The vertebral venous system in healthy and scoliotic adolescent spines - a 3D MRI investigation

Introduction. The venous drainage system within vertebral bodies (VBs) has been well documented previously in cadaveric specimens. Advances in 3D imaging and image processing now allow for in vivo quantification of larger venous vessels, such as the basivertebral vein. Differences between healthy and scoliotic VB veins can therefore be investigated. Methods. 20 healthy adolescent controls and 21 AIS patients were recruited (with ethics approval) to undergo 3D MRI, using a 3 Tesla, T1-weighted 3D gradient echo sequence, resulting in 512 slices across the thoraco-lumbar spine, with a voxel size of 0.5x0.5x0.5mm. Using Amira Filament Editor, five transverse slices through the VB were examined simultaneously and the resulting observable vascular network traced. Each VB was assessed, and a vascular network recorded when observable. A local coordinate system was created in the centre of each VB and the vascular networks aligned to this. The length of the vascular network on the left and right sides (with a small central region) of the VB was calculated, and the spatial patterning of the networks assessed level-by-level within each subject. Results. An average of 6 (range 4-10) vascular networks, consistent with descriptions of the basivertebral vein, were identifiable within each subject, most commonly between T10-L1. Differences were seen in the left/right distribution of vessels in the control and AIS subjects. Healthy controls saw a percentage distribution of 29:18:53 across the left:centre:right regions respectively, whereas the AIS subjects had a slightly shifted distribution of 33:25:42. The control group showed consistent spatial patterning of the vascular networks across most levels, but this was not seen in the AIS group. Conclusion. Observation and quantification of the basivertebral vein in vivo is possible using 3D MRI. The AIS group lacked the spatial pattern repetition seen in the control group and minor differences were seen in the left/right distribution of vessels.

Variations in vertebral venous vasculature

INTRODUCTION Cadaveric studies have previously documented typical patterns of venous drainage within vertebral bodies (VBs) [1,2,3], comprised primarily of the basivertebral vein, a planar tree like structure at the mid-height of the VB. These studies, however, are limited in the number of samples available, and so have not examined any potential differences in this anatomy in conditions such as scoliosis. MRI is able to create 3D images of soft tissue structures in the spine, including the basivertebral vein without the use of contrast. As a non-invasive imaging technique this opens up the possibility of examining the venous network in multiple VBs within the same subject, in healthy controls as well as in subjects with abnormal anatomy such as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). CONCLUSIONS High resolution MRI scans allow in vivo quantification of the vertebral venous system at multiple levels on healthy and scoliotic populations for the first time. The length of the basivertebral vein was seen to have a significant bias to the right hand side of the VB in both healthy and AIS adolescents. The spatial pattern of this vein showed large variations in branching both within and across individuals.

