Preliminary Investigation of Novel Bone Graft Substitutes based on Strontium-Calcium-Zinc-Silicate Glasses

Bone graft procedures typically require surgeons to harvest bone from a second site on a given patient (Autograft) before repairing a bone defect. However, this results in increased surgical time, excessive blood loss and a significant increase in pain. In this context a synthetic bone graft with excellent histocompatibility, built in antibacterial efficacy and the ability to regenerate healthy tissue in place of diseased tissue would be a significant step forward relative to current state of the art philosophies. We developed a range of calcium-strontium-zinc-silicate glass-based bone grafts and characterized their structure and physical properties, then evaluated their in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility using standardized models from the literature. A graft (designated BT109) of composition 0.28SrO/0.32ZnO/0.40 SiO2 (mol fraction) was the best performing formulation in vitro shown to induce extremely mild cytopathic effects (cell viability up to 95%) in comparison with the commercially available bone graft Novabone® (cell viability of up to 72%). Supplementary to this, the grafts were examined using the standard rat femur healing model on healthy Wister rats. All grafts were shown to be equally well tolerated in bone tissue and new bone was seen in close apposition to implanted particles with no evidence of an inflammatory response within bone. Complimentary to this BT109 was implanted into the femurs of ovariectomized rats to monitor the response of osteoporotic tissue to the bone grafts. The results from this experiment indicate that the novel grafts perform equally well in osteoporotic tissue as in healthy tissue, which is encouraging given that bone response to implants is usually diminished in ovariectomized rats. In conclusion these materials exhibit significant potential as synthetic bone grafts to warrant further investigation and optimisation. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Optimization of a Managed Aquifer Recharge Network

2014 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Informing Strategic Water Planning to Address Natural Resource, Community and Economic Challenge

Contralateral effects of unilateral strength and skill training: Modified Delphi consensus to establish key aspects of cross-education

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Cross-education refers to increased motor output (i.e., force generation, skill) of the opposite, untrained limb following a period of unilateral exercise training. Despite extensive research, several aspects of the transfer phenomenon remain controversial. Methods: A modified two-round Delphi online survey was conducted among international experts to reach consensus on terminology, methodology, mechanisms of action, and translational potential of cross-education, and to provide a framework for future research. Results: Through purposive sampling of the literature, we identified 56 noted experts in the field, of whom 32 completed the survey, and reached consensus (75% threshold) on 17 out of 27 items. Conclusion: Our consensus-based recommendations for future studies are that (1) the term ‘cross-education’ should be adopted to refer to the transfer phenomenon, also specifying if transfer of strength or skill is meant; (2) functional magnetic resonance imaging, short-interval intracortical inhibition and interhemispheric inhibition appear to be promising tools to study the mechanisms of transfer; (3) strategies which maximize cross-education, such as high-intensity training, eccentric contractions, and mirror illusion, seem worth being included in the intervention plan; (4) study protocols should be designed to include at least 13–18 sessions or 4–6 weeks to produce functionally meaningful transfer of strength, and (5) cross-education could be considered as an adjuvant treatment particularly for unilateral orthopedic conditions and sports injuries. Additionally, a clear gap in views emerged between the research field and the purely clinical field. The present consensus statement clarifies relevant aspects of cross-education including neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and methodological characteristics of the transfer phenomenon, and provides guidance on how to improve the quality and usability of future cross-education studies

Contralateral Effects of Unilateral Strength and Skill Training:Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Key Aspects of Cross-Education

Background Cross-education refers to increased motor output (i.e., force generation, skill) of the opposite, untrained limb following a period of unilateral exercise training. Despite extensive research, several aspects of the transfer phenomenon remain controversial. Methods A modified two-round Delphi online survey was conducted among international experts to reach consensus on terminology, methodology, mechanisms of action, and translational potential of cross-education, and to provide a framework for future research. Results Through purposive sampling of the literature, we identified 56 noted experts in the field, of whom 32 completed the survey, and reached consensus (75% threshold) on 17 out of 27 items. Conclusion Our consensus-based recommendations for future studies are that (1) the term 'cross-education' should be adopted to refer to the transfer phenomenon, also specifying if transfer of strength or skill is meant; (2) functional magnetic resonance imaging, short-interval intracortical inhibition and interhemispheric inhibition appear to be promising tools to study the mechanisms of transfer; (3) strategies which maximize cross-education, such as high-intensity training, eccentric contractions, and mirror illusion, seem worth being included in the intervention plan; (4) study protocols should be designed to include at least 13-18 sessions or 4-6 weeks to produce functionally meaningful transfer of strength, and (5) cross-education could be considered as an adjuvant treatment particularly for unilateral orthopedic conditions and sports injuries. Additionally, a clear gap in views emerged between the research field and the purely clinical field. The present consensus statement clarifies relevant aspects of cross-education including neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and methodological characteristics of the transfer phenomenon, and provides guidance on how to improve the quality and usability of future cross-education studies

