Residual kinematic deviations of the shoulder during humeral elevation after conservative treatment for mid-shaft clavicle fractures.

Despite residual functional deficits clinically observed in conservatively treated mid-shaft clavicle fractures, no study has reported a quantitative assessment of the treatment effects on the kinematics of the shoulder complex during functional movement. Using computerised motion analysis, the current study quantified the 3D residual kinematic deviations or strategies of the shoulder complex bones during multi-plane elevations in fifteen patients with conservatively treated mid-shaft clavicle fractures and fifteen healthy controls. Despite residual clavicular malunion, the patients recovered normal shoulder kinematics for arm elevations up to 60° in all three tested planes.

Engineering highly stable variants of Corynactis californica green fluorescent proteins.

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) are versatile biomarkers that facilitate effective detection and tracking of macromolecules of interest in real time. Engineered FPs such as superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) and superfolder Cherry (sfCherry) have exceptional refolding capability capable of delivering fluorescent readout in harsh environments where most proteins lose their native functions. Our recent work on the development of a split FP from a species of strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica, delivered pairs of fragments with up to threefold faster complementation than split GFP.

Crystal structures of multidrug efflux transporters from suggest details of transport mechanism.

BpeB and BpeF are multidrug efflux transporters from that enable multidrug resistance. Here, we report the crystal structures of BpeB and BpeF at 2.94 Å and 3.

Label-free affinity screening, design and synthesis of inhibitors targeting the Mycobacterium tuberculosis L-alanine dehydrogenase.

The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to persist in its host may enable an evolutionary advantage for drug resistant variants to emerge. A potential strategy to prevent persistence and gain drug efficacy is to directly target the activity of enzymes that are crucial for persistence. We present a method for expedited discovery and structure-based design of lead compounds by targeting the hypoxia-associated enzyme L-alanine dehydrogenase (AlaDH).

Effects of lateral instability on ankle coupled motions in vivo using 3D fluoroscopy.

Lateral ankle instability (LAI) compromises the normal kinematics of the ankle, affecting activities of daily living. In vitro kinematics of ankles with LAI during single-plane motions are available, but the active control stability of these motions remains unclear. The current study measured the 3D ankle kinematics during unresisted single-plane motion tests using a bi-plane fluoroscope with a CT model-based 2D/3D registration method in 12 patients with LAI and 14 healthy peers.

Effects of Internal Fixation for Mid-Shaft Clavicle Fractures on Shoulder Kinematics During Humeral Elevations.

Background: Mid-shaft clavicle fractures account for 35 to 44% of injuries to the shoulder girdle. There is increasing evidence to support surgical repair, but poor functional outcomes have been reported, and associated factors remain unclear.

Methods: The three-dimensional poses of the shoulder bones during arm elevations were measured in 15 patients treated for mid-shaft clavicle fractures by open reduction and internal fixation, and in 15 healthy controls.

Increased Loading Rates During Gait Correlate With Morphology of Unaffected Hip in Juveniles With Treated Developmental Hip Dysplasia.

Long-term follow-up studies on children with surgically treated developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) have shown that not only the affected side progresses to premature osteoarthritis, but the unaffected side may also suffer from insidious hip dysplasia or osteonecrosis. The current gait analysis study identified the loading and unloading rates of the ground reaction forces (GRF) and lower limb joint axial forces during gait, and their correlations with the hip morphology in twenty juvenile patients with surgically treated unilateral DDH during toddlerhood. In a gait laboratory, each subject walked at preferred speed on a 10-m walkway while the kinematics and the GRF were measured.

Light Guide Layer Thickness Optimization for Enhancement of the Light Extraction Efficiency of Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes.

Consider material machinability and lattice mismatch sapphire as substrates for the ultraviolet-C light-emitting diodes (UV-C LEDs) are commonly used, but their high refractive index can result in the total internal reflection (TIR) of light whereby some light is absorbed, therefore caused reducing light extraction efficiency (LEE). In this study, we propose a method to optimize the thickness of a sapphire substrate light guide layer through first-order optical design which used the optical simulation software Ansys SPEOS to simulate and evaluate the light extraction efficiency. AlGaN UV-C LEDs wafers with a light guide layer thickness of 150-700 μm were used.

Changes in night sky brightness after a countywide LED retrofit.

The US National Park Service (NPS) Night Skies Program measured changes in sky brightness resulting from a countywide lighting retrofit project. The retrofit took place in Chelan County, a gateway community to North Cascades National Park and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area in Washington State. The county retrofitted all 3693 county-owned high pressure sodium (HPS) street lamps to full cutoff LEDs.

Construction, characterization and crystal structure of a fluorescent single-chain Fv chimera.

In vitro display technologies based on phage and yeast have a successful history of selecting single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies against various targets. However, single-chain antibodies are often unstable and poorly expressed in Escherichia coli. Here, we explore the feasibility of converting scFv antibodies to an intrinsically fluorescent format by inserting the monomeric, stable fluorescent protein named thermal green, between the light- and heavy-chain variable regions.

