Dayi Hu, MD, FACC, FESC, current Chief of Heart Center, Peking University People’s Hospital; Dean of Clinical Research Institute, School of Public Health, Shanghai Fudan University; President of Chinese Society of Cardiology (CSC); President of Chinese College of Cardiovascular Physicians (CCCP). Professor Hu is a pioneer of radio-frequency ablation technology and evidence-based medicine in China. He has specialized in preventive cardiology, electrophysiology and interventional therapy of coronary artery disease. He is also engaged in the treatment and prevention of hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure and ionic channelopathy. He is the principal investigator (PI) of China Heart Survey, and the Steer Committee member and PI of many international clinical trials such as ROCKET, BEAUTIFUL, SHIFIT, ACE, MAGELLaN, etc. Professor Hu is the Editor-in-chief of Chinese Journal of Cardiology, international board member of Nature Cardiovascular Medicine, Journal of Clinical Cardiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, European Heart Journal. Dr. PengZhou, M.D.& Ph.D, Cardiologist. Presently, he serves as a research fellow in Cardiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, USA. More than 15 years career in Cardiology, He has authored over 60 publications, contributed over 4 book chapters. He specializes in both basic research and clinical practice with emphasis on ionic channel function, signal transduction, heart failure and interventional therapy of arrhythmia and CAD. Since 2007, 11 of his first author and co-author research achievements have been invited to present in AHA Scientific Session. Cuilan Li, Ph.D, associate professor is now working in Cardiology Department, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, China, as a Senior Research Scientist and Chief of Basic Research Lab of the Department. She has engaged in the basic research of cardiac electrophysiology for 20 years and published about 80 papers. She is currently involved in the projects on gene screening of long QT syndrome and other channelopathies. She is an international recognized research scientist and in charge of the National Channelopathy Registry in China. Yujie Zhu, Ph.D. a Senior Member of IEEE, is a recognized scientist in cardiac electrophysiology and biomedical engineering. He is currently working in Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. He serves as a reviewer for several prestigious international cardiovascular journals. He received several awards. He has authored and coauthored numerous papers. Dr. Zhu’s research interests include electrophysiological properties of cardiac ion channels, mechanisms of arrhythmia, and application of biomedical engineering in cardiovascular diseases. Zhi Xu, M.D.& Ph.D., Research Associate at the W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research, University of Notre Dame. Dr. Xu specializes in exploring the roles of PAI-1 in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and heart fibrosis. He published in some of most prestigious journals, including Blood, JBC and Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. As a PI, His research has been supported by AHA. Additionally, he serves as an ad hoc reviewer for a number of journals such as Blood, Current Drug Targets. Mueen Ahmed K. K. Ph.D, Assistant Professor at College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, Al-Hassa, KSA. His major research interest has been screening of natural products for pharmacological activity with special emphasis on cardiovascular activity. He has published many papers in peer-reviewed international journals. Presently, Dr. Ahmed is involved and working in several editorial boards of international circulating professional journals, serving as editor for Journals such as Pharmacognosy Research, associate editor of Pharmacognosy Magazine, Pharmacognosy Reviews etc. Ningpu Yu, Ph.D. is a research scientist in NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Dr. Yu has eight years experience in studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cardiovascular inflammation and discovery of potential drug targets and therapies for atherosclerosis and diabetes. He was invited to present his work at the AHA Scientific Sessions multiple times. Dr. Yu has served as reviewer for professional journals and government grants. Dr. Ping Li, M.D. Ph.D., is now working in Department of Cardiology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan, as a research fellow. She has engaged in the clinical and research work in Cardiology for nearly 10 years. Her researches are mainly involved in cardiovascular regeneration. She has published about 20 papers. Xin-Chun Yang, M.D. and Ph.D., Professor. Director of Heart Center, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, affiliated Capital Medical University, Vice-Dean of the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Capital Medical University. He is quite accomplished in the field of interventional cardiology and has made prominent contributions in the non-pharmacological treatment of arrhythmia. Presently, professor Yang is presiding over many research programs such as National Natural Science Foundation project and Eleventh Five-Year Science and Technology Support sub-Program etc. Dr. Dong Ran, M.D.& M.S, Vice-Dean of Department of Cardiac Surgery, Anzhen Hospital. Having been engaged in the career of cardiovascular surgery for more than 20 years, he has authored over 20 publications, and co-authored 3 book chapters. Presently, he serves as an editorial member of Journal of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases, which was founded by Dr. Wu Yingkai, the pioneer of heart surgery in China. These works enabled him the ability to focus on controversial topic of cardiac techniques. Jianjun Zhang, M.D.& Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Director, Section on Cardiology of West Campus of Affiliated Chaoyang Hospital of Capital University of Medical Science. Prof. Zhang is accomplished in electrophysiology and interventional therapy. He is a current council member for Beijing Division of Chinese Medical Association. Presently he serves as editorial board member for Chinese Journal of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology and Chinese Journal for clinicians. Jun-Hua Wang, M.D. and Ph.D., Cardiologist, Vice-Director of the Department of Cardiology, Air Force General Hospital, Beijing, China. In his 20 years Cardiology practice, he published about 30 articles in peer-reviewed, national or international professional journals. He possesses ample experience in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease with emphasis on interventional therapy of arrhythmia and coronary artery disease. As the Principle Investigator of Air Force General Hospital branch, Dr. Wang had taken part in ONTARGET/TRANSCEND, an international, large scale, multi-center evidence-based medicine study. Dr. Ren Wenlin, M.D.& M.M, cardiac chief physician, presently, he serves as the chief in Cardiovascular Center, Beijing Chuiyangliu Hospital, Beijing, P.R.China. More than 26 years clinical practice in cardiology, he has authored over 30 publications, and contributed over 6 book chapters. Elizabeth Gilbert, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include comparative nutrition, protein and amino acid metabolism, nutrient transporters, type 2 diabetes and pancreatic beta cell regeneration, flavonoids as nutraceuticals, cell proliferation and apoptosis signaling pathways. Dr. Elizabeth Gilbert was one of the recipients of the 2009 Milton L. Sunde Award from the American Society for Nutrition for outstanding experimental, applied or fundamental research in nutrition that uses an avian species. Cedric Viero, Ph.D, Research Associate of Department of Cardiology, Wales Heart Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK. Dr. Cedric Viero specializes in ion channel, calcium signaling and cardiac electrophysiology. He is a current member of the Working Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology, European Society of Cardiology. In his cardiovascular basic research career, he has authored more than 20 publications. Recently, he served as editor for several peer-reviewed, international professional journals. Amir Aslani, M.D, Cardiologist, Presently, he serves as an interventional electrophysiologist in Section on Cardiology, Shiraz University School of Medicine, Iran. He has authored over 50 publications. He has been selected as the best young investigator in 13th Razi Festival. Recently, he has approved as a “Senior Scientist” by “Nature” journal. Guang-Zhen Zhong, M.D.& Ph.D, associate professor, working  in Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, has been engaged in Cardiology for about 12 years. She published several papers on “J Hypert” “Life Sci”, “Heart and vessels”, “Int J Cardio” and so on. She gave an oral presentation on AHA Scientific Symposium in 2008. She achieved quite a few grants from government. Yihong Sun, M.D, Associated Professor of Medicine in the Heart Center at Peking University People’s Hospital. Her research interests are prevention of cardiovascular disease, antithrombotic and antiplatelet therapy, cardiovascular epidemiology and large clinical trials. She is currently working with the ACE trial in Oxford University to investigate acarbose therapy in the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and established cardiovascular disease. Zhang ChaoJun, M.D., Ph.D.Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Division of Thyroid, Mammary& Vascular Surgery Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China PRC. Dr. Zhang is a recognized general surgery expert in the field and accomplished in vascular surgery with emphasis on peripheral vascular diseases, such as abdominal aortic aneurysm, complicated peripheral arterial aneurysm, atherosclerosis. More than 12 years vascular surgery career he has been involved in about 2000 vascular cases. Yongxia Sarah Qu, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine/ Cardiology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. Dr Qu is involved in both patient care and basic translational cardiovascular research. Dr Qu published over 30 peerreviewed papers in high impact journals. She has been funded for her research by both NIH and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr Qu has contributed significantly to the research of autoimmune-associated congenital heart block and has interest in channelopathies. Dr. Guang Yang, M.D.