As a conservative form of treatment for scoliosis and kyphosis (postural deficits), orthotic therapy still represents the gold standard of non-surgical orthopedics. In light of increasingly frequent complications due to dangerous wound infections caused by multi-resistant germs, it is to be expected that the treatment of clinically relevant postural deformities will again be increasingly conservative in the future. Apart from "saving" the patient from wearing an orthosis, surgical (invasive) treatment has not been proven to be superior.

Human-associated microorganisms are ideal models to study the impact of environmental changes on species evolution and adaptation. The yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a good example of organism facing anthropogenic-driven selective pressures. It is associated with fermentation processes in which it can be considered either as a spoiler (e.g. winemaking, bioethanol production) or as a beneficial microorganism (e.g. production of specific beers, kombucha). Besides its industrial interests, noteworthy parallels and dichotomies with Saccharomyces cerevisiae propelled B. bruxellensis as a valuable complementary yeast model. In this review, we emphasize that the broad genetic and phenotypic diversity of this species is only beginning to be revealed. Population genomic studies have revealed the co-existence of auto- and allotriploidization events with different evolutionary outcomes. The various diploid, autotriploid and allotriploid subpopulations are associated with specific fermented processes, suggesting independent adaptation phenomena to anthropized environments. Phenotypically, B. bruxellensis is renowned for its ability to metabolize a wide variety of carbon and nitrogen sources, which may explain its ability to colonize already fermented environments showing low-nutrient contents. Several traits of interest could be related to adaptation to human activities (e.g. nitrate metabolization in bioethanol production, resistance to sulphite treatments in winemaking). However, phenotypic traits are insufficiently studied in view of the great genomic diversity of the species. Future work will have to take into account strains of varied substrates, geographical origins as well as displaying different ploidy levels. Finally, we discuss the characteristics of B. bruxellensis which may prove to be of wider interest in future research.

We present the case of 33-year-old woman diagnosed with low to high grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia that benefited with individualized classical homeopathy. The outcomes were resolution of the pre-malignant condition and the HPV infection, preventing the use of invasive procedures that were otherwise deemed necessary.

Population analyses have become an indispensable tool to computational chemists. Yet implementation within popular quantum chemistry software has buried the interesting philosophical choices made when partitioning the electron density into atomic contributions. There is further historical context that has significantly influenced common conceptions of chemical bonding and reactivity. This work reviews select aspects of orbital and spatial decomposition schemes of the density matrix, pointing out essential linear algebraic considerations and associated tools of shared interest to us and Prof. Mayer.

Disturbed flow vortices are linked with altered vascular endothelial cell (EC) morphology and protein expression indicative of intracranial aneurysms (IA). Unfortunately, lesser known is the impact of vortex spatial and temporal stability on EC changes. In this study, the interplay between vortex stability and EC changes was investigated by a novel combination of parallel plate flow chamber (PPFC) design and computational analysis. ECs were exposed to laminar (7.5 dynes/cm2 wall shear stress) or low (<1 dynes/cm2) stress vortical flow using PPFCs. Immunofluorescent imaging analyzed EC morphology, while ELISA tests quantified VE-cadherin (cell-cell adhesion), VCAM-1 (macrophage-EC adhesion), and cleaved caspase-3 (apoptotic signal) expression. PPFC flow was simulated, then vortex stability calculated via the temporally averaged degree of (volume) overlap (TA-DVO) of vortices within a given area. EC morphological changes were independent of vortex stability. Increased stability promoted VE-cadherin degradation (correlation coefficient r = -0.84) and 5-fold increased cleaved caspase-3 post 24-hrs in stable (TA-DVO 0.736+0.05) vs unstable (TA-DVO 0.606+0.2) vortices. ECs in stable vortices displayed a 4.5-fold increase in VCAM-1 than unstable counterparts after 12-hrs flow. Flow vortices of greater spatial and temporal stability impart greater degrees of EC changes related to inflammation, cell-cell adhesion, and apoptosis, than unstable vortices.

Three different morphologies of CeO2 supports (NP, NC, and NR) were prepared by hydrothermal method and further Mn2O3 is impregnated on CeO2 supports using wet-impregnation methods, and their activity for NO reduction using NH3-SCR technique is analysed. The prepared catalysts and supports are further characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The catalytic performance of Mn2O3/CeO2-NP has shown the highest conversion (76.06 %) compared to the other two catalysts in the temperature range of 50 - 450°C.

