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Decreased respiratory muscle strength and muscle mass is key in diagnosing respiratory sarcopenia. However, the role of reduced diaphragm activity, expressed as the maximal level of diaphragmatic excursion (DEmax), in diagnosing respiratory sarcopenia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize patients with COPD and low DEmax and maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), a measure of inspiratory muscle strength, and assess the role of DEmax in respiratory sarcopenia.

AbstractThis paper examines the Statement on Air-Hijacking from the 1978 Bonn Summit and its effect on Japan’s anti-hijacking policy. Although the Group of Seven (G7) began as an economic summit, it soon became a forum for both economic and non-economic agendas that were of significant concern to the leaders of member states. Its first official statement on a non-economic issue related to possible sanctions against countries that supported hijackers since the act represented a common danger to the seven countries in the 1970s, and some of them, including Japan, had compromised with hijackers to ensure the safety of hostages. Though it was Japan’s prime minister who began the conversation that ultimately led to the statement against hijacking, the Japanese government did not immediately change its policy after the Bonn Summit. The subsequent follow-up meetings, however, changed Japan’s stance to a hard-line policy due to pressure from the highest level and the accompanying bureaucratic infighting within the Japanese government. This case proved the effectiveness of the G7, which has been disputed in previous studies of this international forum.

Background. Metal hypersensitivity is a rare complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA), and no reliable diagnostic method for metal hypersensitivity to orthopedic metal implants has yet been established. Case report. A 57-year-old woman underwent hemiarthroplasty using a metal implant despite a skin allergy to metal jewelry. Two years after surgery, the patient developed early hemiarthroplasty failure and refractory erythema. Although the patient was clinically suspected to have a hypersensitivity to metal, the preoperative screening test was negative, and patient underwent revision surgery with cemented THA. Postoperatively, the erythema as well as her hip pain disappeared completely. Conclusion. Patients with clinically suspected metal hypersensitivity should undergo primary and revision total hip arthroplasty using hypoallergenic implants regardless of preoperative screening results.

Implant positioning is one of the critical factors that influences postoperative outcome of total hip arthroplasty (THA). Malpositioning of the implant may lead to an increased risk of postoperative complications such as prosthetic impingement, dislocation, restricted range of motion, polyethylene wear, and loosening. In 2012, the intraoperative use of smartphone technology in THA for improved accuracy of acetabular cup placement was reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of an iPhone/iPad-guided technique in positioning the acetabular cup in THA compared with the reference values obtained from the image-free navigation system in a cadaveric experiment. Five hips of 5 embalmed whole-body cadavers were used in the study. Seven orthopedic surgeons (4 residents and 3 senior hip surgeons) participated in the study. All of the surgeons examined each of the 5 hips 3 times. The target angle was 38°/19° for operative inclination/anteversion angles, which corresponded to radiographic inclination/anteversion angles of 40°/15°. The simultaneous assessment using the navigation system showed mean±SD radiographic alignment angles of 39.4°±2.6° and 16.4°±2.6° for inclination and anteversion, respectively. Assessment of cup positioning based on Lewinnek's safe zone criteria showed all of the procedures (n=105) achieved acceptable alignment within the safe zone. A comparison of the performances by resident and senior hip surgeons showed no significant difference between the groups (Implant positioning is one of the critical factors that influences postoperative outcome of total hip arthroplasty (THA). Malpositioning of the implant may lead to an increased risk of postoperative complications such as prosthetic impingement, dislocation, restricted range of motion, polyethylene wear, and loosening. In 2012, the intraoperative use of smartphone technology in THA for improved accuracy of acetabular cup placement was reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of an iPhone/iPad-guided technique in positioning the acetabular cup in THA compared with the reference values obtained from the image-free navigation system in a cadaveric experiment. Five hips of 5 embalmed whole-body cadavers were used in the study. Seven orthopedic surgeons (4 residents and 3 senior hip surgeons) participated in the study. All of the surgeons examined each of the 5 hips 3 times. The target angle was 38°/19° for operative inclination/anteversion angles, which corresponded to radiographic inclination/anteversion angles of 40°/15°. The simultaneous assessment using the navigation system showed mean±SD radiographic alignment angles of 39.4°±2.6° and 16.4°±2.6° for inclination and anteversion, respectively. Assessment of cup positioning based on Lewinnek's safe zone criteria showed all of the procedures (n=105) achieved acceptable alignment within the safe zone. A comparison of the performances by resident and senior hip surgeons showed no significant difference between the groups (P=.74 for inclination and P=.81 for anteversion). The iPhone/iPad technique examined in this study could achieve acceptable performance in determining cup alignment in THA regardless of the surgeon's expertise. [Orthopedics.2016; 39(4):e621–e626.]

This paper addresses axial ultrasonic-vibration-assisted helical milling of chemically strengthened glass. Axial ultrasonic vibration was applied to a milling tool using an ultrasonic device to obtain longer tool life, higher machining accuracies, and improved cutting efficiency. The effects of ultrasonic vibration on microscale, through-hole helical milling of chemically strengthened glass were investigated and the impact of three cutting parameters (feed velocity, pitch per revolution, rotation speed) on the characteristics of surface chippings was evaluated. The results of the cutting tests clearly showed a reduction of chipping size and an improvement in tool life by using the proposed manufacturing method. Finally, optimum cutting conditions were proposed based on the results of the milling tests.

Activation parameters for rotation around the isopropyl-nitrogen bond of the title compounds were determined by the line shape analysis of 1H NMR spectra. The Eavalues lie in the ranges of 58–60 kJ/mol for X=S and 52–54 kJ/mol for X=Se. The activation parameters are little influenced by the ring size of the 1,3-diheteracycloalkane moiety and the counter anions.