Impact of Bone Cement Augmentation on the Fixation Strength of TFNA Blades and Screws

Background and Objectives: Hip fractures constitute the most debilitating complication of osteoporosis with steadily increasing incidences in the aging population. Their intramedullary nailing can be challenging because of poor anchorage in the osteoporotic femoral head. Cement augmentation of Proximal Femoral Nail Antirotation (PFNA) blades demonstrated promising results by enhancing cut-out resistance in proximal femoral fractures. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of augmentation on the fixation strength of TFN-ADVANCEDTM Proximal Femoral Nailing System (TFNA) blades and screws within the femoral head and compare its effect when they are implanted in centre or anteroposterior off-centre position. Materials and Methods: Eight groups were formed out of 96 polyurethane low-density foam specimens simulating isolated femoral heads with poor bone quality. The specimens in each group were implanted with either non-augmented or cement-augmented TFNA blades or screws in centre or anteroposterior off-centre positions, 7 mm anterior or posterior. Mechanical testing was performed under progressively increasing cyclic loading until failure, in setup simulating an unstable pertrochanteric fracture with a lack of posteromedial support and load sharing at the fracture gap. Varus-valgus and head rotation angles were monitored. A varus collapse of 5° or 10° head rotation was defined as a clinically relevant failure. Results: Failure load (N) for specimens with augmented TFNA head elements (screw/blade centre: 3799 ± 326/3228 ± 478; screw/blade off-centre: 2680 ± 182/2591 ± 244) was significantly higher compared with respective non-augmented specimens (screw/blade centre: 1593 ± 120/1489 ± 41; screw/blade off-centre: 515 ± 73/1018 ± 48), p < 0.001. For both non-augmented and augmented specimens failure load in the centre position was significantly higher compared with the respective off-centre positions, regardless of the head element type, p < 0.001. Augmented off-centre TFNA head elements had significantly higher failure load compared with non-augmented centrally placed implants, p < 0.001. Conclusions: Cement augmentation clearly enhances the fixation stability of TFNA blades and screws. Non-augmented blades outperformed screws in the anteroposterior off-centre position. Positioning of TFNA blades in the femoral head is more forgiving than TFNA screws in terms of failure load.

“Non-coordinating UND” in Middle and Early New High German

Even though it has been noted quite early that the conjunction UND may also serve as a relative/equative particle or even a subjunction in MHG and ENHG, corpus-based empirical studies are lacking so far. Based on new empirical data, I show that non-coordinating UND originated in the UG dialect area during the 12th century, subsequently spreading to the CG dialect area and reaching the peak of its use in the 14th century. In contrast to recent literature, I argue that the non-coordinating use of the conjunction originated from semantically and syntactically ambiguous constructions of the form UND-XP-VFIN. I also propose that the earliest instances of the phenomenon are (adverbial) relative constructions and that the temporal and the equative function developed via reanalysis of adverbial relative clauses with a temporal/modal head element.

Headedness and exocentric compounding

Semantic headedness typically serves as the primary criterion for compound endocentricity, i.e. whether a compound has a head. The semantic head is often defined as the hyperonym from which the denotation of the compound is derived, with exocentric compounds being those whose denotation is not a subclass of that of their head element. Headedness, so defined, leads us to analyze every non-compositional compound as exocentric. We explore the boundaries between semantic exocentricity and non-compositionality using established diagnostics in order to decide whether a semantic characterization of headedness is valid, and to determine whether exocentricity and non-compositionality coincide. Assuming a syntactic model of morphological combinatorics we show that exocentricity must be defined configurationally, occurring when the structure of a compound modifies an external entity, frequently instantiated by an empty noun. Hence exocentricity is not the absence of a head, but the realization of the compound's head outside its internal structure. Non-compositionality, in turn, derives from how the root of each constituent member of a compound is compositionally or idiosyncratically interpreted. Finally, we put forth a new typological distribution of exocentric compounds, discriminating real exocentric compounds (bahuvrihi and dvandva) from compounds that are commonly, but wrongly, defined as exocentric (e.g. deverbal and de-prepositional compounds).

Constructional competition and network reconfiguration: investigating sum(e) in Old, Middle and Early Modern English

This article investigates some functions of the determinative sum(e) in Old, Middle and Early Modern English. It traces, quantifies and models the diachronic development of sum(e) as a pre-head element from a usage-based, cognitive Construction Grammar perspective by postulating several semi-specified but also abstract constructional OE and ME NP-schemas and sketching the observable (changing) network (re)configurations. By analyzing texts from the Penn–Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Middle English (PPCME) and the Penn–Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Early Modern English (PPCEME), the article especially focuses on the demise of the so-called ‘individualizing’ usage with singular nouns and traces the incipient stages of sum(e) as an indefinite near-article with plural and mass nouns. R was used to calculate correlation coefficients and measures of statistical significance in univariate analyses, and for multivariate regression models to address questions involving more than one predictor variable. It is shown that the usage of sum(e) with singular nouns became marginalized because of constructional competition with the numeral ān. In Old English, the two forms were both occasionally used to mark indefiniteness before singular nouns, but ultimately ān became the default marker of indefiniteness ousting sum(e). We also show that that the usage of sum(e) as an indefiniteness marker for plural nouns increased drastically from the later ME period onwards, particularly in informal text genres. Moreover, from the earliest periods onwards, there is a strong preference for this function to occur with complex NPs with pre- and post-head modification, which seem to have acted as bridging contexts.

