This study aimed to identify the stiffness and natural length of the human plantar aponeurosis (PA) during quiet standing using ultrasound shear wave elastography. The shear wave velocity (SWV) of the PA in young healthy males and females (10 participants each) was measured by placing a probe in a hole in the floor plate. The change in the SWV with the passive dorsiflexion of the metatarsophalangeal (MP) joint was measured. The Young's modulus of the PA was estimated to be 64.7 ± 9.4 kPa, which exponentially increased with MP joint dorsiflexion. The PA was estimated to have the natural length when the MP joint was plantarflexed by 13.8°, indicating that the PA is stretched by arch compression during standing. However, the present study demonstrated that the estimated stiffness for the natural length in quiet standing was significantly larger than that in the unloaded condition, revealing that the PA during standing is stiffened by elongation and through the possible activation of intrinsic muscles. Such quantitative information possibly contributes to the detailed biomechanical modeling of the human foot, facilitating an improved understanding of the mechanical functions and pathogenetic mechanisms of the PA during movements.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20211-w | DOI Listing |
Cancer Med
February 2025
Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have improved the therapeutic arsenal in outpatient oncology care; however, data on necessity of hospitalizations associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are scarce. Here, we characterized hospitalizations of patients undergoing ICI, from the prospective cohort study of the immune cooperative oncology group (ICOG) Hannover.
Methods: Between 12/2019 and 06/2022, 237 patients were included.
J Orthop Surg Res
January 2025
Department of Orthopedics, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, 1 Jiaozhou Road, Shinan District, QingDao, Shandong Province, 266399, China.
Background: Spacer-type tibial osteotomy have been proven a novel and effective osteotomy to treat osteoarthritis, while lack of comparison with other surgical methods in younger patients. This study aims to evaluate the short-term clinical outcomes of spacer-type tibial osteotomy versus open wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) for Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade 3-4 osteoarthritis (OA) in patients younger than 65 years.
Methods: This retrospective study analyzed a total of 224 patients with K-L grade 3-4 knee OA treated from March 2018 to November 2020.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Westlake University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
The self-assembly of small molecules through non-covalent interactions is an emerging and promising strategy for building dynamic, stable, and large-scale structures. One remaining challenge is making the non-covalent interactions occur in the ideal positions to generate strength comparable to that of covalent bonds. This work shows that small molecule YAWF can self-assemble into a liquid-crystal hydrogel (LCH), the mechanical properties of which could be controlled by water.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcohealth
January 2025
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan.
Anthropogenic disturbances degrade ecosystems, elevating the risk of emerging infectious diseases from wildlife. However, the key environmental factors for preventing tick-borne disease infection in relation to host species, landscape components, and climate conditions remain unknown. This study focuses on identifying crucial environmental factors contributing to the outbreak of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a tick-borne disease, in Miyazaki Prefecture, southern Japan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvolution
January 2025
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
Seed size is a trait which determines survival rates for individual plants and can vary as a result of numerous trade-offs. In the palm family (Arecaceae) today, there is great variation in seed sizes. Past studies attempting to establish drivers for palm seed evolution have sometimes yielded contradictory findings in part because modern seed size variations are complicated by long-term legacies, including biogeographic differences across lineages.
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