Exogenous application of platelet-leukocyte gel during open subacromial decompression contributes to improved patient outcome

Background: Platelet-leukocyte gel (PLG) is being used during various surgical procedures in an attempt to enhance the healing process. We studied the effects of PLG on postoperative recovery of patients undergoing open subacromial decompression (OSD). Methods: PLG was produced from platelet-leukocyte-rich plasma (P-LRP), prepared from a unit of whole blood. Forty patients were included in the study. Self-assessed evaluations, using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scoring system of activities of daily living (ADL), joint instability, pain levels, pain medications, and clinical evaluations for range of motion were conducted. Results: Platelet and leukocyte counts were significantly increased in the P-LRP compared to baseline counts. Treated patients demonstrated decreased visual analog scales for pain and used significantly less pain medication, had an improved range of motion during passive forward elevation, external rotation, external rotation with arm at 90 degrees abduction, internal rotation, and cross body adduction compared to control patients (p < 0.001). No differences in the instability score were observed between the groups. Furthermore, treated patients performed more ADL (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In the PLG-treated group, recovery was faster and patients returned earlier to daily activities and also took less pain medication than control subjects

Penetration ability of Holepyris sylvanidis into the feeding substrate of its host Tribolium confusum

The bethylid wasp Holepyris sylvanidis (Brèthes, 1913) is an antagonist of the confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val 1868, a severe pest in the food processing industry and in grain products, primarily in flour mills and bakeries. Females of the larval ectoparasitoid H. sylvanidis have to detect hosts that feed in different depths inside stored products like flour or grist. This study addresses the questions (1) whether successful host finding by H. sylvanidis is dependent on the location of Tribolium larvae in the substrate and (2) whether the type of substrate affects host finding. In laboratory experiments, T. confusum larvae in a Petri dish accessible to the wasps were placed 1, 2, 4 or 8 cm deep in either fine or coarse ground wholemeal grist of wheat (main particle size: &lt; 0.2 mm or 1.4 – 3 mm) in fifteen replicates per substrate and depth. Parasitoids were released onto the surface of the substrate. Tribolium confusum larvae were not able to  leave the Petri dish, however they could be pulled outside into the grist by H. sylvanidis. Within the behavioural sequence of parasitisation, pulling away of host larvae is the typical behaviour preceding oviposition. In order to determine host finding success by the parasitoid, the number of missing host larvae was assessed 2 wks after release of the wasps. In fine grist larvae were attacked down to 4 cm depth; however, larvae placed deeper (8 cm) were not found anymore. In contrast, host larvae in coarse grist were still detected at 8 cm depth. The results suggest that host finding by H. sylvanidis is hindered by decrease in particle size of the substrate. Nevertheless, H. sylvanidis may be considered a promising candidate for biological control of T. confusum larvae feeding in coarse grist and in thin layers of fine grist. Keywords: Holepyris sylvanidis, Tribolium confusum, Biological control, Penetration ability, Host findin

Evolutionary history of chromosome 11 featuring four distinct centromere repositioning events in Catarrhini.

Abstract Panels of BAC clones used in FISH experiments allow a detailed definition of chromosomal marker arrangement and orientation during evolution. This approach has disclosed the centromere repositioning phenomenon, consisting in the activation of a novel, fully functional centromere in an ectopic location, concomitant with the inactivation of the old centromere. In this study, appropriate panels of BAC clones were used to track the chromosome 11 evolutionary history in primates and nonprimate boreoeutherian mammals. Chromosome 11 synteny was found to be highly conserved in both primate and boreoeutherian mammalian ancestors. Amazingly, we detected four centromere repositioning events in primates (in Old World monkeys, in gibbons, in orangutans, and in the Homo–Pan–Gorilla (H-P-G) clade ancestor), and one in Equidae. Both H-P-G and Lar gibbon novel centromeres were flanked by large duplicons with high sequence similarity. Outgroup species analysis revealed that this duplicon was absent in phylogenetically more distant primates. The chromosome 11 ancestral centromere was probably located near the HSA11q telomere. The domain of this inactivated centromere, in humans, is almost devoid of segmental duplications. An inversion occurred in chromosome 11 in the common ancestor of H-P-G. A large duplicon, again absent in outgroup species, was found located adjacent to the inversion breakpoints. In Hominoidea, almost all the five largest duplicons of this chromosome appeared involved in significant evolutionary architectural changes

Duration of Business Cycles

In this paper the Bry and Boschan (1971) procedure is modified such that it can be applied to quarterly data in order to recalculate the maximum duration of business cycles. In this way it can be shown that the maximum duration of business cycles constitutes 42 quarters in the United States of America and 49 quarters in the United Kingdom. The large difference to the maximum duration of Burns and Mitchell (1946) makes clear that caution is advisable with the application of the filters by Baxter and King (1999) and Christiano and Fitzgerald (2003). If one chooses the maximum duration too low (high), the amplitude of the medium-term business cycles is underestimated (overestimated) and the variability of the growth rate of the long-term trend is overestimated (underestimated).Duration; Business Cycles; Dating Turning Points; Non-Parametric Procedure; Minimum Duration; Maximum Duration; Band-Pass Filter

Sectoral and Industrial Business Cycles

This article calculates the sectoral and industrial business cycles by means of the band-pass filters by Baxter and King (1999) and Christiano and Fitzgerald (2003), to subsequently analyze the correlations between the sectors and industries and the overall economy. It can be shown that the correlations between the business cycles of the sectors and industries and the overall economy differ strongly. The agriculture sector and the industries mining and quarrying, electricity and education for example exhibit almost no correlation with the overall economy; The wholesale and retail as well as the transport industry on the other hand have a high correlation. By means of an analysis of the leading and lagging correlations it can be shown that the wholesale and retail industry leads the overall economy by two quarters. Thus, the wholesale and retail industry can be used as an indicator for the development of the overall economy.Business Cycle; Correlation; Band-Pass Filter; Sectoral Cycles; Industrial Cycles; Cross-Country Correlation; Monetary Policy; Forecasting

Exact spectra, spin susceptibilities and order parameter of the quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice

Exact spectra of periodic samples are computed up to $N=36$. Evidence of an extensive set of low lying levels, lower than the softest magnons, is exhibited. These low lying quantum states are degenerated in the thermodynamic limit; their symmetries and dynamics as well as their finite-size scaling are strong arguments in favor of N\'eel order. It is shown that the N\'eel order parameter agrees with first-order spin-wave calculations. A simple explanation of the low energy dynamics is given as well as the numerical determinations of the energies, order parameter and spin susceptibilities of the studied samples. It is shown how suitable boundary conditions, which do not frustrate N\'eel order, allow the study of samples with $N=3p+1$ spins. A thorough study of these situations is done in parallel with the more conventional case $N=3p$.Comment: 36 pages, REVTeX 3.0, 13 figures available upon request, LPTL preprin

The significance of the Cape trade route to economic activity in the Cape colony: a medium-term business cycle analysis

Trade is a critical component of economic growth in newly settled societies. This paper tests the impact of ship traffic on the Cape economy using a time series smoothing technique borrowed from the business cycle literature and employing an econometric procedure to test for long-run relationships. The results suggest a strong systematic co-movement between wheat production and ship traffic, with less evidence for wine production and stock herding activities. While ship traffic created demand for wheat exports, the size of the co-movement provides evidence that ship traffic also stimulated local demand through secondary and tertiary sector activities, supporting the hypothesis that ship traffic acted as a catalyst for growth in the Cape economy.Colonial trade, Cape of Good Hope, Dutch East India, Band-pass filter, Medium-term fluctuations, Business cycle, South Africa, Ships, Harvest cycles, Colonial economy

New records of Laboulbeniales (Fungi, Ascomycota) for The Netherlands

Laboulbeniales are obligate ectoparasitic ascomycetes occurring on Arthropoda, mostly insects. Since the 1950s almost no research on Laboulbeniales has been done in The Netherlands. This study presents a preliminary list of Laboulbeniales found on insects collected in De Kaaistoep. Thirteen species of Laboulbeniales were found on fourteen different insect hosts, nine of which are new to The Netherlands. One dipteran host is new to the entomofauna of The Netherlands

Temporal Dynamics of Preferential Flow to a Subsurface Drain

We conducted a sequential tracer leaching study on a 24.4 by 42.7 m field plot to investigate the temporal behavior of chemical movement to a 1.2-m deep field drain during irrigation and subsequent rainfall events over a 14-d period. The herbicides atrazine [6-chloroN-ethyl-N′-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine], and alachlor [2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide] along with the conservative tracer Br were applied to a 1-m wide strip, offset 1.5 m laterally from a subsurface drain pipe, immediately before an 11.3-h long, 4.2-mm h−1 irrigation. Three additional conservative tracers, pentafluorobenzoate (PF), o-trifluoromethylbenzoate (TF), and difluorobenzoate (DF) were applied to the strip during the irrigation at 2-h intervals. Breakthrough of Br and the two herbicides occurred within the first 2-h of irrigation, indicating that a fraction of the solute transport was along preferential flow paths. Retardation and attenuation of the herbicides indicated that there was interaction between the chemicals and the soil lining the preferential pathways. The conservative tracers applied during the later stages of irrigation arrived at the subsurface drain much faster than tracers applied earlier. The final tracer, applied 6 h after the start of irrigation (DF), took only 15 min and 1 mm of irrigation water to travel to the subsurface drain. Model simulations using a two-dimensional, convective, and dispersive numerical model without an explicit preferential flow component failed to reproduce Br tracer concentrations in the drain effluent, confirming the importance of preferential flow. This study showed that preferential flow in this soil is not a uniform process during a leaching event

Vortex-induced topological transition of the bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice

The ordering of the classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice with the the bilinear-biquadratic interaction is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that the model exhibits a topological phase transition at a finite-temperature driven by topologically stable vortices, while the spin correlation length remains finite even at and below the transition point. The relevant vortices could be of three different types, depending on the value of the biquadratic coupling. Implications to recent experiments on the triangular antiferromagnet NiGa$_2$S$_4$ is discussed