UNASSIGNED: Regular walking in different types of footwear may increase the mediolateral shear force, knee adduction moment, or vertical ground-reaction forces that could increase the risk of early development of knee osteoarthritis (OA).
UNASSIGNED: To compare kinematic and kinetic parameters that could affect the development of knee OA in 3 footwear conditions.
UNASSIGNED: Controlled laboratory study.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 40 asymptomatic participants performed walking trials in the laboratory at self-selected walking speeds under barefoot (BF), minimalistic (MF), and neutral (NF) footwear conditions. Knee joint parameters were described using discrete point values, and continuous curves were evaluated using statistical parametric mapping. A 3 × 1 repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine the main effect of footwear for both discrete and continuous data. To compare differences between footwear conditions, a post hoc paired t test was used.
UNASSIGNED: Discrete point analyses showed a significantly greater knee power in NF compared with MF and BF in the weight absorption phase (P < .001 for both). Statistical parametric mapping analysis indicated a significantly greater knee angle in the sagittal plane at the end of the propulsive phase in BF compared with NF and MF (P = .043). Knee joint moment was significantly greater in the propulsive phase for the sagittal (P = .038) and frontal planes (P = .035) in BF compared with NF and MF and in the absorption phase in the sagittal plane (P = .034) in BF compared with MF and NF. A significant main effect of footwear was found for anteroposterior (propulsion, ↑MF, NF, ↓BF [P = .008]; absorption, ↑BF, MF, ↓NF [P = .001]), mediolateral (propulsion, ↑MF, NF, ↓BF [P = .005]; absorption, ↑NF, MF, ↓BF [P = .044]), and vertical (propulsion, ↑NF, BF, ↓MF [P = .001]; absorption, ↑MF, BF, ↓NF [P < .001]) ground-reaction forces. Knee power showed a significant main effect of footwear (absorption, ↑NF, MF, ↓BF [P = .015]; propulsion, ↑MF, NF, ↓BF [P = .039]).
UNASSIGNED: Walking in MF without sufficient accommodation affected kinetic and kinematic parameters and could increase the risk of early development of knee OA.

Background and Objective: A narrow alveolar ridge is an obstacle to optimal rehabilitation of the dentition. There are several complex and invasive techniques to counter the ridge augmentation dilemma, with most of them exhibiting low feasibility. Hence, this randomized clinical trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a Minimalistic Ridge Augmentation (MRA) technique, in conjunction with low-level laser therapy (LLLT). Materials and Methods: A total of 20 patients (n = 20) were selected, with 10 assigned to the test group (MRA+LLLT) and the other 10 to the control group (MRA). A vertical incision of approximately 10 mm was placed mesial to the defect and tunneled to create a subperiosteal pouch across the entire width of the defect. At the test sites, a diode laser (AnARC FoxTM Surgical Laser 810 nm) was used to deliver LLLT (parameters: 100 mW, with a maximum energy distribution of 6 J/cm2 in the continuous wave mode for 60 s per point) to the exposed bone surface inside the pouch, followed by graft (G-Graft, SurgiwearTM, Shahjahanpur, India) deposition with a bone graft carrier. The control sites were not irradiated with a laser. Results: A horizontal ridge width gain of >2 mm was observed in both groups. The changes in bone density for the test and control groups were -136 ± 236.08 HU and -44.30 ± 180.89 HU, respectively. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control groups in these parameters. Conclusion: The study findings reveal that the MRA technique is relatively simple and feasible for alveolar ridge augmentation. The role of LLLT in the process requires further elucidation.

Viruses are natural supramolecular nanostructures that form spontaneously by molecular self-assembly of complex biomolecules. Peptide self-assembly is a versatile tool that allows mimicking viruses by creating their simplified versions through the design of functional, supramolecular materials with modularity, tunability, and responsiveness to chemical and physical stimuli. The main challenge in the design and fabrication of peptide materials is related to the precise control between the peptide sequence and its resulting supramolecular morphology. We provide an overview of existing sequence patterns employed for the development of spherical and fibrillar peptide assemblies that can act as viral mimetics, offering the opportunity to tackle the challenges of viral infections.