Magnetospheric multiprobes: Investigations and instrumentation

The multiprobe scientific objectives are to: (1) determine the spatial structure of plasma phenomena such as the aurora, convection reversals, and ion troughs; (2) separate spatial and temporal variations in these phenomena; (3) determine field aligned current densities; (4) perform multiple point analysis of particle beams, wave fields, and plasma clouds that are injected into the ionosphere and magnetosphere by Spacelab active experiment facilities. Trade studies described include: instrument accommodations, power, attitude determination, electric field antennas, storage and ejection, thermal control, tracking communications, command and data management, payload and mission specialist support, functional objectives, and orbital analysis

Wavelets and graph C∗C^*-algebras

Here we give an overview on the connection between wavelet theory and representation theory for graph $C^{\ast}$-algebras, including the higher-rank graph $C^*$-algebras of A. Kumjian and D. Pask. Many authors have studied different aspects of this connection over the last 20 years, and we begin this paper with a survey of the known results. We then discuss several new ways to generalize these results and obtain wavelets associated to representations of higher-rank graphs. In \cite{FGKP}, we introduced the "cubical wavelets" associated to a higher-rank graph. Here, we generalize this construction to build wavelets of arbitrary shapes. We also present a different but related construction of wavelets associated to a higher-rank graph, which we anticipate will have applications to traffic analysis on networks. Finally, we generalize the spectral graph wavelets of \cite{hammond} to higher-rank graphs, giving a third family of wavelets associated to higher-rank graphs

RP-LC and HPTLC Methods for the Determination of Olmesartan Medoxomil and Hydrochlorothiazide in Combined Tablet Dosage Forms

Two new, rapid, precise, accurate and specific chromatographic methods were described for the simultaneous determination of olmesartan medoxomil and hydrochlorothiazide in combined tablet dosage forms. The first method was based on reversed phase liquid chromatography using an Eurosphere 100 RP C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm ID, 5 μm). The mobile phase was methanol–0.05% o-phosphoric acid (60:40 v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min−1. Commercially available tablets and laboratory mixtures containing both drugs were assayed and detected using a UV detector at 270 nm. The second method involved silica gel 60 F254 high performance thin layer chromatography and densitometric detection at 254 nm using acetonitrile–ethyl acetate–glacial acid (7:3:0.4 v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Calibration curves ranged between 200–600 and 125–375 ng spot−1 for olmesartan and hydrochlorothiazide, respectively

Charting the elements of pedagogic frailty

Background: The concept of pedagogic frailty has been proposed as a unifying concept that may help to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching improvement within universities by helping to maintain a simultaneous focus on four key areas that are thought to impede development. Purpose: The variation in internal structure of the four dimensions of pedagogic frailty and the links that have been proposed to connect them are explored here through the analysis of interviews with academics working in a variety of disciplinary areas. Methods: The application of concept map-mediated interviews allows us to view the variable connections within and between these dimensions and the personal ways they are conceptualised by academics working across the heterogeneous university context. Results: The data show that academics conceptualise the discourse of teaching in various ways that have implications for the links that may be developed to integrate the elements within the model. Conclusions: Whilst the form and content of the maps representing dimensions of the pedagogic frailty model exhibit considerable variation, it is suggested that factors such as academic resilience and the explicit use of integrative concepts within disciplines may help to overcome some of the vulnerabilities that accompany pedagogic frailty. The data also raises questions about the links between factors that tend to be under individual control and those that tend towards institutional control

Different expressions of the same mode: a recent dialogue between archaeological and contemporary drawing practices

In this article we explore what we perceive as pertinent features of shared experience at the excavations of an Iron Age Hillfort at Bodfari, North Wales, referencing artist, archaeologist and examples of seminal art works and archaeological records resulting through inter-disciplinary collaboration. We explore ways along which archaeological and artistic practices of improvisation become entangled and productive through their different modes of mark-making. We contend that marks and memories of artist and archaeologist alike emerge interactively, through the mutually constituting effects of the object of study, the tools of exploration, and the practitioners themselves, when they are enmeshed in the cross-modally bound activities. These include, but are not limited to, remote sensing, surveying, mattocking, trowelling, drawing, photographing, videoing and sound recording. These marks represent the co-signatories: the gesture of the often anonymous practitioners, the voice of the deposits, as well as the imprint of the tools, and their interplay creates a multi-threaded narrative documenting their modes of intra-action, in short our practices. They occupy the conceptual space of paradata, and in the process of saturating the interstices of digital cognitive prosthetics they lend probity to their translations in both art form and archive