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The field of musculoskeletal diagnostics and personalized medicine has undergone a revolutionary transformation due to a deeper understanding of skeletal biomechanics and due to technological advancements. Analogous to this transformation, our understanding of spinopelvic conditions has experienced a paradigm shift in terms of both static and dynamic changes in spinopelvic pathologies and enabled a more accurate delineation of the drivers of disability. The purpose of this review is to describe the standard and state of the art of preoperative diagnostic and planning methods for common spinopelvic pathologies and to discuss both the added clinical value and limitations. The rationale is to accelerate the accurate and timely diagnosis and as well as the efficient and safe preoperative workflow.

An excerpt from the book "Bougainville, A Memoir" by F. Springer, translated by Lindsay Edwards, is presented.

The work reports on studies of dynamic strain ageing (DSA) in f.c.c. solid solutions which refer to the problems: (i) mode of diffusion (pipe or lattice) generating the various DSA effects; (ii) the process (saturation or exhaustion) limiting this diffusion; (iii) the current ageing model describing best all results. From experiments on _C_uMn and _C_uAl under precisely chosen conditions an additional enthalpy Δg is derived which phenomenologically describes the DSA effects observed. Its analysis on solute concentration and stress at low and high degrees of tensile deformation yields clear answers to the above questions.

Starch is synthesised through the ADP‐glucose pathway, involving the three enzymes ADP‐glucose pyrophosphorylase, starch synthase and starch branching enzyme. ADP‐glucose pyrophosphorylase is the key enzyme of the pathway, determining the flux of carbon into starch. It generates ADP‐glucose, which is the substrate for the starch synthases, from glucose‐1‐phosphate and ATP releasing pyrophosphate. The enzyme is stimulated by 3‐phosphoglycerate and inhibited through inorganic phosphate. The starch synthases, which catalyse the transfer of glucose from ADP‐glucose to the nonreducing end of a growing α‐1,4‐glucan, are divided into two classes, the granule‐bound starch synthases (GBSS) and the soluble starch synthases (SS). In both classes several isoforms have been described from many different plant species. The branching enzyme, which introduces branchpoints into the amylopectin, can also occur in different isoforms. Other enzymes present in plants, which also act on α‐1,4‐glucans, such as the starch phosphorylases, disproportionating enzyme and different starch hydrolases, might also be important for dertermining the starch structure and, therefore, its processibility. Many aspects of starch synthesis are not fully understood to date. Starch metabolism can be manipulated through genetic engineering, either by the ectopic expression of different heterologous genes, or through the repression of the expression of endogenous genes using antisense RNA technology. This not only allows the functional analysis of starch biosynthetic proteins, but also the manipulation of starch structure in order to widen its industrial applications.

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Details the technical decisions and detective work that go into special collector-oriented laser discs of favorite films, such as `The Thing,' a 1950s science-fiction classic and MGM/UA's 1963 comedy `It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.' Comments by Patrick Cousans, director of product development for Image Entertainment; Voyager Co.'s Criterion Collection; Choice of films; Letterboxing; Second sound track; Deleted scenes and other supplementary materials.

The present study shows that under suitably chosen conditions, the same results of rare gas diffusion coefficients can be obtained in samples which are reactor irradiated to produce a homo-geneous concentration of rare gas, and in samples that are labeled with rare gas by controlled ion bombardment. In the present study, the diffusion of krypton in Rbl and Csl was found to follow the empirical rule of yielding activation enthalpies in the range (1.4±0.2) x 10-3TmeV, with Tm= melting point in °K. Trapping of rare gases (gas-gas or gas-damage interactions) was observed at high gas concentration.

The present study provides data on the effect of total neutron dose and gas concentration on mobility and release of fission gases in UC, a question that is important for the swelling problem. UC powders with a carbon content of 4.68% were irradiated at reactor ambient temperature to doses between 1.5 × 1014 and 1.5 × 1019 nvt. The release of fission xenon was measured at a constant temperature of 1000C°. With increasing dose, a pronounced decrease with dose in the apparent diffusion coefficient was observed indicating trapping (i.e. gas-damage or gas-gas interactions). The kinetics of the release and the nature of the traps are discussed. The results are confirmed by additional data using UC single crystals that were labeled with xenon to different concentrations using ion bombardment techniques. The combined results yield a consistent picture of fission gas mobility and trapping in UC.

Zusammenfassung: Die abdominalen Inkontinenzoperationen weisen gegenber dem vaginalen Vorgehen—bis auf die Harnwegsinfektrate—eine deutlich hhere Frequenz an Miktionsstrungen auf. Bei den Suspensionsoperationen mu man nach Rezidivoperationen mit einer deutlich hheren Rate an Miktionsstrungen rechnen und dies bei der properativen Aufklrung bercksichtigen.

Introduction Biological disc replacement demands a distinct understanding of referring pathologies and states of degeneration. Clinical imaging modalities are needed to apply such measurements to potential patients. The introduction of UTE sequences to whole body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows for quantitative characterization of tissue consisting of components with fast signal decay. We hypothesize that UTE will enable us to differentiate states of degeneration within the EP and the AF. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of LDD on ORS ratios in the cartilaginous EP and the AF.Materials and Methods A total of 20 human lumbar motion segments of seven fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens (median age 66, range 49-66 years) were assessed using a whole-body MRI scanner. A sagittal 3D UTE sequence with an isotropic submillimeter resolution of 0.7 mm (TE 0.07 ms, TR 10.3 ms, FoV 128 mm, FA 10 degrees) with and without off-resonant saturation preparation pulse at 3 T was used. The off-resonance frequency was varied between 1 and 5 kHz. OSRs of images with and without preparation pulse were calculated for the upper and the lower EP as well as for the AF. Intervertebral discs were classified healthy (CO, n= 9), mildly degenerated (MIL, n= 6) and severely degenerated (SEV, n= 8) concerning morphology and signal alteration in conventional MR sequences. A nonparametric U-test was performed to report the level of significance. The relationship between OSR and grade of degeneration was estimated using multiple regression analysis in respect to age and body mass index (BMI).Results Upper and lower EP as well as AF in controls revealed no significant differences concerning OSR from 1 to 5 kHz. Regarding all regions (EPs and AF), the SEV group showed significantly increased OSRs ranging from 0.37 ± 0.01 (1 kHz) to 0.22 ± 0.01 (5 kHz), compared with the CO group, ranging from 0.33 ± 0.01 (1 kHz) to 0.2 ± 0.01 (5 kHz), and the MIL group, ranging from 0.32 ± 0.01 (1 kHz) to 0.2 ± 0.01 (5 kHz) (p< 0.05). The MIL group showed a tendency toward lower OSR compared with the CO group. This was underlined by the results of multiple regression analysis after adjusting for age (Table A).Conclusion UTE sequences reveal clear images of human lumbar EP and AF and allow for quantitative assessment of free water. EP and AF of lumbar discs with major degeneration showed a loss of free water content compared with healthy and slightly degenerated discs, indicating a change toward a more condensed structure. EP and AF of slightly degenerated discs, however, showed a tendency to higher OSR, indicating an increase of free water. This might have occurred due to edema or focal destruction of EP and AF in early stages. Focused repair strategies and potential outcome predictors may result from this imaging modality. Disclosure of Interest None declared