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A study was conducted to characterize a mechanism that supports the destruction of heterogeneous solid dielectrics with high intrinsic inhomogeneity. Two types of heterogeneous natural rocks were utilized in the study, namely granite and tuff. The products of destruction were then determined by measuring the volume between the electrodes. Experimental results indicated that the mechanism effectively determined the nature of solids breakdown at low electric fields.

Background: The posterosuperior humeral head contacts the glenoid during pitching. While magnetic resonance imaging often detects abnormalities in the posterosuperior humeral head of baseball pitchers, ultrasonography may also be effective in identifying these abnormalities. However, studies on such abnormalities in asymptomatic players are limited. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal findings in the humeral head using ultrasonography in asymptomatic collegiate baseball pitchers., Methods: We utilized ultrasonography to assess abnormal findings in the humeral head, defined as a break in continuity or an irregular surface around the infraspinatus insertion, in 33 college baseball pitchers (pitcher group) and 30 college students without experience in overhead sports (control group). For 11 of the 33 pitchers, computed tomography-like images were used to locate the abnormalities. The location was quantitatively identified in the axial plane using a clock system, with the bicipital groove designated as 12 o'clock, and qualitatively assessed in the sagittal plane. Shoulder internal and external rotation ranges of motion (IR and ER ROMs) and humeral retroversion were measured using an inclinometer. The prevalence of abnormalities among the 4 subgroups (throwing and nonthrowing shoulders of the pitcher group and dominant and nondominant shoulders of the control group) was compared using the Fisher's exact test. A paired t-test was also performed to compare the IR and ER ROMs, as well as the humeral retroversion between each group's throwing (dominant) and nonthrowing (nondominant) sides., Results: The prevalence of abnormalities was significantly higher (76%) in the throwing shoulder of the pitcher group than in the other shoulder groups (<.001). The mean position of the humeral head abnormalities in the axial plane was 8:32 ± 0:21 in the clock system, with all abnormalities located at the infraspinatus insertion on the greater tuberosity in the sagittal plane according to CT-like image analysis. While ER ROM and humeral retroversion were greater in the throwing shoulder, IR ROM was less than that in the non-throwing shoulder in the pitcher group (<.001)., Conclusion: Ultrasonographic assessments revealed a higher prevalence of abnormalities in humeral head for asymptomatic collegiate baseball pitchers. Repetitive throwing motions may lead not only to adaptations in the ROM of the shoulder joint but also to abnormalities in the humeral head. Thus, ultrasonography may help identify asymptomatic baseball players with physiological internal impingement., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament injury frequently occurs in the deceleration with the knee-extended position. In addition, a rapid hip internal rotation is concomitantly observed. However, how the extended knee position induces the hip internal rotation is unclear., Methods: Sixteen healthy participants performed the simulated foot impact task on the experimental chair. To vary the knee flexion angle, the following four-foot placement positions relative to the pelvis segment, i.e.: 1) near; 2) middle; 3) far; and 4) far + heel strike, were tested. The reflective marker positions and the ground reaction force (GRF) data were collected. The moment of inertia of the entire lower limb around its long axis as well as the peak hip internal rotation angular velocity were calculated and compared among four conditions (Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test with Bonferroni correction, P<0.0083)., Results: As the knee extended from the near to far + heel strike condition, the moment of inertia of the entire lower limb significantly decreased and hip internal rotation angular velocity significantly increased (P<0.001)., Conclusions: The extended knee position with far foot placement from torso reduces the inertial resistance of the entire lower limb around its long axis and is vulnerable to the hip internal rotation.

Background: Ankle sprains are common and cause persistent ankle function reduction. To biomechanically evaluate the ankle function after ankle sprains, the ground reaction force (GRF) measurement during the single-legged landing had been used. However, previous studies focused on discrete features of vertical GRF (vGRF), which largely ignored vGRF waveform features that could better identify the ankle function., Purpose: To identify how the history of ankle sprain affect the vGRF waveform during the single-legged landing with unsupervised machine learning considering the time-series information of vGRF., Methods: Eighty-seven currently healthy basketball athletes (12 athletes without ankle sprain, 49 athletes with bilateral, and 26 athletes with unilateral ankle sprain more than 6 months before the test day) performed single-legged landings from a 20 centimeters (cm) high box onto the force platform. Totally 518 trials vGRF data were collected from 87 athletes of 174 ankles, including 259 ankle sprain trials (from previous sprain ankles) and 259 non-ankle sprain trials (from without sprain ankles). The first 100 milliseconds (ms) vGRF waveforms after landing were extracted. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the vGRF data, selecting 8 principal components (PCs) representing 96% of the information. Based on these 8 PCs, k-means method (k = 3) clustered the 518 trials into three clusters. Chi-square test assessed significant differences (p < 0.01) in the distribution of ankle sprain and non-ankle sprain trials among clusters., Findings: The ankle sprain trials accounted for a significantly larger percentage (63.9%) in Cluster 3, which exhibited rapidly increased impulse vGRF waveforms with larger peaks in a short time., Significance: PCA and k-means method for vGRF waveforms during single-legged landing identified that the history of previous ankle sprains caused a loss of ankle absorption ability lasting at least 6 months from an ankle sprain., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We declare that we have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Nineteen blood samples collected from free-ranging wild Japanese serows, Capricornis crispus, between 2006 and 2008 in Iwate prefecture were examined for the hemoplasma infection by real-time PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Five (26.3%) out of the 19 samples were positive in real-time PCR with an average melting temperature at 85.18 °C. The positive samples in the real-time PCR were reconfirmed by conventional PCR, and one of them was successful for direct DNA sequencing. The nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of the representative stain was identical to that of Mycoplasma ovis. This was the first demonstration of hemotropic mycoplasma infections among the free-living Japanese serows in Japan.