Teres minor muscle hypertrophy is a negative predictor of outcomes after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty: an evaluation of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and postoperative implant position.

Background: Predictors of outcomes after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of preoperative muscle quality and postoperative implant positioning on patient-reported outcomes following rTSA.

Methods: We evaluated 88 shoulders treated with rTSA in which preoperative magnetic resonance imaging was available.

Tendon release reduced joint stiffness with unaltered leg stiffness during gait in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

Biomechanical deviations at individual joints are often identified by gait analysis of patients with cerebral palsy (CP). Analysis of the control of joint and leg stiffness of the locomotor system during gait in children with spastic diplegic CP has been used to reveal their control strategy, but the differences between before and after surgery remain unknown. The current study aimed to bridge the gap by comparing the leg stiffness-both skeletal and muscular components-and associated joint stiffness during gait in 12 healthy controls and 12 children with spastic diplegic CP before and after tendon release surgery (TRS).

Single-Session Video and Electromyography Feedback in Overhead Athletes With Scapular Dyskinesis and Impingement Syndrome.

Context: Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) is associated with scapular dyskinesis, or imbalanced scapular muscle activity. Evidence has shown that feedback can improve scapular control in patients with SIS. However, it is unknown whether real-time video feedback or electromyography (EMG) biofeedback is optimal for improving scapular kinematics and muscle activity during a functional task.

Macromolecular structure determination using X-rays, neutrons and electrons: recent developments in Phenix.

Diffraction (X-ray, neutron and electron) and electron cryo-microscopy are powerful methods to determine three-dimensional macromolecular structures, which are required to understand biological processes and to develop new therapeutics against diseases. The overall structure-solution workflow is similar for these techniques, but nuances exist because the properties of the reduced experimental data are different. Software tools for structure determination should therefore be tailored for each method.

Chronic kidney disease predicts a lower probability of improvement in patient-reported experience measures among patients with fractures: a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Unlabelled: Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are integral component of care for fracture patients. Using a multicenter cohort, we showed that the presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) attenuated the probability of PREM improvement in fracture patients.

Introduction: Assessing PREM can assist physicians in improving patients' experiences.

BpeB, a major resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter from Burkholderia cenocepacia: construct design, crystallization and preliminary structural analysis.

Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic pathogen that infects cystic fibrosis patients, causing pneumonia and septicemia. B. cenocepacia has intrinsic antibiotic resistance against monobactams, aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol and fluoroquinolones that is contributed by a homologue of BpeB, which is a member of the resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND)-type multidrug-efflux transporters.

Outcomes of revision arthroplasty for shoulder periprosthetic joint infection: a three-stage revision protocol.

Background: This study evaluated outcomes after treatment of shoulder periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) with a 3-stage revision protocol consisting of (1) débridement, explantation, and cement spacer placement, followed by parenteral antibiotics; (2) open biopsy and débridement; and (3) reimplantation if cultures were negative. We hypothesized this protocol would eradicate persistent infection while producing excellent functional and subjective outcomes, and there would be no difference in these parameters for patients with shoulder PJI compared with patients with revision for aseptic indications.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a prospectively collected revision shoulder arthroplasty cohort to identify shoulder PJI patients treated with a 3-stage protocol.

The influence of renal dialysis and hip fracture sites on the 10-year mortality of elderly hip fracture patients: A nationwide population-based observational study.

Hip fractures in older people requiring dialysis are associated with high mortality. Our study primarily aimed to evaluate the specific burden of dialysis on the mortality rate following hip fracture. The secondary aim was to clarify the effect of the fracture site on mortality.

Structural basis for DNA recognition by STAT6.

STAT6 participates in classical IL-4/IL-13 signaling and stimulator of interferon genes-mediated antiviral innate immune responses. Aberrations in STAT6-mediated signaling are linked to development of asthma and diseases of the immune system. In addition, STAT6 remains constitutively active in multiple types of cancer.

Functional Diversity of Cytotoxic tRNase/Immunity Protein Complexes from Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) is a widespread mechanism of inter-bacterial competition. CDI(+) bacteria deploy large CdiA effector proteins, which carry variable C-terminal toxin domains (CdiA-CT). CDI(+) cells also produce CdiI immunity proteins that specifically neutralize cognate CdiA-CT toxins to prevent auto-inhibition.

Can I solve my structure by SAD phasing? Planning an experiment, scaling data and evaluating the useful anomalous correlation and anomalous signal.

A key challenge in the SAD phasing method is solving a structure when the anomalous signal-to-noise ratio is low. Here, algorithms and tools for evaluating and optimizing the useful anomalous correlation and the anomalous signal in a SAD experiment are described. A simple theoretical framework [Terwilliger et al.

Can I solve my structure by SAD phasing? Anomalous signal in SAD phasing.

A key challenge in the SAD phasing method is solving a structure when the anomalous signal-to-noise ratio is low. A simple theoretical framework for describing measurements of anomalous differences and the resulting useful anomalous correlation and anomalous signal in a SAD experiment is presented. Here, the useful anomalous correlation is defined as the correlation of anomalous differences with ideal anomalous differences from the anomalous substructure.