& Ph.D, currently serves as postdoctoral fellow in Vascular Biology Center in Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia USA. He also serves as reviewers for several professional journals. Dr. Yang’s medical background, including two years of clinical experience, together with 8 years genetic and physiological studies, has contributed to the cardiovascular biology research. In the last 10 years, Dr. Yang has authored over 20 publications and presented his works in international meetings. Alok Kumar Singh, M.D& DM, Senior resident in cardiology, in CHATRAPATI SAHU JI MAHARAJ MEDICAL UNIVERSITY Lucknow India. More than 6 year in cardiology, He has about authored 20 publications and contributed 4 book chapters. He had been appointed as assistant editor of journal of clinical and diagnostic research for 2010. He has special interest in interventional cardiology and coronary artery disease, heart failure and rheumatic heart disease. Debmalya Barh, M.Sc., M.Tech., M.Phill., PhD. Consultant Biotechnologist and presently serves as Honorary Scientist, IIOAB, India. First to work on Cardiac Myxoma signaling pathway and drug targets. He has authored over 20 international publications with first authorship and contributed over 5 book chapters during 2008–2009. He also serves as editorial and review board members of many professional journals. Dr. Xianming Zhang, Ph.D., a research associate in Department of Pharmacology at University of Illinois at Chicago, has engaged research in experimental medicine about ten years and authorized over 20 papers in prestigious professional journals. His current research focuses on exploring the roles of kallikrein-kinin and rennin-angiotensin system in cardiovascular pathophysiology by investigating interaction among proteins of both systems. Recently Dr. Zhang was awarded fellowship by American Heart Association due to his series of interesting findings. Hongwei Si, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), USA. His research focuses on the beneficial effects and mechanisms of food-derived polyphenols on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and aging. He has authored over 20 publications. Currently, he serves as editorial members, reviewers for numerous prestigious journals. Dr. Bishwanath Chatterjee is presently a Staff Scientist at National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and is an expert in genetics and genomics of congenital and adult heart disease. Dr. Cheng Wang, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is currently the vice-chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Medicine. His research interests have longtime focused on the signal acquisition and automated processing of the electrocardiogram. In recent years, he concentrates his research effort on the image-based quantitative evaluation of the myocardium function. Yohanes Buang, PhD, attending vessel blood maintenance and the regulation of metabolism disorders. He has authored many publication related to the disorders of metabolism. He also serves as a reviewer for some international professional journals. Recently, he focuses his work on vessel blood chemicals and the disorders generated on Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Nusa Cendana University, Indonesia. Jibin Zhou, M.D.& Ph.D. Dr. Zhou’s focused on the regulation of normal and stress-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Specifically, he studies the signal transduction pathways that regulate growth responses, focusing on protein kinase cascades. He has studied the role of glycogen synthase kinase-3 alpha and beta. Additionally, he has recently identified a novel mechanism by which oxidant stress may signal cell death via a SOK1/14-3-3zeta/ASK1 cascade. Kai Shen, Ph.D. in Chemistry. He is currently a research associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With research expertise across the areas of hypertension, molecular cardiology and vascular medicine, his publications extend from biochemistry to nanotechnology and have been cited over 100 times. He also serves as a reviewer and member of editorial board for professional journals. Xuan Gao  Her Ph.D. work is to determine effects of curvature, protein composition and oxidation on structural stability and functional remodeling of human plasma HDL. These works were published in 3 peer reviewed papers, and presented in 9 international conferences. She was invited for platform talks by OPTM  and Protein Society (2009). She is recipient of a Young Investigator Award from Kern Aspen Lipid Conference. Fang Liu, M.D. Associate Chief Physician, Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Peking University First Hospital. Dr. Liu specializes in clinical cardiology and echocardiogram. Recently, she serves as an editorial member of Chinese Journal of Multiple Organ Diseases in the Elderly. She is Echo-Specialist of Peking Physician Association and Director of Bejing Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine


Optical microscopy and multi-particle tracking are used to investigate the cross-correlated diffusion of quasi two-dimensional colloidal particles near an oil-water interface. The behaviors of the correlated diffusion along longitudinal and transverse direction are asymmetric. It is shown that the characteristic length for longitudinal and transverse correlated diffusion are particle diameter  The dynamic behavior of confined colloidal suspensions has recently received a considerable amount of attentions The diffusion behaviors of particles reflect the influence of the boundary conditions In this paper, we report an experimental measurement of the cross-correlated diffusion of colloidal particles near a water-decahydronaphthalene  interface. It is shown that for larger particle separation, along the line connecting the centers of the particles and the direction perpendicular to this line, the characteristic length is particle diameter Two types of colloidal particles, both with a diameter The experimental setup is shown as in Using an inverted Olympus IX71 microscope, the motion of the colloidal particles was recorded by a digital camera (Prosilica GE1050) at a rate of 14 frames per second. Each image sequence comprises 500 consecutive frames (taken over The PS monolayer is located at a higher position above the oil-water interface than the silica monolayer because the PS spheres are less dense and have a greater surface charge than the silica particles. The average distance The parameter Tracking individual particle's trajectory, we obtain particle's cross-correlated motion via the ensemble of averaged tensor products of the particle's displacements Typically,The mechanism behind the independence of To focus on the influence of the oil-water interface on the correlated diffusion coefficients, first, we averaged the curves of In the perpendicular direction, We compare our results with previous studies for the following boundary conditions: colloidal spheres dispersed in an unbounded 3D bulk, confined by a solid wall or at an air-water interface At first glance, the result that the decay rate of Similar to the mechanism of a membrane near a solid wall The HIs through path I entail that the cross-correlated motion is a function of tion of  . For a ldent of   for . InFor a very high area fraction We experimentally investigated the cross-correlated diffusion of colloidal particles near an oil-water interface that distinctly affects the correlated diffusion coefficient


We set out to determine variations to these dependencies in different tasks with and without visual feedback. In two different settings, subjects were asked to (a) grasp and hold a stiffness-measuring manipulandum with a predefined grip force, differing from experiment to experiment, or (b) grasp and hold this manipulandum of which we varied the weight between trials in a more natural task. Both situations led to grip forces in comparable ranges. As the measured grip stiffness is the result of muscle and tendon properties, and since muscle/tendon stiffness increases more-or-less linearly as a function of muscle force, we found, as might be predicted, a linear relationship between grip force and grip stiffness. However, the measured stiffness ranges and the increase of stiffness with grip force varied significantly between the two tasks. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between regression slope and mean stiffness for the force task which we ascribe to a force stiffness curve going through the origin. Based on a biomechanical model, we attributed the difference between both tasks to changes in wrist configuration, rather than to changes in cocontraction. In a new set of experiments where we prevent the wrist from moving by fixing it and resting it on a pedestal, we found subjects exhibiting similar stiffness/force characteristics in both tasks.It is widely known that the pinch-grip forces of the human hand are linearly related to the weight of the grasped object. Less is known about the relationship between grip force and grip  A vast body of literature is devoted to the regulation of grip force. Indeed, the force necessary to stably hold an object in our hand is continuously regulated by the CNS stiffness  and may play an important role in maintaining grip stability. In a recent study passive intrinsic stiffness, excluding influences from proprioceptive feedback. With these experiments, we demonstrated a linear relationship between grip force and intrinsic grip stiffness contributed by the passive properties of the corresponding muscles. We further showed that this conforms to a model of the pinching hand in which muscle exhibit elastic properties that can be represented by (nonlinear) exponential force-generating elements. A number of studies confirm this finding of a monotonic increase of finger force or torque with stiffnessIt has been shown that forces of an uncompensated grip decreases for contracting and increases for expanding objects But how do load force, grip force and grip stiffness relate to each other? Can grip stiffness be modulated independent of grip force and if so, would such modulation have functional significance? Furthermore, the way in which we required subjects to apply different grip forces in our previous study  was not very natural. What would the stiffnesses be like if a subject would lift an object in a weight task without any feedback about the applied force? Would the stiffnesses measured in the two tasks be comparable? Or would subjects be able to regulate force and stiffness independently?et al. showed that for zero net torque at the interphalangeal joint in the human thumb, joint stiffness highly increases with cocontraction. This demonstrates that net torque or force alone does not determine joint stiffness Two possibilities to decouple grip stiffness and force are acknowledged: either by cocontraction of antagonistic pairs of muscles or by changing the finger/wrist configuration. Carter et al. showed that the CNS is able to decouple grip and load force in anticipation of a collision, with a rise in grip force before the expected impact and a peak in grip force around 65 ms after the impact Does the neuromuscular system allow for an active use of these effects on grip stiffness and an independent control of both, force and stiffness? White In the current study we set out to test for grip stiffness modulation as a function of the natural tendency to increase grip force when lifting increasingly heavy objects In this section we will introduce a general finger model which describes the influence of cocontraction and kinematics on grip stiffness. The model will help us to interpret the measurements. Eq. (3) describes the restoring finger forces Note that The joint torque is coupled to the Cartesian and muscle force similar to the velocities by the kinematic chain but also by the moment arms represented by the Jacobian matrices:Again, the endpoint and muscle forces are coupled via a ratio of the two Jacobians. Using these equations and the assumption that the two Jacobians do not change for incremental angular displacements, the relations between the different stiffnesses becomeCombining Eqs. (11) and (14) we conclude that, if cocontraction will affect the offset, but not the slope of the (linear) grip force–grip stiffness relation. This principle is illustrated in Cocontraction will increase the force and stiffness of agonist and antagonist muscles within each finger, while maintaining the same net force From Eq. (14) we can see that a change in the Jacobian by, e.g., changing finger or wrist orientation will have a nonlinear (quadratic) effect on the stiffness/force characteristic and will affect slope and offset.Note that both strategies will not affect the linear relation between force and stiffness while cocontraction and kinematic orientation remain the same. A change of the slope between the two tasks will indicate an influence caused by a change of the Jacobian rather than by cocontraction. A change of the offset, however, can be caused by either or both. Furthermore, a change in the kinematic configuration possibly predominates effects of cocontraction on the stiffness/force characteristics.in flexion can be identified. A spring was preloaded by an electromagnet (blue) fixed to a frame (gray) that holds a moving part (red). The grip