We developed a real-time PCR procedure followed by melting curve analysis using the green fluorescence dye SYBR Green I for rapid detection and differentiation of hemplasmas in cattle. Analysis of the melting temperature (Tm) of the PCR products allowed for differentiation of the 2 bovine hemoplasmas, Mycoplasma wenyonii and a provisional species, ;Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' (a synonym of ;Candidatus M. haemobovis'). The Tm (mean +/- S.E.) of the PCR products from the bovine hemoplasmas were 86.98 +/- 0.12 degrees C for M. wenyonii and 82.04 +/- 0.27 degrees C and 86.98 +/- 0.12 degrees C, respectively; [corrected] Candidatus M. haemobos' in the melting experiments. The protocol described in the present study can decrease the time to results by simultaneous detection and differentiation of the two hemoplasmas in cattle. By using this protocol, we examined hemoplasma prevalence in 109 cattle in Miyagi Prefecture and found that 67 (61.5%) were infected with M. wenyonii, 25 (22.9%) were infected with ;Candidatus M. haemobos' and 14 (12.8%) were infected with both.

Nineteen blood samples collected from free-living Japanese serows, Capricornis crispus, between 2006 and 2008 in Iwate prefecture were examined for the anaplasma infection by PCR amplification of a part of the 16S rRNA gene. Ten (52.6%) out of the 19 samples produced a visible band in electrophoresed agarose gels. Positive PCR products were subjected to DNA sequencing. We found the nucleotide sequences were identical. Almost entire length of the 16S rRNA gene for a representative stain was then sequenced. We found the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene distinct from previously established Anaplasma species in phylogenetic analysis. Our data first indicated that anaplasma infection occurred continuously among the free-living Japanese serow populations in northern Japan.

A multimodal treatment strategy for recurrent breast cancer is described. Occasionally, there are a few patients who have no other detectable distant metastases at the time of locoregional recurrence or of appearance of solitary lung metastasis. In such cases, curative results may be obtained with surgical treatment. In cases too extensive for surgical resection, irradiation is the treatment choice for local control. Radiotherapy is also helpful for painful bone lesions. The important basis for the multimodal approach to recurrent breast cancer is a well-balanced combination of local therapy with surgery or irradiation and systemic polychemoendocrine therapy or polychemotherapy followed by maintenance therapy, to improve the quality of life and survival of patients. Concerning the combined chemoendocrine therapy, many investigators have reported an improved effect with simultaneous or sequential use, but not all of these studies have confirmed the advantage of combination therapy over endocrine- or chemo-therapy alone, either in response rate or survival time. Further prospective randomized studies correlating ER status are needed to evaluate this approach. Immunotherapy used as a maintenance therapy may prolong the duration of remission and survival time.

Aspiration cytology was performed in 1603 patients with breast lesions. Of 298 histologically confirmed malignant tumors, 234 (78.5%) had a concordant cytologic diagnosis. In 75% of 24 patients infiltrating cancer of 1.0 cm or less in greatest dimension, a correct diagnosis was obtained. The ratio of true-positive cases was higher and that of suspicious and false-positive cases lower, in aspiration cytology compared to mammography or echography. Cytologic diagnosis showed 4.7% false-positive results in this series. Atypical cells from intraductal proliferation and low malignant cancer cells were sometimes difficult to distinguish. In patients with such atypical cells, surgical biopsy was required. No difference in the 5-year survival was found between breast cancer patients who had aspiration cytology and their matched controls. Therefore, this method is very safe and is considered to be the most valuable in the correct diagnosis of breast cancer.

Through the investigation of the bile acid-deconjugation activities of human intestinal anaerobes, a new enzyme was discovered in Peptostreptococcus intermedius which hydrolyzed specifically the taurine-conjugates, but not the glycine-conjugates of bile acids. However, the enzymes in Streptococcus faecalis and Lactobacillus brevis hydrolyzed chiefly the glycine-conjugates.