Fast and automatic periacetabular osteotomy fragment pose estimation using intraoperatively implanted fiducials and single-view fluoroscopy.

Accurate and consistent mental interpretation of fluoroscopy to determine the position and orientation of acetabular bone fragments in 3D space is difficult. We propose a computer assisted approach that uses a single fluoroscopic view and quickly reports the pose of an acetabular fragment without any user input or initialization. Intraoperatively, but prior to any osteotomies, two constellations of metallic ball-bearings (BBs) are injected into the wing of a patient's ilium and lateral superior pubic ramus. One constellation is located on the expected acetabular fragment, and the other is located on the remaining, larger, pelvis fragment. The 3D locations of each BB are reconstructed using three fluoroscopic views and 2D/3D registrations to a preoperative CT scan of the pelvis. The relative pose of the fragment is established by estimating the movement of the two BB constellations using a single fluoroscopic view taken after osteotomy and fragment relocation. BB detection and inter-view correspondences are automatically computed throughout the processing pipeline. The proposed method was evaluated on a multitude of fluoroscopic images collected from six cadaveric surgeries performed bilaterally on three specimens. Mean fragment rotation error was 2.4 ± 1.0 degrees, mean translation error was 2.1 ± 0.6 mm, and mean 3D lateral center edge angle error was 1.0 ± 0.5 degrees. The average runtime of the single-view pose estimation was 0.7 ± 0.2 s. The proposed method demonstrates accuracy similar to other state of the art systems which require optical tracking systems or multiple-view 2D/3D registrations with manual input. The errors reported on fragment poses and lateral center edge angles are within the margins required for accurate intraoperative evaluation of femoral head coverage.

A one-dimensional individual-based mechanical model of cell movement in heterogeneous tissues and its coarse-grained approximation.

Mechanical heterogeneity in biological tissues, in particular stiffness, can be used to distinguish between healthy and diseased states. However, it is often difficult to explore relationships between cellular-level properties and tissue-level outcomes when biological experiments are performed at a single scale only. To overcome this difficulty, we develop a multi-scale mathematical model which provides a clear framework to explore these connections across biological scales. Starting with an individual-based mechanical model of cell movement, we subsequently derive a novel coarse-grained system of partial differential equations governing the evolution of the cell density due to heterogeneous cellular properties. We demonstrate that solutions of the individual-based model converge to numerical solutions of the coarse-grained model, for both slowly-varying-in-space and rapidly-varying-in-space cellular properties. We discuss applications of the model, such as determining relative cellular-level properties and an interpretation of data from a breast cancer detection experiment.

Further testing of Melatonin Receptor 1a for out-of-season reproduction in the Cornell flock and allelic frequencies compared with Romney sheep.

Sheep are seasonally polyestrous breeders, meaning they breed when day length shortens in the autumn. Ewes respond to changing day length through chemical pathways involving melatonin receptors. Some breeds, such as Dorset, are known to be less seasonal with many ewes able to breed and lamb year-round. The Melatonin Receptor 1a () gene was identified as a candidate gene controlling out-of-season lambing. The first studies in the Cornell STAR accelerated lambing flock found that a allele was associated with a shorter time to first lambing and a shorter period between lambings. The favorable allele was denoted the allele and the unfavorable allele, the allele. This study evaluated additional data for the effect of the polymorphism on sheep reproduction. Genotypic frequencies among the 320 sheep in this study differed between Romney and breeds selected for accelerated lambing ( < 0.02), but they did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Using 228 ewes from the Cornell University flock, we found no association ( > 0.05) between the allele and success for out-of-season lambing and no significant differences were observed in several production measures, such as number of lambs delivered per yr or number of lambs weaned ( > 0.05). With few ewes in the flock, these results may be due to the high level of selection for accelerated lambing. This study shows that the allele may not be a beneficial marker for use within flocks seeking to improve production and the ability to lamb out-of-season. These findings warrant additional research on the genetics of aseasonality in sheep.

Complex patterns in fossilized stromatolites revealed by hyperspectral imaging (400-2496 nm).

Hyperspectral imaging (400-2496 nm) was used to quantitatively map surface textures and compositional variations in stromatolites to determine whether complexity of textures could be used as evidence to support biogenicity in the absence of preserved biomarkers. Four samples of 2.72-2.4 Ga stromatolites from a variety of settings, encompassing marine and lacustrine environments, were selected for hyperspectral imaging. Images of the sawn surfaces of samples were processed to identify reflectance and mineral absorption features and quantify their intensity (as an index of mineral abundance) using automated feature extraction. Amounts of ferrous iron were quantified using a ratio of reflectance at 1650 and 1299 nm. Visible near infrared imagery (400-970 nm) did not reveal additional textural patterns to those obtained from visual inspection. Shortwave infrared imagery (1000-2496 nm), however, revealed complex laminar and convoluted patterns, including a distinctive texture of sharp peaks and broad, low troughs in one sample, similar to living tufted microbial mats. Spectral analysis revealed another sample to be composed of dolomite. Two other samples were dominated by calcite or chlorite ± illite. Large variations in amounts of ferrous iron were found, but ferric iron was exclusively located in the oxidation crust. Hyperspectral imaging revealed large differences between parts of a sample of biogenic and non-biogenic origin. The former was characterized by calcite with varying amounts of ferrous iron, distributed in lenticular, convoluted patterns; the latter by Mg-Fe chlorite with large amounts of aluminium silicate, distributed as fine laminar layers. All minerals identified by hyperspectral imaging were confirmed by thin section petrography and XRD analyses. Spatial statistics generated from quantitative minerals maps showed different patterns between these different parts of the sample. Thus, hyperspectral imaging was shown to be a powerful tool for detecting structures in stromatolites that could be used, together with other lines of evidence, to support biogenicity.

Effect of tear size, corticosteroids and subacromial decompression surgery on the hierarchical structural properties of torn supraspinatus tendons.

OBJECTIVES: The effects of disease progression and common tendinopathy treatments on the tissue characteristics of human rotator cuff tendons have not previously been evaluated in detail owing to a lack of suitable sampling techniques. This study evaluated the structural characteristics of torn human supraspinatus tendons across the full disease spectrum, and the short-term effects of subacromial corticosteroid injections (SCIs) and subacromial decompression (SAD) surgery on these structural characteristics. METHODS: Samples were collected inter-operatively from supraspinatus tendons containing small, medium, large and massive full thickness tears (n = 33). Using a novel minimally invasive biopsy technique, paired samples were also collected from supraspinatus tendons containing partial thickness tears either before and seven weeks after subacromial SCI (n = 11), or before and seven weeks after SAD surgery (n = 14). Macroscopically normal subscapularis tendons of older patients (n = 5, mean age = 74.6 years) and supraspinatus tendons of younger patients (n = 16, mean age = 23.3) served as controls. Ultra- and micro-structural characteristics were assessed using atomic force microscopy and polarised light microscopy respectively. RESULTS: Significant structural differences existed between torn and control groups. Differences were identifiable early in the disease spectrum, and increased with increasing tear size. Neither SCI nor SAD surgery altered the structural properties of partially torn tendons seven weeks after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may suggest the need for early clinical intervention strategies for torn rotator cuff tendons in order to prevent further degeneration of the tissue as tear size increases. Further work is required to establish the long-term abilities of SCI and SAD to prevent, and even reverse, such degeneration. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:252-61.

Temporal trends and geographical variation in the use of subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repair of the shoulder in England.

We explored the trends over time and the geographical variation in the use of subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repair in 152 local health areas (Primary Care Trusts) across England. The diagnostic and procedure codes of patients undergoing certain elective shoulder operations between 2000/2001 and 2009/2010 were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics database. They were grouped as 1) subacromial decompression only, 2) subacromial decompression with rotator cuff repair, and 3) rotator cuff repair only. The number of patients undergoing subacromial decompression alone rose by 746.4% from 2523 in 2000/2001 (5.2/100 000 (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.0 to 5.4) to 21 355 in 2009/2010 (40.2/100 000 (95% CI 39.7 to 40.8)). Operations for rotator cuff repair alone peaked in 2008/2009 (4.7/100 000 (95% CI 4.5 to 4.8)) and declined considerably in 2009/2010 (2.6/100 000 (95% CI 2.5 to 2.7)). Given the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of these operations and the significant increase in the number of procedures being performed in England and elsewhere, there is an urgent need for well-designed clinical trials to determine evidence of clinical effectiveness.

End-of-life of starch-polyvinyl alcohol biopolymers.

