Histopathological evaluation of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee: time to reconsider history and nomenclature-a scoping review.

Spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) was first described by Ahlbäck et al. in 1968. However, subsequent studies revealed that subchondral fractures, rather than necrosis, are the most common histopathological finding in bone samples from patients diagnosed with SONK.

Autograft Choice and Jumping Performance After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Comparative Study on Professional Athletes.

Background: The extensor apparatus of the knee is of paramount importance in generating the torque needed for a countermovement jump (CMJ), especially in jumping athletes. In anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) procedures, graft harvesting from the extensor apparatus may dramatically affect extensor strength and jumping performance.

Hypothesis: The focused jump training of professional jumping athletes would increase the likelihood of restoring jumping performance after ACLR, despite the graft choice (autologous bone-patellar tendon-bone [BPTB] or hamstring [HS] tendon).

How to Improve Meniscal Repair through Biological Augmentation: A Narrative Review.

Since the role of the menisci in knee stability, proprioception, and homeostasis has been well established, significant efforts have been made to repair meniscal tears, resulting in excellent clinical outcomes and a reduction in the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, varying failure rates have been reported, raising questions regarding the healing potential in cases of complex injuries, poorly vascularized and degenerated areas, and generally in the presence of unfavorable biological characteristics. Therefore, over the last few decades, different strategies have been described to increase the chances of meniscal healing.

Knee osteonecrosis after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic case-based review.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients with COVID-19 manifested symptoms mainly related to the respiratory system, but also the musculoskeletal system can be involved. COVID-19 has been described as a possible cause of knee osteonecrosis (ON).

Osteonecrosis as a manifestation of Long-COVID Syndrome: a systematic review.

Purpose SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus responsible for COVID-19 pandemic. Some authors described the set of persistent symptoms COVID-related as "Long-COVID Syndrome." Several cases of post-COVID-19 osteonecrosis (ON) are described.

Rewiring the evolution of the human hand: How the embodiment of a virtual bionic tool improves behavior.

Humans are the most versatile tool users among animals. Accordingly, our manual skills evolved alongside the shape of the hand. In the future, further evolution may take place: humans may merge with their tools, and technology may integrate into our biology in a way that blurs the line between the two.

Assessment of cardiopulmonary capacity in deconditioned athletes because of knee injury.

Background: An athlete's career inevitably goes through periods of forced physical exercise interruption like a knee injury. Advanced echocardiographic methods and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) are essential in evaluating athletes in the period elapsing after the injury. However, the feasibility of a maximal pre-surgery CPET and the capacity of resting advanced echocardiographic techniques to predict cardiorespiratory capacity still need to be clarified.

Dynamic Stability, Symmetry, and Smoothness of Gait in People with Neurological Health Conditions.

Neurological disorders such as stroke, Parkinson's disease (PD), and severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) are leading global causes of disability and mortality. This study aimed to assess the ability to walk of patients with sTBI, stroke, and PD, identifying the differences in dynamic postural stability, symmetry, and smoothness during various dynamic motor tasks. Sixty people with neurological disorders and 20 healthy participants were recruited.

Restricted kinematic alignment is clinically non-inferior to mechanical alignment in the short and mid-term: A systematic review.

Background: In recent years, kinematic alignment (KA) is becoming a valid alternative to mechanical alignment (MA) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, to avoid early failures, the restricted kinematic alignment (rKA) approach has been developed to restore native knee kinematics without reproducing extreme knee phenotype. This systematic review aims to evaluate clinical and radiological outcomes between rKA and MA for TKA.

Adductor longus and brevis lesion in an amateur soccer player: platelet rich plasma and multifractioned hyaluronic acid injections to enhance clinical recovery.

Groin pain is a common issue in athletes, with a particularly high incidence in male soccer players. Adductor muscles are the most involved site of the groin, accounting for up to one-fourth of muscle injuries of that region. Physical therapy and rehabilitation programs for adductor-related groin pain using active exercises are effective in getting athletes back to sport.

What Else Can Be Done by the Spinal Cord? A Review on the Effectiveness of Transpinal Direct Current Stimulation (tsDCS) in Stroke Recovery.

Since the spinal cord has traditionally been considered a bundle of long fibers connecting the brain to all parts of the body, the study of its role has long been limited to peripheral sensory and motor control. However, in recent years, new studies have challenged this view pointing to the spinal cord's involvement not only in the acquisition and maintenance of new motor skills but also in the modulation of motor and cognitive functions dependent on cortical motor regions. Indeed, several reports to date, which have combined neurophysiological techniques with transpinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS), have shown that tsDCS is effective in promoting local and cortical neuroplasticity changes in animals and humans through the activation of ascending corticospinal pathways that modulate the sensorimotor cortical networks.

Meniscal extrusion: risk factors and diagnostic tools to predict early osteoarthritis.

Meniscal extrusion (ME) is strongly correlated with cartilage wear and osteoarthritis (OA), be-cause of the altered kinematic and the decreased contact area between the tibia and femur. The aim of this narrative review is to analyze the process of ME, focusing on the possible causes, and to evaluate the correlation between ME and knee OA, in order to provide early diagnosis and treatments. Studies written in English that analyzed the causes of ME, provided indications re-garding diagnosis and treatment, and evaluated the relation between ME and early OA were in-cluded.

