Gender differences exist in the hip joint moments of healthy older walkers

Gender differences in the incidence of symptomatic hip osteoarthritis (OA), changes in hip cartilage volume and hip joint space and rates hip arthroplasty of older people are reported in the literature. As the rate of progression of OA is in part mechanically modulated it is possible that this gender bias may be related to inherent differences (if they exist) in walking mechanics between older males and females. The purpose of this study was to examine potential mechanisms for gender differences in hip joint mechanics during walking by testing the hypotheses that females would exhibit higher hip flexion, adduction and internal rotation moments but not significantly greater normalized ground reaction forces (GRFs). Forty-two healthy subjects (21 male, 21 female), ages 50–79 yr were recruited for gait analysis. In support of the hypotheses, greater external hip adduction and internal rotation along with hip extension moments were found for females compared to males after normalizing for body size for all self-selected walking speeds. Differences in walking style (kinematics) were the main determinants in the joint kinetic differences as no differences in the normalized GRFs were found. As external joint moments are surrogate measures of the joint contact forces, the results of this study suggest the hip joint stress for the female population is higher compared to male population. This is in favor of a hypothesis that the increased joint contact stress in a female population could contribute to a greater joint degeneration at the hip in females as compared with males.     

Monitoring the early aggregatory behaviour and size of Aβ1-42 in the absence & presence of metal ions using dynamic light scattering

Background and aimAβ₁₋₄₂ is an amyloidogenic peptide found within senile plaques extracted from those who died with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The potent neurotoxicity of this peptide is related to its propensity to form aggregated conformations in vivo, a process that is influenced by the species and concentration of metal ions present within the local environment. This study examines the impact of different metals upon the early aggregatory behaviour and size of Aβ₁₋₄₂ under simulated physiological conditions.MethodsThe size and aggregatory behaviour of Aβ₁₋₄₂ in the presence and absence of metal ions was monitored during the initial 30 min of fibril formation in real-time using dynamic light scattering.ResultsIntensity scattering measurements showed a clear tendency towards aggregation with regards to Aβ₁₋₄₂ only solutions (10 μM). Both equimolar Al³⁺ & Cu²⁺ lowered and stabilised the dimensions of Aβ₁₋₄₂ aggregates; however, a diminutive but significant increase in size was still observed over a 30-min period. While excess Al³⁺ continued to supress the size of Aβ_1−42, a 10-fold increase in the concentration of Cu²⁺ accelerated peptide aggregation relative to that observed for equimolar metal but not compared to Aβ₁₋₄₂ alone.ConclusionThese results infer that Al³⁺ ions stabilise and aid in the maintenance of smaller, toxic intermediates while excess Cu²⁺ facilitates the formation of larger, more inert, amorphous species exceeding 1 μm in size. Furthermore, we propose that metal-induced toxicity of Aβ₁₋₄₂ is reflective of their ability to preserve smaller oligomeric species in vitro.     

Hierro intravenoso,recuperación funcional y delirium en pacientes con fractura de cadera. Estudio FEDEREF. Ensayo clínico unicéntrico aleatorizado,controlado con placebo,doble ciego. Número EudraCT: 2014-001923-53

Introduction

There are no previous studies evaluating the effect of intravenous iron therapy on functional and cognitive status of patients with hip fracture (HF).

Dynamics of DDB2-DDB1 complex under different naturally-occurring mutants in Xeroderma Pigmentosum disease

Background

Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) is a disease caused by mutations in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. Patients with XP exhibit a high propensity to skin cancers and some subtypes of XP can even present neurological impairments. During NER, DDB2 (XPE), in complex with DDB1 (DDB-Complex), performs the DNA lesion recognition. However, not much is known about how mutations found in XP patients affect the DDB2 structure and complex assembly. Thus, we searched for structural evidence associated with the role of three naturally occurring mutations found in XPE patients: R273H, K244E, and L350P.

