Do physical tests have a prognostic value in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy?

Objectives: To determine whether baseline physical tests have a prognostic value on patient-reported outcomes in Achilles tendinopathy.

Design: Prospective cohort study, secondary analysis of data from a randomized trial.

Methods: Patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy performed a progressive calf muscle exercise program.

One fifth of patients with Achilles tendinopathy have symptoms after 10 years: A prospective cohort study.

Patients with midportion Achilles tendinopathy (AT) are thought to experience a gradual symptomatic improvement over time. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate if patients with midportion AT have symptoms at 10-year follow-up. Patients withmidportion AT were invited to complete an online questionnaire 10 years after inclusion in an intervention trial.

Do High-Volume Injections Affect the Ultrasonographic Neovascularization in Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy? A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Objective: High-volume injections (HVIs) are thought to target neovascularization in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy (AT), yet the mechanism has not been clarified. Therefore, we aim to evaluate whether a HVI decreases ultrasonographic Doppler flow in patients with chronic midportion AT.

Design: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) Questionnaire-Minimal Clinically Important Difference for Active People With Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To determine the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) score in patients with midportion Achilles tendinopathy (AT).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: We included physically active patients with midportion AT who received exercises and an injection.

Are pain coping strategies and neuropathic pain associated with a worse outcome after conservative treatment for Achilles tendinopathy? A prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To analyse whether (1) passive or active pain coping strategies and (2) presence of neuropathic pain component influences the change of Achilles tendinopathy (AT) symptoms over a course of 24 weeks in conservatively-treated patients.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Patients with clinically-diagnosed chronic midportion AT were conservatively treated.

Impact of chronic Achilles tendinopathy on health-related quality of life, work performance, healthcare utilisation and costs.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of Achilles tendinopathy (AT) on quality of life (QoL), work performance, healthcare utilisation and costs in adults with conservatively treated chronic midportion AT.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey-based study included 80 patients and took place in a sports medicine department of a large regional hospital in the Netherlands. Data were collected before any intervention was given.

Effectiveness of a high volume injection as treatment for chronic Achilles tendinopathy: randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To study whether a high volume injection without corticosteroids improves clinical outcome in addition to usual care for adults with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy.

Design: Patient and assessor blinded, placebo controlled randomised clinical trial.

Setting: Sports medicine department of a large district general hospital, the Netherlands.

Custom insoles versus sham and GP-led usual care in patients with plantar heel pain: results of the STAP-study - a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To compare custom-made insoles to sham insoles and general practice (GP)-led usual care in terms of pain at rest and during activity at 12 weeks follow-up in individuals with plantar heel pain.

Methods: In this randomised clinical trial 185 patients aged 18 to 65 years, with a clinical diagnosis of plantar heel pain for at least 2 weeks, but no longer than 2 years were recruited. Patients were randomly allocated into three groups: (1) GP-led treatment, plus an information booklet with exercises (usual care; n=46), (2) referral to a podiatrist for treatment with a custom-made insole plus an information booklet with exercises (custom-made insole; n=70) and (3) referral to a podiatrist and treatment with a sham insole plus an information booklet with exercises (sham insole; n=69).

Rare case of a traumatic myositis ossificans in the tibialis anterior muscle.

Athletes involved in contact sports can be diagnosed with traumatic myositis ossificans. Myositis ossificans is characterised by a benign ossifying lesion in soft tissue mass, most commonly preceded by a muscle contusion in the thigh. Despite the fact that it is often a self-limiting disease, treatment modalities are anti-inflammatory drugs, physiotherapy, shockwave therapy, radiation therapy or surgical resection.

Isometric exercises do not provide immediate pain relief in Achilles tendinopathy: A quasi-randomized clinical trial.

Background: Isometric exercises may provide an immediate analgesic effect in patients with lower-limb tendinopathy and have been proposed as initial treatment and for immediate pain relief. Current evidence is conflicting, and previous studies were small.

Objective: To study whether isometric exercises result in an immediate analgesic effect in patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy.

Early repolarisation among athletes.

Objectives: Traditionally, early repolarisation (ER) is considered a benign ECG variant, predominantly found in youths and athletes. However, a limited number of studies have reported an association between ER and the incidental occurrence of ventricular fibrillation or sudden cardiac death. Yet definite, direct comparisons of the incidence of ER in unselected, contemporary populations in athletes as compared with non-athletes and across different sports are lacking.

Ultrasound Doppler Flow in Patients With Chronic Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy: Is Surface Area Quantification a Reliable Method?

Objectives: Ultrasound assessments of patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy include determining the degree of neovascularization using Doppler flow. A frequently used measure to quantify neovascularization is the modified Öhberg score. It is unknown whether the semiquantitative modified Öhberg score (0-4+) has higher reliability than a quantified measure of Doppler flow (0-100%).

Assessment of cam morphology of the hip with ultra sound imaging by physical therapists is reliable and valid.

Background: Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome is considered present when a combination of clinical symptoms, signs and morphological features of the hip co-exist. Imaging is increasingly popular in primary health care settings with physical therapists performing ultrasound (US).

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy and inter-rater reliability of ultrasound in determining presence of cam morphology.

Blood perfusion of patellar bone measured by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in patients with patellofemoral pain: A case-control study.

