Cognition in elite soccer players: a general model.

This paper presents a general model of the cognitive processes involved in each play situation of soccer at the elite level. Theoretically the model draws on general frameworks from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, in particular the affordance competition hypothesis and the reward prediction error theory. The model includes three functional stages: situational assessment, action selection and execution, and outcome assessment.

Costs of shoulder disorders in Denmark: a nationwide cost-of-illness study investigating 617,334 patients and matched controls.

Shoulder disorders are very common musculoskeletal conditions. Few studies have focused on the costs associated with shoulder disorders, and the economic burden has never been established in a nationwide cost-of-illness study. We aimed to evaluate the healthcare costs and costs of productivity loss (sick leave) and to evaluate if costs were higher for specific subgroups.

Responsiveness and minimal important change of the Oxford Shoulder Score, EQ-5D, and the Fear-Avoidance Belief Questionnaire Physical Activity subscale in patients undergoing arthroscopic subacromial decompression.

Introduction: Adequate responsiveness and knowledge of the minimal important change (MIC) is essential when using patient-reported outcome measures to assess treatment efficacy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the responsiveness and MIC of common outcomes in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome undergoing arthroscopic subacromial decompression.

Methods: At baseline and 6 months after surgery, patients completed the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), EQ-5D 5-level utility index, EQ visual analogue scale, Fear-Avoidance Belief Questionnaire Physical Activity subscale (FABQ-PA), assessed pain (pain visual analogue scale), and Subjective Shoulder Value.

18F FDG-PET/CT has poor diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing shoulder PJI.

Purpose: Chronic low-grade periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) of a shoulder replacement can be challenging to diagnose. 18F-FDG PET/CT is suggested as a modality to diagnose lower-limb PJI, but no studies on shoulder replacements exist. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosing chronic PJI of the shoulder.

Labeled white blood cell/bone marrow single-photon emission computed tomography with computed tomography fails in diagnosing chronic periprosthetic shoulder joint infection.

Background: Shoulder periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) caused by low-virulent bacteria pose a diagnostic challenge. Combined labeled leukocyte (WBC) and technetium 99m sulfur colloid bone marrow imaging (WBC/BM) is considered the radionuclide imaging gold standard for diagnosing lower limb PJI. However, it is laborious and expensive to perform, and documentation on shoulder arthroplasties is lacking.

Good outcome after elbow hemiarthroplasty in active patients with an acute intra-articular distal humeral fracture.

Background: This study reported the clinical outcomes and complications after elbow hemiarthroplasty (EHA) for acute distal humeral fractures Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO)/Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) type C2 and C3.

Method: During a 6-year period, 24 active patients with acute intra-articular and multifragmentary distal humeral fractures were treated with an EHA by 1 of 4 experienced elbow surgeons. Mean age was 65 years (range, 47-80 years).

Low inter-observer agreement among experienced shoulder surgeons assessing overstuffing of glenohumeral resurfacing hemiarthroplasty based on plain radiographs.

Background: In a clinical setting, a visual evaluation of post-implant radiographs is often used to assess the restoration of glenohumeral joint anatomy after resurfacing hemiarthroplasty and is a part of the decision-making process, in combination with other parameters, when evaluating patients with inferior clinical results. However, the reliability of this method of visual evaluation has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the inter- and intra-observer agreement among experienced shoulder surgeons assessing overstuffing, implant positioning, and size following resurfacing hemiarthroplasty using plain standardized radiographs.

Airborne exposures associated with the typical use of an aerosol brake cleaner during vehicle repair work.

Many petroleum-based products are used for degreasing and cleaning purposes during vehicle maintenance and repairs. Although prior studies have evaluated chemical exposures associated with this type of work, most of these have focused on gasoline and exhaust emissions, with few samples collected solely during the use of an aerosol cleaning product. In this case study, we assess the type of airborne exposures that would be expected from the typical use of an aerosol brake cleaner during vehicle repair work.

Using Polarized Spectroscopy to Investigate Order in Thin-Films of Ionic Self-Assembled Materials Based on Azo-Dyes.

Three series of ionic self-assembled materials based on anionic azo-dyes and cationic benzalkonium surfactants were synthesized and thin films were prepared by spin-casting. These thin films appear isotropic when investigated with polarized optical microscopy, although they are highly anisotropic. Here, three series of homologous materials were studied to rationalize this observation.

Long-term clinical results in patients treated for recurrent posterolateral elbow joint instability using an ipsilateral triceps tendon graft.

Background: The aim was to report the long-term functional and radiologic outcomes in patients treated for recurrent posterolateral elbow joint instability using an ipsilateral triceps tendon graft.

Methods: We included 18 patients previously treated for posterolateral elbow joint instability and evaluated for clinical results in 2003. Fifteen patients were examined with a mean follow-up period of 19 years (range, 17-22 years).

Safety assessment for ethanol-based topical antiseptic use by health care workers: Evaluation of developmental toxicity potential.

Ethanol-based topical antiseptic hand rubs, commonly referred to as alcohol-based hand sanitizers (ABHS), are routinely used as the standard of care to reduce the presence of viable bacteria on the skin and are an important element of infection control procedures in the healthcare industry. There are no reported indications of safety concerns associated with the use of these products in the workplace. However, the prevalence of such alcohol-based products in healthcare facilities and safety questions raised by the U.

Long-term Coexposure to Hexavalent Chromium and B[a]P Causes Tissue-Specific Differential Biological Effects in Liver and Gastrointestinal Tract of Mice.

