Biomechanical loading of Achilles tendon during normal locomotion.

Direct in vivo Achilles tendon force measurements open up new possibilities for understanding the loading of the Achilles tendon during natural locomotion. This article describes how these human experiments can be performed. The results of these experiments imply that Achilles tendon forces are unexpectedly high in certain activities (e.g., hopping) and that the rates of loading rather than the absolute magnitudes of the recorded forces may be more relevant for clinical purposes as well as for the construction of artificial tendon materials.     

Cytofluorometric determination of nuclear DNA content in gallbladder epithelium of patients with biliary stones.

Cytofluorometric determination of nuclear DNA content in fresh gallbladder epithelium of 11 patients with biliary stones were performed to assess the histological correlations and to evaluate the ploidy pattern affected by inflammation or regenerative proliferating benign epithelium associated with non-neoplastic or neoplastic diseases. 27% of the patients were classified to have pure cholesterol stones, 54% were classified to have mixed stones and 19% were classified to have black stones. All of the specimens show suggestion of chronic cholecystitis without any metaplastic or neoplastic change. The bile culture shows free of bacteria in all of the cases. Cytofluorometric nuclear DNA ploidy analysis shows 64% diploidy and 36% low ploidy patterns of histograms. It can be concluded that the low ploidy pattern which could lead to false positive diagnosis of aneuploidy and may be associated with regenerative proliferating benign epithelium with severe inflammatory changes.     

A worn Björk–Shiley prosthetic valve without valve dysfunction observed during ascending aortic replacement

The implanted first‐generation Björk–Shiley valve in our patient was functioning well before aortic surgery, but we replaced the valve because we confirmed disc erosion 39 years after implantation during the surgery. We judged that the implanted valve was no longer capable of maintaining the patient's life.     

Non-steroidal anti-oestrogens inhibit the differentiation of synovial macrophages into dendritic cells

BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells (DC) have been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Agents that inhibit DC differentiation and function may have a therapeutic value in the treatment of RA. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of the non-steroidal anti-oestrogens toremifene and tamoxifen on the differentiation of synovial fluid (SF) macrophages into DC. METHODS: SF macrophages from patients with RA were cultured with interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the presence or absence of anti-oestrogens. The expression of cell surface markers on SF antigen-presenting cells (APC) was studied by flow cytometry. The capacity of SF APC to stimulate allogeneic T cells was studied using the mixed lymphocyte reaction. The production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha, IL-10 and transforming growth factor-beta1 was studied using ELISA. RESULTS: Anti-oestrogens inhibited the differentiation of SF macrophages into DC and the capacity of SF macrophage-derived DC to stimulate allogeneic T cells. CONCLUSIONS: By inhibiting the differentiation of SF macrophages into DC, non-steroidal anti-oestrogens may have beneficial effects in RA.     

Interaction between man and shoe in running: considerations for a more comprehensive measurement approach

Man-shoe-surface interaction in running is a complex phenomenon, and its investigation gives specific requirements for the measuring system. This study was designed to make an effort to develop a methodology for measuring the interaction between the first two components (man and shoe) under normal heel running conditions both on the force plate and on an asphalt road. The force plate system consisted of a series of 1.5-m long plates with a total length of 12 m. This allowed recordings of several natural ground contact phases in one run. By repeating the runs several times at constant velocity (3 m X s-1 and 5 m X s-1), altogether 10-30 Fz and Fx force curves could be obtained for further computerized averaging. The running shoes were equipped with special heel and toe contact sensors, which were used for recordings of even more cycles at constant velocity on the road running conditions. Telemetered EMG technique was employed to examine the response of the selected lower extremity muscles on the varying shoe and running velocity conditions. The results indicated preliminarily that the changes in ground reaction forces were more velocity than shoe (hard/soft) dependent and that EMG activation patterns were muscle specific with regard to preinnervation and impact and push-off phases for the gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and tibialis anterior muscles. Although the actual measurements were not yet designed for comprehensive recording of each parameter, the results obtained suggest that the major leg extensor muscles change their activation patterns with the varying impact load conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)