Practical guidelines for the treatment of patellar fractures in adults.

The role of the patella is paramount in the transmission of the quadriceps muscle forces, the increase of the lever arm, the distribution of the forces on the trochlea and the centring of the extensor apparatus. Despite the low incidence of patellar factures in comparison with other lower limb fractures, the painful and functional complications, such as knee stiffness, loss of extension and patellofemoral osteoarthritis, can be very disabling and will often compromise the return to a professional or recreational activity and induce falls in the elderly population. Treatment can be conservative or surgical, provided that it is adapted to the type of fracture. Undisplaced fractures with an intact extensor mechanism can be treated nonoperatively. Surgical treatment is recommended for fractures that either disrupt the extensor mechanism or have more than 2 to 3 mm of step-off and more than 1 to 4 mm of displacement. Tension band fixation is the most commonly employed surgical technique. In most cases, hardware has to be removed after fracture healing because of implant-related pain. Operative treatment of comminuted patellar fractures presents a significant challenge to surgeons. Failure to restore the articular surface contour results in posttraumatic arthritis. Anatomical reconstruction of the articular surface is the only way to prevent the development of posttraumatic osteoarthritis. Typically, fracture classification and thus treatment choice are based on anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the knee, but when computed tomography of the knee was performed pre-operatively, both the classification and treatment were modified thanks to a better understanding of the fracture complexity. The purpose of this article is to review current treatment strategies and optimise the management of adult patients with patellar fractures

Assessment of Polymer Atmospheric Correction Algorithm for Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Imagery over Coastal Waters

Spaceborne imaging spectroscopy, also called hyperspectral remote sensing, has shown huge potential to improve current water colour retrievals and, thereby, the monitoring of inland and coastal water ecosystems. However, the quality of water colour retrievals strongly depends on successful removal of the atmospheric/surface contributions to the radiance measured by satellite sensors. Atmospheric correction (AC) algorithms are specially designed to handle these effects, but are challenged by the hundreds of narrow spectral bands obtained by hyperspectral sensors. In this paper, we investigate the performance of Polymer AC for hyperspectral remote sensing over coastal waters. Polymer is, in nature, a hyperspectral algorithm that has been mostly applied to multispectral satellite data to date. Polymer was applied to data from the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO), validated against in situ multispectral (AERONET-OC) and hyperspectral radiometric measurements, and its performance was compared against that of the hyperspectral version of NASA’s standard AC algorithm, L2gen. The match-up analysis demonstrated very good performance of Polymer in the green spectral region. The mean absolute percentage difference across all the visible bands varied between 16% (green spectral region) and 66% (red spectral region). Compared with L2gen, Polymer remote sensing reflectances presented lower uncertainties, greater data coverage, and higher spectral similarity to in situ measurements. These results demonstrate the potential of Polymer to perform AC on hyperspectral satellite data over coastal waters, thus supporting its application in current and future hyperspectral satellite missions

Stellar atmosphere parameters with MAx, a MAssive compression of x^2 for spectral fitting

MAx is a new tool to estimate parameters from stellar spectra. It is based on the maximum likelihood method, with the likelihood compressed in a way that the information stored in the spectral fluxes is conserved. The compressed data are given by the size of the number of parameters, rather than by the number of flux points. The optimum speed-up reached by the compression is the ratio of the data set to the number of parameters. The method has been tested on a sample of low-resolution spectra from the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) survey for the estimate of metallicity, effective temperature and surface gravity, with accuracies of 0.24 dex, 130K and 0.5 dex, respectively. Our stellar parameters and those recovered by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline agree reasonably well. A small sample of high-resolution VLT-UVES spectra were also used to test the method and the results have been compared to a more classical approach. The speed and multi-resolution capability of MAx combined with its performance compared with other methods indicates that it will be a useful tool for the analysis of upcoming spectral surveys.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, minor changes after the chief language editor. A&A, in pres

