Artelon as a Bio-Scaffold to Augment Collateral Ligament Repair after Knee Dislocation.

Introduction: Knee dislocations (KD) have high rates of multi-ligamentous injury (MLI). Collateral ligaments rupture in 50-60% of KDs. Traditionally, collateral ligaments have undergone primary repair, though microscopic healing is not optimal. Artelon is a degradable, polyurethane urea bio-scaffold thought to decrease mechanical forces and promote healing, motion, and strength. Currently, little evidence exists regarding its indications or outcomes. Material and methods: Thirty-two patients with KD and MLI undergoing collateral ligament repair at a level-I trauma centre between 2015-2020 were included. Patients age <18, with ipsilateral fractures or inadequate follow-up were excluded. The Artelon (AG) and primary ligamentous repair group (PR) each included 16 patients. Injury and perioperative variables were evaluated using SPSS® . Results: Thirty-two KDs were included in 32 patients, with 60% anterior. There were no significant differences between the two cohorts demographically or with regards to the type or severity of injury sustained. Meniscal pathology was addressed in 14 patients in both groups. Thirty-eight percent of all patients lacked >15° of knee flexion. Only one gross failure occurred, in the AG. No differences were noted in infection or re-operation. Lysholm Knee Scale and Tegner Activity Scale were not significantly different, although Tegner scores in both cohorts decreased from pre-injury scores. Conclusions: In summary, Artelon appears to be safe without increasing risk for hypersensitivity or infection when used for collateral ligament augmentation. Additionally, Artelon appeared to be non-inferior and statistically equivalent to primary repair in this setting and may have promise with use in certain types of knee dislocations.

Dimensions of mood in mood-dependent memory.

In this investigation of the roles of 2 different dimensions of mood (pleasantness and arousal) in mood-dependent memory (MDM), participants generated words while listening to a selection of independently rated mood music (normative study and Experiment 5). Then they recalled the words while listening to another mood-music selection (Experiments 1-3) or to a verbal-mood scenario (Experiment 4). Changing only the dimension of mood pleasantness from generation to recall decreased memory whether the intended moods were explicitly defined or not. However, changing only arousal decreased memory only when moods were defined. Thus, pleasantness-dependent memory, but not arousal-dependent memory, occurred consistently. Although MDM also occurred with simultaneous changes in both dimensions, the effect was not significantly greater than that of pleasantness-dependent memory. The results are discussed in terms of 2-dimensional theories of emotion as applied to memory.

Identification of a region in the integrin beta3 subunit that confers ligand binding specificity.

Many integrin adhesion receptors bind ligands containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide motif. Most integrins exhibit considerable specificity for particular ligands and can distinguish among the many conformations of RGD. In this study we identify the domain of the integrin beta subunit involved in determining ligand binding specificity. Chimeras of beta3 and beta5, the most homologous integrin beta subunits, were expressed with alphav on the surface of human 293 cells. The ligand binding phenotype of each chimera was assessed using the ligands Fab-9 and fibrinogen, both of which have a binding preference for alphavbeta3. The results of the study show that when exons C and D of the beta3 subunit (residues 95-233) are substituted into beta5, the chimera gained the ability to bind Fab-9 with an affinity close to that of wild-type alphavbeta3. This chimera was able to mediate cell adhesion to fibrinogen. Furthermore, the swap of only a 39-residue segment of this larger domain, beta3 residues 164-202, into the backbone of beta5 enabled the chimeric integrin to bind soluble Fab-9. This small domain is highly divergent among the integrin beta subunits, suggesting that it may play a role in determining ligand selection by all integrins.

Serodiagnosis of human leptospirosis by counterimmunoelectrophoresis.

The counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) technique employing a soluble extract antigen was found useful in screening human sera for antileptospiral antibodies to multiple leptospiral serovars. The CIE test results with sera from patients with suspected cases of leptospirosis and sera from a control group compared favorably (97.9%) with those obtained by the microscopic agglutination test using a battery of live leptospiral antigens. CIE is easy to perform, is highly sensitive, uses an antigen which is very stable at room temperature, and permits the screening of many sera in a short period of time. The CIE technique appears to be ideally suited to a small laboratory where facilities may be too limited for examining sera by the microscopic agglutination test.