Biodiesel has lately gained popularity due to its environmental issues and the fact that it is generated from renewable resources. However, the cost of synthesis of biodiesel is the major impediment toward commercialization. The utilization of leftover cooking oils as raw material, the adaptation of a continuous transesterification process, and the use of cheap catalysts are the major possibilities for investigation the cost of biodiesel. In this work, a dolomite catalyst was prepared from natural dolomite rocks and used for the evaluation of continuous transesterification of biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO). The dolomite catalyst was prepared by activation under vacuum at a surface area of 34.5 m2/g. The characterization tests showed good thermal stability of the catalyst and evolution of the CaO and MgO compounds at high concentrations. A kinetic study was conducted to obtain kinetic parameters of catalytic transesterification of the WCO.

Decoupling and understanding the various mass, charge and heat transport phenomena involved in the electrocatalytic transformation of small molecules (i.e. CO2, CO, H2, N2, NH3, O2, CH4) is challenging but it can be readily achieved using dimensionless quantities (i.e. Reynolds, Sherwood, Schmidt, Damköhler, Nusselt, Prandtl, and Peclet Numbers) to simplify the characterization of systems with multiple interacting physical phenomena. Herein we report the development of a gastight rotating cylinder electrode cell with well-defined mass transport characteristics that can be applied to experimentally decouple mass transfer effects from intrinsic kinetics in electrocatalytic systems. The gastight rotating cylinder electrode cell enables the dimensionless analysis of electrocatalytic systems and should enable the rigorous research and development of electrocatalytic technologies.

The ZIF-8@Agmim core-shell hybrid material was synthesized via a favorable post-modification method of ion exchange (PMIE). This infrequent ZIF-8@Agmim core-shell structure maintains a well- integrated pore size that is almost the same as ZIF-8. The similar equilibrium isotherms with ZIF-8 and better kinetic separation towards propylene/propane than ZIF-8 render ZIF-8@Agmim to be an interesting candidate for propylene/propane separation. The core-shell hybrid nanomaterial was further used as nanofillers in the polymer of intrinsic microporosity matrix (PIM-1) for propylene/propane separation. The resultant MMMs exhibited a simultaneous increase in C3H6 permeability and C3H6/C3H8 ideal selectivity compared to pure polymer membrane owing to a synergistic effect of molecular sieving from ZIF-8 and π-complexation of Ag+ with propylene. The separation performance of the prepared MMM surpasses the upper bound line of polymer membranes. Furthermore, the hybrid materials possess superb photochemical stability and the corresponding MMMs exhibit excellent anti-aging property and long-term stability.

The coordination of plant leaf water potential (ΨL) regulation and xylem vulnerability to embolism is fundamental for understanding the tradeoffs between carbon uptake and risk of hydraulic damage. There is a general consensus that trees with vulnerable xylem regulate ΨL more conservatively than plants with resistant xylem. We evaluated if this paradigm applied to three important eastern US temperate tree species, Quercus alba L., Acer saccharum Marsh., and Liriodendron tulipifera L., by synthesizing 1600 ΨL observations, 122 xylem embolism curves, and xylem anatomical measurements across ten forests spanning pronounced hydroclimatological gradients and ages. We found that, unexpectedly, the species with the most vulnerable xylem (Q. alba) regulated ΨL less strictly than the other species. This relationship was found across all sites, such that coordination among traits was largely unaffected by climate and stand age. Quercus species are perceived to be among the most drought tolerant temperate US forest species; however, our results suggest their relatively loose ΨL regulation in response to hydrologic stress occurs with a substantial hydraulic cost that may expose them to novel risks in a more drought-prone future. We end by discussing mechanisms that allow these species to tolerate and/or recover from hydraulic damage.

