Equine meniscal degeneration is associated with medial femorotibial osteoarthritis

Background: There is limited information available concerning normal equine meniscal morphology, its degeneration and role in osteoarthritis (OA). Objectives: To characterise normal equine meniscal morphology and lesions and to explore the relationship between equine meniscal degeneration and femorotibial OA. Study design: Ex vivo cadaveric study. Methods: Menisci were harvested from 7 normal joints (n = 14 menisci) and 15 joints with OA (n = 30 menisci). A macroscopic femorotibial OA score (cartilage degeneration and osteophytosis) was employed to measure disease severity in each compartment. The femoral and tibial meniscal surfaces were scored for macroscopic fibrillation and tears (1–4). Histological sections (regions: cranial and caudal horn; body) were also scored for microscopic fibrillation and tears (0–3) and inner border degeneration (0–3). Results: Partial meniscal tears were present on both femoral and tibial surfaces in all 3 regions and most frequently identified on the femoral surface of the cranial horn of the medial meniscus and body of the lateral meniscus. There was a significantly positive correlation between the global medial meniscal macroscopic scores and osteophyte (r = 0.7, P = 0.002) or cartilage degeneration (r = 0.5, P = 0.03) scores within the medial femorotibial joint. The global medial meniscal macroscopic score was greater (P = 0.004) in the advanced OA joints compared with control joints. Main limitations: The menisci were principally from abattoir specimens without a known clinical history because of the challenge in obtaining a large number of specimens with a clinical diagnosis of femorotibial OA. Conclusions: This study is the first to describe normal equine meniscal morphology and lesions. Meniscal lesions were identified in all segments and on both articular surfaces. Meniscal degeneration significantly correlated with OA severity in the equine medial femorotibial joint. The relationship between OA and meniscal pathology remains to be elucidated

Zircon record of fractionation, hydrous partial melting and thermal gradients at different depths in oceanic crust (ODP Site 735B, South-West Indian Ocean)

Felsic veins (plagiogranites) are distributed throughout the whole oceanic crust section and offer insight into late-magmatic/high temperature hydrothermal processes within the oceanic crust. Despite constituting only 0.5% of the oceanic crust section drilled in IODP Site 735B, they carry a significant budget of incompatible elements, which they redistribute within the crust. Such melts are saturated in accessory minerals, such as zircon, titanite and apatite, and often zircon is the only remaining phase that preserves magmatic composition and records processes of felsic melt formation and evolution. In this study, we analysed zircon from four depths in IODP Site 735B; they come from the oxide gabbro (depth approximately 250 m below sea floor) and plagiogranite (depths c. 500, 860, 940 m below sea floor). All zircons have similar εHf composition of c. 15 units indicating an isotopically homogenous source for the mafic magmas forming IODP Site 735B gabbro. Zircons from oxide gabbro are scarce and variable in composition consistent with their crystallization from melts formed by both fractionation of mafic magmas and hydrous remelting of gabbro cumulate. On the other hand, zircon from plagiogranite is abundant and each sample is characterized by compositional trends consistent with crystallization of zircon in an evolving melt. However, the trends are different between the plagiogranite at 500 m bsf and the deeper sections, which are interpreted as the record of plagiogranite formation by two processes: remelting of gabbro cumulate at 500 m bsf and fractionation at deeper sections. Zircon from both oxide gabbro and plagiogranite has δ18O from 3.5 to 6.0‰. Values of δ18O are best explained by redistribution of δ18O in a thermal gradient and not by remelting of hydrothermally altered crust. Tentatively, it is suggested that fractionation could be an older episode contemporaneous with gabbro crystallization and remelting could be a younger one, triggered by deformation and uplift of the crustal pile.1017/S/ING/15-

Improvements for imaging ceramics sintering in situ in ESEM

International audienceSintering of green samples of alumina produced by ice-templating was followed in situ in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) up to temperatures as high as 1375 degrees C. These alumina samples with well-defined architectures are of great interest in the field of materials science due to their high specific strength (especially in compression), low density and adaptable porosity. For the present study, they also have the advantage to exhibit an important topography, inducing interesting contrast when imaged in an ESEM. Improvements of the imaging conditions in the ESEM were essential to really follow the sintering process involving formation of necks between grains or shift of the centre of grains. This paper describes the improvements made and the results observed on the sintering process of alumina green samples processed by ice-templating

Tailoring treatment to the individual in type 2 diabetes practical guidance from the Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management

Good glycaemic control continues to be the most effective therapeutic manoeuvre to reduce the risk of development and/or progression of microvascular disease, and therefore remains the cornerstone of diabetes management despite recent scepticism about tight glucose control strategies. The impact on macrovascular complications is still a matter of debate, and so glycaemic control strategies should be placed in the context of multifactorial intervention to address all cardiovascular risk factors. Approaches to achieve glycaemic targets should always ensure patient safety, and results from recent landmark outcome studies support the need for appropriate individualisation of glycaemic targets and of the means to achieve these targets, with the ultimate aim to optimise outcomes and minimise adverse events, such as hypoglycaemia and marked weight gain. The primary goal of the Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management is the provision of practical guidance to improve patient outcomes and, in this article, we aim to support healthcare professionals in appropriately tailoring type 2 diabetes treatment to the individual. Patient groups requiring special consideration are identified, including newly diagnosed individuals with type 2 diabetes but no complications, individuals with a history of inadequate glycaemic control, those with a history of cardiovascular disease, children and individuals at risk of hypoglycaemia. Practical guidance specific to each group is provided

Saturation of a spin 1/2 particle by generalized Local control

We show how to apply a generalization of Local control design to the problem of saturation of a spin 1/2 particle by magnetic fields in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The generalization of local or Lyapunov control arises from the fact that the derivative of the Lyapunov function does not depend explicitly on the control field. The second derivative is used to determine the local control field. We compare the efficiency of this approach with respect to the time-optimal solution which has been recently derived using geometric methods.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted to new journal of physics (2011

Thermodynamics of adiabatic feedback control

We study adaptive control of classical ergodic Hamiltonian systems, where the controlling parameter varies slowly in time and is influenced by system's state (feedback). An effective adiabatic description is obtained for slow variables of the system. A general limit on the feedback induced negative entropy production is uncovered. It relates the quickest negentropy production to fluctuations of the control Hamiltonian. The method deals efficiently with the entropy-information trade off.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur