Case Report: Ischial Stress Fracture Non-Union in a College Football Player

Stress fractures are common injuries associated with repetitive high-impact activities, often in high-level athletes and military recruits. Although predominantly occurring in the lower extremities, stress fractures may occur wherever there is a sudden increase in frequency or intensity of activity, thereby overloading the yield point of the local bone environment. Ischial stress fractures are a rarely diagnosed cause of pain around the hip and pelvis. Often, patients present with buttock pain with activity, which can be misdiagnosed as proximal hamstring tendonitis or avulsion. Here, we report a case of a college football player who was diagnosed with an ischial stress fracture which went on to symptomatic non-union after extensive conservative management. We treated his ischial non-union with open reduction internal fixation utilizing a tension band plate and screws. This interesting case highlights an uncommon cause of the relatively common presentation of posterior hip pain and describes our technique for addressing a stress fracture non-union in the ischium

Establishment and Spread of a Single Parthenogenic Genotype of the Mediterranean arundo wasp, Tetramesa romana1, In the Variable Climate of Texas

As part of a biological control program for the invasive weed, Arundo donax L., several genotypically unique populations of the parthenogenetic stemgalling wasp, Tetramesa romana Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), from Spain and France were released in an infested riparian zone along the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Del Rio, TX. An adventive population of the wasp of unknown origin with limited distribution in Texas was also discovered, evaluated, and released as part of the program. More than 1.2 million wasps representing the mixture of genotypes were aerially released from 2009 to 2011. Wasps dispersed from their original release locations and now have a continuous distribution along the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Del Rio, and have dispersed throughout most of Central Texas with satellite populations as far west as San Angelo (Tom Green County), north as far as Kaufman (Kaufman County), and east to Navasota (Grimes County). The most successful genotype (#4) represented 390 of the 409 wasps recovered and matched both an imported population from the Mediterranean coast of Spain and an adventive population established in Texas before the start of the biological control program. Several other European genotypes of the wasp released in the program apparently failed to establish. This result demonstrated the benefits of evaluating and releasing the maximum genetic diversity of the biological control agent in the introduced range. Abundance of T. romana on the Rio Grande from Laredo to Del Rio averaged 190% more in 2013-2014 compared to a similar study in 2008-2009 before release of the European wasps. A favorability index was developed that showed that conditions from 1969 to 1977 would have been adverse to the wasp; conditions after 2009 were more favorable. Climate matching predicts the wasp will disperse throughout the southern U.S. and Mexico

Phylogeography of an endangered disjunct herb: long-distance dispersal, refugia and colonization routes

Quaternary glacial cycles appear to have had a consistent role in shaping the genetic diversity and structure of plant species. Despite the unusual combination of the characteristics of the western Mediterranean– Macaronesian area, there are no studies that have specifically examined the effects of palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic factors on the genetic composition and structure of annual herbs. Astragalus edulis is a disjunct endemic found in the easternmost Canary Islands and the semi-arid areas of north-eastern Africa and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. This endangered species shows no evident adaptations to long-distance dispersal. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) data and plastid DNA sequences were analysed from a total of 360 individuals distributed throughout the range of this species. The modelled potential distribution of A. edulis under current conditions was projected over the climatic conditions of the Last Interglacial (130 ka BP) and Last Glacial Maximum (21 ka BP) to analyse changes in habitat suitability and to look for associations between the modelling and genetic results. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis showed clear phylogeographic structure with four distinct genetic clusters. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) models based on plastid DNA sequences indicated a Middle Pleistocene long-distance dispersal event as the origin of the populations of the Canary Islands. The models also suggested south-western Morocco as the ancestral area for the species, as well as subsequent colonization of north-eastern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. The data compiled indicated the possibility of the presence of refuge areas at favourable locations around the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges. Moreover, palaeodistribution models strongly support the events inferred by ABC modelling and show the potential distribution of the species in the past, suggesting a putative colonization route.This work has been financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the projects CGL2012- 32574 and REN2003-09427, as well as by the Andalusian Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología through the project RNM1067. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript

Molecular and Physiological Properties Associated with Zebra Complex Disease in Potatoes and Its Relation with Candidatus Liberibacter Contents in Psyllid Vectors

Zebra complex (ZC) disease on potatoes is associated with Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLs), an α-proteobacterium that resides in the plant phloem and is transmitted by the potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Šulc). The name ZC originates from the brown striping in fried chips of infected tubers, but the whole plants also exhibit a variety of morphological features and symptoms for which the physiological or molecular basis are not understood. We determined that compared to healthy plants, stems of ZC-plants accumulate starch and more than three-fold total protein, including gene expression regulatory factors (e.g. cyclophilin) and tuber storage proteins (e.g., patatins), indicating that ZC-affected stems are reprogrammed to exhibit tuber-like physiological properties. Furthermore, the total phenolic content in ZC potato stems was elevated two-fold, and amounts of polyphenol oxidase enzyme were also high, both serving to explain the ZC-hallmark rapid brown discoloration of air-exposed damaged tissue. Newly developed quantitative and/or conventional PCR demonstrated that the percentage of psyllids in laboratory colonies containing detectable levels of CLs and its titer could fluctuate over time with effects on colony prolificacy, but presumed reproduction-associated primary endosymbiont levels remained stable. Potato plants exposed in the laboratory to psyllid populations with relatively low-CLs content survived while exposure of plants to high-CLs psyllids rapidly culminated in a lethal collapse. In conclusion, we identified plant physiological biomarkers associated with the presence of ZC and/or CLs in the vegetative potato plant tissue and determined that the titer of CLs in the psyllid population directly affects the rate of disease development in plants

Drucker\u27s Insights on Market Orientation and Innovation: Implications for Emerging Areas in High-Technology Marketing

In 1954, Drucker boldly declared that organizations have only two basic functions, marketing and innovation. While true for any organization, this insight is particularly pertinent for technology-based businesses. The complicated environment surrounding high-tech companies creates a great need for sophisticated marketing, yet these companies continue to have under-developed competencies in marketing and in understanding customer needs. In its first two sections, this essay explores Drucker’s insights with respect to two particularly salient issues for high-tech companies: developing and implementing a market orientation, and sustained break-through innovations. We review Drucker’s insights and synthesize them with the scholarly research on these issues. In the third section, we discuss three emerging areas in high-tech marketing where academics and managers could build on Drucker’s insight to guide future research and practice: market-driving, customer co-creation, and corporate social responsibility. The illustrative examples provided by these emerging areas highlight that even today, Drucker’s writings continue to offer remarkable guidance to scholars and managers who are willing to take the time to reflect, understand, and incorporate these insights in the unique context of high-tech industries

Bone Biomarkers Help Grading Severity of Coronary Calcifications in Non Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

BACKGROUND: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) are recognized as strong risk factors of vascular calcifications in non dialysis chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between FGF23, OPG, and coronary artery calcifications (CAC) in this population and to attempt identification of the most powerful biomarker of CAC: FGF23? OPG? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 195 ND-CKD patients (112 males/83 females, 70.8 [27.4-94.6] years) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. All underwent chest multidetector computed tomography for CAC scoring. Vascular risk markers including FGF23 and OPG were measured. Logistic regression analyses were used to study the potential relationships between CAC and these markers. The fully adjusted-univariate analysis clearly showed high OPG (≥10.71 pmol/L) as the only variable significantly associated with moderate CAC ([100-400[) (OR = 2.73 [1.03;7.26]; p = 0.04). Such association failed to persist for CAC scoring higher than 400. Indeed, severe CAC was only associated with high phosphate fractional excretion (FEPO(4)) (≥38.71%) (OR = 5.47 [1.76;17.0]; p = 0.003) and high FGF23 (≥173.30 RU/mL) (OR = 5.40 [1.91;15.3]; p = 0.002). In addition, the risk to present severe CAC when FGF23 level was high was not significantly different when OPG was normal or high. Conversely, the risk to present moderate CAC when OPG level was high was not significantly different when FGF23 was normal or high. CONCLUSIONS: Our results strongly suggest that OPG is associated to moderate CAC while FGF23 rather represents a biomarker of severe CAC in ND-CKD patients

Wild-type and mutant SOD1 share an aberrant conformation and a common pathogenic pathway in ALS.

Many mutations confer one or more toxic function(s) on copper/zinc superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) that impair motor neuron viability and cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). Using a conformation-specific antibody that detects misfolded SOD1 (C4F6), we found that oxidized wild-type SOD1 and mutant SOD1 share a conformational epitope that is not present in normal wild-type SOD1. In a subset of human sporadic ALS (SALS) cases, motor neurons in the lumbosacral spinal cord were markedly C4F6 immunoreactive, indicating that an aberrant wild-type SOD1 species was present. Recombinant, oxidized wild-type SOD1 and wild-type SOD1 immunopurified from SALS tissues inhibited kinesin-based fast axonal transport in a manner similar to that of FALS-linked mutant SOD1. Our findings suggest that wild-type SOD1 can be pathogenic in SALS and identify an SOD1-dependent pathogenic mechanism common to FALS and SALS

Squeezed tensor non-Gaussianity in non-attractor inflation

We investigate primordial tensor non-Gaussianity in single field inflation, during a phase of non-attractor evolution when the spectrum of primordial tensor modes can be enhanced to a level detectable at interferometer scales. Making use of a tensor duality we introduced in arXiv:1808.10475, we analytically compute the full bispectrum of primordial tensor fluctuations during the non-attractor era. During this epoch the shape of the tensor bispectrum is enhanced in the squeezed limit, its amplitude can be amplified with respect to slow-roll models, and tensor non-Gaussianity can exhibit a scale dependence distinctive of our set-up. We prove that our results do not depend on the frame used for the calculations. Squeezed tensor non-Gaussianity induces a characteristic quadrupolar anisotropy on the power spectrum of the stochastic background of primordial tensor perturbations. As a step to make contact with gravitational wave experiments, we discuss the response function of a ground based Michelson interferometer to a gravitational wave background with such a feature.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figure