Association of Concomitant MRI-Determined Anterolateral Complex Injury With Quantitative Measurements of Altered Rotational Tibiofemoral Position on MRI in Patients With ACL Injury.

Background: Reduced graft failure rates have been reported after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction combined with anterolateral complex (ALC) augmentation. However, the preoperative diagnosis of concomitant ALC injury remains a clinical challenge. Purpose: To identify the altered rotational tibiofemoral position on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in ACL-injured patients with concomitant ALC injury. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Based on the evaluation of ALC abnormalities on MRI scans by experienced surgeons, 123 patients with nonchronic (<3 months) ACL injury confirmed by arthroscopy were included. The patients were divided into 2 groups-an ALC-injured group (n = 57) and an ALC-intact group (n = 66). The altered rotational tibiofemoral position was evaluated and compared by quantitatively measuring internal rotational tibial subluxation (IRTS) and axial internal tibial rotation (ITRa) on MRI. Multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with concomitant MRI-determined ALC injury. Results: The ALC-injured group showed significantly increased IRTS (P < .001), ITRa (P < .001), lateral anterior tibial subluxation (ATS) (P < .001), and global ATS (GATS) (P = .002) compared with the ALC-intact group, while no significant difference in medial ATS (P = .810) was observed. A strong positive correlation was identified between IRTS and ITRa (rP = 0.809; P < .001). Multivariate analyses revealed that IRTS (P < .001) and GATS (P = .016) were associated factors for the presence of concomitant MRI-determined ALC injury. IRTS (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.734) was more strongly associated with the outcome than GATS (AUC = 0.658) in ROC analyses, suggesting a more significant internal rotational subluxation than anterior subluxation of the tibia. An IRTS threshold of 3.1 mm demonstrated a specificity of 84.2% for indicating the presence of concomitant MRI-determined ALC injury. Conclusion: The presence of concomitant MRI-determined ALC injury in ACL-injured patients was associated with a significant increase in IRTS and ITRa compared with those with intact ALC, indicating that these MRI measurements of the altered rotational tibiofemoral position could serve as potential quantifiable indicators for identifying concomitant ALC injury in clinical practice.

Chronic ACL-injured patients show increased medial and global anterior tibial subluxation measured on 1-year postoperative MR images after primary single-bundle ACL reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: The association between chronic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and inferior postoperative outcomes following ACL reconstruction (ACLR) has been highlighted in the literature. However, the inclusion of postoperative radiological assessments in previous studies has been limited. The aim of this study is to investigate whether chronic ACL injury is associated with an inferior tibiofemoral position measured on magnetic resonance (MR) images after primary ACLR. METHODS: A total of 62 patients that underwent primary ACLR were included in this study based on the time from injury to surgery, namely the acute ACL-injured group (within 6 weeks) and the chronic ACL-injured group (more than 1 year) and were matched 1:1 according to sex, age (± 2 years), and time from surgery to follow-up (± 3 months). Patient demographics, surgical records and follow-up data were retrieved and analyzed. The altered tibiofemoral position was measured quantitatively on preoperative and at least 1-year postoperative MR images and compared between the two groups, including the lateral, medial and global anterior tibial subluxation (LATS, MATS and GATS) and internal rotational tibial subluxation (IRTS). RESULTS: No significant differences in preoperative LATS, MATS, GATS or IRTS were identified between the acute and chronic ACL-injured groups. The chronic ACL-injured patients showed significantly increased postoperative MATS (p = 0.001) and GATS (p = 0.012), while no significant difference was identified in postoperative LATS or IRTS. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that chronic ACL injury resulted in an estimated increase of 2.0 mm in postoperative MATS (p = 0.012) and 1.9 mm in postoperative GATS (p = 0.040). A significant improvement in postoperative LATS was observed in the acute ACL-injured group (p = 0.044) compared to preoperative LATS, while no improvements in these MRI measurements were observed in the chronic ACL-injured group. CONCLUSION: Chronic ACL-injured patients showed increased MATS and GATS measured on 1-year postoperative MR images after primary single-bundle ACL reconstruction, while no difference was identified in rotational tibiofemoral position. The acute ACL-injured group demonstrated a significant improvement in postoperative LATS, whereas no improvements were observed in the chronic ACL-injured group. Level of evidence Level III.