Leptospiral agglutinins among cattle in the Republic of Guyana.

Cattle sera collected in the Republic of Guyana during 1981 to 1982 were examined for serologic evidence of leptospirosis. Significant leptospiral agglutinins (1:100 or higher) were disclosed in 49.1% of 2,935 apparently normal cattle from 734 farms in the three major cattle-raising regions of the country. Seroreactions principally involved hardjo and wolffi of the Sejroe serogroup, icterohaemorrhagiae, pomona, tarassovi, canicola and grippotyphosa. A high proportion of reactions to one or more of different leptospiral serovars were observed in each of the three regions. These variations were attributed to differences in environmental conditions and farming practices. The findings provided evidence for the first time of the widespread occurrence of leptospirosis in cattle in Guyana caused by multiple leptospiral serovars.

Evaluation of hyperimmune rabies sera by the counterimmunoelectrophoresis test.

This study demonstrates that the counterimmunoelectrophoresis test is a rapid and reliable method for the determination of antibody titres in hyperimmune antirabies sera. The application of this method to the selection of human sera for the production of antirabies globulin and for the final standardization of serum batches is discussed.

Pathogenic leptospira isolates from the Caribbean Island of Barbados

This paper lists all the known pathogenic leptospira isolates made on Barbados up to December 31, 1981. Only 17 of the total of 78 have already been reported on. The 78 isolates were obtained from humans, dogs, rats, mongooses and a mouse, and the serogroups to which they belonged were Icterohaemorrhagiae, Autumnalis, Ballum and Canicola. On Barbados, serogroup Autumnalis is an important human pathogen, and rats are an important reservoir of leptospires. The investigation and isolation of leptospires on Barbados has until recently been sporadic, dependent on the interst and enthusiasm of a few individuals, and restricted by a shortage of money and manpower. During 1964 and 1965 the Barbados Ministries of Health and Agriculture and the U.K. Ministry of Overseas Development investigated the impact of rodents on the health and economy of Barbados. As part of this study, leptospires wer isolated by taylor and identified to serogroup by Turner. The results are recorded in an unpublished document (Taylor, 1965). Between 1971 and 1981, Leptospira were isolated from rodents, mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus), dogs and amphibians at the Barbados Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) by Jones and Everard. Twenty-three of these isolates survived and were identified by Myers and Dr. C. R. Sulzer of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, U.S.A. Seventeen of the 23 have been reported on(Jones, 1974; Myers and Jones, 1975; Damude et al., 1979a), and they are included here for the sake of completeness. In 1979 10 Autumnalis isolates made by Taylor in 1964-1965 were reactivated from liquid nitrogen, cultured, and identified to serovar by Everard. The identifications were confirmed by Dr. Sulzer. The remaining 33 isolates in Taylor's series were not reactivated. From November 1979, isolates were made by Everard from patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Bridgetown, and were identified to serovar by Dr. Sulzer. These studies have provided all the isolates recorded here. The Leptospiral Serotype DistributionList (Galton, 1966) do not have an entry for Barbados, but the supplement to the 1966 edition covering the period July 1966 to July 1973 (Sulzer, 1975) lists Autumnalis fort-bragg isolated from a rat, and Canicola, Ballum and Icterohaemorrhagiae from specified hosts. Barbados obtained up to December 31, 1981. Only 17 of the isolates have been previously reported. All the Leptospira isolates recorded from Trinidad, Grenada and St. Vincent up to the end of 1979 are listed by Everard et al. (180). (AU)

Comparison between a modified counterimmunoelectrophoresis test and the indirect fluorescent-antibody test for detection of antibodies to rabies virus in human sera.

