3D ultrasound reconstruction of sonographic callus:a novel imaging modality for early evaluation of fracture healing

AIMS: The aim of this study was to establish a reliable method for producing 3D reconstruction of sonographic callus. METHODS: A cohort of ten closed tibial shaft fractures managed with intramedullary nailing underwent ultrasound scanning at two, six, and 12 weeks post-surgery. Ultrasound capture was performed using infrared tracking technology to map each image to a 3D lattice. Using echo intensity, semi-automated mapping was performed to produce an anatomical 3D representation of the fracture site. Two reviewers independently performed 3D reconstructions and kappa coefficient was used to determine agreement. A further validation study was undertaken with ten reviewers to estimate the clinical application of this imaging technique using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Nine of the ten patients achieved union at six months. At six weeks, seven patients had bridging callus of ≥ one cortex on the 3D reconstruction and when present all achieved union. Compared to six-week radiographs, no bridging callus was present in any patient. Of the three patients lacking sonographic bridging callus, one went onto a nonunion (77.8% sensitive and 100% specific to predict union). At 12 weeks, nine patients had bridging callus at ≥ one cortex on 3D reconstruction (100%-sensitive and 100%-specific to predict union). Presence of sonographic bridging callus on 3D reconstruction demonstrated excellent reviewer agreement on ICC at 0.87 (95% confidence interval 0.74 to 0.96). CONCLUSION: 3D fracture reconstruction can be created using multiple ultrasound images in order to evaluate the presence of bridging callus. This imaging modality has the potential to enhance the usability and accuracy of identification of early fracture healing. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2021;10(12):759–766

Elastic scattering of spin polarised electrons from krypton

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Comparison of Electron-Atom Collision Parameters for S to P Transitions under Reversal of Energy Transfer

Inelastic and superelastic electron scattering from the optically prepared 32P3/2 state of sodium has enabled atomic collision parameters to be deduced for the 4S-3P deexcitation and the 3S-3P excitation processes. These data are compared with convergent close coupling and second order distorted wave Born calculations. For excitation, both theories agree with experiment, whereas for deexcitation the close coupling theory is in better agreement. A long-standing proposal relating to the sign of the transferred angular momentum is not supported

Comparison of Electron-Atom Collision Parameters for S to P Transitions under Reversal of Energy Transfer

Inelastic and superelastic electron scattering from the optically prepared 32P3/2 state of sodium has enabled atomic collision parameters to be deduced for the 4S-3P deexcitation and the 3S-3P excitation processes. These data are compared with convergent close coupling and second order distorted wave Born calculations. For excitation, both theories agree with experiment, whereas for deexcitation the close coupling theory is in better agreement. A long-standing proposal relating to the sign of the transferred angular momentum is not supported

Studies of spin-polarized electron scattering from rubidium

A2 spin asymmetry measurements have been made for electron excitation of the 5S - 5P transition in atomic rubidium for incident electron energies of 20 eV and 30 eV. The data are compared with calculations from a semi-relativistic R-matrix Breit-Pauli model. Good qualitative agreement is obtained clearly demonstrating the existence of significant relativistic effects in the electron-atom interaction

Human Cardiac-Specific cDNA Array for Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Sex-Related Differences

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) constitutes a large portion of patients with heart failure of unknown etiology. Up to 50% of all transplant recipients carry this clinical diagnosis. Female-specific gene expression in IDCM has not been explored. We report sex-related differences in the gene expression profile of ventricular myocardium from patients undergoing cardiac transplantation. We produced and sequenced subtractive cDNA libraries, using human left ventricular myocardium obtained from male transplant recipients with IDCM and nonfailing human heart donors. With the resulting sequence data, we generated a custom human heart failure microarray for IDCM containing 1,145 cardiac-specific oligonucleotide probes. This array was used to characterize RNA samples from female IDCM transplant recipients. We identified a female gene expression pattern that consists of 37 upregulated genes and 18 downregulated genes associated with IDCM. Upon functional analysis of the gene expression pattern, deregulated genes unique to female IDCM were those that are involved in energy metabolism and regulation of transcription and translation. For male patients we found deregulation of genes related to muscular contraction. These data suggest that 1) the gene expression pattern we have detected for IDCM may be specific for this disease and 2) there is a sex-specific profile to IDCM. Our observations further suggest for the first time ever novel targets for treatment of IDCM in women and men