A Research on Automatic Handwritten Devnagari Text Generation in Different Styles Using Recurrent Neural Network (Deep Learning) Especially for Marathi Script

The point of handwritten numeral reputation (HNR) framework is to order input numeral all in all of k classifications. There are standard HNR frameworks have 2 elements: handwritten numeral popularity. In spotlight exam step, data relevant as an example classifier. the example arrangement step names the numeral by means of and large of k classifications exploitation the class models. in the course of the years, right savvy amount of labor has been allotted in the space of HNR. Fluctuated methods are arranged within the writing for characterization of composed numerals. those hold close Hough changes, visible diagram methods, head element research, and bolster vector machines, closest neighbor methods, neural figuring and fluffy essentially based totally methodologies

Patterns and Meanings of English Words through Word Formation Processes of Acronyms, Clipping, Compound and Blending Found in Internet-Based Media

This research aims to explore the word-formation process in English new words found in the internet-based media through acronym, compound, clipping and blending and their meanings. This study applies Plag’s (2002) framework of acronym and compound; Jamet’s (2009) framework of clipping, and Algeo’s framework (1977) in Hosseinzadeh (2014) for blending. Despite the formula established in each respective framework, there could be occurrences of novelty and modification on how words are formed and how meaning developed in the newly formed words. The research shows that well accepted acronyms can become real words by taking lower case and affixation. Some acronyms initialized non-lexical words, used non initial letters, and used letters and numbers that pronounced the same with the words they represent. Compounding also includes numbers as the element member of the compound. The nominal nouns are likely to have metaphorical and idiomatic meanings. Some compounds evolve to new and more specific meaning. The study also finds that back-clipping is the most dominant clipping. In blending, the sub-category clipping of blending, the study finds out that when clipping takes place, the non-head element is back-clipped and the head is fore-clipped.

How low can you go? A note on vowel mutation in Nuer

In Nuer, a Western Nilotic language, a productive process of vowel mutation lowers certain vowels in the plural forms of reduplicated adjectives, while others remain unaltered. Sometimes, lowering is accompanied by diphthongization. This short paper asks what determines which vowels should lower, which should also undergo diphthongization and which should remain unaltered. The phenomenon is analyzed within Element Theory in which vocalic expressions are decomposed into a head element and a dependent element. A pre-specified, Semitic-type template is proposed alongside a constraint on Head Preservation. These two tools derive the entire set of attested and unattested mutations. It is then shown that the analysis can pave the way for a better understanding of other, similar vowel mutation processes in Nuer.

На кръстопътя на езиковите теории: глаголната комбинаторика

At the crossroads of linguistic theories: Verb combinatoricsThis paper discusses the limitations of syntactic research conducted within a single theoretical framework. The basic claim is that theories have both distinctive and common features, which can be taken into consideration and some interesting results and ideas can be encoded in terms of the original theory. The discussion of the theory interactions is focused around a particular linguistic issue – the head element of the simple verb phrase. Three basic syntactic models are analyzed in regard to their treatment of the head element in the verb phrase: Phrase Structure Grammar, Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, Systemic Functional Grammar. The analysis shows some variations within the frameworks and similarities across them. In general, it is an attempt to point out that the modern linguist can build bridges between theoretical frameworks if the postulates of the original framework are not violated. Na skrzyżowaniu teorii językowych. Kombinatoryka czasownikowaArtykuł poświęcony jest omówieniu ograniczeń analizy syntaktycznej, dokonywanej w ramach jednej teorii składniowej. Autorka stoi na stanowisku, że poszczególne teorie zawierają zarówno elementy specyficzne (dystynktywne), jak i ogólne, wspólne wszystkim teoriom. Ta inspekcja może przynieść ciekawe rezultaty, które nadają się do wbudowania w oryginalną teorię. Problem przedstawiono na konkretnym przykładzie – elementu nadrzędnego frazy werbalnej. Pod uwagę wzięto trzy teorie syntaktyczne, w ramach których przeanalizowano charakterystykę funkcjonowania głównego elementu frazy werbalnej: Phrase Structure Grammar, Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar oraz Systemic Functional Grammar. Analiza wykazała pewną wariantywność wbudowaną w ramy pojedynczej teorii, jak i podobieństwa między poszczególnymi teoriami.Artykuł ma na celu zwrócenie uwagi na fakt, że współczesny lingwista ma prawo próbować przerzucać mosty pomiędzy różnymi teoriami, oczywiście jeśli nie narusza zasadniczych ram oryginalnej teorii.