Mechanical properties of animal ligaments: a review and comparative study for the identification of the most suitable human ligament surrogates

: The interest in the properties of animal soft tissues is often related to the desire to find an animal model to replace human counterparts due to the unsteady availability of human tissues for experimental purposes. Once the most appropriate animal model is identified, it is possible to carry out ex-vivo and in-vivo studies for the repair of ligamentous tissues and performance testing of replacement and support healing devices. This work aims to present a systematic review of the mechanical properties of ligaments reported in the scientific literature by considering different anatomical regions in humans and several animal species. This study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. Moreover, considering the lack of a standard protocol for preconditioning of tissues, this aspect is also addressed. Ninety-six studies were selected for the systematic review and analysed. The mechanical properties of different animal species are reported and summarised in tables. Only results from studies reporting the strain rate parameter were considered for comparison with human ligaments, as they were deemed more reliable. Elastic modulus, ultimate tensile stress, and ultimate strain properties are graphically reported identifying the range of values for each animal species and to facilitate comparison between values reported in the scientific literature in animal and human ligaments. Useful similarities between the mechanical properties of swine, cow, and rat and human ligaments have been found

Enlarging the spectrum of cluster headache: Extracranial autonomic involvement revealed by voice analysis

People with cluster headache (CH) are frequently burdened by misdiag-nosis or diagnostic delay. The peculiar somatic and behavioral changes characterizing patients with CH are not useful to improve diagnostic accuracy. In our clinical experi-ence, we noticed a typical voice quality with low and croaking tone in patients with CH.In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated, by digital voice analysis, whether it is pos-sible to identify typical voice quality characterizing patients with CH compared with healthy controls (HCs). Furthermore, to investigate whether putative differences in voice characteristics could be underpinned by constitutional aspects or pathological processes of vocal cords, subjects underwent a videolaryngostroboscopy. Smoking habits and alcohol consumption were specifically investigated. Conclusion: Creaky phonation is a “physiological mode of laryngeal operation” usually underpinned by shortened and thickened vocal folds. Creaky voice phonation can be due to a vocal fold's reduced capability to become slack or flaccid secondary to vocal cord edema underpinned by laryngopharyngeal reflux affecting the phonatory mecha-nisms in patients with CH. The laryngopharyngeal reflux may represent a dysautonomic sign related to the increased parasympathetic tone during in- bout period, reinforcing the hypothesis of an extracranial autonomic dysfunction as part of CH clinical picture

The lexicon of community acquis: how to negotiate the non-negotiable

In the context of the activities aimed to improve and develop the integration and cooperation of new Member States together with the states already belonging to the European Community, EU institutions have carried out a number of measures to increase the coherence of the body of common rights and obligations, binding all the Member States of the European Union (community acquis), for a long time. For this reason, the Commission of the European Community began in 2001 a process of consultation and discussion about the way in which problems resulting from the lack of a correspondence between national contract laws (and related terms) belonging to different legal systems should be dealt with and solved at the European level. These consultations, in particular, have emphasised the need to enhance coherence of the existing acquis in the field of contract law terminology and avoid preventable inconsistencies in new acquis terminology (Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. A more coherent European Contract Law. An Action Plan. COM.(2003) 68 final - henceforth Action Plan). As it was manifested, terms and concepts created, elaborated or defined by the legislature or by jurists in a given jurisdiction do not necessarily correspond to terms and concepts produced in other legal systems. In fact, culture-bound legal concepts possessing strong regional connotations deserve careful attention when moving from English legal texts to Romance or Slavic languages. This is even more evident in the field of contract law, with common and civilian contract law terminology offering plenty of examples of interlingual ambiguity: problems of synonymy and legal homonyms; difficulties related with a partial overlap of legal meaning; inconveniences caused by ‘false friends’. The aim of this paper is to explore the above-mentioned linguistic problems focusing on the solution prospected by the European Community in terms of the development of standardized contract law terms. In particular, the specialized field of European contract law will be presented as a practicable way of ‘negotiating the non-negotiable’, that is, a feasible example of linguistic contact-zones where people(s), cultures, languages and legal institutions literally and/or metaphorically meet, interact, intersect and effectively communicate