BackgroundThere has been no published report assessing the mechanical properties of a repaired Achilles tendon after surgery using shear wave elastography (SWE). The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in mechanical properties of the healing Achilles tendon after surgical repair of a tendon rupture using ultrasound SWE and how these changes correlate with tendon function.Material/MethodsTwenty-six patients who underwent surgical repair for Achilles tendon rupture were examined with ultrasound SWE coupled with a linear array transducer (4–15 MHz). The elasticity values of the repaired Achilles tendon in a longitudinal view were measured at 12, 24, and 48 weeks postoperatively. Functional outcomes were assessed with the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) rating system at 12, 24, and 48 weeks postoperatively. General linear regression analysis and correlation coefficients were used to analyze the relationship between elasticity and the AOFAS score.ResultsThere were significant differences with respect to the mean elasticity values and functional scores of the repaired Achilles tendon at 12, 24, and 48 weeks postoperatively (all P<0.05). Tendon function was positively correlated with the elasticity of the repaired Achilles tendon (P=0.0003).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that SWE can provide biomechanical information for evaluating the mechanical properties of healing Achilles tendon and predict Achilles tendon function.

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An unusual case of hepatic macronodular tuberculoma is presented. As demonstrated by CT, the tuberculoma replaced the entire lateral segment of the left lobe of liver and resembled an infiltrative tumour. On ultrasound, the tuberculoma presented as a hyperechoic lesion, in contrast to a round hypoechoic mass which is usually seen in this condition. Hepatic macronodular tuberculomas are not uncommonly misdiagnosed as primary or secondary liver tumours by imaging studies, and the definite diagnosis is usually established by liver biopsy. The prognosis of hepatic macronodular tuberculoma is usually very good with effective treatment.

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Summary In this study, oleogel structured by β‐sitosterol and lecithin was prepared as a carrier for poorly water‐soluble bioactive compounds, curcumin. The mechanical and microscopic properties of curcumin‐loaded oleogel were determined by texture analyser and polarised light microscopy. The oxidation stability of the delivery system was determined by accelerated oxidation test and the bioaccessibility of curcumin was studied in vitro. The results showed that the existence of curcumin did not affect the mechanical strength and crystalline network of oleogel. The oxidative stability of curcumin‐loaded oleogel was higher than that of curcumin‐free oleogel and corn oil‐curcumin mixtures. It might be attributed to not only the antioxidative property of curcumin but also crystalline network of oleogel which served as an obstructor for the development of oxidation products. Additionally, oleogel enhanced the bioaccessibility of curcumin in fasted state (up to 67.66%). These findings suggest that oleogels can be promising candidates to delivery drugs and nutrients.

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Logarithmic Quantization Index Modulation (LQIM) is an important extension of the original quantization-based watermarking method. However, it is well known that it is sensitive to valumetric scaling attack and easy to result in sign error after quantization and attacks. For that, in this paper, we propose a new method, namely Logarithmic Spread-Transform Dither Modulation Based on Perceptual Model (LSTDM-WM). In this regard the host signal is first projected onto a random vector and transformed using a novel Logarithmic Quantization function. Then the transformed signal is quantized regarding the watermark data and the watermarked signal is obtained by applying inverse transform to the quantized signal. The perceptual model is further exploited to adjust the quantization step adaptively for watermark embedding. Experimental results indicate that our proposed scheme overcomes two challenges cited above and has superior performance in comparison with conventional LQIM and former proposed schemes of STDM.