Advanced proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint contracture presents a surgical challenge, particularly in patients who require preservation of joint motion. Arthrodesis provides reliable pain relief, but eliminates motion, whereas implant arthroplasty may be associated with mechanical complications and implant failure. We report a case of severe degenerative PIP joint contracture treated with meniscus allograft interpositional arthroplasty combined with intramedullary bioabsorbable pin fixation. Preoperatively, the joint was fixed at 60° of flexion. At 1-year follow-up, active range of motion improved to 20° to 105°, with passive motion of 0° to 115°. Functional outcomes improved, with the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score decreasing from 56.8 to 15.9 and the visual analog scale pain score improving from 7 to 1. Radiographs demonstrated maintained joint alignment without graft migration or subluxation. This case demonstrates that meniscus allograft interposition with intramedullary bioabsorbable fixation may provide a motion-preserving reconstructive option for selected patients with advanced PIP joint contracture.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent chronic degenerative joint disorder that seriously affects mobility and quality of life in older adults. Pharmacological treatments such as celecoxib are commonly used for symptom relief, but their long-term use may be limited by adverse effects. Acupuncture has been widely used as a complementary non-pharmacological treatment for KOA and may help reduce pain and improve function; however, its onset of benefit may be relatively gradual. Combining acupuncture-related integrative therapy with celecoxib may provide more rapid symptom relief while potentially improving sustained clinical outcomes and reducing reliance on prolonged pharmacological treatment. This study aims to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of acupuncture-related integrative therapy, celecoxib and their combination in patients with KOA in a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Gait and balance impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) severely compromise mobility and independence. This exploratory randomized pilot study evaluated a multimodal Adapted Physical Activity (APA) protocol, a tango-based program (Riabilitango®, RT), and standard care regarding walking distance, static postural stability, joint range of motion, and plantar-load redistribution. Twenty-seven participants with PD (Hoehn and Yahr 1-3) were allocated to APA (n = 10), RT (n = 10), or Control (n = 7). The active groups completed 24 supervised sessions over 12 weeks. Static postural stability and treadmill-based walking distance were evaluated at baseline and post-intervention. Both active interventions showed favorable static sway profiles compared to Control, though between-group differences were non-significant. Crucially, APA demonstrated a significantly greater post-intervention improvement in walking distance than RT and Control. Exploratory analyses linked APA walking gains to adaptations in joint mobility and plantar-load redistribution. In conclusion, multimodal APA showed the clearest functional signal for improving walking distance in PD, whereas Riabilitango® offered a complementary profile focused on sensorimotor integration and balance. These preliminary pilot findings warrant confirmation in larger prospective trials.

Background and Objectives: Acute responses to exercise interventions may vary within individuals across repeated exposures, potentially limiting the interpretation of individuals as "responders" or "non-responders". This study investigated whether acute changes in range of motion following short-term static stretching are reproducible within individuals. Methods: Twenty-six healthy young adults completed two identical sessions separated by one week. Flexibility was assessed before and after static stretching using the Sit-and-Reach Test (SRT) and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (ADF ROM). The intervention consisted of three 30 s static stretches for the hamstrings and gastrocnemius. Results: Baseline measurements showed excellent reproducibility (SRT: ICC = 0.98; ADF ROM: ICC = 0.95). SRT performance and ADF ROM increased significantly after stretching (p < 0.001), with no evidence of a systematic difference in the mean response between visits (time × visit interactions: p > 0.05). Reproducibility of individual pre-to-post change scores was moderate by point estimate but imprecisely estimated (SRT: ICC = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.50-0.88; ADF ROM: ICC = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.25-0.78). Conclusions: Individual change scores showed limited reproducibility. The design cannot separate measurement error, normal day-to-day variation, and variability specifically attributable to the stretching response. Classifying individuals as "responders" or "non-responders" based on a single acute stretching session should therefore be approached with caution.

