591 research outputs found
Impact of foot progression angle modification on plantar loading in individuals with diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy
AIMS: To determine if participants can reduce foot progression angle (FPA), and if FPA reduction decreases regional plantar stresses and forces in individuals with diabetes. METHODS: DESIGN: Three-group cross-sectional design with repeated measures. SUBJECTS: twenty-eight participants either with diabetes mellitus (DM), diabetes and peripheral neuropathy with (DMPN+NPU) or without a prior history of ulceration (DMPN−NPU) were studied. INTERVENTION: Participants were first instructed to walk over a 3.6 m walkway at their preferred FPA, and then to walk with their foot aligned parallel with the line of gait progression at their self-selected speed. Dynamic plantar kinetics in six masked regions were collected using an EMED-st-P-2 pedobarograph. MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcome measures were FPA, peak plantar pressure (PPP), and force-time integral (FTI). A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to determine group differences in FPA for both walking conditions. Regional differences in PPPs and FTIs between preferred and corrected walking conditions were analyzed using repeated measures ANCOVA. RESULTS: Participants showed a reduction in FPA magnitude on the ‘Involved’ foot between the preferred and corrected walking conditions (p<0.01). There were no differences in PPPs or FTIs in any mask between walking conditions (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Results from this investigation offer important evidence that people with diabetes can modify their FPA with a simple intervention of visual and verbal cueing. Future research should examine if gait retraining strategies in regular footwear more effectively offload areas of elevated regional plantar stresses and forces in adults with diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy
Attitude Determination from Single-Antenna Carrier-Phase Measurements
A model of carrier phase measurement (as carried out by a satellite
navigation receiver) is formulated based on electromagnetic theory. The model
shows that the phase of the open-circuit voltage induced in the receiver
antenna with respect to a local oscillator (in the receiver) depends on the
relative orientation of the receiving and transmitting antennas. The model
shows that using a {\it single} receiving antenna, and making carrier phase
measurements to seven satellites, the 3-axis attitude of a user platform (in
addition to its position and time) can be computed relative to an initial
point. This measurement model can also be used to create high-fidelity
satellite signal simulators that take into account the effect of platform
rotation as well as translation.Comment: 12 pages, and one figure. Published in J. Appl. Phys. vol. 91, No. 7,
April 1, 200
Neuropathic midfoot deformity: Associations with ankle and subtalar joint motion
BACKGROUND: Neuropathic deformities impair foot and ankle joint mobility, often leading to abnormal stresses and impact forces. The purpose of our study was to determine differences in radiographic measures of hind foot alignment and ankle joint and subtalar joint motion in participants with and without neuropathic midfoot deformities and to determine the relationships between radiographic measures of hind foot alignment to ankle and subtalar joint motion in participants with and without neuropathic midfoot deformities. METHODS: Sixty participants were studied in three groups. Forty participants had diabetes mellitus (DM) and peripheral neuropathy (PN) with 20 participants having neuropathic midfoot deformity due to Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN), while 20 participants did not have deformity. Participants with diabetes and neuropathy with and without deformity were compared to 20 young control participants without DM, PN or deformity. Talar declination and calcaneal inclination angles were assessed on lateral view weight bearing radiograph. Ankle dorsiflexion, plantar flexion and subtalar inversion and eversion were assessed by goniometry. RESULTS: Talar declination angle averaged 34±9, 26±4 and 23±3 degrees in participants with deformity, without deformity and young control participants, respectively (p< 0.010). Calcaneal inclination angle averaged 11±10, 18±9 and 21±4 degrees, respectively (p< 0.010). Ankle plantar flexion motion averaged 23±11, 38±10 and 47±7 degrees (p<0.010). The association between talar declination and calcaneal inclination angles with ankle plantar flexion range of motion is strongest in participants with neuropathic midfoot deformity. Participants with talonavicular and calcaneocuboid dislocations result in the most severe restrictions in ankle joint plantar flexion and subtalar joint inversion motions. CONCLUSIONS: An increasing talar declination angle and decreasing calcaneal inclination angle is associated with decreases in ankle joint plantar flexion motion in individuals with neuropathic midfoot deformity due to CN that may contribute to excessive stresses and ultimately plantar ulceration of the midfoot
Progression of foot deformity in charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy
BACKGROUND: Charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy associated foot deformity can result in joint instability, ulceration, and even amputation. The purpose of the present study was to follow patients with and without active Charcot osteoarthropathy for as long as two years to examine the magnitude and timing of foot alignment changes. METHODS: We studied fifteen subjects with Charcot osteoarthropathy and nineteen subjects with diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy without Charcot osteoarthropathy for one year; eight of the subjects with osteoarthropathy and five of the subjects with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy were followed for two years. Bilateral weight-bearing radiographs of the foot were made at baseline for all subjects, with repeat radiographs being made at six months for the osteoarthropathy group and at one and two years for both groups. Radiographic measurements included the Meary angle, cuboid height, calcaneal pitch, and hindfoot-forefoot angle. RESULTS: The Meary angle, cuboid height, and calcaneal pitch worsened in feet with Charcot osteoarthropathy over one year as compared with the contralateral, uninvolved feet and feet in patients with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. Cuboid height continued to worsen over the two-year follow-up in the feet with Charcot osteoarthropathy. These feet also had a greater change in the hindfoot-forefoot angle at one year as compared with the feet in patients with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy and at two years as compared with the contralateral, uninvolved feet. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with Charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy, radiographic alignment measurements demonstrate the presence of foot deformity at the time of the initial clinical presentation and evidence of progressive changes over the first and second years. The six-month data suggest worsening of medial column alignment prior to lateral column worsening. This radiographic evidence of worsening foot alignment over time supports the need for aggressive intervention (conservative bracing or surgical fixation) to attempt to prevent limb-threatening complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence
Transcriptome pathways unique to dehydration tolerant relatives of modern wheat
Among abiotic stressors, drought is a major factor responsible for dramatic yield loss in agriculture. In order to reveal differences in global expression profiles of drought tolerant and sensitive wild emmer wheat genotypes, a previously deployed shock-like dehydration process was utilized to compare transcriptomes at two time points in root and leaf tissues using the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Wheat Genome Array hybridization. The comparison of transcriptomes reveal several unique genes or expression patterns such as differential usage of IP(3)-dependent signal transduction pathways, ethylene- and abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent signaling, and preferential or faster induction of ABA-dependent transcription factors by the tolerant genotype that distinguish contrasting genotypes indicative of distinctive stress response pathways. The data also show that wild emmer wheat is capable of engaging known drought stress responsive mechanisms. The global comparison of transcriptomes in the absence of and after dehydration underlined the gene networks especially in root tissues that may have been lost in the selection processes generating modern bread wheats
Applications of Two-Body Dirac Equations to the Meson Spectrum with Three versus Two Covariant Interactions, SU(3) Mixing, and Comparison to a Quasipotential Approach
In a previous paper Crater and Van Alstine applied the Two Body Dirac
equations of constraint dynamics to the meson quark-antiquark bound states
using a relativistic extention of the Adler-Piran potential and compared their
spectral results to those from other approaches, ones which also considered
meson spectroscopy as a whole and not in parts. In this paper we explore in
more detail the differences and similarities in an important subset of those
approaches, the quasipotential approach. In the earlier paper, the
transformation properties of the quark-antiquark potentials were limited to a
scalar and an electromagnetic-like four vector, with the former accounting for
the confining aspects of the overall potential, and the latter the short range
portion. A part of that work consisted of developing a way in which the static
Adler-Piran potential was apportioned between those two different types of
potentials in addition to covariantization. Here we make a change in this
apportionment that leads to a substantial improvement in the resultant
spectroscopy by including a time-like confining vector potential over and above
the scalar confining one and the electromagnetic-like vector potential. Our fit
includes 19 more mesons than the earlier results and we modify the scalar
portion of the potential in such a way that allows this formalism to account
for the isoscalar mesons {\eta} and {\eta}' not included in the previous work.
Continuing the comparisons made in the previous paper with other approaches to
meson spectroscopy we examine in this paper the quasipotential approach of
Ebert, Faustov, and Galkin for a comparison with our formalism and spectral
results.Comment: Revisions of earlier versio
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Late gestation supplementation of beef cows differing in body condition score: Effects on cow and calf performance
A 2-yr study utilizing 120 mature,
crossbred (Angus × Herford) cows/year, evaluated the
influence of cow BCS and dried distillers grains with
solubles (DDGS) supplementation during late gestation
on cow performance and productivity of subsequent
offspring. Treatments were arranged as a 2 × 2 factorial
in a randomized complete block design with 2 BCS
and with or without DDGS supplementation. Cows
were nutritionally managed to enter the last trimester
of gestation with a BCS of approximately 4 (LBCS)
or 6 (HBCS) and were thereafter managed in a single
herd (initial BCS were 4.4 and 5.7 for LBCS and HBCS
treatments, respectively). During the last trimester, 12.7
kg/cow of low quality meadow hay (6.4% CP; DM
basis) was provided each day. Supplemented cows were
gathered and sorted into pens (12 pens; 5 cows/pen; 6
pens/BCS) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and
received the equivalent of 0.9 kg/cow daily of DDGS
(31% CP; DM basis; supplement was consumed within
30 min on each supplementation day). Calf birth weight
was greater for HBCS compared to LBCS (P = 0.001)
and for supplemented compared to nonsupplemented cows (P = 0.04). Cow weight at weaning was greater for
HBCS compared with LBCS (P < 0.001); however, no
differences were noted because of supplementation (P =
0.16). Weaning weight was greater for the offspring of
supplemented compared to nonsupplemented cows (P =
0.02). There were no differences in postweaning calf
performance (growing lot and feedlot) or carcass characteristics
(P > 0.05) due to treatments. Nevertheless,
HBCS cows had approximately 10% more live calves
at birth and at weaning (P ≤ 0.01) compared to LBCS
cows. Consequently, the total weaned calf weight per
cow was 26 kg greater for HBCS compared with LBCS
(P = 0.004). Pregnancy rate was greater (P = 0.05) for
HBCS than LBCS cows (92% vs. 79%, respectively)
but not affected by supplementation (P = 0.94). This
research demonstrates the potential consequences of
not maintaining cows in adequate BCS at calving. Also,
though it appears that supplementation of beef cows
with DDGS during late gestation has a positive effect
on weaning weight, there was no apparent developmental
programming effect on feedlot performance and
carcass characteristics of calves.Keywords: body condition score, supplementation, production systems, beef cattl
Methods to study splicing from high-throughput RNA Sequencing data
The development of novel high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods for RNA
(RNA-Seq) has provided a very powerful mean to study splicing under multiple
conditions at unprecedented depth. However, the complexity of the information
to be analyzed has turned this into a challenging task. In the last few years,
a plethora of tools have been developed, allowing researchers to process
RNA-Seq data to study the expression of isoforms and splicing events, and their
relative changes under different conditions. We provide an overview of the
methods available to study splicing from short RNA-Seq data. We group the
methods according to the different questions they address: 1) Assignment of the
sequencing reads to their likely gene of origin. This is addressed by methods
that map reads to the genome and/or to the available gene annotations. 2)
Recovering the sequence of splicing events and isoforms. This is addressed by
transcript reconstruction and de novo assembly methods. 3) Quantification of
events and isoforms. Either after reconstructing transcripts or using an
annotation, many methods estimate the expression level or the relative usage of
isoforms and/or events. 4) Providing an isoform or event view of differential
splicing or expression. These include methods that compare relative
event/isoform abundance or isoform expression across two or more conditions. 5)
Visualizing splicing regulation. Various tools facilitate the visualization of
the RNA-Seq data in the context of alternative splicing. In this review, we do
not describe the specific mathematical models behind each method. Our aim is
rather to provide an overview that could serve as an entry point for users who
need to decide on a suitable tool for a specific analysis. We also attempt to
propose a classification of the tools according to the operations they do, to
facilitate the comparison and choice of methods.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure, 9 tables. Small corrections adde
Effect of supplemental Ca2+ on NaCl-stressed castor plants (Ricinus communis L.)