force was measured with a load cell (black). Note that this device could only apply perturbations in one direction, measuring stiffness of an expanding object. Precise grip force measurement was obtained by guiding the grip force through a button (green) to the load cell. Releasing the spring caused the device to elongate by 7 mm within a few ms. The Perturbator weighed 187 g and its length expanded from 57 to 64 mm when activated. As noted by Van Doren The Grasp Perturbator  used in The measurement setup consisted of a host running Windows and a real-time target machine running QNX. The real-time machine ran a Matlab/Simulink model to control the electromagnet and read out the force sensor at 10 kHz. After pressing a release button, the perturbation was applied after a random delay 4 to 7 s. The load cell consisted of a KM10 force sensor and a measurement amplifier GSV-11H (both from ME-Messsysteme GmbH) with a nominal force of 100 N and an overall accuracy of the force signal of 0.1 N were used. We verified that perturbations caused no significant phantom force changes in the device by testing it with known springs. The offset of the measured force signal was calibrated before each trial.In this study we focused on influences of underlying (bio)mechanical principles, rather than of reflexive feedback, and measured the combination of passive (surrounding tissue and ligaments) and intrinsic stiffness only (stiffness which can be attributed to the active muscle fibres); we refrained from measuring influences of reflexive stiffness. By measuring the grip force with an internal load cell before and shortly after the perturbation—well before the effects of short-latency reflexes—the grip stiffness contributed by the intrinsic properties of the muscles could be identified.A total of 15 healthy right-handed male subjects, age 22–45 years, performed the two experimental protocols, WT and FT, as described below. No subject had a history of neurological disorder nor neuromuscular injury affecting the CNS or the muscles. All subjects gave written consent to the procedures which were conducted partially in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki agreement. Non-conformity concerns the point B-16 of the 59th World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, Seoul, October 2008: no physician has supervised the experiment. The collection of subject data was approved by the institutional board for protection of data privacy and by the work council of the German Aerospace Center.All subjects had previous experience working with the Perturbator and were able to stably hold the device, even after the perturbation. Fully naive subjects would often drop the device during perturbation, leading to useless data because of a missing second static force level.Ten subjects performed the main experiment in which the arm and wrist were free to move, although subjects were instructed to hold the forearm steady in a horizontal posture. These ten subjects were divided into two groups, counter-balanced as to whether FT or WT was done first . To investigate whether changes in the wrist configuration might have an influence on grip stiffness an additional group of 6 subjects (E3) performed the two protocols with the wrist held at a constant orientation with respect to the forearm and with the relaxed arm and wrist supported by a table. We favored fixation over controlling wrist position using optical tracking in order to keep the task natural and to avoid providing visual feedback in the WT. Half of the subjects in E3  did WT first, the rest FT first. Note that one subject took part in two experiments, and is referred to as S6-1 in E2 and S6-2 in E3. The whole experiment lasted about 90 minutes per subject. No subject reported discomfort during FT, some reported fatigue during WT. Subjects stood throughout the experiment, except for a 10-minute break between FT and WT. We found standing and lifting weights with respect to the WT intuitively more natural than sitting.In the WT, six different weights of from 0.2, 0.4, 1.2 kg were attached to the Perturbator, and for 10 trials each the subjects had to lift the device off of the table . The lowThe procedure of the FT was almost the same as in our previous study Since applied grip forces for lifting the weights differed considerably across subjects, we measured the natural grip force when holding the device with different weights—thus leading to different grip forces—and chose 6 different grip force levels to subsequently use for FT. If subjects were instructed to do the FT first, we asked them to lift the Perturbator once with each weight attached before the FT without applying any perturbations. If the WT had to be done first, we used the information of the WT to estimate the required force levels for the FT.For both tasks, we preferred experimenter release over automated release because previous experiments revealed increased participant fatigue in the latter case—holding the force level steady for a while, especially at high levels is increasingly difficult and troublesome. Note that the non-rigid coupling between the Perturbator and the additional weight in the WT meant that the inertia of the Perturbator was effectively constant, so that this effect did not have to be accounted for in the data analysis.The force signals were first filtered using a 21-point moving average filter. The time when the electromagnet was released and the time rted see  varied cafter perturbation was computed. We defined a second time et al. reported a delay of about 20 ms between the onset of the short-latency reflex and first measurable changes in muscle force of stretching triceps surae muscles and releasing tibialis anterior muscles elicited by electrical stimulation. Thus, assuming that this feedback does not have a measurable influence within 40 ms, The time interval exactly the same conditions. Note, that we minimized the variation of stiffness between experiments with identical conditions rather than between different stiffnesses, grip forces, or subjects. The stiffness of each trial was calculated usingWe decided to use one time window tion see . Thus,  The subjects of groups E1 and E2 were asked to do either FT or WT first with an unconstrained wrist.Equal stiffness for equal grip force For each subject we tested whether the same stiffness was generated in each task, on average across all grip forces. Since the ranges of grip force differed considerably between the two tasks—especially for subjects doing the FT first . To further test this hypothesis, subjects in group E3 performed the two tasks with the wrist held in a constant position by a rigid cuff in order to minimize the influence of a change in the kinematics. The cuff used here was made of a thermoplast with a steel plate parallel to the arm axis in order to maximize its stiffness; but still the wrist could be bent within small ranges. In order to prevent subjects from moving their wrist, we additionally rested the arm and hand on a table.We compared the average stiffness across all grip-force levels, the slope of the grip-stiffness/grip-force relationship and their correlation, the results of which are shown in As we initially stated we found a strong linear correlation between force and stiffness during the FT. To close out our description of section “sec:Results” we will further test if linearity was indeed obtained and if it changed between tasks. We used Mandel's technique to test whether a linear or a quadratic model provides a significantly better fit for the relationship between grip stiffness and grip force  increases with their activation, and will therefore increase its effect on fingertip force. Conclusively, we can only clarify to some extent and not with significance if the found difference is actively optimized or just passively caused by a bent wrist.To maximize the efficacy of the visually-guided control loop, one could reasonably strive to minimize the latency between commanded changes in muscle activations and the actual changes of grip force applied at the fingertips. As muscles are constrained by activation dynamics, there is a theoretical limit to the rate of change of muscle force All in all, of course static grip stiffness is linearly related to grip force, caused by the exponential stiffness of tendon tissue. But by changing the kinematics of our grip—and thus just changing the force transfer function from muscle to finger—one can actively change the increase of stiffness with force by flexing our wrist and thus change the stability of the grip. In that it is highly relevant that, in our experiments, low stiffness values were obtained when holding objects of different weights rather than exerting a predefined force—a natural task, which we likely have learned to solve at minimal cost.


The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in preterm infants has been documented and results from previous studies suggest the association between OMT and length of stay (LOS) reduction, as well as significant improvement in several clinical outcomes. The aim of the present study is to show the effect of OMT on LOS and daily weight gain in a sample of premature infants.Randomized controlled trial on preterm newborns admitted in a single NICU between 2008-2009. N=101 subjects free of medical complications and with gestational age >28 and < 38 weeks were enrolled and randomized into two groups: study group (N=47) and control group (N=54). All subjects received routine pediatric care and OMT was performed to the study group for the entire period of hospitalization. Endpoints of the study included differences in LOS and daily weight gain. Statistical analyses were based on univariate tests and multivariate linear regression.Univariate statistical analysis showed no significant imbalances among treated and control groups in terms of main characteristics measured at admission. At the end of follow-up, OMT was significantly associated with LOS (days)  and with daily weight gain (grams) . After adjusting for all potential confounders, multivariate analysis showed a significant association between OMT and LOS reduction . OMT was not independently associated with any change in daily weight gain.The present study suggests that OMT plays an important role in the management of preterm infants hospitalization.


Heartfelt congratulations on the inauguration of a new journal addressing the field of occupational and environmental medicine. It is opportune to provide an interactive forum for research and practice in this field, at the time of globalizing economy and rapid changes in our work and life. The initiative of the Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in response to the current broad-ranging developments is highly welcome.As strategic goals of our joint action, the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) emphasizes international and regional collaboration in promoting proactive risk assessment and control and in extending effective and basic occupational health services for all workers. In increasingly diversifying work situations, it is essential to focus on comprehensive evidence-informed risk management supported by practical action-oriented procedures that have real impact in the local context. The networking of good-practice approaches in participatory work life improvement processes is particularly important. The scientific developments in this regard are remarkable in all regions of the world. The launch of this journal surely gives new impetus for developing a culture of sustainable prevention in the workplace and in the community, reflecting the advances in this collaboration.We are confident the journal is going to make a significant contribution to the quality of research and practice aimed at our common goals. We are pleased to join our international partners in supporting the journal.The author, Kazutaka Kogi, has given permission for his photo to be used as the cover page.


