THE ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INURY PREVENTION PROGRAM: A META-ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a neuromuscular protocol on the prevention of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury by performing meta-analysis. An extensive literature review was conducted to identify relevant studies, and eventually, only seven randomized controlled trials or prospective cohort studies were included in the analysis. Subgroup analysis revealed that an age under 18, soccer rather than handball, pre- and in-season training rather than either pre or in-season training, and the plyometrics and strengthening components rather than balancing were significant. Metaanalysis showed that pre- and in-season neuromuscular training with an emphasis on plyometrics and strengthening exercises was effective at preventing ACL injury in female athletes, especially in those under 18 years of age

Optimal Aeration Management Strategy for A Small-Scale Food Waste Composting

Food waste is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions when it ends up in landfills. Composting is a sustainable solution to this problem, but it requires controlled and continuous airflow for optimal performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of aeration rates and airflow directions on food waste composting using a closed system with forced aeration. Air was entered into the composting vessel in three directions, which were upward, downward, and a combination of both directions. Each direction was run at aeration rates of 0.1, 0.4, and 0.7 L/min. The findings show that the compost pile aerated at 0.4 L/min by using two-directional airflow can reach the thermophilic temperature within half of the day. The compost pile achieved temperature of 40.94°C after 10.5 hours. Although the compost experienced slightly high in moisture loss (4.3%), the compost still attained the standard values for maturity. The compost produced from food waste could be applied in soil to improve its fertility

Isolation and characterization of Pyricularia oryzae isolated from lowland rice in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Aims: Rice blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae is one of the major biotic diseases of rice in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. This study aims to isolate and characterize rice blast fungus obtained from infected leaf collected from four different divisions in Sarawak, viz, Miri, Serian, Sri Aman, and Kuching. Methodology and results: Twelve succeeded isolates were pre-identified as P. oryzae by morphological characteristics of spores, followed by verification through (internal transcribed spacer) ITS sequencing. The isolates were evaluated for morphological characteristics, growth rate and sporulation rate, which were grown on two types of media, (filtered oatmeal agar) FOMA and (potato dextrose agar) PDA. Morphological characterization showed that the colony surface of the different isolates varied from smooth and fluffy to rough and flattened mycelia; some were with the present of concentric rings, and some with aerial mycelia. The growth rate and sporulation rate of each isolate varied based on types of media used. Most of the isolates grew faster on PDA than on FOMA but produced higher number of spores on FOMA as compared to PDA. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: This preliminary study showed that there were variations observed based on morphological and physiological characterization for the different isolates collected in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. This study is the first step towards understanding variation in the population of P. oryzae from Sarawak

Spectral filtering of multiple directly modulated channels for WDM access networks by using an FP etalon

[[abstract]]Spectral and waveform reshaping schemes can enhance the transmission distance of fiber links that use directly modulated lasers as transmitters. We prove the feasibility of using a simple Fabry–Perot (FP) etalon as the spectral reshaper for applications in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) access networks. The transient chirp and adiabatic chirp of a directly modulated laser are analyzed in detail by using the time-resolved chirp measurement. The effects of the original extinction ratio and the adiabatic chirp on the spectral reshaping are clarified to obtain the optimal operation conditions. It is shown that placing a single-cavity FP etalon filter after multiple 10 Gbits/s directly modulated lasers can extend their transmission distances from 10 to 50 km in the 1.55 m wavelength window. Due to the limited filtering capability of the etalon, the choice of the original extinction ratio and finesse of the etalon is discussed in detail from the experiments and simulation.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[incitationindex]]EI[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子

Comparison of four diagnostic methods for detecting rabies viruses circulating in Korea

It is essential to rapidly and precisely diagnose rabies. In this study, we evaluated four diagnostic methods, indirect fluorescent antibody test (FAT), virus isolation (VI), reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and rapid immunodiagnostic assay (RIDA), to detect rabies in animal brain homogenates. Out of the 110 animal brain samples tested, 20 (18.2%) were positive for rabies according to the FAT. Compared to the FAT, the sensitivities of VI, RT-PCR, and RIDA were 100, 100, and 95%, respectively. The specificities of VI, RT-PCR and RIDA were found to be 100, 100, and 98.9%, respectively. Rabies viruses circulating in Korea were isolated and propagated in murine neuroblastoma (NG108-15) cells with titers ranging from 101.5 to 104.5 TCID50/mL. Although the RIDA findings did not completely coincide with results obtained from FAT, VI, and RT-PCR, RIDA appears to be a fast and reliable assay that can be used to analyze brain samples. In summary, the results from our study showed that VI, RT-PCR, and RIDA can be used as supplementary diagnostic tools for detecting rabies viruses in both laboratory and field settings

Pap smear screening for small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a case series and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: Small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (SMCC) is extremely rare, and an aggressive disease that proliferates rapidly. It was often reported that the diagnostic accuracy of cytologic smears in diagnosing SMCC was low. This is a report of the Severance Hospital experience with the patients suffering from SMCC. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were diagnosed and treated at the Severance Hospital from November 1991 to January 2010. The data were analyzed retrospectively, based on the available charts and pathology reports. Various fields, such as chief complaints and symptoms present at first clinic visit, age, International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) clinical stage, treatment modality, the 5-year overall survival rate, and recurrence rate were investigated. RESULTS: Among the 27 patients diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, 18 of them (66.7%) presented with symptoms, including vaginal bleeding, at the first clinic visit, and the remaining 9 patients (33.3%) showed abnormal Pap smear screening in the process of their routine health check-up. The median age of the patients was 54 years (range, 24 to 77 years). FIGO stage IIB was the most common stage (11 of 27 patients). The 5-year overall survival rate of 21 patients, who could be followed up, was 57.2%. Six patients showed recurrence after remission, and the mean disease free interval of them was 9.2 months (range, 6 to 11 months). Abnormal Pap smear screening results of 9 patients was investigated, and the diagnostic accuracy of the cytologic findings was 22.2%. CONCLUSION: Our study was consistent with the concept that Pap smear screening might not be helpful in early diagnosis of SMCC considering its low diagnostic accuracy. Further large-scale multicenter prospective studies are definitely needed in order to produce abundant information about optimal therapy and diagnosis.ope

Facile Method for Preparation of Silica Coated Monodisperse Superparamagnetic Microspheres

This paper presents a facile method for preparation of silica coated monodisperse superparamagnetic microsphere. Herein, monodisperse porous polystyrene-divinylbenzene microbeads were prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization and subsequently sulfonated with acetic acid/H2SO4. The as-prepared sulfonated macroporous beads were magnetized in presence of Fe2+/Fe3+ under alkaline condition and were subjected to silica coating by sol-gel process, providing water compatibility, easily modifiable surface form, and chemical stability. FE-SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and TGA were employed to characterize the silica coated monodisperse magnetic beads (~7.5 μm). The proposed monodisperse magnetic beads can be used as mobile solid phase particles candidate for protein and DNA separation