Background: Altered perfusion might play an important role in the pathophysiology of patellofemoral pain (PFP), a common knee complaint with unclear pathophysiology.

Purpose: To investigate differences in dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI perfusion parameters between patients with PFP and healthy control subjects.

Population/subjects/phantom/specimen/animal Model: Thirty-five adult patients with PFP and 44 healthy adult control subjects.

Effects of erythropoietin on cycling performance of well trained cyclists: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Substances that potentially enhance performance (eg, recombinant human erythropoietin [rHuEPO]) are considered doping and are therefore forbidden in sports; however, the scientific evidence behind doping is frequently weak. We aimed to determine the effects of rHuEPO treatment in well trained cyclists on maximal, submaximal, and race performance and on safety, and to present a model clinical study for doping research on other substances.

Methods: We did this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at the Centre for Human Drug Research in Leiden (Netherlands).

Return to work of cancer patients after a multidisciplinary intervention including occupational counselling and physical exercise in cancer patients: a prospective study in the Netherlands.

Objectives: To support return to work (RTW) among cancer patients, a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme was developed which combined occupational counselling with a supervised physical exercise programme during chemotherapy. The aim was to investigate RTW rates of cancer patients and to evaluate changes in work-related quality of life and physical outcomes.

Design: Longitudinal prospective intervention study using a one-group design.

High-Efficiency Nanowire Solar Cells with Omnidirectionally Enhanced Absorption Due to Self-Aligned Indium-Tin-Oxide Mie Scatterers.

Photovoltaic cells based on arrays of semiconductor nanowires promise efficiencies comparable or even better than their planar counterparts with much less material. One reason for the high efficiencies is their large absorption cross section, but until recently the photocurrent has been limited to less than 70% of the theoretical maximum. Here we enhance the absorption in indium phosphide (InP) nanowire solar cells by employing broadband forward scattering of self-aligned nanoparticles on top of the transparent top contact layer.

Structural Abnormalities on Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Patellofemoral Pain: A Cross-sectional Case-Control Study.

Background: Structural abnormalities of the patellofemoral joint might play a role in the pathogenesis of patellofemoral pain (PFP), a common knee problem among young and physically active individuals. No previous study has investigated if PFP is associated with structural abnormalities of the patellofemoral joint using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Purpose: To investigate the presence of structural abnormalities of the patellofemoral joint on high-resolution MRI in patients with PFP compared with healthy control subjects.

No Difference on Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patellofemoral Cartilage Composition Between Patients With Patellofemoral Pain and Healthy Controls.

Background: Retropatellar cartilage damage has been suggested as an etiological factor for patellofemoral pain (PFP), a common knee condition among young and physically active individuals. To date, there is no conclusive evidence for an association between cartilage defects and PFP. Nowadays, advanced quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques enable estimation of cartilage composition.

Ultrafast non-local control of spontaneous emission.

The radiative interaction of solid-state emitters with cavity fields is the basis of semiconductor microcavity lasers and cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) systems. Its control in real time would open new avenues for the generation of non-classical light states, the control of entanglement and the modulation of lasers. However, unlike atomic CQED or circuit quantum electrodynamics, the real-time control of radiative processes has not yet been achieved in semiconductors because of the ultrafast timescales involved.

Migraineurs with exercise-triggered attacks have a distinct migraine.

Background: Sport as a migraine trigger has been reported, but extensive information on these triggered attacks and the patients experiencing these attacks is lacking. Goal of this study was to investigate the lifetime prevalence of exercise triggered migraine attacks in migraine patients and if patients with exercise triggered attacks experience specific prodromal or ictal migraine symptoms.

Methods: 103 consecutive migraine patients seen during their first visit at a Dutch headache clinic were administered an interview during their first visit to the outpatient headache clinic in which they were asked about their normal life migraine characteristics and if exercise had ever triggered a migraine attack within 48 hours after stopping exercise.

Surface plasmon lasing observed in metal hole arrays.

Surface plasmons in metal hole arrays have been studied extensively in the context of extraordinary optical transmission, but so far these arrays have not been studied as resonators for surface plasmon lasing at optical frequencies. We experimentally study a metal hole array with a semiconductor (InGaAs) gain layer placed in close (20 nm) proximity of the metal hole array. As a function of increasing pump power, we observe an intense and spectrally narrow peak, with a clear threshold.

Fast Purcell-enhanced single photon source in 1,550-nm telecom band from a resonant quantum dot-cavity coupling.

High-bit-rate nanocavity-based single photon sources in the 1,550-nm telecom band are challenges facing the development of fibre-based long-haul quantum communication networks. Here we report a very fast single photon source in the 1,550-nm telecom band, which is achieved by a large Purcell enhancement that results from the coupling of a single InAs quantum dot and an InP photonic crystal nanocavity. At a resonance, the spontaneous emission rate was enhanced by a factor of 5 resulting a record fast emission lifetime of 0.

Plasmonic distributed feedback lasers at telecommunications wavelengths.

We investigate electrically pumped, distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, based on gap-plasmon mode metallic waveguides. The waveguides have nano-scale widths below the diffraction limit and incorporate vertical groove Bragg gratings. These metallic Bragg gratings provide a broad bandwidth stop band (~500 nm) with grating coupling coefficients of over 5000/cm.