In many plants, starch is synthesized during the day and degraded during the night to avoid carbohydrate starvation in darkness. The circadian clock participates in a dynamic adjustment of starch turnover to changing environmental condition through unknown mechanisms. We used mathematical modelling to explore the possible scenarios for the control of starch turnover by the molecular components of the plant circadian clock. Several classes of plausible models were capable of describing the starch dynamics observed in a range of clock mutant plants and light conditions, including discriminating circadian protocols. Three example models of these classes are studied in detail, differing in several important ways. First, the clock components directly responsible for regulating starch degradation are different in each model. Second, the intermediate species in the pathway may play either an activating or inhibiting role on starch degradation. Third, the system may include a light-dependent interaction between the clock and downstream processes. Finally, the clock may be involved in the regulation of starch synthesis. We discuss the differences among the models’ predictions for diel starch profiles and the properties of the circadian regulators. These suggest additional experiments to elucidate the pathway structure, avoid confounding results and identify the molecular components involved. In Arabnditions –4. In panditions ,3. This lhy cca1 double mutant, which is lacking the essential clock genes LHY and CCA1 [It has recently been proposed that the plant regulates the turnover of starch by performing an arithmetic division calculation, setting the rate of starch breakdown during the night proportional to the quantity of starch remaining and inversely proportional to the estimated time remaining until dawn . While tand CCA1 . Furtherand CCA1 .Several lines of evidence show that starch degradation rate is determined by the amount of starch remaining as well as by the clock-derived prediction of the time to dawn. For example, increasing light intensity can greatly increase starch levels at dusk, but degradation rates rise in parallel, so that starch is still almost exhausted at dawn ,8. StarcGiven the present uncertainties in the best of our knowledge regarding the clock-regulated target genes controlling starch kinetics, mathematical modelling is an attractive approach for exploring the possible general mechanisms of clock-to-starch signalling. Recently, the diurnal kinetics of starch under various photoperiods were simulated using a small phenomenological model of carbon partitioning between starch and sucrose, connected to a sinusoid-like signal representing a simple version of the clock . In thisA. thaliana [Here, we explore various possible scenarios of the regulation of starch turnover by the clock using a recently published model of the circadian clock mechanism in thaliana . This cr2.A. thaliana [Our goals are (i) to explore the regulatory principles of circadian regulation of starch turnover, (ii) to analyse possible outcomes of the various regulatory scenarios under genetic perturbations of the circadian clock, and (iii) to suggest experiments capable of distinguishing between the various forms of regulation suggested, and of identifying the components involved in the pathway. To achieve these goals, we developed simple models of possible regulatory mechanisms controlling starch turnover, and linked these models with a detailed and experimentally validated model of the circadian clock in thaliana . This apIn the following, we take heed of the uncertainties in knowledge and assume different alternatives for key regulatory processes, each of which can reproduce the system's principle behaviours. The three model variants that we investigate in detail consist of different combinations of these alternative forms of regulation  and 1 , X and Y describe the activity of components/enzymes responsible for starch degradation in the dark and synthesis in the light, respectively. In very general terms, these components represent the overall activities of enzymes and their regulators catalysing starch degradation  and synthesis (e.g. APGase); s,Sk and d,Sk are the rate constants of starch synthesis and degradation, respectively; s,SK and s,DK are the associated Michaelis–Menten constants. The parameter d,S,XK determines the range of concentrations over which X is able to control starch degradation. All variables in this and following equations are dimensionless, and the time unit is 1 h. Note that starch degradation in the dark is linear in time for constant X and Y are discussed below.Here, 2.2.X, must integrate information about the time of the day (through the circadian clock) with measurements of the amount of starch remaining. In principle, two different mechanisms for conveying time of day information are conceivable: a clock-controlled ‘time-to-dawn’ signal (T) that is depleted 24 h after dawn, reflecting the expected time until the next dawn, or a clock-controlled component (A) that is accumulated during the day. High levels of T would inhibit starch degradation, whereas high levels of A would activate it  givesA might activate starch degradation through increase in XThe substance X, we haveFor fast dynamics of 2.3.X, either via inhibitor T or by activator A, it is then required to ask how the clock controls T or A. In this section, three possibilities for the form of this regulation are presented. The differences between the corresponding model variants are then discussed in the Results section.Given that the clock can regulate T (with the same idea applying similarly to A)x(t) represents the dynamics of the circadian clock components, described with the latest version of the plant clock [f(x(t)) represents the effect of the clock components on T. For example, a model in which T is stimulated by the presence of the clock transcription factor LHY , is described byX from the clock after dusk. One way to achieve this is to introduce a weakened dependence of T or A on the clock after dusk. For example, T might be controlled by the clock during the day and decay during the night. For linear decay of T after dusk, the dynamics are given byOne straightforward possibility is that clock components are responsible for continuously controlling the synthesis of nt clock , presentX might be fast in the light, but slow in the dark. Restricting the adjustment of X to the light period by modifying equation (2.2) toX at dusk to a value remaining unchanged throughout the night and changes in the clock output (T or A) during the night do not impact on the dynamics of starch degradation. This is an extreme case of the absence of the clock regulation of X during the night, which is opposite to the continuous clock signalling discussed above, and is useful to explore differences in the predicted dynamics. Of course, intermediate scenarios with reduced clock effects in the night are also plausible.Additionally, the dynamics of 2.4.Y with day length. The clock was shown to regulate many photoperiodic pathways . TherefY in the light and dark, respectivelyAlternatively, a clock-independent, exclusively light-regulated starch synthesis can be established through the alternation between degradation and synthesis of Y results in only mild changes in the levels of Y during one diurnal cycle, but the levels will change significantly between photoperiods, after several days of adaptation. Again, a combination of both mechanisms is plausible.In both scenarios, a slow turnover of T by the clock, according to equation (2.8), whereas variant 3 achieves similar decoupling by fixing the levels of the starch-degrading component X at dusk according to equation (2.9). While variant 2 incorporates inhibition of starch degradation by the clock through component T, variant 3 assumes activation stimulation of starch degradation through activator A. An additional difference is that starch synthesis is assumed to be clock-independent in variants 1 and 2 and clock-regulated in variant 3. Model parameters were chosen by fitting the models to the experimental data under various photoperiods and light conditions as presented in the electronic supplementary material. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of the models to random variation of the parameters .For the simulations presented in detail in Results, we considered three exemplary model variants, schematics of which are shown in 3.We present an investigation of the exemplary model variants in several stages. First, we demonstrate that all are able to reproduce the experimentally observed dynamics of starch turnover across a range of light conditions. In particular, simulated starch dynamics are compared with data from plants grown in different photoperiods , in skel3.1.a). The pattern of starch turnover is also robust to the skeleton photoperiod (figure 2b), in which the plant is subjected to 5 h of darkness (between ZT2 and ZT7) during the day. This is a direct result of the robustness of the circadian clock in these conditions. Finally, the comparison of the models’ behaviour across multiple photoperiods (figure 2c) demonstrates that all three models can describe the experimentally observed increase in the starch levels at dawn in longer photoperiods. The adjustment of the dynamics of the starch-degrading agent X to different photoperiods is shown in In figure 2Interestingly, the levels of starch at the end of the night depend only weakly on the peak/end-of-day starch levels . This is an important property shared by all three model variants, which results from the linear dependence of the starch degradation rate on the starch level (equations (2.2) and (2.4)). This agrees with the observation that the pattern of starch turnover is relatively insensitive to changes in light intensity, which influence starch synthesis rates (and hence end-of-the-day starch levels) considerably ,7,8.Next, we tested the behaviour of the models under various T-cycles, in which the duration of the light/dark cycle is changed while keeping the proportional duration of light and dark periods the same. All variants predict incomplete consumption of starch in 20 h T-cycles (10 L : 10 D) and the premature depletion of starch in 28 h T-cycles . This agrees with experimental observations that starch turnover appears to be regulated specifically for 24-h days [3.2.lhy cca1, toc1 and ztl [elf3, prr9 prr7 prr5, CCA1ox [The incorporation of a detailed model of the circadian clock allows us to investigate the effects of mutations in clock genes on the dynamics of starch turnover. Based on the parameter sets determined by a fit to wild-type data only (see above), we predict starch time-courses for a range of mutants . The top and ztl ). The ri, CCA1ox ,18).Figlhy cca1 double mutant , for which two independent sets of experiments showed a starch depletion before ZT20 in L12 : D12 conditions [lhy cca1 mutant clock model is combined with model variant 1. This particular scenario nonetheless revealed an interesting effect with more general implications (discussed below). In addition to lhy cca1, starch dynamics have also been measured in the clock mutants ztl and toc1. All model variants predict a marginal increase of starch levels in the toc1 mutant and decrease in the ztl mutant, which exhibits high levels of TOC1 protein [et al. [The best characterized mutant is the nditions ,6. All m protein . These p protein . The pre [et al. .PRR9 and PRR7 genes, the prr7 prr9 double mutant, has an increased level of starch, similarly to the prr9 prr7 prr5 triple mutant  and the CCA1-overexpressing line .In order to identify conditions that might allow us to discriminate between the different regulatory principles of starch turnover, we next extend our analysis to other clock mutants. Quite unexpectedly, we found that despite large differences in the mechanisms of starch regulation, the model variants give qualitatively similar predictions for the starch dynamics in a multitude of clock mutants. In particular, the mutant of both  CCA1ox; . The quaanscript ,21, wher and LHY –24, explLHY and CCA1 levels in the prr9 prr7 prr5 mutant has a stronger effect on the end-of-the-night starch levels in variants 1 and 2 compared with the variant 3, whereas the decrease of LHY and CCA1 levels in the lhy cca1 