History of spinal neurosurgery and spine societies

Historically, spine and spinal cord surgery have been an integral part of neurosurgery. It was always a part of the neurosurgery education and practically a significant part of neurosurgeons’ daily work. However, spine societies have mostly been pioneered by orthopedic spine surgeons. It’s only in the last 4 decades that neurosurgeons are also forming spine societies. The term “Neurospine” becomes more popular and used by many authors, institutions during the last decades, although it is not widely used in North America. There are specific reasons for its popularity: (1) It is like a combination of neurosurgery and spine surgery. Neurosurgeons widely prefer to use it. (2) It has a sense inside to remind patients that the spine is with neurological structures. “Neurospine Surgery” is also used in the sense of a combination of “neuroscience” and “spine”. There are at least 2 journals with this theme, i.e., “Neurospine” and “Journal of Neurosurgery Spine.” [1] In this paper, a brief history of spine surgery and spine-related societies is discussed. We aimed to create a global summary of neuro spine with spinal neurosurgeons’ perspectives from other parts of the world and comment on the world's current condition

Rifting of the Southwest and West Iberia Continental Margins

The West and SouthWest Margins of Iberia started their formation as intra-continental rifts during initial break up of Pangea in Triassic times. The tectono-stratigraphic record of the Algarve, Alentejo and Lusitanian basins and their offshore prolongation documents the syn-rift, post-rift and passive margin phases of the rifting process as well as three magmatic cycles of tholeiite to alkaline affinities. Although the Ocean-Continent Transition has been investigated using deep ocean drilling, seismics, gravimetry and magnetics its nature and location are still matters of debate. The tectonic inheritance of the Paleozoic Orogeny had great influence in the geometry of the rift basins and development of the Neo-Tethys and Atlantic Oceans intersection. Salt tectonics strongly controlled both syn-rift and post-rift basin tectonics and led to the formation of an allochthonous salt nappe in the Algarve Basin

Safety and Tolerability of Cyclosporin A in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: Results from a Prospective Randomized Trial

Cyclosporin A (CsA) has recently been proposed for use in the early phase after traumatic brain injury (TBI), for its ability to preserve mitochondrial integrity in experimental brain injury models, and thereby provide improved behavioral outcomes as well as significant histological protection. The aim of this prospective, randomized, double-blind, dual-center, placebo-controlled trial was to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of a single intravenous infusion of CsA in patients with severe TBI. Fifty adult severe TBI patients were enrolled over a 22-month period. Within 12 h of the injury patients received 5 mg/kg of CsA infused over 24 h, or placebo. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, hemoglobin, platelets, white blood cell count (WBC), and a hepatic panel were monitored on admission, and at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h, and on days 4 and 7. Potential adverse events (AEs) were also recorded. Neurological outcome was recorded at 3 and 6 months after injury. This study revealed only transient differences in BUN levels at 24 and 48 h and for WBC counts at 24 h between the CsA and placebo patients. These modest differences were not clinically significant in that they did not negatively impact on patient course. Both BUN and creatinine values, markers of renal function, remained within their normal limits over the entire monitoring period. There were no significant differences in other mean laboratory values, or in the incidence of AEs at any other measured time point. Also, no significant difference was demonstrated for neurological outcome. Based on these results, we report a good safety profile of CsA infusion when given at the chosen dose of 5 mg/kg, infused over 24 h, during the early phase after severe head injury in humans, with the aim of neuroprotection

Metabolic mitochondrial alterations prevail in the female rat heart 8 weeks after exercise cessation

The consumption of high-caloric diets strongly contributes to the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Exercise (along with diet intervention) is one of the primary non-pharmacological approaches to promote a healthier lifestyle and counteract the rampant prevalence of NCDs. The present study evaluated the effects of exercise cessation after a short period training on the cardiac metabolic and mitochondrial function of female rats

Species identification in routine casework samples using the SPInDel kit

The identification of species in casework samples is of fundamental importance for forensic investigations. Laboratories are increasingly compelled to provide accurate and fast identifications in trace materials left on crime scenes, wildlife poaching, illegal trade of protected species, fraudulent food products cases, etc. However, the field of nonhuman forensic genetics is still working on the standardization of typing methods and practices. Here we describe the successful implementation of the Species Identification by Insertions/Deletions (SPInDel) method in routine casework analyses in 11 laboratories worldwide. The SPInDel was developed to detect human DNA, at the same time that identifies common animal species. The fragment size analysis of six mtDNA regions allows identification in suboptimal DNA samples, including mixtures, with no need for sequencing. The samples were collected from 2013 to 2018 and included hair, blood, meat, saliva, faeces, bones, etc. The SPInDel kit successfully identified >95% of the samples, being dog, human and pig the most frequently detected species. The six SPInDel loci were successfully amplified in mixtures and degraded samples (river water, sand, stains in clothes, etc.). Interestingly, several species that were not originally targeted by SPInDel primers were also identified (e.g., red fox, brown bear, fallow deer and red deer). In conclusion, the SPInDel kit was successfully used in crime scene investigations (often involving human DNA detection) and in cases of poaching, environmental contamination and food fraud. It is now becoming a useful tool for the routine analysis of nonhuman DNA samples within the high quality standards of forensic genetics.Fil: Pereira, Filipe. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Alves, Cíntia. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Couto, Cátia. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: López Díaz, Lourdes. Servicio de Criminalística de la Guardia Civil; EspañaFil: Parra, David. Servicio de Criminalística de la Guardia Civil; EspañaFil: Furfuro, Sandra. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Laboratorio de Análisis de ADN; ArgentinaFil: Aler, Mercedes. Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses; EspañaFil: Burillo Borrego, Luís. Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses de Valencia; EspañaFil: Olekšáková, Tereza. Institute of Criminalistics; República ChecaFil: Balsa, Filipa. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Sampaio, Lisa. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Porto, Maria João Anjos. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Costa, Heloisa Afonso. Serviço de Genética e Biologia Forenses; PortugalFil: Arévalo Voss, Cristina. Cuerpo Nacional de Policia; EspañaFil: Caputo, Mariela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Corach, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: García, Óscar. Basque Country Police-Ertzaintza; EspañaFil: Pedrosa Moro, Susana. Unidad de Laboratorio de Navarra de Servicios y Tecnologías; EspañaFil: Pereira, Rui. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Amorim, António. Universidad de Porto; Portuga

