Faculty Bibliography

There are several options available for management of the middle-aged arthritic knee. Arthroscopic techniques continue to evolve, but the true natural history of the arthritic process is probably not altered. Good to excellent short-term results can be expected with proper patient selection. Patient counseling is important in order to discuss the nature of the underlying disease process, the limited goals of the arthroscopic procedure, and the possible need for further surgery. Proximal tibial osteotomy for the treatment of medial compartment osteoarthritis can be effective for as long as 15 years. There is a deterioration of results over time that can often be correlated to the degree of correction achieved. Strict selection criteria can maximize success. Revision surgery to total knee replacement, albeit technically difficult, is a viable option with results similar to primary TKR. Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty remains a controversial procedure as its indications continue to evolve. Good to excellent results can be expected in 80% to 90% of patients at 10 years follow-up. Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty occupies a special niche in the treatment of unicompartmental osteoarthritis and supplements total knee replacement and high tibial osteotomy surgery

Both static and dynamic loads were applied to metal-backed acetabular cups with ceramic or polyethylene inserts and the resulting load transmissions at a simulated bone interface were determined. Perfect fit and under-sized and over-sized cavities were prepared in simulated bone substrates, lined with Fuji pressure sensitive film, and acetabular cups inserted with physiological loads. The magnitude and location of contact forces between the cup and bone were measured. These cups were then subjected to a controlled impact load and the intensity and frequency of the loads transmitted to the substrate were determined. The results suggest that a polyethylene backing for ceramics is not necessary as there were no major differences in the static and dynamic stresses transmitted to the cup-bone interface with all polyethylene or ceramic inserts

The Manko tidal flat in the southern part of Okinawa Island is an important visiting and wintering area for migratory birds and was added to the Ramsar Convention Register of Wetlands in 1999. This area used to be an inlet extending to the inner part of Naha Port, but recent reclamation projects have restricted its connection to the East China Sea. As is typical in rural regions of subtropical islands, the inhabitants in the Manko basin raise livestock, especially pigs, without employing sufficient waste treatment methods. As sewage treatment works are considered to be one of the main sources of environmental estrogens in urban areas, the significance of livestock farming as a source of estrogens in rural area is examined in this study. In the present study, total estrogenic activities in water and sediment samples from the Manko tidal flat and its basin were measured using a recombinant yeast screen method. Estrogenic activities (equivalent to 17beta-estradiol, E2) were around 10 ng l(-1) in water samples and more than 10 microg kg(-1) in some sediment samples. In addition, the concentrations of estrone (E1) and E2 in water samples measured using LC/MS/MS indicated a high contribution of environmental estrogens from livestock wastes.

Introduccion y objetivos. Se sabe que el consumo de fitosteroles reduce la concentracion de colesterol en plasma, debido a la interferencia de estos compuestos en la absorcion intestinal de colesterol. Aunque en pequena proporcion, los fitosteroles de la dieta tambien se asimilan, y su concentracion en el plasma es mil veces inferior a la del colesterol. Dada su analogia estructural con el colesterol, nos planteamos determinar el efecto de distintos fitosteroles sobre la biosintesis de colesterol en celulas humanas y su repercusion sobre la proliferacion celular. Metodo. Las celulas de la linea promielocitica humana HL-60 se cultivaron en un medio libre de colesterol (DCCM-l) en presencia de los diferentes esteroles en estudio y de [14C]-acetato como precursor para la biosintesis de colesterol. Al cabo de 8 h de incubacion se lisaron las celulas y se extrajeron los lipidos no saponificables, que posteriormente fueron analizados mediante cromatografia liquida de alta resolucion (HPLC). La proliferacion celular se analizo determinando la incorporacion de [3H]-timidina al ADN y por recuento de las celulas. Resultados. Los fitosteroles insaturados en el C22 de la cadena lateral-estigmasterol, brasicasterol y ergosterol- inhibieron la biosintesis de colesterol en celulas HL-60 en concentraciones fisiologicas, de 1 µg/ml, mientras que los otros fitosteroles-ß-sitosterol y campesterol- fueron inactivos incluso en concentraciones de 30 µg/ml. El 5, 22-colestadien-3ß-ol, un esterol no natural que contiene tambien un doble enlace en C22, inhibio la incorporacion de [14C]-acetato a colesterol mucho mas intensamente que los anteriores. El descenso de 14C-colesterol se acompano de un aumento de la radiactividad en desmosterol y tambien, aunque menos intensamente, en 5, 7, 24-colestatrien-3ß-ol. A pesar de estos cambios en la composicion celular de esteroles, los fitosteroles no afectaron la viabilidad ni la proliferacion de las celulas HL-60, lo que sugiere que los esteroles intermediarios pueden suplir al colesterol en sus funciones en la division celular. Conclusiones. Los fitosteroles con doble enlace en C22 inhiben la biosintesis de colesterol a valor de la esterol delta24-reductasa en concentraciones que pueden considerarse fisiologicas, por lo que esta accion puede considerarse un mecanismo adicional para explicar los efectos hipolipemiantes de estos compuestos

TGFss signals belonging to the Nodal family set up the embryonic axes, induce mesoderm and endoderm, pattern the nervous system, and determine left-right asymmetry in vertebrates. Nodal signaling activates a canonical TGFss pathway involving activin receptors, Smad2 transcription factors, and FoxH1 coactivators. In addition, Nodal signaling is dependent on coreceptors of the EGF-CFC family and antagonized by the Lefty and Cerberus families of secreted factors. Additional modulators of Nodal signaling include convertases that regulate the generation of the mature signal, and factors such as Arkadia and DRAP1 that regulate the cellular responses to the signal. Complex regulatory cascades and autoregulatory loops coordinate Nodal signaling during early development. Nodals have concentration-dependent roles and can act both locally and at a distance. These studies demonstrate that Nodal signaling is modulated at almost every level to precisely orchestrate tissue patterning during vertebrate embryogenesis