0-mm-inner-diameter collagen conduit. The animals were studied at twelve and sixteen weeks postoperatively. Evaluation included bilateral measurement of the tibialis

anterior muscle force and muscle weight, electrophysiology, assessment of ankle contracture, and peroneal nerve histomorphometry. Muscle force was measured with use of our previously described and validated method.

Results were expressed as a percentage of the values on the contra lateral side. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) corrected by the Ryan-Einot-Gabriel-Welsch VX-770 nmr multiple range test was used for statistical investigation (alpha = 0.05). Results: At twelve weeks, the mean muscle force (and standard deviation), as compared with that on the contralateral (control) side, was 45.2% +/- 15.0% in the autograft group, 43.4% +/- 18.0% in the allograft group, and 7.0% +/- 9.2% in the collagen group. After sixteen weeks, the recovered muscle force was 65.5% +/- 14.1% in the autograft group, 36.3% +/- 15.7% in the allograft group, and 12.1% +/- 16.0% in the collagen group. Autograft was statistically superior to allograft and the collagen conduit at sixteen weeks with regard to all parameters except histomorphometric characteristics (p < 0.05). The collagen-group Eltanexor manufacturer results were inferior.

All autograft-group outcomes improved from twelve to sixteen weeks, with the increase in muscle force being significant.

Conclusions: The use of autograft resulted in better motor recovery than did the use of allograft or a collagen conduit for a short nerve gap in rats. A longer evaluation time of sixteen weeks after segmental nerve injuries in rats would be beneficial as more substantial muscle recovery was seen at that time.”
“Sonic infrared is potentially a very attractive nondestructive evaluation

technique offering the possibility KU-60019 in vivo of rapid testing of complex components. However, at present it is difficult to be sure that sufficient excitation has been applied so that a null (no defect present) result can be trusted. This paper presents a calibration method to improve the reliability of the technique. The method uses a measurement of the vibration of the component during the test, the vibration signal being processed to give a “”heating index”" which is a measure of the ability of the vibration field to generate heat at any defects of interest that are present. The calculation of the heating index and the rationale for its formulation are described. The method is then applied on two sets of beamlike specimens with cracks of different sizes. The maximum temperature rise in successive tests on a given specimen is shown to correlate well with the maximum heating index, so validating the method. The threshold heating index required to reliably detect cracks as a function of crack size is discussed and practical calibration and test procedures are proposed.