Seed germination is regulated by multiple environmental cues and understanding their relationships is critical to planning seed drilling and subsequent seedling management. We develop a new framework by viewing the metabolic reactions associated with seed germination as a moving event in a physiological dimension to simulate seed germination. Fluctuations in environmental cues and genetic heterogeneity of seed lot make the metabolic reactions in each seed uncertain, and we use an average germination rate to describe the average metabolic reactions and a dispersion coefficient to describe the genetic heterogeneity. We apply the model to winter wheat seeds drilled at different dates in plots under different soil water contents and prove that the model accurately reproduces the time course of germination in all treatments. We found the average germination rate increases nonlinearly with temperature in the base-suboptimal temperature range, and there is an optimal soil water content where the germination rate peaks due to soil anaerobicity. Our model can be fitted to field data using temperature and soil water content to describe the trade-off impact of soil water on soil anaerobicity and imbibition, whereas the difficulty of obtaining accurate water potential and oxygen measurements makes this difficult with the hydrothermal time models.

A document by A/Professor Mike Climstein. Click on the document to view its contents.

Background and aim of the study Approximately 30% of patients undergoing cardiac surgery have a history of diabetes and 60-80% of patients without diabetes have stress hyperglycemia. We examined patients undergoing cardiac surgery to determine the presence of stress hyperglycemia and its relationship to tissue perfusion. Methods Hemodynamic parameters, central venous oxygen saturation, lactate,oxygen delivery and consumption, oxygen extraction rate were analyzed at four intraoperative time points. Results The stress-induced hyperglycemic response during cardiac surgery was more severe in patients without diabetes. When focusing on the oxygen extraction rate in terms of tissue oxygenation, diabetic patients had 1.22 times higher and significant oxygen extraction rate than non-diabetic patients. Conclusions Although lactate values were slightly higher and central venous oxygen saturation were slightly lower in the diabetic group, considering the fact that oxygen extraction rate reflects the total outcome of small changes in all these parameters, we can emphasize the conclusion that diabetic patients undergoing cardiac surgery have greater tissue oxygen demand/supply imbalance compared to non-diabetic patients. In our study, this tissue oxygenation defect in diabetic patients was not found to be directly correlated with blood glucose levels. Perhaps, even if the disease is under control, the negative effects of diabetes on all systems have accumulated and led to such a result.

An incubation experiment was carried out to assess bone char application on the availability and distribution of phosphorus in agricultural alkaline sandy soils. Three alkaline agricultural sandy soils in Upper Egypt have been collected from Arab El-Awamer at Assiut governorate, West El-Minia at El-Minia governorate, and New Valley Governorate. 100 grams were taken from each soil under study and placed in a plastic jar. The bone char is applied at level 0.4 g jar-1 into these soils. This experiment was incubated at 23 ºC in the dark for periods of 7, 16, 35, 65, and 84 days and arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The results revealed that bone char applications to the soils resulted in a significant positive increase in the availability of phosphorus affected by the soil type and incubation periods in Arab El-Awamer soil. The percentage of increase in available phosphorous after adding bone char compared to before incubation was as follows: Arab El-Awamer soil ˃New Valley soil ˃West El-Minia soil. The available phosphorous was negatively correlated with electrical conductivity (r=-0.288*), soluble calcium (r=-0.306*), and soluble sulfate (r=-0.413*). The concentrations of NH4Cl-Pi, NaHCO3-Pi, NaOH-Pi, HCl-Pi, residual-P fractions increased significantly in some soil types with applying bone char. The concentrations of available phosphorous in all soils under study were positively correlated with all phosphorus fractions. We conclude that bone char applications into P-poor soil are important to potentially enhance phosphorus availability. Bone char is considered a promising strategy in sustainable agriculture.

A document by Jack Juckes. Click on the document to view its contents.

We present the case of a 44-year-old woman who suffered an out of hospital cardiorespiratory arrest. After six direct current shocks and 10 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation she had return of spontaneous circulation and regained consciousness. Transthoracic echocardiography showed normal left ventricular ejection fraction and a mildly dilated left atrium. The mitral valve was thickened with myxomatous degeneration (Barlow’s disease) and moderate regurgitation secondary to bi-leaflet prolapse. Cardiac catheterization showed no coronary artery disease while left ventriculography revealed a mildly dilated left ventricle with preserved systolic function and high-end diastolic pressures. Cardiac MRI revealed an enlarged left ventricle with mitral valve (MV) prolapse and moderate to severe mitral regurgitation (MR). There were no features suggestive of a specific cardiomyopathy other than her valvular heart disease. The patient had an uneventful hospitalization, received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), and eventually had MV repair surgery. A genetic investigation revealed two DNA variants, one each in the MYPN and TMPO gene, substitutions of highly conserved aminoacid residues. Family segregation could not establish unequivocally their pathogenicity although the MYPN variant represents the same residue that was shown previously to be substituted by another aminoacid. In this article we also review the literature regarding similar cases and record important data for the epidemiology of the disease and the important research that has been carried out in the identification of prognostic imaging factors and the genetic background of these patients.

