Early fracture of the modular neck of a MODULUS femoral stem

AbstractWe present the case of a 46-year-old woman who underwent revision surgery approximately 4 years after total hip arthroplasty because of a fracture of the modular neck of a MODULUS femoral stem. The fractured surfaces of the retrieved implant were inspected using optical and scanning electron microscopy. Three-dimensional finite element analysis was also performed to identify the stresses that might have caused the failure. We concluded that active, obese patients who are implanted with a high-offset, small-sized modular component could experience stress-induced fractures of the modular neck, with proper fixation and osseointegration of the distal stem, especially if residual bone or tissue is present on the inner surface of the neck that could contribute to micromovement and decreased proximal fixation

Morphological and Biochemical Studies on Cultured Intervertebral Disc Cells with Special Reference to the Effect of Chymopapain

To determine the mechanism of nucleus pulposus regeneration after chemonucleolysis with chymopapain, cultured annulus fibrosus (AF) cells and nucleus pulposus (NP) cells derived from the rabbit intervertebral disc were compared morphologically and biochemically. There was a difference in the characteristics of the two cells. The AF cells consisted chiefly of chondrocyte with high cell growth and matrix production activity, while most of the NP cells were notochordal cells. Chymopapain had cell toxity for AF and NP cells which inhibited sulfated glycosaminoglycans synthesis. But this inhibition was reversible and cell function recovered with the passage of time in AF cells. It may be concluded from this study that AF cells play a main role in nucleus pulposus regeneration after chemonucleolysis.キモパパイン椎間板内注入後の髄核再構築現象において椎間板細胞の果たす役割を検討するため,幼若家兎椎間板細胞の培養を行い形態的観察を行なうと同時にキモパパインの培養椎間板細胞に及ぼす影響を生化学的に分析した。線維輪由来細胞は軟骨細胞としての機能を維持し旺盛な基質合性能および増殖能を示したのに対し,髄核細胞は分裂能を有しない脊索細胞が中心であった。キモパパインを種々の濃度で培養椎間板細胞に作用させ^Sの硫酸化ムコ多糖への取り込みを指標に細胞障害性を検討したところ,濃度依存的にムコ多糖合成を抑制した。又,キキモパパインの培養線維輪細胞に対する障害性は一定濃度以下では可逆的であり,ムコ多糖合合成能は経時的に回復傾向を示した。以上のことよりキモパパイン椎間板内注入後の髄核再構築過程においては,線椎輪由来の軟骨細胞がその中心的役割を果たすと推察された

Focal dose escalation using FDG-PET-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy boost for postoperative local recurrent rectal cancer: a planning study with comparison of DVH and NTCP

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate the safety of focal dose escalation to regions with standardized uptake value (SUV) >2.0 using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by comparison of radiotherapy plans using dose-volume histograms (DVHs) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for postoperative local recurrent rectal cancer</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>First, we performed conventional radiotherapy with 40 Gy/20 fr. (CRT 40 Gy) for 12 patients with postoperative local recurrent rectal cancer, and then we performed FDG-PET/CT radiotherapy planning for those patients. We defined the regions with SUV > 2.0 as biological target volume (BTV) and made three boost plans for each patient: 1) CRT boost plan, 2) IMRT without dose-painting boost plan, and 3) IMRT with dose-painting boost plan. The total boost dose was 20 Gy. In IMRT with dose-painting boost plan, we increased the dose for BTV+5 mm by 30% of the prescribed dose. We added CRT boost plan to CRT 40 Gy (<it>summed plan 1</it>), IMRT without dose-painting boost plan to CRT 40 Gy (<it>summed plan 2</it>) and IMRT with dose-painting boost plan to CRT 40 Gy (<it>summed plan 3</it>), and we compared those plans using DVHs and NTCP.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>D_meanof PTV-PET and that of PTV-CT were 26.5 Gy and 21.3 Gy, respectively. V₅₀of small bowel PRV in <it>summed plan 1 </it>was significantly higher than those in other plans ((<it>summed plan 1 </it>vs. <it>summed plan 2 </it>vs. <it>summed plan 3</it>: 47.11 ± 45.33 cm³vs. 40.63 ± 39.13 cm³vs. 41.25 ± 39.96 cm³(p < 0.01, respectively)). There were no significant differences in V₃₀, V₄₀, V₆₀, D_meanor NTCP of small bowel PRV.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>FDG-PET-guided IMRT can facilitate focal dose-escalation to regions with SUV above 2.0 for postoperative local recurrent rectal cancer.</p

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP survey: Overview and survey design

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2-m Subaru telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg2 in five broad bands (grizy), with a 5 σ point-source depth of r ≈ 26. The Deep layer covers a total of 26 deg2 in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg2). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey