Preoperative CT Angiography Informs Instrumentation in Anterior Spine Surgery for Idiopathic Scoliosis.

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the artery of Adamkiewicz localization with preoperative CT angiography influences anterior spinal instrumentation.MethodsChildren with idiopathic scoliosis who underwent anterior instrumentation and with a preoperative CT angiography were evaluated retrospectively. Data included curve type, artery of Adamkiewicz level/laterality, surgical approach laterality, number of instrumented levels and segmental vessels ligated, intraoperative neuromonitoring changes, and postoperative neural complications.ResultsThirty-nine girls and eight boys (mean age 12 years [6.7 to 16.8 years]) were analyzed. Instrumented curves indicate 28 thoracic, 14 thoracolumbar, and seven double major. The artery of Adamkiewicz: T6 (left-1), T8 (left-1), T9 (left-4/right-2), T10 (left-11/right-4), T11 (left-4/right-4), T12 (left-1/right-2), L1 (left-2/right-1), and L2 (left-3/right-2). Four had bilateral dominant segmentals, whereas in nine patients, none was identified. T10 (32%) and left side (57%) were most frequent. On average, 7.1 (4 to 11) segmentals were ligated per case (total 355). Dominant vessels were ipsilateral to/within instrumentation levels in 30%.DiscussionIn children with idiopathic scoliosis who underwent anterior instrumentation, the artery of Adamkiewicz was identified on the left in >50% and at T10 in 32%. In one-third of the patients, the artery was within intended surgical levels and resulted in instrumentation modification

Construction of barley consensus map showing chromosomal regions associated with economically important traits

In the past, it has been difficult to accurately determine the location of many types of barley molecular markers due to the lack of commonality between international barley linkage maps. In this study, a consensus map of barley was constructed from five different maps (OWB, VxHs, KxM, barley consensus 2 and barley consensus 2003) to produce the consensus AD-2005 map with 1536 markers. The QTL that have been identified in previous barley studies were then incorporated into the integrated consensus map to provide a quick method of aligning and comparing barley linkage maps and to identify markers closely linked to barley traits. The markers placed on this map are consistent with respect to order on the chromosomes with the individual maps and other barley maps with a few minor differences. The consensus AD-2005 was compared with rice Cornell RFLP map to examine the reliability of the constructed map in comparative genomic studies. Unlike previous consensus maps, the purpose of this consensus map (containing QTL) is to provide a tool for scientists to accurately locate molecular markers to chromosome regions responsible for economically important traits. It is estimated that markers placed on the consensus map are located very close to their true positions as determined by the five maps used in this study. It is envisaged that the consensus map will benefit small-grain researchers by providing an efficient means of choosing markers of interest and identifying QTL regions for future genetic or plant breeding studies on a worldwide basis.Keywords: Barley, QTL, genetic linkage mapping, consensus map, comparative genome mappin

Absence and presence Organic and Inorganic Inhibitors

The aggressive effect of different concentrations of HNO3 and the inhibitive action of some organic and inorganic additives on the corrosion of copper metal have been studied by thermometric technique. The rate of metal dissolution increases with acid concentration. The copper dissolution rate in 2M HNO3 was dependent on the chemical properties and concentration of the used additives. The inhibitive action of these compounds obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The degree of surface coverage (?) of adsorbed organic and inorganic additives was determined from the reaction number (R.N.) values. The thermodynamic parameters Kads. and ?G?ads. of organic additives are calculated and illustrated. The values of ?G?ads. clear strong physisorption of the tested organic inhibitors on copper metal surface. Keywords: Copper; Acid Corrosion; Passivity; Thermometry

Application of the biosurfactants produced by Bacillus spp. (SH 20 and SH 26) and P. aeruginosa SH 29 isolated from the rhizosphere soil of an Egyptian salt marsh plant for the cleaning of oil - contaminataed vessels and enhancing the biodegradat

Full Title: Application of the biosurfactants produced by Bacillus spp. (SH 20 and SH 26) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa SH 29 isolated from the rhizosphere soil of an Egyptian salt marsh plant for the cleaning of oil - contaminataed vessels and enhancing the biodegradation of oily sludgeDuring the screening for biosurfactant-producing bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere soil of an Egyptian salt marsh plant, three bacterial strains (Bacillus spp. SH 20 and SH 26, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa SH 29) were most active strains. Biosurfactants produced by the three bacterial strains were stable at wide range of pH (1 to 14), wide range of temperature (0 to 121°C) and salinity (5 to 15% NaCl). The two Bacillus species were able to produce high E24 values for petroleum oil (75 to 84.4%), while P. aeruginosa was able to produce E24 value of 62%. Accordingly, the sterilized broth culture (supernatants) containing the biosurfactants produced by the two Bacillus spp. were used for enhancing the bioremediation of oily sludge-contaminated soil. On the other hand, the sterilized supernatant of P. aeruginosa was applied for cleaning oil-contaminated vessels. The results show that addition of the supernatant of Bacillus sp. SH 26 stimulated the biodegradation of the oily sludge (34.0% w/w); this is in contrast to biodegradation of 28.0 and 22.2% of the oil in presence of uninoculated medium and the supernatant of Bacillus sp. SH 20. When the contaminated soil was treated with the mixture of the two supernatants of the two Bacillus spp., no biodegradation of the oil above 26.3% was observed. This may indicate inhibitory effect on some of the oil degraders present in this system, due to the presence of the biosurfactant produced by Bacillus sp. SH 20. When the phytogenic biosurfactant was applied as a comparison, it was of interest to find that this biosurfactant was able to degrade 53.8% of the oil, and this represent excellent candidate for enhancing bioremediation of oil contaminated sites. This was followed by the microbial biosurfactant (34%) produced by Bacillus sp. SH 26. The results of cleaning oil-contaminated vessels by applying the supernatant of P. aeruginosa SH 29 show that after 15 min of the addition of the supernatant, the oil was recovered from the bottom and walls of the vessels and floated on the supernatant as a distinct phase. This indicates that the sterilized supernatant of P. aeruginosa SH 29 can be used directly for cleaning oil storage tanks and other vessels used for transportation and storage of crude petroleum oil.Key words: Biosurfactants, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus sp., bioremediation, cleaning oil-contaminatedvessels