Osteopetrosis in a Patient of Systemic Sclerosis Sine Scleroderma: A Rare Association

Systemic sclerosis is a connective tissue disorder of unknown etiology. Although it is a multisystemic disorder, skin thickening is considered as a hallmark of the disease. It usually involves the lungs, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems. However, a rare subset of systemic sclerosis, systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma, is characterized by internal organ involvement and positive serologic markers with the total or partial absence of cutaneous manifestations. We present a rare association of osteopetrosis in a case of systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma, in a 22-year-old male patient, who presented with pulmonary symptoms as his chief complaints, unreported so far in literature.

The effect of exercise on cytokines: implications for musculoskeletal health: a narrative review

The physiological effects of physical exercise are ubiquitously reported as beneficial to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. Exercise is widely promoted by medical professionals to aid both physical and emotional wellbeing; however, mechanisms through which this is achieved are less well understood. Despite numerous beneficial attributes, certain types of exercise can inflict significant significant physiological stress. Several studies document a key relationship between exercise and immune activation. Activation of the innate immune system occurs in response to exercise and it is proposed this is largely mediated by cytokine signalling. Cytokines are typically classified according to their inflammatory properties and evidence has shown that cytokines expressed in response to exercise are diverse and may act to propagate, modulate or mitigate inflammation in musculoskeletal health. The review summarizes the existing literature on the relationship between exercise and the immune system with emphasis on how exercise-induced cytokine expression modulates inflammation and the immune response.

Bath for Underwater Horizontal Polysegmental Kinesitraction Treatment of the Spine and Lower Extremities Lesions, Methods of Its Use

Introduction. Traction in dynamic mode (kinesitraction) is a new direction protected by patents of Ukraine, which combines the procedure of traction and motor activity. Traction treatment of the spine in a dynamic mode plays an important role in the treatment of the musculoskeletal system, so it is important to understand the structure, mechanisms and features of the structures involved in these processes, including the bath developed by us. The aim of the study. To acquaint with a design of a bath for underwater horizontal polysegmental kinesitraction treatment of the spine and lower extremities lesions, methods of its use. Materials and methods. Content analysis, method of system and comparative analysis, bibliosemantic method of studying the actual scientific researches on baths’ designs for underwater horizontal polysegmental kinesitraction treatment of the spine and lower extremities lesions, methods of its use are used. Sources are searched in scientometric databases: PubMed, Medline, Springer, Google Scholar, Research Gate by tags: kinesitraction, musculoskeletal system, underwater horizontal treatment of the spine, traction, traction system. 22 English and Ukrainian literary sources which describe this problem were selected and analyzed. The description of the bath for underwater horizontal segmental traction treatment of the spine and lower extremities lesions in the dynamic mode was used (Certificate of copyright registration for a scientific work N 99985, 25.10.2020). Results. The designed by us bath for underwater polysegmental kinesitraction treatment of lesions of the spine and lower extremities (Certificate of registration of copyright to a scientific work N 99985, 2020) is intended for the treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, internal organs, disorders of vital systems in the aquatic environment by exposure to dosed motor and traction loads. The design includes a water bath, armrests, handles, footrest, racks, cervical block system, chest block system, lumbar block system, head restraint belt, chest strap, pelvic girdle, shin strap, cable, load. Using a bath it is possible to carry out tractions of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar spine, their combinations, lower extremities, or total provide the traction. Conclusions. Traction treatment of the spine in a dynamic mode plays an important role in the treatment of the musculoskeletal system, being more effective than static. The understanding of the structure, methods and features of the structures involved in these processes, including our developed baths for underwater horizontal polysegmental hydrokinesitraction treatment of lesions of the spine and lower extremities, based on the correction of disorders of the nervous, musculoskeletal systems caused by morphological, biochemical, physiological mechanisms of stimulation of the functions of vital systems, regeneration processes, and the proposed methods of their use is an important component of effective treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Keywords: kinesitraction, musculoskeletal system, underwater horizontal treatment of the spine, traction, traction system.

Small Fiber Neuropathy in Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis (SC) is a granulomatous disease of an unknown origin. The most common SC-related neurological complication is a small fiber neuropathy (SFN) that is often considered to be the result of chronic inflammation and remains significantly understudied. This study aimed to identify the clinical and histological correlates of small fiber neuropathy in sarcoidosis patients. The study was performed in 2018–2019 yy and included 50 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (n = 25) and healthy subjects (n = 25). For the clinical verification of the SFN, the “Small Fiber Neuropathy Screening List” (SFN-SL) was used. A punch biopsy of the skin was performed followed by enzyme immunoassay analysis with PGP 9.5 antibodies. Up to 60% of the sarcoidosis patients reported the presence of at least one complaint, and it was possible that these complaints were associated with SFN. The most frequent complaints included dysfunctions of the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems and the gastrointestinal tract. A negative, statistically significant correlation between the intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IEND) and SFN-SL score was revealed. In patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, small fiber neuropathy might develop as a result of systemic immune-mediated inflammation. The most common symptoms of this complication were dysautonomia and mild sensory dysfunction.