Complex mixtures of environmental agents often cause mixture-specific health effects that cannot be accounted for by a single mechanism. To study the biological effects of exposure to a mixture of chromium-VI and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), often found together in the environment, we exposed mice for 60 days to 0, 55, 550, or 5500 ppb Cr(VI) in drinking water followed by 90 days of coexposure to B[a]P at 0, 1.25, 12.

Formaldehyde-Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements (FAIRE) analysis uncovers broad changes in chromatin structure resulting from hexavalent chromium exposure.

The ability of chromatin to switch back and forth from open euchromatin to closed heterochromatin is vital for transcriptional regulation and genomic stability, but its dynamic structure is subject to disruption by exposure to environmental agents such as hexavalent chromium. Cr(VI) exposure disrupts chromatin remodeling mechanisms and causes chromosomal damage through formation of free radicals, Cr-DNA adducts, and DNA-Cr-protein cross-links. In addition, acute, high-concentration, and chronic, low-concentration exposures to Cr(VI) lead to significantly different transcriptional and genomic stability outcomes.

The Ah receptor recruits IKKα to its target binding motifs to phosphorylate serine-10 in histone H3 required for transcriptional activation.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) activation by xenobiotic ligands such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is key to their toxicity. Following activation and nuclear translocation, AHR heterodimerizes with the AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT) and binds to AHR response elements (AhREs) in the enhancer of target genes, of which Cyp1a1 is the prototype. Previously, we showed that concomitant with AHR binding, histone H3 in the Cyp1a1 enhancer-promoter AhRE cluster became phosphorylated in serine-10 (H3S10), suggesting that the ligand-activated AHR recruited one or more kinases to the enhancer chromatin to phosphorylate this residue.

Long-term exposure to low-concentrations of Cr(VI) induce DNA damage and disrupt the transcriptional response to benzo[a]pyrene.

Living organisms are exposed on a daily basis to widespread mixtures of toxic compounds. Mixtures pose a major problem in the assessment of health effects because they often generate substance-specific effects that cannot be attributed to a single mechanism. Two compounds often found together in the environment are the heavy metal chromium and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P).

Long-term exposure to hexavalent chromium inhibits expression of tumor suppressor genes in cultured cells and in mice.

We have used mouse hepatoma cells in culture to study acute, short-term high-dose effects of hexavalent chromium on gene regulation directed by the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). We find that the mixture engages three major signaling pathways: (i) activation of detoxification genes; (ii) induction of signal transduction effectors; and (iii) epigenetic modification of chromatin marks. Preliminary results in mice exposed to mixtures of low doses of Cr(VI) plus BaP indicate that all three pathways are likely to be engaged also in long-term effects resulting from exposure to environmentally relevant doses of the mixture that inhibit the expression of tumor suppressor genes.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands of widely different toxic equivalency factors induce similar histone marks in target gene chromatin.

Posttranslational histone modifications are a critical regulatory mechanism of gene transcription. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that contingent on binding to its cognate promoter motifs in the Cyp1a1 gene, activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) by benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) treatment induces histone modifications in the Cyp1a1 promoter that are required for activation of gene transcription. Here, we have studied different AHR ligands, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) of different toxic equivalency factors (TEF), to determine whether changes in histone modifications are linked to different levels of Cyp1a1 expression or dependent on AHR-ligand affinity.

The clinical outcomes of mosaicplasty in the treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the distal humeral capitellum of young athletes.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of mosaicplasty in the treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the distal humeral capitellum.

Materials And Methods: Between 2003 and 2007, 10 patients (6 female and 4 male patients), with a mean age at surgery of 18 years (range, 13 to 27 years), with advanced lesions of capitellar osteochondritis dissecans underwent mosaicplasties. The surgical technique involves transplanting small-sized cylindrical osteochondral grafts from the lateral periphery of the femoral condyle at the level of the patellofemoral joint to the defect of the capitellum.

Distinct contributions of JNK and p38 to chromium cytotoxicity and inhibition of murine embryonic stem cell differentiation.

Background: Potassium dichromate [Cr(VI)] is a widespread environmental toxicant responsible for increased risk of several human diseases. Cr(VI) exposure leads to activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2, p38, and extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK)1/2.

Objectives: We evaluated the contribution of MAPKs to Cr(VI) toxicity.

Differences in zinc status between patients with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

Zinc has been suggested to play an important role in the development of osteoporosis, whereas the influence of zinc on osteoarthritis has attracted much less attention. The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the zinc status and bone turnover, density, and biomechanical properties of osteoarthritic and osteoporotic patients. The study comprised 40 women who underwent hip replacement due to osteoarthritis or osteoporosis.

The checkpoint kinases Chk1 and Chk2 regulate the functional associations between hBRCA2 and Rad51 in response to DNA damage.

The cellular response to the introduction of double strand DNA breaks involves complexes of protein interactions that govern cell cycle checkpoint arrest and repair of the DNA lesions. The checkpoint kinases Chk1 and Chk2 phosphorylate the carboxy-terminal domain of hBRCA2, a protein involved in recombination-mediated DNA repair (HRR) and replication fork maintenance. Cells deficient in hBRCA2 are hypersensitive to DNA damaging agents.

Effect of dexamethasone on skeletal muscle Na+,K+ pump subunit specific expression and K+ homeostasis during exercise in humans.

The effect of dexamethasone on Na(+),K(+) pump subunit expression and muscle exchange of K(+) during exercise in humans was investigated. Nine healthy male subjects completed a randomized double blind placebo controlled protocol, with ingestion of dexamethasone (Dex: 2 x 2 mg per day) or placebo (Pla) for 5 days. Na(+),K(+) pump catalytic alpha1 and alpha2 subunit expression was approximately 17% higher (P < 0.