Bone mineral density of the trapezium in osteoarthritic trapeziometacarpal joints.

The aim of this study was to test the precision and reliability of measurements of the bone mineral density (BMD) of the trapezium in patients with osteoarthritic trapeziometacarpal joints using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans and to assess whether there is an acceptable correlation between the BMD of the trapezium and that of the distal radius, for which normative data exist. We included 66 patients (52 women, 14 men) diagnosed with Eaton-Glickel stage II-IV osteoarthritis and a mean age of 59 years (range 40-77) in a prospective study. We found good intra- and inter-observer agreement of BMD measurements. Reliability was also good in repeated measurements. There was an indication of an increase in BMD with progression in the Eaton-Glickel stage. There was only a moderate correlation between the BMD of the trapezium and that of the radius.

Past temperatures directly from the greenland ice sheet

A Monte Carlo inverse method has been used on the temperature profiles measured down through the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) borehole, at the summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the Dye 3 borehole 865 kilometers farther south. The result is a 50, 000-year-long temperature history at GRIP and a 7000-year history at Dye 3. The Last Glacial Maximum, the Climatic Optimum, the Medieval Warmth, the Little Ice Age, and a warm period at 1930 A.D. are resolved from the GRIP reconstruction with the amplitudes -23 kelvin, +2.5 kelvin, +1 kelvin, -1 kelvin, and +0.5 kelvin, respectively. The Dye 3 temperature is similar to the GRIP history but has an amplitude 1.5 times larger, indicating higher climatic variability there. The calculated terrestrial heat flow density from the GRIP inversion is 51.3 milliwatts per square meter.