Effects of Stride Length and Running Mileage on a Probabilistic Stress Fracture Model

The fatigue life of bone is inversely related to strain magnitude. Decreasing stride length is a potential mechanism of strain reduction during running. If stride length is decreased, the number of loading cycles will increase for a given mileage. It is unclear if increased loading cycles are detrimental to skeletal health despite reductions in strain. Purpose: To determine the effects of stride length and running mileage on the probability of tibial stress fracture. Methods: Ten male subjects ran overground at their preferred running velocity during two conditions: preferred stride length and 10% reduction in preferred stride length. Force platform and kinematic data were collected concurrently. A combination of experimental and musculoskeletal modeling techniques was used to determine joint contact forces acting on the distal tibia. Peak instantaneous joint contact forces served as inputs to a finite element model to estimate tibial strains during stance. Stress fracture probability for stride length conditions and three running mileages (3, 5, and 7 miles·d−1) were determined using a probabilistic model of bone damage, repair, and adaptation. Differences in stress fracture probability were compared between conditions using a 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA. Results: The main effects of stride length (P = 0.017) and running mileage (P = 0.001) were significant. Reducing stride length decreased the probability of stress fracture by 3% to 6%. Increasing running mileage increased the probability of stress fracture by 4% to 10%. Conclusions: Results suggest that strain magnitude plays a more important role in stress fracture development than the total number of loading cycles. Runners wishing to decrease their probability for tibial stress fracture may benefit from a 10% reduction in stride length

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Abstract and Introduction Abstract The fatigue life of bone is inversely related to strain magnitude. Decreasing stride length is a potential mechanism of strain reduction during running. If stride length is decreased, the number of loading cycles will increase for a given mileage. It is unclear if increased loading cycles are detrimental to skeletal health despite reductions in strain. Purpose: To determine the effects of stride length and running mileage on the probability of tibial stress fracture. Methods: Ten male subjects ran overground at their preferred running velocity during two conditions: preferred stride length and 10% reduction in preferred stride length. Force platform and kinematic data were collected concurrently. A combination of experimental and musculoskeletal modeling techniques was used to determine joint contact forces acting on the distal tibia. Peak instantaneous joint contact forces served as inputs to a finite element model to estimate tibial strains during stance. Stress fracture probability for stride length conditions and three running mileages (3, 5, and 7 miles·d −1 ) were determined using a probabilistic model of bone damage, repair, and adaptation. Differences in stress fracture probability were compared between conditions using a 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA. Results: The main effects of stride length (P = 0.017) and running mileage (P = 0.001) were significant. Reducing stride length decreased the probability of stress fracture by 3% to 6%. Increasing running mileage increased the probability of stress fracture by 4% to 10%. Conclusions: Results suggest that strain magnitude plays a more important role in stress fracture development than the total number of loading cycles. Runners wishing to decrease their probability for tibial stress fracture may benefit from a 10% reduction in stride length

Adaptive Radiation within Marine Anisakid Nematodes: A Zoogeographical Modeling of Cosmopolitan, Zoonotic Parasites

Parasites of the nematode genus Anisakis are associated with aquatic organisms. They can be found in a variety of marine hosts including whales, crustaceans, fish and cephalopods and are known to be the cause of the zoonotic disease anisakiasis, a painful inflammation of the gastro-intestinal tract caused by the accidental consumptions of infectious larvae raw or semi-raw fishery products. Since the demand on fish as dietary protein source and the export rates of seafood products in general is rapidly increasing worldwide, the knowledge about the distribution of potential foodborne human pathogens in seafood is of major significance for human health. Studies have provided evidence that a few Anisakis species can cause clinical symptoms in humans. The aim of our study was to interpolate the species range for every described Anisakis species on the basis of the existing occurrence data. We used sequence data of 373 Anisakis larvae from 30 different hosts worldwide and previously published molecular data (n = 584) from 53 field-specific publications to model the species range of Anisakis spp., using a interpolation method that combines aspects of the alpha hull interpolation algorithm as well as the conditional interpolation approach. The results of our approach strongly indicate the existence of species-specific distribution patterns of Anisakis spp. within different climate zones and oceans that are in principle congruent with those of their respective final hosts. Our results support preceding studies that propose anisakid nematodes as useful biological indicators for their final host distribution and abundance as they closely follow the trophic relationships among their successive hosts. The modeling might although be helpful for predicting the likelihood of infection in order to reduce the risk of anisakiasis cases in a given area