This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) model comparing the waste management options for starch-polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) biopolymers including landfill, anaerobic digestion (AD), industrial composting and home composting. The ranking of biological treatment routes for starch-PVOH biopolymer wastes depended on their chemical compositions. AD represents the optimum choice for starch-PVOH biopolymer containing N and S elements in global warming potential (GWP(100)), acidification and eutrophication but not on the remaining impact categories, where home composting was shown to be a better option due to its low energy and resource inputs. For those starch-PVOH biopolymers with zero N and S contents home composting delivered the best environmental performance amongst biological treatment routes in most impact categories (except for GWP(100)). The landfill scenario performed generally well due largely to the 100-year time horizon and efficient energy recovery system modeled but this good performance is highly sensitive to assumptions adopted in landfill model.

LCA data quality: sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) data quality issues were investigated by using case studies on products from starch-polyvinyl alcohol based biopolymers and petrochemical alternatives. The time horizon chosen for the characterization models was shown to be an important sensitive parameter for the environmental profiles of all the polymers. In the global warming potential and the toxicity potential categories the comparison between biopolymers and petrochemical counterparts altered as the time horizon extended from 20 years to infinite time. These case studies demonstrated that the use of a single time horizon provide only one perspective on the LCA outcomes which could introduce an inadvertent bias into LCA outcomes especially in toxicity impact categories and thus dynamic LCA characterization models with varying time horizons are recommended as a measure of the robustness for LCAs especially comparative assessments. This study also presents an approach to integrate statistical methods into LCA models for analyzing uncertainty in industrial and computer-simulated datasets. We calibrated probabilities for the LCA outcomes for biopolymer products arising from uncertainty in the inventory and from data variation characteristics this has enabled assigning confidence to the LCIA outcomes in specific impact categories for the biopolymer vs. petrochemical polymer comparisons undertaken. Uncertainty combined with the sensitivity analysis carried out in this study has led to a transparent increase in confidence in the LCA findings. We conclude that LCAs lacking explicit interpretation of the degree of uncertainty and sensitivities are of limited value as robust evidence for decision making or comparative assertions.

Anaerobic digestion of starch-polyvinyl alcohol biopolymer packaging: biodegradability and environmental impact assessment.

The digestibility of a starch-polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) biopolymer insulated cardboard coolbox was investigated under a defined anaerobic digestion (AD) system with key parameters characterized. Laboratory results were combined with industrial operational data to develop a site-specific life cycle assessment (LCA) model. Inoculated with active bacterial trophic groups, the anaerobic biodegradability of three starch-PVOH biopolymers achieved 58-62%. The LCA modeling showed that the environmental burdens of the starch-PVOH biopolymer packaging under AD conditions on acidification, eutrophication, global warming and photochemical oxidation potential were dominated by atmospheric emissions released from substrate degradation and fuel combustion, whereas energy consumption and infrastructure requirements were the causes of abiotic depletion, ozone depletion and toxic impacts. Nevertheless, for this bio-packaging, AD of the starch-PVOH biopolymer combined with recycling of the cardboard emerged as the environmentally superior option and optimization of the energy utilization system could bring further environmental benefits to the AD process.

Biodegradable and compostable alternatives to conventional plastics.

Packaging waste forms a significant part of municipal solid waste and has caused increasing environmental concerns, resulting in a strengthening of various regulations aimed at reducing the amounts generated. Among other materials, a wide range of oil-based polymers is currently used in packaging applications. These are virtually all non-biodegradable, and some are difficult to recycle or reuse due to being complex composites having varying levels of contamination. Recently, significant progress has been made in the development of biodegradable plastics, largely from renewable natural resources, to produce biodegradable materials with similar functionality to that of oil-based polymers. The expansion in these bio-based materials has several potential benefits for greenhouse gas balances and other environmental impacts over whole life cycles and in the use of renewable, rather than finite resources. It is intended that use of biodegradable materials will contribute to sustainability and reduction in the environmental impact associated with disposal of oil-based polymers. The diversity of biodegradable materials and their varying properties makes it difficult to make simple, generic assessments such as biodegradable products are all 'good' or petrochemical-based products are all 'bad'. This paper discusses the potential impacts of biodegradable packaging materials and their waste management, particularly via composting. It presents the key issues that inform judgements of the benefits these materials have in relation to conventional, petrochemical-based counterparts. Specific examples are given from new research on biodegradability in simulated 'home' composting systems. It is the view of the authors that biodegradable packaging materials are most suitable for single-use disposable applications where the post-consumer waste can be locally composted.

Transplantation of porous tubes following spinal cord transection improves hindlimb function in the rat.

