Femoral Reconstruction Using External Fixation

Background. The use of an external fixator for the purpose of distraction osteogenesis has been applied to a wide range of orthopedic problems caused by such diverse etiologies as congenital disease, metabolic conditions, infections, traumatic injuries, and congenital short stature. The purpose of this study was to analyze our experience of utilizing this method in patients undergoing a variety of orthopedic procedures of the femur. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed our experience of using external fixation for femoral reconstruction. Three subgroups were defined based on the primary reconstruction goal lengthening, deformity correction, and repair of nonunion/bone defect. Factors such as leg length discrepancy (LLD), limb alignment, and external fixation time and complications were evaluated for the entire group and the 3 subgroups. Results. There was substantial improvement in the overall LLD, femoral length discrepancy, and limb alignment as measured by mechanical axis deviation (MAD) and lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA) for the entire group as well as the subgroups. Conclusions. The Ilizarov external fixator allows for decreased surgical exposure and preservation of blood supply to bone, avoidance of bone grafting and internal fixation, and simultaneous lengthening and deformity correction, making it a very useful technique for femoral reconstruction

In vitro and ex vivo effect of hyaluronic acid on erythrocyte flow properties

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hyaluronic acid (HA) is present in many tissues; its presence in serum may be related to certain inflammatory conditions, tissue damage, sepsis, liver malfunction and some malignancies. In the present work, our goal was to investigate the significance of hyaluronic acid effect on erythrocyte flow properties. Therefore we performed <it>in vitro </it>experiments incubating red blood cells (RBCs) with several HA concentrations. Afterwards, in order to corroborate the pathophysiological significance of the results obtained, we replicated the <it>in vitro </it>experiment with <it>ex vivo </it>RBCs from diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, a serum HA-increasing pathology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Erythrocyte deformability (by filtration through nucleopore membranes) and erythrocyte aggregability (EA) were tested on blood from healthy donors additioned with purified HA. EA was measured by transmitted light and analyzed with a mathematical model yielding two parameters, the aggregation rate and the size of the aggregates. Conformational changes of cytoskeleton proteins were estimated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vitro</it>, erythrocytes treated with HA showed increased rigidity index (RI) and reduced aggregability, situation strongly related to the rigidization of the membrane cytoskeleton triggered by HA, as shown by EPR results. Also, a significant correlation (r: 0.77, p < 0.00001) was found between RI and serum HA in RA patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results lead us to postulate the hypothesis that HA interacts with the erythrocyte surface leading to modifications in erythrocyte rheological and flow properties, both <it>ex vivo </it>and <it>in vitro</it>.</p

The local crystallization in nanoscale diamond-like carbon films during annealing

The local crystallization during annealing at 600° C in nanoscale diamond-like carbon coatings films grown by pulsed vacuum-arc deposition method was observed using modern techniques of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The crystallites formed by annealing have a face-centred cubic crystal structure and grow in the direction [011] as a normal to the film surface. The number and size of the crystallites depend on the initial values of the intrinsic stresses before annealing, which in turn depend on the conditions of film growth. The sizes of crystallites are 10 nm for films with initial compressive stresses of 3 GPa and 17 nm for films with initial compres- sive stresses of 12 GPa. Areas of local crystallization arising during annealing have a structure dif- ferent from the graphit

Adaptive Immunity against Leishmania Nucleoside Hydrolase Maps Its C-Terminal Domain as the Target of the CD4+ T Cell–Driven Protective Response

Nucleoside hydrolases (NHs) show homology among parasite protozoa, fungi and bacteria. They are vital protagonists in the establishment of early infection and, therefore, are excellent candidates for the pathogen recognition by adaptive immune responses. Immune protection against NHs would prevent disease at the early infection of several pathogens. We have identified the domain of the NH of L. donovani (NH36) responsible for its immunogenicity and protective efficacy against murine visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Using recombinant generated peptides covering the whole NH36 sequence and saponin we demonstrate that protection against L. chagasi is related to its C-terminal domain (amino-acids 199–314) and is mediated mainly by a CD4+ T cell driven response with a lower contribution of CD8+ T cells. Immunization with this peptide exceeds in 36.73±12.33% the protective response induced by the cognate NH36 protein. Increases in IgM, IgG2a, IgG1 and IgG2b antibodies, CD4+ T cell proportions, IFN-γ secretion, ratios of IFN-γ/IL-10 producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and percents of antibody binding inhibition by synthetic predicted epitopes were detected in F3 vaccinated mice. The increases in DTH and in ratios of TNFα/IL-10 CD4+ producing cells were however the strong correlates of protection which was confirmed by in vivo depletion with monoclonal antibodies, algorithm predicted CD4 and CD8 epitopes and a pronounced decrease in parasite load (90.5–88.23%; p = 0.011) that was long-lasting. No decrease in parasite load was detected after vaccination with the N-domain of NH36, in spite of the induction of IFN-γ/IL-10 expression by CD4+ T cells after challenge. Both peptides reduced the size of footpad lesions, but only the C-domain reduced the parasite load of mice challenged with L. amazonensis. The identification of the target of the immune response to NH36 represents a basis for the rationale development of a bivalent vaccine against leishmaniasis and for multivalent vaccines against NHs-dependent pathogens