The correlation between the modified counterimmunoelectrophoresis test and the indirect fluorescent-antibody test for detecting rabies virus antibodies in human sera was studied, using as a reference the standard mouse neutralization test. Higher sensitivity was observed with the counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique than with the indirect fluorescent-antibody method. The counterimmunoelectrophoresis test provides a practical quantitative alternative to the indirect fluorescent-antibody method.

The isolation of leptospires from stray dogs in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

The search of leptospires was conducted in kidneys of 1,415 stray dogs in the city of São Paulo--Brazil. From them 35 isolations were got, serovar canicola was the most frequent (32 samples) followed by copenhageni (2 samples) and pomona (1 sample). For the first time serovar pomona was isolated from dog in Latin America. Also, monthly and seasonal variations are discussed in relation to the prevalence of leptospirosis.

Determination of serum neutralization antibodies to rabies virus by a modified counterimmunoelectrophoresis test.

A modified counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE/SN) technique was developed as a diagnostic procedure for the detection of serum-neutralizing antibodies to rabies virus. CIE/SN test results with sera from individuals undergoing postexposure rabies immunization compared favorably with those obtained by the standard mouse neutralization test procedure. Fractionation of selected sera by Sephadex G-200 column chromatography demonstrated that serological activity involved in both procedures was present in the immunoglobulin G-containing fractions of the sera. The mean advantage of the CIE/SN over the standard mouse neutralization test consists in considerably reducing the time required for results, a factor which can be of clinical importance in evaluating antibody levels to rabies virus. In addition, the CIE/SN method is simple to perform and inexpensive.

Serological and bacteriological detection of Brucella canis infection of stray dogs in Moreno, Argentina.

A focus of B. canis infection was identified in Moreno, Argentina, among the stray dog population by serologic methods and confirmed in a second survey which included cultural isolations. A counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique using a specific rough Brucella surface antigen was applied to the serodiagnosis of canine brucellosis. This method was found to be as effective as the mercaptoethanol tube agglutination test and the gel diffusion test in detecting B. canis antibodies in natural and experimentally infected animals. The results are discussed in terms of the diagnostic significance of the three tests employed.

Leptospiral antibodies in stray dogs of Moreno, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A serologic survey for leptospirosis in stray dogs from Moreno, Province of Buenos Aires, was carried out. Sera from 143 randomly collected animals were examined by the microscopic agglutination test. A total of 73 (51.0%) of the dogs have had contact with leptospirae. The predominant leptospiral agglutinnins were to serovar canicola (37.0%) and to a lesser degree against the serovar antigens pyrogenes (4.8%) and autumnalis (2.0%). Although a high percentage of seropositive reactions occurred against the serovar antigens ballum, pyrogenes and icterohaemorrhagiae, all the reactions against ballum and icterohaemorrhagiae, and the majority of the reactions to pyrogenes represented the natural coagglutinins frequently associated with serovar canicola. The detection of antibodies to the Autumnalis group in dogs of Argentina could be new and suggest the emergence of canine infections caused by a serovar of this serogroup which should be sought out and identified.

Leptospiral antibodies in stray dogs of Moreno, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A serologic survey for leptospirosis in stray dogs from Moreno, Province of Buenos Aires, was carried out. Sera from 143 randomly collected animals were examined by the microscopic agglutination test. A total of 73 (51.0

) of the dogs have had contact with leptospirae. The predominant leptospiral agglutinnins were to serovar canicola (37.0

) and to a lesser degree against the serovar antigens pyrogenes (4.8

) and autumnalis (2.0

). Although a high percentage of seropositive reactions occurred against the serovar antigens ballum, pyrogenes and icterohaemorrhagiae, all the reactions against ballum and icterohaemorrhagiae, and the majority of the reactions to pyrogenes represented the natural coagglutinins frequently associated with serovar canicola. The detection of antibodies to the Autumnalis group in dogs of Argentina could be new and suggest the emergence of canine infections caused by a serovar of this serogroup which should be sought out and identified.