The trabecular architecture of the superior articular process of the lumbar spine (L2-S1)

The role of the facet joint in low back pain has gained public attention lately. The objective of our study was to investigate whether there is any difference in the adaptation of the cancellous bone in the superior articular process depending on the specific stress condition in different levels of the spine. Therefore, the trabecular structure of the superior articular processes of L2 and S1 of 15 cadavers (aged 63-100years) were studied using μCT (micro-computer tomography). Each sample was divided into five sections, each of which containing 20% of the slices. The following structure parameters were compared between L2 and S1 as well as within each process; bone-volume-fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), structure-model-index (SMI) and degree of anisotropy (DA). Statistically significant differences were observed between L2 and S1 for the BV/TV, SMI, Tb.Th and Tb.N in superior 2 sections. BV/TV, Tb.Th and Tb.N were higher in S1 than in L2. The SMI is lower, and even negative in S1 compared to L2, showing a more plate-like structure. Within the articular process all structure parameters show a similar distribution in L2 and S1. BV/TV, Tb.N and DA decreased from cranial to caudal while Tb.Th was highest in the most cranial and caudal sections, with the lowest value in the middle. The SMI, on the other hand, increased from cranial to caudal displaying more rod-like structures. These results can be explained by the different stress the processes of the different spinal levels are exposed to as well as the specific motion patterns of the facet joint. The processes of the os sacrum are exposed to a higher axial and ventral load due to their location and the lumbosacral flexion. In addition the upper sections of each process experience higher stress peaks than the lower ones. Therefore, this study shows the material distribution within the cancellous bone adapts to these specific stress conditions the facet joints are exposed t

Funktionelle Struktur der Spongiosa der Processus articulares superiores der Lendenwirbelsäule

Den Facettengelenken wird in letzter Zeit für die Entstehung der Rückenschmerzen eine immer größere Bedeutung beigemessen. Ziel unserer Studie war es daher, die Material-verteilung der Processus articulares superiores der Lendenwirbelsäule mittels µ-CT zu untersuchen und daraus Rückschlüsse auf ihre Belastung zu ziehen. Verwendet wurden die oberen Gelenkfortsätze der Höhen L2 und S1 von 6 männlichen Leichen (68 - 94 Jahre) und 9 weiblichen Leichen (63 - 100 Jahre) aus dem Präparierkurs. Ausgewertet und miteinander verglichen wurden in 5 Abschnitte zu je 20% die Strukturparameter BV/TV, SMI, Tb.N* und Tb.Th*. Es zeigten sich statistisch signifikante Unterschiede zwischen L2 und S1. BV/TV, Tb.Th* und Tb.N* waren hierbei auf Höhe S1 signifikant höher, der SMI niedriger als auf Höhe L2. Innerhalb der Processus articulares superiores zeigen alle Strukturparameter eine ähnliche Verteilung. BV/TV, Tb.N* sowie im Os sacrum Tb.Th* nehmen von oben nach unten hin ab, der SMI nimmt nach unten hin zu. Diese Ergebnisse können im Zusammenhang mit der spezifischen Belastung sowie mit dem typischen Bewegungsmuster der kleinen Wirbelgelenke gesehen werden. Die oberen Gelenkfortsätze des Os sacrum sind durch ihre Lokalisation und den lumbosakralen Knick einer höheren axialen und ventralen Last ausgesetzt. Auch sind die oberen Abschnitte bei Flexion/Extension sowie der Seitwärtsbiegung durch die Inkongruenz der Gelenkflächen höheren Belastungsspitzen ausgesetzt als die unteren Abschnitte. So zeigt unsere Studie eine Anpassung der trabekulären Struktur an die spezielle Belastungssituation der kleinen Wirbelgelenke

Simple future weather files for estimating heating and cooling demand

AbstractEstimations of the future energy consumption of buildings are becoming increasingly important as a basis for energy management, energy renovation, investment planning, and for determining the feasibility of technologies and designs. Future weather scenarios, where the outdoor climate is usually represented by future weather files, are needed for estimating the future energy consumption. In many cases, however, the practitioner's ability to conveniently provide an estimate of the future energy consumption is hindered by the lack of easily available future weather files. This is, in part, due to the difficulties associated with generating high temporal resolution (hourly) estimates of future changes in air temperature. To address this issue, we investigate if, in the absence of high-resolution data, a weather file constructed from a coarse (annual) estimate of future air temperature change can provide useful estimates of future energy demand of a building. Experimental results based on both the degree-day method and dynamic simulations suggest that this is indeed the case. Specifically, heating demand estimates were found to be within a few per cent of one another, while estimates of cooling demand were slightly more varied. This variation was primarily due to the very few hours of cooling that were required in the region examined. Errors were found to be most likely when the air temperatures were close to the heating or cooling balance points, where the energy demand was modest and even relatively large errors might thus result in only modest absolute errors in energy demand

A comprehensive assessment of somatic mutation detection in cancer using whole-genome sequencing.

