Bone remodelling around the tibia due to total ankle replacement: effects of implant material and implant–bone interfacial conditions

Abstract

One of the major causes of implant loosening is due to excessive bone resorption surrounding the implant due to bone remodelling. The objective of the study is to investigate the effects of implant material and implant–bone interface conditions on bone remodelling around tibia bone due to total ankle replacement. Finite element models of intact and implanted ankles were developed using CT scan data sets. Bone remodelling algorithm was used in combination with FE analysis to predict the bone density changes around the ankle joint. Dorsiflexion, neutral, and plantar flexion positions were considered, along with muscle force and ligaments. Implant–bone interfacial conditions were assumed as debonded and bonded to represent non-osseointegration and fully osseointegration at the porous coated surface of the implant. To investigate the effect of implant material, three finite element models having different material combinations of the implant were developed. For model 1, tibial and talar components were made of Co–Cr–Mo, and meniscal bearing was made of UHMWPE. For model 2, tibial and talar components were made of ceramic and meniscal bearing was made of UHMWPE. For model 3, tibial and talar components were made of ceramic and meniscal bearing was made of CFR-PEEK. Changes in implant material showed no significant changes in bone density due to bone remodelling. Therefore, ceramic appears to be a viable alternative to metal and CFR-PEEK can be used in place of UHMWPE. This study also indicates that proper bonding between implant and bone is essential for long-term survival of the prosthetic components.     

Scale effects and constraints for sound production in katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae): correlated evolution between morphology and signal parameters

Male katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) produce mating calls by rubbing the wings together, using specialized structures in their forewings (stridulatory file, scraper and mirror). A large proportion of species (ca. 66%) reported in the literature produces ultrasonic signals as principal output. Relationships among body size, generator structures and the acoustic parameters carrier frequency (f_c) and pulse duration (p_d), were studied in 58 tropical species that use pure‐tone signals. A comparative analysis, based on the only available katydid phylogeny, shows how changes in sound generator form are related to changes in f_c and p_d. Anatomical changes of the sound generator that might have been selected via f_c and p_d are mirror size, file length and number of file teeth. Selection for structures of the stridulatory apparatus that enhance wing mechanics via file‐teeth and scraper morphology was crucial in the evolution of ultrasonic signals in the family Tettigoniidae.     

Curiously Modern DNA for a ``250 Million-Year-Old' Bacterium

Studies of ancient DNA have attracted considerable attention in scientific journals and the popular press. Several of the more extreme claims for ancient DNA have been questioned on biochemical grounds (i.e., DNA surviving longer than expected) and evolutionary grounds (i.e., nucleotide substitution patterns not matching theoretical expectations for ancient DNA). A recent letter to Nature from Vreeland et al. (2000), however, tops all others with respect to age and condition of the specimen. These researchers extracted and cultured a bacterium from an inclusion body from what they claim is a 250 million-year (Myr)-old salt crystal. If substantiated, this observation could fundamentally alter views about bacterial physiology, ecology and evolution. Here we report on molecular evolutionary analyses of the 16S rDNA from this specimen. We find that 2-9-3 differs from a modern halophile, Salibacillus marismortui, by just 3 unambiguous bp in 16S rDNA, versus the ∼59 bp that would be expected if these bacteria evolved at the same rate as other bacteria. We show, using a Poisson distribution, that unless it can be shown that S. marismortui evolves 5 to 10 times more slowly than other bacteria for which 16S rDNA substitution rates have been established, Vreeland et al.'s claim would be rejected at the 0.05 level. Also, a molecular clock test and a relative rates test fail to substantiate Vreeland et al.'s claim that strain 2-9-3 is a 250-Myr-old bacterium. The report of Vreeland et al. thus falls into a long series of suspect ancient DNA studies. Received: 12 April 2001 / Accepted: 9 June 2001     

Metagenomics of the subsurface Brazos-Trinity Basin (IODP site 1320): comparison with other sediment and pyrosequenced metagenomes

The Brazos-Trinity Basin on the slope of the Gulf of Mexico passive margin was drilled during Integrated Ocean Drilling Progam Expedition 308. The buried anaerobic sediments of this basin are largely organic-poor and have few microbial inhabitants compared with the organic-rich sediments with high cell counts from the Peru Margin that were drilled during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 201. Nucleic acids were extracted from Brazos-Trinity Basin sediments and were subjected to whole-genome amplification and pyrosequencing. A comparison of the Brazos-Trinity Basin metagenome, consisting of 105 Mbp, and the existing Peru Margin metagenome revealed trends linking gene content, phylogenetic content, geological location and geochemical regime. The major microbial groups (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Euryarchaeota and Chloroflexi) occur consistently throughout all samples, yet their shifting abundances allow for discrimination between samples. The cluster of orthologous groups category abundances for some classes of genes are correlated with geochemical factors, such as the level of ammonia. Here we describe the sediment metagenome from the oligotrophic Brazos-Trinity Basin (Site 1320) and show similarities and differences with the dataset from the Pacific Peru Margin (Site 1229) and other pyrosequenced datasets. The microbial community found at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site 1320 likely represents the subsurface microbial inhabitants of turbiditic slopes that lack substantial upwelling.     

Mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid to bovine serum albumin

The mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid (HABA) to bovine serum albumin was studied by relaxation methods as well as the binding isotherm using gel chromatography. A single relaxation was observed over a wide range of HABA concentration except at the extremes of high concentration where another slow process was observed. The concentration dependence of the reciprocal relaxation time of the fast process decreased monotonically with increase in concentration of HABA at constant polymer concentration. The data were analyzed on the basis of Brown's domain structure model and were found to be consistent with a sequential binding mechanism. The azohydrazon tautomerism of HABA was identified with the intramolecular step of the complex. The activation parameters of the step, determined from the temperature dependence of the relaxation time of the fast process, showed that this step is rate limited by an enthalpy barrier in both forward and backward directions. Comparison of the activation parameters with those of other serum albumin-ligand systems suggests that there is an enthalpy-entropy compensation in the activation process of the intramolecular step with the compensation temperature at about 270 K; the enthalpy-entropy compensation is thought to be related to the hydrophobic nature of the ligand.     

Priors for the Bayesian star paradox

We show that the Bayesian star paradox, first proved mathematically by Steel and Matsen for a specific class of prior distributions, occurs in a wider context including less regular, possibly discontinuous, prior distributions.