Factors Affecting Surgical Outcomes in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Retrospective Study

Introduction:To determine the factors that may affect surgical outcomes in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) by evaluating consecutive patients at our institution.Methods:Medical charts of the patients were reviewed retrospectively between 2012 and 2019. The modified Japanese Orthopedic Association scale and the postoperative functional recovery (PFR) rate were used to assess the clinical outcomes and benefits of surgical intervention. Demographics, clinical presentations, radiological variables, and surgical techniques were evaluated.Results:A total of 98 patients with CSM with a mean age of 55.4±10.7 years were included. Fifty (51.0%) patients were male. A good preoperative functional status (p=0.001, R2=0.22), female sex (p=0.008, R2=0.07), short preoperative period (p=0.007, R2=0.074), and dynamic compression on more than one dynamic magnetic resonance imaging phase (p=0.001, R2=0.115) were associated with good surgical outcomes and a higher PFR rate. No significant differences were found in the PFR rate and the complications among all surgical approaches (p>0.05).Conclusion:Demographic, clinical, and radiological factors, such as sex, preoperative functional status, preoperative clinical course, and number of dynamic compression phases, can impact surgical outcomes in CSM. Early diagnosis is very critical and extremely important in reducing persistent neurological deficits associated with CSM. We recommend early surgical intervention for patients with CSM to obtain good surgical outcomes

4E analysis of an underfloor heating system integrated to the geothermal heat pump for greenhouse heating

In this study, 4E (energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental) analysis of an underfloor heating system integrated with the geothermal heat pump of a greenhouse with a usage area of 90 m(2) has been made. When the results of the 4E analysis applied to the system and its elements were examined, the energy efficiency of the heating system in the winter months has been determined to be 77.85% and the exergy efficiency 30.61%. According to the results of exergoeconomic analysis, the levelized energy cost of the system has been determined as 0.894 $/h, the unit exergy cost as 0.826$/h, and the exergoeconomic factor value as 51.12%. According to the results of the exergoenvironmental analysis, the part-based environmental impact of the system was 0.0910 mPts/s, the environmental impact value due to exergy was 0.1823 mPts/s, and the exergoenvironmental factor value was 37.77%. In addition, the equivalent CO2 emission value that will occur if the heating requirement of the greenhouse is met with a natural gas boiler instead of a geothermal heat pump was investigated and a comparison was made between the two systems. Accordingly, it has been determined that the emission of 909.75 kg equivalent carbon dioxide to the environment will be prevented in the 4-month period, which is considered the heating season, by using the heat pump. As a result, the examined heating system has been evaluated as the effective system for heating the greenhouse, reducing energy consumption, and reducing emissions that cause environmental pollution

Estimation of Soil Losses in a Slope Area of Tokat Province through USLE and WEPP Model

Tokat is one of the developing provinces in terms of urbanism. Therefore, the land use changes city-wide which closely affects soil erosion. Numerical estimation of soil erosion is very important to prevent soil losses. In this study, USLE and WEPP Hillslope model were used to estimate the long-term soil losses in a slope area which used to be a pasture land and then turned into a fruit orchard in Büyükbeybağı area of Tokat province. Erosion sensitivity of the soil in the slope area was detected to be very low. Erosivity value of the area is low, soil is resistant to erosion due to pasture land use type and fruit orchard use type does not require intense soil cultivation practices. For all these reasons, both estimation technologies estimated soil losses of the land to be low

Comparison of Infrared and Visible Imagery for Object Tracking: Toward Trackers with Superior IR Performance

The subject of this paper is the visual object tracking in infrared (IR) videos. Our contribution is twofold. First, the performance behaviour of the state-of-the-art trackers is investigated via a comparative study using IR-visible band video conjugates, i.e., video pairs captured observing the same scene simultaneously, to identify the IR specific challenges. Second, we propose a novel ensemble based tracking method that is tuned to IR data. The proposed algorithm sequentially constructs and maintains a dynamical ensemble of simple correlators and produces tracking decisions by switching among the ensemble correlators depending on the target appearance in a computationally highly efficient manner We empirically show that our algorithm significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art trackers in our extensive set of experiments with IR imagery

Investigation of suitable plasticizer / setting accelerator additive type in foam concrete production

Köpük betonlar günümüzde giderek artan bir kullanıma sahiptir. Uygulanmasının kolaylığı ve birim ağırlığının düşük oluşu sebebiyle tercih edilen bir hafif beton türüdür. Bu çalışmada köpük beton karışımlara ilave edilen akışkanlaştırıcı ve priz hızlandırıcı katkıların etkileri incelenerek optimizasyon çalışmaları yürütülmüştür. Buna göre akışkanlık, su/bağlayıcı, su/katı oranlarının taze ve sertleşmiş beton özelliklerine etkisi incelenmiştir. Çalışmada iki farklı süper akışkanlaştırıcı (SA) katkı ve bir priz hızlandırıcı kimyasal katkı kullanılmıştır. Polikarboksilik eter esaslı süper akışkanlaştırıcı (SAp) katkının, aynı oranlarda Melamin sülfonat polimeri esaslı süper akışkanlaştırıcı (SAm) katkıya göre akışkanlık sürelerinde azalma (daha akışkan) ve buna bağlı olarak daha yüksek dayanım değerleri sağlamıştır. Köpük betonun akışkanlık özelliklerinin Marsh konisi ile ölçülmesinin özellikle şantiye ortamında kolay ve pratik bir yöntem olacağı değerlendirilmiştir.Foam concrete has an increasing use today. It is a preferred type of lightweight concrete due to its ease of application and low unit weight. In this study, the effects of plasticizer and setting accelerator additives added to foam concrete mixtures were investigated and optimization studies were carried out. According to this, the effect of fluidity, water / binder, water / solid ratios on fresh and hardened concrete properties were investigated. In this study, two different plasticizer additives and one setting accelerator chemical additive were used. The effects of chemical additives on mixtures were investigated. Use of the same proportions of polycarboxylic ether-based superplasticizer (SAp) additive compared to the addition of melamine sulfonate polymer based superplasticizer (SAm) were reduce fluidity times (more fluidty) and accordingly, higher strength values were obtained. Rheological properties of the foam concrete can be determined in practice by Marsh cone method

Effects of Transillumination Method on Bond Strenght of an Orthodontic Adhesive

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of transilüminasyon on the bond strength of orthodontic brackets. One hundred human maxillary premolars were used in this study. Brackets with orthodontic composite adhesive were placed on the labial surface of the premolars and light cured from either the labial and/or the lingual (transilüminasyon). The control sample was cured from the labial for a total of 40 seconds of light exposure. Experimental samples were cured from the buccal for 20 seconds, the lingual (transilüminasyon) for 20 or 40 seconds and both buccal and lingual for 40 seconds. The shear-peel bond strengths were tested at 24 hours after light application. The results of this study demonstrated statistically significant difference between 40 seconds of labial curing, the both buccal and lingual curing and the only lingually cured groups. Actual bond strengths were lower for only lingually cured samples but higher for the both buccal and lingual cued sles. The samples tested received 20 seconds of labially cured were nearly the same as the control values. This study demonstrated that transilüminasyon of maxillary premolars is not alone an acceptable method of cunng orthodontic adhesive. However, the bond strengths can be higher when the transilüminasyon is used in addition to the buccal curing particularly if the exposure time is inceased to 40 seconds