Characteristics of hip impingement syndrome in patients with multiple hereditary exostoses

Backgrounds This study aimed to investigate the characteristic deformities of the hip in multiple hereditary exostoses patients (MHE) and its association with the hip impingement syndrome. Materials and methods Between 2001 and 2019, total 51 patients (102 hips) were evaluated in this study. Patients with MHE were classified to femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) symptom group, ischio-femoral impingement (IFI) symptom group and non-impingement symptom group by comparing the symptoms, clinical signs and imaging studies. To assess the morphometry of the hip in patients with MHE, the femoral neck-shaft angle, Sharp’s acetabular angle and center-edge (CE) angle were evaluated. Alpha angle was further evaluated to investigate the FAI using radiographs, and the minimum ischio-femoral distance was further measured to investigate the IFI using computed-tomographic (CT) study. Results On hip impingement symptom analysis, FAI symptom and IFI symptom were confirmed in 14 hip joints and 18 hip joints, respectively. Unlike general population, the number of the hip with IFI-symptom was higher than those with FAI symptom in this study. In morphometric evaluation of MHE hips, coxa valga was most prominent deformity with occasional tendency of mild acetabular dysplasia. In a comparison of morphometric study between the impingement symptom group and non-symptom group, the FAI symptom showed significant differences of morphometric measure values than those of the non-symptom group (FAI symptom group vs. Non-FAI symptom group; Femoral neck-shaft angle (153.9 vs 142.6), Sharp’s angle (45.0 vs 41.5), CE angle (21.1 vs 28.8) and alpha angle (76.7 vs 57.9)). Similarly, the IFI symptom group also showed significant differences of morphometric measure values than those of the non-symptom group (IFI-symptom vs. Non-IFI symptom; Femoral neck-shaft angle (150.9 vs 142.7), Sharp’s angle (44.7 vs 41.4), CE angle (21.1 vs 29.3) and alpha angle (73.3 vs 56.8)). In addition, the minimum ischio-femoral distance measured using CT was significantly decreased in the IFI symptom group (IFI symptom group: 6.6, Non-IFI symptom group: 16.4). Conclusion The results suggest that the characteristic deformities represented by coxa valga in the MHE hip act as an offset for FAI symptoms, on the contrary, act as a trigger for IFI symptoms. Level of evidence Level III.

SOME LINEAR MEASUREMENTS OF HONEY-BEE LIVINGIN THE VICINITY OF THE CITY OF BARNAUL OF THE ALTAI REGION

The indices used in determining bee breeds were stud-ied: wing size and abdominal tergite 3 width; the metatar-sus of the right hind leg was measured to determine the tarsal index. The percentage of individuals with different variants of discoidal displacement (positive, negative, neu-tral) was determined. The data of morphometric measure-ments of bees of 3 colonies are presented. The wing indi-ces in the 1st group of bees were slightly lower thanthe standard values (8.81-9.21; 3.01-3.23 mm). In the 2nd and 3rd bee colonies, the wing length was the same as in the European darkand Carpathian populations in 15% and 25% of individuals. A certain number of insects (15; 25; 60%) had a wing width equalto the European darkand Italian races. The studied bees had the sizes of the third abdominal tergite (4.88 ± 0.030; 4.92 ± 0.030; 4.97 ± 0.033 mm) as in all major breeds kept in the Russian Fed-eration. The tarsal index values (60.43 ± 0.452; 58.62 ± 0.445; 57.08 ± 0.322%) did not fit within the standards of the main bee breeds (54.0-56.2%). There was yellow color of the third tergite (35%; 80%) and all types of discoidal displacement (+; -; 0) in the insects of the 1st and 2nd col-onies. In the 3rd bee colony, the yellowness of the ab-dominal tergites lacked completely, and the positive dis-coidal displacement made 80%. In 3 studied groups of bees, the coefficient of variability was at the level of 1-4% for all indices. Thus, the research revealed the insectswith the signs of the European dark, Carniolan, Carpathian, Italian and Caucasian breeds.

