Positive influence of long-lasting and intensive weight-bearing physical activity on hip structure of young adults.

The aim was to analyze the associations between high-intensity and long-lasting weight-bearing sports with hip structure in young adults. One hundred and seventy-two subjects aged 17-28 yr were divided into 4 groups: 40 athlete women (10.2 ± 2.

Hypoleptinaemia in extreme body mass models: the case of international rugby players.

Leptinaemia has been poorly studied in athlete populations with the consequences of athletic hypoleptinaemia yet to be examined. Our aim was to determine if systemic leptinaemia is influenced in high body mass athletes. We recruited 24 rugby players (21.

Manifestations of pseudoxanthoma elasticum in childhood.

Background: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) affects the skin, retina and cardiovascular system. Most cases are related to mutations in the ABCC6 gene. The diagnosis is most often made late in the second or third decade of life.

Laws' masks descriptors applied to bone texture analysis: an innovative and discriminant tool in osteoporosis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore Laws' masks analysis to describe structural variations of trabecular bone due to osteoporosis on high-resolution digital radiographs and to check its dependence on the spatial resolution. Laws' masks are well established as one of the best methods for texture analysis in image processing and are used in various applications, but not in bone tissue characterisation. This method is based on masks that aim to filter the images.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: a population-based cancer registry descriptive study of 66 consecutive cases diagnosed between 1982 and 2002.

Background: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare malignant tumour of the skin, with an estimated incidence of 0.8 to five cases per 1 million people per year.

Objective: To study epidemiological, immunohistochemical and clinical features, delay in diagnosis, type of treatment and outcome of DFSP from 1982 to 2002.

Anisotropy measurements obtained by fractal analysis of trabecular bone at the calcaneus and radius.

The resistance of bone tissue is influenced not only by bone density parameters but also by bone architecture parameters, such as the microarchitecture and anisotropy of trabecular bone. We have developed and validated a fractal analysis method for studying bone microarchitecture on roentgenograms. This technique provides reproducible measurements of the fractal dimension (D) of bone, which reflects bone texture.