Impact of Reach Height on Estimated Rotator Cuff Compression Risk in Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury.

Reaching is a common daily activity requiring a range of humeral elevation that contributes to rotator cuff compression. The purpose of this study was to estimate supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendon compression risk relative to the acromion and coracoacromial ligament during reaching by manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate 8 participants (7 males, median [range] age 36 y [23-61]).

Functional outcomes and participants' perspectives during short-term application of spinal stimulation in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to quantify changes in performance of task-specific motor activities over 12 motor rehabilitation sessions with lumbosacral spinal cord stimulation (SCS) via either transcutaneous stimulation or epidural stimulation. Both stimulation modalities have been used in recent years to restore functions lost to spinal cord injury (SCI). Secondary outcomes examine participants' perspectives captured via the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) upon study completion to further understand their perception of SCS.

Discovering the nucleus in a world of biomaterials.

The nucleus serves as the central hub for cellular activity, driving cell identity and behavior. Despite its crucial role, understanding how biomaterials influence the nucleus remains an underexplored area of research. In our opinion, this is an overlooked opportunity, particularly in regenerative medicine - a field where cellular control is not just beneficial, but essential.

Non-invasive spinal cord electrical stimulation for arm and hand function in chronic tetraplegia: a safety and efficacy trial.

Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to permanent impairment of arm and hand functions. Here we conducted a prospective, single-arm, multicenter, open-label, non-significant risk trial that evaluated the safety and efficacy of ARC Therapy to improve arm and hand functions in people with chronic SCI. ARC Therapy involves the delivery of externally applied electrical stimulation over the cervical spinal cord during structured rehabilitation.

Extracellular vesicles are key players in mesenchymal stem cells' dual potential to regenerate and modulate the immune system.

MSCs are used for treatment of inflammatory conditions or for regenerative purposes. MSCs are complete cells and allogenic transplantation is in principle possible, but mostly autologous use is preferred. In recent years, it was discovered that cells secrete extracellular vesicles.

Bilateral lunotriquetral coalition: a dynamic four-dimensional computed tomography technical case report.

Lunotriquetral coalitions are the most common form of carpal coalition wherein the cartilage between the lunate and triquetrum ossification centers failed to undergo apoptosis. This technical case report examines the arthrokinematics of bilateral lunotriquetral coalitions with dissimilar Minnaar types in one participant with one asymptomatic wrist and one wrist with suspected distal radioulnar joint injury. Static and dynamic (four-dimensional) CT images during pronosupination were captured using a photon-counting detector CT scanner.

Feasibility of challenging treadmill speed-dependent gait and perturbation-induced balance training in chronic stroke patients with low ambulation ability: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Treadmill training shows advantages in the specificity, amount, and intensity of gait and balance practice for the rehabilitation of stroke patients.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of challenging treadmill speed-dependent gait and perturbation-induced balance training in chronic stroke patients with low ambulation ability.

Methods: For this randomized controlled trial (Chinese Clinical Trials.

At-Home High-Intensity Interval Training for Individuals with Paraplegia Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Study.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to assess the efficacy of a 16-week at-home high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Eight individuals (age: 47±11 (SD) years, 3 females) with SCI below the sixth thoracic vertebrae participated in a 16-week at-home HIIT program using an arm ergometer. Participants completed baseline graded exercise tests to determine target heart rate zones.

Cardiovascular Complications of Coronavirus Disease-2019.

Cardiovascular complications associated with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection are common and lead to high mortality in the acute phase and high morbidity in the chronic phase impacting an individual's quality of life and health outcomes. Patients afflicted with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection display an increased risk for myocarditis, dysrhythmia, pericarditis, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and thromboembolism. Although cardiovascular complications are reported across all patients with COVID-19, hospitalized patients with severe infection are most vulnerable.

Modulated effectiveness of rehabilitation motivation by reward strategies combined with tDCS in stroke: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Stroke survivors often exhibit low motivation for rehabilitation, hindering their ability to effectively complete rehabilitation training task effectively and participate in daily activities actively. Reward strategies have been identified as an effective method for boosting rehabilitation motivation, but their long-term efficacy remains uncertain. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been recognized as a technique that facilitates plastic changes and functional reorganization of cortical areas.

Cellular uptake of modified mRNA occurs via caveolae-mediated endocytosis, yielding high protein expression in slow-dividing cells.

Nucleic acids have clear clinical potential for gene therapy. Plasmid DNA (pDNA) was the first nucleic acid to be pursued as a therapeutic molecule. Recently, mRNA came into play as it offers improved safety and affordability.