黄土高原植被恢复与新产业带形成的生态学基础研究

从生态地理背景论草地畜牧业产业在黄土高原农业可持续发展中的战略地位 黄土高原要实现生态与生产双赢的目标，契机是退耕还林还草，突破口是建立能兼顾生态生产协调发展的主导产业。从地形地貌、水热分布及自然植被特征的角度分析，黄土高原实施以农为主或农林牧综合发展的方略，均有悖于黄土高原生态地理背景。而草地畜牧业产业的生产要素及其过程在较大程度上吻合了黄土高原的生态地理背景，具有生态的适应性和生产的有效性，应作为黄土高原优化的生态生产范式建制中的主导产业。未来黄土高原产业的发展格局应该是以草地畜牧业为主导，农业和林业作为补充和完善的产业发展体系。此外，未来黄土高原草地畜牧业家畜养殖应以舍饲为主。 黄土高原自然植被演替过程中的物种特征与土壤养分动态研究 在3—149年的时间尺度上，对黄土高原自然植被次生演替过程中物种特征和土壤养分动态进行了研究。结果表明：1）随着演替时间尺度的延伸，土壤全C、全N含量呈增加趋势，而土壤全K、全Na和土壤pH值呈下降趋势，土壤全P变化趋势不明显;此外，表层( 0~10 cm)土壤Ca0含量呈下降趋势，深层( 20-30 cm，40-50 cm)则呈增加趋势。演替过程对土壤养分动态影响的程度随着取样深度的增加而减弱;2）植物群落物种丰富度在演替的中间阶段最高，后者对应于中等土壤养分水平;3）在演替的早期阶段，植物群落优势种往往具有稳定的土壤种子库，CR-生活史对策和S．繁殖对策，在贫瘠的土壤上具有较强的竞争能力;而具有较强的水平扩展能力和克隆繁殖能力，C-生活史对策、对土壤C，N具有较强竞争能力的多年生植物在演替中后期占据群落的优势地位。此外，在所涉及的物种生物学特征中，多年生生活史，C-、CR-、SC-、SR-、S．对策，以及R-、W-、Bs-、VBs-和V-繁殖对策等在非优势物种中有较高的出现频率。4）C-、 SC-对策，克隆能力，多年生生活史，水平扩展能力，种子的动物传播方式，秋季开花，荚果、坚果等特征的比例在一定程度上与土壤全C，全N和全K含量正相关; 而S一、SR-、R-、CR-对策，一、二年生生活史，种子繁殖，S．繁殖对策，以及胞果、蒴果等特征的比例与土壤全Na，Ca0含量和土壤pH正相关。在演替过程中出现的物种均属草本植物生活型，因此，草原可能是黄土高原上受制于大尺度环境条件（显域生境）下的优势植被类型（特别是降雨量不超过550 mm的地区）。 黄土高原植被恢复过程中几种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素和氮含量的动态特征 探讨了黄土高原植被恢复过程中六种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素(6 13C)和氮含量的季节动态、种间差异及其与植被恢复过程的关系。六种优势植物分别是猪毛蒿( Artemisia scoparia)，出现在演替的先锋阶段：达乌里胡枝子( Lespedeza davurica)，出现在演替的第二阶段;长芒草(Stipabungeana)、万年蒿(Artemisia gmelinii)和茭蒿(Artemisia giraldii)，出现在演替的第三阶段; 白羊草( Bothriochloa ischaemun)出现在演替的顶级阶段。六种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素比率分别是-26.89±0.66‰，-26.24±0.48‰, -26.21±0.49‰, -26.86±1.09‰, -27.61±0.39‰和-15 .81±1. 79‰;氮含量分别是2.36±0.63%，2.38±0.29%，2.0±0.29%，2.0±0.25%，1.50±0.37% 和1.24±0.19%。白羊草、长芒草、茭蒿和达乌里胡枝子叶片氮含量季节变化与土壤水分呈正相关．猪毛蒿和铁杆蒿叶片氮含量季节变化与土壤水分呈负相关。白羊草叶片δ 13C与土壤水分呈正相关，而其他5个优势种叶片δ 13C与土壤水分呈负相关。不同演替阶段优势种的δ 13C值和氮含量特征表明：处于演替顶级阶段的优势种具有最高的水分利用效率，净光合产量较低，但光合作用动态对土壤水分的季节波动表现出较强的可塑性;相反，处于先锋阶段的优势种水分利用效率较低，叶片净光合产量较高，光合作用对土壤水分波动的可塑性较低。本文的主要结论是：黄土高原植被恢复过程中处于不同演替阶段的优势种无论是在叶片δ 13C，氮含量均存在差异。优势种叶片δ 13C和氮含量季节动态反映了不同物种在环境（主要指土壤水分）波动条件下的生理生态对策。具有最高的水分利用效率（而非最高光和能力）和最高光合可塑性的物种将成为黄土高原自然植被顶级植物群落中的最终统治者。 黄土高原草地畜牧业产业形成与发展的牧草生产力基础 遵循生产-生态兼顾的原则，在黄土高原197个区县土地利用方式重新规划的基础上，对支撑黄土高原畜牧业产业形成与发展的牧草生产潜力进行了分析预测。结果表明：规划的牧、林、农、果用地占生产用地的比例分别是草地44%、林地22%、基本农田20%、果园14%; 197个县区预测的总牧草生产潜力达1，0488，1028t.y-l，可载畜1，0488，1028个羊单位．y-1。按1999年不变价格计算，黄土高原预测的畜牧业总产值将达到524，4051万元．y-1，是1999年畜牧业总产值的5.3倍，超过1999年黄土高原农业总产值14 %。农业人口人均预测畜牧业产值大于1000元的区县占59%;小于1000元的区县占41%。此外，黄土高原预测的农业总产值将达到1147.2234亿元RMB.yr-1。畜牧业、果业、林业和基本农田产值占农业总产值的比例分别是46%、27%、14%和13%。随着畜牧业产业链的逐步建立与完善，产业发展布局的日趋合理，黄土高原畜牧业生产总值将有较大幅度的提高。黄土高原草地畜牧业蕴藏着巨大的发展潜力，有望成为黄土高原优化的生产．生态范式建制中的主导产业。

