Experimental and computational evaluation of knee implant wear and creep under in vivo and ISO boundary conditions.

Background: Experimental knee implant wear testing according to ISO 14243 is a standard procedure, but it inherently possesses limitations for preclinical evaluations due to extended testing periods and costly infrastructure. In an effort to overcome these limitations, we hereby develop and experimentally validate a finite-element (FE)-based algorithm, including a novel cross-shear and contact pressure dependent wear and creep model, and apply it towards understanding the sensitivity of wear outcomes to the applied boundary conditions.

Methods: Specifically, we investigated the application of in vivo data for level walking from the publicly available "Stan" data set, which contains single representative tibiofemoral loads and kinematics derived from in vivo measurements of six subjects, and compared wear outcomes against those obtained using the ISO standard boundary conditions.

Lateral thinking: Neurodegeneration of the cortical cholinergic system in Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: Atrophy of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) is an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, reduced integrity of the NBM white matter tracts may be more relevant for cognitive impairment and progression to dementia than NBM volume. Research is needed to compare differences in NBM volume and integrity of the lateral and medial NBM tracts across early and later stages of AD progression.

Lateral Thinking: Pathway Specific Neurodegeneration of the Cortical Cholinergic System in Alzheimer's Disease.

Introduction: Atrophy of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) is an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, reduced integrity of the NBM white matter tracts may be more relevant for cognitive impairment and progression to dementia than NBM volume. Research is needed to compare differences in NBM volume and integrity of the lateral and medial NBM tracts across early and later stages of AD progression.

Effective, Consistent, and Rapid Noncontact Application Methods for Seedling Basal Stem Infection by .

(Lib.) de Bary, an economically devastating soilborne fungal pathogen known to cause disease across a wide range of plants, produces long-term inoculum called sclerotia that can germinate either carpogenically by ascospores infecting aboveground plant parts or myceliogenically to infect stem base and roots. Typically, for research purposes, diseases are initiated by direct contact methods, using mycelium agar plugs wrapped around the stem or sclerotia placed directly beneath root mass.