In the paper we present a system of SIS type equations coupled by impulses at fixed times that describe the transfer of patients in the healthcare system represented by a graph of healthcare facilities and corresponding communities. The first aim for this considerations is to provide rigorous mathematical analysis of a general theoretical model, which is then used to model transmission of hospital acquired multidrug-resistant bacteria infections based on real patient hospital records provided by German insurance company – AOK Lower Saxony. Starting from the existence and the asymptotic behaviour, together with specification of parameter R0, we propose sufficient conditions guaranteeing network suppression of infection. Furthermore, conditions derived analytically and proposed numerical procedure are used to indicate healthcare facilities that are most prone to the high prevalence bacteria spread in the healthcare system and to ensure the stability of disease-free steady state of the system.

Stringent public health measures imposed across Canada to control the COVID-19 pandemic have nearly suppressed most seasonal respiratory viruses, with the notable exception of human rhinovirus/enterovirus (hRV/EV). Thanks to this unexpected persistence, we highlight that hRV/EV could serve as a sentinel for levels of contact rate in populations to inform on the efficiency¬, or the need of, public health measures to control the subsequent COVID-19 epidemic, but also for future epidemics from other seasonal or emerging respiratory pathogens.

The Norte Grande of Chile (17°S-29°S) features arid regions, where rainfall is generally convective with high spatial and temporal variability, which is the cause of floods with large amounts of sediments due to water erosion. The most relevant factor in erosive processes in arid regions is erosivity, which can be quantified by the RUSLE R-factor, but precipitation data are required every 30 minutes, however, these records are limited. The ones that are available are not enough to characterize it spatially. Consequently, the objective of this study is to evaluate regression models of the annual erosivity using rainfall aggressiveness indices as an explanatory variable, with the aim of analyzing the spatial behavior of erosion. Correlations were made between the maximum intensity in 30 minutes (I30) to the maximum intensity in one hour (I60), which were useful for calculating the R-factor for stations with hourly data by applying a correction factor to I60 determined by the correlations. Four regression models were established for each of the six aggressiveness indices and a relationship was selected through validation, using stations with few years of continuous recording. The selected equation allowed generating 103 spatially distributed erositivy-values, which served to make a subsequent co-kriging, in order to make a spatial analysis of rainfall erosivity. Results showed that there are under-estimations of I30, however, they are considered acceptable due to the efficiency obtained (Nash-Sutcliffe = 0.787). The calculated R-factor data-points allowed selection of the best-fit potential equation, which uses the mean annual rainfall as a predictor

Objective: To evaluate the impact of elevated body mass index (BMI) on short- and long-term outcomes of in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatments. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Teaching hospital. Population: Overall, 7229 patients undergoing IVF/ICSI fresh cycles and subsequent frozen embryo transfer cycles during 2014-2020. Methods: The patients were divided into normal (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) and high BMI (≥ 25 kg/m2) groups. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the boundary of 38 years old. Multivariate analysis was used to determine whether BMI was associated with live birth rate (LBR) or cumulative live birth rate (CLBR). Main Outcome Measure: Ovarian response, pregnancy outcomes, and safety for both mother and fetus. Results: For younger women (< 38y), CLBR was significantly reduced in the high BMI subgroup compared to the normal BMI control (73.7% vs 76.8%, p = 0.008) and was accompanied by fewer retrieved oocytes and available embryos. Meanwhile, the incidences of cesarean section (92.9% vs 87.1%, p < 0.001), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (6.7% vs 3.1%, p < 0.001), fetal macrosomia (4.7% vs 2.8%, p = 0.002) and birth defects involving cleft lip and palate (0.4% vs 0.1%, p = 0.030) were significantly higher than the normal BMI group. However, no such differences were observed among older women (≥ 38y). Multivariate analysis revealed that high BMI was a risk factor for CLBR (OR = 0.837, 95% CI: 0.729–0.96). Conclusions: Elevated BMI has a greater adverse impact on younger women.

