We measured muscle strength in 36 patients after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with autogenous bone-patellar tendon-bone graft. Quadriceps and hamstring isokinetic strength was assessed during concentric contraction at 60 and 180°/s and was measured at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively. At 24 months quadriceps muscle strength had recovered to approximately 90% of the level of the uninvolved side, both at 60 and 180°/s. In contrast, hamstring muscle strength had already recovered to approximately 90% at 6 months. Age, gender, activity level, and anterior tibial laxity did not affect the muscle performance. However, the recovery of muscle strength was delayed in patients with anterior knee pain.Résumé Nous avons mesuré la force musculaire chez 36 malades après reconstruction du LCA avec autogreffe "os-tendon rotulien-os". La force isokinétique du quadriceps et des ischio-jambiers a été étudiée pendant la contraction concentrique à 60 et 180 degré/sec et a été mesurée à 1, 6,12 et 24 mois postopératoires. À 24 mois la force musculaire du Quadriceps avait retrouvé approximativement 90% de la force du côté opposé, à 60 et 180 degré/sec. Par contraste, la force musculaire des ischio-jambiers avait déjà retrouvé 90% de sa valeur à 6 mois. L'âge, le sexe, le niveau d'activité, et la laxité tibiale antérieure n'ont pas affecté la performance musculaire. Cependant la récupération de force musculaire a été différée chez les malades avec douleur antérieure du genou.

Image sensors play a critical role in current technologies ranging from smartphones to autonomous vehicles. In these technologies, high-sensitivity image sensors are highly desired because they enable dark-scene/ultra-fast imaging. Unfortunately, a conventional sensor architecture that employs color filters on every pixel fundamentally limits the detected light power per pixel because of the filtering, which has been a long-standing barrier to sensitivity improvement. Here, we demonstrate polarization-insensitive metasurface lenses (metalenses) that sort primary colors on high-density pixels without the use of color filters. The metalenses simultaneously act as pixel-scale color splitters and lenses and are compatible with complementary metal–oxide-semiconductor sensor technology. An image sensor with such metalenses significantly enhances the detected light power, while affording high image quality, incident angle tolerance, and sub-micrometer spatial resolution. The demonstrated architecture opens the way to the development of high-sensitivity color image sensors that exceed current limits while maintaining consistency with state-of-the-art sensor technology.

Since the discovery of the first organic superconductor TMTSF2PF6, ['] the number of organic superconductors has rapidly increased. However, the mechanism of superconducting transition is still unclear. Therefore, the design of new organic superconductors with enhanced T, is very difficult. In order to break through this difficulty, the development of new types of conductors which permit systematic studies of superconducting behavior in organic systems is highly desirable. The discovery of a series of P-type ET superconductors (ET = Bis(ethy1enedithio)tetrathiafulvalene) indicated the correlation between T, (the superconducting transition temperature) and the unit cell volume, which can be altered by using various anions of different sizes.12] Similar correlations have been found in analogous ET superconductor^.^^^ Some K-type organic superconductors with a value of T, around 10 K have the characteristic broad resistivity-maximum above Tc, which indicates that the metallic nature of K-type organic superconductor is not simple. However, the depression of T, at high pressure can be easily explained. With increasing pressure, the intermolecular overlap of molecular orbitals becomes greater, and increasing the band width causes the state densities of the Fermi surface (D(+)) to decrease. Thus, it may be supposed that altering the cell volume via a change in anion size can control the band width, and produces the same effect as applying pressure. Increasing cell volume implies applying "negative pressure", enhancing the value of T,. A very attractive goal would be to find a way to control T, by modifying molecular structures and packings. Bis(ethy1enedithio)tetraselenafulvalene(BETS, see Fig. 1) and tetrahedral monoanions MX4@ (M = Ga, Fe, In; X = C1, Br) have produced many highly conductive comp o u n d~. '~~ One is an organic superconductor h-BETS*-GaCl4.l5] Isostructural h-BETS2FeC14 exhibits a sharp MI (Metal-Insulator) transition around 8 K, where a magnetic

Vascular involvement in sarcoidosis is briefly reviewed with emphasis on the outcome of a 10-year project-study by the Sarcoidosis Research Committee of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare. Examples of vascular disorder associated with sarcoidosis are presented, including basal lamina layering of the capillaries in the skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and lung, glomerulopathy in the kidney, vascular changes in the ocular fundus and bronchi, and impaired peripheral circulation that could be detected by thermography. According to our tentative definition, all of these disorders should be collectively called microangiopathy. The possible role of microangiopathy in the pathogenetic mechanism of sarcoidosis is also discussed. Although microangiopathy in sarcoidosis is a comprehensive term, it should be included, in addition to systemic granulomatous disease, as part of the clinicopathological entity of sarcoidosis.

No abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB) is a mixture of commercially available fermented grain foods and has strong antioxidant activity. This study investigated the effect of AOB supplementation of standard rat food on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats with type 2 diabetes. Blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, plasma free fatty acid, triacylglycerol and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were significantly higher in OLETF rats than in non-diabetic control Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats at 29 weeks. AOB (6.5% of diet) was given to rats during 29-33 weeks of diabetic phase in OLETF rats. OLETF rats with AOB supplementation showed decreased blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, triacyglycerol, low density lipoprotein, cholesterol and PAI-1. Mitochondrial ROS production was significantly increased in heart, aorta, liver and renal artery of OLETF rats. Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is known to regulate ROS production. We found aortic UCP2 protein expression increased in OLETF rats, and AOB returned UCP2 expression to normal. Aortic endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) was also increased in OLETF rats more than in LETO rats at 33 weeks. In contrast, phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, an index of the NO-cGMP pathway, was significantly diminished. AOB increased eNOS proteins in LETO and OLETF rats. In conclusion, AOB significantly improved the NO-cGMP pathway via normalizing ROS generation in OLETF rats. The data suggest that dietary supplementation with AOB contributes to nutritional strategies for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

No abstract

No abstract