Chlamydia trachomatis Infection and Anti-Hsp60 Immunity: The Two Sides of the Coin

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection is one of the most common causes of reproductive tract diseases and infertility. CT-Hsp60 is synthesized during infection and is released in the bloodstream. As a consequence, immune cells will produce anti-CT-Hsp60 antibodies. Hsp60, a ubiquitous and evolutionarily conserved chaperonin, is normally sequestered inside the cell, particularly into mitochondria. However, upon cell stress, as well as during carcinogenesis, the chaperonin becomes exposed on the cell surface (sf-Hsp60) and/or is secreted from cells into the extracellular space and circulation. Reports in the literature on circulating Hsp and anti-Hsp antibodies are in many cases short on details about Hsp60 concentrations, and about the specificity spectra of the antibodies, their titers, and their true, direct, pathogenetic effects. Thus, more studies are still needed to obtain a definitive picture on these matters. Nevertheless, the information already available indicates that the concurrence of persistent CT infection and appearance of sf-Hsp60 can promote an autoimmune aggression towards stressed cells and the development of diseases such as autoimmune arthritis, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, vasculitis, diabetes, and thyroiditis, among others. At the same time, immunocomplexes composed of anti-CT-Hsp60 antibodies and circulating Hsp60 (both CT and human) may form deposits in several anatomical locations, e.g., at the glomerular basal membrane. The opposite side of the coin is that pre-tumor and tumor cells with sf-Hsp60 can be destroyed with participation of the anti-Hsp60 antibody, thus stopping cancer progression before it is even noticed by the patient or physician

Forward

Abstract This is the first of two special issues of the Electronic Journal of Boundary Elements dedicated to Frank Rizzo. To say that Frank Rizzo played an important role in the development of what he referred to as “boundary integral equations” would not give much credit to where much credit is due. While it could be argued that the use of integral equations to formulate and form a computational basis of many of the problems of applied mathematics and engineering would probably have been inevitably developed, it was Frank’s seminal work on using the integral equation approach to classical elastostatics that set a whole new research area into motion. His dissertation (which we thought would be of interest to include in this issue) topic, as suggested by his mentor Marvin Stippes at the University of Illinois, and subsequently so well documented in the oft-cited paper “An Integral Equation Approach to Boundary Value Problems of Classical Elastostatics”, Quarterly of Applied Mechanics, 1967, represented the quantum step in the use of integral equations for classical scalar potential problems to the vector potential problems of practical engineering significance. The theoretical basis for this development was Betti’s reciprocal work theorem with the fundamental (response to a point force) solution of the equations of elastostatics, but it was Frank Rizzo who actually breathed the new life into this classical mathematics. A nontrivial contribution of Frank’s original work was to not only to achieve the singular integral equation formulation, but also the systematic methodology of reducing the elegant integral equation formulation to well conditioned, linear algebraic equations by proper analytical integration of the singular terms. Those combined theoretical and practical developments by Frank set into motion a whole new and modern approach to numerically solving partial differential equations, at least of the elliptic type. With Frank’s hard work and the recognition of its elegance and potential by several of his early disciples, the integral equation method blossomed into a powerful and practical computational methodology that would eventually be called “boundary elements”. Amongst the early disciples of the integral equation method, several of which contributed significantly to advancing the methodology to a sophisticated and now mature state, are the authors of this issue and its sequel dedicated to Frank. It is undoubtedly fair to say that most of these authors were, at one time or even continuously, colleagues and personal friends of Frank Rizzo. Frank’s contributions to the boundary integral equation method spanned nearly four decades, from roughly 1964 to 2001. I, too, have been very privileged to become involved with this field in the 1970’s and later to work side by side with Frank, especially in that part of the development of the methodology for what is now referred to as “hypersingular” integral equations. I’m sure that all the present authors can recall numerous occasions and conversations with Frank on a technical point or issue regarding the application of “his” boundary integral method to their own problem of interest. Throughout his productive career, his easy going, collegial, engaging, yet rigorous style earned him respect and admiration that surely befits the “father” of modern boundary integral methods. This commemorative sequence of two issues represents only a small token of tribute and recognition that Frank Rizzo so much deserves for his “singular” contributions to the field that he virtually invented, developed, promoted and nurtured to maturity. Thomas J. Rudolphi Iowa State Universit