Comparison of Structural Subscapularis Integrity After Latarjet Procedure Versus Iliac Crest Bone Graft Transfer

Background: Although clinical outcome scores are comparable after coracoid transfer procedure (Latarjet) and iliac crest bone graft transfer (ICBGT) for anterior shoulder instability with glenoid bone loss, a significant decrease in internal rotation capacity has been reported for the Latarjet procedure. Hypothesis: The subscapularis (SSC) musculotendinous integrity will be less compromised by ICBGT than by the Latarjet procedure. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed pre- and postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans at short-term follow-up of 52 patients (26 Latarjet, 26 ICBGT) previously assessed in a prospective randomized controlled trial. Measurements included the preoperative glenoid defect area and graft area protruding the glenoid rim at follow-up and tendon thickness assessed through SSC and infraspinatus (ISP) ratios. Fatty muscle infiltration was graded according to Goutallier, quantified with muscle attenuation in Hounsfield units, and additionally calculated as percentages. We measured 3 angles to describe rerouting of the SSC musculotendinous unit around the bone grafts. Results: SSC fatty muscle infiltration was 2.0% ± 2.2% in the Latarjet group versus 2.4% ± 2.2% in ICBGT (P = .546) preoperatively and showed significantly higher values in the Latarjet group at follow-up (5.3% ± 4.5% vs 2.3% ± 1.7%; P = .001). In total, 4 patients (15.4%) in the Latarjet group showed a progression from grade 0 to grade 1 at follow-up, whereas no changes in the ICBGT group were noted. The measured rerouting angle of the SSC muscle was significantly increased in the Latarjet group (11.8° ± 2.1°) compared with ICBGT (7.5° ± 1.3°; P < .001) at follow-up, with a significant positive correlation between this angle and fatty muscle infiltration (R = 0.447; P = .008). Ratios of SSC/ISP tendon thickness were 1.03 ± 0.3 in the Latarjet group versus 0.97 ± 0.3 (P = .383) in ICBGT preoperatively and showed significantly lower ratios in the Latarjet group (0.7 ± 0.3 vs 1.0 ± 0.2; P < .001) at follow-up. Conclusion: Although clinical outcome scores after anterior shoulder stabilization with a Latarjet procedure and ICBGT are comparable, this study shows that the described decline in internal rotation capacity after Latarjet procedure has a radiographic structural correlate in terms of marked thinning and rerouting of the SSC tendon as well as slight fatty degeneration of the muscle

Anatomic stemless shoulder arthroplasty and related outcomes: a systematic review

Background: The latest generation of shoulder arthroplasty includes canal-sparing respectively stemless designs that have been developed to allow restoration of the glenohumeral center of rotation independently from the shaft, and to avoid stem-related complications. The stemless prosthesis design has also recently been introduced for use in reverse arthroplasty systems. Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature for studies of currently available canal-sparing respectively stemless shoulder arthroplasty systems. From the identified series, we recorded the indications, outcome measures, and humeral-sided complications. Results: We identified 11 studies of canal-sparing respectively stemless anatomic shoulder arthroplasty implants, published between 2010 and 2016. These studies included 929 cases, and had a mean follow-up of 26 months (range, 6 to 72 months). The rates of humeral component-related complications ranged between 0 and 7.9 %. The studies reported only a few isolated cases of complications of the humeral component. Some arthroplasty systems are associated with radiological changes, but without any clinical relevance. Conclusions: All of the published studies of canal-sparing respectively stemless shoulder arthroplasty reported promising clinical and radiological outcomes in short to midterm follow-up. Long-term studies are needed to demonstrate the long-term value of these kind of implants

Oviposition but not sex allocation is associated with transcriptomic changes in females of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

This work was supported by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant (NE/J024481/1). DMS was previously funded by a NERC Advanced Research Fellowship.Linking the evolution of the phenotype to the underlying genotype is a key aim of evolutionary genetics and is crucial to our understanding of how natural selection shapes a trait. Here we consider the genetic basis of sex allocation behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis using a transcriptomics approach. Females allocate offspring sex in line with Local Mate Competition (LMC) theory. Female-biased sex ratios are produced when one or few females lay eggs on a patch. As the number of females contributing offspring to a patch increases, less female-biased sex ratios are favoured. We contrasted the transcriptomic responses of females as they oviposit under conditions known to influence sex allocation: foundress number (a social cue) and the state of the host (parasitised or not). We found, that when females encounter other females on a patch, or assess host quality with their ovipositors, the resulting changes in sex allocation is not associated with significant changes in whole-body gene expression. We also found that the gene expression changes produced by females, as they facultatively allocate sex in response to a host cue and a social cue, are very closely correlated. We expanded the list of candidate genes associated with oviposition behaviour in Nasonia, some of which may be involved in fundamental processes underlying the ability to facultatively allocate sex, including sperm storage and utilisation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Observations of Arp 220 using Herschel-SPIRE: An Unprecedented View of the Molecular Gas in an Extreme Star Formation Environment

We present Herschel SPIRE-FTS observations of Arp~220, a nearby ULIRG. The FTS continuously covers 190 -- 670 microns, providing a good measurement of the continuum and detection of several molecular and atomic species. We detect luminous CO (J = 4-3 to 13-12) and water ladders with comparable total luminosity; very high-J HCN absorption; OH+, H2O+, and HF in absorption; and CI and NII. Modeling of the continuum yields warm dust, with T = 66 K, and an unusually large optical depth of ~5 at 100 microns. Non-LTE modeling of the CO shows two temperature components: cold molecular gas at T ~ 50 K and warm molecular gas at T ~1350 K. The mass of the warm gas is 10% of the cold gas, but dominates the luminosity of the CO ladder. The temperature of the warm gas is in excellent agreement with H2 rotational lines. At 1350 K, H2 dominates the cooling (~20 L_sun/M_sun) in the ISM compared to CO (~0.4 L_sun/M_sun). We found that only a non-ionizing source such as the mechanical energy from supernovae and stellar winds can excite the warm gas and satisfy the energy budget of ~20 L_sun/M_sun. We detect a massive molecular outflow in Arp 220 from the analysis of strong P-Cygni line profiles observed in OH+, H2O+, and H2O. The outflow has a mass > 10^{7} M_sun and is bound to the nuclei with velocity < 250 km/s. The large column densities observed for these molecular ions strongly favor the existence of an X-ray luminous AGN (10^{44} ergs/s) in Arp 220.Comment: Accepted in ApJ on September 1, 201

Infrared nanoscopy of Dirac plasmons at the graphene-SiO2 interface

We report on infrared (IR) nanoscopy of 2D plasmon excitations of Dirac fermions in graphene. This is achieved by confining mid-IR radiation at the apex of a nanoscale tip: an approach yielding two orders of magnitude increase in the value of in-plane component of incident wavevector q compared to free space propagation. At these high wavevectors, the Dirac plasmon is found to dramatically enhance the near-field interaction with mid-IR surface phonons of SiO2 substrate. Our data augmented by detailed modeling establish graphene as a new medium supporting plasmonic effects that can be controlled by gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Effects of crystalline glucocorticoid triamcinolone acetonide on cultered human supraspinatus tendon cells

Background Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and impairment. Subacromial glucocorticoid injections are widely used for treatment of epiphenomenons of chronic impingement syndrome with the possible side effects of tendon rupture and impaired tendon healing

Modern pollen rain predicts shifts in plant trait composition but not plant diversity along the Andes–Amazon elevational gradient