Shocked Molecular Gas in the Supernova Remnants W 28 and W 44: Near-infrared and millimeter-wave observations

High resolution millimeter-wave and near-infrared observations of the supernova remnants W28 and W44 reveal extensive shocked molecular gas where supernova blast waves are propagating into giant molecular clouds. New CO observations were carried out with the IRAM 30-m and ARO 12-m telescopes, and the near-infrared observations were with Palomar 200-inch telescope. The near-infrared observations reveal shocked H2 emission from both supernova remnants, showing intricate networks of filaments on arcsec scales, following the bright ridges of the radio shells. The CO and CS linewidths, indicative of the shock speed, are 20-30 km/s. Both the near-infrared and millimeter-wave emission are attributed to shocks into gas with density >1e3 cm-3. Individual shock structures are resolved in the H2 emission, with inferred edge-on shock thickness ~1e17 cm, consistent with non-dissociative shocks into gas densities of 1e3-1e4 cm-3. Bright 1720 MHz OH masers are located within the shocked H2 gas complexes and highlight only localized areas where the conditions for masing are optimal. The Halpha and X-ray emission, have morphologies very different from the radio. We find a detailed correlation of the radio and H2 emission for some long filaments, indicating cosmic ray acceleration or re-acceleration due to the shocks into moderately dense gas. The different morphologies of these two remnants at different wavelengths is explained by a highly nonuniform structure for giant molecular clouds.Comment: ApJ, in press; several figures in jpg for

The First Hour of Extra-galactic Data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Commissioning: The Coma Cluster

On 26 May 1999, one of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fiber-fed spectrographs saw astronomical first light. This was followed by the first spectroscopic commissioning run during the dark period of June 1999. We present here the first hour of extra-galactic spectroscopy taken during these early commissioning stages: an observation of the Coma cluster of galaxies. Our data samples the Southern part of this cluster, out to a radius of 1.5degrees and thus fully covers the NGC 4839 group. We outline in this paper the main characteristics of the SDSS spectroscopic systems and provide redshifts and spectral classifications for 196 Coma galaxies, of which 45 redshifts are new. For the 151 galaxies in common with the literature, we find excellent agreement between our redshift determinations and the published values. As part of our analysis, we have investigated four different spectral classification algorithms: spectral line strengths, a principal component decomposition, a wavelet analysis and the fitting of spectral synthesis models to the data. We find that a significant fraction (25%) of our observed Coma galaxies show signs of recent star-formation activity and that the velocity dispersion of these active galaxies (emission-line and post-starburst galaxies) is 30% larger than the absorption-line galaxies. We also find no active galaxies within the central (projected) 200 h-1 Kpc of the cluster. The spatial distribution of our Coma active galaxies is consistent with that found at higher redshift for the CNOC1 cluster survey. Beyond the core region, the fraction of bright active galaxies appears to rise slowly out to the virial radius and are randomly distributed within the cluster with no apparent correlation with the potential merger of the NGC 4839 group. [ABRIDGED]Comment: Accepted in AJ, 65 pages, 20 figures, 5 table

Questioning the rise of gelatinous zooplankton in the World's oceans

During the past several decades, high numbers of gelatinous zooplankton species have been reported in many estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Coupled with media-driven public perception, a paradigm has evolved in which the global ocean ecosystems are thought to be heading toward being dominated by “nuisance” jellyfish. We question this current paradigm by presenting a broad overview of gelatinous zooplankton in a historicalcontext to develop the hypothesis that population changes reflect the human-mediated alteration of global ocean ecosystems. To this end, we synthesize information related to the evolutionary context of contemporary gelatinous zooplankton blooms, the human frame of reference forchanges in gelatinous zooplankton populations, and whether sufficient data are available to have established the paradigm. We conclude that the current paradigm in which it is believed that there has been a global increase in gelatinous zooplankton is unsubstantiated, and we develop a strategy for addressing the critical questions about long-term, human-related changes in the sea as they relate to gelatinous zooplankton blooms