A VLSI Architecture for Variable Block Size Video Motion Estimation

With the advent of new video standards such as MPEG-4 part-10 and H.264/H.26L, demands for advanced video coding, particularly in the area of variable block size video motion estimation (VBSME), are increasing. In this paper, we propose a new one-dimensional (1-D) very large-scale integration architecture for full-search VBSME (FSVBSME). The VBS sum of absolute differences (SAD) computation is performed by re-using the results of smaller sub-block computations. These are distributed and combined by incorporating a shuffling mechanism within each processing element. Whereas a conventional 1-D architecture can process only one motion vector (MV), this new architecture can process up to 41 MV sub-blocks (within a macroblock) in the same number of clock cycles.

En jämförelse av olika kommunikationstekniker och systemarkitekturiska lösningar vid uppbyggnad av nätverk i naturen.

Att konstruera ett tidtagningssystem för enduro i skogen leder till flera frågor som måste undersökas och besvaras. Vilken kommunikationsteknik ska användas och vilken systemarkitekturisk lösning passar bäst? Att dra kabel ute i skogen är ett bra sätt att lösa det kommunikationstekniska problemet, lösningen är säker och relativt billig. Visst påverkas priset av distansen mellan olika klienter ute i skogen, men alla positiva egenskaper hos tekniken gör denna kostnad värd sitt pris. De geografiska variationer som kan finnas är de som kan spela ut de övriga teknikerna i form av stabilitet. En snabb resultatförmedling kräver ett system som har en väl uppbyggd systemarkitektur. Vid tidtagning kommer data i form av tider skickas från klienterna direkt till huvudservern, ingen mellanlagring sker utan data lagras centralt vilket förespråkas i IRM. Dessutom kommer ingen redundans att accepteras, vilket även det förespråkas av IRM. Det finns även flera andra parametrar som väger för att välja IRM, vilket är det som rekommenderas utifrån den analys som gjorts i denna uppsats.

Utveckling av en datamodell för lagring av meddelandedefinitioner på ett pappersbruk

Uppsatsen redovisar resultatet av en kartläggning och datamodellering av definitioner för de meddelanden som sänds mellan olika stödjande informationssystem på Kvarnsvedens pappersbruk. Därtill redovisas även en analys av systemarkitekturens påverkan på problem vid felsökning av meddelandetrafiken mellan olika system. Målet var att ta fram en datamodell för en metadatabas innehållande definitioner för samtliga meddelanden som sänds mellan informationssystemen på Kvarnsveden. Tanken med databasen är att den ska kunna kopplas till ett system för felsökning av meddelandetrafiken mellan informationssystemen. För att nå målet samlades dokumentation om meddelanden in och en datamodellering med stöd av tredje normalformen genomfördes. Syftet med arbetet var huvudsakligen att förändra hanteringen av meddelandedefinitioner, för att möjliggöra ändrade rutiner vid felsökning i meddelandetrafiken mellan informationssystem på Kvarnsvedens pappersbruk. Syftet bestod också i att studera hur val av systemarkitekturen kan vara avgörande vid problem som uppstår vid felsökning av meddelanden som sänds mellan de olika systemen. Resultatet visar att en gemensam datamodell för definitioner över olika typer av meddelanden är svår att åstadkomma. Meddelanden som är uppbyggda av fält med fasta längder kan inte beskrivas i samma datamodell som meddelanden med segment och dataelement avgränsade med en segmentstagg. Istället får man använda två modeller. Resultatet från analysen av systemarkitekturens påverkan av problem vid felsökning visar, att det går att identifiera några problem där det finns ett samband. Problemen rör främst områden så som ansvar, dokumentation och systemarkitekturens uppbyggnad.

RailsTNE : En multimodal informationsplattform i ett interorganisatoriskt nätverk