Photovoltaic Performance Enhancement of Silicon Solar Cells Based on Combined Ratios of Three Species of Europium-Doped Phosphors.

This paper presents a scheme for the enhancement of silicon solar cells in terms of luminescent emission band and photovoltaic performance. The proposed devices are coated with an luminescent down-shifting (LDS) layer comprising three species of europium (Eu)-doped phosphors mixed within a silicate film (SiO2) using a spin-on film deposition. The three species of phosphor were mixed at ratios of 0.5:1:1.5, 1:1:1, or 1.5:1:0.5 in weight percentage (wt %). The total quantity of Eu-doped phosphors in the silicate solution was fixed at 3 wt %. The emission wavelengths of the Eu-doped phosphors were as follows: 518 nm (specie-A), 551 nm (specie-B), and 609 nm (specie-C). We examined the extended luminescent emission bands via photoluminescence measurements at room temperature. Closely matching the luminescent emission band to the high responsivity band of the silicon semiconductor resulted in good photovoltaic performance. Impressive improvements in efficiency were observed in all three samples: 0.5:1:1.5 (20.43%), 1:1:1 (19.67%), 1.5:1:0.5 (16.81%), compared to the control with a layer of pure SiO2 (13.80%).

Electrical and Optical Characterization of Sputtered Silicon Dioxide, Indium Tin Oxide, and Silicon Dioxide/Indium Tin Oxide Antireflection Coating on Single-Junction GaAs Solar Cells.

This study characterized the electrical and optical properties of single-junction GaAs solar cells coated with antireflective layers of silicon dioxide (SiO2), indium tin oxide (ITO), and a hybrid layer of SiO2/ITO applied using Radio frequency (RF) sputtering. The conductivity and transparency of the ITO film were characterized prior to application on GaAs cells. Reverse saturation-current and ideality factor were used to evaluate the passivation performance of the various coatings on GaAs solar cells. Optical reflectance and external quantum efficiency response were used to evaluate the antireflective performance of the coatings. Photovoltaic current-voltage measurements were used to confirm the efficiency enhancement obtained by the presence of the anti-reflective coatings. The conversion efficiency of the GaAs cells with an ITO antireflective coating (23.52%) exceeded that of cells with a SiO2 antireflective coating (21.92%). Due to lower series resistance and higher short-circuit current-density, the carrier collection of the GaAs cell with ITO coating exceeded that of the cell with a SiO2/ITO coating.

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The effects of crop rotation on sorghum [Sorghum biocolor (L) Moench] growth, rhizosphere microbial community and the activity of soil enzymes for successive crops of sorghum were evaluated. Five years of continuous monoculture sorghum as the control (CK) was compared to alfalfa and scallion planted in the fourth year. The results showed that incorporation of alfalfa and scallion into the rotation significantly improved sorghum shoot growth. Specifically, sorghum grain yield increased by 16.5% in the alfalfa rotation plots compared to the CK. The rotations also increased sorghum root system growth, with alfalfa or scallion rotation increasing sorghum total root length by 0.3 and 0.4 times, total root surface area by 0.6 and 0.5 times, root volume by 1.2 and 0.6 times, and root biomass by 1.0 and 0.3 times, respectively. Alfalfa rotation also expanded sorghum root distribution below the 10 cm soil depth. A Biolog analysis on biome functions in the sorghum flowering period indicated significantly higher microbial activity in the rotation plots. The alfalfa and scallion rotation increased the Shannon index by 0.2 and 0.1 times compared to the CK, and improved the sucrose activity in the rhizosphere soil. It was concluded that including alfalfa in rotation with sorghum improved sorghum rhizosphere soil environment, enhanced soil microbial enzyme activity, alleviated the obstacle of continuous cropping and thus increased the sorghum yield.