BACKGROUND:The results of elbow dislocations with associated radial head and coronoid fractures are often poor because of recurrent instability and stiffness from prolonged immobilization. We managed ...these injuries with a standard surgical protocol, postulating that early intervention, stable fixation, and repair would provide sufficient stability to allow motion at seven to ten days postoperatively and enhance functional outcome.
METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed the results of this treatment performed, at two university-affiliated teaching hospitals, in thirty-six consecutive patients (thirty-six elbows) with an elbow dislocation and an associated fracture of both the radial head and the coronoid process. Our surgical protocol included fixation or replacement of the radial head, fixation of the coronoid fracture if possible, repair of associated capsular and lateral ligamentous injuries, and in selected cases repair of the medial collateral ligament and/or adjuvant hinged external fixation. Patients were evaluated both radiographically and with a clinical examination at the time of the latest follow-up.
RESULTS:At a mean of thirty-four months postoperatively, the flexion-extension arc of the elbow averaged 112° ± 11° and forearm rotation averaged 136° ± 16°. The mean Mayo Elbow Performance Score was 88 points (range, 45 to 100 points), which corresponded to fifteen excellent results, thirteen good results, seven fair results, and one poor result. Concentric stability was restored to thirty-four elbows. Eight patients had complications requiring a reoperationtwo had a synostosis; one, recurrent instability; four, hardware removal and elbow release; and one, a wound infection.
CONCLUSIONS:Use of our surgical protocol for elbow dislocations with associated radial head and coronoid fractures restored sufficient elbow stability to allow early motion postoperatively, enhancing the functional outcome. We recommend early operative repair with a standard protocol for these injuries.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:Therapeutic study, Level IV (case series no, or historical, control group). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, ...diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance ~1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H98y,2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described.
The objective of this study was to evaluate anti‐listerial efficacy of salts of organic acids, and their impact on the quality of frankfurters. Beef frankfurters were manufactured by incorporating ...organic acids in 5 different combinations: (1) control (no marinade addition; C); (2) sodium lactate (2% wt/wt; SL); (3) potassium lactate (2% wt/wt; PL); (4) sodium citrate (0.75% wt/wt; SC); and (5) sodium lactate (2% wt/wt)/sodium diacetate (0.25% wt/wt; SL/SD). Cooked frankfurters were inoculated with streptomycin‐resistant (1500 μg/mL) L. monocytogenes (7 log10 CFU/frank). Inoculated and noninoculated frankfurters were vacuum packaged and stored at 4 °C. Samples were taken weekly up to 10 wk for estimation of L. monocytogenes as well as aerobic plate count (APC) and psychrotrophs (PSY), respectively. Total of 2 independent trials of the entire experiment were conducted. Noninoculated beef frankfurters were evaluated weekly by untrained sensory panelists for 7 wk. SL, PL, and SC treatments did not (P > 0.05) adversely affect consumer acceptability through 8 wk although, SL/SD treatment was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) less preferred across all sensory attributes. SL/SD treatment negatively affected product quality, but was able to control APC, PSY, and L. monocytogenes levels. SC performed similar to the control throughout the 8, 9, and 10 wk storage periods, providing no benefit for inhibiting L. monocytogenes (increasing from 7 logs CFU/frank to 10 logs CFU/frank throughout storage) or extending shelf life of the beef frankfurters. In conclusion, 2% SL and PL, and 2% SL/0.25% SD may be effective L. monocytogenes inhibitors (maintaining inoculation levels of 7 logs CFU/frank during storage), but changes in SL/SD treatment formulation should be studied to improve product quality.
