Confined compression of collagen hydrogels

Reconstituted collagen hydrogels are often used for in vitro studies of cell-matrix interaction and as scaffolds for tissue engineering. Understanding the mechanical and transport behaviours of collagen hydrogels is therefore extremely important, albeit difficult due to their very high water content (typically > 99.5%). In the present study the mechanical behaviour of collagen hydrogels in confined compression was investigated using biphasic theory (J. Biomech. Eng. 102 (1980) 73), to ascertain whether the technique is sufficiently sensitive to determine differences in the characteristics of hydrogels of between 0.2% and 0.4% collagen. Peak stress, equilibrium stress, aggregate modulus and hydraulic permeability of the hydrogels exhibited sensitivity to collagen content, demonstrating that the technique is clearly able to discriminate between hydrogels with small differences in collagen content and may also be sensitive to factors that affect matrix remodelling. The results also offer additional insight into the deformation-dependent permeability of collagen hydrogels. This study suggests that confined compression, together with biphasic theory, is a suitable technique for assessing the mechanical properties of collagen hydrogels

The mechanical effects of extracorporeal irradiation on bone

Extracorporeal irradiation of an excised tumour-bearing segment of bone followed by its reimplantation is a technique used in bone sarcoma surgery for limb salvage when the bone is of reasonable quality. There is no agreement among previous studies about the dose of irradiation to be given: up to 300 Gy have been used. We investigated the influence of extracorporeal irradiation on the elastic and viscoelastic properties of bone. Bone was harvested from mature cattle and subdivided into 13 groups: 12 were exposed to increasing levels of irradiation: one was not and was used as a control. The specimens, once irradiated, underwent mechanical testing in saline at 37°C. The mechanical properties of each group, including Young's modulus, storage modulus and loss modulus, were determined experimentally and compared with the control group. There were insignificant changes in all of these mechanical properties with an increasing level of irradiation. We conclude that the overall mechanical effect of high levels of extracorporeal irradiation (300 Gy) on bone is negligible. Consequently the dose can be maximised to reduce the risk of local tumour recurrence

A role for topoisomerase IIα in the formation of radiation-induced chromatid breaks

Chromatid breaks in cells exposed to low dose irradiation are thought to be initiated by DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), and the frequency of chromatid breaks has been shown to increase in DSB rejoining deficient cells. However, the underlying causes of the wide variation in frequencies of G2 chromatid breaks (or chromatid ‘radiosensitivity') in irradiated T-lymphocytes from different normal individuals and cancer cases are as yet unclear. Here we report evidence that topoisomerase IIα expression level is a factor determining chromatid radiosensitivity. We have exposed the promyelocytic leukaemic cell line (HL60) and two derived variant cell lines (MX1 and MX2) that have acquired resistance to mitoxantrone and low expression of topoisomerase II α, to low doses of γ-radiation and scored the induced chromatid breaks. Chromatid break frequencies were found to be significantly lower in the variant cell lines, compared with their parental HL60 cell line. Rejoining of DSB in the variant cell lines was similar to that in the parental HL60 strain. Our results indicate the indirect involvement of topoisomerase IIα in the formation of radiation-induced chromatid breaks from DSB, and suggest topoisomerase IIα as a possible factor in the inter-individual variation in chromatid radiosensitivity

The mechanical effect of extracorporeal irradiation on bone

Extracorporeal irradiation and re-implantation of a bone segment is a technique employed in bone sarcoma surgery for limb salvage in the setting of reasonable bone stock. There is neither consensus nor rationale given for the dosage of irradiation used in previous studies, with values of up to 300Gy applied. We investigated the influence of extracorporeal irradiation on the elastic and viscoelastic properties of bone. Bone specimens were extracted from mature cattle and subdivided into thirteen groups; twelve groups exposed to increasing levels of irradiation and a control group. The specimens, once irradiated, underwent mechanical testing in saline at 37˚C. Mechanical properties were calculated by experimental means which included Young’s Modulus, Poisson’s Ratio, Dissipation Factor, Storage Modulus, Loss Modulus and Dynamic Modulus. These were all obtained for comparison of the irradiated specimens to the control group. We found that the overall effect of increasing irradiation doses up to 300Gy seems to present negligible change, albeit negative, on the behavior of bone. However, the increase in Poisson’s ratio following extracorporeal irradiation treatment was statistically significant. Therefore, it is concluded that the overall mechanical effect of high levels of extracorporeal irradiation (300Gy) is minute, and could be administered to reduce the risk of malignancy recurrence

Land resource survey of Rottnest Island - an aid to land use planning

This report provides a description of the landforms, soils and vegetation of Rottnest Island. In addition, it provides a discussion of the relative capability of each of the landforms of the island to sustain various forms of development. The primary objective of this work is to direct development into areas of high capability (low risk of land degradation) in preference to areas of lower capability (higher risk of land degradation). Rottnest Island is located approximately 30 km west of Perth. The proximity of the island to the capital city of Western Australia, its warm Mediterranean climate and the subsequent likelihood of further development, mean that there will be increasing pressure on the natural resources of the island. This report details the nature and inherent stability of those natural resources, and provides a guide for their management.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1062/thumbnail.jp

Inter- and intra-operator variability of the segmentation of the knee joint

Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery (CAOS), developed to improve the alignment of the arthroplasty components, has increased in number significantly during the last decade. Some CAOS procedures rely on pre-operative imaging, raising the possibility of inter-and intra-observer variability affecting segmentations previously studied in various other tissues and locations [1]. However, despite the high prevalence of knee models and the abundance of TKR surgeries, to our knowledge, no study attempts to investigate the reliability and variability of the segmentation of knee joints. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to find the intra- and inter-examiner variability of image segmentation of the knee