Comparison of the Clinical Outcomes of Open Surgery Versus Arthroscopic Surgery for Chronic Refractory Lateral Epicondylitis of the Elbow

Numerous surgical options have been introduced for the treatment of chronic refractory lateral epicondylitis of the elbow, but it remains unclear which option is superior. The clinical outcomes of an open surgery group and an arthroscopic surgery group were evaluated, and the results of the 2 procedures were compared. From among patients with lateral epicondylitis refractory to 6 months of conservative treatment, 68 patients satisfying study criteria were recruited. Open surgery was performed in 34 cases (group 1), and arthroscopic surgery was performed in 34 cases (group 2). Compared with preoperatively, the 2 groups had significantly improved values for grip strength, range of motion, and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score at 12 months postoperatively. Group 1 had significantly greater improvements in grip strength and visual analog scale pain score compared with group 2 (P=.048 vs P=.006). Group 2 had significantly greater (P=.045) improvement in pronation compared with group 1. Group 2 returned to work sooner than group 1. On the questionnaire regarding satisfaction with surgery 24 months postoperatively, 4 patients (12%) in group 2 reported dissatisfaction compared with no patients in group 1. Open surgery and arthroscopic surgery both yielded good clinical results. Nonetheless, for patients requiring muscle strength or having severe pain at work, open surgery would be more effective

The application of waste marble as coarse aggregate in concrete production / Kok Yung Chang, Wai Hoe Kwan and Hui Bun Kua

The massive growth of construction industry especially in the developing countries results in extensive quarrying activities which ultimately would lead to the depletion of natural resources. Apart from extensive extraction of the natural granite from the earth for concrete production, marble production industry is also majorly contributing to the quarrying activities. In addition, high volume of waste is generated by the marble production industry as 70% of marble is wasted during the production such as quarrying, cutting, processing and others which is environmental unfriendly. In a way to achieve sustainable construction, the present study is to utilise the waste marble in replacing the coarse aggregate in concrete production. The engineering performance including workability, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and chloride penetration were analysed. The raw waste marble obtained from the industry were crushed and sieved into maximum size 20 mm and used to replace the coarse aggregate at the level of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% respectively. Results show that 60% of the replacement level has yield to optimum result by achieving the highest compressive strength and UPV at approximate 5% higher than the control. Meanwhile, the effect on chloride penetration resistance is more significant, i.e. approximate 19% better than the control. However, increasing the replacement level of waste marble has no significant effect on workability, although an increasing trend was observed

The use of otolith morphometrics in determining the size and species identification of eight mullets (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) from Malaysia

Sagittal otolith morphometric measurements from Malaysian Mugilidae species were selected to investigate their possible role in species identification, due to the Mugilidae species’ morphological similarities, and age determination. Fish standard length (cm), otolith length (μm), width (μm) and mass (g) measurements were taken from eight species: Chelon macrolepis, C. melinopterus, C. subviridis, Ellochelon vaigiensis, Moolgarda cunnesius, M. seheli, Mugil cephalus and Valamugil engeli. Otolith aspect ratio, OAS (otolith length divided by width), was calculated and compared between species. The four homogenous groups based on their OAS were C. melinopterus (mean=1.65) and V. engeli (1.66) and M. cunnesius (1.89) and E. vaigiensis (1.89); M. seheli (2.08), C. macrolepis (2.14) and M. cephalus (2.17); and the latter two with C. subviridis (2.43). The relationships between fish standard length and otolith length/mass showed positive correlations for both, with otolith length providing the stronger correlation (rs = 0.897, P < 0.001) than otolith mass (rs = 0.795, P < 0.001). It is concluded that the more morphologically similar species have similar otolith aspect ratios, related to head shape; however, otolith shape is also affected by a variety of other environmental factors that have to be taken account of

Metabolic engineering of a reduced-genome strain of Escherichia coli for L-threonine production

© 2009 Lee et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Unraveling Diffusion in Fusion Plasma: A Case Study of In Situ Processing and Particle Sorting

This work starts an in situ processing capability to study a certain diffusion process in magnetic confinement fusion. This diffusion process involves plasma particles that are likely to escape confinement. Such particles carry a significant amount of energy from the burning plasma inside the tokamak to the diverter and damaging the diverter plate. This study requires in situ processing because of the fast changing nature of the particle diffusion process. However, the in situ processing approach is challenging because the amount of data to be retained for the diffusion calculations increases over time, unlike in other in situ processing cases where the amount of data to be processed is constant over time. Here we report our preliminary efforts to control the memory usage while ensuring the necessary analysis tasks are completed in a timely manner. Compared with an earlier naive attempt to directly computing the same diffusion displacements in the simulation code, this in situ version reduces the memory usage from particle information by nearly 60% and computation time by about 20%