Practical Application
This research is important to the further processing meat and poultry industries because the results will validate the current use, functionality, and usefulness of salts of organic acids as inhibitors of Listeria and spoilage microorganisms in frankfurters. Moreover, results of this study will also demonstrate the impact of frankfurters formulated with salts of organic acids on organoleptic properties and shelf life.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Peracetic acid mixture (PAHP), which is a combination of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, has been approved as an antimicrobial for use in poultry chillers. To validate its effectiveness, 85 ppm ...of PAHP was compared with the 30-ppm chlorine treatment in a commercial setting. In this trial, 100 carcasses were sampled for Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. prior to chilling and 100 carcasses were sampled after chilling. In all, 400 carcasses were sampled using 85 ppm of PAHP in the chiller and 400 carcasses were sampled using the chlorine treatment. PAHP at 85 ppm reduced Salmonella-positive carcasses by 92% exiting the chiller, whereas treatment with 30 ppm of chlorine reduced Salmonella by 57%. Additionally, PAHP reduced Campylobacter species-positive carcasses exiting the chiller by 43% while chlorine resulted in a 13% reduction. These results suggest that peracetic acid in combination with hydrogen peroxide may be an effective antimicrobial in poultry chiller applications.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
There is increasing evidence that the presence of a systemic inflammatory response plays an important role in survival following curative resection for colorectal cancer. The present study evaluated ...the relationship between C-reactive protein concentrations and survival in a cohort of patients receiving adjuvant 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy following potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer. In all, 222 patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer were studied. Of these, 50 patients received adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy. Circulating concentrations of C-reactive protein were measured prior to surgery. The minimum follow-up was 15 months; the median follow-up of the survivors was 38 months. During this period 61 patients died, 32 patients of their cancer and 29 of intercurrent disease. In those patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, age (P < 0.001), Dukes stage (P < 0.05) and an elevated C-reactive protein (P < 0.01) were significantly associated with survival. In those patients who did receive adjuvant chemotherapy, an elevated C-reactive protein concentration (P < 0.01) was significantly associated with survival. The presence of a systemic inflammatory response is an independent predictor of poor outcome in patients receiving adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy following potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
A series of naturally occurring compounds reported recently by multiple laboratories defines a new small-molecule class sharing a unique benzolactone enamide core structure and diverse biological ...actions, including inhibition of growth of tumor cells and oncogene-transformed cell lines. Here we show that representative members of this class, including salicylihalamide A, lobatamides A-F, and oximidines I and II inhibit mammalian vacuolar-type (H+)-ATPases (V-ATPases) with unprecedented selectivity. Data derived from the NCI 60-cell antitumor screen critically predicted the V-ATPase molecular target, while specific biochemical assays provided confirmation and further illumination. The compounds potently blocked representative V-ATPases from human kidney, liver, and osteoclastic giant-cell tumor of bone but were essentially inactive against V-ATPases of Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other membrane ATPases. Essential regulation of pH in cytoplasmic, intraorganellar, and local extracellular spaces is provided by V-ATPases, which are ubiquitously distributed among eukaryotic cells and tissues. The most potent and selective V-ATPase inhibitors heretofore known were the bafilomycins and concanamycins, which do not discriminate between mammalian and nonmammalian V-ATPases. Numerous physiological processes are mediated by V-ATPases, and aberrant V-ATPase functions are implicated in many different human diseases. Previous efforts to develop therapeutic pharmacological modulators of V-ATPases have been frustrated by a lack of synthetically tractable and biologically selective leads. Therefore, availability of the unique benzolactone enamide inhibitor class may enable further elucidation of functional and architectural features of mammalian versus nonmammalian V-ATPase isoforms and provide new opportunities for targeting V-ATPase-mediated processes implicated in diverse pathophysiological phenomena, including cancer.
PSR J2222−0137 Guo, Y. J.; Freire, P. C. C.; Guillemot, L. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
10/2021, Volume:
654
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
The PSR J2222−0137 binary system has a set of features that make it a unique laboratory for tests of gravity theories.
Aims.
To fully exploit the system’s potential for these tests, we aim ...to improve the measurements of its physical parameters, spin and orbital orientation, and post-Keplerian parameters, which quantify the observed relativistic effects.
Methods.
