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The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how lonely young people are seen from others' perspectives, in terms of their personality, behavior, and life circumstances. Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a cohort of 2,232 individuals born in the U.K. in the mid-1990s. When participants were aged 18, they provided self-reports of loneliness, and informant ratings of loneliness were provided by interviewers, as well as participants' parents and siblings. Interviewers further provided Big Five personality ratings and detailed written notes in which they documented their perceptions of the participants and their reflections on the content of the interview. In the quantitative section of the article, regression analyses were used to examine the perceptibility of loneliness and how participants' loneliness related to their perceived personality traits. The informant ratings of participants' loneliness showed good agreement with self-reports. Furthermore, loneliness was associated with lower perceived conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extroversion and higher perceived neuroticism. Within-twin pair analyses indicated that these associations were partly explained by common underlying genetic influences. In the qualitative section of the study, the loneliest 5% of study participants (N = 108) were selected, and thematic analysis was applied to the study interviewers' notes about those participants. Three themes were identified and named: "uncomfortable in own skin," "clustering of risk," and "difficulties accessing social resources." These results add depth to the current conceptualization of loneliness and emphasize the complexity and intersectional nature of the circumstances severely lonely young adults live in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated associations between the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which young adults live and their feelings of loneliness, using data from different sources. Participants were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Loneliness was measured via self-reports at ages 12 and 18 years and also by interviewer ratings at age 18. Neighborhood characteristics were assessed between the ages of 12 and 18 via government data, systematic social observations, a resident survey, and participants' self-reports. Greater loneliness was associated with perceptions of lower collective efficacy and greater neighborhood disorder but not with more objective measures of neighborhood characteristics. Lonelier individuals perceived the collective efficacy of their neighborhoods to be lower than did their less lonely siblings who lived at the same address. These findings suggest that feelings of loneliness are associated with negatively biased perceptions of neighborhood characteristics, which may have implications for lonely individuals' likelihood of escaping loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background To determine the short-term effects following corticosteroid injection into the shoulder. Methods Type-specific shoulder injection was administered, followed by physiotherapy 7 days to 10 days later. One hundred and sixteen adult patients were prospectively followed-up. The primary outcome was a visual analogue score (VAS) for pain. Scores were recorded immediately before injection, 30 minutes after, daily until day 7 and then at 6 weeks. Post injection pain was defined as an increase of 2 or more points in the VAS score after the injection. The secondary outcome was determined at 6 months as successful discharge or progression onto surgery. Results The VAS showed a significant reduction from the pre-injection score for all patients at day 1 and was maintained until week 6. Forty-one (35.3%) patients experienced post-injection pain. The mean duration of symptoms was 3.9 days. At 6 months, 81 (69.8%) patients were discharged successfully and, at a mean of 23.2 months, did not require re-referral; 29 (25%) had surgery; and six (5.2%) were referred for a spinal opinion. Conclusions One in three patients developed delayed post-injection pain. Flare phenomenon had no determinate effect on outcome. Patients’ pain response by 6 weeks is predictive of final outcome at 6 months and may help clinicians plan further treatment without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the case of a middle-age lady who presented following minor trauma, with dominant-sided anterior elbow pain and swelling of 6 months in duration. She was assessed clinically, and underwent investigations, which confirmed features consistent with giant cell tumour (GCT) of distal biceps tendon sheath. She underwent uneventful en-bloc excisional surgery. She did not have radiotherapy. She is now 5 years postoperatively asymptomatic, with full function, and with no signs of recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We aimed to determine if recognised histological features seen in specimens taken during rotator cuff repair could predict which tendon repairs were at risk of re-rupture. Methods Forty rotator cuff tendon edge specimens from 40 patients were analysed histologically following routine mini-open rotator cuff repair. Thirty-two patients returned at a mean follow up of 35 months for an ultrasound examination to determine repair integrity. Results Overall there were 8 small tears, 13 medium tears, 15 large tears and 4 massive tears. Of the 32 patients followed up with ultrasound scan (USS) the overall re-rupture rate was 46%. Small and medium tears had a re-rupture rate of 35% while 60% of the large and massive tears suffered a re-rupture. Comparison of histological features and repair integrity revealed that the rotator cuff repairs which remained intact demonstrated a greater reparative response, in terms of increased fibroblast cellularity, cell proliferation and a thickened synovial membrane, than those repairs that re-ruptured. The larger tears that did remain intact also showed a higher degree of vascularity and a significant inflammatory component than the larger tears that re-ruptured. Conclusion These results indicate the importance of good tissue quality at the time of surgery but that larger tears can heal if the tissue quality is favourable. Post-operative histological analysis of tendon tear edge can aid prognosis and has the potential to guide post-operative immobilization and subsequent physiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]