Preoperative laxity in osteoarthritis patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty

A preoperative quantitative evaluation of soft tissues is helpful for planning total knee arthroplasty, in addition to the conventional clinical examinations involved in moving the knee manually. We evaluated preoperative coronal laxity with osteoarthritis in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty by applying a force of 150 N with an arthrometer. We examined a consecutive series of 120 knees in 102 patients. The median laxity was 0° in abduction and 8° in adduction. The femorotibial angle on non-weight-bearing standard anteroposterior radiographs was 180° and correlated with both abduction (r = −0.244, p = 0.007) and adduction (r = 0.205, p = 0.025) laxity. The results of a regression analysis suggested that the femorotibial angle is helpful for estimating both laxities. Considering the many reports on how to obtain well-balanced soft tissues, stress radiographs might help to improve the preoperative planning for gaining the optimal laxity deemed appropriate by surgeons

Human RECQL5 participates in the removal of endogenous DNA damage

Human RECQL5 is a member of the RecQ helicase family, which maintains genome stability via participation in many DNA metabolic processes, including DNA repair. Human cells lacking RECQL5 display chromosomal instability. We find that cells depleted of RECQL5 are sensitive to oxidative stress, accumulate endogenous DNA damage, and increase the cellular poly(ADP-ribosyl)ate response. In contrast to the RECQ helicase family members WRN, BLM, and RECQL4, RECQL5 accumulates at laser-induced single-strand breaks in normal human cells. RECQL5 depletion affects the levels of PARP-1 and XRCC1, and our collective results suggest that RECQL5 modulates and/or directly participates in base excision repair of endogenous DNA damage, thereby promoting chromosome stability in normal human cells

Photosensitivity in glasses

A photosensitive glass containing a small amount of a photosensitive metal such as Au, Ag, or Cu, and a sensitizer of CeO2, is expressed a function of the redox reaction induced by the irradiation of ultraviolet light. In particular, a photosensitive glass is an indispensable material in the photolithography technique, which is valuable in the microprocessing of glass substrates. Here we aim to discuss the photosensitivity of glass from the perspectives of photochemical, photophysical, and photothermal mechanisms. In particular, from three different points of view (photothermal, photochemical, and photophysical interactions), various intriguing phenomena induced by ultrashort pulse lasers are addressed. Furthermore, a new type of photosensitivity exhibiting nonreciprocal characteristics is also discussed

Control of structure-specific endonucleases to maintain genome stability

International audienc

Multi-ethnic genome-wide association study for atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects more than 33 million individuals worldwide1 and has a complex heritability2. We conducted the largest meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for AF to date, consisting of more than half a million individuals, including 65,446 with AF. In total, we identified 97 loci significantly associated with AF, including 67 that were novel in a combined-ancestry analysis, and 3 that were novel in a European-specific analysis. We sought to identify AF-associated genes at the GWAS loci by performing RNA-sequencing and expression quantitative trait locus analyses in 101 left atrial samples, the most relevant tissue for AF. We also performed transcriptome-wide analyses that identified 57 AF-associated genes, 42 of which overlap with GWAS loci. The identified loci implicate genes enriched within cardiac developmental, electrophysiological, contractile and structural pathways. These results extend our understanding of the biological pathways underlying AF and may facilitate the development of therapeutics for AF