mutant has a stronger effect on the end-of-the-day starch levels in variant 3 than in variants 1 and 2. This can be understood by considering two differences between variants 1 and 2 compared with variant 3. First, variants 1 and 2 have a stronger clock regulation of starch degradation, such that starch levels at the end of the night in the simulated mutants differ widely from the wild-type. Second, the starch synthesis rate is clock-regulated in variant 3, whereas it is purely light-regulated in variants 1 and 2 (see Methods). Despite these differences, all model variants provide reasonable matches to existing data, both in 24 h day , which is slowly degraded during the day, and an activator A (variant 3), which is accumulated during the day (lhy cca1 mutant (with the shortest free running period) and the prr9 prr7 mutant (with a longest free running period). Model variant 3 suggests a dramatic increase in levels of activator A for the lhy cca1 mutant, whereas it decreases in the prr9 prr7 mutant . Variant 2  predicts opposite changes for the profiles of the inhibitor T in these mutants , as expected given its opposite role in these model variants. These predicted profiles of the hypothetical diurnal regulators T and A may provide a basis for their identification in future experiments.The model variants involve two alternative hypothetical components responsible for the regulation of starch degradation. These are an inhibitor  the day . Given t3.4.lhy cca1 mutant for model variant 1. In particular, variant 1 predicts a rate of starch degradation that is much too high, resulting in very early depletion of starch . Such rapid degradation is typically observed in mutants that compromise the basic starch structure, such as the isa1 mutant [lhy cca1 mutant, which is not achievable by only altering circadian control in the plant. This suggests that the clock effect on starch degradation might normally more be restricted during the night than it is in model variant 1. Indeed, it is restricted by light-gating in model variant 2 and ‘dusk setting’ in model variant 3. Alternatively, the clock effect on starch degradation might be limited by an upper limit or saturation of the clock's effect on starch degradation rate by X. The simulated lhy cca1 mutant with model variant 1 allowed us to explore this possibility. To create an upper limit to the clock's effect, we decreased parameters d,S,XK and d,Sk . The additional adjustment of these two parameters of model variant 1 improved the fit of the simulated lhy/cca1 mutant, delaying its starch degradation to match the data . The two adjusted parameters did not significantly affect model simulations under the light conditions already investigated , so the adjusted model is equally applicable in those conditions. Thus, model variant 1 can also recapitulate the starch dynamics of the lhy/cca1 mutant, but only if the values of d,S,XK and d,Sk are restricted. The adjusted model was used only in this section, to explore how saturation of the clock's effect on starch degradation would alter starch dynamics.As discussed above, there is a discrepancy between model predictions and experimental observations in the 1 mutant . Therefolhy cca1 mutant) the rate of degradation is no longer proportional to the amount of starch present, because starch degradation proceeds at its maximal rate (S. In scenarios in which degradation is non-saturated (e.g. the wild-type), a perturbation which increases the quantity of starch at dusk elicits a compensatory change in the degradation rate that mobilizes much of the additional starch. However, in the saturated case, starch degradation will proceed at the same rate, regardless of the level of starch at dusk. A simple example of a perturbation resulting in changes in starch content at dusk is a variation of the light intensity during the day. The simulated response of the lhy cca1 mutant to this perturbation is shown in figure 4a for model variant 1 (with adjusted parameters). Here, saturation of degradation occurs, and starch exhaustion occurs at different times depending on the level of starch remaining at dusk. By contrast, models in which the pathway is not saturated predict starch depletion at the same time, regardless of starch levels at dusk. This is shown in figure 4b for model variant 2, again in the lhy cca1 mutant.The model simulations highlighted a conceptually significant behaviour when the degradation pathway is saturated. Simulations of model variant 1 predict that under saturated conditions , or in long photoperiods. Additionally, careful design of experiments will be needed to control for other regulators of starch metabolism, beyond those considered here, that could also bypass normal regulation. In the context of the experiment suggested above, careful design would involve growing plants at one light intensity and then shifting them to higher or lower intensity for one light period. Because starch turnover is a central component of the plant's metabolism, it is expected to be regulated by a wide range of inputs, which might lessen the impact of clock regulation. For example, it is known that modulating sugar supply to and export from leaves can affect the rate of starch degradation [The results presented here use the radation .3.5.T and A has altered amplitude depending on the light input. Although in model variant 1 X is regulated continuously by the clock (through regulation of T), X is decoupled from the clock after dusk by light-gating in model variants 2 and 3. The light-gated model variants were introduced to provide model alternatives in which the clock and starch degradation are less tightly linked than in continuous-regulation models. In principle, similar logic may apply if regulation by light is replaced by another temporal cue. In the following, we investigate different behaviours emerging from these alternative forms of regulation, focusing on the expected dynamics of starch degradation.A key structural difference between the model variants is in the presence or absence of light-gated regulation of starch degradation. ‘Circadian gating’ refers to the rhythmic modulation of biological responses, such that the response to a fixed external stimulus has greater amplitude at a particular phase of the circadian clock . Model vlhy cca1 mutant) in model variant 1 (with continuous regulation) than in variants 2 and 3 (with light-gated regulation). Intuitively, this is because the effects of clock mutations on the output dynamics during the night affect starch degradation in model variant 1, but not in variants 2 and 3 . In order to demonstrate that this conclusion is a general one, we created three additional instances of model variant 1, with identical structures and parameters except for the form of the clock regulation term f(x(t)) in equation (2.6) for T . These models were selected on the basis of their ability to fit the basic photoperiodic behaviour discussed above . As shown in the electronic supplementary material, figure S11, in all cases, these models predict that the maximal-simulated rate of starch degradation will be increased by at least approximately twofold in at least one clock mutant for continuous regulation models, whereas the increase is much less for the light-gated model variants (2 and 3). Therefore, we conclude that light-gated models are intrinsically more robust to clock mutations than continuous-regulation models.We begin by observing that simulated starch turnover was much more strongly perturbed in clock mutants  compared with experimental data of the diurnal turnover of starch in the lsf1 mutant [sex4 [isa3 [bam3, bam4 [dpe2 [mex1 [We also explored the possible effect of the mutations of the starch-degrading enzymes on the overall kinetics of starch. 1 mutant . The simnt [sex4 ,28,29 isx4 [isa3 , bam3, bm3, bam4 , dpe2 [3m4 [dpe2  and mex1e2 [mex1 .Figure X after dusk in response to the excess of starch, as illustrated in the electronic supplementary material, figure S12. This cannot occur in variant 3 where X is fixed at dusk. Additionally, while model variant 1 also dynamically adjusts X in response to the excess of starch, the degradation pathway is saturated by the high starch levels, so the effect on the rate of starch degradation much less pronounced.One interesting aspect of the simulations presented in While this model prediction is relatively straightforward, it cannot be tested without a higher temporal resolution of measurements than is commonly available. In addition, similar to the scenario presented above for clock mutants, it is necessary to test whether the modelled regulatory pathway is active in these mutants. This can be done in a variety of ways, for example by changing the light intensity as described above to identify cases where control of the pathway is saturated. Once again, if the pathway is not active, then we predict that the rate of degradation will not adjust to different levels of starch.4.Higher plants have evolved complex regulation of transitory carbon stores on several timescales ,34. It iHitherto, mathematical modelling studies of plant carbon and energy metabolism were mainly focused on describing steady-state or short-term dynamic behaviour of important subsystems, including the Calvin–Benson cycle –37, the At least within the range of conditions tested experimentally, the models presented here would be suitable to include in larger-scale plant growth models. Starch pools already feature in plant models developed in crop science, and our approach could contribute to ‘next-generation’ models that balance effective dynamics with greater mechanistic detail ,43.lhy cca1 mutant—a prediction that can easily be tested. Beyond this particular example, experiments of this type may help us identify cases in which the normal clock regulation of starch degradation is inactive. This may be especially important in distinguishing between the direct effects of clock mutations on this pathway (through active regulation), and the indirect effects of clock mutations (through whole plant metabolism and growth). Circadian rhythms control at least 30% of Arabidopsis genes [Given the similarity of model predictions across a range of conditions, it was necessary to consider what additional experiments might distinguish between the model variants. The variants differed in the degree of the clock's effects on starch synthesis and degradation. The resulting, quantitative differences in the models’ predicted starch dynamics among clock mutants are testable, by extending experimental studies already reported ,6,18. Fois genes ,45, so wis genes ,47.T or the activator A. The dynamics of the inhibitor T and activator A in the different model variants are very distinct, but both components perform the same role in the network. Molecular or genetic screens will now be required to identify such components. Predicting the likely behaviour of T and A in the wild-type, and the clock mutants will allow such studies to prioritize the molecular candidates for these hypothetical regulators. We expect that understanding their particular mechanisms will benefit from more detailed, dynamic models of the full metabolic pathway of carbon assimilation and sugar–starch partitioning [The models’ ability to match experimental observations across a wide range of conditions suggests that they capture the essential properties of the pathway behaviour, but this in itself raises several questions about the molecular mechanisms that might realize this behaviour. The models considered the temporal regulation of starch degradation either through the inhibitor itioning .S) can be sensed and exert a feedback regulation on starch dynamics. This feedback is necessary in order for the observed adjustment to altered starch levels, for example under changing intensities and durations of light. However, molecular mechanisms for sensing starch content or the subsequent signalling are unknown. It is likely that the detailed molecular mechanisms of these processes are much more complicated, considering that starch is a semi-crystalline structure and only parts of the surface are ‘visible’ and accessible for a number of granule-bound starch synthesizing and degrading enzymes [The mechanistic basis for a feedback from starch levels is similarly unknown . A centr enzymes , an impo enzymes .