As whole-genome sequencing for cancer genome analysis becomes a clinical tool, a full understanding of the variables affecting sequencing analysis output is required. Here using tumour-normal sample pairs from two different types of cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and medulloblastoma, we conduct a benchmarking exercise within the context of the International Cancer Genome Consortium. We compare sequencing methods, analysis pipelines and validation methods. We show that using PCR-free methods and increasing sequencing depth to ∼ 100 × shows benefits, as long as the tumour:control coverage ratio remains balanced. We observe widely varying mutation call rates and low concordance among analysis pipelines, reflecting the artefact-prone nature of the raw data and lack of standards for dealing with the artefacts. However, we show that, using the benchmark mutation set we have created, many issues are in fact easy to remedy and have an immediate positive impact on mutation detection accuracy.We thank the DKFZ Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility and the OICR Genome Technologies Platform for provision of sequencing services. Financial support was provided by the consortium projects READNA under grant agreement FP7 Health-F4-2008-201418, ESGI under grant agreement 262055, GEUVADIS under grant agreement 261123 of the European Commission Framework Programme 7, ICGC-CLL through the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the Generalitat de Catalunya. Additional financial support was provided by the PedBrain Tumor Project contributing to the International Cancer Genome Consortium, funded by German Cancer Aid (109252) and by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grants #01KU1201A, MedSys #0315416C and NGFNplus #01GS0883; the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research to PCB and JDM through funding provided by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Research and Innovation; Genome Canada; the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Prostate Cancer Canada with funding from the Movember Foundation (PCB). PCB was also supported by a Terry Fox Research Institute New Investigator Award, a CIHR New Investigator Award and a Genome Canada Large-Scale Applied Project Contract. The Synergie Lyon Cancer platform has received support from the French National Institute of Cancer (INCa) and from the ABS4NGS ANR project (ANR-11-BINF-0001-06). The ICGC RIKEN study was supported partially by RIKEN President’s Fund 2011, and the supercomputing resource for the RIKEN study was provided by the Human Genome Center, University of Tokyo. MDE, LB, AGL and CLA were supported by Cancer Research UK, the University of Cambridge and Hutchison-Whampoa Limited. SD is supported by the Torres Quevedo subprogram (MI CINN) under grant agreement PTQ-12-05391. EH is supported by the Research Council of Norway under grant agreements 221580 and 218241 and by the Norwegian Cancer Society under grant agreement 71220-PR-2006-0433. Very special thanks go to Jennifer Jennings for administrating the activity of the ICGC Verification Working Group and Anna Borrell for administrative support.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1000

Exploring the social network of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in captivity

Socially flexible species might be at an advantage when facing environmental unpredictability, human-induced rapid environmental changes, or unnatural conditions such as encountered in captivity. The European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) was originally described as solitarily living forest-dwelling species. In recent decades, it has expanded its range into urban and agricultural areas forming large aggregations in open habitats. Captive environments are thought to mimic some challenges encountered in rapidly changing habitats, however, to date no study has assessed how roe deer social structure changes in captive conditions. In this study, we explored the social network of a small group of captive and unrelated roe deer over the course of a ten-month period using camera traps. We found that the roe deer established a temporally stable and non-random social network with the buck as the most central and dominant individual. In addition, we analysed affiliative interactions, which have not been described in roe deer yet. We found that the affiliation network consisted not only of preferential associations between the buck and other females, but also between females, whereby a young female played a central role. The seasonal changes in roe deer’ gregariousness observed in the wild were also observed in the captive population with an increase in association strength and social interactions in autumn. These results suggest that roe deer kept in a group setting in captivity seem to flexibly adjust their social behaviour; thus, supporting the assumption that roe deer show a high social flexibility that facilitates adaptations to various habitats.ISSN:0168-1591ISSN:1872-904

Endometrial luminal epithelial cells sense embryo elongation in the roe deer independent of interferon-tau

Numerous intrauterine changes take place across species during embryo development. Following fertilization in July/August, the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) embryo undergoes diapause until embryonic elongation in December/January. Embryonic elongation prior to implantation is a common feature among ungulates. Unlike many other ruminants, the roe deer embryo does not secrete interferon-tau (IFNτ). This provides the unique opportunity to unravel IFNτ-independent signaling pathways associated with maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP). This study aimed at identifying the cell-type–specific endometrial gene expression changes associated with the MRP at the time of embryo elongation that are independent of IFNτ in roe deer. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of genes known to be involved in embryo–maternal communication in cattle, pig, sheep, and mice was analyzed in laser capture microdissected (LMD) endometrial luminal, glandular epithelial, as well as stromal cells. The mRNA transcript abundances of the estrogen (ESR1), progesterone receptor (PGR), and IFNτ-stimulated genes were lower in the luminal epithelium in the presence of an elongated embryo compared to diapause. Retinol Binding Protein-4 (RBP4), a key factor involved in placentation, was more abundant in the luminal epithelium in the presence of an elongated embryo. The progesterone receptor localization was visualized by immunohistochemistry, showing an absence in the luminal epithelium and an overall lower abundance with time and thus prolonged progesterone exposure. Our data show a developmental stage-specific mRNA expression pattern in the luminal epithelium, indicating that these cells sense the presence of an elongated embryo in an IFNτ-independent manner

Evidence-based narratives in European research programming

Abstract The article introduces and exemplifies the approach of evidence-based narratives (EBN). The methodology is a product of co-design between policy-making and science, generating robust intelligence for evidence-based policy-making in the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission (DG RTD) under the condition of high uncertainty and fragmented evidence. The EBN transdisciplinary approach tackles practical problems of future-oriented policy-making, in this case in the area of programming for research and innovation addressing the Grand Societal Challenge related to climate change and natural resources. Between 2013 and 2018, the EU-funded RECREATE project developed 20 EBNs in a co-development process between scientists and policy-makers. All EBNs are supported with evidence about the underlying innovation system applying the technological innovation systems (TIS) framework. Each TIS analysis features the innovation, its current state of market diffusion and a description of the innovation investment case. Indicators include potential future market sizes, effects on employment and environmental and social benefits. Based on the innovation and TIS function analyses, the EBNs offer policy recommendations. The article ends with a critical discussion of the EBN approach