therefore, we aimed to quantitatively identify changes in cortical oscillations during rhythmic passive movements.

Effects of exercise on muscle reinnervation and plasticity of spinal circuits in rat sciatic nerve crush injury models with different numbers of crushes.

Introduction/aims: Motor function recovery is frequently poor after peripheral nerve injury. The effect of different numbers of nerve crushes and exercise on motor function recovery is unknown. We aimed to examine how different numbers of crushes of the rat sciatic nerve affects muscle reinnervation and plasticity of spinal circuits and the effect of exercise intervention.

Effect of Suppression of Rotational Joint Instability on Cartilage and Meniscus Degeneration in Mouse Osteoarthritis Model.

Objective: Joint instability and meniscal dysfunction contribute to the onset and progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). In the destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) model, secondary OA occurs due to the rotational instability and increases compressive stress resulting from the meniscal dysfunction. We created a new controlled abnormal tibial rotation (CATR) model that reduces the rotational instability that occurs in the DMM model.