Integration of neural architecture within a finite element framework for improved neuromusculoskeletal modeling

Neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) models can aid in studying the impacts of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems on one another. These computational models facilitate studies investigating mechanisms and treatment of musculoskeletal and neurodegenerative conditions. In this study, we present a predictive NMS model that uses an embedded neural architecture within a finite element (FE) framework to simulate muscle activation. A previously developed neuromuscular model of a motor neuron was embedded into a simple FE musculoskeletal model. Input stimulation profiles from literature were simulated in the FE NMS model to verify effective integration of the software platforms. Motor unit recruitment and rate coding capabilities of the model were evaluated. The integrated model reproduced previously published output muscle forces with an average error of 0.0435 N. The integrated model effectively demonstrated motor unit recruitment and rate coding in the physiological range based upon motor unit discharge rates and muscle force output. The combined capability of a predictive NMS model within a FE framework can aid in improving our understanding of how the nervous and musculoskeletal systems work together. While this study focused on a simple FE application, the framework presented here easily accommodates increased complexity in the neuromuscular model, the FE simulation, or both.

Combined Feedback Feedforward Control of a 3-Link Musculoskeletal System Based on the Iterative Training Method

The investigation and study of the limbs, especially the human arm, have inspired a wide range of humanoid robots, such as movement and muscle redundancy, as a human motor system. One of the main issues related to musculoskeletal systems is the joint redundancy that causes no unique answer for each angle in return for an arm’s end effector’s arbitrary trajectory. As a result, there are many architectures like the torques applied to the joints. In this study, an iterative learning controller was applied to control the 3-link musculoskeletal system’s motion with 6 muscles. In this controller, the robot’s task space was assumed as the feedforward of the controller and muscle space as the controller feedback. In both task and muscle spaces, some noises cause the system to be unstable, so a forgetting factor was used to a convergence task space output in the neighborhood of the desired trajectories. The results show that the controller performance has improved gradually by iterating the learning steps, and the error rate has decreased so that the trajectory passed by the end effector has practically matched the desired trajectory after 1000 iterations.

Humans use minimum cost movements in a whole-body task

Humans have elegant bodies that allow gymnastics, piano playing, and tool use, but understanding how they do this in detail is difficult because their musculoskeletal systems are extraordinarily complicated. Nonetheless, common movements like walking and reaching can be stereotypical, and a very large number of studies have shown their energetic cost to be a major factor. In contrast, one might think that general movements are very individuated and intractable, but our previous study has shown that in an arbitrary set of whole-body movements used to trace large-scale closed curves, near-identical posture sequences were chosen across different subjects, both in the average trajectories of the body’s limbs and in the variance within trajectories. The commonalities in that result motivate explanations for its generality. One explanation could be that humans also choose trajectories that are economical in cost. To test this hypothesis, we situate the tracing data within a forty eight degree of freedom human dynamic model that allows the computation of movement cost. Using the model to compare movement cost data from nominal tracings against various perturbed tracings shows that the latter are more energetically expensive, inferring that the original traces were chosen on the basis of minimum cost.

Fiber composite materials via coaxial, dual or blend electrospinning

Electrospinning (ES) is a suitable and cost effective method to mimic the chemical composition, morphology, and functional surface of natural tissues, for example of the nervous, dermal, vascular, and musculoskeletal systems. This technique is a versatile tool to obtain tailored fibrous scaffolds from various polymer materials. By varying the diameter, porosity, orientation, layering, surface structuring, mechanical properties and biodegradability of the fibers the properties can be adapted for specific applications ranging from implantable medical devices to wound repair and protective clothing. Especially the combination of different polymer types offers a high potential. In this study electrospun two-component nonwoven structures of thermoplastic copolyester elastomer (TPC-ET) and bioresorbable polylactide (PLLA) were fabricated, using different ES setups. A comparative evaluation in terms of porosity, thermal and mechanical properties as well as required fabrication effort, was performed. Nonwovens made from polymer blends and coaxial spun core-sheath fibers showed similar tensile strength, which was higher than dual electrospun fabrics. Porosity was found to be in the range of 80 - 90%. By modifying the polymer solution and process parameters multicomponent nonwoven structures with tailored properties and drug release profiles can be manufactured.

The physicochemical properties and distribution of aluminum in the environment, the effect on living organisms, the reduction of its toxic effect

The review examines the physicochemical properties, distribution in the environment, the effect on living organisms, including toxicity and ecotoxicity, ways of removing aluminum and its compounds from the human and animal organism. Analysis of scientific literature has shown that the widespread use of aluminum in nature, its use in the agricultural, food, cosmetic, aluminum, oil-producing industries, medicine, water treatment processes and other fields of activity leads to an increased intake of this element into the human body. The cumulative nature of the toxic effect of aluminum and its compounds leads to negative consequences for the respiratory, nervous, musculoskeletal systems, and mammary glands.

A Preliminary Investigation into Ridden Water Submersion Training as an Adjunct to Current Condition Training Protocols in Performance Horses

This observational study aimed to elucidate the effects of RWST on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems of horses and concurrently determine whether RWST limits distal limb temperature increases previously reported during gallop training on land. A group of 15 clinically sound international event horses were recruited, and heart rate (HR), speed (km/h) and thermal images of the distal limb were analysed at set intervals during RWST training. Intervals of RWST produced a total mean HRmax value of 65.18 ± 3.76%, which is within the parameters for increased aerobic stamina. Mean HR increased significantly (p < 0.01) while mean distal limb temperature decreased significantly (p < 0.01) between warm-up and RWST, which contrasts with positive correlations previously reported during gallop training on land. These preliminary results suggest that RWST can be classed as a moderate submaximal intensity exercise in elite international event horses whilst restricting an increase in temperature of the distal limb that is commonly associated with tendon rupture. Horses competing at very elite levels of eventing only represent a small percentage of the total performance population; therefore, further research is needed to ascertain the physiological effects of RWST in non-elite performance horses, as well as horses competing across various equestrian disciplines.