Species identification in forensic samples using the SPInDel approach: A GHEP-ISFG inter-laboratory collaborative exercise

DNA is a powerful tool available for forensic investigations requiring identification of species. However, it is necessary to develop and validate methods able to produce results in degraded and or low quality DNA samples with the high standards obligatory in forensic research. Here, we describe a voluntary collaborative exercise to test the recently developed Species Identification by Insertions/Deletions (SPInDel) method. The SPInDel kit allows the identification of species by the generation of numeric profiles combining the lengths of six mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene regions amplified in a single reaction followed by capillary electrophoresis. The exercise was organized during 2014 by a Working Commission of the Spanish and Portuguese-Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (GHEP-ISFG), created in 2013. The 24 participating laboratories from 10 countries were asked to identify the species in 11 DNA samples from previous GHEP-ISFG proficiency tests using a SPInDel primer mix and control samples of the 10 target species. A computer software was also provided to the participants to assist the analyses of the results. All samples were correctly identified by 22 of the 24 laboratories, including samples with low amounts of DNA (hair shafts) and mixtures of saliva and blood. Correct species identifications were obtained in 238 of the 241 (98.8%) reported SPInDel profiles. Two laboratories were responsible for the three cases of misclassifications. The SPInDel was efficient in the identification of species in mixtures considering that only a single laboratory failed to detect a mixture in one sample. This result suggests that SPInDel is a valid method for mixture analyses without the need for DNA sequencing, with the advantage of identifying more than one species in a single reaction. The low frequency of wrong (5.0%) and missing (2.1%) alleles did not interfere with the correct species identification, which demonstrated the advantage of using a method based on the analysis of multiple loci. Overall, the SPInDel method was easily implemented by laboratories using different genotyping platforms, the interpretation of results was straightforward and the SPInDel software was used without any problems. The results of this collaborative exercise indicate that the SPInDel method can be applied successfully in forensic casework investigations.Fil: Alves, Cíntia. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Pereira, Rui. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Prieto, Lourdes. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela; EspañaFil: Aler, Mercedes. Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses de Valencia; EspañaFil: Amaral, Cesar R. L.. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Arévalo, Cristina. Universidad de Alcalá; EspañaFil: Berardi, Gabriela. Fundación Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Di Rocco, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Caputo, Mariela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Carmona, Cristian Hernandez. Poder Judicial. Departamento de Ciencias Forenses. Sección de Bioquímica; Costa RicaFil: Catelli, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense; ArgentinaFil: Costa, Heloísa Afonso. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Coufalova, Pavla. Institute of Criminalistics Prague; República ChecaFil: Furfuro, Sandra Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Laboratorio de Análisis de ADN; ArgentinaFil: García, Óscar. Polícia del País Vasco. Sección de Genética Forense; EspañaFil: Gaviria, Anibal. Cruz Roja Ecuatoriana; EcuadorFil: Goios, Ana. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Gómez, Juan José Builes. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Hernández, Alexis. Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses; EspañaFil: Betancor Hernández, Eva del Carmen. Instituto de Medicina Legal de Las Palmas. Laboratorio Genética Forense; EspañaFil: Miranda, Luís. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Parra, David. Servicio de Criminalística de la Guardia Civil. Departamento de Química y Medio Ambiente; EspañaFil: Pedrosa, Susana. Unidad de Laboratorio de Navarra de Servicios y Tecnologías; EspañaFil: Porto, Maria João Anjos. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Rebelo, Maria de Lurdes. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses; PortugalFil: Spirito, Matteo. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; ItaliaFil: Torres, María del Carmen Villalobos. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; MéxicoFil: Amorim, António. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Pereira, Filipe. Universidad de Porto; Portuga

Intraoperative transfusion practices in Europe

Transfusion of allogeneic blood influences outcome after surgery. Despite widespread availability of transfusion guidelines, transfusion practices might vary among physicians, departments, hospitals and countries. Our aim was to determine the amount of packed red blood cells (pRBC) and blood products transfused intraoperatively, and to describe factors determining transfusion throughout Europe. We did a prospective observational cohort study enrolling 5803 patients in 126 European centres that received at least one pRBC unit intraoperatively, during a continuous three month period in 2013. The overall intraoperative transfusion rate was 1.8%; 59% of transfusions were at least partially initiated as a result of a physiological transfusion trigger- mostly because of hypotension (55.4%) and/or tachycardia (30.7%). Haemoglobin (Hb)- based transfusion trigger alone initiated only 8.5% of transfusions. The Hb concentration [mean (sd)] just before transfusion was 8.1 (1.7) g dl and increased to 9.8 (1.8) g dl after transfusion. The mean number of intraoperatively transfused pRBC units was 2.5 (2.7) units (median 2). Although European Society of Anaesthesiology transfusion guidelines are moderately implemented in Europe with respect to Hb threshold for transfusion (7-9 g dl), there is still an urgent need for further educational efforts that focus on the number of pRBC units to be transfused at this threshold