Spatio-seasonal variation of water quality influenced by land use and land cover in Lake Muhazi.

Understanding the influence of land use/land cover (LULC) on water quality is pertinent to sustainable water management. This study aimed at assessing the spatio-seasonal variation of water quality in relation to land use types in Lake Muhazi, Rwanda. The National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSF-WQI) was used to evaluate the anthropogenically-induced water quality changes. In addition to Principal Components Analysis (PCA), a Cluster Analysis (CA) was applied on 12-clustered sampling sites and the obtained NSF-WQI. Lastly, the Partial Least Squares Path Modelling (PLS-PM) was used to estimate the nexus between LULC, water quality parameters, and the obtained NSF-WQI. The results revealed a poor water quality status at the Mugorore and Butimba sites in the rainy season, then at Mugorore and Bwimiyange sites in the dry season. Furthermore, PCA displayed a sample dispersion based on seasonality while NSF-WQI's CA hierarchy grouped the samples corresponding to LULC types. Finally, the PLS-PM returned a strong positive correlation (+ 0.831) between LULCs and water quality parameters in the rainy season but a negative correlation coefficient (- 0.542) in the dry season, with great influences of cropland on the water quality parameters. Overall, this study concludes that the lake is seasonally influenced by anthropogenic activities, suggesting sustainable land-use management decisions, such as the establishment and safeguarding protection belts in the lake vicinity.

Novel surgical technique and early kinesiotherapy for acute Achilles tendon rupture.

BACKGROUND: This prospective study was performed to investigate the contribution of early kinesiotherapy, the active exercise and movement of the ankle and knee joints, following a novel surgical technique for reconstruction of the acutely ruptured Achilles tendon and the underlying mechanisms involved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seven patients with an acute Achilles tendon rupture received postoperative early kinesiotherapy treatment following the novel ``Pa-bone'' surgical technique. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Achilles tendon rupture score, a score for measuring outcomes related to symptoms and physical activity, and bilateral ultrasonographic examination of the Achilles tendon. RESULTS: Range-of-motion recovery equal to the intact side averaged 7~weeks. Double-legged heel rises and sustained single-leg heel rise exercises were possible at an average of 1~week and 60± 2 days, respectively. All patients could perform single-leg heel rise of the injured foot for 60± 23 seconds at an average of 12 weeks. No rerupture was observed. In addition, ultrasonographic examination revealed that the cross-sectional areas of the ruptured tendon were significantly larger than those of the healthy side. Overall reconstruction of the Achilles tendon was obtained for most of the patients. CONCLUSION: Postoperative early kinesiotherapy treatment following Pa-bone surgical technique resulted in excellent clinical outcomes and contributed to the overall reconstruction of the Achilles tendon.

Comparison of five Calligonum species in Tarim Basin based on morphological and molecular data.

Five Calligonum species endemic to the Tarim Basin - C. roborowskii, C. kuerlese, C. juoqiangense,C. yengisaricum, and C. taklimakanense - were compared using 14 morphological characteristics and nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F molecular data. Intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation was uncovered, with variation between species significant for most characteristics. Based on Euclidean distances, C. roborowskii and C. kuerlese were the most similar, and C. yengisaricum and C. kuerlese were the most divergent. There was very little variation in the molecular sequence data: although several variable sites were present in ITS and trnL-F regions, none of them were parsimony informative. Results of morphological and molecular analyses suggest that the various morphological characteristics of the studied Calligonum species are strongly shaped by environmental factors, with the observed intraspecific and interspecific morphological variation a product of the spatial isolation and extreme drought of the Tarim Basin.

Active Achilles tendon kinesitherapy accelerates Achilles tendon repair by promoting neurite regeneration.

Active Achilles tendon kinesitherapy facilitates the functional recovery of a ruptured Achilles tendon. However, protein expression during the healing process remains a controversial issue. New Zealand rabbits, aged 14 weeks, underwent tenotomy followed immediately by Achilles tendon microsurgery to repair the Achilles tendon rupture. The tendon was then immobilized or subjected to postoperative early motion treatment (kinesitherapy). Mass spectrography results showed that after 14 days of motion treatment, 18 protein spots were differentially expressed, among which, 12 were up-regulated, consisting of gelsolin isoform b and neurite growth-related protein collapsing response mediator protein 2. Western blot analysis showed that gelsolin isoform b was up-regulated at days 7-21 of motion treatment. These findings suggest that active Achilles tendon kinesitherapy promotes the neurite regeneration of a ruptured Achilles tendon and gelsolin isoform b can be used as a biomarker for Achilles tendon healing after kinesitherapy.

Proteomic analysis of differential protein expression of achilles tendon in a rabbit model by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at 21 days postoperation.

