376 research outputs found
Quadriceps tendon autograft is becoming increasingly popular in revision ACL reconstruction
© 2021, The Author(s). Purpose: To evaluate trends in revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R), with emphasis on intra-articular findings, grafts, and concurrent procedures. It was hypothesized that revision ACL-Rs over time show a trend toward increased complexity with increased use of autografts over allografts. Methods: This was a two-center retrospective study including patients undergoing revision ACL-R between 2010 and 2020. Demographic and surgical data including intra-articular findings and concurrent procedures were collected and compared for the time periods 2010–2014 and 2015–2020. All collected variables were compared between three pre-defined age groups (\u3c 20 years, 20–30 years, \u3e 30 years), right and left knees, and males and females. A time series analysis was performed to assess trends in revision ACL-R. Results: This study included 260 patients with a mean age of 26.2 ± 9.4 years at the time of the most recent revision ACL-R, representing the first, second, third, and fourth revision ACL-R for 214 (82%), 35 (14%), 10 (4%), and 1 (\u3c 1%) patients, respectively. Patients age \u3e 30 years showed a significantly longer mean time from primary ACL-R to most recent revision ACL-R (11.1 years), compared to patients age \u3c 20 years (2.2 years, p \u3c 0.001) and age 20–30 years (5.5 years, p \u3c 0.05). Quadriceps tendon autograft was used significantly more often in 2015–2020 compared to 2010–2014 (49% vs. 18%, p \u3c 0.001). A high rate of concurrently performed procedures including meniscal repairs (45%), lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET; 31%), osteotomies (13%), and meniscal allograft transplantations (11%) was shown. Concurrent LET was associated with intact cartilage and severely abnormal preoperative knee laxity and showed a statistically significant and linear increase over time (p \u3c 0.05). Intact cartilage (41%, p \u3c 0.05), concurrent medial meniscal repairs (39%, p \u3c 0.05), and LET (35%, non-significant) were most frequently observed in patients aged \u3c 20 years. Conclusion: Quadriceps tendon autograft and concurrent LET are becoming increasingly popular in revision ACL-R. Intact cartilage and severely abnormal preoperative knee laxity represent indications for LET in revision ACL-R. The high rate of concurrent procedures observed demonstrates the high surgical demands of revision ACL-R. Level of evidence: Level III
Nuclear Resonance Vibrational Spectroscopy of Iron Sulfur Proteins
Nuclear inelastic scattering in conjunction with density functional theory
(DFT) calculations has been applied for the identification of vibrational modes
of the high-spin ferric and the high-spin ferrous iron-sulfur center of a
rubredoxin-type protein from the thermophylic bacterium Pyrococcus abysii
General boundary conditions for the envelope function in multiband k.p model
We have derived general boundary conditions (BC) for the multiband envelope
functions (which do not contain spurious solutions) in semiconductor
heterostructures with abrupt heterointerfaces. These BC require the
conservation of the probability flux density normal to the interface and
guarantee that the multiband Hamiltonian be self--adjoint. The BC are energy
independent and are characteristic properties of the interface. Calculations
have been performed of the effect of the general BC on the electron energy
levels in a potential well with infinite potential barriers using a coupled two
band model. The connection with other approaches to determining BC for the
envelope function and to the spurious solution problem in the multiband k.p
model are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. B 65, March 15
issue 200
Low-energy structure of the even-A 96−104 Ru isotopes via g-factor measurements
The transient-field-perturbed angular correlation technique was used with Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics to perform a systematic measurement of the g factors of the first excited 21+ states in the stable even-A isotopes Ru96-104. The measurements have been made relative to one another under matched kinematic conditions and include a measurement of g(21+)=+0.47(3) in Ru96
The Persistence Length of a Strongly Charged, Rod-like, Polyelectrolyte in the Presence of Salt
The persistence length of a single, intrinsically rigid polyelectrolyte
chain, above the Manning condensation threshold is investigated theoretically
in presence of added salt. Using a loop expansion method, the partition
function is consistently calculated, taking into account corrections to
mean-field theory. Within a mean-field approximation, the well-known results of
Odijk, Skolnick and Fixman are reproduced. Beyond mean-field, it is found that
density correlations between counterions and thermal fluctuations reduce the
stiffness of the chain, indicating an effective attraction between monomers for
highly charged chains and multivalent counterions. This attraction results in a
possible mechanical instability (collapse), alluding to the phenomenon of DNA
condensation. In addition, we find that more counterions condense on slightly
bent conformations of the chain than predicted by the Manning model for the
case of an infinite cylinder. Finally, our results are compared with previous
models and experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 2 ps figure
Habitat use by Siberian warbler species at a stopover site in Far Eastern Russia
Knowledge of the routes and habitat use of Siberian songbird species during migration is very limited. The goal of our study was to describe the autumnal habitat use of seven Siberian warbler species in the genera Phylloscopus, Acrocephalus, Iduna and Locustella in Far Eastern Russia. A total of 2283 individuals were trapped in mist nets placed within different habitat types between 2012 and 2014 as part of the Amur Bird Project at Muraviovka Park in Far Eastern Russia. We studied the effect of habitat type and vegetation height on the occurrence of each species, and compared our results to published information on habitat use on the breeding grounds. Our results demonstrate that most species exhibit species-specific preferences for habitat type, and that these stopover habitats were similar to habitats used on the breeding grounds. © 2018 British Trust for Ornitholog
S isotopes in space : Shell-model interpretation
The structure of S isotopes is described by performing
comprehensive shell model calculations with SDPF-U and SDPFMW interactions.