Lumbar disc herniation into the dural space is a rare phenomenon of degenerative lumbar disc disease and its pathogenesis remains unclear. Intraoperative ultrasonography and histopathological examination of resected specimen aids in diagnosis of intradural disc herniation.Prompt surgery is recommended as postoperative outcome of the patient at our setting was favourable.

Background: The aim of the current investigation was to explore predisposing factors for food protein induced allergic proctocolitis (FPIAP) in Greek infants relevant in the maternal diet, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as relevant knowledge is limited. Methods: A multicenter retrospective case-control study was conducted in 6 regions in Greece, with 96 mothers of infants with and 141 mothers of infants without a history of FPIAP. Maternal dietary habits during pregnancy and breastfeeding were evaluated with validated questionnaires: a) The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) Score, and b) The Mediterranean Oriented Culture Specific Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire. Statistical tests, modeling and exploration of the FPIAP risk in relation to the maternal diet using elastic net regression models were performed with R software and Studio. Results: FPIAP was associated with cow’s milk (83.6%), egg (7.3 %), and wheat, beef (6.4%) in the maternal diet. Adherence to MedDiet was similar among the mothers, but mothers of FPIAP infants consumed more vegetables (p=0.018) and olive oil (p=0.003). Elastic net prediction models showed that, in this Mediterranean population, increased consumption during pregnancy and lactation of common allergens, whole grain products, homemade food, fish and shellfish, fruit offered protection; conversely, high intake of vegetables, sugar and total fat, and non-stick/grilled cooking, increased the risk of FPIAP, as did high intake of salt and white flour during lactation. Conclusions: Components of a maternal Mediterranean diet can protect against FPIAP when traditional cooking methods are adopted and fish, fruit and whole wheat products are consumed frequently.

Pediatric adrenocortical tumors (ACT) are rare aggressive neoplasms with heterogeneous prognosis. Despite extensive efforts, identifying reliable prognostic factors for pediatric patients with ACT remains a challenge. MicroRNA (miRNA) signatures have been associated with cancer diagnosis, treatment response, and prognosis of several types of cancer. However, the role of miRNAs has been poorly explored in pediatric ACT. In this study, we performed miRNA microarray profiling on a cohort of 37 pediatric ACT and nine non-neoplastic adrenal (NNA) samples and evaluated the prognostic significance of abnormally expressed miRNAs using Kaplan-Meier plots, log-rank test and Cox regression analysis. We identified a total of 98 abnormally expressed miRNAs, which expression profile discriminated ACT from NNAs. Among the 98 deregulated miRNAs, 17 presented significant associations with patients’ survival. In addition, higher expression levels of hsa-miR-630, -139-3p, -125a-3p, -574-5p, -596, -564, -1321, and -423-5p and lower expression levels of hsa-miR-377-3p, -126-3p, -410, -136-3p, -29b-3p, -29a-3p, -337-5p, -143-3p, and 140-5p were significantly associated with poor prognosis, tumor relapse, and/or death. Importantly, the expression profile of these 17 miRNAs stratified patients into two groups of ACTs with different clinical outcomes. Although some individual miRNAs exhibit potential prognostic values in ACTs, only the 17 miRNA-based expression clustering was considered an independent prognostic factor for five-year event-free survival (EFS) compared to other clinicopathological features. In conclusion, our study reports for the first time associations between miRNA profiles and childhood ACT prognosis, providing evidence that miRNAs could be useful biomarkers to discriminate patients with favorable and unfavorable clinical outcomes.

Background Anomalous origin of the left pulmonary artery (ALPA) from the ascending aorta (AA) is a rare congenital heart malformation. Aim To give some of our embryological considerations of ALPA from the AA. Methods We present a patient with ALPA from the AA, right-sided aortic arch, right-sided ductus arteriosus (DA), and aberrant left subclavian artery (LSCA). Results The distal end of ALPA was cut off, the proximal end was sutured, and the distal end was directly anastomosed to the left wall of the main pulmonary artery (MPA). Conclusion The failure of migration and differentiation of cardiac neural crest cells at the fourth and sixth archs result in unilateral arch agenesis or failure of detachment of the left sixth arch from the aortic sac, which form ALPA the AA.