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Objective: To establish an animal model of modified cuff tear arthropathy (mCTA) in order to better replicate the pathophysiology associated with rotator cuff tear-induced humeral head collapse. Design: mCTA was induced by transection of the rotator cuff, the long head of the biceps brachii (LHB), and superior half of the joint capsule in the right shoulder of 12-week-old rats; the left shoulder underwent sham surgery. The severity of CTA was quantitated using the Murine Shoulder Arthritis Score (MSAS). The trabecular bone of the humeral head and metaphysis was analyzed using bone histomorphometry. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines and catabolic enzymes was evaluated immunohistochemically. Results: In the mCTA model, the MSAS increased starting from 2 weeks after induction, and there was notable subchondral bone collapse with fibrous cells at 4 weeks. The mCTA cartilage exhibited positive staining for TNF-α, IL-1β/6, MMP-3/13, and ADAMTS5. The trabecular bone volume was reduced not only in the subchondral bone but also in the metaphysis of the humeri, and bone resorption was enhanced in these areas. In the collapsed subchondral bone, both bone formation and resorption were increased. The fibrous cells showed expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and MMP-13, along with specific markers of mesenchymal stem cells. Furthermore, the fibrous cells showed osteoblastic characteristics (RUNX2-positive) and expressed RANKL. Conclusions: The LHB and the capsuloligamentous complex are critical stabilizers of the glenohumeral joint, serving to prevent the advancement of CTA following massive rotator cuff tears. Fibrous cells appear to play a role in the humeral head bone resorption.

Abstract Background Deficiency of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) induces microsatellite instability (MSI). Pembrolizumab, an antibody targeting PD‐1 (an immune checkpoint inhibitor), is more effective against MMR‐deficient tumours than against MMR‐proficient tumours. The status of MMR is a useful biomarker for predicting the effectiveness of pembrolizumab administration. Although the status of MMR has attracted attention in skin tumours, there are few reports on MSI in extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD). Objectives To evaluate the status of MMR in patients with EMPD. Materials & Methods One hundred one patients with EMPD were included. MMR status of the genomic DNA of each subject was analysed using Promega panel (approved as a companion diagnostic agent for the administration of pembrolizumab). Results MSI testing showed the occurrence rates of MSI‐high (more than two markers are unstable), MSI‐low (one marker is unstable) and MSS (all markers are stable) tumour tissues were 0% (0/101), 1.0% (1/101) and 99.0% (100/101), respectively. Conclusion The status of MMR may not be useful for the potential therapeutic application of pembrolizumab.

In the healthy heart, the β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) signals through Gs and Gi proteins but the mechanism underlying G protein selectivity is not fully understood. Here, the authors show that membrane charge and intracellular cations modulate the β2AR−Gi3 interaction.

Introduction: Surgical endarterectomy is the preferred method for treating occlusive disease of the common femoral artery (CFA). However, endarterectomy is not always straightforward in cases with heavily calcified plaque. To overcome this limitation, a new method for decalcification, which utilizes a Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA) has been developed. Report: The method involves full exposure of the calcified lesion. Following an arteriotomy, protruding calcification is removed using the CUSA, taking care to avoid vessel perforation. Preservation of the medial calcified layer can be accomplished by the accurate control provided by the device, which enables smooth termination in the distal area of the normal wall and does not require a tacking suture. A total of 12 patients underwent decalcification of 13 common femoral artery (CFA) lesions using CUSA with vein patch angioplasty. Concomitant profundaplasty was performed in five cases. The only intra-operative complication was perforation of the arterial wall in one patient, while another had a wound infection that required reintervention. Discussion: Decalcification of a heavily calcified CFA with CUSA appears to be feasible, although long-term follow-up examinations are warranted. Keywords: Calcification, Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator, Common femoral artery, Peripheral artery disease, Surgical endarterectomy

Gels have received increased attention as potential materials for biological materials because they can exhibit similar mechanical properties. One obstacle for using gels is that their mechanical properties are significantly altered by defects, such as an inhomogeneous crosslink density distribution. If these defects could be detected and the values and spatial distributions of mechanical properties in the gel could be determined, it would be possible to apply gels for several fields. To achieve the high spatial and temporal resolution measurement of mechanical properties in hydrogels, in our method, a conventional contact excitation device is replaced with a non-contact excitation using laser ablation for the input and magnetic resonance elastography to measure stress waves is replaced with the Schlieren method with a high-speed camera. Magnetic resonance elastography is a local measurement technique, and consequently, requires a lot of time to characterize a sample, as well as does not have sufficient spatial resolution to obtain a broad range of elasticity coefficients of gels. We use laser ablation to apply non-contact impulse excitations to gels to generate stress waves inside them. We can determine mechanical properties of gels using the stress waves’ propagation velocity.