We describe an improved analysis of archival very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data, which uses a coordinate convention in full agreement with that used in timing. We have also obtained much improved polarimetry of the pulsar with the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). We provide an improved analysis of significantly extended timing datasets taken with the Effelsberg, Nançay, and Lovell radio telescopes; this also includes previous timing data from the Green Bank Telescope.
Results.
From the VLBI analysis, we have obtained a new estimate of the position angle of the ascending node, Ω = 189
−18
+19
deg (all uncertainties are 68% confidence limits), and a new reference position for the pulsar with an improved and more conservative uncertainty estimate. The FAST polarimetric results, and in particular the detection of an interpulse, yield much improved estimates for the spin geometry of the pulsar, in particular an inclination of the spin axis of the pulsar of ∼84 deg. From the timing, we obtain a new ∼1% test of general relativity (GR) from the agreement of the Shapiro delay parameters and the rate of advance of periastron. Assuming GR in a self-consistent analysis of all effects, we obtain much improved masses: 1.831(10)
M
⊙
for the pulsar and 1.319(4)
M
⊙
for the white dwarf companion; the total mass, 3.150(14)
M
⊙
, confirms this as the most massive double degenerate binary known in the Galaxy. This analysis also yields the orbital orientation; in particular, the orbital inclination is 85.27(4) deg – indicating a close alignment between the spin of the pulsar and the orbital angular momentum – and Ω = 187.7(5.7) deg, which matches our new VLBI estimate. Finally, the timing also yields a precise measurement of the variation in the orbital period,
Ṗ
b
= 0.251(8) × 10
−12
ss
−1
; this is consistent with the expected variation in the Doppler factor plus the orbital decay caused by the emission of gravitational waves predicted by GR. This agreement introduces stringent constraints on the emission of dipolar gravitational waves.
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Pulsar Timing Array experiments probe the presence of possible scalar or pseudoscalar ultralight dark matter particles through decade-long timing of an ensemble of galactic millisecond radio pulsars. ...With the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array, we focus on the most robust scenario, in which dark matter interacts only gravitationally with ordinary baryonic matter. Our results show that ultralight particles with masses 10^{-24.0} eV≲m≲10^{-23.3} eV cannot constitute 100% of the measured local dark matter density, but can have at most local density ρ≲0.3 GeV/cm^{3}.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
We present the results of the search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies using the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) ...for 25 millisecond pulsars and a combination with the first data release of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA). A robust GWB detection is conditioned upon resolving the Hellings-Downs angular pattern in the pairwise cross-correlation of the pulsar timing residuals. Additionally, the GWB is expected to yield the same (common) spectrum of temporal correlations across pulsars, which is used as a null hypothesis in the GWB search. Such a common-spectrum process has already been observed in pulsar timing data. We analysed (i) the full 24.7-year EPTA data set, (ii) its 10.3-year subset based on modern observing systems, (iii) the combination of the full data set with the first data release of the InPTA for ten commonly timed millisecond pulsars, and (iv) the combination of the 10.3-year subset with the InPTA data. These combinations allowed us to probe the contributions of instrumental noise and interstellar propagation effects. With the full data set, we find marginal evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of four and a false alarm probability of 4%. With the 10.3-year subset, we report evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of 60 and a false alarm probability of about 0.1% (≳3
σ
significance). The addition of the InPTA data yields results that are broadly consistent with the EPTA-only data sets, with the benefit of better noise modelling. Analyses were performed with different data processing pipelines to test the consistency of the results from independent software packages. The latest EPTA data from new generation observing systems show non-negligible evidence for the GWB. At the same time, the inferred spectrum is rather uncertain and in mild tension with the common signal measured in the full data set. However, if the spectral index is fixed at 13/3, the two data sets give a similar amplitude of (2.5 ± 0.7) × 10
−15
at a reference frequency of 1 yr
−1
. Further investigation of these issues is required for reliable astrophysical interpretations of this signal. By continuing our detection efforts as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA), we expect to be able to improve the measurement of spatial correlations and better characterise this signal in the coming years.
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