Greenhouse experiments were conducted to assess the effects of supplemental Ca2+ in salinised soil on germination and plant growth response of castor plant (Ricinus communis L. Var. Avani-31, Euphorbiaceae). NaCl amounting to 390 g was thoroughly mixed with soil of seven lots, of 100 kg each, to give electrical conductivity of 4.1 dS m–1. Further, Ca(NO3)2 × 4H20 to the quantity of 97.5, 195, 292.5, 390, 487.5, and 585 g was separately mixed with soil of six lots to give 1:0.25, 1:0.50, 1:0.75, 1:1, 1:1.25, and 1:1.50 Na+/Ca2+ ratios, respectively. The soil of the seventh lot contained only NaCl and its Na+/Ca2+ ratio was 1:0. Soil without addition of NaCl and Ca (NO3)2 × 4H20 served as control, with a 0:0 Na+/Ca2+ ratio. Salinity significantly retarded seed germination and plant growth, but the deleterious effects of NaCl on seed germination were ameliorated and plant growth was restored with Ca2+ supply at the critical level (1:0.25 Na+/Ca2+ ratio) to salinised soil. Supply of Ca2+ above the critical level further retarded seed germination and plant growth due to the increased soil salinity. Salt stress reduced N, P, K+ and Ca2+ content in plant tissues, but these nutrients were restored by addition of Ca2+ at the critical level to saline soil. In contrast, Na+ content in plant tissues significantly increased in response to salinity, but significantly decreased with increasing Ca2+ supply to saline soil. The results are discussed in terms of the beneficial effects of Ca2+ supply on the plant growth of Ricinus communis grown under saline conditions
Comparative U, Np and Pu M edge high energy resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HR-XANES) investigations of model and genuine active waste glass
Genuine radioactive glass sampled from the vitrification plant Karlsruhe and actinide doped model 2 glasses are investigated by U/Pu/Np M4/M5 high energy resolution X‐ray absorption near edge structure (HR‐XANES), U L3 EXAFS and XPS spectroscopy techniques to characterize and compare the U, Pu and Np oxidation states and their local atomic environments. The importance of the results will be discussed in terms of the strategy of using simplified simulated waste glasses to understand more complex industrial glass samples. The final goal of these studies is to predict the long term behavior of vitrified nuclear waste stored in a nuclear waste repository.
Highly active waste concentrate (HAWC) from nuclear fuel reprocessing is immobilized in borosilicate glass matrices to generate a disposable waste form [1]. Between 2009 and 2010, the vitrification plant Karlsruhe (VEK) was operated for vitrification of liquid process residues left over from operation of the former reprocessing plant Karlsruhe (WAK). About 56 m3 HAWC were processed, resulting in 50 t of waste glass [2]. The long term radiotoxicity of U, Np, Pu and other actinide elements (An), minor constitute of the reprocessed waste, is of great concern in safety assessment studies of nuclear waste repositories. For example, in case of water intrusion and interaction with the glass matrix, corrosion processes will take place which might facilitate the release of radionuclides into the geosphere. The An redox state and bonding characteristics in the glass matrix determine their release mechanisms and retention processes taking place in near and far field of the repository [3]. Understanding the long term behavior of vitrified nuclear waste requires full and detailed characterization of the materials including their characteristics as synthesized and after exposure to
groundwater. Genuine radioactive waste glass has a complex chemical composition. Therefore we take a simplified approach by investigating and comparing the oxidation states of U, Pu and Np in high level waste (HLW) glass sampled from the VEK vitrification process (VEK glass) and in model glasses. The model glasses doped with U and Pu have the same borosilicate glass frit composition as the VEK glass, whereas the model glass doped with Np has a base glass composition (R7T7) typically used for
vitrification of HLW in France. U/Pu/Np M4/M5 edge high energy resolution X‐ray absorption near edge structure (HR‐XANES)
spectroscopy technique [4] is applied to characterize the An oxidation states
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