Lower-thermospheric winds at high latitudes during moderately-disturbed geomagnetic conditions were studied using data obtained with the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Kiruna-Sodankylä-Tromsø (KST) ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radar system on 9–10 September 2004. The antenna-beam configuration was newly designed to minimize the estimated measurement error of the vertical neutral-wind speed in the lower thermosphere. This method was also available to estimate the meridional and zonal components. The vertical neutral-wind speed at 109 km, 114 km, and 120 km heights showed large upward motions in excess of 30 m s−1 in association with an ionospheric heating event. Large downward speeds in excess of −30 m s−1 were also observed before and after the heating event. The meridional neutral-wind speed suddenly changed its direction from equatorward to poleward when the heating event began, and then returned equatorward coinciding with a decrease in the heating event. The magnetometer data from northern Scandinavia suggested that the center of the heated region was located about 80 km equatorward of Tromsø. The pressure gradient caused the lower-thermospheric wind to accelerate obliquely upward over Tromsø in the poleward direction. Acceleration of the neutral wind flowing on a vertically tilted isobar produced vertical wind speeds larger by more than two orders of magnitude than previously predicted, but still an order of magnitude smaller than observed speeds.

From simultaneous observations of the European incoherent scatter Svalbard radar (ESR) and the Cooperative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) Finland radar on 9 March 1999, we have derived the height distributions of the thermospheric heating rate at the F region height in association with electromagnetic energy inputs into the dayside polar cap/cusp region. The ESR and CUTLASS radar observations provide the ionospheric parameters with fine time-resolutions of a few minutes. Although the geomagnetic activity was rather moderate (Kp=3+~4), the electric field obtained from the ESR data sometimes shows values exceeding 40 mV/m. The estimated passive energy deposition rates are also larger than 150 W/kg in the upper thermosphere over the ESR site during the period of the enhanced electric field. In addition, enhancements of the Pedersen conductivity also contribute to heating the upper thermosphere, while there is only a small contribution for thermospheric heating from the direct particle heating due to soft particle precipitation in the dayside polar cap/cusp region. In the same period, the CUTLASS observations of the ion drift show the signature of poleward moving pulsed ionospheric flows with a recurrence rate of about 10–20 min. The estimated electromagnetic energy deposition rate shows the existence of the strong heat source in the dayside polar cap/cusp region of the upper thermosphere in association with the dayside magnetospheric phenomena of reconnections and flux transfer events.

Simultaneous Common Program Two experiments by the EISCAT UHF radar at Tromsø and the EISCAT Svalbard radar at Longyearbyen from 00:00 to 15:00 UT on 22 September 1998 and 9 March 1999 have been utilized to investigate distributions of the ion and neutral temperatures in the E-region between 105 and 115 km. During the experiments, soft particle precipitations in the dayside cusp were observed over the Svalbard radar site by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F11 satellite. It is found that the dayside electric field in the regions of the low-latitude boundary of the polar cap and the cusp was greater and more variable than that in the auroral region. The ion temperature, parallel to the geomagnetic field at Longyearbyen, was higher than that at Tromsø during the daytime from 06:00 to 12:00 UT. The steady-state ion energy equation has been applied to derive neutral temperature under the assumption of no significant heat transport and viscous heating. The estimated neutral temperature at Longyearbyen was also higher than that at Tromsø. The ion and neutral energy budget was discussed in terms of the ion frictional heating and the Joule heating. The results indicate two possibilities: either the neutral temperature was high in the low latitude boundary of the polar cap and the cusp, or the heat transport by the polar cap neutral winds toward the dayside sector was significant.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere–atmosphere interactions; polar ionosphere)

