Chronic Injuries Due to Running and a Possible Cure with the Barefoot Style

Repetitive stress injuries, which are common amongst runners result from an accumulation of microdamage from repeated application of stress. This leads to strain, or deformation. At first, this falls within the physiologic range of elastic deformation. With excessive running, bones can be subjected to supraphysiologic plastic deformation and soft tissues can be subjected to supraphysiologic viscous deformation. High strain and high rates of application of that strain can lead to fatigue damage In bone, this manifests as microcracks, and as failures of collagen cross-links in soft tissue. These small-scale failures allow elastic hysteresis, which is the difference between the energy required (stress) to generate a given strain (deformation) and the elastic energy stored for a given cycle of loading. In other words, the accumulation of microdamage makes bones and soft tissues weaker and then less force is required to further the damage

Dimensional Issues in Stereolithography

New stereolithography photopolymers have recently been introduced that provide a wider range of functional properties similar to those of high-density polyethylene. One of the important criteria for these materials is the dimensional accuracy and stability in end-use applications as mold masters or the actual functional parts. This work investigates the dimensional stability of one of these new materials with varying amounts of exposure during build. The effect of aging on the part dimensions is reported. The result of environmental humidity extremes at ambient temperature on part dimensions is investigated and compared for parts made from two different families of stereolithography resins, namely DuPont Somos® 7100 and Somos® 8100.Mechanical Engineerin

Adrenomedullin Function in Vascular Endothelial Cells: Insights from Genetic Mouse Models

Adrenomedullin is a highly conserved peptide implicated in a variety of physiological processes ranging from pregnancy and embryonic development to tumor progression. This review highlights past and present studies that have contributed to our current appreciation of the important roles adrenomedullin plays in both normal and disease conditions. We provide a particular emphasis on the functions of adrenomedullin in vascular endothelial cells and how experimental approaches in genetic mouse models have helped to drive the field forward

Parental bonding and identity style as correlates of self-esteem among adult adoptees and nonadoptees

Adult adoptees (n equals 100) and non-adoptees (n equals 100) were compared with regard to selfesteem, identity processing style, and parental bonding. While some differences were found with regard to self-esteem, maternal care, and maternal overprotection, these differences were qualified by reunion status such that only reunited adoptees differed significantly from nonadoptees. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that parental bonding and identity processing style were more important than adoptive status per se in predicting self esteem. Implications for practitioners who work with adoptees are discussed

The Chandra XBootes Survey - III: Optical and Near-IR Counterparts

The XBootes Survey is a 5-ks Chandra survey of the Bootes Field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). This survey is unique in that it is the largest (9.3 deg^2), contiguous region imaged in X-ray with complementary deep optical and near-IR observations. We present a catalog of the optical counterparts to the 3,213 X-ray point sources detected in the XBootes survey. Using a Bayesian identification scheme, we successfully identified optical counterparts for 98% of the X-ray point sources. The optical colors suggest that the optically detected galaxies are a combination of z<1 massive early-type galaxies and bluer star-forming galaxies whose optical AGN emission is faint or obscured, whereas the majority of the optically detected point sources are likely quasars over a large redshift range. Our large area, X-ray bright, optically deep survey enables us to select a large sub-sample of sources (773) with high X-ray to optical flux ratios (f_x/f_o>10). These objects are likely high redshift and/or dust obscured AGN. These sources have generally harder X-ray spectra than sources with 0.1<f_x/f_o<10. Of the 73 X-ray sources with no optical counterpart in the NDWFS catalog, 47 are truly optically blank down to R~25.5 (the average 50% completeness limit of the NDWFS R-band catalogs). These sources are also likely to be high redshift and/or dust obscured AGN.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, ApJ accepted. Catalog can be found at: http://www.noao.edu/noao/noaodeep or ftp://archive.noao.edu/pub/catalogs/xbootes

The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury II. Young Stars and their Relation to Halpha and UV Emission Timescales in the M81 Outer Disk

We have obtained resolved stellar photometry from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) observations of a field in the outer disk of M81 as part of the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST). Motivated by the recent discovery of extended UV (XUV) disks around many nearby spiral galaxies, we use the observed stellar population to derive the recent star formation histories of five ~0.5 kpc-sized regions within this field. These regions were selected on the basis of their UV luminosity from GALEX and include two HII regions, two regions which are UV-bright but Halpha-faint, and one "control" region faint in both UV and Halpha. We estimate our effective SFR detection limit at ~2 x 10^-4 Msun/yr, which is lower than that of GALEX for regions of this size. As expected, the HII regions contain massive main sequence stars (in the mass range 18-27 Msun, based on our best extinction estimates), while similar massive main sequence stars are lacking in the UV-bright/Halpha-faint regions. The observations are consistent with stellar ages 16 Myr in the UV-bright/Halpha-faint regions. All regions but the control have formed ~10^4 Msun of stars over the past ~65 Myr. Thus, our results, for at least one small area in the outer disk of M81, are consistent with an age difference being sufficient to explain the observed discrepancy between star-forming regions detected in Halpha and those detected exclusively in UV. However, our data cannot conclusively rule out other explanations, such as a strongly truncated initial mass function (IMF).Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, paper with full resolution figures available: http://www.nearbygalaxies.org/papers/M81_Halpha_uv.pd

