Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-103).

Herniation of the intervertebral disc is a pathological condition characterized by protrusion of the tissue posterio-laterally, often impinging on the spinal chord or nerve roots. The disease is accompanied by a reduction in the average molecular weight and viscosity of the disc proteoglycans, in excess of that which normally occurs with increasing age. The proteoglycans of disc however have not been examined in terms of the modern concepts of cartilage matrix structure. Bovine nasal cartilage, has been shown to contain proteoglycan aggregates, trapped in the intersticess of a collagen network, which can be dissociated with 4M guanidine hydrochloride into diffusible proteoglycan subunits and a multicomponent "linking" fraction. A similar system was thought to occur in the intervertebral disc. It seemed possible that, if such a system was present in the disc, the reduction in the molecular weight and viscosity of the proteoglycans with increasing age and herniation could be due to a decrease in proteoglycan aggregation. The present study showed that proteoglycan aggregates similar to those of bovine nasal cartilage are found in the human intervertebral disc, but that they only represent 5% of the total proteoglycans in the tissue. In contrast, bovine nasal cartilage contained 70% of the proteoglycans in the aggregated form. A novel modification of the extraction procedure was devised by which it was possible to assess the degree of proteoglycan aggregation. Sequential extraction of the tissue with a weak and strong electrolyte (0.4 M and 4M guanidine hydrochloride) selectively removed non-aggregated and aggregated proteoglycans respectively. This procedure provides a new and rapid method for assessing the degree of proteoglycan aggregation in a variety of connective tissues. The small proportion of aggregate in the disc was almost exclusively located in the annulus fibrosus. Re-aggregation studies suggested that both disc and cartilage contain two proteoglycans, only one of which is capable of forming aggregates. Examination of the proteoglycans in a limited number of discs suggested that the degree of aggregation did not change with increasing age. Since, in addition, aggregates represent only a small proportion of the disc proteoglycans, it appeared unlikely that a decrease in the degree of aggregation could account for the decrease in molecular weight and viscosity of the disc proteoglycans observed with increasing age and/or degenerative disc disease. / Medicine, Faculty of / Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/29). Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

A avaliação completa do sistema estomatognático é essencial para o diagnóstico e plano de tratamento ortodôntico. Não se devem apenas avaliar aspectos estáticos da oclusão, mas também os funcionais, pois estes últimos podem mostrar-se alterados e envolver um ou mais componentes do sistema estomatognático, entre eles, a articulação temporomandibular (ATM). Uma das alterações encontradas com freqüência é o deslocamento de disco articular, o que pode interferir no prognóstico e, eventualmente, comprometer o resultado do tratamento ortodôntico. Na tentativa de contribuir para o reconhecimento dessas alterações, este estudo teve como finalidade avaliar a concordância entre dois examinadores calibrados em relação ao diagnóstico de deslocamento de disco articular, comparar a percepção dos pacientes aos ruídos com os dados do exame clínico e eletrovibratografia, além de checar a possível equivalência entre o exame clínico e eletrovibratografia, como métodos de detecção do deslocamento de disco articular. A amostra foi composta por 60 voluntários, divididos igualmente em 4 grupos com 15 participantes cada, definidos por meio do exame clínico e agrupados segundo o gênero e a presença ou ausência de estalo. O exame clínico foi realizado por dois examinadores treinados. A eletrovibratografia foi realizada por um único operador treinado, e empregou-se o programa SonoPAK (Bioresearch Inc.). Para análise dos resultados de concordância entre ambas as técnicas e entre os examinadores, foi utilizado o coeficiente kappa. Os resultados mostraram excelente concordância inter examinadores na realização do exame clínico, concordância satisfatória entre os relatos de ruídos referidos pelos pacientes quando comparados ao exame clínico e eletrovibratografia e concordância também satisfatória entre os dois métodos estudados. / The complete evaluation of the stomatognathic system is essential to the diagnostic and orthodontic treatment plan. It should not evaluate only the occlusal static aspects, but the functional aspects, because the latter could be altered and one or more components of the stomatognathic system could be involved, including the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ). One of the frequently found alterations founded frequently is the articular disc displacement, which could affect in the prognostic, and, eventually the result of the orthodontic treatment. Trying to contribute to recognize these alterations, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the findings of two calibrated examiners on disk displacement diagnosis, to compare the patients joint sounds perception to the to the results found by the clinical examination and electrovibratography, and beyond that check the possible matching between the clinical examination and the electrovibratography as methods of disc displacement detection. The sample was composed of 60 patients, divided equally into 4 groups of 15 participants each, defined by clinical examination and grouped according to gender and to the presence or absence of the sound (click). The clinical examination was made by two trained examiners. The electrovibratography was made by only one only operator and the SonoPAK software was used (Bioresearch Inc.). The kappas coefficient was used to analyze of the results. They showed that the examiners findings were very close in the clinical examination, partially close on the joint sounds report told by the patients when compared to the clinical examination and eletrovibratography and reasonable equivalence between the two methods studied.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES

A avaliação completa do sistema estomatognático é essencial para o diagnóstico e plano de tratamento ortodôntico. Não se devem apenas avaliar aspectos estáticos da oclusão, mas também os funcionais, pois estes últimos podem mostrar-se alterados e envolver um ou mais componentes do sistema estomatognático, entre eles, a articulação temporomandibular (ATM). Uma das alterações encontradas com freqüência é o deslocamento de disco articular, o que pode interferir no prognóstico e, eventualmente, comprometer o resultado do tratamento ortodôntico. Na tentativa de contribuir para o reconhecimento dessas alterações, este estudo teve como finalidade avaliar a concordância entre dois examinadores calibrados em relação ao diagnóstico de deslocamento de disco articular, comparar a percepção dos pacientes aos ruídos com os dados do exame clínico e eletrovibratografia, além de checar a possível equivalência entre o exame clínico e eletrovibratografia, como métodos de detecção do deslocamento de disco articular. A amostra foi composta por 60 voluntários, divididos igualmente em 4 grupos com 15 participantes cada, definidos por meio do exame clínico e agrupados segundo o gênero e a presença ou ausência de estalo. O exame clínico foi realizado por dois examinadores treinados. A eletrovibratografia foi realizada por um único operador treinado, e empregou-se o programa SonoPAK (Bioresearch Inc.). Para análise dos resultados de concordância entre ambas as técnicas e entre os examinadores, foi utilizado o coeficiente kappa. Os resultados mostraram excelente concordância inter examinadores na realização do exame clínico, concordância satisfatória entre os relatos de ruídos referidos pelos pacientes quando comparados ao exame clínico e eletrovibratografia e concordância também satisfatória entre os dois métodos estudados. / The complete evaluation of the stomatognathic system is essential to the diagnostic and orthodontic treatment plan. It should not evaluate only the occlusal static aspects, but the functional aspects, because the latter could be altered and one or more components of the stomatognathic system could be involved, including the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ). One of the frequently found alterations founded frequently is the articular disc displacement, which could affect in the prognostic, and, eventually the result of the orthodontic treatment. Trying to contribute to recognize these alterations, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the findings of two calibrated examiners on disk displacement diagnosis, to compare the patients joint sounds perception to the to the results found by the clinical examination and electrovibratography, and beyond that check the possible matching between the clinical examination and the electrovibratography as methods of disc displacement detection. The sample was composed of 60 patients, divided equally into 4 groups of 15 participants each, defined by clinical examination and grouped according to gender and to the presence or absence of the sound (click). The clinical examination was made by two trained examiners. The electrovibratography was made by only one only operator and the SonoPAK software was used (Bioresearch Inc.). The kappas coefficient was used to analyze of the results. They showed that the examiners findings were very close in the clinical examination, partially close on the joint sounds report told by the patients when compared to the clinical examination and eletrovibratography and reasonable equivalence between the two methods studied.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of South Florida, 2008. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 45 pages. Includes bibliographical references.