Influence of boric anhydride upon the physical and chemical properties of ferrosilicon slag

The authors study the influence of boric anhydride upon the physical and chemical properties of slag in the manufacture of ferrosilicon. It is established that adding boric anhydride to the slag changes its refractory quality and its viscosity and eases pouring slag and metal. Slags with optimal composition and properties are described

Non-Abelian Einstein-Born-Infeld Black Holes

We construct regular and black hole solutions in SU(2) Einstein-Born-Infeld theory. These solutions have many features in common with the corresponding SU(2) Einstein-Yang-Mills solutions. In particular, sequences of neutral non-abelian solutions tend to magnetically charged limiting solutions, related to embedded abelian solutions. Thermodynamic properties of the black hole solutions are addressed.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, 6 postscript figures; typos corrected in reference

Small RNA Profile in Moso Bamboo Root and Leaf Obtained by High Definition Adapters

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachy heterocycla cv. pubescens L.) is an economically important fast-growing tree. In order to gain better understanding of gene expression regulation in this important species we used next generation sequencing to profile small RNAs in leaf and roots of young seedlings. Since standard kits to produce cDNA of small RNAs are biased for certain small RNAs, we used High Definition adapters that reduce ligation bias. We identified and experimentally validated five new microRNAs and a few other small non-coding RNAs that were not microRNAs. The biological implication of microRNA expression levels and targets of microRNAs are discussed

The Reactome pathway knowledgebase

Reactome (http://www.reactome.org) is a manually curated open-source open-data resource of human pathways and reactions. The current version 46 describes 7088 human proteins (34% of the predicted human proteome), participating in 6744 reactions based on data extracted from 15 107 research publications with PubMed links. The Reactome Web site and analysis tool set have been completely redesigned to increase speed, flexibility and user friendliness. The data model has been extended to support annotation of disease processes due to infectious agents and to mutation

One Health: The global challenge of epidemic and endemic leishmaniasis

'One Health' proposes the unification of medical and veterinary sciences with the establishment of collaborative ventures in clinical care, surveillance and control of cross-species disease, education, and research into disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy and vaccination. The concept encompasses the human population, domestic animals and wildlife, and the impact that environmental changes ('environmental health') such as global warming will have on these populations. Visceral leishmaniasis is a perfect example of a small companion animal disease for which prevention and control might abolish or decrease the suffering of canine and human patients, and which aligns well with the One Health approach. In this review we discuss how surveillance for leishmaniases is undertaken globally through the control of anthroponootic visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) and zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL). The ZVL epidemic has been managed to date by the culling of infected dogs, treatment of human cases and control of the sandfly vector by insecticidal treatment of human homes and the canine reservoir. Recently, preventive vaccination of dogs in Brazil has led to reduction in the incidence of the canine and human disease. Vaccination permits greater dog owner compliance with control measures than a culling programme. Another advance in disease control in Africa is provided by a surveillance programme that combines remote satellite sensing, ecological modelling, vector surveillance and geo-spatial mapping of the distribution of vectors and of the animal-to-animal or animal-to-human pathogen transmission. This coordinated programme generates advisory notices and alerts on emerging infectious disease outbreaks that may impede or avoid the spreading of visceral leishmaniasis to new areas of the planet as a consequence of global warming

Dynamics of chromatin accessibility and gene regulation by MADS-domain transcription factors in flower development.

BACKGROUND: Development of eukaryotic organisms is controlled by transcription factors that trigger specific and global changes in gene expression programs. In plants, MADS-domain transcription factors act as master regulators of developmental switches and organ specification. However, the mechanisms by which these factors dynamically regulate the expression of their target genes at different developmental stages are still poorly understood. RESULTS: We characterized the relationship of chromatin accessibility, gene expression, and DNA binding of two MADS-domain proteins at different stages of Arabidopsis flower development. Dynamic changes in APETALA1 and SEPALLATA3 DNA binding correlated with changes in gene expression, and many of the target genes could be associated with the developmental stage in which they are transcriptionally controlled. We also observe dynamic changes in chromatin accessibility during flower development. Remarkably, DNA binding of APETALA1 and SEPALLATA3 is largely independent of the accessibility status of their binding regions and it can precede increases in DNA accessibility. These results suggest that APETALA1 and SEPALLATA3 may modulate chromatin accessibility, thereby facilitating access of other transcriptional regulators to their target genes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that different homeotic factors regulate partly overlapping, yet also distinctive sets of target genes in a partly stage-specific fashion. By combining the information from DNA-binding and gene expression data, we are able to propose models of stage-specific regulatory interactions, thereby addressing dynamics of regulatory networks throughout flower development. Furthermore, MADS-domain TFs may regulate gene expression by alternative strategies, one of which is modulation of chromatin accessibility