The gray matter of the cervical spinal cord has been thought to be equally or less rigid than the white matter. Based on this assumption, various studies have been conducted on the changes of stress distributions within the spinal cord under mechanical compression, although the mechanical properties of the white and gray matters had not been fully elucidated. The present study measured the mechanical properties of the white and gray matter of bovine spinal cords. For both the white and gray matter, the stress-strain curves had a nonlinear region, followed by a linear region, and then a region where the stresses plateaued before failure. In the nonlinear region, stress was not significantly different between the gray and white matter samples (strain approximately 0-10%), while stress and Young's modulus in the gray matter was significantly higher than the white matter in the linear part of the curve. The gray matter ruptured at lower strains than the white matter. These findings demonstrated the gray matter is more rigid and fragile than the white matter, and the conventional assumption (i.e., the white matter is more rigid than the gray matter) is not correct. We then applied our data to computer simulations using the finite element method, and confirmed that simulations agreed with actual magnetic resonance imaging findings of the spinal cord under compression. In future computer simulations, including finite element method using our data, changes in stress and strain within the cervical spinal cord under compression would be clarified in more detail, and our findings would also help to elucidate the area which can easily receive histologic damage or which could have hemodynamic disorders under mechanical compression, as well as severity and location of biochemical and molecular biological changes.
Objective-To assess the influence of environmental exposure to cadmium (Cd) on long term outcome of inhabitants living in an area polluted by Cd. Methods-A follow up study for 15 years (from 1974-5 to 1991) was carried out on 2408 inhabitants (amounting to 95% of the target population, 1079 men and 1329 women) of the Kakehashi River basin in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. These inhabitants had been the subjects of the health impact survey in 1974-5 to evaluate (by measurement of urinary retinol binding protein (RBP)) renal dysfunction induced by Cd. Analysis of mortality was performed by dividing subjects into a urinary RBP positive ( > 4 mg/1) group and RBP negative (<4 mg/l) group. Results-After adjustment for age with Cox's proportional hazard model, RBP > 4 mg/l showed a significant relation to mortality in both sexes. At this time, the mortality risk ratio of the RBP positive to negative group was 1-71 in the men and 1*42 in the women. When the SMRs according to causes of deaths in the RBP positive group were compared with those of the RBP negative group or the overall Japanese population increases of SMR for cardiovascular diseases, especially heart failure, and renal diseases were found in both sexes. Conclusion-These results suggest that the prognosis of the exposed inhabitants with renal tubular dysfunction is unfavourable, and these increases of mortality are due to heart failure and renal diseases. (Occup Environ Med 1995;52:181-184)
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