STUDY DESIGN: Experimental. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of a porous tube transplant in spinal cord transected rats. SETTING: Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. METHODS: Female rats were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: control (Con, n=8), spinal cord transected (Tx, n=5) and spinal cord transected with transplant (TxTp, n=7). The rats in the TxTp and Tx groups received a complete spinal cord transection at the T10 level and the TxTp group immediately received a porous tube transplant. RESULTS: Locomotor activity rated on the Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan scale improved significantly in the TxTp animals over the 4 weeks such that final scores were 21, 1.4 and 7.1 for the Con, Tx and TxTp groups, respectively. As expected, the muscle to body mass ratios of the hindlimb skeletal muscles of the Tx group were decreased (soleus 35%, plantaris 29% and gastrocnemius 29%) and this was also observed in the TxTp group (soleus 33%, plantaris 23% and gastrocnemius 30%). Cytochrome c oxidase (CYTOX) activity in the plantaris was decreased by Tx but maintained in the TxTp group (Con=82.2, Tx=44.8 and TxTp=72.8 U/min/g). CONCLUSION: Four weeks after the spinal cord transection, plantaris CYTOX activity and locomotor function improved with porous tube implantation. SPONSORSHIP: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Influence of body heat content on hand function during prolonged cold exposures.

We examined the influence of 1) prior increase [preheating (PHT)], 2) increase throughout [heating (HT)], and 3) no increase [control (Con)] of body heat content (H(b)) on neuromuscular function and manual dexterity of the hands during a 130-min exposure to -20 degrees C (coldEx). Ten volunteers randomly underwent three passive coldEx, incorporating a 10-min moderate-exercise period at the 65th min while wearing a liquid conditioning garment (LCG) and military arctic clothing. In PHT, 50 degrees C water was circulated in the LCG before coldEx until core temperature was increased by 0.5 degrees C. In HT, participants regulated the inlet LCG water temperature throughout coldEx to subjective comfort, while the LCG was not operating in Con. Thermal comfort, rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, mean finger temperature (T(fing)), change in H(b) (DeltaH(b)), rate of body heat storage, Purdue pegboard test, finger tapping, handgrip, maximum voluntary contraction, and evoked twitch force of the first dorsal interosseus muscle were recorded. Results demonstrated that, unlike in HT and PHT, thermal comfort, rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, twitch force, maximum voluntary contraction, and finger tapping declined significantly in Con. In contrast, T(fing) and Purdue pegboard test remained constant only in HT. Generalized estimating equations demonstrated that DeltaH(b) and T(fing) were associated over time with hand function, whereas no significant association was detected for rate of body heat storage. It is concluded that increasing H(b) not only throughout but also before a coldEx is effective in maintaining hand function. In addition, we found that the best indicator of hand function is DeltaH(b) followed by T(fing).

Monitoring losses of copper based wood preservatives in the Thames estuary.

Field trials were conducted at two sites in the Thames estuary to monitor losses of copper, chromium and arsenic from wood preservative treated timbers of varying sizes and treatment regimes. Results indicated that leaching tests conducted under standard laboratory conditions might overestimate losses compared to losses resulting from real environmental exposures. Amine copper treated wood was noted to leach higher levels of copper compared to chromated copper arsenate treated wood, and was therefore considered an inappropriate replacement biocide for fresh and marine construction purposes on this basis. Increases in copper concentrations in the outer sections of amine copper treated posts may have represented re-distribution of this component in this timber. No accumulation of metals was found in sediments surrounding field trial posts.

The importance of the short-term leaching dynamics of wood preservatives.

The potential environmental impacts from the use of treated timber in aquatic areas is under scrutiny as a result of environmental legislation and reports of the deleterious environmental effects around treated structures. In this study leaching experiments of up to 3 weeks duration were conducted on two species of chromated copper arsenate treated timber, dried for different periods of time. Increased drying time significantly reduced leaching of Cr and As. The addition of a synthetic humic acid increased leaching of Cu and As, but reduced leaching of Cr. Putative risk assessments conducted using short-term copper leaching data suggested protocol design may influence decisions made regarding the environmental acceptability of such preservatives.

Deblurring subject to nonnegativity constraints when known functions are present with application to object-constrained computerized tomography.

The reconstruction of tomographic images is often treated as a linear deblurring problem. When a high-density, man-made metal object is present somewhere in the image field, it is a deblurring problem in which the unknown function has a component that is known except for some location and orientation parameters. We first address general linear deblurring problems in which a known function having unknown parameters is present. We then show how the resulting iterative solution can be applied to tomographic imaging in the presence of man-made foreign objects, and we apply the result, in particular, to X-ray computed tomography imaging used in support of brachytherapy treatment of advanced cervical cancer.