Common lubricants for split skin graft harvesting include paraffin  or saline . Alternatively, a weak dilution of chlorhexidine soap solution used for hand scrubbing, for example HiBiSCRUB® , provides a more slippery surface than saline. After graft harvest, its water solubility allows it to be washed off easily prior to applying adhesive dressings to the donor site, unlike paraffin. By diluting it in saline (approximately 1 part in 200), foaming in the dermatome is avoided.


On behalf of the Editorial Team of the Journal of Minimal Access Surgery (JMAS)we regret to announce that the following paper published in the October -December 2009 issue of the Journal of Minimal Access Surgery (JMAS) is herebyretracted.In January 2011 we were informed by the Editor of Journal of Indian Associationof Pediatric Surgeons (JIAPS) that following paper carrying very similarmaterial from the same authors was published in that journal.As both the papers are almost identical, with minor differences in terms of thenumber of patients treated, this appears to be a clear case of duplicatepublication. In fact, upon tracing the timeline of submission of the papers inJMAS and JIAPS it became apparent that they were submitted to the journals onconsecutive days.We communicated with the first author of the article published in the JMASseeking an explaination. As none was forthcoming even after six weeks, it wasdecided to retract the article from JMAS. The Editor of the JIAPS has beenapprised of our decision and the Head of the Institution where the publicationoriginated has been informed of the professional misdemeanor on part of theirFaculty members. As is customary in such cases, the indexing authoroties,including PubMed have been intimated of the retraction of the paper fromJMAS.We sincerely regret the time peer reviewers and others spent evaluating thispaper and hope that there are no instances of duplicate publication in the JMASin the future.


Jeannette Shannon was 69 in 2002, and chair of March of Dimes Canada (MODC). Disabled from Polio, Jeannette had been experiencing significant health problems and concluded that people with disabilities who often experienced early ageing-related conditions were sometimes ignored by the fields of both rehabilitation and geriatrics as they aged, and had complex care issues related to existing disabilities and new health concerns. Known as Mrs. March of Dimes, Ms. Shannon passed away before she could see the result of her vision: to deliver a conference on “growing older with a disability,” bringing consumers of health and social services together with practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and businesses. In 2007 and 2011 Ms. Shannon’s vision came to fruition through the establishment of the Growing Older with Disability (GOWD) conferences and the larger umbrella framework of which they are a central component, namely the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology (FICCDAT).In 2004, MODC Board approved Ms. Shannon’s plan to create an ageing and disability conference. Within a year the agency had funding from the Ontario provincial Seniors’ Secretariat to implement this plan and had partnered with the 2nd International Conference on Technology and Aging (ICAT), which was developed by the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to expand the focus to include technology. Consultations with many community support agencies and researchers confirmed the view that the health and community living needs of individuals with long-term disabilities were increasing and becoming more complex, thus bringing new and existing recipients into the system with increased service demands, requiring more service hours and interventions. Moreover, annual increases in provincial government funding of community support agencies were not keeping pace with the number and complexity of service needs of people ageing with long-term disability, thus raising the threat of unnecessary and increased hospitalizations.Faced with the changing realities of increased longevity within the disabled population, a collaboration was formed under the leadership of MODC to develop the Growing Older with a Disability conference with the goal of identifying creative solutions, new models for service, partnerships, and new policy options with government that support persons ageing with disabilities. In addition, the chair of ICAT reached out to colleagues within the University of Toronto and found other departments eager to host academic meetings that would be cross disciplinary while considering consumer input and feedback. Thus the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology (FICCDAT) was born, which served as an umbrella framework for multiple inter-related concurrent conferences on disability, ageing, technology, and caregiving. In 2011 the following conferences were offered with shared social and educational programs: Growing Older with a Disability; Advancing Rehabilitation Technologies for an Aging Society; Advances in Neurorehabilitation; Caregiving in the 21st Century; 34th Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Conference and International Conference on Best Practices in Universal Design. This unique infrastructure has provided support for international dialogue across these issues.In 2007 the first FICCDAT, offering five concurrent conferences, was successfully launched in Toronto, Canada, and attended by over 1300 people from 39 countries. The second FICCDAT was held in 2011, also in Toronto, offered six concurrent conferences and attracted nearly as many people from North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Both festivals were planned and coordinated by an international Steering Committee of ageing and disability representatives from government agencies, businesses, NGOs, and academic communities, and included consumers and caregivers. The purpose of the Steering Committee was to generate commitment and ‘ownership’ of the Festival, identify qualified presenters, promote international participation, share liability, reduce dependence on external funds, facilitate the production of Festival outputs that disseminate conference results, and build international awareness around critical issues related to ageing with a disability [Together, the FICCDAT 2007 and 2011 demonstrated the critical need for a platform to support cross-disciplinary, international exchange of knowledge on issues related to ageing with disability. The process of bringing stakeholders together across ageing and disability lines has been referred to as ‘bridging’ by a cadre of thought leaders in Europe, the US, and Canada . FormallThe 2007 GOWD meeting identified the need to continue and expand the conversation and to create momentum for an international initiative aimed at bridging knowledge, practice and policy across traditional ageing and disability lines. In 2011, plans were made to produce a unified statement based on GOWD presentation findings in order to formally support development of research, policy, and practice related to ageing with disability. This statement is the Toronto Declaration (TD) on Bridging Knowledge, Practice and Policy in Aging and Disability, developed by an expert panel of international researchers, policy-makers and service providers  who presThe relevance of the Toronto Declaration was highlighted in recent months as new developments within the US evolve on bridging ageing and disability knowledge and practice. These include a first ever 2012 interagency conference on ageing with disability, jointly sponsored by three leading US research and policy agencies on ageing and disability  and the Having developed a strong model for bringing ageing and disability stakeholders together, the GOWD conferences and the larger FICCDAT umbrella will continue to be important for working across network lines to help close the gaps in age- and disability-based services and to curtail policies that negatively affect the lives of the expanding population of people ageing with long-term developmental, physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities, as well as those ageing into disability in mid- to later life. Additionally, GOWD and FICCDAT remain important contributors to the international exchange of ideas, data and best practices between ageing and disability.While a few government agencies in Europe and North America, such as the Executive Agency of Health and Consumers (EAHC) within the European Commission and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) within the U.S. Department of Education (NIDRR), have a history of funding research on ageing with disability, prior to GOWD and FICCDAT there was no ageing or disability organizational ‘home’ and little in the way of sustained momentum to support bridging knowledge across ageing and disability network lines. Over the same period of time, there also have been a number of high-profile conferences in Europe and North America on ageing with disability that produced considerable excitement and numerous scientific publications. Examples include the series of International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence –10 and tMarch of Dimes of Canada and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute envisioned the FICCDAT meetings as a response to this lack of institutional organization and sponsorship in facilitating the work of bridging ageing and disability. MODC continues to support the GOWD Expert Panel collaboration, disseminating information to past GOWD participants through its website, and is planning for a third FICCDAT in 2015. Despite the considerable accomplishments of GOWD and FICCDAT, there is much more that needs to be done to turn the vision of bridging into a sustainable focus of international research, practice and policy development that delivers real benefits for the millions of people around the world ageing with disability.Potential future activities that could contribute to this goal include expanding existing cross-national partnerships, and leveraging the Toronto Declaration to create a formal international network on bridging disabilities and ageing. Such a network could bring international thought leaders and advocates together to build the organizational and scientific infrastructure necessary to support the development of a research agenda and action plan to promote the generation, exchange and use of knowledge and best practices to improve the lives of the expanding population of people ageing with and into disability around the world. FICCDAT, GOWD and MODC will continue to contribute to this work.