Static stretching is one of the most widely prescribed interventions in sports medicine, rehabilitation, and exercise science for improving joint range of motion (ROM) and flexibility. Despite decades of research, however, the biological mechanisms underlying its effects remain incompletely understood. Traditional explanations have primarily focused on muscle extensibility and passive tissue stiffness, whereas emerging evidence suggests that stretching may engage multiple mechanically and biologically interconnected systems. This integrative narrative review aimed to synthesize current evidence on the biological mechanisms underlying static stretching and to propose a conceptual, hypothesis-generating framework linking externally applied mechanical loading with biological responses across multiple levels of organization. Evidence from biomechanics, fascial biology, mechanotransduction, connective tissue biology, vascular physiology, and neuroscience was critically integrated, while distinguishing direct human static-stretching evidence from indirect human, preclinical, and general mechanobiological evidence. Although evidence supports contributions from several of these individual domains, direct human evidence demonstrating their integrated operation during static stretching remains limited. The available evidence therefore suggests that static stretching may be understood more broadly than as a muscle-centered flexibility intervention alone. Mechanical loading during stretching may be transmitted across muscular and connective tissues and interact with mechanosensitive cellular, extracellular-matrix, vascular, inflammatory, and neural processes; however, the directness and strength of evidence for these proposed links vary substantially. The resulting framework provides a plausible, testable hypothesis for how interactions among these processes may contribute to heterogeneous findings and inter-individual variability following stretching interventions, rather than an established explanatory model. Accordingly, this review conceptualizes static stretching as a biologically active mechanical stimulus whose effects may involve interacting responses across multiple levels of biological organization. By integrating evidence from previously separated biological domains while explicitly recognizing differences in evidence directness, the proposed framework provides a theoretical basis for future mechanistic research and for testing the causal and temporal relationships among these candidate processes in humans.

Background/Objectives: Total scapulectomy for malignant scapular tumors remains a major reconstructive challenge because resection removes the osseous framework, muscular insertions, and biomechanical support required for shoulder function. Patient-specific three-dimensional (3D)-printed implants may improve anatomical reconstruction, but the indications and surgical principles underlying successful total scapular replacement remain poorly defined. Methods: This retrospective single-center case series included the first three consecutive patients who underwent total scapulectomy followed by immediate reconstruction using a patient-specific 3D-printed scapular prosthesis between January 2024 and December 2025. Clinical, radiographic, oncological, and functional outcomes were reviewed. Functional outcome was assessed using the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score and active shoulder range of motion. Results: The cohort included two women and one man with a median age of 53 years (range, 43-58 years). Diagnoses were chondrosarcoma in two patients and osteosarcoma in one. All tumors were Enneking stage IIB. Negative margins were achieved in all patients, and the axillary nerve and principal shoulder-girdle stabilizers were preserved in every case. Median follow-up was 13 months (range, 12-27 months). At latest follow-up, two patients had no evidence of disease and one was alive with disease after developing pulmonary metastases. The median MSTS score was 25/30 (range, 21-26). Median active elbow flexion, abduction, and forward flexion measured 88°, 80°, and 80°, respectively. Two patients experienced complications: one clavicular fracture and one aseptic wound dehiscence; neither resulted in implant failure or required revision of the reconstruction. Conclusions: Patient-specific total scapular reconstruction may provide satisfactory early radiographic and functional outcomes in carefully selected patients, although outcomes remain variable depending on individual patient and tumor characteristics. Implant design, patient selection, preservation of the axillary nerve and viable innervated shoulder-girdle musculature, and soft-tissue reconstruction should be considered complementary components of this reconstructive strategy.

On-body robots that travel around a human limb must keep a firm enough grip to avoid slipping or detaching, while never pressing hard enough to hurt-a balance that is hardest to strike precisely when the robot is orbiting the limb and gravity continually redistributes the contact loads. This paper presents an open, non-anthropomorphic robot that wraps around a compliant cylindrical surface with a three-contact grasp: a central traction module with two in-line driven wheels, and two lateral spring-loaded arms with distal wheels. Its central contribution is an actuation-space decomposition in which the two lateral wheel torques, expressed in a common-mode/differential basis, simultaneously drive the orbital motion and regulate the central normal force. We show that this basis diagonalises both the rolling kinematics and the static force balance, so the differential (grip-regulating) channel is provably orthogonal to the common-mode (propulsion) channel: a single pair of actuators perform both tasks without mutual interference and without a dedicated force mechanism. A model-based feedforward law derived from the static contact model, corrected by a PI term fed back from the compliant arms-which double as the force sensor-keeps the central force within a safe band; in a full-revolution simulation the differential command reverses sign to counteract the gravitational load swing while leaving the orbit undisturbed. The same compliant arms yield a closed-form estimate of the cylinder radius and contact geometry, accurate to below one millimetre across a 45-87 mm diameter range, from proprioception alone. Preliminary prototype tests reproduce the predicted behaviour, supporting the approach for future wearable and assistive applications.