The Lyman alpha reference sample. II. Hubble space telescope imaging results, integrated properties, and trends

We report new results regarding the Lyα output of galaxies, derived from the Lyman Alpha Reference Sample, and focused on Hubble Space Telescope imaging. For 14 galaxies we present intensity images in Lyα, Hα, and UV, and maps of Hα/Hβ, Lyα equivalent width (EW), and Lyα/Hα. We present Lyα and UV radial light profiles and show they are well-fitted by Sérsic profiles, but Lyα profiles show indices systematically lower than those of the UV (n ≈ 1-2 instead of gsim 4). This reveals a general lack of the central concentration in Lyα that is ubiquitous in the UV. Photometric growth curves increase more slowly for Lyα than the far ultraviolet, showing that small apertures may underestimate the EW. For most galaxies, however, flux and EW curves flatten by radii ≈10 kpc, suggesting that if placed at high-z only a few of our galaxies would suffer from large flux losses. We compute global properties of the sample in large apertures, and show total Lyα luminosities to be independent of all other quantities. Normalized Lyα throughput, however, shows significant correlations: escape is found to be higher in galaxies of lower star formation rate, dust content, mass, and nebular quantities that suggest harder ionizing continuum and lower metallicity. Six galaxies would be selected as high-z Lyα emitters, based upon their luminosity and EW. We discuss the results in the context of high-z Lyα and UV samples. A few galaxies have EWs above 50 Å, and one shows $f_\mathrm{esc}^{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }$ of 80%; such objects have not previously been reported at low-z

ABSTRACT THE CONTEXTABLE: BUILDING AND TESTING AN INTELLIGENT, CONTEXT-AWARE KITCHEN TABLE

of a thesis submitted b

External Fixation for Treating Tibial Shaft Fractures Using a Triangular Two-Planar Frame: A Computational and Biomechanical Study

Background: Construct stability is a necessary characteristic of external fixators. Many commonly used fixators are constructed as symmetric one-plane frames. We postulate that asymmetric two-plane triangular constructs provide enhanced stability with simplicity and freedom in pin placement. We hypothesized that results of finite element analysis would determine optimal geometric configuration, and findings of mechanical testing would confirm the improved stability of two-plane triangular constructs. Methods: Finite element modeling was used to analyze configurations for 16 triangular designs compared to a single-rod (SR) uniplanar frame. Variables included pin axial angulation (0°, 22.5°, 45°, and 90°), connectivity of the rod-to-pin couplers, and intrafragmentary pin spacing (75mm or 100mm). Construct stiffness and interfragmentary displacement were analyzed for model selection. In a subsequent experimental test, nine synthetic composite tibiae were displaced to a maximum of 4 mm, comparing compressive load and axial stiffness of triangular construct with those of SR and pin-clamp (PC) uniplanar frames. Results: Computational modeling showed that greater pin spacing results in increased stiffness (P \u3c 0.001), but increased interfragmentary displacement (P =0.01). 22.5° and 45° constructs were significantly stiffer than 0° constructs (P = 0.03 and P = 0.01, respectively). Displacement was significantly less in 22.5°, 45°, and 90° than 0° constructs (P = 0.01). Experimentally, the 22.5° triangular multiplanar constructs were significantly stiffer with higher compressive loads than uniplanar constructs (P \u3c 0.001). Conclusions: A two-plane triangular frame may be a more stable construct than the two symmetric uniplanar constructs tested. This configuration allows for greater adjustability than SR constructs, requiring no specialized devices as do PC constructs, while allowing simplicity and freedom of pin placement

A human IgM enriched immunoglobulin preparation, Pentaglobin, reverses autoimmune diabetes without immune suppression in NOD mice

Abstract The immune system of healthy individuals is capable of regulating autoimmunity through multiple mechanisms. In Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) we recently discovered natural IgM, although present at normal levels, is unable to perform its normal immunoregulatory function. Treating diabetic mice with IgM from healthy donors led to reversal of disease without immune depletion. To investigate the therapeutic potential of a human preparation of IgM, we administered an IgM-enriched preparation of immunoglobulin called Pentaglobin. Administration of Pentaglobin therapy reversed disease in diabetic NOD mice and boosted CD4 + Foxp3 + Tregs. Importantly, the impact of Pentaglobin on the immune system was limited to inhibiting beta cell destruction but was not immune depleting nor did it inhibit the immunization response to an irrelevant antigen. These findings indicate that inhibition of deleterious autoimmunity in T1D is possible while leaving protective immunity fully intact