Galactic chemical abundance evolution in the solar neighborhood up to the Iron peak

We have developed a detailed standard chemical evolution model to study the evolution of all the chemical elements up to the iron peak in the solar vicinity. We consider that the Galaxy was formed through two episodes of exponentially decreasing infall, out of extragalactic gas. In a first infall episode, with a duration of $\sim$ 1 Gyr, the halo and the thick disk were assembled out of primordial gas, while the thin disk formed in a second episode of infall of slightly enriched extragalactic gas, with much longer timescale. The model nicely reproduces the main observational constraints of the solar neighborhood, and the calculated elemental abundances at the time of the solar birth are in excellent agreement with the solar abundances. By the inclusion of metallicity dependent yields for the whole range of stellar masses we follow the evolution of 76 isotopes of all the chemical elements between hydrogen and zinc. Those results are confronted with a large and recent body of observational data, and we discuss in detail the implications for stellar nucleosynthesis.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, submitted to A&

The stellar halo of the Galaxy

Stellar halos may hold some of the best preserved fossils of the formation history of galaxies. They are a natural product of the merging processes that probably take place during the assembly of a galaxy, and hence may well be the most ubiquitous component of galaxies, independently of their Hubble type. This review focuses on our current understanding of the spatial structure, the kinematics and chemistry of halo stars in the Milky Way. In recent years, we have experienced a change in paradigm thanks to the discovery of large amounts of substructure, especially in the outer halo. I discuss the implications of the currently available observational constraints and fold them into several possible formation scenarios. Unraveling the formation of the Galactic halo will be possible in the near future through a combination of large wide field photometric and spectroscopic surveys, and especially in the era of Gaia.Comment: 46 pages, 16 figures. References updated and some minor changes. Full-resolution version available at http://www.astro.rug.nl/~ahelmi/stellar-halo-review.pd

The Gaia-ESO Survey : The analysis of high-resolution UVES spectra of FGK-type stars

Date of Acceptance: 01/09/2014Context. The ongoing Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is using FLAMES at the VLT to obtain high-quality medium-resolution Giraffe spectra for about 105 stars and high-resolution UVES spectra for about 5000 stars. With UVES, the Survey has already observed 1447 FGK-type stars. Aims. These UVES spectra are analyzed in parallel by several state-of-the-art methodologies. Our aim is to present how these analyses were implemented, to discuss their results, and to describe how a final recommended parameter scale is defined. We also discuss the precision (method-to-method dispersion) and accuracy (biases with respect to the reference values) of the final parameters. These results are part of the Gaia-ESO second internal release and will be part of its first public release of advanced data products. Methods. The final parameter scale is tied to the scale defined by the Gaia benchmark stars, a set of stars with fundamental atmospheric parameters. In addition, a set of open and globular clusters is used to evaluate the physical soundness of the results. Each of the implemented methodologies is judged against the benchmark stars to define weights in three different regions of the parameter space. The final recommended results are the weighted medians of those from the individual methods. Results. The recommended results successfully reproduce the atmospheric parameters of the benchmark stars and the expected Teff-log g relation of the calibrating clusters. Atmospheric parameters and abundances have been determined for 1301 FGK-type stars observed with UVES. The median of the method-to-method dispersion of the atmospheric parameters is 55 K for Teff, 0.13 dex for log g and 0.07 dex for [Fe/H]. Systematic biases are estimated to be between 50-100 K for Teff, 0.10-0.25 dex for log g and 0.05-0.10 dex for [Fe/H]. Abundances for 24 elements were derived: C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Mo, Ba, Nd, and Eu. The typical method-to-method dispersion of the abundances varies between 0.10 and 0.20 dex. Conclusions. The Gaia-ESO sample of high-resolution spectra of FGK-type stars will be among the largest of its kind analyzed in a homogeneous way. The extensive list of elemental abundances derived in these stars will enable significant advances in the areas of stellar evolution and Milky Way formation and evolution.Peer reviewe