Conventional techniques for repairing an irreparable posterosuperior massive rotator cuff tear (MRCT) typically fail1,2. The supraspinatus tendon reconstruction (STR) technique offers a systematic approach to achieve both anatomic restoration and functional recovery of the supraspinatus tendon1. The use of autografts for reconstruction is challenged by their limited availability, inadequate dimensions, and donor site morbidity. The Ligament Augmentation and Reconstruction System (LARS; MovMedix) is a synthetic ligament consisting of fibers made of polyethylene terephthalate that is used as an alternative to autograft; however, concerns remain regarding inadequate graft integration with bone3. In contrast, fascia lata autografts demonstrate enhanced interface healing with both the supraspinatus muscle and the bone at the footprint4-6. The present article describes a unique arthroscopic STR approach involving a hybrid LARS-fascia lata graft for irreparable posterosuperior MRCTs.

Animals in groups obtain information from social partners to engage in adaptive behaviour[1-3]. Social information transmission is observed in fish schools[4-6], bird flocks[7,8] and human groups[9,10], but the neural representation of such socially acquired information is poorly understood[3,11,12]. Here we show that, in the schooling glassfish Danionella cerebrum[13-15], collective escape from danger can be mediated by an individual's visual perception of other escaping animals. To understand the neural basis of socially transmitted escape behaviour, we imaged neural activity from adult glassfish viewing the actions of virtual conspecifics. Visual neurons in the midbrain optic tectum[16,17] and thalamus[18] increased their activity when virtual conspecifics escaped. Escape-responsive neurons also responded to the sudden disappearance of virtual fish, yet were unaffected by the disappearance of stimuli moving with non-biological linear motion. Behaviourally, fish retreated from virtual schools that escaped or disappeared, but only those swimming with biological burst-and-glide motion. Neural encoding of this rapid social offset allows fish to infer danger from social information alone, a potentially effective strategy for animals that are capable of rapid movement but have a limited visual range[14,19]. These results show how the neural computations of individuals enable rapid information sharing in collectives.

Marine radioactivity monitoring requires rapid, reliable sample preparation methods that remain functional aboard ships and other mobile platforms. Liquid seawater samples, however, are prone to geometric instability and spillage during vessel motion, which degrade HPGe gamma spectrometry measurement quality. We developed a solidification procedure based on low-methoxyl (LM) pectin and controlled Ca[2+] supplementation, which converts seawater into a mechanically stable, leak-resistant gel through egg-box cross-linking. Under the optimised condition (1.4 g LM-pectin per 28.26 g seawater, 300 rpm, 120 min), the gel formed a mechanically stable cylindrical counting geometry (diameter 60 mm, fill height 10 mm) under the selected preparation condition. Paired activity retention, calculated from measurements of the same sample before and after solidification of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) proficiency-test samples, was 100.2±6.1% for [137]Cs (n=8), 95.5±6.6% for [134]Cs (n=7), 97.0±4.9% for [241]Am (n=8), and 97.2±2.4% for [60]Co (n=3) across a gamma-energy span of 59.5-1332.5 keV. All 26 paired determinations remained within the 80-120% screening range, and 24 of 26 were consistent with complete retention within their expanded uncertainty (k=2). The procedure uses food-grade reagents, requires no pre-evaporation or specialised equipment, and completes gelation within two hours. With minimum detectable activities of a few Bq kg[-1] for a 28.26 g sample counted for 30,000 s, the protocol is intended for rapid shipboard screening of elevated-activity samples in emergency situations rather than for routine low-level monitoring. These results support further shipboard validation of gel-based sample preparation for environmental radioactivity surveys.