Biodegradation of a magnesium alloy implant in the intercondylar femoral notch showed an appropriate response to the synovial membrane in a rabbit model in vivo

Degradable magnesium alloys are promising biomaterials for orthopedic applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effects on both the synovial membrane (synovialis) and the synovial fluid (synovia) of the degradation products of a MgYREZr-pin implanted in the intercondylar femoral notch in a rabbit model. Thirty-six animals were randomized into two groups (MgYREZr or Ti6Al4V alloy) of 18 animals each. Each group was then divided into three subgroups with implantation periods of 1, 4, and 12 weeks, with six animals in each subgroup. The initial inflammatory reaction caused by the surgical trauma declined after 12 weeks of implantation, and elucidated a progressive recovery of the synovial membrane. Compared with control Ti6Al4V pins, there were no significant differences between the groups. However, after 12 weeks, recovery of the synovial membrane was more advanced in the titanium group, in which 92% showed no signs of synovitis, than in the magnesium group. A cytotoxicity test with L929 cells and human osteoblasts (HOB) was also conducted, according to EN ISO 10993-5/12, and no toxic leachable products were observed after 24 h of incubation. In conclusion, the MgYREZr alloy seems to be a suitable material for intra-articular degradable implants. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

Shifting boundaries : territories, networks and cities

Information Technologies and increasingly advanced infrastructural connections compress space and time, reshape territorial patterns and challenge boundaries. The traditional physical limits of cities and territories become meaningless, blurred by the networks that keep the “global village” together. The overcoming of the boundary walls of cities in the nineteenth century, the fall of the Berlin wall and the recent opening of international frontiers in Europe could be understood as steps toward the achievement of an ideal society without walls other than the minimum limits necessary for shelter and privacy. Yet, even while markets are establishing systems of planetary interdependence and metropolitan regions get more and more directly related to a global dimension, there appears to be a paradoxical tendency toward the reinforcement of local boundaries. In crime-ridden American neighborhoods buildings tend to be fortified like military bases. In gated communities the protection of privileged circles through the erection of physical boundaries is marketed as an attractive amenity. Primary urban facilities like large urban hospitals, universities and shopping malls, establish simulations of “public” venues within physically bounded and access-controlled environments. The “network society” establishes new paradigms of territorial occupation and control. The former boundaries are fragmented, removed and shifted to the edges of new citadels that become nodes absorbed into a fluid and globally extended system of connections. The glassy ramparts of corporate buildings, the brick and stone bastions of the temples of consumption, the aristocratic and exclusive stockades of gated com¬ munities, represent the new hard-edge boundaries of cities. Focusing on the establishment of large urban enclaves and on the systems of relationship they form with their surroundings, the paper considers the impact of Information Technologies and the rise of the contemporary “network culture” on the territorial structure of urban fields.Ezechieli Carlo. Shifting boundaries : territories, networks and cities. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 12 n°1-3, juin 1998. Geospace & Cyberspace. Henry Bakis, Joana Maria Segui Pons (editors) pp. 35-50

Management of FAIS in professional soccer athletes and return to sports

Budde S, Ezechieli M. Management der FAIS-Sportlerhüfte im Profifußball und „return to sports“. Orthopäde. 2022.The prevalence of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome in professional soccer athletes is high. Professional training and treatment conditions ensure an effective conservative therapy focusing on dynamic stability, motion control, muscle balance and core stability. In the case of persistent limitations, indication for surgery has to be considered carefully. The probability is high that return to aprofessional level of soccer is feasible. However, the period of rehabilitation is long, leading to apotential conflict area between economic and medical interests. Good communication and intensive patient education are essential. © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.Die Prävalenz des femoroazetabulären Impingement-Syndroms unter professionellen Fußballspielern ist hoch. Die professionellen Trainings- und Behandlungsbedingungen stellen eine effektive konservative Therapie sicher, bei der es vor allem auf dynamische Stabilität, Bewegungskontrolle, Muskelbalance und Rumpfstabilisierung ankommt. Bei dennoch bestehenden Einschränkungen muss eine Operationsindikation sorgfältig geprüft werden. Nach einer Operation ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit hoch, dass Sport auf professionellem Niveau fortgeführt werden kann, jedoch ist die notwendige Rehabilitationsphase lang. Daraus resultiert ein Spannungsfeld zwischen wirtschaftlichen und medizinischen Interessen, in dem einer guten Kommunikation und intensiven Patientenaufklärung eine große Bedeutung zukommt

Instruments for the improvement of urban quality in Albania: Analysis, Communication, Assessment

,10.502 caratteri spazi esclusi. Rivista on line pubblicata prima dal web site dell'Istituto Italiano di Cultura di New York e successivamente anche dal web site dell'Università Politecnica delle Marche www.italcultny.org e www.adriatico.univpm.i