Galaxy Formation Theory

We review the current theory of how galaxies form within the cosmological framework provided by the cold dark matter paradigm for structure formation. Beginning with the pre-galactic evolution of baryonic material we describe the analytical and numerical understanding of how baryons condense into galaxies, what determines the structure of those galaxies and how internal and external processes (including star formation, merging, active galactic nuclei etc.) determine their gross properties and evolution. Throughout, we highlight successes and failings of current galaxy formation theory. We include a review of computational implementations of galaxy formation theory and assess their ability to provide reliable modelling of this complex phenomenon. We finish with a discussion of several "hot topics" in contemporary galaxy formation theory and assess future directions for this field.Comment: 58 pages, to appear in Physics Reports. This version includes minor corrections and a handful of additional reference

Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability.

Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot). Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%). Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18-56) years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92-0.95; pain rating r = 0.93-0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87-0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%). Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add validity and improve acceptance of this potentially important pain measure.Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add validity and improve acceptance of this potentially important pain measure

Assembly-dependent translation of subunits 6 (Atp6) and 9 (Atp9) of ATP synthase in yeast mitochondria

The yeast mitochondrial ATP synthase is an assembly of 28 subunits of 17 types of which 3 (subunits 6, 8, and 9) are encoded by mitochondrial genes, while the 14 others have a nuclear genetic origin. Within the membrane domain (FO) of this enzyme, the subunit 6 and a ring of 10 identical subunits 9 transport protons across the mitochondrial inner membrane coupled to ATP synthesis in the extra-membrane structure (F1) of ATP synthase. As a result of their dual genetic origin, the ATP synthase subunits are synthesized in the cytosol and inside the mitochondrion. How they are produced in the proper stoichiometry from two different cellular compartments is still poorly understood. The experiments herein reported show that the rate of translation of the subunits 9 and 6 is enhanced in strains with mutations leading to specific defects in the assembly of these proteins. These translation modifications involve assembly intermediates interacting with subunits 6 and 9 within the final enzyme and cis-regulatory sequences that control gene expression in the organelle. In addition to enabling a balanced output of the ATP synthase subunits, these assembly-dependent feedback loops are presumably important to limit the accumulation of harmful assembly intermediates that have the potential to dissipate the mitochondrial membrane electrical potential and the main source of chemical energy of the cell

Current and Future Experimental Strategies for Structural Analysis of Trichothecene Mycotoxins-A Prospectus

Fungal toxins, such as those produced by members of the order Hypocreales, have widespread effects on cereal crops, resulting in yield losses and the potential for severe disease and mortality in humans and livestock. Among the most toxic are the trichothecenes. Trichothecenes have various detrimental effects on eukaryotic cells including an interference with protein production and the disruption of nucleic acid synthesis. However, these toxins can have a wide range of toxicity depending on the system. Major differences in the phytotoxicity and cytotoxicity of these mycotoxins are observed for individual members of the class, and variations in toxicity are observed among different species for each individual compound. Furthermore, while diverse toxicological effects are observed throughout the whole cellular system upon trichothecene exposure, the mechanism of toxicity is not well understood. In order to comprehend how these toxins interact with the cell, we must first have an advanced understanding of their structure and dynamics. The structural analysis of trichothecenes was a subject of major interest in the 1980s, and primarily focused on crystallographic and solution-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic studies. Recent advances in structural determination through solution- and solid-state NMR, as well as computation based molecular modeling is leading to a resurgent interest in the structure of these and other mycotoxins, with the focus shifting in the direction of structural dynamics. The purpose of this work is to first provide a brief overview of the structural data available on trichothecenes and a characterization of the methods commonly employed to obtain such information. A summary of the current understanding of the relationship between structure and known function of these compounds is also presented. Finally, a prospectus on the application of new emerging structural methods on these and other related systems is discussed