The Antigravity Treadmill as a Postoperative and Injury Rehabilitation Tool: Reduction in Contact Forces and Muscle Activity With Reduced Weight Running.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of reduced weight running on the antigravity (AG) treadmill on maintenance of normal muscle activation and reduction of plantar forces in healthy subjects. DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. SETTING: Clinical sports medicine center. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty healthy subjects (10 male and 10 female) aged 18 to 29 years. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: Subjects running at 6.5 miles per hour on a standard treadmill and on the AG treadmill at 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, and 50% of bodyweight levels. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dynamic plantar loading data were recorded using pressure insoles. Surface electromyography electrodes with imbedded accelerometers were used to estimate timing and magnitude of muscle activity, stride length, and cadence. RESULTS: There was a significant, sequential reduction in peak pressure, maximum force, and force time integral (FTI) with decreasing bodyweight. A 50% bodyweight reduction resulted in a 51% reduction in maximum force and a 59% reduction in FTI in the heel, as compared with 19% to 28% at the metatarsal heads. There was reduced contact area in the heel and midfoot at and below 70% BW. Lower limb muscle activity decreases with reduced bodyweight while maintain normal muscle recruitment timing. CONCLUSIONS: The AG treadmill provides a reduction in loading forces while maintaining normal muscle recruitment patterns. Decreased BW running preferentially unloads the hindfoot. The AG treadmill can be an effective rehabilitation tool following foot or ankle injury and may prove superior to other limited weight-bearing methods.

Publication trends in ligament augmentation techniques: current concepts.

IMPORTANCE: Ligament augmentation techniques (LATs) are surgical procedures, in which an anatomical ligament repair or reconstruction is strengthened with a synthetic material. During the last decade, LATs have increased in prevalence in clinical practice and academic literature. Observing the trends in LAT publications can be used to identify clusters of strong evidence for clinical practice and to highlight areas of the literature which need further development. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to define ligament augmentation as a technique category, observe anatomical, procedural, and temporal trends in LAT publication, and report on the state of current research in this field. EVIDENCE REVIEW: Primary literature in the English language, which describes ligament augmentation and reports on human, cadaveric, or biomechanical models, and published prior to May 24th, 2022, was targeted for analysis. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases were explored using a focused keyword search strategy, and the resulting publications were reviewed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. FINDINGS: Two hundred eighty-three publications reporting ligament augmentation techniques, published from May 1989 to May 2022, were included for final analysis. A wide technical and anatomical variety of procedures are reported. 36.8% of LAT publications describe knee ligaments, among which the anterior cruciate ligamenthas the highest focus in ligament augmentation publications (31.8% of articles). LAT literature has recently expanded in anatomical scope, with many contemporary articles describing the usage of a LAT in the ankle syndesmosis and coracoclavicular ligaments. 60.4% of LAT literature has been published since 2017. There has been an 11% average increase in the rate of LAT publication reports since 2015. Novel fixation devices-suture buttons and suture anchors-have gained wide popularity in the literature. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this review, we define LATs and quantitatively describe the expansion of LAT use reported in the literature. This data will provide physicians an overview of the history of these methods, as well as illustrate the broad range of applications available for the use of LATs.

B-cell-specific MhcII regulates microbiota composition in a primarily IgA-independent manner.

Background: The expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MhcII) molecules on B cells is required for the development of germinal centers (GCs) in lymphoid follicles; the primary sites for the generation of T-cell-dependent (TD) antibody responses. Peyer's patches (PPs) are secondary lymphoid tissues (SLOs) in the small intestine (SI) that give rise to high-affinity, TD antibodies (mainly immunoglobulin A (IgA)) generated against the microbiota. While several studies have demonstrated that MhcII antigen presentation by other immune cells coordinate TD IgA responses and regulate microbiota composition, whether or not B-cell-specific MhcII influences gut microbial ecology is unknown. Methods: Here, we developed a novel Rag1 -/- adoptive co-transfer model to answer this question. In this model, Rag1 -/- mice were reconstituted with naïve CD4+ T cells and either MhcII-sufficient or MhcII-deficient naïve B cells. Subsequent to this, resulting shifts in microbiota composition was characterized via 16S rRNA gene sequencing of SI-resident and fecal bacterial communities. Results: Results from our experiments indicate that SLO development and reconstitution of an anti-commensal TD IgA response can be induced in Rag1 -/- mice receiving T cells and MhcII-sufficient B cells, but not in mice receiving T cells and MhcII-deficient B cells. Results from our 16S experiments confirmed that adaptive immunity is a relevant host factor shaping microbial ecology in the gut, and that its impact was most pronounced on SI-resident bacterial communities. Conclusion: Our data also clearly establishes that MhcII-mediated cognate interactions between B cells and T cells regulates this effect by maintaining species richness in the gut, which is a phenotype commonly associated with good health. Finally, contrary to expectations, our experimental results indicate that IgA was not responsible for driving any of the effects on the microbiota ascribed to the loss of B cell-specific MhcII. Collectively, results from our experiments support that MhcII-mediated antigen presentation by B cells regulates microbiota composition and promotes species richness through an IgA-independent mechanism.

Communities of ground beetles (Carabidae, Coleoptera) in broad-leaved forests of protected and urban areas of the Kaluga Oblast (European Russia).

BACKGROUND: This sampling-event dataset provides primary data about species diversity, population and seasonal activity of ground beetles (Carabidae, Coleoptera). The study was carried out in broad-leaved forests of protected ("Kaluzhskiye Zaseki" Nature Reserve and Ugra National Park) and urban areas (the Kaluga City) of the Kaluga Oblast. Carabids were collected from April to October during 1995-1998 by pitfall traps. In total, 108,000 adult individuals of the Carabidae family were sampled; 105 species from 38 genera were counted. NEW INFORMATION: This dataset is the first sampling-event dataset about the Carabidae family for the European part of Russia. It provides biodiversity data for new territory (Kaluga Oblast) and contributes to filling gaps in the global biodiversity distribution of the Carabidae family. Part of the data was collected from unique old-growth broad-leaved forests.