Nowadays, bone diseases and defects as a result of trauma, cancers, infections and degenerative and inflammatory conditions are increasing. Consequently, bone repair and replacement have been developed with improvement of orthopedic technologies and biomaterials of superior properties. This review paper is intended to sum up and discuss the most relevant studies performed in the field of bone biology and bone regeneration approaches. Therefore, the bone tissue regeneration was investigated by synthetic substitutes, scaffolds incorporating active molecules, nanomedicine, cell-based products, biomimetic fibrous and nonfibrous substitutes, biomaterial-based three-dimensional (3D) cell-printing substitutes, bioactive porous polymer/inorganic composites, magnetic field and nano-scaffolds with stem cells and bone-biomaterials interface studies.

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In this "information and knowledge" age, instead of traditional financial assets and even large markets, knowledge capital has been the competitive edge for major corporations. This has lead to a new concept called "knowledge management". Indeed, the identification of knowledge in business sectors as a competitive advantage and strategic resource intensifies the necessity of implementation of knowledge management (KM) in organizations. Knowledge management is the process of identifying, selecting, organizing, and transferring important information and skills, which exists as disorganized form in the organization. However, there are several stories of failed implementation of knowledge management in organizations. In order to succeed in implementing knowledge management, identification of the success factors for knowledge management is of great importance. The current research has therefore presented a conceptual model for implementing knowledge management successfully in Tehran municipality. This study has first identified effective variables on success of knowledge management; then has evaluated its significance and developed a conceptual model for the critical factors on successful knowledge management in the organization under study. According to the conceptual model offered by this research, these critical success factors are dimensions of organizational culture, strategy and leadership, organizational structure, information technology infrastructure and human resources.

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Diabetic foot infection is the most common etiology of nontraumatic amputation of the lower extremities, and early diagnosis is of great importance in its management. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the strength of 99m TcIgG scintigraphy in diagnosis of osteomyelitis of the diabetic foot and to compare 99m Tc-IgG scintigraphy with 99m Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) scintigraphy. Methods: A prospective university hospital-based study was performed over 24 mo. Eighteen patients with type II diabetes and foot ulcers (15 men and 3 women; age range, 45-80 y) were referred for imaging because of clinically suspected osteomyelitis. Early (5-h) and late (24-h) 99m Tc-IgG scanning and 3-phase skeletal scintigraphy were completed for all patients at a 3-to 4-d interval.Regions of interest over the involved bony sites and the contralateral normal sites were drawn, and the abnormal-to-normal ratios were acquired for both 99m Tc-IgG and 99m Tc-MDP studies. Results: From a total of 23 lesions, we observed 10 sites of osteomyelitis, 10 sites of cellulitis, and 3 sites of aseptic inflammation confirmed by MRI, clinical presentation, histopathologic examination, and follow-up evaluation as a gold standard. Both 99m Tc-IgG and 99m Tc-MDP scanning showed excellent sensitivity for diagnosis of osteomyelitis, but the specificity was significantly lower (69.2% and 53.8%, respectively). Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis were, respectively, 100%, 53.8%, 73.9% for 99m Tc-MDP scanning; 100%, 69.2%, 82.6% for 5-h 99m Tc-IgG scanning; and 60%, 76.9%, 69.5% for 24-h 99m Tc-IgG scanning. There was no significant difference between the semiquantitative indices of 5-h and 24-h 99m Tc-IgG scanning for inflammation, cellulitis, and osteomyelitis. Conclusion: Although both 99m Tc-IgG and 99m Tc-MDP scintigraphy have high sensitivity for the diagnosis of osteomyelitis, the specificity of these studies is poor. For 99m Tc-IgG scintigraphy, 5-h images appear to be adequate, and there is little benefit to performing additional imaging at 24 h. Peri pheral neuropathy and metabolic and vascular disorders are important contributing factors leading to infection of obscured wounds in diabetic patients (1,2). When there is evidence of osteomyelitis, invasive procedures are needed to avoid amputation (3). Radiographic evaluation is not sensitive for the development of osteomyelitis, whereas labeled leukocyte imaging followed by bone marrow scintigraphy, although both sensitive and specific, is labor-intensive and limited by the risks associated with handling blood products (4). 111 In-IgG and 99m Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) scintigraphy can be helpful for the diagnosis of inflammation and infection (5-11).The aim of this prospective study was to assess the role of 99m Tc-IgG scintigraphy in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis in the diabetic foot and to compare 99m Tc-IgG scintigraphy with 99m Tc-MDP scintigraphy. In addition to qualitatively assessing the 99m Tc-MDP and 99m Tc-IgG studies, we have...

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