The goal of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic repair for chronic ankle instability using a bioabsorbable anchor with 2 sutures. We evaluated the results of 28 ankles treated with arthroscopic anterior talofibular ligament repair using bioabsorbable anchors with a FiberWire and TigerWire suture (Arthrex, Inc, Naples, Florida) placed on the fibula from March 2008 to January 2009. Average follow-up was 15.9 months (range, 13-25 months). Patients were evaluated using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot ankle score and stress radiographs. Mean AOFAS hindfoot ankle score was 92.48 ± 6.14 at last follow-up compared to the mean preoperative score of 60.78 ± 16.38 (P=.041). Mean postoperative anterior draw test score difference between 2 ankles was 0.61 ± 0.75 compared to the mean preoperative score difference of 3.59 ± 0.68 (P=.00). There was a 14% complication rate, including 3 cases of portal site irritation and 1 case of superficial infection. Stress radiographs revealed 3 cases of anterior displacement >3 mm compared to the other side. All patients returned to their previous activity level.Arthroscopic ligament reconstruction for chronic lateral ankle instability using suture anchors is effective in returning patients to their preinjury function levels. Good clinical results were obtained with some minor complications. This minimally invasive technique is a reasonable alternative to other open surgical procedures for chronic ankle instability.

The long-term surgical results of the MBP without CFL reconstruction for chronic lateral ankle instability were good to excellent in terms of functional, clinical, and radiographic assessments.

This genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify major loci that are significantly associated with carcass weight, and their effects, in order to provide increased understanding of the genetic architecture of carcass weight in Hanwoo. This genome-wide association study identified one major chromosome region ranging from 23 Mb to 25 Mb on chromosome 14 as being associated with carcass weight in Hanwoo. Significant Bonferroni-corrected genome-wide associations (P<1.52×10−6) were detected for 6 Single Nucleotide Polymorphic (SNP) loci for carcass weight on chromosome 14. The most significant SNP was BTB-01280026 (P = 4.02×10−11), located in the 25 Mb region on Bos taurus autosome 14 (BTA14). The other 5 significant SNPs were Hapmap27934-BTC-065223 (P = 4.04×10−11) in 25.2 Mb, BTB-01143580 (P = 6.35×10−11) in 24.3 Mb, Hapmap30932-BTC-011225 (P = 5.92×10−10) in 24.8 Mb, Hapmap27112-BTC-063342 (P = 5.18×10−9) in 25.4 Mb, and Hapmap24414-BTC-073009 (P = 7.38×10−8) in 25.4 Mb, all on BTA 14. One SNP (BTB-01143580; P = 6.35×10−11) lies independently from the other 5 SNPs. The 5 SNPs that lie together showed a large Linkage disequilibrium (LD) block (block size of 553 kb) with LD coefficients ranging from 0.53 to 0.89 within the block. The most significant SNPs accounted for 6.73% to 10.55% of additive genetic variance, which is quite a large proportion of the total additive genetic variance. The most significant SNP (BTB-01280026; P = 4.02×10−11) had 16.96 kg of allele substitution effect, and the second most significant SNP (Hapmap27934-BTC-065223; P = 4.04×10−11) had 18.06 kg of effect on carcass weight, which correspond to 44% and 47%, respectively, of the phenotypic standard deviation for carcass weight in Hanwoo cattle. Our results demonstrated that carcass weight was affected by a major Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) with a large effect and by many SNPs with small effects that are normally distributed.

III.

BackgroundThe pig genome is being sequenced and characterised under the auspices of the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium. The sequencing strategy followed a hybrid approach combining hierarchical shotgun sequencing of BAC clones and whole genome shotgun sequencing.ResultsAssemblies of the BAC clone derived genome sequence have been annotated using the Pre-Ensembl and Ensembl automated pipelines and made accessible through the Pre-Ensembl/Ensembl browsers. The current annotated genome assembly (Sscrofa9) was released with Ensembl 56 in September 2009. A revised assembly (Sscrofa10) is under construction and will incorporate whole genome shotgun sequence (WGS) data providing > 30× genome coverage. The WGS sequence, most of which comprise short Illumina/Solexa reads, were generated from DNA from the same single Duroc sow as the source of the BAC library from which clones were preferentially selected for sequencing. In accordance with the Bermuda and Fort Lauderdale agreements and the more recent Toronto Statement the data have been released into public sequence repositories (Genbank/EMBL, NCBI/Ensembl trace repositories) in a timely manner and in advance of publication.ConclusionsIn this marker paper, the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium (SGSC) sets outs its plans for analysis of the pig genome sequence, for the application and publication of the results.

Hypermobility of the first ray is one causative factor in development of hallux valgus and an important factor in the treatment of hallux valgus, but measuring first-ray motion is difficult. There are two known ways of measuring first-ray motion. One is measuring the bony angle on the lateral foot X-ray using a modified Coleman block. The other is using devices. However, neither is suitable for clinical application. We introduce a simple, fast and easy way of measuring first-ray range of motion. Using this method, we compared the first-ray motion between a normal group and a hallux valgus group. Forty normal and 60 hallux valgus patients were included in the measurement. We measured the first-ray range of motion in the following way: with one hand we held the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th rays at the metatarsal head level with a simple right-angled indicator. With the other hand, we held the first ray at the metatarsal head level using a simple right-angled device, such as a scale. Keeping the other rays fixed, we moved the first ray up and down and recorded the average distance (d) 10 times to reduce intra-measurement differences. We also measured and recorded the first metatarsal length (L) on the anteroposterior foot X-ray film. Finally, we calculated the first-ray range of motion (alpha) using the above data. We also measured the hallux valgus angle and intermetatarsal angle in the hallux valgus patient group. With this method, the average first-ray motion was 10.3 degrees in the normal group and 12.9 degrees in the hallux valgus patient group. If we define 14 degrees, (that is, above the 95th percentile in the normal group) as having hypermobility, 38% of hallux valgus patients had first ray hypermobility. There was no correlation between first-ray hypermobility and either hallux valgus angle or intermetatarsal angle.

The results suggest that the value of ATFL length (ATFL stress) and ATFL ratio of stress ultrasound could be used for diagnosis of chronic ankle instability in addition to manual anterior drawer test and stress radiography.

Obesity represents a major global public health problem that increases the risk for cardiovascular or metabolic disease. The pigs represent an exceptional biomedical model related to energy metabolism and obesity in humans. To pinpoint causal genetic factors for a common form of obesity, we conducted local genomic de novo sequencing, 18.2 Mb, of a porcine QTL region affecting fatness traits, and carried out SNP association studies for backfat thickness and intramuscular fat content in pigs. In order to relate the association studies in pigs to human obesity, we performed a targeted genome wide association study for subcutaneous fat thickness in a cohort population of 8,842 Korean individuals. These combined association studies in human and pig revealed a significant SNP located in a gene family with sequence similarity 73, member A (FAM73A) associated with subscapular skin-fold thickness in humans (rs4121165, GC-corrected p-value  = 0.0000175) and with backfat thickness in pigs (ASGA0029495, p-value  = 0.000031). Our combined association studies also suggest that eight neuronal genes are responsible for subcutaneous fat thickness: NEGR1, SLC44A5, PDE4B, LPHN2, ELTD1, ST6GALNAC3, ST6GALNAC5, and TTLL7. These results provide strong support for a major involvement of the CNS in the genetic predisposition to a common form of obesity.