Postoperative early kinesitherapy has been advocated as an optimal method for treating Achilles tendon rupture. However, an insight into the rationale of how early kinesitherapy contributes to healing of Achilles tendon remains to be achieved, and research in the area of proteomic analysis of Achilles tendon has so far been lacking. Forty-two rabbits were randomized into control group, immobilization group, and early motion group, and received postoperative cast immobilization and early motion treatments. Achilles tendon samples were prepared 21 days following microsurgery, and the proteins were separated with two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Differentially expressed proteins were first recognized by PDQuest software, and then identified using peptide mass fingerprinting, tandem mass spectrometry, and database searching. A total of 463 ± 12, 511 ± 39, and 513 ± 80 protein spots were successfully detected in the two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels for the Achilles tendon samples of rabbits in the control group, immobilization group, and early motion group, respectively. There were 15, 8, and 9 unique proteins in these three groups, respectively, and some differentially expressed proteins were also identified in each group. It was indicated that some of the differentially expressed proteins were involved in various metabolism pathways and may play an important role in healing of Achilles tendon rupture. Postoperative early kinesitherapy resulted in differentially expressed proteins in ruptured Achilles tendon compared with those treated with postoperative cast immobilization. These differentially expressed proteins may contribute to healing of Achilles tendon rupture through a mechanobiological mechanism due to the application of postoperative early kinesitherapy.

Differentially expressed proteins on postoperative 3 days healing in rabbit Achilles tendon rupture model after early kinesitherapy.

OBJECTIVES: Surgical repair of Achilles tendon (AT) rupture should immediately be followed by active tendon mobilization. The optimal time as to when the mobilization should begin is important yet controversial. Early kinesitherapy leads to reduced rehabilitation period. However, an insight into the detailed mechanism of this process has not been gained. Proteomic technique can be used to separate and purify the proteins by differential expression profile which is related to the function of different proteins, but research in the area of proteomic analysis of AT 3 days after repair has not been studied so far. METHODS: Forty-seven New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into 3 groups. Group A (immobilization group, n equal to 16) received postoperative cast immobilization; Group B (early motion group, n equal to 16) received early active motion treatments immediately following the repair of AT rupture from tenotomy. Another 15 rabbits served as control group (Group C). The AT samples were prepared 3 days following the microsurgery. The proteins were separated employing two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE). PDQuest software version 8.0 was used to identify differentially expressed proteins, followed by peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) and tandem mass spectrum analysis, using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) protein database retrieval and then for bioinformatics analysis. RESULTS: A mean of 446.33, 436.33 and 462.67 protein spots on Achilles tendon samples of 13 rabbits in Group A, 14 rabbits in Group B and 13 rabbits in Group C were successfully detected in the 2D-PAGE. There were 40, 36 and 79 unique proteins in Groups A, B and C respectively. Some differentially expressed proteins were enzyme with the gel, matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). We successfully identified 9 and 11 different proteins in Groups A and B, such as GAPDH, phosphoglycerate kinase 1, pro-alpha-1 type 1 collagen, peroxiredoxin 1, alpha-1-antiproteinase E a-1 and MAD2L1 binding protein, etc. And some with the molecular chaperone, oxidative stress, energy metabolism, signal transduction, coupled with the tendon cell expression and protein synthesis, proliferate, differentiate and are closely related to the AT healing. The GAPDH protein was further validated through Western blotting. It was indicated that some differentially expressed proteins were involved in various metabolism pathways and may play an important role in initial healing of AT rupture. CONCLUSION: Differentially expressed proteins in rabbit healing AT model may contribute to 3 days healing of AT rupture through a new mechanobiological mechanism due to the application of postoperative early kinesitherapy.

Factors influencing the tensile strength of repaired Achilles tendon: a biomechanical experiment study.

BACKGROUND: Operative treatment has been advocated as the method of choice to repair Achilles tendon rupture as surgery results in reduced re-rupture rate and faster rehabilitation. Many surgical techniques have been introduced allowing for postoperative early motion of the ankle joint. However, it is currently very difficult for surgeons to determine the optimal treatment conditions for ruptured Achilles tendon with an increasing number of end-to-end suture methods, suture materials, and epitenon suture techniques. METHODS: In the present biomechanical experiment study based on an orthogonal design, thirty-two New Zealand white rabbits received Achilles tendon tenotomy and subsequent operative treatment to repair the tendon employing four end-to-end suture methods, four suture materials, and four epitenon suture techniques. The tensile strength of the repaired Achilles tendon was investigated at four rehabilitation periods, and in comparison with the results of another sixteen rabbits with normal Achilles tendons. FINDINGS: The end-to-end suture method contributed most to the final Achilles tendon tensile strength in addition to rehabilitation period, with the highest values occurring with the use of the parachute-like ("Pa" bone) suture method. The other two factors, namely, suture material and epitenon suture technique, had relatively little influence on the results. INTERPRETATION: The parachute-like ("Pa" bone) surgical technique is superior to the other three end-to-end suture methods, with enhanced tensile strength of the repaired tendon. This method allows for postoperative early kinesitherapy of the ankle and knee joints. Therefore, this technique is highly recommended in clinical situations for treatment of ruptured Achilles tendon.