TGF-beta(1) and prepro-ANP mRNAs are differentially regulated in exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

The induction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta and prepro-atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) mRNAs represent hallmark features of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. The present study examined whether this pattern of mRNA expression was conserved in a physiological model of cardiac hypertrophy. To address this thesis, female Sprague-Dawley rats were individually housed and permitted to run freely. Voluntary exercise for 3 and 6 wk resulted in biventricular hypertrophy and increased cytochrome c oxidase activity in the triceps muscle. In the hypertrophied left ventricle, the steady-state mRNA level of the cardiac fetal gene prepro-ANP and the extracellular matrix proteins preprocollagen-alpha(1) and fibronectin were similar in exercise-trained and sedentary rats. By contrast, an increased expression of TGF-beta(1) mRNA was observed, whereas TGF-beta(3) mRNA level was unchanged in the hypertrophied left ventricle of exercise-trained compared with sedentary rats. These data highlight a heterogeneity in the regulation of TGF-beta isoforms, and the increased expression of ventricular TGF-beta(1) mRNA in physiological cardiac hypertrophy may contribute to myocardial remodeling.

Leaching of chromated copper arsenate wood preservatives: a review.

Recent studies have generated conflicting data regarding the bioaccumulation and toxicity of leachates from preservative-treated wood. Due to the scale of the wood preserving industry, timber treated with the most common preservative, chromated copper arsenate (CCA), may form a significant source of metals in the aquatic environment. The existing literature on leaching of CCA is reviewed, and the numerous factors affecting leaching rates, including pH, salinity, treatment and leaching test protocols are discussed. It is concluded from the literature that insufficient data exists regarding these effects to allow accurate quantification of leaching rates, and also highlights the need for standardised leaching protocols.

Mechanisms leading to restoration of muscle size with exercise and transplantation after spinal cord injury.

We have shown that cycling exercise combined with fetal spinal cord transplantation restored muscle mass reduced as a result of complete transection of the spinal cord. In this study, mechanisms whereby this combined intervention increased the size of atrophied soleus and plantaris muscles were investigated. Rats were divided into five groups (n = 4, per group): control, nontransected; spinal cord transected at T10 for 8 wk (Tx); spinal cord transected for 8 wk and exercised for the last 4 wk (TxEx); spinal cord transected for 8 wk with transplantation of fetal spinal cord tissue into the lesion site 4 wk prior to death (TxTp); and spinal cord transected for 8 wk, exercised for the last 4 wk combined with transplantation 4 wk prior to death (TxExTp). Tx soleus and plantaris muscles were decreased in size compared with control. Exercise and transplantation alone did not restore muscle size in soleus, but exercise alone minimized atrophy in plantaris. However, the combination of exercise and transplantation resulted in a significant increase in muscle size in soleus and plantaris compared with transection alone. Furthermore, myofiber nuclear number of soleus was decreased by 40% in Tx and was not affected in TxEx or TxTp but was restored in TxExTp. A strong correlation (r = 0.85) between myofiber cross-sectional area and myofiber nuclear number was observed in soleus, but not in plantaris muscle, in which myonuclear number did not change with any of the experimental manipulations. 5'-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-positive nuclei inside the myofiber membrane were observed in TxExTp soleus muscles, indicating that satellite cells had divided and subsequently fused into myofibers, contributing to the increase in myonuclear number. The increase in satellite cell activity did not appear to be controlled by the insulin-like growth factors (IGF), as IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA abundance was decreased in Tx soleus and plantaris, and was not restored with the interventions. These results indicate that, following a relatively long postinjury interval, exercise and transplantation combined restore muscle size. Satellite cell fusion and restoration of myofiber nuclear number contributed to increased muscle size in the soleus, but not in plantaris, suggesting that cellular mechanisms regulating muscle size differ between muscles with different fiber type composition.

Idiopathic familial onychomadesis.

Onychomadesis is defined as spontaneous separation of the nail plate from the nail bed, beginning at its proximal end and resulting in the shedding of the nail. It has been associated with a variety of clinical settings, including systemic illnesses, generalized skin diseases, and drug therapies. There have been a small number of reports in the older literature of idiopathic onychomadesis occurring in a familial pattern. We report the case of a healthy 12-year-old girl and her mother, both of whom have experienced recurrent onychomadesis affecting multiple digits, and in the absence of any causal disease or medication.