Gyrification abnormalities in presymptomatic c9orf72 expansion carriers

ObjectiveTo investigate in-vivo cortical gyrification patterns measured by the local gyrification index (lGI) in presymptomatic c9orf72 expansion carriers compared with healthy controls, and investigate relationships between lGI and cortical thickness, an established morphometric measure of neurodegeneration.MethodsWe assessed cortical gyrification and thickness patterns in a cohort of 15 presymptomatic c9orf72 expansion carriers (age 43.7 ± 10.2 years, 9 females) compared with 67 (age 42.4 ± 12.4 years, 36 females) age and sex matched healthy controls using the dedicated Freesurfer pipeline.ResultsCompared with controls, presymptomatic carriers showed significantly lower lGI in left frontal and right parieto-occipital regions. Interestingly, those areas with abnormal gyrification in presymptomatic carriers showed no concomitant cortical thickness abnormality. Overall, for both presymptomatic carriers and healthy controls, gyrification and cortical thickness measures were not correlated, suggesting that gyrification captures a feature distinct from cortical thickness.ConclusionsPresymptomatic c9orf72 expansion carriers show regions of abnormally low gyrification as early as their 30s, decades before expected symptom onset. Cortical gyrification represents a novel grey matter metric distinctive from grey matter thickness or volume and detects differences in presymptomatic carriers at an early age.

Discrete tortuosity as a morphometric measure in brain tumors

Morphological changes in brain tumors may be related to their malignancy. The objective of this work is to be able to detect and quantify these changes in a magnetic resonance imaging, since it can represent an important advantage for the noninvasive diagnosis in patients. One way to identify such morphological changes can be through the measurement of their tortuosity. The discrete tortuosity is a descriptor that characterizes bi-dimensional curves, as the contour of a region. In this work an alternative procedure for calculating the volumetric tortuosity of a surface is proposed. This technique is based in the slope chain code of the surface contour of a volume, and here we call it tridimensional discrete tortuosity. This descriptor is used as a morphometric index to study the tortuosity of brain tumors. For this, magnetic resonance images from 20 patients with low and high malignancy levels were analyzed, considering four regions: edema, whole tumor, enhancing region, and necrotic region. As a result, the tortuosities of the different regions are presented, with significant differences only in some of them. It should be noted that a disadvantage that is present, is the dependence of the measurement to the use of a robust method of segmentation, nevertheless the proposal of the discrete tortuosity for volumetric surfaces is satisfactory.

Discrete tortuosity as a morphometric measure in brain tumors

Morphological changes in brain tumors may be related to their malignancy. The objective of this work is to be able to detect and quantify these changes in a magnetic resonance imaging, since it can represent an important advantage for the noninvasive diagnosis in patients. One way to identify such morphological changes can be through the measurement of their tortuosity. The discrete tortuosity is a descriptor that characterizes bi-dimensional curves, as the contour of a region. In this work an alternative procedure for calculating the volumetric tortuosity of a surface is proposed. This technique is based in the slope chain code of the surface contour of a volume, and here we call it tridimensional discrete tortuosity. This descriptor is used as a morphometric index to study the tortuosity of brain tumors. For this, magnetic resonance images from 20 patients with low and high malignancy levels were analyzed, considering four regions: edema, whole tumor, enhancing region, and necrotic region. As a result, the tortuosities of the different regions are presented, with significant differences only in some of them. It should be noted that a disadvantage that is present, is the dependence of the measurement to the use of a robust method of segmentation, nevertheless the proposal of the discrete tortuosity for volumetric surfaces is satisfactory.

Assessing Smoltification of Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Using Changes in Body Morphology

A morphometric measure of smoltification of juvenile spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) was developed and evaluated. Fish were collected from hatcheries in Washington and Idaho prior to release and at McNary Dam on the Columbia River during their downstream migration. Distances between 15 anatomical landmarks were digitized from photographs of each fish resulting in 34 morphometric characters for analysis. The canonical variate calculated from a discriminant function based on several principal components was evaluated as a measure of smoltification. The canonical variate was significantly correlated with gill Na+–K+ ATPase activity, a commonly used measure of smoltification. Measuring the morphometric characters and calculating the canonical variate is a relatively simple procedure and can be performed with little harm to the fish. This method of smoltification assessment may be ideally suited to studies in which sacrificing fish is not possible, such as those involving threatened or endangered species, or when access to a laboratory for sample analysis is not available.

A morphometric measure of phase in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forsk.)

This paper describes the derivation of a compound shape measure for discriminating between populations of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forsk.). The discriminant is the first canonical variate and is based on measurements of three parameters for samples from twelve locust populations. It is argued that the first canonical variate is a measure of phase.