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record. Aims: Terrestrial ecosystems are changing in biodiversity, species composition and functional trait composition. To understand the underlying causes of these changes and predict the long-term resilience of the ecosystem to withstand future disturbances, we can evaluate changes in diversity and composition from fossil pollen records. Although diversity can be well estimated from pollen in temperate ecosystems, this is less clear for the hyperdiverse tropics. Moreover, it remains unknown whether functional composition of plant assemblages can be accurately predicted from pollen assemblage composition. Here, we evaluate how community-weighted mean (CWM) traits and diversity indices change along elevation. Location: Amazon–Andes elevation gradient in Peru. Methods: We used 82 modern pollen samples and 59 vegetation plots along the elevation gradient, and calculated CWM traits and diversity indices for each pollen sample and vegetation plot. We also quantified the degree to which taxa are over- or underrepresented by their pollen, by dividing the relative pollen abundance by the relative basal area abundance in the nearby vegetation survey plots (i.e. the R-rel values). Results: We found that CWM wood density increased, and CWM adult height and leaf area decreased with elevation. This change was well predicted by pollen assemblages, indicating that CWM trait–environment relationships based on pollen abundance data provide meaningful results. Diversity (richness, Shannon and Simpson) decreased with elevation for vegetation plots, but these trends could not be observed from pollen assemblages. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that more research is needed to develop methods that lead to accurate diversity estimates from pollen data in these tropical ecosystems, but that CWM traits can be calculated from pollen data to assess spatial shifts in functional composition. This opens opportunities to calculate CWM traits from fossil pollen data sets in the tropics, with broad implications for improving our understanding and predictions of forest dynamics, functioning and resilience through time.Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoe

Epic Aspects of Retail Encounters: The Iliad of Hollister

Much has been written about myth and the marketplace. Consumer research has added immeasurably to academics’ appreciation of the myths that inhere in fabulous flagship stores and experiential retailing more generally. Studies of consumer mythopoeia, however, have tended to muffle the martial side of retailing, the heroic struggles that some customers undergo in-store. This article argues that the epic offers valuable insights into martial matters, and more. Although epic and myth overlap, they are far from identical. The former is characterized by conventions that can help illuminate consumers’ quests, not least their disturbing journeys through the underworld. These are considered in relation to Hollister (HCo), a phenomenally successful retail chain that’s renowned for its antithetical atmospherics and inky interior design. A qualitative study of Hollister lovers and haters casts light on the epic in action and adds to scholars’ understanding of immersive retailing experiences

L. Evidence of spatial variation of the polarized thermal dust spectral energy distribution and implications for CMB B-mode analysis

Planck Collaboration.The characterization of the Galactic foregrounds has been shown to be the main obstacle in thechallenging quest to detect primordial B-modes in the polarized microwave sky. We make use of the Planck-HFI 2015 data release at high frequencies to place new constraints on the properties of the polarized thermal dust emission at high Galactic latitudes. Here, we specifically study the spatial variability of the dust polarized spectral energy distribution (SED), and its potential impact on the determination of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r. We use the correlation ratio of the angular power spectra between the 217 and 353 GHz channels as a tracer of these potential variations, computed on different high Galactic latitude regions, ranging from 80% to 20% of the sky. The new insight from Planck data is a departure of the correlation ratio from unity that cannot be attributed to a spurious decorrelation due to the cosmic microwave background, instrumental noise, or instrumental systematics. The effect is marginally detected on each region, but the statistical combination of all the regions gives more than 99% confidence for this variation in polarized dust properties. In addition, we show that the decorrelation increases when there is a decrease in the mean column density of the region of the sky being considered, and we propose a simple power-law empirical model for this dependence, which matches what is seen in the Planck data. We explore the effect that this measured decorrelation has on simulations of the BICEP2-Keck Array/Planck analysis and show that the 2015 constraints from these data still allow a decorrelation between the dust at 150 and 353 GHz that is compatible with our measured value. Finally, using simplified models, we show that either spatial variation of the dust SED or of the dust polarization angle are able to produce decorrelations between 217 and 353 GHz data similar to the values we observe in the data.The Planck Collaboration acknowledges the support of: ESA; CNES, and CNRS/INSU-IN2P3-INP (France); ASI, CNR, and INAF (Italy); NASA and DoE (USA); STFC and UKSA (UK); CSIC, MINECO, J.A., and RES (Spain); Tekes, AoF, and CSC (Finland); DLR and MPG (Germany); CSA (Canada); DTU Space (Denmark); SER/SSO (Switzerland); RCN (Norway); SFI (Ireland); FCT/MCTES (Portugal); ERC and PRACE (EU). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement No. 267934.Peer Reviewe