The interplay between superconductivity and structural phase transition has attracted enormous interest in recent years. For example, in Fe-pnictide high temperature superconductors, quantum fluctuations in association with structural phase transition have been proposed to lead to many novel physical properties and even the superconductivity itself. Here we report a finding that the quasi-skutterudite superconductors (Sr1−xCax)3Ir4Sn13 (x = 0, 0.5, 1) and Ca3Rh4Sn13 show some unusual properties similar to the Fe-pnictides, through 119Sn nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. In (Sr1−xCax)3Ir4Sn13, the NMR linewidth increases below a temperature T* that is higher than the structural phase transition temperature Ts. The spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1) divided by temperature (T), 1/T1T and the Knight shift K increase with decreasing T down to T*, but start to decrease below T*, and followed by more distinct changes at Ts. In contrast, none of the anomalies is observed in Ca3Rh4Sn13 that does not undergo a structural phase transition. The precursory phenomenon above the structural phase transition resembles that occurring in Fe-pnictides. In the superconducting state of Ca3Ir4Sn13, 1/T1 decays as exp(−Δ/kBT) with a large gap Δ = 2.21kBTc, yet without a Hebel–Slichter coherence peak, which indicates strong-coupling superconductivity. Our results provide new insight into the relationship between superconductivity and the electronic-structure change associated with structural phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Introduction: Vitamin D is considered a pre-hormone and plays a crucial role in calcium homeostasis and, consequently, in bone health. The best source of vitamin D is the skin in response to sunlight. Only small amounts of this vitamin are found in some foods (especially fatty fish), which makes availability of vitamin D in the diet limited. Brazilian population studies show that the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in our country is high. Objective: To define the reference intervals for vitamin D [25(OH)D]. Discussion: Consensus of specialists - literature review. Conclusion: The standardization of reference intervals is fundamental for the correct diagnosis and treatment of hypovitaminosis D.

Coupled-channels Faddeev-Yacubovsky as well as AGS calculations of three-body, J π =0¯ K(NN)I=1(I=1/2) quasibound state in the KNN- πΣ N system were performed in momentum space and the dependence of the three-body energy on the two-body KN- πΣ interaction was investigated.

Introdução: Nas últimas décadas, o papel do HPV tem sido intensamente estudado devido à sua íntima associação com a gênese de uma série de car­ cinomas; principalmente com relação aos do trato genital feminino. Objetivo: descrever resultados preliminares do estudo LAMS em um dos centros do Brasil. O principal objetivo do estudo LAMS é verificar a aplicabilidade de diferentes ferramentas para rastreamento de lesões pré-neoplásicas e neoplásicas do colo uterino em dois países da América Latina. Métodos: este trabalho, está sendo realizado na cidade de São Paulo, que é um dos quatro centros brasileiros. Foram recrutadas 3.000 mulheres, entre fevereiro de 2002 e março de 2003, que atenderam à chamada para realização de exames de prevenção do câncer do colo uterino. Após assinarem o consentimento pós-informado e responderem um questionário, foram submetidas a um exame pélvico que incluiu a inspeção visual com ácido acético a 5%, Papanicolaou (convencional ou de base líquida) e captura de híbridos II (Digene do Brasil). Todas as mulheres com um dos testes positivos c 5% das com testes negativos, foram convidadas para colposcopia com biópsia dirigida, se indicada. Resultados: do total de exames de Papanicolaou, 92% foram considerados normais, 7% com alterações, sendo ASCUS (4,2%), lesões de baixo grau (1,4%) e lesões de alto grau (0,57%). Foram encontrados 2 casos de lesões invasoras. 13% das mulheres tiveram VIA anormal e 4 casos foram sugestivos de câncer. A captura de híbridos II foi realizada em 1.040 mulheres, sendo positiva em 17,5%, tanto por autocoleta quanto por amostra coletada clinicamente. O teste de VIA foi anormal em 14% dos esfregaços considerados normais e em 23% dos alterados. A colposcopia e a biópsia apresentaram uma diferença estatisticamente significativa com relação aos resultados positivos da citologia e da captura de híbridos (p < 0,01). Conclusão: Esta fase inicial de recrutamento do projeto, em São Paulo, será a base, juntamente com os outros centros, para o desenvolvimento de estratégias para controle do câncer do colo uterino em regiões de poucos recursos.