Archaias angulatus, Calcarina spp., and Amphistegina spp., and represent taxa with regional, superregional and global distribution patterns. Under present environmental conditions, Amphistegina spp. shows the largest potential distribution, apparently due to its temperature tolerance. Both Archaias angulatus and Calcarina spp. display potential distributions that cover currently uninhabited regions. Under climate conditions expected for the year 2050, all taxa should display latitudinal range expansions between 1 to 2.5 degrees both north- and southward. The modeled range projections suggest that some larger foraminifera may colonize biogeographic regions that so far seemed unsuitable. Archaias angulatus and Calcarina spp. also show an increase in habitat suitability within their native occurrence ranges, suggesting that their tolerance for maximum temperatures has yet not been fully exploited and that they benefit from ocean warming. Our findings suggest an increased role of larger foraminifera as carbonate producers and reef framework builders in future oceans.The distribution of modern symbiont-bearing larger foraminifera is confined to tropical and subtropical shallow water marine habitats and a narrow range of environmental variables (e.g. temperature). Most of today's taxa are restricted to tropical and subtropical regions (between 30°N and 30°S) and their minimum temperature limits are governed by the 14 to 20°C isotherms. However, during times of extensive global warming , larger foraminifera have been found as far north as 50°N  as well as towards 47°S in New Zealand. During the last century, sea surface temperatures have been rising significantly. This trend is expected to continue and climate change scenarios for 2050 suggest a further increase by 1 to 3°C. We applied Species Distribution Models to assess potential distribution range changes of three taxa of larger foraminifera under current and future climate. The studied foraminifera include  Archaias angulatus , Calcarina spp. d’Orbigny, 1826 and Amphistegina spp. d’Orbigny, 1826. Archaias angulatus is a regionally distributed species, which occurs almost exclusively within the western Atlantic Ocean and is among the dominant species in the shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea. Calcarinid foraminifera exhibit a superregional distribution within the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Larger, symbiont-bearing foraminifera are marine protists that are abundant in tropical and subtropical reef and shelf-regions of the world's oceans. They are major contributors to carbonate production and play an important role in the formation and stability of global reefs Within the last decades, SDMs have become an important tool to identify and evaluate potential distributions of taxa based on their specific environmental tolerances th century, global ocean temperatures have risen by 0.7°C An important application of SDMs is the prediction of likely range changes of taxa in the context of anthropogenic global change The fossil record provides extensive evidence that larger foraminifera have been abundant and widely distributed during times of particularly warm climate intervals Amphistegina spp., 35 for Archaias angulatus, and 31 for Calcarina spp. For a detailed listing of the sample stations and their references, see Archaias angulatus and Calcarina spp., these records cover the known extremes of the species' environmental requirements and therefore are here tentatively employed in model building. All of these records were situated within unique grid cells of 4 km×4 km. The accuracy of the coordinates was assessed with DIVA-GIS 7.1.7 A total of 189 records of the three foraminiferal taxa were available through previous research on the biogeography of larger foraminifera . Of theshttp://pathfinder.nodc.noaa.gov). The PFV5.2 data are an updated version of the Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 collections described in Information on oceanographic data was obtained via remote sensing. For sea-surface temperature (SST) we used daytime (maximum temperature in °C) and nighttime (minimum temperature in °C) monthly averages from 1985 to 2007 with a resolution of 4 km (2.5 arcmin). In this study, we used AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.2 (PFV5.2) data, obtained from the US National Oceanographic Data Center and GHRSST  to 1  was used SDMs were refined in a two-step clipping process in order to avoid a biased relation between the variables temperature and ion concentrations . In the first SDM, we used only SST which was subsequently projected on the future climate scenario. The second SDM was built on salinity, nitrate, phosphate and silicate. In doing so, we achieved a climate-model based on temperature which was later overlain and clipped by a habitat-model based on ion concentrations. The editing of the climate model was performed with DIVA-GIS.Archaias angulatus , Amphistegina spp.  and Calcarina spp. . The evaluation of the variable contribution with regard to ion concentration in the habitat-models showed that for Archaias angulatus, phosphate concentration (with 80%) had the highest explanatory power. For both Amphistegina spp. and Calcarina spp. nitrate concentration was deemed the most useful variable . The correlation of occurrence records and the modeled variables are depicted in We received “good” to “useful” AUC values for SDMs based on SST of Archaias angulatus and Amphistegina spp. in the Atlantic Ocean, the distributions of Calcarina spp. and Amphistegina spp. in the Indopacific as well as changes with future climate are described in detail.Under current climate conditions, all three taxa displayed distributional ranges quite consistent with their native occurrences. In the following, the potential distributions of Archaias angulatus is in the western Atlantic Ocean, mainly within the Caribbean . The model suggested further suitable areas for Archaias angulatus under present climate conditions along the Pacific Coast of Central and South America from 30°N in northern Mexico to 2°N in Colombia. Suitable settling areas for Archaias angulatus may include habitats in the eastern Atlantic, especially off Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Furthermore, the future SDM predicted suitable conditions for Archaias angulatus in the Cape Verde Islands, providing a potential stepping stone for a possible colonization of West Africa.The native distribution of aribbean . Its lataribbean . The SDMaribbean  displayeArchaias angulatus were predicted to expand, resulting in an area-wide coverage of the Caribbean Sea from southern and eastern Florida (30°N) to Bahia in Brazil (11°S). Potentially suitable areas in the Pacific and eastern Atlantic Ocean would increase. The latitudinal range of Archaias angulatus would expand both north- and southwards. The predicted range expansion under future climate in the north comprised 1 degree (approximately 100 km - up to 36°N), resulting in suitable environmental conditions for Archaias angulatus along the coast of North Carolina. In addition, the SDM predicted that the southern range limit will lie at around 30.5°S, in southern Brazil, which would indicate a range expansion of approximately 2.5 degrees (about 270 km). The model predicted a southward range expansion following the shelf margin.Under future climatic conditions , areas oArchaias angulatus were located in regions that exceed 26°C of annual mean water temperature . Along the Pacific coast of North America amphisteginids are not likely to expand their potential latitudinal distribution range. Off western Africa, appropriate settling areas off Liberia and the Ivory Coast decreased slightly. Within the Mediterranean Sea, habitat suitability in the eastern and southern part was suggested to drastically increase under future climate conditions and the SDM predicted further suitable areas within the western Mediterranean. This may result in a latitudinal range expansion up to 45°N.Under future climatic conditions , AmphistAmphistegina spp. covers a latitudinal range of 72 degrees ranging from 38°N in Sendai, eastern Japan to 34°S in western Australia  to 35°S in South Africa and about 1 degree towards 38.5°S (100 km) in eastern Australia. Along the southern part of South Africa and southern Australia, an additional longitudinal expansion was predicted.Under future climatic conditions , the SDMAmphistegina spp. went from 15.3°C to 29.6°C . In the south, suitable habitats were predicted to expand towards 31.5°S in eastern Australia, suggesting a latitudinal range extension of up to 2 degrees (about 220 km). Under future climate conditions, latitudinal range shifts were also predicted for the western coast of Australia and the West Pacific. Suitability values in Hawaii were also increased. A general increase in habitat suitability was also predicted for the northern and western Indian Ocean. The Persian Gulf and almost the complete Red Sea were also suggested as highly appropriate for Calcarina spp.The SDM projected into future climate conditions  suggesteCalcarina spp. preferred high SST values with more than 70% of the occurrence records correlated with temperatures above 28°C  and macroalgae Environmental parameters included in our SDM indicated that 82% of all occurrence records of perature . The SDMperature . Thus, tt levels . The speina spp. , which hArchaias angulatus along the coast of the United States is limited by the deflection of the warm Gulf Stream from the coast. North of Florida, the coastal waters become significantly colder as the Gulf Stream follows the outer continental shelf before turning eastward. The limited suitability within the Gulf of Mexico can be traced back to the higher nutrient levels due to major river runoffs. The southern border of Archaias angulatus correlates with the southernmost coral reef formations in the Atlantic Ocean Archaias angulatus.The northern distribution range of Archaias angulatus is of neotropical origin and evolved during the Miocene Archaias angulatus being known from the Cape Verde Islands The species could find limited suitable habitats along the Pacific coast of Central America and western Africa. Amphistegina spp. is a 'true' circum-global taxon, which is present in almost all subtropical and tropical shelf regions of the world's oceans Amphistegina spp. were previously described Amphistegina spp. has previously been reported Amphistegina spp. from the Gulf of Guinea Amphistegina gibbosa layers from the Senegal to the Congo, which are dated back to 12,000 years before present. The isolated Quaternary recordings of Amphistegina spp. from this region were considered to represent short-term invaders that have entered the area during the warmer interglacial periods with present day colder waters preventing recolonization In the Mediterranean, our SDM suggested range expansions towards the northwestern Mediterranean, which was also shown by contemporary studies in this region .Amphistegina spp. are reported from 38°N in Sendai, Japan which is just outside the potential distribution of the taxon . The southern distribution limit of Amphistegina spp. is controlled by the warm Brazil Current, which detaches from the coast at approximately 12°S and continues to flow southward along the continental margin of Brazil Similar to Amphistegina spp. exist Along the eastern coast of the Pacific, the cold California and Humboldt Currents constitute severe limitations to the potential distribution of amphisteginid foraminifers. Both currents are governed by global current and upwelling systems Within the Indo-Pacific, the distribution ranges along the east coast of southern Africa is controlled by the warm Agulhas Current, which deflects from the coast towards the south. Along the coasts of Somalia and Oman the suitability for colonization is limited by seasonal upwelling of the Somali Current Amphistegina spp. This was apparently due to the warm Leeuwin Current in the West and the East Australian Current in the East Amphistegina spp. Amphistegina first occurred during the Eocene and has since seized a distributional range that includes the entire circum-tropical belt Amphistegina spp. is currently within the Mediterranean, where the taxon has established itself extremely well since the reopening of the connection between the tropical Red Sea and the Mediterranean Along Australia, both the western and the eastern coastlines to 34°S were considered highly suitable by the SDM for the settlement of Calcarina spp., which are restricted to the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Calcarina.For Calcarina spp. is also absent from the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, where suitability values were indicated by our model to range between low and medium values. In the Central Indian Ocean, environmental conditions were suggested to be highly advantageous. Recent reports from the Maldives' Archipelago suggest that the species is currently extending its natural range westwards Calcarina spp. has not been reported from the Chagos Archipelago, which is located in the Central Indian Ocean Calcarinid foraminifera are prominent faunal contributors to the southern Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa Calcarina spp. preferred high SST values with more than 70% of all occurrence records in areas characterized by annual mean temperatures of≥28°C  have a reportedly high tolerance to elevated sea-surface temperatures In our SDMs,  of≥28°C . Their o of≥28°C  and highCalcarina spp. appeared to prefer lower nitrate and silicate concentrations ]. Calcarina spp. evolved in the late Miocene or Pliocene In the western North Pacific the distribution limit of Archaias angulatus and Amphistegina spp. in the Caribbean and Amphistegina spp. and Calcarina spp. in the Indo-Pacific Ocean revealed some differences in habitat suitability values. In the Caribbean regions, that were considered to be most suitable for Amphistegina spp., the SDM showed lower suitability values for Archaias angulatus  appeared to be less affected Amphistegina gibbosa even under 2000 ppmv. This is significantly higher than prognosticated for the year 2100. Ocean acidification is not novel per se and CO2 levels during the early Eocene are assumed to be two to three times higher than today 2 levels decreased during the Oligocene and corals re-emerged as the most important reef-building taxa A renaissance of larger foraminifera as prominent producers of reefal carbonate in a warmer future climate, however, is currently challenged by oceans' rising acid levels Species distribution modeling of selected larger symbiont-bearing foraminifera to predict potential range shifts under current and future climates lead to the following principal conclusions:Archaias angulatus, Amphistegina spp. and Calcarina spp. are mainly governed by temperature and restricted by range-specific temperatures.Distribution patterns of larger foraminiferal taxa like The environmental envelope of each taxon, as defined by the current occurrence records and environmental variables from the same sites, account for the distribution patterns on a global scale.Modeled projections reveal that under present climatic conditions, potential distribution ranges are not fully utilized. Identification of suitable range shifts by the SDM may be useful to alert us to the extent and magnitude of future climate change impacts.Under future climate conditions (model for 2050), all of the studied taxa exhibit latitudinal range expansions and increases in habitat suitability. This suggests that at least some larger symbiont-bearing foraminifera have the capability to exploit new suitable habitats under altered climates and may ultimately benefit from global warming.The range expansions predicted by the Species Distribution Model are in agreement with previous paleontological findings that larger foraminifera have succeeded at the expense of other organism when ocean temperatures have risen to extremes during warm phases of Earth history .Table S1Archaias angulatus, Amphistegina spp. and Calcarina spp. used in this study.Occurrence records and references for (DOCX)Click here for additional data file.


Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deaths worldwide and the arterial reconstructive surgery remains the treatment of choice. Although large diameter vascular grafts have been widely used in clinical practices, there is an urgent need to develop a small diameter vascular graft with enhanced blood compatibility. Herein, we fabricated a small diameter vascular graft with submicron longitudinally aligned topography, which mimicked the tunica intima of the native arterial vessels and were tested in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats.Vascular grafts with aligned and smooth topography were prepared by electrospinning and were connected to the abdominal aorta of the SD rats to evaluate their blood compatibility. Graft patency and platelet adhesion were evaluated by color Doppler ultrasound and immunofluorescence respectively.p = 0.021) and less thrombus formation in vascular graft with aligned topography than vascular graft with smooth topography. However, no significant difference between the adhesion rates on both vascular grafts  was observed. Moreover, both vascular grafts had few adherent activated platelets on the luminal surface.We observed a significant higher patency rate (Bionic vascular graft showed enhanced blood compatibility due to the effect of surface topography. Therefore, it has considerable potential for using in clinical application. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and arterial reconstructive surgery of the heart or the lower extremity remains the common surgical solution for a number of patients . In the Polyurethane (PU), which has excellent antithrombogenicity, biocompatibility and elastic mechanical properties, has become the principal candidate material for small diameter vascular grafts -14. HoweElectrospinning is a very effective method to fabricate nanofiber-based tissue engineering scaffolds which bear biomimetic extra cellular matrix topography and considerable mechanical characteristics ,19. MostIn the present study, a bionic small diameter vascular graft with longitudinally aligned topography was fabricated. The vascular grafts were connected to the abdominal aorta to assess the platelet adhesion, thrombosis and patency rate, with vascular graft bearing smooth topography as a control. The results indicated the bionic vascular graft had improved blood compatibility.Two types of vascular grafts i.e. vascular graft with aligned topography and vascular graft with smooth topography were prepared as follows;-1. A rotating drum covered with aluminum foil acted as the collector. The distance between the collector and the tip (23-G) was 25 cm, and the applied voltage to the tip was 25 kV. An aligned nanofibrous mat was fabricated at a rotating speed of 5000 rpm for 0.5 h. Thereafter, the aligned nanofibrous mat was rolled around a metal needle (1 mm) to produce a tubular form, which acted as the intimal layer of vascular graft. Then the vascular graft with aligned topography was thickened by electrospinning PU solution onto the as-prepared tubular construct at a rotating speed of 500 rpm. The condition of electrospinning was the same as aforementioned, and 3 mL solution was used for each graft.This graft was prepared by dissolving a medical graded polyurethane (PU)  in Tetrahydrofuran (THF)/N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF)   to make 13% PU solution. The schematics of fabricating vascular graft with biomimetic topography are represented in Figure To produce the vascular grafts with smooth topography, a smooth film was prepared from the same PU solution described above by spin coating on a silicon wafer. Prior to spin coating, silicon wafer was cleaned by rinsing with acetone, methanol and isopropanol several times and dried under nitrogen. The PU solution was then spin coated onto the silicon wafer at 1000 rpm for 25 s. The construction of intimal layer with smooth mat and external layer with random PU nanofibers was the same as provided above.The vascular grafts samples were sputter coated with gold, and characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (JEOL JSM-6700 F). NIH ImageJ software was used to analyze the electrospinning fibers size.Fourteen Adult Sprague–Dawley rats , weighing 400 ± 20 g, were randomly divided into two groups: cannula insertion with vascular graft bearing aligned topography (n = 7) and smooth topography (n = 7). Each rat was operated in the supine position under general anesthesia with pentobarbital sodium (50 mg/kg ip), and approximately 1.2 cm length abdominal aorta was exposed using blunt and sharp dissection. After clamping the distal and proximal portion of the abdominal aorta, the vascular graft (1 cm in length), which had been previously connected to cannulas (outer diameter 1.5 mm) on both ends, was inserted into the abdominal aorta. Then the bull-dog clamps at the distal and proximal end were removed sequentially to restore the blood flow. All surgical protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Permit Number: 2012–019), and every effort was made to minimize suffering.The patency (the state of being open or unobstructed) of the vascular grafts can be initially evaluated by palpation of the distal artery, and then confirmed by the color Doppler ultrasound  at 15 min. After that, the vascular grafts were harvested, opened longitudinally and photographed. The removed grafts were flushed with PBS to remove the residual blood, and horizontally divided into two pieces. One piece was fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde at 4°C for 4 hours, and then dehydrated with a series of ethanol solution , followed by critical point dried, finally observed by a low vacuum scanning electron microscope (SEM) (FEI Quanta 200). The other piece was fixed in 95% ethanol for 20 min, and then indirect immunofluorescence was performed to measure quantitatively platelet adhesion. The anti-CD62P mAb  was used as the primary antibody  and FITCp values less than 0.05 were considered to be significant.The adhesion rates were expressed as the median and the other results were shown as mean ± SD. Statistical tests were performed using SPSS for Windows. Fisher’s exact probabilities were used to assess differences in patency rates and non-parametric test was applied to compare the platelet adhesion rate of two groups. The Both types of the vascular grafts i.e. vascular graft with smooth topography and vascular graft with aligned topography had smooth and flawless appearances Figure a. The inThe patency rates of vascular grafts were listed in Table The low vacuum SEM image showed that there were few platelet clots adhered on the both vascular grafts Figure a and 4c.Platelet adhesion was also quantified with immunofluorescence experiments. Both of the vascular grafts had few activated platelet adhesions on the luminal surface Figure b and 4d,p = 0.058), although they had showed an obvious difference in patency rate (Table We observed that there was no significant difference between the adhesion rates on different vascular grafts (smooth/aligned: 0.35‰/0.12‰, After 4 billion years of evolution, nature has developed a wide variety of amazing structures and functions , therefoThe adhesion of platelets to blood-contacting surface directly influenced the blood compatibility of vascular graft. Once platelets adhered, they become activated and aggregate to form platelet thrombus, and then gradually diminish blood flow, consequently lead to vascular occlusion . A commoUnder flow conditions, the collision frequency of platelets with the surface can also influence the interaction between material surface and platelets, which is negatively correlated with the velocity of the boundary layer ,38. Previn vitro platelet adhesion experiments under flow condition had confirmed that the vascular graft with smooth topography had more platelet adhesion in highly activated form [It is interesting that vascular grafts with smooth topography also had few activated platelets adhered on the surface, but both the lower patency rate and more thrombosis indicated that there were different reasons for that. We speculated that when blood flowed through the graft, the platelets were activated, aggregated and thrombus formation was triggered. Then the thrombus was detached from the grafts by the blood flow of abdominal aorta, and embolized the distal portion of the vessels. Actually, the ted form . Our resIn summary, we fabricated a small diameter vascular graft with submicron longitudinally aligned topography by electrospinning technique, and evaluated the blood compatibility. The results indicated that the bionic vascular graft showed enhanced blood compatibility due to the effect of surface topography, and could be very promising in clinical applications.in vivo studies such as long term implantation are needed to confirm our findings.As platelet adhesion, which we focus on in this study, occurred shortly after restoring the blood flow, and acute occlusive thrombosis of rat can happen within 15 min -45, we cThe authors declare that there is no potential or relevant competing financial or other interest that might be affected by publication of the results contained in the manuscript.RM L carried out the preparation and characterization of vascular grafts, immunofluorescence and drafted the manuscript. YS Q and HJ W carried out the animal preparation and cannula insertion; they also contributed to statistical analysis and interpretation of data. ZJ H, SM W and Y Z designed, set up and monitored the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2261/13/79/prepub