Combining musculoskeletal simulations with anatomical joint models capable of predicting cartilage contact mechanics would provide a valuable tool for studying the relationships between muscle force and cartilage loading. As a step towards producing multibody musculoskeletal models that include representation of cartilage tissue mechanics, this research developed a subject-specific multibody knee model that represented the tibia plateau cartilage as discrete rigid bodies that interacted with the femur through deformable contacts. Parameters for the compliant contact law were derived using three methods: (1) simplified Hertzian contact theory, (2) simplified elastic foundation contact theory and (3) parameter optimisation from a finite element (FE) solution. The contact parameters and contact friction were evaluated during a simulated walk in a virtual dynamic knee simulator, and the resulting kinematics were compared with measured in vitro kinematics. The effects on predicted contact pressures and cartilage-bone interface shear forces during the simulated walk were also evaluated. The compliant contact stiffness parameters had a statistically significant effect on predicted contact pressures as well as all tibio-femoral motions except flexion-extension. The contact friction was not statistically significant to contact pressures, but was statistically significant to medial-lateral translation and all rotations except flexion-extension. The magnitude of kinematic differences between model formulations was relatively small, but contact pressure predictions were sensitive to model formulation. The developed multibody knee model was computationally efficient and had a computation time 283 times faster than a FE simulation using the same geometries and boundary conditions.

Most of our knowledge about chronic musculoskeletal pain is based on cutaneous pain models. To test the hypothesis that animals develop chronic muscular hyperalgesia following intramuscular acidic saline injections, primary hyperalgesia within the gastrocnemius muscle was analyzed and compared to secondary cutaneous hyperalgesia in the hind paw that develops following intramuscular acid saline injection. Two acidic saline (pH 4.0) injections were administrated into the gastrocnemius of female CF-1 mice. The results indicate that mice developed a robust hypersensitivity bilaterally in primary (gastrocnemius muscle) and secondary (cutaneous hind paw) sites that lasted up to 2 weeks. In addition, primary hyperalgesia correlated well with levels of Fos expression. Fos expression patterns in the spinal cord were different for primary and secondary site stimulation. Hind paw palpation stimulated ipsilateral Fos expression in the superficial spinal laminae at L4/L5 levels, and bilaterally in deep laminae at L2-L5 spinal levels. In contrast, gastrocnemius compression stimulated widespread Fos expression in all regions of the ipsilateral dorsal horn within L2-L6 spinal segments. These findings indicate that acidic saline injection induces primary hyperalgesia in muscle and that the patterns of Fos expression in response to primary versus secondary stimulation are strikingly different. KeywordsFos; spinal cord; muscle pain; acidic saline; mice; cutaneous pain PERSPECTIVE This study assesses primary site muscular pain, which is the main complaint of people with musculoskeletal conditions, and identifies spinal patterns activated by noxious mechanical stimuli to the gastrocnemius. This study demonstrates approaches to test nociception arising

Objective: To compare three-dimensional tooth movements resulting from relatively higher and lower stresses in a split-mouth design. Materials and Methods: Eight volunteers whose maxillary first premolars were removed for orthodontic treatment participated. Each subject's maxillary canines were retracted by randomly assigned constant stresses of 78 kPa and 4 kPa via segmental mechanics. Dental casts depicting 8-10 visits per subject over 84 days and a three-axis microscope were used to measure movements serially. Descriptive statistics and mixed linear modeling were applied for data analyses (a 5 .05). Results: Teeth moved by 78 kPa had significantly faster (P 5 .0005) distal movement (0.066 6 0.020 mm/day) compared to teeth moved by 4 kPa (0.031 6 0.012 mm/day). Lateral movement and distopalatal rotation were also significantly faster (fourfold and 10-fold, respectively) with higher than with lower stress (P , .0001). Average extrusion-intrusion, crown torque, and tip were small (# |0.25| mm, |2.29|u, and |1.98|u, respectively), fluctuated, and not significantly different between high and low stresses. No lag phase of tooth movement was evident. Conclusions: Maxillary canines were retracted faster by 78 kPa than by 4 kPa. Controlled translation was possible with 4 kPa, but 78 kPa outstripped appliance constraints, causing distopalatal rotation. (Angle Orthod. 2014;84:102-108.)

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Energy densities (ED, mJ/mm ) quantify mechanical work imposed on articular cartilages during function. This cross-sectional study examined differences in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ED during asymmetric versus symmetric jaw closing in healthy females versus males. ED component variables were tested for differences between and within sexes for two types of jaw closing. Seventeen female and 17 male subjects gave informed consent to participate. Diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders and images (magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography) were used to confirm healthy TMJ status. Numerical modelling predicted TMJ loads (F ) consequent to unilateral canine biting. Dynamic stereometry combined MR imaging and jaw-tracking data to measure ED component variables during 10 trials of each type of jaw closing in each subject's TMJs. These data were then used to calculate TMJ ED during jaw closing asymmetrically and symmetrically. Paired and Student's t tests assessed ED between jaw closing movements and sexes, respectively. Multivariate data analyses assessed ED component variable differences between jaw closing movements and sexes (α = 0.05). Contralateral TMJ ED were 3.6-fold and significantly larger (P < .0001) during asymmetric versus symmetric jaw closing, due to significantly larger (P ≤ .001) distances of TMJ stress-field translation in asymmetric versus symmetric movement. During asymmetric jaw closing, contralateral TMJ ED were twofold and significantly larger (P = .036) in females versus males, due to 1.5-fold and significantly smaller (P ≤ .010) TMJ disc cartilage volumes under stress fields in females versus males. These results suggest that in healthy individuals, asymmetric compared to symmetric jaw closure in females compared to males has higher TMJ mechanical fatigue liabilities.