Radiographic analysis of the restoration of hip joint center following open reduction and internal fixation of acetabular fractures: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Unfavorable reduction is considered one of the key factors leading to joint degeneration and compromised clinical outcome in acetabular fracture patients. Besides the columns, walls, and superior dome, the postoperative position of hip joint center (HJC), which is reported to affect hip biomechanics, should be considered during the assessment of quality of reduction. We aimed to evaluate the radiographic restoration of HJC in acetabular fractures treated with open reduction and internal fixation. METHODS: Patients with a displaced acetabular fracture that received open reduction and internal fixation in the authors’ institution during the past five years were identified from the trauma database. The horizontal and vertical shifts of HJC were measured in the standard anteroposterior view radiographs taken postoperatively. The radiographic quality of fracture reduction was graded according to Matta’s criteria. The relationships between the shift of HJC and the other variables were evaluated. RESULTS: Totally 127 patients with 56 elementary and 71 associated-type acetabular fractures were included, wherein the majority showed a medial (89.0%) and proximal (93.7%) shift of HJC postoperatively. An average of 2.8 mm horizontal and 2.2 mm vertical shift of HJC were observed, which correlated significantly with the quality of fracture reduction (P < 0.001 for both). The horizontal shift of HJC correlated with the fracture type (P = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: The restoration of HJC correlates with the quality of reduction in acetabular fractures following open reduction and internal fixation. Further studies are required to address the effects of HJC shift on the biomechanical changes and clinical outcomes of hip joint, especially in poorly reduced acetabular fractures. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-277) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Quality Investigations on Ground Improvement in Highway Engineering Practice

The constructions of highway often pass through naturally-deposited liquefiable grounds. Anti-earthquake design is essential for highway engineering practice in east China. Gravel column and dynamic compaction are often adopted for the improvements of such problematical grounds. The stability and settlement of the treated grounds depend much on the construction quality. How to investigate the quality of ground improvement is an important issue in highway engineering practice. In this study, the method of Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves (SASW) is applied to evaluate the construction quality on ground improvements by vibration gravel piles and dynamic compaction technique. The case studies show that the SASW method is a powerful way for investigating the improvement quality in highway engineering practice. The shear wave velocity measured in SASW has a relative good relationship with the N value measured in standard penetration tests

Ultrafast Charge Transfer in Atomically Thin MoS2/WS2 Heterostructures

Van der Waals heterostructures have recently emerged as a new class of materials, where quantum coupling between stacked atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) layers, including graphene, hexagonal-boron nitride, and transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2), give rise to fascinating new phenomena. MX2 heterostructures are particularly exciting for novel optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications, because 2D MX2 monolayers can have an optical bandgap in the near-infrared to visible spectral range and exhibit extremely strong light-matter interactions. Theory predicts that many stacked MX2 heterostructures form type-II semiconductor heterojunctions that facilitate efficient electron-hole separation for light detection and harvesting. Here we report the first experimental observation of ultrafast charge transfer in photo-excited MoS2/WS2 heterostructures using both photoluminescence mapping and femtosecond (fs) pump-probe spectroscopy. We show that hole transfer from the MoS2 layer to the WS2 layer takes place within 50 fs after optical excitation, a remarkable rate for van der Waals coupled 2D layers. Such ultrafast charge transfer in van der Waals heterostructures can enable novel 2D devices for optoelectronics and light harvesting

Abnormal magnetoresistance behavior in Nb thin film with rectangular antidot lattice

Abnormal magnetoresistance behavior is found in superconducting Nb films perforated with rectangular arrays of antidots (holes). Generally magnetoresistance were always found to increase with increasing magnetic field. Here we observed a reversal of this behavior for particular in low temperature or current density. This phenomenon is due to a strong 'caging effect' which interstitial vortices are strongly trapped among pinned multivortices.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Isolation, identification, and complete genome sequence of a bovine adenovirus type 3 from cattle in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAV-3) belongs to the <it>Mastadenovirus </it>genus of the family <it>Adenoviridae </it>and is involved in respiratory and enteric infections of calves. The isolation of BAV-3 has not been reported prior to this study in China. In 2009, there were many cases in cattle showing similar clinical signs to BAV-3 infection and a virus strain, showing cytopathic effect in Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells, was isolated from a bovine nasal swab collected from feedlot cattle in Heilongjiang Province, China. The isolate was confirmed as a bovine adenovirus type 3 by PCR and immunofluorescence assay, and named as HLJ0955. So far only the complete genome sequence of prototype of BAV-3 WBR-1 strain has been reported. In order to further characterize the Chinese isolate HLJ0955, the complete genome sequence of HLJ0955 was determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The size of the genome of the Chinese isolate HLJ0955 is 34,132 nucleotides in length with a G+C content of 53.6%. The coding sequences for gene regions of HLJ0955 isolate were similar to the prototype of BAV-3 WBR-1 strain, with 80.0-98.6% nucleotide and 87.5-98.8% amino acid identities. The genome of HLJ0955 strain contains 16 regions and four deletions in inverted terminal repeats, E1B region and E4 region, respectively. The complete genome and DNA binding protein gene based phylogenetic analysis with other adenoviruses were performed and the results showed that HLJ0955 isolate belonged to BAV-3 and clustered within the <it>Mastadenovirus </it>genus of the family <it>Adenoviridae</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first study to report the isolation and molecular characterization of BAV-3 from cattle in China. The phylogenetic analysis performed in this study supported the use of the DNA binding protein gene of adenovirus as an appropriate subgenomic target for the classification of different genuses of the family <it>Adenoviridae </it>on the molecular basis. Meanwhile, a large-scale pathogen and serological epidemiological investigations for BVA-3 infection might be carried out in cattle in China. This report will be a good beginning for further studies on BAV-3 in China.</p

Preparation and biological application of antibodies against leucoanthocyanidin reductase and anthocyanidin reductase from grape berry

Proanthocyanidins (PAs) endow wine with the flavor of bitterness and astringency. Both leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR) and anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) are two key enzymes of PA biosynthesis in grape berries, but the previous studies on these enzymes only focused on the transcriptional expression of these genes. Here, the full-length cDNAs of VvLAR1, VvLAR2 and VvANR, respectively, were cloned from wine grape berries and were then introduced into the pGEX-4T-1 expression vectors, which were highly expressed in Escherichia coli DH5α cells with the induction of the isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). The purified fusion proteins were used as the antigens to immunize rabbits, separately. The obtained antiserums were further purified to obtain the immunoglobulin G (Ig G) fractions, which were demonstrated to be capable of specifically immuno-recognizing the VvLAR1, VvLAR2 and VvANR from the crude protein extracts from grape berries with weight masses of approximately 43 kD. The analyses of translational expression of these enzyme genes during berry development and immunohistochemical localization of these proteins, by using the obtained antibodies, showed that a high amount of VvLAR1, VvLAR2 or VvANR was present at the pre-veraison stage and these enzyme proteins were all localized on the outer layer of the berry skin and the vascular bundle, as well as in the inner layer of the seed coat. This work provides an important basis for further studies on PA biosynthesis in grape berries.