Nucleus replacement technologies are a minimally invasive alternative to spinal fusion and total disc replacement that have the potential to reduce pain and restore motion for patients with degenerative disc disease. Finite element modeling can be used to determine the biomechanics associated with nucleus replacement technologies. The current study focuses on a new nucleus replacement device de...

Abstract Background Bony fusion rate was significantly lower in patients with type 3 Modic change than normal endplates. It is not known whether there are relevant differences efficiency among 2 sclerotic or non-sclerotic change, no change. Methods A retrospective study contained 196 lumbar segments 123 subjects undergoing posterior interbody (PLIF) pedicle screw instrumentation (PSI) to assess...

Excitable cells can exhibit complex patterns of oscillations, such as spiking and bursting. In cardiac cells, pathological voltage oscillations, called early afterdepolarizations (EADs), have been widely observed under disease conditions, yet their dynamical mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that EADs are caused by Hopf and homoclinic bifurcations. During period pacing, chaos always occu...

The β2-adrenergic receptor agonist, albuterol, has been reported beneficial in treating several forms of congenital myasthenia. Here, for the first time, we examined the potential benefit of albuterol in a mouse model of anti-Muscle Specific Kinase (MuSK) myasthenia gravis. Mice received 15 daily injections of IgG from anti-MuSK positive patients, which resulted in whole-body weakness. At neuro...

We investigated the basis for a novel form of the slow-channel congenital myasthenic syndrome presenting in infancy in a single individual as progressive weakness and impaired neuromuscular transmission without overt degeneration of the motor endplate. Prolonged low-amplitude synaptic currents in biopsied anconeus muscle at 9 years of age suggested a kinetic disorder of the muscle acetylcholine...