Att utreda möjligheterna att etablera dataförsörjning riktade mot multimodala transporttjänster är idag av största intresse. Det är också intressant att försöka utnyttja de standarder som tagits fram när en dataförsörjningskedja ska etableras. Detta examensarbete genomfördes på Triona AB i Borlänge. Triona har utvecklat databasen Transport Network Engine (TNE), som idag används för att läsa in data från Nationella VägDataBasen (NVDB) och från skogsnäringen. Målet med arbetet var att ta fram en informationsmodell, som beskriver hur ett transportnät med nätanknutna data, som stödjer multimodala transporter och resor, kan lagras i TNE. En förlängning av målet blev att, utifrån ett givet användarfall, etablera dataförsörjning till TNE och lägga in de nödvändiga datamängderna. TNE bygger på ESRI:s produkter och funktionalitet för hantering av geografisk information och informationsmodell och datahantering i TNE baseras på internationella och svenska standarder. Idag finns all information om järnvägsnätet hos Banverket och det finns ingen koppling mellan Banverkets databas Baninformationssystemet (BIS) och Vägverkets databas NVDB. För att den kopplingen ska kunna ske, krävs att de båda verken kan samarbeta som två stora organisationer i ett väl fungerande nätverk. Ett så kallat interorganisatoriskt nätverk. Det akademiska syftet var att föreslå en arkitekturstrategi som stödjer ett sådant nätverk. Vi upptäckte att arkitekturstrategierna IRM och VBS är uppbyggda för att inrikta sig på enskilda organisationer, och det visade sig svårt att följa en specifik strategi inom ett nätverk med flera organisationer. I vårt användarfall måste nätverket mellan Banverket, Vägverket och Stora Enso samarbeta över organisationsgränserna. Därför behövs en strategi för ett interorganisatoriskt samarbete så att informationen kan struktureras på ett gemensamt sätt. Vi föreslår ett antal idealtypskriterier som vi utgått efter i struktureringen av systemarkitekturen. Den innehåller en informationsmodell för både väg- och järnvägsdata som följer standarden SS 63 70 04. Arbetet avgränsades till att endast innehålla de datamängder som användarfallet kräver. Vi har analyserat KombiTIF-rapporten som är ett avslutat projekt styrt av Banverket på uppdrag av Näringsdepartementet. Rapporten ger ett förslag på en lösning i form av en arena som ska göra data tillgänglig för användning. Vi väljer att se TNE-plattformen som en realisering av denna arena. Enligt vårt förslg så ska TNE-plattformen hämta in det mest grundläggande datat om järnvägsnät och nätanknuten data från BIS och standardiserad information om vägnät och nätanknuten data från NVDB via ett gränssnitt. I framtiden är det möjligt att på samma sätt ta in andra trafiknät såsom Sjöfartsverket, Luftfartsverket och Rikstrafiken. Vi arbetade efter en egen metod som vi tog fram med valda delar från andra metoder; kartläggning, perspektivanalys, verksamhetsanalys, utveckling och utvärdering. Arbetet genomfördes iterativt i de fem olika faserna.

Avaliação do sincronismo do sinal eletromiográfico com o equilíbrio dinâmico de jogadores de futebol durante o chute

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Lattice effects in the quasi-two-dimensional valence-bond-solid Mott insulator EtMe3P[Pd(dmit)(2)](2)

The organic charge-transfer salt EtMe3P[Pd(dmit)(2)](2) is a quasi-two-dimensional Mott insulator with localized spins S = 1/2 residing on a distorted triangular lattice. Here we report measurements of the uniaxial thermal expansion coefficients alpha(i) along the in-plane i = a and c axis as well as along the out-of-plane b axis for temperatures 1.4 K <= T <= 200 K. Particular attention is paid to the lattice effects around the phase transition at T-VBS = 25 K into a low-temperature valence-bond-solid phase and the paramagnetic regime above where effects of short-range antiferromagnetic correlations can be expected. The salient results of our study include (i) the observation of strongly anisotropic lattice distortions accompanying the formation of the valence-bond-solid phase, and (ii) a distinct anomaly in the thermal expansion coefficients in the paramagnetic regime around 40 K. Our results demonstrate that upon cooling through T-VBS the in-plane c axis, along which the valence bonds form, contracts while the second in-plane a axis elongates by the same relative amount. Surprisingly, the dominant effect is observed for the out-of-plane b axis which shrinks significantly upon cooling through T-VBS. The pronounced anomaly in alpha(i) around 40 K is attributed to short-range magnetic correlations. It is argued that the position of this maximum, relative to that in the magnetic susceptibility around 70 K, speaks in favor of a more anisotropic triangular-lattice scenario for this compound than previously thought.