Assessing carpal kinematics following scapholunate interosseous ligament injury ex vivo using four-dimensional dynamic computed tomography.

Background: Scapholunate interosseous ligament injuries are prevalent and often challenging to diagnose radiographically. Four-dimensional CT allows visualization of carpal bones during motion. We present a cadaveric model of sequential ligamentous sectionings ("injuries") to quantify their effects on interosseous proximities at the radioscaphoid joint and scapholunate interval.

MiRNAs as Potential Regulators of Enthesis Healing: Findings in a Rodent Injury Model.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA sequences with the ability to inhibit the expression of a target mRNA at the post-transcriptional level, acting as modulators of both the degenerative and regenerative processes. Therefore, these molecules constitute a potential source of novel therapeutic tools. In this study, we investigated the miRNA expression profile that presented in enthesis tissue upon injury.

Influence of the constraint-induced method of constraint-induced movement therapy on improving lower limb outcomes after stroke: A meta-analysis review.

Background: Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) targeting the lower limb function uses various methods. The influence of CIMT methods on lower limb outcomes after stroke has rarely been examined.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine CIMT effects on lower limb outcomes and explore the influence of CIMT methods on treatment effects after stroke, with other potential factors considered as covariates.

Cortical activation and functional connectivity during locomotion tasks in Parkinson's disease with freezing of gait.

Background: Freezing of gait (FoG) is a severely disabling symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). The cortical mechanisms underlying FoG during locomotion tasks have rarely been investigated.

Objectives: We aimed to compare the cerebral haemodynamic response during FoG-prone locomotion tasks in patients with PD and FoG (PD-FoG), patients with PD but without FoG (PD-nFoG), and healthy controls (HCs).

Segmental defect healing in the presence or absence of recombinant human BMP2: Novel insights from a rat model.

This study defined and compared the course of native, impaired and growth factor-stimulated bone regeneration in a rat femoral defect model. A mid-diaphyseal defect with rigid internal fixation was surgically created in the right femur of male Fischer rats and serially analyzed over 36 weeks. Native bone regeneration was modeled using a sub-critical, 1 mm size defect, which healed uneventfully.

A quadruple dissociation of reward-related behaviour in mice across excitatory inputs to the nucleus accumbens shell.

The nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is critically important for reward valuations, yet it remains unclear how valuation information is integrated in this region to drive behaviour during reinforcement learning. Using an optogenetic spatial self-stimulation task in mice, here we show that contingent activation of different excitatory inputs to the NAcSh change expression of different reward-related behaviours. Our data indicate that medial prefrontal inputs support place preference via repeated actions, ventral hippocampal inputs consistently promote place preferences, basolateral amygdala inputs produce modest place preferences but as a byproduct of increased sensitivity to time investments, and paraventricular inputs reduce place preferences yet do not produce full avoidance behaviour.

Viral Gene Delivery in Chondrocytes.

Viral gene transfer, known as transduction, is a powerful research tool for studying the biology of chondrocytes in novel ways and also a technology enabling the use of gene therapy for regenerating cartilage and treating diseases that affect cartilage, such as osteoarthritis. Adenovirus, retrovirus, lentivirus, and adeno-associated virus (AAV) are most commonly used to transduce chondrocytes. Although AAV is able to transduce chondrocytes in situ by intra-articular injection, chondrocytes are most commonly transduced in monolayer culture using the four vectors mentioned above.

Purified exosome product enhances chondrocyte survival and regeneration by modulating inflammation and promoting chondrogenesis.

This study was to detect the effects of purified exosome product (PEP) on C28/I2 cells and chondrocytes derived from osteoarthritis patients. Cell viability and apoptosis assays were used to detect the effect of PEP on cells. qRT-PCR and cell fluorescence assays were used to investigate the potential mechanism of PEP on cell chondrogenesis.

IL-1Ra gene transfer potentiates BMP2-mediated bone healing by redirecting osteogenesis toward endochondral ossification.

An estimated 100,000 patients each year in the United States suffer severe disability from bone defects that fail to heal, a condition where bone-regenerative therapies could provide substantial clinical benefits. Although recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP2) is an osteogenic growth factor that is clinically approved for this purpose, it is only effective when used at exceedingly high doses that incur substantial costs, induce severe inflammation, produce adverse side effects, and form morphologically abnormal bone. Using a validated rat femoral segmental defect model, we show that bone formed in response to clinically relevant doses of rhBMP2 is accompanied by elevated expression of interleukin-1 (IL-1).