Protons and neutrons are restricted to the -shell for , neutrons
start to fill the -shell for . Natural parity states are described
by only in-shell mixing, unnatural parity states with 1p-1h inter-shell neutron
excitations. With SDPF-U interaction, reported are the results for natural
parity states only because this interaction is not suitable for cross shell
excitations. Calculated energy levels, electromagnetic properties and
spectroscopic factors are in good agreement with the recently available
experimental data.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables; Accepted for publication in Nuclear
Physics
The Kink Turn, a Key Architectural Element in RNA Structure
AbstractKink turns (k-turns) are widespread structural elements that introduce an axial bend into duplex RNA with an included angle of 50°. These mediate key tertiary interactions and bind specific proteins including members of the L7Ae family. The standard k-turn comprises a three-nucleotide bulge followed by G·A and A·G pairs. The RNA kinks by an association of the two minor grooves, stabilized by the formation of a number of key cross-strand hydrogen bonds mostly involving the adenine bases of the G·A and A·G pairs. The k-turns may be divided into two conformational classes, depending on the receptor for one of these hydrogen bonds. k-turns become folded by one of three different processes. Some, but not all, k-turns become folded in the presence of metal ions. Whether or not a given k-turn is folded under these conditions is determined by its sequence. We present a set of rules for the prediction of folding properties and the structure adopted on local sequence
Magnetic fields in supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae
We review the observations of supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar-wind
nebulae (PWNe) that give information on the strength and orientation of
magnetic fields. Radio polarimetry gives the degree of order of magnetic
fields, and the orientation of the ordered component. Many young shell
supernova remnants show evidence for synchrotron X-ray emission. The spatial
analysis of this emission suggests that magnetic fields are amplified by one to
two orders of magnitude in strong shocks. Detection of several remnants in TeV
gamma rays implies a lower limit on the magnetic-field strength (or a
measurement, if the emission process is inverse-Compton upscattering of cosmic
microwave background photons). Upper limits to GeV emission similarly provide
lower limits on magnetic-field strengths. In the historical shell remnants,
lower limits on B range from 25 to 1000 microGauss. Two remnants show
variability of synchrotron X-ray emission with a timescale of years. If this
timescale is the electron-acceleration or radiative loss timescale, magnetic
fields of order 1 mG are also implied. In pulsar-wind nebulae, equipartition
arguments and dynamical modeling can be used to infer magnetic-field strengths
anywhere from about 5 microGauss to 1 mG. Polarized fractions are considerably
higher than in SNRs, ranging to 50 or 60% in some cases; magnetic-field
geometries often suggest a toroidal structure around the pulsar, but this is
not universal. Viewing-angle effects undoubtedly play a role. MHD models of
radio emission in shell SNRs show that different orientations of upstream
magnetic field, and different assumptions about electron acceleration, predict
different radio morphology. In the remnant of SN 1006, such comparisons imply a
magnetic-field orientation connecting the bright limbs, with a non-negligible
gradient of its strength across the remnant.Comment: 20 pages, 24 figures; to be published in SpSciRev. Minor wording
change in Abstrac
The K-turn motif in riboswitches and other RNA species
AbstractThe kink turn is a widespread structure motif that introduces a tight bend into the axis of duplex RNA. This generally functions to mediate tertiary interactions, and to serve as a specific protein binding site. K-turns or closely related structures are found in at least seven different riboswitch structures, where they function as key architectural elements that help generate the ligand binding pocket. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Riboswitches
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