Vertebral body stenting: a new method for vertebral augmentation versus kyphoplasty

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are well-established minimally invasive treatment options for compression fractures of osteoporotic vertebral bodies. Possible procedural disadvantages, however, include incomplete fracture reduction or a significant loss of reduction after balloon tamp deflation, prior to cement injection. A new procedure called "vertebral body stenting" (VBS) was tested in vitro and compared to kyphoplasty. VBS uses a specially designed catheter-mounted stent which can be implanted and expanded inside the vertebral body. As much as 24 fresh frozen human cadaveric vertebral bodies (T11-L5) were utilized. After creating typical compression fractures, the vertebral bodies were reduced by kyphoplasty (n = 12) or by VBS (n = 12) and then stabilized with PMMA bone cement. Each step of the procedure was performed under fluoroscopic control and analysed quantitatively. Finally, static and dynamic biomechanical tests were performed. A complete initial reduction of the fractured vertebral body height was achieved by both systems. There was a significant loss of reduction after balloon deflation in kyphoplasty compared to VBS, and a significant total height gain by VBS (mean +/- SD in %, p < 0.05, demonstrated by: anterior height loss after deflation in relation to preoperative height [kyphoplasty: 11.7 +/- 6.2; VBS: 3.7 +/- 3.8], and total anterior height gain [kyphoplasty: 8.0 +/- 9.4; VBS: 13.3 +/- 7.6]). Biomechanical tests showed no significant stiffness and failure load differences between systems. VBS is an innovative technique which allows for the possibly complete reduction of vertebral compression fractures and helps maintain the restored height by means of a stent. The height loss after balloon deflation is significantly decreased by using VBS compared to kyphoplasty, thus offering a new promising option for vertebral augmentation.

Safety, effectiveness and predictors for early reoperation in therapeutic and prophylactic vertebroplasty: short-term results of a prospective case series of patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures

Abstract Introduction Vertebroplasty (VP) is a cost-efficient alternative to kyphoplasty; however, regarding safety and vertebral body (VB) height restoration, it is considered inferior. We assessed the safety and efficacy of VP in alleviating pain, improving quality of life (QoL) and restoring alignment. Methods In a prospective monocenter case series from May 2007 until July 2008, there were 1,408 vertebroplasties performed during 319 interventions in 306 patients with traumatic, lytic and osteoporotic fractures. The 249 interventions in 233 patients performed because of osteoporotic vertebral fractures were analyzed regarding demographics, treatment and radiographic details, pain alleviation (VAS), QoL improvement (NASS and EQ-5D), complications and predictors for new fractures requiring a reoperation. Results The osteoporotic patient sample consisted of 76.7% (179) females with a median age of 80 years. A total of 54 males had a median age of 77 years. On average, there were 1.8 VBs fractured and 5 VBs treated. The preoperative pain was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) and decreased from 54.9 to 40.4 pts after 2 months and 31.2 pts after 6 months. Accordingly, the QoL on the EQ-5D measure (−0.6 to 1) improved from 0.35 pts before surgery to 0.56 pts after 2 and to 0.68 pts after 6 months. The preoperative Beck Index (anterior height/posterior height) improved from a mean of 0.64 preoperative to 0.76 postoperative, remained stable at 2 months and slightly deteriorated to 0.72 at 6 months postoperatively. There were cement leakages in 26% of the fractured VBs and in 1.4% of the prophylactically cemented VBs; there were symptoms in 4.3%, and most of them were temporary hypotension and one pulmonary cement embolism that remained asymptomatic. The univariate regression model revealed a tendency for a reduced risk for new or refractures on radiographs (OR = 2.61, 95% CI 0.92–7.38, p = 0.12) and reoperations (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 0.94–8.949, p = 0.1) when prophylactic augmentation was performed. The final multivariate regression model revealed male patients to have an about three times higher refracture risk (radiographic) (OR = 2.78, p = 0.02) at 6 months after surgery. Patients with a lumbar index fracture had an about three to five times higher refracture/reoperation risk than patients with a thoracic (OR = 0.33/0.35, p = 0.009/0.01) or thoracolumbar (OR = 0.32/0.22, p = 0.099/0.01) index fracture. Conclusion If routinely used, VP is a safe and efficacious treatment option for osteoporotic vertebral fractures with regard to pain relief and improvement of the QoL. Even segmental realignment can be partially achieved with proper patient positioning. Certain patient or fracture characteristics increase the risk for early radiographic refractures or new fractures, or a reoperation; a consequent prophylactic augmentation showed protective tendencies, but the study was underpowered for a final conclusion.

Anticancer drug vinblastine sulphate induces transient morphological changes on the olfactory mucosa of the rabbit

Vinblastine sulphate (VBS) is an anticancer drug that acts by disrupting microtubule dynamics of highly mitotic tissue cells. The consequences of VBS on the olfactory mucosa (OM), a tissue with high mitotic numbers, are not clearly understood. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to determine the structural changes that may be produced on the rabbit OM by VBS. Following a single dose (0.31 mg/kg) of this drug, the structure of the mucosa was greatly altered on the first 3-5 days. The alteration was characterized by disarrangement of the normal layering of nuclei of the epithelia, degeneration of axonal bundles, occurrence of blood vessels within the bundles, localized death of cells of Bowman's glands and glandular degeneration. Surprisingly on or after day 7 and progressively to day 15 post-exposure, the OM was observed to regenerate and acquire normal morphology, and the vessels disappeared from the bundles. Relative to control values, bundle diameters, olfactory cell densities and cilia numbers decreased to as low as 53.1, 75.2 and 71.4%, respectively, on day 5. Volume density for the bundles, which was 28.6% in controls, decreased to a lowest value of 16.8% on day 5. In contrast, the volume density for the blood vessels was significantly lower in controls (19.9%) than in treated animals at day 2 (25.8%), day 3 (34.3%) and day 5 (31.5%). These findings suggest that the changes induced on the rabbit OM by VBS are transient and that regenerative recovery leads to the restoration of the normal structure of the mucosa.

Radiographic and safety details of vertebral body stenting: results from a multicenter chart review

BACKGROUND Up to one third of BKP treated cases shows no appreciable height restoration due to loss of both restored height and kyphotic realignment after balloon deflation. This shortcoming has called for an improved method that maintains the height and realignment reached by the fully inflated balloon until stabilization of the vertebral body by PMMA-based cementation. Restoration of the physiological vertebral body height for pain relief and for preventing further fractures of adjacent and distant vertebral bodies must be the main aim for such a method. A new vertebral body stenting system (VBS) stabilizes the vertebral body after balloon deflation until cementation. The radiographic and safety results of the first 100 cases where VBS was applied are presented. METHODS During the planning phase of an ongoing international multicenter RCT, radiographic, procedural and followup details were retrospectively transcribed from charts and xrays for developing and testing the case report forms. Radiographs were centrally assessed at the institution of the first/senior author. RESULTS 100 patients (62 with osteoporosis) with a total of 103 fractured vertebral bodies were treated with the VBS system. 49 were females with a mean age of 73.2 years; males were 66.7 years old. The mean preoperative anterior-middle-posterior heights were 20.3-17.6-28.0 mm, respectively. The mean local kyphotic angle was 13.1[degree sign]. The mean preoperative Beck Index (anterior edge height/posterior edge height) was 0.73, the mean alternative Beck Index (middle height/posterior edge height) was 0.63. The mean postoperative heights were restored to 24.5-24.6-30.4 mm, respectively. The mean local kyphotic angle was reduced to 8.9[degree sign]. The mean postoperative Beck Index was 0.81, the mean alternative one was 0.82. The overall extrusion rate was 29.1%, the symptomatic one was 1%. In the osteoporosis subgroup there were 23.8% extrusions. Within the three months followup interval there were 9% of adjacent and 4% of remote new fractures, all in the osteoporotic group. CONCLUSIONS VBS showed its strengths especially in realignment of crush and biconcave fractures. Given that fracture mobility is present, the realignment potential is sound and increases with the severity of preoperative vertebral body deformation.

Fine-scale population structure analysis of seven local Swiss sheep breeds using genome-wide SNP data

As part of the global sheep Hapmap project, 24 individuals from each of seven indigenous Swiss sheep breeds (Bundner Oberländer sheep (BOS), Engadine Red sheep (ERS), Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep (SBS), Swiss Mirror sheep (SMS), Swiss White Alpine (SWA) sheep, Valais Blacknose sheep (VBS) and Valais Red sheep (VRS)), were genotyped using Illumina’s Ovine SNP50 BeadChip. In total, 167 animals were subjected to a detailed analysis for genetic diversity using 45 193 informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. The results of the phylogenetic analyses supported the known proximity between populations such as VBS and VRS or SMS and SWA. Average genomic relatedness within a breed was found to be 12 percent (BOS), 5 percent (ERS), 9 percent (SBS), 10 percent (SMS), 9 percent (SWA), 12 percent (VBS) and 20 percent (VRS). Furthermore, genomic relationships between breeds were found for single individuals from SWA and SMS, VRS and VBS as well as VRS and BOS. In addition, seven out of 40 indicated parent–offspring pairs could not be confirmed. These results were further supported by results from the genome-wide population cluster analysis. This study provides a better understanding of fine-scale population structures within and between Swiss sheep breeds. This relevant information will help to increase the conservation activities of the local Swiss sheep breeds.