Automated Prototype for Cocoon Sorting Attempts to Improve Silk Quality and Production Efficiency through Multi-Step Approach and Machine Learning Algorithms.

Cocoon sorting is one of the most labor-demanding activities required both at the end of the agricultural production and before the industrial reeling process to obtain an excellent silk quality. In view of the possible relaunch of European sericulture, the automatization of this production step is mandatory both to reduce silk costs and to standardize fiber quality. The described research starts from this criticality in silk production (the manual labor required to divide cocoons into different quality classes) to identify amelioration solutions.

Olive Fruit Selection through AI Algorithms and RGB Imaging.

(1) Background: Extra virgin olive oil production is strictly influenced by the quality of fruits. The optical selection allows for obtaining high quality oils starting from batches with different qualitative characteristics. This study aims to test a CNN algorithm in order to assess its potential for olive classification into several quality classes for industrial purposes, specifically its potential integration and sorting performance evaluation.

Superior EVOO Quality Production: An RGB Sorting Machine for Olive Classification.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a commercial product of high quality, thanks to its nutritional and organoleptic characteristics. The olives ripeness and the choice of harvest time according to their color and size, strongly influences the quality of the EVOO. The physical sorting of olives with machines performing rapid and objective optical selection, impossible by hand, can improve the quality of the final product.

Advantages in Using Colour Calibration for Orthophoto Reconstruction.

UAVs are sensor platforms increasingly used in precision agriculture, especially for crop and environmental monitoring using photogrammetry. In this work, light drone flights were performed on three consecutive days (with different weather conditions) on an experimental agricultural field to evaluate the photogrammetric performances due to colour calibration. Thirty random reconstructions from the three days and six different areas of the field were performed.

Outcomes, Complications, and Reoperations After Meniscal Allograft Transplantation.

Background: Outcomes following meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) are an evolving topic.

Purpose: To review clinical outcomes in younger, previously active patients who underwent an isolated MAT or MAT plus any osteotomy. Concurrent surgeries, complications, and graft survivorship are presented.

Physical Exercise and Mental Health: The Routes of a Reciprocal Relation.

Sport participation and exercise practice are considered to be beneficial for mental status, yielding an improved mood and better quality of life. On the other hand, good mental fitness is thought to lead to better physical status and sport performance. The key aim of this narrative review is to provide an unstructured overview on the topic with special considerations on the role of mental and physical health to summarize the evidence on their reciprocal influence.

An Open Source Low-Cost Device Coupled with an Adaptative Time-Lag Time-Series Linear Forecasting Modeling for Apple Trentino (Italy) Precision Irrigation.

Precision irrigation represents those strategies aiming to feed the plant needs following the soil's spatial and temporal characteristics. Such a differential irrigation requires a different approach and equipment with regard to conventional irrigation to reduce the environmental impact and the resources use while maximizing the production and thus profitability. This study described the development of an open source soil moisture LoRa (long-range) device and analysis of the data collected and updated directly in the field (i.

Adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction processed with different systems for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study on cell proliferation and clinical results.

In recent years, the interest in stromal vascular fraction (SVF) therapy for conservative treatment of osteoarthritis has grown significantly. This study aims to assess three different processing systems (micro-fragmentation, filtration, or slow centrifugation) in terms of cell proliferation in vitro and clinical results of intraarticular injections for the treatment of knee OA. From December 2017 to June 2018, 25 procedures were performed using three different systems.

Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in a Cohort of Division I NCAA Athletes From a Single Institution.

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are common in collegiate athletes. The rate of return to the preinjury level of sport activities after ACL reconstruction continues to evolve.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose was to determine the return-to-sport rate after ACL reconstruction in a cohort of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletes in different sports.

TKR after posttraumatic and primary knee osteoarthritis: a comparative study.

Background: A few literatures reported that the outcomes of total knee replacement (TKR) in posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) were lower compared to TKR in primary osteoarthritis (primary OA). The study's purpose was to compare the comorbidity and outcome of TKR among fracture PTOA, ligamentous PTOA, and primary OA. The secondary aim was to identify the effect of postoperatively lower limb mechanical axis on an 8-year survivorship after TKR between PTOA and primary OA.

Predictors for readmission following primary total hip and total knee arthroplasty.

Background: Readmission following total joint arthroplasty has become a closely watched metric for many hospitals in the United States due to financial penalties imposed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The purpose of this study was to identify both preoperative and postoperative reasons for readmission within 30 days following primary total hip and total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: Retrospective data were collected for patients who underwent elective primary total hip arthroplasty (THA; CPT code 27130) and TKA (27447) from 2008 to 2013 at our institution.

The Effects of Physical Exercise on Balance and Prevention of Falls in Older People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to evaluate the effects of physical exercise on static and dynamic balance in the elderly population, and to analyze the number of falls and fallers. A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed-Medline, Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar to select randomized clinical trials that analyzed the role of exercise on balance and fall rate in patients aged 65 or older. Sixteen articles were included in this review.