The Impact of Eddies on Nutrient Supply, Diatom Biomass and Carbon Export in the Northern South China Sea

We have investigated the effect of eddies (cold and warm eddies, CEs and WEs) on the nutrient supply to the euphotic zone and the organic carbon export from the euphotic zone to deeper parts of the water column in the northern South China Sea. Besides basic hydrographic and biogeochemical parameters, the flux of particulate organic carbon (POC), a critical index of the strength of the oceanic biological pump, was also measured at several locations within two CEs and one WE using floating sediment traps deployed below the euphotic zone. The POC flux associated with the CEs (85 ± 55 mg-C m −2 d −1) was significantly higher than that associated with the WE (20 ± 7 mg-C m −2 d −1). This was related to differences in the density structure of the water column between the two types of eddies. Within the core of the WE, downwelling created intense stratification which hindered the upward mixing of nutrients and favored the growth of small phytoplankton species. Near the periphery of the WE, nutrient replenishment from below did take place, but only to a limited extent. By far the strongest upwelling was associated with the CEs, bringing nutrients into the lower portion (∼50 m) of the euphotic zone and fueling the growth of larger-cell phytoplankton such as centric diatoms (e.g., Chaetoceros, Coscinodiscus) and dinoflagellates (e.g., Ceratium). A significant finding that emerged from all the results was the positive relationship between the phytoplankton carbon content in the subsurface layer (where the chlorophyll a maximum occurs) and the POC flux to the deep sea

Comparison of Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Radical Nephrectomy with Conventional Laparoscopic Radical Nephrectomy for Localized Renal-Cell Carcinoma

Purpose: To compare the results of laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) radical nephrectomy with conventional laparoscopic radical nephrectomy for localized renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). Patients and Methods: This study was designed as a matched case-controlled study from our institute`s RCC database. Nineteen consecutive patients who were undergoing LESS radical nephrectomy were compared with 38 patients who were undergoing conventional laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. The matching process accounted for sex, age, operative side, and tumor size. Results: No significant differences were observed in mean operative time (190.8 vs 172.4 min, P - 0.249), estimated blood loss (143.2 vs 199.5 mL, P - 0.235), and complication rate (15.8% vs 21.1 %, P - 0.635) between the LESS and conventional laparoscopy groups. Postoperative hospital stay after LESS radical nephrectomy was 2.7 (2-4) days, compared with 3.9 (3-7) days in the conventional laparoscopy group (P < 0.001). Postoperative pain, as measured by visual analog scale at postoperative day 1 (4.7 vs 5.8 points, P - 0.001), 2 (3.4 vs 4.6 points, P < 0.001), and 3 (2.7 vs 4.0 points, P = 0.008) was significantly lower in the LESS group. Conclusion: LESS radical nephrectomy is a feasible and safe surgical option for localized RCC that demonstrates improved cosmetic outcomes and the additional benefits of decreased postoperative pain and decreased hospital stay.Desai MM, 2009, UROLOGY, V74, P805, DOI 10.1016/j.urology.2009.02.083Stolzenburg JU, 2009, EUR UROL, V56, P644, DOI 10.1016/j.eururo.2009.06.022Stolzenburg JU, 2009, J ENDOUROL, V23, P1287, DOI 10.1089/end.2009.0120Raman JD, 2009, EUR UROL, V55, P1198, DOI 10.1016/j.eururo.2008.08.019Park YH, 2009, J ENDOUROL, V23, P833, DOI 10.1089/end.2009.0025Kommu SS, 2009, BJU INT, V103, P1034, DOI 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08282.xRAYBOURN JH, 2009, UROLOGY 0721Canes D, 2008, EUR UROL, V54, P1020, DOI 10.1016/j.eururo.2008.07.009Bandi G, 2008, BJU INT, V101, P459, DOI 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2007.07235.xDELGADO S, 2008, GASTROENTEROL HEPATO, V31, P515Raman JD, 2007, UROLOGY, V70, P1039, DOI 10.1016/j.urology.2007.10.001Colombo JR, 2007, CLINICS, V62, P251Hemal AK, 2007, J UROLOGY, V177, P862, DOI 10.1016/j.juro.2006.10.053Kawauchi A, 2007, UROLOGY, V69, P53, DOI 10.1016/j.urology.2006.09.009KAVOUSSI LR, 1993, UROLOGY, V42, P603CLAYMAN RV, 1991, J UROLOGY, V146, P2781