Dynamical stress characterization and energy evaluation of single cardiac myocyte actuating on flexible substrate

Contractility estimation of cardiac myocyte is important for power evaluation of the cell in heart performance. In this paper, we used digital image correlation (DIC) method to obtain dynamic deformation field of the flexible substrate distributively actuated by single cardiac myocyte, which resulted in the dynamic history of traction forces of the cell during contraction-relaxation cycles. Furthermore, the resultant work and power of the single neonatal cardiac myocyte was evaluated to show the energy characteristics of the cells and the responses to the stiffness variation of the substrate. The method provides a useful tool to study behaviors of the cardiac myocytes interacted with the substrates.     

血小板在凝血中作用的动力学模型及仿真

在生化实验的基础上提出了血小板在凝血中作用的动力学模型,通过定性分析和数值模拟,得到：系统的启动存在一阈值,该阈值与血小板和凝血因子作用的吸附解离常数有密切的关系,即与血小板的存在与否直接相关;血小板的激活比率对系统的正平衡点的稳定性有重要的影响,与凝血启动后的最终状态有关;当刺激强度较小时,因子Ⅷ和Ⅸ对系统的解在定性与定量上没有明显的影响;当刺激强度较大时,因子Ⅷ和Ⅸ在凝血瀑布机制中起级联放大作     

遥感和GIS支持的土地利用动态监测研究--以黄河三角洲垦利县为例

以黄河三角洲垦利县为例 ,对比分析了目视解译、机助分类等遥感土地利用信息提取方法 ,采用 1981、1991和 1995年 3时相土地利用现状信息 ,研究确定了统一的监测分类系统 ,提出了土地利用面积及其空间分布动态监测方法 .在此基础上 ,分析了垦利县地类面积增减变化 ,在GIS支持下分析了 1981～ 1995年土地利用空间动态变化 ,同时进行了实地监测点土地利用变化分析 ,探明了该县土地利用动态变化规律 .     

人工髋关节置换术中股骨假体周围骨折的影响因素回归分析及其相关性

目的:研究人工髋关节置换术中股骨假体周围骨折的影响因素及其相关性,为人工髋关节置换术中股骨假体周围骨折的预防和诊治提供科学依据。方法:选取本院2012年11月至2013年9月施行髋关节置换手术的患者780例,搜集各研究对象的一般资料(年龄、性别等)以及随访观察其髋关节置换手术后股骨假体周围骨折的发生情况,把股骨假体周围骨折的发生情况与性别、年龄、固定类型等因素进行Logistic回归分析。结果:780例施行髋关节置换手术的患者中,有52例患者术后出现股骨假体周围骨折,总发生率为6.7%;其中A型31例,B型18例(B1型6例,B2型7例,B3型5例),C型3例。女性的发生率(8.5%)高于男性(4.7%),老年患者中股骨假体周围骨折的发生率最高(10.1%),生物型假体固定者的发生率(8.7%)高于骨水泥型假体固定者(3.8%),人工髋关节翻修术中股骨假体周围骨折的发生率最高(11.4%),股骨假体周围骨折发生的危险因素为女性、高龄、使用生物型假体固定,OR值分别为5.301、3.675和2.336。结论:人工髋关节置换术中的危险因素为女性、高龄、使用生物型假体固定,临床医生应在术前对行人工髋关节置换术手术者进行充分的评估,制定合理的手术方案及选择合适的固定方式。     

Interaction between single molecules of Mac-1 and ICAM-1 in living cells: an atomic force microscopy study

The interaction between integrin macrophage differentiation antigen associated with complement three receptor function (Mac-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), which is controlled tightly by the ligand-binding activity of Mac-1, is central to the regulation of neutrophil adhesion in host defense. Several "inside-out" signals and extracellular metal ions or antibodies have been found to activate Mac-1, resulting in an increased adhesiveness of Mac-1 to its ligands. However, the molecular basis for Mac-1 activation is not well understood yet. In this work, we have carried out a single-molecule study of Mac-1/ICAM-1 interaction force in living cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our results showed that the binding probability and adhesion force of Mac-1 with ICAM-1 increased upon Mac-1 activation. Moreover, by comparing the dynamic force spectra of different Mac-1 mutants, we expected that Mac-1 activation is governed by the downward movement of its alpha7 helix.