Impact of leg lengthening on viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the morphological alterations of the deep fascia subjected to leg lengthening have been investigated in cellular and extracellular aspects, the impact of leg lengthening on viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia remains largely unknown. This study aimed to address the changes of viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia during leg lengthening using uniaxial tensile test.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Animal model of leg lengthening was established in New Zealand white rabbits. Distraction was initiated at a rate of 1 mm/day and 2 mm/day in two steps, and preceded until increases of 10% and 20% in the initial length of tibia had been achieved. The deep fascia specimens of 30 mm × 10 mm were clamped with the Instron 1122 tensile tester at room temperature with a constant tensile rate of 5 mm/min. After 5 load-download tensile tests had been performed, the specimens were elongated until rupture. The load-displacement curves were automatically generated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The normal deep fascia showed typical viscoelastic rule of collagenous tissues. Each experimental group of the deep fascia after leg lengthening kept the properties. The curves of the deep fascia at a rate of 1 mm/day with 20% increase in tibia length were the closest to those of normal deep fascia. The ultimate tension strength and the strain at rupture on average of normal deep fascia were 2.69 N (8.97 mN/mm²) and 14.11%, respectively. The increases in ultimate tension strength and strain at rupture of the deep fascia after leg lengthening were statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The deep fascia subjected to leg lengthening exhibits viscoelastic properties as collagenous tissues without lengthening other than increased strain and strength. Notwithstanding different lengthening schemes result in varied viscoelastic properties changes, the most comparable viscoelastic properties to be demonstrated are under the scheme of a distraction rate of 1 mm/day and 20% increase in tibia length.</p

'A great space of murmurings': madness, romance and geography

Prompted by the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Foucault’s famous book commonly known in English as Madness and Civilization, this essay explores how the book has changed between versions, in the process losing what can be cast as both its phenomenological undertones and a ‘romanticism’ about the truths supposedly revealed by madness. Reasons for Foucault’s own disavowal of these elements are considered, and taken together – conjoining a critical biography of the book with attention to Foucault’s reactions to it – this essay fashions a mirror to hold up to certain currents within contemporary human geography. It is argued that the ‘romantic fantasy’ which permeates the original book, if not overwhelming it, has significant echoes in the ‘romantic gesture’ displayed by some present-day geographers. The older Foucault’s distancing from his earlier romanticism is hence instructive for scholars critiquing the recent history of human geography, but there may also be grounds for claiming that it would be mistaken to lose this romanticism, together with its phenomenological correlates, entirely