Self-Reported Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety After ACL Injury: A Systematic Review

Background: Depression and anxiety symptoms can occur in patients following an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and the presence of these symptoms has been associated with poorer self-reported knee function in this type of injury. Purpose: To investigate the prevalence and severity of self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety following an ACL injury. Study Design Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED, and PEDro databases were searched using a combination of keywords relating to ACL, depression, anxiety, and their synonyms. Inclusion criteria were clinical studies written in English that reported on patients with an injured and/or reconstructed ACL and assessed symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Data extraction was performed independently by 2 authors. Data synthesis was performed using an emergent synthesis approach. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the methodological index for non-randomized studies or the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool. Certainty of evidence was determined using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Results: After abstract screening, 37 studies were assessed in full text, of which 16 were included. The studies comprised 682 patients (417 male [61%]). The depression symptoms appeared to be more severe in elite athletes compared with recreational athletes. Symptoms decreased over time from moment of ACL reconstruction to up to 2 years postoperatively. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of anxiety after an ACL injury was reported in 1 study (2%). There were no differences in anxiety symptoms between professional and amateur athletes or between adolescents and adults. The overall quality of the studies was low or very low. Conclusion: Patients who sustain an ACL injury can suffer from symptoms of depression, especially during the first 6 weeks after ACL reconstruction. Depressive symptoms are more common among professional versus nonprofessional athletes. Levels of anxiety symptoms were not above the cutoffs for a diagnosis of anxiety after an ACL injury

Two centuries of masting data for European beech and Norway spruce across the European continent

Tree masting is one of the most intensively studied ecological processes. It affects nutrient fluxes of trees, regeneration dynamics in forests, animal population densities, and ultimately influences ecosystem services. Despite a large volume of research focused on masting, its evolutionary ecology, spatial and temporal variability and environmental drivers are still matter of debate. Understanding the proximate and ultimate causes of masting at broad spatial and temporal scales will enable us to predict tree reproductive strategies and their response to changing environment. Here we provide broad spatial (distribution range-wide) and temporal (century) masting data for the two main masting tree species in Europe, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.). We collected masting data from a total of 359 sources through an extensive literature review and from unpublished surveys. The dataset has a total of 1747 series and 18348 yearly observations from 28 countries and covering a time span of years 1677-2016 and 1791-2016 for beech and spruce, respectively. For each record, the following information is available: identification code; species; year of observation; proxy of masting (flower, pollen, fruit, seed, dendrochronological reconstructions); statistical data type (ordinal, continuous); data value; unit of measurement (only in case of continuous data); geographical location (country, Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics NUTS-1 level, municipality, coordinates); first and last record year and related length; type of data source (field survey, peer reviewed scientific literature, grey literature, personal observation); source identification code; date when data were added to the database; comments. To provide a ready-to-use masting index we harmonized ordinal data into five classes. Furthermore, we computed an additional field where continuous series with length >4 years where converted into a five classes ordinal index. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive published database on species-specific masting behaviour. It is useful to study spatial and temporal patterns of masting and its proximate and ultimate causes, to refine studies based on tree-ring chronologies, to understand dynamics of animal species and pests vectored by these animals affecting human health, and it may serve as calibration-validation data for dynamic forest models.The paper was partly funded by the “Fondo di Ricerca Locale 2015-2016” of the University of Torino and by the Stiftelsen Stina Werners fond (grant SSWF 10-1/29-3 to I.D.)

Ecology of vegetative regeneration after coppicing in macchia stands in central Italy

Vegetative regeneration after coppicing of Quercus ilex, Phillyrea latifolia, and Fraxinus ornus in two macchia stands in the Maremma Nature Park (Grosseto, Italy) has been studied. Observations during the first three years after the cut showed that horizontal space occupation by shoots is rapid (95% of the available space being reoccupied within 3 yrs.) and stool mortality very low. We observed differences among species in resprouting, growth pattern and shoot differentiation. Q. ilex and P. latifolia had a longer budburst period than F. ornus. There were no considerable differences in height growth among the three species in the first year. During the second and third years the height increments decreased. F. ornus average height increments were higher than those of Q. ilex and P. latifolia. These two species produced proleptic flushes from the first year on, while F. ornus only showed spring flush. The examination of proleptic shoots and of summer and autumn rainfall seem to show that the latter control Q. ilex growth and shoot differentiation more than that of other species. Differentiation among shoots of the same stool occurs from the first year onwards and the initial vigour differences amongst shoots remain during the following years. Resprouting, space occupation and shoot differentiation have been discussed in relation to rainfall and temperature. The high stool survival and the strong link between stool vigour parameters before and after coppicing confirm a certain stability in successional dynamics following a single coppicing event. © 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers

LA TECNICA NIRS NELLA VALUTAZIONE DI UOVA ED OVOPRODOTTI

The validity of l-lactic, succinic and d-3-hydroxybutyric acids as indicators of egg freshness and presence of incubator rejects were determined in 120 homogenized farm eggs using the Boehringer-Mannheim enzymic technique and subsequent NIR spectroscopy. Tests were carried out on fresh eggs and eggs held at 4 or 20\ub0C to simulate commercial conditions. The 3 acids proved highly suited as a measure of the eggs' freshness. l-lactic acid content increased considerably during storage, but did not exceed 500 mg/kg DM after 27 days at ambient temp., indicating that the Italian legal limit of 1000 mg/kg DM is set too high. Succinic and d-3-hydroxybutyric acid levels did not rise, but the former gave an indication of the hygienic quality of the eggs, and the latter revealed the presence of incubator egg rejects. NIR spectroscopy proved extremely valuable as a quality control technique, allowing accurate evaluation of the concn. of the 3 indicator acids, as well as providing a means of differentiating between different egg batches

Recovery of preoperative absolute knee extension and flexion strength after ACL reconstruction

Background: The recovery of muscle function after an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction is most commonly reported as limb-to-limb differences using the Limb Symmetry Index (LSI), which is not free from limitations. The purpose of this study was to compare the proportion of patients who recover their Preoperative Absolute Muscle Strength (PAMS) 8 and 12 months after ACL reconstruction with the proportion of patients who recover their symmetrical knee strength. A secondary aim was to assess the relationship between psychological Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) and recovering PAMS at 8 and 12 months after ACL reconstruction and rehabilitation. Method: Preoperative, 8- and 12-month results from quadriceps and hamstring strength tests and PROs for 117 patients were extracted from a rehabilitation registry. Individual preoperative peak torques from strength tests were compared with results from the 8- and 12-month follow-ups respectively. Patients were defined as having recovered their PAMS upon reaching 90% of their preoperative peak torque for both quadriceps and hamstring strength. Patients were defined as having recovered their LSI upon reaching a value ≥90% when comparing the results for their injured knee with those of their healthy knee. Correlations between the recovery of PAMS and PROs at 8 and 12 months were analyzed. Results: There was no difference in the proportion of patients who recovered their PAMS compared with patients who recovered their LSI. In all, 30% and 32% of the patients who recovered their LSI had not recovered their PAMS at 8 months and 12 months respectively. In the patients who had recovered their PAMS, 24% and 31% had not recovered their symmetrical LSI at 8 months and 12 months respectively. There was no significant correlation between the recovery of PAMS and psychological PROs. Conclusion: The use of both PAMS and LSI provides more detailed information on the recovery of muscle strength after ACL reconstruction. The recovery of PAMS was not correlated with psychological traits, which implies that both PROs and PAMS are important when evaluating patients after ACL reconstruction. Trial registration: This trial was not registered. © 2020, The Author(s)